NATIONAL BRIEFS

WASHINGTON STATE: Third-grader held in shooting

Crying and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, a frightened 9-year-old boy accused of accidentally shooting a classmate sat before a judge in juvenile court Thursday as his father gently rubbed his back. A day after police said the boy shot a fellow third-grader, these questions will be played out in the legal system: Did he know what he did was wrong? Is anyone else responsible? Bail was set at $50,000, and ultimately the court will determine whether the boy will face criminal charges, as an 8-year-old girl remains critically wounded. "I just want everyone to know that my kid made a mistake. It was a terrible mistake," the boy's father, Jason Cochran, said outside court. Authorities say the boy took a .45-caliber handgun from his mother's house to school in Bremerton on Wednesday, and the weapon discharged from inside his backpack just before classes let out, critically injuring Amina Kocer-Bowman.

Two dead after traffic stop

A state trooper was gunned down at a traffic stop early Thursday, and the suspect, an ex-con, killed himself later, authorities said. Joshua Jearl Blake, 28, had served time for drugs, assaulting his pregnant girlfriend, and kicking out the window of a police car, among other things, court records show. His pickup truck was pulled over by Trooper Tony Radulescu, 44, who then was shot to death. As a SWAT team approached home near Port Orchard, 20 miles west of Seattle, they heard a single gunshot. Blake died later in a hospital.

ALABAMA: 9-year-old girl, punished, dies

A woman was under guard at a hospital Thursday after giving birth hours after her arrest in the death of her 9-year-old stepdaughter, who authorities say was forced to run for three hours as punishment for lying about eating a candy bar. Jessica Mae Hardin, 27, gave birth hours after she was arrested Wednesday. Hardin and her mother-in-law, Joyce Hardin Garrard, 46, were charged with murder in the death of Savannah Hardin.