Biden's son Hunter indicted on gun charges

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden's son Hunter was indicted Thursday for illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his father's campaign for reelection next year.

Hunter Biden, 53, was charged with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for the 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.

A third charge said that, based on the false statements, he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October that year.

If convicted on all three felony charges, Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice they are seldom punished by any jail time.

In attesting that he was not an unlawful user of drugs when he bought the Colt Cobra revolver, Biden "knew that statement was false," the Justice Department said.

The indictment came two days after Republicans in Congress opened an impeachment probe against Democrat Joe Biden, alleging that when he was vice president he benefitted financially from his son's foreign business dealings. 

The legal troubles of Hunter Biden present a target for political rivals of his father, who is bidding for a second term in the White House.

Hunter is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction.

Without offering any evidence, Republicans have accused Biden's Justice Department of protecting his son and have accused Weiss, a Republican appointee, of going easy on Hunter.

Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky who will be leading the impeachment inquiry, welcomed the filing of the gun charges, calling it a "very small start."

"Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally," Comer said.

Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump reacted on his Truth Social platform.

"This, the gun charge, is the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden," he said.

PLEA DEAL COLLAPSED 

But a leading Democrat, Keisha Lance Bottoms, ex-mayor of Atlanta and a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, questioned why Hunter had been charged.

"Can anyone tell me how many people have been federally indicted for purchasing a gun while dealing with substance abuse issues?" Bottoms said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I don't know the answer, but in my over 29 years as an attorney, I have never heard of it."

The gun charges were filed by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals.

Two months ago a plea deal between Biden and Weiss, covering the gun charge as well as alleged tax violations, went sour.

Biden agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Delaware to two minor tax charges. In exchange he was offered probation, as he had already paid what he owed the government along with penalties.

Weiss agreed to suspend the felony gun charge if Biden completed "pretrial diversion," which often involves counseling or rehabilitation.

But in a dramatic July 26 hearing, the deal collapsed over whether Biden would have been immune from any other charges also investigated by Weiss, including possible crimes related to his business dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere.

The judge mentioned the possibility that Biden could be charged as having acted as a lobbyist for foreign governments without registering with the Justice Department.

Three weeks later, after the deal collapsed, Weiss dropped the tax charges and said an indictment on the gun charge would come by the end of September.

As the 2024 election race swings into gear, Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday formally opened an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

They alleged, without offering hard evidence, that while vice president in 2015-2016, Biden intervened to protect an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

Republicans allege Joe Biden and his family reaped large sums for helping Burisma.

Agence France-Presse

Guns N' Roses sues online gun shop for appropriating name

HOUSTON - This ain't no sweet child of mine. 

US rock band Guns N' Roses has sued a company that runs an online gun store named Texas Guns and Roses, charging in federal court that the business appropriated its name unjustly.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, attorneys for the band said a corporation that runs the online shop was conning consumers into believing the business had something to do with the rock band.

Guns N' Roses "quite reasonably does not want to be associated with Defendant, a firearms and weapons retailer," the lawsuit, filed Thursday, says.

Additionally, the band claimed, the gun dealer "espouses political views related to the regulation and control of firearms and weapons on the Website that may be polarizing to many US consumers."

Guns N' Roses, formed in 1984, is one of the most successful bands of all time and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Its members are Axl Rose, Saul "Slash" Hudson and Michael "Duff" McKagan.

The lawsuit identified Jersey Village Florist LLC as the owner and operator of Texas Guns and Roses, which it said sells firearms and ammunition, scopes, body armor and metal safes, among other items.

The online business is registered at a Houston address and obtained its Texas registry listing in 2016 without Guns N' Roses' "approval, license, or consent," according to the suit.

Lawyers for the rock group are seeking a jury trial and a court order barring the use of the website name as well as unspecified punitive damages.

The online shop did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Agence France-Presse

Shot grandmother, acted alone: police profile Texas gunman

UVALDE, United States — Before he opened fire in a Texas elementary school -- killing 19 small children -- teenager Salvador Ramos first shot his grandmother, officials said.

The 18-year-old, who died when police tried to arrest him, was a US citizen and a student in Uvalde, a small community near the Mexican border where the tragedy took place.

A mugshot of Ramos that circulated in local media showed a young man with brown hair, looking in front of him with an expressionless gaze.

