Akein Scott Identified By Police As Suspect In New Orleans Mother's Day Parade Shooting

NEW ORLEANS — Police identified a 19-year-old man as a suspect in the shooting of nearly 20 people during a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans, saying several people had identified him as the gunman.

Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said they were looking for Akein Scott of New Orleans. He said it was too early to say whether he was the only shooter.

"We would like to remind the community and Akein Scott that the time has come for him to turn himself in," Serpas said at a news conference outside of police headquarters.

A photo of Scott hung from a podium in front of the police chief. "We know more about you than you think we know," he said.

The mass shooting showed again how far the city has to go to shake a persistent culture of violence that belies the city's festive image. Earlier, police announced a $10,000 reward and released blurry surveillance camera images, which led to several tips from the community.

"The people chose to be on the side of the young innocent children shot instead of on the side of a coward who shot into the crowd," Serpas said.

Angry residents said gun violence – which has flared at two other city celebrations this year – goes hand-in-hand with the city's other deeply rooted problems such as poverty and urban blight. The investigators tasked with solving Sunday's shooting work within an agency that's had its own troubles rebounding from years of corruption while trying to halt violent crime.

"The old people are scared to walk the streets. The children can't even play outside," Ronald Lewis, 61, said Monday as he sat on the front stoop of his house, about a half a block from the shooting site. His window sill has a hole from a bullet that hit it last year. Across the street sits a house marked by bullets he said were fired two weeks ago.

"The youngsters are doing all this," said Jones, who was away from home when the latest shooting broke out.

Video released early Monday shows a crowd gathered for a boisterous second-line parade suddenly scattering in all directions, with some falling to the ground. They appear to be running from a man in a white T-shirt and dark pants who turns and runs out of the picture.

Police were working to determine whether there was more than one gunman, though they initially said three people were spotted fleeing from the scene. Whoever was responsible escaped despite the presence of officers who were interspersed through the crowd as part of routine precautions for such an event.

Serpas said Scott has previously been arrested for resisting arrest, possession of a firearm and narcotics charges. It was not immediately clear whether he had been convicted on any of those.

Serpas said ballistic evidence gathered at the scene was giving them "very good leads to work on."

Witness Jarrat Pytell said he was walking with friends near the parade route when the crowd suddenly began to break up.

"I saw the guy on the corner, his arm extended, firing into the crowd," said Pytell, a medical student.

"He was obviously pointing in a specific direction; he wasn't swinging the gun wildly," Pytell said.

Pytell said he tended to one woman with a severe arm fracture – he wasn't sure if it was from a bullet or a fall – and to others including an apparent shooting victim who was bleeding badly.

Three gunshot victims remained in critical condition Monday, though their wounds didn't appear to be life-threatening. Most of the wounded had been released from the hospital.

It's not the first time gunfire has shattered a festive mood in the city this year. Five people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in January after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, and four were wounded in a shooting after an argument in the French Quarter in the days leading up to Mardi Gras. Two teens were arrested in connection with the MLK shootings; three men were arrested and charged in the Mardi Gras shootings.

The shootings are bloody reminders of the persistence of violence in the city, despite some recent progress.

Last week, law enforcement officials touted the indictment of 15 people in gang-related crimes, including the death of a 5-year-old girl killed by stray gunfire at a birthday party a year ago.

The city's 193 homicides in 2012 are seven fewer than the previous year, while the first three months of 2013 represented an even slower pace of killing.

Leading efforts to lower the homicide rate is a police force that's faced its own internal problems and staffing issues. At about 1,200 members, the department is 300 short of its peak level.

Serpas, chief since 2010, has been working to overcome the effects of decades of scandal and community mistrust arising from what the U.S. Justice Department says has been questionable use of force and biased policing. Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Serpas have instituted numerous reforms, but the city is at odds with the Justice Department over the cost and scope of more extensive changes.

Landrieu's administration initially agreed to a reform plan expected to cost tens of millions over the next several years. But Landrieu says he wants out now because Justice lawyers entered a separate agreement with Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman over the violent and unsanitary New Orleans jail – funded by the city but operated by Gusman.

The site of the Sunday shooting – about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter – showcases other problems facing the city. Stubborn poverty and blight are evident in the area of middle-class and low-income homes. Like other areas hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the area has been slower to repopulate than wealthier areas. And Landrieu's stepped up efforts to demolish or renovate blighted properties – a pre-Katrina problem made worse by the storm – remain too slow for some.

