Gun instructor arrested, charged with shortening course & giving answers

51-year-old Richard Wykel of Cherokee County, South Carolina was certified as a concealed weapons permit instructor in 1996. But after an undercover investigation, Wykel has been arrested and charged with perjury and subornation of perjury in connection with improper training in his concealed weapons permit class.
South Carolina requires eight hours of training, including classroom instruction, firing a weapon, and showing proficiency in a weapon, before someone can obtain a concealed weapons permit. After receiving a complaint about Wykel an undercover agent signed up for his class. The agent reported that he paid $65 for the class, was fingerprinted, filled out the application and was then given the answers to the test. He also said the class lasted less than one hour and did not include firing the handgun.
Police are asking people who took Wykel's course to come forward and requalify for permits. They warn that anyone who applied for and received a concealed weapons permit without completing the eight-hour training course are subject to perjury charges for the falsification of the applications process.

Man breaks into home, terrorizes resident for hours before killing himself

Investigators have concluded that 30-year-old Jesse Cook of Central Falls, Rhode Island, committed suicide after breaking into a home in Warner, New Hampshire and terrorizing the resident there for hours. But they still don't know why Cook broke into the man's house.
Cook didn't have drugs in his system, investigators were unable to identify any mental illness, friends said he had never behaved violently, and he had no criminal record.
Yet one day Cook stole a car in Providence in an armed carjacking, drove to New Hampshire, and kicked in the cellar door of 82-year-old Gordon Smith. Cook terrorized Smith throughout the night, acting "paranoid and erratic." In the morning, while the two were in the kitchen, Cook put a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun to Smith's head. But after Smith told Cook he would spend the rest of his life in prison for killing him, Cook took Smith's hand "and placed it on the gun with his own hand, pointed the gun at his own head, and the gun discharged."
Investigators were unable to determine where Cook got the gun. The gun was traced to a consignment shop in Louisiana but investigators were unable to trace it from there.

Michigan couple each fires gun in domestic dispute

Police do not know what the Jackson, Michigan couple was fighting about, but they do know that they both had valid concealed weapons permits.
Police received a report of shots fired around 9:20 p.m. They also received a call from a man who said his girlfriend had shot at his parked car. The man's response was to get his gun and shoot at his girlfriend's car as she drove away.
According to reports, the woman claimed she shot at her boyfriend's car five or six times. The man claimed he shot at his girlfriend six times.
Police said they both had been drinking and they both were arrested. Their semi-automatic handguns were confiscated as evidence.

Gunman fires randomly at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood

26-year-old Tyler Brehm of Carlisle, Pennsylvania had been in Los Angles, California about a month when he went on a shooting rampage. Brehm was walking in Hollywood when he began firing a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun into the air. He threatened motorists in a McDonald's parking lot and then walked to the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street. He fired several shots at a silver Mercedes-Benz, striking music executive John Atterberry in the neck and face. Atterberry died of his injuries a few days later.
Brehm stood in the middle of the intersection, firing at cars. Several drivers had their car windows shot out. The shooting ended when LAPD confronted Brehm and ordered him to drop his gun. When he pointed his weapon at an officer police fired. Brehm was pronounced dead at the scene.
Brehm was unemployed. Police said that he had no criminal record. Some speculate that a recent breakup with his girlfriend led to the shooting.

Retired police officer pleads guilty to illegal gun sales, tax charges

56-year-old Roy Alloway was a police officer for thirty-two years, including being a longtime undercover narcotics detective for the Bremerton, Washington police department. Alloway retired in May 2010. In November 2010 federal agents raided his South Kitsap home as part of a sweep of several suspects accused of illegal gun sales. Prosecutors alleged that Alloway purchased nearly 400 guns from three different licensed firearms dealers between January 2005 and November 2010 and then sold the guns at area gun shows without being properly licensed. He also failed to report the income from the sales on his tax returns.
In October 2011 Alloway pleaded guilty to unlawful dealing in firearms and filing a false income tax return, both felonies. Alloway will be sentenced in January. As part of the plea agreement he will pay all back taxes and forfeit 58 firearms taken in the raid on his home.
Because Alloway was selling the guns as an unlicensed dealer at gun shows no criminal background checks were run on the purchasers. Nor were any records of the sales kept.
"As a police officer, Alloway knew better than anyone the risks of distributing firearms without background checks or sales records," said the U.S. Attorney for Washington state. "His attempt to hide the income from this illegal activity demonstrates he knew what he was doing was wrong."

