Good Morning El Paso Weekend 06.12.16

[ gunfire ] “but they won’t let us know they’re not letting us know any names of anybody.” developing news out of florida as gunshots erupt at a gay nightclub. the witnesses reaction so far this morning and the latest from police. a borderland teen dies weeks after being hit by an s-u-v. how the community is mourning and remembering her today. and schools in the city of the crosses could soon be without the top district official. what details we’ve uncovered on the upcoming special meeting. and in stormtrack weather, iris! this is all the news you need to start your sunday, june 12th. abc-7’s “good morning el paso weekend” starts right now! “you could hear rapid gunfire s everyone who was on the dancefloor in the bar area, we just went down to the floor. we asked who the shooter was, maybe he was shooting at people or shooting at the ceiling because glass was coming down.” law enforcement officials in florida are piecing together events surrounding a mass shooting overnight at a gay nightclub in orlando. they say approximately 20 people were killed, and more than 40 injured. good morning and thank you for joing us… i’m andrew j. polk. the pulse gay night club shooting is now being called the worst terror attack since 9/11. police just now identified the shooter as omar mateen of st. lucie county, florida. he was killed when the swat team arrived at the scene.. the exact number of people killed is not yet confirmed. gunfire erupted around 2 a-m sunday. the club posted on its facebook page “everyone get out of pulse and keep running,” authorities are looking into whether this was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter was a lone wolf. authorities says the shooter was armed with an assault-type rifle, a handgun and some type of suspicious device: “it was just one after another, after another, after another. it could’ve lasted a whole song. because after everybody was out, shootings were still going and the cops were yelling, ‘go, go, clear the area, clear the area!'” they hear about 20 shots. they recognized it as being a shooter so they took off running” police also said officers went into a gun battle with the suspect and the suspect went inside the club and fire more gun shots–turning it into a hostage situation. according to police it appeared the suspect was organized and well- prepared — and not from the orlando area. this is one night after a singer was shot and killed in orlando. athorities say there is no connection between the shootings. police have identified the gunman who killed singer christina grimmie. they say 27-year-old kevin james loibl killed her after a concert in orlando saturday night. police also say he apparently traveled to orlando specifically to go after the singer. officials say loibl had two guns and two spare loaded magazines on him, along with a large hunting knife. grimmie who was a contestant on the sixth season of “the voice”, was shot while signin autographs for fans. her brother then tackled loibl, who ended up killing himself during the struggle. investigators say they’re still trying to understand why he killed the 22- year-old singer. friends and family are mourning the loss of cynthia meza. she died yesterday after 2 weeks of fighting for her life after she was hit by an s- u-v. the crash happened the evening of may 20th on the 86- hundred block of alameda–right in front of ysleta high school. she and a 15 year old boy were crossing the street when they were hit on the crosswalk. police say the driver of the suv was 47- year old melissa rios perez. police have not identified the teen, but the ysleta school district confirmed she was cynthia meza–a ysleta high school student. the high school’s rotc program posted this photo on their facebook page, sending their condolonces to the fellow cadet’s family. yisd tells abc-7 they will have grief counselors at the school this monday and tuesday to help students and staff as needed. the school district says they send their heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of meza. the las cruces public schools could soon be looking for a new superintendent. yesterday the school board announced the possible resignation of stan rounds. superintendent rounds has been with the district for nine years. his possible resignation was added to tuesday’s special meeting… abc-7’s jerry najera has more: this is a copy of tuesday’s agenda. it states the board will discuss a possible severance agreement, acceptance of resignation and appointment of an interim superintendent. there are a lot of questions tonight about what will happen on tuesday: on the school board’s agenda this week–discussion of superintendent stan rounds’ resignation. the item–which will be discussed in executive session, was added by school baord vice-president chuck davis. davis telling abc-7 rounds hasn’t submitted a letter of resignation but confirms it will be discussed on tuesday. superintendent rounds, meanwhile, has not returened request for comment. rounds has expereinced a number of hot issues arise during his tenure at las cruces public schools. this is rounds getting into a series of heated exchanges with the public education department over teacher’s abscences and it’s effect on evaluations back in 2015. just this, thursday the board of education held a public budget hearing. in may, the board of education approved the district’s budget of 338-million dollars — which includes 187- million in state funding. the budget is currently under review by the state public education department and changes the department made were discussed in that meeting. the department approved 49 staff reductions and removed the purchase of vehicles. district officials meanwhile, urged teachers are “not