Shooter

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota man accused of standing in the street and firing at passing cars - killing a 9-year-old boy - had roughly 200 rounds of ammunition stuffed into his jacket pocket, a backpack and the fanny pack he was wearing when arrested, prosecutors said Wednesday. Nhan Lap Tran, 34, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and other counts in Monday's shootings in the St. Paul suburb of Oakdale. Fourth-grader Devin Aryal died in the shootings, and his mother and another woman were injured.

WILMINGTON - Emma Harding and about 100 others took cover behind the counter of the Dunkin' Donuts downstairs. Jennifer Robinson fled into a communications room. Crying, Victoria Warren, hiding in another room, phoned her brother. "I'm scared," she told him. "I heard gunshots. " About 8:15 a.m. Monday, a gunman opened fire in the New Castle County Courthouse in an incident that left the shooter and two women dead. Police said the shooting grew out of a child-custody dispute. Two law-enforcement officers were wounded but survived because of their bulletproof vests.

A GUNMAN who spent years in court battles over custody disputes opened fire Monday in the lobby of a Delaware courthouse, leaving two women dead before being fatally shot, authorities said. "He walked right up [to] the first victim and shot her point-blank right in the chest. He then turned around and shot a second woman who was approximately 10 feet away," said Bill Heriot, who said he was waiting to enter the New Castle County Courthouse on Monday morning. He said the heavyset man, who appeared to be in his 50s, pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and fired a single shot at each victim.

NASIR PINKNEY and four fellow members of the Wheels of Soul motorcycle club rolled up to their West Philadelphia clubhouse at 6 a.m. Sunday after a 12-hour drive from Chicago, where they had attended a funeral for another member of the brotherhood. The men, who had taken turns driving an SUV, were getting ready to go their separate ways when a gunman near the club's door opened fire on them, club members said Monday. Pinkney, 31, was shot in the head and taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he later died after being taken off life support.

LEE CHILD, author of the novels featuring hulking avenger/investigator Jack Reacher, has defended the selection of tiny Tom Cruise to play the series' towering, bulky hero, on the grounds that in Hollywood, there simply are no Jack Reachers. Everybody is small. It's like the Shire. Except the hobbits all live in 5,000-square-foot houses and drive SUVs. Cruise, obviously, is not a match for the character's exterior. The question is whether he can convey the character's interior. You have to buy Cruise as a tarnished idealist, a man whose ugly, theater-of-war experiences (as a military detective)

A 17-year-old accused of shooting two SEPTA Market-Frankford Line passengers over a Sixers game is being held on $5 million bail. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has charged Eric Early as an adult. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and conspiracy, among other charges, that stem from the December 12 incident. Authorities say Early opened fire on an El train after he and his brother, Matthew, got into an argument with two Chicago Bulls fans following a Sixers loss to the that team at the Wells Fargo Center.

NEWTOWN, Conn. - Investigators tried to figure out what led a bright but painfully awkward 20-year-old to slaughter 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school, while townspeople sadly took down some of their Christmas decorations and struggled Saturday with how to go on. The tragedy brought forth soul-searching and grief around the globe. Families as far away as Puerto Rico began to plan funerals for victims who still had their baby teeth, world leaders extended condolences, and vigils were held around the United States.

PORTLAND, Ore. - A gunman opened fire in a Portland-area shopping mall Tuesday, killing two people and wounding one as people were doing their Christmas shopping, authorities said. Witnesses described a scene of chaos and disbelief as a gunman wearing some sort of camouflage outfit and what looked like a hockey mask fired rounds from a military-style rifle near the food court at Clackamas Town Center. Parents with children joined other shoppers rushing to stores' back rooms for safety as teams of police officers began entering the mall to find the shooter.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - A 64-year-old man who was killed after walking into a suburban Detroit police station and opening fire on officers without saying a word was a military veteran who had health issues, authorities said Monday. Officers fatally shot Harold Joseph Collins on Sunday afternoon in the lobby of the police headquarters in Southfield, and a sergeant was hurt in the exchange of fire. Authorities were investigating what might have prompted the shootout, which happened on Veterans Day. A preliminary investigation indicates Collins had medical problems, but it is not clear if that had any bearing on his actions, Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins told reporters.

TUCSON, ARIZ. - Gabrielle Giffords limped to the front of the courtroom and stared silently Thursday as she came face-to-face for the first time with the man who tried to kill her. The former congresswoman hadn't been near Jared Lee Loughner since the deadly rampage outside a meet-and-greet at a supermarket that killed six people and left her partially blind, with a paralyzed right arm and brain injury. Giffords' astronaut husband told Loughner what Giffords couldn't, before he was sentenced to seven life terms for the January 2011 slayings and attempted assassination of a member of Congress.