A mother killed in cold blood: Manhunt for Iraq war vet who 'shot dead female park ranger, 34, in New Year's Day horror'

• Suspect Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, believed to be hiding in the Park
• Also wanted for shooting of four people at New Year's Eve Party in Seattle

Victim: Margaret Anderson is a mother of two young daughters who has worked as a park ranger for four years

Authorities are scouring Mount Rainier National Park for a cold-blooded killer who gunned down a U.S. Forest Service Ranger and then fired at officers who were coming to help her.

Officials closed the park after the shooting yesterday, and asked people to stay out of the area while they search for a man carrying a long rifle.

He is also the prime suspect in the shooting of four people at New Year's Eve party hours earlier in the south of Seattle - which left two people critically injured.

The female ranger, Margaret Anderson, 34, a married mother of two young girls, was shot as she stopped the suspect's car.

A 'strong person of interest' has been identified as Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, an Iraq war veteran who is believed to have strong wilderness survival skills and is heavily armed.

Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer said authorities recovered Barnes' vehicle, which had weapons and body armour inside.

Authorities believed the gunman was still in the woods with an assault rifle. They asked people to stay away from the park, and for those already there to leave.

Mr Troyer said there were about 100 people hunkered down in lodges and cabins on the mountain. They were told to stay put because they could be in the line of fire.

Armoured vehicles were being brought in to ferry them safely out of the park.

Mr Troyer said authorities were following tracks in the snow they believe are from the gunman, and crews planned to bring an airplane through the area with heat-seeking capabilities. He added: 'We believe we have a good track on him, but he's way ahead of us'...[Full Article]

Wanted: Benjamin Colton Barnes is believed to have gunned down a U.S. Forest Service ranger after shooting four people at a New Year's Eve house party

Location unknown: Iraq War veteran Benjamin Colton Barnes is wanted by the authorities

'Strong person of interest': Benjamin Colton Barnes, who cops say has a military background and strong wilderness survival skills, is also a suspect in an earlier shooting incident at a New Year's Eve party

Pentagon to cut pensions for veterans



Russia Today

With the Pentagon looking for new ways to cut back on costs, a report released this week presents a plan to save $250 billion over the next two decades. All they have to do is take away retirement plans from veterans.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that any large cuts in defense spending would “terribly weaken” the national security of the US. “This is not about the Defense Department or the State Department,” Panetta told reporters. “This is about the United States of America.”

That being said, the DoD doesn’t plan on curbing the $115 billion it will spend on rust-proofing their fleets during the next five years. Sure the Pentagon announced this week that they would be investigating the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, to make sure they aren’t abusing the government funding that makes up their multi-million dollar contract. And yes, last week also saw the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 unmanned aircraft lose contact with military operators after the Pentagon has put $300 million into the project. Those operations will continue.

Benefits, however, will not...[Full Article]