Police release footage of fatal shooting in Virginia

Police release footage of fatal shooting in Virginia

Body camera footage released Tuesday of the fatal police shooting of a black man in Virginia shows him ignoring police commands and then turning quickly toward officers before they fire shots.

Juan Jones, 25, was fatally shot by police officers early Sunday in the small city of Danville, near the Virginia line with North Carolina.

Virginia State Police are leading the investigation, but the Danville police department said it was releasing the footage Tuesday in an effort to dispel “misinformation and rumor” about the shooting that has sparked protests.

Israel says slain Gaza journalist was Hamas militant

JERUSALEM

Israel’s defense minister said Tuesday that a well-known Gaza journalist who was killed by Israeli gunfire over the weekend was a member of Hamas, an allegation denied by the Islamic militant group and the journalist’s family.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman provided no evidence to back up the claim.

Yasser Murtaja died from a gunshot wound while filming a mass demonstration near the fence with Israel on Friday in an area engulfed in thick black smoke from Palestinians setting tires on fire.

Hamas has called for Palestinians to amass at the border as part of a weeks-long campaign of protests against a decade-old Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory. It also has suggested that it may attempt a mass border breach.

Failed US Senate candidate Moore countersues accuser

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

Former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is countersuing a woman who said he sexually touched her when she was 14 and he was 32.

Attorneys for Moore filed the defamation counterclaim Monday against Leigh Corfman – who has an ongoing defamation lawsuit against Moore – denying the accusations of misconduct raised by Corfman in an interview with the Washington Post. Corfman is among several women who say Moore romantically or sexually pursued them decades ago when they were in their teens and he was in his 30s.

“Leigh Corfman knowingly, willingly and maliciously made statements she knew to be false to the Washington Post with the intention and knowledge that such statements would damage the reputation of Mr. Moore,” attorneys for Moore wrote.

Daughter of ex-spy out of hospital

LONDON

The spy saga that set off international tumult last month took a positive turn Tuesday as Yulia Skripal was released from a British hospital more than a month after she and her father were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent.

“This is not the end of her treatment, but marks a significant milestone,” Salisbury District Hospital medical director Christine Blanshard said after the 33-year-old Skripal was discharged and taken to a secure location.

Blanshard would not provide details about Yulia Skripal’s condition for reasons of patient privacy. Sergei Skripal, 66, the apparent target of the March 4 attack, is recovering more slowly than his daughter but continues to improve, she said.

Associated Press