A Texas woman accused of ambushing her former boyfriend outside the Bellaire Police Department was apprehended after a dramatic multi-state chase and standoff on an Alabama highway. Choima Agurd, 39, allegedly pursued her ex-partner, who was in a Ford truck, and fired multiple shots into the vehicle’s passenger side as they approached the police station in the early hours of October 11.

Witnesses reported that the truck’s driver had attempted to seek refuge at the police station to avoid a confrontation, but Agurd, driving a Mercedes SUV, circled the vehicle and opened fire. Bellaire police officers at the station responded by returning fire, but Agurd fled the scene. The wounded former boyfriend was transported to Ben Taub Hospital, where he remains in serious condition.

The pursuit escalated when Texas authorities issued a bulletin to law enforcement, identifying Agurd’s vehicle as a 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLB. Alabama troopers later encountered her on Interstate 65, where she refused to stop, leading to a high-speed chase. Authorities ultimately deployed spike strips and shut down both lanes of traffic to halt Agurd’s escape.

A tense standoff ensued, involving Alabama State Troopers, State Bureau of Investigation agents, SWAT teams, and local county deputies. After several hours, Agurd was finally taken into custody. She now faces multiple charges, including aggravated assault on a family member and a police officer in Texas, as well as felony attempting to elude in Alabama.

Agurd is currently held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Alabama, awaiting further legal proceedings. Her arrest brings an end to a high-profile chase that involved the cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies across state lines.

Sheriff and police authorities have been overwhelmed by all the people flooding into Louisville, Alabama, for Freaknik-inspired parties. The rural town of just 600 people saw nearly 1,000 people flood the streets to party recently for one such party. This one turned deadly.

The authorities reported being unprepared for the amount of traffic they received in Louisville.

Lieutenant of the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office, Tracy Reese, said “I talked to the promoter, and she said she sold wristbands, and she knew how many there were. She said it was approximately 900 people, which is a large crowd for us. There aren’t even 900 people who live in Louisville.”

All the buzz and attention surrounding Freaknik started with flyers circulating of a Freaknik-style block party happening in a Louisville open field. It got further reach when details were put out on social media about the party. The posts gained traction with the release of the new Freaknik documentary, but the sheriff of Barbour County had no idea the event was going to happen.

The Louisville Freaknik-style party, unfortunately, got out of hand on its opening night. Kenyatta Snell, 25, was one of the people invited to attend.

Kenyatta’s mother said, “She told me she was going to Freaknik. That’s what they called it.”

The young girl’s mother continued to tell the outlet that she was concerned about all the weapons present when they arrived so she left. “There were too many guns out here for me,” she said.

Unfortunately, the mother would never hear from her daughter again after 9:30 at night.

When Kenyatta and her friends returned to the party in Louisville, a shooting broke out and Kenyatta was tragically killed.

“We scanned the whole property and collected 40 to 50 shell casings,” Lt. Reese revealed. “Based on where we picked up the shell casings, there was a group on this side and a group on this side, and they appeared to just be shooting at each other. We still don’t know what started it.”

Source: Alabama Police Overwhelmed With ‘Freaknik’ Parties, Some Have Turned Deadly

A police chief in Decatur, Alabama, is taking accountability for giving inaccurate information before officers shot and killed a homeowner during an incident with a tow truck driver, Associated Press reports.

Decatur Police Chief Todd Pinion put out a statement admitting to rushing to releasing information and gave an inaccurate description of officers’ commands regarding the shooting of Steve Perkins on Sept. 29.

“I apologize for the inaccurate description of the encounter in our initial statement, and we have already taken steps to improve our public information sharing process,” Pinion wrote.

The Perkins was killed in front of his home after a confrontation began with a tow truck driver trying to repossess his truck. The truck operation claimed Perkins flashed a gun, alerting officers to accompany the driver when he went back to Perkins’ home. The Decatur police department inaccurately said that officers ordered Perkins to drop his weapon and that he refused. According to Pinion, what was actually happened was the officers identified themselves as “police” and ordered Perkins to “get on the ground.”

Video and audio from a neighbor’s surveillance camera, obtained by WAFF 48, shows an officer shouting “police, get on the ground” and shots fired almost immediately after. Neighbor Justin Shepherd believes that changes the whole story.

“It broke my heart,” Shepherd said. “The officers were running at him at yelling, and within a second, he put his hands up, and they started firing.”

Shepherd feels Perkins didn’t have enough time to respond to the officers’ commands.

The Perkins family attorney, Lee Merritt, disputed those claims and said officers didn’t announce their presence upon arrival on Perkins’ property and opened fire within a second of telling Perkins to get on the ground. Merritt also said the victim didn’t appear to be aware of police presence. Protests in support of the victim’s family have been happening daily while the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency opens an investigation into the shooting.

Source: Decatur Police Chief Acknowledges ‘Inaccurate Description’ In Fatal Shooting Of Black Man In Front Of Home

Dameion Pickett said someone had a private pontoon boat illegally positioned in the Harriott II’s space as it ended a dinner tour, preventing the riverboat from safely docking.

