Weapons & Guns

Retired FBI agent Greg Shaffer says hours of training and the right mentality helped the hero cops disarm the man who was shooting up a Louisville bank.

Greg, an active shooter prevention expert with 20 years of experience at the FBI, joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," and explained just how difficult it is for police officers to deal with a situation like this, where they can't see the shooter.

Shaffer says the cops clearly had what he calls a "stop the killing before you stop the dying" mindset ... noting how Officer Cory "CJ" Galloway made a split-second decision to go after the shooter, even though his partner, Officer Nickolas Wilt, had just been shot in the head.

As Greg explains, Galloway did the right thing by taking cover and exchanging gunfire with the shooter ... ultimately taking down the killer, all while knowing his partner was in dire straits.

Greg says Galloway mentally stayed in the fight until the threat was neutralized, then went to aid his partner ... telling us it's textbook police training.

Officer Wilt was only 10 days out of the police academy when he responded to the scene ... and he remains hospitalized in critical condition, fighting for his life.

The AR-15 rifle used in the mass killing at a Kentucky bank will soon be hitting the auction block.

You heard it right. Kentucky gun laws are so lax that firearms seized by law enforcement are required to be sold at auction.

There is one caveat ... the firearms can only be bought by federally licensed gun dealers, specifically holding licenses for the weapons they purchase.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg blasted the state law at a press conference Monday after Connor Sturgeon murdered 5 employees with an AR-15 at the bank before he was killed by police. Sturgeon had previously been given notice he was going to be fired from the downtown Louisville bank.

Greenberg fumed, "The laws we have now are enabling violence and murder. Think about that: that murder weapon will be back on the streets one day."

He continued, "It’s time to change this law and let us destroy illegal guns and destroy the guns that have been used to kill our friends and kill our neighbors."

Greenberg went on to say that leaders must act immediately to stop the "gun violence epidemic."

Kentucky is one of the most firearm-friendly states east of the Mississippi.

Kentucky has some of the highest gun-related death rates in the country, which some experts attribute to relaxed laws for gun purchases and a lack of training that's required for legally bought firearms.

Two of the people kidnapped in Mexico and survived say their captors tried forcing them to have sex with each other ... and their account is terrifying.

LaTavia Washington McGee and her brother, Eric Williams, sat with CNN's Anderson Cooper Tuesday to tell their story for the first time since being rescued following an abduction in March ... when the cartel took them and 2 friends, who were killed in the ordeal.

Cooper asks if there were threats or demands made of them during their time with the cartel, and the two siblings sadly say yes ... namely, that the kidnappers asked that they sleep with one another. McGee and Williams say they pushed back -- telling the cartel members they were related ... and McGee was pregnant at the time.

They never addressed what ultimately happened ... but it just speaks to how depraved these criminals are. From the way it's described, it seems like they only ordered that for their amusement.

McGee and Williams go on to describe a moment when they were being transported by the cartel members ... they say the abductors piled them into a truck with dead bodies and were moving them all over the place with the promise of eventually letting them go.

In the end, the two other Americans -- Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown -- attempted to make a run for it ... but were gunned down. The group of four was originally traveling from Texas when they were taken near the border city of Matamoros in dramatic fashion.

The cartel members held them up at gunpoint and threw them into the back of their vehicle ... but after realizing they had kidnapped the wrong people -- apparently, per law enforcement officials, they might've thought they were Haitian drug smugglers. The Cartel was trying to find a way to get the crew of 4 off their hands without facing repercussions.

Unfortunately, two people lost their lives in the drama ... and the cartel even issued an apology for how everything went down. McGee and Williams were found on March 7, and the bodies of their friends were taken back into U.S. custody following the rescue operation.

The heroic actions of the cops who put their lives on the line in Louisville as a mass shooter opened fire are now being seen by the public for the first time in newly released body cam video.

In a press conference Tuesday, The Louisville Metro Police Department released a series of videos -- including two body cams from officers Nickolas Wilt and Cory "CJ" Galloway who were first to the scene Monday at Old National Bank.

