Police: Colorado shooting suspect takes own life (AP)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Police say they believe the suspect in a triple shooting has taken his own life following an hours-long standoff at a Colorado Springs apartment complex.

Police said in a release that 24-year-old shooting suspect Michael Arangio had barricaded himself Saturday inside a unit in The Resort at University Park complex.

Officers say they had attempted to talk Arangio into surrendering peacefully. They also tossed tear gas into the apartment, but he refused to leave.

A bomb squad robot sent into the unit after several hours discovered the man's body, and police say they believe he shot himself.

Arangio is suspected in a shooting that left three teens dead Wednesday night.

Police had received a tip from his parents that he was in the complex.

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Va. police: Family of 4, friend kidnapped, robbed (AP)

HERNDON, Va. – Police are investigating a report that a family of four and a friend were kidnapped from the family's suburban Washington, D.C. apartment, robbed and left in a remote area.

Fairfax County police said a masked man on Thursday night entered a Herndon apartment through an unlocked door, implied he had a gun, and ordered a woman, her teenage son and a toddler into a back room. Police say the man tied up the teen, and then cut the family friend with a sharp object after he entered and didn't immediately comply with an order to get on the ground.

When the father entered, he too was assaulted, police said in a news release.

Authorities said the man then ordered everyone into the family sedan and demanded they drive to an ATM machine where he withdrew money. He ordered the father into the trunk and made the family friend drive to a secluded business park where all but the father were freed. Family members ran away and flagged down a passer-by who called police, and the father escaped from the trunk when he realized the man had fled.

"The family was terrified, and this appears to be random," Fairfax County police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell told The Washington Post.

Police believe robbery was the motive and are searching for the suspect.

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UK lawmaker asks police to investigate Murdoch (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – News Corp executive James Murdoch could face a police investigation into claims he gave "mistaken" testimony to Britain's parliament this week, deepening the legal crisis that has engulfed the Murdoch family's media empire.

Prime Minister David Cameron, criticized for his close ties to senior figures at News Corp, said that Murdoch had "clearly got questions to answer in parliament."

Police received a letter Friday from opposition legislator Tom Watson asking whether Murdoch was involved in illegal efforts to cover up phone hacking.

Detectives investigating a hacking scandal centered on the Murdochs' now defunct News of the World tabloid were considering the letter, they said.

Keeping up the pressure, another Labor member of parliament (MP) wrote to non-executive directors of News Corp calling on them to suspend James and company chief executive Rupert Murdoch over the scandal.

James Murdoch, chairman of News Corp's British arm, and his 80-year-old father appeared before parliament's media committee Tuesday to answer questions on phone-hacking.

The company had long maintained that the illegal practice was the work of a lone "rogue reporter." However, two former senior figures at its British newspaper arm have disputed James Murdoch's claim that he was unaware of an e-mail that suggested as early as 2008 that wrongdoing was more widespread.

"I think this is the most significant moment of two years of investigation into phone hacking," Watson, a Labor lawmaker, told BBC TV Friday.

"If their statement is accurate, it shows that James Murdoch had knowledge that others were involved in hacking as early as 2008, that he failed to act to discipline staff or initiate some internal investigation," added Watson, part of the media committee who has long campaigned to expose wrongdoing at the newspaper.

"If their version of events is accurate, it doesn't just mean that parliament has been misled, it means the police have another investigation on their hands," Watson added.

In a letter to committee chairman John Whittingdale on Friday, James Murdoch said he had answered questions in parliament truthfully.

"I stand by my testimony," he said, adding that he was preparing a written response to questions raised during his appearance.

CAMERON SEEKS CLARITY

Prime Minister Cameron tried to distance himself from the company after his image was tarnished by his decision to hire a former News of the World editor as his communications chief.

"Clearly James Murdoch has got questions to answer in parliament and I am sure that he will do that," he told reporters, "and clearly News International has got some big issues to deal with and a mess to clear up."

"That has to be done by the management of that company. In the end the management of a company must be an issue for the shareholders of that company."

Ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler and Tom Crone, who was the newspaper group's top legal officer, accused James Murdoch of giving "mistaken" testimony.

Watson said the dispute between senior figures past and present in News Corp marked a turning point in efforts to get to the bottom of a scandal dating backing to 2005.

"I think we're getting near to the core of this now, we're getting nearer the truth," Watson said.

"People are beginning to speak out. The company effectively closed ranks three years ago," he added.

"Now that News of the World is gone, now that the world's media hold this company in the spotlight, I think individuals are beginning to speak out and we will get the full picture."

News Corp long maintained that listening in to voicemails to get stories was the work of a single reporter after their royal editor was jailed in 2007.

A series of legal actions by celebrities who claimed their mobiles had been hacked undermined that defense and raised questions about how far up the company responsibility went.

