Author: CNN Newsource

By Olivia Young

Click here for updates on this story

    CASTLE ROCK, Colorado (KCNC) — A Colorado artist is transforming a dead tree into a work of art honoring Western heritage at Hangman’s Gulch Trail in Castle Rock. The trail connects the east and west sides of town. Now, those walking the stretch between Liggett Road and Interstate 25 will find a new addition.

Legend has it that before Colorado was even a state, an outlaw was hung in the Castle Rock gulch after murdering a local homesteader. There are even whispers of his ghost still haunting the area.

One tree may have even witnessed the grisly moment told of in tall tales, which gave Hangman’s Gulch its name, but sadly, the tree recently died and had to be cut down for the safety of trail users. But the town and one local artist saw that as an opportunity.

“It was one of the oldest trees in Castle Rock, for sure. So, it was a shame that it died, but you know, this is kind of a great opportunity to give it new life,” said artist Billy LaFleur.

Since April, LaFleur has been carving away at what he estimates is a 200-year-old relic, shaping it into a memento of the Castle Rock of the past.

“I really wanted to have the tree represented as part of this piece,” LaFleur said. “Obviously, the cowboy is a significant part of our Western heritage.”

Within the old tree, LaFleur is bringing a cowboy to life using a chainsaw and smaller power tools. The sculpture depicts the cowboy leaning against a tree, a lasso in hand, and a somber or tired expression on his face.

“You obviously have to fit the whole form within whatever piece of material you have to begin with,” LaFleur said. “His posture and how everything fits inside of that footprint of the trunk of the tree, that is always a challenge. You don’t want to run out of room to put a hand or a hat, or, you know, his feet.”

The work of art was made possible by a Castle Rock Arts and Culture Grant.

“We had this huge stump that the parks department notified us about, and this is right along a trail, so it was a really neat opportunity to make a piece of art happen that would connect people. It’s kind of a Western heritage connection here in Castle Rock,” said Marne Hansen, executive director of the Castle Rock Parks and Trails Foundation. “Castle Rock was founded in 1874 right at the height of cattle moving through the area down to Texas, and that’s just our big culture. And this year we have a huge celebration with the 150/250 of Colorado and USA, and so any time we can highlight something that’s great about Castle Rock, we want to do that.”

In the coming days, LaFleur will define the cowboy’s hands, feet, lasso and clothing.

“There’s a mood that I wanted him to kind of capture, and I hope that I’m doing that, even though this may be a little bit somber to think about the hardships that people 150 or more years ago went through to live here and to make a life for themselves,” LaFleur said.

The last step is to burnish the wood with a small torch and then apply a top coat.

The cowboy will be LaFleur’s largest sculpture to date. He also carved the beaver sculpture in Castle Rock’s Festival Park along the Creek Trail.

“I’ve enjoyed working on this so much and enjoyed the interactions that I’ve had with the people who come by and see it,” LaFleur said. “I hope they think about maybe how difficult life was, you know, those decades and decades ago, the work that people put in to make a home and a life here and do the work that they chose to do and be thankful for the life that we all get.”

“When you see it, it’s wonderful, because it’s huge, and it’s kind of larger than life, which is kind of what we wanted,” Hansen said. “Anything that we can do to encourage folks to get outdoors, so this was a great opportunity to get someone local in here to work on this art.”

The cowboy should be completed in the next few weeks.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Christina Zhang

Click here for updates on this story

    Michigan (WWJ) — The FBI has arrested a Macomb County, Michigan, man accused of violating federal gun laws and possessing a rifle with a written phrase once said by the Oxford High School shooter.

In a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the FBI alleges Eleazareli Maycock violated federal law by possessing a firearm with its serial number intentionally scratched off.

Federal authorities say the phrase, “There is no God,” was written on a Savage Arms .22 caliber rifle. The phrase was written in white paint with a star surrounded by a circle next to it.

It’s the same phrase Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley said in a video posted the night before he killed four students and injured seven others on Nov. 30, 2021. Crumbley, who pleaded guilty to multiple charges in October 2022 in connection with the shooting, is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The investigation began in May after the FBI said it received information that Maycock allegedly made threatening statements on YouTube.

