A man banging a skateboard on the ground of a Texas shopping mall set off an “active shooter” scare Monday — sending panicked shoppers scrambling for the exits and ducking for cover in bathrooms, cops and witnesses said.
Dallas Police said the unidentified person, who is mentally ill, started banging the skateboard at NorthPark Mall at about 1:30 p.m. and made hand gestures as if he was firing into the crowd, a local ABC affiliate reported.
Hundreds of shoppers at the mall sprinted for the doors, thinking the bangs were gunshots, according to the report.
A number of people called 911 to report gunshots as a result of the banging, police said.
One employee who spoke to the television station said he hid in a bathroom as the commotion broke out in the shopping center.
“I was hiding in the bathroom for 10 minutes,” he told the station.
Dallas Police Department officers arriving at the NorthPark Mall after the shooting scare.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said he doesn’t blame the shoppers for being on edge given the spate of mass shootings in recent weeks.
“Obviously with the country — particularly what it is right now — there’s a lot of trauma. I don’t blame these individuals one bit. This is what’s occurring right now,” Garcia said at a press conference.
“We are very fortunate that this was not an active shooter,” he added.
The Maple Leafs will be without Jake Muzzin for the foreseeable future. Head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that the rugged veteran defenseman will miss three weeks with a lower-body injury.
“It looks like we’ll have to push on without him,” Keefe said.
Muzzin left Game 6 against the Canadiens midway through the second period and did not return. Based on the video shown during the telecast, he was skating full stride and may have pulled a groin.
Now the question is: how long will the impact of his loss be felt with Game 7 on Monday night?
“Muzz is a just huge leader for us in general,” said Jason Spezza following Monday’s morning skate. “Very competitive guy, guy that brings it every night, all season. Loves the game and is passionate about it. He’s a guy that is obviously a big piece to us but it looks like we’re going to have to make do without him here potentially for a little bit. “
In the do-or-die Game 7, his loss leaves a huge gap on the Maple Leafs’ blue line. Muzzin has chipped in three points (two goals, assist) in the first six games. In Game 5, he single-handedly led Toronto’s comeback with two goals, including the game-tying tally in the third period.
MAPLE LEAFS VS. CANADIENS: Game 5 recap | Game 6 recap
A rugged, minutes-eating defenseman, he averaged more than 21 minutes of ice time during the regular season. He leads all defensemen in hits (16) and gaming guys who have played all six games is second behind Zach Bogosian, who should see an elevation to his minutes now, in blocked shots/60 minutes (5.64). Muzzin is also a top penalty killer for Toronto, which enters Game 7 with a league-best 88.9 percent effectiveness. Game 6 was the first time the team allowed any power-play goals — and both occurred after Muzzin left the game.
According to Keefe, Rasmus Sandin will slot into the lineup. The youngster struggled in Game 5 and was on the ice for Montreal’s first and third goals of the game in the first period. He only had three shifts in the second period and one in the third of an overtime loss for the Maple Leafs. Sandin was scratched for Game 6 with Travis Dermott taking his spot.
The Knicks are on the brink of elimination.Corey Sipkin
The Knicks looked almost unrecognizable in Atlanta in Games 3 and 4. After tying the series at The Garden on Wednesday, they were blown out both games on the road and now are on the brink of elimination, down 3-1. What the heck happened to this team down south? Can it win Game 5 at MSG and come back in this series?
To answer those questions, we bring you a new episode of the “Big Apple Buckets” podcast with Sal Licata, Jerome “The Junk Yard Dog” Williams and I, featuring a chat with friend of the program, Ashley Nicole Moss.
Big Apple Buckets Podcast with Sal, JYD & Jake:
GAME 4 LOSS: Knicks came out flat of the second half. Julius Randle was not great. RJ Barrett had his moments. Knicks got one point from Immanuel Quickley, Nerlens Noel and Reggie Bullock combined. They are just not making shots in the series. Nate McMillan and the Hawks deserve a lot of credit.
CAN THEY RALLY: Can the Knicks win Game 5? Is there any hope for them to win the series? They need to make adjustments.
RANDLE: Where has he been? What happened to his game? Does his playoff performance affect the Knicks potentially giving him a contract extension?
FRUSTRATIONS: Expected Knicks to play better at home. They got lucky to win a game. Officiating has not been good. Expects Knicks to win Game 5, but then lose the series in Atlanta.
Catch up on all episodes of “Big Apple Buckets,” a New York Knicks podcast, by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the crew on Twitter @sal_licata, @JunkYardDogJW and @JakeBrownRadio. New episodes of the show drop Tuesday afternoons.
