An American soldier opened fire on civilians in southern Afghanistan shortly before dawn on Sunday, killing at least 16 people according to an Associated Press photographer who counted the bodies.

At least five people were wounded as well in the attack on two villages near the US base in Kandahar.

President Hamid Karzai, the Afghan leader with whom relations have already been chilling amidst statements Afghanistan would back Pakistan over the United States, called the shootings “an assassination” and demanded an explanation.

According to the AP, the unidentified soldier fired indiscriminately, killing women and children.

There has been a widening rift between US servicemen and Afghans following the burning of Korans, the Muslim holy book, several weeks ago. The burnings resulted in violence and protests, including attacks that killed six Americans.

Lt. Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, the deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, apologized for the shooting.

“I wish to convey my profound regrets and dismay at the actions apparently taken by one coalition member in Kandahar province,” Bradshaw said in a statement. “One of our soldiers is reported to have killed and injured a number of civilians in villages adjacent to his base. I cannot explain the motivation behind such callous acts.”

NATO spokesman Justin Brockhoff told the AP that the alleged shooter was captured and is being detained at a NATO base.

The attack took place in two village, Balandi and Alkozai, about 500 yards away from the US base.

In one of the most brutal details to emerge so far, 12 of those killed were from Balandi, including all 11 members of a farmer named Samad Khan’s family, the AP reported.

This morning, Afghans are calling for justice and retribution against the man who allegedly burst into their homes and committed a truly heinous acts of war crime.

Police confirm that two people were shot in an Allston apartment on the third floor of  15 Chester Street, according to Universal Hub.

The shooting happened around 10 p.m. on Friday night and both victims have been taken to Boston area hospitals, reports Fox 25. There are no reports on their statuses.

Police have found at least  6 bullet casings in the apartment, according to the Universal Hub.

More to come as the case develops.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Steve Ruiz, a 38 year-old Hells Angel member who is suspected of shooting fellow biker Steve Tauson, was reportedly spotted in San Jose this weekend. San Jose police officer Jose Garcia told SF Weekly that the San Jose police team thinks Ruiz is either in San Jose, Campbell, Fremont or Gilroy. “If anyone aided him we will arrest those individuals and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.” Police also say that it is likely that Ruiz is traveling in a gold Chevrolet Suburban along with his 42-year-old girlfriend, Christel Renee Trujillo.

Police have been searching for Ruiz since October 15, when he and Tauson got in an altercation at former President of the San Jose Hells Angels, Jeffery Pettigrew’s funeral at the Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park. According to SF Gate, Ruiz disappeared after the shooting and several bystanders tampered with the crime scene, washing away bloodstains and removing other evidence of the shooting. Police later found Ruiz’s motorcycle at the funeral home but the suspect has not come to claim it.

Following the incident police suspected that Ruiz was hiding in his three-bedroom Stockton home. They drove vehicles to the scene and called for him to surrender, eventually firing tear gas into the home on Saturday, October 22. However, Ruiz was not present and the home was empty. It was at one point believed that Ruiz could have been hiding in Pettigrew’s grave, but when investigators dug it up Ruiz’s body was not present.

Police have asked citizens to keep an open eye for Ruiz. He is said to likely be traveling with his 42 year-old girlfriend named Christel Renee Trujillo in a gold Chevrolet Suburban.

Three deaths have occurred in Occupy protest-related situations this week.

In Burlington, Vermont, a 35-year old military veteran committed suicide, while a Salt Lake City protester was found dead by unknown cause in his tent.

In Oakland, a man was shot in a fight nearby the protesters, but is supposedly not related to the cause.

The death in Burlington is raising concerns about the safety of the protests. Deputy Police Chief Andi Higbee said “Our responsibility is to keep the public safe. When there is a discharge of a firearm in a public place like this it’s good cause to be concerned, greatly concerned.” Whether or not the protests will be allowed to continue is still in the air.

Protesters in Salt Lake City are no longer permitted to camp out in the city park, and are required to remove their tents by Saturday. However, daytime protests will still be allowed.

Officials in Oakland are calling for the camp to be shut down. Despite leaders of the cause claiming that the shooting was unrelated, Mayor Jean Quan said “Tonight’s incident underscores the reason why the encampment must end. The risks are too great. We need to return (police) resources to addressing violence throughout the city. It’s time for the encampment to end. Camping is a tactic, not a solution.”

