Category: Security

The flu is widespread in Colorado, but the virus hasn’t hit the state nearly as hard as some others.

Nationwide, confirmed flu hospitalizations and outpatient visits for flu-like illnesses both hit their highest levels since at least 2009. In California, hospitals have struggled with an influx of severely ill flu patients, and some parts of the country have reported seeing unusual complications, particularly in children.

Colorado hospitals admitted 425 people for flu in the week ending Feb. 1, which was the busiest week for flu hospitalizations since at least fall 2019. Still, it isn’t as bad as the 2017-2018 flu season, state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said.

“Influenza levels are very high,” she said. “We are not seeing as high levels in Colorado … as some states are seeing.”

Flu hospitalizations appear to be rising, so Colorado may face more in the coming weeks, said Dr. Bob Belknap, executive director of the Public Health Institute at Denver Health. But nothing so far suggests hospital capacity will be a problem, he said.

“We’re still in the midst of (the season), so it’s hard to predict where things might go,” he said.

No one knows exactly why flu hits some states harder than others in any given year, though the mix of strains circulating and vaccination levels could be factors, Herlihy said. This season is a bit unusual, because flu infections appeared to peak around the beginning of the year, then rose again more recently, she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that about 29 million Americans have had the flu so far this season; 370,000 were sick enough to need hospital care; and 16,000 have died. The death total includes 68 children.

One child in Colorado has died from flu since the season started in October. The state doesn’t track adult flu deaths.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has asked hospitals to send more flu samples so they can look for avian influenza, but those haven’t turned up any new cases, Herlihy said. Nationwide, 68 people had confirmed avian flu, all but four of whom worked with poultry or cattle.

In some ways, this season is more typical than recent years, said Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth. In 2020 and 2021, flu almost disappeared as people took precautions against COVID-19.

“I think it’s all perspective,” she said.

Anecdotally, kids who get the flu seem more miserable from the symptoms than usual, though those with uncomplicated cases typically don’t go to a doctor, said Dr. Hector De Leon, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente’s Fort Collins location. In some cases, kids are getting another viral or bacterial infection at the same time, he said.

“I think people’s symptoms are a little more pronounced,” he said.

Adults admitted for flu at Denver Health are about as sick as expected, Belknap said. Flu creates an opportunity for other germs to cause complications such as pneumonia, he said.

How severe each flu season is depends on many factors, but one thing that likely contributed this year is that fewer people got vaccinated, Barron said. Nationwide, vaccine uptake was down among children, people over 65 and pregnant women – all higher-risk groups.

The flu shot doesn’t prevent all illnesses, but significantly reduces the severity if someone does get sick, Belknap said.

“You’re less likely to get really sick and be hospitalized,” he said.

If other viruses were spreading widely right now, that could create problems for hospital capacity, Barron said. As is, though, COVID-19 hospitalized fewer people than in any recent winter, possibly due to immunity built up during a summer wave.

“We haven’t seen any issues with capacity,” she said. “If we were seeing higher amounts of COVID along with flu, that would be more challenging.”

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This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is prepared to consider deploying British forces in Ukraine to help enforce any peace agreement, but only under certain conditions.

Speaking to reporters in Paris on February 17, Starmer said he was “prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement.”

However, he added that “there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.”

Starmer made his remarks after joining the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Commission, the European Council, and NATO in the French capital to discuss Ukraine’s security amid growing concern that Washington could strike a deal with Russia counter to European security interests.

When asked about how many troops the United Kingdom was prepared to send to Ukraine for peacekeeping, Starmer had no direct answer.

“We are at early stages of discussions; they haven’t started yet,” he said.

Following the Paris meeting, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, saying the debate was “completely premature” and “highly inappropriate” while the war is ongoing.

Earlier in the day, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said his country was not planning to send its troops to Ukraine to ensure security but will continue to provide financial and military aid.

Scholz added that, in his view, there should be no division between Europe and the United States on responsibility for Ukraine’s security.

“NATO is based on the fact that we always act together and share the risk, thereby ensuring our security. This must not be called into question,” Scholz said.

