The week at a glance...United States

Santa Monica, Calif.

Murderous rampage: A gunman armed with an assault rifle and carrying 40 large-capacity ammunition magazines killed five people last week before being shot dead by police. John Zawahri, 23, who had a history of mental illness, murdered his father, Samir, 55, and brother Chris, 25, at their home before leaving the house and shooting and injuring a woman driving by. He then carjacked a car and forced the driver to drive to Santa Monica College, where he shot and killed three others: college groundskeeper Carlos Franco, 68, his daughter Marcela, 26, and Margarita Gomez, 68. Police eventually killed Zawahri in the campus library. The gunman had previously been held in UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute in 2006, after high school teachers and students reported concerns over his mental well-being. “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy that once again shatters our nation’s confidence,” said school superintendent Sandra Lyon.

San Onofre, Calif.

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Nuclear plant shutdown: The owners of the controversial San Onofre nuclear plant in Southern California announced last week that they were permanently closing the facility, amid an ongoing legal and regulatory battle over its safety. The two reactors at the Southern California Edison plant have been out of operation since January 2012, when a small amount of radioactive steam escaped. Occurring just months after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in Japan, the leak sparked widespread public concern. Edison had sought to restart operations in one of the units, but was knocked back by a Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel that said the move required a hearing. Such uncertainty over the plant was “not good for our customers,” said the chief executive of the utility’s parent company, Edison International. The closure is the latest blow for the nuclear industry, which has seen four units permanently removed from service this year—more than in any year since the U.S. started using nuclear power, in 1957.

Boston

New York Post sued: Two men pictured on the front page of the New York Post under the headline “Bag Men” three days after the Boston Marathon bombing are suing the newspaper for defamation. Salaheddin Barhoum, 16, and Yassine Zaimi, 24, are accusing the tabloid of libel, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. When photos of Barhoum and Zaimi began circulating online shortly after the bombing, the two voluntarily went to the police and were told they were not suspects. The next day, the New York Post ran their photo with the words “Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon.” Zaimi’s house was swarmed by reporters, and Barhoum faced accusations from his boss. “We stand by our story,” New York Post editor Col Allan said in April. “We did not identify them as suspects.”

Philadelphia

Deadly demolition: A grand jury will investigate last week’s fatal building collapse in central Philadelphia to determine whether to try anyone other than a crane operator. Six people were killed when a four-story wall of a building under demolition collapsed, crushing the thrift store next door. Prosecutors have charged Sean Benschop, the excavator operator at the demolition, with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment after toxicology tests showed he was under the influence of marijuana and painkillers. The grand jury will now determine whether the owner of the demolished building or the demolition contractor should also face charges. Thirteen people were injured in the collapse, which survivor Felicia Hill likened to an earthquake. “I felt this shaking,” said Hill. “Then I heard a gust of wind come in and I seen just the wall fall and the dust cloud. I started running for my life.”

Washington, D.C.

Morning-after pill: The Obama administration this week announced that it would no longer contest a court order allowing over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill Plan B One-Step to girls under the age of 15. Sales of the emergency contraceptive, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Teva, will now be open to women of any age without a prescription. Government attorneys said the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services would also remove requirements that a woman show photo identification in order to purchase the drug. The new rules apply only to Teva’s One-Step, leaving similar generic brands of emergency contraceptives, as well as a two-pill version of Plan B, available over the counter only to women aged 17 and up. Reproductive-rights advocates vowed to fight those remaining restrictions.

Washington, D.C.

Immigration bill advances: A major immigration bill that would give 11 million undocumented workers a path to citizenship cleared a key hurdle this week when Senate Republicans allowed the legislation to advance to a floor debate. In two procedural votes, 30 Republicans joined all 54 Democrats in clearing the way for the first full Senate vote on immigration reform in decades. Conservatives have warned that big changes will have to be made to the 1,076-page measure for it to pass the Senate, including stronger border security guarantees and a limit on the legal status of immigrants that would exclude them from receiving welfare benefits. Democrats expect a final vote by July 4; the bill will then proceed to the Republican-controlled House, where it faces a much tougher path.