Mississippians mourn trooper's death
CANTON, Miss. -- A Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper killed while conducting a traffic stop on Mississippi 16 was identified Saturday.
Col. Randy Ginn, director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said in a statement that the agency mourns the loss of Trooper John Harris, who was killed Friday in an accident in Madison County.
"Trooper Harris was a passionate, dedicated public servant and an important member of the [Mississippi Highway Patrol] family," Ginn said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to his family in this difficult time."
Harris, 44, had worked for the agency for just over three years, a spokesman for the agency said in an email.
An investigation into the accident continues.
Gov. Tate Reeves, in a statement on Twitter, said Harris' death is a "stark reminder of how fragile life on earth can be and of the sacrifices made each and every day by his fellow [Mississippi Highway Patrol] troopers and his brothers and sisters in law enforcement across Mississippi and around this great country. Elee and I pray for his wife, his young children, his mom and dad, and the rest of his extended family."
Small plane crashes in Tennessee lake
SMYRNA, Tenn. -- A small plane crashed into a Tennessee lake Saturday, and authorities were searching for the aircraft, officials said.
A Cessna C501 crashed into Percy Priest Lake near Smyrna after taking off from a nearby airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
It was not immediately known how many people were on the plane or if there were any injuries or deaths.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said it was helping the Rutherford County sheriff's office search for the plane, which crashed near a marina. Several other agencies were helping conduct a search and rescue operation.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol told news outlets that a witness saw the plane go into the water.
The National Transportation Safety Board was also investigating, the FAA said.
Smyrna is located about 20 miles southeast of Nashville. Percy Priest Lake is a reservoir created by the J. Percy Priest Dam. It is a popular spot for boating and fishing.
Shootout leaves man dead, officer hurt
CEDAR HILL, Mo. -- A St. Louis-area man was shot to death and an officer was wounded in what authorities said was an hourslong standoff between the man and a sheriff's office tactical team investigating a potential homicide.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said deputies were serving a search warrant Friday evening at a home outside of Cedar Hill, a town of about 1,700 residents 20 miles southwest of St. Louis. He said the man immediately began firing at officers.
"They exchanged gunfire back and forth over a couple of hours," Marshak told reporters in a video posted by his department on Facebook. "The suspect was actively trying to kill police officers."
Marshak said sheriff's deputies shot the man. He said sheriff's detectives were investigating a missing person case and believe the subject of that case was killed.
The sheriff's office did not name the dead man or the sheriff's officer who was shot, though Marshak described the officer as a "seasoned" officer and "one of our best."
The sheriff said the officer was was taken to a local hospital for surgery. He was expected to survive, Marshak said.
DA won't seek death for convicted killer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A California district attorney said in a court filing Friday that she won't seek a new death sentence against Scott Peterson, convicted in 2005 of murdering his pregnant wife.
The Stanislaus County district attorney's office said it would drop efforts to restore the penalty thrown out last year by the state Supreme Court. The DA said the decision was made in consultation with Laci Peterson's family.
The California justices ruled the death sentence couldn't stand because potential jurors were excluded after saying they disagreed with the death penalty.
The family has "no doubt" Peterson killed his wife and unborn son Conner and deserves the death penalty but doesn't want to pursue that punishment because "this process is simply too painful to endure once again," District Attorney Birgit Fladager said in her filing in San Mateo Superior Court.
Peterson, now 48, was convicted in the San Mateo court after his trial was moved from Stanislaus County due to the massive pre-trial publicity that followed the Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance of 27-year-old Laci, who was eight months pregnant.
Peterson maintains his innocence, and a judge is considering whether to grant a new trial because a juror failed to disclose that she had sought a restraining order in 2000 against her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. She said in seeking the order that she feared for her unborn child. The judge must decide if that amounted to juror misconduct, and if so, whether it was so prejudicial that a new trial is warranted.
If no new trial is granted, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports