New Mexico: Woman recounts attack: "Melissa O'Connell will be the first to tell you she's the exception, not the rule. Among women who become victims of violent crime she is an anomaly. Three years after waking up around midnight with a masked male intruder on top of her, shining a flashlight in her eyes and holding a gun and preparing to rape her, O'Connell is alive to talk about it. The serial rapist, who had gained entry into her house that July evening through a window or the sliding glass door, is dead. He's dead because O'Connell managed to wrestle his gun away and shoot him at least twice. O'Connell survived to tell her story many times to many people, including a national television audience when she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to accept a 'Chutzpah award,' given to women who show extraordinary amounts of bravery and courage in threatening situations. O'Connell told her story again to the Women Against Crime (WAC) class Monday evening."


West Virginia: Bluff fails: "Police are searching for a robbery suspect who attempted to rob a local business Wednesday morning but abandoned his plan when an employee said he too had a gun. Parkersburg police Capt. Steve Flinn said the attempted robbery of the Owl's Nest at 1217 Garfield Ave. occurred at 7:12 a.m. "A man walked in wearing a ski mask and had his hands in his pockets claiming to have a gun," Flinn said. "At that time the employee on duty said, 'I have one, too.'" Flinn said the suspect turned and fled the establishment on foot after the employee showed his firearm. Nothing was taken and the suspect has not been apprehended, Flinn said. A description of the suspect was unavailable.