Stranger Than Fiction Stranger Than Fiction Stranger Than Fiction is a collection of news stories found online and in other venues from around the world. Gathered for their unique stories or just odd occurances, these are guaranteed to make you laugh, shake your head in disbelief, or toss your
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Shootout With 92 Year Old Woman
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Shootout with 92 year old womanWXIA-TV, Atlanta, GADavid Cowen, Programming Director Last Updated: 11/22/2006 8:54:52 AMThree Atlanta narcotics officers were wounded in a Tuesday evening shootout with a 92-year-old woman in northwest Atlanta. She was shot and killed.This was supposed to be the routine serving of a search warrant, but things went very wrong, very fast. Once the gunfire ended, three APD narcotics officers had been shot: one with a graze-wound to the face, and another hit dead-on, center of mass in the bulletproof vest. They were all transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.A 92-year-old woman -- Catherine Johnson -- lived in the home where the officers tried to execute the warrant. She was killed in the gun battle."The female victim shot and wounded all three of them (the officers)," said deputy police chief Allen Dreher. "The investigation is going to be ongoing -- I'd say it would be all wrapped up in a period of time, but as we h... More About: With , Woman , Oman , Year , Shooto
Oh No! Grandma's a Terrorist!
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Grandmother mails fruitcakes, sues USPS for rude treatment(10/13/06 - WILMINGTON, DE) - Lucille Greene, an 88-year-old grandmother, takes baking and mailing about 30 family recipe fruitcakes as Christmas gifts seriously. Seriously enough that she sued the U.S. Postal Service for emotional distress after alleged rough treatment and accusations of being a terrorist from a postal clerk, according to her federal lawsuit.In December 2002, Greene showed up at the Magnolia, Del., post office to mail fruitcakes to relatives and friends when, her lawsuit states, a postal worker asked her, "What kind of explosives do you have in here?" before shaking the box. In the lawsuit, she said others in the post office laughed at her, leaving her upset and in tears. She said she tripped over a concrete parking barrier outside and fell, breaking her glasses and chipping a tooth.The judge dismissed her allegations two weeks ago, and her appeal for $250,000 compensation, because Greene had a prior eye con... More About: Terror , Terrorist , Grand , Error , Grandma
Andy Griffith Runs for Sheriff
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Andy Griffith decides to run for sheriff(10/20/06 - PLATTEVILLE, WI) - A local music store co-owner is putting a touch of Mayberry in the race for sheriff in western Wisconsin's Grant County. The former William Fenrick changed his name earlier this year to Andy Griffith the name of the actor who portrayed the fictional Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry on TV's "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s.He said his goal was to focus attention to a sheriff's race that otherwise gets little. "Nobody knows who's running or what the issues are, if there are any issues or how the people differ," Griffith said.He's running as an independent in the Nov. 7 election against incumbent Sheriff Keith Govier, a Republican who's held the job for 10 years, and Democrat Doug Vesperman, who's worked in the sheriff's department 16 years.Griffith, 42, said when contacted Tuesday night that he's worked in the past in private security and knows how to set priorities and make the best use of a limited b... More About: Andy , Runs , Riff
Anyone Who Knows Anything About Guns Will Find This Amusing
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Bullet found in doorway By David Will iamsLIVE ammunition has been found lying in the doorway of a busy high street shop.The .22 calibre short round bullet was found at the entrance of the 99p Stores in Walthamstow High Street on Wednesday morning, November 1.Haroon Khan, who has a firearms licence and is a member of a local gun club, was alarmed to discover live ammunition in a Walthamstow doorway.The bullet, of Swiss origin, was still in its brass casing, complete with enough gunpowder for it to fire itself.Mr Khan said that if it had been struck hard enough or exposed to heat it could have gone off."This sort of thing should not be lying around. It was live, primed and active," he said. "But rather me pick it up than a little kid."How can you feel safe when you are finding things like this on the street?"To get hold of one of these is not easy. You have to go through a scrutinised search, you need a licence and you have to belong to a club."Ammunition of this kind would ordinarily... More About: Guns , Find , About
More Weird News Blips
2006-12-02 15:46:05 More weird news:Sometime next year, if all goes well, Brett Holm of Chaska, Minn., will begin selling his Season Shot, an improvement over current shotgun shells because its pellets dissolve on contact in the game meat and, more important, automatically flavor it for cooking. Holm told the Chanhassen (Minn.) Villager newspaper in August that he will initially offer lemon pepper, mesquite, Mexican, and Creole flavors, but, he said, chemists are at work right now to expand the selection. [Chanhassen Villager, 8-3-06]--------------------In a September raid, sheriff's deputies in Vista, Calif., seized jars of urine from the home of a suspected methamphetamine user. Deputies said the user appeared to be saving his own urine in order to extract, and reuse, the meth he had already used. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent said he was unsure whether the practice was widespread. [North County Times (Escondido, Calif.), 9-15-06] --------------------In a remote region of China, relatives ... More About: News , Weird , Lips , More
Ex-inmate spotted trick-or-treating in prison suit
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Ex-inmate spotted trick-or-treating in prison suitNov 2, 7:30 AM (ET)WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Nov 1 (Reuters Life!) - Jail officials feared an escapee was on the loose on Halloween night when a former inmate was spotted trick-or-treating in his orange prison jumpsuit, authorities said.A corrections officer spotted the former inmate, Oscar Aponte, 32, going house to house with his son in his hometown of Peekskill, north of New York City.The officer alerted the Westchester County Jail and the prison was locked down while all inmates were accounted for, said Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to the county executive.Authorities believed the former inmate smuggled the orange jumpsuit out of the jail when he was released in September after a four-month stay for a probation violation."It was a really poor choice of costume," Tolchin said. "We're investigating how he got it out because when they are discharged they leave with their belongings in a clear plastic bag."Aponte has been charged with petty... More About: Rick , Spot , Trick , Prison , Mate
