Updated at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday: The youngest victim had a twin at the school. The oldest was the school psychologist. Another was the child of a jazz saxophonist. Among the 28 who died in the shooting in Newtown, Conn., were six teachers -- all women -- and 20 children, ages 6 and 7.

The two others who died were the gunman and his mother.   

Of the children, eight were boys and 12 were girls.

ADULTS

Dawn Hochsprung, 47, Sandy Hook Elementary principal
When shots rang out Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Hochsprung ran from a room where she was meeting with a parent and other staff members, school occupational therapist Diane Day told the Wall Street Journal.

She never returned.

Hochsprung, 47, has been described as fun and lighthearted, someone who maintained an active Twitter feed that noted successes and various events at school.

“Sandy Hook hosted district admins for instructional rounds today,” she tweeted on Nov. 29. “Amazing visit showcased deep learning!” 

Last week, she tweeted an image of fourth-grade students rehearsing for their winter concert. Days before that, an image of kindergartners exchanging play money at their makeshift grocery store.

“She was not the kind of principal I remembered as a kid,” Diane Licata, the mother of a first- and second-grader at Sandy Hook, told The New York Times. “She really reached out to the students and made them feel comfortable with her.”

She received her bachelor's degree in special education from Central Connecticut State University and her master's degree in education from Southern Connecticut State University. She was currently enrolled at Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., pursuing her Ph.D.

Hoschsprung was married with a high-school age son, according to the Wall Street Journal.

She viewed her school as a model for safety and learning, telling The Newtown Bee in 2010: “I don’t think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day.”

Officials said she died while lunging along with the school psychologist at the gunman in an attempt to overpower him, The Associated Press reported.

Mary Sherlach, 56, school psychologist
Mary Sherlach had worked at Sandy Hook Elementary since 1994 and was known as a fixture at the school, according to the Connecticut Post.

Associated Press

Mary Sherlach, 56

She was the wife of Bill Sherlach, a financial consultant, and mother to two adult daughters, Maura and Katie. The Sherlaches were looking forward to retirement, which they had planned to spend on Owasco Lake, one of New York's Finger Lakes, Newtown Patch reported.

Eric Schwartz, Sherlach’s son-in-law, told the Connecticut Post that he and his wife immediately drove to Connecticut when they heard on the news that the school psychologist had been killed. 

Officials said Sherlach died while running with the principal toward the shooter. 

Schwartz described his mother-in-law as sharp, opinionated and an avid Miami Dolphins fan. She had planned to leave work early on Friday, he said, but never had the chance. 

As the news trickled out about the shooting, Schwartz told Patch: “It was a really helpless feeling. For about an hour, you try to say, ‘They got it wrong, they got it wrong.’”

"Mary felt like she was doing God's work, working with the children," he told NBCConnecticut.com.

Victoria Soto, 27, first-grade teacher
As the shooter entered Room 10, a first-grade classroom, teacher Vicki Leigh Soto tried to shield her students, her cousin Jim Wiltsie told the Wall Street Journal.

Victoria Soto, 27.

"That is how she was found. Huddled with her children," Wiltsie said.

Soto had taught for five years and was known by students as silly and loving. “She put those children first. That’s all she ever talked about,” a friend, Andrea Crowell, told The Associated Press. “She wanted to do her best for them, to teach them something new every day.” 

Read more at NBC Latino 

On her teacher's bio, Soto wrote: "In my free time I love to spend time with black lab Roxie. I love spending time with my brother, sisters and cousins. I love to spend time reading books on the beach soaking up the sun.  I also love flamingos and the New York Yankees."  

Anne Marie Murphy, 52, special education teacher
Murphy, the sixth of seven children, was described by her 86-year-old father, Hugh McGowan, as “witty” and “hardworking,” according to New York Newsday.

Her mother, Alice McGowan, 86, described her as “a good soul.” She told Newsday that when she got the news, she grabbed her rosary and cried.

Authorities told the couple their daughter helped shield some of her students from the rain of bullets. 

“A first responder said she was a hero,” Murphy's father said. 

"You don't expect your daughter to be murdered. That's sort of a shocker. It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere," he added.

Woody Thompson, a neighbor of the Murphy family in Connecticut, said she and her husband were level-headed parents who allowed their four children to play one sport per season.

“They didn’t buy into some of the craziness and the hype of big-time organized youth sports,” Thompson told NBC News.  

Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau, 30, permanent substitute teacher
Rousseau was having "the best year of her life," her mother, Teresa Rousseau said, according to The Danbury News-Times, where she is a copyeditor.

AP

Lauren Rousseau

Lauren had a boyfriend, Tony Lusardi III, the News-Times reported. After years of substitute teaching, she landed a permanent substitute teaching position at Sandy Hook. 

She grew up in Danbury and lived with her mother and her mother’s partner.

On Friday night, Rousseau had planned to see a movie, "The Hobbit," according to the News-Times. In preparation, she had made cupcakes with pictures of the actors in the movie topping each one. 

“Lauren wanted to be a teacher from before she even went to kindergarten,” her mother said. “We will miss her terribly and will take comfort knowing that she had achieved that dream.” 

Nancy Lanza, 52, mother of gunman
Investigators believe that Adam Lanza shot his mother at her home near Sandy Hook Elementary before driving to the school and killing 26 others, then himself.

Nancy Lanza was social and generous, friends and neighbors told The New York Times. A friend told NBC News that she was a gun enthusiast.

“She had a pretty extensive gun collection,” Dan Holmes said. “She was a collector, she was pretty proud of that. She always mentioned that she really loved the act of shooting.”

He said that she took her sons to the shooting range to practice their marksmanship.

In 2008, her husband Peter John Lanza filed for divorce, court records show. He lives in Stamford, Conn., and is a tax director at General Electric. 

Rachel D'Avino was 29.

Rachel was born in Waterbury, Conn., to parents Mary D’Avinio of Bethlehem, Conn., and Ralph D’Avino of Waterbury, Conn. She was a 2001 graduate of Nonnewaug High School and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford and her master’s degree from Post University. She was working toward her doctorate degree from the University of St. Joseph in Hartford, Conn.

A behavioral therapist who worked with special-needs kids, Rachel was one of two teacher’s aides who died at Sandy Hook. She joined the staff at Sandy Hook only about a week before the shooting, the Stamford Advocate reported.

She loved animals, cooking, baking, photography and karate, her family said, adding that she was an adoring big sister who cherished her two younger siblings like they were her own children.

“Her presence and tremendous smile brightened any room she entered,” Rachel’s obituary said. “Her maternal nature, understanding and sense of patience with the learning disabled were truly gifts she possessed. Ultimately, it is these gifts that would have given Rachel a level of understanding and forgiveness during this time of crisis that many others wouldn’t have.”

Rachel’s aunt, Christine Carmody, who lives in Florida, said that D’Avino’s boyfriend had asked her parents for her hand in marriage and planned to propose on Christmas Eve this year, Carmody told her pastor before flying to Connecticut, MyFoxTampaBay.com reported. 

CHILDREN

Charlotte Bacon was 6.

