The Transportation Security Administration has apologized after the family of a wheelchair-bound 3-year-old girl with spina bifida was pulled aside and told she would receive a pat-down.

The family was heading to Disney World when the incident took place on February 9. It was "really strange and stressful," said Nathan Forck, the girl's father.

His daughter, Lucy, was taking her first big airline trip. "She didn't know what to expect," he said. "She was pretty upset."

In a video taken by her mother and posted on YouTube with the title "Shh! TSA Wants to Touch Your Kids," Lucy appears visibly distraught. Sitting in her hot pink wheelchair, Lucy weeps, crying for her stuffed lamb doll. A TSA agent can be overheard telling Lucy's mother, Annie Shulte, to stop her "illegal" recording. There is discussion by the agents over whether to give Lucy a pat-down.

The video has been viewed more than 136,000 times.

"TSA regrets inaccurate guidance was provided to this family during screening and offers its apology," the agency wrote in an email. "We are committed to maintaining the security of the traveling public and strive to treat all passengers with dignity and respect. While no pat-down was performed, we will address specific concerns with our work force.”

Furthermore, TSA policy does not prohibit passengers from taking photos or videos at screening locations as long as they're not interfering with or slowing down the process.

The trouble apparently began with mom's earrings.

According to Nathan, Annie was pushing Lucy through security when alarms were tripped by her metallic earrings. In the case of a passenger in a wheelchair, "a pat-down procedure is used to resolve any alarms of a metal detector," TSA says on its website.

It may have appeared to the agents that it was Lucy who set it off, not Annie.

After 30 minutes of tense isolation as agents and supervisors discussed options, Annie proposed carrying Lucy through security while agents swabbed the wheelchair separately.

A shooting and a fiery crash left three people dead in the neon heart of the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, and police scrambled to find out who triggered the carnage.

The bloodshed closed the Strip for about a block and a half around some of its biggest draws, leaving tourists gaping at a wrecked Maserati, a burned-out taxi and four other vehicles.

"First time in Vegas, and then, like, the whole thing, what you know from movies only -- I was shocked," Christine Gerstenberger, who was visiting the desert gambling mecca from Germany, said Thursday afternoon. She and her brothers debated going back to the hotel "because I'm totally scared," but "We're too curious," she said.

See iReporter's video of fire

One of those killed was Kenneth Cherry Jr. -- an aspiring rapper also known as Kenny Clutch -- his attorney Vicki Greco said. According to his Facebook page, Cherry is from Oakland, California, and lived in Las Vegas.


"Out of everyone I know in the rapping industry there is no way I would have ever, ever expected to find that he was shot on the Las Vegas strip in such an aggressive manner," said Greco, who said Cherry had two kids. "He didn't have a (criminal) record or a history. He was just a good kid trying to make it and be a good father."


Four of the Nevada city's biggest casinos -- Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, Bally's and the Flamingo -- are nearby, and police collected surveillance-camera video from them to help the probe.

Also killed in the incident was a cab driver named Michael Boldon, CNN affiliate KVVU reported.

His family is devastated by the death of the 62-year-old cab driver, his brother Tehran Boldon told the affiliate.

"It is gut-wrenching," a tearful Tehran Boldon told KVVU. "My life mission will be to see them punished and brought to justice for the senseless thing they did."

It started around 4:20 a.m. with a dispute in the valet lot of the Aria Hotel, about a block away, Sheriff Douglas Gillespie said. Investigators haven't confirmed the cause of the altercation, but he said it spilled onto the street as someone in a black Range Rover Sport fired several shots at the Maserati as it headed north on Las Vegas Boulevard.

When the driver was hit, the Maserati continued into the intersection of the boulevard and Flamingo Road and collided with a taxi, which caught fire. The sports car's driver, the cab driver and a passenger in the taxi all died; a passenger in the Maserati and three other people in the resulting pileup were hurt, Gillespie said.

The Maserati's passenger and other witnesses are helping detectives piece together what happened, he said. And the "top priority" for police is to find the Range Rover, which sped away from the intersection, and those inside it when the shooting happened.

"This act is totally unacceptable, and we are going to make a very clear message to these individuals in regards to that," Gillespie said.

Police in neighboring states have been asked to look for the sport-utility vehicle, and Gillespie warned the occupants should be considered armed and dangerous.

"Clearly, the suspects have no regard for the lives and safety of others," he said.

The Range Rover had an out-of-state dealer plate, tinted windows and large, black rims, Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said.

The block around the crash remained closed off into Thursday afternoon. John Lamb, who was inside Caesars Palace, told CNN affiliate KLAS he heard the commotion and saw the taxi on fire from a window.

The FBI has arrested an Connecticut woman accused of threatening to carry out a mass shooting at a community college.

Amanda Bowden, 19, of East Haven, Conn., was taken into custody Tuesday.

