Bus, semi crash in icy Virginia; 20 hurt
More than 20 people were hurt when a charter bus hit an overturned tractor-trailer on Interstate 64 in Virginia after a sudden, isolated snowstorm caught drivers off guard and iced roadways early Sunday, authorities said.
According to Virginia State Police, around 4:37 a.m. EST, a trooper responded to a crash in the eastbound lanes of I-64 at the 100 mile marker in Nelson County at the Augusta County line. That's about 25 miles west of Charlottesville.
Police said a tractor-trailer was traveling east on I-64, when the driver lost control and overturned across the roadway. A charter bus traveling in the eastbound lane was unable to avoid the tractor-trailer and struck it, with the impact of the crash splitting the tractor-trailer in half, police said.
The crash, which involved about seven other vehicles, and icy road conditions forced Virginia State Police to shut down I-64 in each direction for several hours.
Most of the injuries were considered minor with bus passengers suffering scrapes and bruises, but fire crews had to extricate both the driver of the tractor-trailer and the charter bus, who suffered more serious injuries, said Kostas Alibertis, chief of the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad.
State police said heavy fog and icy conditions were to blame from a sudden snowstorm that affected areas around Afton Mountain, which climbs about 1,900 feet above sea level and has been the site of several multicar pileups over the years, Alibertis said.
Candles lit for slain California students
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Thousands of people gathered Sunday at a city park to hold a candlelight vigil to remember two students shot and killed by a classmate at his Southern California high school as investigators try to determine what prompted the deadly attack that left three other teens wounded.
Joann Garcia said she came to the vigil at Central Park shaken but determined to help the community heal from the shooting at Saugus High School.
"It's very hard. We thought that this would never happen here. It has affected everybody," she said. "We are all uniting."
Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean touched on the theme of the vigil in her remarks.
"Tonight and every day we are Saugus strong," she said.
The dead were identified as 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger and 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell. They will be remembered at a 7 p.m. vigil at Santa Clarita's Central Park.
A wounded 14-year-old girl was released from the hospital late Friday. A 15-year-old girl remained hospitalized in good condition. A 14-year-old boy was treated and released Thursday.
Detectives were searching for a motive for the killings carried out by Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow on Thursday, his 16th birthday. The teen pulled a .45-caliber handgun from his backpack and shot five students at random before shooting himself in the head. He died the next day.
Berhow had shown no signs of violence and didn't appear to be linked to any ideology, authorities said.
Slur claimed; school raps fraternities
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A black student at Syracuse University reported being called a racial slur over the weekend, prompting the college to suspend a fraternity Sunday and shut down social activities for all other fraternities for the rest of the semester pending an investigation.
The student told officials the slur came from a group of students, which included members of a fraternity, and visitors on Saturday night. Chancellor Kent Syverud said officials have already "assembled substantial evidence, including security camera video, eyewitness accounts and interviews."
He said even though only one fraternity has been accused of being involved, all fraternity social events would be suspended.
"Given recent history, all fraternities must come together with the university community to reflect upon how to prevent recurrence of such seriously troubling behavior," Syverud said.
Syracuse University is already investigating racially derogatory graffiti, including slurs against black and Asian people, found inside a residence hall's bathroom earlier this month.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force and the Division of Human Rights to investigate the vandalism.
9 people shot at Fresno watch party
FRESNO, Calif. — Police say at least nine people were shot at a party in Fresno in what appears to be a “mass casualty shooting,” local media report.
Fresno police Lt. Bill Dooley said the shooting took place about 6 p.m. Sunday on the city’s southeast side.
Dooley said there was a party in the backyard of a home to watch a football game when the shooting suspects sneaked in and fired into the crowd.
Dooley told the Fresno Bee and the KSEE/KGPE TV stations that at least nine people were shot, with several people being found dead in the backyard.
There’s not an exact number on the people who died.
The TV stations report that others were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in critical condition, and some are in critical but stable condition.
No suspect is in custody.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 11/18/2019