Five found dead in Florida home, officials say
[Updated at 9:55 a.m. ET] Authorities found five people dead Tuesday at a Florida home following a SWAT team standoff with a suspected gunman. The SWAT team was called to the neighborhood after a report of a shooting at the home, the county sheriff’s office told CNN affiliate WFTV. The SWAT team entered the home just before 7 a.m. ET, Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Mellicksaid. CNN affiliate CNF13 reported police were in a standoff until 8 a.m.
Residents in the area told CNN affiliate WKMG that officers in camouflage and carrying assault rifles arrived. Some were allowed to evacuate the area, WKMG reported. “If we’ve made contact with you, then you are free to leave,” Mellick told residents, according to WKMG.
Norway: Man sets himself alight outside Breivik trial
A man set himself on fire Tuesday outside the court in Norway’s capital, Oslo, where Anders Behring Breivik is on trial over terror attacks last summer that killed 77 people. “We don’t know much about his motives, but he set himself alight outside the courthouse. Police were quick to put the fire out and he has now been taken to hospital,” Unni Groendal, head of press for Oslo police, told CNN. The man is still alive, according to police. He did not try to force his way through the cordon as some reports have suggested, police said. Norwegian daily newspaper VG reported that several court house employees ran out with water bottles to pour water over the man.
Murdoch executive Brooks to be charged in UK hacking case
British prosecutors said Tuesday they would charge Rebekah Brooks with trying to obstruct a police investigation into phone hacking at newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Brooks, a former editor of the News of the World, is accused of plotting to remove boxes of documents from News International offices and hide computers and documents from police. Her husband, personal assistant and driver will also be charged, along with one of her security guards and the head of security for News International, the News Corp. subsidiary that publishes Murdoch’s British newspapers.
Brooks faces three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Her husband Charles and the other suspects face two counts each of the same charge. A spokesman for Brooks said she and her husband “deplore this weak and unjust decision,” and accused prosecutors of “unprecedented posturing.” Spokesman David Wilson said there would be a fuller statement later. Brooks and the others named Tuesday are the first people to be charged in connection with the British police investigation into phone hacking and police bribery, which has been going on for more than a year.
Obama talks same-sex marriage on “The View”
Last week, Barack Obama went on record as the first American president to support same-sex marriage, but he doesn’t appear ready to take his commitment beyond the endorsement stage. In an interview scheduled to air Tuesday on ABC’s “The View,” Obama wouldn’t commit to fighting for the the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – a federal law that defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman. “My justice department has said to the courts, we don’t think the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional,” the president said in advance excerpts released by the network. “This is something that historically had been determined at the state level and part of my believing ultimately that civil unions weren’t sufficient.”
Police: Phony officer could be killing Mississippi drivers
Someone who may be posing as a police officer is pulling cars over on Mississippi highways and then shooting drivers dead, authorities said. After two such shootings this month, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is asking for the public’s help to find the person. “There are some similarities between the two incidents, mainly the fact they happened alongside a Mississippi highway,” said MBI Director Lt. Col. Larry Waggoner on Monday. “The concern is that someone is posing as a law enforcement officer and that is how these vehicles end up on the side of the road.” The first shooting occurred on May 8. Thomas Schlender, 74, was found dead in his car in the median of southbound Interstate 55 about 1:30 a.m.
