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The Jay Cutler Chicken Serial Killer Mystery of 2020 is officially SOLVED ... with the ex-NFL QB catching a beastly raccoon in the act!!!

As we previously reported ... Cutler had been dealing with an unknown menace that was ripping the heads off his beloved birds ... and he devoted his retirement life to saving his chickens.

The week-long saga took many twists and turns -- including traps and overnight stakeouts -- with pretty much the entire nation on the edge of its seat to figure out who the hell was offing the chickens.

But, Jay can now FINALLY get some sleep ... 'cause he's officially discovered the culprit -- A DAMN TRASH PANDA!!!

"All is well and happy to report it was a raccoon," Cutler said on IG Wednesday morning. "Which fits the evidence. Chicken heads were ripped off and bodies were left in the chicken yard."

"Gruesome stuff but the reality of the situation. Ladies are now safe and sound. We can all sleep well for a few nights."

So, is this the end of an era and we can all go back to worrying about bigger issues?? Yes ... at least, for now.

"Unfortunately I’m sure this raccoon has some family members."

"While this saga is sadly ending, I’m sure there will be more. Stay tuned..."

Terrifying moment from a pro gamer -- who was struck by ACTUAL LIGHTNING while streaming on Twitch ... and the video is intense.

27-year-old Jaime Bickford -- AKA Karma -- was commenting on a game of "Rocket League" on Sunday night when somehow she was hit by lightning during a storm in her area.

According to Bickford's bio, she lives in the Boston area.

During the stream, you can hear the storm rumbling, followed by Jaime shrieking in pain.

You can hear Jaime drop her controller and she begins to cry in pain.

A short time later ... she got back on the stream and provided an update.

"Sorry guys, I am a little bit upset right now. Lightning, apparently we’re having really bad thunderstorms here."

"Apparently, my house got hit or something and it went through my controller and shocked my hand. I’m completely fine. I’m just kinda ... I got scared and also my hand burns hurt a little bit."

Bickford even posted a photo of the melted controller.

She posted an update the following morning -- saying, "Hands healed up after being iced all last night and were very minor burns, controller is melted near USB connection where I got flashbanged or w/e ."

She added, "And I am COMPLETELY FINE. Thanks for the outpouring of love."

Cops in Aurora, CO targeted Elijah McClain's violin vigil to make an example out of nonviolent musicians ... so says a famous violinist who saw it all play out.

Lee England Jr. -- who Michael Jordan calls "the Michael Jordan of the violin" -- tells TMZ ... Aurora police made a calculated decision to disrupt the vigil because they knew they had easy targets at a peaceful protest full of musicians and children.

Lee was one of the musicians who trekked to Aurora to pay respects to Elijah, who died last year while in custody of Aurora PD. Elijah was a big fan of the violin, which is why his Saturday night vigil was serenaded by violinists, who played on even after police showed up in riot gear and unleashed pepper spray.

Lee says the sad outcome of the violin vigil inspired him and other musicians to host a private performance for Elijah's entire family after police ended the protest.

Houston Texans WR Kenny Stills just revealed a new "Black Lives Matter" tattoo on his leg ... part of a bigger piece that tells the story of the Black struggle in America.

The tattoo starts on Kenny's hip and goes all the way down to his ankle -- featuring imagery from the recent BLM protests ... and other important moments in the Civil Rights movement.

Some of the protest signs tatted on Stills include, "Say Their Names" and "Stop Killing Us" ... mixed with iconic images including a protest sign from a school segregation protest.

28-year-old Stills -- one of the NFL players who continued to take a knee during the national anthem in 2019 -- added the new art to a previous tattoo which featured the mug shot of Congressman John Lewis, who was arrested in the 1960s for peacefully protesting segregation.

Below that image is the famous shot of a protester in Memphis holding a sign reading, "I Am A Man." The original photo was taken in 1968 by photographer Steve Schapiro.

The African-American mom who was refused a table at a Baltimore restaurant says she's taking the joint to court, because its apology's coming up short.

Marcia Grant and her 9-year-old son, Dallas, came on 'TMZ Live' Tuesday to announce a forthcoming lawsuit against Atlas Restaurant Group -- the company that controls Ouzo Bay, which discriminated against them over a dress code that wasn't evenly applied ... based on Marcia's video.

