LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “It is incredibly irresponsible to leave our schools undefended - to allow mad men to kill dozens of innocents when we have

a very simple solution available to us to prevent it.”Oklahoma state Rep. Mark McCullough, a Republican, as his state and several others consider

laws allowing school workers to carry firearms Article, 3ASuspects stand trial in arson case

INDIANAPOLIS - Residents whose Indianapolis homes were battered by a gas explosion and relatives of a couple who were killed packed a court hearing Monday for the three suspects charged with rigging the blast.

The crowd watched in grim silence as a Marion County judge entered innocent pleas for Monserrate Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard. They are charged with murder, arson and other counts in the Nov. 10 blast.

The three were ordered held without bail. Prosecutors say Shirley and the Leonard brothers deliberately blew up her home for the insurance payout.

The fiery blast destroyed five homes, including Shirley’s, and damaged dozens of others in the Richmond Hill subdivision in the far south side of the city. The explosion killed Shirley’s next-door neighbors, John Dion Longworth, a 34-year-old electronics expert, and his 36-yearold wife, second-grade teacher Jennifer Longworth.

Lost campers found near Mount Hood

PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon authorities said Monday that rescue teams were getting ready to extract three people who got lost on a winter camping trip near Mount Hood.

A spokesman for the Hood River County sheriff’s office east of Portland said rescuers out Monday morning made contract with the three, who appeared to be in good health.

Detective Matt English said the three campers set out Saturday on snowshoes and called 911 on Sunday to report they were lost.

Traffic stop results in fatal shooting

HOUSTON - A traffic stop turned into a fatal shooting on Christmas Eve when a gunman killed a police officer and bystander in the parking lot of a Houston body shop, police said.

The confrontation followed a chase that began shortly before 9 a.m. Monday when the suspect sped off in his car rather than pull over as an officer had requested, said Houston police spokesman John Cannon. As the suspect fled, he sideswiped a white truck, which also took off after him, he said.

The suspect and the white truck eventually pulled into a nearby Maaco body shop, where an officer with the Bellaire Police Department approached the vehicle, Cannon added.

Apparently, he said, an argument occurred, and the suspect pulled out a .380 caliber handgun and shot the officer.

A man then walked out of the body shop, and the suspect shot him, Cannon said.

The suspect was shot by responding officers but fled on foot, Cannon said. He hid under a parked truck, but officers followed a trail of blood and arrested him.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/25/2012