Bowden is accused of threatening to commit a Newtown-style mass shooting at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Conn.

"As alleged, this defendent made a series of threats that described in great detail her intention to carry out a suicidal mass murder at a community college in New Haven," said U.S. Attorney David Fein.

According to federal authorities, Bowden made several threats by text message with a witness cooperating with investigators between Feb. 4 and Feb 16. She also had text message and verbal conversations with an undercover officer, discussing her plans to commit a mass shooting and bombing at Gateway, authorities said.

Bowden claimed to have guns and claimed that she had constructed at least two napalm-based bombs at her home in East Haven, according to Fein.

The FBI and New Haven police chief Dean Esserman notified Gateway Community College President Dorsey Kendrick about the threats on Feb. 5, according to a school spokesperson.

"Chief Esserman and GCC security had been contacted by the FBI, and were told that there was no imminent danger as a result of the post, but an investigation was underway," said Evelyn Gard. "The chief requested that Dr. Kendrick and GCC security keep the matter confidential until the investigation wa
s complete."

There is no good way to find out that your significant other is cheating on you, but one woman in Russia discovered her boyfriend's infidelity in a pretty surprising manner. Marina Voinova was looking up an address on Russia's version of Google Maps, Yandex Maps. She wanted to get a closer glimpse of a building using the street view feature. So she zoomed in, and there was her boyfriend Sasha with his arms around another woman.

Well, perhaps it was just an old picture that was taken before he and Marina were a couple. Only problem with that was that Marina and Sasha had been together for five years, and the Yandex Maps feature has only been around for three years. And, the plot thickens: Sasha is seen in the photograph with his arm in a cast, which he had to wear last summer.

When Sasha returned home, Marina asked him to type the address she had looked up into Yandex Maps. Once Sasha saw the incriminating image of himself, Marina said, his entire face changed color and he confessed everything.

Marina promptly broke up with her boyfriend after her discovery and said it would be "silly to blame the Web for my boyfriend's unfaithfulness." Now, instead of searching online maps, Marina is single and searching online dating sites.

 Oscar Pistorius' murder case took a sensational twist Thursday when it was revealed that the chief investigator who analyzed the scene of Reeva Steenkamp's fatal shooting faces seven counts of attempted murder charges himself.

Hilton Botha sits inside the court witness box during the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing. (AP)Hilton Botha, whose stumbling and at times incoherent evidence on day two of Pistorius' bail hearing gave the Blade Runner's case a serious boost, was allegedly one of three drunk police officers who opened fire on a mini-bus taxi full of passengers in 2011, according to South Africa's Eyewitness News.

According to Botha, the shooting took place as part of the investigation into the murder of Denise Stratford, a Girl Scout leader whose body was discovered stuffed into a drain in 2011. Botha and colleagues were tracking the suspect and as part of their inquiries fired at the mini-bus when it failed to pull over when requested.

Botha was arrested at the time due to the charges, which were subsequently dropped, before it emerged Thursday that they had been reinstated.

"There was a decision taken by the director of public prosecution's office to charge the members, each one of them, with seven counts of attempted murder," said police spokesman Neville Malila. "That was the number of people that were in the taxi."

Botha denied he was drunk during the alleged incident and told South African legal journalist Karyn Maughan on Thursday morning that the reinstatement of the charge is "beyond my comprehension."

"I can only think it is linked to my work on the Oscar Pistorius case," he said.

In a statement, however, the South African National Prosecuting Authority revealed the murder charge against Botha was reinstated before the Pistorius incident, reportedly as early as Feb. 4. Botha insisted to the media that he only learned of the reinstatement after the Valentine's Day killing of Steenkamp. According to Malila, Botha is scheduled to appear in court in May to face the charges.

Thursday, the NPA called for Botha to be taken off the Pistorius case.

"If we have an investigating officer that is facing such serious charges, it cannot happen that he continues with this case," a spokesperson said.

Botha had become one of the major characters in the Pistorius case as it has unfolded with a bail hearing that stretched into a third day and resembled a mini-trial with detailed evidence being given from both sides.

The reason for the elongated hearing is a product of both the vagaries of the South African legal system and the desire of both the prosecution and defense to gain a positive result on bail.

During his testimony Wednesday, Botha unraveled under cross-examination from defense attorney Barry Roux, admitting that he couldn't find anything to contradict Pistorius' claim that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. Botha also opened himself to allegations he had contaminated the crime scene by revealing he had not worn protective shoes and was forced to admit one of his witnesses, a neighbor, was more than a quarter mile away from the scene.

Barack Obama is widely known as the United States' first black president. But is he really the country's first African-American commander-in-chief?

Of course author Toni Morrison famously declared that former president Bill Clinton was really the nation's first black head of state, however, rumor has it there are six other former presidents who had African-American ancestry.

