Weapons & Guns

Dog the Bounty Hunter says Daunte Wright would still be alive today if police departments around the country heeded his call for law enforcement to switch from lead bullets to non-lethal ammo.

Dog tells TMZ ... he's apprehended tons of criminals during his career, and shot a good number of them, but he's never found a need for lead bullets and doesn't think cops need them either.

Dog's got an interesting perspective on the latest round of fatal police-involved shootings -- he's laying less blame on cops and guns, and more on their choice of ammo ... lead bullets made to kill.

The way Dog sees it ... 20-year-old Daunte could have been taken into police custody safely if Kim Potter, the former cop who fatally shot him, was using non-lethal bullets.

As you know, Potter claims she confused her Taser and her Glock and fired one deadly round.

Lil Durk's concert was cut short Saturday night after gunshots rang out concert in Phoenix at the Celebrity Theatre.

Durk was performing at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix when the crowd of 10,000 heard gunfire erupt. The crowd scrambled as people fought to flee the venue.

The Phoenix PD says they couldn't locate anyone who was directly hit by bullets, and reports that one woman was grazed in the leg by a bullet are not true. Phoenix Police say It was reported to their team that the injury was not from gunfire. A few people suffered non-life-threatening injuries from attempting to fleeing the area. This is an ongoing investigation.

Durk seemed upset about something when he posted, "10k people sold out and no drama stop tryna stop us." He posted this before the gunfire but during the concert. It's unclear the drama to which he was referring.

The event was tagged, "Smurkchella," as Lil Durk and other rappers hit the stage.

Various videos were posted showing the mad dash to the exits as the crowd tried to get out of harm's way. Chairs were knocked over, people screaming ... the works.

The show abruptly stopped and that was the end of it.

So far, no suspects are in custody.

There was another fatal police shooting of another person of color ... this time in Cypress, Texas.

This video, which has not been seen and was shot March 17, picks up near a gas station, as 3 cops hover over a Hispanic man they are trying to subdue. One of the officers has a Taser in hand, as the man on the ground struggles and kicks, eventually pushing himself up from the ground. It sounds like the cop tased the man.

Then, suddenly, the same cop holsters his Taser, draws his gun and shoots the man repeatedly in the back. The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. their deputies responded to a call about a knife-wielding man who was bloodied. The Dept. says the man fought deputies as they tried detaining him.

The deputies attempted CPR at the scene before EMS showed up.

A massive police presence has converged on a mall in Omaha, Nebraska -- where another shooting just took place.

The details are scarce at this point, but one thing is clear ... Omaha PD is telling the public to steer clear of the Westroads Mall, where a legion of police cruisers and ambulances have arrived. OPD says there are 2 suspects at large, and that cops are doing a sweep of the facility out of precaution. So far, one person has been transported in critical condition.

Word of the shooting first started percolating on Twitter, where a local reporter said she saw people running for their lives ... but stopped short of saying she heard any shots herself. Another person confirmed people were barreling out of the mall, but with no obvious signs of a shooting just yet. Still, it's clear that one did, in fact, occur.

The mere fact officers were loading up semi-automatics in tactical gear and preparing for some type of gunfight indicates this might have been an active shooter situation at one point.

There has been a slew of shootings recently since restrictions have eased over the pandemic.

We're trying to get more details on what led up to the latest incident -- but haven't been able to get through to anyone. OPD says a press release will be sent out soon detailing the narrative.

There were massive demonstrations in various cities Friday night to protest the deaths of Adam Toledo and Daunte Wright.

Protesters clashed with police in Chicago, where Toledo, and Minneapolis, where Wright was killed. The protests started out peaceful but things went south quickly.

There were numerous injuries and arrests in both cities.

This is the 6th day of protests in Minneapolis, as a possible verdict looms in the Derek Chauvin case. The jury will hear closing arguments Monday, and then they will begin deliberating.

Deadly mass shootings in America continue at a demoralizing pace, the latest coming out of a FedEx facility in Indianapolis ... leaving 8 dead and an undetermined number wounded.