Police arrest naked man after he allegedly said he had a too
2006-12-02 15:46:05 ?You can?t get much more concealed than that?Police arrest naked man after he allegedly said he had a tool in his rectumEL CERRITO, Calif. - A man was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon after police found him outdoors ? naked ? and he told them he had a tool in his rectum, authorities said.The man was lying on a tree stump, masturbating beside a nature path, near a Bay Area Rapid Transit station Thursday, police said.John Sheehan, 33, of Pittsburg, was initially arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure. But when asked whether he was carrying anything police should know about, Sheehan mentioned the tool, said El Cerrito Detective Cpl. Don Horgan.?You can?t get much more concealed than that,? Horgan said.Officers drew their weapons and firefighters were called to the scene. Sheehan removed a 6-inch metal awl wrapped in black electrical tape without incident.Sheehan, who was paroled from state prison last week, was then booked into jail on suspicion of parole violat... More About: Arrest , Rest , After , Said
Resume Theft
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Working Wounded: Resume Theft Some People Pirate Resumes, So It's Wise to Check All the InformationI recently found myself in a strange situation. I'm an independent consultant in IT Security. Therefore, my resume is very accessible at the top of the searches in Yahoo and Google. As part of my job, I often get requests from clients to review resumes of prospective employees and consultants in my field. Amazingly, twice in the last month, I have been given my own resume to review with someone else's name at the top. In both cases the job duties and descriptions, even the project names, match exactly starting about 4 years ago when my niche work began. Also, the plagiarized section is typed in a different font than the rest of the resume, which leads me to the conclusion that they simply cut and pasted their resumes from mine and, most likely, from other unknown sources. When I received the first resume from a client in Maryland, I immediately contacted my client, explained the sit...
I Can See the Future Headlines Now...
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Cheney To Spend Election Day Hunting With DaughterMonday, November 6, 2006 It's on again: Vice President Dick Cheney plans to go hunting on Election Day for the first time since he shot a friend last February -- and this time he's taking his daughter, Mary Cheney. The Associated Press reports "the vice president, after working at the White House on Monday morning, will head to South Dakota to spend several days at a private hunting lodge near Pierre. Lea Anne McBride, his press secretary, said it was an annual hunting outing and said Cheney spent Election Day in 2002 at the same lodge." "He will be accompanied by his daughter, Mary, and his political director, Mel Raines, who will help him keep track of the election returns," according to AP. AP didn't identify what Cheney would be hunting. On a February hunting trip in Texas last year, Cheney shot companion Harry Whittington in the torso, neck and face with a 28-gauge shotgun while tracking quail. He later said it was "one of th... More About: Future , The Future , Head , Line , Headlines
Andy Griffith Sues Andy Griffith
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Well, imagine that! A follow up to a story I posted some time ago!Andy Griffith Sues Andy GriffithNov 10, 6:21 PM (ET)By COLIN FLYMILWAUKEE (AP) - Forget the small-town belief in letting bygones be bygones. Andy Griffith, the actor who portrayed the sheriff of the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C., has sued a Wisconsin resident who unsuccessfully bid for the Grant County post after legally changing his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith in May.The lawsuit, filed Nov. 3 in U.S. District Court in Madison, alleges that William Harold Fenrick, 42, violated trademark and copyright laws as well as the privacy of actor Andy Samuel Griffith when he used his new name - Andy Griffith - to promote his candidacy for sheriff in southwestern Wisconsin.The lawsuit says the former Fenrick changed his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's notoriety in an attempt to gain votes" and asks the court to order Fenrick to go back to his original name.Griffith's suit also asks Fenrick t... More About: Riff
You Know You're Unpopular When...
2006-12-02 15:46:05 Dead woman wins county commissioner's raceS.D. candidate gets 100 votes; official says voters knew she was deceased.Updated: 11:41 a.m. ET Nov 8, 2006PIERRE, S.D. - A woman who died two months ago won a county commissioner's race in Jerauld County on Tuesday. Democrat Marie Steichen, of Woonsocket, got 100 votes, defeating incumbent Republican Merlin Feistner, of Woonsocket, who had 64 votes. Jerauld County Auditor Cindy Peterson said she believes the county board will have to meet to appoint a replacement for Steichen. Peterson said she'll check with the state's attorney to be sure that's the process. Peterson said voters knew Steichen had died. "They just had a chance to make a change, and we respect their opinion." More About: Pop , Popular , When , Know , Pula
Woman Survives Six Shots to the Head
More articles from this author:2006-12-02 15:46:05 SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - A woman was released from the hospital a day after she was shot in the head six times in an attack police blamed on her ex-husband, Brazilian media reported Saturday.Patricia Goncalves Pereira, a 21-year-old housewife, was shot Friday after an altercation with her ex-husband, who was upset because she refused to get back together with him, Globo TV reported."I know this was a miracle," Pereira told the TV network. "Now I just want to extract the bullets and live my life."Doctors could not explain how Pereira survived the attack. The .32-caliber bullets didn't break through her skull and didn't even need to be immediately extracted, doctors said. Pereira also was shot once in the hand.Police said the ex-husband was still at large, Globo TV reported. More About: Shots , Woman , Shot , Oman , Survive 1, 2 |
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