Busiest airport hits major milestone

Busiest airport hits major milestone

ATLANTA

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said it hit a major milestone Sunday.

The airport that calls itself the world’s busiest announced on its social media sites said it served its 100 millionth passenger this year. That makes it the first single airport to serve that number of passengers in one calendar year.

The passenger earning the distinction is Larry Kendrick of Gulfport, Miss., who will receive a Nissan Altima, two free Delta round-trip plane tickets and a $500 gift card. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed welcomed a surprised Kendrick, who walked down a red carpet as journalists and onlookers recorded the moment.

Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Miguel Southwell says the airport had a 5 percent increase in passenger counts this year.

Boko Haram attacks Nigerian city, many killed

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria

Witnesses say Boko Haram Islamic extremists struck the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri for the first time in months with grenades and suicide bombers. At least 15 people were killed.

They said the suicide bombers blew themselves up as soldiers were trying to repel an attack by insurgents who arrived firing from the back of three trucks and launched grenades that set homes afire in Duwari village, near a major military barracks.

As people fled and soldiers engaged in a shootout, a woman pretending she was a victim of Boko Haram exploded in the midst of a family. A second woman jumped into the fray and detonated herself.

It comes as Nigeria’s government says it has contained the Islamic uprising that has killed 20,000 people in six years.

Deputy sheriff shot

BALDWIN, La.

Authorities say a south Louisiana sheriff’s deputy was shot while responding to a shooting.

State Master Trooper Brooks David says one man was arrested after the incident Sunday in Ashton, a St. Mary Parish community about 35 miles southeast of Lafayette.

He says about 6:10 a.m., a caller told deputies he’d just shot someone at his home.

David says he believes the wounded man was in the yard. He says deputies got that man to an ambulance, and at some point the caller began shooting from inside the house. He says the deputy was shot while a SWAT team was getting deputies away from the house.

David says the SWAT officers then arrested the gunman. He says the man was taken to a hospital with injuries. David did not know what kind of injuries he suffered.

Police: Boy, 7, killed in drive-by shooting

MIAMI-DADE

Police say a 7-year-old boy was killed in a drive-by shooting Sunday while visiting family in southwest Miami-Dade for the holidays.

According to The Miami Herald, Miami-Dade Police officer Juan Perez said the shooting, in Richmond Heights, about 24 miles southwest of Miami, involved a high-powered rifle.

Perez said no one was arrested, but one man was put in handcuffs “for his own safety” so he would calm down. Police were searching for a Dodge Ram believed to be involved. Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss said, “It’s our worst nightmare realized.”

Sunday evening, police had taped off much of the area as they continued to investigate.

Associated Press