The gunman opened fire both outside and inside the facility near the Indianapolis Airport late Thursday night, creating a terrifying scene of people running for cover before the shooter turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

Cops were called to the scene around 11 PM, and say the gunman parked outside, got out of his vehicle and quickly began shooting ... first in the parking lot and then made his way in the building. It happened fast -- 1 to 2 minutes, suggesting he used some sort of semi-automatic weapon.

Along with 8 people killed, there are at least 5 others reportedly hospitalized with injuries from the shooting, including one in critical condition. It appears some of the walking wounded took themselves to a hospital, but the number hasn't been determined.

FedEx says it's "shocked and saddened" by the tragic shooting and loss of its team members, and is sending "heartfelt sympathies" to all of those affected.

Sadly, this type of story is hardly shocking to wake up to in the U.S. anymore -- as disgusting as that sounds -- because there have been deadly mass shootings in more than 20 cities in just the past month, as COVID restrictions subside.

Three men in hoods broke into soccer star Chris Smalling's home in Italy on Thursday night ... held him at gunpoint and robbed him of his watches, jewelry and other valuables.

The horrifying incident all went down sometime before 5 AM in Rome, according to multiple reports, when Smalling was jarringly awoken by the assailants.

Per the reports, the men forced Smalling to go to his safe and hand them Rolex watches, cash and a bunch of his other prized possessions.

The men reportedly took off after that ... and Smalling -- who was at the home with his wife and son -- quickly called authorities.

Cops arrived and launched an investigation ... though no arrests have been made yet.

According to reports, Smalling and his family were unharmed during the incident ... though the 31-year-old was obviously emotionally shaken up by it all.

"Thinking about you @ChrisSmalling and your lovely family," Smalling's former teammate, Marcus Rashford, tweeted after learning of the incident on Friday.

"So sorry to wake up to the news this morning. Can’t imagine how you’re feeling but I hope you’re ok."

Smalling's Roma team had played earlier Thursday night ... but the star defender did not participate in the game due to a knee injury.

Adam Toledo was holding a gun mere milliseconds before a Chicago cop fatally shot the 13-year-old ... that's according to Chicago PD, which released more video footage to support that version of the tragedy.

The new videos provide a complete picture of what cops were responding to on March 29 -- a report of shots fired. The new footage shows Adam and a 21-year-old man walking on the block when the shots are heard ringing out ... and then running afterward.

Most importantly, though, police have frozen the moment the officer caught up to Adam in an alley -- and the enhanced video shows the teen was holding something as the cop yelled, "Show me your f**king hands!" CPD says this is when Adam tossed the weapon and then -- fractions of a second later -- turned to raise his hands.

The Toledo family's attorney, Adeena Weiss Ortiz, acknowledged Adam did appear to have a weapon, but during a Thursday news conference added, "He tossed the gun. If he had a gun, he tossed it. The officer said, 'Show me your hands.' He complied. He turned around."

The first body cam footage CPD released on Thursday did not clearly show the weapon in Adam's hand -- but police say the new video shows why the officer fired ... he saw the gun, and believed Adam was turning with it in his hand.

Sen. Lindsey Graham knows it's been a rough week for policing in America, and that's why he's calling on Congress to take another swing at police reform legislation.

We got the Senator from South Carolina Thursday on Capitol Hill and he told our photog it's time to get something done on police reform ... and he sounds pretty confident about working with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to hammer out a deal.

Graham says the goal needs to be changing the culture of policing ... and that means beefing up training, making sure police departments are diverse and putting officers on the streets who are part of the communities they serve.

It sounds like some of the recent examples of fatal police shootings might spur Congress to take action ... Graham mentions the Daunte Wright shooting, where former cop Kim Potter says she mixed up her taser and gun. He says it's "a sad way to lose a life."

Graham, who actually acknowledges his own white privilege in this clip, is not defending all cops unilaterally or calling for defunding the police ... telling us why both ideologies paint with too broad a brush.

A Chicago police officer shot and killed a 13-year-old in what was reported as an "armed confrontation" -- but newly released footage of the incident seems to show the kid raising his empty hands as the cop fired.

