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‘You never know what could happen’: Aurora shooting survivor explains why teens carry guns

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‘You never know what could happen’: Aurora shooting survivor explains why teens carry guns


AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — Together with his shirt lifted, Abel Shaw factors to a tiny scar on his chest and one other one close to his armpit towards his again.

It’s the place a bullet penetrated his pores and skin at age 16. A 3rd scar, close to his ribcage, exhibits the place medical personnel needed to drain blood from his lungs, he stated.

Shaw, who’s now 20, informed the Drawback Solvers he didn’t panic throughout his brush with dying.

“Every part is simply quiet, and you’ll hear your heartbeat. You possibly can simply hear it, and it’s scary. You’re so zoned out. Every part round you is going on so quick, however in your head, every thing is stopped,” he stated.

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Regardless of his near-death and the months of bodily ache it precipitated, Shaw received’t speak about who pulled the set off.

It was “John Doe,” he stated, shaking his head.

The Drawback Solvers requested Shaw why it was so essential to maintain the main points personal.

He replied, “There’s unwritten legal guidelines to the issues that we do in our technology.”

Taking pictures sufferer turns into the shooter

It might be troublesome for one to grasp why Shaw would hold secret the identification of the one that practically killed him, however Shaw has additionally been in that particular person’s sneakers. He shot somebody throughout an aggravated theft when he was 18.

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In accordance with an arrest affidavit, Shaw informed police he went with different teenagers as they have been going to purchase an AR-15-style rifle, however one of many associates threatened the vendor with one other gun and turned the acquisition right into a theft.

The affidavit comprises conflicting tales about who fired a weapon first, however the gun vendor and two of Shaw’s associates all ended up getting shot.

“I had to make use of (a gun) as a result of I used to be put in a predicament the place it was battle or flight, and my chemical response in my mind didn’t say flight, it stated, ‘Struggle! Let’s battle,’ you realize?”

He informed the Drawback Solvers the way it felt to consider the implications.

“It’s form of like…like an impulse in your head, prefer it doesn’t flip off. Like, what in the event that they die?” he stated.

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In accordance with the arrest affidavit, the gun vendor survived.

Why teenagers are getting weapons

As Shaw waits to be taught what value he might need to pay for the 2020 incident, he provided to clarify why he believes so many teenagers are getting weapons.

“There’s quite a lot of completely different causes. Quite a lot of completely different causes,” he stated. “No one desires to lose a battle. They’d quite shoot you with not understanding the consequence of capturing someone than preventing and nonetheless getting the possibility to go dwelling on the finish of the day and dwell one other day simply with their pleasure damage.”

Shaw stated youngsters additionally carry weapons out of worry.

“You by no means know what may occur, so that you’d quite be ready to defend your self and whoever you got here with or whoever you’re hanging round than be in a state of affairs the place you possibly can’t defend your self when the time is required.”

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Shaw stated he and his associates wish to have enjoyable, journey and dwell life, however they’re additionally scared to depart the home or hang around with associates.

The place teenagers are getting weapons

Shaw stated he had a “feminine companion” who was sufficiently old to buy a gun on his behalf. He stated there’s “an abundance of how” for teenagers to get weapons.

“Most of us, we all know someone that is aware of someone,” he stated. With the correct amount of cash, he stated “it’s simple” to discover a weapon in half-hour or much less.

“You by no means know who may see you earlier than you possibly can see them,” he stated. “Any person else could possibly be seeking to have a foul day. You could possibly be seeking to have day, and that dangerous day simply occurs to seek out you. It’s scary since you don’t know what’s going to occur.”

He stated he would need different youngsters to grasp, nevertheless, that performing off of emotion or impulse can change one’s life drastically: “Use your thoughts as an alternative of your coronary heart.”

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“Karma is full circle,” he stated. “Your actions all the time have a consequence, whether or not they’re good or dangerous.”

