NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Embassy shooting: A man armed with an assault rifle was arrested after opening fire outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington Thursday, his bullets tearing holes into the walls and pillars near the front entrance in what authorities suspect was a hate crime. The gunfire broke out around 2 a.m. outside the embassy. Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to the scene after neighbors reported hearing gunshots, authorities said. No injuries were reported. Officers found the man, Alexander Alazo, 42, of Aubrey, Texas, armed with an assault rifle, and took him into custody without incident.
2 Hate crime: Prosecutors charged a 42yearold man of setting fire to a Missouri mosque last week with a hate crime and other counts. There were 12 to 15 people inside the building in O’Fallon at the time, but they all managed to escape without injury, police said. Nicholas Proffitt, who spent time in prison for defacing the Islamic Center of Cape Girardeau more than a decade ago, was charged in federal court with three state counts stemming from the fire: firstdegree burglary, firstdegree arson and firstdegree property damage motivated by discrimination, which is a hate crime.
3 Buggy accident: Authorities in Kentucky said four children died and one is missing after a buggy carrying an Amish family was swept away in the current while trying to cross a lowwater bridge. Six people were in the horse and buggy that overturned on Wednesday in Bath County, state police said in a statement. The adult in the buggy was able to make it to the bank of the stream and call for help, police said. The four siblings were found and pronounced dead by the coroner’s office Wednesday. Kentucky State Police Trooper Scott Ferrell said authorities from various agencies were continuing to search Thursday for the last missing child.
4 VP committee: Joe Biden announced Thursday from his home in Wilmington, Del., the four cochairs of his vice presidential vetting team. Former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Apple executive and longtime Biden aide Cynthia Hogan will serve as cochairs on the committee. Biden, a former vice president himself, has committed to picking a woman and has told donors his team is thinking about naming his running mate far in advance of the August Democratic convention. Those believed to be potential picks include Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
5 Mars helicopter: An Alabama high school student named NASA’s first Mars helicopter that will be deployed to the red planet later this summer. Ingenuity, the name submitted by Vaneeza Rupani, was selected for the 4pound solarpowered helicopter, NASA said this week. The name coined by the junior at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport was just one of 28,000 names submitted in NASA’s “Name the Rover” essay contest for K12 students. A Virginia student’s essay selected the name Perseverance for the Mars Rover.