The floodgates opened two weeks ago when a lawyer for a murdered schoolgirl alleged that her telephone had been hacked while she was missing and messages deleted, giving her parents false hope she was still alive.

Facing public outrage and opposition from long compliant politicians, News Corp closed the News of the World newspaper after 168 years and dropped a $12 billion bid to buy full control of pay TV broadcaster BSkyB.

In a scandal shaking the British establishment, London's police chief and its head of anti-terrorism resigned over their cozy links to a former News of the World deputy editor.

The disputed testimony from Tuesday's dramatic televised session hinges on what James Murdoch knew about a 700,000 pound payment to soccer players' union boss Gordon Taylor to settle a legal claim that his phone had been hacked.

"What Myler's statement shows, if it's true, (is) that James Murdoch knowingly bought the silence of Taylor thereby covering up a crime," Watson said.

"Now in the UK that is called conspiring to pervert the course of justice and it's a very serious matter."

His Labor colleague Chris Bryant said News Corp had failed to exercise proper corporate control.

"I would therefore urge you to suspend both Rupert and James Murdoch from their responsibilities within the organization," Bryant wrote in a letter to directors who include former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and Rod Eddington, who once headed British Airways.

(Additional reporting by Michael Holden and Stephen Addison; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

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Police: Gunman may have waited for Atlanta victim (AP)

ATLANTA – A security guard accused of a shooting spree in Atlanta may have been waiting for the woman he shot dead in a parking garage, police said Saturday. Two women who survived the attack were apparently sprayed at random as he raced from the scene, they said.

The suspect stole his first victim's Toyota Prius and shot the other women from inside the car as he drove out of the parking deck Friday, said Atlanta police Maj. Keith Meadows. Hours later, Nkosi Thandiwe called an attorney and turned himself in after he saw he had been identified by police.

Thandiwe waived an initial court appearance on Saturday at the Fulton County Jail. His attorney Rickey Richardson declined to comment on the case.

Thousands of professionals who work in the densely packed office towers of Atlanta's midtown district were headed to lunch on Friday when the gunfire broke out. Witnesses said they took cover when they heard popping sounds and later saw a woman face down on the concrete.

"I heard a pop, pop, pop," said Meredith Smith, who was leaving work when she heard the shots ring out. "It sounded like fireworks."

Police say the violence began when Thandiwe shot 26-year-old Brittney Watts in the neck on the third-floor of the parking deck outside the high-rise where he worked.

"He may have been waiting for his victim inside of the parking structure," said Meadows, who heads the city's major crimes division.

While he was fleeing the scene in Watts' car, authorities said, he sprayed the parking deck with bullets and wounded two women who worked at the MSL Group, a public relations firm. Authorities say 23-year-old intern Lauren Garcia and 24-year-old assistant account executive Tiffany Ferenczy were both in stable condition after being struck.

"We believe they might have been random victims," said Meadows. "He did flee the scene and he fired from the inside of the vehicle. There was no reason for him to actually fire upon those two victims."

Thandiwe worked for AlliedBarton Security Services, which said it was shocked that one of its employees was implicated in the shooting.

Company spokesman Alan Stein said Saturday Thandiwe had worked for the firm for less than year. He said AlliedBarton conducted a thorough background check that didn't reveal any prior crimes.

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Kidnappers call US victims' kin: Philippine police (AFP)

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) – Kidnappers have contacted the family of two US citizens abducted in the Philippines to make an "unbelievable" ransom demand, the Filipino official handling the hostage crisis said Saturday.

The official, Zamboanga city Mayor Celso Lobregat, said the identity of the gunmen and the situation of the hostages, who also included one Filipino relative, was still unknown despite the phonecall.

"Contact has been made to the husband in the United States. And the contact was that that there is a demand," Lobregat told reporters in this southern port, adding that the call was made on Thursday.

"The call was very short and it was cut off (presumably by the kidnappers)," he said, adding there was no word if any deadline was set.

He described the demand made as an "unbelievable amount", without giving further details.

Filipino police said gunmen snatched Gerfa Lunsmann, 50, her 14-year-old son, Kevin, and her Filipino teenage nephew on Tuesday at a nearby island resort.

The woman was born in the area but left in her childhood for adoption in the United States, where she later married a US-based German man, local police have said.

The resort is a mere 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the coast of Basilan island, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, a small Islamic militant group blamed for previous abductions of foreigners, as well as deadly bombings.

Apart from the militants, the near-lawless region is also home to Muslim separatist guerrillas, bandits and pirates.

Kidnapping of locals and foreigners for ransom occurs with alarming frequency in the area.

Lobregat said the information about the ransom demand was relayed by the US government to Filipino police who are searching for the kidnappers and their hostages.

