NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Train crash: Human error is likely the cause of a collision between an Amtrak train and a freight train in South Carolina that killed two people and injured dozens of others earlier this month, according to a preliminary report by federal investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board report said “the evidence indicates that human decision making and actions likely played key roles” in the Feb. 4 crash near the city of Cayce. The report said a switch was in the wrong position, sending the passenger train onto a side track where a CSX freight train was parked. The crash killed engineer Michael Kempf, 54, of Savannah, Ga., and conductor Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Fla. More than 100 passengers were taken to hospitals for treatment. The final NTSB report is not expected for months.
2 American detainee: An American detained by U.S. forces was carrying thumb drives containing files on how to make bombs plus administrative spreadsheets describing work he did for the Islamic State at the time he surrendered in Syria last year, according to documents the U.S. government filed in federal court in Washington D.C. The government’s justification for holding the detainee without charge, contained in more than 150 pages filed late Wednesday, is loaded with details about the still-unidentified man, who is married and has a 3-year-old daughter. Yet it raises more questions about why he was in Syria. He has told U.S. authorities that he was kidnapped and imprisoned by Islamic State and had press credentials to do freelance writing about the conflict.
3 NSA confrontation: Two of the three people who were in a sport utility vehicle that was stopped and fired upon when it tried to enter the National Security Agency campus without authorization have been released, an FBI spokesman said Thursday. NSA police turned over the other person to the Howard County Sheriff ’s Office, because he was wanted on allegations of being behind on child support payments, according to the FBI. An investigation is ongoing to determine why the black SUV carrying the three people tried to enter a top-secret intelligence site at Fort Meade, Md. 4 Officer not guilty: A police officer who fatally shot a mentally ill woman in her New York apartment in 2016 after she brandished scissors and a bat was acquitted by a judge Thursday. New York Police Department Sgt. Hugh Barry was found not guilty of murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Deborah Danner. The October 2016 shooting earlier drew rare rebukes from police officials and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said “something went horribly wrong here.” Officers had been called to the Bronx home of Danner, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, several times before. 5 Teen candidates: The field of teenage candidates running for Kansas governor has grown to seven, and the latest contender isn’t even from the state. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 18-year-old Conner Shelton, a University of Delaware student from Lancaster, Pa., was inspired to enter the race when a man launched a shortlived campaign for his dog, Angus. Elections officials put the brakes on the dog’s candidacy, but Kansas doesn’t have an age or residency requirement. Six other teens have entered the race along with a teen running for Kansas secretary of state.