How Dallas police killed July 7 sniper, Battaglia executed, divesting campaign cash: Your Friday morning roundup

February 02,  2018 By Nicholas Friedman Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌤️ Weather: Partly cloudy and chilly with a high of 55 degrees. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. (Michael Hogue/The Dallas Morning News) dallas ambush Standoff: How the Dallas SWAT team cornered and killed the July 7 police shooter By the end of the night on July 7, 2016 five Dallas cops would be dead. Fathers and husbands and brothers and sons, some of them cut down from behind before they had a chance to fight. Nine more cops and two civilians would be wounded. The shootings — just down the street from the city’s other notorious shooting, 53 years earlier — would traumatize Dallas, thrusting it into the anguished national argument about race and justice. News people would storm in from around the world, trying to make sense of what made no sense. At the police station, mourners would pile flowers and wreaths so high on top of a patrol car that you couldn't see the windows. The president would come and speak of bravery and optimism, and a little boy would drop flowers into his dead father's grave. But first, in the darkness and chaos, a small group of elite cops had to gear up and get the shooter. This is the first full account of what happened inside El Centro College that night. It is based on documents, photographs and dozens of hours of interviews with the police officers who tracked down the gunman, engaged him in a fierce gun battle, negotiated with him and meticulously planned and carried out his death. For some, the shooter’s motives didn’t warrant consideration. But for Senior Cpl. Larry Gordon, he was a harbinger, carrying a message we can no longer afford to ignore. “Standoff” from The Dallas Morning News [is the first full account of what happened inside El Centro College on July 7, 2016.]( Behind the reporting: This special report [is based on documents, photographs and dozens of hours of interviews]( with the police officers who tracked down the gunman, engaged him in a fierce gun battle, negotiated with him and meticulously planned and carried out his death. SPECIAL OFFER [Get unlimited digital access for $2.99 a week]( courts John Battaglia executed for killing his daughters as their mother listened in horror John David Battaglia [was put to death Thursday night for murdering his daughters in 2001]( while their mother listened in horror on the phone. Battaglia, 62, was the third man executed this year in the nation, all in Texas, and the second killer from Dallas put to death this week. His execution by lethal injection brings an end to a lengthy legal battle to save his life. He was twice granted a stay so his mental competency could be evaluated, and his attorneys filed last-ditch efforts Thursday to delay the execution. In the end, all his appeals were denied, however, and Battaglia was pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m. at the state's Huntsville Unit. Commentary: With Battaglia's execution, time [finally ran out on a master manipulator.]( Meanwhile: A passenger who authorities say became violent Wednesday morning on an American Airlines flight from DFW International Airport to North Carolina [was restrained with zip ties and duct tape](. In Plano: As Plano ISD prepares to address cyberbullying in its campus policies, several Plano East Senior High students [are being investigated for threatening online remarks]( about a classmate's sexual orientation. District 14 City Council representative Philip Kingston (left) looks on as District 1 representative Scott Griggs speaks following an October 2015 group bike ride from Main Street Garden Park to Dallas City Hal. (2015 File Photo/Staff) city hall Dallas City Council members promise to donate money from people tied to bus agency bribery case Several Dallas City Council members promised Thursday [to donate thousands of dollars in campaign contributions]( they had received from figures at the center of an FBI bribery investigation into the soon-to-be-defunct Dallas County Schools bus agency. Their actions come a day after an investigation by The Dallas Morning News exposed the payments. Council members Scott Griggs and Philip Kingston announced on Facebook they were giving their donations away. They said their colleague, Adam Medrano, had agreed to do the same. Kingston, Griggs and Medrano did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday afternoon. All council candidates who took the money told The News they didn't know who the contributors were at the time. Meanwhile: Rex Tillerson told an Austin crowd that the U.S. [plays a role in drug violence problems]( in Mexico. And: An advisory committee decided Thursday morning to recommend [keeping a monument of a Confederate soldier]( on the Denton Square and adding context to it. Advertisement (David Woo/The DallasMorning News) Photo of the Morning Archie Fleming, who runs a company that helps ex-offenders find work, poses for a portrait on his property in the 2800 block of Childs Street in Dallas. By his own admission, Fleming owes some $130,000 in back taxes on the land he bought 18 years ago with the hopes of moving his construction business there. He says he inherited some of that debt when he bought that land, but, no, he has never sent a cent to Dallas County. And he said there is a good reason he has never paid up. ["Because the land's worthless."]( Around The Site - Amazon: A national campaign [wants Amazon to drop cities like Dallas and Austin](, -- located in states that don't protect the rights of lesbian, gay and transgender people -- from its short list of potential locations for HQ2. - Watchdog: Wind turbine blades falling off Addison’s water tower [result in a $1 million flop -- and a crazy lawsuit.]( - To know: How parents [can stop hazing before kids become victims]( — or suspects. - Real estate: Irving's city council [has given Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' real estate company the go ahead]( to build a high-profile mixed-use development in Las Colinas. - Commentary: A retiring editor's reflections — and aspirations — [for Dallas and herself.]( - Life: Far from her Plano roots, NPR reporter Elise Hu [chases the news in South Korea and across Asia.]( - Yes: Life, uh, finds a way [to bring Jeff Goldblum to Dallas for Fan Expo.]( These are Samoas -- or Carmel deLites, depending on where you live. (File/The Dallas Morning News) Finally... Ever wonder why Dallas and Fort Worth don't get the same Girl Scout cookies? You can't go wrong with Girl Scout cookies. Or can you? Queue the ominous music and your sense of foreboding because the LA Times reports that Thin Mints -- [and five other famed Girl Scout flavors]( -- are not created equally. According to their report, the fundraiser for building up future girl-power gurus is supplied by two bakeries, and the dark chocolate detailed, coconutty Samoas you get in Dallas are not quite the same as Fort Worth's cake-ier, vanilla-hinted Caramel deLites. The two bakeries' lines are essentially the same with subtle differences. One definite divergence arises, however, when it comes to Lemonades versus Savannah Smiles. The former features a shortbread base with lemon icing while the latter is smaller, crisper, and dusted with powdered sugar. AdVERTISEMENT 👋 That's all for this morning! 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