In brief: Officer, suspect die in shootout

PHOENIX – A police officer from the Phoenix suburb of Buckeye was killed and a second officer critically wounded Sunday in an early morning shootout that also left a suspect dead.

The off-duty officers were working a private security job at a nightclub when they got into an altercation that ended with a gunbattle, Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Tommy Thompson said.

The wounded officer suffered multiple gunshot wounds. A second suspect also was wounded and was in critical condition at midday Sunday. Police were looking for a third suspect who fled the scene.

The Arizona Republic identified the dead officer as Rolando Tirado and the wounded officer as Christopher Paz. Their ages were not released.

Make-A-Wish trucks crash

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Four trucks in a massive convoy benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation have crashed in a chain reaction on a Pennsylvania highway, injuring several people.

State police say the 149-vehicle convoy stopped for an unknown reason on Sunday afternoon in Tyrone Township in Adams County. They say a Snyder’s of Hanover bakery delivery vehicle hit the back of a box truck, triggering the chain reaction crash. The box truck rear-ended a 10-wheel vehicle, which rear-ended another vehicle.

Harrisburg-based state police say occupants of the delivery vehicle were thrown through the front windshield onto the highway and were run over. They say at least one was trapped underneath the vehicle and was rescued by firefighters.

Five people were injured in the Route 15 crash, some seriously.

Rubio rules out 2012 GOP ticket

WASHINGTON – First-term GOP Sen. Marco Rubio says he won’t be on the Republican presidential ticket in 2012 under any circumstances.

The tea party favorite dismissed talk that he could be persuaded to be a running mate for the Republican nominee or even the GOP’s nominee at the top of the ticket.

Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he thinks as a senator, he can have an impact on government spending and other issues important to Floridians.

Rubio’s name has surfaced as a potential running mate in part because he might attract Latino voters to the GOP ticket. But Rubio said he doesn’t want to be vice president.

Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, was elected to the Senate last fall. He turns 40 this month.