State
Man found dead after Pittsburgh firePITTSBURGH — Authorities say a man was found dead following a fire in a Pittsburgh duplex.The city’s public safety department said the blaze was reported just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.The flames were under control before 8 p.m. Saturday, but the man’s body was found on the first floor.The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office identified the victim as 68-year-old Joseph Mats.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Police investigate hotel shooting deathPITTSBURGH — Police are investigating a shooting death that reportedly occurred as a party was taking place at a Pittsburgh-area hotel.County police said the shooting was reported shortly before 11 p.m. Friday at the Holiday Inn Express in Green Tree. A man found with multiple gunshot wounds was taken to a hospital, where he died.The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said 18-year-old Martell Benton-Bridgett of McKees Rocks died of gunshot wounds to the upper trunk.Investigators said the shooting occurred in a room on the seventh floor where a party had apparently been going on. Several guests were detained and questioned, but the motive for the shooting wasn’t immediately clear.Police are asking anyone who may have heard or seen anything to call homicide investigators.
Man in custody after threat to studentsSTATE COLLEGE — Penn State officials say university police have in custody a man who threatened to harm his children who are students, causing a lockdown of a campus residence hall.They say police on campus got a call Sunday evening that a father in the Harrisburg area in a family dispute threatened to harm the students. They live in Hamilton Hall, a 550-student residence hall on the University Park campus. The school ordered a lockdown of the hall for four hours as they investigated.The lockdown was over shortly after 9 p.m.The university said the suspect has been taken into custody. He was not identified.The school said police will continue to patrol campus into the night.
Trial for former wrestler postponedALLENTOWN — Trial has been postponed for former professional wrestling star Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka in the death of his mistress more than three decades ago, with a defense attorney saying his client isn’t competent for the proceedings.Defense attorney Robert Kirwan II asked a judge Friday for a competency hearing for the 72-year-old defendant, who was slated to go on trial in Lehigh County in March. Kirwan told the judge the former WWE wrestler no longer understands the charges or even knows he was arrested.Snuka is charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Nancy Argentino of New York, who was found dead in May 1983 after authorities were called to their hotel room near Allentown. His lawyer has called Argentino’s death an “unfortunate accident.”
