FBI: Friend bought gear for shooter

A friend of the gunman who killed nine people outside a Dayton, Ohio, bar last week told authorities that he bought body armor and equipment for the attacker and helped him assemble the weapon used in the rampage, according to a court filing unsealed Monday.

These details were included in a criminal complaint charging the friend — Ethan Kollie, 24 — with two counts relating to his purchase and possession of firearms. Neither count relates to the shooting itself.

Benjamin Glassman, U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, stressed that while the charges emerged from the investigation into the Dayton shooting, they included no suggestion that Mr. Kollie knowingly played a role in plotting the attack.

An attorney for Mr. Kollie said in a statement that his client spoke to federal officials three times to try and help the investigation.

Mr. Kollie told FBI agents that he bought the body armor, some equipment for the gun and a 100- round double-drum magazine that shooter Connor Betts later used during the massacre, FBI agent Andrew Gragan wrote in an affidavit included in the complaint. Mr. Kollie bought those items and stored them in his house “to assist Betts in hiding them from Betts’ parents,” Mr. Gragan continued.

Jail records showed that Mr. Kollie was arrested Friday evening, the same day the criminal complaint was filed. He was charged with possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance and making a false statement regarding firearms. He could face up to 15 years in prison, Mr. Glassman said.

Searing heat hits again

Forecasters are warning of continued scorching heat across a wide stretch of the South and Midwest, where the heat index will feel as high as 117 degrees in some spots. Parts of 13 states were under heat advisories Monday, from Texas, Louisiana and Florida to Missouri and Illinois, the National Weather Service reported.

More of the same is in store Tuesday, when heat and humidity will again make for dangerous heat indexes. An approaching cool front should help ease the heat by Wednesday, NWS meteorologist Gary Chatelain said.

The region hardest- hit by this week’s heat wave could experience many more days each year when the heat index soars as the effects of climate change increase, scientists say.

Fiscal deficit balloons

The U. S. fiscal deficit has already exceeded the full- year figure for last year, as spending growth outpaces revenue.

The gap grew to $ 866.8 billion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year, up 27% from the same period a year earlier, the Treasury Department said in an emailed statement Monday. That’s wider than last fiscal year’s shortfall of $ 779 billion, which was the largest federal deficit since 2012.

So far in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, a revenue increase of 3% hasn’t kept pace with an 8% rise in spending. While still a modest source of income, tariffs imposed by the Trump administration helped almost double customs duties to $ 57 billion in the period.

Republican tax cuts, increased federal spending and an aging population have contributed to the fiscal strains, though the GOP says tax reform enacted last year will spur economic growth and lift government revenue. Corporate income- tax receipts rose 3% between October and July, while individual income taxes gained 1%, according to Treasury data.

The annual budget deficit is expected to exceed $ 1 trillion starting in 2022, the Congressional Budget Office has said.