Weapons & Guns

This is awesome!!!

USC basketball recruit Aaliyah Gayles graduated from Spring Valley High School this week ... just months after the hoops star was shot 10 times at a house party.

Gayles -- the no. 8 ranked player in the 2022 class -- held her diploma high after she made it across the stage in a wheelchair on Tuesday ... something her father, Dwight, says she worked her "tail off for."

"Words can't even describe the feeling I feel," Dwight told TMZ Sports on Wednesday.

"It wasn't easy but she did it. I can't be more happy for her. God is good!"

Of course, this is a special moment for the family and Gayles ... after the 5-foot-9 guard was shot 10 times at a Las Vegas house party on April 16.

Despite the serious injuries, Dwight told us back in April that his 18-year-old daughter -- who committed to USC last August -- will still play basketball for the Trojans.

Her father also provided an update on her recovery ... saying, "It's going very well."

"Doing some physical therapy. Getting back to normal one day at a time. Baby steps."

In her last year of high school, Gayles averaged 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds 3.5 steals and 3.3 assists per game ... leading the Grizzlies to the state tournament.

The 5-star recruit was also the first Vegas player to be named a McDonald All-American since 2010.

But, getting to go across the stage and receive her diploma has got to be her proudest moment.

Van Jones is floored it took so long for Uvalde PD to put an end to last week's mass shooting, especially because he's seen cops race into much less threatening situations with more aggression.

We got the CNN commentator Tuesday at LAX, and he thinks the underreaction from police in the Texas town raises some concerns. Van points out all the videos we've seen over the years of law enforcement's extreme reactions in Black and brown neighborhoods.

For that reason, he's glad the Dept. of Justice is looking into the Uvalde tragedy, but hopes it takes action if it finds glaring errors. He also thinks gun manufacturers need to accept some blame too.

As we reported, the DOJ announced the launch of an investigation Sunday, looking into the police response at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.

The department notes it will be impartial and fair, as it looks for any failures upon which the agency can improve in the future.

Reports of children calling 911 from within the classroom where the gunman massacred upwards of 20 people are accurate and harrowing ... 'cause you can now hear it in audio.

Listen to one of these dispatchers radioing in last Tuesday to any units available in the area and trying to find out if any officers had responded yet -- and notifying all of them that a child had dialed in for help ... from inside the classroom with the shooter.

The dispatcher asks if anyone is in or around that building, noting the child has told them the room is full of victims. A bit later, you hear a rough number from them -- 8 to 9 kids.

As we know, that number ended up being significantly higher -- 21 people total were killed, including 19 children -- and worse yet ... it took the authorities a lifetime and a half to engage the gunman and get other people out.

19 different cops were on the scene, but were apparently told to stand down and wait -- this as the killer was in the classroom and slaughtering kids.

It's unclear exactly why the commanding officer gave these orders -- it seems it might've been bad intel -- but in any case, it took over an hour for anyone to actually go in and do something. The officers who ended up taking the shooter out were Border Patrol agents.

What's become evident since is that if law enforcement had engaged earlier, they could've saved lives ... but their delayed response was far too late. 77 minutes is the official time.

Chuck Liddell clearly believes Cain Velasquez should be out of jail by now ... telling TMZ Sports a judge needs to give him bond ASAP.

The UFC legend has been locked behind bars since late February -- after he allegedly tried to kill a man who was accused of molesting one of his relatives.

Liddell -- who's been good friends with Velasquez for years -- told us out at LAX this week it's time for that to change ... saying Cain should be let out and able to see his family.

"It's so funny how easy it is to get out -- they're letting all these crazy people out," the Iceman said. "But you have a problem with letting him out? I don't know."

Liddell went on to say, if all of the allegations are true, he doesn't blame Velasquez one bit for it all -- obviously, a big reason why he thinks the 40-year-old should get bond.

"I get it," Chuck said. "In that situation, I get it."

Cain, though, will remain in jail until at least his next hearing on June 10.

Chuck, meanwhile, is pleading with the former fighter to "stay strong" while the case plays out ... saying, "We're here for you. We love you."

Uncle Sam is getting involved in trying to figure out what happened during the Uvalde shooting that claimed 21 lives -- this as President Biden himself visits the town.

