Prosecutor gunned down outside Texas courthouse
By Michael Martinez and Rich Phillips
CNN
updated 3:59 PM EST, Thu January 31, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "We have officers going over all of this case," a sheriff's spokeswoman says
NEW: The FBI has joined the manhunt, the bureau says
Mark Hasse was an assistant district attorney in Kaufman County, east of Dallas
He was shot and killed while getting out of his car, spokeswoman says
(CNN) -- A manhunt is under way in Texas for whoever gunned down a prosecutor outside a county courthouse east of Dallas on Thursday morning, authorities said.
Mark Hasse, an assistant district attorney in Kaufman County, was fatally shot several times as he got out of his car in the courthouse parking lot, sheriff's spokeswoman Pat Laney told CNN.
Investigators are looking for an older-model, four-door sedan, either brown or silver, but it wasn't clear whether there were one or two suspects Thursday afternoon, Laney said.
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Thursday, January 31, 2013
Price Middle School Shooting
It will be interesting to read about what type of weapon he used. If it was not a high capacity assault weapon, then it will prove the point that people do stand a chance to stop a gunman with equal weapon.
UPDATE February 1, 2013
Price Middle School Shooting: Wounded Student Recovering After Fellow Teen Opened Fire
By KATE BRUMBACK
01/31/13
ATLANTA — A student opened fire at his middle school Thursday afternoon, wounding a 14-year-old in the neck before an armed officer working at the school was able to get the gun away, police said.
Multiple shots were fired in the courtyard of Price Middle School just south of downtown about 1:50 p.m. and the one boy was hit, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said. In the aftermath, a teacher received minor cuts, he said.
The wounded boy was taken "alert, conscious and breathing" to Grady Memorial Hospital, said police spokesman Carlos Campos. Grady Heath System Spokeswoman Denise Simpson said the teen had been discharged from the hospital Thursday night. Campos said charges against the shooter were pending.
Police swarmed the school of about 400 students after reports of the shooting while a crowd of anxious parents gathered in the streets, awaiting word on their children. Students were kept at the locked-down school for more than two hours before being dismissed.
UPDATE February 1, 2013
Price Middle School Shooting: Wounded Student Recovering After Fellow Teen Opened Fire
By KATE BRUMBACK
01/31/13
ATLANTA — A student opened fire at his middle school Thursday afternoon, wounding a 14-year-old in the neck before an armed officer working at the school was able to get the gun away, police said.
Multiple shots were fired in the courtyard of Price Middle School just south of downtown about 1:50 p.m. and the one boy was hit, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said. In the aftermath, a teacher received minor cuts, he said.
The wounded boy was taken "alert, conscious and breathing" to Grady Memorial Hospital, said police spokesman Carlos Campos. Grady Heath System Spokeswoman Denise Simpson said the teen had been discharged from the hospital Thursday night. Campos said charges against the shooter were pending.
Police swarmed the school of about 400 students after reports of the shooting while a crowd of anxious parents gathered in the streets, awaiting word on their children. Students were kept at the locked-down school for more than two hours before being dismissed.
"The obvious question is how did this get past a metal detector?" Davis asked about the gun. "That's something we do not know yet."Original report
The armed resource officer who took the gun away was off-duty and at the school, but police didn't release details on him or whether he is regularly at Price. Since 20 children and six adults were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December, calls for armed officers in every school have resonated across the country.
click links for the rest
Price Middle School Shooting: Multiple Injuries In Attack At Southeast Atlanta School
Huffington Post
Posted: 01/31/2013
Police responded to a shooting at Price Middle School in Atlanta early Thursday afternoon, WSBTV reports.
Authorities say that multiple people, including a 14-year-old boy, were wounded, according to Fox News.
Police said the teen was shot in the back of the neck and immediately transported to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, 11Alive reports. The boy was reportedly awake and responsive while being transported to the hospital, and the injuries are non-life threatening.
