Arkansas
A man with a knife hijacked a school bus in central Arkansas Thursday morning, taking 11 elementary school students and their original driver on a detour that police ended after a roughly 10-mile chase, authorities said. Nicholas John Miller, 22, was arrested after the incident, which began in the Little Rock suburb of Jacksonville and ended in nearby Cabot, Jacksonville police Capt. Kenny Boyd said. No one—including the 11 students of Pinewood Elementary School in Jacksonville and the original bus driver—was injured, Boyd said. The incident began with Miller allegedly demanding a car from a woman in Jacksonville, Boyd said. But the woman “did not have one to give,” Jacksonville police added in a news release. The bus had stopped nearby, and Miller left the woman, boarded the bus and, armed with the knife, took over the driver’s seat, Jacksonville police said. The woman called police, who eventually found the bus and pursued it north to Cabot. Police stopped the bus roughly 20 minutes after the hijacking began, according to Boyd.
Connecticut
A South Windsor woman is facing charges after a loaded handgun was discovered in her carry-on bag at Bradley International Airport, police said. State police responded to the airport shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday after agents with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration found the firearm during a routine search before the passenger boarded the plane, police said. The owner of the handgun, Marie Westbrook, 56, had a valid Connecticut pistol permit, but the gun was seized and she was charged with circumventing airport security. Westbrook was released on a $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear at Enfield Superior Court on Oct. 30.
Florida
The state of Florida is asking for help locating two former prison inmates that they realized should still be incarcerated. Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both 34, are considered “escapees” by authorities, but their prison break wasn’t exactly a scene out of “The Shawshank Redemption.” Walker and Jenkins—both convicted murderers—separately walked out of the Franklin Correctional Institution located on Florida’s panhandle “in accordance with Department of Corrections policy and procedure,” according to Department of Corrections Secretary Michael Crews. “However, both of their releases were based on fraudulent modifications that had been made to court orders,” he said. Authorities would not elaborate. Law enforcement learned of the situation Tuesday. Walker, who was freed Oct. 8, and Jenkins, freed on Sept. 27, are former residents of Orlando, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office worries that at least one of them, but perhaps both of them, may have returned.
Georgia
Federal authorities have arrested a third man they said was linked to the September kidnapping of a Georgia teenager. In a press release Wednesday, the FBI said it arrested 28-year-old Tony Maurice Graves on Friday on a charge of conspiracy to kidnap. The agency said Graves, along with 29-year-old Wildrego Jackson, who was arrested nearly a month ago, were involved in abducting 14-year-old Ayvani Perez on Sept. 17 in Clayton County. Also wanted in connection with Ayvani’s abduction was 40-year-old Juan Alberto Contreras-Rodriguez, a Mexican national authorities busted in a 2012 anti-drug trafficking raid. He is currently being held on immigration-related charges, according to the FBI. According to a federal affidavit, the 36-hour drama began when two armed men demanded money and jewelry from Ayvani’s mother. When the mother did not comply, the men took Ayvani, the affidavit said. The same men later returned the girl unharmed to her aunt’s house in Conyers, the affidavit said. It remains unclear whether the abduction was random. Phone calls abductors made to Ayvani’s family demanding ransom and drugs allowed authorities to trace their phone records, which they said led to Jackson’s arrest the next day. Authorities have not detailed how the men were arrested.
Indiana
A family of four was found dead inside a home in northwest Indiana. Police say they died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Officers were called to the home in Merrillville Wednesday night to conduct a well-being check. They found the bodies of 11-year-old Morgan Nichols, 13-year-old Matthew Nichols and their parents—41-year-old Michael Nichols and 38-year-old Kennetha Purnell. The family was moving into the home, and did not have power. Investigators say the carbon monoxide came from a gas generator that was found in the garage. Officials say the family may have died on Saturday.
North Carolina
A former Florida A&M football player fatally shot by police in Charlotte, was clearly seeking help after a car wreck—and video from the squad car’s dashboard camera will prove it, an attorney for the man’s family said Wednesday. Officer Randall Kerrick shot the unarmed Jonathan Ferrell, 24, last month after a woman—home alone with her 1-year-old child—called 911 and reported that someone was trying to break down her front door. Ferrell had wrecked his car down the street and had simply gone to the nearest home seeking help, family attorney Chris Chestnut said. “I completely understand her situation. She’s at home by herself, two in the morning, with a baby. I completely understand that she was frightened,” Chestnut said. “But had she taken the time to just speak through the door and find out what was going on, rather than say, ‘He’s trying to rob me’ or ‘He’s trying to beat down the door,’ I think she would’ve had a different understanding.”
Virginia
Two fast-attack U.S. Navy submarines have been selected as the initial two Virginia-class subs that will integrate female officers onto their vessels. The secretary of the Navy announced Monday that the USS Virginia (SSN-74) and USS Minnesota (SSN 783), both homeported in Groton, Conn., were chosen. Six female officers, two Supply Corps and four nuclear-trained officers, will report aboard the subs no later than January 2015. “Female officers serving aboard Virginia-class submarines is the next natural step to more fully integrate women into the submarine force,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “There are many extremely talented and capable women with a desire to succeed in this field and the submarine force will be stronger because of their efforts.” The Navy officially changed their policy prohibiting women serving on subs in 2010. Since then, 43 women have been integrated onto six Ohio-class ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines. Further Virginia-class integration is being planned.
Compiled By Juliana Norwood. CNN News Wire contributed to this story.
