Updated at 9:46 p.m. ET: A 15-year-old boy faces manslaughter charges for allegedly shooting a 13-year-old girl on a school bus near Miami on Tuesday morning, NBC Miami reported.

The boy, who also faces a charge for carrying a concealed weapon, allegedly shot Lourdes Guzman in front of her 7-year-old sister and six other children who were riding the private school bus.

Read more at NBC Miami

Lourdes, a student at Miami's Palm Glades Preparatory Academy, was airlifted to Miami Children's Hospital, where she died, police said. The bus was headed to three different schools when the incident happened, Javier Baez, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said.

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Police found the boy on the bus and a weapon nearby.

"They were able to immediately determine that the shooting occurred inside the bus, and that the alleged shooter was also inside the bus," Miami-Dade Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said at a press conference Tuesday. "He was immediately taken into custody. He was detained, placed in a police car. We were able to recover the firearm."

Police have not said which school the suspect attends.

The incident occurred in the area of Southwest 296th Street and Southwest 137th Avenue in Homestead, a city in Miami-Dade County, NBCMiami.com reported. 

"No other children were injured," Zabaleta said. "They have been transported to the homicide bureau for questioning."

Police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting. There was no surveillance camera on the bus, they said.

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SANTA FE, N.M. -- A New Mexico state police officer used his Taser to stun a 10-year-old schoolboy who refused to clean his patrol car, according to a lawsuit filed in Santa Fe County Court by the boy's family.

During a career day program at Tularosa Intermediate School in May, Officer Christopher Webb of the state Department of Public Safety pointed the stun gun at the boy and said, "Let me show you what happens to people who do not listen to the police," according to the lawsuit filed last week.

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Webb said his stun gun went off by accident, sending two barbs carrying 50,000 volts of electricity for five seconds through the boy’s clothing and piercing his chest, the Albuquerque Journal reported, quoting court documents. The jolt caused the boy to black out, the suit said.

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Rachel Higgins, attorney for the boy who weighs less than 100 pounds and is referred to in the lawsuit by only his initials, told the court he has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, waking in the middle of the night clutching his chest in fear since the incident. He has scars the size of cigarette burns, she said in court papers.

The boy was only joking about not wanting to clean the patrol car when Webb asked a group of boys if they would, according to court documents.

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Webb, named in the suit along with the Department of Public Safety, received a three-day, unpaid suspension after the incident, the Journal reported.

Webb said in court documents he took the boy to the school nurse’s office and waited with him there until the student’s mother arrived.

The boy's family is seeking compensation and punitive damages, the Journal reported.

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An American studying chimpanzee behavior in South Africa was “fighting for his life” after he was attacked by two of the animals, according to a report.

The chimpanzees dragged the man for more than a mile, under a fence and into their enclosure at Jane Goodall Institute Chimp Eden near Nelspruit, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

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The paper said the victim of the attack had not been named. However, it said it understood he was a “young university student from the United States who had been observing the animals at the reserve for several weeks.”

Jeffrey Wicks, a spokesman for private ambulance firm Netcare911, told the Telegraph that witnesses said the man was leading a group of tourists when the attack happened.

"A ranger at a chimpanzee sanctuary near Nelspruit is fighting for his life after he was attacked by two frenzied animals while leading a tour group at the park this afternoon," he added. "According to eyewitnesses, two chimpanzees grabbed the man by his feet and pulled him under the perimeter fence and into the enclosure."

Armed escorts for paramedics
Paramedics needed armed escorts as they went in to treat the victim, NBC’s Rohit Kachroo reported. It was unclear whether this caused any delay.

The victim was stabilized at the scene and taken by ambulance to a private hospital in Nelspruit, NBC said. There have been no similar attacks at the reserve, which opened more than six years ago.

David Oosthuizen, Jane Goodall Institute executive director, confirmed the reserve was on lock down following the incident, The Telegraph said.

"We understand that the gentleman is stable and we really feel for him," he told the paper. "This has been very upsetting for everyone – it is just horrific. We are an organization that's respected worldwide for the work we do so anything like this is very bad."

Victim of chimpanzee attack shares progress, optimism

He added that some of the animals kept there had been abused before they were rescued and taken to the institute.

"These chimpanzees have six times the strength of a human being so you have to respect them and we certainly do," he said.

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The Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio will drop health insurance coverage for students this fall rather than comply with a federal mandate that its plan provide free birth control.

