Doctor fired back at gunman in hospital attack

AP Photo

Hospital workers leave the scene of a shooting July 24, 2014, at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pa.

1 hr ago By Associated Press

DARBY, Pennsylvania (AP) — A doctor who was grazed by gunfire from a patient in his office at a Pennsylvania hospital on Thursday helped stop him by apparently returning fire with his own weapon and severely injuring him, but not before a caseworker was killed, authorities said.

The patient opened fire after entering the office with the caseworker, District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Witnesses reported hearing yelling before the gunshots.
Several hours after the shooting, investigators had only limited information on what happened inside the closed office but believe the doctor, a psychiatrist, "from all accounts, would have acted in self-defense," Whelan said.
The doctor, who suffered a graze wound to his head, "faced a situation where his life was in jeopardy," Whelan said.
The dead caseworker was identified only as a 53-year-old woman who had entered the doctor's office with the patient before the gunfire erupted. Police said they were trying to find relatives to notify.
Two guns were recovered, Whelan said. Authorities said the motive for the shooting was unknown.
The patient, who was critically injured and was taken into custody, was identified as Richard Plotts, who is in his mid-30s.
The prosecutor said Plotts had been involved in previous incidents with staff, but he did not know their nature. He also said he did not know if that is why the doctor had a gun or if the doctor would have been required to have a permit.
After the door of the office was closed, staff members heard loud arguing inside, opened the door and noticed the patient had a gun, Whelan said. They then closed the door and dialed the 911 emergency dispatch number. Gunshots were heard a short time later.
After Plotts emerged from the office, another doctor and a caseworker helped wrestle him to the floor of the hallway and grabbed his weapon, Whelan said. By that point he had already been severely wounded from several shots, he said.
The exchange of gunfire occurred on the third floor of the Wellness Center at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, a 204-bed community teaching hospital just southwest of Philadelphia.

Gunmen said to chase investigators from MH17 crash site

3 hr ago By Sergei Karazy and Gabriela Baczynska of ReutersKIEV/KHARKI

 Ukraine (Reuters) - Gunmen chased investigators from the site where the Malaysian airliner crashed and "lunatics" were still making life difficult for those who wanted to find out what downed flight MH17, officials said on Thursday.

As foreign ministers from Australia and the Netherlands met Ukrainian officials to coordinate the investigation, the head of Ukraine's Emergency Situations Service and the chief of a Dutch police mission said their work at the site was being hampered.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, however, said there had been no incidents, and that they had been joined by experts from Malaysia and Australia, which lost 28 citizens in the crash.
The West has called for a thorough investigation into the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine to get justice for the 298 people who were killed, but have voiced concern that the rebels were preventing investigators from doing their job.

"They took away our tents, the ones which were at our base camp," Serhiy Bochkovsky, the head of the emergencies service, told a news conference in the eastern city of Kharkiv from where the remains of the victims are starting their journey home.
"We were allowed only our equipment and machinery and we were chased away at gunpoint."
He did not say when this happened.

The head of the Dutch police mission in Ukraine also said it was difficult to get access to the site to look for more of the remains of the victims, many of whom were Dutch.
"But the process is not over, there are still remains in your country and it's very hard to get there because there are some, and I would say it's not politically correct, but there are still some lunatics there," Jan Tuinder said.  "It's very hard for us to get to the remains."

Asked about the incidents, Michael Bociurkiw, an OSCW spokesman, said: "None whatsoever."
The Netherlands formally took over the investigation into the crash from Ukraine on Thursday after the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the downing of the plane and demanding armed groups allow "safe, secure, full and unrestricted access" to the crash site.
In Kiev, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she expected the separatists to allow a better international presence at the site.

"Now that the legal framework is in place ... and that Ukraine has transferred legal responsibility to the Netherlands, we feel we'll get more progress from the separatists," she said.
Putting the Dutch in charge of the criminal investigation was a way to get around the opposition to the U.N. Security Council resolution voiced by Russia should Kiev lead the probe, Bishop said.

Sarah Palin cited for speeding in Alaska

AP Photo: Charlie Neibergall

In this April 27, 2014 file photo, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during a campaign rally in West Des Moines, Iowa.

4 hr ago By Steve Quinn of Reuters

JUNEAU, Alaska, July 23 (Reuters) - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president, was issued a speeding citation in her hometown of Wasilla, court records showed on Wednesday.

The July 16 citation carries a potential fine of $154, and Palin has 30 days from the date of receiving the citation to respond to it, the records showed.
Police pulled Palin over while she was driving her black Toyota Tundra pickup bearing the license plate LOVUSA, the Alaska Dispatch News reported on Wednesday. It said the former governor was driving 63 miles per hour in a 45-mph speed zone while returning from a bikram hot yoga workout.
"I was thinking, I wasn't speeding, I was qualifying," Palin told the Dispatch News.
Wasilla Police spokesman Officer Rick Manrique declined to comment on the case, and an attorney for Palin could not be reached for comment.
Palin, since stepping down as governor of Alaska in 2009, has endorsed and campaigned for a number of conservative candidates for Congress.
Last year, she helped rally members of the conservative Tea Party movement in a failed effort to defund President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law.