Someone's Prayers Were Answered.

Police: Gunman Wordlessly Opened Fire On Churchgoers

Kiarron Parker Killed Pastor's Mother Before He Was Shot By Off-Duty Officer

Alan Gathright, 7NEWS Content Producer

POSTED: 2:15 pm MDT April 24, 2012

UPDATED: 5:28 pm MDT April 24, 2012

AURORA, Colo. -- Police say they still don't know why an enraged driver raced into an Aurora church parking lot Sunday, crashed his car and then wordlessly opened fire on church members who were rushing to help him.

The gunman, Kiarron Parker, 29, of Denver, shot and killed 67-year-old Josephine Echols, the mother of De Lono Straham, the pastor of The Destiny Christian Center, Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

Echols' nephew, an off-duty Denver police officer who was attending a church service, pulled his gun and exchanged gunfire with Parker, Fania said.

Denver police identified the off-duty officer as Antonio Milow, a six-year veteran.

While it is assumed that Milow shot and killed the gunman, Fania would not confirm that, saying it is part of an ongoing officer-involved-shooting investigation.

Yet, Fania agreed the Milow likely prevented more bloodshed.

"Who knows what would have happened had that officer not been there or had his gun with him," the police spokesman said. "It certainly had the makings to be a lot worse."

Parker and Echols died from multiple gunshot wounds, the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office said Tuesday.

Police are still puzzled about why Parker, who had a long history of convictions for drug possession, illegal weapon possession and resisting arrest, opened fire on people leaving the church just before 3 p.m. Sunday.

"We don't know why the gunman did this," Fania said. "We believe that there was no connection with the gunman to this church."

Fania said investigators are hoping that toxicology tests, which detect drug and alcohol use, may "shed some light on why he acted the way he did."

Just before the shooting, a male friend said Parker had become upset on nearby Dartmouth Avenue, Fania said.

Behead to Impress

Cooperstown, N.D. Man Convicted In Decapitation Slaying

April 24, 2012

A North Dakota man has been convicted of shooting and beheading a university research in what prosecutors say was an attempt to impress a white supremacist group.

Daniel Wacht has been convicted in the shooting and decapitation of NDSU research Kurt Johnson.

Cooperstown, N.D. Man Convicted In Decapitation Slaying

COOPERSTOWN, N.D. (AP) - A North Dakota man has been convicted of shooting and beheading a university research in what prosecutors say was an attempt to impress a white supremacist group.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours Tuesday before finding Daniel Wacht guilty in the death of 54-year-old Kurt Johnson. The 31-year-old Cooperstown man faces up to life in prison without parole.

Wacht and Johnson met and drank together in a Cooperstown bar on New Year's Eve 2010. A week later, authorities said Johnson's head was found in Wacht's basement. His body has never been found.

Defense attorney Steven Mottinger contended there was no way to prove his client pulled the trigger. Mottinger also asked why Wacht would "kill a white man" for recognition from a white supremacist outfit.

Source: Paul Jurgens/AP

http://www.kfgo.com/fargo-moorhead-news.php?ID=0000007526

There's No App For That

http://gizmodo.com/5899739/chinese-kid-sells-his-kidney-for-an-ipad-and-iphone-suffers-renal-failure

Chinese Kid Sells His Kidney for an iPad and iPhone, Suffers Renal Failure

BY LESLIE HORN

Though you might say you'd give your left arm for an iPad, you only mean it figuratively. But one Chinese teen actually sold his kidney to make enough money to buy the Apple tablet and an iPhone, and now five people have been charged with intentional injury in the case.

The bottom line? A kidney for an iPad is not a good trade.

The 17-year-old, known only by his family name of Wang, received $3,500 when he put his kidney on the black market last April. Which is chump change compared to the organ's $35,000 asking price, which was shared among the surgeon, the medical staff, the fixer, and the three other people charged in the case.

The sale wasn't discovered until Wang's mother noticed that he'd bought the Apple gear with his own money. When she asked where he got the cash, he fessed up. The weirdest part? It wouldn't have even been a crime five years ago; the human organ trade wasn't banned in China until 2007. 2007!