An air marshal assigned to the FBI’s Detroit Division’s Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed Maycock at his residence on May 22, where he admitted to possessing a Savage Arms .22 caliber rifle.

The officer noticed the scratched-off serial number and turned the rifle over to the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department for safekeeping.

“Combined with the angle of the heavy scratches, the damage to the serial number could not have occurred through normal usage or an accident,” the FBI wrote in the criminal complaint.

FBI investigators allege that a YouTube account associated with Maycock’s address made comments praising other mass shooters, including one that read “i will be the next brenton tarrant trust me.”

Brenton Tarrant is an Australian man who murdered 51 people in mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.

According to the FBI, during a June 9 interview, Maycock said he purchased the rifle “new” from Dunham’s Discount Sports in Sterling Heights. However, the investigator wrote in the complaint that after consulting a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent, they confirmed the gun was manufactured outside of Michigan.

“SA Hurt confirmed the firearm was manufactured by Savage Arms outside of the state of Michigan and therefore travelled in and affected interstate commerce,” the FBI wrote in the complaint.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Brian Maass, Colin McIntyre

Click here for updates on this story

    DENVER, Colorado (KCNC) — The Colorado State Patrol has concluded one of its troopers, Amber Garcia, used excessive force when she tasered a driver seven times in 35 seconds in 2024 in Saguache County. But that’s not what got Garcia fired last year. CBS News has learned the State Patrol ultimately terminated Garcia after concluding she falsified records related to her Taser certification and training.

“It is my finding that Trooper Amber Garcia was not certified nor authorized to carry and use the EMDT(Electro -Muscular Disruption Technology) weapon that was used against the motorist on May 4, 2024,” wrote CSP Major Brett Williams in a 2025 memo summarizing CSP’s findings. Williams said terminating Garcia was “more based upon the integrity and being untruthful more than the use of force.”

Internal CSP records and sworn deposition testimony provide new details about both the use-of-force investigation and the agency’s subsequent decision to terminate Garcia.

Garcia referred questions to her attorney, who said, “We have no comment at this time.”

The CSP findings stem from a roadside encounter in Saguache County that was captured on both dashboard and body-worn cameras.

Travis Tomlinson lives in Moffat and says on May 4, 2024, he was driving home on Highway 285 after running errands. His route home took him past Trooper Garcia, who had stopped another motorist for speeding.

Tomlinson, driving an SUV, passed the traffic stop and veered over the white line separating the travel lane from the shoulder where Garcia had stopped the other motorist.

Garcia immediately broke off from the traffic stop and pursued Tomlinson, who pulled over as soon as he saw Garcia behind him.

Tomlinson immediately got out of his SUV and began walking toward the trooper, who immediately unholstered her Taser.

The interaction was recorded by a camera mounted on the dashboard of the CSP vehicle and by Garcia’s body-worn camera.

“Stay in the car now,” shouts Garcia.

“This is my ground,” responds Tomlinson.

“Get on the ground then,” commands the trooper.

Tomlinson says, “This is my ground, I’m an American..you hear me? This is my f—ing ground” and then turns to head back to his vehicle.

Garcia is seen on video using her Taser, hitting Tomlinson in the back. She did not warn him of what she was about to do.

Tomlinson, 34, is seen falling to the ground, and Garcia continues to shout orders at him.

According to the law enforcement investigation, Garcia activated her Taser seven times in a row in about a minute, with the State Patrol concluding that three to four of those activations occurred after Tomlinson was already incapacitated by the initial Taser deployments. CSP says the trooper admitted Tomlinson could not comply with her commands because “I had put him in NMI (neuromuscular incapacitation).”

“I can’t, I can’t,” Tomlinson continually replies to the trooper’s commands. Several times Tomlinson can be heard yelling, “help help.”

As a result of the encounter, Tomlinson was charged with obstruction of a peace officer and failure to yield to a peace officer. Those charges were later dismissed by District Attorney Anne Kelly’s office.