The riverboat worker at the center of the viral brawl at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama, nearly two months ago is speaking publicly about details of that day for the first time.

Dameion Pickett, a Black co-captain and the lead deckhand of Harriott II, told Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” that he went to work on Aug. 5 expecting just another nice, peaceful cruise. He said he was shocked at the violent attack he endured while “just doing my job,” according to ABC News.

Pickett recalled the Harriott II tried to dock after a dinner tour but a private pontoon boat had illegally parked in its space, making docking hazardous. Pickett told ABC that he could have docked but would have hit some vessels and been held responsible.

Pickett and witnesses on the Harriott II made several unsuccessful attempts to ask the pontoon boat’s owner to relocate it, ABC reported. At that point, Pickett said, he left the riverboat “on the captain’s orders” and went to move the pontoon boat by himself.

“I was, like, ‘I’m just doing my job,’” he recalled. “After we dock, we don’t mind y’all staying there, but not at this time while we’re trying to dock.’”

The video shows a man confronted and punched Pickett shortly after he moved the boat. From there, others joined in, all of whom were white, the video shows. The situation escalated, with Pickett saying he had to protect himself.

“This man just put his hand on me,” Pickett said. “I was, like … it’s my job, but I’m still defending myself at the same time. So when he touched me, I was, like, ‘It’s on.’”

The incident led to a massive brawl, prompting several Black eyewitnesses to come to Pickett’s defense.

Aaren Hamilton-Rudolph, 16, who was in his second week on the job, was one of the first people to swim to Pickett’s defense. He said everyone was recording the incident, but no one was helping — and he “couldn’t just watch and sit around and just let him get beat on,” ABC News reported.

Roshein “RahRah” Carlton also rushed to Pickett’s side, saying it’s “our duty, as our coworker, as a team, to go and aid and assist him.”

Source: Montgomery riverboat worker speaks out for first time since viral brawl

By Victor Omondi

The Huntsville Police Department has launched an investigation into an incident captured Sunday night in a Facebook Live video showing several officers struggling with a man on the ground and one Huntsville police officer stomping on the man’s leg.

incident occurred at a Mapco gas station. The video has more than 12,000 views on Facebook and thousands more on Twitter.

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“We understand concerns with use of force techniques used in the arrest and we take these concerns seriously,” said a statement released on Tuesday. “The full incident is under review including all actions taken by officers during the arrest process.”

It’s unclear what happened before the recording started. The man who recorded the encounter, Bruce Turner, said a store clerk told him that the man, Kemontae Hobbs, had been harassing women in the store. Turner said he noticed one officer was engaged with the man.

Turner then walked to the back of the store to get water, and as more officers entered the store, he began recording the encounter. When the clip begins, the man being detained is already face-down on the ground, and someone is screaming for help in the background.

Source: Police Investigate Video Showing Officer Stomping on Man’s Leg in Alabama Gas Station

The family of Nigel Shelby, a 14-year-old who took his life after he was repeatedly bullied over being gay, will file a lawsuit against the Huntsville Board of Education.

Attorneys Ben Crump, co-counsel Jasmine Rand, local counsel Lynn Sherrod, and David J. Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, will host a virtual news conference on April 13, 2021, where they will discuss the filing of the lawsuit, spurred by Nigel’s grieving parents.

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In the suit, Nigel’s family claims their son’s civil rights were violated prior to his death in 2019. The lawsuit comes almost two years to the date of the day he took his life.

“Fourteen-year-old Nigel Shelby was bullied by his peers for his race and sexual orientation, and when he sought help from school administrators, was told that his sexuality was his choice,” reads a statement sent to NewsOne announcing the suit. “School administrators did not alert Nigel’s parents of his struggles in school so that he could receive help from a licensed mental health professional. On April 18, 2019, Nigel Shelby died by suicide. Following his death, school administrators alerted Nigel’s mother to look for a suicide note in his backpack, revealing that they were aware of his plans to take his own life.”

“Nigel’s death influenced a national conversation about bullying and elevated the need for acceptance relating to race and sexuality among adolescents,” the statement continues. “As the nation’s only civil rights organization working at the intersections of racial equity and LGBTQ+ equality, NBJC stands with the family of Nigel Shelby and in support of Black LGBTQ+ students everywhere.”

According to AL.com, Huntsville City Schools authorities issued a statement last month saying they anticipated a suit would be filed soon and could not comment on pending legal matters, but stressed that schools will continue to provide resources to students in need.

“Consistent with the district’s Core Values, HHS has a strong Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in place to provide support to LGBTQ+ students, and the district has partnered with GLSEN and the Anti-Defamation League to support its schools and students.”

The statement also urged students to speak with school officials if they were contemplating suicide.

Many were grieved and struck by Nigel’s sudden death, particularly Black members of the LGBTQ+ community who were targets of the same bullying, ostracization and violence that Nigel faced coming of age as youth.

Source: Family Of Nigel Shelby, Alabama Teen Who Died By Suicide After Anti-Gay Bullying, To File Lawsuit