Several scholars have discussed the genealogy of these presidents in the past, and the debate was reignited after Obama was elected in 2008.

Check out the slideshow below for a list of former heads of state who allegedly were descendants of African-Americans.

She arrived onto the red carpet in a controversial orange couture gown with a bizarre bustle detail but Rita Ora decided to slip into something a little more comfortable for the Brit Awards after-party.

The 22-year-old singer flashed some leg in a black sequined dress that had a split that soared up to her hip.

Rita's dress boasted a halter neckline with gold choker detail and a plunging back leaving more of her flesh on show.

The R.I.P singer, who lost out on to Ben Howard for the Breakthrough Artist gong, had swapped a scruffy bun for tight curls as she arrived at the Sony bash held at the Arts club.

Rita proved gracious in her defeat and tweeted: 'Don't worry you win some you loose some. We still killed this year!!'

Earlier in the evening Rita had stepped out in couture gown by Ulyana Sergeenko couture gown but her sartorial gamble didn't pay off.

Rita's outfit boasted a bizarre bustle effect draping, an unflattering high neckline and frayed hems.

Perhaps the singer decided to change into the black dress after complaining that she was unable to breathe in the ensemble.

Rita was joined at the Sony bash by the likes of Labrinth, Simon Cowell and Harry Styles.

The One Direction singer brought his mother Anne Cox along to the bash and the pair were seen celebrating together.

Harry and his band were presented with the new Global Success Award and the group also performed their new charity single, at the ceremony held at the 02.

The lead investigator in the murder case against Oscar Pistorius faces attempted murder charges himself over a 2011 shooting, police said Thursday in another potentially damaging blow to the prosecution.

Prosecutors said they were unaware of the charges against veteran detective Hilton Botha when they put him on the stand in court to explain why Pistorius should not be given bail in the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend.

Prosecutors say Pistorius intentionally killed model Reeva Steenkamp and have charged him with premeditated murder. Pistorius says he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and that the shooting was accidental.

Police Brig. Neville Malila told The Associated Press that Botha -- who gave testimony in the Pistorius bail hearing on Wednesday -- is scheduled to appear in court in May on seven counts of attempted murder related to an incident in October 2011 when Botha and two other police officers fired at a minibus they were trying to stop.

Malila said police had learned Wednesday, the same day that Botha appeared in court to oppose Pistorius' bail application, that the charges against Botha and the two others had been reinstated by the Director of Public Prosecutions. They were initially dropped following the shooting incident.

Malila said police were now waiting for details from the Botha case file from the public prosecutor.

Medupe Simasiku, the spokesman for the prosecutors charging Pistorius with premeditated murder, said he couldn't say how the charges against Botha would affect their case against Pistorius.

A Florida family turned a trip to Taylor Creek in St. Lucie County into their own private petting zoo in January, authorities report, and then posted the incriminating photos online.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say they received a tip that Ryan William Waterman, 21, of Ft. Pierce, posted Facebook images of himself and two kids petting, lifting, and sitting on a manatee calf.

The State Attorney's Office issued a warrant for Waterman's arrest based on the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, which makes it illegal to injure, harm, harass, capture or attempt to capture a Florida manatee.

“This was a young manatee which was likely still dependent on its mother for food and protection,” FWC manatee biologist Dr. Thomas Reinert said in a release. “Separating the two could have severe consequences for the calf.”

“The calf also appeared to be experiencing manatee cold-stress syndrome, a condition that can lead to death in extreme cases,” said Reinert. “Taking the calf out of the water may have worsened its situation.”

If convicted, Waterman faces $500 fine and a maximum 60 days in jail, FWC spokeswoman Katie Purcell told Palm Beach Post.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time a Floridian has mounted a sea cow.

In October, a St. Petersburg woman was photographed riding a manatee just off-shore and was arrested after she turned herself in to police.

The state has strict protection laws for the Florida manatee, which has been listed as an endangered species since 1967.

As it turns out, strippers and underage teens do not the perfect birthday party make.

At least that's the opinion of the South Glens Falls Police, who arrested New York mother Judy Viger on Monday for allegedly organizing and paying for a stripper surprise for her son's 16th birthday.

Viger, 33, was charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Associated Press. The incident reportedly occurred at Spare Time Bowling Center in South Glens Falls, N.Y., in November.

The AP reports that Viger is accused of hiring two women to dance with -- and on -- teens at the upstate bowling alley. The news outlet notes that pictures from the party appeared to show a "scantily clad, tattooed woman clinging upside down to a seated teen."

Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy told The Post Star that police had interviewed numerous witnesses and parents. Officials said some children at the party were as young as 13.

WRGB called Tops in Bottoms, the company that reportedly supplied the strippers, and the man who answered the phone told the station the incident was “blown out of proportion.”

Similarly, a man who said he was Viger's friend argued "police have it all wrong," Fox23 News writes.