Concerns about classrooms with no locks renewed
Concerns about classrooms with no locks renewed
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When an active shooter alert spread across the UCLA campus Wednesday, some students found themselves in a frightening predicament: They were told to go into lockdown but couldn’t lock their classroom doors.
Images of students piling tables, chairs and printers against doors on social media sparked alarm and raised questions — yet it was hardly the first time students at a university or school were unable to lock their doors during a shooting.
The same issue arose during other recent deadly attacks, including one at Virginia Tech in 2007 where students barricaded themselves inside rooms and at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 where teachers did the same.
Some schools installed locks in recent years following attacks, but experts say wider adoption has been hindered by the cost to retrofit doors and local fire codes that require doors to open in one motion during emergencies.
Yet, once an active shooter is in a building, most security experts agree getting into a locked room is one of the most effective deterrents against getting injured or shot.
Seine River peaks in Paris, top museums stay shut for days
PARIS (AP) — The Seine River peaked early Saturday around Paris, hitting its highest level in nearly 35 years — almost 4.5 meters (15 feet) above average — then began a slow descent. That drew a collective sigh of relief but authorities cautioned it could take up to 10 days for the river to return to normal.
It will take at least four days before tourists in the French capital get a chance to view art at the world-class Louvre Museum, where workers have been scrambling to move 250,000 artworks from basement storage areas to rooms upstairs to keep them safe from flooding.
The Louvre, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” said it won’t reopen until Wednesday, while the Orsay Museum, known for its impressionist art, was closed at least through the weekend. Other Paris landmarks shut down due to flooding include the national library and the Grand Palais, Paris’ opulent exhibition center, which was built more than 100 years ago.
Nearly a week of heavy rain has led to serious flooding across parts of France, Germany, Romania and Belgium.
The death toll from flooding in France rose to four, with 24 others injured, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Saturday after a government crisis meeting, bringing the flooding death toll across Europe to 18.
Ex-Stanford swimmer’s jail term decried as too lenient
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — A six-month jail term for a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus after both attended a fraternity party is being decried as a slap on the wrist.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced 20-year-old Brock Turner to six months in county jail and three years’ probation after the woman who was assaulted read the court an emotional statement that has gone viral. Turner must also complete a sex offender management program and register as a convicted sex offender for the rest of his life.
In her statement, the woman described how the attack left her emotionally scarred.
“My independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition. I became closed off, angry, self-deprecating, tired, irritable, empty,” she said.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said he was disappointment that the judge did not sentence Turner to prison.