U.S. case ruled out in slaying by officer
MILWAUKEE — The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that it wouldn’t pursue criminal civil-rights charges against a white Milwaukee police officer who shot a mentally ill black man 14 times in a city park last year.
The department said in a news release that there was insufficient evidence to warrant charging Christopher Manney in the April 2014 killing of Dontre Hamilton, who was schizophrenic but not violent, according to his family.
According to Manney, who has since been fired, he encountered Hamilton in the park while responding to a call about a man sleeping there. Manney’s attorney, Jonathan Cermele, has said the officer suspected that Hamilton was armed and may have been more of a threat than he appeared when he stood up and raised his arms to be frisked.
Manney has said he patted down Hamilton and a struggle ensued. He has said Hamilton took away his police baton and attacked, prompting him to open fire in self-defense.
Police Chief Edward Flynn said at the time that the patdown wasn’t necessary, and he fired Manney for failing to follow department rules. A panel of police commissioners agreed with Flynn’s decision.
The Justice Department said it based its decision not to charge Manney on eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, Manney’s testimony and input from use-of-force experts.
Medicare Part B tab going up for some
WASHINGTON — Medicare has announced the monthly “Part B” premiums for outpatient care next year.
Most current beneficiaries will not see a change from the $104.90 a month they pay now, said Tuesday’s notice. They will avoid an increase because there won’t be a Social Security cost-of-living increase in 2016.
But nearly 3 million new beneficiaries will pay 16.1 percent more, or $121.80 a month. And upper-income retirees will pay more, ranging from $170.50 a month to nearly $390 for individuals making more than $214,000.
The premium is closely watched because it’s paid by most senior citizens, who generally have money deducted from their monthly Social Security checks.
The different premium amounts are the result of the recent budget deal between President Barack Obama’s administration and Congress that trimmed what would have been even bigger premium increases for some.
Police say driver targeting officer killed
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — A police officer at a small, private South Carolina college shot and killed a student from a nearby school after the student tried to run him over, authorities said Tuesday.
Two campus officers at Spartanburg Methodist College caught Delvin Tyrell Simmons and a friend breaking into cars Monday night, Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright, whose agency is helping in the investigation, said at a news conference.
Both men ran, and Simmons got into a car, hitting one officer as he tried to drive away, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The officer fired, killing Simmons, Berry said.
The statements from witnesses matched what the officer said happened, Wright said. The division said there was no body or dashboard camera footage of the shooting.
The officer was not seriously injured and was resting at home, Wright said.
Plane carrying 9 fatally crashes in Ohio
AKRON, Ohio — A private charter jet with nine people on board crashed into an Akron apartment building Tuesday afternoon, leaving no survivors on the plane.
The owner of the plane confirmed nine people were on board. Authorities on Tuesday evening said no one on the plane survived, but they would not confirm the number of people who died.
It appeared no one on the ground was injured or killed.
Eyewitnesses described the plane as falling out of the sky and a huge ball of fire after the crash.
Augusto Lewkowicz, the owner and operator of the plane, told The Akron Beacon Journal on Tuesday afternoon that seven passengers and two crew members died.
The aircraft clipped electrical and telephone wires before hitting a small apartment building and careening into an embankment. That building was completely destroyed, said Staff Lt. Bill Haymaker of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. A second house also was damaged, likely from fire debris.