DEA Agent Killed In Amtrak Shooting + Laundrie Sighting Reported

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, Oct. 5. A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent was shot and killed on an Amtrak train in Tucson, Arizona, Monday, in a shooting that injured two other law enforcement officers.

Here are some of the other stories we’re following:

• A hiker claims to have seen Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito.
• Cleanup is continuing after the 126,000-gallon oil spill in Orange County, California, one of the worst in recent history.
• Facebook was down Monday, and not everyone may have minded it after a whistleblower told “60 Minutes” the social media platform’s own research showed it magnifies hate and misinformation.
• The newest TikTok “devious licks” challenge involves slapping a teacher.

1 Dead, 2 Shot On Amtrak Train

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent was killed, and another DEA special agent and a local police officer were injured, in a shooting Monday on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited train from Los Angeles during a stop in Tucson, Arizona.

Police said the suspect was shot and killed on the train. The DEA special agent who was injured was in critical condition at a Tucson hospital, and the Tucson Police Department officer was in stable condition, officials said. » DEA Agent Shot And Killed On Amtrak Train In Tucson

A ‘Potential Ecologic Disaster’

Huntington Beach, California, Mayor Kim Carr described the massive oil spill that threatens marine life a “potential ecologic disaster” as some of the oil reached the Talbert Marsh Ecological Reserve and the Santa Ana River Trail.

Front-line workers will labor this week to pull oiled animals from the crude and work to contain the oil as it continued to wash up on the shore along a shuttered stretch of coastline between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

The U.S Coast Guard was leading the response to the spill, which covered about 5.8 nautical miles of shoreline. » California Oil Spill Worst In Recent History, via Orange County, California, Patch

Laundrie On Appalachian Trail?

As the manhunt continues for Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the death of his fiancée, Gabby Petito, a hiker claims he talked with the 23-year-old Florida fugitive near the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina on Saturday.

Laundrie disappeared Sept. 14, days after Petito was officially reported missing by her family on Long Island. Her family had not heard from her since the end of August. Her body was discovered Sept. 19 near Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. » Appalachian Trail Hiker Claims To Saw Brian Laundrie, via Sarasota, Florida, Patch

Did You Miss Facebook?

Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp went down Monday, affecting customers worldwide, via Across America Patch.

The widespread outage came hours after an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in which a data scientist who was revealed Sunday as the Facebook whistleblower says that whenever there was a conflict between the public good and what benefited the company, the social media giant would choose its own interests, via Across America Patch.

Sinema Confronted In Bathroom: U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) heard directly from constituents Sunday who followed her into an Arizona State University bathroom to demand she support the Build Back Better plan, via Tempe Patch.

Florida Governor’s Wife’s Diagnosis: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer, via Bradenton, Florida, Patch.

Politician Sunk By ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment Dies: Former Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, who sank his political career when he said the female body has a way of protecting itself from unwanted pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape,” has died, via Eureka-Wildwood, Missouri, Patch.

Wine Tour, ‘Real Housewives’-Style: Members of the cast of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” took a weekend winery tour, via Temecula, California, Patch.

Today In History

On Oct. 5, 2009, the federal government launched what at the time was the most ambitious vaccination campaign in history — the nationwide H1N1 vaccination campaign.

Around ‘The Patch’

• Zero Tolerance For TikTok ‘Devious Licks’ Slap-A-Teacher Challenge, via Plainfield, Illinois, Patch
• Explosives Threats Shut Down Ambassador Bridge At Detroit, via Detroit Patch
• Pentagon Requires COVID-19 Vaccines For Civilian Workers, via Washington, D.C., Patch
• Baltimore Mayor Tests Positive For COVID-19, via Baltimore Patch
• Facebook Fed Capitol Riot, Whistleblower Tells ‘60 Minutes,’ via Across America Patch
• Supreme Court Fall Term: Abortion, Gun Rights, Religious Freedom, via Across America Patch

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