Welcome to the last set of KICs for the 2019-2020 school year. This year has been crazy for Starr’s Mill students and the rest of the world. In the first week of KICs, there were heat warnings left and right, later there was the great rice spill of 2019, and finally our year ended abruptly with a pandemic. This has been a year for the history books. Throughout the school year, the news has been filled with unexpected events, and this week is just the same. With Brazilian cities on lockdown, an NBA champion arrested, and a gun standoff, The Prowler has the stories. 

Gunman fatally shot in a standoff in South Georgia (5/4)

On Sunday, a gunman took two children hostage during a standoff with the police and was discovered shot when police entered the home. A total of five people were held hostage. Police were called at 4:30 a.m. to investigate the situation. The gunman, LeJune Benjamin Cobb, later died while being taken to the hospital. 

When the Cordele police encountered Cobb inside his home, an exchange of gunfire was met and police quickly left the home. The three adults later escaped and the children were safely removed with the help of the Crisp County Sheriff. Attempts were made to negotiate with Cobb in order to have him surrender. However, another round of shots were fired between him and the police.

After several hours of trying to negotiate with Cobb, police entered the home and discovered him wounded. The GBI is still investigating how he was shot and an autopsy is planned to be held in Macon, Georgia. No officers were injured, but the incident marks the 37th officer-involved shooting investigated this year by the GBI.

Major Brazilian cities set lockdown as coronavirus spreads (5/5)

São Luis became Brazil’s first major city to incorporate a lockdown on Tuesday with Fortaleza following its lead. The lockdown measures prohibit people from going outside except to obtain groceries, cleaning supplies, or medications. Fortaleza located in the Ceara state will enter a 20-day lockdown period.

Brazil is the nation that has currently been hit the hardest by the coronavirus in South America, with 105,222 confirmed cases. The lockdown will affect over 1.3 million people in the northern state of Maranhão and will last until May 14. Maranhão, where São Luis is located, has not been hit as hard as the southern states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. 

Although the lockdown was mandated by the court, it has been granted and guaranteed support from Maranhão’s governor Flavio Dino. President Jair Bolsonaro and many others have downplayed the importances of the virus. Over the course of time polls have shown Brazilian support of a generalized quartaine decreasing.  

Biden leads Trump after addressing sexual assault allegations (5/6) 

In the upcoming presidential election there are three candidates, current President Donald Trump, Democratic nominee Joe Biden, and Libertarian candidate Justin Amash. These three will be competing for the next few months, but some of the early poll numbers are in.

Most voters say they are aware of Biden’s sexual assault allegations against Tara Reade, a senator, in 1993. Biden denied these claims publicly on Friday. During the first poll a question was added on whether voters believed these claims were true, and among the voters who believed that it was true, 32% said they would still vote for him.

Though it is early in the process of the election it looks like it will be close. Voters said that in a head to head match-up between Biden and Trump, Biden would win with 50% of voters. 81% of voters have said they have no opinion of Amash yet, but anything could change before our newest president is elected. 

Trump rejects CDC guidance to not reopen the United States (5/7) 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 17-page draft for reopening America was promptly ignored by the Trump administration. Recently, President Trump emphasized the need to quickly reopen the U.S. economy despite public health services advice of a more cautious approach.

A senior CDC official confirmed that the White House was not going to follow through with the 17-page draft recommendation. It was also officially added that the draft was a topic of a heated internal debate at the CDC. Members of the task force felt it was too specific and may not help nationwide.

As much as Trump wants everything to go back to normal, the governors ultimately make their decisions for the states. However, governors are encouraged to follow Trump’s phases of reopening. The rejection of the CDC’s recommendation was not helpful with the friction of U.S. health agencies and the White House. So, the CDC is trying to get it’s guidelines implemented at a state level. 

Former NBA champion arrested for pulling a gun on two people (5/8)

Shannon Brown, a two-time NBA Champion with the Lakers both in 2009 and 2010, was arrested for an aggravated assault after firing at two people who had entered his Georgia home for an open house.

The two individuals were searching for a home in the Tyrone area. Brown’s house had a For Sale sign and the two have claimed that they heard someone tell them to come inside. Once inside, Brown did not let them leave for a while,, and then once he did, he fired five to six rounds at them. There were no reported injuries.

Brown had told the police he thought that they were trying to break into his house, but he was still arrested by the police last week. Since the encounter, Brown has been bonded out of jail on May 4.