Police: Man who shot 2 firefighters in Alabama motivated by personal conflict

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Investigators believe the man who shot two on-duty firefighters at an Alabama firehouse had a personal conflict with one of them, a police spokesman said Thursday. Detectives are still trying to determine the basis for that conflict. They have not yet been able to talk to the firefighters, but believe only one of them was targeted, Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald told The Associated Press. He said the two Birmingham firefighters, Jordan Melton and Jamal Jones, are expected to survive.

Justice Dept. to investigate jail conditions in Georgia’s most populous county

ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in Georgia’s most populous county, with officials citing violence, filthy conditions and the death last year of a man whose body was found covered in insects. Investigators will look at living conditions, access to medical and mental health care, use of excessive force by staff and conditions that may give rise to violence between people held in Fulton County jails, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said during a news conference Thursday. The county’s main jail is in Atlanta and has a long history of problems.

Judge rules man accused of trying to open jet’s door not competent for trial

BOSTON (AP) — A man charged with attacking a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon and attempting to open an airliner’s emergency door on a cross-country flight in March is not currently competent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein, basing her decision on a mental health evaluation of Francisco Severo Torres and her own observations in court, determined Wednesday that further treatment is warranted, according to court records.

Fire kills nearly every animal at a Florida wildlife center

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An early morning fire on Thursday killed nearly all the animals at a wildlife center in Florida, officials said. News outlets reported the fire broke out around 3 a.m. Thursday at the Alligator and Wildlife Discovery Center in Madeira Beach, near St. Petersburg on Florida’s Gulf Coast. “We suffered from a tragic fire last night. Nearly all of the animals are gone. We are devastated,” a post on the wildlife center’s Facebook page said. Sonny Flynn, who owns the center, told WTSP that all of the mammals inside the building died and many of the reptiles were injured.

Army colonel gets $975,000 in sex assault case

WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired Army colonel has reached a court settlement of nearly $1 million in a sexual assault lawsuit against Air Force Gen. John Hyten, who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The settlement with the U.S. government ends more than four years of investigations, reviews and congressional digging into the matter, which delayed — but ultimately did not defeat — Hyten’s nomination for vice chairman in 2019. He served two years and did not seek a second term. Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, who served as Hyten’s aide in 2017, filed the lawsuit, and in the settlement reached in U.S. District Court in California on Wednesday, the federal government will pay her $975,000.