Across Georgia

Robbery at officer's home ends in death

DECATUR - DeKalb County police have charged an 18-year-old with a robbery at the home of an off-duty officer who shot and killed another suspect.

Sidney Clark, of Atlanta, was charged late Thursday with armed robbery, police spokesman Herschel Grangent said.

Authorities say four men forced open the front door of the officer's apartment in the Lake Louise complex in the Northlake area just before 2 a.m. Thursday.

The officer and his 8-year-old son were asleep, and the officer awoke to see an intruder pointing a gun at him. Mr. Grangent said the officer fired a gun at the man, identified as 18-year-old Deon Antonio Studiemyer, killing him.

Psychics think zoo's panda is pregnant

ATLANTA - Lun Lun the giant panda might be pregnant.

That, at least, is the consensus of two psychics, enlisted Friday by Zoo Atlanta to predict the 8-year-old female panda's pediatric prospects.

It was all done "in the spirit of good fun," according to a news release from zoo officials.

Atlanta-born psychic Helene Frisch said she telepathically connected with Lun Lun using "tone vibration," the release said. She said she discerned that not only is Lun Lun pregnant, but she will likely bear a male cub by Sept. 4.

Andy Liu, a native of China, used the ancient I Ching to calculate a 65 percent chance that Lun Lun is pregnant.

Zoo spokeswoman Jennifer Waller said officials have another reason to suspect that Lun Lun is expecting: The panda was artificially inseminated last March. But panda pregnancies are notoriously difficult to diagnose.

Police officer struck by ambulance dies

ATLANTA - An Atlanta police officer has died of injuries he received when the cruiser he was driving hit a Grady Hospital ambulance as they were responding to a call.

Officer Peter Faatz, 29, died Thursday evening, police said Friday.

He was admitted to Grady Hospital on July 21 with severe head injuries after the ambulance smashed into the passenger side of his squad car. He was the only person in the car at the time. Neither of the people in the ambulance was critically injured.

Officer Faatz was responding to a double shooting near Turner Field.

Judge quickly ends bid to recall commissioner

DANIELSVILLE - A judge dismissed a recall petition against a Madison County commissioner Thursday, saying there wasn't enough evidence the commissioner had done anything illegal or unethical.

Senior Superior Court Judge T. Penn McWhorter made his ruling two hours into a hearing on the recall petition against Commissioner Stanley Thomas.

"It shows how weak and malicious these charges were," said Mr. Thomas' lawyer, Michael Daniel.

The ruling derailed an effort led by Jerry Williams, a voter in Mr. Thomas' district, to oust Mr. Thomas from his District 1 seat on the Madison County Board of Commissioners.

- Edited from wire reports