Teen believed shot by serial killer dies

GAFFNEY, S.C., July 4 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old girl became the fifth victim Saturday of a suspected serial killer in Gaffney, S.C., dying less than two days after being shot.

Abby Tyler died Saturday morning at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, The Gaffney Ledger reported. She was shot in the head by a man who opened fire Thursday on her and her father at his store, Tyler Home Center. Her father, Stephen Tyler, died at the store.

Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said police have a sketch of the man suspected of killing the Tylers and three other people, WYFF-TV, Greenville, reported.

"Without a doubt, we are confident that the same subject is involved in all the shootings," Blanton said Friday.

Gaffney residents said Tyler's family is well-known in the city.

"They are just as nice as they can be -- the kids and all. It is just unreal," Jane Whisnant, who owns the Country General Grill in Gaffney, told WYFF.

The bodies of two other victims, Hazel Linder, 83, a retired teacher, and her daughter, Gena Linder Parker, were found Wednesday in Linder's home.

The other victim, Kline Cash, a peach farmer, was shot dead last weekend.

Maliki: No U.S. political help needed

BAGHDAD, July 4 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the United States' help isn't needed in reconciling the country's political and ethnic factions.

Meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Friday in Baghdad, Maliki made it clear he didn't want Americans as closely involved in the Iraqi political process as U.S. forces prepare to depart next year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Maliki's spokesman, Ali Dabbagh, told reporters the prime minister impressed on Biden that "the reconciliation issue is a purely Iraqi issue and any non-Iraqi involvement might have a negative effect. We don't want the Americans to come and get involved."

Asked how Biden took the stance, Dabbagh told the Times he "received the message well, and he said he is ready to help whenever the Iraqi government asks."

Biden, who is on a two-day mission to Baghdad to work with Iraqis "toward overcoming their political differences and achieving the type of reconciliation that we all understand has yet to fully take place," said he gave Maliki a message from President Barack Obama that "Iraqis must use the political process to resolve their remaining differences and advance their national interest. We stand ready if asked … to help in that process."

Biden also took part in a naturalization ceremony for 237 U.S. troops and later recounted the event while having lunch with troops, including his son Beau and other members of the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade from Delaware.

"We did it in Saddam's palace," he said. "That S.O.B. is rolling over in his grave right now."

1 killed, 4 hurt in N.C. fireworks mishap

SWAN QUARTER, N.C., July 4 (UPI) -- At least one person was killed and four critically hurt in a fireworks explosion on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina Saturday, officials said.

Hyde County sheriff's officials said the victims worked for Melrose Pyrotechnics of South Carolina, adding they were preparing the island's July Fourth fireworks when the explosion happened about 9:15 a.m., WITN-TV, Washington, N.C., reported.

Authorities said ferry service to the coastal island was suspended in the wake of the blast.

"The explosion happened near the ferry docks," Ocracoke Island resident Gwen Myers told the broadcaster. "It was unreal. There was a huge boom. The explosion peeled the top off the 18-wheeler truck."

Statue of Liberty's crown reopens

NEW YORK, July 4 (UPI) -- In honor of July Fourth, the Statue of Liberty's crown reopened Saturday for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, New York authorities said.

Thirty visitors, many from other countries, were the first Saturday to climb the 354 steps to the crown, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

"Once again, Americans can climb to Lady Liberty's crown and gaze out over New York harbor, where so many of our ancestors first saw the New World," Salazar said at the reopening ceremony.

The National Park Service cited safety and security reasons when it closed the crown in 2001 after terrorists destroyed the nearby World Trade Center.

Saturday, Aaron Weisinger, 26, of New York, climbed to the crown and proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Erica Breder, 25, the New York Post reported. She accepted.

"It's a pretty unique spot," Weisinger said. "It is the Fourth of July. It's special to us, it means independence, it means freedom. To do it in the crown was even more special."

The 305-foot monument of a robed woman holding a torch was presented by France to the United States in 1886 to celebrate its centennial.

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