- South Korea exported weapon components to Poland, knowing they would end up in Ukraine Yahoo Finance
- Exclusive: Seoul approved Poland’s export of howitzers with S.Korean parts to Ukraine Reuters
- South Korea Approves Export of Weapons Components to Ukraine The Wall Street Journal
- Exclusive-Seoul approved Poland’s export of howitzers with S.Korean parts to Ukraine, official says ThePrint
- At 17.3 Billion Arms Sales In 2022, South Korea Emerges As One Of The Biggest Winners From Ukraine-Russia War EurAsian Times
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Weapon
Road Rage Incident Kicks Off Pursuit, Carjacking, and Weapon Fired Out Window in Wild Chase – NBC Southern California
- Road Rage Incident Kicks Off Pursuit, Carjacking, and Weapon Fired Out Window in Wild Chase NBC Southern California
- California police chase suspect allegedly shot at officers, stopped for kids to cross the road Fox News
- Police take down carjacking suspect who fired at officers during wild, high-speed chase KTLA Los Angeles
- Police chase: Carjacking suspect opens fire on officers during dangerous chase through LA, OC KABC-TV
- Police Chase: Gunman waits for kids to cross street near Lakewood; Opens fire at several different locations FOX 11 Los Angeles
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Opposition Belarusian Project reveals what weapon was used to attack Russian A-50 AWACS in Machulishchy airbase – Yahoo News
- Opposition Belarusian Project reveals what weapon was used to attack Russian A-50 AWACS in Machulishchy airbase Yahoo News
- Russia’s $330 Million A-50U AWACS Aircraft, That Was ‘Destroyed’ In Belarus, Appears Intact In Latest Images EurAsian Times
- Are Belarusian ‘guerrilla’ activists targeting Russia? DW (English)
- Belarus official says claim activists blew up Russian spy plane near Minsk is fake Reuters
- Ukraine war – latest: Chinese satellites ‘sending images to Wagner Group’; Moscow’s one condition for rejoining nuclear treaty Sky News
Ukraine claims its first kill of Russia’s ‘Terminator’ armored vehicle, believed to be one of Putin’s most advanced weapon systems – Yahoo News
- Ukraine claims its first kill of Russia’s ‘Terminator’ armored vehicle, believed to be one of Putin’s most advanced weapon systems Yahoo News
- The Ukrainian Army Just Blew Up One Of The Russian Army’s 10 Terminator Fighting Vehicles Forbes
- Russian Tanks Accidentally Run Over Their Own Troops in Shocking Video Newsweek
- Ukraine Begins Training With Tanks Provided by West | Putin’s Army Retaliates | Russia Ukraine LIVE CNN-News18
- Russia’s ‘Cutting Edge’ T-14 Armata Tank Seen In The War Zone, Firing At Targets For The Very First Time — Reports EurAsian Times
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Secret Weapon Could Be This New Samsung Chip
With its new 200-megapixel Isocell HP2 image sensor, Samsung will try to give smartphone photographers the best of both worlds: high resolution and good image quality in challenging conditions.
The HP2 is in mass production. Samsung has neither announced its shipment date nor confirmed which phone it will arrive in. Still, the sensor is expected to power the main camera on the company’s flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra phone, likely to debut Feb. 1.
Image sensor designers face a tradeoff. Increasing resolution means each pixel on the sensor is smaller, and smaller pixels aren’t able to gather light as well. That means shots taken in low light are marred by noise speckles. They lose detail in shadowed parts of a scene. And they suffer blown-out highlights in bright areas like skies.
The HP2, though, brings new methods to counteract those problems and make the most of each photon of light, Samsung revealed exclusively to CNET.
The South Korean electronics giant’s sensor can gather light more effectively in the first place, boost high dynamic range (HDR) photos to cope better with scenes with dark and bright elements, the company said. And when shooting at the full 200-megapixel resolution, Samsung uses AI technology to help render the finest details.
It’s not yet clear how well the sensor will perform in real-world testing. But it’s no surprise Samsung is focusing on the technology. Camera improvements are a prime reason to upgrade phones, with better photos and videos more noticeable than marginally better processors, battery life and network technology.
“The full 200MP resolution especially shines when shooting at concerts or outdoors where there’s lots of detail to be captured,” said JoonSeo Yim, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ sensor business. “It may not be the predominant setting for most consumers, but we definitely see the need for highly detailed images.”