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NH police: 2 men kidnapped boy, glued mouth shut (AP)

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Police in Manchester, N.H., say two men held a 15-year-old boy at knifepoint, glued his lips shut and burned him while filming the incident with an iPod.

The men were arraigned Friday and held on $100,000 bail each.

Police found the teen naked under a bed in an apartment Friday. They noted his lips appeared to be glued shut and he had wounds to his arm. Police say 19-year-old Ismael Bangs allegedly burned a rubber glove over the boy and let it drip onto him. He also allegedly used a lighter to heat a knife blade and applied it to the boy's shoulder.

Bangs and 25-year-old Yvens Luclaise were charged with kidnapping. Bangs also was charged with multiple counts of criminal threatening and assault. Luclaise was charged with criminal liability.

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Miss. man pleads to manslaughter in police death (AP)

JACKSON, Miss. – A Mississippi man who was once sentenced to death for killing a police officer during a drug raid has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and could soon be released from prison.

Cory Maye was sentenced Friday to 10 years after pleading guilty to culpable negligence manslaughter. He was given credit for more than nine years he has already served, said his attorney Bob Evans. It's not clear exactly how long before Maye will be released. He could get credit for good behavior, but processing could take a few weeks.

Maye has always claimed that he didn't hear police announce themselves and thought they were intruders when they kicked in his door during a raid in Prentiss the day after Christmas 2001. He says he was defending himself and his young daughter when he fired three shots, one of which killed officer Ron Jones, who was the police chief's son.

The search warrant in the case had Maye's neighbor's name on it, but a confidential informant had allegedly told police there were drugs in both apartments of the duplex. Maye had no criminal record and police found only the remnants of a marijuana cigarette in his apartment, his lawyer said.

Prosecutors had argued during Maye's trials that police repeatedly announced themselves and suggested Maye peeked out the window blinds and knew they were police.

Maye was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2004. His death sentence was overturned in 2006 when a judge ruled that his attorney didn't do a good job during the sentencing phase. Maye was then re-sentenced to life without parole.

Last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a new trial after ruling that the original jury should have been allowed to consider Maye's claim of self-defense.

"We've been in negotiations with the district attorney's office for a few weeks trying to come to some conclusion in this case. We've been trying to reach a settlement in which nobody was particularly happy with it, but that everybody was willing to live with," Evans said. "We pretty much accomplished that."

District Attorney Hal Kittrell said court rulings in recent years have been favorable to Maye and "yielded some evidence that was beneficial" to him. He wouldn't elaborate.

"It was decided that it was in the best interest of the family and the state to accept the plea," Kittrell said.

Evans, Maye's lawyer, said it was a difficult decision to take the plea deal "because we felt that Cory had a viable defense."

"The bottom line on this is that Cory will be back in the free world in the not too distant future," Evans said. "And I hope that the Jones family is able to achieve some sense of closure."

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Miami police kill 4 masked, armed robbery suspects (AP)

MIAMI – Police shot and killed four masked and armed men in a sting operation, including one man who was cooperating with Miami-Dade police in an investigation of a series of violent home robberies, authorities said.

The shooting happened Thursday evening at a residence owned by the Miami-Dade Police Department in a southwest section of the county, in an area of homes and plant nurseries. Investigators say the men believed there was a stash of marijuana inside but were instead confronted by officers, who told them to put down their weapons.

The men did not comply and a confrontation ensued in which all four men were shot, police spokesman Det. Javier Baez said Friday. No officers were injured.

"An incident occurred that our special response team had to fire on these individuals," Baez said. He was not able to confirm whether the men had fired at police.

Those killed were identified as: Rosendo Betancourt Garcia, 39, the cooperating defendant; Jorge Luis Lemus, 39; and Roger Gonzalez Valez, 52. The fourth victim has not been identified. A fifth person, Roger Gonzalez, Jr., 32, was outside the property in a car and taken into custody.

The shooting capped the end of what police described as a lengthy investigation into a group of individuals who targeted marijuana grow houses. Baez said the suspects at times misidentified the residences and proceeded with targeting, and torturing, innocent individuals.

"These are career criminals," Baez said.

Betancourt has a criminal record that includes convictions for selling and trafficking cocaine. He was the one who alerted police to the suspects, Baez said. He was instructed by police and told not to go with the men to the operation. It's unclear why he decided to join them.

Gricell Perez said Betancourt was her son-in-law. She said he came to drop off his three kids yesterday, telling her, "Please watch the kids, I'm going to help the police on a case."

She said he had been working the last seven months as a construction worker.

Residents in the neighborhood described hearing a swarm of helicopters overnight, and noted seeing an increase in crime over the last year.

Aleida Rojas said shots had been fired through her window.

