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Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped Central Park Zoo, dies after apparently flying into building, zoo officials say
NEW YORK — Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who has been followed by bird watchers across Manhattan since escaping the Central Park Zoo last year, has died, the zoo said Friday.
He apparently collided with a building on West 89th Street, according to a news release from the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the zoo.
The society said that the Wild Bird Fund received reports of a downed owl at the building. The society said that when staff arrived, Flaco was unresponsive. The Wild Bird Fund said on social media that their initial exam and details on the scene “indicated that Flaco had collided with a window.” The bird was unresponsive, and declared dead shortly afterwards, the Central Park Zoo said. His remains were taken the Bronx Zoo for a necropsy.
The 13-year-old owl escaped the Central Park Zoo on Feb. 2, 2023, after someone apparently cut the stainless steel mesh of his zoo exhibit. Zoo staff spent weeks trying to capture him, but he evaded all efforts and proved able to catch his own food.
In the year since his escape, he has frequently been spotted in Central Park, the East Village and on the Upper West Side.
“The vandal who damaged Flaco’s exhibit jeopardized the safety of the bird and is ultimately responsible for his death,” the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement. “We are still hopeful that the NYPD, which is investigating the vandalism, will ultimately make an arrest.”
The Wild Bird Fund said on social media that it was a “deeply sad day.”
“We hoped only to see Flaco hooting wildly from the top of our local water tower, never in the clinic. We are grateful to all who contacted us today and all who helped with his rescue,” the organization said.
The zoo says they will provide further information after the necropsy and further testing is performed.
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Russia says Ukraine fired 6 U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at Bryansk as Moscow warns such strikes risk world war
Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia’s defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine’s use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
Ukraine’s military said it hit a Russian weapons depot in Bryansk overnight, but it didn’t say what weapons were used. U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday that U.S.-supplied ATACMS had been used on targets inside Russia.
In a statement carried by state media, Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military had shot down five ATACMS fired by Ukraine and damaged another. The reports said fragments had fallen at or near a military facility and that some of the debris had ignited a fire, but the ministry said there was no damage or casualties.
The strike in Bryansk came hours after another Ukrainian residential neighborhood was left charred and smoking. Ukrainian officials said 10 people were killed Monday in a Russian drone and missile attack on the southern city of Odesa.
The strike came a day after another strike on the power grid in Odesa, which also destroyed several homes.
With Mr. Biden finally granting Ukraine the long-sought permission to fire ATACMS — which have a range of about 190 miles — deeper into Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces had a new option to retaliate for the latest carnage.
Russia, however, has accused the U.S. of adding fuel to the fire.
In September, President Vladimir Putin warned that if the U.S. allowed Ukraine to use ATACMS inside his country, it would mean the U.S. and its NATO allies were at war with Russia.
Putin has yet to respond directly to Mr. Biden’s weekend decision, but lawmakers in Moscow fumed over the move on Monday, including a senator who called it “a very big step toward the beginning of the third world war.”
Neither side has confirmed its death tolls during the war, but Ukraine’s military has paid a steep price for trying to defend the country from the invasion, with around 70,000 troops believed to have been killed. More than 100,000 soldiers from Russia — a country with a population more than three times larger than Ukraine’s — have been killed, according to U.S. officials.
Col. Maksym Balagura, a special forces commander in Ukraine’s state border guard, acknowledged the vast size discrepancy when asked by CBS News if his country was short on manpower, saying it “isn’t possible to compare Russia and Ukraine… Their country is 10 times the size of ours, and of course they have more manpower.”
But with the grueling ground and air war showing no signs of letting up, Russia’s military has already been bolstered by more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers, according to Ukrainian, South Korean and U.S. officials.
Zelenskyy warned Tuesday that the North Korean contingent supporting Russia’s forces could grow to 100,000, as the two Western adversaries deepen their security ties.
contributed to this report.
CBS News
Bodycam shows Las Vegas man who called 911 for help killed by police in his home
A family is demanding answers after a Las Vegas father was shot and killed in his own home after calling police to report a potential home invasion.
Newly released police bodycam video shows Brandon Durham, 43, struggling with an alleged intruder over a knife in the early hours of Nov. 12. The intruder, later identified as Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, was wearing a red hoodie, while Durham was shirtless, the video shows. Durham’s 15-year-old daughter was home at the time, but was not at the scene, officials said.
Las Vegas police said Officer Alexander Bookman entered the home and ordered the pair to drop the knife before firing his weapon, police said. Durham was struck and fell to the floor. Bookman then fires five more rounds, the video shows.
Durham was pronounced dead at the scene. Now, his family is pushing for answers.
“He called the police for safety and instead, he was brutally murdered,” his daughter Isabella said in a news conference.
“Someone needs to explain to me why my son is not here with us today,” added Durham’s mother.
Bookman is on paid leave while the Las Vegas Metro Police Department investigates whether he acted appropriately or should face criminal charges. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told Durham’s family the investigation could take 30 to 90 days, according to CBS affiliate KLAS.
“Every time a police officer used force, he has to be able to articulate why he used that force,” Felipe Rodriguez, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former detective sergeant for the NYPD, told CBS News. “And even if he did use one round, you know, how is it that he was, you know, he continued shooting after the person was down in such a rapid succession? It’s going to have a lot of explaining.”
Boudreaux was arrested and faces multiple charges, including one count of home invasion with a deadly weapon, a count of assault with a deadly weapon, a count of performing an act of willful or wanton disregard of safety resulting in a person’s death, and one count of child abuse, according to police.
Boudreaux and Durham knew each other and had a sexual relationship, according to an arrest report obtained by KLAS 8. Boudreaux told detectives she intended to have police kill her on the day of the home invasion, the station reported, and Boudreaux has refused to appear at two court hearings.
CBS News
Russian strikes continue in Ukraine, marking 1,000 days since the invasion
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