Detective

Johns Hopkins scientists have found a way to screen for hard-to-detect endometrial and ovarian cancers in women using a routine Pap smear, a discovery they hope eventually could reduce the number of deaths caused by the deadly malignancies. The researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center hope the Pap smear, a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and examined under a microscope, can catch the two cancers in early stages and allow for earlier treatment. The Pap test has dramatically improved detection of cervical cancer over the years, curbing deaths by 75 percent among those who are screened.

The Baltimore VA Medical Center said Wednesday it has become the first hospital in Maryland to offer three-dimensional mammograms, a technology it hopes will better detect breast cancer in women. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year, 3-D mammograms give a deeper view of breast tissue than traditional two-dimensional tests. The device allows doctors to examine breast tissue in individual layers rather than in one big mass. The 3-D views enable doctors to detect small lumps that may get lost in layers of tissue and thus allow earlier breast cancer detection, said Dr. Rakhi Goel, director of breast imaging at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

A man in his twenties was shot in the foot in Southeast Baltimore on Sunday afternoon, according to Baltimore Police. Officers responded to the 6200 block of Toone Street in the city's O'Donnell Heights neighborhood about 12:40 p.m. for a report of a shooting and located the wounded man, police said. The man was transported to an area hospital, police said. Southeastern District detectives are investigating the shooting. No further information was immediately available.

Defense attorneys for the man accused of murdering Phylicia Barnes have filed motions claiming to have a witness who saw the teen alive in Cecil County and attacking the credibility of the lead police detective who investigated the case. In a motion filed in Baltimore Circuit Court, defense attorneys for Michael Maurice Johnson say they intend to call an "alibi witness" named Robert Hickman Fields when the case comes to trial in January. Johnson was charged with murder April 25 in the high-profile disappearance of the North Carolina teen.

A man was shot in West Baltimore on Monday evening, not far from Mondawmin Mall, according to city police. Homicide detectives responded to the scene because of the severity of the man's injuries, said Detective Jeremy Silbert, a police spokesman. Officers on a routine patrol of the area about 7:40 p.m. heard gunshots coming from the 1700 block of Gwynn Falls Parkway, in the city's Parkview/Woodbrook neighborhood, and responded, police said. At the location, which is between Mondawmin Mall and Druid Hill Park, they found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound, police said.

He first heard the "wails for help" as he walked out of the police station about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. After jumping in his car, putting down the windows and following the sounds, the detective got closer and heard the sound of "metal hitting an object. " Soon after, Detective Mike Ebaugh of the Prince George's County Police Department allegedly witnessed a man "strike a nearly lifeless man with a shovel to the head," according to police. Ebaugh jumped out of his car, pulled out his handgun and ordered the man to drop the shovel, just as the man was "poised to hit the victim once again," police said.

Baltimore County must pay more than $500,000 in attorney's fees and court costs for a case involving a longtime police detective who won a lawsuit that claimed the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. In an order filed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg directed the county to pay more than $494,000 in attorney fees and nearly $18,000 in court costs. In 2010, the county lost the case to Detective William Blake, who said the county forced him to undergo unnecessary fitness-for-duty and medical exams a decade after he suffered a seizure, even though he had performed his job without incident since the episode.

A broken sewer line in Catonsville that went undetected for three weeks after the storm called Sandy passed through the area poured nearly 1.3 million gallons of raw waste into a tributary of the Patapsco River, Baltimore County officials reported Wednesday. County workers discovered the spill Tuesday on the grounds of Spring Grove Hospital Center after a neighboring resident complained about sewage odors to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which relayed the information, according to David Fidler, spokesman for the county's Department of Public Works.

The suspect in the abduction of Violet R. Ripken from her Aberdeen home stopped at a Middle River Walmart the day after the July incident and may have had a brief encounter with the driver of a dark green minivan, Aberdeen Police Lt. Fred Budnick said Monday. Police are asking the driver of the van, which appears to be a Dodge Caravan with stickers on the driver and passenger side back windows, to contact them with any information. Budnick said the driver is not a suspect but perhaps a witness.

Baltimore police are investigating a shooting that was reported around 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Police said they went to the intersection of Woodbourne Avenue and Loch Raven Boulevard, where they found a man with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. Northeast District detectives are continuing the investigation. andrea.siegel@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts