The nation in brief

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly multi-vehicle crash involving a bus that occurred on Interstate 25 north of Bernalillo, N.M on Sunday.
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly multi-vehicle crash involving a bus that occurred on Interstate 25 north of Bernalillo, N.M on Sunday.

N.M. bus crash leaves 3 people dead

BERNALILLO, N.M. -- A crash involving a commercial passenger bus and three other vehicles on a New Mexico highway early Sunday killed three people and injured 24 others, some critically, authorities said.

One of the people killed was in a car that struck a pickup from behind around 2 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 25 just north of Bernalillo, about 18 miles north of Albuquerque, Sandoval County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Keith Elder said.

The bus driver took evasive action to avoid hitting the car and its driver, who was ejected. But the bus driver lost control and the bus rolled onto its right side. It was then sideswiped by a tractor trailer, according to Elder.

Rio Rancho Fire Rescue said emergency crews had to extricate several people who were trapped in the bus using a tool that pries open parts of a vehicle.

At least two of the injured were airlifted from the scene by medical helicopters. Elder said the names of the three dead were being withheld until relatives could be notified.

Sheriff's officials said 35 people were on the bus.

Party leaders back Feinstein's challenger

LOS ANGELES -- Kevin de Leon, a liberal state senator trying to oust U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, staged an insider coup Saturday by winning the endorsement of state Democratic Party leaders.

It's "the strongest signal yet of just how far to the left California's Democratic activists have moved, how emboldened they are by their party's dominance in the state and how much the Trump presidency has polarized our politics," said University of California, San Diego political scientist Thad Kousser.

So far, the state senator's challenge to the more moderate Feinstein has been largely an annoyance for his fellow Democrat, rather than a threat to her winning a fifth, full term. In the June primary, Feinstein trounced de Leon.

With the endorsement from the state party's roughly 360-member executive board, de Leon will benefit from party money, volunteers and organizing help.

But he remains a long shot.

Feinstein is an institution in California politics, while de Leon remains largely unknown. She continues to hold a vast advantage in fundraising.

3 Missouri officers shot; suspect killed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police shot and killed a man Sunday suspected of shooting and wounding three Kansas City police officers, authorities said.

The suspect died Sunday afternoon after barricading himself in a house in the southeast part of the city. He emerged from the home and was killed in an exchange of gunfire, Police Chief Rick Smith told reporters.

All three officers are expected to live.

Police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina said the first two officers were shot during an undercover operation at a motel less than 2 miles from Kauffman Stadium, where the Kansas City Royals baseball team plays. The suspect then fled in a vehicle with another person, who was arrested when officers found the vehicle.

The suspect barricaded himself inside of a home about a mile from the motel. He shot the third officer in the arm during the standoff, Smith said.

The suspect was a person of interest in the fatal shooting of a University of Missouri-Kansas City student during a robbery earlier this month.

Boston shooting kills officer, bystander

BOSTON -- A Massachusetts police officer and bystander died Sunday from wounds suffered when a suspect took the officer's gun and fired after a vehicle crash and a foot chase, authorities said.

Weymouth officer Michael Chesna was shot multiple times by his own firearm around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, and died from the injuries at South Shore Hospital, officials said.

An elderly woman also died after being hit by stray bullets in a nearby home, authorities said.

Weymouth Police Chief Richard Grimes said the shooting suspect, 20-year-old Emanuel Lopes, was in custody.

Police say the suspect crashed a car, fled the scene, and was later discovered by Chesna vandalizing a home. Prosecutors say that's when he attacked Chesna with a rock to the head. Chesna fell to the ground, and officials say, Lopes took the officer's gun and shot Chesna multiple times in the head and chest.

Lopes then fled and fired more shots during a chase. Police say one of those shots fatally struck the woman in her home.

photo

AP/The Boston Herald/MATT STONE

Officers work at the scene where a Weymouth police officer was shot and critically wounded while in a foot chase with a suspect following a vehicle crash on Sunday in Weymouth, Mass.

A Section on 07/16/2018

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