Today, Wang suffers from renal deficiency, meaning his kidneys can no longer filter out toxins from his blood. Doctors say he's going to need a transplant of his own. Unfortunately, as he knows better than anyone by now, those are incredibly hard to come by. Unless you've got $35,000 lying around. [New York Times]

Update: According to Wired and Reuters, five people, including the surgeon and medical staff, have all been charged with intent to harm in this case.

Stick And Stones May Break My...Life

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/bf223bbfcf104c97bb4501748a7a8ac4/UT--Booby-Traps-Hiking-Trail/

2 men arrested on suspicion of setting booby traps near popular hiking trail in Utah

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS   First Posted: April 22, 2012 - 8:33 pm Last Updated: April 22, 2012 - 7:54 pm

AAA

PROVO, Utah — Two men have been arrested on suspicion of setting booby traps near a popular hiking trail in Utah.

Benjamin Rutkowski, 19, of Orem, and Kai Christensen, 21, of Provo, were booked Saturday into the county jail for investigation of misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
A Forest Service law enforcement officer with military experience discovered trip wires for the booby traps at entrances of a crude shelter made of dead tree limbs in Provo Canyon, said Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon.
If activated, one trap was designed to send a device made with a large rock and sharpened sticks swinging toward the head of an unsuspecting hiker or camper.
The other trap was designed to cause a person to fall down on sharpened sticks placed in the ground.
Cannon said the shelter was one of many in an area frequented by hikers and campers.

Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon says 19-year-old Benjamin Rutkowski of Orem and 21-year-old Kai Christensen of Provo were booked Saturday into the county jail for investigation of misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

"There was potential for some very serious injury to someone," he told the Deseret News. "If someone fell the wrong way it could have been disastrous or even fatal."
The suspects told authorities that they were targeting wildlife when they set the traps April 15, a day before the devices were discovered. The suspects said they had planned to return and take the shelter down but forgot.
But Cannon was skeptical the target was wildlife, saying that doesn't make sense.
"We believe they knew people would be going there and that's why they put them there," Cannon said.
He said illegal marijuana farmers are known to use booby traps in remote areas, but he's never heard of this type of device in a recreational area.
"People don't go up expecting this and they shouldn't have to," he told the Deseret News.
Investigators used Facebook to find individuals familiar with the shelter and to locate the suspects.
It wasn't immediately known whether the suspects had attorneys.

Don't Whiz On The Electric Tracks...

Man electrocuted by third rail while trying to urinate on subway tracks 

Zachary McKee, 27, died after falling on the electrically charged third rail

BY MEENA HART DUERSON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP

An elevated or ‘L’ train - not the one involved in the accident - leaves downtown Chicago.

An Indiana man died when he tried urinating on subway tracks Sunday night.

Zachary McKee, 27, died after falling on the electrically charged third rail at the South Boulevard Purple Line ‘L’ stop in Evanston, Ill., which he touched by climbing onto the tracks to relieve himself.

Police determined what had happened after watching surveillance video, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

McKee was with two other people at the time of the incident, around 11 p.m. Sunday night.

One of them saw what happened and ran to alert the security guard on duty,

who then notified emergency responders, police said in a statement.

McKee was pronounced dead at 11:52 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

It is not clear if he urinated on the third rail itself.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-electrocuted-rail-urinate-subway-tracks-article-1.1066016#ixzz1st9jGt5Q

Brazilian Anti-Vegan Campaign

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2012/04/more-people-stuffed-empanadas-in-brazil.html

More People-Stuffed Empanadas in Brazil

They're made of people!Photo: Melissa Hom

The gruesome news of the insane Brazilian pastry-makers who stuffed people into empanadas just got worse. Now Brazilian police are saying theSweeney Todd-goes-samba trio may have killed five people in the northeast of the country, presumably disposing of their flesh in the same stomach-turning manner. That means a bunch of northern Brazilians are also likely cannibals, which is no doubt prompting the entire country to upchuck at this very moment. Incidentally, the horrific tale made the top Google searches over the past week, beating out even Pizza Hut's hot-dog-stuffed crust. Not that we're trying to give the chain any further ideas — sorry, now we have to go barf. [HuffPo, NYDN, Earlier]

By: Jenny Miller

Aren't There Easier Ways To Get A Recipe For Foie Gras?

