'Hunger Games' Stuntman Falls To Death Attempting Off-Duty Leap

A Hollywood stuntman who worked on the latest "Hunger Games" movie has died after falling five stories while on vacation in Portugal, officials said Friday. Carlos Lopez, 25, was originally from Concord, North Carolina. His screen credits included "22 Jump Street," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Olympus Has Fallen." Lopez plunged from the fifth floor of the Goodnight Hostel in downtown Lisbon at 4 a.m. Thursday (11 p.m. ET Wednesday), two local police sources told NBC News. He was travelling with his girlfriend.

A hostel employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NBC News that Lopez was a guest and often spoke of his love of parkour — the practice of using the urban environment as an obstacle course. Lopez's girlfriend heard the fall and alerted staff who in turn contacted police. Dale Girard, director of the North Carolina Stuntmen's Association where Lopez trained, descried him as "a great friend…a formidable role model with great respect, discipline and personality. He was very caring, giving, and dedicated." A local police source confirmed that his death appeared to be accidental.

Man Shot 15 Minutes After Finishing a 15 Year Prison Term

A Manhattan man was sprung from an upstate prison Thursday after serving 15 years — only to be shot 15 minutes later by a thug he snitched on, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The 33-year-old man was released from Otisville State Prison at 9:45 a.m. with a train ticket for a trip to a halfway house in Manhattan.

But when he got outside, someone in a white Hyundai offered him a ride — an offer he quickly accepted.

After about two miles, the car pulled over and a second person hopped out of the trunk, pulled out a gun and fired two shots at the newly freed man, police sources said.

The victim stumbled to the Metro-North station in Otisville, where workers called for help, sources said.

He was taken to West­chester Medical Center and is in stable condition.

The victim — who served time for criminal sale of a controlled substance, weapons and assault — identified the shooter.

The guman had a beef with the victim for snitching on him, sources said.

Cops tracked the two suspects —  Jerome A. Mack and Edgar Wilson, both 35 — to the Upper East Side and arrested them Thursday evening.

Via: http://nypost.com/2014/10/09/man-released-from-prison-shot-by-guy-he-snitched-on/

Man Struck by Train While Attempting to Retrieve His Phone

A man was struck and killed by a train in Brooklyn early Sunday when he jumped onto the tracks to retrieve what authorities believe was a cell phone.

The southbound Q-train operator, rolling into the Prospect Park station on Flatbush Avenue shortly after 3 a.m., saw the victim hop onto the tracks to pick something up, law enforcement sources said.

But the operator wasn’t able to stop the train in time and the man, whose identity was not immediately known, was crushed between the platform and train, authorities said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Via: http://nypost.com/2014/10/12/man-killed-by-train-after-trying-to-retrieve-cell-phone-from-tracks/

Man Killed by Train While Urinating on the Platform

Police are investigating the leak of a gruesome subway-surveillance video showing a train dragging a man to his death, a transit official said.

The shocking images, captured by a MTA security camera in Penn Station Saturday morning, apparently were copied and then posted on the Internet, according to a source who watched the video.

“It’s the most disturbing thing you’ve ever seen,” the source said.

The 23-year-old was struck at about 1 a.m. while walking back to the northbound A-train platform from a narrow tunnel walkway where he went to urinate, police said over the weekend.

In the video, the man appears to lose his footing while pushing through a “Do Not Enter” swing gate separating the walkway and platform.

Via: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/police-investigate-gory-subway-video-leaked-article-1.1966589

Bank of America Intern Worked to Death

Moritz Erhardt, 21, was a week away from finishing his summer internship at Bank of America when he was found dead in student housing in East London on Thursday night.

Erhardt, from Germany, was an undergraduate exchange student at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

Claims have been made he died after working long hours. An anonymous person on wallstreetoasis.com said, “He was found dead in the shower by his flatmate. Intern… went home at 6am three days in a row.”

Paid interns at Merrill Lynch normally earn at least £30,000 a year pro-rata, but can earn even more. Although Erhardt’s death has highlighted the internship program’s allegedly brutal work hours.

John McIvor, a Bank of America spokesman, declined to comment on the claim that Erhardt had been overworked, but said the firm’s thoughts were with his family.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt’s death,”McIvor said in a statement. “He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future.”

Via: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/moritz-erhardt-investment-banking-dies_n_3781016.html

Chinese Student Dies Making Fourth Donation to Sperm Bank In A Week

A Chinese medical student died of a heart attack while looking at a 'sexy magazine' in a sperm bank - on his fourth visit to the centre in just over a week.

Zheng Gang, 23, was found dead in a private booth of a fertility clinic at Wuhan University after nurses noticed he was spending longer than usual producing his sample.

Two hours after he first entered the cubicle, medics broke in to find him lying unconscious on the floor.Despite frantic efforts to resuscitate him where he lay, doctors pronounced him dead at the scene.

The tragic death - which happened in February 2012 -  only came to light after the young man's family took the sperm bank, in Wuhan city, Hubei province, eastern China, to court saying that they were responsible for his death.

But the court has now ruled that Zheng, who had started studying at the University to become a doctor in 2010, was entirely capable of making his own decisions about his life, including whether he wanted to take part in the sperm bank programme.

The court heard that the young trainee doctor signed up for the programme in January 2011 and in ten days had made four visits to donate sperm for the universities sperm bank program.

His family had demanded almost half £1 million in compensation, saying that they had pressurised him into agreeing to take part and had not handled the situation properly when he was found unconscious.

A lower court had only awarded the family £19,000 plus £8,000 in funeral costs, and the family had appealed. 

But the High Court has now upheld the lower court decision.

Via: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2753346/Chinese-medical-student-died-heart-attack-looked-sexy-magazine-fourth-donation-sperm-bank-week.html#ixzz3DInMcg4X

Founder of Elephant Refuge Crushed to Death

HOPE, Maine — The man who established a sanctuary for retired circus elephants in Maine was found dead Tuesday. The state Medical said the injuries were consistent with an elephant stepping on him.

Dr. James Laurita, 56, who founded Hope Elephants, apparently died while caring for the elephants. The medical examiner said it was an accident.

Laurita apparently fell and was on the ground when the elephant stepped on him, according to Knox County sheriff's investigators. He suffered multiple chest fractures and died of asphyxiation.

Tending to the animals was part of Laurita's daily routine at the facility he founded with his brother Tom in 2011. Hope Foundation's two Asian elephants, Rosie and Opal, arrived in 2012.

"The elephant was not aggressive in any way. It was clearly an accident," said Mark Belserene, administrator for the state medical examiner's office.

Hope Elephants wrote on their website: "Hope Elephants is deeply saddened by the death of our founder, Dr. Jim Laurita. Jim's passion for all animals, especially elephants, was boundless."

Laurita began his love affair with elephants in the late 1970s when he worked for a regional circus. In fact, the two elephants at the sanctuary were those he took care of while working for the circus.

Contributing: The Associated Press