Garcia admitted during CSP interviews to using excessive force. “I mean yeah,” she said, “I pulled the trigger a bunch of times.”

In an interview with CBS Colorado, Tomlinson, who has several previous arrests in southern Colorado, said, “I was in fear for my life. I thought I was going to die. It was definitely excessive force after the first pull,” said Tomlinson. “To get tased again and you’re paralyzed. She’s telling you to roll over, do this, do that, and you can’t do anything. And then you get tased again.”

His lawyer, Sarah Schielke, said, “There was absolutely no reason for that use of force and the fact she (Garcia) did it over and over again makes it torture.”

Last month, Tomlinson’s attorney, Schielke, filed a federal lawsuit against Garcia, alleging the former trooper violated Tomlinson’s constitutional rights.

The Colorado State Patrol declined to comment, citing the pending federal lawsuit filed by Tomlinson.

While CSP investigators questioned Garcia’s actions, prosecutors ultimately reached a different conclusion. Garcia later told her supervisors she was scared during the Tomlinson interaction, that he was not complying with her orders, and that she believed she had activated her Taser only two to three times, not seven.

The State Patrol turned its findings over to local District Attorney Anne Kelly, with CSP Major Brett Williams indicating he had an expectation Garcia would likely face criminal charges, stemming from the roadside Taser incident.

Kelly said it was a “tough call,” but in December 2024, she declined to file charges against Garcia, saying she did not believe a jury would convict the trooper.

CSP investigators concluded Garcia used excessive force during the encounter. Kelly, however, reached the opposite conclusion.

Kelly defended the decision to dismiss the criminal charges filed against Tomlinson following the traffic stop.

“She (Garcia) has every reason to believe this individual meant to do her harm and I believe her use of force was absolutely justified,” Kelly told CBS Colorado. “Mr. Tomlinson never should have done what he did. I stand by that decision,” said the prosecutor.

Although Garcia avoided criminal charges, CSP’s internal review later revealed questions about Garcia’s Taser certification and training records.

The agency concluded that Garcia “was not in compliance in completing her required (Taser) training” in the first quarter of 2024. CSP found she was not certified or authorized to carry the Taser she used on Tomlinson.

Major Williams later testified during a sworn deposition that Garcia had been untruthful about completing her training before the required deadline and had falsified documents, raising concerns about her “integrity and credibility.”

“She had falsified her training logs and provided information that was not truthful during the administrative investigation,” said Williams.

“She attempted to conceal that she had not completed the training within the first quarter as required. I would not consider her for rehire with the State Patrol.”

The Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board now lists Garcia as having been terminated by CSP and as having a credibility report on her record for untruthfulness.

Despite the findings that led to her dismissal, Garcia later landed another job in law enforcement in southern Colorado.

Anne Kelly, the district attorney who declined to file charges against Garcia, hired her as an investigator, two months after the CSP fired Garcia. Kelly said she believes CSP’s investigation into Garcia’s Taser certification was flawed.

“It doesn’t hold water. She did nothing dishonest. I would say I have a lot of questions for the Colorado State Patrol about the procedure they used to make this (Taser certification) determination. From my perspective, I have absolutely no concerns about the credibility of Amber Garcia. I didn’t have any concerns when I hired her, I don’t have any concerns today,” said Kelly.

Kelly said Garcia was “by far” the most qualified candidate for the investigator position, had received positive references from a previous police department, and “is an asset to our community and our office. We are lucky to have her.” The prosecutor said she had no previous relationship with Garcia and did not know her before the 2024 Taser incident.

Kelly had her own office investigate Garcia’s Taser certification. That review concluded “CSP was unable to articulate with specificity the precise statement alleged to be knowingly false. This inquiry identified insufficient evidence to conclude that Garcia knowingly made an untruthful statement.”

