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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Brown’s family plans lawsuit over death

From Wire Reports

ST. LOUIS – Lawyers for the parents of an unarmed, black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a white police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson said Thursday that they would file a civil lawsuit in Michael Brown’s death.

Attorney Daryl Parks said the city of Ferguson and former Officer Darren Wilson would be named in the wrongful death lawsuit, which they plan to file promptly.

The announcement came in response to the findings of a Justice Department investigation that charged the Ferguson police department with unfairly targeting blacks but cleared Wilson in Brown’s death.

Parks said the DOJ report makes it clear there are “rampant, wholesale, systemic” problems in the Ferguson police department that need to “change soon for the safety of the citizens.”

Cardinal Egan of NYC dies at 82

NEW YORK – Cardinal Edward Egan, the former archbishop of New York who oversaw a broad and sometimes unpopular financial overhaul of the archdiocese and played a prominent role in the city after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, died Thursday. He was 82.

Egan, who retired in 2009 after nine years as archbishop, died of cardiac arrest at a New York hospital, the archdiocese announced.

In 2000, Egan was chosen by Pope John Paul II for the difficult job of succeeding larger-than-life Cardinal John O’Connor, who was a major figure not only in the city, but in the country. From him, Egan inherited an annual deficit of about $20 million. Egan cut spending and laid off staff – and said he wiped out the shortfall within two years.

Yet Egan bristled at the suggestion that he was more a manager than shepherd. In a 2001 interview, he said, “I am about, first and foremost, serving 413 communities of faith,” referring to the archdiocese’s parishes.

On Sept. 11, 2001, after a call from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the cardinal spent the day anointing the dead, distributing rosaries to workers as they searched, mostly in vain, for survivors. Egan later presided over funerals for the victims, sometimes three a day.

Officer slain during game store hold-up

PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia police officer was shot in the head and killed after he and his partner exchanged gunfire with two suspects trying to rob a video game store, city officials said Thursday.

The slain officer, Robert Wilson III, fired back even as he was being shot by suspects on either side of him. One was struck and taken to a hospital while the other was in custody, police said.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, red-eyed as he spoke at an evening news conference, said he had met the 30-year-old Wilson and his partner when they took part in a recent pilot program in which officers wore body cameras.

“I knew him, had met him. He was one of the best police officers this city has to offer, period,” Ramsey said.