"3 Utah children home after icy plunge" Associated Press, January 03, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY - Three children trapped in an upturned car after it skidded into a river were released yesterday from a hospital, two days after they were saved by several passersby....
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"Utah police officer killed in shootout during drug raid" associated press, January 06, 2012
OGDEN, Utah - A shootout that erupted when police raided a home in Ogden on Wednesday night left an officer dead and wounded five others as well as the suspect, authorities said.
The officers from a task force went to the house in northern Utah as part of a routine drug-related investigation. They knocked on the door and identified themselves, Police Chief Wayne Tarwater said yesterday.
“When there was no answer, they forced entry,’’ he said. “When they entered, the officers came under fire.’’
The suspect, Matthew David Stewart, 37, has a limited criminal history. He suffered injuries that are not life threatening, though it was unclear if he was shot. Stewart was in a hospital under guard, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.
Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said officials hadn’t determined what charges Stewart might face.
“But it appears right now, with the information we have, that we have an aggravated murder as well as a number of other attempted aggravated murders,’’ Smith said.
The officer who was killed, Jared Francom, had a wife and two daughters, ages 3 and 5.
Authorities said the conditions of the injured officers ranged from serious to critical.
Police have not disclosed specific details about the shootout. Police said the warrant was based on credible information about possible drug activity.
Was there any, because this article sure leaves it vague.
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Related: Drug War Making a Killing in Boston
"Teen killed by miniature toy cannon" Associated Press, January 26, 2012
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Authorities say a 14-year-old boy fatally shot himself while playing with a toy cannon.
Tremonton police said Robby Ostberg was playing with the toy in his living room about 7:30 a.m. Monday when the miniature cannon went off. The boy was struck in the face and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities haven’t released detailed information about what kind of projectile hit Ostberg, but Hertel said her grandson sometimes wrapped gunpowder in tin foil and fired it a few feet away with the cannon.
The toy is described as an 18th century replica with a 6-inch metal barrel and a wooden base. Authorities said it had no firing mechanism and was meant to be purely decorative. Hertel said a neighbor gave it to the boy a few years ago.
The boy’s father didn’t know Ostberg had access to gunpowder, Hertel said.
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"Utah teens arrested in alleged school bombing plot" by Paul Foy Associated Press / January 26, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY—A Utah high school student bragged to police that he was smarter than the Columbine killers and was plotting with an older student to set off a bomb during a school assembly and escape in a stolen plane, court documents say.
Dallin Morgan, 18, and the 16-year-old boy were pulled out of school Wednesday and arrested after authorities learned of the plot, Roy police spokeswoman Anna Bond said Thursday.
The students prepared by logging hundreds of hours on flight simulator software on their home computers, and they planned to take a plane at Ogden Hinckley Airport after the bombing, Bond said.
The juvenile hinted at the plan in text messages to a friend, writing that both suspects wanted "revenge on the world" and "we have a plan to get away with it too."
He hinted at the plan by writing "explosives, airport, airplane" and added, "We're just gonna kill and fly our way to a country that won't send us back to the US," according to a probable cause statement police filed to make the arrests late Wednesday.
Talk about drawing attention to yourselves. Stupid kids.
The Associated Press isn't naming the 16-year-old because he is a minor.
The juvenile told investigators he was so "fascinated" by the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that he visited the Littleton, Colo., school and interviewed the principal about the shootings that killed 13 people. Roy police said the principal, Frank DeAngelis, confirmed that the boy made his visit Dec. 12.
I still have questions about COLUMBINE, sorry. Nothing is ever as the government and mouthpiece media tell it.
Morgan was being held on $10,000 bail at Weber County jail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit mass destruction.
Is that the same charge leveled at liars who led us to mass-murdering wars?
The juvenile was in custody at Weber Valley Detention Center on the same charge. Prosecutors were weighing possible additional charges.
Both students had "absolute knowledge of the security systems and the layout of the school," Bond said. "They knew where the security cameras were. Their original plan was to set off explosives during an assembly. We don't know what date they were planning to do this, but they had been planning it for months."
School officials said there were no imminent plans to hold a school assembly.
Local and federal agents searched the school, two vehicles belonging to the suspects and their homes but found no explosives. The FBI is examining the suspects' computers, police said.
??????.... ??
The parents of both students "woke up in the middle of a nightmare," Bond said. "They've been very cooperative."
The other Roy High School student who received text messages tipped authorities to the plot Wednesday, said the school's safety specialist, Nate Taggart.
The student "came forward and had some suspicions but not a lot of information -- enough that it gave administration the ability to make some connections and identify the students involved," Taggart said.
The school has about 1,500 students.
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