In brief: Obamas attend historic church

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and his family attended Easter service Sunday at a Washington church founded in 1863 by freed slaves.

The first family entered Shiloh Baptist Church to a round of applause on a sun-splashed day in the nation’s capital as members of a choir dressed in black, white and gold sang “Total Praise.”

Obama shook a few hands and hugged some members of the congregation as he and his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, walked to a second-row pew.

According to the church’s pastor, Dr. Wallace Charles Smith, 21 freed slaves made it to the nation’s capital from Fredericksburg, Va., to establish a place where they could worship freely and where “they could reach others with the good news of their salvation.”

Smith wrote last September, on the church’s 147th anniversary, that the group “could not see the way ahead … but went forth to a land they felt God had given them.”

Navy suspends ship’s top officers

NORFOLK, Va. – The U.S. Navy says two top officers of a Virginia-based ship have been relieved of their duties after an investigation into hazing and other incidents aboard the vessel.

The Navy says Cmdr. Etta Jones, the commanding officer of the Norfolk-based Ponce, was relieved Saturday because she failed to properly investigate, report and hold sailors accountable for hazing incidents. The Navy says she also failed to properly handle a handgun during a security alert, which endangered some of her crew.

The Navy says Lt. Cmdr. Kurt Boenisch, the ship’s executive officer, was removed because of his failure to provide support to the command and commanding officer.

Deputy’s killer threatened wife

VENUS, Texas – A North Texas sheriff says a man suspected of fatally shooting a deputy had been threatening people before authorities arrived.

Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sunday that 47-year-old Wesley Davis had threatened his wife, sister and another person with a gun before he was locked out of a house near the town of Venus. Alford did not specify Davis’ Oklahoma hometown.

He said 31-year-old Deputy Clifton Taylor was among three deputies who went to the house Saturday. Taylor was shot three times.

The sheriff said Deputies Patrick Geyer and Eric McClelland returned fire, killing Davis.