Free Republic

An investigation is underway after a man died in a rain of gunfire Sunday night. Family identified the victim as 25-year-old Christopher Smith, the father of a 7-year-old daughter and an aspiring rap artist... [The victim] was ambushed and shot at more than 60 times.

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) - Westfield police say the double homicide that happened on Friday was a home invasion that occurred during the day. Police say they did not find evidence of forced entry at first but have since determined it to be a robbery. Police say both victims, mother Marylyn Erb, 52, and daughter Kelley Erb, 23, died from blunt force trauma. A relative arrived home, 15000 block of Oak Park Court, around 5 p.m. and found the two unresponsive. A 2011 Maroon Buick Enclave was taken from the house and found a short distance away on East 161st Street....

A 76-year-old woman was killed in a shootout with attempted robbers outside her South Carolina home early on Saturday morning. “She fought. She was a fighter. She shot him,” the victim’s brother, Ronnie Lollis, told local news. Dorothy Hendrix returned home at about 1am when two armed men and one woman approached her attempting to rob her, coroner Greg Shore said. Hendrix pulled out a gun and fired at the suspects, and one of them returned fire, hitting her twice. One neighbour reported the gunshots to police. Hendrix, known as “Dot” to friends and family, managed to shoot one of...

On a shady cul-de-sac in the Riverdale Homes neighborhood, residents gathered Sunday in the street and talked quietly about the friends who weren't there. "We are all very close. And very torn up about this," said Angelia Brown, 45, referring to the shooting in a northwest Miami-Dade nail salon less than 48 hours earlier that left 10-year-old Aaron Vu dead and his father, Hai Nam Vu, in the hospital fighting for his life.

Police say they’ve made several arrests in connection with a brutal beating that killed a Des Moines man. 18-year-olds Yarvon Russell and James Shorter are in the Polk County jail charged with first degree murder. Police believe they are two of the men that beat 40-year-old Richard Daughenbaugh to death near 2nd and Center early Sunday morning. An arrest warrant has been issued for a third suspect, Kent Anthony III. Once caught, he too will be charged with murder. A warrant is also out for 21-year old Des Moines man Leprese Williams whom allegedly assaulted a bystander trying to break...

A 19-year-old man charged with the fatal shootings of a mother and her 5-year-old son last June was charged Thursday with a third unrelated shooting death that occurred on Halloween last year. Antonio Lewis, of the 5500 block of South Winchester, was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting that occurred Oct. 31, 2012. Thirty-year-old Brandon Johnson was fatally shot in the face when he answered the front door of his home during an apparent drug deal, police said. Lewis was also charged in August with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, police said....

WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) – Police in Wilmington are investigating the reported gang rape of two women at a park in Delaware. Police say two women, ages 32 and 24, were reportedly attacked and sexually assaulted by a group of 10 to 12 black male juveniles in Kosciuszko Park at about 6:54 p.m. Thursday. According to police, the suspects, who range in age from 12 to 17-years-old, remain on the loose.

BREAKING NEWS: Major crimes investigators have just confirmed that one teenager has been arrested in the beating death of WWII veteran Delbert Belton. One suspect remains on the loose. Charges of 1st degree murder and 1st degree robbery pending. UPDATE: Press Release From The Spokane Police Department: Spokane Police release surveillance photos of persons of interest in the homicide of an 88 year old man, occurring in N. Spokane last night. Anyone with information about either of the suspects is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233. On 08-21-13 around 8:15pm Spokane Police responded to Eagles Lodge, 6410 N Lidgerwood...

THE VILLAGES — Each detail of Florida Gov. Rick Scott's first budget signing was painstakingly considered. From the location ­— a conservative retirement community in Central Florida — to the mini-red "veto" Sharpie pens Scott handed out as keepsakes. From the music that would announce Scott's arrival to the stage, to, it turns out, who could be there. At the urging of Scott officials, Sumter County sheriff's deputies escorted a group of more than a dozen Democrats — mainly retirees who live in The Villages — from Thursday's event at the town square. The reason? The $69 billion state budget...

Disappointed Texans in Congress are threatening legislative action to block NASA's planned transfer of a retired shuttle orbiter from Florida's Kennedy Space Center to a riverside museum in New York City. The 16 lawmakers, led by Reps. Ted Poe, R-Humble, and Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, want NASA to award a retired shuttle to Houston's Johnson Space Center. The lawmakers — 15 Republicans joined by Houston Democrat Gene Green — issued their threat in a letter to NASA administrator Charles Bolden. The Texas Republicans acted in the wake of Bolden's decision on Tuesday to allocate four retired shuttle orbiters for public...