Apple, Samsung’s top smartphone rival, is likewise investing heavily in its cameras. Comparatively large lens elements protrude from the back of iPhone 14 Pro models to show off camera performance, and Apple has upgraded its sensors for better high-resolution and low-light shooting.
Better pixel binning options
One of the headline techniques for improving smartphone photos is called pixel binning. With it, groups of physical pixels can be combined into larger virtual pixels that gather more light when it’s dim, trading off resolution for lower noise and better color.
Samsung isn’t alone in using pixel binning. You’ll see it in the Apple iPhone 14 Pro, Google Pixel 7, Xiaomi 12T Pro and other phones, but the HP2 sensor is one of the most advanced. Apple and Google, for example, use 2×2 pixel binning that turn four physical pixels into one virtual pixel. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S22 phones have offered 3×3 pixel binning since 2019, offering 108 megapixel photos in good light and 12-megapixel photos when it’s dim.
Samsung’s HP2 can take 200-megapixel photos under good conditions. When it’s dimmer, pixel binning groups pixels into 2×2 chunks for a 50-megapixel image. And when dimmer yet, Samsung’s 4×4 “Tetra2pixel” chunks take a 12.5-megapixel photo.
The two levels of pixel binning were available on the 200-megapixel HP3, announced in 2022. However, the HP3 uses smaller pixels that, while minimizing camera bulk, aren’t as good at capturing light in the first place. The HP1, announced in 2021, also had it. But the HP2 adds some other tricks the HP1 lacks.
Pixel binning ups and downs
Pixel binning has some other advantages. Cameras can crop in on the central portion of the image to zoom into more distant subjects. It’s a key foundation to the effort to give smartphones zoom abilities like traditional camera lenses. Pixel binning also opens up new options for high resolution 4K and 8K video.
Pixel binning has downsides, though. It takes a lot of battery power to process all those pixels, and storing high-resolution photos gobbles up a lot of storage space. And high-resolution sensors, while nice in principle, don’t achieve top image quality unless they’re paired with high-quality lenses.
“The full 200MP mode does require more RAM and power,” Yim said, which is why such high resolution sensors are only found on high-end smartphones.
One complication with the HP2 is figuring out color when shooting 200 megapixel photos. Digital cameras capture either red, green or blue light for each pixel, but the Tetra2pixel design means each 4×4 pixel group captures only one of those colors. To help fill in the color detail needed within those 16-pixel groups, Samsung uses an artificial intelligence algorithm, the company said.
Samsung HP2’s image quality improvements
The sensor has other tricks to boost image quality, particularly with high dynamic range scenes with both bright and dark details. Here are a few:
- A technology called Dual Voltage Transfer Gate (D-VTG) gives each pixel a 33% better ability to gather light, which should improve image quality in dim scenes and cut back on washed-out white patches in bright skies.
- Samsung’s Dual Slope Gain (DSG) feature improves HDR photos by digitizing each pixel’s exposure data at two different scales to gather bright and dark data when shooting in 50-megapixel mode. The abundant pixels on the sensor mean some pixel quartets are tuned for bright light and others for dimmer light.
- A related feature called Smart-ISO Pro is a separate HDR technology that adapts to different scenes, employing different combinations of sensitivity settings appropriate for the different frames used to build the HDR photo.
Another new feature in the HP2 is an improved autofocus with a technology called Super QPD. It can spot either horizontal and vertical lines across 2×2 pixel groups, helping the camera lock onto details like horizons or tree trunks even when it’s dim, Samsung said.
Each HP2 pixel is 0.6 microns, or 6 millionths of a meter, wide. That’s a shade narrower than the 0.62 microns of the HP1. For comparison, a human hair is something like 75 microns across. Combined into a 2×2 array for 50-megapixel photos, the pixel width increases to 1.2 microns, and in 4×4, to 2.4 microns.
“We expect that high-resolution image sensors will become a standard feature in future flagship smartphones,” Yim said. “Because of that, we think it’s important to continue our efforts, from advanced pixel processes below 0.5 microns to pixel performance and algorithms.”
Larger sizes are better at gathering light. The Samsung pixel sizes are pretty similar to the iPhone 14 Pro’s main camera sensor, which uses 2.44 micron pixels in 12-megapixel mode and 1.22 microns in 48-megapixel mode.
When it comes to video, the HP2 has many options. It can shoot 8K video at 30 frames per second by using the sensor in its 50-megapixel mode. It can shoot 4K video at 120fps, or, if Smart-ISO is engaged, at 60fps. For 1080p video, the sensor will shoot at 480fps without autofocus and 240fps with autofocus.