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Tony Perkins Blames Gays For High Military Suicide Rates
Wonder what he thought was the problem when Vietnam veterans came home and then committed suicide, but then again, what he "thinks" and what is real do not seem to matter to him. He doesn't seem to even try to acknowledge that suicides were high before the repeal.
If you want to read more of this you'll have to use the link since I cannot stomach posting any more of what he Perkins had to say.
If you want to read more of this you'll have to use the link since I cannot stomach posting any more of what he Perkins had to say.
Tony Perkins Blames Gays For High Military Suicide Rates
by DAVID BADASH
JANUARY 31, 2013
Tony Perkins says the military’s high suicide rate is a result of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which is “adding additional stress” by “driving Christianity out [and] putting homosexuality in.” Perkins is the head of the certified anti-gay Family Research Council.
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Special Ops to feel budget pain along with rest of military
Special ops to feel budget pain, leaders say
By Paul McLeary
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 29, 2013
The potential budget hit produced by sequestration and the possibility that Congress uses another continuing resolution to fund the Pentagon for the rest of 2013 may hit the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) hard, the command’s leadership told an industry conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
SOCOM commander Adm. William McRaven warned the audience at the National Defense Industrial Association Special Operations conference that if Congress passes another continuing resolution to fund the Pentagon through the remainder of 2013, his Special Operations Command would likely lose about $1 billion in funding.
The continuing resolution “puts a greater constraint on us than I think sequestration will,” McRaven said, adding that “we don’t know what sequestration is going to look like, but there is an expectation that it is clearly going to be an additional bill on top of that.”
Whatever the cut might be, however, he assured the crowd that his command’s first priority will always be to protect SOCOM’s ability to fight, saying, “we want to make sure first and foremost that we protect our war-fighting capability. And we will do that.”
read more here
Hagel: Sequester cuts would devastate military
By Marcus Weisgerber
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
Sounding much like the man he has been tapped replace, Chuck Hagel believes billions of dollars in defense spending cuts, know as sequestration, would devastate the U.S. military.
Hagel, the former Republican senator that President Barack Obama has nominee for defense secretary, expressed many of the same opinions on major budget and programmatic policies as current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a 112-page document submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The panel of senators will have a chance to question Hagel during a Jan. 31 confirmation hearing.
“[Sequestration] would harm military readiness and disrupt each and every investment program,” Hagel said. “Based on my assessment to date, I share [Panetta’s] concerns. I urge the Congress to eliminate the sequester threat permanently and pass a balanced deficit-reduction plan.”
Panetta has repeatedly said sequestration – about $500 billion in defense spending cuts over the next decade -- would cause significant damage to the military. The cuts are even more problematic, defense officials say, because Congress has not passed a 2013 defense appropriations bill, meaning the Pentagon is operating under a continuing resolution where spending is frozen at 2012 levels.
read more here
By Paul McLeary
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 29, 2013
The potential budget hit produced by sequestration and the possibility that Congress uses another continuing resolution to fund the Pentagon for the rest of 2013 may hit the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) hard, the command’s leadership told an industry conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
SOCOM commander Adm. William McRaven warned the audience at the National Defense Industrial Association Special Operations conference that if Congress passes another continuing resolution to fund the Pentagon through the remainder of 2013, his Special Operations Command would likely lose about $1 billion in funding.
The continuing resolution “puts a greater constraint on us than I think sequestration will,” McRaven said, adding that “we don’t know what sequestration is going to look like, but there is an expectation that it is clearly going to be an additional bill on top of that.”
Whatever the cut might be, however, he assured the crowd that his command’s first priority will always be to protect SOCOM’s ability to fight, saying, “we want to make sure first and foremost that we protect our war-fighting capability. And we will do that.”
read more here
Hagel: Sequester cuts would devastate military
By Marcus Weisgerber
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
Sounding much like the man he has been tapped replace, Chuck Hagel believes billions of dollars in defense spending cuts, know as sequestration, would devastate the U.S. military.
Hagel, the former Republican senator that President Barack Obama has nominee for defense secretary, expressed many of the same opinions on major budget and programmatic policies as current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a 112-page document submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The panel of senators will have a chance to question Hagel during a Jan. 31 confirmation hearing.