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, told a meeting of Ukraine’s military allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels that Washington would not deploy troops to Ukraine in any agreed peace deal and that NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of the solution to the conflict.

Ahead of the talks in Paris, Starmer had said in an article in The Daily Telegraph that London was “ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine’s military – where the U.K. has already committed 3 billion pounds [$3.8 billion] a year until at least 2030.”

“But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary,” he added. “I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”

“But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent and the security of this country,” he said. “The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before [Russian President Vladimir] Putin attacks again.”

The Telegraph also reported that an official familiar with Starmer’s thinking stated his decision to go public ahead of the Paris summit was in part due to remarks by U.S. representatives at the Munich Security Conference setting out that Europe would have to play a greater role in its own defense.

“This is the moment for us all to step up – and the U.K. will do so, because it is the right thing to do for the values and freedoms we hold dear, and because it is fundamental to our own national security,” the prime minister wrote in his article.

Starmer is expected to relay to U.S. President Donald Trump the results of the Paris discussions when the two meet, likely later this month, in Washington.

Trump is sending a team of senior U.S. officials to Saudi Arabia to discuss the war with Russian officials, although full details and the timing of those talks have not been disclosed. Ukraine says it has not been invited and will not attend those talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on February 16 bid to reassure Ukraine and Europe, saying that they would be part of any “real negotiations” to end the war.

A United States Navy veteran recently revealed that an experimental immunotherapy treatment and his faith both played key roles in helping him defeat cancer.

According to Fox News, U.S. Navy veteran John Ryan, a resident of Aldie, Virginia, was diagnosed with lung cancer after serving in the U.S. military for three decades. During a recent interview, Ryan told Fox News that he was part of the “nuclear power program” and participated in roughly a dozen patrols on nuclear submarines during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fox News reported that after retiring from active military service in 1992 and retiring full-time in 2000, Ryan was diagnosed in 2013 with stage 4 adenocarcinoma, which is also known as non-small cell lung cancer. Despite going through four sessions of chemotherapy at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Ryan’s condition did not improve, and he began to experience weight loss, fatigue, pain, and pleural effusion.

In 2013, Ryan was enrolled in a clinical trial for immunotherapy, an experimental treatment that fights cancer with a patient’s own immune system. The Navy veteran told Fox News that after four infusions of nivolumab over nine weeks, his medical scans showed that the tumor had reduced by 65%.

“The 65% shrink was great and then that just kind of walked down – I was down to like 84% shrink,” Ryan said. “And I was leading a normal life.”

READ MORE: 1,000+ employees fired at Dept. of Veterans Affairs

In addition to the immunotherapy treatment, Ryan told Fox News that he also went through a special type of radiation treatment called stereotactic body radiation therapy, which led to the arrest of his tumor with limited side effects.

Fox News reported that the Navy veteran’s immunotherapy treatment lasted 100 months and required over 225 infusions. However, the outlet noted that Ryan is now cancer-free.

In his interview with Fox News, Ryan emphasized the importance of his faith throughout his battle with cancer. “You’ve got to draw your hope and courage from somewhere,” the veteran said. “Faith was high.”

Ryan explained that he also received great advice from a Walter Reed nurse regarding his health during his cancer battle.

“She said, ‘Let’s cut to the chase, sonny boy, if you don’t take this, you’re going to die.’ I said, ‘Well, let’s sign off on it, shall we?’” Ryan told Fox News. “And she said, ‘You need to take this seriously. Don’t look for things to worry about, because you can get really wrapped around the axle with the pressure and the uncertainty.’”

Ryan said the nurse added, “Working yourself up into a frenzy has absolutely no value. Get a good night’s sleep, shake it off, and the next day you’ll have some blessings you can at least get started with.”

Former “Bachelorette” star Katie Thurston announced that she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 34-year-old Season 17 alum shared the “life update” on Saturday, saying she learned of her diagnosis earlier this month but was still waiting to find out what stage her cancer is at.

“I experienced a range of emotions over the past two weeks,” she wrote on Instagram. “Despair. Anger. Sadness. Denial. And then strength.”

