In brief: Vet kills himself at VA center

DAYTON, Ohio – An Army veteran wearing military fatigues shot and killed himself Friday with an assault rifle on the steps of a Veterans Affairs medical center where he had been a patient, authorities said.

Police found an assault rifle and a backpack near the body of Jesse Huff, 27, of Dayton, which was on the steps of the Dayton VA center’s main entrance Friday morning, police Sgt. Dan Mauch said.

Mauch said police had no idea about a possible motive and that Huff’s relatives had been notified.

Huff entered the Army April 15, 2003, as an infantryman and was promoted to the rank of specialist in 2005 before being discharged on June 15, 2007, said Army spokesman Wayne Hall.

Safety violations found at mines

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Federal inspectors have found more than 60 serious safety violations at Massey Energy operations since the explosion that killed 29 miners.

Inspectors visited more than 30 underground Massey coal mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia after the April 5 blast, according to records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The agency has tentatively blamed preventable accumulations of explosive methane gas and coal dust for the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970.