Cop who mocked Kandula’s death taken off duty
New York, Sep 29: A US cop who joked and laughed in a bodycam video about Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula’s death by a police SUV this year, has been taken off patrol duty, police said. The Seattle Police Department (SPD) on Thursday confirmed that Officer Daniel Auderer “has been administratively reassigned to a non-operational position”, The Seattle Times reported. Auderer, a member of the SPD’s traffic squad and vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, came under investigation over a clip from his body camera in which he is heard saying that Kandula’s life had “limited value” and the city should “just write a check”. The video clip prompted international condemnation with leaders, lawmakers and advocacy groups calling for Audrer’s dismissal from the police service. Defending himself in a letter to Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) earlier this month, Auderer wrote that the comments were not made with “malice” and hard heart. Stating that he “lamented” Kandula’s death, he wrote that it was unfortunate that her death would “turn into lawyers arguing ‘the value of human life”. Last week, the Seattle’s Community Police Commission recommended that the officer under investigation for joking about Kandula’s death be placed on leave and his pay be withheld. (IANS)
Bus carrying schoolchildren overturns, 1 hurt
London, Sep 29: A bus carrying dozens of schoolchildren overturned on a highway near Liverpool on Friday, seriously injuring one person and causing a local hospital to declare a major incident as doctors treated dozens of passengers. The bus was transporting students from Calday Grange Grammar School and West Kirby Grammar School for girls on the Wirral Peninsula, across the River Mersey from Liverpool. Traffic on the M53 motorway was blocked as police and other emergency services responded to the incident, which was reported shortly after 8 a.m. local time. The North West Ambulance Service said it dispatched ambulances, advanced paramedics, a hazardous area response team and a helicopter emergency medical service doctor to the scene. “So far, one female patient has been taken to the hospital, suffering major trauma-related injuries,’ the ambulance service said. “There are also nearly 50 other patients being assessed at the scene.” (AP)
NY City area under state of emergency
New York, Sep 29: A potent rush-hour rainstorm swamped the New York metropolitan area on Friday, shutting down parts of the city’s subway system, flooding streets and highways, and delaying flights into LaGuardia Airport. Up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in some areas overnight, and as much as 7 inches (18 centimeters) more was expected throughout the day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday morning. By midday, although there was a break in the clouds, Mayor Eric Adams urged people to stay put if possible. “It is not over, and I don’t want these gaps in heavy rain to give the appearance that it is over,” he said. (AP)