South Carolina Serial Killer On The Loose

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Police released a sketch Friday of the serial killer on the loose who they believe murdered four people in six days in rural South Carolina.

The latest victim linked to the same killer is a man who was shot in his family’s small furniture and appliance store in Gaffney, S.C.

Stephen Tyler, 45, was found dead and his 15-year-old daughter seriously injured about 7 p.m. Thursday at Tyler Home Center.

Tyler’s wife, his older daughter and an employee found them, County Coroner Dennis Fowler said.

Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said the latest shooting death and those of three others since last Saturday — a peach farmer, an elderly woman and her daughter — are connected.

“We’re concerned,” Blanton told reporters Friday. “We’re dealing with a man that’s killed four people.”

The suspect is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds, with blue eyes. Blanton classified him as a serial killer.

Investigators don’t know exactly who he is or whether he is familiar with the area.

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Detonated Blasting Cap Found On Tracks Near Train Station

Wenham Mass. Kids looking for rocks along the train tracks yesterday made a puzzling discovery: a detonated blasting cap on the tracks near the commuter rail station.

The discovery temporarily shut down a section of the parking lot near the Shoppes at Hamilton Crossing and police made a passing train continue to the Ipswich station without stopping.

Police Sgt. Jeffrey Tobey said there was no evidence of any explosive material on the tracks or else they would have shut down the Newburyport line.

In fact, the detonated blasting cap wasn’t even on the tracks anymore.

Tobey said the two kids brought their discovery to the Hamilton police station down the road.

Hamilton police contacted MBTA police who are now working with the FBI on an investigation, Tobey said.

via Detonated blasting cap found on tracks near train station – SalemNews.com, Salem, MA.

Boeing To Staff Seattle FBI Fusion Center

To advance information sharing against terrorism, Boeing Co. expects to be among the first major corporations ? maybe the first ? to assign its own analyst to the Seattle FBI Fusion Center intelligence sharing office, according to a senior Boeing official.

The center is one of dozens around the country created by state and local governments to share anti-terrorism intelligence. Boeing wants to set an example of how private owners of critical infrastructure can get involved in such centers to generate and receive criminal and anti-terrorism intelligence, said Richard Hovel, Boeing senior advisor on aviation and homeland security.

“Hopefully, this will be the first of many similar efforts across the nation that will establish a collaborative partnership between the public sector and industry, and protect our critical infrastructure more effectively and expeditiously,” Hovel testified at a May 25 field hearing in Bellevue, Wash., sponsored by the House Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment.

Boeing and the fusion centers have similar goals, Hovel said. The private sector, which owns about 80 percent of critical infrastructure, needs to have real-time access to information from the fusion centers. At the same time, the fusion centers need access to “mature intelligence capabilities” in private companies, Hovel said.

via Boeing to staff FBI Fusion Center — Washington Technology.

After Minneapolis, FBI Eyes Atlanta’s Somalis

In this small town on the edge of Atlanta, the FBI and local law enforcement are looking out for an alarming kind of crime: radical Islamist terrorists potentially trying to recruit the town’s young Somali-Americans to fight a war in Africa.

There is terrorist recruitment taking place already in Minnesota, said Clarkston police chief Tony J. Scipio. That’s why his department and the FBI are looking for anything similar in the Somali-American community here in Clarkston.

In Minneapolis, as many as 20 young men have been reported missing from their homes since last fall. They are thought to have been lured into the ranks of al-Shabaab in Somalia. That group got a terrorist designation from the U.S. State Department, which ties it to al-Qaeda, bombings, assassinations and attacks on peacekeepers. A powerful faction fighting Somalia’s transitional government, al-Shabaab’s agenda is extremely strict Sharia law.

To fight potential recruiters, the Atlanta FBI has spent the last several months in what the agent-in-charge called an “outreach” program to Clarkston Somali-Americans, including mosque visits and community meetings.

Source

FBI Director Defends Use of Informants in Mosques

FBI Director Robert Mueller says his agency will continue to use informants inside American mosques, despite complaints from Muslim organizations.

Mueller told reporters Monday in Los Angeles that investigations in places of worship will be respectful of First Amendment rights, but will continue if warranted by evidence of possible wrongdoing.

A Muslim organization has asked the Justice Department to investigate complaints that the FBI is asking followers of the faith to spy on Islamic leaders.

Source

FBI Planning Bigger Role In Terrorism Fight

The FBI and Justice Department plan to significantly expand their role in global counter-terrorism operations, part of a U.S. policy shift that will replace a CIA-dominated system of clandestine detentions and interrogations with one built around transparent investigations and prosecutions.

Under the “global justice” initiative, which has been in the works for several months, FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. They will expand their questioning of suspects and evidence-gathering to try to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option, officials familiar with the effort said.

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Though the initiative is a work in progress, some senior counter-terrorism officials and administration policy-makers envision it as key to the national security strategy President Obama laid out last week — one that presumes most accused terrorists have the right to contest the charges against them in a “legitimate” setting.

The approach effectively reverses a mainstay of the Bush administration’s war on terrorism, in which global counter-terrorism was treated primarily as an intelligence and military problem, not a law enforcement one. That policy led to the establishment of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; harsh interrogations; and detentions without trials.

