A teacher who used the hypothetical assassination of President Barack Obama to help his students understand geometry has been questioned by the U.S. Secret Service.
Maths teacher Gregory Harrison used the mock killing of Mr Obama so his students could better understand how to use angles, officials said.
Men in southern Egypt tried Thursday to calm Christians angry about a deadly drive-by shooting at a Coptic church the night before. Thousands of Christians rioted in the town of Nag Hammadi.
the head of the Coptic minority, Pope Shenuda III, led a Christmas midnight mass at the Abbassiya church in Cairo which was attended by thousands of worshippers.
An Egyptian Coptic church appears behind a mosque in Cairo
The Christmas midnight mass in Cairo was attended by thousands of worshippers.Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who has been widely tipped as being the next head of state, was among several prominent figures who attended the mass, an AFP photographer said.
The shooting outside a church on Wednesday night sparked clashes the following day
The killing of seven in a drive-by shooting that targeted Egyptian Coptic Christians leaving a Christmas Eve midnight Mass has triggered clashes with police during a funeral procession for the victims.
Three suspects in a shooting that killed six Coptic Christians and a Muslim policeman in southern Egypt have turned themselves in after being squeezed in a police cordon, security sources said on Friday.
Police said they had surrounded the area around the city of Nagaa Hamady where the shooting took place on Wednesday and closed all possible routes of escape.
The killings took place just before midnight on Coptic Christmas Eve when a gunman, accompanied by two others, fired on Christians in a shopping area in Nagaa Hamady, killing two, then went to Mary Guirguis Church and shot five more, including the church's Muslim guard.
The interior ministry said on Thursday that a preliminary investigation suggested the gunman was a Muslim criminal known to police, and that the attack was related to the alleged rape of a Muslim woman by a Christian more than a month earlier.
About 1,000 Coptic Christians staged a protest in Nagaa Hamady on Thursday, saying the attack was an act of persecution aimed at Egyptian Christians.
Egypt's government denied it was sectarian violence, however, and said it was an isolated incident.
"The Nagaa Hamady incident is a crime committed by a thug and does not have anything to do with Islam," Khairat Osman, secretary-general of Egypt's ruling party in Qena governorate, where Nagaa Hamady is located, was quoted as saying by state agency MENA.
"All religions promote peace and love, and there are good relations between Coptics and Muslims."
Police are investigating the motive.Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt's predominantly Muslim population of around 78 million. Sectarian violence is rare but disputes occasionally erupt.
Southern Egypt is relatively undeveloped compared with the capital Cairo. Nagaa Hamady, which has a large coptic population, is about 60 km (40 miles) north of the tourist and archaeological centre of Luxor.
Attackers in a car raked a crowd of shoppers in a south Egypt town with gunfire, killing a policemen and six Coptic Christians on the eve of their Christmas celebrations, a security official said on Thursday.
The drive-by shooting took place late Wednesday in the southern Egyptian town of Nagaa Hammadi as Copts were preparing for Christmas which they celebrate January 7 along with other Orthodox communities, the official said.
Witnesses however gave a conflicting account of the attack, saying the gunmen struck as worshippers emerged from midnight mass at the main church in Nagaa Hammadi.
"Three unidentified individuals in a car opened fire on Christians in a shopping district as they were making purchases for Christmas," the security official said, as cited by state-run MENA news agency.
Nine other Copts were wounded in the shooting, he added.
The gunmen also opened fire "in front of a convent located in an rural area" near the town, in the province of Qana, 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of Cairo, the official said.
Witnesses, cited by local officials, said the main gunman, a Muslim, is wanted by police and linked the incident to the abduction of a 12-year-old Muslim girl in November who was allegedly raped by a Coptic youth.
"The first elements of the investigation, based on testimony of people on the ground, indicate that the main shooter is a town resident identified as Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, who is wanted by the police," one official said.
In November, hundreds of Muslim protesters torched Christian-owned shops in the town of Farshut, near Nagaa Hammadi, and attacked a police station where they believed the suspected rapist was being held.
That incident was the latest in a string of sectarian tensions in 2009 between Muslims and Egypt's Copts -- the Middle East's largest Christian community who represent roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80-million population.