Hannity calls British imam a sick, miserable and evil SOB—on the air. On last night’s Hannity, Sean got himself into a regular old shootout with a radical British imam who believes in Sharia Law, wants the United Kingdom to become subjected to Sharia Law, and regularly praises Osama bin Laden. In light of the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood taking over in Egypt, having a radical Muslim imam on for a shootout was more than appropriate. The heated shootout took up two segments on the Hannity show, and for those disappointed, at times, in Sean’s debating prowess, he redeemed himself...

WASHINGTON, CA (AP) -- A Tennessee Democrat is defending his comparison of Republican health care arguments to Nazi propaganda. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis made the remarks earlier this week as House lawmaker debated repealing the new health care law. Cohen, who is Jewish, said Republicans are repeating lies and spreading false information, much like Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels did about Jews before the Holocaust.

A CNN report on a three-year-old Gaza girl suffering from a disease caused by kidney failure has the makings of a great human interest story. However, the network turned it into an article that is uncomplimentary to Israel and ignores Palestinian Authority indifference. The girl from Gaza is Aya abu Mouwais. The CNN report effectively creates deserved sympathy for her, beginning with the description, “The second she opens her eyes she starts crying. The 3-year-old is in pain every waking moment and has been for two years. “She is suffering from oxalosis, a condition which occurs when the kidneys fail....

Mysterious Group Buys Building Next to Ground Zero For Mosque Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Jim Hoft A mysterous Muslim group with unknown sponsors has purchased a building steps away from Ground Zero. Hudson New York reported: An identified group with unknown sponsors has purchased building steps away from where the WorldTrade Center once stood — to turn it into potentially one of the largest New York City mosques. At the moment the building, the old Burlington Coat Factory, already serves as a mini-mosque: an iron grill lifts every Friday afternoon for a little known Imam leading prayers a few yards...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said late Thursday it completed the sale of IndyMac Federal Bank, one of the largest casualties of the housing bust, to OneWest Bank. Pasadena, Calif.-based OneWest, a federal savings bank formed by an investor group that includes billionaire George Soros and Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell, agreed last December to purchase the failed California lender for $13.9 billion.

Maj just got the word, on Shep Smith show, scheduled to be announced tomorrow. All combat brigades to be out in 16 months. Real effect is immediate surrender of purpose. No commander is going to undertake any major mission knowing that, at the very longest, no US offensive military power will be in-country after next Spring, so why waste lives to gain something we soon will give away. Offensive operations will stop. Brigades will go into a useless, purely defensive mode. It's over. Our POTUS surrendered. About 3000 Americans volunteered to pay the ultimate price in Iraq so we could...

While Bernard Madoff is being investigated for his alleged $50 billion fraud scheme, a report says he is considering an insanity defense. "Bernie's family and his attorneys may argue that, somewhere along the line, he had a mental break," a Madoff acquaintance told the New York Daily News. "They may even say he has a multiple personality disorder," the source added Madoff's business began to collapse this fall as investors, hit by the financial crisis and seeking cash, started taking money out faster than Madoff could bring fresh cash into the country. A quiet force on Wall Street for decades,...

Remember the John McCain that many Arizonans grew to like over the years - the one who stuck by his principles but was not politically dogmatic or doctrinaire, and instead tried to represent the interests of people in general? Well, that John McCain seems to be back after a long journey into the dark jungle of presidential politics where he seemed to veer from his familiar middle-of-the-road approach to politics - an approach that a lot of Arizonans prefer, based on their long support for him.

Barack Obama conducted his first press conference as President Elect, with Vice President Elect Joe Biden and his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at his side and his economic advisors, looking appropriately dour and serious, standing behind him. There was not much in the way of news made at the Obama press conference, aside from a shot taken at an old lady named Nancy Reagan. The majority of the questions were about the current economic situation and what Obama intends to do about it. The short answer appears to be the enactment of some kind of economic stimulus package, the...

Polls show Clinton holding a stubborn lead over Obama and, if she wins, she will have staved off political death one more time. Yet if Clinton wins by a narrow margin - even after an unusually bad stretch for Obama, including his foolish observation about 'bitter' small-town voters and a horrendous debate on Wednesday - her victory will be underwhelming. In the next two primaries, on 6 May, she trails badly in one (North Carolina) and has surrendered a one-time lead in another (Indiana). Even some Clintonites say they will pressure her to drop out should she lose both those...