knife

Oct. 8 (UPI) — A newly-elected German mayor named her daughter as the suspected assailant after a knife attack left the political leader in critical condition.

Iris Stalzer, a member of Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party elected last month as mayor of Herdecke, was stabbed Tuesday inside her home in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia.Iris Stalzer

On Wednesday, local officials said the mayor-elect accused her 17-year-old adopted daughter as the suspected attacker.

Conflicting reports had also suggested the suspect was Stalzer’s unidentified 15-year-old son, who also was arrested.

Stalzer, seated in a chair with multiple stab wounds, was found inside her home living room after responders arrived and airlifted her to the hospital.

By Tuesday night, she was able to answer questions by investigators from her hospital bed.

Her daughter reportedly made the emergency call while in the company of her 15-year-old brother.

According to investigators, two knives believed to be the weapon used to attack Stalzer were gathered as evidence, and signs of a struggle were detected in the basement.

Investigators said little about a motive or the family argument that led up to the attack, which reportedly involved both of Stalzer’s children.

Stalzer, 57, won her September 28 runoff election by a 52% margin and a November 4 inaugural was initially set.

On Tuesday, the German SPD stated its party members were in a state of deep shock about the election. A rise in right-wing and anti-Semitic crimes in Germany in recent years included several deaths, including conservative politician Walter Lubcke.

Meanwhile, the Stalzer children were reportedly in the custody of German youth services.

INDIANAPOLIS — Former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez was pepper-sprayed and stabbed multiple times during a late-night altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver in a downtown Indianapolis alley, which resulted in criminal charges against the Fox Sports analyst, according to court records filed Sunday.

Based on hotel video footage of the altercation early Saturday and the driver’s statement to police, an Indianapolis police affidavit alleges that Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted the driver of a box truck that backed into a hotel’s loading docks, leading to a confrontation outside the vehicle that prompted the driver to defensively pull out a knife.

Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, the affidavit signed by a police detective said. Sanchez remained hospitalized early Sunday, according to police. The truck driver, identified as P.T., had a cut to his left cheek, it said.

Sanchez was in stable condition, Fox Sports said Saturday. There was no immediate update Sunday.

His initial court hearing was set for Tuesday in a Marion County courtroom.

Sanchez stabbed multiple times

As the altercation escalated, the driver feared “‘this guy is trying to kill me’” and pulled his knife as Sanchez came at him, the affidavit said. Sanchez was initially stabbed two or three times, then stabbed again when he went at the driver again, it said.

“The next thing P.T. knew was Mr. Sanchez looked at him with a look of shock, he slowly turned around and Mr. Sanchez took off northbound in the alley,” the document said.

Sanchez was in Indianapolis to call Sunday’s Raiders-Colts game. Instead, he was charged with battery resulting in injury, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication — all misdemeanors. Police got a warrant to obtain Sanchez’s phone and clothes from the hospital, the document said.

There were no immediate court records indicating whether Sanchez had legal representation yet.

Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears said Sunday that his office would “follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”

“What began as a disagreement between a 38-year-old former professional athlete and a 69-year-old man should not have escalated into violence or left anyone seriously injured,” Mears said in a statement.

Fox Sports announcers acknowledge Sanchez’s absence

Sanchez told police at the hospital that all he could remember was grabbing for a window, the court document said. Sanchez said he didn’t know who else was involved or where the altercation happened.

“Friday night in Indianapolis, one of our team members, Mark Sanchez, was involved in an incident that, to be honest, we are still trying to wrap our heads around,” Curt Menefee said Sunday on Fox’s primary NFL pregame show. “At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with Mark and his family and all of those involved.”

Fox Sports play-by-play announcer Chris Myers also acknowledged Sanchez’s absence on Sunday before introducing Sanchez’s replacement, Brady Quinn. Myers said he wanted to send thoughts and prayers to Sanchez and everyone involved in the incident.

Police officers found Sanchez with the stab wounds when they were dispatched to a downtown pub about 12:35 a.m. Saturday. The truck driver was found in the alley.

Details of the confrontation were disclosed in the affidavit, based on video footage and the truck driver’s statement to police.

The video showed a man believed to be Sanchez running in the alley toward the truck, the affidavit said. The driver works for a company that specializes in commercial cooking oil recycling and disposal, and he was performed his work duties, it said.