For the second time in less than a year, a police officer has been shot in the suburb of Worburn during a jewelry heist.

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, a jewelry store was robbed on Cambridge Road in a shopping center. A responding police officer was shot and taken to Lahey Clinic, where his condition was not immediate known.

A massive manhunt is now underway.

There were at least two suspects. One was shot by police, and police are looking for a second man who fled in a vehicle.

Set north of Boston on I-93, Woburn is the town where Officer John “Jack Maguire” was fatally shot by a convict on parole who was robbing a Kohl’s department store of Jewelry in late December.

A Revere man was arrested this morning and charged with the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Reading man that occurred last Monday, the Boston Globe reports.

John Burke, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.  This is in connection with the death of Joseph Ronan, 22, who was shot in his home on Lawrence Road.

“We allege that this defendant intentionally and purposefully shot the victim numerous times with the intent to kill him over what appears to be a drug-related dispute,” said Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone in a statement according to the Globe.

Although details are still unknown, officials believe that Burke went to meet Ronan at his home and shot him upon entering the house.

Burke will be arraigned Monday in Woburn District Court.

After a spree of violence over the holiday weekend, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he would hold an emergency meeting with the city’s police commanders this afternoon to decide whether police should act differently to avoid more violence.

Four were killed and nine wounded yesterday throughout five different neighborhoods in just five hours.

“It’s so frustrating,” Menino told Boston Globe reporters. “You think you’ve touched every base. You think you’ve done everything right.”

Commissioner Edward F. Davis said the violence may have been spurred by “alcohol-fueled parties,” typical of holiday weekends.

He said many of the shootings appear to be gang-related.

The identities of the victims were not released, however police did release a list of when and where the violent acts took place. The following happened in chronological order:

-7:16 p.m. 60 Hollander Street Roxbury. One person shot to death.

-9:55 p.m. 36 Norton Street Dorchester. Three shot, one fatally.

-11:26 p.m. 120 Huntington Ave., South End. Two people stabbed. One victim is in critical condition and one victim is stable. One person is under arrest.

-11:33 pm. 52 Thomas Park, South Boston. Two people stabbed and neither suffered life-threatening injuries.

-11:34 p.m. Talbot Avenue and Washington Street, Dorchester. One person was shot, and he went to Carney Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

-11:36 p.m. Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street, Mattapan. One person was found in this location but believed to have shot elsewhere. He was taken to the Carney, where he was in stable condition. The Area B-3 police station is at this intersection.

-11:54 p.m. 975 Blue Hill Ave., Dorchester. One person was stabbed and was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

JULY 5

-12:15 a.m. 245 Columbia Road, Dorchester. Police said a person walked up to the vehicle and opened fire at the two men inside. The car lurched forward and smashed into a building. Two people were shot, and both later died from their wounds.

SPRINGFIELD– State Police and Deputy United States Marshals collaborated on Friday to arrest one of Massachusetts’ most wanted criminals.

Marshals arrested Marcus Parks, 25, as he left a relative’s home in Bernice, La. where he had been staying.

Marshals set up surveillance at 137 Plum Ave. after Massachusetts State Police received a tip that one of Parks’ relatives had moved there from Springfield.

Parks allegedly fired several rounds into a large crown outside a Springfield restaurant on June 28, 2008. Two were shot and seriously wounded.

The suspect also has multiple outstanding warrants in Massachusetts, including armed robbery, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, and other motor vehicle violations. He also has a warrant for his arrest in South Carolina, charging him with possession of a stolen gun and unlawful carrying of a pistol.

Parks is being held at the Union Parish Sheriff’s Department in Farmerville, La. He is expected to appear in court in Louisiana today.

Massachusetts and Louisiana authorities will work together to send Parks back to Massachusetts, where he will be charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and other firearms charges related to the 2008 shooting.

A birthday party turned deadly in September 2009 and ended in the shooting of a young woman, Paula Castillo. The case was brought to life again this morning at the trial of her alleged killers.

Castillo’s friends threw a party for her 18th birthday at 28 Hillis Road, which Ruben Sanchez,21, Miguel Vasquez,20, and Andres Brea, 21, attended. These three suspects engaged in a verbal argument with the party’s hostess and were asked to leave.

The suspects complied and left the party, but upon reaching Brea’s car, Sanchez pulled out a revolver and began firing shots at the house, with the other two suspects’ encouragement, according to Jennifer Hickman, assistant district attorney.