Vladimir Putin Faces This New Arsenal of U.S., European Weapons in 2023
The war that Vladimir Putin thought he would win in a matter of days is still raging on after nearly a year, with both sides desperately seeking more equipment, soldiers, and international support. But Russia, it seems, may soon be in for a knock-out blow—courtesy of Ukraine’s friends in the U.S. and Europe.
Last week, Washington announced a new $3.8 billion arms package to Ukraine that included everything from sorely-needed air defense systems to artillery shells. Most of Ukraine’s excitement, though, was reserved for the inclusion of the Bradley fighting vehicle, a capable armored vehicle that Ukraine has long sought to help reclaim land seized by Russia. The decision to finally send Bradleys signals that even more sophisticated weapons systems, including tanks, might be just over the horizon.
The line of what systems are “too escalatory” to send to Ukraine has constantly been moving in Ukraine’s favor, with weapons thought to be too escalatory at the start of the war now either on their way or on the table. The U.S. and other countries have sent artillery to Ukraine throughout the conflict, but non-Soviet tanks and infantry fighting vehicles—IFVs for short—were an informal red line until just recently.
It’s not just the U.S. that’s changing their minds about what’s appropriate to send. Over the past few weeks, Germany promised to send 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles. German and American IFVs are in various states of modernization, but they will still make a big difference, as both Russia and Ukraine are currently using a mishmash of IFVs that include much older equivalents.
The biggest question is the provision of modern American and European tanks. Eastern European countries like Poland and Czechia have delivered hundreds of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine throughout the war. The Ukrainians have made good use of donated tanks, but have consistently asked for the more modern tanks made by the U.S., Germany, and others.
Though Europe has been reticent about sending tanks, the tide might be turning, with both the German-made Leopard 2 and the British-made Challenger 2 on the table. France already promised the AMX-10RC, which is more comparable to a tank destroyer, but has fallen short of promising its own main battle tank, the Leclerc.
The Leopard 2 is considered the most viable candidate among western tanks. Even if Germany itself doesn’t send any, other European countries from Spain to Finland can field them, and countries that can’t spare Leopards can still send spare parts.
Though the German government has the authority to restrict owners of German-made tanks from transferring them to Ukraine, the country is now under much stronger pressure to allow other countries to transfer Leopards.
On Jan. 10, Politico reported that France was pressuring Berlin to send tanks, and a day later, the president of Poland announced that some of their Leopard 2s would be sent to Ukraine— without clarifying if Germany would allow it. If Berlin does eventually agree to send tanks or allow other nations to re-export them, they will likely announce it around the Franco-German summit later this month.
The U.K. is also reportedly planning to send tanks, but would be limited in how many they could reasonably send as the size of their tank fleet dwindled over the past few years, leaving the British army with few to spare.
Beyond new donations, key equipment promised in 2022 is set to arrive in 2023. The most notable of these are air defense systems. In December, the U.S. promised a PATRIOT missile battery and France secured the export of the SAMP/T, both of which will likely be deployed in the next few months once crews are trained. The L3 VAMPIRE, a smaller system designed to shoot down drones at a fraction of the cost of more sophisticated systems, is also set to arrive in the coming months.
While Ukraine looks forward to more weapons, Russia is looking for more men. Ukraine claims that Russia will try to mobilize half a million reservists to support new offensives against Ukraine in the coming year. If Ukraine is correct, the new forces would add to the 300,000 reservists Putin called up last fall. Mobilizing that many reservists will be chaotic—but the influx of troops will make it harder for Ukraine to regain more territory.
Russia does not have international donors like Ukraine, but Moscow’s growing partnership with Iran will likely grow through 2023. Iran already supplied Russia with drones used to attack Ukraine’s infrastructure, but many of the drones and missiles rumored to appear have not yet been seen on the battlefield. Some commentators argue that Iran is waiting until October, when a UN resolution related to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—which would trigger sanctions if Iran supplies long-range missiles—expires.
Iran has much more to offer Russia than missiles and drones. The country has been under international sanctions for some time and is more adept at dodging international restrictions. Tehran will not only be able to help Russia with oil smuggling to finance the war, but may be able to assist Russia in acquiring Western-made components for its missiles and drones. The U.S. stepped up sanctions on Iran over its weapons transfers this month, but stopping the supply of components altogether will be difficult.