Sanchez opened the truck door and began talking to the driver, the affidavit said. Sanchez told the driver he couldn’t be at the loading dock and that Sanchez had spoken to the hotel manager, the document said. Sanchez smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred, the driver told police.

Affidavit says Sanchez threw truck driver to ground

Sanchez followed the driver from side to side of the truck, the court document said. When the driver darted toward the driver’s door, video showed Sanchez “grabbing and throwing” the driver toward a hotel wall, it said. The fight continued against a dumpster and Sanchez threw the driver to the ground, it said.

Sanchez climbed into the truck but got out when told by the driver he wasn’t allowed in, it said. Sanchez repeated that he spoke to a manager and didn’t want the driver to replace fryer oil, the document said. Sanchez tried again to get into the truck and blocked the driver from calling his manager, it said.

Believing he was in danger, the driver grabbed pepper spray from his pocket and sprayed Sanchez’s face, it said. Sanchez wiped his face and advanced toward the driver again, it said.

The driver then pulled his knife and stabbed Sanchez as the ex-quarterback came at him, it said. The driver fell onto pallets on the ground, he told police.

“While P.T. was on the ground, he could only see the feet of Mr. Sanchez coming at him, making P.T. realize that he was in a life-or-death situation,” the affidavit said.

The driver made it to his feet and stabbed Sanchez the last time as Sanchez came at him, it said.

Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He appeared on ABC and ESPN for two years before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021. The Long Beach native led Mission Viejo to a 27-1 record as a starting quarterback, winning a Southern Section Division II title in 2004. He later starred at USC from 2006 to 2008, passing for 3,965 yards and 41 touchdowns en route to a Rose Bowl win.

He left college early and was selected by the New York Jets with the fifth pick in the 2009 NFL draft. Sanchez also appeared in games with Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington.

Schreiner and Marot write for the Associated Press.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Police in Manchester have labeled a deadly attack on a synagogue during Yom Kippur services a terrorist incident. Two people were killed.

The attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue also injured three people who were in serious condition, the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing, said police know the attacker’s identity. The attacker was shot dead by police, but there have been two other arrests, he said.

Manchester police also have said that the device the man was wearing, believed to be an explosive device, was not viable.

Members of a bomb disposal unit were on the scene to investigate, and police advised the public to stay away from the area. They also held members of the congregation inside the synagogue temporarily while making the area safe and released them later.

A GMP spokesperson said police were in contact with all synagogues in the greater Manchester area “to provide reassurance.”

“We know today’s horrifying attack, on the Jewish community’s holiest day, will have caused significant shock and fear throughout all of our communities,” the spokesperson said.

“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result, the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue.”

The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the attack, calling it “abhorrent and deeply distressing” in a statement on X.

“The safety and security of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom must be guaranteed,” the statement added.

Britain’s King Charles III offered his thoughts and prayers in the wake of the attack and thanked the work of emergency officials.

“My wife and I have been deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community,” he said.

Jewish communities in Britain were on heightened alert Thursday, with London’s Metropolitan Police increasing patrols new Jewish cultural sites, an unnamed source told The Guardian.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said additional police were being deployed to synagogues throughout the country.

“We will do everything we can to keep our Jewish community safe,” he said.

Starmer planned to fly back to Britain early from a summit he was leading in Denmark, the BBC reported.

THIS is the vile moment an ex-boyfriend slashes a prison officer’s throat with a Stanley knife after lying in wait outside her home.

Prison officer Rosie Niessen, 28, was ambushed by her ex in broad daylight as he attempted to kill her.

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Simon Scrimshaw, then 50, hid in the bushes outside Niessen’s home in March 2023 as she left for work in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire at 6.40am.

Rosie, who has a daughter with Scrimshaw, has now bravely released appalling doorbell camera footage showing the horror of what happened that morning.

Wearing a balaclava, Scrimshaw is shown appearing from his hiding spot before running up behind Rosie.

As she reached the end of her driveway, he grabbed her and pulled back her head before hacking at her neck with a Stanley blade while wrestling her to the ground.

She can be heard screaming “what are you doing?” and “stop, help me” as the attack unfolded.

Rosie bravely fought back against Scrimshaw who inflicted devastating injuries to her throat, face and hands as she tried to defend herself.