Charlotte, who had long curly red hair, had begged her mother for a new outfit, her uncle told  Newsday. Her mother relented on Friday and allowed her to wear the outfit: a pink dress and boots.

Charlotte Bacon, 6.

Charlotte’s older brother, Guy, was also in the school but was not shot, The Associated Press reported. Her parents, JoAnn and Joel, had lived in Newtown for four or five years, her uncle, John Hagen, of Nisswa, Minn., told Newsday.

Charlotte’s family issued a statement: “The family will forever remember her beautiful smile, her energy for life and the unique way she expressed her individuality, usually with the color pink.”  

Having never met an animal she didn’t love, her parents said, Charlotte had wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 2.

The statement continued: “She also enjoyed practicing Taekwondo weekly with her Dad and brother where she relished kicking and throwing punches!” 

Daniel Barden was 7. 

He was the youngest son of a caring mother and father, who always tried to keep their children active, taking Daniel to swim practice and other activities, according to friends and neighbors, the Washington Post reported.

In his obituary, his family said Daniel loved “riding waves at the beach, playing the drums in a band with his brother, James, and sister, Natalie, foosball, reading, and making s’mores around the bonfire with his cousins at Papa’s house.”

Daniel earned his missing two front teeth and ripped jeans, the family said in a statement.

He was on the Newtown soccer team and the Newtown Torpedoes swim team.

“This is a warm, loving family,” said a co-worker of Daniel’s mother, Jackie Barden. “The kids were the type of kids parents want their children to be around: warm and wonderful and caring and kind. This is heartbreaking.” 

Olivia Engel was 6.

Tim Nosezo / AP

Olivia Engel, 6.

Olivia was outgoing and had “a great sense of humor,” said her cousin, John Engel III of New Canaan. The sister of 3-year-old brother Brayden, Olivia was a Girl Scout, a tennis player and excelled at math and reading.

"She had a huge sense of humor, this was not a shy child," Engel said on TODAY. "This was a child who would light up the room with her smile and her sense of humor." 

On Friday, Olivia was excited to go to school and then return home to make a gingerbread house, a friend of the girl’s family, Dan Merton, told the Associated Press. “Her only crime is being a wiggly, smiley 6-year-old,” he said.

Olivia, who was learning the rosary, always led grace before the family dinner.

"She was supposed to be an angel" in the nativity play Saturday night at Newtown's St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, said Msgr. Robert Weiss, according to Reuters. "Now she's an angel up in heaven."

Josephine Gay was 7.

Josephine -- known as Joey -- turned 7 three days before Friday's shooting. She wore round glasses and loved the color purple, which her parents asked that those attending her funeral to wear at her funeral on Friday, Dec. 21. During the summer, she set up a lemonade stand in her family’s subdivision, where she liked to ride her bike.

Her obituary celebrates "her beautiful smile, loving heart and playful spirit.

"She lived seven years, inspiring friends and family," her family wrote. 

Ana Marquez-Greene was 6.

She was the daughter of American jazz saxophonist Jimmy Greene, and the granddaughter of Jorge Marquez, the mayor of Maunabo, Puerto Rico. She was close with her brother, 9-year-old Isaias, who was also at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday.

El Nuevo Dia

Ana Marquez-Greene

Jimmy Green named a song from his 2009 disc for his daughter, Ana Grace, the Ottawa Citizen noted. The family had recently moved to Newtown, Conn., from Winnipeg, Canada, where Greene was a faculty member at the University of Manitoba’s school of music.

"In her short life, Ana strengthened us with her loving, generous joyful spirit," the family said in a statement. "She often left sweet notes that read, 'I love you Mom and Dad,' under our bedroom pillow -- not on special occasions, but, rather, on ordinary days."

In a statement posted by the Citizen, Greene thanked friends for their prayers and words of support: “As we work through this nightmare, we’re reminded how much we’re loved and supported on this earth and by our Father in heaven. As much as she’s needed here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I love you sweetie girl.”

Read more at NBC Latino

Ana’s grandmother Elba Iris Marquez told Nuevo Dia: “I want to believe this is not really happening to me.” The newspaper said she was drowned in grief.

Dylan Hockley was 6.

He was born in Winchester, England, to his British father, Ian Thomas, and American mother, Nicole Marie (Moretti) of Sandy Hook. The family moved to Connecticut from England two years ago.

His grandmother, Teresa Moretti of Cranston, R.I., told the Boston Herald that Dylan loved garlic bread, bouncing on his trampoline and playing Wii.

“Dylan had dimples and blue eyes,” Moretti told the Herald as she fought back tears. “He had the most mischievous little grin. To know him was to love him.”

Dylan’s parents had lived in England for 18 years before moving to a house on the same street as Nancy Lanza in January, according to the Telegraph. Dylan’s 8-year-old brother, Jake, who also attended Sandy Hook Elementary, survived the shooting.

"We take great comfort in knowing that Dylan was not alone when he died, but was wrapped in the arms of his amazing aide, Anne Marie Murphy," said his family in a statement, NBCConnecticut.com reported on Monday evening. "Dylan loved Mrs. Murphy so much and pointed at her picture on our refrigerator every day."

Madeleine F. Hsu was 6.

Madeleine was shy and quiet but lit up around dogs, neighbor Karen Dryer told NBCConnecticut.com.

"She would come off the bus and her face would light up when she saw the dog," said Dryer who has a golden retriever.

After getting off the bus she would hug her mom and little sister.

"She was just an absolute doll. She seemed very shy, but she was just so sweet," said Dryer.

Catherine V. Hubbard was 6. 

Her family says that she will be remembered for her passion for animals and constant smile.

“We are greatly saddened by the loss of our beautiful daughter, Catherine Violet, and our thoughts and prayers are with the other families who have been affected by this tragedy. We ask that you continue to pray for us and the other families who have experienced loss in this tragedy,” said her parents, Jennifer and Matthew Hubbard, in a statement that also expressed gratitude to emergency responders and the community.

Chase Kowalski was 7.

Chase was “a fun-loving, energetic boy that had a true love of life,” whose “heart was only filled with love for all the people he touched,” his family said.

Chase completed his first triathlon at the age of 6 and ran in many community road races, his obituary said.

Kevin Grimes, a neighbor whose five children all previously attended Sandy Hook, told the Associated Press that Chase was always outside, playing in the backyard and riding his bicycle. 

Last week he was over and told him about completing in - and winning - his first mini-triathlon.

“You couldn’t think of a better child,” Grimes said.

Another neighbor, Suzanne Baumann, told the Wall Street Journal that he always greeted people. “He was very receptive to people. He was a beautiful child, an amazing child.”

Jesse Lewis was 6.

Jesse liked playing with horses that were kept in a barn next to his house, The Danbury News Times reported.

"I'd be in the yard or in the house and I would hear him laughing, playing," George Arfaras, 81, a neighbor, told the newspaper.

On Friday morning, he had his favorite breakfast sandwich at a local deli – sausage, egg and cheese, NBCConnecticut reported.

Family friend Barbara McSperrin told the Wall Street Journal that Jesse was “a typical 6-year-old little boy, full of life.”

“Jesse was such an incredible light. So bright and full of love. He lived life with vigor and passion … brave and true,” Jesse’s mother wrote in an email to the paper.

