Jacqueline Flores

Jacqueline Flores

Woman shot in the head front of her daughter, 6, in a possible case of ‘mistaken identity’

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FRESNO, CA- On Tuesday, July 27th, a California woman was shot point blank in her car in front of her young daughter. The woman suffered a single gunshot wound to her head. Now, investigators are saying they believe the violent act may have been a case of mistaken identity.

Authorities stated that Fresno police officers responded to the intersection of Kearney Boulevard and Thorne Avenue around 10:45 p.m. and discovered the victim, identified as 25-year-old Jacqueline Flores, inside of a parked car.

According to police, Flores’ 6-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car when her mother was fatally shot. In a press release, Fresno Police wrote:

“Fortunately, the child was not injured, but the bullet did enter the rear window where the child was seated.”

Flores is currently fighting for her life at a hospital and is listed in critical condition. Investigators stated that they do not believe Flores was the intended target. They believe that this senseless act of violence may have been a case of mistaken identity.

Police are actively searching for the suspect and are asking anyone with information to contact the Fresno Police Department at (559) 621-7000. People can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP.

In a separate incident, a 20-year-old man was taken to the hospital in the early morning hours of July 26th with a gunshot wound to the face and another to the hip. 

Authorities said that the victim knocked on a door around 3:00 a.m. and asked for help. 911 was called and Fresno police responded to the area of Clinton and Marks Avenues where they located the gunshot victim.

The victim was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening wounds. Police stated that at least six cars in the area were also hit by bullets. Anyone with any information on the shooting is asked to call the Fresno Police Department. 

On Thursday, July 29th, Fresno police questioned a suspect after a man was wounded by gunfire in the 4600 block of East Washington Avenue. According to authorities, there have been 392 shootings in the city so far in 2021, compared to 299 in 2020.

Police spokesman Felipe Uribe said that the shooting took place around 9:45 p.m.. The victim was rushed to Community Regional Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition as of Friday, July 30th.

Witnesses who heard the gunfire saw a man walking away and the information aided officers in locating the man, who may have been involved in the incident. However, officers did not find a gun on the man and did not have enough information at the time to place him under arrest.

On Wednesday, July 21st, a high-powered rifle was among the guns used during a multiple-round shooting in central Fresno. Police said the shooting occurred around 7:30 p.m. near the 3300 block of East Sierra Madre Avenue. 

Fresno Police Lt. Brian Valles stated that two groups were involved in the shooting with multiple shell casings found in the roadway and in from of an apartment complex. No arrests have yet been made and it is not yet known of the shooting was in any way gang related.

A 27-year-old man who suffered a gunshot wound was dropped off at Community Regional Medical Center and is believed to have been part of the shooting. According to police, he was uncooperative with detectives before he was rushed into surgery. Valles said:

“Our victim at the hospital is not being forthcoming.”

Police said that the reason for the shooting was not immediately known, but those involved had fired their guns while on the road. Anyone with any information about the shooting can remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. 

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Police arrest woman wanted in shooting after she commented on police social media post asking about reward

July 20th, 2021

TULSA, OK – A suspect wanted in connection with a murder investigation in Oklahoma was arrested earlier in July after she commented on a Facebook post from the Tulsa Police Department that was identifying her as a wanted suspect.

According to the reports, on July 14th, the Tulsa Police Department put a post on Facebook identifying a woman by the name of Lorraine Graves as being the wanted for accessory to murder in connection with a fatal shooting that happened at the St. Thomas Square Apartments earlier this year.

And for some reason, Graves decided to comment on the Facebook post identifying her as the “Weekly Most Wanted”, asking about if there’s reward money for her arrest:

“What’s (sic) where’s the reward money at”

The Tulsa Police Department noted that Graves commenting on the Facebook post happened shortly after the original post was placed on the platform.

According to Tulsa Police in an updated post to Facebook, Graves was arrested the day after posting her comments online:

“On 7/15/21 around 4:30 p.m., detectives with our Fugitive Warrants unit arrested Graves in north Tulsa near 36th St. N. and Garrison Ave. Graves is charged with Accessory to Murder. Her bond is set at $500,000.”

Power 105.1’s show the Breakfast Club awarded Graves their infamous “Donkey of the Day” award for her not-so-bright move to comment on her own “Most Wanted” post on Facebook, with show host Charlamagne tha God joking about the stupidity of the move:

“One of the most difficult things for folks to do is bite their tongue when they’re being spoken about on social media. It’s like a digital version of the Quiet Place, keep quiet or you could get killed. Okay, that’s why so many of you die at the hands of social media, because you don’t know how to be quiet.”

“And that’s exactly what Lorraine Graves should’ve done, cause Lorraine was one of Tulsa’s most wanted – yes, she was wanted for accessory to murder and the Tulsa Police Department posted about her alleged crime and wanted to know her whereabouts.”

“Lorraine saw that post about her and in her mind she thought ‘It’s lit, they’re talking about me, my time to shine!‘ You just thought that was so witty, to ask where the reward money was at, huh?”

If convicted, Graves could face up to 45 years in prison.

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Woman shot in the head front of her daughter, 6, in a possible case of 'mistaken identity'

This isn’t the first time we at Law Enforcement Today have reported on suspects getting themselves arrested by taunting police on social media. 

Back in July of 2020, a TikTok user thought it would be a bright idea to make a TikTok viedo of him dancing in front of a background image of his wanted picture post and daring police to find him. 

Well, they did. 

Here’s that previous report. 

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LAGRANGE, GA – William Reeves Durga was arrested on Friday, July 24th, 2020 for sale of cocaine and use of a communication facility during the commission of a felony. 

