(VICKSBURG, Miss.) — Seven Mexican nationals killed in a Mississippi bus crash over the weekend were identified Monday, including a 16-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother, authorities said.
The names were released to ABC News by Warren County Coroner Doug L. Huskey a day after the National Transportation Safety Board announced that the preliminary investigation showed a tire failure caused the motor coach to run off the road and overturn.
Huskey identified those killed in the crash as 8-year-old Kain Gutierrez and his 16-year-old sister, Perla Gutierrez. Another 16-year-old girl who died was identified as Angelica Palomino, according to Huskey.
Also killed were Miguel Ariaga, 61; Elia Guzman, 63; and Victor Aviles Garcia, 32, and his 30-year-old brother, Moises Aviles Garcia, according to Huskey.
Huskey said that due to a language barrier, Kain Gutierrez was initially identified as 6 years old.
The crash happened early Saturday, east of Vicksburg, and left 37 other people injured, according to the highway patrol.
The 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus, traveling from Atlanta to Dallas, was driving westbound on Interstate 20 when it drove off the road Saturday just before 1 a.m. local time, according to the highway patrol.
Six people were pronounced dead at the scene and one person died at Merit Heath Hospital in Vicksburg, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. The co-driver was not transported to a hospital, authorities said.
The Mexican consulate said in its statement that it has contacted a legal firm to help obtain detailed information about the crash.
(LAS VEGAS) — A former Nevada politician was found guilty Wednesday of killing journalist Jeff German in September 2022.
As the jury’s foreperson read out the verdict, Telles stared downward and shook his head.
Prosecutors said former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles, 47, stabbed the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter to death after German exposed corruption in his office, destroying both his political career and his marriage. German’s story detailed an allegedly hostile work environment in Telles’ office — including bullying, retaliation and an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a staffer — all of which Telles denied.
Telles was arrested days after German was found dead outside his Las Vegas home. Police said DNA evidence found in Telles’ home tied him to the crime scene, and a straw hat and sneakers — which the suspect was seen wearing in surveillance footage — were found cut up in his home. His DNA was also found on German’s hands and fingernails, police said.
He pleaded not guilty to murder and could face life in prison.
In her opening statement, Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly walked through the timeline of the murder and how Telles came to be pinpointed as the suspect.
“In the end, this case isn’t about politics,” Weckerly said. “It’s not about alleged inappropriate relationships. It’s not about who’s a good boss or who’s a good supervisor or favoritism at work — it’s just about murder.”
Telles took the stand in his own trial on Aug. 21, “unequivocally” maintaining his innocence and insisting he was “framed” in a sweeping conspiracy by a real estate company that he said he was investigating for alleged bribery.
“Somebody framed me for this, and I believe that it is Compass Realty, and I believe it’s for the work that I’ve done against them,” Telles told the court.
In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in January, Compass Realty owner Takumba Britt denied Telles’ conspiracy claims, calling him a “desperate man who has been charged with violently murdering a beloved local journalist” who would “do and say anything to escape answering for this charge.”
When police took Telles into custody, he had what they said were non-life-threatening, self-inflicted stab wounds. His defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, said the suicide attempt was not out of guilt, but because Telles’ “life was coming apart.”
Draskovich echoed Telles’ claims of a conspiracy against him, saying in his opening statement the “old guard” in the public administrator’s office had been upset by Telles’ efforts to root out internal corruption. He also claimed that, because of German’s track record of investigating corrupt figures, there were other people who may have wanted him dead.
“There were others that had far more motive to make it look like [Telles] was the killer, and to conduct this killing because Jeff German was a good reporter — he would ultimately get to what the truth was,” Draskovich said.
German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022, with a total of at least 67 journalists killed worldwide that year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo previously described the case against Telles as “unusual,” and said that “the killing of a journalist is particularly troublesome.”
“It is troublesome because it is a journalist. And we expect journalism to be open and transparent and the watchdog for government,” Lombardo said. “And when people take it upon themselves to create harm associated with that profession, I think it’s very important we put all eyes on and address the case appropriately such as we did in this case.”
A new bomb threat prompted officials Sunday at Clark State College in Springfield, Ohio, to close the campus this week and hold classes virtually, the school said.
Clark officials said it received an email of a bomb threat to the Springfield campus on Sunday, a day after it received another emailed threat on Saturday threatening a possible shooting.