Frank Jones, 71, whose house is a few doors down from the shooting site, said the house across from him has been abandoned since Katrina. Squatters and drug dealers sometimes take shelter there, he said.

A city code inspector, who declined to be interviewed, was there Monday

"It's too late," Jones said. "Should have fixed it from the very beginning. A lot of people are getting fed up with the system."

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Associated Press reporter Stacey Plaisance contributed to this story.

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Mass Shooting Victims Seek Control Over Donations

By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Survivors of mass U.S. shootings have united to provide victims of future tragedies greater control over donations made after such events and to prevent nonprofit groups from holding onto money intended for families of the dead and wounded.

A group representing families of those killed at the Columbine, Virginia Tech and Aurora mass shootings wants to ensure any unspecified funds raised as a result of the Newtown shooting go directly to victims and their families.

Newtown, the Connecticut town where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, has identified more than 60 funds raising money on behalf of victims or projects related to the shooting.

The families of some mass shooting victims want a trusted, centralized authority to manage future donations.

"Going back to Oklahoma City, we've seen families who have had to endure not only horrific loss, but also the unimaginable task of wrestling with Byzantine nonprofit bureaucracies to access financial relief intended for them," the families said in a statement. "It's time to stop the madness. We cannot watch this happen, yet again, in Sandy Hook."

The informal group, so far unnamed, has initiated talks with senior White House officials and two members of Congress about establishing an official fundraising operation for such tragedies, said Caryn Kaufman, a spokeswoman for the families. She declined to name the officials out of concern it might jeopardize the project.

The group is examining whether legislation or an executive order would be needed to create a federal or nonprofit entity that would coordinate donations after any future tragedy.

The project has won initial support from Kenneth Feinberg, the influential Washington lawyer who administered funds for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and several mass shootings.

Jerri Jackson, whose son Matt McQuinn was killed with 11 others in the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, wants it to be easier for future victims to receive aid.

"It's not a matter of if something else happens, it's when something else happens," Jackson said. "Immediately, a fund would be set up. It would be a trusted fund that people would feel they could give to and the money would go to the victims."

Jackson said she was forced to "jump through hoops in the midst of tragedy" to receive money raised in her son's name.

Nearly $5.9 million in Aurora donations were channeled to the Community First Foundation. When victims' families publicly complained about the pace of disbursement, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper called in Feinberg, who oversaw the disbursement within 45 days. The foundation was later shut down.

After the 2007 Virginia Tech University shooting that killed 32 people, more than $10 million spontaneously flowed to the university's fundraising foundation, university spokesman Larry Hincker said.

Because that foundation was only authorized to spend money on the university, an executive order from the governor was needed to disburse the funds to victims, Hincker said.

Michael Pohle, a member of the group whose son was killed at Virginia Tech, said: "What was so insulting was we had to fill out documents, have them notarized, and basically beg and apply for dollars."

Feinberg recognized some grieving survivors were upset but defended the disbursement process following both tragedies, noting the highly unusual circumstances, complex legal requirements and emotional strain on the families.

FAMILIES BAND TOGETHER

The ad hoc group of 64 people lost relatives in tragedies such as the Sept. 11 attacks, the 2008 shooting at Northern Illinois University and the Sikh temple shooting last year at Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

The group has not involved the Sandy Hook families, saying it was too soon for those still grieving. Even so, the group was concerned about the confusion caused by having dozens of nonprofit groups collecting money in Newtown, said Kaufman, the group's spokeswoman.

Some of the Newtown funds were designated for a specific purpose, such as creating a playground or scholarship. In other cases, the funds refer to more general goals of supporting the victims. The group believes that money should go to the victims' families.

Feinberg has overseen disbursements of funds following Sept. 11, the BP oil spill and several mass shootings. Though he is not affiliated with the group, he supports the concept Of having a protocol in place when a future tragedy occurs.

"I think it's a great idea," Feinberg said. "The question is: Is there the political will to do it?" (Editing by Mary Milliken and Stacey Joyce)

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Sebastian Swartz, 9-Year-Old Boy, Dead After Shooting Himself With Father's Gun In Ohio

A 9-year-old who accidentally shot himself with his father's gun has died.

Sebastian Swartz of Decatur, Ohio, died on Tuesday, a week after he shot himself in the head with his dad's Glock handgun, according to WKRC.

WXIX reports on what authorities believe led to Swartz's fatal injury:

The initial investigation indicated the gunshot was the result of an accidental discharge of a handgun. A witness at the scene confirmed the sister of the boy tried to take the gun from him before it went off.

