Gunman opens fire at a Chicago hospital, kills 3
CHICAGO — A gunman opened fire Monday at a Chicago hospital, killing at least three people, including a police officer, before the suspect also died, authorities said.
A police spokesman said it was not immediately clear if the attacker took his own life or was killed by police at Mercy Hospital on the city’s South Side.
A witness named James Gray told reporters that it looked as if the attacker “was turning and shooting people at random.”
The shooting apparently began as the suspect was walking with a woman near a parking lot. He turned and repeatedly shot the woman in the chest. He then entered the hospital and continued firing, Gray said.
The two had been talking to each other in what Gray said did not appear to be a heated exchange.
Freshman Dems face thorny first vote: Yes or no on Pelosi
WASHINGTON — It’s the thorny first question confronting newly elected House Democrats: Will you vote for Nancy Pelosi?
Even before they’ve taken office, the freshmen swept in by the midterm elections are caught at the center of an escalating power struggle over Pelosi’s future.
The clash intensified Monday as Pelosi’s critics unveiled a letter signed by 16 Democrats, including five freshmen, vowing to oppose her. If that holds, it could be enough to derail her bid. If not, she could reclaim the gavel she once held.
“It’s the question that we got most often,” said Rep.-elect Joe Neguse of Colorado, on CBS. He intends to support Pelosi. “You know I think that it’s important that we have steady leadership right now.”
The vote on a new speaker will be among the first cast in the new Congress, a dramatic roll call that often becomes fodder for campaign ads. For many of the Democratic freshmen, it’s a moment of truth after a number of them promised on the campaign trail to oppose Pelosi and demand new leadership.
Trump sets off storm by criticizing retired admiral
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has ignited a firestorm of criticism and charges that he is politicizing the military by faulting a war hero for not capturing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden sooner.
Trump took shots at retired Adm. William McRaven in a Fox News interview Sunday in which he also asserted that the former Navy SEAL and former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command was a “backer” of Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, and supporter of President Barack Obama.
“Disgusting,” the George W. Bush administration’s White House counterterrorism adviser, Fran Townsend, wrote Monday on Twitter.
Leon Panetta, who was CIA director during the bin Laden raid and later served as secretary of defense, said Trump owed an apology to McRaven and to all of those in the military and intelligence agencies who played a role in tracking down bin Laden and carrying out the risky raid into Pakistan. He called Trump’s remark “patently ridiculous.”
“It demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of how our military and intelligence agencies operate and undermines the president’s own standing as commander-in-chief,” Panetta said in a statement.
White House to restore reporter Acosta’s pass
NEW YORK — The Trump administration on Monday abruptly dropped its effort to bar CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House, but warned he could have his credentials pulled again if he doesn’t follow guidelines governing journalists’ behavior.
The White House said reporters would be permitted one question each if called upon at news conferences and allowed follow-ups only at the discretion of the president.
In a letter to Acosta, White House communications director Bill Shine and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they will be forced to reconsider the decision “if unprofessional behavior occurs.”
CNN said that, as a result, it has dropped its lawsuit against the White House filed on Acosta’s behalf.
“Thanks to everyone for their support,” Acosta tweeted. “As I said last Friday … let’s get back to work.”
Taiwanese student accused of threat to be deported
PHILADELPHIA — A Taiwanese exchange student accused of threatening to “shoot up” his high school near Philadelphia was spared additional time in prison at his sentencing Monday, but he will be deported and barred from returning to the U.S.
A federal judge Monday after nearly two hours of testimony sentenced the student to time served and deportation. The judge did not impose a fine. He had been facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his guilty plea to a firearms-related charge.
The student has been in local or federal custody since March after local school authorities were alerted that he talked about a May 1 shooting at Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Upper Darby, about 7 miles west of Philadelphia. The 18-year-old student called the talk a joke, but authorities found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition, as well as weapons, in the home of his host family.
Robert Keller previously said his client “had no intention or plans” to commit a school shooting and many items found were what he wore to school for a Halloween costume contest.
A military-style ballistic vest, ammunition clip pouches, a high-powered crossbow and live ammunition were found in Sun’s bedroom in Lansdowne, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. or an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, police said.
By wire sources