"The first incident was at their grandmother's residence where he shot the grandmother," said Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety, adding she was later airlifted to a medical facility.

A 66-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital in San Antonio in critical condition following the shooting, according to health-care officials, who did not provide any further details.

After firing at his grandmother, Ramos fled the scene in a car wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a rifle, Estrada said.

He then crashed near a ditch outside Robb Elementary School, got out, and headed for the school, where law enforcement officers tried, but failed, to stop him.

At around 11:30 a.m. local time (1630 GMT) Ramos burst into the school and opened fire.

"And then from there, that's when he went on and entered several classrooms and started shooting his firearm," Estrada said on CNN. 

END OF SCHOOL YEAR

Thursday was meant to be the last day of the school year for the 500 students at Robb Elementary, who are aged 5 to 11 and mostly Hispanic.

Estrada said no car chases had been reported in the area, suggesting that the traffic accident was unprovoked.

Two police officers suffered minor injuries in the shootout, Abbott said. 

Investigators were working to obtain "detailed background information on the subject, his motive, the types of weapons used, the legal authority to possess them, and conduct a comprehensive crime-scene investigation and reconstruction," Abbot said.

It is unclear whether Ramos had previous run-ins with law enforcement, according to Estrada.

Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde School District Police Chief in charge of the investigation, said Ramos acted alone.

An Instagram account associated with the suspect, which has since been taken down, showed several photos of the young man.

In two black and white selfies he is wearing what looks like a hoodie, with his hair down to his shoulders.

Other photos showed a magazine and semi-automatic rifles.

Agence France-Presse

Gunman in US shopping mall shooting spree dies of injuries

LOS ANGELES— A man who opened fire with a handgun at a shopping mall in Boise, Idaho, killing 2 people and injuring several others, including a police officer, died on Tuesday from wounds sustained during the violence a day earlier, authorities said.

Investigators have yet to determine whether the fatal injuries resulted from an exchange of gunfire with police at the scene, or from a self-inflicted gunshot before he was taken into custody, according to Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee.

The motive for Monday's midday bloodshed remained under investigation, Lee told reporters in a briefing a day after the attack at Boise Towne Square mall on the west end of Idaho's capital.

The suspect was publicly identified on Tuesday as 27-year-old Jacob Bergquist, a Boise resident. Police Chief Lee described him as having had previous run-ins with mall security and police for "disruptive behavior."

"We have had contact with him in the past, we did not have any reason to arrest him," Lee said, adding that Bergquist was not believed to have had any employment history at the mall.

Police also disclosed new details about the incident, saying that the suspect, dressed in black, fired multiple shots inside the mall before he fled the building and was confronted by officers arriving on the scene within 2 1/2 minutes.

He credited the swift response by law enforcement with preventing a "more grave tragedy."

The slain victims were identified by the county coroner as Joseph Acker, 26, a mall security officer who was the first person shot, and Roberto Arguelles, 49, who was gunned down near an elevator and died at a hospital.

Two women, aged 52 and 23, were injured as the suspect proceeded through the mall firing rounds into the floor, and a third woman, 68, was injured in her vehicle outside the building, apparently caught in the crossfire between police and the gunman, authorities said.

A Boise police officer called to the scene was shot at through the window of his vehicle and was injured by shards of broken glass, though evidence shows that gunfire struck the hat he was wearing, police said.

Another man was taken by private vehicle to a hospital and treated for injuries suffered in a fall while fleeing the mall, police said.

None of the wounded people's injuries were considered life-threatening, authorities said.

Lee said the suspect did all his shooting with a handgun, but a police statement online said he was carrying multiple firearms.

-reuters-

8chan, message board for extremists, is back online

SAN FRANCISCO — 8chan is back.

The anonymous message board began flickering back online Saturday and was fully visible and available Monday, 3 months after it had gone dark.

The site, which has served as a megaphone for violent extremists, was knocked offline in August after several tech companies refused to provide it with critical services such as a functioning web address. At the time, the tech companies said they would not work with 8chan because it provided mass killers with a place to air and spread their violent and often racist messages.

The shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in early August, along with attacks at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and at a synagogue in Poway, California, this year were all announced on 8chan before they began. The attackers posted screeds to a section of 8chan that was ostensibly dedicated to politics, and does not appear on the new site.