Police were able to easily find him after he posted a video, which went viral on TikTok, daring police in Troup County, Georgia to “come and get” him.

In June, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested seven people at the Main Street Pub in LaGrange.  The arrests were all linked to drug offenses at the establishment, according to WSB-TV.

Durga remained an outstanding suspect at that time.

LaGrange police put a post on Facebook on July 2, which has since been updated.

When Durga saw the post, he posted the image in a TikTok video that showed him dancing in front of it with a caption that read, “Come and get me bitch.”

The post went viral with nearly four million views.

Many law abiding citizens responded to law enforcement’s request for help by sharing the link to his TikTok video to the department’s Facebook page.  Some people accused others of “snitching” by sharing the video with the police. 

However, one coherent user posted: 

“The dude snitched on himself. Only an idiot would get on social media while running from the police. He deserves what he gets.”

LaGrange is a small city roughly an hour from Atlanta.  It has a violent crime rate of 51 per 1,000 residents, which is slightly lower than the 58 per 1,000 that Atlanta claims.  The Atlanta suburb, which has been largely unaffected by the recent violent “protests,” appears to enjoy a congenial relationship between law abiding citizens and the police.

They host a Citizens Police Academy, which will be online this year, to give people the opportunity to learn exactly how the Police Department operates.  They interact with the community during fundraisers and food pantry operations.  They are appreciated by most.

It would appear that Reeves Durga was not aware of that relationship when he posted his TikTok video.  When he decided to taunt police by dancing (he’s no Dancing with the Stars contestant, by the way) in front of his mugshots, saying things like “Come and get me bitch” and “Don’t let this flop” (apparently a catchphrase to encourage people to make the videos go viral on the app), he was rewarded by having both of his requests granted.

When asked for comment, the GBI has deferred to the press release, which has been updated since Durga’s arrest: 

“Police would like to thank the public for assistance which lead to the arrest of Durga.”

Accoding to the LaGrange Daily News, the Lagrange Police Department had been working for seven months in an undercover capacity at the Main Street Pub, which resulted in the arrests.

Durga also responded to the LaGrange Daily News via TikTok and said:

“Honestly, I’m not wanting to turn myself into Troup County Jail.  It’s so nasty and full of conronavirus.  They haven’t been doing the necessary things to keep it contained.  It’s beyond overcrowded, nobody gets a court date, it’s just wrong how the inmates are treated.  I haven’t been running, they never came to my house or anything. 

“They straight blasted me on social media, so I did it back.”

It appears that plan backfired.

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Woman shot in the head front of her daughter, 6, in a possible case of 'mistaken identity'

In other news regarding social media, three suspects were recently arrested in Georgia for allegedly uploading a video online where they beat a 12-year-old boy and shaved the word “gay” into his hair. 

Here’s that previous report from earlier in July. 

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ATLANTA, GA- Authorities stated that they have arrested three people a month after a disturbing video went viral on social media.

FOX 5 reported that the three suspects, 18-year-old Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 19-year-old Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, and 35-year-old Brittney Monique Mills, were all charged with cruelty to children.

Richards-Nwankwo faces an additional charged of battery. Sgt. John Chafee, with the Atlanta Police Department (APD), said in a statement:

“We’re very pleased with these arrests, but we are pleased with feedback that we got from members of the community assisting in this and how quickly they were able to jump on it.”

Reportedly, Atlanta police were first alerted to the post “depicting maltreatment of a juvenile” on June 17th. Within 24 hours, investigators said they were able to locate the juvenile and all of those involved.

The child was then placed into protective custody with the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services. In a statement, APD said:

“The behavior in this social media post was difficult to watch and is absolutely unacceptable. We are appreciative of the number of people who flagged this case with us and for those who provided information on the location where it took place.”

The statement added:

“Our investigators worked hard to identify those involved and to gather the evidence needed to place each behind bars and we are thankful for their work.”

Investigators stated that the video, which was posted in June, shows a young man with the word “gay” shaved on the side of his head. The video also shows people yelling at and hitting the young man. According to the police report, someone in the video was yelling at the young boy:

“You still doing gay (expletive). You think I cut this in your head for no reason?”

Chafee stated:

“Investigators were made aware of a video posted on social media that depicted a young male abused and it appeared that he was being abused because of his sexual orientation.”

He added:

“This was a difficult video to watch. When you see someone, you know, I have a child and when you see a young person being abused like this. I mean, this is just so unnecessary. It was difficult to watch and I think with a lot of the investigators, it was the same way.”

Chafee added:

“There is a lot of work that goes into the back, into the background of these cases because we don’t want to just, ‘Okay, this is the person and I am going to go ahead and charge them.’ We got to present evidence in court otherwise our charges mean nothing.”

Warrants were taken out for all three individuals prior to their arrests. All three were booked into the Fulton County Jail. Chafee said in a statement:

“This one came together with the way it should. People saw something wrong, they brought it to our attention, and our investigators jumped on it and acted quickly.”

According to reports, a fundraiser for the young boy was set up by Hope Giselle, a local LGBT rights activist and Devin Barrington-Ward, who is running for Atlanta City Council. As of this writing, $9,424 has been raised out of a $10,000 goal. 

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About The Author

Jenna Curren, Ed.D., is an assistant professor in criminal justice studies. As chair of a CJ advisory board, Jenna actively partners with members of the community to integrate current students into internships and prospective law enforcement careers. Prior to working in academics, Jenna held various custody and treatment positions and was a lieutenant for the CT Department of Correction. Throughout her tenure, she supervised men, women, youth and mental health offenders. A C.E.R.T and honor guard member, as well as a training officer, Jenna has 10 years of experience in the criminal justice and human services fields.

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