Friend: Shooting suspect embraced chaos
TUCSON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The suspect in the weekend rampage at a political event in Tucson, Ariz., was a skilled marksman and "loves causing chaos," a friend said.
Jared Lee Loughner, 22, of Tucson faces federal charges in Saturday's shooting, in which Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured and U.S. District Judge John Roll, his law clerk Matthew Bowman and Giffords' staffer Gabriel Zimmerman were among the dead. Six people died and 14 were injured.
"He was a nihilist and loves causing chaos, and that is probably why he did the shooting, along with the fact he was sick in the head," Zane Gutierrez, 21, told The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday.
He said Loughner was obsessed with the meaning and importance of dreams. The suspect also read Friedrich Nietzsche's book, "The Will To Power," and embraced ideas about the effects of nihilism, his friend said.
Loughner also used the word "hollow" to describe "how fake the real world was to him, Gutierrez said.
Loughner began working on his proficiency with a 9mm pistol, the same caliber weapon used in Saturday's attack, while in high school, his friend said.
"If he had a gun pointed at me, there is nothing I could do because he would make it count," Gutierrez said. "He was quick."
Law enforcement officials said police more than once went to the house Loughner shared with his parents.
Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jason Ogan said he didn't know the nature of the calls or whether they involved Loughner or another member of the household, the Times said. He said the calls were being reviewed by legal counsel and would be released after the review was complete.
FBI: Border agent hid deported father
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. Border Patrol agent in San Diego hid his father, a twice-deported illegal immigrant, in his house and lied about it, authorities allege.
Marcos Gerardo Manzano Jr., 26, was arrested Monday at the Border Patrol station in Imperial Beach, Calif., the FBI told the Los Angeles Times.
When an FBI Swat team raided his home in the border neighborhood of San Ysidro Tuesday, his father, Marcos Gerardo Manzano Sr., 46, was gone. Another illegal immigrant there was arrested.
Manzano Sr. was convicted of a marijuana offense in October 2006 and deported to Mexico, a criminal complaint filed in San Diego federal court states. The FBI is seeking him as a fugitive.
Starting in September 2009, Manzano Sr. was seen regularly coming and going from his son's home, the complaint said. Manzano Jr. allegedly told a federal investigator he had had no contact with his father, although he admitted knowing he was a deported felon.
Manzano Jr. is charged with harboring illegal aliens and lying to federal investigators and is to be arraigned Wednesday.
Toronto officer dead in snow plow rampage
TORONTO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A veteran Toronto police officer was killed after being hit by a man driving a stolen snow plow Wednesday that was in a chase and shootout, police said.
At 10 a.m., four hours after the incident began, a solemn Police Chief Bill Blair told reporters Sgt. Russell Ryan, 35, had died of head injuries at St. Michael's Hospital.
The unidentified male suspect in the theft, attack and chase was in the same hospital, reportedly after being shot by an officer miles away from the truck's theft, the Toronto Star said.
Two landscape workers clearing snow with shovels were outside of the heavy-duty Chevy pick-up equipped with a large plow, the reports said.
They said a barefoot man bolted into the truck and took off, followed by police cars that tried to box the plow in as it repeatedly smashed into parked cars and a garbage truck.
Ryan was struck on the head by the plow as he approached the driver and had no vital signs when paramedics arrived, the reports said.
The owner of the truck used GPS technology to keep pursuing officers aware of its location.
Early reports said the suspect appeared to have been shot in the neck, the Star said.
Clinton: Haiti's slow recovery frustrating
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton says the slow recovery in Haiti a year after a devastating earthquake struck is frustrating, but he expects it to pick up.
Clinton, in Port-au-Prince as the U.N. envoy to Haiti, said delays bogged down reconstruction after the Jan. 12, 2010, quake rocked the island nation, killing more than a quarter-million people, the BBC reported. Haitians are conducting two days of commemorations to mark the one-year anniversary of the quake.
"No one is more frustrated than I am that we haven't done more," Clinton said while visiting a site where workers crush the rubble of destroyed buildings to use in concrete for rebuilding.
The earthquake "took out a third of the capital area and wrecked a lot of the streets," Clinton told the BBC. "Yes it's slow … but I think you will see the pace pick up."
Gates in Japan as part of 3-country visit
TOKYO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Tokyo for alliance talks Wednesday, the second leg of his three-country tour that began in China.
Gates will meet with Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and other leaders of the Japanese government, including Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the Pentagon said in a release.
"We will use the trip to discuss how best to address recent security developments in the region -- including North Korean provocations -- and to further develop our long-term agenda for strengthening and deepening the bilateral alliance," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "The visit will underscore the centrality of the U.S.-Japan relationship for addressing regional and global challenges, now and in the years to come."
Gates spent four days in China and will travel to South Korea Friday.
Before leaving for Japan, Gates visited the headquarters of China's strategic missile command, the 2nd Artillery Corps.
Gates said discussions with Chinese leaders will help advance military-to-military relationships between the two countries.
"The discussions were productive and set the stage for taking the military-to-military relationship to the next level," Gates told reporters.
"What came across to me is both the military and civilian leadership seemed determined to carry this relationship further and build upon it," he said. "Are there those who have issues with it? Possibly, but I didn't meet them on my trip, and I'm very encouraged going forward."
Gates called discussions with Gen. Jing Zhiyuan, 2nd Artillery Corps commander, "very candid" and said Jing accepted an invitation to visit the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., later this year.
"This is part of the step-by-step process of building this relationship," Gates said.
Gates said U.S. and Chinese leaders discussed "their no-first-use policy, about command and control and several other subjects."
