Bank of America intern killed by overwork?

A 21-year-old Bank of America intern praised as "highly diligent" died Thursday, and there was immediate speculation that he died of overwork. And although the official cause of death hasn't been determined yet, there was much online speculation that his death was somehow related to having pulled three all-nighters in a row.

Moritz Erhardt, a University of Michigan business school student, was found dead at his apartment in east London, a bank spokesperson told Bloomberg. Erhardt had just one week left of his seven-week investment-banking internship at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In a statement, Bank of America said, "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt's death. He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future." [UPDATE 1:41 pm: A bank spokesman told AOL Jobs that the bank would not make any comment "about his work patterns. We're trying to focus on what we can do for his family and the other interns and anyone else affected by this." According to unconfirmed reports, Erhardt suffered from epilepsy and may have died from a seizure. But investment bankers are infamous for working long, grueling hours, and speculation immediately has focused on the role overwork may have played in his death.

 
A commenter on wallstreetoasis.com claimed to have heard from colleagues that Erhardt -- "one of the three best interns" in the London investment banking group --had pulled three consecutive all-nighters. A roommate reportedly found him dead in the shower. Another commenter claimed that the bank's HR department sent an email "saying something along the lines of 'don't work your interns too hard for the final weeks." (Bank of America's spokesman, however, said he hadn't heard that such an email was sent.)

Overwork has been an issue across industries, and cultures, however. Earlier this year, when a 24-year-old Ogilvy & Mather employee in Beijiing, collapsed at his desk and subsequently died of cardiac arrest, local news outlets immediately proclaimed Li Yuan died of overwork. Chinese reports claimed 600,000 workers die from "work exhaustion" each year. But Ogilvy & Mather noted that Li Yuan hadn't worked overtime in the month prior to his death, and he'd taken a week's sick leave prior to returning to work.

Moritz Erhardt was an exchange student from Germany. The Independent said BofA interns are paid around 2,700 pounds a month -- or $4,228 US dollars.

Michael Brandon Hill Charged McNair Elementary School Shooting Suspect

DECATUR, Ga. — A man with an assault rifle and other weapons exchanged gunfire with officers Tuesday at an Atlanta-area elementary school before surrendering, a police chief said, with dramatic overhead television footage capturing the young students racing out of the building, being escorted by teachers and police to safety. No one was injured.
Just a week into the new school year, more than 800 students in pre-kindergarten to fifth grade were evacuated from Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, a few miles east of Atlanta. They sat outside along a fence in a field for a time until school buses came to take them to their waiting parents and other relatives at a nearby Wal-Mart.
When the first bus arrived about three hours after the shooting, cheers erupted in the store parking lot from relieved relatives, several of them sobbing.
The suspect, identified later as 20-year-old Michael Brandon Hill, fired at least a half-dozen shots from the rifle from inside McNair at officers who were swarming the campus outside, the chief said. Officers returned fire when the man was alone and they had a clear shot, DeKalb County Police Chief Cedric L. Alexander said at a news conference. Hill surrendered shortly after and several weapons were found, though it wasn't clear how many, Alexander said. Police had no motive.
Though the school has a system where visitors must be buzzed in by staff, the gunman may have slipped inside behind someone authorized to be there, Alexander said. The suspect, who had no clear ties to the school, never got past the front office, where he held one or two employees captive for a time, the chief said. Hill, who had address listed about three miles from the school, is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, terroristic threats and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. There was no information on a possible court date.
A woman in the office called WSB-TV to say the gunman asked her to contact the Atlanta station and police. WSB said during the call, shots were heard in the background. Assignment editor Lacey Lecroy said she spoke with the woman who said she was alone with the man and his gun was visible.
"It didn't take long to know that this woman was serious," Lecroy said. "Shots were one of the last things I heard. I was so worried for her."
School clerk Antoinette Tuff in an interview on ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" said she worked to convince the gunman to put down his weapons and ammunition.
"He told me he was sorry for what he was doing. He was willing to die," Tuff told ABC.
She told him her life story, about how her marriage fell apart after 33 years and the "roller coaster" of opening her own business.
"I told him, `OK, we all have situations in our lives," she said. "It was going to be OK. If I could recover, he could, too."
Then Tuff said she asked the suspect to put his weapons down, empty his pockets and backpack on the floor.
"I told the police he was giving himself up. I just talked him through it," she said.
A woman answering the phone at a number listed for Hill in court records said she was his mother but said it wasn't a good time and rushed off the phone.
DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Michael Thurmond praised faculty and authorities who got the young students to safety, staying calm and following plans in place. All teachers and students made it out of the school unharmed.
"It's a blessed day, all of our children are safe," Thurmond said at the news conference. "This was a highly professional response on the ground by DeKalb County employees assisted by law enforcement."
School volunteer Debra Hayes said she encountered the suspect without knowing it.
She stopped by the office at the end of her shift and saw a man talking to a secretary but she did not see a gun.
"I heard him say, `I'm not here to harm any staff or any parents or students. He said he wanted to speak to a police officer."
"By the time I got to 2nd Avenue, I heard gunshots," she said.
Complicating the rescue, bomb-sniffing dogs alerted officers to something in the suspect's trunk and investigators believe the man may have been carrying explosives, Alexander said. Officials cut a hole in a fence to make sure students running from the building could get even farther away to a nearby street, he said. SWAT teams then went from classroom to classroom to make sure people were out.
Police had strung yellow tape up blocking intersections near the school while children waited to be taken to Wal-Mart where hundreds of people were anticipating their arrival. The crowd waved from behind yellow police tape as buses packed with children started pulling up along the road at the store. The smiling children waved back.
Regional superintendent Rachel Zeigler used a megaphone to say children were organized on the buses by grade level and that each bus would also be carrying an administrator, a teacher and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation officer. Relatives had to show ID, sign each child out and have their photo taken.
The school has about 870 children enrolled. The academy is named after McNair, an astronaut who died when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, according to the school's website.
Jonessia White, the mother of a kindergartner, said the school's doors are normally locked.
"I took (my son) to school this morning and had to be buzzed in," she said. "So I'm wondering how the guy got in the door."
Jackie Zamora, 61, of Decatur, was at the Wal-Mart waiting and said her 6-year-old grandson was inside the school when the shooting was reported and she panicked for more than an hour because she hadn't heard whether or not anyone had been injured.
Since shootings in classrooms all over the country, the massacre at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary being the freshest in people's minds, schools have implemented security from metal detectors to armed guards. McNair had its own safety precautions.
White said the school has a set of double doors where visitors must be buzzed in and show identification to a camera to be allowed in.
"I don't know how this could happen at this school," Zamora said. "There's so much security."
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Associated Press writers Christina A. Cassidy and Phillip Lucas in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Prince George's first official portraits leaked on Twitter early