Travis Tomlinson told CBS he still suffers some physical issues related to the 2024 Taser incident. He is also facing a new criminal case being prosecuted by Kelly’s office. Court records show he has been charged with multiple felony assault charges, false imprisonment and felony menacing. He is scheduled for trial in July.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ross Guidotti

Click here for updates on this story

    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Pittsburgh is expanding its effort to get free books into the hands of kids through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Author Victor Hugo once said, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” In Carrick on Thursday, Pittsburgh’s first lady, Katie O’Connor, echoed the literary legend, saying, “Literacy and learning are critical infrastructure leading to a brighter future.”

That brighter future just got a lot of help as the Benter Foundation, a philanthropic group, is donating $1.8 million in an effort to get more books into little hands.

Reading Ready Pittsburgh executive director Dr. Mary Denison will be in charge of making sure those dollars lead to lifetime readers, with a little help from American music icon Dolly Parton.

Parton, a long-time literacy advocate, created the Imagination Library to give free books to kids and has been working with Reading Ready Pittsburgh for eight years. Right now, about 30% of kids under 5 in Pittsburgh are enrolled in the Imagination Library. The goal is to get every kid signed up.

Keya Lowry says her daughter’s involvement in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library through Reading Ready Pittsburgh enabled her little girl to be reading above a first-grade level on her first day of kindergarten. Lowry says reading truly is fundamental.

“It’s a lifelong tool,” she said. “It’s a skill that we all need.”

If you are interested in enrolling in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library or Reading Ready Pittsburgh, you can learn more online.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ali Bauman

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK CITY, New York (WCBS) — One day after a tourist suffered fatal injuries when horse carriages collided in Central Park, the New York City Council said Thursday it will consider a bill to ban the attractions entirely.

Meanwhile, the NYPD is still investigating the death of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, who was on a family trip from India. He died Wednesday after the family’s carriage horse bolted, crashed into another carriage and toppled over.

Horse carriage ban heating up

Councilman Christopher Marte is sponsoring a bill that would ban carriage horses citywide after Mahajan’s death.

“It’s something that could have been completely avoided if we actually took this issue seriously,” said Marte. “It’s not only banning horse carriages here, but it’s helping these workers for two years to transition to better jobs.”

Council Speaker Julie Menin plans to hold a hearing on the bill in July.

Mahajan’s death is the first known human death related to a carriage incident in Central Park, but it marked the latest of eight carriage horse incidents in just over a year.

A horse died after eating a poisonous plant last week and a driver was injured when a carriage overturned in May. Last year, tourists had to jump from a speeding carriage.

Union says carriage drivers ceased operations for now A spokesperson for TWU Local 100, the labor union that represents horse carriage drivers, said rides have been paused since the deadly accident, but he remains against an all out ban.

“The legacy of the horse and carriage rides are synonymous with New York,” TWU Local 100 Administrative VP Alexander Kemp said. “I think we collectively have to figure out how to make it, a safer industry and utilize all of the tools available to us to do that.”

The union is backing a different bill, introduced in the City Council last week, that would increase training for drivers and install hitch posts, so drivers could safely secure their horses in Central Park.

Animal rights activists want city to act fast Animal rights activists say neither proposed bill goes far enough.

“[Mayor Zohran Mamdani] can order a work stoppage now to prevent further tragedies and we urge him to do this,” said Edita Birnkrant, executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets.

City Hall has not said whether Mamdani would consider a work stoppage, but the mayor issued a statement.

“I have been clear about my position: it is time to end the horse carriage industry in our parks,” Mamdani said.

Ryder’s Law, a proposal to wind down the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry, was rejected by the City Council weeks before the mayor took office.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Denelle Veselik

Click here for updates on this story

    TUCSON, Arizona (KGUN) — Casey Alexander was serving as a sniper in Iraq when a Christmas Eve explosion in 2007 changed the course of his life. Now, 20 years later, he is still fighting for recognition of the injuries he says that blast caused, and his wife says the battle has never really ended for their family.

“Like when people say, what do you want to do with your life, I can honestly say I already did it. Like I’ve accomplished it. For the longest time, that’s all I wanted to do is be a sniper in the United States Army,” Alexander said.