"I live quite fearfully," she said.

--

Associated Press writer Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this story.

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Death sentence for killer of 3 Pittsburgh police officers (Reuters)

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to death on Tuesday for killing three Pittsburgh police officers who responded to a domestic dispute at his mother's house in 2009.

Richard Poplawski, 24, was found guilty over the weekend of murder and other charges for fatally shooting officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo on April 4, 2009, at the house in the city's Stanton Heights neighborhood.

Poplawski's mother had called 911 to report a domestic dispute. He was arrested after being wounded during a three-hour standoff with police.

His mother said she had argued with her son that morning after discovering his dog had urinated inside the house, according to a criminal complaint filed by police.

She said Poplawski had been discharged from the Marine Corps for assaulting his drill sergeant and had been stockpiling guns and ammunition because he believed police were no longer able to protect society due to the economic collapse, according to court documents.

On Tuesday evening, a jury of seven men and five women reached a verdict of three death sentences, said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney's office.

The decision came after family members testified during the penalty phase of the trial, which began on Monday.

The jury had been transported across the state from Dauphin County to avoid the influence of pretrial publicity.

(Reporting by Daniel Lovering, Edited by Peter Bohan)

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Prosecutors, defense face off in Katrina police brutality case (Reuters)

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Tears streamed down Susan Bartholomew's cheeks as she recalled feeling the bullets blowing off her right arm, and listening to her suffering daughter and husband beside her.

"I could hear them crying out, and you could tell they were in a lot of pain. I prayed," she told jurors in a New Orleans courtroom on Monday. "I just called on the Lord because I didn't know what else to do."

Emotional testimony on Monday by Bartholomew, who lost her right arm in a barrage of police gunfire days after Hurricane Katrina, marked day one of a trial that could send five local police officers to prison for the rest of their lives.

Federal prosecutors launched their case against the officers, accused of civil rights violations in connection with shooting and killing two unarmed civilians, wounding four others and allegedly conducting an elaborate cover-up.

On trial are officers Robert Faulcon, Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso and Arthur Kaufman. A sixth officer is schedule for trial in the fall.

On the morning of September 4, 2005, they and other officers were working from a makeshift station a few miles from the Danziger Bridge in eastern New Orleans when they heard a radio call that officers were under fire and the perpetrators were running toward the bridge.

When they encountered the civilians -- including members of the Bartholomew family at one end of the bridge, and brothers Lance Madison and Ronald Madison near the other end -- some of the officers opened fire.

James Brissette, 17, died in the shooting, as did 40-year-old Ronald Madison. All of the surviving victims, as well as some officers at the scene, have said none of the victims had a weapon.

When the shooting stopped and officers ordered the victims to raise their hands, Bartholomew testified that she was terrified.

"I thought they would kill me because I couldn't raise both hands, because my arm was gone," she said.

"I DON'T HAVE A RIGHT ARM"

Bartholomew, who wore a shawl across her shoulders to conceal her injury from the shooting, had to raise her left hand to take the witness oath.

"I don't have a right arm," she told the bailiff.

Before lawyers began their opening statements, U.S. District Judge Kurt Englehardt read the 25-count indictment of the men, who face charges including deprivation of civil rights, use of a weapon in a violent crime and obstruction of justice related an alleged four-year cover-up of facts of the shooting.

Jurors paid close attention as Barbara Bernstein, lead attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in the case, repeatedly lifted her arms as though taking aim with a rifle and shouted, "Boom."

Defense attorneys called the government's version of the events "a fairy tale."

The five officers were among the heroes of post-Katrina New Orleans, said attorney Paul Fleming. The lawyers described a stress-ridden, flooded city in which the officers worked tirelessly for several days under horrific conditions to rescue citizens.

"Judge these men in the context of the worst natural disaster in the history of this country," Fleming said.

Statements by some officers who have pled guilty indicate that the firing continued after the victims were on the ground. Several are expected to testify in the trial, which could last two months.

Key questions will be whether anyone fired on police officers in the area of the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005, and if so, who did the shooting.

Defense lawyers appear likely to raise what has become known as the "Katrina defense," meaning the hurricane and subsequent flood threw New Orleans into such a chaotic state that police officers could not be expected to exercise normal caution and restraint.

U.S. District Judge Lance Africk discounted that defense in March as he sentenced two New Orleans police officers to prison for killing civilian Henry Glover and disposing of his body in a burning car. Africk told the men that other officers understood "the Constitution was not suspended during Katrina."

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

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New Orleans police go on trial in Katrina shooting deaths (Reuters)

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Jury selection began on Wednesday in the trial of five police officers accused of shooting and killing of two people and wounding of four others days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.

The case, one of a string of federal civil rights prosecutions brought against local police, is one of the largest police brutality cases ever mounted by the U.S. Justice Department, according to legal analysts.

