Aug 04 Watch 8:45 What caused the dramatic tipping point in deadly shootings? By PBS News Hour Why has there been a dramatic spike in homicides this year? Judy Woodruff speaks to Col. Sam Dotson, chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and Edward Flynn, chief of the Milwaukee Police Department, two cities that have seen… Continue watching
Aug 04 Watch 2:09 After declining for decades, homicides surge in cities across the country By PBS News Hour Homicides are up by an average of 19 percent in 35 big cities this year. Chicago is the site of the most most murders -- 252 so far -- while the city of Baltimore had 45 homicides in July alone. Continue watching
Jul 20 Watch 10:34 Gangs and guns fuel Chicago’s summer surge of violence By PBS News Hour In Chicago, the number of shooting deaths has climbed in 2015 after falling the last two years. Vonzell Banks was one of the victims -- a 17-year-old church choir drummer, who got caught in the crossfire during a family outing… Continue watching
Jul 20 A Chicago ‘nightcrawler’ knows the city’s violence all too well By Chris Bury PBS NewsHour special correspondent Chris Bury reports on the uptick of deadly violence in Chicago. In the report, he introduces us to Paul “Pauley” Lapointe, a news photographer who has witnessed much of this violence, and who serves as a… Continue reading
Jul 20 Why a Chicago church allowed us in to film a teenager’s funeral, and why that’s important By Dan Morris When we asked the Reverend Derail Smith if we could film the funeral of 17-year-old Vonzell Banks, he hesitated. But ultimately the circumstances outweighed such concerns. "People need to see what’s going on here," he said. Continue reading
Apr 10 Watch Why the battle over guns is being fought at the state level By PBS News Hour At the NRA’s annual convention, potential Republican presidential candidates took to the stage to try and woo one of the party’s biggest constituencies: the gun lobby. To discuss the politics of guns and how the debate is playing out on… Continue watching
Feb 27 8 people dead in rural Missouri shooting spree By Laura Santhanam Seven people were shot dead in rural Missouri before the alleged gunman turned his weapon on himself in a parked car early Friday, media reports said. Continue reading
Dec 15 Update: Suspect in Philadelphia area shooting spree identified and on the loose By Justin Scuiletti The Associated Press and WPVI-TV Philadelphia are reporting that SWAT teams are surrounding a home in Souderton, Pennsylvania, where police say the suspect has barricaded himself. The house, according to police, is where two of the victims were shot… Continue reading
Oct 27 Watch News Wrap: U.S., British forces leave Afghan military base after 13 years By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Monday, American and British troops were airlifted from a major military base in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, closing the facility after 13 years of use. Also, a suicide bombing in central Iraq killed at least 24 people,… Continue watching
Sep 04 Justice Department launches civil rights probe into Ferguson police practices By Eric Tucker, Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to open a wide-ranging civil rights investigation into the practices of the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department following the shooting last month of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer in the St. Continue reading