Copts have complained over the years of frequent discrimination, harassment and that they are the targets of sectarian attacks. They also allege they are overlooked in top jobs in the army, police and judiciary. Related article: Copts, police clash in south Egypt
On Wednesday, the head of the Coptic minority, Pope Shenuda III, led a Christmas midnight mass at the Abbassiya church in Cairo which was attended by thousands of worshippers.
Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who has been widely tipped as being the next head of state, was among several prominent figures who attended the mass, an AFP photographer said.
The suspected gunman in Finland's New Year's Eve shooting A Kosovan-born gunman shot dead four people in a Finnish shopping mall on Thursday and killed his ex-girlfriend in an apartment before killing himself in Finland's third shooting spree in as many years.
Police said Ibrahim Shkupolli, 43, killed three men and a woman at the Sello mall in Espoo, a town near Helsinki, as shoppers stocked up for the New Year holiday.
They confirmed that Shkupolli, as well as his ex-girlfriend who had worked at the mall, were among the dead after the five-hour incident.
"It has been confirmed that the sixth victim is the suspect (himself). He was found in his home," Chief Inspector Jukka Kaski told a news conference.
Police said Shkupolli was already known to them and had a foreign background, but refused to say what nationality he held.
However, a Kosovo police source said the gunman was from Mitrovica in the former Serbian province which declared its independence last year, and had visited the town last month.
Finnish police would not confirm his motive. However, they said Shkupolli had been under a court order banning him from contacting his ex-girlfriend, who was found dead at an apartment in Espoo, and that the shootings were probably linked to their relationship. Local media said the gunman had previous convictions for firearms offences.
The New Year's Eve carnage followed shootings at Finnish schools in 2007 and 2008, after which Helsinki tightened gun control regulations, with further restrictions planned.
A Reuters reporter at the Sello mall, one of Finland's largest shopping centres, saw helicopters overhead and fire trucks around the entrances after the shootings. The mall was shut down as police hunted the gunman.
"When we were going out I heard sounds like shots from the third floor, and then I left," said a mall employee, who declined to give her name.
"I paid for my groceries and I wanted to go to my car when I was told that you cannot go there," shopper Jorma Romo told Reuters outside of the mall. "They were hurrying people out and people were asking (why)."
A gunman has shot dead four people in a crowded Finnish shopping mall after killing his ex-girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself.
Ibrahim Shkupolli, dressed all in black, stormed into the mall near Helsinki, killing one woman and three men at the supermarket where his girlfriend had worked.
The body of 43-year-old Shkupolli was later found at his home nearby and his ex-girlfriend was found dead in her apartment.
The woman, a 42-year-old Finn, had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, police said.
Witnesses said panic erupted at the Sello mall, one of the country's largest, when the shots rang out. Hundreds of workers were evacuated, trains were halted and helicopters brought in as police launched a manhunt for the heavily armed killer.
Police refused to discuss Shkupolli's nationality, but he is believed to be an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo.
The attack shocked hundreds of people who had gone shopping early on New Year's Eve.
One witness told the state broadcaster YLE that the gunman began shooting at people on the second floor of the mall.
"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," he said.
Another woman said she saw the suspect carrying a long-barrelled pistol and rushing past the check-out at the Prisma supermarket. ---------
A madman with two guns opened fire in an all-female dance class at a Pennsylvania fitness center Tuesday night, killing three women and injuring as many as 10 others, police said.
Investigators said the gunman - described as a middle-aged white man - was among the dead, apparently a suicide.
The madman who fatally shot three women in a fitness center outside Pittsburgh planned the massacre for months and "chickened out" on at least one other attempt, his venom-spewing journal reveals.
George Sodini, 48, walked into a crowded 20-by-20 foot aerobics room at the LA Fitness gym in Collier, Pa., at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. He turned off the lights and fired as many as 50 rounds from at least two guns without saying a word, police said.
Stacey Falk, 26, of Bridgeville, told the Post Gazette newspaper she was in the aerobics room with 30 to 40 other women when a short, clean-shaven man in gym clothes, walked in with a bag.
He stood in a corner near a racquetball court for a moment, put down the bag, turned off the lights and pulled out a gun.
"Girls were just ducking behind each other. All I could hear were shots and screams," Falk said.
The aerobics class instructor, who announced she was pregnant, was shot in the shoulder.
"I saw these women running out of the aerobics room, hysterical," said Ron Michaels, a racketball instructor. "I think I saw three or four injured people being taken to ambulances after I was out in the parking lot," he said.
