West Virginia

Pit bull kills 2-year-old

A pit bull that bit a neighbor last week fatally mauled a young girl before being subdued by firefighters using a fire extinguisher, officials said.

Two-year-old Arianna Fleeman was pronounced dead at a hospital following the attack Tuesday at the home of dog owner Donald Brewer, police said.

On Wednesday, Brewer signed paperwork to have the dog euthanized, The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reported.

The attack occurred inside the house, Mayor David Felinton said. Huntington firefighter Jason Price said the dog was wild-eyed and the hair on the back of its neck was raised, and that it rammed the door like a bull.

“Hollywood couldn’t have made this dog look more evil,” he said.

Idaho

Search continues for 2 missing children

A man sought for questioning in the bloody slayings of three people contacted authorities Wednesday as the search continued for two children missing from the home where the killings took place.

Detectives were interviewing Robert Roy Lutner Wednesday evening, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. Wolfinger did not say where Lutner was found, but news reports said the interview was in Coeur d’Alene, in northern Idaho.

Wolfinger also would not discuss whether the missing children, Shasta and Dylan Groene, were with Lutner, but an Amber Alert remained in effect hours after the man was located.

Authorities have said Lutner was known to have been at the children’s home Sunday night, the night before the bodies of their brother, mother and a man were found.

Florida

Muslim group offers free copies of Quran

An American Muslim organization, reacting to controversy generated by the alleged desecration of the Quran, has offered to give a free copy of the holy book to any American.

The giveaway, which, depending on demand, could go as high as 100,000 copies, comes after a recent Newsweek article alleging that the text was flushed down a toilet, said leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The magazine retracted the story Monday.

“We want to turn a negative image into a positive one,” said Altaf Ali, the council’s Florida director, at a press conference on Wednesday at the Nur-ul-Islam mosque in Cooper City. “America’s image is taking a beating, and it’s affecting us all, of different faiths.”

Those who call the council’s national toll-free line, 1-800-78-ISLAM, can get a free copy of the holy book, Ali said. Local Muslim communities around the country will be asked to underwrite the campaign.