Skip to content

In the Nation

Shooter sought in Ga. fair attack

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Police searched Sunday for at least one gunman who wounded seven people, mostly teenagers, overnight after opening fire amid the rides at a crowded fair in Georgia.

Nobody was killed in the shooting late Saturday at the Coastal Empire Fair on Savannah's suburban south side, but seven people were treated for gunshot wounds at area hospitals, Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller said Sunday.

Witnesses said they saw a gunman, he said, but investigators hadn't ruled out the possibility there was more than one shooter. Police had not determined a motive. Several people were detained and questioned, but all were released. - AP

Trial to begin in disappearance

MIAMI - More than a decade after foster child Rilya Wilson's disappearance shook up the state's child welfare system, the caregiver accused of killing the girl is finally set to go on trial in a highly circumstantial case hinging on jail inmates who say they heard the woman confess.

Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of Geralyn Graham, and is expected to last about eight weeks. Graham, 66, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has written letters to judges insisting she is innocent. She faces life in prison if convicted.

Rilya was born Sept. 29, 1996, to a homeless cocaine addict. She was taken into state custody when she was less than 2 months old.

The girl was last seen in 2001 living in a home shared by Geralyn Graham and Pamela Graham, who are not related. When it was discovered in 2002 that she was no longer living there, the Grahams claimed a Department of Children and Families worker had taken her for medical tests and never returned.

An investigation showed that a DCF caseworker did not make monthly visits for more than a year, even though she was filing reports and telling judges the girl was fine.

The case led to the resignation of the DCF director and several reforms, including a new missing-child tracking system linked. - AP

Sen. Kirk takes steps after stroke

CHICAGO - U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk was met with hugs and cheers as he reached the finish line of a popular stair climbing event at the Willis Tower.

Kirk, taking part in a charity fund-raiser called Skyrise Chicago was making his first public appearance since suffering a major stroke in January.

He did not climb all 103 floors Sunday, but started on the building's 66th floor and climbed to the 103d. With a brace on his left leg, Kirk held onto the railing during his ascent. His progress was monitored by a physical therapist.

Kirk, 53, continues to undergo rehabilitation. - AP

Elsewhere:

The U.S. soldier accused

of carrying out one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is due in a military courtroom Monday. Prosecutors will for the first time lay out their case that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales slaughtered 16 people during a predawn raid on two villages in the Taliban's heartland.