Many of the survivors credited the the staff of the fitness center staff, which opened just a year ago, with calmly steering people toward the exits.
When the massacre ended, Sodini lay dead on top of a gun near one of his victims. Sources told the Pittsburgh Gazette Soldini's girlfriend was among the dead.
Witnesses said he strode into the LA Fitness center in Bridgeville, a suburb of , through a back door about 8:15 p.m., carrying a duffel bag, and went straight to the Latin dance class on the first floor.
"He did not say anything," Allegheny County policeSuperintendent Charles Moffatt said. "He walked right into the room where the shootings occurred as if he knew exactly where he was going."
About 30 women were in the class when a witness identified only as Nicole said the killer turned off the lights, pulled two guns from the bag and started blasting.
"He got off a lot of shots," she said. "People everywhere were screaming. It was horrible."
Lauren Dooley, 26, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette she was on a treadmill listening to her iPod when the shooting started.
"I saw people flying off the treadmills, hitting the ground" for cover, Dooley said. "We crawled through the fire escape, and I sprinted out the back."
She said she heard 12 to 15 shots.
A man who was playing racquetball said the scene was total chaos.
"It was panic," said Perry Calabro, 53, "when we realized it was gunfire. Once the shooting started, everybody started running."
The shooting brought ambulances and police cars flooding into the crime scene area, which is part of the Great Southern Shopping Center strip mall.
For months before the killing spree, Sodini kept a log of his plans, filled with rage and hatred for women.
-Alleged George Sodine , the gunman responsible for the LA fitness gym massacre.Committed suicide after the rampage.-
"Why do this?? To young girls? Just read below," he wrote. "I kept a running log that includes my thoughts and actions, after I saw this project was going to drag on."
The log shows he entered the club with loaded guns on Jan. 6, but backed out.
"It is 8:45PM: I chickened out!" he wrote. "I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!"
The journal drips with rage and names relatives and acquaintances. It also shows his frustration at not being able to connect with women.
On Aug. 3 he wrote: "I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day."
In a Web site posted under his name, Sodini wrote rambling messages about his hatred of women and how he was tired of being rejected by them. He ended by writing, "Death Lives!"
Sodini was a member of the gym and lived in Carnegie, just a few miles from the health club, authorities said.
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People outside the LA Fitness following a shooting inside the health club. Investigators said the gunman - described as a middle-aged white man - was among the dead, apparently a suicide.
Friends waiting to hear news about victims of a shooting at a health club outside of Pittsburgh keep a vigil outside the scene of the massacre Tuesday night.
Authorities are at the scene of a shooting at an LA Fitness gym near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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-From CNN: 5 Killed 15 Wounded In Gym [LA Fitness] Shooting In Pennsylvania-
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---Three bodies were removed early Wednesday from the L.A. Fitness Center in Bridgeville.
A woman with a chest wound died at St. Clair Hospital, where two other female victims were in stable condition.
Five victims arrived in critical condition at UPMC Mercy Hospital, and two women were listed in fair condition at Allegheny General Hospital, hospital officials said.
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Here is alleged George Sodini , online web diary entries.] In a Web site posted under his name, Sodini wrote rambling messages about his hatred of women and how he was tired of being rejected by them. He ended by writing, "Death Lives!"
Sodini was a member of the gym and lived in Carnegie, just a few miles from the health club, authorities said.
“Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day. Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY.
“Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out.”
George Sodini says the reason for his diary is that “maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.”
“Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell.
“I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.”
He was even in Santa Monica, photographing Ocean Avenue at Wilshire Boulevard. George Sodini calls his mother “Central Boss”:
“Don’t piss her off or she will be mad and vindictive for years. “
On Monday Sodini finally writes the following:
“The biggest problem of all is not having relationships or friends, but not being able to achieve and acquire what I desire in those or many other areas.
“Everything stays the same regardless of the effert (sic) I put in. If I had control over my life then I would be happier. But for about the past 30 years, I have not.”
As broke earlier today on LALATE, George Sodini in the LA Fitness shooting shot his ex girlfriend, the aerobics instructor, who had just told her class she was pregnant, but she survived. George Sodini, 48, of Scott Township, Pa. was found dead along with four women. UPMC Mercy Hospital says five of the women injured are in critical condition, two are in fair condition. The conditions of the remaining injured women are still unknown. -Source-
