Suspect tied to military role-playing
The suspect in last week's fatal ambush outside a rural Pennsylvania State Police barracks belonged to a "military-simulation unit" whose members play the role of soldiers from eastern Europe, police said Wednesday.
Eric Frein, 31, "appears to have assumed that role in real life" as he seeks to avoid capture, Lt. Col. George Bivens said.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials spent a fifth full day Wednesday looking for the gunman who concealed himself outside the Blooming Grove, Pa., barracks late Friday and shot two troopers with a rifle, killing one and injuring the second.
Frein, named as the suspect after police searching an abandoned Jeep found his driver's license and spent shell casings matching those found at the crime scene, shaved his head recently in a style resembling a Mohawk, Bivens said.
Frein, of Canadensis, Pa., is accused of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson, a 38-year-old married father of two, and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass. Dickson's viewing was being held Wednesday in Scranton, Pa., with his funeral scheduled for today.
Ferguson grand-jury data may air
ST. LOUIS -- A prosecutor will immediately release transcripts and audio recordings of a grand jury investigation into the death of Michael Brown if the panel doesn't indict the suburban St. Louis police officer who shot him, according to a spokesman.
Spokesman Ed Magee on Wednesday said St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch has ordered that the proceedings be transcribed and audio-recorded, an unusual step for grand juries in Missouri. The story was first reported by St. Louis Public Radio.
Magee said the decision was spurred by the high-profile nature of the case.
"We just want to be more open," he said.
Brown, 18, was shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Police said the shooting happened after a scuffle inside Wilson's squad car spilled out into the street. The shooting of a young black man by a white police officer spurred protests and several days of unrest.
If Wilson is indicted, the testimony and recordings will become potential evidence for trial and will not be released. McCulloch has said the grand jury investigation is expected to last into mid-October.
Obama aide: Carbon rule a key 1st step
WASHINGTON -- Obama administration officials said their signature effort to combat climate change will make only a modest dent in global greenhouse-gas emissions even as they called it an important first step Wednesday.
With Republicans such as Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas blasting a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to curb emissions from existing power plants, White House science adviser John Holdren defended it as an important step. Holdren said that India, China and Germany already are taking measures to curtail their emissions, too.
"The point is, that this is a start," Holdren told the House Science Committee. "The carbon-action plan is a start, and if we do not make a start, we will never get there."
The EPA said the rule would cut electricity costs for consumers because added efficiency steps will reduce overall use. Republican lawmakers questioned that analysis and said the rule could cause a jump in rates as older coal-fired plants close.
Pro-Clinton super PAC targets 14 states
WASHINGTON -- A pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton super PAC is dispatching staff members to key states before the fall elections and helping Senate candidates with fundraising, laying the foundation for a potential Clinton presidential bid in 2016.
Ready for Hillary said Wednesday that it would send more than two dozen staff members to 14 states key to Democrats' prospects in the November midterm elections. The states include Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, home to competitive Senate campaigns, and the early presidential voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
The other states are Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan and Minnesota.
A Section on 09/18/2014