The “global justice” initiative starts out with the premise that virtually all suspects will end up in a U.S. or foreign court of law.

Source

US Marshall Service Struck By Computer Virus Attack

A computer virus attack has struck the computer system at the U.S. Marshal Service, affecting Marshals in Birmingham.

The virus has caused the Marshal Service to shut down parts of their system to keep it from spreading to other agencies.

That means Marshals in Birmingham can’t access the NCIC computer and they don’t have access to email.

A Marshals spokeswoman in Washington, D.C. says at no time was any data compromised.

The type of virus and its origin have not yet been determined.

Source

Johanna Justin-Jinich Murder Suspect In Custody

UPDATE: Suspect Is In Custody

The accused gunman in the deadly shooting of a Wesleyan University junior wrote “Kill Johanna. She must Die” and “I think it’s ok to kill Jews and go on a killing spree” in his journal and left it at the crime scene, according to an arrest warrant.

[...]

Morgan was arrested Thursday night after seeing his photo in a newspaper and asking a convenience store clerk to call police.

Officers found him standing outside the store, 10 miles from where a man wearing a wig opened fire on Justin-Jinich about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

[...]

Morgan wore a blue prison jumpsuit and handcuffs during his Friday morning arraignment in Middletown Superior Court. At times during the proceedings, he hung his head, frowned or nodded.

Morgan’s bond was increased from $10 million to $15 million. Another hearing to review the amount was scheduled for May 19.

Morgan’s journals contained threats against Jews and mentioned plans for a shooting spree at Wesleyan, police said.

It prompted fears that Morgan was bent on a repeat of the 2007 shootings at university Virginia Tech, in which a deranged student killed 32 people and himself.

Read Full Article
———————–

The massive manhunt for the man accused of killing a Wesleyan University junior is over.

Stephen Morgan, wanted by Middletown police in the shooting death Wednesday of 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich, was in a convenience store in Meriden when he apparently saw his photograph on the front page of a newspaper.

Morgan then told the store clerk to call 911, a law enforcement official said. Meriden police picked Morgan up and took him to police headquarters. He was then turned over to police from nearby Middletown.

Middletown police have been leading an intensive investigation into the Wednesday afternoon killing of Justin-Jinich, who was working in a cafe at a Middletown bookstore.

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Original Story

Authorities hunting for a gunman who killed a Wesleyan University student he knew said he’d threatened her before, and they warned Jews to be on alert because he is targeting them. The family of 29-year-old suspect Stephen Morgan urged him to turn himself in “to avoid any further bloodshed.” Morgan allegedly opened fire Wednesday on junior Johanna Justin-Jinich while she was working at a cafe bookstore. The pair had attended a program together at New York University when Morgan began sending Justin-Jinich harassing e-mails, according to a New York City police report.

Diana Morgan, Stephen Morgan’s youngest sister, read a prepared statement to reporters outside the family’s home in Marblehead, Mass., but did not take questions. “Turn yourself in right now to any law enforcement agency wherever you are to avoid any further bloodshed,” she read. The family says they are “shocked and sickened by the tragedy” in Middletown, Conn. They say they are cooperating with investigators but don’t know where Morgan is. Morgan allegedly wrote about targeting Wesleyan and its Jewish students in his journal, university student affairs vice president Mike Whaley told the Hartford Courant. Justin-Jinich, 21, was Jewish. “This was not a random act of violence,” Middletown, Conn., Police Chief Lynn Baldoni told reporters Thursday. “Evidence uncovered overnight suggests that Mr. Morgan may be focused on the Wesleyan campus as well as the Jewish community.”

Stolen Medical Records? Hacker’s Demand $10 Million

The FBI is investigating a $10 million ransom demand by a hacker or hackers who say they have stolen nearly 8.3 million patient records from a Virginia government Web site that tracks prescription drug abuse, an FBI official confirmed Wednesday.

The state police in Virginia are also investigating the possible breach of confidential records.

The FBI official said the Virginia Information Technologies Agency VITA referred the case to the FBI last week, asking for help.

Asked whether people’s personal information is secure, the official said he couldn’t say.

“I really can’t make a declarative statement as to whether anyone’s information is in jeopardy at this point,” the official said.

Asked whether people have been notified that their information may have been breached, the official said it would be up to VITA to do that.

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1,000 Pounds High-grade Nitrate Fertilizer Stolen – Alabama

Burglars targeted a Tuscumbia business early Thursday morning. What’s most alarming is what the thieves took from business. The stolen property is potential dangerous material.

Approximately 1,000 pounds of high-grade nitrate fertilizer was taken from Greens Keepers on Gann Boulevard in Tuscumbia. The company handles fertilization and weed control for residential and commercial lawns. The owner, John Wagner, says he’s been in business for twelve years and nothing like this has ever happened.

“It’s very unusual,” says Wagner. “It was a very big shock to walk in at 7:00 a.m. and see all this gone.”

Sometime early Thursday morning, burglars broke in the business. First, they tried to bust through this glass window in the front of the building. When that didn’t work, police say the crooks pried open the side door.

