Police: Man says he killed pets, burned home due to mites

SIMPSON, PA. » Police say a man has acknowledged stabbing and strangling more than a dozen pets and then setting fire to his Pennsylvania house because he believed it was infested with mites.

Carbondale police say the 41-year-old man was seen walking away from the burning Fell Township home on Friday.

Officials say the man was found Saturday and said he killed 13 or 14 cats and two dogs, piled brush and branches in the basement, poured gas and set the home ablaze.

Chief Brian Bognatz says the man has a history of mental illness and believed the house was infested with mites and burning it down would solve the problem.

Officials say the man is being evaluated at a hospital and could face charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and arson.

College: FBI to probe online threat against campus

EASTON, PA. » An eastern Pennsylvania college says the FBI is investigating an online threat against the campus by someone claiming loyalty to the Islamic State.

Lafayette College said shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday that “an extensive room-by-room search” of the Easton campus turned up “no malicious or hazardous materials.”

Officials said someone claiming to be a male student Saturday night threatened an attack with “pipe bombs, pressure cookers and nail bombs,” saying his faith had been ridiculed.

Lafayette said it was working with police and the FBI to determine the threat’s legitimacy. Officials asked students to stay where they were and those off campus to stay away while the threat was assessed.

College president Alison Byerly said no lockdown was initiated and students were free to leave buildings if they wished.

University student found shot dead in off-campus apartment

PHILADELPHIA » Officials say a Temple University student was found shot to death in an off-campus apartment in north Philadelphia.

Police were called to the unit shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday and found the victim with gunshot wounds to the chest, groin and forearm. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

University president Richard Englert identified the victim as 21-year-old Daniel Duignam, a thirdyear business student from the Northampton County borough of Tatamy.