In brief: Two police officers seriously wounded after shots at casino

ST. ALBERT, Alberta – Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were seriously wounded Saturday, with one suffering life-threatening injuries, after they were shot at a casino in the central Alberta city of St. Albert.

The RCMP said the suspect in the shootings was found dead by police in a private residence in a rural area east of St. Albert where police had tracked him after the shootings. RCMP said the suspect had apparently forced his way into the home about 3 miles from the casino. There was no one else in the home.

Police have tentatively identified the suspect, and are working to confirm this information. Degrand said he was known to police.

The RCMP said Constable David Matthew Wynn, 42, is in “life-threatening condition,” while Auxiliary Constable Derek Walter Bond, 49, remains in serious but stable condition.

Degrand said a routine investigation into a suspicious vehicle led the two officers to the Apex Casino around 3 a.m. Saturday. The officers determined the vehicle had been stolen, and went inside the casino to look for suspects, quickly coming under fire.

The officers were hit before they had a chance to fire back at the suspect, who fled the scene, Degrand said.

First same-sex marriage held in city bordering California

MEXICALI, Mexico – The first same-sex marriage was held Saturday in Mexicali on the border with California, after officials ended an 18-month fight that led to a Mexican Supreme Court order to permit the wedding, a lawyer for the couple said.

Attorney Jose Luis Marquez Saavedra had filed a complaint Friday against Mexicali officials after authorities again blocked the marriage despite the high court ruling. The lawyer said the city let Victor Fernando Urias Amparo and Victor Manuel Aguirre Espinoza wed Saturday and he expressed satisfaction that their rights had been upheld.

Mexican federal courts have issued rulings sympathetic to same-sex marriage, but for the most part that has not translated into legalization at the local level.

The country does not have a single national civil code but rather one each for the 31 states and the Federal District of Mexico City. Thirty of those entities, including Baja California state, where Mexicali is, do not allow same-sex marriage. Only the capital and the northern state of Coahuila permit such unions.