Shooter’s mom talks gun violence

“As mother and father, you attempt to put so many issues in place to maintain them distracted, to maintain them too busy to be concerned in sure conditions, however then there’s society,” Shaw’s mom, Shana Shaw, stated.

She defined that she signed her son up for soccer, after-school applications and taekwondo, however “he nonetheless discovered a option to be concerned in these extracurricular actions that didn’t serve him.”

She stated she believes peer strain additionally influenced her son.

“The geeks don’t get the glory. The gang members do,” she stated. “If you wish to be in society and slot in, there’s a picture, there’s a persona, there’s a persona that it’s important to tackle as a way to be thought-about, and it doesn’t seem like your glasses and a bowtie.”

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Shaw stated she believes a few of the latest youth violence may be attributed to lockdowns through the pandemic.

“They have been caged animals. Now they’re popping out and being thrown proper again into these socially awkward locations known as faculty and group. They’re enraged as a result of they’ve been locked up with abusers, with regardless of the state of affairs is that they’ve been at dwelling with, the place faculty was their solely escape, and now they’re out and so they’re indignant. They’re afraid, and we now have not modeled efficient battle decision as adults,” she stated.

She informed the Drawback Solvers that fixing the youth gun violence problem begins with adults.

“Now we have to take accountability as a result of we now have created this society that makes our children really feel unsafe,” she stated. “Now we have to look inward and even our interplay. What can we mannequin in conduct? And what’s the message that we ship to our kids that makes them not really feel secure?”

Shaw now runs a non-profit, Compound of Compassion, a corporation she created to assist present assets, wrap-around providers and hope for group members who’ve skilled robust instances.

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“We service our veterans. We service our aged group. We service our houseless neighbors after which our youth-led providers are ran and operated and created by youth,” she stated.

Shaw stated her concept developed from her personal life as a home violence survivor with out particular help providers. She stated she needs she had been uncovered to mentorship, steering and adults who spoke about their experiences escaping trauma as she was rising up.

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Denver, CO

Maycee Barber releases statement explaining UFC Denver withdrawal

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Maycee Barber releases statement explaining UFC Denver withdrawal


Maycee Barber is still feeling the effects from what caused her lengthy hospital stay more than two months ago.

The UFC flyweight contender explained how that trip is dramatically still plaguing her and caused new issues to pop up in a lengthy Instagram post on Friday night. Those issues are what caused her to drop out of the UFC Denver main event in July against Rose Namajunas.

This is the last post I wanted to be making heading into July. Wish I was putting up a post about being 2 weeks out from my first main event. God must have other plans in store for the future Unfortunately,As a lot of you may know, I was hospitalized for many days following my last fight. I spent 9 days in the hospital less than 2 months ago. Doctors at the time couldn’t find exactly what was going on, and I ended up also I developing pneumonia during that time. I was put on numerous rounds of oral and IV antibiotics, which absolutely wrecked my system. When I accepted this fight I was told that I would be okay by the time July came around and so after a few weeks eased back to training and into a camp, as I got deeper into camp I just couldn’t find any intensity needed to get ready for a 5-round fight let alone the first 5 minutes of a practice. I wanted so badly to be able to go out there and perform in front of my home, family and friends. Especially against such a high level opponent in Rose. Although I tried to keep pushing through, my team recognized that I’m not just not physically even close to where I need to be to safely enter a fight let alone into a single training session without putting myself at risk for lifelong damage. I needed to find answers as to why my body is seemingly turning against me. I sought out a team of medical professionals who, alongside the UFC, have run extensive tests on my blood and urine and sinus microbiome and my gut and my hormones and there are many things physically not working properly in my body; and they are being exacerbated by an Epstein-barr virus infection that we found. This is causing body aches, headaches, as well as extreme fatigue and an inability to recover between training sessions. I keep trying to push through the fatigue, but every time I would I do so, I would get symptoms that were consistent with these lab findings.