“[Sequestration] would harm military readiness and disrupt each and every investment program,” Hagel said. “Based on my assessment to date, I share [Panetta’s] concerns. I urge the Congress to eliminate the sequester threat permanently and pass a balanced deficit-reduction plan.”
Panetta has repeatedly said sequestration – about $500 billion in defense spending cuts over the next decade -- would cause significant damage to the military. The cuts are even more problematic, defense officials say, because Congress has not passed a 2013 defense appropriations bill, meaning the Pentagon is operating under a continuing resolution where spending is frozen at 2012 levels.
read more here
Missing Air Force Pilot's Family Confident of Safe Return
UPDATE
1 minute ago
Body of missing Aviano pilot found in Adriatic Sea
By MATT MILLHAM
Stars and Stripes
Published: January 31, 2013
The body of an Air Force F-16 pilot who went missing during a night training flight late Monday was found Thursday off the coast of Italy, his family announced in a statement.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that the body of Captain Lucas Gruenther was found in the Adriatic Sea this afternoon,” the statement said.
Gruenther and his F-16 Fighting Falcon went missing about 8 p.m. Monday roughly 150 miles south of Aviano Air Base, where his unit, the 31st Fighter Wing, is stationed.
A massive search effort ensued, including Italian coast guard and navy ships, fishing vessels and an assortment of planes, including other F-16s from the wing.
click link for more
Missing Pilot's Family Confident of Safe Return
Jan 31, 2013
The Modesto Bee
by Patty Guerra
TWAIN HARTE, Calif. -- The Air Force on Wednesday launched several F-16 fighters to help in the search for a pilot from Twain Harte whose plane disappeared over the Adriatic Sea near Italy on Monday. Family members expressed optimism that Capt. Lucas Gruenther will be found safely.
The fighter jets will help several other U.S. and Italian aircraft already involved in the search for Gruenther, chief of flight safety for the 31st Fighter Wing. Gruenther, who is stationed in Italy, was conducting a nighttime training sortie when the Air Force lost contact with his aircraft.
"If anyone could survive something like this, it would be Luc," Cassy Gruenther said of her husband in a news release provided by the military. She described her husband as a "self-reliant outdoorsmen who would sleep every night under the stars if he could" and said he's in excellent physical shape.
Search teams on Tuesday recovered debris believed to be from Gruenther's F-16 Fighting Falcon. On Wednesday, family members said searchers located Gruenther's drogue parachute and his helmet. "The drogue chute is a good sign," said Cassy, who will deliver the couple's first child, a girl to be named Serene, in a few weeks. "It means he ejected, and we've been told the helmet is in good condition."
read more here
PTSD Murder Trial Could Have National Repercussions
War Veteran with PTSD Murder Trial Could Have National Repercussions, Experts Say
Case of the shooting of Wauwatosa police officer Jennifer Sebena by her spouse, Benjamin Sebena is not cut and dried, say a criminologist who advises and teaches the FBI and former State Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske.
Fort Bragg Patch
By Jim Price
To the legal layperson, the case of the murder of Wauwatosa Police Officer Jennifer Sebena may appear to be open and shut.
Jennifer’s husband, Benjamin Sebena, admitted to investigators in statements that he had stalked her for days, had lain in wait for her on Christmas Eve morning, and shot her five times in the head.
The two guns presumed used to kill her – one of them her service weapon, the other a rare type that matches a shell casing found at the scene – were found hidden in the Sebenas’ basement ceiling.
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Case of the shooting of Wauwatosa police officer Jennifer Sebena by her spouse, Benjamin Sebena is not cut and dried, say a criminologist who advises and teaches the FBI and former State Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske.
Fort Bragg Patch
By Jim Price
To the legal layperson, the case of the murder of Wauwatosa Police Officer Jennifer Sebena may appear to be open and shut.
Jennifer’s husband, Benjamin Sebena, admitted to investigators in statements that he had stalked her for days, had lain in wait for her on Christmas Eve morning, and shot her five times in the head.
