Freeway shooting tweet draws scrutiny
PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix drivers who were panicked after a series of freeway shootings felt a wave of relief when Arizona’s governor blasted the news on social media: “We got him!”
The tweet from Republican Gov. Doug Ducey came just five minutes after a state police SWAT team arrested a 21-year-old father of two as he left a suburban Wal-Mart store Friday night.
But Ducey was almost immediately hit with online criticism for his implication that Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. was guilty of the shootings before he was even booked into jail or appeared in court.
And it left out a couple of key points: Investigators linked Merritt to only four of 11 shootings, and more suspects could be out there.
Possible hate crime on college campus
NEWARK, Del. (AP) — The University of Delaware says three apparent nooses found hanging from a tree on campus are being investigated as a hate crime.
Interim university President Nancy Targett said in a statement posted online early this morning that a student found the items hanging from a tree in front of campus building.
Targett says such “cowardly and reprehensible acts” won’t be tolerated and says the university will work to identify those responsible and hold them accountable. University police are investigating.
The statement said a campuswide gathering would be held today, but no further details were immediately available.
Cosby seeking lawyer for criminal probe
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bill Cosby is seeking to hire a criminal defense lawyer as prosecutors near Philadelphia revisit a 2005 sexualassault complaint.
Lawyer Edwin Jacobs says Cosby’s agents contacted him in the last few days about a Montgomery County investigation and he referred them to another Philadelphia-area lawyer. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported Tuesday on Jacobs’ involvement.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman won’t confirm her office is reinvestigating the complaint by ex-Temple University employee Andrea Constand. But Ferman says prosecutors should “review past conclusions … when current information might lead to a different decision.”
Ferman’s predecessor thought the evidence was insufficient to charge Cosby in 2005. Since then, dozens of women have accused Cosby of drugging and molesting them.
Constand’s lawyer says Constand will cooperate if asked.
Cosby denies any sexual impropriety. His civil lawyers haven’t returned messages seeking comment.
Drug price to be cut after alleged gouging
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The company that sparked an angry backlash after it raised the price of a drug for treating a deadly parasitic infection by more than 5,000 percent says it will roll back some of the increase.
Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli told ABC News on Tuesday that the new price would make Daraprim more accessible, although he did not say what the new price for the drug would be. A spokesman for Turing did not immediately respond to a request for details.
The company obtained rights to sell the drug, the only U.S.-approved treatment for toxoplasmosis, in August. It hiked the price overnight from $13.50 per pill to $750.
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