After the El Paso shooting, one of the 8chan founders, Fredrick Brennan, said, “Shut the site down.” In September, the site’s owner, Jim Watkins, testified before Congress about 8chan’s operation and policies. The site had been operating out of the Philippines.


Over the weekend, 8chan reemerged under a new name, 8kun. Ron Watkins, an administrator for the site and the son of Jim Watkins, said that it was somewhat inaccessible because it was being hit with overwhelming traffic.

Ron Watkins did not respond to a request for comment.

The message board went offline in August after Cloudflare, a company that protects websites from cyberattacks, said it would no longer provide its services to 8chan because of the site’s willingness to incite violence. Tucows, which helps companies register their website addresses, also booted 8chan from its platform.

Administrators of 8chan scrambled to find alternatives, but were unsuccessful for weeks. Now Tucows appears to be working with the message board again. 8chan’s new web address, 8kun, is registered with Tucows.

Tucows and its chief executive, Elliot Noss, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It was only a matter of time before 8chan found a new home online, internet experts said.

Like spammers, malware sellers and hackers who swap stolen personal data online, 8chan was expected to seek out web hosting from overseas providers or on the dark web. Other fringe sites, such as the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, have also pieced together internet presences after mainstream providers terminated their services.

2019 The New York Times Company

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Walmart to keep selling guns despite recent shootings at its stores

NEW YORK - Despite 2 deadly shootings at its stores in less than a week, American retail giant Walmart has no plans to stop selling guns and ammunition, a spokesman said Sunday.

A man opened fire with an assault rifle at a Walmart in Texas on Saturday, killing 20 people, just 4 days after a disgruntled employee shot dead 2 coworkers and wounded a responding police officer at one of the massive chain's stores in Mississippi.

"We are focused on supporting our associates, our customers and the entire El Paso community," spokesman Randy Hargrove said.

Following the El Paso shooting, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon posted a note on Instagram saying he "can't believe" it was the second such in a week.

"My heart aches for the community in El Paso, especially the associates and customers at store 2201 and the families of the victims," he wrote.

"I'm praying for them and I hope you will join me."

Walmart founder Sam Walton loved guns -- so much so that the American gun manufacturer Remington named a hunting rifle model after him. But the retail giant maintains that its target audience is sport shooters and hunters.

Walmart has made gun policy changes over the years, such as in 1993, when it stopped selling handguns.

The company stopped selling semi-automatic rifles in 2015, and after the Parkland, Florida shooting in February 2018 -- which saw 17 people killed at a high school -- Walmart raised the minimum age to buy guns and ammunition in its stores to 21.

Additionally, "Walmart goes beyond federal law requiring all customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm," said Hargrove.

He also noted that all new Walmart employees are required to complete an active shooter training program, which they then must pass on a computer 4 times a year.

But since it is the largest retail chain in the United States, Walmart continues to attract criticism for its enduring stock of firearms.

When the company tweeted it was "in shock" after the tragedy in El Paso, many Twitter users replied: "Stop selling guns."

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Gun megastore plan in New Zealand's Christchurch sparks backlash -media

WELLINGTON - New Zealand retailer Gun City, which sold weapons to the man accused of shootings at two Christchurch mosques that killed 51 people and injured dozens, has aroused concern with plans for a mega store in the South Island city, media said on Wednesday.

Radio New Zealand said some of those living near the proposed site were upset at the prospect of the store, sprawling over 300 sq m (3,229 sq ft), along with warehouse, office and carpark, set to open in August.

"I don't think many people will be very comfortable to have guns around their homes in a residential area," one of the residents, Harry Singh, told the broadcaster.

Gun City did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.

The location is just 1 km (0.62 miles) from the racetrack where New Zealand held its first firearms buyback on Saturday, four months after its worst peacetime mass shooting.

The accused gunman, Brenton Tarrant, bought four weapons and ammunition between December 2017 and March 2018, Gun City owner David Tipple said in March.

Tarrant, due to stand trial in May, has pleaded not guilty to 92 charges over the attacks, including New Zealand's first terrorism charge.

Tipple told Radio New Zealand he was sorry some people were concerned about the new store, but the chain was "willing and happy to introduce those persons to the positives of firearms".

