Nation and World briefs for July 12

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Sheriff: Inmate shot, killed 2 bailiffs after getting gun

Sheriff: Inmate shot, killed 2 bailiffs after getting gun

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — A jail inmate trying to escape from a western Michigan courthouse wrested a gun from an officer Monday, killing two bailiffs and injuring two more people before he was fatally shot by other officers, a sheriff said.

People scrambled for cover inside the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph in the southwestern corner of Michigan, about 100 miles northeast of Chicago.

“Our hearts are torn apart. … I have known them for over 30 years. It’s a sad day,” Sheriff Paul Bailey said of the bailiffs.

The inmate, locked up on several charges, was being moved from a cell for a courtroom appearance when a fight occurred and he was able to disarm an officer, Bailey said. The sheriff did not say what charges the inmate was facing.

He shot a sheriff’s deputy, killed the bailiffs and then shot a civilian in the arm in a public area, the sheriff said.

The inmate then was fatally shot “by two other bailiffs who came to render aid, along with several other officers,” Bailey said.

“He was trying to escape,” the sheriff said.

The injuries suffered by the deputy and the civilian weren’t considered life-threatening.

The names of the three dead won’t be released until relatives have been notified. Bailey also told reporters that he didn’t yet have certain details on the shooting, including whether the inmate was handcuffed at the time.

Cameron to quit Wednesday; Theresa May to be new British PM

LONDON (AP) — A political era ended Monday — unexpectedly and without an election — as Prime Minister David Cameron said he will step down in two days in favor of Theresa May, a senior member of his Cabinet who will become Britain’s second female leader.

Cameron announced his resignation last month because he backed the losing side in a referendum for Britain to leave the European Union. So did May — but infighting, bad timing and cold feet among leaders of the victorious “leave” campaign means that she will have the task of leading a divided country out of the EU.

The latest chapter in the political turmoil spawned by the EU vote moved with breathtaking speed.

On Monday morning, there were two candidates to lead the governing Conservative Party. At noon, Andrea Leadsom stepped down, making May leader-in-waiting. By late afternoon, Cameron had announced that May would be moving into 10 Downing Street within 48 hours.

“We will have a new prime minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening,” Cameron said in a brief statement outside the leader’s official London residence.

To Dems, must-see TV is Trump mocking disabled reporter

WASHINGTON (AP) — Here’s Grace, a sweetly smiling little girl in a wheelchair. Now here’s her mother, Lauren Glaros: “When I saw Donald Trump mock a disabled person, I was just shocked,” she says. Then we see Trump, his hands jerking in front of his body as he imitates a reporter who has a condition that limits his arm movement.

To the Democrats, it’s a picture worthy of a thousand commercials.

That’s why two versions of the advertisement called “Grace” have been on television more than almost any other at this early stage of the general election campaign. They’ve appeared some 7,200 times in 10 states across the country, with the heaviest concentration in the always-hard-fought presidential battlegrounds of Florida and Ohio, an analysis from Kantar Media’s campaign advertising tracker shows.

The commercials are paid for by Priorities USA, a super political action committee dedicated to helping elect Hillary Clinton. Only a Clinton campaign advertisement about the former first lady’s work to expand children’s health care has aired more since mid-May, when general election ads began hitting the air.

Even among Trump’s many controversial statements — Clinton aides see them as an embarrassment of riches — the footage of him appearing to mock a disabled reporter stands out, evoking one of the strongest reactions from voters in focus groups and other forums.

Advocates fear more heroin withdrawal deaths in jails

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) — In the days following her 18-year-old daughter’s first arrest on heroin charges, Stephanie Moyer took solace in thinking she would be safe in jail until she got into a treatment program.

However, Victoria “Tori” Herr sounded disoriented on a call home three days later. She feared she was dying and begged for something to drink, her mother said.

Herr, who had a 10-bag-a-day habit, collapsed following days of severe vomiting and diarrhea at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility. She spent five days in the hospital, then died on Easter Sunday 2015.

Her case is one of at least a half-dozen deaths nationwide during the last two years involving jail heroin withdrawal, and advocates fear the number will grow given the nation’s heroin crisis. Advocates find the deaths particularly troubling because opioid withdrawal, while miserable, is rarely life-threatening if medication, monitoring and intravenous fluids are available.

“This is a woman who died because she was detoxing,” said Moyer’s lawyer, Jonathan Feinberg, who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday. “Had Tori Herr’s withdrawal been treated … she almost certainly would be alive today.”