Man With High-powered Rifle Shoots Two Students – Colorado

It’s difficult to say how badly this could have turned out had it not been for a courageous 7th grade math teacher, Dr. David Benke and several others. Two students were shot at a middle school on Tuesday afternoon before teachers tackled a man with a high-powered rifle outside of the school. Authorities say the man is in custody. They have not established any motive and according to reports, the suspect does not have any ties to the school.

Jacki Kelley, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, says one victim was found inside at Deer Creek Middle School and the other was found outside the school. Both are expected to survive.

Deer Creek is on West Columbine Drive near South Garrison Street

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Reese Ferrin, a Deer Creek student, says he was standing next to Dr. David Benke, a seventh grade math teacher, when the shootings began.

“I was by the crosswalk and the gunman came around the corner and Dr. Benke ran and tackled him,” Reese said.

Reese says Benke tackled the gunman first and other teachers piled on top of him.

Benke’s husband, Sandra Benke, told 9NEWS he called her just after the shooting.

“He wanted me to know, first of all that he was OK. That there’d been a shooting at the school and that he’d had to tackle the gunman and before he was able to get the gunman down he got a shot off and shot one of the students,” she said.

via read Full Article – 2 students injured in Deer Creek Middle School shooting.

Sniper Fires At Vehicles on Idaho Highway

UPDATE: Two teen boys were arrested Friday on suspicion of shooting at passing cars on a rural Latah County highway.

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Latah County Sheriff’s Office is investigating several shots fired at vehicles on a rural highway. It happened on Highway 8 between Deary and Bovill, east of Moscow.

Authorities say it started just before 1 p.m.

An active shooter used a firearm to hit up to 20 vehicles over a three and a half hour period. At least 8 of the vehicles were semis.

No one was hurt.

The highway is back open.

Investigators are still searching for the shooter.

via Sniper fires at vehicles on Idaho highway | NorthWest Cable News | Idaho News.

Appomattox – Lone Gunman Kills 8, Believed Surrounded

A lone gunman said to have killed eight people in the US has been surrounded by more than 100 police in woods where they believe he is hiding.

The gunman also fired at a sheriff’s deputy and a state police helicopter, which had to land with a ruptured fuel tank after one or more rounds struck it, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said. No police were injured.

“We believe we have the male suspect confined in a wooded area,” Ms Geller said.

A law enforcement official who did not want to be named said eight people had been killed in the rampage.

The violence began shortly after noon on Tuesday in Appomattox, when an injured man was found on a rural stretch of road. A deputy who went to investigate fled after he heard gunshots, Ms Geller said.

“When the deputy arrived on the scene, that's when he heard several shots,” state police sergeant Thomas Molnar said.

He said there were “several fatalities and one injury”. Police were st

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High Senior Arrested; School Bomb Threat Alleged

Sign On Diego reports that a senior at Ramona High School who told friends and others that he was going to blow up the school with homemade bombs made of C-4 explosive and hand grenades was arrested early Sunday.

Korey Flad, 19, faces charges that include threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, threatening a school and making criminal threats, the department said.

Ramona sheriff’s Detective Mike McNeill said no explosives or grenades were found at Flad’s home.

It was all talk, McNeill said. As far as investigators can tell, he did not have any access to C-4 or grenades. “He was remorseful, cooperative, forthcoming, honest and compliant,” McNeill said.

Flad does not have any history of trouble with authorities, McNeill said, adding that he comes from “a regular middle-class home. There were no family problems.”

via Ramona High senior arrested; school threat alleged – SignOnSanDiego.com.

Backpack With 7 Pipe Bombs Leads To Evacuations

Santee California - A man who found seven pipe bombs in a backpack turned them in to the Sheriff’s Department substation Monday afternoon, prompting authorities to evacuate nearby businesses as they neutralized the explosive devices.

The man entered the station on Cuyamaca Street, near Buena Vista Avenue, around 2:15 p.m. and left the backpack in the lobby, Lt. Mike Munsey said. The man said he found the bag with the bombs the night before and one of them was leaking.

The sheriff’s bomb-arson unit inspected the backpack and neutralized each bomb individually, Munsey said.

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Explosive Device Goes Off In California Prison

An improvised explosive device went off inside a federal prison in California during a search Saturday, according to federal authorities.

No one was injured, the authorities told CNN.

The incident happened in the recreation area of the Victorville Federal Penitentiary. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Traci Billingsley said the device was found by a staff member during a “routine search of inmate property”. She said it “detonated upon discovery.”

A bomb squad from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and FBI bomb technicians were called to the prison to examine the device and make sure it didn’t pose any further danger. They remained inside the prison as of 9:30 p.m.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said an investigation was under way. She said the incident is not terrorism-related.

Billingsley said the prison was locked down at the time the device was found. She could not say what prompted the lockdown, or if there was any connection to the search. No inmates were in the area when the explosion occurred.

“The prison remains secure,” she said.

She said she could not recall a previous incident where an improvised explosive device was found inside a prison.

via Explosive goes off in California prison – CNN.com.

$50,000 Reward For Info On John Amos Power Plant Bomb Threats

Officials with the John Amos Power Plant are offering a $50,000 reward for information about the people responsible for a string of bomb threats against the Putnam County plant.

John Amos has received five threats within the last four weeks, with the most recent on Monday, said Joe Haynes, the plant’s community-relations manager.

The plant also received threats on Oct. 23, 24, 28 and 30, he said.

“The Oct. 23 one was phoned in to one of the contractors,” Haynes said. “The others were written on the walls of bathroom facilities in graffiti. Once somebody sees it and reports it we have to take it seriously.”

This is not the first time the Appalachian Power plant, which is an operating unit of American Electric Power, has received bomb threats.

Employees were evacuated twice last summer after threats were found written on the walls in the plant’s bathroom, Haynes said.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the State Police and the FBI are involved in the investigation.

A bomb threat is defined as a “threat of terrorist acts,” which is a felony offense under state law and is also a federal offense. Under state law, a person found guilty can be fined from $5,000 to $25,000 and sentenced to one to three years in jail.

State Police swept the plant’s parking lots on Thursday, Haynes said, and a number of drug-related citations were issued. State Police would not comment Tuesday and directed media inquiries to the plant.

Haynes said police theorize that individuals are making the threats to avoid submitting to random drug testing. He said all plant employees and contractors are randomly tested.

There are about 3,000 contractors working at the plant to install a scrubber within the plant’s power-generating unit. There are also about 400 Amos, AEP and independent workers on site.

The threats were made by people “on the inside,” Haynes said.

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