News Roundup

With the midterm elections and the resignation of the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, there was a lot of news this week.  At the time of writing, however, those stories were being reported below the fold as the nation grappled again with the uniquely American recurring tragedy of a mass shooting.  As the L.A. Times reports, Ian David Long killed 12 people and injured 18 others at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on Wednesday night before killing himself.  Many of the victims were college students at the bar for line-dancing lessons and birthday celebrations.  Keep reading for more news. California.  The L.A. Times story cited in the lead says that suspected perpetrator Ian Long served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including an eight-month tour in Afghanistan, and suggests that he may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.  Long apparently was evaluated for an emergency psychiatric hold earlier this year after Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports that he was disturbing the peace and behaving irrationally. As is often the case with mass shootings, a law enforcement officer was among the victims.  Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus and an unnamed California Highway Patrol officer were the first officers on the scene, arriving minutes after the shooting was reported.  The Times says that Helus was shot as he entered the bar and died later at a hospital.  He was a 29-year veteran of the department. Kidnapping.  The Fayetteville Observer reports that law enforcement authorities are asking for the [...]