Galloway immediately grabs a rifle from the trunk of his cruiser, and both officers head up the stairs to the bank's entrance. They're met almost immediately by gunfire from the shooter inside the building, and Wilt is struck in the head ... Galloway takes cover behind a pillar.

After a few minutes, more officers arrive on the scene and try to get to Wilt to pull him to safety. The shooter opens fire on the officers again, this time breaking glass in front of the bank and giving Galloway an angle on the shooter, shooting and killing him.

The shooter, 23-year-old Connor Sturgeon, an employee of the bank, killed 5 people in the massacre -- all of which were also bank employees.

The Louisville shooter suffered multiple concussions in his youth as a star athlete -- and he continued his athletic career ... doing so by wearing a helmet in games.

25-year-old Connor Sturgeon -- who has since been ID'd as the one who shot and killed 5 people Monday in a bank -- had a history of serious injuries that he suffered while playing football ... this according to one of his ex-classmates, who talked to Daily Beast.

The former peer says Sturgeon was out of football for most of the year during 8th grade due to multiple concussions ... adding, "Then he had a couple more in high school. I’m not saying it’s the cause but I always think back to that. There were times I’d wonder, will this catch up with him? But never in this way. He’s the last person I'd expect would do this."

As a result of the concussions he suffered ... Sturgeon went on to wear protective headgear during sports he'd compete in during high school. By most accounts, he was a star -- playing on the Varsity basketball team and even running track. He was also supposedly popular.

There's an essay, unearthed from his college days as well in which he says he dealt with low self-esteem throughout his life and had hopes of bettering himself as he aged. Sturgeon wrote, "Making friends has never been especially easy, so I have more experience than most in operating alone." He also said he continues to "battle against myself."

Sturgeon worked at the bank. He's reported to have used a rifle to open fire on a crowd of people inside, which included police officers too. Sturgeon was ultimately shot and killed.

Intruders beware at Leon “Roccstar” Youngblood Jr.'s home -- when the "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" star found some guy creeping on his roof, he handled it on his own ... according to law enforcement.

Cops say the platinum-selling Chris Brown producer told officers he was awakened a little past 5:00 AM Monday by an alarm alerting him someone was on the garage roof at his Chatsworth, CA home.

He says he went outside and, at gunpoint, ordered the guy off his roof ... but when he came down, an altercation broke out between them.

We're told Roccstar overpowered the guy, and then security for his gated community arrived to help detain the man until cops arrived.

The suspect was evaluated at the hospital for injuries before he was arrested for attempted burglary, vandalism, and possession of burglary tools.

There's now a parent being held responsible for their child shooting someone at school ... the mother of the 6-year-old who shot his teacher in a Virginia elementary school has been criminally charged.

Prosecutors in Virginia announced the charges Monday, with a grand jury indicting Deja Taylor with felony child neglect, plus a misdemeanor charge of recklessly leaving a firearm to endanger a child.

As we reported ... a first-grader at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, back in January ... with the 25-year-old educator suffering gunshot wounds to her hand and chest.

Prosecutors say the 6-year-old student is not facing criminal charges but noted the mother's indictment follows a "thorough" police investigation.

What's more, prosecutors also say they are asking the court for a special grand jury to determine whether there should be additional charges over “any security issues that may have contributed to this shooting."

The thousands of Californians who've fled to Tennessee, Florida and Texas are having second thoughts ... and many are, as they say, going back to Cali ... so says L.A. real estate mogul Kurt Rappaport.

Kurt joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to fill us in on the slow reversal of the west coast exodus -- spurred by things like the loss of abortion rights, the "don't say gay" bill, drag show bans and the reheated battle over gun laws.

The celebrity realtor says most who left pointed to rising taxes and cost of living in CA, but now political moves in their new home states are creating deep regrets.

The school shooting in Nashville sparked protests in Tennessee's state capitol, leading to Thursday's astounding expulsion of 2 state legislators -- a move many see as a death knell for democracy.

Kurt admits the Golden State has its issues -- the high taxes are no joke -- but he adds, it's also a big melting pot of cultures, ideas, ethnicities and opinions ... which you won't find in some parts of the country.

