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North Carolina University Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty
The man charged with killing two North Carolina university students and wounding four others in their classroom in April has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.
Trystan Andrew Terrell also pleaded guilty Thursday to four counts of attempted murder and discharge of a firearm on educational property. State prosecutors accepted Terrell's plea during a hearing that was previously scheduled to decide whether the gunman could face the death penalty for the killings at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Terrell had faced the charges in connection with the April 30 shooting as classmates gathered in a lecture hall.
Hateful Emails Sent To Wake Forest University Faculty, Increased Security On Campus
An investigation is underway at Wake Forest University after faculty and staff received racist and threatening emails targeting minorities and LGBTQ community members.
A total of twelve emails were sent between September 10th and 11th. An anonymous source tells WFDD the bulk of them went to specific individuals in the sociology department. The five others went to the general inboxes of several departments, including Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the LGBTQ Center.
The language used is racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and discriminatory.
In response to faculty and staff concerns, Wake Forest has increased the police presence around the buildings. Enhanced security measures will continue while the investigation proceeds.
The sender has yet to be identified.
North Carolina AG Praises Law To End Rape Evidence Backlog
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein says a new law to fund testing for sexual assault kits sitting in law enforcement evidence closets will put rapists in prison and ensure a backlog never happens again.
Stein, police, and sexual assault victim advocates held a news conference on Thursday at the State Crime Laboratory to praise the measure signed the day before by Gov. Roy Cooper.
North Carolina Donor Wants Political Bribery Case Dropped
Lawyers for the North Carolina insurance magnate charged with trying to bribe the state's top insurance regulator say the case should be dismissed because he was exercising his right to support elected officials who were responsive to constituents.
Greg Lindberg's lawyers this week asked a judge to dismiss the federal criminal charges.
Lindberg, former North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes and two other men have pleaded innocent to charges that they were part of a plan to funnel up to $2 million into the campaign treasury of state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who is Republican.
UNC-Duke Program Too Positive On Islam, Trump Officials Say
The Trump administration is threatening to cut a grant for a Middle East studies program run by the University of North Carolina and Duke University. The administration says the program misuses federal funds to advance "ideological priorities" and unfairly promotes "the positive aspects of Islam" but not Christianity or Judaism.
A recent letter from the Education Department orders the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies to revise its offerings by Sept. 22 or risk losing funding from the National Resource Center program.
Blue Cross North Carolina CEO Charged With Drunken Driving
The chief executive of North Carolina's largest insurer will retain his job despite a drunken driving arrest earlier this summer.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina issued a statement Thursday saying that its president and CEO, Patrick Conway, was in a car accident in June.
Court records show Conway was involved in a June crash on Interstate 85 in Randolph County. No one was injured, but Conway's two daughters were in the car at the time; he was charged with driving while impaired and misdemeanor child abuse.
In its statement Blue Cross said its board of trustees has reviewed the incident and decided to retain Conway, citing his leadership skills.
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