Last Wednesday, WXIX reports, community members took part in a prayer vigil for Swartz.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Brown County prosecutor’s office is investigating the case and could decide to bring charges against Swartz's parents.

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Las Vegas Strip Shooting: Police Search For Gunman, SUV

Smoke and flames billow from a burning vehicle following a shooting and multi-car accident on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas early Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Erik Lackey)

LAS VEGAS — Police searched Friday for a Range Rover with dark tinted windows and custom rims that set off a fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip when someone in the luxury SUV opened fire on a Maserati in a scene that onlookers described as worthy of an action flick.

Three people were killed and at least six more were injured in what marked the latest in a series of violent episodes in Las Vegas in recent months.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie told reporters the shooting was sparked by an argument in the valet area of the nearby Aria hotel-casino, and spilled over to one of the busiest intersections on the Las Vegas Strip. As bullets flew from the Range Rover, the Maserati ran a red light and smashed into a taxi that exploded into flames, killing the driver and a passenger. The driver of the Maserati was also killed, and his passenger was wounded.

Police have not released the identities of the victims.

Three more cars and a utility truck also collided as the Range Rover sped off in the darkness at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

Las Vegas police Sgt. John Sheahan said the Range Rover was last seen near the Venetian resort as it headed north from the shooting scene. He said police have video from traffic cameras at the intersection and were checking hotel surveillance systems, but added that the video will not be made public.

"What happened will not be tolerated," Gillespie said, vowing that the shooters would be "found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Jogger Eric Lackey was on his way back to the New York-New York hotel when he snapped a cellphone photo of the blazing scene moments after the crash. Black smoke billowed from the flaming taxi, amid popping sounds from the fire.

Lackey, of Forest Hill, Md., said a security officer in a yellow shirt performed CPR on a person on the sidewalk while police officers canvassed a small crowd of perhaps 15 onlookers gathering at the scene.

"Police were asking if anyone was still in the vehicles and if they heard gunfire," Lackey told The Associated Press. "That's when I realized it wasn't just a regular accident."

The effects of the shooting and crashes were felt hours later as the Strip remained closed, leading to snarled traffic, until it reopened late Thursday night.

The fiery rampage shocked tourists.

"We get stabbings, and gang violence," said Mark Thompson, who was visiting from Manchester, England, with his wife, "but this is like something out of a movie. Like `Die Hard' or something."

Police said they were contacting authorities in three neighboring states about the Range Rover Sport that had a car dealer's advertisement in place of a license plate.

In Southern California, the California Highway Patrol alerted officers in at least three counties to be on the lookout for the SUV.

Witnesses also told police the SUV and Maserati had come from the nearby CityCenter area, the home of Aria, just south of the site of the attack.

"We have numerous witnesses to this," Sheahan said. "But what is the genesis of this? We don't know yet."

The crumpled, gray Maserati, which had no license plate, came to rest several feet away from the incinerated taxi.

"The people I feel sorry for are the people in the taxi," said Elvina Joyce, a tourist from Regina, Saskatchewan. "Seconds made all the difference in the world for them. Wrong place, wrong time."

The area near the scene has been the site of high-profile violence in the past.

Rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996 about a block away under similar circumstances, as assailants opened fire on his luxury sedan from a vehicle on Flamingo Road. The killing has never been solved.

And Las Vegas has had several violent episodes in recent months.

Two people were critically wounded in a shooting at a parking garage on Feb. 6, and a tourist was stabbed last Saturday in an elevator at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.

On New Year's Eve at Circus Circus, a man pulled out a revolver and fired it into the ground just off the main floor of the casino. Less than two weeks earlier, a woman allegedly slashed the face of a blackjack dealer at the Bellagio.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels and Hannah Dreier contributed to this report

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T.J. Lane, Ohio School Shooting Suspect, In Plea Talks According To Lawyer Ian Friedman

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CHARDON, Ohio — Negotiations are under way for a possible plea deal for a teenager suspected of killing three students at a high school cafeteria, one of his attorneys said Friday.

Attorney Ian Friedman confirmed the negotiations but wouldn't offer details about the discussions in the case of 18-year-old T.J. Lane.

Friedman said if a plea occurs it could happen as early as Lane's next court date, on Feb. 26, the day before the anniversary of the deadly shootings at Chardon High School, east of Cleveland.

Lane is charged with fatally shooting the three students and injuring others.

A judge has ordered psychiatric testing for Lane. Attorneys for both sides want the testing to determine if he is competent to stand trial.

