In brief: Two-year-old boy killed at zoo exhibit

PITTSBURGH – A 2-year-old boy visiting the Pittsburgh zoo was killed Sunday morning when he fell off a railing that his mother had put him on top of to view a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the child and mauled him, police said.

It was not clear whether the boy died from the fall into the wild dog exhibit area or from the attack, said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

“It was very horrific,” said Lt. Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police, who added that the dogs attacked “immediately” after the boy fell.

When the boy fell, other visitors immediately told staff members, who responded along with Pittsburgh police. Zookeepers called off some of the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. Three more eventually were drawn away from the child, but the last dog was aggressive and police had to shoot the animal, officials say.

The zoo was immediately closed.

The dogs are about as big as medium-size domestic dogs, 2 to 2 ½ feet high and 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. African wild dogs are also known as cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs and painted wolves. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered.

Police helicopter hits pole; two killed

ATLANTA – A low-flying police helicopter searching for a runaway boy hit a power line pole before it plummeted to the ground and exploded, killing both officers on board but leaving those on the ground unharmed.

Federal authorities were investigating what caused the chopper to crash into power lines along on a busy city street. Electricity was knocked out to nearby homes and businesses in an area filled with shopping plazas, fast-food restaurants and a gas station.

The 9-year-old boy was found wandering on a city street a couple of hours after the crash late Saturday night, Atlanta police spokesman Officer John Chafee said Sunday. He ran away after being scolded by his mother.

The two officers were identified Sunday as pilot Richard J. Halford, 48, of Lithia Springs, who had been with the department for 26 years, and Shawn A. Smiley, 40, of Lithonia, a tactical flight officer who joined the department two years ago.

United’s first 787 lands in Chicago

CHICAGO – United Airlines’ inaugural flight of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has touched down at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

United is the first U.S. airline to get Boeing’s newest plane. United CEO Jeff Smisek was on Sunday’s flight from Houston to Chicago and called the 787 the “world’s leading airplane.”

The Chicago Tribune reports that the landing was greeted by cheers from passengers, including some aviation enthusiasts who said they wanted to be part of a historic event.

It was a long time coming, as Boeing recently started delivering the jets after more than three years of delays.

Nationalists march in Russian capital

MOSCOW – Thousands of nationalists marched through the Russian capital on Sunday, chanting slogans including “Moscow is a Russian city” to express their resentment of dark-complexioned migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The march comes on Unity Day, a national holiday established in 2005 to be observed on the same day that once commemorated the Bolshevik Revolution.

Nationalists accuse the Kremlin of lavishing privileges on migrants and minorities while ignoring ethnic Russians, and object to government subsidies to the restive, mostly Muslim Caucasus republics.

There were no immediate reports of violence at Sunday’s march, which police estimated attracted about 6,000 people. But the ITAR-Tass news agency cited police as saying about 25 demonstrators wearing Nazi swastikas were arrested as they shouted slogans at a subway station in the city center.