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

In brief: Gun training accident claims Pennsylvania trooper

From Wire Reports

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania state trooper was shot accidentally during a gun training exercise Tuesday at a safety facility and later died.

Trooper David Kedra was shot in the chest during a yearly training exercise at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Complex in Conshohocken, near Philadelphia, state police said. He’s the second trooper to be shot dead this month following Cpl. Bryon Dickson’s death in an ambush Sept. 12.

Kedra, 26, was flown by helicopter to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had been a member of the Pennsylvania State Police since June 2012.

The shooting remains under investigation, and state police didn’t disclose many details about it.

Mayor of L.A. suburb shot to death; wife questioned

BELL GARDENS, Calif. – The mayor of a Los Angeles suburb was shot to death Tuesday during an argument with his wife, who was taken into custody, authorities said.

Daniel Crespo, 45, was pronounced dead at a hospital, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Crystal Hernandez said.

Paramedics were called to a Bell Gardens condominium shortly after 2:30 p.m. Crespo and his wife, Levette Crespo, 43, were arguing, Hernandez said. Their son, Daniel Jr., 19, tried to intervene, and Crespo got into a struggle with him, she said.

Levette Crespo got a gun and shot her husband several times in the torso; she was detained for questioning, Hernandez said.

Crespo and his wife were high school sweethearts who married in 1986. They met in New York, according to a biography on the city’s website.

Bell Gardens, a suburb of about 43,000, is roughly 18 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Crespo was elected to the City Council in 2001. The council is a part-time job and members take turns serving as mayor. Crespo was a county deputy probation officer for 15 years, according to the website.

Oklahoma officials unveil new execution protocols

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma prison officials are unveiling new execution protocols to replace those used when an inmate took 43 minutes to die last spring.

Under the guidelines released Tuesday, Oklahoma can continue to administer midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions in other states this year, as part of three-drug and two-drug protocols. Oklahoma would use five times the dose it gave Clayton Lockett in April.

A review team appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin said Oklahoma’s prison staff needed more training and a contingency plan.

The guidelines give medical technicians one hour to suitably place an intravenous line and would have the prisons director give the order to inject the lethal chemicals. It also reduces the number of media witnesses from 12 to five.