FRIGHTFUL FRIDAY -- 2 Shot, 1 Dead As Violence Streak Continues

January 2015, One Of The Most Murderous Januaries In Recent History
31 January 2015
By A.F. James MacArthur
Agitator-In-Chief
@BaltoSpectator
 
The bitter cold Friday night, accompanied by a bone chilling strong breeze, was not enough to make Baltimore's violence chill out.

With the victim's blood along with some of his clothing still on the sidewalk (towards the left between the stop sign and police car), Baltimore Police investigate shooting scene at N. Bentlou and W. Fayette Streets. /MACARTHUR MEDIA

Two men were shot Friday, adding to the city's already horrific toll of violence this January. Saturday morning Baltimore Police confirmed one man had died. The other had injuries so severe, homicide detectives were called to the scene.


Incident Number One

After a relatively quiet day, Baltimore Police received a call for a person shot on the 3000 block of Liberty Heights Ave. When officers arrived at 6:40 p.m., they found an 18 year-old man suffering from an apparent single gunshot wound to the head.

Homicide detectives were called to the scene to investigate.

Although not pronounced dead on the scene, the man was transported to an area hospital. His official status had him listed in critical condition, but late Saturday morning police confirmed he died of his injuries.



The Baltimore Spectator arrived on scene within minutes after the shooting happened.

Listen to The Baltimore Spectator's initial reported, recorded live on scene.


Liberty Heights was shut down in both direction at the intersection where Dukeland meets Wabash, while police searched for evidence.

With an expansive vacant field on one side, and a large church -- taking up the entire block --  on the other, the immediate vicinity of the shooting has the feel and appearance of a relatively desolate place, compared to many other areas that have been the scene of violent crime.

Police have released few details on the circumstances surrounding the shooting. No motive or information of a possible suspect was given. The victim's identity has not been released.

In 2014, only 45% of all murders were solved.


Incident Number 2

Several hours after the Liberty Heights shooting, The Baltimore Spectator returned to the area attempting to gain further insight into the incident. A short time after arriving back on that scene, the second shooting of the night took place.

A few minutes after 10:00 p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to the intersection of N. Bentlou St. and W. Fayette St.

Upon arrival, officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

An area resident told The Baltimore Spectator she believes she heard at least five or six shots fired.

Witnesses describe seeing the man laying lifeless on the sidewalk before officials arrived.

He was transported to an area hospital. Like the other shooting of the night, the man's injuries appeared so serious, homicide detectives were called to the scene.

On Saturday morning his last known official status was listed as critical condition.

Like the majority of shootings and murders taking place in Baltimore; police have stated no known suspects or motives. The victim's identity has not yet been released.


With less than half of all murders that happened last year being solved, so far this year, it seems unlikely Baltimore Police will be able to show much improvement.

If the second Friday shooting victim dies, it brings the total murders for the month of January to 23. One of the highest amount of killings ever seen in January.

There is a common perception that violence tends to slow down in the winter months; however, this January, and last January, show no indication of any such winter slow down.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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Six Million Ways To Die -- We're All At Risk Pt. 1

Most City Homes Face Imminent Danger
29 January 2015
By A.F. James MacArthur
Agitator-In-Chief
@BaltoSpectator

I could have been killed Wednesday. But it wasn't the first time.

Having been shot, knife attacked, endured numerous car crashes, motorcycle accidents, a boating mishap, and even a near miss in the skies, I live life being ever aware of just how fragile it is. Truly, our lives can be taken away at any moment.

While working on  our websites this evening, I began to smell the distinct odor of natural gas.

Before starting my work, I had placed a big pot of water on the stove. I needed boiling water to brew some herbal tea. Knowing this would take a few minutes, I went upstairs to Studio B at MacArthur Media world headquarters. There were a few things I thought I'd take care of before heading back down to the kitchen to add the tea bags.

Initially the smell didn't concern me much. Sometimes when using a gas stove, it's not entirely unusual to detect a hint of odor. But in a few moments, I realized this was a bit different. With the studio door closed, the smell was a bit stronger than it should be.

Gas stove explosions can level an entire house.

Racing downstairs, I discovered for some strange reason, the burner on the stove had flamed out. Explosive, flammable natural gas was pumping into the room. I can only guess how much of it had already filled the room before I shut things off and proceeded to ventilate the building.

If some source of ignition, some sort of errant spark met with the invisible pool of gas, a mushroom cloud could have easily been part of the view in the skies of North Baltimore Wednesday.

Even without an explosion, prolonged inhalation of high amounts of natural gas fumes carries it's own health hazards as well. Put simply, it can kill you. You can suffocate. If you're sleeping and don't smell it, while not as undetectable as carbon monoxide, you can still be taken out.

Having spent years of my life working in fire rescue and EMS, I consider myself a bit more cautious
and aware than the average bear. Yet realizing how bad this could have went has me quite shaken.


Cause Of Mansion Fire Determined

Wednesday we learned what investigators determined was the cause of a huge fatal fire on Childs Point Rd in Annapolis.

