Two killed when driver falls asleep, hits bus stop
A driver apparently fell asleep before his car plowed into a bus stop Sunday, killing two people and injuring four others, authorities said.
The six were at the bus stop in South Los Angeles when the vehicle struck them, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman D’Lisa Davies.
One woman, believed to be in her 20s, was killed, Davies said. She was selling flowers and gifts along with another woman, who was pinned by the car against a wrought-iron fence. A 20-year-old man suffered severe head wounds and died later at a hospital.
The condition of the 21-year-old driver was not immediately known. He was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, police said.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.
Elementary school staff stage mock shooting
Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.
The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.
Some parents said they were upset by the staff’s poor judgment in light of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech.
RICHMOND, Va.
Group protesting lawsuits with gun giveaway
A gun rights organization is planning to hold a “gun giveaway” this week inside a Fairfax County, Va., government building to protest New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s efforts to crack down on illegal gun sales in Virginia.
On Thursday, the Virginia Citizens Defense League will hold a drawing for a semiautomatic pistol, a hunting rifle and ammunition to raise money for two gun shops that Bloomberg has filed suit against.
And because it’s Virginia, many people at the “Bloomberg Gun Giveaway” will probably be armed. League members routinely lobby the Virginia General Assembly with guns on their hips.
Under Virginia law, a person 21 or older can obtain a permit for carrying a concealed handgun. No permit is needed if someone 18 or older wants to carry a gun in plain sight.
The legal challenges that prompted the call to arms stem from Bloomberg’s effort to prove that Virginia is a major contributor to violent crime in New York.