TheState.com: Nation

Loaded gun found in Texas juvenile lockup

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:38 EST

Texas authorities are trying to figure out how a 16-year-old may have gotten a loaded handgun past officers at a juvenile detention center in Houston.

Guards at the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center discovered the gun about two hours after the youth was booked for marijuana possession Monday morning.

Juvenile Probation Department director Harvey Hetzel says the .25 caliber semiautomatic handgun was found under the teenager's mattress.

Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said her agency is investigating how the teen concealed the gun through three searches, including one during his arrest.

Hetzel says juveniles are generally searched, photographed and fingerprinted at a processing center then strip-searched at the downtown detention center.

Teen killed while sleeping at Ore. hunting camp

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03 EST

Authorities say a 14-year-old boy is dead and his cousin is in custody after a bullet came through the wall of the motor home the boy was sleeping in at a central Oregon hunting camp and struck him in the head.

Crook County Sheriff Rodd Clark says investigators believe the bullet was fired from a distance by 21-year-old Brandon Hornseth of Lonepine.

Hornseth was arrested Monday night on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter and other charges in the death of his cousin Justin Butler of Culver. Hornseth was being held at the Crook County Jail; it was unknown if he had an attorney.

Butler and his family were elk hunting at the family ranch in Terrebonne when gunshots were heard early Sunday. Those inside in the motor home turned on the lights and discovered the teen had been shot.

Sheriff's Sgt. James Savage said the investigation was ongoing but the shooting didn't appear to be intentional.

Navajo Code Talkers to be in NYC Veterans parade

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:38 EST

The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them.

Only about 50 of the 400 Code Talkers are believed to be still alive, most living in the Navajo Nation reservation that spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Many are frail or ill, with little time left to tell the world about their wartime contribution.

But on Wednesday, 13 of the Code Talkers are coming to New York City to participate for the first time in the nation's largest Veterans Day parade.

The young Navajo Marines, using secret Navajo language-encrypted military terms, helped the U.S. prevail at Iwo Jima and other World War II Pacific battles, serving in every Marine assault in the South Pacific between 1942-1945. Military commanders said the code, transmitted verbally by radio, helped save countless American lives and bring a speedier end to the war in the Pacific theater.

They were sworn to secrecy about their code, so complex that even other Navajo Marines couldn't decipher it. Used to transmit secret tactical messages via radio or telephone, the code remained unbroken and classified for decades because of its potential postwar use.

Gulf Coast residents stay put ahead of Ida

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:38 EST

Weather-hardened Gulf Coast residents refused to retreat from a steadily weakening rare late-season tropical storm that crept toward shore Tuesday, bringing heavy rain, stiff winds and some flooding.

Ida's winds had dissipated to about 50 mph (85 kph), and at 4 a.m., the center was about 60 miles (95 km) south-southwest of Mobile. It was moving north at about 9 mph (15 kph) and expected to make land later in the morning. Tropical storm warnings were out across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, where governors declared states of emergency.

Still, few people evacuated or sought refuge along Alabama's coast, where the former hurricane that once had potent winds over 100 mph was expected to come ashore. Officials said fewer than 70 people were in shelters that opened in Mobile and Baldwin counties, with a population of 565,000.

Andrew Abbott stood under a sheltered area at Gulf Shores' public beach as rain blew sideways under street lights and frothy sea water washed up against the seawall. He was glad he lives a few miles inland from the beach, away from the threat of flooding and wind damage.

"Where we are we'll be fine, and this shouldn't be a big deal here," said Abbott, who was with his two young children and ex-wife.

High court looks at life sentences for juveniles

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:34 EST

A seemingly divided Supreme Court wrestled Monday with whether teenagers can be locked away forever for their crimes. The question arose in two cases involving Florida men who are serving life prison terms with no chance of parole for crimes they committed as teenagers. Their lawyers argue that the sentences for people so young are cruel and unusual, in violation of the Constitution, because young people have greater capacity to change.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the Supreme Court opinion four years ago that ruled out the death penalty for people under 18, judging them less responsible than adults. So most eyes were on him Monday as the court considered whether to extend that rationale to life without parole sentences.

But Kennedy offered little hint of his position, at one point suggesting it might be difficult to distinguish between juveniles and adults in cases that do not involve the death penalty.

"Why does a juvenile have a constitutional right to hope, but an adult does not?" he asked.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg provided a possible answer, wondering whether teenagers can be accurately evaluated at the time they are sentenced. It may be possible that only after some years have passed that the state can determine, "Has this person overcome those youthful disabilities?" she said.