Today, Alexander’s days are filled with coaching, teaching and raising a family with his wife, Melissa. The Tucson natives, who met in elementary school and reconnected in college, married just before his first deployment.

Today, Alexander’s days are filled with coaching, teaching and raising a family with his wife, Melissa. The Tucson natives, who met in elementary school and reconnected in college, married just before his first deployment.

“All I remember is seeing fire,” Alexander said.

The blast was powerful enough that Alexander says he remembers very little beyond the flames. As for who survived the explosion:

“All of us. Like in that vehicle, everybody. And it should have been none of us,” Alexander said.

Alexander says there was little time to recover after the explosion.

“Unless you’re bleeding, don’t waste our time,” Alexander said.

He says the men were seen by a medic, given ibuprofen and told not to go to sleep. The next day, he was back on duty.

As years passed, Alexander says symptoms he couldn’t ignore began to surface.

“If I was gonna say, it’s TBI,” Alexander said.

A traumatic brain injury. Paperwork later showed doctors determined Alexander was suffering from conditions related to PTSD and TBI, ultimately leading to his medical retirement from the Army.

He would then request a Purple Heart medal tied to the Christmas Eve explosion but was denied.

“The only document we didn’t have was the medical card,” Alexander said.

Alexander says a medic named Michael Gilman evaluated the men after the blast, and a record from Gilman could have supported his case.

“If I would’ve got one from Mike Gilman, it should have worked,” Alexander said.

But Gilman can no longer provide that documentation.

“He ended up taking his life,” Alexander said.

Melissa Alexander says watching her husband navigate the denials has been difficult and that the fight for the Purple Heart is about more than a medal.

“When the wounds are not visible, so you can’t see them, they’re a little bit harder to like put your finger on it. But the wounds that he has are very real and he’s sacrificed a lot,” she said.

Those invisible wounds have had lasting physical consequences. Melissa Alexander says her husband deals with joint issues, migraines, hearing loss and back pain, and that his leg will give out randomly.

“It’s not just the physical things that he goes through. There’s also the emotional pieces of war, which he manages very well,” Melissa Alexander said.

She says Casey has a therapist he relies on, and that support from Major Saunders and Mike Dyer through the VA has been critical to the family getting through the medical retirement process.

“I feel like it’s such a tedious process that I think a lot of people probably give up. If we didn’t have that support, we may not have actually made it through the process,” Melissa Alexander said.

Gilman was not the only man connected to that explosion Alexander would later lose. Fellow sniper John McCutchen served alongside him the night of the blast.

“He was a brother,” Alexander said.

Alexander says McCutchen also applied for a Purple Heart tied to the explosion and faced repeated denials.

“He just kept getting the runaround, kept getting denied,” Alexander said.

Alexander says he believes the denials pushed McCutchen to a breaking point.

“I just remember him saying I’d be better off dead. My kids will benefit better,” Alexander said.

He says McCutchen later took his own life.

Melissa Alexander says mental health remains a critical concern for veterans and their families.

“Mental health is very important. He shared that a few of his friends have unfortunately taken their lives. Just getting the help that people need. Not being afraid to ask for help,” Melissa Alexander said.

Alexander says receiving the Purple Heart is more than recognizing his own service.

“It would represent fighting for McCutchen, who fought for it for himself,” Alexander said.

The fight has caught the attention of local veterans, who voiced their concerns to Congressman Juan Ciscomani, hoping legislation might succeed where years of paperwork had not.

“They put their life on the line. They got this injury through their service, and now they can’t be recognized because of some rules, some bureaucratic rules in Washington that are old, that are outdated, and that are wrong and not science-based,” Rep. Ciscomani said. “I am confident that we can fix this either through rulemaking or legislation, whichever way it is that we’re trying to find out what the best approach here is. I am on this and I won’t stop until we get this done.”

Whether those efforts will bring change remains to be seen. For Alexander, the medal represents something far greater than recognition.

Alexander says he hopes sharing his story brings awareness to the struggles veterans face and encourages others not to give up.

“I’d like to see it happen just so I can take it to McCutchen’s wife,” Casey Alexander said.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, you can call the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.