NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
_1 Gas leak: Crews in Alaska were trying Saturday to shut down an oil well that is leaking explosive natural gas on the frozen North Slope. The Environmental Protection Agency said a crack in a BP wellhead near Deadhorse sent up a mist of crude oil Friday before it froze over and an initial leak stopped. But agency spokeswoman Suzanne Skadowski said a second crack was discovered that’s releasing flammable, explosive gas. It’s unclear how much has vented, but nearby workers have been evacuated and native Alaskan villages dozens of miles away have been notified. No injuries have been reported.
_2 Police conduct: An attorney called Saturday for the two Georgia police officers who were fired after being caught on camera having a violent confrontation with a motorist to face criminal charges. Justin Miller said the firing of Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni and Master Police Officer Robert McDonald was not enough. They were fired Thursday by the Gwinnett County Police Department after being videotaped beating 21-year-old Demetrius Hollins in Lawrenceville, just outside Atlanta. The department has opened a criminal investigation into the officers’ behavior. “We want both of these officers criminally charged,” Miller said.
_3 Jogger slain: DNA evidence helped find the man investigators believe killed a New York City woman last summer who was out running near her mother’s Massachusetts home, authorities said Saturday. The body of Vanessa Marcotte, 27, was found Aug. 7 in some woods about a half mile from her mother’s house in Princeton. DNA taken from Marcotte’s hands during an autopsy was used to help create a profile of a suspect, which matched the DNA of Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 31, who lives in nearby Worcester, authorities said. Colon-Ortiz was charged Friday with aggravated assault, battery and assault with intent to rape. Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said more charges are expected.
_4 Restaurant slayings: Authorities said Saturday that the shooter in a murder-suicide inside a restaurant at an upscale Tucson mall was a Fire Department captain. The Pima County Sheriff ’s Department said Frederick Bair, 60, fired multiple rounds in the Firebirds Wood Fired Grill in the La Encantada mall Friday night, killing one man and wounding a woman before turning the gun on himself. A sheriff ’s spokesman said late Saturday the woman was Bair’s ex-wife, 57-year-old Mary Jo Bair. She was shot in the leg and was expected to recover. The man was identified as 65-year-old Eliot Cobb.
_5 Presidential immunity: Attorneys for President Trump say he did nothing wrong as a candidate when protesters said they were roughed up by his supporters at a campaign rally in Louisville, Ky., last year. Trump’s team responded Friday to the protesters’ federal lawsuit, saying he’s immune as president from such suits. They also say the protesters waived their right to sue by buying tickets to the event, and they deny that Trump was urging the crowd to take action by repeatedly saying “get them out of here.” A federal judge declined Trump’s preliminary request to dismiss the lawsuit,