A former New York correction officer who was convicted of sexually assaulting a female inmate will have to pay his victim hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, a federal judge ordered on Friday.
The prison guard perv, Jeffrey Green, will have to pay the victim, identified in court docs as Jane Doe, a total of $550,000 in damages as well more than $39,000 in attorneys fees, Manhattan Federal Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered.
Green was sentenced to nine months in prison for the 2016 assault at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, where he worked as a guard, according to court documents.
One night in March of that year, Green opened the victim’s cell door after guards had done “the count” for the evening, and ordered her into the “bubble” of prison, where he was sitting.
The prison guard, Jeffrey Green, will have to pay the victim $550,000.Richard Harbus for New York Post
“Green asked if Doe was ready to give Green ‘a blow job,’” court documents state.
She refused and went back to her cell, but he followed her and sexually assaulted her.
“Green grabbed Doe by her arms and pushed her up against the cell wall and began to lick, kiss and bite her neck and fondle her breasts,” the documents state.
The victim suffered sever emotional pain.Richard Harbus for New York Post
He pleaded guilty to the assault in 2017.
In the weeks after the attack, the victim was branded a “snitch” by guards and inmates and suffered sever emotional pain, her lawyers said in court documents.
She couldn’t sleep soundly for more than two years after the attack and even cut her wrists in an attempt to “deaden the pain” of what Green had inflicted on her, they added.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been in a massive rut in the back half of May, having ended a 13-game losing streak on Sunday, but have a starter going in Merrill Kelly that his done his best work in his home ballpark.
In four home starts this season, he has allowed just one home run in 24 innings while posting a 3.00 ERA. Conversely, he has a 6.15 road ERA across six starts with seven home runs given up in 33 ²/₃ innings.
The Diamondbacks offense will look to support Kelly and jump on the Mets. But considering Jacob deGrom is on the mound, that will be a very difficult task as he is making his second start since a stint on the injured list and has a league-best 0.80 ERA with a 10.57 strikeout-to-walk rate and is giving up just four hits per nine innings.
Since they faced each other on May 7, the Mets have scored four runs or fewer in 14 of their past 18 games in large part to six of the team’s Opening Day starting position players landing on the injured list. The Mets have also scored more than four runs for deGrom in just one of his seven starts this season and the Mets as a team have given up three runs or fewer in each of his past six starts.
With the Mets’ bullpen ERA ranked fifth in the league coupled with Kelly doing his best work at home, along with deGrom’s dominance, runs might be in a drought in Arizona on Monday.
The Play: Mets-Diamondbacks total, Under 7.5 runs.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused President Biden Monday of showing “weakness” toward Israel’s enemies hours after tweeting “heartbreaking” images of damage from a deadly rocket attack.
“The longer Joe Biden shows weakness to Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran, the more you’re going to see terrorist attacks escalating,” Cruz told the Associated Press after spending Monday touring Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and and viewing damage in the port city of Ashkelon, just eight miles from the border with the Gaza Strip.
“Appeasing terrorists doesn’t produce peace,” added Cruz, whose remarks broke with the once-customary practice of refraining from discussing domestic politics while overseas, particularly about the sitting president.
Earlier, Cruz tweeted out a series of pictures showing the destroyed home of an elderly Ashkelon resident.
One of the photos shared by Sen. Ted Cruz of an Israeli home bombed by Hamas.Twitter/@tedcruz
“Heartbreaking. Countless times, I’ve seen a Mezuzah hanging on a door frame,” Cruz captioned the first image he posted. “This is the first time I’ve seen one on a home bombed by terrorists.”
The senator noted that the rocket strike killed the woman’s caretaker. A subsequent tweet from Cruz showed the woman’s walker standing amid the rubble of the house. A third tweet showed more images of the damage.
Another image shared by Sen. Ted Cruz shows damage inside the Israeli home.Twitter/@tedcruz
Cruz, along with fellow Senate Foreign Relations Committee Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, arrived in Israel Sunday to survey the damage from the 11-day conflict, which ended with a ceasefire May 21.
Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted “heartbreaking” images from a rocket strike and accused Joe Biden of “weakness.”AP
Hamas had fired over 4,000 rockets toward Israeli cities during the fighting, while Israeli warplanes struck some 1,000 targets in Gaza. Nearly 300 people were killed in the fighting, the vast majority of them Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli officials blame Hamas for the high toll since the militant group launches attacks from civilian areas. Israel’s military also contends that many of the victims Hamas claims to be civilians are actually militants themselves.
