Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Death Toll Creeps Up In El Paso; FBI Warns Of Copy Cats; Shootings Renew Calls For Security Realignment
The Associated Press: Authorities Scour Leads In Mass Shootings That Left 31 Dead
Authorities in two U.S. cities scoured leads in a pair of weekend mass shootings that killed 31, trying to piece together the motives that led two young men to unleash violence on innocent people in crowded public places. In El Paso, Texas, the death toll creeped upward Monday from the shooting two days earlier at a Walmart store, with two additional victims succumbing to injuries. (Sedensky and Galvan, 8/6)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Dayton Shooting: Too Early To Tell Reasons Connor Betts Killed Sister
Among the mysteries that investigators into the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio will seek to answer is whether the shooter meant to kill his sister or whether she was fatally shot trying to stop him. Megan Betts, 22, a student at Wright State University, was among nine people who died early Sunday in the Oregon District of bars and restaurants near Dayton’s downtown. (Saker, 8/5)
The Wall Street Journal: Death Toll From Mass Shootings Rises As Trump Speaks Out On Violence
In Dayton, the police chief called it problematic that the shooter could legally have so many rounds of military-grade ammunition that he was able to kill nine and injure at least 27 in 30 seconds early Sunday morning before being killed by police using special rifles that penetrate body armor. In El Paso, officials said so-called soft targets like a crowded Walmart allowed for more-serious injuries in Saturday’s attack that led to two more people dying in a local hospital Monday, bringing the death toll there to 22. And federal officials cited the difficulty of spotting red flags on social media such as the anti-immigrant manifesto purportedly posted by the suspect in El Paso. (Lucey, Elinson and West, 8/5)
Texas Tribune: Death Toll In El Paso Shooting Climbs To 22
The number of fatalities from Saturday’s deadly shooting rampage at a Walmart has climbed to 22, according to the El Paso Police Department and local hospital officials.“Sad to report that the number of fatalities increased by one. Victim passed early this morning at the hospital,” the department’s official Twitter account posted Monday. No other details about the victim were offered. (Aguilar, 8/5)
The Wall Street Journal: Dayton Shooter Used AR-15 Pistol, Smaller Version Of Popular Rifle
The gunman who killed nine and wounded at least 27 in Dayton, Ohio, used an AR-15 style pistol in his attack, according to police, a smaller variation on the popular gun that has been used in many of the deadliest mass shootings. The pistol, which has grown in popularity as major gun manufacturers started promoting it in the past few years, has a shorter barrel than an AR-style rifle, but it fires the same types of bullets and uses the same magazines. (Kesling and Elinson, 8/5)
The Washington Post: Rise Of Far-Right Violence Leads Some To Call For Realignment Of Post-9/11 National Security Priorities
The United States continues to employ a staggering arsenal of armed forces, unmanned drones, intelligence agencies and sweeping domestic authorities to contain a threat — Islamist terrorism — that has claimed about 100 lives on American soil since the nation mobilized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. No remotely comparable array of national power has been directed against the threat now emerging from the far right, a loose but lethal collection of ideologies whose adherents have killed roughly the same number of people in the United States, post-9/11, as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State combined. (Miller, 8/5)
Los Angeles Times: Trump Officials Have Redirected Resources From Countering Far-Right, Racism-Fueled Domestic Terrorism
In the aftermath of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Trump vowed Monday to give federal law enforcement “whatever they need” to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism. But the Department of Homeland Security, which is charged with identifying threats and preventing domestic terrorism, has sought to redirect resources away from countering anti-government, far-right and white supremacist groups. (O'Toole, 8/5)
