Friday, March 29

4 killed in Tulsa shooting, NBA Finals begin tonight: 5 Things podcast


On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: 4 killed in shooting at Tulsa medical center

The suspected gunman is also dead. Plus, a gun control package will move through the House, economic opportunity reporter Charisse Jones checks in on LGBTQ inclusion in the workplace, reporter Chris Bumbaca looks at the history of the Spelling Bee bell and the NBA Finals are here.

Podcast:True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Buenos dias. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Thursday, the 2nd of June 2022. Today, a shooting in Tulsa, plus LGBTQ inclusion in the workplace and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

  1. Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo said he has been in contact with authorities in recent days. He did an initial interview with the Texas Rangers. Though a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety said he had not responded for several days. Arredondo led the law enforcement response at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School last week, which is under investigation for how long it took for officers to confront a shooter who slaughtered 19 children.
  2. A grand jury yesterday charged white 18 year old Payton Gendron with domestic terrorism, motivated by hate, and 10 counts of first-degree murder. He’s accused of shooting and killing 10 black people at a Buffalo supermarket last month.
  3. And Johnny Depp has won his defamation lawsuit against ex, Amber Heard. A jury awarded him more than $10 million after Depp filed the suit alleging Heard defamed him when she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse in an opinion column.

Four people were killed, and more injured, yesterday, during a shooting at a medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The shooting is the latest high-profile shooting tragedy after one in Buffalo last month killed 10 and a shooting in Texas killed 21, including mostly children. In this latest incident, officers responded to a report of a man armed with a rifle at the St. Francis medical campus. Police say the shooter also died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Witness, Nicholas O’Brien.

Nicholas O’Brien:

They were rushing people out. I don’t know if some of them were injured or just had been injured during the shooting. But some of them couldn’t walk very well. But they were just wobbling and stumbling, getting them out of there. So at that point, it was around 5:10, 5:15, we came to the conclusion that there was probably an active shooter there.

Taylor Wilson:

Police have not released the name of the suspected shooter, but authorities found he had a rifle and handgun. It’s not clear what led to the deadly assault. Police, at one point, also believed the suspect may have planted a bomb at his residence in Muskogee, Oklahoma. But an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad later cleared the home, finding no devices inside.

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A gun control package is expected to pass through the House today. It would include a proposal to raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 to buy a semi-automatic rifle. And it would also include efforts to limit the third-party sales of guns and to stop the distribution of untraceable firearms. The democratic-led move, though, is unlikely to pass the Senate, where Republicans can block major gun legislation. Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, previously said he does want GOP lawmakers to work with Democrats on gun measures related to the Uvalde massacre that left 19 children dead. But few expect McConnell to support raising the minimum age.

As several states pass laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, companies are creating policies and shifting culture to strengthen LGBTQ inclusion. 5 Things producer, PJ Elliott, spoke with Economic Opportunity Reporter, Charisse Jones, to find out more.

Charisse Jones:

Yeah, companies are making more of an effort to make sure that the LGBTQ community is part of its recruitment and promotion processes, just like members of any other underrepresented or marginalized group. It’s also really important… and more businesses are doing this as well… to make sure that employees feel that they can be themselves in the workplace. And that means talking about your same sex partner and aspects of your private life that you might have felt you couldn’t have done in a less tolerant environment. Allyship is really critical. And not just having a rainbow flag on your desk, though that makes a statement and has value, but disrupting bias. If somebody makes an inappropriate comment in a meeting, calling that out. Recommending a colleague for a promotion or promoting their ideas. So all of those things are ways that companies are making that effort. And finally, holding people accountable, tying compensation to meeting certain equity goals. And that’s what a lot more businesses are doing as well. Because when that’s a metric that you measure progress by, people, they adhere to it. They don’t want you messing with their salary or their bonus. So that’s really been important as well.

PJ Elliott:

So what benefits are companies seeing with a more diverse workplace?

Charisse Jones:

Well, it’s really important, in terms of retention as well as recruitment. One advocate I spoke to says that the LGBTQ+ community is the canary in the coal mine, because they’re an invisible minority. So when you treat members of that community equitably, treat them well, respect them, it sends a real clear message to other employees who are from more visible minority groups. So that’s really critical.


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