Two U.S. officials say the surviving suspect in the Boston bombings acknowledged his role in the attacks to FBI investigators. But the officials say this occurred before authorities advised him of his constitutional rights, including the right to consult with an attorney and not to incriminate himself.

It was not clear whether the admission by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev would be admissible in a criminal trial, since it came before he was read his Miranda rights. It’s also unclear whether prosecutors would need the admission to secure a conviction since physical evidence has already been uncovered in the investigation.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing case.

Tsarnaev’s two lead defense lawyers did not immediately return phone and email messages.

An Omaha man has been convicted by a federal jury for aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.

United States Attorney Deborah Gilg stated in a news release that Michael A. Smith, 30, was arrested after being identified as the person using a laser pointer to strike Abel 1, the Omaha Police Department’s (OPD) helicopter unit.

The helicopter patrol received a report in the early morning hours of July 11, 2012, that a Southwest Airlines flight scheduled for landing in Omaha had been struck by someone using a laser pointer.

Abel 1 responded and was struck by a laser beam seconds after becoming airborne.  As the helicopter approached the area of 152nd Street in Northwest Omaha, the cockpit was repeatedly struck by a laser, to the point of causing the pilots to be distracted and “temporarily blinded” by the laser beam.

After being struck as many as six to seven times, the pilots were able to determine the area from which the laser originated.

A Douglas County Deputy responded to the area, where he found Smith in his back yard, aiming the laser in the direction of the helicopter.

Smith will be sentenced in July, and faces up to five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

A police standoff in Omaha ended with no injuries after authorities used chemical munitions to force a suspect out.

The Omaha Police Department says 36-year-old Frederick Patterson refused to come out of a house Wednesday morning. Additional officers and a SWAT team were called in for assistance.

Officers deployed chemical munitions into the residence several hours later. Patterson’s brother, who was not being held against his will, first exited the house. Authorities then took Patterson into custody.

Officials say Patterson was booked into Douglas County Corrections for a parole violation. He also was booked on a felony warrant from Sarpy County and a misdemeanor warrant from Douglas County.

Records do not list an attorney for Patterson.

The father of a 10-year-old Arizona girl who died after authorities say another relative padlocked her in a footlocker has pleaded guilty to an attempted child abuse charge.

Fifty-three-year-old David Martin Deal isn’t charged in the July 2011 death of his daughter Ame Deal. But he admitted Wednesday to putting her into the plastic box and throwing the box into a pool on another occasion.

He faces up to 16 years in prison for guilty pleas to attempted child abuse and marijuana possession charges.

Authorities say Ame Deal died after a man who’s married to the girl’s cousin padlocked her in the footlocker as discipline for having stolen popsicles.

The child’s aunt has already pleaded guilty to abuse charges.

Two others are charged with first-degree murder.

Two Omaha police officers fired in an excessive force investigation have filed notices of appeal, indicating they intend to fight to get their jobs back.

Omaha police said Tuesday that the city’s human resources department upheld the firings. Those fired who filed notices of appeal are former officers Bradley Canterbury and Justin Reeve. The Omaha World-Herald says the others fired were former Officer James Kinsella and Sgt. Aaron Von Behren.

Police Chief Todd Schmaderer (SHMAH-dur) fired the officers earlier this month after a March 21 incident involving police was secretly recorded. The video showed an officer grabbing 28-year-old Octavius Johnson from behind, violently throwing him to the ground and punching him while he was restrained. Other officers were seen chasing Johnson’s brother, who was recording the arrest, into his house.

An Omaha man has died after being pinned under a car.

Police say officer were called to an area in north-central Omaha around 6 a.m. Wednesday for a personal injury accident. When officers arrived, they found 60-year-old William Larsen pinned under the front driver’s side tire of a vehicle. Larsen was declared dead at the scene. Police say there was no sign of foul play in his death.

But police also determined that the vehicle had been involved in a hit-and-run accident Tuesday night.

Police did not release any other details of that crash or of Larsen’s death.