Teen claims self-defense for shooting at track meet\nFORT WAYNE -- A man facing charges that he shot another man after a high school track meet fired in self-defense, his defense attorney said.\nKeith E. Williams, 19, of Fort Wayne, is charged with aggravated battery and possession of a firearm on school property. He is accused of shooting Jamaal Gill, 21, also of Fort Wayne, on May 4 in the Northrop High School parking lot after an argument in the stands.\nDuring opening statements for Williams' trial on Monday, defense attorney John Bohdan told jurors that Williams shot Gill after Gill had stabbed him in the leg with a sharp object while trying to pull him from a car.\nGill testified Monday that he confronted Williams in the stands while watching the track meet because Williams had been disrespectful toward a female friend of his weeks earlier. Gill testified that he and Williams exchanged words but that there was no physical contact until hours later in the parking lot.
St. Mary's to close underground tunnels\nSOUTH BEND -- Students at St. Mary's College will no longer be able to use a decades-old system of underground tunnels to get to class during winter months -- or any other time of year.\nThe Holy Cross Services Corporation said Monday it will close the tunnels -- which house electric, water and communications lines -- to the public on Dec. 18 to comply with utility regulations.\nStudents, faculty, staff and Holy Cross sisters have for decades used the tunnels that connect several buildings on the campus.\n"Some of the tunnels have been in use for 75 years and have been used by pedestrians since the beginning," said Barbara Wade, a spokeswoman for the utility corporation.\nSome students at the all-women's school bordering the University of Notre Dame say closing the tunnels is a safety issue.\n"I think it will lead to security risks when we have to walk around an entire building to get to the library late at night," said Jodie Emerick, a St. Mary's senior. "It's not that it's an inconvenience, it's just a safety issue."\nStudents must use their electronic ID cards to enter the tunnels, and Wade said the utility is working with school officials on changing that system. Barriers will be set up in some areas to keep people out, she said.\nThe tunnel closing also means that senior class murals painted on the walls will go unseen.