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/robber-fatally-shoots-man-bronx-steals-iphone-article-1.1064111#ixzz1sbCS81kt

A hardworking young chef was gunned down in the Bronx early Thursday by a brutal thief who kicked his motionless body, stole his iPhone and then casually strolled away, sources told the Daily News.

Former Sunday school teacher Hwang Yang, 26, was left bleeding in the middle of a leafy Riverdale street around 12:30 a.m. - a bullet lodged in his chest - as his adoring mom fretted he was late returning to the family's home just two blocks away, police and family sources said.

Yang had just finished a shift at his new job as a cold-plate chef at The Modern, the upscale French-American restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, sources said.

He often called for a ride home from his Kingsbridge subway stop, but this time he made the trek up West 232nd St. alone, a grieving relative said.

"He usually would call his dad to pick him up. Today he just decided to walk up," cousin Peter Han, 30, said. "Maybe he just didn't want his dad driving in the rain."

Mom Hyun Sub Yang, 50, a nail salon worker, wailed in pain and pounded on the iron gate in front of the family's home Thursday after a trip to view her only son's body.

"She kept calling him (last night), and no one answered," friend Ji Park, 52, a nearby grocery owner, said.

Hyun Sub Yang later clutched one of her son’s shirts to her face for a trip to meet the family's pastor.

"She has his clothes," Park said. "She said, 'I have to be smelling him.'"

Park said the heartbroken mom blames herself.

"She says, 'I should have picked him up at the train station,'" Park said.

Relatives said Yang's iPhone was a prized possession, a rare luxury he purchased last October.

The South Korea native who emigrated to the U.S. as a young boy only recently received his green card, relatives said, and he dreamed of returning to Seoul as a chef.

His dreams were cut short when a gunman in a gray hooded sweatshirt opened fire on 232nd St. near Ewen Park, a witness said.

Park said she previously urged Yang's mother to make the dutiful son take an express bus home from work, but the former Sunday school teacher at St. John Nam Church on White Plains Rd. was counting his pennies.

"The boy, he doesn't want to pay $5.50 (for the bus). He's working hard. He's trying to save money. He's not a fooling-around boy. He's very responsible. He never asked his mother for money," Park said.

"(The suspect) grabbed one of his arms and rolled him over. Then he gave him a little kick. I'm not sure if he was checking to see if he responded," the witness said. "I left to call 911, and when I returned to the window, the guy who had been running was now casually strolling up the hill."

But She Wanted THAT Baby...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/newborn-found-mother-shot-dead-texas_n_1433040.html?ref=mostpopular

Verna McClain Charged: Nurse Admits Shooting Mom, Stealing Newborn Outside Texas Hospital

By MICHAEL GRACZYK and JUAN A. LOZANO 04/18/12 10:54 PM ET

Members of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department work the crime scene where a mother was killed and her baby was kidnapped Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Spring, Texas. A newborn boy was abducted from his screaming mother after she was repeatedly shot outside a suburban Houston pediatric center on Tuesday, according to investigators searching for the suspected shooter who sped off with the infant in a blood-stained Lexus.

SPRING, Texas — Verna McClain told her fiance she had given birth to their child. But after she suffered a miscarriage, authorities said, she went looking for another baby to present to him.

Now she's accused of killing a young mother to take one by force.

Investigators say McClain waited outside a pediatrician's office north of Houston and shot Kala Golden before taking her tiny newborn son, who was only 3 days old.

Little Keegan Golden was found unharmed hours later with McClain's sister – who was told that her sister planned to adopt the boy. He is back with family members.

McClain is charged with capital murder and was being held Wednesday without bond. Authorities say she admitted attacking the woman Tuesday and stealing her baby from his mother's pickup truck.

McClain, 30, who listed a Houston address, was separated from her husband, with whom she had raised three children.

"I don't understand that, her taking a child," her estranged husband, Theo McClain of San Diego, told The Associated Press. "That doesn't make sense. We have three kids. And then to shoot somebody? I've never known her to hurt anybody."

McClain had told her fiance she had given birth to their child. Instead, McClain had miscarried, said Capt. Bruce Zenor of the Montgomery County sheriff's office.

Her fianc�, who was not identified Wednesday, is being interviewed by authorities.