The shots hit Castillo, who was leaning out a window at 28 Hillis Road, who was found by police “lying on the ground in a pool of blood,” according to Hickman.

“It wasn’t supposed to end with the death of a young woman,” a Suffolk County prosecutor told the Superior Court this morning about the party.

An off duty police officer witnessed the incident from his nearby home and reported it to the District E-18 police station.

He recalled that “the shooter – Mr. Sanchez – get into that vehicle, observed the vehicle drive a short distance, make a U-turn, and stop in front of 28 Hillis Road for one final round let off from the front seat passenger,” according to prosecutors.

The officer did not see Castillo get shot.

Police were able to get accounts from witnesses at the party, which led to the arrests of the three suspects.

Officers found a revolver in the trunk of Brea’s car, and Sanchez tested positive for gunshot residue.

Sanchez is charged with second-degree murder, Vasquez is charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon and Brea is charged with being an accessory after the fact to assault by means of a dangerous weapon.

All three defendants are also being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm

A Roxbury gang member confessed his involvement in the 2007 shooting death of thirteen-year-old Luis Gerena, Jr., according to District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Darrell Rodrigues, 20, pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault and battery on a witness in the case and intimidation of a witness.

Although he did not pull the trigger, Superior Court Judge Judith Fabricant sentenced Rodrigues to serve 14-15 years in state prison with a subsequent five years of probation.

“It was very painful,” Wendy Jiminian, Gerena’s mother, said. “He didn’t deserve to die. I miss him so much. Words cannot express how I feel…. At least I can go home and tell my other kids justice was served.”

Jiminian delivered both oral and written statements in court today, in which she described the emotional hardships her family faced in the wake of Gerena’s death.

“The hardest thing I had to do was tell my other children that their brother was gone and not coming back,” Jiminian wrote.

Luis Gerena, Sr., the boy’s father, also provided a written statement to the court.

Rodrigues and Nurudeen Alabi, who allegedly fired the shot that killed Gerena, were members of a gang associated with the Academy Homes housing development. The teens went to the Heath Street development with intentions of robbing and shooting a rival gang member on January 12, 2007, and instead killed Gerena, who had no gang affiliations.

Alabi will be tried separately at a later date.

New Hampshire State Police are investigating a domestic shooting that took place in the town of Wentworth on Wednesday morning.

At 8:15 a.m., police were called to Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, N.H. where a woman was in the emergency room being treated for a gunshot wound. The preliminary investigation showed that the woman was shot during a domestic disturbance earlier in the morning on Cape Moonshine Road in Wentworth. During the fight, the victim was shot once and seriously injured.

Henry Miller, 36, of Wentworth, who police said was known to the victim, was arrested and charged with assault. He will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Plymouth District Court, and police are considering additional charges.

Police released no additional information on the victim or the relationship between the victim and Miller.

A 20-year-old Somerville man was arrested by a SWAT team early Monday morning after he allegedly shot at two Somerville Housing Authority police officers.

Luis Angel Lopez was arrested after police surrounded his home at 37 Jacques St., said Somerville Deputy Police Chief Paul Upton.

Around 10:30 p.m., Upton said the Housing Authority officers were on patrol on Temple Street near the Mystic Housing Development when they heard two gunshots and saw a group of men running. The officers gave chase in a vehicle. As one officer got out of the unmarked cruiser, Lopez allegedly turned and fired a single shot, striking the driver’s side door.

The officer was not injured.

Neighboring homes were evacuated as a precaution.

Lopez was found hiding in a first floor bedroom and was taken into custody without further incident around 1:30 a.m. He will be arraigned in Somerville District Court Monday morning.

State and local police are investigating the death of a New Bedford man, shot early Saturday morning.

Ricardo Encarnacion, 28, was shot and killed around 4:30 a.m. this morning outside of a home at 325 North Front St., said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol District Attorney’s office.

Encarnacion, who was found outside, was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, where he was pronounced dead.

If anyone has any information regarding the homicide, they are urged to contact New Bedford Police at 508-991-6330 or the district attorney’s office at 508-997-0711.

Providence police are investigating the aftermath of a violent weekend in Rhode Island’s capital that left three people shot and one stabbed.

One was killed, but it represents a spike in violence in a city that has seen a decline in violent crime in recent years.