Adam Toledo was killed during a foot pursuit in Chicago around 2:30 AM on March 29, and the officer's body cam was recording as he caught up to the teenager in an alley.

In the video, the officer yells, "Show me your f**king hands." It also sounds like he said, "stop it" ... or "drop it" ... and then fired a single shot. Adam was putting his hands up at that moment.

He died as a result of the gunshot according to the Cook County medical examiner. Adam's family claims Chicago PD took 2 days to notify them of his death, and they think cops have been cagey about providing details.

According to police, officers were responding to a shots fired call, and saw "two males in a nearby alley." Cops say one of them was armed and fled, then one officer fired shots and hit a suspect in the chest.

Police initially only said the person "was pronounced deceased on scene" but didn't specify the age of the person the officer had shot.

Daunte Wright's family is demanding a conviction and a life sentence for Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer charged in his death.

Daunte's aunt, Naisha Wright, was super emotional in a news conference Thursday, saying Potter's second-degree manslaughter charge is not enough. If convicted, she would face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison -- and it's clear that, at this point, the family considers anything less than a life sentence a slap in the face.

As you know ... Potter, who shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop Sunday, was arrested and charged Wednesday. She's already been released from jail on $100k bail.

Police say Potter, who resigned from the force Tuesday, meant to use her Taser, but accidentally discharged her gun instead, firing one fatal round into Daunte's left side.

Daunte's aunt held up images of a police Taser and the type of gun used to kill her nephew ... wondering how a veteran police officer could make such a fatal mistake.

A high school basketball coach in North Carolina was shot to death while trying to steal drugs and money from a stash house used by a violent Mexican drug cartel, officials say.

Yeah, this is one of the craziest stories we've ever heard.

Officials have identified Barney Harris -- who worked as a coach and teacher at Union Academy in Monroe.

Investigators say Harris was also part of a "criminal organization" that was hell-bent on robbing some of the most dangerous people in town ... the Sinaloa New Generation Cartel.

According to the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, Harris -- along with "a team of people" -- snuck into a mobile home park on April 8 to clean out a "stash house" used by the Cartel.

Harris allegedly entered the stash house first and captured one of the Cartel members, Alonso Beltran Lara.

Officials say Lara was subsequently tied up and shot twice in the head, execution-style.

At some point during the incident, officials say another suspected Cartel member entered the home and a gun battle broke out.

"It was almost like an old western shootout," Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said.

"What was found was over 30-some shell casings in the trailer and outside the trailer, and three other mobile homes, in that particular park, with bullet holes in them."

When cops arrived at the scene, they found Harris shot to death in one of the bedrooms. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest and mask at the time. But, officials say his vest was no match for the high-powered weapons that were used against him.

Officials say they found Lara still alive and raced him to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Sheriff Johnson says investigators searched the crime scene and found 5 guns, roughly $7,000 in cash and more than a KILO of what they believe to be cocaine.

The concern now ... officials are VERY worried about violent retaliation from the Cartel.

"When we are dealing with the Mexican drug cartel ... somebody is probably gonna die as a result of this," Sheriff Johnson said.

"The Mexican cartels, they don't forget. They're gonna pay somebody back, somewhere and that concerns me."

Some poor excuse for a human performed a savage act on a foster dog ... stabbing and beating it purely out of vengeance, and now others are mobilizing to save the dog and find the scumbags who left it for dead.

Kari Whitman, the founder of the dog rescue org Ace of Hearts, tells TMZ ... a 9-year-old Dogo Argentino mix named Brodie had been under foster care in California City, about 2 hours northeast of L.A.

We're told late Tuesday night ... the foster mom, who had been living with her sister, got into an argument with her sister and at some point, Brodie was left in the yard of the home.

Sadly, when the foster mom returned she found Brodie with a stab wound down his spine, a broken leg and his hip was shattered in 4 places. Poor Brodie had previously been at a high-kill shelter before being rescued by Ace of Hearts ... and at this point, it's unclear who took out their anger on him.

However, the foster mom believes one of her sister's friends may have done it to get back at the foster mom for the argument.

