Minnesota trooper charged in 'full throttle' crash that killed high school cheerleader weeks before graduation



A Minnesota state trooper has been criminally charged for allegedly causing a three-vehicle crash that injured five and killed a high school cheerleader just two weeks before her graduation.

Around 5:45 p.m. on May 18, Trooper Shane Roper of the Minnesota State Patrol was involved in the car crash. The 32-year-old trooper reportedly T-boned the passenger side of a Ford Focus "at full throttle" at an intersection in Rochester, Minnesota.

The Olmsted County Attorney's Office said Roper collided with the Focus at 83 mph in a 40 mph zone.

"Trooper Roper maintained a full throttle without lights or sirens," the office stated in a press release. "Investigation revealed that Trooper Roper did not come off the full throttle until the Focus started into the intersection, approximately 1.4 seconds before impact. Trooper Roper’s vehicle violently impacted the Focus."

The Ford Focus was being driven by 21-year-old Angelina Bartz, and her passengers were 19-year-old Katarina Bartz and 18-year-old Olivia Flores. The friends were on a “fun outing for Katarina’s birthday” and driving to the mall when the car accident happened, according to a GoFundMe set up for the Bartz sisters.

The car crash took the life of Flores, who succumbed to her injuries a day after the accident, according to a statement by the Rochester Police Department.

Angelina reportedly suffered a fractured rib, traumatic brain injury, bruised liver, lacerated kidney, sprained wrist and finger, whiplash, and extensive bruising. Katarina sustained a shattered pelvis requiring surgery, a fractured rib, traumatic brain injury, and severe bruising.

A third car, a Toyota Rav4, was involved in the accident, and two passengers were allegedly injured.

A ride-along passenger in Roper's cruiser was also wounded, according to police.

A law firm representing Flores' family – Restovich Braun and Associates – said Roper has a "documented history of shocking, dangerous, and unlawful driving conduct while on duty."

The firm claimed Roper was disciplined for four previous crashes "due to excessive speed, inattentive driving, or both."

Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in a statement, "Trooper Roper, violating his duty in such a gross fashion, caused the death of a young lady celebrating her impending graduation from high school. Several other persons suffered serious injuries. Roper’s conduct violated the State Patrol’s Core Values. As with any other person driving recklessly and without regard to very basic rules of the road, Mr. Roper’s conduct cannot be tolerated."

Trooper Roper reportedly hit speeds as high as 135 mph — 99 mph over the speed limit — without using his emergency lights and sirens during one of the four times he was speeding on May 18 before smashing into the side of the Focus.

On July 9, Roper was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in connection with her death, the Olmsted County Attorney’s office said in a statement.

Flores was a cheerleader for the Owatonna High School Huskies and was set to graduate in two weeks.

A separate GoFundMe set up for the Flores family said of her parents, "Instead of planning Olivia’s graduation party and celebrating her next chapter in life, Steph and Carlos are left picking up the pieces of this tragedy."

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2 Minnesota police officers, paramedic shot dead while responding to domestic violence incident: 'Sickening and shocking'



Two Minnesota police officers and a paramedic were shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence incident on Sunday morning.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said officers and first responders responded to "a call of a family in danger" early Sunday morning in Burnsville, Minnesota.

The Dakota County dispatch said authorities were responding to an "incident with weapons."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said its agents also responded to the "domestic-related shooting" in Burnsville – roughly 15 miles south of Minneapolis.

"Jason Skog, who lives in the neighborhood, said around 5 a.m., he heard what sounded like a firecracker or a flash-bang, then gunfire. He said police asked residents to shelter in place," according to WCCO-TV.

The outlet reported that two police officers and a paramedic were killed by gunfire.

WCCO noted that there were fire trucks, ambulances, police, and SWAT vehicles at the tragic scene. One of the SWAT vehicles reportedly had multiple bullet holes on its windshield.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar wrote on the X social media platform that three officers in total were shot while they "were doing their jobs" of "protecting our community."

Walz said, "We must never take for granted the bravery and sacrifices our police officers and first responders make every day. My heart is with their families today and the entire State of Minnesota stands with Burnsville."

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara asked, "Please keep Burnsville Police Dept in your prayers this morning."

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association said, "We are heartbroken. Our law enforcement community is heartbroken. We’re just devastated at the horrific loss. These heroes leave behind loved ones and a community who will forever remember their bravery and dedication to keeping Minnesotans safe."

Rep. Jim Nash stated, "My heart is heavy for the families of these officers, the community of Burnsville, and for our country because this headline is not unique."

Secretary of State Steve Simon declared, "Sickening and shocking. I'm praying for these first responders, their families, and the community of Burnsville."

Rep. Betty McCollum added, "Horrible news from Burnsville this morning. My heart is going out to their Department and the entire community."

Walz has ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff starting at sunrise on Monday.

This is a developing story and will be updated when new details become available.

