MURFREESBORO, Tenn.

Man dies trying to save child

The cousin of an Alabama man killed in a drive-by shooting during a cookout in Murfreesboro says he was trying to save a child.

Deborah Tuma told The Daily News Journal that 51-year-old Mickey Simmons of Demopolis, Ala., was shot in the neck early Monday morning as about 30 people gathered outside her duplex for a post-wedding cookout.

Tuma says her home and a few cars also were shot as the guests were preparing to leave just after midnight. About 30 people, including 15 children, were at the event after a wedding in Nashville.

Murfreesboro police were investigating Monday afternoon.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.

Rains continue across region

It was a good Labor Day to be inside, particularly in parts of Alabama.

There was a chance of severe weather across the state Monday as remnants of Hurricane Isaac moved through, and storms are expected to drift southeastward and into Georgia today.

Damaging winds are the main threat, the National Weather Service says.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.

Stick shift foils carjack try

Police in Knoxville say two men attempted to carjack a vehicle, but failed because they couldn't drive a stick shift.

The Knox County Sheriff's Department told WVLT-TV in Knoxville that 18-year-old Jamel Wilson and a juvenile approached the car of Broor Swahn at about 1:30 a.m. EDT Monday.

Swahn says one of them pulled out a gun, got in the car, and tried to take off. Deputies say neither of them knew how to drive a car with a manual transmission. They got out and fled on foot.

Patrol units in the area quickly spotted and arrested the two men. They also recovered a gun.

The sheriff's department says Wilson was being held on $50,000 bond and is due to appear in court on Sept. 20.

LEXINGTON, Tenn.

Lightning hits courthouse

Lightning struck a courthouse in western Tennessee, causing what the local sheriff estimates as tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the building.

Henderson County Sheriff Brian Duke says the strike happened before 6 a.m. CDT Sunday at the Henderson County Criminal Justice Complex in Lexington. Duke told The Jackson Sun that a dispatcher and some inmates heard a loud boom, but nobody realized lightning struck the building.

Duke said the strike, brought by the remnants of Hurricane Issac, destroyed the complex's fire alarm system, electronic key system, National Crime Information Center records system and the 911 system, which was routed through the Lexington Police Department for a while.

Duke said the 911 system was running again by Monday.