2 Found Dead Inside “Human-Dug" Cave In Northridge

Two people were discovered dead inside of a cave in Northridge on Sunday. Circumstances leading up to the incident remain unclear, but firefighters were sent to the 8700 block of N. Lindley Avenue at around 10:40 a.m., according to Los Angeles Fire Department officials. They arrived to find two people dead inside of what they called a "human-dug cave/excavation," where a white powder substance was also observed inside. A Hazardous Materials team as well as Urban Search and Rescue personnel have been called to the scene to assist the Los Angles County Medical Examiner with the body recovery, firefighters said. Hazmat specialists swept the area and determined that all reading were normal, noting that winds in the area had dissipated the small amounts of powder that were first spotted. Officials say that there are no off-site hazards presented to the public and no evacuations are necessary. Video from CitizenApp showed a group of investigators near a taped off section of land adjacent to train tracks in the area. 

CBS 2

Reward Offered For Information In Deadly Hit-and-Run Of Bicyclist Near Lake Balboa

A reward of up to $50,000 is being offered in exchange for information that would lead to the arrest of a hit-and-run driver who killed a bicyclist Friday night in the Lake Balboa area, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The LAPD is seeking the public’s help in locating the driver of a silver SUV believed to have struck and killed a man in his early 40s who was riding his bicycle. The crash happened shortly after 8 p.m. Friday near Woodley Avenue and Victory Boulevard. According to police, the driver hit the bicyclist so hard that he was thrown from his bike and onto the roadway. The vehicle then took off southbound on Woodley Avenue toward Burbank Boulevard. The bicyclist died at the scene. Law enforcement did not release the name of the victim. Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division Investigator Hansen at 818-644-8115 or Investigator Reyes at 818-644-8022.

NBC 4

Man Shot In Granada Hills

A man was killed following a drive-by shooting in Granada Hills that occurred when he was fighting with another person, authorities said Sunday. The attack happened around 4:05 p.m. Saturday at 17422 Chatsworth St., east of White Oak Avenue, according to Los Angeles police Officer Tony Im. Witnesses told police the 52-year-old victim was in an altercation with someone else when he was shot, LAPD Officer D. Orris said. Paramedics took the wounded man to a hospital where he died, Orris said. The shooter’s vehicle was described as a gray Toyota RAV4, he said. It was last seen heading eastbound on Chatsworth. A description of the shooter was not available.

MyNewsLA

LAPD Arrests Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 81-Year-Old Woman With Dementia

Police have arrested a man accused of sexually assaulting an 81-year-old woman with dementia in Pacoima. The news of 22-year-old Walker Muñoz's arrest on Friday comes a day after FOX 11 spoke with the alleged sexual assault survivor's family. According to loved ones, the woman's dementia "pretty much progressed to Alzheimer's." The family told FOX 11 during Thursday's newscast that the suspect, allegedly Muñoz, knocked on the door and the elderly woman let him in. After the woman let the suspect in, that was when the sexual assault allegedly happened. "She’s not really fighting it off because, 81-year-old Alzheimer’s patients, what can they do?" the woman's son-in-law told FOX 11 on Thursday. Muñoz is being booked for kidnapping with the intent to commit rape. His bail was set at $2.1 million, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

FOX 11

Officers Clear Tents From Protest Encampment On USC Campus

Law enforcement officers in protective gear arrived on the campus of USC before dawn Sunday to clear out an encampment that went up last month at Alumni Park in protest of the war in Gaza. The USC public safety department said at about 4:30 a.m. that anyone who does not leave the tent encampment on the campus in Los Angeles' Exposition Park area could be arrested in the early morning police operation. Several people could be seen leaving the area as officers formed a perimeter at the site of dozens of tents. Other people remained in the area around the encampment, beating drums and chanting in the darkness and light rain. "The Los Angeles Police Department is clearing the center of UPC," the campus department of public safety said. "If you are in the center of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave could be arrested." Officers said early Sunday after entering the encampment that none of the tents appeared to be occupied. No arrests were reported as of 5:30 a.m. and the tents were cleared later Sunday morning. At 10:37 a .m., the university announced that the University Park Campus was now open to students, faculty, and staff with valid identification. The police operation involving officers with zip ties, less-lethal launchers and helmets comes three days after a much larger pro-Palestinian encampment was cleared on the campus of UCLA. That operation resulted in hundreds of trespassing arrests.

NBC 4

California Leads Nation In Fraud, Total Losses For Cybercrime Victims 60 Or Over: FBI

The FBI is warning the public about an increase in cybercrime that targets the nation’s elderly population. According to an FBI report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 880,000 complaints with potential losses exceeding $12.5 Billion in 2023. Elderly victims were the most frequent targets. Total losses reported to the IC3 by people aged 60 and over were more than $3.4 billion, an 11% increase in reported losses from 2022. There was also a 14% increase in complaints filed with IC3 by elderly victims. Cybercriminals use tactics such as phishing, spoofing, extortion, and various types of web-based fraud. Victims who are 60 and over in California experienced more losses and registered more complaints with IC3 than from any other state across the country. In 2023, there were 11,000 complaints filed with the IC3 by those over 60 from California. The state also ranked first in reported losses topping $620 million, according to the FBI. Call center schemes overwhelmingly target older adults. Almost half of the complainants were over 60 (40%) and experienced 58% of the losses, roughly $770 million.

