LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“History has already made a judgment on the surge, sir, and you were on the wrong side of it.”

Republican Sen. John McCain, clashing with defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel over the 2007 U.S. troop surge in Iraq Article, 5A

In campus shooting, fellow pupil held

ATLANTA - A 14-year-old boy was wounded outside a middle school Thursday afternoon and a fellow student was in custody as a suspect, authorities said. No other students were hurt.

Atlanta’s police chief said Thursday that an armed officer working at Price Middle School was able to disarm the suspect moments after the shooting.

The wounded boy was taken “alert, conscious and breathing” to Grady Memorial Hospital, said Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos. His injury does not appear to be life threatening.

Chief George Turner said multiple shots were fired and only the 14-year-old was wounded. A teacher suffered minor cuts in the aftermath of the shooting in the courtyard of the school.

Campos said investigators believe that the shooting was not random.

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis said the school has metal detectors, and officials are looking into how the gun got on campus.

Killer of exec in Phoenix found dead

PHOENIX - A man who shot and killed a call-center chief executive and critically wounded a lawyer at a Phoenix office building where they were meeting to discuss a contract dispute was found dead early Thursday, ending a nearly 24-hour manhunt that had area residents on edge.

A landscaper found the body of Arthur Douglas Harmon among some bushes in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. Harmon, 70, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

A handgun was found near his body, and a rented Kia Optima sedan that he drove from Wednesday’s shooting scene was in a nearby parking lot.

Authorities had been searching for Harmon since Wednesday morning, when they say he drew a gun and shot two men at the end of a mediation session at a north-central Phoenix office building.

Steve Singer, 48, died hours later. The law firm that employs Mark Hummels, 43, said Thursday that he is on life support and isn’t expected to survive.

A third person, 32-year-old Nichole Hampton, was caught in the gunfire near the office building’s entrance and suffered a gunshot wound in her left hand. The mother of two is recovering and expects to be discharged from a hospital today.

“We believe the two men were the targets,” Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said. “It was not a random shooting.”U.S. says 9 judges fixed Philly tickets

Nine judges who presided at Philadelphia traffic court were charged with fixing tickets for friends and political allies.

Federal officials alleged “a widespread culture of giving breaks on traffic citations to friends, family, the politically connected and business associates,” but defense attorneys suggested the accused made no money from the favors and that the court has worked that way for a century.

The defendants include six current and former Philadelphia traffic-court judges and three suburban judges who had stints at the court. Among them is former Traffic Court Judge Willie Singletary, who had been kicked out of office for showing cell-phone photos of his genitals to a female clerk. A court clerk and two businessmen also were charged.

The state’s Judicial Conduct Board moved quickly to suspend the judges without pay pending the outcomes of their cases on the federal charges.

Jury: Oregonian made terror-bomb try

PORTLAND, Ore. - A federal jury found an Oregon man guilty of federal terrorism charges Thursday, rejecting the defense team’s argument that Mohamed Mohamud was entrapped or enticed by a year-long FBI sting that began to target him when he was a teenager.

Mohamud was accused of leading a plot to detonate a bomb at Portland’s 2010 Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

The device he thought was a bomb was a fake, supplied by undercover FBI agents posing as members of al-Qaida.

Prosecutors argued that Mohamud was predisposed to terrorism as early as 15 years old.

Mohamud, now 21, traded e-mails with an al-Qaida lieutenant later killed in a drone strike. He also told undercover agents he would pose as a college student while preparing for violent jihad.

Defense attorney Steve Sady had argued that undercover agents manipulated Mohamud’s faith and plied him with praise and the promise of a life leading other jihadis, Sady said.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/01/2013