Before the case went to adult court last year, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent despite evidence he suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies.

Prosecutors say Lane fired 10 shots at a group of students in the cafeteria. He was at the school waiting for a bus to his alternative school.

Investigators say he admitted shooting at students but said he didn't know why he did it.

Lane faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted. He isn't eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the shootings.

The school district plans to commemorate the anniversary of the Feb. 27 shootings with service projects and other events, including a memorial walk to the town square by students, staff members and first responders.

One of the shooting survivors, 17-year-old Nate Mueller, says the tragedy has motivated him to lobby for gun safety, which he did during a recent trip to Washington. Mueller told WEWS-TV on Friday that surviving a bullet that grazed his ear prompted his involvement in the issue and that he feels it's his duty.

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Joe Biden Talks Violent Video Games With Industry Reps In Wake Of Newtown Shooting

The perennial controversy over violent video games was again a topic of discussion at the White House on Friday, where Vice President Joe Biden met with representatives of the video game industry as part of his effort to find legislative remedies to the problems associated with gun violence.

Entertainment Software Association CEO Mike Gallagher and other video game industry representatives were scheduled to meet with President Obama's gun violence task force on Friday, the Hill reports. The committee, led by Biden, is getting ready to release its recommendations next week.

The Entertainment Software Association is a lobbying group for a number of major companies, including Electronic Arts and Microsoft. These companies' products -- "Call of Duty," "Halo" and other "first-person shooter" games -- have come under criticism in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. massacre last month. It has been widely reported that the killer, Adam Lanza, was "obsessed" with video games, and police found thousands of dollars worth of violent video games while searching his house.

One of the most prominent critics of the video game industry is the gun industry. In a press conference last month, Wayne LaPierre, president of the NRA, criticized the media for ignoring "a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people ... through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse."

Despite the source of this criticism, violent video games appear to benefit the firearms business. Robert Farago, a gun-rights supporter and the founder and publisher of The Truth About Guns, a web site aimed at examining "the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns," spoke to The Huffington Post last month about the relationship. "Video games are the most effective advertisements there are for firearms," Farago said.

Several gaming sites have equated the practice of portraying authentic guns in video games as "product placement."

Gun enthusiasts certainly haven't been alone in raising objections to the prevalence of violence in video games. In recent weeks, lawmakers and media watchdogs have called for studies into the effects of violent games on children and for tighter regulation of the industry. James P. Steyer, the founder of Common Sense Media, wrote a letter to Biden suggesting that the Federal Trade Commision require the gun industry to "explicitly reveal all product placements and other marketing practices and tie-in with the video game industry," as well as taking steps to cut down on children's exposure to violent videogame commercials.

But in his own letter to Biden, Mark Fisher, the interim president of the Entertainment Merchants Association, a Los Angeles-based trade group, dismissed the idea that video games contribute to violent behavior and questioned whether anything could be done to regulate violent video games anyway.

Fisher noted that video games already carry voluntary age advisories in the form of ratings including "Mature" (M), which suggests that the games are "suitable for person age 17 and over," and "Adult Only," which signifies that the games have content that "should only be played by person 18 or over." And he cited a recent Federal Trade Commission report asserting that video game retailers enforce the ratings "most vigorously."

He also mentioned several studies that mainly attribute youth violence to other factors, although at least one of them -- a 2001 report by the U.S. Surgeon General –- acknowledges that video game violence may have a "small average effect" on physical aggression.

Finally, Fisher brought up a bill introduced by State Sen. Leland Yee (D- Calif.) in 2005, which sought to regulate the voluntary age-advisory system. That law went to the Supreme Court, where it was overturned on First Amendment grounds. "Any attempt to legally restrict the sale or rental to minors of entertainment containing depictions of violence will likely be found to be unconstitutional," he wrote.

Yee, who has also introduced several recent bills aimed at restricting ownership of semi-automatic weapons, told The Huffington Post that he agreed with this prognosis. "There's not a whole lot that we can do on a legislative level," he said. "The responsibility really falls on the violent video game industry."

He recommended that the industry step up its own efforts to ensure that retailers abide by age advisories, and suggested that an "Adult Only" rating be given to many games that are currently labeled "Mature."

But he conceded that the industry isn't exactly clamoring for that chance to do that. "If you do that," Yee said, "the market for buying those games becomes very, very small."

The objections to gun control and to the regulation of violent video games have at least one thing in common, he argued: "It's about money."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated the name and location of the Entertainment Merchants Association, which is based in Los Angeles.