Police responded to shootings on DeSoto Street, Wadsworth Street, and Houston Street on Saturday night. A 19-year-old man named Stefano Castor was shot in the shoulder and brought to the hospital, according to the Providence Journal. In the second incident, 26-year-old Sokhorn Yem was hit in the thigh, the paper reported.

No victim was found when shots were reported on Houston Street, but 21-year-old Jose Rodriguez later showed up later at a local hospital with a leg wound.

The last victim was jumped and stabbed early on Sunday.

WPRI-TV also reported that a woman was robbed at gunpoint outside of H&M Discount Mart Store on Broad Street on Thursday night.

Boston police have arrested a Dorchester man in New Hampshire and charged him in connection with the brutal quadruple fatal shooting in Mattapan, according to The Boston Globe.

Kimani Washington, 35, had not been charged with murder but has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and receiving a stolen motor vehicle. Additional charges may be pending. He was found in a Manchester apartment complex.

Authorities also formally confirmed the names of the victims, who were gunned down around 1:15 a.m. on Tuesday

Authorities also confirmed the identities of the deceased, all of whom suffered fatal gunshot wounds on Woolson Street in Mattapan shortly before 1:15 a.m. on Sept. 28. They are:

• Eyanna Louise Flonory, 21, of Dorchester
• Her 2-year-old son, Amanihotep Smith
• Simba Martin, 21, of Dorcheste
• Lavaughan Washum-Garrison, 22, of Roslindale

The fifth man, age 32 and from Dorchester, was seriously injured and remains hospitalized. His name has not been released.

State and local police are investigating a fatal shooting Wednesday night in Revere.

Police responded shortly after 7 p.m. The victim, identified only as a man in his 20s, was killed on Reservoir Avenue. His name was withheld pending notification of family, said Jake Wark, a spokesman the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

No arrests have been made. Authorities did not release any details on a possible motive or suspect.

In Boston’s worst multiple-murder in at least half a decade, four people, including a 2 or 3-year-old toddler, were gunned down on Woolson Street in Mattapan early Tuesday morning.

The shooting follows a continuing trend of innocent children being gunned down on the streets.

“We know who you are. Cowards kill. Cowards use guns to settle their scores. Cowards hide. Mattapan is strong and will not let them hide,” an angry Mayor Thomas M. Menino said Tuesday.

The other victims were adults. A fifth victim, another adult, was on life support and is not expected to survive.

“I think we share the same horror, the same outrage, and the same unwavering commitment to see justice done,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. “There can be no justification for what happened at Woolson Street. There can be no excuse for aiding the person or persons who murdered a helpless child.”

Officials promised to bring every asset to bear on the Mattapan neighborhood to find those responsible for the worst shooting since four men were killed in the basement of a home on Bourneside Street in Dorchester in December 2005.

“We will not rest until the facts are known,” Conley said.

Police did not speak to any possible motive for the killings.

“In our experience, though, violence of this magnitude is not committed randomly,” Conley said. “There is usually some connection between the victims and the killers. For this reason, we believe that there may be people out there with helpful information and, again, we urge them to come forward. The call is free and you may remain anonymous. In light of these horrible facts, silence is not a moral option."

The Boston Globe reported on Saturday that Boston has seen a 32 percent increase in homicides this year compared to this time last year.

Officials urged neighbors to call police with any information and not to seek vengeance directly.

"Now is not the time for vengeance or retaliation. Investigators are proceeding carefully and deliberately as they gather evidence, not only to identify the killer or killers but also to ensure that everything they gather will support a conviction down the road,” Conley said. “That’s where accountability lies — not in the street with vengeance and retaliation. We’re imploring the public to join us and share whatever they might know, whatever they might have seen or heard, with investigators.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Boston Police CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS, text the word "TIP" to CRIME (27463), or contact the Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470. You may remain anonymous.

Two men have been arrested in Worcester in connection with an August 24 fatal shooting.

William Madison, 23, and Cassie Ago, 24, were issued after a Worcester County grand jury indicted them for accessory before the fact to commit armed robbery and murder, police said in a statement.

The arrests are part of the investigation into the death of 21-year-old Michelle Diaz, who was gunned down as she sat in her car on Fairfax road. Diaz died several days after the shooting, police said.

Worcester police detectives are still looking for other suspects, including the actual shooter.