2 workers rescued from wobbly oil rig as Ida nears

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:23 EST

The Coast Guard says two Chevron Corp. workers have been rescued from an oil rig that was in danger of toppling as Tropical Storm Ida churned up high seas.

The Chevron workers were rescued at about 5 a.m. Monday after a lift boat tied to the rig broke loose and smashed into the rig. The workers feared the rig might collapse.

The rig is located in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles south of New Orleans, not far from the path of Ida.

Chevron says the workers were not injured, and the rig was still standing as of Monday afternoon.

Family sues over boy's gun show death

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:08 EST

The family of an 8-year-old boy who fatally shot himself at a gun show in western Massachusetts say the Uzi submachine gun jammed twice before he lost control of the weapon and fired into his head.

The family of Christopher Bizilj (bah-SEEL') of Ashford, Conn., says in a civil lawsuit filed Friday that a 15-year-old instructor who cleared the gun and handed it back to the victim failed to provide proper guidance.

The lawsuit names the owners of a gun club where the fair was held, promoters of the event and those who supplied the weapon and ammunition. None of those named in the lawsuit could be reached for comment after business hours Monday.

Bizilj shot himself at the Westfield Sportsman's Club in October 2008.

The boy's family claims the gun was defective and unreasonably dangerous, and they blame the failure to properly service it.

Somali pirates hit oil tanker in long-range attack

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:28 EST

Somali pirates attacked an oil tanker and fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades Monday farther out at sea than any previous assault, suggesting that pirate capabilities are growing as they increase activity off East Africa.

Pirates in two skiffs fired at the Hong Kong-flagged BW Lion about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of the Somali coast, the European Union Naval Force said.

The tanker's captain increased speed and took evasive maneuvers, avoiding the attack, the force said. No casualties were reported. The naval force sent a plane from the Seychelles islands to investigate.

Pirates have launched increasingly bold attacks against vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden in hopes of capturing a ship and crew and collecting ransom. They currently hold more than 190 hostages, including a British couple seized from their personal yacht late last month.

The high-seas hijackings have increased after the recent end of the monsoon season despite an international armada of warships deployed by the United States, the European Union, NATO, Japan, South Korea and China to patrol the region. U.S. drones launched from nearby Seychelles are also patrolling for pirates.

Suspect in Colorado bar shooting held without bail

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:43 EST

A man suspected of killing one person and wounding three others in a shooting at a Colorado bar has been ordered held without bail.

Richard Moreau is accused of firing several shots outside and in the Sandbar Sports Grill in Vail. Police say the longtime resident of the mountain ski resort town was arrested Saturday at the scene on suspicion of first-degree homicide. Moreau was in court Monday, where a judge set his next hearing for Dec. 1.

Authorities say the shooting appeared to be random. Witnesses told police that a man got into an argument in the bar and that the gunfire started when he was escorted out by employees. Seventy-year-old Gary Bruce Kitching was fatally shot.

Moreau told the Vail Daily in a 2007 videotaped interview that he was taking medication for post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after serving two tours of duty in Vietnam in the late '60s. He said he is a New Hampshire native who moved to Vail in 1970 and skis more than 150 days a year.

NYPD: Suspicious powder sent to 3 NY consulates

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:03 EST

Envelopes containing suspicious powder were sent to three foreign consulates in Manhattan on Monday, but initial tests suggested the mailings were a hoax, police officials said.

A field test done on the powder sent the Uzbekistan Consulate came back negative for Anthrax or any other dangerous substance, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Brown said.

Envelopes containing a powder were also sent to the French and Austrian consulates.

All three envelopes had Dallas, Texas, postmarks, and at least one contained a note referencing al-Qaida, Brown said.

The potential threat prompted an emergency response from federal and local authorities, including hazardous material units that decontaminated employees of the consulates who handled the envelopes.

Witness: Fla. office shooter stayed about a minute

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:38 EST

A man who was in an Orlando office when a former employee came in and started shooting said Monday that the ordeal that left one dead and five injured lasted about a minute.

Mark Davidson, a vice president at the engineering firm Reynolds, Smith and Hills, said Monday that his co-workers stayed calm Friday and didn't scream as Jason Rodriguez entered a reception area of the eighth-floor office and began shooting randomly.

"Nobody was screaming or yelling," Davidson said. "It wasn't panicky."

The gunman pulled a pistol from a holster under his shirt in the reception area of the U-shaped office and began shooting. At first, Davidson said he didn't know what the noise was. He thought it might be balloons popping or book shelves falling over. There is only one main entrance to the office from outside, and it was typically unlocked during business hours.

