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Two state terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, who is accused in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive last year, were dismissed on Tuesday, including one that charged him with first-degree murder. The judge overseeing the case, Gregory Carro, said he had found the evidence behind the charges “legally insufficient.” Mr. Mangione, 27, is still charged with second-degree murder. (Meko, 9/16)

It’s a qualified win for Mangione, 27, that still has him facing the possibility of dying in prison if he is convicted, as he also faces separate federal charges in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Tuesday’s ruling nonetheless cuts against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case in the way that Bragg sought to shape it. (Rubin, 9/16)

More on the gun violence epidemic —

Parents of students who survived the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting late last month testified before a panel of state lawmakers on Monday, imploring them to take action on gun control measures in wake of the attack.  It was the first meeting of a Minnesota Senate work group focused on addressing gun violence, which lawmakers established in the days after a gunman opened fire while students and teachers attended Mass to kick off the school year. (Cummings and Leone, 9/15)

Students are returning to class Wednesday at Utah Valley University just days after prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event on campus, thrusting the community into the national spotlight. Nyasha Paradzai, a UVU junior, said he was lined up in front of Kirk, waiting to debate him at the campus event, when he was killed. Since that day, Paradzai said he’s been navigating “countless reminders of the event, countless things that have made me relive that.” “Right now, I’m working to get that horrific image out of my head, because, you know, it’s almost every time you close your eyes, you see it again,” he said. The somber task of returning to a campus that’s been host to deadly gun violence is an all-too-familiar experience for students in America. (Mascarenhas, 9/17)

Minneapolis police have said over a dozen people have been hurt in two separate shootings at homeless encampments across the city on the same day. The first shooting at a transit station wounded five people, and happened in an area that had seen two prior shootings in the past month. Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara rued the shootings as disturbingly commonplace. (Neff, 9/16)