“It appears that 25 to 30 bags of high-grade nitrate fertilizer was taken off the premises,” explains Wagner.

The thieves stacked the bags of fertilizer onto one of the company trucks, attached a trailer to the back, and loaded a lawn mower on it. The crooks also rummaged through the office – grabbing two computers, an iPod, and a cordless phone.

The stolen property is valued at several thousand dollars. For Wagner, that’s not the most unsettling part.

“The cost of the fertilizer is not the issue, it’s the quantity and the potential for bad guys,” explains Wagner. “

Wagner worries that having the large amount of fertilizer in the wrong hands could lead to something very dangerous.

“It could potentially be made into a bomb,” says Wagner.

Tuscumbia police say as the burglars were driving off, the trailer, lawn mower, and some fertilizer fell off somewhere on King Street. Shortly after that, investigators say the burglars abandoned the truck on Sterling Boulevard.

The truck and trailer were returned to Greens Keepers. Police are still on the hunt for the fertilizer and the people responsible for taking it.

Right now, the Tuscumbia Police Department does not have any suspects and is asking for the public’s help to develop some leads. If you have any information about the crime or know where the fertilizer may be, call the Shoals Area CrimeStoppers at (256) 386 – 8685

Source

12 Santa Clarita Students Sickened By Tainted Water

Los Angeles County authorities Friday were investigating the contamination of bottled water which sickened 12 students at a junior high school on Thursday.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the agency’s Los Angeles office was dispatched to La Mesa Junior High School in Santa Clarita on Thursday.

Los Angeles County fire inspector Steve Zermeno said that at 12:45 p.m., school officials reported that 12 students were complaining of headaches, nausea and dizziness after consuming Aquafina water from a vending machine that appeared to contain a “bleach-like substance.”

The students were taken to a hospital and released.

Jeff Dahncke, spokesman for The Pepsi Bottling Group, which manufactures Aquafina, said there was no evidence that the contamination was caused by the company’s manufacturing process and the company believes it was an isolated incident.

“We have examined and tasted numerous bottles that were produced at the same time as those in this case and have found them to be free of any problems whatsoever,” a Pepsi statement said.

“The only products in question have been those that were previously opened, and we are working closely with local authorities to determine exactly what happened.”

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FBI’s Most Wanted Lists 1st Domestic Terror Suspect

The FBI on Tuesday will for the first time add the name of a domestic-terrorism suspect to its list of Most Wanted Terrorists, a post-Sept. 11 creation that until now has included only suspected Islamist terrorists, a law enforcement official told The Washington Times.

Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old animal rights activist, is wanted in connection with the 2003 bombings of two companies in the San Francisco Bay Area linked to an animal-testing laboratory.

San Diego will take his place on a list that has included notorious international terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri and Adam Gadahn, the American-born al Qaeda spokesman, said the law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt the official announcement.

The announcement is being made nearly a week after The Times reported on a Homeland Security Department assessment warning that war veterans could be susceptible to recruitment into “right-wing extremism.” The report unleashed a firestorm of controversy and led to an apology to veterans from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Authorities say San Diego planted bombs at the corporate offices of two biotechnology companies, Chiron Life Sciences Center in Emeryville, Calif., and Shaklee Corp. in Pleasanton, Calif.

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Somalis, FBI On Alert For Terrorist Recruiting

In a corner office of a strip mall here, Somali leaders are working on a mission that has its roots in a string of sudden disappearances more than 700 miles away.

While federal agents and Somali leaders in the Twin Cities struggle to find answers to whether up to 20 young men may have returned to Somalia to fight or receive terrorist training, leaders in Columbus are scrambling to prevent anything similar from happening here.

They are preaching against terror in the mosques, monitoring their sons after school and sharing information with the FBI.

“No one has disappeared,” said Ahmed Hosh, who works with Somali youths in Columbus. “But if those who did the recruiting were individuals talking to someone alone, the scary thing is it could happen here.”

via Source

Wanted: Computer Hackers … To Help Government

Federal authorities aren’t looking to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation’s networks.

General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could “think like the bad guy.” Applicants, it said, must understand hackers’ tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.

In the Pentagon’s budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will increase the number of cyberexperts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.

With warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyberattack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.

President Barack Obama appointed a former Bush administration aide, Melissa Hathaway, to head the effort, and her report was delivered Friday, the White House said.

While the country had detailed plans for floods, fires or errant planes drifting into protected airspace, there is no similar response etched out for a major computer attack.

David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month that the U.S. has no recovery plan for a digital disaster.

“We’re clearly not as prepared as we should be,” he said.

Administration officials says the U.S. has not kept pace with technological innovations needed to protect its computer networks against emerging threats from hackers, criminals or other nations looking for national security secrets.

U.S. computer networks, including those at the Pentagon and other federal agencies, are under persistent attack, ranging from nuisance hacking to more nefarious assaults, possibly from other nations, such as China. Industry leaders told Congress during a recent hearing that law enforcement and other protections are too outdated to fend off threats from criminals, terrorists and unfriendly foreign nations.

via 1010wins.com – Wanted: Computer Hackers … To Help Government.

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