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SWAT team ends Florida jail standoff
Panama City, Fla. A SWAT team stormed the Bay County Jail on Monday to end an 11-hour hostage standoff, injuring a hostage and at least two inmates, authorities said. Three other employees were freed.
An inmate reportedly said he was upset about health hazards at the jail.
The injured hostage was a nurse who was accidentally shot twice by the SWAT team, said Bay County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ruth Sasser. The woman was in stable condition after surgery.
Sasser said two other inmates who were part of the hostage-taking also were shot. They were treated and returned to the jail. Another inmate was taken to the hospital for a drug overdose; his connection to the incident was not immediately determined.
The standoff began Sunday night, when the SWAT team and armed corrections officer surrounded the jail. The officers freed the hostages Monday morning from the third floor where inmates had barricaded themselves, Sasser said.
Frances trims Jerry Lewis telethon pledges
Los Angeles The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon raised $59.4 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but organizers said Monday that power outages and other disruptions from Hurricane Frances contributed to a decline over last year.
Donations totaled 1.8 percent less than last year’s $60.5 million.
Television stations in the Florida cities of Jacksonville, Sarasota and Gainesville canceled broadcasts of the telethon completely. Other Florida stations showed only the national portions, preventing the broadcast of local segments during which most pledges are made.
Lewis, 78, was assisted during the 21 1/2 hour fund-raiser by Ed McMahon, and the broadcast featured performances by Elton John, Oprah Winfrey, Ray Romano, Tony Orlando and others.
Only one other telethon in the 1980s failed to surpass the previous year’s total.
The 39th annual telethon, based in Los Angeles, was shown on nearly 200 TV stations nationwide.
K.C. police say 1 person behind 6 slayings
Kansas City, Mo. Police said Monday they believe a single killer was responsible for the slayings of six people whose bodies were found within a blighted 18-block area frequented by drug addicts and prostitutes.
Police Capt. Rich Lockhart would not say what led police to connect the killings to a single person; the crimes have not been linked forensically. Authorities previously had said they thought the killings were related, though they had not theorized the slayings were the work of one person.
Police were working with the FBI to develop a profile of the killer.
One of those slain was found in July, but five others have been discovered since Thursday – including those found after someone calling 911 told police where to look.
“Some were engaged in high-risk lifestyles,” Lockhart said. He did not elaborate.