2016 was a crazy year to say the least. Now, we don’t like to shine light on the negative but we surely can’t deny some of the horrible incidents that happened this year.
Orlando, Florida Shooting at Pulse
Described as “the deadliest shooting in our country,” 49 people killed and many injured on June 12, 2016 by gunman Omar Mateen, an Islamic soldier, inside popular bay bar in Pulse in Florida. The most recent articles state that the families of three victims have filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Google and Twitter for providing “material support” to Islam via the web. In response, Facebook has said “We take swift action to remove this content when it’s reported to us. We sympathize with the victims and their families.” Google and Twitter have yet to comment.
Orlando shooting survivor Angel Colon visited the Oakland fire scene tonight paying respects. ABC7news @
11p. pic.twitter.com/Oo4yE4s9xi— Cbarnard (@CornellBarnard) December 9, 2016
Dallas Police Shooting
On July 7, 2016, Micah Xavier Johnson fired toward a group of Dallas, Texas police officers who were present at the peaceful protest against the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, killed by police officers a few days earlier. Micah killed five officers and injured nine others along with two civilians.
Death of Alton Sterling
37-year-old Alton Sterling, also known as the “CD Man” was selling CD’s outside a liquor store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Two officers, with less than five years in the department, arrived to the scene after a complaint that Alton has threatening someone with a gun. A witness claimes Alton did have a gun, but was no where near his hands during the confrontation with the police.
Death of Philando Castile
On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile was killed by Jeronimo Yanez, Minnesota police officer, after being pulled over while driving with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter. His girlfriend reported that Philando reached for his license after telling the officer he had a gun permit and a gun.
The officer shot Philando seven times while sitting in the car. His girlfriend live-streamed the incident after the shooting on Facebook causing an immediate frantic by the community. The officer now faces a second-degree manslaughter charge and two felony charges for firing a weapon while Diamond and her daughter were in the car.
Charleston Church Massacre
21-year-old gunman, Dylann Roof, entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, during prayer and opened fire killing nine people, including the pastor on the evening of June 17, 2015. Roof sat with the group for 15 minutes before firing. Roof later confessed that he wanted to start a racial war between whites and blacks. He is to appear in court on January 17, 2017 facing a potential death sentence.
Watch Dylann Roof’s chilling confession video. #DylannRoof #CharlestonChurchShooting pic.twitter.com/YRZemYHIGE
— Geysar Gurbanov (@geysar) December 12, 2016
Gator Tragedy at Disney World
A 2-year-old boy was killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World in Florida at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa last June. Reports say the 7-foot alligator bit the baby’s head as he bent down at the edge of the lake. His father attempted to jump in and save him but the gator merged underwater with the boy. The boy was found intact having suffered severe crushing injuries and drowning.
The parents have decided to not file a suit against Disney. “We will solely be focused on the future health of our family and will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney,” they said. Since the incident, the park has put in new signage warning of alligators as the last one simply warned people to not swim.
Hurricane Matthew
Hurricane Matthew stormed into parts of Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Lucayan Archipelago killing over 1,600 estimated deaths making it the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005, which killed more than 1,600 in Central America and Mexico.
Shooting of gorilla Harambe
On May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy fell into the exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo and was dragged around by gorilla Harambe. Witnesses said the boy had been saying he wanted to go into the pit before he fell in. Officials investigated how the boy managed to slip inside and questioned his parents in regards to parental negligence. Zookeepers made the decision to shoot and killed the 17-year-old gorilla with one shot. The boy has survived his injuries and is living a normal life with is siblings.