The officers, some of whom are still on the job, face multiple counts of deprivation of civil rights, use of a weapon in a violent crime, or obstruction of justice.

The charges stem from a September 4, 2005, shooting incident on the Danziger Bridge in eastern New Orleans and from an alleged cover-up that went on for years afterward.

The trial of Kenneth Bowen, Robert Faulcon Jr., Robert Gisevius Jr., Arthur Kaufmann and Anthony Villavaso II is expected to last up to six weeks. A sixth defendant, Officer Gerard Dugue, is scheduled for trial in the fall.

Killed in the shootings were James Brissette, 17, and Ronald Madison, 40.

Five other current or former officers have pleaded guilty to various charges and admitted to being either directly involved in the Danziger Bridge incident or aiding in an alleged cover-up.

"The alleged cover-up adds a whole different dimension to the case," said former federal prosecutor and New Orleans attorney Harry Rosenburg said.

"It's not just about how officers might have reacted on that day but what occurred in the following several years after the dust settled, ranging from false reports to fictitious witnesses to an allegedly planted weapon," he said.

Working from a makeshift station in the aftermath of the Katrina's flooding, the officers in question received a call that police officers were being fired upon on the Danziger Bridge, according to court documents.

A number of them jumped into a Budget rental truck and headed for the bridge. The shooting began when the group came upon unarmed civilians who were walking on or near the bridge, the documents said.

Other officers have testified that two officers who jumped from the truck fired on the civilians, with one sergeant firing repeatedly as they lay wounded on the ground.

Rosenburg said a key question in the trial will be whether any officers were actually fired upon that day and, if so, who did the shooting.

In March, two former New Orleans cops were sentenced to prison for their roles in killing a man and burning his body shortly after Katrina.

A few weeks before that sentencing, the Justice Department released a scathing report of local police practices following a lengthy probe and is expected to eventually impose an order mandating dozens of changes.

Civil rights professor Jack Beerman told Reuters the trial could be the most significant case of alleged police brutality since members of the Los Angeles police department faced charges in the beating of civilian Rodney King in the 1990s.

Los Angeles residents rioted in April 1992 when those officers were found innocent.

"The important thing is a sense of justice for the community," said Beerman, of the Boston University School of Law. "If locals perceive that the government is not responding when civil rights are violated, you have a problem."

The officers in the Danziger case initially faced murder or attempted murder charges. But a judge tossed the case out of court in August 2008, citing errors by the prosecutor's office. In July 2010, federal prosecutors indicted the officers on the civil rights charges.

(Editing by Karen Brooks and Peter Bohan)

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Police: Gunman at NY pharmacy wanted painkillers (AP)

YAPHANK, N.Y. – Four people killed during a pharmacy store robbery in suburban New York City, including a teenager due to graduate high school this week, were shot at very close range by a dangerous suspect intent on stealing painkillers, a police official said Monday.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer also warned physicians and the owners of small drugstores in the area to be vigilant about anyone "expressing an urgent need for prescription painkillers." He said added police patrols would be deployed near small pharmacies until a suspect is apprehended.

Dormer called Sunday's killing at the Long Island pharmacy "one of the most heinous, brutal crimes we have ever encountered."

The shootings happened at about 10:20 a.m. inside Haven Drugs in Medford, a family-owned pharmacy in a small cluster of medical offices about 60 miles east of New York City. Police identified the two employees who were killed as pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45, of Centereach, and store clerk Jennifer Mejia, 17, of East Patchogue.

Bryon Sheffield, 71, of Medford, and Jamie Taccetta, a 33-year-old woman from Farmingville, were identified as customers who were also slain.

"The victims whose lives were cut tragically short were killed for no apparent reason and without warning," Dormer said. "They offered no resistance and did not appear to provoke the assailant. They were all shot at close range."

The suspect appears in still photographs from the video released by police; he's a gaunt man in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5-foot-8 with a thin build. He has dark hair, was unshaven or has a dark beard and mustache and wore a dark hooded sweat shirt, dark pants and a white baseball cap.

He stole painkillers and killed everyone in the shop before fleeing with a black backpack.

Police have offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the man, whom detectives described as "extremely dangerous." Dormer said the department had already received a "substantial number of tips which detectives are working on right now."

Dormer described the quality of the video, which was not released, as "excellent video and it's a good view of what happened." He said the four victims were shot at close range "very suddenly and very quickly ... over a few minutes."

The veteran officer, who came out of retirement to be police commissioner in 2004, was asked to compare the killing to others he has investigated.

"You have four innocent people, two workers on a Sunday morning in a nice, quiet neighborhood and died viciously and violently. Two customers walk into the store, they're not thinking it's their last day on earth and they're killed. This is very unusual."