You'll recall, Marcia pointed out there was a white kid wearing an almost identical outfit to Dallas' ... but, for some reason, he'd been allowed entry. She told us her son never experienced blatant racism like that, not first-hand.

Dallas told us how the whole experience made him feel, and it's heartbreaking.

Marcia, and her attorney, Donte Mills, explained how Dallas has been affected, and how they're trying to make him understand ... he did nothing wrong.

In that same breath, Donte says it point-blank ... they're moving forward with a lawsuit against Atlas Restaurant Group.

Donte says ARG's apology simply doesn't cut it -- as it fails to fully acknowledge the wrong that was done ... something Marcia echoed to us last week. The writing was on the wall for legal action.

Mr. Mills makes another interesting point here -- saying this situation could've easily gone left if cops were called and things escalated. That's another thing they're trying to make clear with their suit.

Marcia tells us what Dallas is doing now in the aftermath -- and it sounds like he and some friends are planning to speak out about the injustice he suffered.

A woman in Texas launched a racist tirade against her Black boss after he fired her ... repeatedly calling him the n-word on camera.

The racist meltdown unfolded Monday inside the offices of Gibson Arnold & Associates, a staffing agency for the legal industry based in Houston.

Video shows the woman berating a Black manager seated in the middle of a room, calling him a "n****" and "motherf*****" and then trying to use the n-word to make a freestyle rap.

Gibson Arnold & Associates called the incident "horrific" and said ... "the man she is yelling at is one of our valued employees and a leader in our Houston office who was firing her."

The company says the woman was a temporary worker who was escorted out of the building immediately after ranting and making racist comments.

A melee broke out in Arkansas when one restaurant customer felt others were too close for comfort -- but they all got much closer while breaking bottles and punching each other.

This nasty fight went down at the Saltgrass Steak House in Little Rock, and the video shows four grown adults just going at it Saturday night. According to cops, tensions started rising when one patron complained about social distancing.

You can see her -- the complaining someone else had coughed on her.

Here's your scorecard ... based on the police report, obtained by TMZ: the black woman claims the white guy (in the USA shirt) and his friends were not staying 6-feet away from her ... and when she expressed her frustration, they started harassing her.

Now, in the report ... there are differing accounts of who started coughing purposely on people. At any rate, everyone agrees things escalated from there -- and in the video, you see the brawl really exploded when a Black guy at the bar turned around with a bottle or glass ... and smashed another guy in the head.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says our country has finally opened its eyes to racism and police brutality, and all the credit goes to one group ... folks who pounded the pavement.

AOC is in awe over the nationwide protests ... saying anyone who was actually taken aback by what's been going on for YEARS obviously comes from privilege -- but it's great they're finally awakened.

The congresswoman also gave mega props to protesters on the ground, because she says it was THEY who controlled the narrative. And, she says, protesters who spread the word on social media did their part, too.

She also says the very fact so many citizens protested for weeks on end -- and continue to do so to this day -- has put the spotlight on questions that otherwise might've been swept under the rug ... like police budgets, for example, and why they're so much bigger than budgets for education or housing.

AOC ends strong ... telling us voting is crucial, but someone's gotta give people a reason to hit the voting booths before election day too.

Pop Smoke's fans have spoken -- loudly and clearly -- the cover art designed by Virgil Abloh for the rapper's posthumous album is trash ... so a change is coming.

Pop's highly anticipated album, "Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon" is set to release July 3, but when the cover art was revealed Monday ... it was widely ridiculed and roasted, and fans immediately demanded a do-over.

Among the most common complaints about the cover ... the lazy Photoshop job, along with using a photo of Smoke that's the first one that comes up on Google images.

In his defense, when Abloh posted the artwork he said he'd just finished it and explained ... "this album cover was one of like 5 things we talked about. he mentioned his story felt like the metaphor of a rose & thorns growing from concrete of his hood in Canarsie, Brooklyn."

Fans weren't buying it though. Even 50 Cent -- a mentor to the late hip-hop star -- called out Abloh.

Fif tweeted ... "Hey Virgil we need new album art, they ain’t going for this bulls**t. Love ya work let’s get to it. Steven i told you this s**t was eww let’s get it right!"

That Steven is Pop's manager, Steven Victor, who's already made it clear that Abloh's art will be redone before the album is released.

Victor says Pop -- who was on the rise when he was fatally shot in February in a home invasion -- would listen to his fans and make a change ... so that's what they're going to do.

