Category: CNN Regional

By Frank Marzullo

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    CINCINNATI (WCPO) — On May 28, 2016, the course of Cincinnati history changed when a 3-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland silverback gorilla, entered the moat where the child had fallen and was seen dragging and moving the boy through the water inside the enclosure.

Zoo officials made the difficult decision to shoot and kill Harambe to protect the child.

The incident, which occurred 10 years ago, sparked an intense global debate over zoo safety, animal rights and parental responsibility that dominated social media for months.

Current Ohio Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters was the Hamilton County prosecutor when Harambe was killed.

He told me the decision not to charge the boy’s mother was not a difficult one — despite intense national and global pressure following the killing of the silverback gorilla.

“It wasn’t even close to being negligent in my mind,” Deters said.

Deters sat down with me to discuss his thought process on whether to pursue child neglect charges against the mother of the boy involved. He acknowledged the public grief over the gorilla’s death, while making clear where his priorities stood.

“Harambe was a beautiful animal, but this is a 3-year-old kid,” Deters said.

The public reaction was unlike anything Deters had seen in his career. He said he received letters from Europe and South America, and one letter from either New Zealand or Australia arrived with a bloody hand print on it.

“Viral mix of people. Wanted somebody to pay for this,” Deters said.

Deters said the case also presented a practical challenge in court.

“But more importantly, prosecutors, when you look at a case, you have to believe that you have a likelihood of success at trial,” Deters said. “We would have had to try this mother in front of a jury probably full of grandmothers and grandfathers and you know, moms and dads, and they’re gonna say, well, my kid’s wandered off before, you know, that kind of thing. It just was not, it wasn’t even a close call for me.”

Deters put the case in perspective against others he handled during his tenure.

“We’ve had much worse cases, believe me. We’ve had serial killers. We’ve had tons of other cases, but in terms of the effect of social media in a particular case. this took the prize by a long shot,” Deters said.

When asked whether any other case had generated a comparable level of public attention, Deters said none came close.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WCPO verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Julie Dunmire

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    ALLEGAN, Michigan (WXMI) — A baby boy made his grand entrance into the world in the parking lot of Corner Bible Church in Allegan, in the back seat of the family’s car.

Everett Sumerix was born weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces, with 10 fingers and 10 toes.

His mother, Jaimy Piper, said the birth was not exactly what she had planned.

“Uhm, so, in the car actually. The back seat of the car,” Piper said, with a laugh.

On the way to the hospital, Piper said it became clear Everett would not wait.

“I was like, yep, you’re going to have to call somebody. So, he called 911,” Piper said.

A firefighter arrived on scene before other responders.

“It was a firefighter who made it here first,” Piper said.

“There was a tractor that was slowing everybody else down,” Piper said.

By the time that firefighter reached the car, the delivery was already underway.

“When he opened up the back door, his head was already out,” Piper said.

Piper said she hopes to track down the firefighter to express her gratitude.

“We actually are working on putting together a thank you basket for him, when we do find him,” Piper said.

For Piper, the experience was one she never could have anticipated.

“I never actually imagined giving birth in a car,” Piper said.

As for what the future holds for little Everett, his mother has a thought.

“I think it’d be cool if he grew up wanting to be a firefighter,” Piper said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WXMI verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Shakeria Hawkins

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    SOUTHWEST LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas mother of four says she’s struggling to afford a $500 insurance deductible after a large inflatable display from a southwest valley smog shop allegedly slammed into her car during strong winds.

Marion Wagner says her 2017 Nissan Maxima was parked outside Smog Busters near Blue Diamond Road and Decatur Boulevard when the incident happened.

“All of the glass on top of my car was completely smashed,” Wagner said.

According to Wagner, the business’s inflatable display was picked up by the wind and crashed into her vehicle, shattering the windshield and sunroof.

“The wind picked up the inflatable guy and basically beat on my car,” Wagner said. “The front windshield was smashed in, the sunroof was completely smashed in.”

Wagner says the vehicle was unoccupied at the time. When she returned, she found shattered glass across the front windshield and roof of the car.

She says the situation has become a financial burden as she waits for the insurance process to play out.

“I do have insurance, but I don’t have an extra $500,” Wagner said. “The price of gas, the price of groceries… everybody is struggling.”