Thurston said she and her fiancé, comedian Jeff Arcuri, had planned to “travel the world before planting roots together in NYC,” but things have since changed with her diagnosis. She said that due to her medical insurance still being “active in L.A. and (not) in NY,” she’s forced to move back to Los Angeles “for more testing and treatment,” including both chemotherapy and a mastectomy.

“Yesterday I saw all the couples post their Valentine’s Day celebrations. I felt envious if I’m being honest,” she shared, adding that instead of celebrating with Arcuri, she spent the day “coordinating a place to live” once back in L.A. and trying to “figure out insurance for NYC and laws on preexisting conditions.”

Despite all the emotions, Thurston said she’s “ready to fight” the disease, thanking other young women who have shared similar stories as well as her fiancé for his “selfless love.”

Thurston and Arcuri started dating last year and got engaged in September, after just four months.

The TV personality came to prominence as part of Bachelor Nation when she competed for Matt James’ heart in 2020. She was promoted to lead of “The Bachelorette” the following season.

She ended the show engaged to Blake Moynes, though they called it quits two months after the finale aired. She then briefly dated former contestant John Hersey before ending that relationship in June 2022.

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A video recorded by one of the survivors of Delta Air Lines Flight 4819, which crashed and flipped upside-down on the runway at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday, reveals a shocking glimpse at the remains of the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR plane crash.

In a post on Instagram, Pete Koukov, one of the airplane passengers, shared footage that he recorded as he was exiting the upside-down Delta airplane following Monday’s crash. Alongside the Instagram video, Koukov wrote, “Being alive feels pretty cool today.”

Koukov’s video shows passengers exiting the airplane with the help of flight attendants, who can be heard instructing the passengers to leave all of their belongings behind on the plane, to put their electronic devices away, and to not take videos in the aftermath of the crash. The video also shows the airplane tray tables dangling from the back of the upside-down seats and luggage scattered throughout the airplane cabin.

READ MORE: Video/Pics: Delta plane crash leaves at least 15 injured

While the video shows some of the passengers quickly leaving the wreckage behind, Koukov walked toward the front of the wreckage, providing a better glimpse of the remains of the upside-down Delta airplane. Later in the video, emergency responders can be seen using fire suppressant to extinguish any remaining flames from the crash as passengers continued to exit the aircraft.

Expressing his shock after surviving the airplane crash, Koukov can be heard saying, “Yo, I was just on this f-cking plane!”

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT:

According to The New York Post, while 18 individuals were injured in Monday’s crash, all 80 of the individuals on Delta Air Lines Flight 4819, which initially departed from Minneapolis, Minnesota, were safely evacuated from the plane.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration announced on Monday that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada was leading an investigation into the plane crash, according to CTV News.

Another video from Monday’s plane crash shows the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR attempting to land at the Toronto Pearson International Airport before losing a wing, flipping over, and sliding across the runway. The video shows the airplane engulfed in flames before disappearing behind a plume of black smoke.

At least one person was killed Sunday as severe storms brought heavy winds and rain across metro Atlanta, leaving thousands without power and placing medical staff on high alert at the Clayton County Jail.

Crews were called around 5 a.m. after a tree fell on a home in the 700 block of Matilda Place in northwest Atlanta, according to spokesperson Anare Holmes. The uprooted tree had collapsed on a man lying in his bed. The victim, who was not publicly identified, died at the scene from his injuries, officials said.

Those heavy winds, expected to reach up to 35 mph in some metro Atlanta areas, also caused a tree to fall on power lines at the Clayton jail, which went dark for several hours outside of a few illuminated exit signs, officials said.

Medical staff at the facility were on high alert due to the outage that had impacted inmates on breathing machines and other critical medical equipment, according to Sheriff Levon Allen. At about 10 a.m., Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft and sheriff’s deputies both confirmed the power was restored.

According to Allen, the outage affected refrigerators inside the kitchen along with internet service, computers and phone lines. The facility has emergency power generation, but the sheriff had said it was unclear “what systems, if any” were operating at the time of the outage.

