In brief: Gunman fired 100 rounds but no injuries reported

Austin, Texas – A gunman fired more than 100 rounds at downtown buildings in Austin and tried to set the Mexican Consulate ablaze early Friday before he died during a confrontation with police, authorities said.

Some of the targeted buildings are near the popular Sixth Street entertainment district, where bars close at 2 a.m., about the same time the shootings began. Thousands of people are typically on the street at that time, Austin police Chief Art Acevedo said.

“Many, many rounds were fired in downtown Austin,” Acevedo said. “With all the people on the streets, we’re very fortunate. I give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased.”

Investigators identified the shooter as 49-year-old Larry McQuilliams, of Austin. Police said he had a criminal record but didn’t release details, and said they were still trying to determine a motive.

Demonstrators prompt three malls to close

Ferguson, Mo. – Demonstrators temporarily shut down three large malls in suburban St. Louis on one of the busiest shopping days of the year and then marched in front of the Ferguson police department to protest a grand jury’s recent decision not to indict the police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Several stores lowered their security doors or locked entrances as at least 200 protesters sprawled onto the floor while chanting, “Stop shopping and join the movement,” at the Galleria mall in Richmond Heights a few miles south of Ferguson, Missouri, where Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown, who was unarmed, in August.

The action prompted authorities to close the mall for about an hour Friday afternoon, while a similar protest of about 50 people had the same effect at West County Mall in nearby Des Peres. And several dozen demonstrators led to a temporary closure of the Chesterfield Mall.

Later Friday night, a group of about 100 protesters marched down West Florissant Avenue in front of the city’s police and fire departments chanting, blocking traffic and stopping in front of some businesses.

Fifteen people were arrested, according to Missouri Department of Public Safety spokesman Mike O’Connell. He said charges would include peace disturbance and impeding the flow of traffic, and two people would be charged with resisting arrest and one with assault.

City’s central mosque hit by several blasts

Kano, Nigeria – Multiple explosions tore through the central mosque in Nigeria’s second-largest city on Friday, killing 35 people, police said.

One hundred and fifty others sustained various degrees of injury in the blasts in the city of Kano, State Deputy Police Commissioner Sanusi Lemu said.

Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility, but the attack bears the hallmarks of the militant group that has carried out numerous such attacks in northern Nigeria, including in Kano.