Washington
Man accused in Washington music festival shooting may have been on psychedelic mushrooms
QUNICY, Wash. (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting two people and wounding several others at a Washington music festival Saturday told police he was high on psychedelic mushrooms and believed the world was ending, according to court documents.
U.S. Army Spc. James Kelly, of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is facing two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and domestic violence assault in Washington state’s Grant County Superior Court, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Kelly, 26, appeared in court Wednesday but did not enter a plea, news outlets reported. He is being held without bail.
Efforts to locate an attorney representing Kelly weren’t successful Wednesday.
Kelly and Lily Luksich, who have dated for about a year, together attended the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival at the Gorge Amphitheater, court documents said. Kelly told police he took psychedelic mushrooms before walking to the concert venue, according to court documents.
Kelly then started hallucinating and told Luksich they needed to return to the campground. “This is the end,” he told Luksich, court documents said.
At their campsite, Kelly allegedly got a handgun from a locked box in the console of his pickup truck. He allegedly loaded it and fired at Seattle couple Brandy Escamilla, 29, and Josilyn Ruiz, 26, who were walking by, court records say. They died at the scene.
Reports of a shooting came in around 8:20 p.m. Saturday, according to the North Central Washington Special Investigations Unit, which is leading an investigation into the shooting.
Andrew Caudra, who is also known by August Morningstar, of Eugene, Washington, was shot next. He was in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center on Tuesday, investigators said.
At the campground, Kelly then started to walk away, and Luksich followed him and dialed 911, court records said.
“She told dispatch her man had a gun,” according to court records. “Then no more information could be provided because Kelly took her phone and discarded it.”
Security employee Lori Williams was hit by a bullet while responding to the shooting report, investigators said. The bullet went through the windshield of her utility vehicle and struck her glasses and the side of her face, investigators said. She was treated for bruises and cuts at at the scene.
Kelly then allegedly fired at a Grant County Sheriff’s Office drone and shot Luksich twice, investigators said. The 20-year-old from Mill Creek, Washington, was treated at a Moses Lake hospital and has since been released, investigators said.
Officers found Kelly and Luksich in a field next to the campground. Moses Lake Police Department Detective Edgar Salazar, who was working undercover at the festival, shot Kelly once before other officers provided aid and took Kelly into custody, investigators said. Salazar has been placed on leave during the investigation.
Kelly was treated at a Spokane hospital and later booked into Grant County Jail. He’s next scheduled to be in court July 5.
Washington
True Freshman Talent at Washington – Khmori House
Washington’s Spring roster featured a handful of early-enrollee freshmen. For players that would otherwise still be in high school, several of them started to show the kind of potential they might have for the future of this program. One of them was linebacker Khmori House. The class of 2024 early-enrollee was a three-star recruit out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. The Trinity League in Southern California is known to be one of the nation’s most competitive high school leagues. In three seasons at the varsity level at St. John Bosco, House recorded 118 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and five pass breakups. He was a productive player at linebacker and strong safety for the Braves. And his transition to Big Ten Football has been fluid thus far.
Recognition from Robert Bala
After Washington’s final open practice of the Spring, we asked linebacker coach Robert Bala if there was a player in his room who had taken the biggest step this Spring. He immediately pointed to the true freshman House. “He’s done a really good job of understanding what we ask him to do either fundamentally, technically, schematically.”
That football knowledge and overall ability to digest the defensive scheme under Bala and Steve Belichick is critical. It will earn him time on the field earlier in his career. Bala continued, “He’s been a bright spot for us this spring and I think he is going to have an opportunity to get on the field a lot earlier in his career.” He’s a player who had been on campus for a little over four months at the time. This recognition speaks volumes to what the coaching staff believes House can be, and how well he’s already been performing.
What Khmori House Does Well
You notice a few things right off the bat when watching House play linebacker. One of which is his size for a true freshman. He is listed at 6’-0” and 187 pounds but his build does not look like that of a true freshman. House uses his size to deliver physical contact on ball carriers and blockers. There were multiple occasions this Spring when we heard a “pop” during the play. A closer look revealed it was the number 28 on the delivering end of the blow. His high school tape backs this up as well. House did not shy away from laying down hard contact. His size helps him be a dependable tackler, bringing players down to the turf consistently.