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Chicago police officer, 24, shot and killed right after shift ended and a week from earning master's degree: 'She was going to be the force of change'



A 24-year-old Chicago police officer was shot and killed just after her shift ended early Saturday morning.

Around 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, Chicago Police Department officer Areanah Preston was shot multiple times following her shift on the city's South Side. Fellow officers rushed to the Avalon Park neighborhood and found Preston suffering from numerous gunshot wounds. Officers administered life-saving treatment. Then Preston was loaded into a police vehicle and rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center – where she was pronounced dead.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported, "The shooting happened during an apparent stickup that officials believe might be related to another nearby robbery, according to law enforcement sources, who said Preston’s gun was taken."

Fellow police officers gathered at the hospital to show support for the slain cop, and there was a police procession taking Preston's body to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

There were no arrests in the murder of Areanah Preston.

Preston was described as someone "trying to make a change on this Earth" and to show "young people that policing is a profession that can make a difference in the community."

Professors of Preston at Illinois State University said in a statement:

Areanah stood out the moment we met her. She was an intelligent, thoughtful, and committed young woman. She was an old soul in that she already understood the challenges of minoritized populations, about the lack of justice in these communities and she was going to be the force of change. She already knew that she was going to dedicate her career, her life to the improvement of relationships between police organizations and minoritized populations. Areanah wanted to be the officer who would speak for the most vulnerable in society. She wanted to be the one who would care for the most vulnerable. She cared and she wanted better for everyone.

Preston was set to graduate Loyola University Chicago next week with a Master of Jurisprudence degree.

"She will be remembered by her faculty and classmates for her kindness, intellect, and commitment to service," the university said. "We wish to express our deepest condolences to the Preston family and to all those whose lives she touched."

Just days before her murder, Preston shared her last post on Instagram with her cap and gown. She posted the Isaiah 41:10-12 Bible verse.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.


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Horowitz: A world upside down: Illinois cop killer initially treated like victim by local CBS affiliate



Sadly, there is nothing new about the story of Darion Lafayette. A young black suspect with a long rap sheet who kills a cop with a gun he was able to purchase despite Illinois' tough gun control measures — that is essentially the story of every major city. What is new, however, is that after the other cop in this deadly altercation was forced to kill Lafayette, the local media initially treated Lafayette as a martyr, despite the fact that the officer was justified by a mile. Thus, we have now reached a point in society when a black criminal can kill a cop and it's the fault of everyone (and the gun) except the criminal. Last Friday, WCIA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Champaign, Illinois, aired a segment on Darion Lafayette, a deceased cop-killer, literally depicting him as an angel.

The segment began with an interview of a family member declaring, "He's the most compassionate person who you will ever meet in your life, if you ever knew him." Jessica Kunz, who anchored that broadcast, followed up, "And now they're mourning him after he died in an exchange of gunfire with Champaign police."

Back when America's media was sane, someone watching this segment would have thought that police somehow accidentally shot this innocent bystander in the middle of a shootout. The reality is quite different. Officer Chris Oberheim and his partner, Officer Jeffrey Creel, were responding to a domestic disturbance call at an apartment complex in the early hours of May 19 when Lafayette allegedly charged at Creel from his car. Neither officer even drew his weapon as Lafayette engaged in a physical struggle with Creel. During the struggle, Lafayette fired a 9mm Glock, striking Oberheim three times, including one time fatally in the head. Creel was also shot three times but managed to take cover behind his car.

Content warning: Graphic footage.

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Only at that point, according to a preliminary investigation by state's attorney Julia Rietz, did Creel use his uninjured arm to fire four shots at the suspect. Lafayette later died of his wounds.

Officer Creel is a surviving hero, and Officer Oberheim is a hero who sadly leaves behind a grieving wife and four daughters. Based on the details of the investigation, one has to wonder whether they hesitated in drawing their weapons quickly enough and whether that led to Oberheim's death. Yet, despite these details being abundantly clear from day one, WCIA still ran the segment essentially mourning the life of Lafayette more than a week later. It is this irresponsible treatment of every cop shooting as unjustified and every black criminal as a hero that is needlessly stoking racial tensions and animus against cops, while emboldening the worst street criminals.

Officer Oberheim's sister told Breitbart News that when she called the station to complain, the reporter initially blew her off. Later on, WCIA did issue an apology. However, what this story demonstrates is that there is an entire segment of society that now believes police must die at the hands of the increasing number of violent criminals on the streets, and if the suspect is black, the suspect is always celebrated, while the cop is vilified.

After the report aired, dozens of local businesses showed support for the slain officer's family by canceling their advertisements on WCIA, and instead, donated to the family's GoFundMe page.

Here is a list of businesses that pulled their advertising from WCIA, per one local activist on Facebook.