James Mattioli was 6.

Fondly called “J” by his family, James was “an energetic, loving friend to all,” his obituary said.

He liked playing baseball, basketball, swimming, arm wrestling and playing games on the iPad.

"He loved to wear shorts and t-shirts in any weather, and grab the gel to spike his hair,” his obituary said. “He would often sing at the top of his lungs and once asked, 'How old do I have to be to sing on a stage?'" 

James loved hamburgers with ketchup, his dad’s egg omelets with bacon and his mom’s French toast, the obituary said.

Annette Sullivan, the owner of Zoar Ridge Stables in Sandy Hook, Conn., told the Connecticut Post that James and his older sister Anna would ride horses at her stables.

“He would ask about the saddles and the brushes,” Sullivan told the Post. “He wanted to know how to take care of the horses. He was a boy that wanted to know how everything worked.”

His parents said in the obituary that he “was a numbers guy, coming up with insights beyond his years to explain the relationship between numbers and unique ways of figuring out the answer when adding and subtracting.”

His parents said James was especially thoughtful and considerate and was “always the first to welcome guests at the back door with a hug and his contagious smile.” 

Grace McDonnell was 7.

Family Photo / AP

Grace McDonnell, 7.

Grace, or Gracie, lived in Newtown with her parents and older brother, 12-year-old Jack. Mary Ann McDonnell, Grace’s grandmother, told the Boston Herald that Grace loved art projects, soccer gymnastics and her King Charles Spaniel, Puddin.

She was surrounded by bags of gifts intended for her granddaughter when she spoke with the Herald.

“They kept saying, ‘They can’t find her. They can’t find her. All day long I was praying she would be OK,” Mary Ann McDonnell recounted.

“A little baby like that – I hope she didn’t suffer.”

Emilie Parker was 6.

Her father, Robbie Parker, described his daughter as loving and creative.

Courtesy Parker family

Emilie Parker, 6.

“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving her love and support to all those victims, because that’s the kind of person she is, not because of any kind of parenting my wife and I could have done but because those are the gifts that were given to her by our heavenly Father,” Parker said.  

Emilie carried around pencils and crayons, and when people were sad, she would draw them a picture or write them a note. Recently, she dropped a card into the casket of her grandfather, who also died tragically, Parker said.

“I’m so blessed to be her dad,” he said.

In a later statement, Robbie Parker wrote: "Remember these beautiful children; keep them close to our hearts. Do not let their bright shining faces become extinguished. Let us do everything in our power to ensure their light will continue to shine brighter and brighter in all we do to remember them."

Courtesy of Pinto family

Jack Pinto, 6.

Jack Pinto was 6.

He was born in Danbury, Conn., to parents Dean and Tricia (Volkmann) Pinto.

Jack’s family said he was an avid participant in flag football, baseball, basketball, wrestling and snow skiing, as well as a big New York Giants fan.

N.Y. Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz honored Jack on Sunday by writing on his cleats "Jack Pinto, My Hero" and "R.I.P. Jack Pinto."

“Jack was an incredibly loving and vivacious young boy, appreciated by all who knew him for his lively and giving spirit and steely determination,” his family said in his obituary. “In life and death, Jack will forever be remembered for the immeasurable joy he brought to all who had the pleasure of knowing him, a joy whose wide reach belied his six short years.” 

Family photo via AP

Noah Pozner

Noah Pozner was 6.

He was the youngest of the victims, having turned 6 last month. He was born in Danbury, Conn., to parents Lenny and Veronique Pozner, who described their son as “the light of our family, a little soul devoid of spite and meanness.” His twin sister, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom at Sandy Hook, survived the shooting. He also had an 8-year-old sister at the school, according to Newsday.

Rabbi Shaul Praver tended to Veronique Pozner in her grief.

“She said that she didn’t know how she was going to go on, and we encouraged her to focus on her other four children that need her and not to try to plan out the rest of her life, just take a deep breath right now,” Praver said, according to forward.com.

Noah’s uncle, Arthur Pozner of Brooklyn, N.Y., told Newsday that Noah was very mature.

“When I was his age, I was not like him,” he said. “Very well brought up. Extremely bright. Extremely bright,” he said. “The reason they moved to that area is because they did not consider any school in New York state on the same level. That’s one of the reasons they moved, for safety and education.”

His funeral and burial was held on Monday.

Caroline Previdi was 6. 

Caroline was born in Danbury, Conn., to parents Jeffrey and Sandy Johnson Previdi.

Her family said she loved to draw, dance, and gymnastics, and her smile brought happiness to everyone she touched.

"Caroline Phoebe Previdi was a blessing from God and brought joy to everyone she touched," her parents, Jeff and Sandy Previdi, said in a statement, NBCConnecticut.com reported. "We know that she is looking down on us from Heaven."

One family friend, who declined to be named, told the Washington Post that Caroline once went by the nickname “Boo” because she looked like the girl character in the movie “Monsters, Inc.”

Another family friend who lives in the Newtown area told the Post that Caroline “was a spunky little girl. She had fire to her.” 

Uncredited / AP

Jessica Rekos, 6.

Jessica Rekos was 6. 

She was born in Danbury, Conn., to Richard and Krista Lehmann Rekos of Sandy Hook.

“She was a creative, beautiful girl who loved playing with her little brothers, Travis and Shane,” her family said in a statement. As the firstborn, her family said, Jessica “started our family, and she was our rock. She had an answer for everything, she didn’t miss a trick, and she outsmarted us every time. We called her our little CEO for the way she carefully thought out and planned everything.”

Jessica loved everything about horses, from reading horse books and drawing horses, to writing stories about horses, her family said in the statement from family friend Jamie Dunbar.

“We cannot imagine our life without her. We are mourning her loss, sharing our beautiful memories we have of her, and trying to help her brother Travis understand why he can’t play with his best friend. We are devastated, and our hearts are with the other families who are grieving as we are.” 

Avielle Richman was 6.

Avielle, or Avie, as she was called, moved to Connecticut with her parents, Jennifer Hensel and Jeremy Richman, in 2011, according to an obituary at the Newtown Bee.

“She was born with a spitfire personality, which continued as she grew into a lover and teller of stories,” the obit said. “She offered her heart to everyone. With an infectious smile and peals of laughter, people were drawn to her beautiful spirit, which will live on in all of our hearts.”

She loved her friends, horseback riding, archery and “participating in super hero adventures,” the obit said.

Benjamin Wheeler was 6.

Ben was born in Manhattan, N.Y. and moved to Newtown with his parents, Francine and David Wheeler, and 9-year-old brother Nate, according to an obituary posted at the Newtown Bee.

“Ben was an irrepressibly bright and spirited boy whose love of fun and excitement at the wonders of life and the world could rarely be contained,” the obituary said. “He was a devoted fan of his older brother, Nate, and the two of them together filled the house with the noise of four children.”

According to the obit, Ben loved The Beatles, lighthouses and the number 7 train to Queens. He told his mother, Francine Wheeler, on Friday morning that he wanted to be an architect and also a paleontologist.

Courtesy of Wyatt family

Allison Wyatt, 6.

