In brief: Hacker sentenced to seven years in prison

SEATTLE – A 21-year-old Maryland man who was part of a credit card hacking ring that targeted businesses in Seattle and across the country has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle said Christopher A. Schroebel partnered with 21-year-old Dutch computer hacker David Benjamin Schrooten to steal credit card numbers from businesses across the country and sell them in bulk through websites.

In their charges, prosecutors say Schroebel had in his possession 84,000 credit card numbers he had stolen or bought from other hackers. The two hackers operated “point of sale” operations in which spy software is installed in computers used by businesses for transactions. The software records credit card numbers used.

Schroebel pleaded guilty in May to charges of bank fraud, obtaining information from a protected computer, and access device fraud, among others.

Schrooten, who was arrested in Romania, is set to stand trial next month.

Woman allegedly fires numerous shots in store

SEATTLE – A 20-year-old woman entered a neighborhood supermarket near Wauna in Pierce County on Saturday and started firing a handgun, injuring two men, authorities said.

Witnesses said the woman entered the Key Peninsula Market just before 1 p.m. and walked around briefly before she began firing.

People in the store managed to subdue her, Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said. She was taken into custody when deputies arrived.

Those injured were a man in his 70s who was shot in the leg and a man in his 30s who was shot in the mid-section. They were transported to Tacoma General Hospital. A 20-year-old cashier was hit by a ricochet.

Pastor said there is no indication that she knew the victims.

“It’s a small area,” said 20-year-old Hannah Hobaugh, who works next door at Cost Less Prescriptions, a pharmacy. “This stuff doesn’t happen here. It shook up the community.”

Hobaugh was not at her job when the shooting happened. Her co-workers called her as she made her way to the area.