Nevada
Police: Elderly man shoots wife in hospital bed
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Jailers were keeping an 88-year-old man on a suicide watch after he was arrested for allegedly opening fire at a Carson City hospital and critically wounding his wife, authorities said.
William Dresser was arrested Sunday after firing one shot with small-caliber semi-automatic handgun that struck his wife in the chest at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said. No other injuries were reported. The woman was a patient in a third-floor room when she was shot around 11:30 a.m.
The woman’s injuries are considered life-threatening, and she was transferred to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Furlong said. Her name and age were not immediately released.
Dresser was booked into the Carson City Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and was on suicide watch, the sheriff said. His bail was set at $225,000, he said.
Dresser, who recently bought the gun, came to his wife’s room in the rehabilitation ward, where she was alone, and shot her in the chest, Furlong said. No details of why she was admitted to the hospital were released, but officials don’t suspect foul play.
Hospital security personnel and state Department of Corrections officials at the scene quickly detained the man until sheriff’s deputies arrived.
The Carson City hospital issued a statement saying the shooting was “a targeted situation” that prompted a two-hour lockdown of the facility.
A woman who answered a phone call at a listing for a William Dresser in nearby Minden said she was too busy to talk Sunday afternoon.
Dresser has no known prior criminal history in the Carson City area, Furlong said.
The shooting comes about a month after a gunman walked into a medical facility next to the Reno hospital and killed one doctor and shot another before committing suicide.
Alan Oliver Frazier, 51, made it clear in a suicide note that he was targeting physicians at Urology Nevada in the Dec. 17 attack.
Frazier complained of pain and fatigue for years in an Internet chat room and to neighbors— symptoms he blamed on a botched vasectomy that the center disputes.
Pennsylvania
Lawyer: Boy in Philly shooting is not at fault
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 17-year-old boy charged as an adult in the shooting of two students inside a school gym isn’t responsible for the crime, his attorney said.
Charges against Raisheem Rochwell were based on surveillance video and witness information from the shooting Friday afternoon at Delaware Valley Charter High School, police said. One bullet from a gun Rochwell was holding hit two students, wounding each in an arm, police said.
But Rochwell’s attorney, Amato Sanita, disputed that account to reporters Saturday night.
“I’ve not seen that, I’m not aware of that, and from the information I have, I do not believe that is accurate,” Sanita said of the police version of events. He added that Rochwell “is not the person who will ultimately be responsible for this act.”
Rochwell has been charged with aggravated assault, carrying an unlicensed firearm, carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia, possessing a firearm while a minor, possessing an instrument of crime, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person.
He remained in jail Sunday and unable to post $500,000 bond. He faces a preliminary hearing Feb. 6.
The school will resume classes Tuesday.
“We are thankful that our students are in good condition and recovering from this unfortunate incident. We will continue to be committed to making sure that the safety of our children and staff is taken seriously inside and outside of school,” the school said in a statement.
School officials also said they were working with police and the school’s public safety team “to ensure that all safety measures are addressed.” The school has metal detectors, but officials and police have yet to say how they believe the gun was brought into the building.
An 18-year-old female student was shot in the back of her left arm, and the same bullet also struck a 17-year-old boy in the shoulder, police said. Both were treated at the Albert Einstein Medical Center. The female student was released Friday, and the boy was released Sunday.
Although police have stopped short of calling the shooting accidental, Sanita suggested it was — though he stopped short of using that word.
“Anything you’re hearing out there, this is nothing that involves anything intentional,” Sanita said. “We can make those comments right now, and that’s it.”
Police also questioned a 16-year-old boy in connection with the shooting, but he was released because the district attorney’s office declined to approve criminal charges, according to a police statement.
New York
4 new appeals judges; 1 is jurist in mortgage case
NEW YORK (AP) — Four trial-court judges from New York City, Long Island and Westchester County have been tapped to fill vacancies on state appellate courts. One is a Manhattan judge handling a prominent case stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the appointments Friday. The judges are Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick, Staten Island Justice Joseph Maltese, Suffolk County Justice Hector LaSalle and Westchester Justice Colleen Duffy.
Kapnick has been due to rule on whether to approve an $8.5 billion Bank of America settlement over investor losses. The case concerns mortgage-backed securities sold by lender Countrywide Financial. The bank bought Countrywide in 2008.
Kapnick’s appointment takes effect Feb. 3. Appellate judges can finish ongoing trial-court cases, but many aim to conclude their cases before taking their new posts.
New Mexico
Woman arrested in theft of rare coins from pastor
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Police say a woman accused of stealing a $70,000 coin collection from an Albuquerque pastor is in custody.
Authorities say 53-year-old Anita Manalo is facing charges of larceny over $20,000 and receiving and/or disposing of stolen property over $20,000.
Police booked her Friday into a county jail on $20,000 bail.
According to a court complaint, the pastor asked a friend to watch his home while he went on a month-long mission trip to Africa.
The friend had Manalo clean the house several times.
The complaint alleges the pastor returned home Dec. 20 to find the coins and $1,300 in cash gone.
Police were able to trace receipts for the coins at Gold & Silver Exchange back to Manalo.