University officials on Tuesday also cited rising insurance costs for their decision to end student health coverage.

“The Obama Administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover ‘women’s health services’ including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),” according to a university statement. “Up to this time, Franciscan University has specifically excluded these services and products from its student health insurance policy, and we will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.”

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“Additionally, the PPACA increased the mandated maximum coverage amount for student policies to $100,000 for the 2012-13 school year, which would effectively double your premium cost for the policy in fall 2012, with the expectation of further increases in the future,” the statement said.

The university will no longer require its undergraduates to carry insurance, according to the statement. "We didn't want to put them in a situation where they would have to violate their conscience," Michael Hernon, a vice president at Franciscan University, told Reuters.

Fewer than 200 students at the campus in southeast Ohio had been buying insurance from the university, Hernon told Reuters. Franciscan University has nearly 2,800 students.

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Earlier this year, the Franciscan was among 18 Catholic colleges in a letter-writing campaign, calling for President Barack Obama to change the government's mandate for religious institutions to offer preventative care services, including contraceptives. Churches and houses of worship are exempt from the rule. 

Several Catholic and evangelical Christian universities have challenged the contraceptive mandate in court. Those cases have not yet come to trial. Hernon told Reuters that the university is weighing a lawsuit.

With the new health insurance year set to start in August, however, administrators at Franciscan University chose not to wait for the court's ruling. In addition to the contraception mandate, they said they were concerned that premiums for the student plan would rise because the Affordable Care Act also mandates other specific services be covered.

So the bulletin advised students that they should begin to figure out their insurance plans.

"We encourage you to decide how you are going to provide for accidents or illnesses requiring visits to physicians, health clinics, or the hospital emergency room while you are a student here," the announcement said.

The university will maintain its health insurance plan for faculty, for now. That plan does not cover birth control. Hernon said administrators are "looking at all the options" as they decide how, or whether, to continue the plan in the future if the contraceptive mandate is upheld.

The university, which was founded 60 years ago to serve World War Two veterans, is ranked as one of the top-tier private colleges in the Midwest. It boasts on its website that its academics and culture are "grounded in a passionately Catholic faith tradition."

Msnbc.com's Sevil Omer and Reuters' Stephanie Simon contributed to this report.

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A gay student who said he fired a stun gun in the air at school when bullies threatened him has been expelled, according to the school district.

Darnell “Dynasty” Young, a junior at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, may return to school in the district on Jan. 7, 2013, Indianapolis Public Schools said Tuesday in an e-mail statement.

 

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Young, 17, said bullies hounded him daily. The harassment escalated on April 16, when a group surrounded him at school and threatened to beat him up, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Young took the stun gun, which he had stashed in his backpack for a few weeks, and fired it off in the air. The students dispersed, but within minutes, school police had arrested Young.

"My point was not to hurt anybody … the purpose was to back them off. I didn’t know what else to do," he told msnbc's NewsNation on Monday.

The district said it had accepted the decision of an examiner, who presided over Young’s hearing last week, to expel him.

“While the district does not condone bullying, it also does not allow weapons to be brought on our school campuses for any reason. Students who violate this rule will be held accountable,” Mary Louise Bewley, director of the district’s Office of School and Community Relations, said in the e-mail statement.

When reached by phone on Tuesday, Young declined to comment. His mother, Chelisa Grimes, said she couldn’t believe her son had been expelled.

"They really kicked him out," she told the newspaper.

Grimes said that she had given her son -- who transferred to the school last year -- the stun gun for protection, saying school authorities weren’t doing enough to protect him.

“I had to do something to protect my child. I was in fear of losing my child, either at the hands of the bullies or either at the hands of himself," she told msnbc's NewsNation.

Principal Larry Yarrell earlier said the school had tried to look into the bullying reports, but Young was not always able to identify all of those who had harassed him. He said they had interviewed staff and students, and he had also recommended that Young “tone down” his accessories.

Carolyn Laub, Executive Director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, denounced the district's decision.

“Dynasty, like many other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people, was pushed out of school by an administration that failed to keep him safe and by school discipline policies that remove students instead of resolve the problem,” Laub said in an e-mail statement. “When schools use a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to school discipline, they unfortunately reinforce an environment of fear and punishment and fail to create a climate of inclusion, safety, and respect for all students.”

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An openly gay student in Iowa says he hopes a Catholic bishop will reconsider and let a gay rights advocacy group present a $40,000 scholarship to him during his graduation ceremony.

