In brief: Suspect critically wounded in shooting near Arkansas air base gate

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. – Guards shot and critically wounded a civilian outside a sprawling Air Force base in Arkansas on Monday morning after the man drove his SUV over a curb near the main gate, crashed through a sign and got out of the vehicle holding a rifle, the base commander said.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the man, whose name hasn’t been released, was trying to enter Little Rock Air Force Base, which is about 15 miles northeast of its namesake city.

Col. Charles Brown Jr., the base’s commander, said two guards stationed at the base’s main gate quickly recognized a threat and shot the man. He said it wasn’t immediately clear whether the man fired his weapon, how many shots were fired or if the man exchanged words with the two guards.

The base issued a statement earlier Monday saying the man was hospitalized in critical condition.

MINEOLA, N.Y. – A Sikh college student from New York said Monday he is excited about a federal court decision that will permit him to enroll in the U.S. Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps without shaving his beard, cutting his hair or removing his turban.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued the ruling Friday in Washington, D.C., saying 20-year-old Iknoor Singh’s adherence to his religious beliefs would not diminish his ability to serve in the military.

“I didn’t believe it at first when I heard about the decision,” said Singh, who lives in the New York City borough of Queens.

Singh, who will be a junior next fall studying finance and business analytics at Hofstra University on Long Island, said he has had a lifelong interest in public service.