A week ago the multi-million dollar, waterfront mansion in Anne Arundel County, quickly turned a family home into an inferno.

Although missing for several days, the bodies of six family members, including 4 children were eventually discovered in the charred rubble.

In a statement Wednesday,  Anne Arundel County Fire Chief Allan C. Graves, explained what investigators believe was the source of the deadly blaze:

 "The investigation team has concluded that an electrical failure ignited combustible material in the area [a large living room of the house] which quickly spread to the [dried out] Christmas tree and furnishings."

Read the full statement from Chief Graves.


Safety Saves Lives

Life in Baltimore is filled with uncertainty and dangerous enough as it is, but we should be able to feel safe while at work or at home.

Since the majority of all homes in Baltimore have gas stoves, what nearly happened to me can happen to anyone. Make sure you keep an eye on them and always be alert when they're in use.

Once a fire gets started, most people have no idea how quickly they can spread and take over an entire house.

With many residences being attached homes, and others located in close proximity to each other, Baltimore faces particularly high fire danger. A fire in one place, can quickly spread to other adjacent structures.

The city is no stranger to fatal fires. Statistically, our rate of people dieing in fires -- usually house

James MacArthur at a home explosion near Baltimore.

fires -- is around three times higher than the national average. This isn't acceptable.

Although a smoke detector would not have helped me today -- propane doesn't set them off -- they still serve as an important first line of defense. Being prepared for known dangers just makes good sense.

There are many things most of us can do to dramatically reduce our risk of fire. And we should make sure we don't take our safety, and those of our loved ones for granted.

Making sure space heaters -- possibly the number one cause of house fires -- are used properly and safely. Never leaving open flames, such as candles, unattended or set on or near flammable surfaces. Having electrical wiring and connections inspected, with repairs done in a manner meeting safety codes. Along with not hoarding too much combustible clutter, are just some of the common sense, though often overlooked, things that can be done.

You should also have multiple escape routes planned. Establish an emergency plan with your family, and practice it regularly. It's especially important for young children to understand ahead of time what to do. During a panic, there's an increased chance they'll remember what they've practiced as opposed to simply panicking without a plan.

Remember, in Baltimore City, you can get free smoke detectors for your home, courtesy of Baltimore Fire Department, by calling 311. But it shouldn't stop there.

Taking the time to survey your surroundings for fire safety can literally save your life, or that of someone you know. Don't put it off. Tomorrow could be too late.

This handy fire safety checklist can be used to survey your home. Make it an activity involving the whole family. Everyone need to learn how to be safe.

For comprehensive fire safety information for the home, work or school, including customizable tip sheets, visit the National Fire Protection Association.  Established in 1896, the non profit is the world's leading advocate of fire prevention and an authoritative source on public safety.

In a follow up story, I will discuss something even more frightening learned while researching this article. Even if you don't have natural gas lines in your house, you're still at serious risk due to aging underground pipelines. This is a serious problem, but the government really doesn't want you to know.

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Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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Yes, Facebook Really Was Down -- It Wasn't You!

Social Media Giant Experienced Rare Total Blackout
27 January 2015
By A.F. James MacArthur
Agitator-In-Chief
@BaltoSpectator

Users attempting to login to the worlds most popular social media site were unable to early Tuesday morning. For over an hour, beginning shortly after 1:00 a.m. and lasting till sometime after 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the site appeared to have been completely inaccessible.

Login was attempted from various devices -- using different independent internet service providers and networks -- at MacArthur Media world headquarters, before it was realized the problem was system wide.

CBS Los Angeles reported Facebook released a statement at 1:55 a.m. that read:

“We’re aware that many people are currently having trouble accessing Facebook and Instagram. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.”

 The full scope and number of users affected was unclear. Instagram is owned by Facebook.

Around 1:00 am, I'd posted a status update on The Baltimore Spectator Facebook page. The post was successful, but within moments when I tried to share it to my personal timeline and several other pages, the site, though still up, appeared to be sluggish and unresponsive.

It went from unresponsive to total blackout.

According to website DownDetector.com -- a site that tracks website service interruptions -- Facebook began having "issues" around 12:10 a.m. There was no information was listed stating exactly when total blackout occurred.


Twitter As A Secondary Source

Thousands of people took to Twitter -- the world's second most popular social media site -- inquiring to see whether it was Facebook that was down, or if the issues problems on their end.

So at the moment @facebook and @instagram are both down and the internet is in panic mode. #facebookdown pic.twitter.com/MWOHSEQtYI
— Geeked Out Nation (@Geekedoutnation) January 27, 2015

Although these sort of total blackouts seem relatively rare, it wasn't too long ago when Twitter had a similar problem.


Hacking History

Online hacking collective Lizard Squad, shutdown Twitter in last December after having first launched a vicious Christmas day attack on the Sony Play Station and Xbox gaming networks. The attack on the gaming networks lasted nearly two days before service was restored.

