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Mar 14, 2012

Breaking News: CBS News: Suspect in Afghan massacre flown out of country

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Suspect in Afghan massacre flown out of country
Mar 14th 2012, 18:58

U.S. solider being flown to undisclosed location before further judicial proceedings; News comes hours after surveillance video released

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Breaking News: CBS News: Goldman exec blasts firm as he walks out the door

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Goldman exec blasts firm as he walks out the door
Mar 14th 2012, 17:20

In withering op-ed, former banker says clients were called "muppets," and making money was firm's only focus

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Breaking News: CBS News: Analysis: Romney looks weaker with every contest

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Analysis: Romney looks weaker with every contest
Mar 14th 2012, 09:38

John Dickerson says even as Romney adds delegates to his already-tops count, his credibility as a "strong" candidate erodes

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Breaking News: CBS News: Obama unveils his Final Four picks

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Obama unveils his Final Four picks
Mar 14th 2012, 07:07

History has not been kind to Obama's picks -- he has chosen the eventual winner one time since 2008

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U.S. News
Stories from NBC reporters around the country.
Police: Four people stabbed, suspect shot in downtown Columbus, Ohio
Mar 14th 2012, 18:55

By msnbc.com staff and news services

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A man stabbed four people at a downtown Ohio office building and then was shot by an officer as he left the building, police officials said.

Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said three of the victims were in critical condition at a downtown hospital, while the fourth received minor injuries.


The attack was reported at about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday at a building that houses offices of the Ohio attorney general and Miami-Jacobs Career College.

Weiner says the suspect confronted one victim inside the building near Miami-Jacobs Career College. He said other people inside intervened and took away one knife the suspect was using.

Weiner says those who intervened didn't realize suspect had a second knife.

A female officer responding to a report of multiple stabbings at the college saw victims when she arrived on the scene. She confronted the suspect who was armed with two knives, one in each hand, NBC station WCMH reported, citing a police source. The suspect went toward the officer in a violent manner so she fired multiple shots. The officer was not injured.

Weiner says police don't know what prompted the attack or whether there's any connection between the suspect and the wounded. A school spokesman told The Associated Press he doesn't know whether the victims were students or staff.

Read more on the Columbus, Ohio, stabbings on NBC4i.com

The suspect was transported to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in critical condition, WCMH reported.

Three of the victims were taken to Grant Medical Center in critical condition, including a 53-year-old male who was reportedly stabbed in the face multiple times. One victim was transported to Mount Carmel West Medical Center with minor injuries.

The suspect, the officer and the victims have not been identified.

Officers continue to question witnesses, including the officer who fired her service weapon, WCMH reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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thumbnail 'Welcome Home' program for soldiers comes to an end
Mar 14th 2012, 18:26

Larry W. Smith / EPA

Tom Downey, 71, who volunteers with the organization 'Welcome Home a Hero' greets a soldier with a rose on March 14, 2012 at the at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. It's the last day soldiers returning home for two weeks of R&R will arrive to this kind of a homecoming now that all future Rest and Recuperation (R&R) flights will be routed through Atlanta where the general public will not have access to greet returning soldiers.

By Charles Hadlock
NBC News

DALLAS --  A volunteer program that has welcomed home thousands of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport has come to an end.  The last flight bringing soldiers home for two weeks of rest and recuperation landed Wednesday, greeted by a cheering crowd. 

As the drawdown of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan continues, the military is consolidating future R&R flights to the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where the general public will not have access to greet returning soldiers.

The end of the flights is bittersweet for Donna Cranston, the volunteer coordinator for DFW’s “Welcome Home a Hero” program.

“These troops are sacrificing and serving for us and I want them to know we are grateful,” said Cranston.  “The other side is, it means we don’t have as many troops that are deployed.  And that’s a good thing.”

Watch the story tonight on "NBC Nightly News."


Every day for the last nine years, a sort of patriotic flash mob has gathered at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.  Like clockwork, people from all over north Texas arrived at Gate B23 carrying signs, banners, balloons and, of course, American flags.

