Father identifies 8-year-old son killed in Catholic school shooting; calls gunman a ‘coward’

A father made an emotional statement, calling the shooter a coward for taking the life of his 8-year-old son, Fletcher. (Merkel Family)

Minneapolis

A Minneapolis father has identified his son as one of two children who died in Wednesday’s Catholic school shooting.

Jessie Merkel made an emotional statement on Thursday, calling the shooter a coward for taking the life of his 8-year-old son, Fletcher.

“Yesterday, a coward decided to take our eight-year-old son Fletcher away from us,” Merkel said. “Because of their actions. We will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, or play with him. And watch him grow into the wonderful young man.”

Police said the other child killed in the shooting was a 10-year-old student at the Annunciation Catholic Church, but has not yet been named.

“While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled. I hope that in time our family can find healing,” the father said. “I pray that the other victim’s family can find some semblance of the same. I’m hopeful that all the wounded are able to make a full recovery and return home to their families.”

Minneapolis families continue to grapple with the deadly shooting that occurred at the Catholic school.

The two children were killed and more than a dozen others were injured after shots rang out as students and teachers took part in the first full Mass of the school year.

The FBI identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who died by suicide and was a former student at Annunciation Catholic School.

A memorial has since grown outside the church with flowers and notes.

Authorities said they are continuing to look into a motive for the shooting.

Officials looking into reports of engine failure involving more than 1.4 million Hondas, Acuras

FILE — More than 250,000 Honda and Acura vehicles were recalled earlier this year. (Honda)

Government officials are looking into reports of engine failure involving multiple Honda and Acura vehicles.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 1.4 million Honda and Acura vehicles are involved in the reported engine failure investigation.

The agency says the investigation first started in 2023 after it received numerous reports of the “failure of connecting rod bearings, leading to complete engine failure” in the 3.5L V6 engine used in certain models of the Acura TLX, Acura MDX, Honda Pilot, Honda Odyssey and Honda Ridgeline.

The engine failures were initially investigated under a recall in November 2023, but officials said further evidence suggested that the failure was not caused by the same crankshaft manufacturing defect that was addressed in the recall.

Therefore, the potential safety risk has warranted further investigation because of the significant number of reports involving the vehicles.

“The Office of Defects Investigation is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to further evaluate the scope and severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential safety-related issues,” the agency shared.

The investigation has listed the following vehicles involved:

Acura

• 2016-2020 Acura MDX

• 2018–2020 Acura TLX

Honda

• 2016–2020 Honda Pilot

• 2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline

• 2018–2020 Honda Odyssey

Delta, United sued for allegedly selling ‘window seats’ that didn’t have a window

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have been hit with class-action lawsuits. (MGN)

New York

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are listed in class-action lawsuits.

The airlines are being accused of charging passengers who paid more for “window seats” only to find their assigned seats next to a blank wall.

The lawsuit against United was filed in a California district court and the Delta class action was filed in New York.

The lawsuits are seeking millions of dollars in damages.

“Delta has likely sold over a million windowless ‘window seats,’” the lawsuit read. “Delta has knowingly and routinely sold windowless ‘window seats’ to travelers.”

With the United lawsuit adding, “United operates hundreds of these aircraft, which each make several flights every day. As a result, United has likely sold over a million windowless ‘window’ seats for more than 1 million passengers at each carrier.”

According to the complaints, some Boeing 737, Boeing 757 and Airbus A321 planes contain seats that would normally have windows but lack them because of the placement of air conditioning ducts, electrical conduits or other interior components.

Delta and United are accused of not flagging such seats during the passenger booking process, unlike some of their competitors.

“Several of Delta’s competitors, such as American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, operate the same kinds of aircraft with windowless ‘window’ seats. But unlike Delta, when travelers select such seats, American and Alaska specifically disclose that the seat has no window view,” the Delta lawsuit states.

Delta is based in Atlanta, and United is in Chicago.

Neither of the airlines has immediately responded to requests for comments regarding the lawsuits.

Doctors find knife blade that had been in man’s chest for 8 years

Doctors say they found a knife blade that had been in a man’s chest for eight years. (PubMed Central)

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Doctors say a man was living with a knife blade embedded in his chest unknowingly for nearly a decade.

According to PubMed Central, an electronic archive of biomedical and life sciences journal articles, the 44-year-old man was seeking medical care for pus leaking just below one of his nipples.

Doctors said the patient, who did not want to be identified in the article, told them that he wasn’t experiencing any chest pain or difficulty breathing.

But he was dealing with an area on his chest that seemed infected for a week-and-a-half.

Doctors noted that the man said he was stabbed multiple times in the face, back, chest and abdomen eight years prior. He received treatment at a health clinic at that time, where his wounds were stitched up. However, a radiological investigation was not conducted due to limited resources in the area.

The man was finally able to receive complete treatment for the stab wound after visiting the general team at the Muhimbili National Hospital.

Doctors said initial imaging showed the knife blade had entered through the man’s right shoulder area and was still lodged in his chest.

The medical team said they were able to remove the blade, with the man being discharged from the hospital 10 days following the procedure, according to the article dated May of this year.

Doctors said the patient recovered well after surgery and noted there was a significant risk that the blade could have been fatal if it hadn’t removed.

Tristan Rogers, longtime ‘General Hospital’ star, dies at 79

Tristan Rogers revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer at the age of 79. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Los Angeles

A longtime soap opera star has died at the age of 79.

Tristan Rogers, who was well-known for portraying Robert Scorpio on the daytime television soap opera “General Hospital,” died this week.

ABC7 reported that Rogers’ death was confirmed by his manager, Meryl Soodak, who said the actor died Friday morning after a battle with lung cancer.

Frank Valentini, an executive producer of “General Hospital,” took to social media on Friday saying the show’s cast is devastated over the news.

“The entire ‘General Hospital’ family is heartbroken to hear of Tristan Rogers’ passing,” he shared. “Tristan has captivated our fans for more than 50 years and Port Charles will not be the same without him (or Robert Scorpio).”

Rogers’ portrayal of Scorpio on “General Hospital” spanned about 45 years.

According to his manager, his role on the show meant everything to him. She also noted that he was not a smoker.

Rogers is said to be survived by his wife, two children and a grandchild.