Officials say Alabama's unemployment rate is up to 6.1 percent. The May jobless rate released Friday increased from 5.8 percent in April. Shelby County has the state's lowest unemployment rate at 4.2 percent, the worst is in rural Wilcox County at 15.6 percent.
Interstate Shooting
Authorities have identified the Shelby County woman who was shot and killed on Interstate 65 near Clanton after a police chase. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says 40-year-old Wendy Mitchell Chappell from Maylene died during the confrontation Wednesday night. Officials says the woman's husband approached a trooper who was stopped in a construction zone on the interstate near Alabaster. He told the officer the woman was threatening to shoot him. Authorities says the officer tried to stop the woman, but she drove away, allegedly brandished a gun during a pursuit that lasted about 26 miles. Troopers finally got the car stopped near Clanton, and they say the woman fired several shots at officers. She was killed when law enforcement shot back.
PTSD Defense
The defense attorney for an Army veteran charged with shooting at a Dothan police officer says his client suffers from post-traumatic stress linked to his military service. Thirty-year-old Kevin Javon Barnes was charged with attempted murder after he fired two shots at an officer responding to a disorderly conduct complaint at Barnes' apartment April 22nd.