The two guns presumed used to kill her – one of them her service weapon, the other a rare type that matches a shell casing found at the scene – were found hidden in the Sebenas’ basement ceiling.
read more here
Reward grows for info in Fort Bragg soldier’s death
Reward grows for info in Bragg soldier’s death
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Officials at Fort Bragg are doubling the reward being offered for information in the case of a driver who struck and killed a soldier last year.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that the Army Criminal Investigation Command is offering a $10,000 reward for help in identifying the driver of a late model white Chevrolet Impala involved in the fatal hit-and-run. The original $5,000 reward was announced in December.
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The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Officials at Fort Bragg are doubling the reward being offered for information in the case of a driver who struck and killed a soldier last year.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that the Army Criminal Investigation Command is offering a $10,000 reward for help in identifying the driver of a late model white Chevrolet Impala involved in the fatal hit-and-run. The original $5,000 reward was announced in December.
read more here
Fort Wainwright soldier seriously injured after convoy hit
Soldier Badly Hurt After Truck Crashes Into Salcha Military Convoy
By Chris Klint and The Associated Press
Channel 2 News
1:46 p.m. AKST, January 30, 2013
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
A Fort Wainwright soldier was severely injured Tuesday afternoon after Alaska State Troopers say a pickup truck struck several vehicles from a military convoy, including his Humvee, in a parking lot off the Richardson Highway near Salcha.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesperson Lt. Col. Bill Coppernoll identifies the injured man as Spc. Zachary New, 20, a member of Fort Wainwright’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
An AST dispatch Wednesday says the troopers responded shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday to the crash, in the Midway Lodge's parking lot at Mile 315 of the Richardson. The incident began as vehicles in the convoy, followed by 20-year-old driver Forrest Hermanns of Tok, were pulling into the lot.
“(Hermanns) was driving a 3/4 ton GMC pickup with a large trailer loaded with logs for sale,” troopers wrote. “Hermanns struck a (U.S.) Army Humvee that was slowing and preparing to turn into the parking lot. (His) vehicle continued into the parking lot, striking a soldier exiting a parked Humvee and then two parked (Stryker) armored vehicles.”
read more here
By Chris Klint and The Associated Press
Channel 2 News
1:46 p.m. AKST, January 30, 2013
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
A Fort Wainwright soldier was severely injured Tuesday afternoon after Alaska State Troopers say a pickup truck struck several vehicles from a military convoy, including his Humvee, in a parking lot off the Richardson Highway near Salcha.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesperson Lt. Col. Bill Coppernoll identifies the injured man as Spc. Zachary New, 20, a member of Fort Wainwright’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
An AST dispatch Wednesday says the troopers responded shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday to the crash, in the Midway Lodge's parking lot at Mile 315 of the Richardson. The incident began as vehicles in the convoy, followed by 20-year-old driver Forrest Hermanns of Tok, were pulling into the lot.
“(Hermanns) was driving a 3/4 ton GMC pickup with a large trailer loaded with logs for sale,” troopers wrote. “Hermanns struck a (U.S.) Army Humvee that was slowing and preparing to turn into the parking lot. (His) vehicle continued into the parking lot, striking a soldier exiting a parked Humvee and then two parked (Stryker) armored vehicles.”
read more here
Teen who performed at Obama inaugural events shot dead in Chicago
Teen who performed at Obama inaugural events shot dead in Chicago
By Catherine E. Shoichet and Ted Rowlands
CNN
updated 7:24 AM EST, Thu January 31, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Chicago mayor: "We have a responsibility to see a stop to this"
Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was shot dead in Chicago on Tuesday
Last week she performed in events surrounding President Obama's inauguration
"Just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, she's gone," Sen. Dick Durbin says Can there be a solution to America's gun problems? Anderson Cooper looks at both sides of the debate in "Guns Under Fire: an AC360º Town Hall Special" Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.
Chicago (CNN) -- A teen who performed at events around President Barack Obama's inauguration was shot to death in Chicago this week, and now her story has become part of the debate in Washington over gun violence nationwide.
