Top 5 Live-WURD Monday April 27
1. Shocks terrify survivors of Nepal quake that killed 2,500
Shell-shocked and sleeping in the streets, tens of thousands of Nepalis braced against terrifying aftershocks Sunday while digging for survivors of the massive earthquake that ripped across this Himalayan nation a day earlier, killing more than 2,500 people.
Acrid, white smoke rose above Nepal’s most revered Hindu temple, where dozens of bodies were being cremated at any given time.
Aid groups received the first word from remote mountain villages – reports that suggested many communities perched on mountainsides were devastated or struggling to cope.
2. Violence mars Baltimore protest over police custody death
Protesters rampaged through downtown Baltimore as the city’s biggest demonstration yet over the death of a young African-American man in police custody turned violent.
More than 1,000 people had joined a peaceful 90-minute rally at city hall on Saturday, demanding justice for Freddie Gray, 25, who died last Sunday from spinal injuries, a week after his arrest in west Baltimore.
But the mood shifted dramatically when scores of protesters moved to the vicinity of the Camden Yards baseball stadium, scene of an evening Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox game.
Twelve people were arrested, police commissioner Anthony Batts told reporters.
“My family wants to say: Please, please stop the violence. Freddie would not want this,” Gray’s twin sister Fredericka said.
3. Brady gun-control campaign protests at Phila. firearms dealer
A national gun-control campaign aimed at “bad apple” firearms dealers took aim in South Philadelphia on Saturday as advocates staged a demonstration in front of a major gun wholesaler and retailer near Front Street and Tasker Avenue.
Several dozen protesters led by the Washington-based Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence singled out Firing Line Inc. for having sold, over the years, dozens of guns that later were used in crimes or in some other way ended up in the possession of law enforcement authorities.
The Brady Center’s “bad apple” campaign stop was the third since September, when the effort began in Chicago. It seeks to pressure gun dealers to tighten buyer-screening measures beyond what is required by law.
Several dozen marchers carried signs or pictures of loved ones killed by guns, calling for Firing Line to adopt a “code of conduct” that would include photographing every person who buys a gun there.
4. Family: Ja’Meer Bullard saved a friend from getting shot
Liz, a 44-year-old Camden resident, saw a young man, shaking and struggling to hold himself up. To her horror, it was her 18-year-old cousin Ja’Meer Bullard.
Liz, who is afraid to give her last name, said she ran around the corner to find Bullard’s father, Jesse Kato, to give him the awful news that his son had been shot.
Bullard, a star football player at Woodrow Wilson High School newly transferred to Camden High, was pronounced dead minutes later at Cooper University Hospital.
The distraught family believes Bullard was with a 16-year-old childhood friend when trouble arrived on Mechanic Street. An older man walking by told the family he heard Bullard tell the younger teen to run just before gunfire struck Bullard in the back.
Jesse and Katrina Kato moved their family to the two-story rowhouse on Liberty street – a bigger place for their four children – a year ago.
5. Korean War vet, wife, abducted by three women; 5 arrests so far
An 86-year-old Korean War veteran and his 55-year-old wife told police they were kidnapped Thursday morning by three women who forced them to open a bank account and rent two cars for them.
Shaken and unharmed but indignant, the couple on Saturday recounted the bizarre tale of their six-hour abduction ordeal. Police said five people, including one of the alleged kidnappers, have been arrested.
George Saunders and his wife, Priscilla Jones, of Southwest Philadelphia, said they were walking – with the aid of canes – to a convenience store for groceries about 11 a.m.
Thursday on the 3000 block of Pennsgrove Street in West Philadelphia. Three women pulled up alongside them in a gray Chrysler Town & Country minivan and asked if they needed a ride.
Click here to read these stories on 900amWURD.
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon
