What happened during the shooting incident near the White House?
Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Two National Guard members are in critical condition after being shot just two blocks from the White House this afternoon. Police say a suspect walked up to the troops and opened fire before being subdued. The suspect was also shot and is now in custody. Empire's Tom Bowman is near the Farragut West Metro Station where the shooting took place.
Police closed off the area. We couldn't get within a block of the Metro Station, but we did talk with two young women, Emma McDonald and Layla Christopher from Northern Virginia, who were just coming out of the Metro moments after it happened. Here's Layla.
We were getting off the Metro coming from Vienna, and we were getting off at Farragut Square, and then we, like, came up to the street, and a National Guards person told us to, like, run. So they ran into a bakery a few steps away. Customers in there told them they heard six shots. Many people were afraid. Others were just sitting there drinking their coffee. That's NPR's Tom Bowman.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegsa says the city is safe, but he's ordering 500 more troops there. A state court judge has dismissed the election interference criminal case in Georgia against President Trump at the request of the special prosecutor. From member station WABE in Atlanta, Alex Helmick has more.
Prosecutor Pete Skandalakis took over the massive RICO case that involved 14 others earlier this month after Fulton County D-8 Fonnie Willis was removed. In a statement, Skandalakis said he decided not to pursue the case against the president in the interest of justice. It was unlikely that legal action against Trump could have moved forward while he's president.
The case stemmed from Trump narrowly losing Georgia to President Joe Biden in 2020, launching a series of events, including Trump's phone call to state officials looking for 11,780 votes. Trump's attorney said the case should never have been brought. For NPR News, I'm Alex Helmick in Atlanta.
The Hong Kong government says at least 36 people have died in a massive fire that tore through a high-rise complex in that city. 279 people are still missing. The fire began in one building before jumping to six more in a public housing complex. And as NPR's Emily Fang reports, it's already prompting questions about why the complex went up in flames so quickly.
The fire also spread from the high-rise housing complex, which is home to about 4,600 people, to a nearby school. The buildings had been due for renovation, and they had been encased in bamboo scaffolding, which quickly caught fire. Last year, the region's government started phasing out bamboo in favor of steel because it is fire-resistant.
All this week, Hong Kong has been under a red grade for fire danger because of warm and dry weather. Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee, visited hundreds of the surviving residents now sheltering in a nearby community center. Emily Fang, NPR News. Stocks finished up across the board today. The S&P 500 rose 46 points. The Dow was up 314 points. You're listening to NPR News.
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