Wagner says the latest repair estimate is now around $7,700 after a body shop discovered additional damage around the sunroof frame.

“I’m not asking them to pay the total claim,” Wagner said. “I’m just asking them to cover my deductible.”

Channel 13 also spoke with Smog Busters manager James Leithner, who says the company is willing to work through the situation, but any payments or claims must go through insurance procedures first.

“We were actively trying to work through things,” Leithner said. “We have protocols in place and we have to involve our own insurance.”

Leithner also questioned some details surrounding how the damage occurred, while saying the company has never experienced an issue like this before.

“It was a pretty impressive physical event that took place that would be extraordinarily unusual,” Leithner said. “But that’s not for me to decide. That would be for the insurance companies to figure out.”

“We use this same inflatable every day at multiple locations and never had an issue like this,” he added.

A local attorney also told Channel 13 there is nothing legally preventing the company from paying Wagner’s deductible if they choose to, even while the insurance claim is under review.

For Wagner, she says finding an extra $500 right now feels impossible.

“I’m on a fixed income. There’s mortgage, groceries, gas… in today’s economy we’re all penny-pinching,” Wagner said. “There’s no extra five dollars, much less $500.”

Smog Busters management says they are continuing to work through the situation with Wagner, but maintain that any damages or payments must go through the company’s insurance process.

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 Ryan Hill

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    SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Eid al-Adha is a day of celebration in the Islamic faith and falls on the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca.

“Today, for many Muslims all over the world, is a day of celebration. We call it Eid al-Adha, which is the day of sacrifice,” Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego said.

Plenty of people attended daily prayer on the Muslim holy day at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

But the rows of flowers, signs and police presence at the mosque are hard to miss, given what happened a week ago to Imam Taha Hassane and his community.

“This day of celebration is different than all the days of celebration that we have observed in the past,” Hassane said.

Hassane told ABC 10News it’s also a day of sorrow following such a tragic loss.

“Myself and my community members still carry in their minds and hearts what happened here and the memories of our brothers who were murdered right here in this place,” Hassane said.

Last Monday, two gunmen rushed into the Islamic Center, shooting and killing three men, a security guard, and two community members, at the mosque. They’re hailed as heroes for stopping the gunmen from getting further access to the center and the school, which was filled with children.

“Our community is coming back stronger than before. And the number of worshippers that we have seen after the attack is more than before. So, we are seeing more people coming to worship, and this is part of the resilience of my community,” Hassane said.

This community and the rest of San Diego are learning more about the shooters and whether what happened could have been prevented.

Hassane told ABC 10News that while he doesn’t want to talk about the shooters, he says it’s up to lawmakers to take what happened here as a lesson.

“Try to step in and take actions that can prevent such crimes, such attacks from happening in the future, not only in a mosque, but at any house of worship, at any educational institutions, schools wherever,” Hassane said.

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 Karina Vargas

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    SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Police Officers Association says last week’s deadly shooting at the Islamic Center highlighted a critical staffing problem inside the department, with officers stretched too thin and response times suffering as a result.

The union says Northern Division was staffed with only seven patrol officers the day of the shooting, even though the minimum staffing level should be 14.

Lt. Jared Wilson, president of the SDPOA, said the problem has been building for more than a year.

“The staffing shortages on the San Diego Police Department have gotten extremely worse over the last year. Under Chief Wahl, he cut $12 million in patrol overtime last year. We told him that that was gonna skyrocket our response times. We have less officers in the street. Calls are holding longer. That means our community is unsafe. Our officers are unsafe, and they’re burnt out.”

Wilson said half-staffed patrol divisions are leaving calls unanswered for dangerous stretches of time.

“When we’re half-staffing our patrol divisions, and we’re leaving calls holding like the call that preceded this at the mother’s house, that’s not acceptable, and it’s putting our community in danger. It’s putting our officers in danger, and it’s really a disservice when we cannot get there in time,” he added.

The city’s timeline reveals there was more than an hour delay between the initial runaway juvenile call and officers beginning to search for the suspects. Wilson said that kind of delay has become routine.

“We’re at the point where simple runaway juvenile calls, even if they have a report of two kids who are potentially armed in camouflage. Leaving their mom’s house in the morning, it was priority 2; the runaway juvenile call was entered, and it took over one hour for a dispatch. Those calls are, on average, in the city of San Diego, holding for over two hours,” said Wilson.