He said there had been no apparent robbery pattern involving pharmacies preceding Sunday's massacre.

Mejia, who worked part-time at the pharmacy while attending Bellport High School, was due to graduate Thursday. Friends at the shooting scene Sunday described her as "a walking angel on earth." Others said she was planning to attend community college next year.

Bellport High School assistant principal Brian Norton said Monday that grief counselors were available for students.

"She was an absolute sweetheart," he said. "A very lovely young lady looking forward to her future."

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Trial underway for accused killer of three police officers (Reuters)

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – Dozens of police officers gathered outside a Pennsylvania courthouse on Monday to show support for the families of three slain officers, as the trial of their accused killer got underway.

Richard Poplawski, 24, of Pittsburgh allegedly shot and killed Pittsburgh police officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo at his mother's house in the city's Stanton Heights neighborhood.

His mother had called 911 to report a domestic dispute on April 4, 2009. The suspect was arrested after being wounded following a three-hour standoff with police, according to court documents.

If convicted of the charges, including multiple counts of criminal homicide, he faces a maximum penalty of death.

Poplawski's mother said she had argued with her son that morning after discovering his dog had urinated inside the house, and that she was calling police to have him removed, court documents said.

She said her son had been discharged from the Marine Corps a few years earlier for assaulting his drill sergeant during training. She said he had been stockpiling guns and ammunition because he believed police were no longer able to protect society due to the economic collapse.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney's office, said 18 jurors had been brought to Pittsburgh from Dauphin County for the trial, which was expected to last two weeks.

(Reporting by Daniel Lovering; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

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Police: Arizona man kills 5 before taking own life (AP)

By BOB CHRISTIE and AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Bob Christie And Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press – Fri Jun 3, 7:45 am ET

YUMA, Ariz. – The report of the shooting came in around dawn from a town in southwestern Arizona — the opening salvo in a rampage that left six people dead over the next six hours.

The toll included the suspected gunman, 73-year-old Carey Hal Dyess, and the prominent Yuma attorney who represented his ex-wife in their divorce, Jerrold Shelley.

Police said Dyess also wounded one person in the shootings around Yuma, a city of about 91,000, before he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Shelley was killed while packing up his office on his last day of work.

"This is not a random act," Yuma Police Chief Jerry Geier said. "These victims were targeted."

Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said the first shooting was reported shortly after 5 a.m. in Wellton, about 25 miles east of Yuma. The woman was in critical condition at a Phoenix hospital.

He said Dyess then fatally shot four people around town before driving to Yuma and killing Shelley at about 9:20 a.m. The bodies in Wellton were found between 8:20 and 9:45 a.m.

Police believe Dyess drove back toward Wellton, pulled over and fatally shot himself. His body was found at 10:47 a.m. inside a vehicle.

Neither police nor the sheriff would identify the other four dead.

Shelley was killed in his downtown law office. Shelley represented Dyess' ex-wife in their 2006 divorce, which was Dyess' fifth.

Vida Florez, a Yuma attorney who knew Shelley, said she learned of the shooting after leaving court. She said she heard from a witness who spoke to the police about what happened inside the office.

"They said the shooter came in and told the secretary to `Get out of here,'" Florez said. "She did, and he shot Jerry Shelley and he left."

Shelley also was one of the lawyers representing seven young men — three sets of brothers — who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson after accusing a priest of repeatedly raping them when they were children.

A man and woman were found dead in a small farm house outside the nearby town of Wellton, said Yuma police Sgt. John Otero. The tree-shaded home was set back about 100 feet from a highway, with a cow pasture in front.

The downtown shooting prompted officials to block off a street and to lock down the nearby county courthouse and some schools. Those buildings were later reopened.

Court records show Dyess was involved in two civil court cases, one in Yuma and one in Wellton. A judge issued an order of protection against Dyess in one of the cases in 2006, and a court clerk said it stemmed from Dyess' divorce. No information was immediately available on those cases.

Court records also show the 2006 divorce was Dyess' fifth, with the previous four divorces all in Washington state.

The divorce file showed that Theresa and Carey Dyess were married in Tombstone in May 2002 and the couple filed for divorce in 2006. Theresa Dyess alleged there had been domestic violence and she asked for and received an order of protection. No details of that incident were immediately available in the court file.

Carey Dyess later took out a protection order against Theresa Dyess, records showed.

The divorce was granted and the couple later agreed on a property split that gave Theresa Dyess the couple's home in Wellton once she bought out her former husband's share.

A lawyer for Carey Dyess filed a brief in October 2008 that said Carey Dyess had not been paid more than a year after the divorce became final.

