The week at a glance...United States

last updated 8 January 2015

Denali National Park, Alaska

Fatal bear attack: A grizzly bear killed and partly devoured an experienced solo hiker in Denali National Park last week, the first fatal attack in the park’s 95-year history, officials said. A camera found near the backpack of Richard White, 49, showed that the San Diego native had photographed the grizzly for more than eight minutes and likely came within 40 to 50 yards of the animal. “Definitely way too close,” said chief park ranger Pete Webster. “A bear could cover that distance before a person could react.” White’s last five photos show the bear lifting its head, looking toward the camera, and moving closer. The mauling probably occurred immediately after the last image, officials said. Denali, located 240 miles north of Anchorage, includes more than 6 million acres and is home to numerous wild animals, including bears, wolves, caribou, and moose.

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Hantavirus outbreak: Following a second death from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Yosemite National Park officials this week warned 1,700 visitors that they had been exposed to the rare rodent-borne disease. Tourists who came to the park between June and August and spent time in the signature tent cabins at the park’s Curry Village were told to seek immediate medical assistance if they developed fever, chills, aches, or dizziness. At least four other people are known to have caught the disease at the campground, including a 37-year-old man who died last week and a woman in her 40s who was recovering from the virus. Park spokesman Scott Gediman said workers were shoring up the cabins to prevent mice from getting easy access. “There are rodents and some are infected,” Gediman said. “This is a wilderness setting. It has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the cabins.”

Kalispell, Mont.

Man killed in Sasquatch hoax: A prankster’s attempt to create a Bigfoot sighting by dressing up in a shaggy costume while standing on a highway ended in tragedy this week when he was struck by two passing cars and died. Randy Lee Tenley, 44, was dressed in a military-style ghillie suit—a camouflage outfit that makes the wearer look like a pile of moss—when he was hit by a 15-year-old driver. A second car ran over Tenley as he lay in the road. “Being camouflaged at night,” Tenley was hard to spot, said Sgt. Steve Lavin of the Highway Patrol. Tenley’s friends told police that he wanted to whip up Bigfoot hysteria. But while there have been numerous sightings of the ape-like creature in the West, Lavin said Kalispell wasn’t a hotbed of Sasquatch activity. “I haven’t heard [of] Bigfoot sightings in years,” he said. “I thought it was a fad that went away.”

Albany, N.Y.

Chapman denied: Authorities last week denied parole for the seventh time to Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon in 1980. Chapman, 57, was sentenced to 20 years to life in 1981 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. He told authorities he shot the ex-Beatle four times in the back in a deluded attempt to gain fame and notoriety. Chapman, who has been held in protective custody, is a model prisoner, said parole board member Sally Thompson, but “release at this time would greatly undermine respect for the law, and tend to trivialize the tragic loss of life which you caused as a result of this heinous, unprovoked, violent, cold, and calculated crime.” Chapman, a former security guard, was recently transferred from Attica Correctional Facility to the Wende Correctional Facility, both high security prisons in western New York state. He will be eligible for parole again in two years.

New York

Fatal office feud: A long-simmering workplace feud erupted into a bloody confrontation on a busy Manhattan street last week when an armed man coldly stalked and executed a former co-worker, firing five rounds into the victim. The gunman was then shot to death by police, and nine bystanders were injured “either by fragments or by bullets fired by police,” said police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The gunman, Jeffrey Johnson, 58, and his victim, Steven Ercolino, 41, worked together for years at Hazan Imports, a manufacturer of women’s handbags and belts just south of the Empire State Building. Johnson, a “meticulous” and “eccentric” designer, according to co-workers, was laid off two years ago, and he blamed Ercolino, whom he suspected of undermining his efforts. “There was bad blood between Steve and Jeff, for no particular reason,” said a co-worker.

Ludowici, Ga.

Militia terror plot: Four U.S. Army soldiers stockpiled $87,000 in guns and bomb components, which they planned to use to kill President Obama and overthrow the federal government, prosecutors said this week. The anarchist militia group of active duty and former soldiers then allegedly murdered a comrade and his teenage girlfriend to protect the secrecy of its plots. The gang drew up plans for a series of anti-government attacks, authorities said, but became suspicious of a member who was leaving the military. In December, the four men lured Michael Roark and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York, to a wooded area and shot them to death, said prosecutors. These domestic terrorists “did not simply plan and talk,” said prosecutor Isabel Pauley. “Evidence shows the group possessed the knowledge, means, and motive to carry out their plans.”

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