Weekly News Briefs: Jan. 26

Local

Atlanta airport seized more than 100 guns last year

Last year Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport was the second worst airport in the U.S. for stopping gun smuggling, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In all, there were 144 guns recovered at the airport. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)  found that the Dallas/Fort Worth airport had the most guns caught at security checkpoints in 2015, with 153 guns. TSA also saw that 83 percent of the guns found were loaded, and nationwide there were 2,653 guns in carry-on bags.

 

National

Former police officer convicted of raping women gets life in prison

Former Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, is faced with a sentence of 263 years in prison for sexually assailing women, according to the NY Daily News.  Holtzclaw was found guilty on 18 counts of rape and sexual abuse, and his assaults happened when he was an officer in 2013 and 2014. Holtzclaw singled out only black women, and they were in their early 30s to late 50s. Holtzclaw is half-white and half-Japanese. His attorney tried to file for a new trial by saying that DNA evidence was not in the investigation, but the judge denied it. Holtzclaw was alleged to have preyed on these victims while on duty.

 

World

U.S. student is detained in North Korea

A U.S. student named Otto Frederick Warmbier has been detained in North Korea for “a hostile act” against the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, according to CNN. Wambier is a student at the University of Virginia. He came into the country with a tourist visa and his family is trying to address his arrest. Warmbier is on the dean’s list at the university. GOP candidate for the 2016 presidential elections John Kasich said on his Twitter that this is “inexcusable,” and that Warmbier should be returned soon. Warmbier entered the country “for the purpose of bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity at the tacit connivance of the U.S. government,” according to CNN.