Ted Cruz continued to blast Joe Biden for “weakness” in the Middle East.Twitter/@tedcruz
Hagerty, who joined Cruz in the interview, also criticized the Biden administration for pledging approximately $360 million in aid to the Palestinians, including money to help repair war damage in Gaza.
“Any monies that go to the Gaza Strip that are quote-intended for infrastructure can be easily diverted by Hamas,” Hagerty said.
Meanwhile, Graham met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nenanyahu, who faces a battle for his political life this week as one-time allies attempt to forge a coalition to remove him from office.
שמח מאוד לארח בירושלים את ידידי הסנאטור לינדזי גרהאם. אין אדם שעשה יותר עבור ישראל ממנו. אני מבקש להודות לו על כל מה שעשה במרוצת השנים בנושאי הגנת ישראל וביטחונה, וכן בסוגיה האיראנית. לינדזי הוא חבר מסור ובעל ברית מצוין. ברוך הבא לישראל!
“There is no person who has done more for Israel than him,” Netanyahu said of Graham in a tweet. “I would like to thank him for everything he has done over the years on Israel’s defense and security issues, as well as on the Iranian issue. Lindsey is a devoted friend and an excellent ally. Welcome to Israel!”
In an accompanying image, a smiling Graham held up a sign reading, “More for Israel”.
Kyrie Irving is facing yet more criticism for stomping on the Celtics’ halfcourt logo after their Game 4 victory on Sunday — this time from Basketball Hall of Famer and former Celtic Kevin Garnett.
A screengrab captured by Jay King, Celtics reporter for The Athletic, showed an Instagram story from Garnett criticising Irving for the action. Garnett played six seasons in Boston, from 2007-13, earning All-Star status five times for the Celtics and winning the 2008 NBA Finals in his first season there. Irving played in Boston for two seasons, from 2017-19.
MORE: Irving, Kevin Durant sound off on Celtics fan who threw bottle
“So nobody gonna say anything about stomping ‘LUCKY?’” the post reads. “We just gonna act like we didn’t see th at.
“You can’t do that,” the post continued. “That’s not coo (sic) on no level. … All of us need to be better. …”
According to the screenshot, it appears Garnett posted at 12:15 p.m. ET on Monday. It’s uncertain whether he was aware at the time that a fan — who wore a Garnett jersey — had thrown a water battle at the Brooklyn star as he exited the arena. Below is the video of Irving stomping on the Celtics logo, known by fans as Lucky the Leprechaun:
Irving, who said he hoped to avoid any “subtle racism” as the series headed to Boston, sounded off after the fan — who has since been charged with assault and battery — threw the bottle at him.
“It’s unfortunate that sports has come to a lot of this kind of crossroads where you’re seeing a lot of old ways come up,” Irving told reporters after the game. “It’s been that way in history in terms of entertainment, performers and sports for a long period of time, just underlying racism and just treating people like they’re in a human zoo.”
The series heads back to Brooklyn on Tuesday. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Nets holding a commanding 3-1 lead.
Barry Trotz hasn’t won at least one playoff series in each of the last seven years, including his three seasons with the Islanders, by voluntarily offering up state secrets.
Trotz has played coy with his goaltending decisions throughout this postseason and regurgitated his joke from the previous round when asked Monday about his goalie plans before the Isles looked to even their second-round series against the Bruins in Boston.
“It’ll be a Russian, left-handed goaltender,” Trotz quipped.
Veteran netminder Semyon Varlamov has not started since allowing seven goals in successive losses in Games 2 and 3 against Pittsburgh, but rookie Ilya Sorokin surrendered four – including a David Pastrnak hat trick — in stumbling for the first time in five playoff starts in Saturday’s 5-2 series-opening loss.
Trotz said he gave the Game 2 decision “a lot of thought,” but he explained his reasoning for not divulging too much information at this time of year.
Ilya Sorokin’s first dud of the 2021 playoffs could mean Semyon Varlamov is back between the posts for Game 2.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post (2)
“My responsibility is to protect them, no different when certain players are marked up on certain parts of their body,” Trotz said. “Say if you have a rib injury…I guarantee you I’m crosschecking you if I’m an opponent, right in the ribs all the time, giving you a shot, all those things.
“So that’s the protection part. That’s why sometimes you want to give information, but you can’t, just because of the fact that there’s those games that go on during a series. So we try to protect them as best as we can.”
During an optional morning skate at TD Garden, Sorokin was in net, while Varlamov split time at the other end with third-stringer Cory Schneider, according to reports. But Varlamov left the ice first, which often is an indication of that night’s starter.
Trotz did allow that he expected to go with the same 18 skaters as Game 1, meaning impressive 20-year-old rookie Oliver Wahlstrom will miss his third straight game, while late-season pickup Travis Zajac will remain in the lineup after sitting out the first five games of the previous series against the Penguins.