They stood quietly in a line near baggage claim until they saw the first soldiers emerge from their long plane ride from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted into applause and cheers.  A boom box played John Philip Sousa marching music.  The soldiers, who were still bleary-eyed from a 24-hour flight, seemed pleasantly stunned by it all.

Volunteers have welcomed home soldiers from each of the 2,700 chartered R&R flights since the very first one on Nov. 2, 2003.  The airport estimates that 920,000 soldiers have been personally greeted by volunteers.   The flight arrival times varied day by day and so did the number of volunteers who greeted each flight.  Sometimes there were as few as 30 greeters; sometimes there were more than 300.

Sgt. Hank Slaughter, 47, who returned from Kuwait earlier this month after serving in Iraq, smiled and shook hands with each of the 50 strangers who had come to greet his flight.

“This is great.  This is definitely more than I expected to see,” said Slaughter.

When Slaughter mentioned that he didn’t have a ride to his home, volunteer Pat Brown, 80, offered to take him.  “He’s from Fort Worth and I’m from Fort Worth, so I’m going to take him home,” Brown said, laughing.

Brown has been cheering soldiers at the airport every week for six years.  If she missed a week, she’d make it up by going twice the next week.

“It makes you feel great,” said Brown.  “I feel like it’s a blessing that I live here where it’s happening. They don’t do this anyplace else like this.”

DFW International Airport made it easy for the volunteers, providing them space and free parking each day.

“I’ve never met a more giving people in my life,” Jim Crites, executive vice president of operations at DFW, said of the volunteers.  “What they do is from the heart.  What they’ve given is off the charts.  This is what America is all about.”

Tom Downey, 71, arrived each day at the airport with flowers.  He would hand each female soldier a red or yellow rose.  “Many of these soldiers haven’t smelled flowers in months,” Downey said.  “You have to look at their faces.  There was one colonel who lifted me off my feet she was so surprised.”

Adam Sage came to surprise his fiancé, who was arriving on one of the last flights. Just a few months before, Sage had experienced the same welcome home greeting when he returned from Iraq.

“People just honestly don’t know what it means to all the soldiers who come back, especially single ones who don’t have a lot of family here,” Sage said.  “It means the world to them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thumbnail Ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich gets in final words before prison
Mar 14th 2012, 18:01

M. Spencer Green / AP

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich leaves the federal building with his wife Patti, right, in Chicago on Dec. 7, 2011, after being sentenced for 14 years on 18 corruption counts, including trying to auction off President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was never one to mince words during his political career, will have a final moment in the spotlight on Wednesday when he makes a statement before reporting to a federal prison to serve a 14-year sentence for corruption.

Blagojevich said through a publicist that he will speak on Wednesday afternoon outside the home where FBI agents showed up on the morning of Dec. 9, 2008, and arrested him. At the time, a surprised Blagojevich thought the arrest was a joke.

But it was not a joke. Federal agents had spent months wire-tapping Blagojevich's telephones and prosecutors accused him of trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama, in return for political favors and donations.


Three years and two trials later, U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel sentenced the two-term governor and father of two daughters to 14 years in prison for corruption.

Assigned prisoner number 40892-424, Blagojevich, 55, is scheduled to surrender on Thursday and will be sent to a prison in Littleton, Colo.

On Tuesday, Blagojevich took his wife and two daughters to Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo to enjoy the mild weather, NBCNewsChicago.com reported. When the family arrived home, neighbors greeted them, offering the former governor support.  On the sidewalk outside his home, posters are still seen with messages thanking Blagojevich and expressing outrage at the severity of his sentence.

It's not clear what Blagovich will say in his Wednesday statement, nor how he'll spend the hours before he leaves.

"This is what I try to get all my clients to understand," said Wendy Feldman, a prison consultant and coach. "There is a reason that you’ve gotten yourself this ticket to prison. [Blagojevich] is going to have to learn humility, and then respect, and then he’ll need to ease in to the process, because he’s got such a long time to be there."

Read the full story on Rod Blagojevich's day of freedom on NBCChicago.com

The imprisonment of Blagojevich, a Democrat, means the last two Illinois governors are both behind bars, and he becomes the fourth governor in the state to be convicted of crimes since the 1960s. His Republican predecessor George Ryan is also in prison for graft.