The U.S. Dept. of Justice Sunday announced they would be conducting a review into the police response that has come under major scrutiny in the past several days -- as new reports suggest officers on the ground waited for too long to engage the gunman.

DOJ says they're doing this at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, and it'll be a Critical Incident Review headed up by their Office of Community Oriented Policing.

They add, "The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events."

The department notes it'll be impartial and fair to the facts of what exactly happened, and if any failures took place that the agency can improve upon next time. Of course, the community is outraged that 19 cops stood around for about an hour before a Border Patrol tactical unit took the gunman out themselves ... disobeying orders to stand down.

Joe and Dr. Jill Biden are in town Sunday to pay their respects to the families of the victims -- they visited the memorial at the front of the school and laid down flowers as well.

A stampede erupted at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn after rumors began to swirl there was an active shooter in the arena.

At least 10 people suffered injuries just after midnight Sunday ... when people began screaming someone was firing shots. It wasn't true, but the crowd didn't know it.

It's unclear how the rumor first started, but it spread like wildfire. A security guard said the rumor was that someone was firing shots outside the arena. That caused people who were leaving the boxing match to make a mad dash back inside, and it became a madhouse.

Naomi Osaka was among those present ... she tweeted, that she heard "shouting and saw people running" and was then told "there was an active shooter and we had to huddle in a room and close the doors," adding, she was "petrified."

Madonna was also there for the championship match between Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero. It's unclear if she was present during the melee.

One person who was there tweeted, "I watched a person get trampled nearly out cold."

The ten known to be injured were taken to a hospital and according to officials, they suffered only minor injuries.

Matthew McConaughey and some friendly pooches have touched down in Uvalde, TX -- but their presence alone won't fix what's become a major scandal on the slow police response.

The actor is back in his hometown, where he's meeting with families and children affected by the massacre on Tuesday ... when 21 people were slaughtered by a crazed gunman, including 19 children who were wiped out in a classroom he'd barricaded himself in.

Looks like he's with U.S. Congressman Tony Gonzalez -- representing Texas' 23rd district, encompassing Uvalde -- who posted some pics of their time together and thanked MMC.

Shortly after the news broke, Matt posted a lengthy message online calling for action and change on gun laws in the country, saying this phenomenon is "an epidemic we can control."

BTW, Matt's not the only one in town offering support ... there are doggos being trotted around town that are specifically aimed at making people feel better. The LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs are also making the rounds in Uvalde ... letting folks pet 'em to calm their nerves.

Not to knock any of these efforts to bring about calm and healing -- which this community desperately needs -- but there are slightly more pressing matters at hand ... like figuring out why Uvalde-area cops who were on the scene quickly waited so long to engage the shooter.

Col. Steven McCraw -- the director of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety, and Texas' top cop -- said the commanding officer that day made the "wrong decision" in his evaluation of what was happening ... which is why he ordered everyone to not approach for nearly an hour.

Apparently, this guy -- who's been ID'd as Uvalde School District's police chief, Pedro "Pete" Arredondo -- thought there was nobody (or nobody left alive) in the room the gunman had locked himself in ... but he was clearly wrong. Kids were calling 911 from inside.

Eventually -- as the story has now been reported -- Border Patrol agents eventually showed up and were told to stand down ... but after some time and building frustration, they went in anyway and killed the gunman themselves. At that point, though, it was far too late.

There are even reports of parents attempting to run into the school to get their kids since upwards of a dozen-plus cops were just standing around ... only to be cuffed and detained.

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler is very upset about the direction of our country after the latest mass shooting ... and now he's protesting the national anthem.

Gabe says he's breaking from baseball tradition and plans to no longer join players and coaches on the field before games for the playing of the national anthem.

The Giants manager told reporters Friday in Cincinnati before his club played the Reds, "I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country."

In a post on his personal blog earlier Friday, Gabe reflected on the Uvalde school shooting and the response across the sporting world.

Gabe wrote ... "The day 19 children and 2 teachers were murdered, we held a moment of silence at sporting events around the country, then we played the national anthem, and we went on with our lives."

The all-too-familiar response is not sitting well with GK, who adds ... "We didn’t stop to reflect on whether we are actually free and brave after this horrific event, we just stood at attention."

Gabe says his father taught him a lesson early on in life, and he's applying it to his anthem protest.

