News Roundup

The Gaston Gazette reports that Mark Carver has been granted a new trial after being convicted a decade ago of murdering UNC Charlotte student Ira Yarmolenko.  A superior court judge ruled that Carver received ineffective assistance of counsel during his first trial.  Chris Mumma of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence is representing Carver.  District Attorney Locke Bell has said he will appeal the ruling and conduct a new trial if that appeal is not successful.  Keep reading for more news. Virginia Beach.  Last Friday afternoon, America again witnessed a horrific mass shooting, this time in Virginia Beach.  As USA Today reports, twelve people were killed at a public works municipal building when an employee attacked his coworkers with a pistol fitted with a suppressor and extended magazines.  The shooter killed people on every floor of the three-story building.  Use of the suppressor caused confusion as people did not realize that an attack was unfolding and then had difficulty knowing where the shooter was in the building.  Police officers responding to the scene eventually engaged the shooter in a gun battle and took him into custody, though he later died from injuries sustained in the faceoff with police. The Virginian-Pilot has published several articles about the shooting.  The story of Keith Cox putting himself in harm’s way in an effort to make sure that his colleagues were safe is here and here; Cox was shot and killed as he tried to assist others.  A survivor’s first-hand account of encountering the shooter, [...]