It will be at least 15 years in state prison for a Lynn man found guilty of opening fire on a family on Thanksgiving 2008, wounding four people and leaving one with permanent brain damage, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said Tuesday.

Ramon Altargracia, 31, aka Holvin Cruz, was convicted Monday of three charges of armed assault with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and several gun offenses.

Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent had recommended terms of 15 to 18 years in state prison on the lead charges plus an additional five to seven years for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Raymond Brassard sentenced Altagracia to those terms but ordered them to run concurrent with one another rather than consecutively.

"Without any warning at all, this man shot his victims again and again and again," Conley said. "It wasn’t in the heat of passion or during sudden combat. It was an ambush and nothing less."

Broadbent was able to show at trial that Altagracia got into an argument with some of the victims at the Cosmopolitan Lounge in East Boston on November 3, 2008. The words escalated to a bar fight, but no one was injured and the cops weren’t called.

The father of the victims later contacted Altagracia and apologized for the group’s behavior that night.

Three weeks later, the family members encountered Altagracia again, at another nightclub. There was no fight, and the father shook hands with him/

But on November 27, a group of eight men and women were walking to their car on Bremen Street, when Altagracia opened fire with a 9mm handgun. A woman and her brother suffered superficial injuries, but another brother, 20, was shot in the chest and arm and a 35-year-old cousin was shot in the face.

The latter victim lost an eye and suffered permanent brain damage as a result of his injuries.

ATLANTA – Six officers were charged Tuesday in connection with shootings that occured just days after Hurricane Katrina touched down in New Orleans in 2005, the Department of Justice reports.

The infamous Danziger bridge case — which resulted in the deaths of two civilians and the wounding of four others — reached a milestone Tuesday, as Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso were charged in connection with the shootings. The four cops and their supervisors, Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue, were also charged with attempting to obstruct justice, a charge that stems from their efforts to cover up the incident.

The court ruled that the four cops open fired on a family on the Danizger bridge, killing a 17-year-old and wounding four others, including another 17-year-old. Minutes later, the cops shot two brothers, killing one, a 40-year-old man with severe mental disabilities, the DOJ reports.

The two supervisors, Kaufman and Dugue, are charged, along with the four cops, with using a cover up in an attempt to make the shootings seem warranted.

The DOJ reports says Kaufman brought a gun from his home, but later told investigators he found it on the bridge. The six men also allegedly met in an abandoned building to corroborate stories before meeting with investigators.

The four officers, Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso, face life in prison or the death penalty. Kaufman faces 120 years, while Dugue faces a maximum of 70 years in prison.

This is a special report from Blast West with Bradley Ouellette on the ground in Washington.

SEATTLE — The gunman burst in with murder on his mind early this morning. Four police officers sat in a coffee shop just outside Parkland, a Tacoma suburb 40 miles south of Seattle. They were working on their laptops, preparing to start their shifts — three men and a woman — when the shots rang out. It was an ambush. None survived.

The officers, representing five of 100 members of the Parkland Police Department, were gunned down at around 8:15 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar identified the four slain police officers notifying their families. "All four of our slain officers had been with this department since it started five years ago,” Farrar said.

The four slain are:

• Sergeant Mark Renninger, 39. He had 13 years of law enforcement experience and leaves a wife and three children.
• Officer Ronald Owens, 37. He had 12 years of law enforcement experience and leaves a former wife and a daughter.
• Officer Tina Griswold, 40. She had 14 years of law enforcement experience. She leaves her husband and two children.
• Officer Greg Richards, 42. He had eight years of law enforcement experience and leaves his wife and three children.

Police are searching for a man named Maurice Clemmons and have tagged him as a person of interest in connection with the horrific shooting.

Clemmons, according to the Seattle Times, has a long criminal history and was pardoned in Arkansas by then-Governor Mike Huckabee nine years ago. The Times reports Clemmons’ record includes five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington.

Sherri Badger, Public Information Manger for Washington’s Pierce County Emergency Management department told Blast that witnesses described the shooter as black, between 5’8″ and 5’10″ wearing a black coat and blue jeans with a “scruffy face.”

Parkland, a newly incorporated city only 14 years old, is left trying to make sense out of a national tragedy.

“Shock. Shock and sadness,” said Hunter George, a spokesman for Pierce County, Washington, in an interview with Blast. “The fact that someone would gun down four police officers in cold blood is almost too much to imagine”

Parkland Police Officer Ed Troyer said officers frequent the Forza Coffee Shop because of its central location in the city. The shop, The Associated Press reported, is owned by a retired cop.