It took a total of FIVE cops to subdue Ben Gordon during his arrest outside a Connecticut juice shop on Tuesday morning ... new video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows.

In the clip, you can see three officers were trying to get Gordon onto the ground after he had allegedly threatened employees with a knife inside of the Stamford store moments earlier -- but they struggled to wrestle him to the pavement.

The footage shows they were eventually able to push him into a storefront sign -- causing him to fall -- but they still couldn't get cuffs on him.

Finally, two other officers raced in -- and Gordon was ultimately taken under control.

As we reported, cops say after they placed the former NBA star into custody ... they found a folding knife clipped to his front pants pocket. They also say they found a stun gun and a pair of brass knuckles in his bag as well.

Gordon was arrested ... and booked on several charges. Following a mental health evaluation at a local hospital, he was released on $10,000 bond.

Court records show the 40-year-old has since been hit with eight total criminal charges -- including three felony counts of carrying a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

Gordon briefly addressed his latest run-in with the law during an Instagram Live session on Thursday ... sharing his side of the incident.

Police fatally shot a teenager in a stolen car in Washington D.C. ... and the horrific incident was all caught on video.

Check out the body cam footage, released by the U.S. Park Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police, showing officers entering the vehicle parked on a residential street after they responded to a call of a stolen car.

Dalaneo Martin, 17, was asleep behind the wheel when one of the cops woke him up to try to arrest him.

In his panic, Martin sped away with the officer in the back seat, pointing his gun at the teen.

The cop ordered Martin to stop the car and let him out, but Martin kept driving. Finally, the officer warned, "Stop or I’ll shoot you!" before squeezing the trigger several times.

Martin cried out in agony as he was shot. The car then crashed into a nearby house.

Cops administered first aid to Martin, but they couldn't save him. Martin was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officer who fired the shots and a second cop were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital.

Kelsea Ballerini opened up the CMT Music Awards with a powerful speech ... a very personal tribute to the victims of the Nashville Covenant School shooting, and one that brought her to tears.

The country music star got emotional Sunday night as she opened the award show in Austin, Texas ... calling out the names of the 6 victims of Audrey Hale's rampage.

Kelsea started to break down when she added, "The community of sorrow over this and the 130 mass shootings in the U.S. this year alone stretches from coast to coast."

And, then she shared her own up close experience with gun violence in schools -- Kelsea recalled, "I wanted to personally stand up here and share this moment because on Aug. 21, 2008, I watched Ryan McDonald, my 15-year-old classmate at Central High School, lose his life to a gun in our cafeteria."

McDonald was fatally shot by a classmate at Kelsea's high school in Knoxville, TN -- it happened in a crowded cafeteria, in full view of several other students ... including Kelsea.

She hosted the CMTs with Kane Brown, and went on to dedicate the broadcast to the growing list of families, friends, survivors, witnesses and responders whose lives have been changed by such violence.

TMZ Hip Hop has obtained new video inside Yo Gotti's Memphis restaurant, and it shows the all-out brawl that prompted the deadly mass shooting that left 2 dead and 5 injured.

In the footage, a crowded corridor inside Prive restaurant sets the scene for Wednesday night's melee which seems to center around one man in a red jacket, and another in a blue one. There's a tense standoff between 5 to 8 people when the guy in red slams into the whole group, and someone tosses a drink ... and then it's total chaos.

The guy in the blue jacket was actually on crutches, but hands them to a woman and then joins the fight … repeatedly throwing punch after punch and dunking a chair on the man in red’s head after he'd been knocked to the floor.

It looks like security attempts to separate people, and the fight spills outside in the parking lot … where the video starts with one man already gunned down, and the guy in blue hopping on one foot yelling at onlookers. He then opens fire with what appears to be a semi-automatic weapon hitting a man in black several times.

The footage shows him hobbling away from the scene as 2 bodies lay on the pavement.

As we reported, 2 people were pronounced dead and law enforcement officials tell us they’re still looking for suspects. We know Yo Gotti was not at the restaurant ... in fact, we're told he wasn't even in Memphis at the time.

