National Roundup

CALIFORNIA
Police probing death find ammo and 1,200 guns

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police investigating the death of a Los Angeles man uncovered an arsenal inside his home and garage - more than 1,200 guns and about two tons of ammunition, authorities said Monday.

Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andrew Smith called the number of rifles, pistols and shotguns staggering. Many had never been fired and some were still wrapped in boxes, with price tags still attached.

"Our truck couldn't carry it all," Smith told the Los Angeles Times. "We had to go back and make another trip."

There were no signs of foul play. Police have found no evidence the man, who has not been identified, was involved in criminal activity.

Police made the discovery after the man's decomposing body was found in a car down the street from his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

Detectives want to find out why he had so many guns and are examining the weapons to determine if they have been linked to any crime.

"We have a lot of work to do," Smith said. "Running the background, history and legality of these weapons is going to require a tremendous amount of time."

"It's not a crime to have a large number of weapons so long as they were legal to own and legally obtained," Smith added. "We want to make sure that's the case."

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WYOMING
Police: Man held in shooting angry with homeless

RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) - A parks employee in a central Wyoming city who said he was incensed by homeless people drinking in parks slipped into a detox center over the weekend and shot two men in the head as they were lying in their beds, killing one and critically wounding the other, authorities charge.

A judge on Monday ordered Roy Clyde, 32, of Riverton held without bond. Clyde is charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. A preliminary hearing was set for July 29.

Riverton police Capt. Eric Murphy said Monday that Clyde is a 13-year employee of the City of Riverton. Murphy said Clyde called police after the shooting at the Center of Hope facility and reported it. Police arrested him nearby.

Clyde told investigators that he targeted the detox facility because he was tired of cleaning up after homeless people, Murphy said. "And basically he was angry at that, and that's what precipitated him to go and do this violent act," Murphy said.

Despite Roy Clyde's reported complaint, there was no immediate indication that anyone inside the Center of Hope facility - including the victims - was homeless at the time of Saturday's attack. Moreover, police say the center caters to all segments of the population with addiction problems.

According to police statement filed in court Monday, Clyde told investigators he had long been considering killing people he referred to as "park rangers." In Riverton, the term "park rangers" refers to homeless alcoholics - most of them American Indians. Many come to the city from the surrounding Wind River Indian Reservation, where alcohol is illegal, and drink in the parks.

The reservation is home to both the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. A spokesman for the Northern Arapaho Tribe said Monday that both victims in the shooting, whom authorities have not yet publicly identified, were Northern Arapaho.

Police Det. Scott Peters filed a statement in Fremont County Circuit Court on Monday to support the charges against Clyde.

"Clyde admitted that he had been considering killing people he referred to as 'park rangers,'" Peters wrote, adding that Clyde stated his decision was not race-based.

"He specifically indicated that if he had encountered white people meeting his criteria, he would have killed them as well," Peters wrote.

Fremont County Attorney Patrick J. LeBrun declined comment on the case. He said Clyde didn't yet have an attorney.

According to Murphy, Clyde walked through the back door of the Center of Hope, passed two staff members and went to an area for clients, where he shot the men. As he walked back out, he set down a handgun and was arrested soon thereafter.

Some staff members and clients of the detox center locked themselves in a bathroom when the shooting started, Murphy said.

The center, run by Volunteers of America, caters to anyone with addiction problems. Law enforcement agencies commonly take all sorts of people there who have been abusing alcohol or drugs, Murphy said.

"They have different levels of treatment," he said. "If they encounter somebody who's intoxicated, they can take them there for the evening until they sober up."

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MISSISSIPPI
Witness: Police 'hogtied' man before he died

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (AP) - A Tennessee man died after a witness says police in northern Mississippi police "hogtied" him on a stretcher.

Multiple news outlets report that 30-year-old Memphis chemical engineer Troy Goode died in a hospital Saturday night, two hours after being detained by the Southaven Police Department.

Southaven Police Chief Tom Long says authorities were called to a parking lot after a Widespread Panic concert and were told Goode was possibly suffering an LSD overdose. Emergency personnel detained Goode and took him to a hospital.

David McLaughlin, a Memphis attorney, says he witnessed the incident and posted a video of the arrest on YouTube, saying it shows Goode being restrained, face-down on a stretcher with his legs pulled back and bound.

Goode's body will be sent to Jackson for an autopsy and toxicology report to determine a cause of death.

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WASHINGTON
Brother sues CEO who set 70K minimum wage

SEATTLE (AP) - A Seattle CEO who set a $70,000 minimum wage for all his employees is now being sued by his brother.

The Seattle Times reports Lucas Price accuses his brother and co-founder, Dan Price, in court documents of violating his rights as minority shareholder in Gravity Payments and breaching duties and contracts.

The complaints were initially signed March 13 and filed April 24, 11 days after Dan Price announced the pay raises for the 120 employees of Gravity Payments.

Attorney Greg Hollon, who represents Lucas Price, says the lawsuit is in response to a series of events over years not just the announcement.

The brothers co-founded the merchant-services company in 2004 and Dan Price became CEO in 2006.

A trial date is set for next May 3.

Published: Wed, Jul 22, 2015