In brief: Sister of accused nanny says she acted strange

NEW YORK – Friends and relatives of Yoselyn Ortega, the New York City nanny accused of stabbing two young children to death, said she appeared to be struggling emotionally and financially recently. Few, though, could offer any explanation for what might have caused her to attack the children.

“She snapped,” the nanny’s sister, Celia Ortega, told the New York Post. “We don’t understand what happened to her mind.”

Ortega, 50, remained hospitalized Saturday from self-inflicted stab wounds, including a deep gash to her throat.

Police said the Manhattan mother who employed Ortega returned to her Upper West Side apartment Thursday to find two of her children, ages 2 and 6, dead of knife wounds and the nanny stabbing herself with the blade.

“Apparently over the last month she was not herself,” said police department spokesman Paul Browne.

Driver is latest victim in Michigan shooting spree

FOWLERVILLE, Mich. – A motorist driving along Interstate 96 was shot and wounded Saturday in the latest in a string of shootings in southeastern Michigan, authorities said.

Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte said in a news release that the man was taken to the hospital Saturday afternoon after being shot in the left hip by a bullet that came through the driver’s-side door. He was listed in stable condition.

Bezotte said shots were fired earlier into another car, but its two occupants weren’t injured.

No injuries had been reported before Saturday in the series of at least 24 shootings in four counties. Ten of the shootings were in Wixom in Oakland County.

Saturday’s shooting was the first incident since Oct. 18.

Sheriff’s officials say the injured man is a 46-year-old from Delton. WHMI-FM reported he was traveling from the Grand Rapids area to Detroit to watch the World Series on Saturday.