Conor McGregor believes the shooter in Tennessee could've been stopped before anyone was hurt IF the building was better protected ... and that's why the UFC superstar believes armed guards are necessary in American schools.

"I would like to see armed protection at each school," 34-year-old McGregor wrote on social media.

Of course, six people -- three children (9-year-olds) and three adults -- were shot and killed on Monday at The Covenant School when a 28-year-old entered the building and went on a murderous rampage before police heroically stopped the shooter, who died at the scene.

McGregor, a dad of three who spends a lot of time in the States and is currently in Orlando, says "I have had my children at school here while stateside and have had my own armed guard present at the school. This was prior to the most recent school shooting also."

Conor continued ... "If she shot her way in to that school from the outside, my guard, who is tucked away, armed and unseen, would have seen her and taken her down. Saving those children’s lives."

Many schools have Resource Officers -- typically retired cops -- stationed at schools, but not always. There have also been fatal shootings at schools where armed security was present.

The Covenant shooting is simply the latest in a long line of horrific attacks ... and has sparked debate among Americans -- how do we protect our kids?

There are a lot of different proposed solutions ... from banning guns to arming teachers. Conor believes the answer is armed guards.

Alabama Crimson Tide star Brandon Miller -- one of the best players in college basketball this season -- is foregoing the rest of his time in Tuscaloosa and entering the NBA Draft.

The 20-year-old freshman was a key part to Bama's success in 2022-23 ... averaging nearly 19 points, eight rebounds and two assists a game. The Tide had an early exit from the NCAA tournament, however ... with Miller scoring just nine points in the Sweet 16 loss to San Diego State.

Miller racked up several honors as a result of his performance in his lone college season ... including SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-American.

Miller's season was marred with controversy, however ... after cops stated he brought ex-teammate Darius Miles his gun the night it was allegedly used to kill Jamea Harris.

Miller was not charged with a crime, but Miles and his friend, 20-year-old Michael Davis -- the one actually accused of pulling the trigger -- are both facing capital murder charges.

The NBA prospect's attorney has adamantly denied any wrongdoing ... claiming Miller never touched the gun, was involved in giving it to Miles, nor did he know anything illegal was going to go down that night.

A friend of the Nashville school shooter called police as Audrey Hale unleashed a murderous attack at a Christian school ... pleading for someone to go check on Hale.

In 911 audio released Thursday, the shooter's friend, Averianna Patton, tells the dispatcher Hale sent her a string of ominous messages on social media before Monday's shooting.

Patton says she's called different departments and then tells the dispatcher ... "I'm just trying to see can anybody ... I just don't want it on my conscious ... if somebody can go check on her."

Before the call, Hale sent Patton several suicidal messages on Instagram, saying ... "I'm planning to die today" and "You'll probably hear about me on the news after I die."

Hale sent the messages at 9:57 AM ... and about 15 minutes later went on a deadly rampage at the Covenant School in Nashville, shooting and killing three 9-year-old students and three employees in their 60s.

Patton made the 911 call around 10:20 AM ... just as armed officers were arriving at the private school to take down Hale.

The Nashville mass shooter was reportedly torn up over the death of a close friend months before unleashing a murderous attack at a Christian school.

Audrey Hale was totally devastated after Sydney Shere Sims was killed in a car crash in August, former classmate Samira Hardcastle told NBC News.

Hale "definitely admired" Sims as they together attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts and the Nashville School of the Arts, Hardcastle said.

Maria Colomy, one of Hale's former teachers at another school, recalled that Sims' untimely death was an emotional wrecking ball for her former student.

Colomy paraphrased Hale's social media posts about the accident, stating something to the effect that Sims was "all that mattered" and "I'll miss you forever."

As we reported ... Hale went on a bloody rampage at Covenant School on Monday, fatally shooting three 9-year-old students and three employees in their 60s.

Two Nashville police officers shot and killed Hale on the second floor of the private elementary school.

Cops said Hale penned a manifesto detailing the school attack and identifying other potential targets.

Police Chief John Drake said Hale -- a 28-year-old biological female who identified as male -- was a former student at the school and resented having to attend classes there.