"When I was the same age as the children in Uvalde, my father taught me to stand for the pledge of allegiance when I believed my country was representing its people well or to protest and stay seated when it wasn't," Kapler writes. "I don't believe it is representing us well right now."

Gabe says he tried to protest the anthem earlier this week, but it didn't materialize.

"My brain said drop to a knee; my body didn’t listen," he wrote. "I wanted to walk back inside; instead I froze. I felt like a coward. I didn’t want to call attention to myself. I didn’t want to take away from the victims or their families. There was a baseball game, a rock band, the lights, the pageantry. I knew that thousands of people were using this game to escape the horrors of the world for just a little bit. I knew that thousands more wouldn’t understand the gesture and would take it as an offense to the military, to veterans, to themselves."

Gabe says after a few days of reflection, he decided on his anthem protest.

The National Rifle Association is scrapping its benefit concert in Texas ... with performers dropping out left and right, the show will NOT go on.

Country music star Jacob Bryant was the only remaining act for the NRA concert in Houston, which was scheduled for the organization's annual conference, and he announced Friday the show has been axed.

Jacob made the announcement on Twitter as he was being pressured on social media to join the ranks of other performers who dropped out in the wake of this week's tragic mass shooting at a Texas elementary school.

As we reported ... the first domino was "American Pie" singer Don McLean, who decided the day after the Uvalde school shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 students and 2 teachers, he would not perform on the NRA stage. Don said it would be disrespectful to perform.

Next, "Broken Lady" singer Larry Gatlin pulled out Thursday, saying he could not perform at an NRA event in good conscious, saying he supports the 2nd amendment but wants background checks for gun purchases.

Jacob was the last man standing after T. Graham Brown, Lee Greenwood and Larry Stewart followed suit ... and it appears the hammer came down Thursday, though there has yet to be official word from the NRA.

The husband Irma Garcia, of one of the teachers who was murdered at Robb Elementary School, was videotaped placing flowers on a cross bearing his wife's name just hours before he died.

Joe Garcia was seen carrying the bouquet, riddled with grief, as he walked to the cross, placed the flowers next to it and walked away.

As Joe left, he looks stoic ... although he was clearly anything but.

He died later that night of a heart attack. A relative said the family believes he died of a broken heart. His nephew, John Martinez, posted, "EXTREMELY heartbreaking and come with deep sorrow to say that my Tia Irma's husband Joe Garcia has passed away due to grief, I truly am at a loss for words for how we are all feeling, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY, God have mercy on us, this isn't easy."

Joe and Irma were married for 24 years and had 4 kids.

An 11-year-old student at the Robb Elementary School in Texas went into what a relative called "survival mode" after seeing a classmate who was fatally shot by the gunman, and smeared the other girl's blood all over her body to make it appear she too was dead.

It's horrific to even imagine, but Miah Cerrillo is now suffering extreme trauma after taking measures to save her life.

Her aunt, Blanca Rivera, went on KPRC and explained how her niece "played dead."

According to Rivera, the 4th grader grabbed the phone of her teacher -- who was also shot and killed -- and called 911.

Rivera says around midnight the day of the shooting, she got a call from Miah's mom saying her daughter was having a panic attack.

The massacre was made all the worse for survivors after learning law enforcement didn't enter the building for more than an hour after the initial attack. Authorities have not given clear answers explaining the delay, because there were officers present almost immediately but they did not enter until reinforcements came with body armor.

Memorial Day Weekend means hip hop festival season is upon us, and the So What?! Music Festival in Texas -- with some big name headliners -- is pulling out all the stops for the safety of ticketholders.

Juicy J, Trippie Redd, 2 Chainz, IDK, 24kGoldn are on the lineup for the Arlington concert, and the promoter Third String Entertainment is doing all it can to avoid anything like the tragedy at Travis Scott's AstroWorld festival last year in Texas.

Third String's Mike Ziemer tells TMZ Hip Hop their safety procedures run deep. He says meetings with law enforcement agencies like the Texas Rangers, fire marshals and other city officials started way back in January ... as they wanted to nip any potential issues in the bud.

They're also featuring "quiet rooms" for fans who need timeouts, and access to every water fountain in Choctaw Stadium to ensure dehydrated fans can get relief.