With so many possibilities for weapons transfers, it’s difficult to tell how 2023 will shape up for Ukraine. Russia’s willingness to call up hundreds of thousands of new soldiers and leverage their relationship with countries like Iran will improve their ability to keep up the fight. On the other hand, if the U.S. and European support grows in size and scope, Ukraine’s commanders will find themselves at the head of an even more lethal fighting force.
Road rage stunner: 2 in 3 drivers keep a weapon in their car
LONDON — A speeding car can be a deadly weapon all by itself, but a new survey finds many Americans make sure they’re armed when they get behind the wheel.
A poll of 1,000 U.S. residents, commissioned by Circuit Route Planner, finds that a staggering 65 percent of drivers keep a weapon in their vehicle in case they need to defend themselves during a road rage incident. The most common weapon drivers keep hidden is a knife (50%), followed by pepper spray (45%). However, 40 percent admit that they carry a gun with them while on the road.
Other weapons American drivers have on hand include tire irons (39%), baseball bats (38%), hockey sticks (31%), tasers (31%), and lacrosse sticks (14%).
As for which cars you may want to stay away from if things get heated on the road, the poll finds BMW, Hyundai, and Mercedes drivers are the most likely to keep a dangerous weapon in their car. Incidentally, researchers report that road rage shooting reached a record-high in 2021.
Concerningly, it doesn’t seem to matter where Americans drive, local residents believe the anger building up on roadways is the worst where they live. While 39 percent of urban drivers believe road rage is worse where they live than anywhere else in the country, 53 percent still think urban drivers are just as prone to road rage. More than half of rural (54%), small town (58%), and suburban (67%) think road rage is just as bad where they live as everywhere else — including cities.
Who are the biggest road rage culprits?
Whether it’s true or not, men have the worst reputation when it comes to angry behavior on the road. Half the poll think men are the most prone to road rage incidents, with younger drivers following as a close second (42%). People who own sports cars (35%), women (31%), and older drivers (28%) also get a bad rap for being overly aggressive drivers.
Interestingly, women appear to be the most critical of female drivers. In fact, women respondents were 71 percent more likely than men to accuse other women of succumbing to road rage.
So, what do we mean when we’re talking about “road rage”? These actions include everything from speeding (which 40% of respondents admit they do), honking (28%), braking suddenly or “brake checking” another driver (26%), giving angry hand gestures (24%), and yelling (23%).
However, things can get out of control quickly, leading some drivers to chase or race other cars (20%), cut off vehicles on purpose (16%), tailgate (16%), and even point a weapon at a fellow driver (4%).
The road rage capital is in… Oregon?
While busy streets and bumper-to-bumper traffic would seem to make major cities the perfect place for road rage, the survey found that America’s road rage “capital” is actually Eugene, Oregon!
Using data from Twitter, the poll found that for every 100,000 people, 500 #roadrage tweets came from this Pacific Northwest town. That’s over 100 more than the next closest location — Atlanta, Georgia. Interestingly, famously congested areas like New York and Los Angeles didn’t even make the top 20 cities for road rage.
Since road rage can easily lead to accidents, injuries, and even fatalities, researchers say it’s critical that drivers learn to keep a cool head. Here are a few tips from AAA for handling potential road rage incidents while driving:
- Maintain a safe following distance
- Only honk when necessary
- Don’t cause others to change their speed or direction
- Be kind (imagine the person who just pulled out in front of you lost their job today)
- Don’t engage with angry motorists
Methodology
Circuit Route Planner surveyed 1,000 Americans about their perceptions of road rage and their own driving behaviors. This data was combined with a Twitter scrape of #roadrage and analyzed by the location of each tweet. All data are per 100,000 residents in the top 150 cities by population in the U.S.
Harvard Professor Says Bitcoin Better Weapon Than Gold For Central Banks Against Sanctions – Bitcoin (BTC/USD)
Harvard economics professor Matthew Ferranti has created a bit of a stir with a new research paper where he advises central banks to buy Bitcoin BTC/USD
What Happened: According to Ferranti’s research, it makes sense for many central banks to hold a small amount of Bitcoin under normal circumstances, and much more Bitcoin if they face sanction risks.
See More: Best Cryptocurrency to hedge against inflation
In his paper “Hedging Sanctions Risk: Cryptocurrency in Central Bank Reserves,” Ferranti explores the possibility of Bitcoin serving as a hedging alternative asset.
In the event that a central bank is unable to sufficiently hedge its sanctions through physical gold, the better option according to him is Bitcoin.
