Woman questioned in string of fires

Investigators on Sunday questioned a woman who smelled of smoke about four fires, including an apartment building blaze that killed three men and a woman, officials said.

The woman had not been charged with a crime, Police Department spokesman Marcel Bright said.

Witnesses had reported seeing the unkempt woman, who was wearing clear plastic bags on her feet, near the scene of three small fires that broke out late Friday and early Saturday, Edward O’Donnell, commander of the department’s bomb and arson unit, said at a news conference Saturday.

Investigators were trying to determine if the fires were connected, officials said.

OAKLAND, Calif.

Woman shot, killed in church lot

Horrified parishioners watched a man pull out a gun and open fire on a churchgoer as she tried to flee, fatally wounding her just before services began Sunday morning, police said.

Tanya McCall, 40, of Vallejo, was shot multiple times after arguing with the man in the parking lot of Acts Full Gospel Church in East Oakland, witnesses told police. Paramedics responding from the fire station next door pronounced her dead at the scene.

McCall, who regularly attended the church, “apparently knew” the suspect, said Oakland police Sgt. Tony Jones. He said police have yet to identify a suspect.

HANEA, Hawaii

Another tour helicopter crashes

One person was killed and three people were seriously injured when a tour helicopter crashed Sunday on Kauai, the second fatal helicopter accident on the island in four days, authorities say.

The crash occurred about 1 p.m., shortly after the pilot heard a bang and lost control of the aircraft near the island’s north shore, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.

There were five people on board the Hughes 500 helicopter including the pilot, who was uninjured.

A tour helicopter crash on Thursday at Princeville Airport killed three passengers and the pilot. Three others were injured.

NEW YORK

Bones found near cane in home

Authorities are trying to determine if bones found in a Bronx home are those of a woman who apparently went missing four years ago.

Little is known about what happened to 83-year-old Florence Bock. When a cleaning crew came to the home where she once lived last week, they discovered the remains – a pile of bones, including a skull – next to a cane.

The house was purchased recently by a developer, police said.

The city medical examiner’s office was working to make an identification.