"Mr. Dyess is sick and believes (his ex-wife) is `holding out,' waiting for him to die, Yuma attorney Gregory Torok wrote in a court petition. The file shows the issue led to a final settlement two months later.

Dyess also took out an order of protection against a man he identified as `my wife's boyfriend," who he alleged was harassing him by driving by his home every day.

Yuma attorney Amanda Taylor described Shelley as a good man who was dedicated to his Mormon beliefs. She said Shelley's wife also worked in the office, and that they have two grown children.

"This is very frightening" she said. "You know, family law, that's some of the most dangerous law to practice because it's so emotional, but it's usually the younger ages when it's about custody issues."

She said Shelley was wrapping up a long career.

"He was retiring. He literally was packing up his office today," Taylor said. "He was an excellent family man. Well-respected in this community. Very kind. I'm just sick. I've lost such a good friend."

Others in Yuma expressed similar feelings of grief, with Mayor Al Krieger calling the shootings a tragedy for the victims and their families.

"It's one of those things where someone went and did something very, very foolish," Krieger said. "I'm sorry for the loss of life."

Yuma County Presiding Judge Andrew Gould issued a statement through the Arizona Supreme Court saying officials were "thankful that those within the courthouse are safe," but shocked and saddened at the violent acts that occurred in the close-knit community.

Gov. Jan Brewer said she was "horrified" at the news and expressed sympathy for the victims' families.

"Many questions remain unanswered at this point, but I know that law enforcement and investigators will be working to piece together this tragedy in the days ahead," she said in a statement. "In the meantime, this cruel violence has left a void in our hearts."

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Myers reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Mark Carlson also contributed to this report.

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IMF chief to be charged in alleged sex assault: police (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, widely expected to run for the French presidency next year, was set to be charged Sunday over an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid, police said.

The 62-year-old would be charged with a "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape," a police official told reporters late Saturday.

He was likely to be indicted some time on Sunday, police indicated, although it was not immediately clear where it would take place.

Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist who had been leading French opinion polls for the 2012 elections, was escorted off an Air France flight Saturday just minutes before it was to leave John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

"We took him into custody and we handed him over to the New York City police department," an official for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Authorities were investigating an alleged attack on a maid at the Sofitel New York hotel earlier in the day, police said. A maid in the hotel alleged she had been assaulted by the IMF chief when he got out of his shower naked.

Strauss-Kahn, a well-known figure on the French political scene popularly known by his initials DSK, has not officially thrown his hat into the ring to challenge center-right President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential race.

But the former French finance minister had been widely expected to stand, and polls out earlier Sunday before news of his arrest broke had put him narrowly ahead of the pack if he ran with 26 percent of the vote.

NYPD spokesman Officer Michael DeBonis told AFP by phone late Saturday that Strauss-Kahn has "been taken into custody. He's being questioned about an alleged sexual assault."

It was believed he was being questioned at precinct five in Harlem, which is a special unit dealing with sexual harassment.

DeBonis would not comment on any other details, but according to police sources he had allegedly left the hotel room in a hurry leaving behind his mobile phone and personal effects.

In Washington, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

The Port Authority official said Strauss-Kahn, who has headed up the IMF since 2007, was removed from the flight 10 minutes before departure, at 4:45 pm (16:45 GMT).

"Ten minutes before a flight takes off? That doesn't happen too often," the official said. "He did not resist."

Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday to discuss an aid package for debt-laden Greece.

He was then due to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels.

In 2008, Strauss-Kahn was discovered to be having an affair with an Hungarian IMF economist. The affair was investigated by the IMF, which concluded he had not exerted pressure on the woman, but noted his inappropriate behavior.

John Sheehan, director of security at Sofitel New York, told AFP by phone that they are cooperating with the probe.

"The Sofitel is working very closely with the NYPD with their investigation," Sheehan said. "The safety and security of our clients and team members are of the utmost priority to us."

Strauss-Kahn's stint at the helm of the IMF in Washington does not officially end until September 2012, several months after the scheduled date of France's vote.

But the French political world has been buzzing with speculation that he would end his tenure early to stand as the Socialist Party's candidate.

Sarkozy's party has launched virulent attacks against the IMF boss denouncing him as a rich "champagne socialist," and arguing he has been away too long to still be in touch with France.

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IMF chief to be charged with attempted rape: police (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be charged with a "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape," a police official told reporters.

Strauss-Kahn, widely expected to run for the French presidency next year, was detained Saturday and quizzed over an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid, police said.

The IMF managing director was escorted off an Air France flight just minutes before it was to take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

He was expected to be arraigned overnight before a Manhattan judge.

In Washington, an International Monetary Fund spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday to discuss an aid package for debt-laden Greece.

He was then due to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels.

