[naviga:h3]Brewery shooter accused of gun crime in 1990s[/naviga:h3]

MILWAUKEE — The man police say killed five co-workers at one of the nation’s largest breweries before killing himself was accused of pointing a gun at an SUV and punching a woman in the face in the early 1990s, court documents show.

Anthony Ferrill, a 51-year-old electrician at Moslon Coors’ sprawling brewery complex on Milwaukee’s west side, walked into one of the brewery’s buildings Wednesday and gunned down five co-workers before shooting himself, police said.

Authorities have identified the victims as 60-year-old Dale Hudson; 61-year-old Gennady Levshetz; 57-year-old Dana Walk; 33-year-old Jesus Valle Jr.; and 33-year-old Trevor Wetselaar.

Ferrill’s motive remained unknown Friday.

Court documents indicate Ferrill was charged with disorderly conduct in 1991. He was accused of pointing a gun at a Ford Bronco that pulled up alongside him at a stoplight in downtown Milwaukee, causing the Bronco’s driver and passengers to duck down in fear and race away through a red light. Ferrill was 22 at the time.

The charges were eventually dismissed. The documents didn’t explain why. Ferrill’s attorney in the case, Thomas Halloran, said he didn’t remember much about the case but he thinks prosecutors found Ferrill’s accusers weren’t credible and that they may have been trying to get him in trouble as payback for a previous dispute.

“It was a pretty brief thing,” Halloran said. “There was a dispute or disagreement and someone came in and complained to the police about his conduct and when it was investigated it was hard to tell who was telling the truth. It was one of those cases where you could give everyone a lie detector test and they’d pass. It was based on perceptions.”

Four years later, in 1995, he was charged with misdemeanor battery after a woman accused him of punching her in the mouth. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered not to have any contact with the woman. The charge was eventually dismissed. Court documents didn’t say why and Ferrill’s attorney in the case, listed as Peter Heflin, didn’t immediately return a message Friday.

[naviga:h3]More patients returning for another obesity surgery[/naviga:h3]

NEW YORK — As more Americans turn to surgery to lose weight, more of them are also returning for a second operation because the first isn’t working.

Last year, an estimated 15% of the 252,000 obesity surgeries in the U.S. came after a previous surgery. That compares to 6% of the 158,000 surgeries in 2011, according to a surgeons’ group.

Weight loss surgery has proven to be an effective way to treat obesity and related conditions like diabetes. Methods vary, but the operations generally shrink the stomach to limit how much people can eat without feeling sick.

Many people achieve significant weight loss but results aren’t assured: It’s still possible to overeat, restrictive devices can slip and stomachs can stretch back out and patients can regain weight over time.

In the U.S., guidelines generally reserve weight loss surgery for the severely obese — people with a body mass index of 40 or higher — or those with a BMI of 35 and over who have a related health problem like diabetes or high blood pressure.

And the obesity problem in the U.S. isn’t getting better. About 4 in 10 American adults are obese and nearly 1 in 10 are severely obese, according to the latest survey by government researchers.