“Everybody at the school has always been very accepting and extremely encouraging toward me,” Keaton Fuller, a senior at Prince of Peace Catholic School in Clinton, Iowa, told msnbc.com. “That’s why the latest turn of events has been such a surprise -- I feel invalidated and unaccepted.”

Bishop Martin Amos in Davenport, Iowa, overruled school officials last week, saying he would not allow the Des Moines-based Eychaner Foundation to present its Matthew Shepard Scholarship to Fuller because the group’s support of gay rights conflicts with church doctrine. Instead, a school staff member will present the scholarship at the assembly.

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Fuller, 18, said he was stunned: The bishop's decision comes after a Prince of Peace school official confirmed the award could be presented by an Eychaner scholarship committee member during the school's graduation ceremony on May 20. The Matthew Shepard Scholarship is given to students who are openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

Attempts by msnbc.com to contact Amos or officials with the Diocese of Davenport were unsuccessful on Tuesday. A school official referred calls to Edward O'Neill, president of Prince of Peace's school board, who could not be reached for comment.

“At some point, we hope they realize and agree for us to present the award because it is the right thing to do,” said Mike Bowser, a spokesman with the Eychaner Foundation.

Iowa businessman and gay rights activist Rich Eychaner founded the activism group and has awarded more than 130 Matthew Shepard scholarships to graduating high school seniors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender since 2000. It is named for the gay Wyoming college student killed in 1998.

"The $40,000 scholarship to the University of Iowa was awarded to Keaton for his scholastic achievement and work reducing homophobia in his school and community as an openly gay student," Bowser said.

Fuller said he is among 70 seniors graduating from Prince of Peace this spring. He plans to attend University of Iowa in the fall. He wants to study film. 

For Fuller, being the lone openly gay student in a small Catholic high school has had its hardships. Yet, he said, he found solace among staff and students during those difficult times when he questioned his sexual orientation. He said teachers have always supported him, making sure he believed in himself.

"The whole thing has put the teachers and staff in an awkward position," Fuller said.

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O'Neill, the school board president, said he was disappointed with the bishop's decision, according to local media reports. "We preach tolerance and acceptance but then we turn around and we don't practice what we preach," The Associated Press quoted O'Neill as saying. "If the bishop says we're not going to do it, I can voice my objection to it, but there's not a whole lot I can do."

Fuller said he has been encouraged by his peers and community and will press on.

"It is difficult to understand how, after I have spent 13 years at this school and worked hard during all of them, I would be made to feel that my accomplishments are less than everybody else’s," Fuller told msnbc.com Monday evening.

"This whole ordeal has been incredibly hurtful, and I am even sadder that this will be one of my last experiences to remember my high school years by."

Fuller released an open letter Monday calling on church officials to reverse its decision. An online petition drive launched on Change.org also had garnered 4,007 supporters as of Tuesday morning.

In his letter, Fuller wrote: "This is a teachable moment for Prince of Peace to stand up against rejecting and invalidating the accomplishments of any student. Please help me by respectfully requesting that this decision be reversed. Share your thoughts about why all students deserve to be treated with respect and dignity at Prince of Peace."

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Fuller's mother, Patricia Fuller, said the last few weeks have been tough, but she was encouraged by her son's spirit and optimism.

“He was saddened initially and felt invalidated,” Patricia Fuller told msnbc.com Monday evening. “But he is an incredibly courageous person. He is pushing this issue because he knows -- and we know -- there are other gay students out there in other schools who are suffering in silence and that matters to him.”

“If he can have the courage to do this, then we can have the courage to support him. We support the respect and dignity of all people and we want to move that idea forward.”

Have story ideas, send Sevil an email at sevil.omer@msnbc.com

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Daniel Chong, a San Diego student who was left in a Drug Enforcement Administration holding cell for nearly five days after he was allegedly forgotten about, has filed a claim for $20 million after what he described as his "life-altering" experience, NBC San Diego reported.

The 23-year-old told NBC San Diego that he was increasingly worried throughout the days he spent in a 5-foot-by-10-foot cell, and told how he drank his own urine to survive.

“They never came back, ignored all my cries and I still don’t know what happened,” he said. “I’m not sure how they could forget me.” 

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As NBC San Diego was first to report Saturday, the DEA confirmed its agents were investigating an incident in which a suspect, arrested Saturday, April 21, was detained at their office for several days and allegedly forgotten about. 