A gun reform law passed in April bars the circulation and use of most semi-automatic firearms, parts to convert firearms into semi-automatics, magazines over a certain capacity and some shotguns.

The government has allotted NZ$208 million ($139 million) for buybacks nationwide to compensate gunowners who surrender banned weapons. Police took in 224 firearms on Saturday, with 22 similar events scheduled this week.

With a population of just under 5 million and an estimated 1.5 million firearms, New Zealand ranks 17th in the world in numbers of civilian firearms owners, the Small Arms Survey shows.

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No frisbees! China bans guns, roller skates from year's biggest trade fair

SHANGHAI - Visitors to China's biggest trade fair of the year can leave their frisbees at home.

The flying disc joined kites, roller skates, bats and balls on a list of items banned from the massive trade show to be held in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10.

The China International Import Expo aims to show off China's zeal for imports and ease foreign concerns about its trade practices. Skeptical foreign business leaders want to see concrete policy changes to improve market access.

The government is sparing no effort to ensure the event, announced last year by President Xi Jinping, is a success and imposing tight security on the convention center.

The state-run Shanghai Daily, the city's official English-language newspaper, said on Tuesday police banned a wide range of objects from the expo venue, including guns, explosives, daggers, fireworks, gasoline and alcohol.

The airport-like security measures will prohibit cigarette lighters and matches, drinks, drones and animals that are not guide dogs, the newspaper said.

"The expo will also ban banners, placards, billboards and other publicity material with political, ethnic, religious and commercial messages which contravene Chinese law," it said.

Also on the list of banned items: syringes, liquid medicines, kites, umbrellas, luggage deemed "too large and not suitable", large flags, sports rackets, roller skates and other "objects that could cause injury"...including frisbees.

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Florida legislature passes law allowing teachers to be armed

Miami, United States - The Florida House of Representatives Wednesday passed a law that restricts some access to guns while paving the way for a program allowing teachers and school employees to be armed.

The "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act" passed the state senate a day earlier and will now be sent to the governor to be signed into law, weeks after a school shooting that killed 17 people in Parkland.

The legislation passed by 67 votes to 50, House Speaker Richard Corcoran said.

Republican Governor Rick Scott has not indicated whether he would veto the law -- but he has previously expressed opposition to US President Donald Trump's call to arm teachers.

America's long moribund gun control debate was revived by survivors of the Parkland shooting, who a day after their school was attacked launched the "Never Again" movement.

lm/ska/ia

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Clooneys donate $500,000 to student gun reform march

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - Hollywood star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal on Monday pledged $500,000 to help fund a student march on Washington, giving a huge boost to what is considered an unprecedented youth mobilization against gun violence.

The "March for Our Lives" is scheduled to take place on March 24, with sister rallies planned across the country demanding that US Congress come up with effective legislation to address the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.

It comes after a 19-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida last week, and is being organized by surviving students.

The teenagers, who have grown up with mass shootings at US schools, have vowed to make the tragedy a turning point in America's deadlocked debate on gun control.

"Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School," Clooney said in a statement.

"Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country," he added.

"In the name of our children Ella and Alexander, we're donating $500,000 to help pay for this groundbreaking event. Our children's lives depend on it."

'OVERWHELMED'

The pledge from the Clooneys, one of the biggest A-list couples on the planet, who announced the birth of their twins in London last June, comes after other celebrities have called for greater gun controls since the Florida shooting.

"We want to express extreme gratitude for the amazing donation that George Clooney and his family have made," tweeted the Never Again account representing survivors of the Florida shooting.

"We are overwhelmed with the support, and we can't wait to march."

US Congress is deadlocked on the gun debate, accomplishing nothing even after last October's killing of 58 people by a gunman in Las Vegas who had amassed 47 firearms to commit the worst mass shooting in recent US history.

The White House says President Donald Trump is supportive of efforts to improve background checks for gun purchases, but many want far more deep-seated reforms.

The students organizing the March 24 rally say they are fed up "waiting for someone else" to take action to stop the US epidemic of mass school shootings, and are demanding a "comprehensive and effective bill" in Congress to address gun violence.

"Politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns," their mission statement said. "Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear." 

"Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard."

