2 men confess they shot Okla. residents

2 men confess they shot Okla. residents

houston

The two suspects in a shooting rampage that terrorized the black community in Tulsa, Okla., over the weekend have confessed, police said Monday.

Tulsa Police Department arrest reports obtained by the Los Angeles Times say 32-year-old Alvin Watts confessed shooting two people, and 19-year-old Jake England confessed shooting three. England’s arrest report says he drove during the shootings and led police to the weapon. Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham told the Times that the gun and a truck were seized in connection with the shootings.

The shootings early Friday left three people dead — a woman and two men — and two people seriously wounded. All the victims were black, and police have described both suspects as white, although England has identified himself as Native American.

Md. winner claims share of $656M pot

baltimore

The holder of a winning Mega Millions ticket sold in Maryland claimed a share of the record-breaking $656 million prize Monday but will remain anonymous, state lottery officials said.

The winner claimed the prize at lottery headquarters with a ticket matching all six numbers: 2-4-23-38-46 and the Mega Ball, 23, said Maryland Lottery spokeswoman Carole Everett. The winner will remain anonymous, but officials will share some details at a news conference today, she said. Maryland does not require lottery winners to be identified.

The jackpot was the biggest in Mega Millions history, and the three winners — one each in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas — will each receive more than $218 million before taxes.

Mom finds 3 slain adults at day care

brooklyn park, minn.

A mother who had a suspicious feeling after she dropped off her toddler at a home day care Monday returned to the house a few minutes later to make a grisly discovery: three adults inside, shot dead.

The woman’s child was unhurt and no other children were at the day care at the time. Police had made no arrests by Monday evening and were seeking a suspect in his mid-20s, believed to have fled on a BMX bicycle.

Man charged with child-sex exploitation

indianapolis

Investigators are trying to identify hundreds of potential victims whose images were found on the computer of an Indiana man charged with coercing two teenage boys into performing online sex acts for him by threatening to post on gay porn sites compromising videos he secretly made of them.

U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said at a Monday news conference that the “sextortion” case against Richard Leon Finkbiner could become the largest of its kind in the U.S.

Finkbiner, 39, was arrested Friday at his home in the Clay County community of Brazil and faces two preliminary counts of sexually exploiting a child. He was in custody Monday and has a detention hearing Wednesday.

Fungus case clears

los angeles

The mysterious deaths of millions of bats in the United States and Canada over the past several years were caused by a fungus that hitchhiked from Europe, scientists reported Monday.

Experts suspected that an invasive species was to blame for the die-off from “white nose syndrome.” The fungal illness has not caused widespread deaths among European bats unlike in the U.S. and Canada. In North America more than 5.7 million bats have died since 2006.

Combined dispatches