Free Republic

Rampaging Elephants My Summary Around 3:20pm, Apr. 20, six elephants escaped from Children's Grand Park in Seoul, S. Korea. They rampaged  in the neighborhood, injuring one woman and causing extensive property damage. Scores of firemen and policemen had to spend hours to capture them and bring them back safely.Elephants were making a round in the park to lure more crowd to their daily show. A few dozen pigeons were munching on crumbs left on the road ahead. They were so busy eating that they could not realize elephants are coming. When they realized that a giant beast is only a...

Villagers Riot in China, 50 Police Said Hurt Mon Apr 11, 6:11 AM ET By Benjamin Kang LimBEIJING (Reuters) - Thousands of villagers rioted in eastern China, injuring dozens of police, after two of about 200 elderly women protesting over factory pollution died during efforts to disperse them, residents and officials said on Monday.   The rioting on Sunday in Huankantou village, Dongyang city, in the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang coincided with violent anti-Japanese protests in China's capital, Beijing, and the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen over the weekend. It was the latest in a string of outbreaks...

ATLANTA - A sheriff's lieutenant who assigned himself as additional security for a rape trial was excused from work the day the defendant overpowered a deputy and began a deadly shooting rampage, authorities said Wednesday. The replacement for Lt. Gary Reid wasn't in the courtroom at the time of the shootings because suspect Brian Nichols' trial hadn't resumed yet and the judge was attending to unrelated civil proceedings, said sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Nikita Hightower. "What would have happened if Reid was there? I've often replayed that. Reid is a strapping man. Sharp. Big," said Michael Cooke, chief deputy of the...

Terry Ratzmann was laid to rest quietly Friday, at a private service emphasizing forgiveness and attended by a few dozen fellow church members, including some survivors of his shooting rampage. About half of the 75 people who attended were from the local Living Church of God congregation that Ratzmann sprayed with bullets just six days earlier before taking his own life. The rest in attendance Friday were Ratzmann family members, including his mother and two sisters, said Thomas Geiger, a member and spokesman for the local congregation. ... Despite the havoc the 44-year-old Ratzmann wreaked on his congregation, Geiger said,...

Investigators probing the massacre of seven people during a church service outside Milwaukee focused on the gunman's apparent anger with the church and brought in experts to break into his encrypted computer files, authorities said Tuesday. "All we know is he was very upset with the church, either with church generally or a portion of the church or a sermon," said Waukesha (Wis.) County District Atty. Paul Bucher. "We've ruled out everything else." Terry Ratzmann, 44, of New Berlin, Wis., shot and killed himself after the weekend rampage at a Living Church of God service at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield...

Armed Man in Bulldozer Goes on Rampage in Colorado Mountain Town By P. Solomon Banda/Associated Press Jun 4, 2004 GRANBY, Colo. (AP) - A man barricaded inside a metal-fortified bulldozer went on a rampage through this mountain town Friday, firing numerous shots and knocking down buildings as he plowed through the streets. Authorities had no immediate reports of injuries. The siege appeared to halt when the bulldozer became stuck in the rubble of a warehouse. Authorities clambered on top of the machine, apparently trying to talk to the man inside. His condition was unknown. The scene was chaotic as the...

Thai Buddhist shrine ransacked Lights were smashed in the Lim Ko Nhieo shrine A Buddhist shrine has been ransacked in the latest violence to hit southern Thailand, following the beheading of a Buddhist farmer at the weekend. Talks on the ongoing attacks - due to have involved a separatist Muslim leader and the government - were indefinitely called off on Tuesday. Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said he was worried the talks would jeopardise security. As many as 200 people have died in the violence since the start of the year. About 20 people broke into the Lim Ko...

MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) -- A woman dubbed "Bridezilla" after police said she went on a rampage at her wedding reception pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge of creating a public disturbance. Adrienne T. Samen, 18, was fined $90. Samen, of North Haven, was arrested on criminal mischief and breach of peace charges on Aug. 16 after police responded to her wedding reception at The Mill on the River restaurant in South Windsor. Samen allegedly became enraged after restaurant workers closed the bar at the party. She began throwing things, including wedding cake and gifts, police said. Samen left the...

West Nile Virus set for fresh rampage across US 16:18 08 August 03 NewScientist.com news service Cases of West Nile Virus in the US have tripled in a week, prompting officials to warn that the 2003 outbreak may well surpass the previous year's record levels. At least 164 people in 16 different states are infected with the deadly virus, compared with 59 a week ago. Seven people have died so far in 2003 from WNV. The virus's spread also appears more extensive this year - by 7 August 2002, there had been 112 human cases in only four states, Julie...

Four Dead, Five Wounded in Missouri Plant Shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - A bloody workplace rampage by a 25-year-old plant worker, who later fatally shot himself, left four dead, and five wounded Wednesday as police searched for a motive. Police said there were many theories as to why Jonathon Russell took a 40-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun with him to work at Modine Manufacturing Co, Tuesday night. But no one knows for sure why he opened fire on his co-workers just after clocking in for the 10:30 p.m. CDT shift. Walking from station to station with his gun, Russell appeared...

<p>A former Santa Cruz County tree-sitter who calls himself ``Rampage'' has been sentenced to three years in state prison for possessing the makings of a Molotov cocktail.</p> <p>Matthew Gordon Lamont, 21, of Long Beach, was arrested last year in La Habra after he drove past a Moose Lodge set to host a meeting of white supremacists celebrating Hitler's birthday.</p>

There are an estimated 200 million privately held guns in the US, where the number of gun-related deaths each year runs into the tens of thousands. But pro-firearm lobbyists say that resricted access to guns in countries like the Uk and Japan leads to more crime against unarmed citizens.