Teen goes on shooting rampage with legally owned AK-47

18-year-old David Penney of St. Cloud, Florida is an angry young man. According to police Penney left a six-page letter expressing rage at the world and himself, dressed in military fatigues, combat boots, a tactical vest for carrying multiple ammunition magazines, picked up two AK-47s, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and drove to a friend's home. He was upset over a car crash that had damaged his vehicle in September. Penney stood in the street and emptied several 30-round magazines into the home. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Police soon arrived on the scene and Penney started shooting at the officers. Both of the officers sustained injuries, one was shot in the foot, the other was hit in the face with flying glass when a round came through the windshield. But according to the St. Cloud police chief, the quick actions on the part of his officers forced Penney to retreat and ultimately, he shot himself.
Penney shot himself in the chin and was listed in critical condition at a local hospital but he is expected to survive.
Classmates said Penney was really into guns and war. A police officer who worked at Penney's school described the youth as very reserved, expect when he was discussing his fascination with firearms. In addition to the note found in his room police also found a drum magazine for an AK-47 loaded with an many an 100 rounds.
According to police, Penney owned the guns legally and has no criminal record. It is legal under federal law and Florida state law for an 18-year-old to purchase an AK-47. There is no licensing requirement, no registration requirement, nor is there a waiting period.
"On occasion, these strained young men, as far as where they are with their mental state, have the ability to purchase these guns," said the police chief.
"It could have been much much worse," he continued. "It could have been involving a neighborhood. It could have been involving a school. It could have been involving a shopping center or something way off the charts."

Man charged with shooting nine days after judge returned his guns

48-year-old Dale Collinge, of Pembroke, New Hampshire, has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his roommate Karen Boelzner. The shooting comes just nine days after a judge returned seized guns to Collinge.
In 2006 Collinge's then wife claimed that he had threatened to shoot her, their three children, and himself. She took out a domestic violence protection order on Collinge, under which Collinge could not possess firearms. The guns were seized by the Pembroke police.
On November 4 of this year, Judge Scheffy noted that because there are not "any outstanding protective orders or qualifying domestic violence misdemeanor convictions which would prohibit the defendant from possessing a firearm" Colligne was now legally eligible to possess firearms and ruled that police should return Collinge's guns.
Colligne was convicted in 2006 for criminally threatening his then-wife but this conviction does not prohibit him from possessing a gun. For that, he would have to have been convicted of a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence.
Police would not say if the gun used in the shooting was one of the returned seized guns. Collinge is being held without bail.

Man arrested with gun at Orlando Airport

51-year-old David Freeman, of Lake Mary, Florida was arrested at Orlando International Airport after screeners found a loaded .380-caliber Ruger handgun in his carry-on luggage. Freeman, a law abiding citizen who has a concealed weapons permit for the gun, told authorities he forgot he had the gun in his bag. Freeman was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm in a prohibited place. His gun was confiscated.
Someone who doesn't remember that they are carrying a loaded handgun does not deserve to have a concealed weapons permit.

Michigan man receives probation for waving gun at off-duty police officer

25-year-old Kenneth Green of Saginaw, Michigan was driving his car last September when he stopped abruptly, which resulted in the car behind him beeping his horn. The car that beeped was being driven by an off-duty police officer who was trying to get into the post office and honked at Green to try and get him to move his car forward. The two exchanged words over the incident and Green "produced a black semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at the officer and waved it around his car."
On Tuesday, Green pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. The judge sentenced Green to 18 months of probation. She pointed out that Green had no criminal record, including any misdemeanors or juvenile offenses, as a reason for the probation-only sentence.

Man fires assault rifle in Arkansas courthouse

48-year-old James Palmer of Van Buren, Arkansas walked into the Crawford County courthouse Tuesday wearing a long trench coat, despite the simmering temperature. He asked to speak to Circuit Judge Gary Cottrell and when he was told the judge wasn't in he took a gun from under his coat and started firing. He wounded the judge's secretary in the leg as she was fleeing. He then fired at least 70 rounds from an assault rifle and three semi-automatic handguns as employees hid under desks and behind doors. Palmer left the courthouse and exchanged gunfire with police. He was shot and died of his injuries.
Palmer had no criminal history and had a concealed weapons permit. The motive behind the shootings was unclear, but police believe Judge Cottrell handled Palmer's divorce and child custody proceedings in 2008. "This guy came heavily armed. He came here for a mission," said Sheriff Ron Brown. "When all the pieces are put together in this case the public will see, this man came to die on the Crawford County Courthouse lawn. He was going to take as many people as he could with him."