Florida apartment gunman said to be lonely, angry
HIALEAH, Fla. – The gunman who went on a shooting rampage at his South Florida apartment building, killing six people, was a lonely man who spoke about having pent-up anger, those who knew him said Sunday.
Pedro Vargas, 42, lived on the fourth floor of an apartment complex in the Miami suburb of Hialeah with his elderly mother. He rarely spoke with others there, and confided to a man who worked out at the same gym that he liked to work out his anger by lifting weights and trying to get big.
“He’d just say this was the only thing that would keep him normal, pulling out all the anger in the gym,” Jorge Bagos said.
Bagos said the gunman expressed frustration about bad experiences with women and losing all his hair from using steroids.
Medal of Honor recipient, McCain cellmate dies at 88
MIAMI – Retired Col. George “Bud” Day, a Medal of Honor recipient who spent 5½ years as a POW in Vietnam and was Arizona Sen. John McCain’s cellmate, has died. He was 88.
Doris Day said Sunday that her husband died Saturday at his home in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., after a long illness.
Day was one of the nation’s most highly decorated servicemen since Gen. Douglas MacArthur. He later became a tireless advocate for veterans’ rights.
Day received the Medal of Honor for escaping his captors for 10 days after the aircraft he was piloting was shot down over North Vietnam. In all, he earned more than 70 medals during service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
Israel OKs prisoner release in peace talks
JERUSALEM – A divided Israeli Cabinet agreed Sunday to release 104 long-term Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks, clearing a hurdle toward resuming Mideast peace talks and giving U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry his first concrete achievement after months of shuttle diplomacy.
The U.S. State Department said preliminary talks would begin today. Release of the prisoners is linked to progress in the talks, meaning many could remain behind bars.
Neither side appeared upbeat despite the possibility of renewed talks. Each has blamed the other for the lack of success in 20 years of negotiations, and Kerry’s success so far has been only to get the parties back to the table.
Driver in Spanish train crash charged with homicides
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain – The driver of a Spanish train that derailed at high speed killing 79 people has been provisionally charged with multiple cases of negligent homicide.
A court statement issued late Sunday said investigative magistrate Luis Alaez released Francisco Jose Garzon Amo without bail. It Garzon must appear before court once a week and is forbidden to leave Spain without permission.
Garzon was driving the train carrying 218 passenger in eight cars that hurtled far over the 50-mph speed limit into a high-risk curve on Wednesday evening, tumbling off the tracks and slamming into a concrete wall.
Also Sunday, authorities say forensic experts have identified the last three bodies of 78 people who were killed in the crash.
Associated Press