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'Shame on you!' student tells Trump at Florida anti-gun rally

FORT LAUDERDALE - A student survivor of the Parkland school shooting called out US President Donald Trump on Saturday over his ties to the powerful National Rifle Association, as hundreds rallied in Florida to demand urgent action on gun control.

Three days after a troubled teen armed with an assault rifle killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez delivered a fiery address to a crowd of students, parents and residents in nearby Ft. Lauderdale.

"To every politician taking donations from the NRA, shame on you!" she thundered, assailing Trump over the multi-million-dollar support his campaign received from the gun lobby -- and prompting the crowd to chant in turn: "Shame on you!"

"We are going to be the last mass shooting," she vowed. "We are going to change the law," she said -- slamming the fact 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz was able to legally buy a semi-automatic firearm despite a history of troubling and violent behavior.

"The question on whether or not people should be allowed to own an automatic weapon is not a political one. It is question of life or death and it needs to stop being a question of politics," Gonzalez told AFP following her speech.

In Washington, the political response has made clear that the powerful NRA pro-gun lobby remains formidable, while Trump himself suggested the root cause of mass shootings was a crisis of mental health -- making no mention of gun control.

"If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and... how nothing is going to be done about it, I'm going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association," Gonzalez said in her impassioned address.

"It doesn't matter because I already know. Thirty million," she told the rally attended by fellow students, parents and local officials, citing the sum spent by the NRA to support Trump's election bid and defeat Hillary Clinton.

She then ran through a list of the pro-gun lobby's talking points -- for example, that "a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun," that no law could ever stop a madman intent on killing -- answering each argument with "We call BS."

The young woman's powerful address immediately went viral, with her name a top trending topic on Twitter.

Trump tweeted a day after the massacre that neighbors and fellow students had failed to flag Cruz to the authorities.

"We did," Gonzalez fired back at Trump, her voice shaking with emotion as she insisted the community had done its best to raise the alarm. "Time and time again. Since he was in middle school. It was no surprise to anyone who knew him to hear that he was the shooter."

MISSED WARNINGS

US authorities have come under mounting scrutiny for failing to act on a series of warning signs.

The FBI admitted Friday it received a chilling warning in January from a tipster who said Cruz could be planning a mass shooting, but that agents failed to follow up.

Cruz was also known to local police after his mother repeatedly reported him for violent outbursts, while records obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel show authorities investigated Cruz in 2016 after he cut his arms on messaging app Snapchat and threatened to buy a gun.

The newspaper, citing Department of Children and Family Services documents, said the investigation came four days after Cruz turned 18 -- legally an adult, and thus able to buy a firearm.

Investigators said there were "some implications" for the teen's safety, but concluded that his "final level of risk is low as (he) resides with his mother, attends school and receives counseling" as an outpatient from a mental health center, the Sun Sentinel said.

Cruz later passed a background check, allowing him in February 2017 to buy the AR-15 rifle -- a civilian version of the US military's M16 -- he used in the massacre.

SCHOOL SAFETY

Trump on Friday visited survivors and first responders in the attack, which took place not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he was spending the holiday weekend.

Photos posted online showed him smiling at the hospital bedside of a teenage girl, and giving a thumbs-up as he posed with medical workers and law enforcement.

He tweeted Saturday that he and first lady Melania had met "incredible people," and will "never forget them, or the evening!"

Trump is staunchly opposed to additional restrictions on guns or gun ownership, but Vice President Mike Pence said at an event in Dallas the president would make school safety "a top priority" when he meets with governors of US states in the coming days.

"Let's pray for wisdom. For all in positions of authority that we might find a way to come together as a nation to confront and end this evil in our time once and for all," Pence said.

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Investigators piece together motive of Oregon shooter

ROSEBURG, United States -- Investigators on Saturday pieced together evidence on why a student at a college in Oregon went on a rampage that left nine people dead before committing suicide as police cornered him.

Officials said the gunman, identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, was enrolled at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg and opened fire in his English writing class.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Mercer -- whom he has refused to identify by name so as not to give him notoriety -- exchanged fire with two officers who had rushed to the scene before committing suicide.

He said 14 weapons belonging to the shooter had been recovered, including six found at the school along with a flak jacket and ammunition.

Mercer's British-born father Ian, who lives in Torrance, California, said he was devastated by the killings and didn't understand how his son managed to amass his arsenal.