One of the slain officers may have gotten a shot off, Troyer said, but none of them were prepared for what happened. “This was more of an execution,” Troyer said. “The officers were sitting there with a computer going over their paperwork, which is also a normal activity on a Sunday morning before their shift starts.”

Troyer believes the officers were targeted. Investigators do not believe the gunman came into the shop to rob it but instead to kill police officers.

The pacific northwest has seen an unusual string of these kinds of brazen shootings in the past two years. Six people were shot at a gas station last year.

On Halloween, Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed while sitting in a cruiser with a rookie cop. The trainee, Britt Sweeney was grazed in the neck. Christopher Monfort, 41, who also allegedly firebombed four police cars in October, was arrested for the shooting after he was injured in a shootout with police in early November. He’s still in an area hospital.

Authorities do not believe the shootings are connected.

Troyer said that the department has had tremendous support from other police departments. Nearby McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma even offered assistance.

The shooting does not appear to be gang related. “For a gang member it would be way out of the box,” he said, “and they don’t like the attention.”

George said authorities are doing their best to reassure this city’s 24,000 residents that they’re safe. “We’re trying to reassure everyone,” George said. “There’s a massive manhunt going on.”

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said she was “shocked and horrified” upon hearing about the shooting.

“Our police put their lives on the line every day, and tragedies like this remind us of the risks they continually take to keep our communities safe,” Gregoire said in a statement. “My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of these officers, as well as the entire law enforcement community.”

In a joint statement released to Blast, Parkland Mayor Douglas Richardson and City Manager Andrew Neiditz said the shooting was the “most tragic event in Lakewood’s 14 years as a city.”

“We lost four of our finest in a shocking, heartbreaking, and senseless murder,” the officials said. “Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with the families and colleagues of these innocent victims during this extraordinarily difficult time.”

The slain officers were all part of Lakewood’s original police department, which was created just five years ago. All transferred to Lakewood as commissioned law enforcement officers from other communities. The department is currently seeking accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, and a team from the commission is due in the city next Saturday to review the new department for the prized accredited status.

“Once we have fully notified extended family members, we will release the identities of the slain officers,” the mayor and town manager said.

Those with information on the crime should call 866-977-2362.

An 88-year-old white supremacist shot and killed African-American security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Wednesday, just before being shot by return fire from two other guards.

Law enforcement sources, who initially refused to name the shooter yesterday, identified the man as James W. von Brunn, an elderly Maryland man with a long history of white supremacist ties. He is still at hospital in “critical condition.”

Von Brunn is, according to a website he maintains called “The Holy Western Empire,” a World War II veteran who served with the U.S. Navy. He’s billed his website as “a new, hard-hitting expose of the Jew conspiracy to destroy the white gene pool.”

Von Brunn has a daunting criminal record. In 1981, armed with two guns, a knife and a mock bomb, he entered the Federal Reserve’s Washington headquarters in an attempt to kidnap officials. He was subsequently arrested on attempted kidnapping, assault, second-degree burglary and weapons charges.

Von Brunn said he tried to commit the crime because he was upset with high interest rates and the state of the economy, which was at that time in a recession. He blamed the Jews for the issue.

After a trial von Brunn was sentenced to six years in prison, a sentence he blamed on a “Negro jury” and a “Jew judge.”

He is also a known Holocaust denier. Von Brunn committed Wednesday’s shooting on the day the museum was set to stage a play about Anne Frank, just two days before what would have been her 80th birthday. He’s said he thinks “The Diary of Anne Frank” was a hoax.

He now faces first-degree murder charges and, if convicted, could face the death penalty.

“There was blood everywhere”

On Wednesday, the shooter, armed with a rifle, walked into the museum around 12:50 p.m. and shot a guard near the security checkpoints and metal detectors.

CNN reports the guard opened the door for the 88-year-old, after which von Brunn pulled out his rifle and shot Officer Johns.

Police Sgt. David Schlosser told reporters two other guards acted quickly and open fired on the assailant, striking him with a bullet.

The Washington Post reports a third person sustained minor injuries in the event.

A young woman interviewed by CNN said she heard five shots and saw the guard lying face down on the ground bleeding. She told the reporter that guards demanded the gunman “drop the weapon.” When he didn’t respond, the two guards began shooting.