The shooting death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton came up in a U.S. Senate hearing and a White House press briefing Wednesday.
"She was an honor student and a majorette," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. Performing at inaugural events last week "was the highlight of her young, 15-year-old life," he said.
Speaking at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, Durbin mentioned Pendleton's death as he argued that more must be done to stop gun crimes.
read more here
By Catherine E. Shoichet and Ted Rowlands
CNN
updated 7:24 AM EST, Thu January 31, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Chicago mayor: "We have a responsibility to see a stop to this"
Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was shot dead in Chicago on Tuesday
Last week she performed in events surrounding President Obama's inauguration
"Just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, she's gone," Sen. Dick Durbin says Can there be a solution to America's gun problems? Anderson Cooper looks at both sides of the debate in "Guns Under Fire: an AC360º Town Hall Special" Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.
Chicago (CNN) -- A teen who performed at events around President Barack Obama's inauguration was shot to death in Chicago this week, and now her story has become part of the debate in Washington over gun violence nationwide.
The shooting death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton came up in a U.S. Senate hearing and a White House press briefing Wednesday.
"She was an honor student and a majorette," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. Performing at inaugural events last week "was the highlight of her young, 15-year-old life," he said.
Speaking at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, Durbin mentioned Pendleton's death as he argued that more must be done to stop gun crimes.
read more here
UK Afghanistan veteran talks about "shame" and PTSD
After all these years, far too many have gotten the wrong message about Combat and PTSD. It is not the weakness of their minds, but the strength of their feelings that cause PTSD. The stronger their ability to feel, the more they feel emotional pain.
Some people, (and we have to remember servicemen and women are still just as human as the rest of us,) have a sense of self more than for others. Some people have a stronger sense for others. Some have a blend. Everyone feels things at different levels. The vast majority of the veterans I talk to have been very caring in their lives and that was what caused them to want to join the military. Instead of seeing how unselfish they are, they end up thinking PTSD is a sign of weakness instead of strength.
If you need more evidence of this, stop and think of the majority of military suicides do not happen while they are deployed. They happen when they are back home and their friends are out of danger. If they manage to live through all of that comes with combat deployments but can't survive being back home, that says a lot about how mentally tough they really are as much as it says how much they need more help back home.
Some people, (and we have to remember servicemen and women are still just as human as the rest of us,) have a sense of self more than for others. Some people have a stronger sense for others. Some have a blend. Everyone feels things at different levels. The vast majority of the veterans I talk to have been very caring in their lives and that was what caused them to want to join the military. Instead of seeing how unselfish they are, they end up thinking PTSD is a sign of weakness instead of strength.
If you need more evidence of this, stop and think of the majority of military suicides do not happen while they are deployed. They happen when they are back home and their friends are out of danger. If they manage to live through all of that comes with combat deployments but can't survive being back home, that says a lot about how mentally tough they really are as much as it says how much they need more help back home.
Skelmersdale man Mark Minton urges veterans to confront post-traumatic-stress-disorder
Jan 31 2013
by Tom Duffy
Skelmersdale Advertiser
FORMER soldier Mark Minton hopes other veterans will speak out about their emotional problems after he told the Advertiser about the horrors of Helmand.
Last week the Digmoor man revealed that his life had fallen apart after he completed a five-month tour of duty with the Army in Afghanistan.
Now the dad-of-three hopes other soldiers will consider talking about their problems despite the stigma still surrounding post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD).
Mark said: “I had to reach rock bottom before I could move forward. You have to lose everything and then you seek help.”
Mark has now made contact with Combat Stress, which provides care to veterans struggling with mental health problems.
The charity, which was founded in 1919, currently supports around 5000 veterans including 284 who served in Afghanistan and 638 who fought in Iraq.
A spokesman for Combat Stress told the Advertiser that the majority of veterans are reluctant to talk about their mental health problems.
He said: “Over 81% of veterans who responded to our survey said they were ashamed or embarrassed about their mental health problems, and one in three veterans were reluctant to talk to their families about it.”
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