In the Nation

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A gunman opened fire at a church youth performance yesterday, leaving seven people injured and killing a man whom witnesses called a hero for shielding others from a shotgun blast. A second person died later from injuries suffered in the shooting.

Members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church said they dived under pews or ran from the building when the shooting started. The gunman was tackled by congregants and eventually taken into police custody. None of the children were injured.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, was charged with first-degree murder and was being held on $1 million bail, according to city spokesman Randy Kenner, who did not know if the suspect had retained a lawyer. The suspect's motive was not known.

The man slain was identified as Greg McKendry, 60, an usher. Church member Barbara Kemper said that McKendry "stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us." Kenner said that Linda Kraeger, 61, died at a hospital several hours later.

- AP

NEW YORK - Divers suspended their search off Coney Island yesterday for a 10-year-old girl, one of three swimmers still missing from powerful ocean currents at New York City and Long Island beaches over the weekend. Four other people drowned at local beaches Friday and Saturday, authorities said.

"There are strong currents in these waters," said Annie Berlin, a Coast Guard petty officer third class. "It's important for everybody who goes swimming out there to remember that." The girl, Akira Johnson, was pulled under while swimming with her cousin Saturday afternoon. The cousin, Tyriek Currie, also 10, was rescued.

With stronger rip currents possible, "only experienced surf swimmers should enter the waters," said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Connolly. A strong storm system brought rough seas and 8-foot waves to the area last week, Connolly said.

- AP

MARIPOSA, Calif. - An uncontrolled wildfire near one of the main entrances to Yosemite National Park destroyed 15 buildings, including eight homes in the town of Midpines, and burned more than 28 square miles of brush and woodlands, authorities said yesterday.

With smoke and ash blanketing much of the storied wilderness area, residents were evacuated from about 500 homes and authorities have been forced to cut power to the park. No injuries were reported, but the fire remained entirely uncontained, Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said.

The blaze appears to have begun late Friday when someone was target shooting, Berlant said. "It was a simple spark from a bullet hitting some type of object," he said. "This time of year, with the dry conditions, just one spark can become a large fire."

- Los Angeles Times