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NYC police arrest IMF head in hotel sex assault (AP)

NEW YORK – The leader of the International Monetary Fund and a possible candidate for president of France was pulled from an airplane moments before he was to fly to Paris and was arrested Sunday in connection with the violent sexual assault of a hotel maid, police said.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was turned over to police for questioning Saturday afternoon, said Paul J. Browne, New York Police Department spokesman.

Strauss-Kahn was arrested at 2:15 a.m. Sunday on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, and was awaiting arraignment, police said. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, did not immediately respond to phone or email messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.

The 32-year-old woman told authorities that she entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square at about 1 p.m. Eastern time (1600 GMT) Saturday and he attacked her, Browne said. She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3000-a-night-suite suite, which she had been told was empty.

According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said. They called police.

When New York City police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his cellphone, Browne said. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.

The NYPD discovered that he was at the airport and contacted Port Authority officials, who plucked Kahn from first class on the Air France flight that was scheduled to depart at 4:40 p.m. and was just about to leave the gate.

The maid was taken by police to a hospital and being treated for minor injuries. John Sheehan, a spokesman for the hotel, said its staff was cooperating in the investigation.

Strauss-Kahn was briefly investigated in 2008 over whether he had an improper relationship with a subordinate female employee. The IMF board found his actions "regrettable" and said they "reflected a serious error of judgment."

William Murray, a spokesman for the IMF in Washington, said the IMF had no immediate comment. Strauss-Kahn's offices in Paris couldn't be reached when the news broke overnight in France, nor could French Socialist Party officials.

He was supposed to be meeting in Berlin on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about aid to debt-laden Greece, and then join EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday. The IMF is responsible for one-third of Greece's existing loan package, and his expected presence at these meetings underlined the gravity of the Greek crisis.

Strauss-Kahn took over as head of the IMF in November 2007. The 187-nation lending agency is headquartered in Washington and provides help in the form of emergency loans for countries facing severe financial problems.

Strauss-Kahn won praise for his leadership at the IMF during the financial crisis of 2008 and the severe global recession that followed.

More recently, he has directed the IMF's participation in bailout efforts to keep a European debt crisis which began in Greece from destabilizing the global economy.

In October 2008, Strauss-Kahn issued an apology to the IMF staff after accusations that he had a sexual relationship with an IMF subordinate.

"While this incident constituted an error in judgment on my part, for which I take full responsibility, I firmly believe that I have not abused my position," Strauss-Kahn wrote in an email to IMF staff.

The board found that the relationship was consensual. The IMF employee left the fund and took a job with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Before taking the top post at the IMF, Strauss-Kahn had been a member of the French National Assembly and had also served as France's Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry from June 1997 to November 1999.

He had been viewed as a leading contender to run on the Socialist Party's ticket to challenge the re-election of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Strauss-Kahn, dubbed DSK in France, was seen as the strongest possible challenger to Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections. Strauss-Kahn has not declared his candidacy, staying vague in interviews while feeding speculation that he wants France's top job.

The New York accusations come amid French media reports about Strauss-Kahn's lifestyle, including luxury cars and suits, that some have dubbed a smear campaign.

He sought the Socialist Party's endorsement in the last elections, in 2007, but came in second in a primary to Segolene Royal. Royal, the first woman to get so close to France's presidency, lost to Sarkozy in the runoff.

After Sarkozy won, the new president championed Strauss-Kahn as a candidate to run the IMF. Sarkozy's backers touted the move as a sign of the conservative president's campaign of openness to leftists — but political strategists saw it as a way for Sarkozy to get a potential challenger far away from the French limelight.

The global financial crisis thrust Strauss-Kahn into an unexpectedly prominent role and boosted his global standing in time to consider a 2012 French presidential bid.

He is credited with preparing France for the adoption of the euro by taming its deficit and persuading then-Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to sign up to an EU pact of fiscal prudence.

A former economics professor, Strauss-Kahn joined the Socialist party in 1976 and was elected to parliament in 1986 from the Val-d'Oise district, north of Paris. He went on to become mayor of Sarcelles, a working-class immigrant suburb of Paris.

His first government post was industry minister under former President Francois Mitterrand. As finance minister, he reduced France's debt repayments through a raft of privatizations including the sale of shares in France Telecom SA and Air France.

Strauss-Kahn is a married father of four. His third wife, Anne Sinclair, is a New York-born journalist who hosted a popular weekly news broadcast in France in the 1980s.

A security guard stood watch outside the Sofitel near busy Times Square on Saturday night, keeping everyone but guests out of the building.

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Associated Press writers Cristian Salazar in New York, Martin Crutsinger in Washington and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

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NY police confirm IMF head Strauss-Kahn in custody (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody on Saturday at JFK International Airport in New York and was being questioned in regard to a sexual assault, New York Police spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters.

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