One of Blagojevich's aides, Christopher Kelly, committed suicide in 2009 before going to prison, saying that prosecutors had pressed him to cooperate in the case against his former boss.

Northwestern University law professor Ronald Allen has called the corrupt practices in Illinois "a hideous bog" that never seemed to dry up.

When Blagojevich and a top aide were charged, local U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said authorities had halted a potential crime spree that would have made Illinois native Abraham Lincoln "roll over in his grave."

Publicity campaign
Through two trials Blagojevich refused to apologize for his actions, even launching a publicity campaign on national talk shows to declare his innocence. Only at his sentencing in December 2011 did he finally apologize but Zagel said it was too late.

Blagojevich's first trial in August 2009 ended with a conviction on one count of lying to investigators and a mistrial on the bulk of the charges due to the reluctance of a single juror.

At his second trial, with his campaign fund exhausted and his eloquent defense lawyer Sam Adam, Jr., declining to continue on the case, Blagojevich was convicted of 17 of 20 counts.

He was acquitted of a single bribery count and jurors deadlocked on two other counts, including one related to a school grant sought by then-U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel, later Obama's chief of staff and now Chicago's mayor.

Initially, the case against Blagojevich threatened to taint the nascent Obama administration since the governor was charged with seeking an ambassadorship or cabinet post in exchange for naming Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to the vacated Senate seat. But Emanuel testified Blagojevich was offered nothing and no one from the administration was charged.

Blagojevich and Obama also shared a friendship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a Chicago businessman and political fund-raiser who was convicted of bribery related to his unofficial role filling state jobs.

Rezko did not testify at either of Blagojevich's trials but the corrupt practices revealed at his trial further stigmatized the state's political establishment, where Obama made his start.

Blagojevich, the first Democrat elected Illinois governor in 30 years, eventually alienated state lawmakers, passing out largesse while the state's finances suffered.

His popularity sank to unprecedented lows during his second term and Blagojevich was heard on the FBI tape-recordings profanely pushing aides to trade the Senate seat for a well-paid position for him because he despised being governor.

At one point on the tapes Blagojevich cursed Obama for taking away his own chance at higher office, showing the now-disgraced Blagojevich once had loftier aspirations.

Reuters and NBCChicago.com contributed to this report.

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thumbnail Jury: Mega Millions winner must share with co-workers
Mar 14th 2012, 17:42

A jury ruled unanimously that Americo Lopes must pay his coworkers $20 million from his $24 million lottery winnings in Elizabeth, N.J., on Tuesday.

By msnbc.com staff

A jury has ruled that a New Jersey man will have to share a portion of his jackpot winnings from a 2009 lottery ticket with his former co-workers: $20 million to be exact.

Former construction worker Americo Lopes, 52, won $38.5 million ($24 million after taxes) on Nov. 10, 2009. He claimed to his colleagues that he bought 12 tickets, including the jackpot winner, for himself, as a side bet in addition to the lottery pool tickets he purchased for the group. But his co-workers said he used their money to hit the winning numbers.

On Wednesday, a Union County, N.J., jury sided with the plaintiffs, awarding the five other men in his pool about $4 million each, reported NJ.com.


"They robbed me," Lopes said in Portuguese outside the courthouse, reported NJ.com.

Read more about the lottery winners on NJ.com

The men all worked with Lopes at Berto Construction Inc. in Elizabeth, N.J. when they began playing the lottery together in 2007, according to NJ.com.

Lopes hid the news at the time that one of their tickets ended up being one of two winners of a $77 million total Mega Millions jackpot, reported The New York Post. His lawyer presented copious notes to the courtroom in an attempt to prove that the numbers drawn for the winning ticket were his own, not a combination the group had come up with.

But the jury ruled unanimously in favor of the plainiffs, said NJ.com. After the verdict, Lopes' ex-colleagues hugged each other.

"I have a lot to do," Carlos Fernandez, one of the five plaintiffs, said, according to NJ.com. "My granddaughter was born yesterday. I have to buy her a present she'll remember."

