News in 90 – Feb. 16, 2023

One person was killed and three more were wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas.

El Paso police said hours after the gunfire that two people had been taken into custody, though details of what led to the shooting remained unclear.

Interim police chief Peter Pacillas said that Cielo Vista Mall was still considered a crime scene, and that it would remain locked down until authorities had completed their investigation.

Two sheriff’s deputies who have been suspended for five days for their role in the arrest of Tyre Nichols failed to keep their body cameras activated after they went to the location where Nichols had been beaten by five Memphis police officers, officials said late Wednesday.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies Jeremy Watkins and Johntavious Bowers each violated multiple policies after they reported to the location of Nichols’ violent arrest on Jan. 7, Sheriff Floyd Bonner said in a statement.

Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment packed a gymnasium demanding reassurances after toxic chemicals spilled and burned in a huge plume over their homes and businesses.

State officials insisted yet again that testing shows the air is safe to breathe around East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line. Officials promised air and water monitoring would continue.

Sydney LaBelle can be reached at labe7208@stthomas.edu