"That's what Nate is going to be," he told his mom. "And I want to do everything Nate does."

Allison N. Wyatt was 6.

Allison, daughter of Cheyanne and Ben Wyatt, was a sweet girl and a budding artist who would turn parts of her family’s Newtown home into an art studio, according to a family statement.

“Allison was a kind-hearted little girl who had a lot of love to give, and she formed special bonds with most people who spent any amount of time with her,” her family wrote. “She loved her family and teachers especially, but would often surprise us with random acts of kindness - once even offering her snacks to a complete stranger on a plane.” 

She loved to laugh and was developing a sense of humor beyond being just a silly 6-year-old, her parents said, “coming up with observations that more than once had us crying with laughter.”

A neighbor told the Connecticut Post that Allison would spend the summer outdoors, and that she often saw her gardening with her mother.

“Allison made the world a better place for six, far too short years and we now have to figure out how to move on without her,” her family wrote. “Our world is a lot darker now that she’s gone.  We love and miss her so much.”

Profiles compiled by Isolde Raftery and Andrew Mach of NBC News.

Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET: The remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed from his grave on Tuesday -- eight years after his death at age 75 — as part of an investigation into allegations that he was poisoned, according to official Palestinian radio. 

Arafat's body was uncovered in its grave and samples were removed without having to lift the corpse from the ground. As a result, a planned reburial ceremony with full military honors was called off.

The tomb was resealed in hours and wreaths were placed by Palestinian leaders including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

"The state of the body was exactly what you would expect to find for someone who has been buried for eight years. There was nothing out of the ordinary," Health Minister Hani Abdeen told a news conference.

A Palestinian medical team took samples and gave them to Swiss, French and Russian experts who flew in for the exhumation and who will examine them in their home countries, the officials said. Samples were taken earlier from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings, they said.

Arafat case: 'Proof' still might elude Palestinians

French judges opened a murder inquiry into Arafat's death in August after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of radioactive polonium on his clothing.

Slideshow: Arafat, in images

AP

See key moments and memorable scenes from Yasser Arafat's life.

Launch slideshow

Jordanian doctor Abdullah al Bashir, head of the Palestinian medical committee, said about 20 samples were taken and analysis would take at least three months.

"In order to do these analyses, to check, cross-check and double cross-check, it will take several months and I don't think we'll have anything tangible available before March or April next year," said Darcy Christen, spokesman for Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland that carried out tests on Arafat's clothes.

Rumors of foul play have long surrounded the sudden demise of Arafat, a champion of Palestinian statehood from the time he was 19, and eventually, the democratically elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

Arafat was revered by many Palestinians and Arabs as a freedom fighter and reviled by many Israelis and its allies as a terrorist for his relentless fight for Palestinian self-determination. But he also had enemies and rivals within the Arab and Palestinian political circles.

He died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. The rapid deterioration of his health and death baffled doctors who were trying to treat him in France, and an autopsy was never performed at the request of his widow, Suha.

'A painful necessity'
While the immediate cause of death was a stroke, the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear, leading to persistent speculation in the Arab world that Israel poisoned him. Israel has denied such allegations.

Poisoning as a cause of death gained currency after a Swiss institute said it had found high levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat's clothing, which was supplied by Suha, prompting the French to open a formal murder inquiry.

Polonium was the substance that killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Litvenenko was a Russian ex-spy who later became a relentless critic of the Kremlin.

"It is a painful necessity" to exhume the body of Arafat, said Tawfiq al-Tirawi, who is in charge of the Palestinian committee overseeing the investigation, speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Saturday.

Tirawi said the Palestinians had "evidence which suggests Arafat was assassinated by Israelis," Reuters reported.

The exhumation might not resolve the mystery. Polonium-210 decomposes rapidly, and some experts say it is not clear whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing. 

NBC's Kari Huus, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 7:30 p.m. ET: Investigators are preparing to announce that the death of Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie in Arizona earlier this week was the result of friendly fire -- accidental gunfire from another agent who responded to the same scene, state and federal officials told NBC News on Friday.

The conclusion is based on an analysis of the ballistics, the lack of evidence of other criminals in the area at the time, and other factors, the sources said.

The FBI released a statement later on Friday confirming that preliminary evidence showed friendly fire was to blame in the shootings.

"While it is important to emphasize that the FBI's investigation is actively continuing, there are strong preliminary indications that the death of United States Border Patrol Agent Nicholas J. Ivie and the injury to a second agent was the result of an accidental shooting incident involving only the agents," said James L. Turgal Jr., FBI spokesman, in a statement to NBC News. "At the appropriate time further information will be provided, but while the investigation continues it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time."

The incident involving Ivie and two other agents occurred Tuesday in a rugged area about five miles north of the US-Mexico border near Bisbee, Ariz. The agents had responded to an alarm from a sensor that tracks illegal movement along the border.

Gary M. Williams / AP

Christy Ivie, center, wife of Nicholas Ivie, holds back tears as she is surrounded by her father, Tracy Morris, and mother, DeAnn Morris, left, and her sister, Jan Cloward, and brother, Travis Morris, right, during a news conference on Tuesday.

Ivie was killed. A second agent was wounded and was released from the hospital after undergoing surgery. The third agent was unharmed.

State and federal officials said immediately after the incident that the shootings were committed by armed criminals.  And since then, Mexican authorities have said they arrested two men in Agua Prieta, northern Sonora state, a few miles from where the shooting occurred.

Pete Williams is NBC News' chief justice correspondent.

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Updated at 1:08 p.m. ET: As details emerged from the scene of a shooting at a Sikh temple in southern Wisconsin, Sikhs around the country mourned the loss of their fellow believers, saying they are misunderstood minority.

"We are pretty sure that this is a hate crime because there is so much ignorance and people mistake us either being Taliban, or being part of Bin Laden’s network, or al-Qaida because of our turbans and beards," Rajwa Singh of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in Rockville, Md., told NBCWashington.com. The center held a special prayer Sunday for those killed in Wisconsin.

In New York, Sikhs gathered Sunday evening to mourn and try to make sense of the murderous attack.

"You cannot imagine how we loss, how we suffer," Gurdev Singh Kang, president of the Sikh Cultural Society in Richmond Hill, Queens, told NBCNewYork.com.

Kang said the uncle of the society's chairman was among those killed in Wisconsin, where a gunman opened fire Sunday morning at a temple outside Milwaukee, killing six people and wounding at least three others, including a police officer.

Alleged gunman, 'Jack Boot,' led neo-Nazi punk band

A police officer called to the scene killed the gunman before he could fire on even more worshipers.

The alleged gunman was identified Monday as Wade Michael Page, 40, a military veteran who served in the Army from April 1992 through October 1998. Page is the former leader of a neo-Nazi music group called End Apathy, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Sikhism, which emerged in central India and the Punjab region of India in the 16th century, dubs itself a "progressive religion." The Sikhs stress the oneness of God, emphasize the full equality of women and reject distinctions of creed, race or sex. Community service is also an integral part of Sikhism. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there are about 612,560 adherents in North America.