Plaintiffs Carlos Fernandes, right, Candido Silva Jr. shake hands after the jury ruled unanimously that Americo Lopes must pay them, his coworkers, $20 million from his $24 million lottery winnings in Elizabeth, NJ, on March 14.

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thumbnail Warm spell breaks 138 records, more on the way
Mar 14th 2012, 17:28

In the Great Plains and on the East Coast the unseasonably warm weather brought new highs on Tuesday. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

It feels like May in March, and that means plenty of temperature records are being broken this week, including 138 sites across the  Midwest and Northeast on Tuesday. Dozens more areas were expected to set records on Wednesday, when temperatures in some places could be 35 degrees above normal.

Records set Tuesday included 85 degrees Fahrenheit in Russell, Kan., 5 degrees warmer than its previous record in 1997 for a March 13, the National Climatic Data Center reported.

St. Louis, Mo., also set a new daily high at 83 degrees, 3 degrees more than in 2007 and the second straight day with a record.


Even Burlington, Vt., got a piece of the action, posting 67 degrees -- 5 degrees higher than its previous record back in 1946.

As for Wednesday, "readings may be as much as 35 degrees above normal," the National Weather Service said in an advisory.

National Climatic Data Center

The service said the warm spell should last into the weekend, while weather.com expected at least 60 cities and towns to post new records on Wednesday.

"It's almost like we skipped winter and now we're going to skip spring too," said Gino Izzi, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Chicago office.

Izzi said the weather pattern is a random but normal fluctuation. A jet stream moving north to south on the West Coast is pushing an opposite, seesaw effect in the rest of the nation. Atmospheric patterns, including the Pacific phenomenon known as La Nina, have kept cold air bottled up over Canada and contributed to the warmer winter in snow-accustomed parts of the continental U.S.

Tuesday's warm weather raised some concerns, including upping the risk of wildfires. The unusually warm, dry and windy conditions prompted six North Dakota counties to declare fire emergencies and institute burn bans.

In Minnesota, golfers greeted the sunshine at the Eagle Valley Golf Course in suburban St. Paul as it opened Tuesday — weeks earlier than last year.

"We're hoping this is a sign of good things to come," head golf pro Dan Moris said.

In Chicago, the ice rink was empty at iconic Millennium Park.

Nearby, new city residents Katie and Chris Anderson said they were surprised by the weather because of Chicago's legendary cold winters. "I was really nervous about moving here," Katie Anderson said.

"We expected the worst," her husband added.

In downtown Washington, D.C., most of the benches at a local park were filled with people enjoying the weather Tuesday. Taylor Jantz-Sell, a government employee, planned to do some reading.

"This is my favorite time of year, watching the blossoms come out," she said, adding that she had seen daffodils and crocuses, and ran to work Tuesday morning because of the weather.

"It's a sign of good things to come," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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thumbnail Woman shot dead outside courthouse
Mar 14th 2012, 17:14

A man at court with family members opened fire outside a Beaumont, Texas courthouse, killing one person and wounding at least three others. Msnbc's Tamron Hall reports.

By msnbc.com staff

At least one person was shot dead by a man outside a county courthouse in Beaumont, Texas, local media reported Wednesday.

An elderly woman was killed and at least three others were shot, including two rushed to the hospital with several gunshot wounds, KFDM TV reported.

The shootings took place outside the courthouse, in the basement of the county clerk's office and at a bus station.


The suspect reportedly surrendered to police after having holed up in a building two blocks from the courthouse.

A judge told KBMT TV that the suspect is a man facing charges of having sexually assaulted his young daughter, who reportedly is mentally handicapped. He had been expected at a hearing Wednesday afternoon, the judge said.

The Beaumont Enterprise said the judge identified the shooter as Bartholomew Granger, 41.

The shooting follows one at a county courthouse in Washington state last Friday in which a man shot a sheriff's deputy and attacked a judge.

Two days before that a gunman fired shots into the air and then traded gunfire with police outside the county courthouse in Tulsa, Okla., wounding a sheriff's deputy and a bystander.