“There was blood everywhere,” she said.

Another witness told the Post that he was in line for tickets with his wife and two grandchildren when the shots were fired. He then heard someone yell “hit the deck!” and his family immediately ducked for cover.

They were then evacuated along with a “couple thousand” others, including students on a school trip. All the students are reportedly unharmed.

Surprise attack

Joseph Persichini, assistant director of the Bureau’s Washington field office, said the FBI had no prior knowledge of the attack.

“Preliminary indication is that this incident involved a lone suspect. At this time, we have no additional intelligence information to indicate threats to area landmarks but will monitor the situation closely,” he added.

The Post reports bomb sniffing dogs were deployed to some of the more than 100 locations listed in a notebook found in the gunman’s car.

However, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said the attack was an “isolated incident.”

The Israeli embassy issued a statement expressing their sadness over the attack.

President Obama has also expressed grief. “This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms,” he said.

In a statement posted on its website, the Holocaust Museum said Officer Johns “died heroically in the line of duty.” The museum will close Thursday to honor Officer Johns.

Professor says she’s not surprised by shooting

Maki Haberfield, a Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni and professor of criminal justice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, says she isn’t surprised this event took place in the nation’s capital.

“If one looks at the proliferation of the right wing militias in this country and their mantras that they, quite openly, place on the web, it is not surprising that we just witnessed this event,” she said Wednesday just hours after the shooting.

Haberfield believes websites that openly display anti-American and racially charged hate should be moderated.

“It should be prevented. There is a freedom of speech but not a freedom of hate speech that incites violent acts. Hate speech is and should be an exception to the freedom of speech,” she said.

She also suggested the U.S. government dedicate more resources to battling homegrown terrorism and train local law enforcement to deal with immediate threats that federal officials wouldn’t be able to handle in a timely manner.

“Local law enforcement is better positioned to identify the homegrown threat,” she said. “[The U.S. should] allocate funds for local law enforcement to have more training and awareness towards home grown groups…[and] start looking at the various modalities of the white neo-Nazis.”

In the past some have argued that security guards at museums should not carry guns since they protect what is, essentially, an educational facility. Haberfield however thinks in places of high sensitivity, like the Holocaust Museum, guards should carry weapons to protect what, for many neo-Nazis, is a symbolic target.

Haberfield also evaluated the emotions of the two guards who shot von Brunn. She praised their quick thinking and good judgement.

“Fear, fear and more fear. People assume that armed individuals, be it police officers or private security, experience high pressured situations in a different way than an average person – it is not true, they are just better equipped to respond in a desired manner but the emotions are the same,” she added.

BOSTON — Norfolk County District Attorney WIlliam R. Keating’s office has ruled that the March 28 fatal police shooting of Kerby Revelus as he murdered two and wounded another of his sisters was justified.

“The evidence clearly indicates that the actions of Milton Police that day spared the life of this young girl from the brother who had already succeeded in killing two of his sisters,” Keating said. “These actions were not only necessary and justified, but heroic and demonstrative of a high level of professionalism, integrity and bravery.”

Keating’s office reviewed evidence from the state and local police and the state Chief Medical Examiner’s office. Investigators also interviewed 9-year-old Saraphina Revelus, who survived the attack.

The following is an excerpt from the Massachusetts State Police investigation:

“From the initial 911 call made to Milton Police, until “¦ [the] reports, “Ëœshots fired suspect down’ a total time of approximately five minutes and fifty-two seconds had elapsed. In that span of time, Milton Police responded to the scene, gained entrance into the apartment, faced the above described situation, found the suspect in the bedroom, forced the bedroom door open and made several attempts, by shouting commands for him to give himself up, that can be clearly heard on the 911 tape, which he did not comply with. It was only when he lunged in a threatening manner towards the screaming nine-year-old child, cowering in a bedroom corner that officers were forced to use deadly force. It is reasonable to infer that had the Police Officers not acted in that manner, using deadly force, [the nine-year-old], who had already been stabbed approximately ten times and bleeding profusely, would have suffered additional grievous bodily injury or death at the hands of the suspect, Kerby Revelus.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Samuel Hicks, assigned to the Pittsburgh FBI Office, was shot and killed Wednesday while serving a federal search warrant on a suspected drug distribution ring.

One suspect is in custody, the FBI said in a statement.

