Texas Tech Student in Custody After Campus Police Officer Is Fatally Shot

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HOUSTON — A college freshman shot and killed a campus police officer at Texas Tech University in Lubbock on Monday night after the student was taken to the university police station for questioning in a drug-related case, the authorities said.

The on-campus shooting caused the authorities to put the university on lockdown as they searched for the student, who fled the station on foot and was identified by the university as Hollis A. Daniels, 19. The university’s Twitter account and online emergency-alert system urged those on campus to shelter in place starting at about 8:30 p.m. on Monday. Mr. Daniels was caught about an hour later, and the lockdown was lifted.

He was charged with evading arrest. Other charges were pending.

The episode began earlier Monday evening, when officers with the campus police department made a so-called student welfare check at Mr. Daniels’s room. The officers entered his room and found evidence of drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to a statement from a spokesman for the university, which is in West Texas. Officers took him to the police station for a “standard debriefing,” said the spokesman, Chris Cook. He then pulled out a gun and shot a campus officer in the head, killing the officer. The officer’s name was not immediately released.

Officials said a Texas Tech police officer later tackled Mr. Daniels as he fled near the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum and took him into custody, assisted by Lubbock officers. Mr. Daniels is from Seguin, a city nearly 40 miles east of San Antonio.

Classes were to resume as scheduled on Tuesday.

In a statement, Gov. Greg Abbott said he had spoken with Robert Duncan, the chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, and offered his condolences. “First and foremost, our hearts go out to the family of the police officer killed at Texas Tech University,” Mr. Abbott said in the statement.

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George Clooney Slams Harvey Weinstein in Wake of ‘Indefensible’ Sexual Misconduct Allegations

George Clooney has broken his silence about Harvey Weinstein, the film producer who gave him his first big break in the 1996 film From Dusk till Dawn.

Amid Weinstein’s sexual harassment scandal, the actor, 56, spoke out against the movie mogul. “It’s indefensible. That’s the only word you can start with. Harvey’s admitted to it, and it’s indefensible,” Clooney told The Daily Beast about his reaction to the news.

Though he’s heard “rumors” about Weinstein since the 1990s, the Suburbicon director admitted that he only heard that “certain actresses had slept with Harvey to get a role” and dismissed them as something said to diminish the actresses’ talent.

“I’ve known Harvey for twenty years. … But I can tell you that I’ve never seen any of this behavior — ever,” Clooney said, adding that he was not aware of how Weinstein reportedly reached settlements with the women he sexually harassed, as first revealed in The New York Times exposé, which also disclosed that eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, came forward to accuse the film mogul of sexual misconduct.

RELATED GALLERY: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal: All of the Hollywood Figures Who Have Spoken Out Against Movie Mogul

“I didn’t hear anything about that and I don’t know anyone that did. That’s a whole other level and there’s no way you can reconcile that. There’s nothing to say except that it’s indefensible,” Clooney explained.

However, the father of two assured that had he known prior to the revealing NYT story, he would’ve “confront[ed]” the issue head-on. 

Clooney shared how he felt “very bad” for all the victims, specifically pointing out Lauren Sivan, though not by name.

“I mean, cornering a young anchorwoman in the kitchen and jerking off into a potted plant? That’s not just some rumor about Harvey hitting on a woman; it’s disturbing on a whole lot of levels, because there had to be a lot of people involved in covering that up,” he said.

WATCH: Harvey Weinstein Forced Out of Own Company After Sexual Harassment Allegations

 

Describing Roger Ailes and Bill Cosby‘s sexual assault scandals as “watershed moments,” Clooney also called out Weinstein for being guilty of “taking advantage of people not in power” and being an “establishment figure up to some very shady stuff.”

“This is a big problem in our society,” he said. “This is a moral issue. We’re all going to have to be more diligent about it and look for any warning signs. Before, people weren’t paying enough attention to it. Now we have to. This is the moment to start scaring people like this into not acting this way anymore.”

But while he questioned the nature of Hollywood’s complicity, the actor also said he believed it was not a case of people looking the other way.

“I don’t think that people were looking the other way; I think that people weren’t looking, because in some ways, a lecherous guy with money picking up younger girls is unfortunately not a news story in our society.,” the actor said.

Amid the controversy, Clooney somehow found a silver lining.

“Maybe that’s what good will come out of this: that not just in Hollywood, although Hollywood is now the focus, but in all of these cases the victims will feel that they will be listened to, and that they don’t need to be afraid,” the star shared.

“Something good has to come out of this … victims have to feel safer to come out and tell their stories without the fear of losing their jobs, and they also need to be believed, which is a very important element of this,” the two-time Oscar winner emphasized.

Clooney wasn’t the first to speak out against Weinstein. In addition to several of Hollywood’s leading ladies, male celebrities such as Christian Slater, James Gunn and Kevin Smith have lent their voices in support of those accusing Weinstein of alleged misconduct.

Weinstein’s alleged decades of sexual misconduct came to light on Thursday after eight women, including actress Ashley Judd, came forward to accuse the film mogul of sexual misconduct in an article by the New York Times. Following the allegations, the Oscar-winning film producer was removed from his powerhouse film studio The Weinstein Company. 

“I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go,” Weinstein said, adding that he was working with therapists and planned to take time off to “deal with this issue head-on.”

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