The building had security guards posted at a desk on the first floor, but visitors could come and go with relative ease before Friday's shooting.

NC officials ID Civil War ship that burned at sea

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:18 EST

North Carolina officials say they have identified a Civil War shipwreck that burned at sea more than 145 years ago.

The state Underwater Archaeology Branch said Monday that a silver-plated spoon inscribed with the name of a crew member from the CSS Appomattox confirmed the ship's identity.

A four-member diving team discovered the shipwreck in August 2007 in the Pasquotank (PAS'-kwah-tank) River. They had been searching for the Appomattox for more than 10 years.

The Appomattox was part of a set of armed steamers that defended northeastern North Carolina waters. Its Confederate crew set the ship on fire in 1862 while fleeing Union forces.

Big-rig plummets off San Francisco bridge

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:33 EST

A trucker is dead after his big rig plummeted 200 feet off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge early Monday and smashed onto an island below.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross says the driver of a rig hauling produce lost control on the westbound bridge's troublesome S-curve at about 3:30 a.m. The rig went over the side and landed on Yerba Buena Island.

The trucker died on impact.

There have been more than 42 crashes in the bridge's S-curve area since it opened Sept. 8. Cross says speed is the cause.

The speed limit was lowered from 50 to 40 mph. Flashing lights warn drivers of the sudden curve ahead.

UN chief heads to Washington to push climate deal

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:33 EST

Confident that governments will reach a climate change deal next month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is heading to Washington Tuesday to ensure that the United States is on board.

Ban plans to meet with key senators and White House officials to discuss how governments are approaching the climate negotiations "and what those governments expect, in terms of the role of the United States," the secretary-general's top adviser on climate change said Monday.

Ban and Janos Pasztor, the director of his Climate Change Support Team, were originally campaigning for agreement on a new treaty at Copenhagen. But in the past month, both have scaled back expectations, focusing instead on getting a political deal on the key elements that can be turned into a treaty, hopefully next year.

At the final round of negotiations in Barcelona that ended last week, the United States was universally seen as the linchpin to a political deal, but it has been unable to present its position or pledge emissions targets because of the slow progress of climate legislation in Congress.

Last week, Senate Democrats sidestepped a Republican boycott and pushed a climate bill out of a key committee - but at least five other committees still must weigh in, and the partisan antics early on threatened to cast a pall over the measure - one of President Barack Obama's top priorities.

Authorities: Object at LA courthouse was not bomb

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:53 EST

Authorities say a suspicious object found outside an East Los Angeles courthouse was not a bomb.

The device was removed Monday by a bomb squad robot.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. David Infante says the courthouse had not yet opened when the box-like object was first spotted.

He says he doesn't know what the object was, but it was determined to be non-explosive and the all-clear was given after about two hours.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

New judge sought for Ariz. boy charged in killing

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:43 EST

Defense and prosecution lawyers in the case of a 9-year-old Arizona boy charged with killing his father and another man want a new judge appointed so a plea deal doesn't fall through.

Defense attorney Ron Wood said Apache County Superior Court Judge Michael Roca is biased against his client. The prosecutor, Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting, said Monday he supports Wood's request for a new judge.

The boy, whose name is withheld by The Associated Press because of his age, was 8 years old when he was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5, 2008 shootings in the eastern Arizona town of St. Johns.

Police alleged he used a .22-caliber rifle to shoot his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and his father's friend, Timothy Romans, 39, as they returned home from work.

In the year since, the big question has always been what to do with him.

D.C. sniper mastermind set to be executed Tuesday

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:43 EST

Unless Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine steps in, sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad will be executed Tuesday for the attacks that terrorized the nation's capital region for three weeks in 2002.

Muhammad is set to die by injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. His attorneys have asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they say he is mentally ill. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station during a spree that left 10 dead across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

He and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

For the families of those killed, the day is a long time coming.

FBI reassessing past look at Fort Hood suspect

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:18 EST

Nearly a year before Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, terrorism investigators conducted an "assessment" of him before deciding he did not pose a threat.

After the shooting, the FBI is doing a new assessment - of its own conduct.

The Army psychiatrist is believed to have acted alone despite repeated communications - intercepted by authorities - with a radical imam overseas, U.S. officials said Monday. The FBI will conduct an internal review to see whether it mishandled early information about the man accused in the bloody rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 29.