It's unclear if Abloh will get another crack at it or if the cover art will be done by someone else, but ya gotta think ... anything new will be an improvement.

Cops in Aurora, CO unleashed pepper spray at Elijah McClain's violin vigil for no good reason and their brutality was unprovoked ... according to a family attorney who saw it all unfold alongside Elijah's sisters.

Mari Newman, a lawyer for Elijah's family, tells TMZ ... she was at Saturday's musical vigil for Elijah -- who died while in custody of Aurora PD last year -- in City Center Park, where police used pepper spray and force to clear the area of protesters, a response she says was brutal, totally uncalled for and outrageous.

Newman, who was at the vigil with Elijah's 2 younger sisters, says protesters were chanting near the police station, but nothing was thrown at cops -- which runs counter to what police say -- and most people were just watching musicians play the violin ... Elijah's favorite instrument.

When police showed up in riot gear, Newman says they unleashed pepper spray, much to everyone's surprise and for no good reason, sending everyone running ... including her and her daughter, plus Elijah's sisters.

Newman says Elijah's sisters were upset and disappointed with the police response ... and she points out there were tons of children in the area when cops resorted to pepper spray.

Eventually, the demonstration was forced into a parking lot, where musicians continued to play violin and protesters broke out in song.

The Buffalo Police Department once again is in the news and, once again, for all the wrong reasons ... after a lieutenant called a woman filming him a "disrespectful little f***ing c***."

The incident unfolded Sunday at a 7-Eleven parking lot in Buffalo ... whereas many as 10 police officers responded to a call. The lieutenant -- Mike DeLong -- told the woman filming him they were responding to a man with 2 crack pipes who had allegedly attacked his mother.

The lieutenant can be seen telling the woman, "We have cameras too" before she tells him to get away from her. The woman, who posted the video to Facebook, asked the lieutenant if having so many officers at the scene was really necessary.

Check out the video ... you then see the lieutenant appear to walk away before saying, "You're a disrespectful little f***ing c***, that's what you are." The woman fires back, "Thank you, you're going to be viral." Unperturbed, the lieutenant responds, “I don’t care if I go viral, I really don’t.”

The woman who posted the video said she was pulling out of the 7-Eleven parking lot when she saw police cars roll up. She said she started recording because she saw 5 cops -- including a female cop with a baton in her hand -- walk toward the man in question. She said, "I was immediately concerned. I've lived on the westside of Buffalo for my whole life (pre-gentrification), I've seen people in my community battle substance abuse and mental illness. He seemed off, but I was not threatened by him in the slightest."

You can see in the video cops keep their distance before the man's eventually placed in a gurney and wheeled into an ambulance. The woman ended her caption with this, "Armed police officers should be able to effectively do their job without being threatened by civilians recording them."

A married couple in an upscale area of St. Louis came out of their home strapped and pointing guns at protesters ... while barefoot, mind you.

The surreal scene went down Sunday evening in the Central West End neighborhood, as a crowd was marching to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson to demand her resignation for releasing names and addresses of citizens who want to defund the police.

The couple, attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey, apparently felt threatened by the protesters and stepped outside brandishing firearms -- Mark with a semi-automatic weapon and Patricia with a handgun. Seems it was a split-second decision because they didn't even put on shoes.

In the video, at least, all the peaceful protesters remained on the sidewalk and didn't appear to trespass on the McCloskey's property. However, the couple told police the protesters entered their gated community by forcing their way through a gate marked "No trespassing." It's unclear if the sidewalk is public or private.

Fortunately, the act of intimidation from the barefoot Bonnie and Clyde only led to verbal spats with some of the reported 300 protestors.

Okay, it might not have been smarter than the average ... but this little bear was at least super lucky when it got a jar stuck on its head while swimming.

Boo Boo here's good luck started when a couple spotted it struggling on a Wisconsin lake ... paddling through the water while a plastic jar was stuck on its head. Looks like some kinda snack jar, and the bear cub easily could've drowned once enough water leaked into it.

The bear enthusiasts said they could hear Boo Boo (yeah, that's what we're calling it) "gasping for air," and sprung into action -- maneuvering their boat next to our fine furry friend.

Boo Boo didn't exactly make it easy, initially swimming away from their boat -- but you gotta see what happened once they got in position. Let's just say it ain't exactly easy to wrestle a snack jar off a bear without it clawing at you.

