NJ: Execution-style schoolyard shootings shock city: "In a city where gun violence has become an all too common part of daily life, these shootings were enough to chill even the most hardened residents: Four young friends shot execution-style in a schoolyard just days before they were to head to college. Three were killed after being forced to kneel against a wall and then shot in the head at close range Saturday night, police said. A girl was found slumped near some bleachers 30 feet away, a gunshot wound to the head but still alive. The four Newark residents were to attend Delaware State University this fall. No arrests had been made by Monday and authorities had not identified suspects." [NOTE: Of course, the victims were unarmed, as they were apparently law abiding youngsters and 'guns have no place in school']


Texas homeowner holds suspect at gunpoint: "A man who found a burglar in his home Tuesday morning held the intruder at gunpoint until sheriff’s deputies arrived. Just after 3 a.m., a woman reportedly heard noises in her house in the 1500 block of Cemetery Road, north of the city limits. She woke her husband, who walked toward the light someone had turned on in the house. However, the homeowner did not venture out of the bedroom empty-handed. “He grabbed his shotgun,” said Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, sheriff’s office spokesman. When the man found an intruder in his house, he pointed the weapon and waited. Sheriff’s deputies received the 911 call of the break-in at 3:16 a.m. and arrived three minutes later. Tuttoilmondo also said anyone facing a home break-in should exercise “the utmost caution” before engaging an intruder. “People have an absolute right to defend their property and their loved ones, but we encourage people to call 911 the instant they discover their homes are being broken into and remain in a safe place,” he said. Santa Fe resident Karel Christopher Phillips, 17, was in jail Tuesday, under $15,000 bond. He faces a charge of burglary of a habitation, which carries a possible prison term of two to 20 years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.


Utah: Quick-draw store owner runs off bandit: "Allen Van Arsdale calls himself a peaceful man who doesn't seek out trouble. But he doesn't apologize for his killer instinct. Van Arsdale was tending his antique shop near downtown Ogden about 12:40 p.m. Monday when an intruder stormed in. "Check this out, fool!" the man yelled, with a gun aimed at Van Arsdale's head 15 feet away. In retrospect, Van Arsdale acknowledged Tuesday, he probably should have given the man the cash he most likely wanted. But in one swift motion, the 46-year-old rock collector dropped to a knee, pulled out the .45 Colt revolver he keeps handy and fired a shot. "I missed him by 14 inches," said Van Arsdale, owner of Al's Antiques Etc. The bullet struck a photocopy machine. The would-be bandit, who wore a black ski mask halfway down his face, took off before Van Arsdale, a former Air Force airman, could squeeze the trigger again, he said. Detectives recovered the bullet. Van Arsdale speculates the man, who is still at large, wanted money for drugs.... The armed robbery was the city's first since a police officer shot and killed 41-year-old Armond Sanchez in February as he fled from a robbery, Lt. Tony Fox said. In that case, Sanchez robbed Jack's Shoe Repair store a block from Van Arsdale's antique shop and took off on foot. Police said Sanchez, who was suspected in more than a dozen robberies, raised a gun at an officer."