Her courageous dad, Roberto, heard Rosie’s screams and raced out, jumping on Scrimshaw in a desperate attempt to protect his daughter.

He was stabbed in the right thigh before Scrimshaw fled which later required 50 stitches in his leg.

A passer-by alerted the emergency services, and Rosie and her dad were rushed to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. 

There, Rosie had a CT scan and surgeons glued and stitched her wounds with doctors saying she was “lucky to be alive”.

A neighbour called the police after witnessing the attack and Scrimshaw was later arrested.

Rosie met Scrimshaw in 2017 and they entered an on-off romantic relationship which ended in 2022 – the pair had a daughter during that time.

She told The Sun last year that Scrimshaw had harassed and even strangled her on a previous occasion.

According to the Mail, they were due to appear at a family court two days after the attack as Rosie had applied for a court order to keep him away from her.

Rosie told the newspaper she was in “shock” and said she “could hear rustling” before Scrimshaw came at her with the blade.

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She said that she protected her neck on “instinct” as she defended herself.

“Imagine if I did die or didn’t defend myself as I did,” she added.

“They said I was in a pool of blood. They didn’t know I was going to make it.”

Rosie had to leave her job since the attack and has struggled with both the physical and mental scars inflicted upon her by Scrimshaw.

She said he had “taken everything from me” and branded Scrimshaw a “monster”.

Scrimshaw was jailed for 28 years in January 2024 after being convicted of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, with a further four on license.

He was also ordered not to contact Rosie and was given a lifetime restraining order.

Now, Rosie is speaking out to raise awareness of domestic violence.

In the annals of things I could not have seen coming, none has been more unexpected than “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads,” a queer Spanish-language stop-motion comedy melodrama, set in the aesthetic world of a 1980s Pedro Almodóvar film. (It arrives Sunday at midnight on Adult Swim, the home of things one doesn’t see coming, and premieres the next day on HBO Max.)

Though it takes place in Ecuador, its central character, Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés), is Spanish, and it’s easy enough to imagine Almodóvar muse Carmen Maura in the role — though it is also impossible to imagine the story told as well, or at all, in any other way. When I call this series perfect, notwithstanding the happy imperfections of its puppets and sets, it’s not because everything works as its meant to, but because there’s nothing you can measure it against — it occupies its own self-created space. Every element is necessary. Even presenting it in English would be to lose romantic, dramatic, telenovelistic force.

At the center of the story is the cuy, a guinea pig eaten in Andean South America, though in this telling they’re also used in a version of bullfighting. (Some cuys are large enough to ride on.) The primary action is a power struggle between Marioneta, a socialite running a campaign promoting cuy as pets, not food, and Doña Quispe (Laura Torres), who has risen from life as a humble butcher to the anything-but-humble CEO of the country’s most famous restaurant, El Cuchillo (the knife).

Mixed up in their lives are Coquita Buenasuerte (Gabriela Cartol), Marioneta’s seemingly happy-go-lucky assistant; Espada Muleta (Kerygma Flores), a matadora in love with Marioneta; Nina (Nicole Vazquez), Doña Quispe’s vegetarian daughter, serving a pro-cuy group as its Minister of Refreshments and Head of Recruitment for Rebellious Teens — “I have looked upon the caged cuy through the prison of capitalist enterprise, through the hubristic iron bars of a homocentric world view” — who will become a pawn in the older women’s game.

Not everything will be as it seems.

Created by Gonzalo Cordova (a veteran of “Tuca & Bertie” and “Adam Ruins Everything”) and produced by the Mexican animation studio Cinema Fantasma, the series comes packaged as eight 11-minute episodes — that is cartoon length — which neatly constitute a short feature film. On the bill are mystery, suspense, terror, revenge, hot romance (including some puppet sex), masked stalkers, performance art, love notes posted with knives, parodies of television shows and commercials, old secrets coming to light and nuns singing karaoke.