KTLA 5

California Man Indicted For Allegedly Making Threats To Georgia Prosecutor In Trump Election Case

A California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta for sending death threats to District Attorney Fani Willis, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump and 18 others on charges of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Marc Shultz, 66, of Chula Vista, is facing charges of transmitting interstate threats to injure Willis. Prosecutors alleged that Shultz posted comments to YouTube livestream videos in October 2023 that threatened Willis, including stating that the prosecutor “will be killed like a dog.” “Sending death threats to a public official is a criminal offense that will not be tolerated,” Ryan Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, said in a statement Friday. The April 24 indictment was unsealed Thursday. A federal public defender listed as representing Shultz didn’t immediately return emails seeking comment. Records show Shultz appeared before a judge in San Diego on Thursday and was released on bail. Buchanan said Shultz would be formally arraigned in Atlanta in June. Also Friday, Fulton County leaders testified before a special state Senate committee that they had no legal power to control Willis' spending or her hiring of former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

NBC 4

Michigan Trooper Rescues Drowning Toddler, State Police Say

A Michigan State Police trooper from the West Branch Post is credited with saving the life of an unresponsive 2-year-old who nearly drowned Monday afternoon. Trooper Tanner Harrison responded to a 911 call at around 4:50 p.m. on Monday, April 29, stating that the toddler had drowned in a backyard koi pond in Rose City. Harrison and his partner were nearby on another call and upon arrival, Harrison found the child unresponsive, according to a social media posts from the Michigan State Police Third District. A family member was attempting CPR when the troopers arrived, police said. Harrison took over care for the child and provided chest compressions, back blows and rescue breathing until the child regained a pulse and began breathing. EMS arrived and transported the child to a local hospital for further medical treatment. The child is expected to make a full recovery, according to state police. The Michigan State Police encourages all to be extra vigilant when children are around water. Even strong swimmer can drown, police said in the reminder.

PoliceOne

In A Decade, Firearm Deaths Among Young Black People In Rural America Have Quadrupled

For decades, the narrative of gun violence and homicide has been framed as an urban plight disproportionately affecting Black communities in densely populated Northeastern and Midwestern cities. But a new analysis has found that firearm deaths among young Black people in rural locales are on par with — if not higher than — those in cities. Since 2013, firearm deaths have quadrupled among Black rural children and teens, primarily because of a rise in homicides, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also put the increasing risk in perspective: Although Black youth make up just 10 percent of the total youth population in rural communities, they comprised 30 percent of firearm homicides among that group in 2022. The recent study comes in the wake of a 2020 finding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that firearm-related injuries were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents. Allison Lind, a pediatric nurse practitioner who is the study’s lead author, said the data cemented her team’s motivation for analyzing historical patterns of race and rurality. “I was shocked to find this steep increase in Black rural youth firearm-related deaths,” Lind said. “There hasn’t been a huge narrative about it, but I felt like this was extremely important because it was not something that just happened with the pandemic — this has been happening over a decade.”

The Trace

Driver Killed When His Car Slams Into A Church In South Los Angeles

A driver was killed and his passenger injured when his SUV slammed into a church in South Los Angeles, authorities said. The crash took place shortly after midnight Saturday morning, when the driver — a man in his 40s — was heading west on Manchester Avenue, according to Norma Eisenman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department. The vehicle struck a light pole and then the building, causing the driver to be ejected, Eisenman said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his injured passenger was taken to a hospital, she said. The collision caused major damage to Challenge of Faith Church of God in Christ, on Manchester just west of Central Avenue. Building inspectors have yellow-tagged the church, designating part of the structure as off limits, according to one city official. David Jessie, an assistant pastor at the church, told KTLA-TV that cars have crashed into the church before — a situation he attributed to dangerous road conditions on Manchester. Church leaders have previously asked city leaders to do something about a nearby dip in the road, he said. “We have been through this so many times,” he told the station.

Los Angeles Times

Firefighters Battling Grass Fire In Sepulveda Basin

Los Angeles firefighters Sunday were battling an approximately two-acre grass fire in the Sepulveda Basin. The blaze ignited around 3:30 p.m. Sunday near 6100 N. Woodley Ave., with winds gusting to 20 to 30 miles per hour to the southeast, near the archery range, said LAFD spokesman Nicholas Prange. No injuries were immediately reported and the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

MyNewsLA

Budget Battle: Councilwoman Traci Park Leads Push For Essential Services Amidst Proposed Funding Shifts

Councilwoman Traci Park of Los Angeles has emerged as a leading voice in the ongoing debate over the city's budget, advocating for critical services and public safety measures amidst concerns over proposed cuts and allocations. The city faces significant budgetary challenges, with a projected deficit of $467 million. This deficit stems from a revenue shortfall of $180 million below projections and unexpected spending of about $289 million. In statements to the Budget and Finance Committee this week, Councilwoman Park underscored the critical budgetary needs facing the Westside community, particularly in public safety. Park advocated for increased funding for civilian overtime to ensure Police Service Representatives (PSRs) can effectively handle emergency 911 calls. She cautioned that understaffing might lead to delayed responses during emergencies. Councilwoman Park also lent her support to Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Crowley's plea to reinstate positions within the department, acknowledging critical staffing shortages. This comes at a time when the Fire Department faces a reduction in funding by approximately $22.9 million, alongside sanitation funding decrease of $17.3 million, respectively. She underscored the essential need for investments in technology and equipment to ensure effective emergency services.

Westside Current

About the LAPPL: Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents more than 8,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.