  • Budget Blinds
  • Tatman's Towing
  • Angel Paws Grooming & Petsitting
  • Mattex Heating Cooling Plumbing & Electrical
  • Lanz Heating & Cooling
  • Rector Construction
  • Freedom Roofing & Construction
  • Sunset Funeral Home
  • Confidentially Yours
  • Budget Blinds of Champaign
  • CU Under Construction
  • Starr Limousine
  • Crystal Clean Cleaning Service
  • Diepholz Auto
  • Illini Recycling
  • Rector Construction
  • Gibson Area Hospital & Health Services
  • Roofing Dog
  • Perfectionist Cleaning Service
  • Furry Overhead Door
  • Furry Gutter Company
  • Menold Construction
  • ACE Hardware/ Mahomet & Gibson City
  • Bancko Overhead Garage Doors
  • Coach House Garages
  • Baldwin Bytes
  • Castle Home Comfort Heating & Cooling
  • CIBM Bank
  • Becker Construction
  • Kustom Services
  • Highway's Tree Removal
  • Mom & Pop's Kettle Korn Stop
  • PSR Home Improvement
  • Roofs by Rodger
  • Loman-Ray Insurance Group, LLC
  • Woodlawn Country Club/Farmer City
  • Bacon & VanBuskirk Glass Company
  • McKinley Water Conditioning/Farmer City
  • Wyldewood Cellars
  • Awards Limited
  • Holly's Country Kitchen/Monticello
  • Champaign Ford City
  • Ryan Dallas Real Estate
  • Popejoy Roofing
  • P & P heating and cooling
  • Edelman Inc.
  • Christie Clinic

Perhaps this successful boycott might provide patriots with a blueprint for using the cancel culture against the cancelers.

The twisted irony is that, among the celebrated, sainted, and martyred criminals shot by police in recent months, not a single one of them was someone who should be admired. As reported by Breitbart News, "According to Champaign county court records, Lafayette has been charged with aggravated domestic violence with three different women as well as possession of drugs, including methamphetamine."

As I've reported before, the reason why seemingly innocuous police encounters are increasingly turning deadly is because, thanks to "criminal justice reform," so many violent criminals who were previously in jail are now out on the streets. It's not surprising that these same individuals will needlessly resist arrest or even attack the police during what should be a routine encounter.

Just last week, local media in Minneapolis reported that Daunte Wright, the latest sainted figure of BLM and the cultural elite, is being accused posthumously in a civil lawsuit of nearly killing a 16-year-old boy in May 2019. Jennifer LeMay, the mother of Caleb Livingston, filed suit against Wright's estate alleging that Wright shot her son in the head two years ago, leaving him "alive but without function."

Obviously, the female officer who shot Wright during the traffic stop made a mistake drawing her gun instead of the taser, but the reason that encounter ultimately turned deadly is because he resisted arrest and started fighting with police. The reason he was fighting with them is because he was a high-level, violent criminal, not a saint. While we can always find an incident when the police make a mistake, the fundamental problem here is that we have a plethora of violent criminals not locked up anyway.

When the leftists can't pin the blame on police, they seek to blame our gun laws, as one Illinois state legislator did in the Lafayette case. But the reality is that under Illinois law, Lafayette could not legally possess a firearm under any circumstance, yet managed to obtain one anyway. As I reported last week, Chicago in particular, which has the toughest gun laws, has released hundreds of violent gun felons, including convicted murderers, on supervised parole with too few cops to properly monitor them.

Everyone in the country will remember Officer Derek Chauvin in the Floyd case until the end of times, but almost nobody will ever know about people like Officer Oberheim and Officer Heacook, two policemen who were recently murdered by repeat violent offenders without even drawing their service weapons. The latter cases, when police use underwhelming force to their own detriment, are so much more common than the Floyd case, yet there is no effort to create a "BLM-style" revolution for strengthening the hand of cops, locking up gun felons, and celebrating the heroes who give their lives to protect the people.

This disconnect boils down to the most basic recognition of good and evil. The cultural elites have brainwashed a segment of the population into believing that so long as the color of a criminal's skin is dark, white cops and civilians who are forced into a violent confrontation with them forfeit their right to live and even their right to be honored after their sacrifice.

The results are devastating. With the cops on the ropes, there are now endless shootings in Minneapolis where stray bullets are now killing numerous innocent citizens. The latest is the death of 9-year-old Trinity Ottonson-Smith, who was killed by a stray bullet while playing on a trampoline. Yet the country will never know her name or the names of thousands of child victims of "police reform," even though these victims are a lot more innocent than Daunte Wright and George Floyd.

KG Wilson, whose 6-year-old granddaughter, Aniya Allen, was murdered by a stray bullet while eating McDonald's in her car in Minneapolis, aptly observed that "everybody's afraid to speak the truth" about what's happening in Minneapolis. "A black person who was killed by a white officer … that's something different. I personally don't think it was purposely done, but it was done and somebody needs to pay. But we need a movement right here for what's going on here; black people hurting, shooting and killing black people. People are afraid to tell the truth," he said.

Put simply, as Officer Oberheim's wife, Amber, said during her husband's funeral, "It's time to start honoring heroes and quit victimizing felons." Every other logical public policy decision flows downstream from there.