3 officers, 1 trooper shot during standoff in Texas
Monday, August 21, 2006 3 officers, 1 trooper shot during standoff in Texas MIDLOTHIAN, Texas — Three police officers and a state trooper were shot and wounded Sunday during a standoff at an apartment complex that stemmed from a report of a broken window, officials said. The gunman had not surrendered Sunday evening. Gunfire broke out again shortly before 8 p.m. and several officers wearing gas masks could be seen moving into the building where the gunman was holed up. Officers were initially called to the apartment complex because of a report of a broken window in this town about 25 miles southwest of Dallas, Midlothian police said. The officers determined the window had been broken by a gunshot and went to the apartment where they believed the shots had been fired. There, police said the gunman opened fire. Midlothian police Sgt. Brian Woolery was in serious condition at Methodist Dallas Medical Center Hospital, spokeswoman Kathleen Beathard said. Officer Dustin Compton was in good condition and Trooper Rick Smith was in fair condition. The fourth officer also was hospitalized but his condition was not immediately available. Murder charge filed; man says he killed men DREXEL, Mo. — A Missouri man who police say confessed killing, dismembering and burning the bodies of seven men in his bedroom fireplace was charged Sunday with one count of murder. Michael Lee Shaver Jr., 33, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action related to a killing in fall 2001. Shaver, who police say spontaneously confessed after he was arrested after a failed carjacking, told investigators that he had shot and killed seven people at his residence during drug transactions so he could take their money and drugs, Cass County Sheriff's Capt. Chuck Stocking said. Shaver claimed that after he killed the men — all between the ages of 20 and 40 and from the Kansas City area — he dismembered the bodies, burned the parts in a fireplace in his bedroom, then used a hammer to crush large bones and skulls, Stocking said. Pope: Working too hard can hurt your spirit CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Working too hard, even for those leading the Catholic Church, is bad for the spirit, Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday as he greeted tourists at his summer residence outside Rome. During his traditional weekly appearance to bless the faithful, Benedict quoted from writings of St. Bernard in the 12th century meant for the popes of his time on the subject of overwork. Benedict quoted the saint as advising pontiffs to "watch out for the dangers of an excessive activity, whatever ... the job that you hold, because many jobs often lead to the 'hardening of the heart,' as well as 'suffering of the spirit, loss of intelligence."' "That warning is valid for every kind of work, even those involved in the governing of the church," 79-year-old Benedict said. Troops seize lawmaker RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli forces seized a senior Palestinian legislator Sunday in the latest move in a 7-week-old crackdown on the ruling Hamas movement, drawing angry accusations from Palestinian leaders that Israel is undermining their efforts to form a unity government. Troops and agents of the Shin Bet intelligence agency grabbed Mahmoud al-Ramahi, a senior Hamas member and secretary-general of the Palestinian parliament, at his Ramallah home, a military statement said. It gave no further details, but his sister Yaqeen said the raid took place in broad daylight. His capture puts almost all of Hamas' West Bank leadership in Israeli custody. Al-Ramahi had evaded capture since the crackdown on Hamas began after the June 25 abduction of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Hamas-linked militants from Gaza. Clashes leave 77 dead KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan and NATO troops used rockets, planes and artillery in rolling battles with Taliban insurgents this weekend in Afghanistan's volatile south, leaving 71 militants and five Afghan soldiers dead in one of the bloodiest clashes since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. A British soldier was killed in a separate attack. The fierce fighting began late Saturday and continued into Sunday after the Taliban attacked a police convoy in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district, said Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi, the district government chief. In the neighboring southern province of Helmand, a separate clash Sunday with insurgents left one British soldier dead and three others wounded, Britain's defense ministry said. The death brought to 20 the number of British soldiers killed since they deployed to Afghanistan in November 2001. Associated Press