Thankfully, it all worked out, and Boo Boo learned a valuable lesson: Stick to picnic baskets when raiding a camp ground.

Also, this is why you shouldn't litter, humans!!!

Martin Gugino remains hospitalized after that violent shove to the ground from cops in Buffalo -- but at least he's getting showered with love and support.

Gugino's attorney, Kelly Zarcone, tells TMZ ... the 75-year-old has received more than 1,000 messages of support, some even handwritten and delivered by snail mail. Supporters sent gifts too ... like an autographed book from an author, an original painting and some religious jewelry. Someone also made, by hand, a prayer blanket, which we're told is on its way to the hospital.

It's unclear how much Martin will rack up in hospital bills but no doubt it'll be substantial -- he's been in since June 4. Initially, Kelly says Martin didn't authorize any GoFundMe accounts, but Martin's changed his tune since then because Kelly says he now realizes he'll need all the help he can get to cover his medical and recovery costs.

There are now TWO official GoFundMe accounts to help Martin cover his medical expenses -- and, so far, they've amassed $80k in donations.

We're told Martin's reading all the comments on the GoFundMe accounts -- as well as the letters and emails -- which have been very comforting while he continues to recover in the hospital's rehab wing.

As we reported ... he fractured his skull and bled after he was shoved by cops, who were ultimately suspended. That suspension triggered 57 officers resigning from the Emergency Response Team.

Cops in Aurora, CO came in like a military unit to forcibly remove -- not to mention pepper spray -- peaceful protesters who were watching a violin performance to honor Elijah McClain.

This went down Saturday in City Center Park, where a musical vigil had been planned to pay respects to Elijah -- who died while in custody of Aurora PD last year -- which was incredibly symbolic, seeing how Elijah played violin himself. At one point, the police had seen enough.

In the video, captured by a vigilant bystander, you can see the jarring juxtaposition play out live on camera. At first, you hear the violinists -- some of whom are said to have been underage -- beautifully playing in unison, and the next minute ... cops are storming the place.

The woman recording can be heard -- along with others -- openly yelling "No!" at what's about to happen next ... forcible removal and literally pushing the protesters out of the park, while shutting down the performance. Pepper spray started getting dispersed at one point too.

A reporter on the ground captured an even more surreal moment ... as cops were literally pushing up against protesters, a violinist on stage started playing soothing melodies.

The protesters stood their ground as long as they could -- several even formed a human barrier around the violinists to protect them from the police. Communal chants also erupted ...  with phrases like, "Why are you in riot gear? I don't see no riot here!"

Eventually, the protesters were forced to the parking lot ... but they didn't let that ruin the get-together. Some violinists followed along and continued on the pavement. The protesters even broke out in song, singing "Lean On Me" ... in what proved to be a powerful statement in response to the brutality they'd just gone through, for no reason at all.

If you're wondering what Aurora PD had to say about this, they claimed the crowd was getting unruly and some were even arming themselves and hurling projectiles at the squad. In the end ... the police say only 3 people were arrested for violating lawful orders after warnings were given.

Chase Rice got back to touring this weekend -- and to kick things off ... the guy allowed thousands of people to flood a concert venue, with ZERO regards for coronavirus safety.

The country singer held his first show in a while Saturday night at former prison-turned-event center called the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. It usually can hold 10,000 bodies for a concert, but this weekend ... only 4,000 were allowed through.

Still, that proved to be more than enough heads to pack in tight and cluster together for Chase's return to the stage. That's exactly what happened, something he filmed himself.

As you can see, swarms of people are too close for comfort -- not practicing even the slightest hint of social distancing -- and practically NOBODY is wearing a face mask, Chase included. It's more about the people on the ground though -- they're the ones truly at risk.

It also doesn't help that Chase was leading them in a sing-along moment -- which probably exacerbated any type of potential 'rona molecules already flying through the air. And, of course -- like many other parts of the country -- COVID-19 cases are spiking in TN as well.

Weirdly enough, the Brushy Prison's site says it clear as day that they'll be adhering to social distancing -- but it looks like they must've missed their own memo come showtime.

What's even stranger about all this is that a handful of other venues for Chase's upcoming concerts are actually drive-in type facilities, which would ease concerns we see here. So, was this s*** show of safety just a flub or a one-off? Hard to say for sure right now.

At any rate, we've reached out to Chase's team for comment ... so far, no word back.