Police: Boy, 3, dies after shooting self
A 3-year-old boy died Sunday after he shot himself with a handgun at a family friend’s home, according to the Lonoke County sheriff’s office.
About 3:45 p.m., sheriff’s deputies were called to a mobile home at 9196 Kerr Station Road just south of Cabot where the toddler had been shot, according to a news release. Air ambulance paramedics declared the child dead at the home, the release states.
Officials have not released the child’s name.
Sheriff’s deputies said the toddler followed two family friends into their home, picked up a 9-mm handgun on the nightstand near the bed and discharged it once, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jim Kulesa said. The toddler was struck, but officials would not say where.
One of the family’s friends was in the room at the time, and the other was in an adjoining bathroom, Kulesa said, adding that the shooting happened quickly.
The child’s parents were in a nearby mobile home, he said.
Sheriff’s deputies continue to investigate but said Sunday that there was no indication of foul play.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEMissouri firefighter dies after house fire
MARSHFIELD, Mo.- A volunteer southwest Missouri firefighter has died from injuries suffered when he became trapped in a burning home.
The Marshfield Fire Department said Lt. Matthew Blankenship died early Saturday in the burn center of a Springfield hospital. The Springfield News-Leader reported that he was 38.
Blankenship was severely burned July 13 while fighting a house fire in Niagua. Another Marshfield firefighter also became trapped in the home but managed to escape with minor injuries.
The Niagua fire chief was also treated for injuries.
Blankenship was a mechanic at Peterbilt in Springfield. He is survived by his wife and three children.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPolice investigate robbery, shoot teen
TULSA - Authorities in Tulsa said police shot a 17-year-old after he pointed a gun at officers investigating a robbery.
Tulsa police said officers were searching for two suspects in an armed robbery at a convenience store Sunday night when they arrived at the Mohawk Manor Apartment Complex.
According to police, two officers opened fire when the 17-year-old left an apartment and pointed a gun at police. Authorities said the 17-year-old was struck once in the chest. A second suspect was taken into custody without incident. Police said the wounded teenager was taken to a hospital, where he was in surgery early Monday.
No names have been released yet.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSGuilty is plea in synthetic ‘pot’ case
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The owner of a Joplin business pleaded guilty to mailfraud conspiracy and money laundering related to the sale of synthetic marijuana known as K2.
Timmy J. Ridgway, 51, of Weir, Kan., pleaded guilty Monday in federal court.
Prosecutors said Ridgway and others distributed K2 at his business, The Looking Glass. The synthetic product mimics the effect of marijuana.
Law officers searched the business March 4 and seized about nearly 900 packages of synthetic marijuana and $7,575 in cash. They also seized $123,512 from two bank accounts.
Ridgway was ordered to forfeit $285,949, his business in Joplin, a residential property in Pittsburg, Kan., and the funds seized from his business and bank accounts March 4.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSWork continues on lead-tainted yards
JOPLIN, Mo.- Two years after a tornado tore through Joplin, excavation work continues on yards that revealed high levels of lead after being disrupted by the storm.
The Joplin Globe reported most of the lead found in the yards was discovered where a tree was uprooted.
Other mine waste was exposed where foundations and driveways were before the tornado.
The city said of the 1,091 yards sampled for lead in Joplin’s disaster zone after the May 22, 2011, tornado, 426 needed the excavation of lead-contaminated soil.
As of last week, 182 of those properties had been excavated.
Dan Pekarek, director of the Joplin Health Department, said grant money from the Environmental Protection Agency is being used for the remediation. So far, about $3.5 million has been awarded.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 07/23/2013