Everyone will have to pass through metal detectors upon entry ... Ziemer says they have procedures in place for active shooters, because that's, unfortunately, a painfully real possibility these days.

In terms of crowd management, So What?! actually capped the festival attendance at 20,000 -- well below the stadium's 50,000+ max capacity -- to ensure fans can have a good time without fear of overcrowding or stampedes.

Additionally, all 3 stages will have headliners performing at the same time, thereby reducing the threat of crowds rushing from one spot to another.

Meghan Markle is expressing her grief over the tragic elementary school shooting ... by making a surprise visit to the memorial in Texas honoring the slain teachers and students.

Meghan made the long trip from Montecito, CA to Uvalde, TX to pay her respects to those killed in Tuesday's horrific shooting ... leaving a bouquet of white roses at a makeshift memorial.

The shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 innocent children and 2 teachers, happened at Robb Elementary School ... and the memorial Meghan visited is outside the nearby Uvalde County Courthouse.

Meghan walked around the memorial, which borders a square pond and features the names of the dead on white crosses with blue hearts.

The Duchess of Sussex wore jeans, a white shirt and a faded navy baseball cap ... but didn't exactly keep a super low profile.

As far as we know, Meghan has no direct connection to Robb Elementary or the small town of Uvalde, which is about 80 miles west of San Antonio.

Larry Gatlin is now among the list of performers who will no longer perform at this weekend's NRA convention in Houston ... also offering up possible solutions to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again.

The "Broken Lady" singer tells TMZ, "I cannot, in good conscience, perform at the NRA convention in Houston this weekend. While I agree with most of the positions held by the NRA, I have come to believe that, while background checks would not stop every madman with a gun, it is at the very least a step in the right direction toward trying to prevent the kind of tragedy we saw this week in Uvalde — in my beloved, weeping TEXAS."

He continues, "It is not a perfect world and the 'if only crowd's' policies will never make it one. I am a 'what if guy' and I can't help but ask the question, 'What if the teachers had been proficient in the use of firearms and had, in fact been armed this week? My answer is that there would not be 21 freshly dug graves for 21 of GOD's precious children."

He also has a message for the NRA, saying, "I pray that the NRA will rethink some of its outdated and ill-thought-out positions regarding firearms in AMERICA."

Gatlin concludes, "I'm a 2nd Amendment guy, but the 2nd amendment should not apply to everyone. It's that simple. God Help Us Please."

The slaughter at the Robb Elementary School in Texas is almost impossible to comprehend, but this video -- as difficult as it is to watch -- unearths the human toll it has taken on the parents of the dead.

CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke to Angel Garza, the father of 10-year-old Amerie, who was among the 19 children shot and killed.

His pain is unbearable, and his story is simply hard to process. Angel, a medic, was outside the school just after the shooting when he saw a little girl covered in blood. He thought she was injured so he tried to help her. She tearfully explained she was ok, but she watched her best friend get shot. She told Angel the girl wasn't breathing and was apparently dead, and then she revealed the identity of the victim -- it was Angel's daughter, Amerie.

Angel's grief is palpable ... he sobs, telling Anderson his daughter had just made the honor roll, and was actually trying to help in the emergency by calling 911 when she was shot.

Angel and his wife have a 3-year-old son who was clearly attached to his big sister, and they've tried telling him Amerie is not coming home ... ever again.

Anderson asked how Angel's wife is doing, and he doesn't answer directly ... only to ask people to pray for her.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Brooks Raley says the shooting in Texas on Tuesday hit very close to home for him ... revealing Wednesday he actually attended Robb Elementary School as a kid growing up in Uvalde.

"I walked those halls," the 33-year-old reliever told media members at his locker. "I can't imagine what they experienced yesterday."

Raley said he learned that a gunman had killed 19 students and two teachers at the school from family and friends who still live in the city ... and called it all an absolute tragedy.

"Obviously growing up there, going to that school, it kind of hits home," said Raley, whose parents and brother still live in Uvalde. "Having young children myself, you just feel for those families."

"And you pray for them, and your thoughts are with them."

Raley -- who moved out of Uvalde as a teenager to go to college at Texas A&M -- called the community surrounding Robb Elementary "small" and "close-knit" ... and added that he's really feeling for them.