President Barack Obama was joining grieving families and comrades of the victims Tuesday at a memorial service at the sprawling Texas Army base. Hasan, awake and talking to doctors, met his lawyer Monday in the San Antonio hospital where he is recovering, under guard, from gunshot wounds in the assault.

In Washington, an investigative official and a Republican lawmaker said Hasan had communicated 10 to 20 times with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam released from a Yemeni jail last year who has used his personal Web site to encourage Muslims across the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. Despite that, no formal investigation was opened into Hasan, they said.

Israeli prime minister calls for peace talks

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:28 EST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called for an immediate resumption of peace talks with Palestinians and pledged more steps to improve economic conditions in Palestinian areas.

Netanyahu reiterated to an assembly of Jewish groups his view that peace negotiations should begin with no preconditions. He made no new proposals on constraining Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Palestinian officials insist that Israel freeze settlement activity before peace talks resume.

"I believe there is no time to waste; we need to move toward peace with a sense of urgency and with a sense of purpose," he said in a speech to the Jewish Federations of North America. "I want to make this clear: My goal is not to have endless negotiations. My goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations. My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians."

He also said Israel is willing to make "great concessions for peace," without sacrificing its security.

AP asks judge to keep HOPE artist's lawyers

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:23 EST

The Associated Press has asked a judge to deny a request by the attorneys of street artist Shepard Fairey to withdraw from his copyright battle over the Barack Obama "HOPE" poster.

Fairey's lawyers have asked for permission to withdraw after Fairey acknowledged he was mistaken about which AP photo he used to create his famous image and attempted to destroy evidence of his error.

In papers filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, the news organization said that the request should be turned down because his attorneys have "unique knowledge" about Fairey's wrongdoing.

"In addition," according to the papers, "having new counsel start fresh nine months into the case after extensive discovery has already occurred would cause additional prejudice and undue delay to The AP, which, as a not-for-profit organization, has already been forced to incur significant expense in discovery due to Fairey's attempt to hide which photo he used to make the Obama posters."

Fairey's legal team is led by Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University. The artist's proposed new attorneys include Geoffrey Stewart of the Jones Day law firm and William Fisher III, director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

US troops killed in Iraq and Kuwait

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:48 EST

Army Spc. Paul E. Andersen

On paper, Paul E. Andersen was a devoted military man who spent about 25 years with the Army Reserve. At heart, he was a kid.

The 49-year-old from Dowagiac, Mich., enjoyed slurping strawberry milkshakes, tinkering with machines and putting up lots of lights at Christmas. To deliver his riding lawn mower to his stepdaughter's home, he once drove it along the road and fooled police by pretending to mow the roadside.

"He was pleased and proud as can be, especially because he got away with it," said his wife, Linda.

She first bumped into Andersen at a friend's home in 2004, after his first tour in Iraq.

Pa. city OKs settlement for 2005 police death

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:13 EST

An eastern Pennsylvania city council has approved a $5 million settlement with the widow of a police officer shot dead inside police headquarters.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. says the settlement approved Monday is "in the best interest of the residents of the city."

Officer Jesse Sollman was accidentally shot by another officer in the police station after a March 2005 training exercise. His widow, Carin, alleged in her federal lawsuit that her husband's death was the result of a lack of safety procedures and discipline.

The settlement doesn't end the city's legal problems over the shooting. Scottsdale Insurance Co. has argued that it shouldn't pay because the death is a workers' compensation case. A federal judge rejected that argument in March, but the insurer is appealing.

Judge hears arguments on Smart case witness list

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:13 EST

Defense attorneys for the man charged in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart argued Monday that testimony by experts in Mormon fundamentalism and religious extremism is irrelevant and should not be allowed at a hearing to decide his mental competency.

Attorneys for Brian David Mitchell told U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball that an expert's comparison of religious beliefs would not prove or disprove Mitchell's competency.

A self-proclaimed religious prophet, Mitchell was indicted in Smart's kidnapping in March 2008, six years after she was taken from her Salt Lake City home at knifepoint. His competency for trial is in question and a 10-day hearing is set to begin Nov. 30.

Debate over proposed witnesses Richard Forbes and Dr. Daniel Peterson dominated the arguments during Monday's two-hour hearing over evidence and a list of proposed witnesses for the competency proceedings.

Defense attorneys also want to exclude any other witnesses who are not mental health professionals trained to evaluate competency, along with Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist hired by the U.S. attorney's office to evaluate Mitchell. A report by Welner, portions of which have been made public, concludes that Mitchell is competent and is feigning symptoms of mental disorders to avoid prosecution.

