Free Republic

ST. PARIS, Ohio -- Steven Zorn had put the pen gun to his head and clicked before, apparently thinking it was jammed and would not work. But on the third try, the tiny silver pistol went off as the 22-year-old budding rap artist was drinking to celebrate an impending record deal. He died at a hospital. The Nov. 18 shooting at Zorn's home in this rural village of 2,000, about 50 miles northeast of Dayton, is believed to have been accidental, according to family, friends and law enforcement officials. "Steven had a career and his dreams all ahead of him,"...

NEW YORK -- A 14-year-old boy who was "surfing" on the roof of a subway train was killed when his head struck an overhead beam and he fell to the tracks. Eric Alvarez of Harlem was found dead on the tracks between two stations in lower Manhattan at about 4:45 p.m. Monday, said Detective Carolyn Chew. While Alvarez was riding home from school, his friends dared him to climb to the top of the train, a practice known as "subway surfing," said Marisa Balde, a spokeswoman for New York City Transit. He apparently had climbed the rear of a car...