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thumbnail Stolen truck crashes on Afghan runway; Panetta unharmed
Mar 14th 2012, 08:54

Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images

Afghan Interior Minister Besmullah Mahammadi, center right, walks with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, center left, in Kabul on Wednesday.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

 
Updated at 3:00 p.m. ET: -- An Afghan man drove a stolen pickup onto a runway at Camp Bastion, the main British base in southern Afghanistan, before crashing into a ditch -- right around the time that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's plane was touching down, U.S. defense officials said.

The crash was in the vicinity of where Panetta's plane was supposed to park. The secretary's aircraft had to taxi to a different location. No one in Panetta’s party was hurt, said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.

Panetta arrived in Afghanistan for an unannounced two-day visit with Afghan officials and U.S. troops -- the first by a senior member of the Obama administration since an American soldier reportedly shot to death 16 Afghan civilians, mostly children and women.


A U.S. military official said Wednesday the accused U.S. soldier has been flown out of Afghanistan to a "pretrial confinement facility" in another country but did not provide further details, The Associated Press reported.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide a reason for the move, saying only that the decision had been made to continue legal proceedings outside of Afghanistan.

At Camp Bastion, the man set himself on fire after exiting the stolen vehicle and was being treated for "significant burns" at the coalition hospital at the base, a senior U.S. officials told NBC News. One coalition service member who was hit by the truck was injured, officials said.

There were no weapons or explosives in the truck.

Kirby said officials are trying to determine whether the man in custody was trying to attack Panetta and the welcoming delegation meeting his plane. “We are investigating this,” he said, according to The Washington Post. “We don’t know what the motivations of the driver were.”

ISAF, the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan, released this statement:

Jangir / AFP - Getty Images

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

ISAF is aware of a stolen vehicle incident today at Camp Bastion, which resulted in the injury of one coalition service member. The alleged perpetrator was apprehended by base security personnel. We are currently investigating to determine more facts.

This incident took place this afternoon around the same time U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was arriving in Afghanistan. At no point was the Secretary or anyone on the aircraft in any danger from this incident.

Panetta on Wednesday told Afghan officials and U.S. troops that recent violence — such as the shooting massacre last weekend — will not deter the America from carrying out its mission in Afghanistan.

A surveillance video reportedly taken from a blimp showed the soldier walking up to his base after the shootings covered in a traditional Afghan shawl. The soldier removed the shawl and put his weapon on the ground, then raised his arms in surrender, Afghan officials who viewed the footage told Reuters and The Associated Press.

"We'll be challenged by our enemy. We'll be challenged by ourselves. We'll be challenged by the hell of war itself. But none of that, none of that, must ever deter us from the mission that we must achieve," Panetta told soldiers at Camp Leatherneck, the main U.S. Marine base in the volatile area.

"As tragic as these acts of violence have been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and Afghan forces and the Afghan people," he said.

Officials: US soldier in Afghanistan shooting spree said 'I did it'

George Little, a Pentagon press secretary traveling with Panetta, said Panetta also met with Afghan government officials in Kabul. He told the defense minister that he has been impressed that Afghan security forces have been able to maintain control in the aftermath of the incidents of recent weeks.

Villagers who witnessed the methodical killing are asking for an execution and the U.S. is reportedly considering charges that would carry the death penalty for the soldier who allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said Britain and their NATO allies are committed to shifting to a support role in Afghanistan in 2013.

Speaking alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron at joint a news conference in the White House, Obama said that next phase in the transition will be an important step in turning security control over to the Afghans by the end of 2014.

Obama, Cameron stand in united front

Obama said NATO forces are making "undeniable" progress in Afghanistan. But he said recent "tragic events" are a reminder that the mission is still difficult.

Panetta's visit to Afghanistan was planned months ago, long before the weekend slaughter that claimed the lives of 16 villagers. But the trip propels Panetta into the center of escalating anti-American anger and sets the stage for some difficult discussions with Afghan leaders.

Just days after an Army staff sergeant allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting rampage, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Afghanistan to meet with government officials and U.S. troops. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

Panetta and other U.S. officials say the shooting spree should not derail the U.S. and NATO strategy of a gradual withdrawal of troops by the end of 2014. But it has further soured relations with war-weary Afghans, jeopardizing the U.S. strategy of working closely with Afghan forces so they can take over their country's security.