The association said it is not questioning how officers responded once gunfire erupted, saying they moved quickly. The union’s criticism is directed at department leadership.

“The patrol officers in San Diego are not being given the backup they need to help protect our community,” Wilson said.

In a statement, the San Diego Police Department acknowledged staffing challenges, saying that, like many law enforcement agencies nationwide, they have spoken openly about those challenges. The department added that it will be reviewing whether staffing levels played a role in the shooting.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KGTV verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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 Alex Suckow

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    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — WARNING: The contents of this article are disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

Louisville Metro police released grisly new details about a man who may have been “hunting” homeless people before he was killed by officers.

Michael Hristov, 21, was killed by police earlier this month at his home on W. Whitney Avenue, just south of Churchill Downs, where he lived with his mother.

According to LMPD, he brutally murdered a homeless person and injured another in December of last year.

On Wednesday, police released gruesome details about the condition in which the victim, Michael Howard, was found, as well as what they know about Hristov’s past.

Police said Hristov had a history of torturing animals, as well as idolizing serial killers and mass shooters. He also made quotes about a desire to “hunt homeless people.”

Howard, the man he’s accused of killing, was found on the side of Interstate 65. Some of his toes and another body part were cut off, and there were “various symbols” carved in his body.

Police said Hristov also stabbed another homeless person around the same time, but that person survived.

LMPD said a Reddit post helped different departments connect some dots. Someone had posted days prior to the stabbings that said, “possible serial killer in Louisville.”

Ultimately, investigators were able to connect that post to Hristov’s IP address. In other words, it appears he made that post himself.

Another important connector for police: Hristov’s scooter and tactical gear. Police recognized them from a time he crashed and it resembled what was seen near a stabbing scene. They said the video from that crash was important, a reminder that every little detail matters.

On Wednesday, LMPD also released police camera footage of the day they tried to serve his arrest warrant, and ultimately, fatally shot him.

At one point, you see a police drone go into the home, and Hristov takes aim and fires at it.

Hristov also made his own 911 call when police were surrounding him.

“I am not here to shoot at SWAT officers, I am here to be shot by them,” he tells the 911 operator.

He told her he had one gun and 150 rounds of ammunition.

LMPD said they had surveillance on his home for weeks prior to serving the warrant. The day they served the warrant, the police waited until his mother left.

Police say they may have saved more homeless people by solving this case and they say it’s possible Hristov committed other crimes against them that may not have been reported.

They are encouraging people to speak up.

“This is scary to know that there are people in our community, or there was somebody in our community, that was walking around daily with us and and had these intense… ideas you know, if you looked at him and saw him riding the scooter…you wouldn’t think that he was out to commit murder or to attack homeless individuals,” Deputy Chief Emily McKinley said.

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 Leondra Head

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WUPA) — It’s about two weeks away from the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, and there has been high demand for short-term rentals across Atlanta.

Airbnb says the World Cup is turning out to be its biggest event.

Atlanta is hosting eight Men’s World Cup matches this summer at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Some local Airbnb hosts are banking on big bucks during the matches.

“It’s been going extremely well. We are probably about 85% booked to capacity,” Airbnb host Tarshema Harris said.

She said large groups are booking her Airbnbs in Atlanta and Marietta.

“We’re doing three, three separate full entity houses,” Harris said.

She said the demand has made her list the units higher than they usually cost in June and July.

“It’s $400 a night for the entire house. Normally, we do about $175 a night,” Harris said. In total, Harris said she expects to bring in around $37,000 in a short period of time.

“What we’re already forecasting on the books in just a short window for FIFA would normally take us six to eight months to bring in that revenue,” she said.

In Atlanta, about three miles from the stadium, Myles Maxey recently listed his three-bedroom home on Airbnb.

“We listed it for $1,500 a night,” Maxey said.

He hopes to get his first booking soon.

“I think that when we get into the round of 32 or the semifinal, we’re going to start to see a lot more action in Atlanta as people get excited for their home team,” Maxey said. “If we could rent out this house for 10 of the 30 days, I think that would be great. For 10 days, it would be $15,000. That would help the mortgage.”

Airbnb is offering a $750 incentive to new hosts in the 11 host cities to meet the surging demand.

Hosts must have their first guest by July 31 to be eligible.

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.