Police check cellphones, video in ex-teacher’s shooting

ALIQUIPPA, PA. » A Pennsylvania prosecutor says investigators are searching surveillance video and cellphones for clues in the shooting death of a former schoolteacher in her mother’s driveway.

Authorities say 33-yearold Rachael DelTondo was shot multiple times Sunday in Aliquippa (al-uhKWIH’-puh), in suburban Pittsburgh.

Television station KDKA quoted unidentified investigators as saying they believed the woman knew her attacker and that the killing was likely a “crime of passion.”

Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier is declining to comment on a possible motive or whether she may have known the gunman.

DelTondo was suspended in November from a cyber school. Officials there had received an anonymous email containing a police report saying DelTondo had been found in a parked car with a 17-year-old former student. No charges were filed, and Lozier called the report’s circulation “a personal vendetta” against DelTondo.

Swarthmore dean resigns; was focus of student protests

SWARTHMORE, PA. » The dean of students at Swarthmore College has resigned, weeks after students protested the school’s handling of sexual assault claims.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports H. Elizabeth Braun announced her resignation Wednesday in a campus-wide email, saying she plans to launch her own higher education consulting firm.

The email made no mention of recent protests by Organizing For Survivors, a campusbased group that advocates for the victims of sexual assault.

Students from the group staged a sit-in in Braun’s office earlier this month over what they called the mishandling of sexual-assault investigations.

The group called for Braun to resign and for a review of the college’s investigation procedures. They also say on-campus fraternity houses should be banned.

Their nine-day protest ended after the group had a formal meeting with Swarthmore’s president, Valerie Smith.

Boarding home resident shot when he comes upon armed robber

PHILADELPHIA » Authorities say an armed man robbed two residents inside a Philadelphia boarding home and then shot and critically injured another resident who came upon the second robbery.

The gunman entered the home late Tuesday through an open front door and went to the second floor, where he robbed a man at gunpoint. He then went to another room where he robbed and pistolwhipped another resident.

A 29-year-old man who lives in the home arrived there around that time. He saw the robbery in progress and tried to flee, but authorities say the gunman shot him once in the back.

The gunman fled the home on foot following the shooting and remained at large Wednesday.

The shooting victim is hospitalized in critical condition. His name has not been released.