LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police are investigating an attack on a Lincoln woman, who reported three men broke into her house, carved anti-gay slurs into her skin and tried to light her house on fire.

Police spokeswoman Katie Flood says Monday the case is under investigation as a hate crime because it appears to be motivated by hatred or bias. Flood says there are no suspects.

The victim told police she was attacked by three masked men. She reportedly crawled from her house, naked, bleeding and screaming for help. Police responded at 4 a.m. Sunday.

The case spread rapidly on the Internet and prompted a rally of hundreds of people outside the Capitol on Sunday night. Speakers were from a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender group.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report into the investigation of private bank accounts established by former Chadron State College’s head football coach Bill O’Boyle assigns the blame largely to O’Boyle and credits college administrators for investigating the accounts.
A recently released Chadron State College-NCAA investigative report says O’Boyle violated NCAA bylaws by opening the outside accounts to hold funds to finance the college’s football program.

The college suspended O’Boyle in October and did not renew his contract.

In February, Nebraska Auditor Mike Foley’s office criticized college administrators for failing to control the three private bank accounts.

The NCAA-Chadron State investigative report largely exonerates college leaders and credits them for hiring an investigator once accounts were discovered.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — Deputies have taken a man into custody after they got a gun and knife away from him at a hospital in southeast Nebraska.

The armed man had gone into the emergency room at the hospital in Henderson around 8 p.m. Saturday.

County Sheriff Dale Radcliff says the man threatened a doctor who wasn’t on duty and a nurse who was there.

The man told deputies who were dispatched that he was suicidal and repeated that he intended to find the doctor and hurt him.

Radcliff says the deputies were able to get the weapons away from the man and take him into emergency protective custody.

RAVENNA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man who was accidentally killed while target shooting at a residence near Ravenna.

The Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office identified him as 47-year-old Armando Tinajero, of Ravenna.

Tinajero had been shooting at targets in the backyard of a friend’s house on Friday night. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy was ordered.

The sheriff’s office says a crime is not suspected, but the investigation is continuing.

AINSWORTH, Neb. (AP) — Officials say more fire crews have been sent to help battle flames that have blackened thousands of acres in north-central Nebraska.

Susan Ford is spokeswoman for a federal interagency management team that’s been dispatched to help local and state agencies with the wildfire in Keya Paha  County. Ford said Monday that three more ground crew teams of about 20 firefighters each are expected on the lines soon, replacing some local volunteers.

Winds gusting to 30 mph are expected to fan the flames.

Ford says an overnight aerial survey using infrared technology provided officials with an updated estimate of about 50,000 acres burned, compared with previous estimates approaching 100,000 acres. She couldn’t confirm a previous estimate that the fire was about 50 percent contained.

No injuries have been reported.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska at Omaha is planning to offer a new degree in emergency management, starting this fall.

University officials say the new bachelor’s degree was approved this week. It will be offered through the university’s College of Public Affairs and Community Service.

John Bartle, the college’s acting dean, says the emergency management profession is rapidly evolving and offers the opportunity for high-paying jobs.

The degree will focus on the policies and infrastructure needs of cities, states and countries.

The approval of the new degree program follows a decision in February to add an emergency management and fire protection concentration to the university’s bachelor of general studies degree.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A lawsuit says a 12-year-old autistic boy suffered mental health problems after he was being repeatedly put in a Lincoln school’s seclusion room, treatment that his parents say they weren’t told about.

The lawsuit didn’t name the parents or the child so the child would be protected from harassment or ridicule.

The parents say the district didn’t follow policies and procedures that require staffers to document each incident of seclusion and notify parents within 24 hours.

Christopher Miller, the parents’ attorney, says records show the boy was put in the “safe room” up to 50 times from fall 2010 until March 2011.

The district’s attorney, John Guthery, said Monday that he hasn’t discussed the lawsuit with the district and can’t comment.

NORDEN, Neb. (AP) — Thousands of acres of north-central Nebraska have been charred by fires that are interfering with canoe and tubing businesses along the scenic Niobrara River.

Firefighters continue to battle the fire Monday.

Access to the Niobrara River has been eliminated downstream of Smith Falls State Park because of the fire, so part of the popular boating area is off limits.

Diane Egelhoff says she and her husband were ordered to leave their Rock Barn Outfitters business on Friday, but they have been back to the site over the weekend to build a fire line and remove their equipment.

Egelhoff says she feels lucky, but she has been praying a lot.

Egelhoff says the fire has approached within a half mile of her family’s land, but hasn’t reached their home or barn.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police are investigating a fatal shooting, but few details were initially released about the incident.

Police said Sunday that the shooting happened in northeast Omaha around 10 p.m. Saturday.

Officers that responded to the shooting near Florence Boulevard and Sprague Street found a 38-year-old woman with a gunshot wound.

Police say Stephanie Mason-Brown was the victim. She lived at the address where the shooting happened.

Mason-Brown was taken to Creighton University Medical Center in critical condition, and then later died at the hospital.