NYT: An Afghan elder comes home to find a massacre

There were clear concerns about security in the large tent at Camp Leatherneck where Panetta was slated to talk to troops.

Before Panetta came into the hall, Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall told the more than 200 Marines in the room to take their weapons outside and leave them there. Afghan troops had already been told not to bring their guns in.

A U.S. defense official said the order was not a reaction to an immediate threat. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the base commander made the decision that no one would be allowed to bring in weapons.

Marines asked to disarm before Panetta speech

Panetta's two-day visit was to include meetings with President Hamid Karzai, Afghan defense officials and provincial leaders, as well as routine discussions with his commanders on the ground. The sessions were likely to touch on America's planned withdrawal of about 22,000 troops by fall, including as many as 10,000 Marines from Helmand Province.

On Wednesday, Panetta met with several Afghan provincial leaders, and told them the primary mission is to prepare for the transition to Afghan security control.

He acknowledged there will continue to be challenges from the enemy as well as issues between U.S. and Afghan allies, but said everyone must remain committed.

The military has detained an Army staff sergeant in connection with Sunday's massacre.

A delegation investigating the shootings was meeting in the southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded about 600 yards away. The blast killed one Afghan intelligence official and wounded three other people, but the delegation members were unharmed.

Even before the shootings, anti-Americanism was already roiling in Afghanistan over U.S. troops burning Muslim holy books, including Qurans, last month on an American base. The burnings came to light soon after a video purporting to show four Marines urinating on Taliban corpses was posted on the Internet in January.

Military commanders have yet to release their final investigation on the Quran burnings, which U.S. officials say was a mistake. Five U.S. service members could face disciplinary action in connection with the incident.

The Associated Press, Reuters, NBC News and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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U.S. News: Police: Four people stabbed, suspect shot in downtown Columbus, Ohio

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Police: Four people stabbed, suspect shot in downtown Columbus, Ohio
Mar 14th 2012, 18:55

By msnbc.com staff and news services

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A man stabbed four people at a downtown Ohio office building and then was shot by an officer as he left the building, police officials said.

Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said three of the victims were in critical condition at a downtown hospital, while the fourth received minor injuries.


The attack was reported at about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday at a building that houses offices of the Ohio attorney general and Miami-Jacobs Career College.

Weiner says the suspect confronted one victim inside the building near Miami-Jacobs Career College. He said other people inside intervened and took away one knife the suspect was using.

Weiner says those who intervened didn't realize suspect had a second knife.

A female officer responding to a report of multiple stabbings at the college saw victims when she arrived on the scene. She confronted the suspect who was armed with two knives, one in each hand, NBC station WCMH reported, citing a police source. The suspect went toward the officer in a violent manner so she fired multiple shots. The officer was not injured.

Weiner says police don't know what prompted the attack or whether there's any connection between the suspect and the wounded. A school spokesman told The Associated Press he doesn't know whether the victims were students or staff.

Read more on the Columbus, Ohio, stabbings on NBC4i.com

The suspect was transported to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in critical condition, WCMH reported.

Three of the victims were taken to Grant Medical Center in critical condition, including a 53-year-old male who was reportedly stabbed in the face multiple times. One victim was transported to Mount Carmel West Medical Center with minor injuries.

The suspect, the officer and the victims have not been identified.

Officers continue to question witnesses, including the officer who fired her service weapon, WCMH reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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U.S. News: 'Welcome Home' program for soldiers comes to an end

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thumbnail 'Welcome Home' program for soldiers comes to an end
Mar 14th 2012, 18:26

Larry W. Smith / EPA

Tom Downey, 71, who volunteers with the organization 'Welcome Home a Hero' greets a soldier with a rose on March 14, 2012 at the at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. It's the last day soldiers returning home for two weeks of R&R will arrive to this kind of a homecoming now that all future Rest and Recuperation (R&R) flights will be routed through Atlanta where the general public will not have access to greet returning soldiers.

By Charles Hadlock
NBC News

DALLAS --  A volunteer program that has welcomed home thousands of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport has come to an end.  The last flight bringing soldiers home for two weeks of rest and recuperation landed Wednesday, greeted by a cheering crowd. 