Male Sikhs grow thick beards and cover their heads with turbans. They are often misunderstood, labeled terrorists or mistaken for Muslims. Harassment against them has grown since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. 

Slideshow: Gunman opens fire at Sikh temple in Wisconsin

Jeffrey Phelps / AP

A gunman opened fire Sunday morning at a Sikh temple outside of Milwaukee, killing six people and wounding at least three others, including a police officer, before being shot to death, authorities said.

Launch slideshow

Shortly after 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas station owner in Mesa, Ariz., was killed apparently because of his turban and his faith by an assailant who associated him with the terrorist attacks.

The Sikh Coalition, a community-based organization tackling discrimination, was founded in New York City on 9/11 as a response to the backlash violence experienced by Sikhs around the country. According to the organization’s website, an elderly Sikh and two teenagers were attacked in Queens that same night in “reprisal” attacks.

In a 2011 report to Congress on school bullying, the organization noted that "roughly half to over three-quarters of Sikh students" are targeted for bullying, harassment, or violence in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.

New Jersey resident Prabhujeet Singh, a software programmer, said several children have called him "Osama," NJ.com reported, and a drunk man confronted him in a grocery store, calling him the same name and growing violent.

Photoblog: Sikhs at the Golden Temple, their holiest shrine

"That turban has tragically marked us as automatically suspect, perpetually foreign and potentially terrorists," Valarie Kaur, a filmmaker who has chronicled attacks on Sikhs in the 2006 documentary "Divided We Fall," told the AP.

"We are experiencing it as a hate crime," she added. "Every Sikh American today is hurting, grieving and afraid."

Authorities said they were investigating the Wisconsin temple assault as an act of domestic terrorism. Sikh leadership condemned the attack, adding that U.S.-based adherents should consider adopting increased security measures at their places of worship, called gurdwaras.

"It is a highly unfortunate incident which has taken place in America leaving six innocent devotees dead. This is a security lapse on the part of U.S. government," Giani Gurbachan Singh, the head priest of Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat, told The Times of India. A delegation was sent to the United States to investigate the attack, he added.

According to The Associated Press, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also a member of the Sikh faith, called the assault a "dastardly attack."

"That this senseless act of violence should be targeted at a place of religious worship is particularly painful," he said in a statement, according to the AP.

New York police said they would be deploying critical response vehicles as a precaution in addition to stepping up patrols at Sikh temples.

"That was miles and miles away," Gursharan Bharth said outside a temple in Flushing, Queens. "For a cop to come here and check on us to make sure we're okay, just kind of shows me that we live in New York and New York is a place where yes people rub shoulders and don't get along all the time, but we stand together still."

NBCWashington.com and NBCNewYork.com contributed to this report.

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Updated at 10 p.m. ET: James Eagan Holmes appeared in court for the first time Monday after he was arrested last week in the deaths of 12 people in a mass shooting at a sold-out movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester ordered Holmes, 24, held without bond, saying there was probable cause to continue the case. He told Holmes he was accused of having killed 12 people and wounded 58 others early Friday in a crowded theater that was showing the premiere of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."

Twenty-one people remained in area hospitals Monday, 10 of them in critical condition. Two were released.

Sylvester set a hearing on formal charges — expected to be multiple counts of first-degree murder — for next Monday at 9:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET). Holmes — wearing a red prison jump suit and accompanied by Tamara Brady, one of his public defenders — said nothing during the hearing. He mostly looked down at the table under a shock of dyed bright red hair and occasionally raised his eyebrows in a quizzical expression.

Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office via KUSA-TV

James Eagan Holmes in his police booking photo.

Relatives of some of the victims leaned forward to catch their first glimpse of Holmes. Some stared at him the entire hearing, including Tom Teves, the father of Alex Teves, who was killed in the shooting. Two women held hands tightly, one shaking her head.

Afterward, Holmes was led away in handcuffs to his cell, where he is being held in isolation, said Carol Chambers, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, which includes Arapahoe County.

Parents stand behind son
Holmes' father, Robert Holmes of Rancho Penasquitos, Calif., flew to Colorado to see James Holmes the day after the shootings. Monday, an attorney for Robert Holmes and his wife, Arlene, said that "their hearts go out to the victims and their families" and that they stood behind their son.

The attorney, Lisa Damiani, a prominent criminal and employment law specialist in San Diego, sought to clear up what she said were misconceptions that Arlene Holmes had said her son was the gunman.

ABC News reported Friday that when it called Arlene Holmes on Friday morning, "she told ABC News her son was likely the alleged culprit, saying, 'You have the right person.'" Many news organizations, including NBC News, referred to ABC's report.

In a statement read by Damiani, Arlene Holmes said the ABC reporter called her at 5:45 a.m. and asked whether she was Arlene Holmes and whether she had a son who lived in Aurora, Colo.

"I answered yes, you have the right person," Holmes said, according to the statement. "I was referring to myself."

Holmes said that she explicitly told the ABC reporter that she couldn't comment "because I did not know if the person he was talking about was my son, and I would need to find out."

Damiani reminded reporters that "it's important that a case of this significance be tried in the courthouse, in the courtroom, and not in the media."

Otherwise, Damiani said, the family has no plans to talk about James Holmes or their relationship.

No 'slam dunk'
The next step in the proceedings comes in a week, when Holmes will be back in court to hear the formal charges against him. After that, the case could wind on for months or even years.

Asked about the seemingly overwhelming evidence that investigators had amassed against Holmes, Chambers cautioned that "there is no such thing as a slam-dunk case."

"We will work very hard on this case just as we would on any other case," she told reporters after the hearing.

"A case like this involves so many different aspects — (prosecutors will) be working with the police, dealing with things such as search warrants, locations, is there enough evidence to proceed," James Peters, a former Arapahoe County prosecutor, told NBC station KUSA of Denver. Peters won the conviction of a man who killed killed four people at an Aurora restaurant in 1993.

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said it could take months simply to determine a motive. He said police were working with FBI behavioral analysts.

Then the state must decide whether to seek the death penalty.

Chambers wouldn't say whether prosecutors intended to pursue that option. A capital case would "impact the victims' families for years, and we would want to get their input on that," she said.

Chambers is term-limited, which means that decision could be made by Chambers' successor, Republican George Brauchler or Democrat Ethan Feldman, one of whom voters will elect in November.

Holmes' defense strategy could delay a resolution even longer. If Holmes were to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, or if his attorneys were to argue that he is incompetent to stand trial, proceedings could stretch for years — perhaps indefinitely.

A defendant is considered incompetent if he's unable to understand the charges against him or to assist in his own defense. Legal proceedings must stop until the defendant is restored to competency.

Scott H. Robinson, a prominent Denver criminal defense attorney, said Holmes' lawyers might have no choice.

If they believe their client is incompetent, they have "an absolute duty to raise competency and [request] a competency evaluation," he said.

Six-year-old girl, sailor, aspiring broadcaster among Colorado shooting victims

Suspect's apartment combed
Holmes told police that he had booby-trapped his apartment, and it took more than 24 hours for them to disarm the explosives he had left behind. They included dozens of softball-sized fireworks charges filled with explosive powder, all of them wired in a circle. In the middle were two jars with a liquid and a small device with a flashing red light.