“The safety and welfare of inmates and staff remains our top priority,” Allen said.

Those heavy winds also toppled the Iron Horse statue in Greene County, photos showed. Some Atlanta roads also have standing water.

There were several reports of trees blocking roadways in Cobb County, with impacted areas including Acworth Due West Road to Woodlawn Road. In Dunwoody, Mount Vernon Road at Mount Vernon Place was impassible, officials said. The Troup County Sheriff’s Office said there were trees down all over the county that were causing accidents. In Johns Creek, police said a tree caused a string of power lines to fall onto Old Alabama Road.

Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, reported more than 107,000 customers were without power as of about 10:30 a.m. Georgia EMC, which represents the state’s electrical cooperatives, reported more than 68,000 customers were without power, down from 108,000 a few hours earlier.

By the late morning, the storms were quickly pushed toward the East Coast. The afternoon will see some clouds and northwesterly winds that will blow in colder air behind this system, according to Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz.

“That’s going to bring us falling temperatures as we head through the afternoon,” Nitz said.

On Monday morning, those temperatures will drop into the upper 20s and will stay cool despite some afternoon sunshine. Tuesday will be warmer with a high of 57 degrees but temperatures will drop the remainder of the week.

The rain is projected to return Wednesday when temperatures will peak at 47 degrees in metro Atlanta, Nitz said. Thursday and Friday are expected to be slightly cooler.

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© 2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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The Colorado Senate gave initial approval to a bill that would limit the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms early Friday morning — but only after building in a loophole sought by Gov. Jared Polis and enabled by the absence of a needed Democratic senator.

When lawmakers first took to the Senate floor for a day of lengthy debate Thursday, Senate Bill 3 would’ve prohibited the sale or transfer of semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines. That ban would have covered a large — if not total — swath of weapons that are colloquially considered assault weapons, though it wouldn’t have included most common handguns and shotguns.

By the time the Senate passed the bill on an 18-15 party-line vote just before 2 a.m. Friday, it had been altered. Now it would still allow those weapons to be sold to people who completed at least four hours of training, passed an exam and went through a vetting process similar to that required to obtain a concealed-carry permit.

Those who completed the requirements would have to redo them every five years if they wished to buy more weapons.

The amendment was hammered out between the bill’s Democratic sponsors and Polis’ staff in a deal that didn’t come fully into shape until late Thursday night, after hours — on top of weeks — of negotiations and what Sen. Julie Gonzales, one of the bill’s sponsors, called “a game of (expletive) chicken.”

“We spent quite a bit of time these last several weeks trying to get (the bill) to a space where we could be inclusive to everyone who was having concerns,” the bill’s other sponsor, Centennial Democratic Sen. Tom Sullivan, said shortly before the final vote. “That’s how it is that we ended up with the amendments that we did. That’s how we ended up with the late night, to make sure that our hunters and sportsmen — that we were listening to them.”

Late last week, Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman wrote in a statement to The Post after an earlier bill delay that while the Democratic governor supported gun-violence prevention legislation, he wanted to ensure “that we are protecting Coloradans’ Second Amendment rights and respecting our state’s long standing traditions of hunting and sport shooting.”

The now-amended bill, which does not prohibit the possession of any firearms and would not take away guns that people already own, is set for a final vote in the Senate on Tuesday. It will then move to the House.

Sullivan said passing the amended bill was the right thing to do and that he supported it. He started and ended the day’s debate by holding up images of the 100-round magazine that had been used by the 2012 Aurora theater shooter to kill 12 people, including Sullivan’s son, Alex.

The late loophole was the result of converging dynamics.

One was opposition from Polis, whose staff had spent weeks trying to loosen the bill’s initial intent to ban a significant swath of firearms. A handful of Democratic senators had said they wouldn’t support the bill as written: Some were flatly opposed, and others supported the carveout sought by the governor. A first vote on the bill, scheduled for Feb. 7, had been delayed to allow for more negotiations.

The other dynamic was an absent senator. No such deal with Polis had been reached by Thursday morning, and Gonzales and Sullivan — who felt they had the votes even with a handful of holdouts — decided to press forward. But Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, an embattled Longmont Democrat, was excused from the Senate for the day for medical reasons.