Sheriff Tommy Gage said 28-year-old Kala Golden had placed Keegan into her pickup truck Tuesday afternoon after leaving Northwoods Pediatric Center in Spring, about 20 miles north of Houston. The suspected shooter was parked next to her, Gage said.

The woman repeatedly shot Golden, then snatched the child from her truck and drove away, according to witness accounts. The dying woman leaned into the vehicle and tried to take the boy back, screaming, "My baby!" but her attacker sped off.

Steak Sous Vide?

http://gawker.com/5903411/cows-found-frozen-in-colorado-cabin-could-contaminate-hot-springs

Cows Found Frozen in Colorado Cabin Could Contaminate Hot Springs

A herd of frozen cows discovered by two Air Force Academy cadets in a ranger cabin near the Conundrum Hot Springs in Aspen have to be disposed of before they thaw, or else they could contaminate the water.

The Forest Service is currently mulling two removal options: Blowing them up or setting them on fire. "Obviously, time is of the essence because we don't want them defrosting," said spokesman Steve Segin.

The two cadets stumbled upon the kine last month inside the Conundrum Creek Cabin, where they were hoping to spend the night. Officials believe the cows were grazing on federal wilderness lands and sought shelter from a snowstorm.

Air lifting is considered too costly, and large amounts of snow on the trail mean hauling them out is also problematic, so explosives and fire are currently the only viable options.

[photo via AP]

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One Way to Get Out of Restraints

Cops probe death of teen at Westchester County school

NEWSCORE

Last Updated: 8:08 AM, April 19, 2012

Posted: 6:08 AM, April 19, 2012

A 16-year-old boy died after he suffered a cardiac arrest when he was put into restraints at a Yonkers school that specializes in students with emotional and social difficulties.

The teenager, who has not been named, was restrained at Leake & Watts school when police were called at around 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, the Journal News reported.

He suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. It was unclear why the boy was restrained.

Meredith Barber, director of institutional advancement at the Leake & Watts office in Yonkers, said the boy's family had been notified of his death.

She told the newspaper, "What I can say is that we're very deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our hearts go out to the boy's family."

Yonkers police Lt. James Murphy said, "Once we get there, if they're acting out and deemed emotionally disturbed -- if they don't go willfully... sometimes they'll have to be restrained. It looks like he was being restrained for reason 'A' and for some reason unknown, he went into cardiac arrest."

Officials at Leake & Watts were unavailable for comment.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/cops_probe_death_of_teen_at_westchester_FrXGsOKo7LPhdxgIuUsGGL#ixzz1sWSxMaLT

Lovely Skyping!

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/adrian-rowland-kills-self-on-skype_n_1435130.html

Adrian Rowland, Business Man, Slashes Wrists, Throat, Stomach While On Skype With Girlfriend

The Huffington Post  |  By Laura Hibbard Posted: 04/18/2012 2:47 pm Updated: 04/18/2012 3:23 pm

FOLLOW:

News, Adrian Rowland, Man Commits Suicide, Man Kills Himself, Man Kills Himself Online, Man Kills Himself Over Skype, Skype, Skype Suicide, Suicide, Crime News

Julie Zalinski, a woman from Reading, Berkshire, England, was traumatized when her boyfriend, 53-year-old Adrian Rowlandkilled himself while talking with her via Skype, the Mirror reports.

Zalinski told the paper she and her friend watched in horror as Rowland slashed his wrists and slit his throat and stomach while on a business trip in New Delhi, India.

“He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a glass and smashed it on the table then stuck it straight into his neck," Zalinski told the paper. "He was holding his bloodied wrist out to the screen. He wanted us to see. I don’t think he realised he was bleeding."

In shock, Zalinkski called the police in the U.K. in the hopes that they could contact authorities in New Delhi, according to the Oxford Mail.

Unfortunately, Indian law prevented authorities from breaking into Rowland's room, meaning he was left to die from his injuries.

Zalinski said she believes the incident is the result of a mental breakdown.

“He was just in a complete state. He was sweating profusely and his eyes were just staring," Zalinski told the Oxford Mail.

“He kept saying ‘they are going to get me, they are going to get me.'”

According to the Oxford Times, the 53-year-old's cause of death was listed as heavy blood loss resulting from the self-inflicted injuries.