Published May 12, 2013
FoxNews.com
DEVELOPING: New Orleans police are searching for three suspects Sunday after at least 12 people were shot during a Mother’s Day parade.
Chief Serpas announced in a press conference that the youngest victim is believed to be a 10-year-old girl. Police say she suffered a graze wound, WVUE Fox 8 reported.
Police say about 300 were attending the traditional jazz band parade when shots were fired.
No other information was immediately available.
WARREN, Ohio – A sport utility vehicle carrying eight teenagers crashed into a guardrail Sunday morning and flipped over into a swampy pond in northeast Ohio, killing five boys and a girl, while two other boys escaped, the state highway patrol said.
Highway Patrol officials say speed was a factor in the violent early morning crash of a sports utility vehicle that killed six teenagers in the northeast Ohio.
The Honda Passport veered off the left side of a road, hit a guardrail and overturned just south of the city of Warren, about 60 miles east of Cleveland, Lt. Anne Ralston said. Investigators say it came to rest upside down in the swamp and sank with five of the victims trapped inside. A sixth who was thrown from the SUV during the crash was found under it when the vehicle was taken out of the water.
The two survivors escaped and ran to a nearby home to call 911, the highway patrol said.
Ralston didn't know where the teens were headed when the crash happened at about 7 a.m. She didn't have any information to release on possible causes or factors in the crash, but the highway patrol planned a news conference for Sunday night.
"All I know is my baby is gone," said Derrick Ray, who came to the crash site after viewing his 15-year-old son Daylan's body at the county morgue. He said he knew that his son, a talented football player who was looking forward to playing in high school, was out with friends, but didn't know their plans.
A pile of blue, green and copper-red stuffed bears grew at a makeshift memorial at the crash site along a two-lane road tightly bordered with guardrails on either side in an industrial area. The sport utility vehicle had sheared off tall cattails along the guardrail.
There were also notes at the memorial, including a letter from Daylan Ray's 12-year-old half-sister, Mariah Bryant, who said she had learned they were related only in the past year.
"It hurts, it really does, because they are so young and, like, they could have had so much more to life," she said. "We just really started getting close, and it's hard to believe he's gone."
Two of the teens, both 15, were brought to a hospital in full cardiac arrest, St. Joseph Health Center nursing supervisor Julie Gill said, and were pronounced dead there. She said they were treated for hypothermic drowning trauma, indicating they had been submerged in cold water.
The two who survived, 18-year-old Brian Henry and 15-year-old Asher Lewis, both of Warren, were treated for bruising and other injuries and released, she said.
All those killed were ages 14 to 19, authorities said. State police identified them as 19-year-old Alexis Cayson; Andrique Bennett, 14; Brandon Murray, 17; and Kirklan Behner, Ramone White and Ray, all 15. The Highway Patrol said Alexis was the only female in the vehicle. It wasn't clear who was driving.
Rickie Bowling, 18, a friend of Behner, sobbed at the crash scene as she recalled his playfulness and reputation as a cut-up.
"He was one of a kind," she said. "Everyone knew him in the neighborhood. In school, he always made everyone laugh."
Bowling said the tragedy highlighted the importance of savoring life. "Basically, enjoy every second in life," she said. "Enjoy life while you've got it and while you're here and enjoy people that you love."
She said she would rely on her faith in the difficult days ahead. "The only way to look at it is on the bright side: he's in a better place," she said.
Jasmine McClintock, 22, a friend of a victim, visited the crash scene and said it should serve as a warning for parents to be aware of their children's activities.
"I hope it's an eye-opener for parents," she said while watching the slow ripple of the pond water littered with debris, some apparently from the crash.
McClintock said she was troubled by the question of what the victims were doing out at that hour, not knowing if they had been out all night or left home early.
"That's the part that boggles my mind. It's like on a Sunday if you're not going to church, what are you doing at 7 a.m. out driving," she asked.
All eight were from Warren. It's not believed that any of them were closely related, the highway patrol said.
Near the Pennsylvania state line, Warren is a mostly blue-collar city that was hit by the decline of U.S. steel mills; it has more than 41,000 residents in the industrial Mahoning Valley region.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A massive fire triggered by a gas explosion engulfed an entire block of an upscale Kansas City shopping district and injured more than a dozen people, a city official said Tuesday evening.
City Manager Troy Schulte said he did not know of anyone being reported missing and had not heard of any fatalities.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, but Schulte said it is believed that an accident involving a utility contractor may have caused the blast.
Fox4KC.com reports that witnesses said the explosion was like an earthquake. The station said there were reports of blown-out windows and minor damage inside apartments near the blast.
Kansas City Fire Chief Paul Berardi said late Tuesday that cadaver dogs were searching the smoldering remains of a restaurant that burned to the ground following the explosion and blaze.
Berardi said the search for possible victims could take hours and that he expected his crews to be at the scene through the night.
While officials have said they have no reports of fatalities, Berardi noted, "I would always fear there are fatalities in a scene like this."
Initially Kansas City police had said the blast had been caused by a car crashing into a gas main. Fire and city officials later said they were not aware of a crash being involved in the blast. Other witnesses noted street signs in the area indicated utility work was being done in the area, and a worker at a restaurant destroyed in the fire said the facility was being renovated at the time.
Mayor Sly James was at the scene after the blast, praising the work of first responders.
"The first thing we need to be concerned about is the people that are injured," James said.
Police Sgt. Tony Sanders said the manager of JJ's restaurant was unable to account for three people, but it was unclear whether they were caught in the blaze or had left earlier. Later on Tuesday evening, Jim Ligon, a JJ's bartender, said they were still waiting to hear from one co-worker, whom he declined to name.
The University of Kansas Hospital was treating six people injured in the blast, said spokesman Bob Hallinan. He said one person was in critical condition, two were in serious condition and two others were expected to be released. He said all of those injuries were traumatic, such as broken bones, rather than burns or smoke inhalation. The final patient there was a burn victim who was transferred from Truman Medical Center, Hallinan said.
Dr. Marc Larsen, medical director of the emergency room at St. Luke's Hospital, which is near the scene of the fire, said they had treated eight people, six of whom were walk-ins with minor injuries. He said two males were in critical condition and would be kept overnight. He said one had extensive burns and another had facial trauma.
A phone message left Tuesday seeking comment from Missouri Gas Energy was not immediately returned.
Ligon, a bartender who has worked at JJ's restaurant for five years, wasn't working Tuesday night but said he started getting texts and calls from co-workers minutes after the explosion.
He said the incident happened during the peak of weekday happy hour, when there is typically anywhere from 15 to 45 people in the bar area as well as three to five tables of diners at the restaurant.
"JJ's has a small staff, a family feel," said Ligon, 45, of Kansas City, Missouri. "You see the same 100 people all the time -- a bar and restaurant for regulars. We're just really hoping we come out of here OK in terms of injuries."
The shopping area was established in 1922 by J.C. Nichols. Based on the architecture of Seville, Spain, it includes retail, restaurants, apartments and offices.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
