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U.S. NEWS Monday 30 noveMber 2020
Mother of slain Florida teen shot during burial service

Associated Press undefined iff Wayne Ivey had said the
COCOA, Fla. (AP) — An un- deputies thought the ve-
known gunman fired into hicle might have been sto-
a crowd gathered at a len, but the teens' families
Saturday afternoon burial and lawyer, Natalie Jack-
service of a teenager who son, said they had permis-
was fatally shot by a Florida sion to use the car and
sheriff's deputy earlier this called it a case of mistaken
month, officials said. identity.
The deceased teen's moth- Their deaths captured na-
er was wounded by the bul- tional interest, with well-
let, Florida Today reported. known civil rights attorney
The shooting happened as Benjamin Crump working
guests gathered at River- on behalf of the families in
view Memorial Gardens what he called a bid for jus-
to pay their respects to tice. Ivey has released dash
18-year-old Sincere Pierce. cam footage from the Nov.
Pierce and 16-year-old An- 13 shooting that showed
gelo Crooms were killed the teens pulling into a
Nov. 13 by a Brevard Coun- driveway after being fol-
ty Sheriff's deputy. lowed by two sheriff's cars
The shot rang out as the without lights. Crooms, who
pastor had just finished was driving, then backed
his prayers and the teen's Spectators run from the scene after a shot was fired during the burial service of Sincere Pierce at out of the driveway and
friends and loved ones Riverview Memorial Gardens in Cocoa, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. Associated Press. drove forward in the direc-
were placing flowers on tion of a deputy, who, gun
the casket, the newspa- slow to react before real- Deputies carrying rifles ar- mained at the cemetery drawn, repeatedly shouted
per reported. The loud izing what had occurred. rived a short time later in re- throughout the afternoon at the teen to stop the car.
popping sound was fol- They began rushing to sponse to multiple 911 calls. Saturday, the newspaper The sheriff said in a Face-
lowed by stunned silence nearby cars and leaving The mother was taken to a reported. book post that the deputy
before Quasheda Pierce the funeral quickly. hospital, but the severity of The teens were killed when "was then forced to fire his
screamed that she'd been Friends and family mem- her injury was not immedi- Deputy Jafet Santiago-Mi- service weapon in an at-
hit. bers helped Quasheda ately known. randa fired multiple shots tempt to stop the dead-
The newspaper reported Pierce into a minivan be- Detectives and crime into their car when the ly threat of the car from
that mourners were at first fore ambulances arrived. scene investigators re- teens didn't pull over. Sher- crashing into him."q

NYC to reopen schools, even as virus spread intensifies

By DAVID B. CARUSO and Dec. 10, de Blasio said. pandemic average of up
KAREN MATTHEWS The plan for reopening mid- to 25 to 30 students.
Associated Press dle and high schools is still About 190,000 students
NEW YORK (AP) — New York being developed, de Blasio will be eligible to return to
City will reopen its school said. classrooms in the first round
system to in-person learn- "We feel confident that we of reopening, just a fraction
ing, and increase the num- can keep schools safe," he of the more than 1 million
ber of days a week many said. total pupils in the system.
children attend class, even Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a The great majority of par-
as the coronavirus pan- fellow Democrat, said he ents have opted to have
demic intensifies in the city, supports de Blasio's school their kids learn remotely by
Mayor Bill de Blasio said reopening plan. computer.
Sunday. "I think that's the right direc- De Blasio said that many
The announcement marks tion," the governor said in of those returning in person
a major policy reversal for a conference call with re- will be able to attend five
the nation's largest school porters. "We do have new days of class a week, up
system, less than two weeks facts and information on from one to three days pre-
after de Blasio announced schools." viously. West Brooklyn Community High School principal Malik Lewis,
that schools were shutting New York City's public Students attending in per- left, bumps elbows with former student Jason Cardoso after Car-
doso came to pick up the diploma he earned when he gradu-
down because of a rising schools opened to in- son will be required to un- ated in March, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough
number of COVID-19 cases person learning starting dergo frequent testing for of New York. Associated Press.
in the city. in September for students the virus. Previously, the city
Some elementary schools whose parents had chosen had set a target of testing a seven-day period came tests at schools show that
and pre-kindergarten pro- bricks-and-mortar school- 20% of teachers and stu- back positive. it's possible to keep schools
grams will resume classes ing. School buildings closed dents in each school build- "The idea of the hard num- open even with a citywide
Dec. 7, a week from Mon- again Nov. 19 amid rising ing once a month. Now, ber made a lot of sense test positivity rate over 3%.
day, the mayor said. Others COVID-19 infections in the the testing will be weekly. back in the summer when Schools that are in COV-
will take longer to reopen city. The mayor said the city we had not yet experi- ID-19 orange zones desig-
their doors. Masks and social distanc- was doing away with its enced all this," de Blasio nated by Cuomo because
School programs serving ing were mandatory dur- previous trigger for closing said. of rising infection rates will
special-needs students at ing the weeks that schools schools, which was when Since then, de Blasio sug- reopen according to rules
all grade levels will open to were open, and class sizes 3% or more of the virus tests gested, relatively low num- set by the governor, de Bla-
in-person learning starting were a fraction of the pre- conducted in the city over bers of positive coronavirus sio said. q