TEXAS
DA: BP agent used service gun in killings
LAREDO — Prosecutors say crime scene evidence suggests a U.S. Border Patrol agent used his service handgun to kill four women whose bodies were found along remote roadsides in South Texas.
In a statement issued Thursday, District Attorney Isidro Alaniz says the .40-caliber shell casings found at all four scenes “are consistent with the agency issued handgun.” However, Alaniz says scientific testing is needed to confirm such a match.
Border agent Juan David Ortiz was arrested Sept. 15 on several charges, including four counts of murder. He awaits trial in Webb County Jail in Laredo with bonds totaling $2.5 million.
CALIFORNIA
‘Suge’ Knight gets
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28 years in slaying
LOS ANGELES — Marion “Suge” Knight was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison for mowing down and killing a Compton businessman in a case that completed the former rap music mogul’s downfall from his heyday as one of the biggest — and most feared — names in the music industry.
Knight, 53, will now likely live out most, if not the rest, of his life in a California prison. He showed no emotion in court Thursday as relatives of Terry Carter, the man he killed, described their loved one as a devoted family man and peacemaker.
Carter was killed after Knight and one of his longtime rivals, Cle “Bone” Sloan, started fighting outside a Compton burger stand in January 2015. Knight was upset about his portrayal in an N.W.A. biopic, “Straight Outta Compton,” which Sloan was serving as a consultant on.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Suspect bragged
of marksmanship
FLORENCE — The Vietnam veteran and disbarred lawyer accused of shooting seven law enforcement officers, killing one, bragged online about his marksmanship and love for the “smell of gunpowder” in the years before the deadly standoff, records and social-media posts unearthed Thursday showed.
Frederick Hopkins lost his law license in the 1980s for mishandling money and faced several minor criminal charges in recent years, including disorderly conduct in 2014. It was around the time of his disbarment that he got serious about amateur target-shooting, according to the records and posts.
Two wounded city officers were released from the hospital. A third officer was listed in serious but stable condition, the police chief said. He said he did not know the conditions of three wounded sheriff’s deputies.
Hopkins, 74, is accused of opening fire Wednesday from his home in an affluent South Carolina neighborhood after deputies tried to carry out a search warrant. He also allegedly held children hostage inside, authorities said. It was not clear exactly how the confrontation ended. Authorities would say only that the gunman released the children as he was taken into custody, authorities said.
UTAH
Mormon church
backs medical pot deal
SALT LAKE CITY — The Mormon church joined lawmakers, the governor and advocates to back a deal Thursday that would legalize medical marijuana in conservative Utah after months of fierce debate.
The compromise comes as people prepare to vote in November on an insurgent medical marijuana ballot initiative that held its ground despite opposition from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Gov. Gary Herbert said he’ll call lawmakers into a special session after the midterm election to pass the compromise into law regardless of how the initiative fares. If it passes, it will be revised under the terms of the deal. It if fails, the Legislature would consider a law under the new framework.
The agreement in such a conservative state underscores the nation’s changing attitude toward marijuana. Medical use now is legal in more than 30 states and also is on the November ballot in Missouri. So-called recreational marijuana goes before voters in Michigan and North Dakota. If passed, it will be a first for a Midwestern state.
Though it still must go to a vote, the deal has the key backing of both the church and leaders of the Republican-dominated Legislature, who said the regulations in the hard-won agreement have their seal of approval. Unlike the ballot initiative, the compromise won’t allow people to grow their own marijuana if they live too far from a dispensary.
MASSACHUSETTS
15 Boston buildings called uninhabitable
BOSTON — Authorities say at least 15 buildings in communities north of Boston that were damaged in gas explosions last month are uninhabitable.
The Eagle-Tribune reports the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday 19 other buildings in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover are suitable for “restricted use,” which means they need repairs. According to the agency, an additional 102 buildings sustained “minor damage.”
Agency spokesman Christopher Besse says many of the damaged buildings are multi-unit structures used by more than one family.
The Sept. 13 explosions and fires killed a teenager and injured at least 25 other people. Investigators continue to probe the cause.
The Associated Press