In brief: Authorities: Father in Houston fatally shoots six, including four of his children
SPRING, Texas – A father opened fire at a suburban Houston home Wednesday, killing four of his children as well as two adults who were with them, and critically wounding his 15-year-old daughter, authorities said.
The teenager was able to call 911 and later warned deputies that her father planned to go to her grandparents’ home to kill them, said Deputy Thomas Gilliland of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The suspected gunman eventually surrendered after a three-hour standoff with deputies who had cornered him in a nearby cul-de-sac.
The sheriff’s department said precinct deputy constables were called to the house in the northern Houston suburb of Spring about 6 p.m. Wednesday and found two adults and three children dead. Another child later died at a hospital.
Killed were two boys, ages 4 and 14; two girls, ages 7 and 9; a 39-year-old man; and a 33-year-old woman, Gilliland said. The gunman and his wife are estranged, and she was out of state, Gilliland said. All of the children were theirs.
Authorities did not release the identities of the victims or the suspect.
Democrats counter birth control ruling
WASHINGTON – Taking up advice from Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., congressional Democrats Wednesday introduced legislation to get around the court’s decision last month to exempt private corporations from having to provide coverage for birth-control pills and devices that violate the companies’ religious beliefs.
The companion bills – the Senate version co-authored by Patty Murray of Washington and Mark Udall of Colorado – are perhaps the sharpest pushback against judicial authority since the 2010 Citizen United ruling that greenlighted unlimited independent campaign spending by corporations and unions.
The Murray-Udall bill would address the court’s June 30 opinion that Hobby Lobby Stores and other closely held for-profit companies can opt out of providing contraceptive coverage. Birth control coverage without co-pays is among mandatory preventive services that employers must provide under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Senate confirms Castro for HUD post
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm Julian Castro as the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday, elevating the rising Democratic star to President Barack Obama’s Cabinet. The vote was 71-27, with 18 Republicans supporting him.