oops! Apparently, "under embargo" doesn't mean much to some people. Select members of the press were sent the official portraits of the royal family: William, Kate, and baby George (and Lupo!) and were instructed that they weren't to be released until midnight in the U.K., around 7pm EST.

But a few outlets got too excited on Twitter and leaked the photos -- as a "sneak peek." As we previously reported, Kate and Wills have decided to release their own photos to the public as their first official pictures of the new family. And as expected, Kate looks stunning with her hair in bouncing waves. It looks to us like she's wearing the fuschia Knot Front Short Sleeve Dress from Seraphine while William looks comfortable and casual in a gingham button down. The new family looks as happy as can be.

The photos were taken by none other than Michael Middleton, Kate's father in the garden of their family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.

Lee Thompson Young Dead: Disney's 'The Famous Jett Jackson' Star Dies At 29 (UPDATE)

Former Disney star Lee Thompson Young has died at the age of 29, TMZ reports.
The "Famous Jett Jackson" star was found dead by his Los Angeles landlord after his coworkers on the set of TNT's "Rizzoli & Isles" called the landlord when Young failed to show up for work.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Young's death with TheWrap. The spokeswoman said officers arrived at Young's house after 8 a.m. Monday morning and found him dead.
No further details have been given at this time.
A rep for the actor could not be immediately reached for comment. Contacts at both TNT and Disney were also unavailable for comment.
Young is best known for playing Jett Jackson on the Disney Channel series. He also had roles in "The Guardian," "Friday Night Lights" the film, "Scrubs," "Smallville" and "FlashForward." His most recent role was as Detective Barry Frost in "Rizzoli & Isles."
"Everyone at 'Rizzoli & Isles' is devastated by the news of the passing of Lee Thompson Young," TNT said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "We are beyond heartbroken at the loss of this sweet, gentle, good-hearted, intelligent man. He was truly a member of our family. Lee will be cherished and remembered by all who knew and loved him, both on- and offscreen, for his positive energy, infectious smile and soulful grace. We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to his family, to his friends and, most especially, to his beloved mother."
Despite having moved on in his career, the South Carolina native was always happy to be recognized for his work with Disney.
“It’s always a really great feeling when I talk to people who watched Jett Jackson because we were the same age," he told Entertainment Weekly in 2011. "We were all kids. I was 13 when I started working on that show and that was part of my childhood. And It’s kind of like we have that in common. It means a lot to me when people enjoyed it and when it was a part of their childhood. It’s cool when you see people revert back for a quick second to middle school, and they’re like, ‘Oh, man! I remember…’ It’s really great to me that our work is still with people after ten years.”
For more details, head to TMZ.
UPDATE: The actor's longtime manager Jonathan Baruch confirmed to E! News that Young took his own life.
"It is with great sadness that I announce that Lee Thompson Young tragically took his own life this morning," Baruch said in a statement to E! "Lee was more than just a brilliant young actor, he was a wonderful and gentle soul who will be truly missed. We ask that you please respect the privacy of his family and friends at this very difficult time."
The LAPD has not yet released a cause of death.
This story has been modified to include a statement from TNT.