“We took immediate action with the Springfield Police Department and they have ensured our campus is secure and safe,” the college said in a statement.
The college said that “out of an abundance of caution,” it will conduct all instruction virtually and close all of its campuses for the week of Sept. 16-20, adding, “We will always prioritize the safety and wellness of our students, employees and community.”
“We understand the anxiety that such incidents can cause and we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and care,” Clark officials said. “As a proactive measure, Springfield Police will also increase their security presence on campus, and we are working with our wellness team and partners to provide additional counseling services.”
Bomb threats made on Saturday targeted three medical facilities, an unspecified fourth facility and Wittenberg University, a small private liberal arts college in Springfield, officials said.
Wittenberg officials canceled all activities scheduled for Sunday due to a threat that “targeted Haitian members of our community,” the university said in an alert on Saturday.
“Wittenberg University is currently taking extreme precautions following an email that threatened a potential shooting on-campus tomorrow,” the university said in a statement on Saturday.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the FBI “is working in coordination with the Springfield Police Department and Wittenberg University to determine the credibility of recent threats, share information, and take appropriate investigative action. We encourage the public to remain vigilant and to report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”
As a result of the threats, local police conducted sweeps of the colleges and medical facilities targeted and cleared them. Some have already reopened, a police official told ABC News.
Springfield Regional Medical Center, Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital and Kettering Health Springfield were listed by authorities as targets.
The Springfield Police Division has beefed up its staffing as it deals with threats stemming from unsubstantiated claims about the Haitian migrant community.
Two elementary schools were evacuated and a middle school was closed on Friday in the wake of a threat sent via email in Springfield, according to the school district and the mayor.
The elementary schools released students to their parents, officials said.
It’s unclear if the person who sent Friday’s threat is the same person who sent the other threats, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told ABC News.
On Thursday morning, bomb threats were sent via email “to multiple agencies and media outlets” in the city, according to the city commission office.
Explosive-detecting K-9s helped police clear multiple facilities listed in the threat, including two elementary schools, City Hall and a few driver’s license bureaus, Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott told reporters. The county court facilities were also cleared “out of an abundance of caution,” she said.
The FBI is working with local police to help identify the source of the threat, Elliott said.
The mayor said there’s a lot of fear in Springfield in the wake of the threats.
“This is a very concerning time for our citizens, and frankly, a lot of people are tired of just, you know, the things that have been spread about our community that are just negative and not true. We need help, not hate,” Rue told ABC News on Friday.
The mayor said he believes these threats are directly connected to the baseless rumors spread online in the wake of viral social media posts claiming Haitian migrants were abducting people’s pets in Springfield in order to eat them. The rumors were amplified by right-wing politicians, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said at Tuesday night’s presidential debate. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield told ABC News these claims are false, and that there have been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes,” the spokesperson said. “Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”
The mayor added, “Your pets are safe in Springfield.”
Springfield estimates there are around 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the county; migrants have been drawn to the region because of the low cost of living and work opportunities, according to the city. The rapid rise in population has strained housing, health care and school resources, according to the city. City officials also said the migrants are in the country legally and that many are recipients of Temporary Protected Status.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance condemned the “baseless and inflammatory” claims about Haitian migrants, arguing they “not only perpetuate harmful stereotypes but also contribute to the dangerous stigmatization of immigrant communities, particularly Black immigrants from the Republic of Haiti.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who dispelled the rumors this week, said the state would send more resources to Springfield.
The mayor stressed, “Anybody on the national stage that takes a microphone, needs to understand what they could do to communities like Springfield with their words. They’re not helping. They’re hurting communities like ours with their words.”
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
(SAN ANTONIO) — The main gate to U.S. Air Force Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland has reopened after an off-base shooting incident early Saturday.
Guards at the gate discharged their weapons in the incident, but there was no active threat to the base and no one from the base sustained any injuries, according to an official.
“The incident involved unidentified members in a sedan shooting at members of JBSA security forces team while performing duties at Chapman Annex Gate,” Air Base Wing Public Affairs said in a statement.
“We can confirm that it was an off-base incident at the JBSA-Chapman Training Annex main gate that prompted a response from our security forces. There was no active threat to the installation. We did not sustain any injuries. We’re working to confirm some other details,” an official told ABC News earlier Saturday.
The San Antonio Police Department is leading the investigation into what officials called an “aggravated assault.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.