As the drawdown of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan continues, the military is consolidating future R&R flights to the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where the general public will not have access to greet returning soldiers.

The end of the flights is bittersweet for Donna Cranston, the volunteer coordinator for DFW’s “Welcome Home a Hero” program.

“These troops are sacrificing and serving for us and I want them to know we are grateful,” said Cranston.  “The other side is, it means we don’t have as many troops that are deployed.  And that’s a good thing.”

Watch the story tonight on "NBC Nightly News."


Every day for the last nine years, a sort of patriotic flash mob has gathered at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.  Like clockwork, people from all over north Texas arrived at Gate B23 carrying signs, banners, balloons and, of course, American flags.

They stood quietly in a line near baggage claim until they saw the first soldiers emerge from their long plane ride from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted into applause and cheers.  A boom box played John Philip Sousa marching music.  The soldiers, who were still bleary-eyed from a 24-hour flight, seemed pleasantly stunned by it all.

Volunteers have welcomed home soldiers from each of the 2,700 chartered R&R flights since the very first one on Nov. 2, 2003.  The airport estimates that 920,000 soldiers have been personally greeted by volunteers.   The flight arrival times varied day by day and so did the number of volunteers who greeted each flight.  Sometimes there were as few as 30 greeters; sometimes there were more than 300.

Sgt. Hank Slaughter, 47, who returned from Kuwait earlier this month after serving in Iraq, smiled and shook hands with each of the 50 strangers who had come to greet his flight.

“This is great.  This is definitely more than I expected to see,” said Slaughter.

When Slaughter mentioned that he didn’t have a ride to his home, volunteer Pat Brown, 80, offered to take him.  “He’s from Fort Worth and I’m from Fort Worth, so I’m going to take him home,” Brown said, laughing.

Brown has been cheering soldiers at the airport every week for six years.  If she missed a week, she’d make it up by going twice the next week.

“It makes you feel great,” said Brown.  “I feel like it’s a blessing that I live here where it’s happening. They don’t do this anyplace else like this.”

DFW International Airport made it easy for the volunteers, providing them space and free parking each day.

“I’ve never met a more giving people in my life,” Jim Crites, executive vice president of operations at DFW, said of the volunteers.  “What they do is from the heart.  What they’ve given is off the charts.  This is what America is all about.”

Tom Downey, 71, arrived each day at the airport with flowers.  He would hand each female soldier a red or yellow rose.  “Many of these soldiers haven’t smelled flowers in months,” Downey said.  “You have to look at their faces.  There was one colonel who lifted me off my feet she was so surprised.”

Adam Sage came to surprise his fiancé, who was arriving on one of the last flights. Just a few months before, Sage had experienced the same welcome home greeting when he returned from Iraq.

“People just honestly don’t know what it means to all the soldiers who come back, especially single ones who don’t have a lot of family here,” Sage said.  “It means the world to them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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U.S. News: Woman shot dead outside courthouse

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thumbnail Woman shot dead outside courthouse
Mar 14th 2012, 17:14

A man at court with family members opened fire outside a Beaumont, Texas courthouse, killing one person and wounding at least three others. Msnbc's Tamron Hall reports.

By msnbc.com staff

At least one person was shot dead by a man outside a county courthouse in Beaumont, Texas, local media reported Wednesday.

An elderly woman was killed and at least three others were shot, including two rushed to the hospital with several gunshot wounds, KFDM TV reported.

The shootings took place outside the courthouse, in the basement of the county clerk's office and at a bus station.


The suspect reportedly surrendered to police after having holed up in a building two blocks from the courthouse.

A judge told KBMT TV that the suspect is a man facing charges of having sexually assaulted his young daughter, who reportedly is mentally handicapped. He had been expected at a hearing Wednesday afternoon, the judge said.

The Beaumont Enterprise said the judge identified the shooter as Bartholomew Granger, 41.

The shooting follows one at a county courthouse in Washington state last Friday in which a man shot a sheriff's deputy and attacked a judge.

Two days before that a gunman fired shots into the air and then traded gunfire with police outside the county courthouse in Tulsa, Okla., wounding a sheriff's deputy and a bystander.

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