Her absence meant the bill was one vote short, forcing the sponsors to make a choice: Seek a deal with Polis, delay again or try to flip a holdout.

After the Senate spent the first half of Thursday debating a contentious labor unions bill (which is also opposed by Polis), Sullivan and Gonzales arrived at option one that night. Republicans had spent much of the previous four hours filibustering, in part to express legitimate opposition to the bill and in part to give space for negotiations to continue.

Jaquez Lewis did not return a text seeking comment Thursday. She is currently under investigation for allegedly mistreating her aides. The ethics committee investigating her, which will deliberate next week and could ultimately seek her expulsion from the legislature, is chaired by Gonzales.

More details on bill changes

Under the gun bill’s newly negotiated terms, a person could still buy otherwise-banned weapons under certain conditions. If the person has previously completed a hunter’s safety course, they then would need to take a four-hour class and pass both an exam and a background check.

If they haven’t completed hunter’s safety, then they would need to take a 12-hour course, then the exam and the background vetting.

Another amendment passed late Thursday exempted a slew of common hunting rifles from the proposed ban, plus some firearms that are old enough to have seen service in World War II.

The carveouts did not change opposition from the Senate’s minority Republican caucus: After the deal was announced, Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said the training requirements sought to make a right — that of owning firearms — into a privilege.

Throughout the day, Senate Republicans had said the bill violated the 2nd Amendment — which Sen. John Carson of Douglas County quoted from the chamber’s floor — and that it would do little to stop gun violence.

The bill “is far more sweeping than anything we’ve seen in this country,” said Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican, said Thursday afternoon. “… Unfortunately, we are still not addressing the problems that are causing these really horrific mass shootings. And they are — they’re tragedies. … But those aren’t happening because of a gun. It’s happening because the person pulling the trigger is suffering from mental illness.”

Though the changes place the bill on a path to Polis’ desk, the training carveout resettles the measure into a new orientation.

Initially, supporters pitched it as a way to enforce the state’s decade-old ban on high-capacity magazines. Sullivan began Thursday’s debate by accusing gun shops of ignoring that ban, and he pointed to recent mass shootings — at the Boulder King Soopers and Colorado Springs’ Club Q — as examples of gunmen who’d obtained the magazines anyway.

But with the compromise amendment, the bill now has less to do with escalating enforcement of the magazine ban, as it would still allow gun stores to sell weapons that use the magazines to certain buyers.

Shortly before midnight Thursday, Gonzales acknowledged that the bill’s intent had shifted in some ways. She said it would still significantly limit the sale of certain high-powered weapons.

Ultimately, she said, the bill “is about stopping the next mass shooting.”

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More than 100,000 homes and businesses are without power across the Baltimore region as strong, damaging winds gusting up to 60 mph damage power lines, down trees, topple poles and more.

According to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., outages map, as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, there were 24,667 customers without power in Anne Arundel; 15,288 in Baltimore City; 31,049 in Baltimore County; 8,856 in Carroll County; 8,237 in Harford County; and 15,906 in Howard County.

BGE is adding crews to deal with the damage, the utility said in a news release Sunday evening.

“Removing tree debris must be completed before crews can begin working on repairing damaged equipment. This is a labor- and time-intensive process which can extend the duration of certain outages,” BGE said in the release.

As of 6 p.m., BGE said over 118,000 customers were without power, requiring 1,500 jobs to restore service in locations across central Maryland.

“BGE will begin restoring service as soon as it is safe to do so,” the utility said, noting that some repairs cannot be made while winds are still at peak, including those involving the use of bucket trucks.

A high wind advisory remains in effect for the Baltimore region until 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. However, the potential for wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph may continue through Monday, forecasters said.

As of Sunday afternoon, the high winds had downed a mix of power and communication lines in five areas in Anne Arundel County, according to the county police and fire departments. The Maryland State Highway Administration said trees were down at multiple locations.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is closed due to winds exceeding 55 mph, the Maryland Transportation Authority said around 4:30 p.m.

