Curses, foiled again

Armed with a handgun and an assault rifle, Terry “T.J.” Newman, 25, and John “Pimp” Roberts invaded a home in San Antonio, Texas, and demanded money. Authorities said that when the homeowner’s son came out of a bedroom with his own assault rifle and started firing, the two robbers fled, leaving their getaway car idling in front of the house. They returned 15 minutes later for the car, by which time members of the household had armed themselves with a second assault rifle and opened fire. Police arrived, only to have Newman ram their patrol vehicle with a second vehicle. He was arrested and convicted of aggravated assault. (San Antonio Express-News) Authorities quickly identified three youths who broke into a house in Newton County, Ga., because they left behind pictures of themselves on the homeowner’s camera. (Atlanta’s WSB-TV)

What could go wrong?

Fresh from beating human contestants on television’s “Jeopardy,” IBM’s Watson supercomputer system has been hired by health insurer WellPoint Inc. to help diagnose medical problems and authorize treatments for its 34.2 million members. (Associated Press) Scientists announced they have genetically engineered grass able to withstand the “prodigious amounts” of herbicide needed to kill Roundup-resistant “superweeds.” Developed by chemical and seed company Monsanto, the strain of Kentucky bluegrass isn’t subject to federal regulations because instead of relying on bacteria, which the USDA does regulate, Monsanto scientists used a “gene gun” to shoot the modified gene into the grass’s DNA. (Wired, The New York Times)

Second-Amendment follies

Witnesses agreed Alvin Merriwell Lewis Jr., 67, made no threats while demonstrating how he would defend himself with a pocketknife, but Thomas Larry Bolds, 67, picked up a pistol anyway and shot Lewis eight times. Pensacola, Fla., authorities charged Bolds with murder. (Alabama’s Mobile Press-Register) When a wounded grizzly bear attacked Steve Stevenson, 39, while he and Ty Bell, 20, were hunting in a Montana forest, Bell tried to save him by shooting the bear. He killed the bear, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe, but also killed Stevenson with a shot to the chest. (Associated Press) A 53-year-old man went to his ex-girlfriend’s house in Charleston, W.Va., put a .380-caliber handgun to his head and threatened to shoot himself if she didn’t take him back. He eventually lowered the weapon, according to police Sgt. Eric Hodges, but while doing so accidentally shot himself in the hand and foot. (The Charleston Gazette) A United Nations firearms instructor from France accidentally shot himself in the thigh while undergoing recertification training at a firing range in Springfield, Mass., according to police Sgt. John Delaney, who declined to identify the shooter. (WWLP-TV)

Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.