With technicians now able to move freely about the unit, the investigation has picked up speed.

Shocked Aurora vows, 'We will not forget' victims of theater shooting rampage

Aurora police, assisted by technical experts from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were poring over the physical and documentary evidence. Meanwhile, investigators continued to interview associates of Holmes and at least 80 people who have called in tips.

After having initially warned police about the trap in his apartment, Holmes stopped cooperating and was offering no help, police said.

Chris Hansen, Kate Snow and Mike Taibbi of NBC News and Raquel Villanueva of NBC station KUSA of Denver contributed to this report.

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• Police: Trip wire, bomb disarmed at suspect's apartment
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MALIBU, CALIF. -- On a starry night in the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean north of Los Angeles, a two-man California National Guard special forces surveillance team sets up a sophisticated night scope. Their mission is to search the horizon and the waters below for an increasing number of Mexican drug traffickers offloading multi-ton loads of marijuana--and sometimes illegal immigrants--on remote U.S. beaches.

"These service members are the eyes and ears of federal law enforcement here," said Lt. Kara Siepmann, of the Guard's National Drug program. When asked about what specifically they are looking for, one of the surveillance team members said, "We're looking for blacked out vessels and any suspicious activity we can find, any unusual boats coming through the area." 

Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was captured near Huntington Beach, Calif., in August 2011. The faces of the three men being arrested have been obscured at the request of the HSI.

The soldiers work quietly and in the dark, aware that the Mexican traffickers have their own spotters here watching out for U.S. law enforcement personnel. "They don't want to land where the National Guard or the Border Patrol are looking for them," said Siepmann.

Turning fishing boats into drug boats
In the last few years, law enforcement officials said they have seen a considerable spike in smugglers loading drugs or immigrants onto boats in Mexico's northern Baja Peninsula, then motoring north to offload their illegal cargo along a 300-mile-long stretch of California beaches, sometimes within sight of the many luxury homes on the coastline. 

Courtesy of HSI/ICE

Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was found in California's Ventura County in January 2012.

Related: Debate rages over Mexico 'spillover violence' in U.S.

Federal agents said this is the latest smuggling technique employed by Mexico's notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, headed by that country's most-wanted criminal, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. The boats are small, open-hulled commercial fishing boats called pangas, which are commonly found in the inshore waters of Mexico and Central America. 

With their low profiles, the pangas are hard to spot in open water, but they can carry a large payload. Sometimes these 30- to 40-foot boats will have as many as four outboard engines, allowing them to outrun most vessels used by the authorities.

"The trend is pretty much going straight up," said Lt. Stewart Sibert, the captain of the US Coast Guard Cutter Halibut, which patrols in search of Mexican smugglers near the California coast. 

"The past few months have been very busy for us," he said. "We caught more drugs in these past two months than in the past two years."

According to arrest statistics reported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, there were 183 known "events" in fiscal year 2011 along the California coast involving the maritime smuggling of drugs or immigrants, up considerably from the previous three years. During the first seven months of this fiscal year, there have already been 113 such events as the numbers climb even faster than last year.

"We're seeing four and five tons of drugs come in per run and we're seeing dozens of runs. It's almost one or two per week at this point," said Sibert.

A dangerous trade heading north
Law enforcement officials have argued the rise in maritime smuggling is a direct result of their crackdown on smuggling operations along the U.S. land border with Mexico. As they first interdicted smuggling boats headed for beaches in southernmost California, near San Diego, they began to see the traffickers moving farther north to drop off their loads, which are then distributed across the country.

Related: Patrolling 'smugglers' alley' by air along the Rio Grande

"As we stop them in one area, they’re trying to go around us. We're sort of leapfrogging up the coastline," said Sibert. Recently, an abandoned panga and a hidden marijuana stash were found near San Simeon, Calif., more than 300 miles from the Mexican border.

"They go far out to sea to try to evade interdiction efforts along the border," said Claude Arnold, the special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations. "They typically go 100 miles out or farther due west, and then they come north," to reach the U.S. coastline.

While the panga boats are considered relatively stable when used for fishing in calm inshore waters, officials said, they can be quite dangerous in rougher waters offshore, especially if they are overloaded with drugs or illegal immigrants. The boats rarely have adequate safety equipment and authorities speculate that many may have been lost at sea, along with their passengers.

Courtesy of HSI/ICE

Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was found on California's Leo Carrillo Beach in August 2011.

"It's a direct indication of these criminal smuggling organizations' complete disregard for human life. They are driven by profit and nothing else," said Troy Matthews, of the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego. "You'll have somebody driving the ship who is not necessarily highly-trained. You'll have poorly maintained vehicles that will break down and subsequently they are loitering out at sea for days."

A border security threat
As they find more boats on the beaches and make more arrests, U.S. authorities are learning more about how the smuggling operation work, and the degree to which they are coordinated with land-based trafficking operations.

"We've seen some pangas that run directly up onto the beach and upload their cargo," said Sibert. "And then we've seen some that will come in and transfer their load to recreational boats that look less suspicious and try to run them directly into the marinas and yacht clubs."

Many times the panga boat operators will land at night on remote beaches near roads or a highway where they met by other members of the smuggling group. "There's usually an offloading team that will have a rental boxcar, U-Haul, or something of that nature to take the payload and transport it to a stash house where an organization begins the distribution process," said Arnold. 

A particular concern voiced by many U.S. authorities is the potential national security threat these boats and smugglers represent.  "They're just as willing to smuggle perhaps a weapon of mass destruction as they are a load of narcotics," warned Arnold.  "And they're just as willing to smuggle a terrorist as people coming here to work."  

To coordinate their interdiction efforts, federal, state and local law enforcement officials have formed a coastal-area task force. "As they adapt, we will adapt, and they'll continually try to find new ways to get contraband and people into the country, and we're going to be right there nipping at their heels," said Arnold.

Authorities conceded, however, that so far they are seeing no let-up in the Mexican maritime smuggling trade, and, in fact, are actually seeing bigger drug loads on boats now than in recent years.

"It's a huge challenge," said Matthews, from the U.S. Border Patrol. "It's an immense geographical area that we have to cover. There is not only single agency that can cover it by itself."

The 101-year-old heiress who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to help John Edwards cover up his extramarital affair thought the whole operation was "foolish" but was having a "wonderful time," the middleman in the payments said Friday.

The witness, Bryan Huffman, was an interior designer for Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, the centenarian heiress to the Mellon banking fortune who was a major supporter of Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign.

Through Huffman, Mellon gave Edwards aides $725,000 to help conceal the candidate's fling with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, falsely labeling the checks as furniture purchases made by Huffman.

• Full trial coverage on msnbc.com
• Analysis by Hampton Dellinger

The checks were known inside the campaign as "Bunny money," Huffman testified at Edwards' trial in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, N.C., where he is charged with six felony counts of accepting about $1 million in illegal and unreported campaign donations from Mellon and another wealthy supporter.

"She said that we were awfully foolish with the 'furniture business'" — so called because Mellon wanted to hide the payments from her lawyer, who thought she had already given enough money to Edwards, Huffman said.