"How on earth could he compile (14) guns?" he told CNN. "If Chris had not been able to get hold of (14) guns it would not have happened."

"My heart goes out to all the other families affected by this," added Ian Mercer, who said he last saw his son when he moved to Oregon with his mother two years ago.

"I know nothing I can say can change what happened. But please believe me, my thoughts are with all those families."

Hanlin said investigators were poring through numerous leads and had interviewed hundreds of people to try to determine what set off the rampage.

The shooting, the latest in a string of similar attacks in recent years at colleges and schools in the United States, has revived a fierce debate on gun control.

Officials say Mercer had struggled with mental health problems for some time and left behind a typed statement several pages long in which he indicated he felt lonely and was inspired by previous mass killings.

The shooter also appeared obsessed with guns and religion and had leanings toward white supremacy.

The mother of one of the nine people injured in the carnage said her 16-year-old daughter saw Mercer single out a student and hand him an envelope before ordering the other students to move to the middle of the classroom.

"He told him 'you're going to be the lucky one' and gave him an envelope," Cheyenne Fitzgerald's mother told reporters. "He was going to be the one telling the story."

She said her daughter was shot in the back and had lost a kidney.

It was unclear how long Mercer had been a student at Umpqua, a small college of about 3,000 students located in Roseburg, a close-knit rural community.

The rampage took place on the fourth day of the new school year.

Witnesses said the gunman asked his victims their religion before shooting them execution-style.

- Passionate about guns -

Hanlin said investigators were examining how Mercer purchased his weapons and were looking at some of his online postings.

Mercer's neighbors have described him as withdrawn and quiet, but passionate when it came to guns.

"When we talked about guns and hunting, he was real open about it," Louie Flores, 32, a neighbor from California, told The New York Times.

"But anything about what was going on in his life, he really didn't say too much at all."

In online postings linked to Mercer's email address, investigators reportedly found one entry in which he expressed sympathy for a dismissed television reporter who killed two former colleagues during a live broadcast in Virginia in August.

In Roseburg, residents tried to come to terms with the tragedy and the sad reality that their town would now be remembered as the site of a mass killing.

The bodies of the nine victims -- five women and four men aged between 18 and 67 -- were handed back to their families on Friday.

Fire Marshall Greg Marlar said one of the victims, 20-year-old Treven Anspach, was the son of a local firefighter. Another rescuer lost his niece.

Chris Mintz, 30, an army veteran, had tried to stop the bloodshed by charging Mercer but was shot seven times while pleading that it was his son's sixth birthday. He survived.

The mass shooting reflects a grim reality of American life, with similar incidents happening on a regular basis.

The last mass shooting at a US school took place in 2012 when 20 elementary school students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

According to data compiled by the group Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been 142 school shootings in the United States since the Sandy Hook massacre.

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Teen accidentally shoots twin dead at family dinner

NANCY, France - A 14-year-old French boy accidentally shot his twin brother dead during a family meal Sunday while playing with guns that he did not know were loaded, police said.

"One of the family members had got out several guns, without knowing or giving a warning that some of them were loaded," a local police commander in charge of the inquiry told AFP.

A source close to the inquiry in the town of Hennezel, northeastern France, said the boys' uncle had been charged with manslaughter on Monday. The man, who is in his fifties, was released on conditional bail.

The boy had picked up an automatic pistol on Sunday evening and accidentally fired it, shooting his brother in the chest.

Police said firefighters had tried to tend to the injured boy but were unable to save him.

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US toddler dies after accidentally shooting himself in head

WASHINGTON - A two-year-old boy died Wednesday several days after he picked up a loaded handgun lying out in a Virginia home and accidentally shot himself in the head, US media reported.

The boy and his parents were visiting a residence in an isolated area in southern Virginia on Monday when he found the firearm on a dresser, local NBC affiliate WWBT reported.

The toddler was alone in a bedroom, picked up the firearm and pulled the trigger, shooting himself in the head, WWBT said.

The two-year-old was rushed to a hospital in the state capital of Richmond, where he died of his injuries Wednesday.

An investigation into the incident is under way, local media reported.

Gun-control advocacy group Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America said that on average, around 100 children under the age of 17 die each year in the United States in firearm accidents.

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