“Still the plan. We’ve got to be better. The same group is going right back out,” Trotz said. “[Wahlstrom] will not play [Monday night]… He’s getting nearer, and we’ll see where we are for Game 3.”
Trotz also spoke for the second consecutive day about the need for No. 1 center Mathew Barzal – the Isles’ leading scorer in the regular season with 45 points – to produce offensively. He entered with zero goals and three assists through the team’s first seven postseason contests.
“The top players get really good matchups. They really have to fight for their inches to have any success in the playoffs,” Trotz said. “I think in the regular season, there’s more room, There just is. So they’re able to create and Mat has been able to do that.
“In the past playoffs, he’s been able to create and put up pretty good numbers. This year it’s been a little different. He’s having a little more of a struggle. I think those players have to fight for the inches, and if you’re not willing to fight for those inches, then you don’t get those inches and those opportunities. He’s got to dig in. This is not about who he’s playing with. It’s about Mathew just digging in a little bit and not getting frustrated…I don’t have a lot of issue with his game. Would I like him to produce a little more? Absolutely. And he will.”
Trotz said the packed crowd in Boston for the opener made the game “feel normal again” after playing in mostly empty arenas during the pandemic, adding he had to “scream” for players to hear his directions. “The masks are becoming chin straps because the players are having trouble hearing you, and that’s part of the normal… a lot more normal than it has been,” he said…
Forward Craig Smith (lower-body) was out for the Bruins.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo celebrated the end to the state’s midnight indoor dining curfew for New York City on Monday — after more than year of various capacity and hour restrictions on restaurants.
“Like every other milestone of our reopening, the end of curfew for indoor dining is the result of New Yorkers banding together, practicing safety precautions and getting vaccinated, so we can defeat the virus and work our way towards a new normal,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“Our reopening approach has always been data-based and if we want to stay on our current trajectory, we need to remain vigilant across the board — especially when it comes to indoor activities,” the third-term Democratic governor added. “As always, we will continue to work with our local partners to make sure venues are following basic safety guidelines.”
The statement comes after the governor announced on April 28 that Big Apple patrons on May 31 would no longer be subject to curfews inside bars and restaurants, which the restaurant industry has lobbied against for months.
Bar seating returned on May 3, and outdoor eatery curfews were lifted on May 17, as the COVID-19 positivity rate continues to decline and more New Yorkers get vaccinated.
People dine at Bubby’s on May 19, 2021.James Keivom
The Yankees’ roller-coaster season continues. After sweeping the White Sox, they lost two of three games to the Blue Jays. They then shocked the world by getting swept by the pitiful Tigers. It was a nightmare weekend for the Yankees to forget in Detroit. They returned home for a key seven games against two teams ahead of them in the AL East in the Rays and Red Sox.
To discuss the disastrous weekend in Detroit and look ahead to the Rays series, we bring you a new episode of the “Pinstripe Pod” with Chris Shearn and Jeff Nelson, featuring an interview with Yankees great Mike Stanton, an episode recorded before Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Rays.
Pinstripe Pod Opening Segment with Chris, Jeff & Jake:
PATHETIC WEEKEND: Offense and defense were terrible over t he weekend. Yankees were embarrassed in Detroit. Can’t get swept by the lowly Tigers. Aaron Boone showed some emotion, saying he was pissed.
CONCERNS: Lineup has not been good. Giancarlo Stanton’s bat looks lifeless? Big series coming up against the Rays and Red Sox. Is this team just not good enough? Will the inconsistencies come back to bite the Bombers?
FAN BEHAVIOR: Fans need to stop being so reckless. I saw a fan at the Yankees game throw a Blue Jays fan’s hat into the bullpen from the stands. Some fans around the sports have been out of control.
SUBSCRIBE ON:
Mike Stanton Interview: 3-time World Series champion with Yankees (1998-2000), Yankees reliever (1997-2002), AT&T Sports Network analyst
YANKEE BULLPEN MEMORIES: Poop stories come back as Mike looks back at memories with Nellie in the bullpen. Team had camaraderie and loved being around each other.
STANTON + NELSON: How great of a combo were they out of the bullpen?
GAMES PITCHED: 74 games short of Jesse Orosco’s all-time record. Wanted it, but injuries to knee took a toll.
Catch up on all episodes of “Pinstripe Pod,” a New York Yankees podcast, by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Chris and Jeff on Twitter @ChrisShearnYES and @NYNellie43. New episodes of the show are released Mondays and Thursdays.