"But we were having a wonderful time doing it," he said.

In fact, Mellon didn't mind that Edwards was having an affair, Huffman said. But she was irked at times because "she thought that you should probably pay for your girlfriend yourself."

Eventually, Mellon's outlook turned to loud disapproval when Andrew Young — a top assistant to Edwards and now his chief accuser — asked her for $40 million to $50 million to start a foundation after his presidential bid collapsed in January 2008.

Slideshow: Edwards' public life

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has faced public and private challenges throughout his life and career.

Launch slideshow

"She was rather apoplectic at the size of the request," Huffman said, quoting her as having said, "I cannot believe that the senator wanted me for my money all along."

Edwards called her later and smoothed things over with Mellon by denying he knew how much Young had asked for, which in turn annoyed Young.

"Just call me throw-me-under-the-bus Andrew," Huffman quoted Young as having said.

Mellon isn't expected to testify, but the manager of her estate, Alex Forger, was called to the stand Friday afternoon and testified that when he learned what the "furniture" checks were really for, he was told "that's the way they wanted it."

"The money was for the senator's special need," Forger said.

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Cash-strapped, arson-prone Detroit could let fires in vacant buildings and homes burn themselves out to save the city Fire Department money.

The fiery notion from Detroit’s Executive Fire Commissioner Donald Austin surfaced as the documentary “Burn,” chronicling a year of Motor City firefighters’ camaraderie in the face of declining budgets and increasing fire calls, made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

“We are in no way looking to 'let the city' burn, this is about saving lives and money,” Austin said, according to a report Tuesday by NBC station WDIV in Detroit. “My department is strapped, the budget is strapped, and it’s time to look at a new way of doing things.”

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is looking to trim $250 million and cut more than 2,500 jobs from the city’s 2012-13 budget. The cuts would lower the fire department budget below this fiscal year's $183 million.

Austin's proposal would allow vacant buildings to burn if they're more than 50 percent ablaze — as long as they're not a risk to inhabited structures and the weather is favorable.

Max Ortiz / The Detroit News via AP file

An arson investigator photographs a fire at a Detroit building complex at Sycamore and Grand River on March, 28 2012.

Bing’s office is not taking any position on Austin’s idea until he makes a formal proposal of his annual budget request, the mayor’s spokeswoman, Naomi Patton, told msnbc.com.

Detroit Fire Fighters Association President Daniel McNamara said he opposes Austin's idea of letting vacant homes burn, unless they're on a predetermined demolition list, WDIV reported.

“This is a long overdue idea, really,” Jo Robins Davis, a Detroit-area lawyer specializing in fire insurance claims, told msnbc.com. As long as they can keep the burns controlled, the idea would work for her, she said.

“They’re going to be torn down anyway,” she said of the vacant structures.

Austin has other ideas to save money, WDIV reported: Ask the U.S. Navy's construction division, the Seabees, to level 10,000 vacant and dilapidated homes; or create a demolition unit in the Fire Department to use heavy equipment to level the remnants of newly burned buildings.

Detroit has 80,000 abandoned structures, "Burn" filmmakers Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez say.

Austin said 40 to 60 percent of the fires in Detroit are in vacant structures. Last year alone, the Fire Department fielded 30,000 fire calls. The city of 714,000 sees 30 structure fires a day. In contrast, Los Angeles, a city of nearly 4 million, faces just 11 structure fires a day.

Watch US News crime videos on msnbc.com

To illuminate the obstacles that Detroit firefighters face, filmmakers Putnam and Sanchez documented a year in the life of the men and women tasked with saving their beloved city. The film features video shot by the firefighters with cameras attached to their helmets.

 “On our first two nights filming, we went to 21 structure fires with one engine company,” recalled Putnam, who said that he and Sanchez were inspired by the 2008 death of Detroit firefighter Walter Harris.

Burned on purpose
Arson in Detroit rose in 2010 to 1,082 incidents, up from 636 the year earlier, according to FBI crime statistics. Insurance companies paid $237.8 million for damage caused by arsons or suspicious blazes in 2010, the Detroit News reported.

Why is arson so frequent?

“I think Detroit's a place where people feel disenfranchised and there aren't a lot of ways to express themselves,” Putnam told NBC News. The filmmaker broke the reasons down into categories: arson for profit, homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages, and arson for revenge. Other times it’s just arson for kicks. “Like one of the firefighters says, ‘a gallon of gasoline is cheaper than a movie ticket,’” Putnam said.

Scrappers, who strip vacant buildings of valuable materials, are also a problem. After stripping away all metal piping, they can leave an exposed gas line to catch fire, which is what happened April 10, when fire destroyed two abandoned buildings and damaged the occupied family home of Tiffanie Alston, 31.  

She grabbed her children — 9, 10 and 11 years old — and then headed to the basement to help her 61-year-old father.

"People go in there and scrap all the time, and it was just a matter of time till it got set on fire," she told The Detroit News.

In the 1980s, Detroit was known for Devil’s Night fires, which peaked in 1984 with more than 800 fires over Halloween. In 1985, an Angel’s Night campaign began to counter the arsons. Firefighters responded to only 94 calls Oct. 29-31, 2011, according to the mayor’s office.

'Katrina without the hurricane'
Wide swaths of Detroit consist of scattered occupied homes surrounded by boarded-up structures, burned-out buildings and weed-covered vacant lots, WDIV reported.

The city’s population, which peaked when the post-World War II auto industry boomed in the 1950s at nearly 2 million people, has dwindled. Now Detroit’s population has plummeted to 714,000, the Census reported last year.

As one firefighter in the film put it, “This has been Katrina without the hurricane.”

Now Bing’s planned budget cuts could make firefighters' jobs even tougher. With starting salaries at approximately $30,000 a year, most firefighters already have second jobs.

From their extensive time with the Fire Department, Putnam and Sanchez saw firsthand the real impact the city’s budget problems had on the firefighters. Many of their boots were secured with duct tape, some were missing gloves, and they were still cutting holes in roofs with axes, the filmmakers said.

“I think we think that's all being taken care of, and it's not being taken care of,” said Sanchez. “We need to be there for them because they're always there for us.”

Funding for the film came from corporate sponsors like General Motors and an outpouring of donations from supporters who saw preview clips online. To do their part, Putnam and Sanchez  are donating portion of any proceeds from the film to the Leary Firefighters Foundation to help supply firefighters with equipment.

For Putnam, the story of this one city’s firefighters is symbolic of what the rest of the country’s fire departments may soon be facing, as budget are slashed in almost every state. And Putnam and Sanchez want people to remember that, as heroic as their work may be, firefighters are human after all.

“People tend to think of firefighters as being indestructible,” Putnam said. “They're not indestructible. If you don't give them the equipment they need and you send them into situations they shouldn't be going into, they can get hurt and they can get killed. And it's easy to forget that.”

Follow the film on Facebook here, or on its website, here.

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By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent

TUCSON -- On an isolated ranch 10 miles from the Mexican border in southern Arizona, Tangye Beckham worries about what the night will bring.  That's usually when her family's 100-acre ranch begins to crawl with drug and immigrant traffickers from Mexico heading north into the United States. 

