Star Tribune
Siren test fails in Mankato area due to unknown malfunction
Tornado sirens rang throughout Minnesota Wednesday except in the Mankato area, where Blue Earth County officials say an unknown malfunction prevented sirens in south-central Minnesota from going off.
The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release a monthly siren test at 1 p.m. failed as none of the county’s sirens worked. Nearby sirens in North Mankato, part of Nicollet County, also failed as they’re connected to the Blue Earth County system.
Emergency personnel are working to identify and fix the system’s issues. An additional test will take place once the sirens are working again. County officials say other warning systems will be used, including federal IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert & Warning System) text messaging, if severe weather takes place before the sirens are fixed.
Star Tribune
Officials identify motorist killed in Twin Cities crash with unlicensed driver fleeing police
Price, who suffered a broken leg in the crash, was arrested at the scene. Emergency responders took L to a hospital, where he died.
Video from a vehicle at the intersection showed the car on northbound Edgerton and turning left onto Bellwood. Price hit the car while speeding south on Edgerton.
Price told a sheriff’s investigator that his former girlfriend moved out of his home the day before and returned to speak with him on Friday. He said she accused him of cheating on her. Price said he tried to leave, but she was in his way, “so he moved her with an open hand,” one complaint read. He accused her of lying about him hitting her.
Price estimated that he was driving 80 to 90 miles per hour just before impact.
Price said he had taken oxycodone that belonged to his former girlfriend and smoked marijuana on the day of the crash. Law enforcement collected a blood sample from Price to have tested for illicit drugs.
Court records in Minnesota show that Price’s criminal history includes four convictions for driving either after his license was revoked or suspended, and once each for drunken driving and driving without insurance. He’s also been convicted four times for receiving stolen property, three times for theft and once each for illegal weapons possession, burglary, check forgery, disorderly conduct and obstructing police.
Star Tribune
Wisconsin school shooter had 2 guns and got messages from man accused of plotting his own attack
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.
Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents. Divorce records indicate that Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don’t say why.
The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
But the Wisconsin shooting stands out because school shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in the U.S., with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
Star Tribune
Man accused in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing expected to appear at hearing on extradition to New York
Mangione, 26, of Towson, Maryland, was arrested on Dec. 9 when police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant on a commercial strip in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was reported to match the description of Thompson’s killer.
Thompson was gunned down on the street as he walked to the hotel where his Minnesota-based company was holding an investor conference. The shooting was captured on security video, but the suspect eluded police before Mangione was captured about 277 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.
Authorities say Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, a fake ID and about $10,000 in U.S. and foreign currency. His lawyer, Dickey, has questioned the evidence for the forgery charge and the legal basis for a gun charge. He had previously indicated Mangione would fight extradition to New York while being held in a Pennsylvania state prison.
Mangione, an Ivy League computer science graduate from a prominent family, was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies ”parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press last week.
Sisak reported from New York.