In 2009 Twitter experienced a "Denial of Service" (Dos) attack. The attacks are also referred to as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). That outage lasted about two hours. Facebook and LiveJournal also experienced service interruptions as part of that same attack. 


Lizard Lock-down


On 1 January, PCWorld.com reported two men -- including a 17-year-old -- were arrested in connection with the group in response to the December attacks.

At this point there doesn't appear to be any groups taking responsibility for the Facebook blackout, nor is there any indication on precisely what caused the disruption. Citing security concerns, companies are usually vague in their explanations of what vulnerability may have been exploited, causing their systems to fail.

UPDATE: While this story was being written, CBS Los Angeles reported via Twitter, that Lizard Squad was responsible for the outage and that Instagram was also down. Note, claims like this are difficult to verify. Individuals actually responsible may not necessarily be the ones seeking publicity points for claiming so.

The "Lizard Squad" hacker group has claimed responsibility for the #Facebook & #Instagram outages: http://t.co/oJyhPgEVTR
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) January 27, 2015

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Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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Email MacArthurMedia@gmail.com, @BaltoSpectator on twitter, Spreaker web radio, BlogTalk Radio, Baltimore Spectator on Facebook, YouTube channel

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DISCUSSION OF THE DAY -- Masking The Truth

Read the post below then join in the discussion with your thoughts and comments.

Post by The Baltimore Spectator.

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Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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Get Better Connected With Me


Email MacArthurMedia@gmail.com, @BaltoSpectator on twitter, Spreaker web radio, BlogTalk Radio, Baltimore Spectator on Facebook, YouTube channel

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Snowpocalypse 2015 Live Situation Report

Despite the promise of doom and gloom continually echoed all weekend by the media and government agencies, particularly via social media; Monday's winter weather event in the Baltimore Washington area has been mostly a non event.

This report, was originally recorded during morning rush hour. A few flakes may have fallen afterwards, leaving a light layer of snow, but all in all once again, what took place was nothing unusual and came nowhere near the hype. After all, it is winter isn't it?


Listen to James MacArthur reports on area traffic and weather live from aboard Spectator Force 1.

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Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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Get Better Connected With Me


Email MacArthurMedia@gmail.com, @BaltoSpectator on twitter, Spreaker web radio, BlogTalk Radio, Baltimore Spectator on Facebook, YouTube channel

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Police Shoot Man - Killing Him

Baltimore's Second Police Involved Shooting In Two Days
25 January 2015
By A.F. James MacArthur
Agitator-In-Chief
@BaltoSpectator

A man was fatally wounded after being shot in the chest by a Baltimore Police officer Saturday night.

The incident took place when a resident flagged down a passing officer on the 1900 block of McHenry Street in south Baltimore around 8:30 p.m.

According to police, the citizen told the officer a family member was inside a residence threatening to harm other family members. Family was gathered together for a 3-year-old's birthday party when the incident took place.


Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez stated the young veteran officer -- with less than two years on the force -- entered the residence and found the man with a knife in his hand.

After failing to comply with orders to drop the knife, the officer fired a single shot into the man's upper chest. Police say immediate aid was rendered, however the man died as a result of the gunshot wound a short time later at an area hospital.

View full, unedited video of Baltimore Police press conference.

 According to Rodriguez, a full investigation is underway, but preliminary investigations did not indicate alcohol or drugs as a factor. No mention was made of the knife wielding individuals mental state, or what precipitated the incident.

No family members, nor the responding officer was injured during the incident.


Officer Involved In Thursday Shooting Identified

On Thursday night, Baltimore Police officer Angel Richardson, 32, a former city firefighter-paramedic, with just about two years on the police force, shot a man after a struggle related to a traffic stop.

Initially attempting to stop the driver of a minivan on Reisterstown Rd in Northwest Baltimore, the man fled from police.

After crashing the minivan, the driver and another occupant bailed out and a foot chase ensued. The other occupant -- a juvenile -- was arrested without incident.

At some point police say the driver "turned on the officer" and got into a physical confrontation with the Richardson. Feeling "overpowered" Richardson feared for her life, and police say as a last resort, opened fire on the individual.

The man shot was transported to an area hospital. At the time of this writing he was said to be recovering from his injuries. Baltimore police have not yet released any information on any criminal charges.

Thursday's shooting prompted The Baltimore Spectator to publish an editorial analysis asking the question of whether Baltimore Police were "Trigger Happy," resorting to lethal force before other means were first attempted. Two days later, police would shoot another man.

To date the editorial has been one of the most widely read stories at The Baltimore Spectator, garnering nearly 10,000 views in less than 24 hours and prompting hundreds of shares on social media, and a steady stream of comments showcasing varying opinions from readers.

Listen to James MacArthur's initial report recorded live on scene.

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Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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Get Better Connected With Me


Email MacArthurMedia@gmail.com, @BaltoSpectator on twitter, Spreaker web radio, BlogTalk Radio, Baltimore Spectator on Facebook, YouTube channel