Across the Southeast

Two are arrested after trooper is shot

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - A state Highway Patrol trooper was shot several times Monday morning when he stopped a vehicle on Interstate 95 in Cumberland County, authorities said. Two suspects were arrested.

Trooper J.C. Horniak, 30, was in critical condition, Lt. Everett Clendenin said.

He was shot three or four times in the leg, abdomen and shoulder during the stop at about 10:15 a.m. He didn't fire his weapon. Trooper Horniak was wearing a bulletproof vest, Lt. Clendenin said.

Cumberland County sheriff's deputies said they arrested Marvin Bell Johnson, 40, of Richmond, Va., and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and assault on a government official.

A woman with Mr. Johnson, Nichelle Steel, 21, of Gardin, S.C., was charged with being an accessory to attempted murder.

Asphalt barge leaks contents into river

RICHMOND, VA. - A barge filled with more than 1 million gallons of hot liquid asphalt ran aground Monday morning, leaking about 8,400 gallons of its load into the James River, officials said.

The leak closed off a mile-long section of the river. The Coast Guard said cleanup of the spilled asphalt and salvage of the barge is expected to take several days.

Group will protest milestone execution

RICHMOND, VA. - Death penalty opponents are planning one of Virginia's largest protest vigils Wednesday night for what could be the 1,000th execution in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

Unless Gov. Mark R. Warner intervenes, 42-year-old Robin Lovitt will have that infamous distinction for fatally stabbing Clayton Dicks with a pair of scissors in 1999 during the robbery of an Arlington pool hall.

Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, the director of Amnesty International USA's program to abolish the death penalty, said about 200 Amnesty members are planning to attend the protest at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, about 60 miles south of Richmond.