DEA apologizes to student left for days in cell with no food or water

Chong's lawyers filed the claim Wednesday, and also asked the DEA provide evidence related to the incident. The DEA said it was investigating why the student was not released.

Chong said he was at a friend’s house in University City celebrating 4/20, a day many marijuana users set aside to smoke, when agents came inside and raided the residence. Chong was then taken to the DEA office in Kearny Mesa. 

He said agents questioned him, and then told him he could go home. One agent even offered him a ride, Chong said. No criminal charges were filed against him. 

But Chong did not go home that night. Instead, he was placed in a cell for five days without any human contact and was not given food or drink. In his desperation, he said he was forced to drink his own urine.

“I had to do what I had to do to survive ... I hallucinated by the third day,” Chong said. “I was completely insane.” 

Chong said he lost roughly 15 pounds during the time he was alone.

His lawyer, Gene Iredale, confirmed that Chong ingested a powdery substance found inside the cell. Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine. 

After days of being ignored, Chong said he tried to take his own life by breaking the glass from his spectacles with his teeth and then attempting to carve “Sorry mom” on his arm.

He said nurses also found pieces of glass in his throat, which led him to believe he ingested the pieces purposefully. 

Chong said he could hear DEA employees and people in neighboring cells. He screamed to let them know he was there, but no one replied.

He kicked the door, but no one came to get him. By the time DEA officers found Chong in his cell Wednesday morning, he was completely incoherent, said Iredale. 

“I didn’t think I would come out,” Chong said. 

He said when employees discovered him in the cell that they looked confused and nervous. A DEA employee rode with him to the hospital, where they paid for Chong’s visit. 

He spent three days in the intensive care unit at Sharp Hospital and his kidneys were close to failing. 

“He was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Iredale, who compared Chong’s experience to the torture suffered by inmates at in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq.

The incident also caused Chong to miss his midterms at UCSD. He said he does not know if he will return to school because his perspective on life has changed since his isolation. 

San Diego defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms said Chong could get millions from a lawsuit. 

"In all my years of practice, I've never heard of the DEA or any federal government employee simply forgetting about someone that they have in their care," she said. 

"There has to be repercussions if people do not follow the safety and the care when they have a human being in their custody," she added. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued an apology to Chong. 

DEA San Diego Acting Special Agent-In-Charge William R. Sherman said in a statement Wednesday that he was troubled by the treatment of Chong and extended his "deepest apologies" to him. He has ordered an extensive review of his office's policies and procedures. 

 

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A San Diego college student detained for several days in a county detention facility cell is seeking an attorney and may be considering filing a civil lawsuit, sources tell NBCSanDiego.

The 24-year old UCSD engineering student was left in the cell for five days without food or water, seemingly forgotten by the federal authorities who detained him.

He was one of seven people detained after a Drug Enforcement Administration ecstasy raid in University City on April 21, according to a DEA statement.

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See video, read the original report at NBCSanDiego.com

"The individual was at the house by his own admission," the DEA confirmed Monday.

During the raid, authorities said, they confiscated ecstasy, marijuana, prescription medication, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and a white powdery substance that was described as a synthetic hallucinogen. They said they also seized numerous weapons, including a Russian rifle, handguns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

"Seven suspects were brought back to county detention." One was released, but "accidentally left in one of the cells," a statement from the DEA read.

The defendants were brought back to the DEA office after the raid and processed. The suspects were moved around the five cells at the detention facility during the proceeding. None were strip or body cavity searched, the DEA stated. 

A law enforcement source told NBC 7 that the student was handcuffed and held in a room no larger than the average bathroom.

Sources say a worker at the DEA discovered the man by chance about five days later after hearing strange noises coming from the holding cells.

When authorities with the DEA discovered that the student was still in the cell, they immediately called emergency medical services. UTSanDiego.com reported that San Diego fire officials said paramedics were called April 25.

In the cell, the detainee told authorities he found a white powdery substance, which he took, the DEA statement said.

Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine.

Sources close to the student say he nearly died of kidney failure in Sharp hospital due to the dehydration he experienced. He was treated for several days and released.

He is not currently under arrest, authorities with the DEA said.

San Diego defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms says the victim could get millions if he files a lawsuit.

"In all my years of practice I've never heard of the DEA or any federal government employee simply forgetting about someone that they have in their care," she said.

"There has to be repercussions if people do not follow the safety and the care when they have a human being in their custody."

