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Here’s how Monday’s controlled demolition of Key Bridge collapse on container ship will work
BALTIMORE – A big effort to clear the Dali from the Key Bridge collapse site will happen Monday evening.
Unified Command crews will use a controlled explosive to demolish a massive span of the bridge that sits on top of the cargo ship.
The demolition will happen with more than 20 crew members aboard the ship.
This explosion, which was initially supposed to take place over the weekend, is expected to take seconds and will sound like fireworks.
Cuts have already been made in the steel where explosives have been placed, then covered with what looks like heavy-duty tape.
The controlled detonation will send the truss expected into the Patapsco River in pieces. Officials shared an animation of the process.
Unified Command maintains the plan to fully reopen the channel in the Patapsco River and access to the Port of Baltimore by the end of May remains on track.
What will happen?
The controlled demolition, called “precision cutting,” will use small charges to split the large portion of the collapsed bridge on the ship’s bow into smaller, more manageable sections.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers calls this process the “safest and swiftest” way to remove the thousands of tons of wreckage pinning the massive ship.
Is it safe to watch from the water?
Unified Command crews do not recommend boaters to watch the controlled detonation from the water.
“There is a safety zone and temporary flight restriction in effect around the incident site and additional security vessels will be on scene for enforcement. Drones are prohibited,” said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Will hearing protection be needed for those nearby?
Officials say hearing protection is required anywhere from 2,000 yards around the site.
“We have identified a few industrial facilities in this zone, and workers will be provided hearing protection if their work requires them to be outside,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
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12/18: CBS Evening News – CBS News
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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
CBS News
12/18: The Daily Report – CBS News
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