��������

NORTH CODORUS, Pennsylvania: Law enforcement were investigating Thursday after a shooting killed three officers and wounded two more in southern Pennsylvania the day before.

The violence erupted in rural York County as officers followed up on a domestic-related investigation that began on Tuesday. Police killed the shooter.

Hours after the violence, community members held American flags and saluted as police and emergency vehicles formed a procession to the coroner’s office.

Gov. Josh Shapiro condemned the violence at a news conference and said it was a tragic loss of life. Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society.”

It was one of the deadliest days for Pennsylvania police this century. In 2009 three Pittsburgh officers responding to a domestic disturbance were ambushed and shot to death by a man in a bulletproof vest.

Police departments across the region expressed condolences on social media. People were leaving flowers at the headquarters of the Northern York Regional Police Department.

The investigation into the shooting will cover multiple locations in York County, state police said in a statement.

The shooting erupted in the area of North Codorus Township, about 185 kilometers west of Philadelphia, not far from Maryland, authorities said.

Dirk Anderson heard “quite a few” shots from his home across the street from the shooting, he said. He saw a helicopter and police arrive.

The emergency response unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania. Some 30 police vehicles blocked off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn fields.

The two injured officers were in critical but stable condition at York Hospital, authorities said.

Authorities did not identify the shooter, the officers or which police department they belonged to, or describe how they were shot, citing the investigation.

Family members of those killed were grieving but proud of their loved ones, said Shapiro.

Another officer in the area was killed in February, when a man armed with a pistol and zip ties entered a hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before a shootout that left both the man and an officer dead.

PARIS: France was bracing on Thursday for a day of nationwide disruption in a show of anger over President Emmanuel Macron’s budget policies, with unions vowing mass protests, public transport set to be paralyzed in places due to strikes and officials warning of possible disturbances by extremist elements.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Macron’s seventh head of government, took office last week, vowing a break from the past against the background of an ongoing political crisis.
But the appointment of the former defense minister has failed to assuage the anger of unions and the left.
They remain incensed about the draft €44 billion ($52 billion) cost-saving budget of his predecessor Francois Bayrou, despite Lecornu’s pledges to abolish both the life-long privileges of prime ministers and a widely detested plan to scrap two public holidays.
Strike action on Thursday will see around a third of teachers walk out, nine out of 10 pharmacies shuttered and severe disruption on the Paris Metro, where only the three driverless automated lines will work normally.
It is expected to be the most widely followed day of union-led protests and strikes since the months-long mobilization in early 2023 against Macron’s controversial pension reform, which the government eventually rammed through parliament without a vote.
“We feel that our colleagues were not fooled by the appointment of Sebastien Lecornu,” which “did not calm the anger,” said Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the leading union for middle and high school teachers.
While the day of protest represents an early test of crisis management for Lecornu, anger is crystallizing against Macron, who has just one-and-a-half years left in power and is enduring his worst-ever popularity levels.
The “obstacle” to revoking the pension reform – still vehemently opposed by the unions – lies “in the Elysee Palace,” said the head of the CGT union Sophie Binet.
‘Very, very strong’ mobilization
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he expected a “very, very strong” mobilization on Thursday, describing it as a “hybrid day,” with the risk of sabotage actions from ultra-left groups from early morning and the mass sanctioned protests in the day.
“We will respond with massive resources and clear orders,” he told BFM-TV, saying more than 80,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed, backed by drones, armored vehicles and water cannons.
Between 600,000 and 900,000 people are expected to take to the streets nationwide, according to an interior ministry estimate.
Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez said on Wednesday that he was “very concerned” about the risk that rioters intent on provoking fights and damage would infiltrate the union march in Paris, urging shops in the center to close for the day and protect their storefronts.
A more informal day of action held on September 10, despite isolated disruption, did not succeed however on its self-declared aim to “block everything.”
Most high-speed trains in France are still expected to run on Thursday while disruption to airlines should be minimal after air-traffic controllers postponed a strike but warned of a three-day action in early October.