According to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department and a post on X from the county’s police department, power lines are down in numerous locations.

These fast winds, expected to persist throughout most of the week, are part of a winter storm system that is forecast to bring excessive rainfall, severe thunderstorms and winter weather to much of the East Coast.

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© 2025 The Baltimore Sun

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Luigi Mangione has publicly spoken out for the first time since his arrest for the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, thanking his supporters in a statement released on a new website launched by his legal team.

“I am overwhelmed by — and grateful for — everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,” Mangione said. “Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC [the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn] from across the country, and around the globe.”

“While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive,” he continued. “Thank you again to everyone who took the time to write. I look forward to hearing more in the future.”

In a separate statement on LuigiMangioneInfo.com, his attorneys said they launched the new site “due to the extraordinary volume of inquiries and outpouring of support” for their client. They said they plan to provide answers to frequently asked questions and dispel misinformation, adding their intent is to “share factual information regarding the unprecedented, multiple prosecutions” against Mangione.

The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is facing multiple criminal charges in New York, Pennsylvania and federal court in connection with Thompson’s murder. The CEO was gunned down in Midtown Manhattan on the morning of Dec. 4 in what authorities called a “premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.”

Thompson had been visiting the city from Minnesota for an investor conference sponsored by UnitedHealthcare at The Residences by Hilton Club, where he was slated to give a speech later in the day.

Police said Thompson was walking from his hotel toward the venue on West 54th Street near Sixth Avenue, when he was ambushed by a masked gunman around 6:45 a.m. The father of two was fatally struck in the attack and pronounced dead some 30 minutes later.

After a dayslong manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Atloona, Pennsylvania. He was allegedly found with a silencer and 3D-printed gun, which police said matched three shell casings found at the murder scene.

The ammo had been marked with the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” — referencing a phrase often used to describe the insurance industry’s tactics for delaying claims and maximizing profits.

On Monday, organizers of the December 4 Legal Committee fundraiser announced that Mangione’s legal team had agreed to accept the donations that have been pouring to help pay for his defense.

Mangione “very much appreciates the outpouring of support,” lead attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo told the committee.

The GiveSendGo fundraiser, named for the date of Thompson’s death, had raised over $434,000 as of Saturday afternoon.

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© 2025 New York Daily News

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Federal drug agents here have built a drug trafficking case against members of a local Bloods subset from Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood.

One of the main targets of the DEA investigation was Delvonta Fields, a Sacramento rapper who was shot and killed in the city last year. Federal authorities say that they sent in a confidential informant who’d conducted numerous drug deals with Fields, who rapped under the name Uzzy Snubbz.

Charged are Kevin Antonio Parker, 38; John Kevin Parker, 45; Veronica Brooks, 42; Xavier Surita, 36; Raymundo Escobar, 27; Marcelino Escobar, 23 and Devon Nelson, 33. Authorities say the group are part of the Oak Park Bloods gang based in Sacramento.

After Fields’ death, Kevin Parker became the lead target of the investigation. A news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says “Parker and his associates sold fentanyl powder, fentanyl pills, more than 15 pounds of methamphetamine, and 12 firearms, including privately manufactured firearms and a firearm equipped with a machine gun conversion device.”

In the criminal complaint, a DEA special agent referenced Fields and Mozzy — a famous Sacramento rapper whose real name is Timothy Patterson — stating “that recording music is a revenue-generating enterprise that some members pursue.” Mozzy, also an alleged member of the gang, frequently references his neighborhood in lyrics and his success helped create platforms for others, like Fields, to form their own careers.

But when the confidential informant asked Parker about whether he had interest in the rap industry, the response was blunt, according to the criminal complaint.

“I don’t be in the studio, I be trapping,” Parker allegedly said, a reference to selling drugs.

The case is based on numerous drug transactions involving the confidential informant, some of which were recorded with a secret video camera. The footage captured by the informant includes Parker preparing fentanyl for sale, the complaint says.

Parker is facing an unrelated attempted murder charge in Sacramento County, according to court records.

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