being laid off. and in march–a labor dispute with school bus drivers jeopardized student transportation. bus drivers went on strike, demanding better wages. but the reason why superintendent rounds resignation was added to the agenda is still unclear. davis and board president, maria flores, remined tightlipped saturday saying it was a quote, personnel matter. flores adding the agenda speaks for itself. we also contacted the american teachers federation of new mexico and they were not able to get to us before this story aired. the district spokeswoman referred us to tuesday’s agenda. rounds, again, has not returned our calls for comment. reporting for gmep jerry najera. …stormtrack weather now! let’s get your first forecast with stormtracker iris lopez drier air will spread across the area from west to east today ahead of an approaching pacific low pressure system. enough moisture will remain for a few thunderstorms this afternoon mainly east of the rio grande and over the mountains. dry weather is on more than a dozen child abuse charges— now faces an additional charge. last month a grand jury indicted 28- year-old josie rubio and her 24-year-old boyfriend stephan cordero for allegedly abusing her two children over the past year. according to the office of district attorney mark d’antonio: during the investigation, one of the children told an interviewer that cordero sexually assaulted him. now cordero faces one count of criminal sexual penetration of a minor along with 14 other counts of child abuse. he is being held at the dona ana county detention center without bond. last weekend voters in juarez headed to the polls to choose a new mayor. independent candidate armando cabada ran against two time mayor hector murgia.. and now cabada is the official mayor elect of ciudad. juarez. abc-7’s julio cesar chavez covered the elections last weekend.. and he was there yesterday morning.. he bring the complete coverage: “esta constancia representa u esfuerzo enorme de miles de personas” he thanked the thousands who voted for him, people he said were tired of seeing the same parties in office” cabada rallied his supporters at the juarez electoral assembly, emphasizing the power of individuals and separating himself from political parties and he wasn’t the only one, some cabada voters we spoke with said his independency is exactly why they voted for him se?or “ya cansados de estos gobiernos que p?blicamente”voters saying they were tired of politicians sacking and hurting juarez residents have a wide variety of issues they want to see addressed, from the systemic to the every day. maria troncoso “corrupci?n, los baches, principalmente” corruption an damaged streets, she says are two of the most important things she hopes are fixed under cabada. although cabada said he’ll keep working with citizens from now to october to see what they need, he acknowledged not everything can be repaired. “no se puede resolver todo, n hay presupuesto para hacerlo” he says not everything can be fixed because there’s not money for everything, but that he’ll start by making sure everyone has their basic needs voters telling us cabada represented what they wanted in their city, a change from everything they have been put through for decades “y a partir del pr?ximo 10 de octubre ju?rez ser? diferente” he says from october 10th on juarez will be a different city. what cabada says will set his government apart from the past? “esta sera honesta” he says hi will be honest and that was julio cesar chavez reporting. cabada will hold the mayor’s office for two years starting this fall. this morning.. a major route connecting downtown with the west side will close for 8 months. paisano will be completely shut down from sunland park drive to executive center starting this morning at 7. this closure is so crews can finish the road construction necessary for the border west expressway. the only way to get around this will be to use mesa or constitution drive and detour signs will be in place. again, that complete closure will last 8 months. / there’s good news for residents of sunland park and santa teresa. recently some residents have been worried about arsenic in their drinking water. according to our news partners at the el paso inc. two plants that remove the arsenic are running again after being donw for at least a year. but now the customers just learned that the water had more arsenic than federal standards allow. although the water utilities company named c-r-u-a are required to inform residents of the arsenic levels, the water utilities in sunland park didnt send out an alert until last year. to find out the response from the environment department on why c-r-u-a didn’t send out a notice to customers, pick up your copy of the el paso inc. other stories this week include: she’s young, she’s from el paso, and she’s on fortune magazine’s list of influential business leaders under 40. we talk with biotech brainiac michelle dipp. why the man who runs a major cancer center wants el pasoans to know what they’ve done and what they can do. el paso inc. is online at elpasoinc.com, and available for home and business delivery. call 534- 4422 to subscribe. the temperatures are steadily rising as we inch closer towards the summer. but coming up on good morning el paso weekend… instead of heading to the pool how about heading to the streets? we’ll show you how many people cooled off by heading downtown. and later..if the situation calls for self defense – do you know what to do? how one el paso group is making sure everyone is prepared for dangerous situations. it is , right now we’ll take a live look at traffic this morning: and in stormtrack weather, iris! stormtrack weather is next! you’re watching abc-7… where news comes first!