From “Gumby” to “Rudolph” to “Wallace and Gromit” to “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” stop motion is of all forms of animation most magical and in its real-space, three-dimensional, handcrafted way the most like life, if not necessarily the most lifelike. (It can look ungainly, which is also part of its charm.) It’s a magnification of childhood playtime, a puppet show in which the puppets have broken loose from the puppeteers. The cleverness of the execution is as or more important than how seamless it is. “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” does all sorts of neat tricks, some you notice and more you simply accept — and when deemed necessary, or just amusing, it will insert a live-action hand or mouth. It’s an exaggerated world — appropriately to the heavy-breathing material — but emotionally expressive, even moving, and lots of fun.

Fourth in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Luke Sorensen, Servite tight end.

Wearing size 18 cleats, Luke Sorensen might not be the best candidate to walk across a frozen lake and make it to the other side. Then again, his hands are so large (11 inches wide) he might be able to cling to a piece of ice in an emergency to stay afloat.

What he can do is catch frozen-rope passes from quarterbacks as a 6-foot-4, 255-pound tight end at Servite High. He’s so large you feel sorry for the person who might have to tackle him. Picture his twin sister jumping on his back while pleading for him to fall as what can happen on a football field.

In an era when tight ends at the NFL level are becoming more and more valuable because of their ability to catch and block, Sorensen will provide similar versatility for the Friars. He’s that unique individual with the size and athleticism to create mismatches.

“He’s a unicorn,” coach Chris Reinert said. “There’s probably two or three kids in the country that can do what he does. Most of the time recruiting athletes who are receivers, you need to teach them first how to block. He was reverse. He can physically move people against their will.”

The size 18 cleats of Servite tight end Luke Sorensen.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

This is only Sorensen’s second year playing tight end. He showed up to play football as a freshman at 170 pounds. He was put on the offensive line. Last season as a junior he was switched to tight end. He loves the position because he gets to be Servite’s “Swiss Army Knife.”

“I want to do it all,” he said.

He can be the blocker to open holes at the point of attack or the receiver running over smaller defenders after he makes a catch.

“In the passing game. he’s become a massive matchup problem,” Reinert said. “He’s a great athlete.”

He can dunk a basketball because of his large hands and leaping skills. He was a baseball player growing up with dreams of becoming a major leaguer. But football is the sport that fits him best with the physicality required and his athleticism.

Even though he turns 17 on Saturday, making him a young senior, he welcomes the opportunity to face older players.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “At the end of the day, they’re a player across from me. I think it’s cool I’m younger. I can have a chip on my shoulder and do good stuff against older guys. It gets me ready for the next level because guys there are really good and really old.”

Servite tight end Luke Sorensen makes a catch in a passing tournament game.

(Craig Weston)

Last season he caught 15 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers figure to increase considerably with his experience, strength and importance in Servite’s offense.

“I expect massive things from him,” Reinert said.

As part of the Trinity League, which already has perhaps the nation’s No. 1 tight end recruit in Mater Dei’s Mark Bowman, the idea of Bowman and Sorensen playing on the same field Oct. 18 will be like being in tight end heaven. They also could face off in the Big Ten, since Bowman is committed to USC and Sorensen to Nebraska.

Now if only someone has an extra size 18 cleats, please give him a call.

“I’m always looking for more,” he said.

Saturday: San Juan Hills offensive lineman Cooper Javorsky.

Tight ends to watch

Mark Bowman, Mater Dei, 6-4, 225, Sr.: USC commit is SoCal’s best since Colby Parkinson was at Oaks Christian

Keawe Browne, Corona Centennial, 6-5, 230, Sr.: Has quickness, athleticism and strength

Jaden Hernandez, Long Beach Poly, 6-3, 235, Sr.: Colorado State commit has reliable catching skills

Beckham Hofland, Los Alamitos, 6-4, 230, Sr.: Boise State commit has size and blocking skills

Max Leeper, Claremont, 6-7, 215, Sr.: New Mexico commit has size to be productive contributor

Jude Nelson, Long Beach Millikan, 6-4, 220, Sr. Colorado State commit is strong, agile

Andre Nickerson, Inglewood. 6-3, 235, Sr.: SMU commit is athletic and tough to bring down

Luke Sorensen, Servite, 6-4, 255, Sr.: Friars intend to build offense around Nebraska commit

Caleb Tafua, Bishop Montgomery, 6-5, 220, Sr.: Texas A&M commit caught 10 TDs at Lakewood

Andrew Williams, Fremont, 6-5, 220, Sr.: USC commit is also formidable edge rusher