Stories related to: shooting

A Texas grand jury’s decision to take no action against Joe Horn, who killed two burglars on his front lawn, has focused attention on the state’s “deadly force” laws, the Houston Chronicle reports. Horn’s life was not in danger until he confronted the thieves fleeing his neighbor’s house, but his actions were legally protected by a statute dating from the 1850s. More »

French authorities are investigating a military demonstration gone terribly wrong yesterday, the AFP reports, in which 17 people were wounded when a soldier fired live rounds instead of blanks during a demonstration of hostage-situation techniques. The soldier has been detained, but has no history of psychological problems. "The theory being worked on is one of error," an official said. More »

The man who shot and killed six people at a Kentucky plastics plant today might have planned his rampage in advance, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. A supervisor had to escort the worker from the premises following an argument with a fellow employee early this morning. The man took a gun from his car, shot the supervisor, and returned to shoot four more, then himself. More »

Police have released a sketch of a “person of interest” being sought for questioning in the mysterious shooting deaths of two young schoolgirls that have stunned a small rural community in Oklahoma. The man was seen on the same isolated dirt road where the bullet-riddled bodies of two friends who had spent the night together at a sleepover were found in a ditch last week. More »

Police in rural Oklahoma have no suspects in Sunday's slaying of two girls aged 11 and 13, ABC News reports. The best friends were found with multiple gunshot wounds in a ditch by a country road. They had gone for a stroll after a sleepover at one girl's house. Police think a local person was behind the killings but are stuck for a motive. More »

A careful young Marine has died from bullet wounds 4 months after muggers shot him point blank in the neck while he was on leave home in Cleveland from Iraq, the AP reports. Warned that a Marine could be a robbery target, Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield decided to carry only $8 in his pocket, a sum that infuriated his attackers. Two men have been charged in the shooting. More »

A letter written by a jailed Colorado gang member could tie him to the murder of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, the Rocky Mountain News reports. The letter, intercepted by the suspect's cellmate, mentions the man's worries about a witness who saw him shoot "D-Will." Williams was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on New Year's Day 2007. More »

At least seven young people are in the hospital with gunshot wounds after a shooter went on a rampage in Harlem, the New York Daily News reports. Cops believe the gunman was taking revenge after being jumped at a basketball tournament earlier in the day. The victims, all but one teenagers, were wounded within a three-block radius. The gunman is still at large. More »

Sixty gunmen opened fire on a Mexican ranch yesterday, killing 10 and injuring six more, AFP reports. The shooting came a day after another in the same state killed at least seven. Both attacks were on the head of a local cattlemens' organization; both carried signs of organized crime in a wave of violence linked to drug cartels. The motive for yesterday’s shooting was unclear, the BBC notes. More »

Police have questioned Indianapolis Colts star Marvin Harrison about a shooting outside his Philadelphia bar this week, the Indianapolis Star reports. Details are vague so far: A man was shot in the hand, doctors treated a child hurt by shattered glass, and “a vehicle that was on the highway” was involved in the Tuesday incident, a police spokesman said. More »

An explosion of violence in Chicago last weekend—three dozen shootings that resulted in seven deaths—and a quintuple homicide on Wednesday have local police struggling for an explanation, as well as a response. Crime usually jumps later in the year, the Chicago Tribune notes, when both the weather and gang activity heat up.  More »

The shooting death of an 18-year-old mom and wounding of her boyfriend as they sat with their baby son in a car was set up by the beau, cops now say. The boyfriend initially insisted the two had been shot by a robber in the Bronx, but now he and his cousin have been charged with murder, reports the New York Times reports. More »

Florida lawmakers have passed a law that prohibits most businesses from banning employees keeping guns in their cars on company property, Reuters reports. Backers hail the measure as a victory for Second Amendment rights. Business groups, fearing an increase in workplace shootings, are urging the governor to veto the so-called "take your gun to work" bill. More »

A string of freeway shootings in Los Angeles County is causing more jitters than usual on its jam-packed arteries, the Los Angles Times reports. Windows of six cars were shot out by a mystery sniper wielding a BB gun yesterday, the day after a driver died from a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound. A motorist was also shot and wounded on Saturday, and two others were killed last month. Police don't believe the incidents are connected. More »

A mother and her four children were found dead in their Iowa City home yesterday by police who received an anonymous tip, reports the Daily Iowan . Minutes later, cops responded to a nearby highway crash involving a car belonging to the father of the family, Stephen Sueppel. The dead driver remains unidentified due to severe burns. More »

China admitted today its police opened fire on Tibetan protesters, wounding four in “self-defense,” the BBC reports. The statement from state-run Xinhua news agency is China’s first admission to hurting anyone since protests began last week. Chinese officials say rioters have killed 13; Tibetan activists reported security forces firing on crowds, and say at least 99 have been killed. More »

A warning shot fired by US soldiers killed a young Iraqi girl yesterday, AP reports. Troops in an area of Diyala province where several roadside bombs have recently been found fired a shot "near a suspicious woman who appeared to be signaling to someone while the soldiers were in the area," said a military spokesman. They later found the girl, who appeared to be 10 years old. More »

Police in North Carolina have charged two men with the murder of a UNC student whose death drew national attention, the AP reports. One suspect, a 21-year-old, is in custody while the other, a 17-year-old, remains at large. Eve Carson, student body president at UNC-Chapel Hill, was found shot to death last week. Police did not disclose a motive; the two suspects are not UNC students. More »

Mourners packed the funeral of a Los Angeles high school football star yesterday as police charged a gang member with capital murder in his death, the LA Times reports. The shooting of 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw only three doors away from his home was the latest in a spate of killings that has shocked even Angelenos numbed by gang violence. Shaw's alleged killer,19, is a member of the Hispanic 18th Street Gang released from jail a day before the killing. More »

A man has been arrested and charged with killing 18-year-old Auburn University student Lauren Burk, thanks to a photo enhanced with help from NASA, the AP reports. Police arrested Courtney Lockhart, 23, in Phenix City, Ala., after a car and foot chase. He was initially sought as a suspect in a string of robberies. Police did not say where they got the photo, but it may have come from a gas station camera, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. More »