The other thing that stands out about the linebacker is his speed and athleticism. House’s high school film show him getting up in run fits as well as sliding back into coverage. He is able to use his quickness to get around the offensive line in rush defense and to close in on the wide receiver in pass defense. This Spring, that quickness was on display. House’s footwork during linebacker drills and agility in live play make him a versatile player for Bala.
Khmori House’s Speed in Pressure
One of the plays that stood out this Spring was not one you would see in the stat book. Rather, it was a run-down of Washington’s speedy quarterback Demond Williams Jr. During one of the team scrimmages in April, Williams lined up in shotgun where he took the snap and fled the pocket to his right. He initially looked to have an angle to the outside. But House shot out of the middle level of the defense. The linebacker’s angle and quickness forced Williams to stretch his run to the sideline rather than upfield. Instead of a five-yard gain around the edge, House forced Williams out of bounds for no gain. The awareness and athleticism of House to get an angle on Williams were impressive. Though it was just one small play, it reinforces his potential to be a multi-faceted player on this defense who will see the field early on.
Photo courtesy: Nick Lemkau, Last Word on College Football
Washington
A page from history: George Washington’s inauguration Bible comes to Westport | Westport Journal
By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — Many towns in New England claim, “George Washington slept here.” Whether Westport can make that claim or not, Westporters can be certain the Bible used at the inauguration of the nation’s first president has visited Westport.
On Saturday, the 257-year-old George Washington Inaugural Bible was proudly displayed for the community by the men of Westport’s Masonic Lodge, Temple No. 65, to mark the lodge’s 200th anniversary.
The Westport Masonic Lodge was chartered on May 12, 1824, before the town of Westport itself was incorporated, and is one of the oldest organizations in town, according to Richard Ruggiano, worshipful master of the Westport temple.
The hands of four U.S. presidents have rested on the Bible during their inauguration, who in addition to Washington, include Warren G. Harding, Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter. George W. Bush also would have been sworn in using the Bible, but because it was raining the priceless Bible couldn’t be exposed to the weather, Ruggiano said.
The Bible was also present at the funerals for Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and at ceremonies to lay the cornerstone for both the U.S. Capitol building and the Washington Monument, he said.
“We should be sharing this with our community,” Ruggiano said of the Bible, which is owned by Masonic Lodge St. John’s No. 1 A.Y.M. (Ancient York Masons) in New York. “It has never been shone in Connecticut.”
The Bible’s public display Saturday drew Westport residents, members of nearby Masonic lodges and even “Benjamin Franklin,” a.k.a. Westport lodge member Chris Jennings, who portrayed Franklin. The real Franklin was a friend of Washington’s Jennings said in a presentation to visitors.
In his presentation, Jennings recounted the history preceding Washington’s inauguration, from the perspective of Franklin. He referred to Washington as “a young Virginia militia colonel,” 20 years before he became leader of a new nation.
Washington did not sign the Declaration of Independence because he was in New York state with his troops, according to Jennings, and was one of the nation’s founding fathers who believed it was important for the national legislature to have two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Washington’s inauguration as the first president of the United States took place in 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City, according to information from St. John’s lodge. It lay open on a crimson velvet cushion when the oath of office was administered to Washington by the first secretary of the U.S. Senate, Samuel Otis. Among those present were the nation’s first vice president, John Adams; the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay; the first secretary of war, Henry Knox, and the first governor of New York, George Clinton.
Many of the nation’s founders were Masons, Ruggiano said, including Washington himself, his generals and many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
On Saturday, the Inaugural Bible made the trip from Manhattan accompanied by four members of St. John’s lodge, who donned white gloves and flanked the Bible as it was displayed in the local lodge to ensure its safety.
“We hire a conservation organization to take care of it,” said Andreas Vavaroutsos, a member of the New York lodge and part of the group that transported the Bible. The men drove the Bible to the Westport lodge at 210 Post Road East, and planned to drive it back to New York on Saturday evening.
It took Ruggiano many years to arrange for the Bible to be displayed in conjunction with the Westport lodge’s bicentennial, he said. But with arrangements complete and the Bible at the center of attention on a special day for the Westport lodge, he said, “We feel graced and blessed.”
Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.
Washington
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