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JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A gunman who killed a rookie officer responding to a report of an armed robbery at a drugstore early Sunday never tried to rob the store and instead lay in wait for police, telling a witness to watch the news because he was "going to be famous," authorities said.

Lawrence Campbell shot Officer Melvin Santiago in the head shortly after he and his partner arrived at the 24-hour Walgreens at around 4 a.m., Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said. Other officers returned fire at Campbell, killing him.

Campbell, 27, of Jersey City, was one of three suspects wanted by police for a prior homicide, Fulop said.

Fulop said Campbell was carrying a knife when he walked into Walgreens and asked for directions to the greeting card aisle. He assaulted an armed security guard at the store and snatched his gun, Fulop said.

According to Fulop, Campbell approached a witness and apologized for his conduct, then said to watch the news later because he was "going to be famous," then waited for officers to arrive and shot Santiago with what police believe was the guard's weapon.

"Today was a horrible day for Jersey City," Fulop said.

Dozens of officers stood single file at the entrance of the hospital and saluted as Santiago's flag-draped body was carried into an ambulance. A handful of younger officers consoled one another as they walked away. Santiago, 23, graduated from the police academy in December.

Fulop was there when Santiago's body arrived at the hospital. As Santiago's mother identified the body, Fulop said, she "just keep repeating the badge number and saying that it's not possible."

Santiago is the first Jersey City officer killed in the line of duty since Detective Marc DiNardo died in July 2009 during a raid on an apartment while searching for suspects in a robbery.

"It is a tragic situation when any officer is killed in the line of duty," Fulop said. "Melvin was an officer who represented everything one would want to see in a police officer. I know the entire city's thoughts and prayers are with the Santiago family during this difficult time and we mourn together."

Jean Belviso, who has been delivering newspapers for 10 years, was driving through the Walgreens parking lot when she said saw a man wearing burgundy sweatpants and a baseball cap walk out of the store. A police cruiser pulled up in front of Walgreens, and the suspect began shooting, the 61-year-old Belviso said.

"We thought he was running, coming toward us," said Belviso, who was riding along with a friend. "He kept on shooting."

Bullets flew through the cruiser's windshield, 13 in all. The suspect was shot multiple times, and officers slapped handcuffs on him, Belviso said.

Campbell's body remained on the ground next to the bullet-riddled cruiser for more than five hours after the shooting before it was placed in a coroner's van and taken away.

Markeisha Marshall, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said the company was "deeply regretful" over the officer's death and extended its sympathies to his family and friends. The store has round-the-clock armed security, Marshall noted.

Police are also searching for another man who they believe was involved in the previous homicide with Campbell, Fulop said. They have been aggressively seeking Daniel Wilson for the last three days, Fulop said.

The Jersey City Police Benevolent Association said in a statement that their hearts were heavy over Santiago's death.

"Patrolman Santiago knew the risks associated with this job, yet he put himself in front of danger in order to keep Jersey City safe," the association said. "Words cannot adequately express our feelings about this senseless tragedy."

The officer's stepfather, Alex McBride, said Santiago was "very proud" to be a police officer, following in the footsteps of his uncle. McBride said he had been in Santiago's life for 14 years, noting that his stepson had wanted to be a police officer since playing the "Call of Duty" video game.

"Melvin was the best kid," he said, choking up as he sat hunched over on a plastic crate in an alley outside the family's apartment. "I watched him graduate from high school. He joined every sport, everything. He never did no harm to nobody. And he was full of life."

Gary Nahrwold, 24, recalled his friend Santiago first saying a decade ago that he wanted to become a police officer. Nahrwold also hopes to join the force and said he won't be discouraged by Santiago's slaying.

"It just gives me more purpose to do it," he said. "I'm not going to be deterred by some senseless crimes."

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Associated Press writers Julio Cortez in Jersey City and Ashley Thomas in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sitting in the Minnesota Twins locker room Sunday surrounded by many of the most promising minor leaguers, Christian Binford remembered back five years ago, when he was a 10th grader pitching for the Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania.