Former federal prosecutor John Kirby said he’s familiar with the holding cells at the DEA office. He told NBC 7 San Diego that the rooms have no bathrooms and the suspect likely went without food or water.

Given his familiarity with the DEA, Kirby said this incident is “inconceivable” because every detainee is processed, and it would be hard to get lost in the shuffle.

“You talk about whether they might have done it intentionally. No way, because somebody's career is done over this,” added Kirby.

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A Colorado sixth-grader was handcuffed and taken to a juvenile holding facility for disobeying an assistant principal and being "argumentative and extremely rude," according to an incident report.

"She told me that I need to quit giving her my attitude," Yajira Quezada was quoted by NBC affiliate KUSA TV as saying of the administrator at Shaw Heights Middle School in Westminster, a suburb of Denver.

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In the incident report, the unidentified administrator said she was on hall patrol on Feb. 22 when she came across Quezada and started questioning her. She said she was in mid-sentence when the 11-year-old "turned and walked away saying, 'I don't have time for this.'"

Read the original story on NBC affiliate KUSA TV

"Why would they handcuff me? I'm not the type of girl to get arrested," added Quezada, whose mother later moved her and her sister out of the school.

"They're treating them like criminals. And they're not, they're kids," Quezada's mother, Mireya Gaytan, told KUSA.

The local sheriff's office said handcuffing a child during transport is standard procedure.

A school district spokesman agreed. "Once they step in and take over a case, it is really in their hands," Steve Saunders said of the handcuffing by the school's resource officer.

Quezada said she'd have a different response if she has another encounter with school staff. "Not to give them attitude," she said.

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The Georgetown University law student labeled a "slut" by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh says his apology changes nothing and that Americans have to decide whether to support companies that continue to advertise on his program.

"I don't think that a statement like this issued, saying that his choice of words was not the best, changes anything, and especially when that statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors who have begun to pull their support," Sandra Fluke told ABC’s "The View” on Monday.

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The 30-year-old Fluke said she hasn't heard from Limbaugh since he issued a written apology late Saturday. But she says his comments about her testimony before members of Congress have been so personal, she'd rather not have him call. Fluke recently testified to Democratic members of Congress in support of a requirement that health care companies, even those connected to religious organizations, provide coverage for contraception.

The controversy over Limbaugh's comments has led nine companies, including AOL on Monday, to pull advertising from his three-hour radio show.

The original furor was sparked by Limbaugh's comments on Wednesday, when he branded Fluke a "slut" for her support of the administration's new policy on contraception. The radio show host repeated the charges on Thursday, saying: "Well, what would you call someone who wants us to pay for her to have sex? What would you call that woman? You'd call 'em a slut, a prostitute or whatever."

On Friday, Limbaugh mocked the fact that Fluke received a phone call from President Barack Obama, saying she should "disconnect the phone. I'd go into hiding and hope the media didn't find me."

In his statement on his website on Saturday, Limbaugh said: 

"For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week.  In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? ...

My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Several days after criticizing a Georgetown student who advocated for the availability of birth control and calling her a "slut," conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh issued an apology to Sandra Fluke on his website, saying "in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize."

Limbaugh sparked outcry that crossed political lines on Friday when he mocked the fact that Fluke, who advocated for the availability of contraception at a recent hearing before congressional Democrats, received a phone call from President Barack Obama arguing, she should "disconnect the phone. I'd go into hiding and hope the media didn't find me."

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Limbaugh also denied he was opposed to birth control, according to a transcript of his show. “This is about expanding the reach and power of government into your womb, if you're a woman. This is about the Democrat Party wanting more and more control over you.  What was early feminism all about? Emancipation, individuality, freedom, liberation, all of these things. Now here comes Danica Patrick out and she says, 'I'm perfectly comfortable letting the government make my health decisions for me.' Well, folks, I'm gonna tell you: Right there, that's the death and the end of feminism.”

The furor was sparked by Limbaugh's comments on Wednesday, when he branded Fluke a "slut" for her support of the administration's new policy on contraception. The radio show host repeated the charges on Thursday, saying: "Well, what would you call someone who wants us to pay for her to have sex? What would you call that woman? You'd call 'em a slut, a prostitute or whatever."

In his statement on his website on Saturday, Limbaugh said, "For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week.  In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke."

Despite furor, Limbaugh refuses to back down

He went on to add, however, "I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line?"

He continued, "In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level."

But the brief statement concluded apologetically: "My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.

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