"They're belligerent, they carry weapons," she said. "It's a nightly problem with them being on the property. They've already tried to break in." 

Recently, as she was closing one of her gates in the pre-dawn hours, Beckham found herself surrounded by a group of illegal immigrants and feared being attacked.  By running to her car, she said, she was able to get away, badly shaken. 

All three ranchers scoffed at claims from Washington that crime along the U.S. side of the Mexican border has dropped dramatically and that the area is safer than ever. "They don't know what they're talking about," McCuistion replied.

Beckham, a flight paramedic and firefighter, urged Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to pay a visit to her ranch. 

"I'll show her it's not a secure border," Beckham said.  "I'll have her talk to my kids.  And they can tell her how afraid they are, that they don't wanna go out after dark."

Southwest border among ‘safest areas in the United States,’ Napolitano says

Texas Department of Public Safety

Officers surround a truck loaded with marijuana in South Texas during a drug bust on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Along the Mexican border, an easy way to get into a fierce debate is to ask a simple question:  "How much violence and crime linked to Mexican drug traffickers has spilled over into the United States?" 

As it turns out, the answer varies wildly and depends on who you talk to, especially in a presidential election year when border security and immigration are sensitive topics. The argument is further complicated by the failure of federal and state law enforcement officials to even agree over how to define spillover violence and other related crimes.

"The danger in not having an accurate accounting of spillover violence is that we fail to see that our cities, American cities, are permeated by Mexican drug cartels who are heavily armed, who are criminals involved in multiple different enterprises," said Howard Campbell, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who has studied the drug cartels extensively.

The Obama administration, joined by some local officials and sheriffs, claim that because of a sizeable increase in the federal law enforcement presence along the border, crime there has dropped dramatically and the border is safer than it's ever been. 

“Everything that we are seeing along our nation’s Southwest border point to a much safer border today than it has been over the last 20 years,” said David Aguilar, acting commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “It is not a war zone; it is not a border completely out of control.”

Federal officials cite the FBI Uniform Crime Report, which includes data on murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, when claiming that border-area crime has actually dropped by more than in other cities far from the border.

"This [Obama] administration has deployed unprecedented resources to the Southwest border," said Napolitano during a news conference last month in McAllen, Texas.  "The violent crime in these areas has gone down significantly.  These are among the safest areas in the United States."

The Homeland Security Secretary said the horrific violence from the Mexican drug war, in which it's estimated that as many as 50,000 people have been killed, is a serious security concern for U.S. authorities.  But she insisted that very little of it has spilled over into the United States. 

"That kind of violence we have not seen," Napolitano said.  "While we may not be able to prevent every murder from occurring, I think we can be ahead of, and will be ahead of, any kind of systemic violence." 

Larry W. Smith / EPA, file

A U.S. Border Patrol agent inspects bundles of marijuana recovered after searching the brush along the Rio Grand river, near McAllen, Texas on Feb. 8, 2012. Smugglers brought the drugs across the river in rafts. The nearly two thousand mile United States-Mexico border is the most frequently crossed international border in the world.

During a speech last year in El Paso, President Obama noted the U.S. Border Patrol now has a record 22,000 agents along the Southwest border. "We have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible," he told a cheering crowd.  "We have more boots on the ground on the Southwest border than at any time in our history."

Obama even joked during his speech about Republican critics who call for even tougher security measures along the border.  "Maybe they'll need a moat, maybe they want alligators in the moat.  They'll never be satisfied.  And I understand that, that's politics."

Opposing view: border ‘more dangerous than it’s ever been’

In Cochise County, Ariz., which shares an 84-mile-long border with Mexico, Sheriff Larry Dever was among many border officials who did not laugh at President Obama's joke about moats and alligators.  "I can't tell you how angry it made not only me, but my constituents, to make a mockery of one of the most serious situations we face in our entire lifetime," he said. "I'd say the border is more dangerous than it's ever been."

Dever has lost four friends -- three police officers and a rancher -- to cartel violence, and insists Mexican traffickers crossing into his county are well-armed and much more aggressive now than they were just a few years ago. "We're getting overrun from the south, because the federal government isn't doing its job," he said.

The long-time sheriff argued that the FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics cited by the White House fail to include many of the crimes committed by traffickers, including kidnapping, extortion, public corruption, drug and human smuggling, and trespassing. "I invite them to come down here, come live with us and go camp out at some rancher's house and see what happens at night," he said.   When asked if anyone from Washington had ever agreed to do that, Dever said,   "Heck no, they come for photo ops.”.

Cherry-picking border statistics?

At the Austin headquarters for the Texas Department of Public Safety, director Steve McCraw, a former FBI supervisor and counter-terrorism specialist, studied a chart on the wall filled with red and green dots indicating where drug and money seizures have been made around the state.

"The border's not secure, clearly.  I think by any indication it's not secure," he said.  "We've identified 25 murders that are cartel-related, we've identified 124 kidnappings and extortions that are cartel-related.  We know of 61 instances in which cartel members shot at police officers while they're on the river trying to interdict trucks."

McCraw agreed with Dever that federal officials often use incomplete statistics to defend their arguments about border safety.  "You can't cherry pick your statistics," he said.  "We've got a duty to be very accurate about what's going on now and how we see the current threat."

According to Congressional testimony in 2009 and 2011, the current federal interagency definition of Mexican spillover violence is:  "…deliberate, planned attacks by the cartels on U.S. assets, including civilian, military, or law enforcement officials or physical institutions such as government buildings, consulates or businesses. This definition does not include trafficker on trafficker violence, whether perpetrated in Mexico or the U.S."

Many state officials say trafficker on trafficker violence should not be excluded, because cartel shootouts seen in Texas, Arizona and other states can put civilians in danger and in fear for their lives.  "That's ludicrous," said McCraw.  "Any time there's a murder, an assassination, or the death squads of ‘sicarios’ come over here and try to do a takeover like that, there's always consequences in that neighborhood." 

McCraw, Dever and other regional officials argue that all crimes linked to Mexican traffickers should be gathered to assess the true scope of border threats so that law enforcement needs can more accurately be determined. 

With presidential elections scheduled this year in both the United States and Mexico, the successes and failures of border security efforts have also come under intense scrutiny by the political campaigns.

"I think political assessments of the border have been very slanted, whether it be Democratic or Republican -- Democrats claiming everything is peaceful and quiet, no problem, Republicans arguing that the situation on the border is out of control with spillover violence," said Campbell of the University of Texas at El Paso.

Campbell said even though there have been relatively few homicides in the United States committed by Mexican traffickers, there is definitely a lot of other crime.

"There has been a spillover of crime and drug trafficking culture and a greater amount of violent encounters between Mexican drug traffickers and U.S. Border Patrol agents and other agents of the U.S. government," he said.  "I think claiming the border is safer than ever is absurd."

As for the failure between federal and state officials to agree on how to define the problem, Campbell says it is important to understand the issues in a "scientific, clear way," and to make effective policies based on that.  He also suggested that collecting crime statistics is not the only way to gather this important information.

"I think it would be better to talk to people who actually live on that border that experience this on a day to day basis," he said.