Obama Family Welcomes New Dog Sunny

President Barack Obama and his family welcomed Sunny, a one-year-old female Portuguese Water Dog, to the family on Monday, according to the White House.
Sunny, who will join the Obamas' four-year-old dog Bo, was described by the White House as "full of energy and very affectionate."
First Lady Michelle Obama shared a photo of Sunny and Bo on her Twitter account to introduce the pup:
President Obama also welcomed the new addition to the family on Twitter:
The Obama family is making a contribution to the Washington Humane Society in honor of Sunny, according tothe White House.

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California Prisons Can Force-Feed Inmates On Hunger Strike, Rules Federal Judge

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A federal judge approved a request from California and federal officials to force-feed inmates if necessary as a statewide prison hunger strike entered its seventh week.
Officials say they fear for the welfare of nearly 70 inmates who have refused all prison-issued meals since the strike began July 8 over the holding of gang leaders and other violent inmates in solitary confinement that can last for decades.
They are among nearly 130 inmates in six prisons who were refusing meals. When the strike began it included nearly 30,000 of the 133,000 inmates in California prisons.
Prison policy is to let inmates starve to death if they have signed legally binding do-not-resuscitate (DNR) requests. But state corrections officials and a federal receiver who controls inmate medical care received blanket authority from U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco to feed inmates who may be in failing health. The order includes those who recently signed requests that they not be revived.
Henderson oversees the ongoing lawsuit over inmates' medical care. The filing Monday came as prison officials and inmates' attorneys argued over whether strikers should be allowed to voluntarily begin a liquid diet.
"Patients have a right to refuse medical treatment. They also have a right to refuse food," said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the receiver's office.
However, "If an inmate gets to the point where he can't tell us what his wishes are, for instance if he's found unresponsive in his cell, and we don't have a DNR, we're going to get nourishment into him. That's what doctors do. They're going to follow their medical ethics," Hayhoe said.
The process, which prison officials call "refeeding," could include starting intravenous fluids or snaking feeding tubes through inmates' noses and into their stomachs.
Prison officials already can seek a court order forcing an individual inmate to take food, though they have not done so. Now they and the receiver's office are jointly asking for blanket permission to take that step without seeking orders on a case-by-case basis.

The federal and state officials were joined in the request by the Prison Law Office, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that represents inmates' welfare in ongoing lawsuits that led to a federal takeover of the prison health care system and a requirement that the state sharply reduce its inmate population to improve conditions.
They want Henderson to let the chief medical executive at each prison act if a hunger striker is at risk of "near-term death or great bodily injury" or is no longer deemed competent to give consent or make medical decisions.
Moreover, do-not-resuscitate directives would not be honored if the medical executive reasonably believes the inmate was coerced into signing the request or if an attorney representing the inmate revokes the request.
Do-not-resuscitate orders signed by a hunger striker at or near the beginning of the strike or during the hunger strike would automatically be deemed invalid.
"Force-feeding violates international law to the extent that it involves somebody who doesn't give their consent," said Jules Lobel, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who represents 10 inmates suing to end prolonged solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison.
Lobel said prison officials should look for alternatives, including providing the inmates with a liquid diet of fruit and vegetable drinks as they have requested, or negotiating with inmates over their demands.
However, Lobel said he will not seek to overturn Henderson's order.
Prison officials said Monday that inmates are free to consume a liquid diet, but will be counted as having ended their hunger strike if they consume anything more than water, vitamins and electrolytes.
The most high-profile case of force-feeding prisoners has been the involuntary feeding of several dozen terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay through nasal tubes.
Other federal judges have turned down bids by the Guantanamo Bay inmates to stop the force-feeding.
California incarcerates about 3,600 inmates in what are known as Security Housing Units, some because of crimes they committed in prison and others for indefinite terms if they are validated as leaders of prison gangs.
Four prisons have the units: Pelican Bay in Crescent City, Corcoran, California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi and California State Prison-Sacramento.
The highest-ranking gang leaders are held in what is known as the "short corridor" at Pelican Bay. Four leaders of rival white supremacist, black and enemy Latino gangs have formed an alliance to promote the hunger strike in a bid to force an end to the isolation units.