Either way ... Brodie was taken to a local vet and later transferred to ACCESS Specialty Animal Hospitals in the San Fernando Valley. We're told he's currently fighting for his life there ... and sadly, may never walk again because he suffered major nerve damage.

Kari, whose org had been caring for Brodie before he went into the foster home, tells us anyone who wants to help Brodie can call ACCESS directly and donate.

Kim Potter, the Brooklyn Center police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, has resigned from the force, effective immediately.

Potter wrote a letter Tuesday to Mayor Mike Elliott, Acting City Manager Reggie Edwards and Police Chief Tim Gannon ... saying, "I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately."

Mayor Elliott announced Chief Gannon is also stepping down.

The resignations come following the second night of unrest in Minnesota that included looting, clashes with police and arrests. As we reported, citizens took to the streets Monday night in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center ... gathering outside the police station to demand justice.

There had been a 7 PM curfew set in place but the streets remained flooded with protesters. Cops ultimately dispersed the crowd with flash bombs and chemical agents. Protesters also got violent ... launching objects at cops.

The protests came after 20-year-old Wright was shot and killed by Potter ... whose body cam footage shows her yelling "Taser" as she clearly was holding her handgun. She fired one round that ultimately killed Wright. You can also hear Potter on body cam footage saying, "S**t, I just shot him."

The family of Daunte Wright -- the 20-year-old Black man killed by police near Minneapolis -- just delivered impassioned, heartbreaking words about his fatal shooting ... and their pain is palpable.

Several of Daunte's loved ones spoke at the news conference outside the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, including his mother, Katie ... who told the devastating story of her final phone call with her son as he was dealing with the police in what would turn out to be a deadly traffic stop.

Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Daunte's young son, spoke on how Daunte didn't live to see their child's second birthday ... saying the police stole her son's dad from him.

Other family members, including Daunte's grandmother, cousin and aunt, also delivered emotional, powerful words about their tragic loss.

George Floyd's family was also on hand to lend love and support to the Wright family, and along with everyone else ... called for justice in the case. Daunte's aunt also pointed out the 2 families have another connection -- she says Floyd's girlfriend used to be one of Wright's teachers.

Even a relative of Emmett Till spoke, saying ... "The past is not past until justice is served."

The news conference took place outside the courthouse where former Minneapolis PD officer Derek Chauvin is currently on trial after being charged with murdering Floyd during his arrest on May 25, 2020.

Wright was fatally shot on Sunday by a cop in Brooklyn Center -- a Minneapolis suburb about 10 miles from the courthouse where Chauvin's standing trial.

Ben Crump joined "TMZ Live" to discuss the tragedy, which he calls the latest example of implicit bias against people of color by police. Crump points to the alleged discrepancies in why Wright was pulled over in the first place, and says the incident never should have escalated to a violent confrontation.

Crump adds that President Biden's comments about rioting in wake of Wright's killing are fair, but says the Prez needs to also rebuke the unarmed killings of Black men by police in America.

As we reported ... body cam footage of the incident shows the officer, Kim Potter -- a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center PD -- shot Wright during his struggle with the police. After the shot, you can hear her exclaim, "Holy s**t, I just shot him."

Police Chief Tim Gannon claims Potter meant to use her Taser, but accidentally discharged her gun instead. Wright died from the gunshot wound.

Protests and riots broke out in Minnesota just 10 miles from where Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd ... following the killing of another Black man by police.

20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb. Wright died as cops were trying to take him into custody during a traffic stop after learning he had outstanding warrants.

According to reports ... Wright was shot after getting back into his vehicle and trying to flee. He drove several blocks before crashing to a stop. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon says medical workers attempted life-saving measures, but he died at the scene.

Shortly after Wright's death, protesters gathered and marched to the police department, which led to what the city's mayor called "growing civil unrest" ... resulting in the National Guard deployment.

It's unclear what effect Wright's death and subsequent protests could have on Chauvin's trial -- which begins its 11th day just miles away -- but it's worth noting the jury is NOT sequestered, so will be exposed to all this news ... and there are only 2 alternates.

Clashes between demonstrators and police continued until the late hours, and at one point it seemed law enforcement released smoke canisters to disperse the crowd.