AP
(Left) Col. Steven Flaherty, (Right) Chad Dermyer
RICHMOND, VA (AP) — Virginia State Police say a trooper has died after a shooting at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond. Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty says the trooper, Chad Dermyer, died Thursday after being shot multiple times. State Police have said two civilians were also shot at the terminal. The gunman was shot dead by two other troopers. The Greyhound station is west of the city’s downtown area, across from Richmond’s minor league baseball stadium and within a former industrial area. It is on a main thoroughfare connecting a residential district to the stadium and nearby restaurants. City Councilwoman Rita Trammell was at the scene of the shooting and says it was a “senseless act.”
As promised Governor McAuliffe has vetoed a bill similar to others causing controversy in North Carolina and Georgia. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
(see Governor’s news release below)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed legislation he said would legalize discrimination of the LGBT community. The Democratic governor vetoed the bill during a radio appearance on WTOP Wednesday. The measure would prohibit the state from punishing religious groups that refuse services related to gay marriages. Republican supporters said it would protect people from expressing their religious beliefs. But opponents assailed it as an attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Virginians. Republican-backed measures related to LGBT rights recently have attracted fierce national push back from large corporations in Georgia and North Carolina. Georgia GOP Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a bill similar to Virginia’s earlier this week. But the fight in Virginia has received significantly less attention thanks largely to McAuliffe’s repeated promises to veto the bill.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed a Republican-backed bill that seeks to block state funding for Planned Parenthood. The Democratic governor said he was proud to veto the legislation that would defund the women’s health group, which performs abortions as well as well as providing other health services. McAuliffe was joined at an event Tuesday by lawmakers and advocates. He said he needed to “smack down” the attempt to limit women’s health rights. Supporters of the measure say it’s needed to ensure state funds continue not to be used for elective abortions. Republican Del. Ben Cline said in a statement that McAuliffe is listening to his friends in the “abortion lobby,” rather than “ensuring women have access to quality care.” Republicans likely don’t have enough votes to overturn the veto.
Gabby Giffords (AP photo)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords is pushing for tougher gun laws in Virginia. Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, announced Tuesday at a Capitol news conference the formation of a new state-level coalition of gun-control advocates. The group, called the Virginia Coalition for Common Sense, says it will advocate for legislation aimed at preventing guns from getting into the hands of dangerous people. A top priority will be advocating for mandatory background checks at gun shows. Giffords was gravely wounded in a shooting at an event in 2011. She and Kelly have formed similar coalitions in several other states.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Officials have confirmed that a small earthquake rattled central Virginia this past weekend. News media report that the U.S. Geological Survey says a 2.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in Louisa County around 4 a.m. on Sunday. Officials said the quake was centered about 9 miles south of Louisa and 27 miles northwest of Short Pump. No injuries were reported in Sunday’s quake. Louisa County is no stranger to earthquakes. In 2011, a 5.3-magnitude quake that was centered in the Mineral Area of the county was felt all the way to New York and Georgia.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed a bill that seeks to undo the Democrat’s executive order banning guns in state offices. McAuliffe also nixed a bill that would prevent most government agencies from prohibiting employees from keeping firearms in their vehicles. State workers are currently barred from possessing a weapon not required for their job when they are on state premises or conducting state business. McAuliffe and Republican lawmakers reached a landmark deal on gun policy this year, but the GOP has remained critical of the executive order the governor signed last year. McAuliffe says the Republican-backed bills would overturn important policies designed to thwart workplace violence or accidental injury. Neither of the measures passed in the General Assembly with enough support to overturn the governor’s vetoes.
Chelsi Griffin
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) _ A Virginia woman has pleaded to accessory charges in the deaths of a North Carolina couple last year in Myrtle Beach. Media outlets reported that 20-year-old Chelsi Griffin of Roanoke, Virginia, entered an Alford plea in court in Conway on Wednesday. Griffin is a 2013 graduate of Hidden Valley High School. An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but concedes there’s enough evidence for a conviction. Griffin and 23-year-old Alexander Turner were charged with murder in the deaths of his parents last March. Turner pleaded guilty in October. Fifty-two-year-old Carrie Daley Turner and 61-year-old Steven Gray Turner of Durham, North Carolina, were found shot to death in a hotel. Griffin was sentenced to up to five years in prison under the Youthful Offender Act. She could have her record cleared after five years. Prosecutors say Griffin helped hide the bodies.
David Eisenhauer
Natalie Keepers
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ A prosecutor says the preliminary hearing for two former Virginia Tech students charged in the slaying of a 13-year-old girl has been postponed. The hearing originally was set for Monday in Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. A new date has not been set. Prosecutor Mary Pettitt said in an email Wednesday that defense attorneys needed more time to prepare, and her office has not received the final medical examiner’s report on Nicole Lovell. Eighteen-year-old David Eisenhauer of Columbia, Maryland, is charged with abduction and first-degree murder in Nicole’s late January death. Nineteen-year-old Natalie Keepers of Laurel, Maryland, is charged with accessory before and after the fact and with illegally dumping Nicole’s body just across the state line in North Carolina.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed legislation aimed at making sure prospective voters fill out all of the questions asked on voter registration forms. McAuliffe, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that he’d vetoed the Republican-backed legislation in the latest chapter in an ongoing partisan battle over voter registration requirements. The governor said in a statement that the bill could disenfranchise voters over technicalities, like failing to mark a box saying the prospective voter will be 18 at the time of election even though the form also asks for the a date of birth. The legislation came in response to an unsuccessful proposal by the Virginia State Board of Elections last year to make optional some of the questions on voter registration form, including some related to citizenship or criminal records.
Two on the left are believed to be Brussels suicide bombers, the man on the right is still being sought by the police. Photo from AP.
Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country’s deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union’s capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after 34 were killed in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. Police conducted raids into the night and circulated a photo of three men seen in the airport suspected of involvement in Tuesday’s attacks. Belgian state broadcaster RTBF has identified two of the attackers as brothers Khalid and Brahim Bakraoui. They are believed to have blown themselves up in the attacks. The third man is at large and has not been identified. The report Wednesday says the brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism. RTBF says Khalid Bakraoui had rented an apartment which was raided by police last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.
The Islamic State group has issued an updated communique taking credit for the Brussels attacks and threatening other countries taking part in the anti-IS coalition. The statement promises “dark days” for countries allied against the Islamic State, threatening that “what is coming is worse and more bitter.” The communique was published in Arabic and French, and an English translation was provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites. IS also released photos purportedly showing its fighters in Syria giving out candy to children to celebrate the Brussels attacks, according to SITE.
A Belgian security official says the death toll has risen to 34 in attacks on the Brussels airport and a subway station. The official did not specify how many people were killed and wounded at each site. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because precise numbers were expected to be announced early Wednesday. Earlier, the government had reported 20 dead at the Maelbeek metro station, in the heart of the European Union’s capital, and 11 dead at the airport, and scores of injured. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.