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Sandy Hook Shooting Inspires Bulletproof Kids Clothing

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A Colombian firm that makes bulletproof vests is now creating armored clothing for children.

Factory owner Miguel Caballero said he never thought about making protective clothes for kids until requests came in following the deadly attack on Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut last month.

"After the tragedy in Connecticut, we started getting emails from customers asking for protected (clothing) because they were afraid to take their kids to school," Caballero said.

"We have received messages from all over the United States," seeking the protective gear, added Giovanni Cordero, the company's marketing director.

Products include child-sized armored vests, protective undershirts and backpacks with ballistic protection that can be used as shields.

The products are designed for children ages 8-16 years old and cost $150-$600 depending on the complexity of their construction. Each piece weighs 2-4 pounds.

"The products were created with the American market in mind, not for the Latino market," said Caballero. "All the designs and colors, everything is thought out with them in mind."

Caballero performed a test on a pink-and-yellow striped bulletproof backpack attached to a pale blue protective vest, firing a 9mm pistol and a machine gun to show it could withstand a barrage of bullets.

He said the backpack-vest combo and other protective gear have already been ordered by a U.S. distributor, although he would not identify it.

About 250 people work at Caballero's factory, which has been making armored vests for adults for more than 20 years. Colombia suffers from an internal conflict that has killed thousands of people over the last half-century.

Outside Colombia, the vests for adults are sold in some 20 countries, including Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico. They are also marketed in parts of Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Twenty first-graders and six educators were killed in the Dec. 14 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. The 20-year-old gunman, Adam Lanza, also shot and killed his mother inside their home before driving to the school and shooting his way inside. He committed suicide as police were closing in.

After the Newtown shooting, at least three American companies that were already making backpacks designed to shield children reported a spike in sales.

Massachusetts-based Bullet Blocker reported it was selling 50 to 100 bulletproof backpacks a day after the shooting, up from about 10 to 15 in an average week. The children's backpacks, which are designed to be used as shields, cost more than $200 each.

Most of the children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre were shot at close range and likely would not have been saved by armored backpacks. At any rate, children don't usually wear their backpacks at their desks or while walking around school.

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Paper Hearts For Newtown Collected By Montana Group To Show Support After Sandy Hook Shooting

BILLINGS, Mont. -- It started as a way for one Montana family to talk about the tragic school shooting of 26 children and adults. Now it's blossoming into an international movement to build a chain of handmade paper hearts to stretch almost across the country.

Gala Thompson and her family's Paper Hearts Across America estimate it would take about 19 million small paper hearts to connect Billings, Mont., to Newtown, Conn. They're hoping to gather that many hearts so they can deliver them to the residents of Newtown and show them there's still good in the world.

"It's gone above and beyond what we hoped, really, from the first day," Thompson said. "I was thinking the first 500 hearts we got, that was great. But now, it's grown on its own."

Thompson told The Associated Press that organizers will send a first shipment of 10,000 hearts – each linked to another and with its own personal message – later this week or early next week. Thirty hearts already have been hand-delivered to the editor of the Newtown Bee, she said Wednesday.

Overwhelmed Newtown officials have asked people to stop sending gifts, but Thompson said Paper Hearts across America is going through the YMCA in neighboring Danbury and should not tax Newtown's strained resources.

The group will then send incremental shipments as the hearts come in, all the while tracking the progress toward the goal of 18,965,000.

That's the number of 6- to 8-inch hearts Thompson's husband calculated it would take to stretch the more than 2,000 miles from Billings to Newtown.

"I feel that this will go through and we will make the 18,965,000," Thompson said.

The project was launched in response to the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. A gunman killed his mother before opening fire at the school, killing 20 children and six adults. He then killed himself.

Word about Paper Hearts Across America has spread through news reports and the group's Facebook page – which contains a template for the hearts – and contributions have come from nearly every state.

People are sending boxes of the hearts to Broadwater Elementary in Billings, which agreed to be a collection point until the group reaches its goal. School officials are hanging the hearts in hallways until they're sent to Connecticut.

"The hearts come in boxes and boxes, and we all just get so excited," Thompson said. "We've been able to cover the whole inside of one of the school buildings and we're moving to the other one now."

Thompson said she wants people to know that it's not just a project for school kids. She wants universities, families, businesses, hospitals and others to get involved.

"Hopefully, Newtown will be flattered by this gesture and about how many people are compassionate and kind," she said. "There's more kindness in the world than there is hate, and that's what this is all about to begin with."

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