WJPA News

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. (WPXI) — Two men who are facing charges in relation to a deadly double shooting that happened in Washington County are now in custody. Pennsylvania State Police filed homicide charges against Karon Whitlock, 20, and Windale Barfield Jr., 19, on Monday. State troopers said the two turned themselves in on Sunday. Annalaya Wilkerson, 18, was killed and another 17-year-old girl was hurt in a shooting on a rural road in South Franklin Township around 11 p.m. on April 13th. Both men are being held without bond in the Washington County jail and are to face preliminary hearings May 10th.

MONESSEN, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two vacant buildings in Westmoreland County were damaged in an early morning fire. The fire started along Rostraver Street in Monessen just after 3:30 a.m. The Monessen Fire Department No. 1 said the structures were fully involved. One of the buildings collapsed, and another was damaged. Westmoreland County 911 officials say no one was hurt because of the fire. Fire crews remained in the area for around 6 hours. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

PITTSBURGH — Protests at the University of Pittsburgh have expanded with protesters now marching in Oakland and police monitoring the situation. They set up a tent encampment and were calling for the University of Pittsburgh to sever ties with Israel. At 5:00 p.m. Sunday night, the protest expanded and created a traffic disruption between Bigelow Blvd. and Forbes Avenue. Pittsburgh Police were called in to help monitor the situation. An official said Pitt Police arrested two protesters. The University of Pittsburgh said they would be closing the William Pitt Union out of an abundance of caution. The protest is part of a wider national movement happening around the country at college campuses. In a press release issued earlier this week, students backing the movement said they wanted Pitt to fully disclose any investments it has made into Israel. They also wanted the university to release a statement in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Since the encampment began, protesting has remained peaceful.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — U.S. police departments have reported a year-over-year increase in sworn officers for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd. A survey released by the Police Executive Research Forum shows more officers were hired in 2023 than in any of the previous four years. It also notes there were fewer retirements and resignations of officers among the 214 law enforcement agencies that responded. Forum Executive Director Chuck Wexler says departments appear to be turning the corner on hiring but aren’t out of the woods yet. Departments saw an exodus of officers after the pandemic and Floyd’s 2020 death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that West Virginia and North Carolina’s refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory. The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid. Both states appealed separate lower court rulings that found the denial of gender-affirming care to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. Two panels of three Fourth Circuit judges heard arguments in both cases earlier this year before deciding to intertwine the two cases and see them presented before the full court of 15.

NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters of the war in Gaza who are encamped at Columbia University have defied a deadline to disband with chants, clapping and drumming. The Ivy League university in Manhattan earlier Monday issued an ultimatum for students to sign a form and leave an encampment by 2 p.m. or face suspension. The move comes as colleges around the country implore student protesters to clear out camps with rising levels of urgency as classes wrap up for the semester and graduation ceremonies approach. Students and others nationwide have been sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel.  (Photo:  AP)

Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old. Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border. The U.S. and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

SULPHUR, Okla. (AP) — Small towns in Oklahoma are beginning a long cleanup after tornadoes flattened home and buildings and killed at least four people, including an infant. The damage Monday was extensive in the community of Sulphur, where a weekend tornado crumpled many downtown buildings and sheared the roofs off houses across a 15-block radius. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said hospitals across the state reported about 100 injuries, including people apparently cut or struck by debris. White House officials said President Joe Biden spoke to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Sunday and offered the full support of the federal government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny’s death or directly ordered it. The official says it’s believed Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. Navalny was Russia’s best-known opposition politician and died while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he called politically motivated. A month later, Putin won reelection.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say several officers on a task force trying to serve a warrant in Charlotte, North Carolina, have been struck by gunfire. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force were shot Monday afternoon in a suburban neighborhood. Police said multiple victims were taken to hospitals and a SWAT team was on the scene. Gunfire continued after the officers were struck and a SWAT team was in the neighborhood afterward with police saying the situation remained unsafe hours later. Police urged people to stay away from the area and asked residents of the neighborhood to stay inside their homes.