3 Dead in Grocery Store Shooting
A gunman killed two women inside an Indiana grocery store Wednesday night before police rushed to the scene and gunned him down.
The tragic scene played out in a sprawling grocery store in Elkhart, Indiana.
Officers were called to the scene just after 10 p.m. and found an armed man in the store, according to Indiana State Police Trooper Brooks Shirk. The man also fired at officers.
Officers fatally shot the gunman, police told CNN affiliate WXIN.
They found the bodies of two women aisles apart inside the grocery store, both of them shot by the gunman, Shirk said. One of the women was a shopper, the other was an employee.
It was unclear whether he knew the victims or if there was any connection between the three, Shirk said.
Police said the man used a semi-automatic handgun. A knife was also recovered at the scene.
Investigators scoured through a huge crime scene overnight, police said, as shell casings and debris stretched throughout the store.
The names of the gunman and victims were not released. Neither was a motive.
"You never know why this happens," said Indiana State Police Sgt. Trent Smith "People are depressed. People do things that are not rational. You just can't explain these things a lot of the times."
Police: New Mexico Shooter May Have Warned Some Students Before Attack
The preteen shooter who opened fire inside a crowded middle school gym with a shotgun may have warned some students not to go to school before the attack, police in New Mexico said.
The revelation is part of the many angles police are looking into after Tuesday's shooting that left two students wounded, a New Mexico community stunned and a nation again wondering about the safety of our school children.
"We have preliminary information that possibly some of the students were warned by the individual prior to the shooting not to go to school," said New Mexico State Police Chief Pete Kassetas during a news conference Tuesday night.
He did not elaborate.
Police were executing three search warrants, Kassetas said: for the seventh-grade suspect's school locker, the bag he brought to the school and his home.
"We've got the individual we believe is responsible in state police custody," he said.
What police don't yet have is a motive.
See more at CNN.com
Blizzard Blasts Northeast with Snow, Wind and Bitter Cold
The heavy snow falling along much of the mid-Atlantic Coast into New England is expected to taper off Friday as a nor'easter heads into Canada, leaving bitter cold in its wake, the National Weather Service said.
By early morning, the snowfall was nearly finished in the nation's capital; it was expected to stop by late morning in New York City, where 6 inches were covering Central Park, and by early afternoon in Boston, which got socked by nearly 15 inches.
North of Boston, residents of Topsfield, Massachusetts, got nearly 2 feet of snow.
The combination of cold and winds gusting more than 30 mph was expected to lower wind chill temperatures to less than 10 degrees over the mid-Atlantic and into the teens in New England.
Correspondent Laurie Segall was in Chatham, Massachusetts and shared a picture of her live truck stuck frozen in the snow.
But not just the Northeast will be hit, forecasters said. About one-third of the nation - approximately 100 million people in 22 states - is in the path of this storm.
Snow was also predicted from the Upper Midwest into the Great Lakes, with as much as 8 inches expected in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and additional snow possible along a cold front that extends through the Midwest and into the Central Plains, the service said.
Across the country, the weather has snarled travel plans for many.
FlightAware.com, which tracks cancellations due to weather and mechanical problems, said more than 1,800 flights had been canceled for Friday. That's after more than 2,600 U.S. flights were canceled Thursday.
Flights were expected to resume later Friday in much of New England, though delays were predicted in some airports. Ticket holders were urged to check with their airlines.
Barb Plooster had planned to fly Friday from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, but her flight was canceled. She told CNN affiliate WICU that she was on the phone with United Airlines for five hours trying to find a way to get home, but has concluded that she will have to wait until Monday. "We got a warm place to stay, get to visit the kids, the grandkids, so it's OK," she said.
See more at CNN.com.
911 Calls Reveal A Desperate Bid To Pull Out Woman Mauled by Cougar
Before the distressing 911 call even connects, the caller breathes heavily.
"I need an ambulance. Oh my God. Please hurry," the caller says.
That's the agitated voice of Michael Tuller, the owner of Wild Cat Haven Sanctuary in Clackamas County, Oregon, a private place that houses some 60 big cats. He discovered the lifeless body of head keeper Renee Radziwon-Chapman, 36, inside an enclosure Saturday.
The 911 tapes, released this week, tell of the horror. CNN's Stephanie Elam reports.
"I have a keeper at Wild Cat Haven," Tuller yells. "I think she's dead."
He sounds frenzied and is heard working feverishly, apparently trying to get the muscular cats away from the fallen woman's body.
"Oh my God, Oh my God, oh my God, Renee. Oh my God, Renee. Oh my God .... get! Oh my God, oh my God," he yells.
The dispatcher seems concerned about Tuller.
"Sir, are you in a safe position to go in by yourself?" the dispatcher asks.
"I'm here, I'm here," he says.
"OK, we don't want you to get injured though, we don't want you to get hurt," the dispatcher says.
"Yeah, I hear what you're saying," Tuller says. Then he turns his attention back on shooing the wildcats away.
"Get out of here. Get. Go. Go. Go. Go. Oh my God, Renee. Oh my God Renee, Oh my God. Oh my God," he yells.
The dispatcher tries to assess the situation.
"What kind of injuries does she have?" The dispatcher says.
"Dammit Renee!" Tuller yells.
It may have been at this point that Tuller fully realized that it was too late. The mother of a young daughter was mauled to death by a cougar. For some reason, against policy, she had been in the enclosure by herself, the sanctuary has said.
"We have help on the way to you ... have you gotten, are you in the enclosure right now?" the dispatcher says.
"I'm back out," Tuller says.
"Is your friend still in the enclosure?"
"I got her out," Tuller says.
"OK, can we try CPR?" the dispatcher asks.
"No, no," Tuller says resolutely.
"Do you think she's beyond help?" the dispatcher questions.
"That's a (expletive) question to ask but yes, I do," Tuller says.
"OK, I'm sorry sir," the dispatcher says. "Can I send somebody that way for you to talk to? Like a chaplain or something?"
"I don't know," Tuller screams hysterically. "I don't know!"
The sanctuary has called in an outside expert to investigate the death and the facility's safety policies of the place that is not open to the public. The state is also investigating.
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