The more we are digging into my physiology and immune system, the more apparent it becomes that not only did the numerous rounds of antibiotics I was given after my hospitalization wreck my immune system, but the constant training compounded to get me into a position of essentially feeling always sick and always completely wiped out. After I was informed of the severe risks of my spleen rupturing among other life altering risks I was devastated. We made the decision with my team of coaches, Drs and the UFC that my physical health must be attended to now so that I can make a run in the future.

Tracy Cortez filled in for Barber to face Namajunas.

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UFC Denver takes place July 13 at Colorado’s Ball Arena.





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Denver, CO

Denver Nuggets Reportedly Sign New Player

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Denver Nuggets Reportedly Sign New Player


In between the NBA Draft and the start of free agency there is a period of time when teams agree to deals with un-drafted free agents. While these deals can be signed at any time, it is most common to see them agreed upon soon after the draft, as teams bring in players they want to get a look at.

This can be done via Exhibit-10 deals, which bring in a player for training camp to potentially compete for a roster spot. In a report on Friday from Shams Charania of The Athletic, it was announced that the Denver Nuggets had signed Grand Canyon University’s Gabe McGlothan to an Exhibit-10 contract.

In five collegiate seasons, McGlothan averaged 12.8 PPG and 7.3 RPG. Showing an improved three-point shot in his final season at Grand Canyon, McGlothan made 39.8% of his threes on 3.6 attempts per game. While it is very unlikely McGlothan makes Denver’s roster, this should be a great opportunity for him to be around NBA champions while training with one of the league’s elite franchises.

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It is not entirely impossible for Exhibit-10 deals to lead to two-way contracts or even standard deals in some cases, but the Nuggets are not a team that projects to be filling out their roster with many unproven rookies. That said, McGlothan will get to work with Nikola Jokic and other Nuggets veterans in camp, which is a great opportunity.

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Video of Colorado Springs police shooting shows suspect hitting woman with gun

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Video of Colorado Springs police shooting shows suspect hitting woman with gun


The man shot by Colorado Springs police officers while fleeing on foot earlier this month struck a woman across the face with a gun in the city’s downtown area before pointing it at another man, security footage released Thursday shows.

Around 12:48 a.m. on Sunday, June 9, three officers with the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Downtown Area Response Team were patrolling on foot along South Nevada Avenue when they heard a disturbance up the street, according to a video briefing released Thursday by the department.

As one officer — identified by the Colorado Springs Police Department as Benjamin Hengel — moved toward the disturbance, he saw a woman fall to the ground and drew his stun gun, police department spokesperson Joe Frabbiele said in the video.

Another man chasing the suspect suddenly stopped and put his hands up, Frabbiele said. When Hengel went to move around the man, Hengel saw the suspect pointing a gun in his direction and drew his department-issued handgun.

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Security footage from a nearby building before the shooting shows the suspect — 21-year-old Al’Morion Germany — backing away from a woman while the two have what appears to be a verbal disagreement.

In the video, Germany points what appears to be a gun at the woman before striking her across the face with it, knocking her to the ground.

Germany turns to run and is quickly followed by three Colorado Springs police officers, including Hengel, security footage shows.

Footage from Hengel’s body camera shows officers yelling at Germany to drop the gun, following him down South Nevada Street and continuing the chase around the corner onto Pikes Peak Avenue when Germany ignored police commands to stop.

Frabbiele said Germany was running toward a parking lot the officers knew usually had a lot of foot traffic at that time of night.

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When Hengel turned the corner, he fired three shots at Germany, striking the man twice, body camera footage shows. The man continued to run after being shot and was taken into custody in the 100 block of East Pikes Peak Avenue.

Officers provided medical aid until paramedics arrived and Germany was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Frabbiele said.

Frabbiele said a loaded 10 mm Glock handgun was found near where Germany was shot, but did not confirm the gun belonged to Germany. The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office are investigating the shooting and will determine if Hengel’s use of force was justified.

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