Reuters US Domestic News Summary

08/14/2016 19:52

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New York police hunt for gunman in Muslim cleric's killing

New York City police searched on Sunday for a gunman who killed a Muslim cleric and his associate as they left prayers at a mosque in the borough of Queens on Saturday, sowing fear and sadness in their budding Bangladeshi community. Police had yet to establish a motive and said there was no evidence the men were targeted because of their faith, but nothing was being ruled out. Residents demanded authorities treat the brazen daylight shooting as a hate crime.

U.S. Democrat Pelosi gets 'obscene and sick' calls after hack

U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Saturday she has been flooded with "obscene and sick" calls and text messages after a hacker linked to Russia posted personal contact information online for her and hundreds of other Democratic lawmakers and aides. Pelosi sent a letter to colleagues warning them to take precautions and said she was changing her phone number after a hacker identified as "Guccifer 2.0" posted the personal cellphone numbers and email addresses on Friday.

Death toll in Virginia plane crash climbs to six

Six people, including three members of an Indiana family and a German exchange student, were killed on Friday when their small plane plowed into a line of trees after an aborted landing at a northern Virginia airport, authorities said on Saturday. The twin-engine aircraft, identified as a 1969-model Beech 95-B55, crashed at the edge of Shannon Airport outside Fredericksburg, about 55 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.

Reports of gunfire trigger pandemonium at North Carolina mall

Multiple reports of gunfire sent a crowded mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, into chaos on Saturday, and several people were injured trying to flee the shopping center, police said. The Crabtree Valley Mall was placed on lockdown in the early afternoon after several shoppers reported hearing gunfire and took shelter inside shops as police descended on the mall.

Officer's shooting of suspect that sparked Milwaukee riot appears lawful: police

A Milwaukee policeman whose fatal shooting of a suspect sparked overnight rioting in the U.S. Midwestern city appeared to have acted lawfully after the man turned toward him with a gun in his hand, Police Chief Edward Flynn said on Sunday. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker activated the state's National Guard in case of more violence in response to the death of Sylville K. Smith, 23, who was shot while trying to flee from an officer who had stopped his car on Saturday.

Washington Monument closes after elevator breaks down again

The Washington Monument closed on Sunday when the elevator in the marble obelisk failed for the second time this weekend, the latest in a string of problems for the system, a spokesman said. The elevator doors failed to open near the top of the 555-foot-high (169-meter-high) monument, a major tourist draw in the U.S. capital, said Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service. Sixty-two people were able to ride down before the site was shutdown of the site, which draws about 600,000 visitors a year.

Bangladesh officials to meet Fed, U.S. investigators over heist: sources

A team from Bangladesh will meet officials of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice this week in New York in connection with the cyber theft of $81 million from the South Asian country's central bank in February, sources said. Two people close to the Bangladesh central bank said the goal of the meetings starting on Tuesday would be to discuss what led to the heist, carried out by unidentified hackers, and how such events can be prevented in future.

Deadly Louisiana floods strands thousands as rain moves west

Emergency crews in Louisiana have rescued more than 7,000 people stranded by historic flooding that has killed at least three and submerged whole communities, Governor John Bel Edwards said on Sunday, as the parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast braced for more rain and rising waters. Residents have been pulled out of flooded homes, swamped cars and threatened medical facilities in cities and towns across the southern part of the state, said Edwards, who has called for federal emergency relief funds.

Fourth body found at site of Maryland apartment blast

Another body has been found after an explosion and fire ripped through at a Maryland apartment complex outside Washington, D.C. last week, bringing the total of known deaths to four with eight people still missing, authorities said on Sunday. Montgomery County police are working alongside federal agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to sift through the site in Silver Spring for clues to the cause of the Aug. 10 blast, they said.

Liz Cheney's Wyoming campaign backed by big names, bigger money

Former Vice President Dick Cheney's eldest daughter, bouncing back from an aborted 2014 U.S. Senate bid, heads into a crowded primary race next week for Wyoming's lone seat in the House of Representatives buoyed by big-name Republicans and wealthy out-of-state donors. Liz Cheney, the apparent Republican front-runner, has commanded a level of fund-raising and A-list party support - including two former presidents and onetime Cabinet members - that is rare, if not unheard of, for a relative newcomer to Wyoming politics.

08/14/2016 19:52