Why It’s Important: Gold is the obvious choice for a country looking to protect itself against sanctions, he said in an interview with Forbes. However, obtaining physical gold may be difficult in certain cases.
“It may take a long time to obtain gold, which a country under threat of sanctions may not have, and physical possession of it may be impossible.” This is where Bitcoin can come to the rescue.
According to his research, from 2016 to 2021, countries facing a higher risk of U.S. sanctions saw an increase in their gold reserves, while countries facing a lower risk saw a decrease in their gold reserves.
Despite the face-ripping price volatility of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, Ferranti’s model shows that they could serve as an effective sanction insurance policy.
Price Action: BTC is trading at $16,493, up 4.97% at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read Next: Cathie Wood Reiterates $1M Price Target For Bitcoin: ‘Sometimes You Need To Go Through Crisis To See Survivors’
Poland missile explosion: World leaders hold emergency meeting as ‘Russian-made’ weapon kills two in Przewodow
CNN
—
World leaders gathering at the G20 summit in Bali are attempting to diffuse a potential escalation in the months-long Ukraine war after a “Russian-made” missile struck NATO-member Poland killing two people.
The missile landed outside the rural Polish village of Przewodow, about four miles (6.4 kilometers) west from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday afternoon, roughly the same time as Russia launched its biggest wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in more than a month.
The circumstances surrounding the incident, which marks the first time a NATO country has been directly hit during the almost nine-month conflict, remain unclear. It is not known who fired the missile, or precisely where it was fired from, though the Polish Foreign Ministry has described it as “Russian-made.”
Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used Russian-made munitions during the conflict, with Ukraine deploying Russian-made missiles as part of their air defense system.
Speaking to reporters after holding an emergency meeting with G7 and NATO leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit, US President Joe Biden said preliminary information suggested it was “unlikely” the missile was fired from within Russia, but was unable to say conclusively until the investigation was complete.
“We agreed to support Poland’s investigation into the explosion … And I’m going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened,” Biden said, adding the leaders offered sympathy over the death of two people. “Then we’re going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate and proceed. There was total unanimity among the folks at the table,” he added.
Following Biden’s statement, a NATO military official told CNN the missile had been tracked by an alliance aircraft flying above Polish airspace at the time of the blast.
“Intel with the radar tracks [of the missile] was provided to NATO and Poland,” the NATO military official added. The NATO official did not say who launched the missile, or where it was fired from.
The missile strike within Poland’s borders on Tuesday “would not have happened without Russia’s horrific missile attacks against Ukraine,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a statement online Wednesday.
“The G7 and present NATO members convened a meeting this morning in Bali during the G20 to discuss the incident in Poland last night. We are united in our message that we first need to establish the facts and therefore support Poland’s investigation,” Rutte wrote.
In comments earlier Tuesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda noted that while it was not clear who launched the missile, it was “most likely” made in Russia. “We are working calmly and in a very calm manner,” Duda said during an address from the Bureau of National Security in Warsaw.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in the explosion, with Russia’s Defense Ministry calling the reports by Polish media, who first reported the deaths,”a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation,” according to a short statement late Tuesday.
It added that the photos of wreckage published by Polish media “from the scene in the village of Przewodow have nothing to do with Russian weapons.”
The Russian mission at the United Nations on Wednesday said “the incident in Poland is an attempt to provoke a direct military clash between NATO and Russia,” adding the incident would be the focus of attention at the UN Security Council meeting later in the day.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday that evidence suggests the missile that landed in Przewodów was a “single act” and there is no evidence of further missile strikes.
But while urging calm, Morawiecki said Poland would increase its military readiness and was contemplating the activation of Article 4 of the NATO Treaty. Article 4 is a consultation method that allows members of the 30-country alliance to bring an issue – usually about security – for discussion at the North Atlantic Council, its decision-making body.
Whatever the outcome of the Polish-led investigation, the incident has reinforced longstanding concerns related to the risk of battlefield miscalculation triggering NATO-Russian conflict.
Witness to the blast described hearing a terrifying “whoosh” as the projectile flew over the town and the force of the explosion shook nearby windows.
Video taken by a resident, which was geolocated and confirmed by CNN, shows a large smoke plume in the center of the village.
At the site of the explosion, local media showed an image of a crater and upturned farm vehicle. CNN cannot independently confirm the photos.
In his address, Duda said the US would send experts to investigate the site as part of joint operation.
Speaking after a call with Duda Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it was “important that all facts are established.”