Hicks, 33, joined the FBI in March 2007. The University of Pittsburgh graduate formally served as a Baltimore police officer. He leaves wife and three-year-old son.

“This is a real tragedy with the loss of such a talented agent who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country when putting on a badge and accepting the responsibility for protecting our nation,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Rodriguez. “The FBI family mourns alongside Agent Hicks’ family. We ask that the media and the public respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller echoed.

“The loss of Sam Hicks is a tragedy,” said Mueller. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Sam’s family and the members of the Pittsburgh Field Office.”

PITTSBURGH — The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and local police were executing a federal search warrant this morning when an FBI agent was shot at the scene.

“We are in the process of notifying the agent’s family and will provide more details later today,” the FBI said in a statement.

The FBI specifically points out that early media reports that this incident was associated with a home invasion are actually false.

Julio Rodriguez, a barber from Lawrence, Mass., pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter after an October 2004 he killed a man and wounded two others over a Yankees-Red Sox playoff game

The Associated Press reports that Rodriguez, 62, was sentenced to five years in prison and credited for the four he has already served since he was arrested in 2004.

Prosecutors say Rodriguez, a Yankees fan, was watching a playoff game on television in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-4 and the group started teasing the New York fan. He then pulled out a gun and shot three of them, killing one.

The outburst was apparently alcohol-fueled, and Rodriguez says he has no memory of the incident.

The body Chicago police found dead inside an SUV this morning was confirmed as Jennifer Hudson’s nephew who has been missing since Friday, a top FBI official said.

Seven-year-old Julian King was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head inside a white Chevrolet Suburban on the city’s West Side, CBS2 Chicago is reporting.

The white Chevrolet Suburban was taken away by investigators, and a medical examiner identified the body inside as King this afternoon.

Over the weekend, Hudson offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of her nephew.

“Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely,” Hudson said in a posting on her MySpace page Sunday. “If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately.”

Hudson also posted two pictures of her nephew wearing the brown-and-orange striped polo shirt he was wearing when he was last seen, CNN reported.

William Balfour, Hudson’s sister’s estranged husband and father of King, was arrested Friday as the main suspect in the deaths. Balfour’s mother claims Balfour is innocent of his son’s death, CNN reported.

An Amber Alert was issued Friday naming Balfour as a suspect in the double homicide. He has not been charged yet, law enforcement sources told the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

A family member found the bodies at the Donerson’s home Friday afternoon. Donerson was found shot in the living room while Jason Hudson was found in the bedroom, police said.

Authorities described the shooting as domestic violence and said at least one of the victims suffered defensive wounds, Yahoo! News reported.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office has said autopsies for Donerson and Jason Hudson were pending as of Saturday.

Records from the Illinois Department of Corrections show Balfour, 27, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle, Yahoo! News reported. Public records show one of Balfour’s addresses as the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were shot.

Jennifer Hudson won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in “Dreamgirls” and her self-titled debut album is a top seller. She was featured in this year’s “Sex and the City” movie and is also starring in “The Secret Life of Bees” which is in theaters now.

In an interview last year with Vogue, Hudson credited her mother with encouraging her to audition for “American Idol” which launched her career.

Lane Bryant announced Wednesday the establishment of The Lane Bryant Tinley Park Memorial Fund in honor of the lives of the five women who were shot and killed February 2 in one of their stores in Tinley Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb.

The five women, Jennifer L. Bishop of South Bend, Ind., Carrie A. Chiuso of Frankfort, Ill., Rhoda McFarland, the store manager, of Joliet, Ill., Sarah T. Szafranski of Oak Forest, Ill., and Connie R. Woolfolk of Flossmoor, Ill., were killed during an apparent robbery of the store.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of these vibrant women,” said Tim Crane, President, Harris Community Bank, which is administering the fund. “All of us at Harris were shocked by the tragedy and we are honored to join with Lane Bryant and the community to remember their lives.”

All funds will be distributed evening to the victims’ families.

Send donations to:

The Lane Bryant Tinley Park Memorial Fund
Harris Bank
19500 S. Harlem Avenue
Frankfort, IL 60423
ATTN: Sandy Kozin

The suspect has not been found. In addition to the memorial fund, Lane Bryant and its parent company, Charming Shoppes Inc., is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tinley Park Police Department at 708-444-5394, or the Cook County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-7867.