Mallahan concedes Seattle mayor race; McGinn wins

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:54 EST

Cell phone executive Joe Mallahan conceded defeat Monday in the race for Seattle mayor, handing environmental attorney Mike McGinn a victory in the state's biggest city.

Mallahan conceded after the latest batch of results from King County showed McGinn had more than doubled his lead, to nearly 5,000 votes. On Friday, he led Mallahan by 2,384 votes.

The two newcomers finished ahead of incumbent Mayor Greg Nickels in the August primary.

"Voters of Seattle responded to Mike McGinn's message, and I congratulate him for it," Mallahan said at a Monday evening news conference.

Shortly after, McGinn spoke to his campaign volunteers, calling Mallahan a "gentleman" who cares deeply about the city. Supporters of the Sierra Club activist chanted "We want Mike!" as he walked into his campaign office.

UC Berkeley students roll a giant serpent of sushi

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:08 EST

It was the roll of a lifetime.

Hundreds of amateur sushi chefs at the University of California, Berkeley got their hands fishy Sunday as they assembled a 330-foot California roll.

A university spokeswoman says Sunday's rice-and-seaweed monstrosity is the largest of its kind ever rolled, surpassing a 300-foot California roll made in Hawaii in 2001.

Students used 200 pounds of rice, 80 pounds of avocado, 80 pounds of cucumber and 180 pounds of fish. And in a nod to the school's scores of vegetarians, the final 15 feet contained tofu instead of seafood.

Members of the Japanese Graduate & Researchers Society dressed as ninjas started the giant project.

Paterson calls for action on gay marriage, deficit

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:53 EST

Gov. David Paterson on Monday urged lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, calling it "an issue that touches on the very core of our citizenship."

His request raises the hopes of gay advocates who suffered a major defeat in Maine when voters repealed that state's same-sex-marriage law last week.

In New York City, Christine Quinn, the openly gay council speaker, quickly weighed in by offering an impassioned plea for the state Senate to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

In a rare midyear address to a joint session of the Legislature, the Democrat singled out his gay marriage proposal in a lengthy agenda for Tuesday's extraordinary session that will mostly be devoted to addressing the state's $3.2 billion budget deficit.

"It is an issue that in many ways speaks to the very foundation of our democracy," Paterson said of gay marriage. "I would like it addressed as immediately as possible, because justice delayed is justice denied. I am asking the members of the New York state Senate on both sides of the aisles to take up and pass the marriage equality legislation this week."

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,362

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:08 EST

As of Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, at least 4,362 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The figure includes nine military civilians killed in action. At least 3,476 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EST.

The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.

---

NY jurors deliberate at hedge fund trial

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:23 EST

A jury began deliberations Monday at the trial of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers charged with lying to investors.

Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges in the first criminal case to hit Wall Street amid the housing market meltdown.

Prosecutors claim the pair hid warning signs that their funds were about to implode. The alleged fraud cost 300 investors about $1.6 billion.

The fallout nearly led to the demise of Bear Stearns itself. The firm barely avoided bankruptcy in a rescue buyout by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Deliberations were under way in federal court in Brooklyn.

Md. man killed, 6 hurt in Pa. speakeasy shooting

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:58 EST

A fistfight at a crowded speakeasy touched off a shooting that killed a man, and six people were wounded in an ensuing gunfight, authorities said Monday.

"This was an outright gun battle," Berks County District Attorney John Adams said. "With the number of guns that were fired and the amount of gunfire, we are fortunate that only one person is dead."

About 100 people were packed into the illegal club in Reading on Sunday when a fight broke out around 3:20 a.m. Someone pulled a gun and Richard Gonzalez, 28, of Prince George's County, Md., was shot and killed, police said.

But the shooting wasn't over. As people walked out of the club a few minutes later, a car pulled up and an unknown gunman got out and fired into the building, officials said.

Others still inside fired back, Adams said.

Man gets 14 years in immigrant smuggling case

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:28 EST

A Texas man has been sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for his role in what became the deadliest human smuggling attempt in U.S. history.

Prosecutors say 40-year-old Abelardo Flores was part of a smuggling ring that packed more than 70 illegal immigrants into the back of a stifling tractor-trailer in May 2003 and tried to take them from southern Texas to Houston. Flores had pleaded guilty to a smuggling conspiracy charge.

As part of the sentence handed down Monday, he was also fined $3,000.

The immigrants, from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, were found after the driver abandoned the trailer at a truck stop. Nineteen people died of dehydration, overheating and suffocation.