“I offered my condolences for the loss of life. NATO is monitoring the situation and Allies are closely consulting. Important that all facts are established,” said Stoltenberg in a statement.
4 University of Idaho students were likely killed with an “edged weapon,” police say; no suspects in custody
Investigators think an edged weapon was used in the deaths of four University of Idaho students, police said Tuesday. Officials said all four students, who were found dead inside a home near campus on Sunday, are considered victims in the case.
No weapons have been located thus far, police said, but based on preliminary information, “investigators believe that an edged weapon such as a knife was used,” Moscow Police Captain Anthony Dahlinger said in a statement. There are no suspects in custody.
Autopsies scheduled to be completed later this week could provide more information on the exact cause of death.
Police discovered the students’ bodies just before noon Sunday as they responded to a report of an unconscious person at a home steps away from the Moscow, Idaho, campus. The victims were identified as Ethan Chapin, a 20-year-old from Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, a 21-year-old from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, from Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, from Rathdrum, Idaho.
The Moscow Police Department has labeled the deaths as “homicides” but maintains there is not an active risk to the community.
The university said Chapin was a freshman and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and Kernodle was a junior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Mogen was a senior also majoring in marketing and a member of Pi Beta Phi, and Goncalves was a senior majoring in general studies and a member of the Alpha Phi sorority, the university said. The university also had different hometown listed for Chapin and Kernodle than the towns listed in the Moscow Police Department release: The school said Chapin was from Mount Vernon, Washington, and Kernodle was from Post Falls, Idaho.
Mogen and Kernodle worked at Mad Greek, a family-owned restaurant just over a mile from the home where the students were found, the establishment said on Facebook. The owners wrote a heartfelt tribute to the two students.
“Xana and Maddie have been servers here for several years and brought so much joy to our restaurant and all of those they encountered,” wrote the restaurant, noting that Mogen had also managed much of their social media. “… You will be greatly missed. Thank you for being a part of our family/team and for helping me so much over the years. Until we meet again.”
The family of Goncalves released an emotional statement about the loss of their daughter and sister, according to CBS affiliate KREM-TV.
“Kaylee was, is, and will always be our defender and protector,” wrote the family, in part. “… She did absolutely everything she set her mind to. She didn’t hold back on love, fights, or life.”
In the statement, the family also asked that people “refrain from spreading harmful rumors” about the deaths of the four students.
University of Idaho president Scott Green said the students were all “killed” under tragic circumstances, and Moscow Mayor Art Bettge said all four of the students were considered victims in the investigation. Moscow Police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger told the Idaho Statesman Monday night that none of the deceased students are believed to be responsible for the deaths.
The students likely died between 3 and 4 a.m., but they weren’t discovered for hours, Bettge said.
“The police got there at noon, nothing happened in the interim and nothing happened afterward, so it seemed to be a unique occurrence that was not apt to be repeated,” said Bettge. That timeline helped authorities determine that there was not an active risk, he said.
Dahlinger declined to confirm or deny Bettge’s description of the timeline.
The university canceled classes on Monday, and said additional security staffers were available to walk students across campus if needed during the remainder of the week.
Still, the lack of information about the cause of deaths – and the fact that police have said there is no one in custody – had many parents worried about campus safety and some students leaving for Thanksgiving break early.
In a memo released Monday afternoon, University of Idaho President Scott Green urged university employees to be empathetic and flexible and work with students who decided to leave classes to spend time with their families.
“Words cannot adequately describe the light these students brought to this world or ease the depth of suffering we feel at their passing under these tragic circumstances,” Green wrote of the slain students.
The police said anyone with information should contact the department at 208-883-7054 and asked that people respect the privacy of the victims’ family and friends.
Brian Nickerson, the fire chief of the Moscow Volunteer Fire and EMS Department, said police were the first to arrive at the home. The first responders from the fire and EMS department didn’t go inside or transport anyone from the scene, Nickerson said.
The city of Moscow is a close-knit college town nestled in the rolling hills of north-central Idaho, about 80 miles southeast of Spokane, Washington.
A vigil for the slain students set for this week was postponed until after the school’s fall break next week, University of Idaho spokesman Kyle Pfannenstiel told CBS News on Tuesday.
Shortly after Moscow police announced the homicide investigation, students at the University of Virginia were also told to shelter in place after police said a suspect gunned down fellow students on a bus as they returned from a school field trip. The shooting left three members of the school’s football team dead and two other students injured. The shooting touched off an intense manhunt Sunday, and authorities announced Monday that a suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., had been apprehended.