Up to the plate walked some stud on the other team who was good enough to attract 10-20 scouts.

"I'm going to try to one-up this guy," Binford recalled thinking. "I had terrible mechanics. I was just trying to throw as hard as I could, and I didn't know any better. I was having a great game up until that one pitch."

That pitch altered his life.

"It popped. I could hear it," he said. "I had no idea what the sound was at the time. I thought I just pulled a muscle. I took three days off and tried to throw, and I couldn't make it to 90 feet. The ball just didn't go anywhere. So I had an MRI, and it was completely torn."

Just 16 at the time, Binford joined the list of Tommy John surgery alumni.

Elbow ligament-replacement surgery isn't just for big leaguers these days. More than two dozen major leaguers have had the elbow ligament replacement operation in the last year, a group that includes Miami's Jose Fernandez, the New York Mets' Matt Harvey and Tampa Bay's Matt Moore. New York Yankees star Masahiro Tanaka has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and may need the procedure.

At least three players at the All-Star Futures game already had the surgery: Binford, a Double-A right-hander in the Kanas City Royals organization, was joined by Lucas Giolito, a Class A righty with the Washington Nationals who was the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, and Steven Moya, a Double-A outfielder with the Detroit Tigers.

"Sad to say," Giolito explained, "it's kind of become a kind of routine deal for pitchers — hopefully not all of them."

Several top orthopedists met last week in Seattle to come up with a recommendations for how Major League Baseball should proceed, among them Dr. James Andrews, New York Yankees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad, Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, an orthopedist based in Santa Monica, California, who was tasked by MLB to head the project. The doctors developed a series of bullet points and consensus statements that were forwarded to baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who plans an announcement later this month.

Binford, throwing consistently in the low 90s during a 1-2-3 inning in the Futures game, still remembers the warm reception he received at Andrews' office in Birmingham, Alabama.

"It was awesome, absolutely awesome," he said, "going down there and seeing Roger Clemens' jersey in our waiting room. He treated me like I was a big leaguer — he treated me with the same respect."

Giolito, who turns 20 on Monday, was 9-1 with a 1.00 ERA two years ago as a senior at Harvard Westlake in California, and was projected to be a high first-round draft pick before straining an elbow ligament. Before the draft, he was known for his Hollywood family: An uncle, Mark Frost, was a co-creator of the television show "Twin Peaks;" his mother, Lindsay Frost, appeared on "Boston Legal," "Crossing Jordan," "Lost" and "Frasier;" his grandfather, Warren Frost, was Mr. Ross on "Seinfeld."

Washington decided that even with the injury, Giolito had enough potential to justify using a first-round pick for him. When his elbow didn't get better, Giolito had surgery performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum that Sept. 13. He's back throwing 90 mph-plus, and gave up a two-run homer on an offspeed pitch to Chicago White Sox prospect Javier Baez in the fifth inning.

Giolito attributes his injury to "a brutal combination of me throwing too hard with my body not developed enough" and sees a need for change.

Many in baseball were shocked when Dylan Fosnacht, a high school pitcher for Rochester in Washington state, was allowed to throw 194 pitches during a tournament game in May.

"I hope that it starts to open the eyes of amateur coaches, even travel ball coaches for 11-, 12-year-old kids," Giolito said. "You see things like 10-year-old travel ball kids playing hundreds, thousands of innings a year, just nonstop baseball. I don't think that's good."

With snapped ligaments repeatedly in the news, those who haven't needed the surgery hope they'll remain healthy.

"I don't know what you're going to do, unless you're just not going to throw, which isn't ever going to happen," said Alex Meyer, a Minnesota Twins prospect who reached 97 mph in a four-pitch inning. "You don't really want to go out there thinking about anything like that. You just go out there and worry about getting guys out."

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AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.

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