DETROIT — A sleeping 7-year-old girl was shot and killed Sunday when an officer’s gun went off while Detroit police were searching a duplex for a suspect in the slaying of a teenager, a police official said.
Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck by a single bullet and died at a hospital, Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said. Police said the girl was sleeping on a couch when she was shot.
Godbee said officers with the department’s Special Response Team set off a flash grenade as they entered the apartment with their guns drawn Sunday with a warrant to look for a suspect in the Friday slaying of a 17-year-old boy.
The lead officer encountered a 46-year-old woman immediately inside the front room of the house and “some level of physical contact” ensued during which the officer’s gun went off, Godbee said. The officers had identified themselves as police, he said.
California: ‘Fight club’ arrest
A trail of blood leading from a McDonald’s restaurant back to a home in unincorporated Los Angeles County resulted in the discovery of an underground “fight club” and the arrest of a San Gabriel man on Saturday, according to authorities. County sheriff’s deputies said a private sport-fighting event was being held at the home when “a dispute broke out among some of the participants” and Richard Nguyen, 24, of San Gabriel allegedly stabbed two men with a knife. Deputies learned of the stabbing when the two victims arrived at the McDonald’s restaurant, authorities said. The men were dripping blood.
Florida: Atlantis arrives at space station
Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering fresh batteries and other equipment to help keep the outpost running long after the shuttle program ends. On Saturday, a snagged cable prevented the six shuttle astronauts from properly inspecting their ship, so extra pictures were taken on its arrival at the station. The astronauts may try to free the cable during a spacewalk this week.
Britain: Ash shuts airports
Europe’s busiest airport closed early this morning as a dense cloud of volcanic ash drifted across England from Iceland, aviation authorities said. The restrictions affecting London’s Heathrow Airport — as well as Gatwick, Stansted and London City airports — will be in place until at least later this morning, the aviation authority said. Airports across Ireland were closed Sunday. Also, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam was closed. The volcano on Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) glacier erupted in April.
Pakistan: Military kills 58 suspected militants
The military killed 58 suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday with a mix of airstrikes and ground combat, the latest action in a months-long campaign to rout Taliban fighters from a mountainous area near the Afghan border. Persistent artillery and aircraft attacks in the Orakzai tribal region have killed hundreds of insurgents over the past two months, the military said.
Greece: Leader considers action against U.S. banks
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said Sunday that he is not ruling out taking legal action against U.S. investment banks for their role in creating the spiraling Greek debt crisis. He did not elaborate further. Both the Greek government and its citizens have blamed international banks for fanning the flames of the debt crisis with comments about Greece’s likely default, actions that are causing the country’s borrowing costs to soar. The European Union and the International Monetary fund have approved a $136 billion bailout package for Greece.
Gaza Strip: Hamas destroys several Palestinian homes
Hamas police wielding clubs beat and pushed residents out of dozens of homes in Rafah on Sunday before knocking the buildings down with bulldozers, residents said. Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers said the homes were built illegally on government land. Newly homeless residents were furious over Palestinians on bulldozers razing Palestinian homes. Residents said between 30 and 40 homes were torn down, ranging from concrete structures to tin shacks.
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