Gunman wounds 6 at Houston festival
HOUSTON -- Six people were injured at Houston music festival early Saturday, authorities said.
Several thousand people had gathered at an arena for a Fourth of July party at the Houston Caribbean Festival, which was supposed to run until about 5 a.m., Houston police spokesman Jodi Silva said.
Witnesses told police they saw a man open fire at 1:55 a.m. Saturday on the floor of the arena, hitting four men, Silva said.
Immediately after the shots were heard, people panicked and began to flee, Silva said. Two people were hurt as the crowd rushed to exit, but Silva did not know the extent of their injuries. Silva said the shooting victims were taken to two hospitals, and one man was in critical condition and not expected to survive.
No ages or identities for any of the victims were available immediately.
The Houston Caribbean Festival is an annual event that takes place during the holiday week at different venues in the area. Messages left at the telephone number listed on the organizer's website were not immediately returned.
No one has been arrested.
4 kids die in 10-home Philadelphia fire
PHILADELPHIA -- A fire that raced through a row of two-story homes in southwest Philadelphia early Saturday, killing three 4-year-olds and a baby and engulfing at least 10 houses, may have started in a couch on a porch, officials said.
The blaze began shortly before 3 a.m. and was under control in about an hour, fire officials said. At least eight row homes were completely gutted, leaving behind only charred frames.
Dewen Bowah, 41, told police she was in the home with seven children early Saturday and got three out when the fire broke out. But she couldn't save her 4-year-old twin daughters, Maria and Marialla Bowah, or 1-month-old Taj Jacque and 4-year-old Patrick Sanyeah. The boys' mother wasn't in the home at the time.
Four other people were injured.
A preliminary investigation indicated the blaze started in a couch at one home and spread quickly to other residences.
The Red Cross said 42 people were displaced by the fire.
7 shot at Indianapolis nightlife district
INDIANAPOLIS -- Seven people were shot early Saturday in an Indianapolis neighborhood known for its nightlife, police said.
An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer heard multiple gunshots at 2:23 a.m. Saturday in Broad Ripple, police spokesman Lt. Christopher Bailey said in a news release.
One man is in critical condition at a hospital, Bailey said. Five other men and a woman also were shot, but do not have life-threatening injuries. All of the victims were in their 20s.
"I've been told there were quite a few people out ... on a typical Friday night, bouncing from bar to bar. Someone opens fire in a crowd like that, we're lucky more weren't hurt," Bailey said at a news conference early Saturday.
Police arrested a 23-year-old man on a preliminary charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and questioned him about the shooting. He was not charged in connection with the shooting, Bailey said.
"We don't know who the shooter was yet. Shooter or shooters," Bailey said.
Broad Ripple is a neighborhood about 8 miles north of downtown Indianapolis that's bustling with bars and restaurants, and is a popular spot with college students and other young people. The shooting happened about a half-hour before the bars were to close at 3 a.m.
3 boats crash in Miami waters, killing 4
MIAMI -- Three boats collided near a Miami marina around the end of a fireworks display, killing four and injuring a dozen others in a chaotic scene that left bodies and survivors tossed overboard.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the crash Friday night near the Dinner Key Marina in Miami, with officers plucking several people out of the water. The boaters are thought to have been out celebrating the Fourth of July holiday.
Rescuers were alerted by one of the boaters about 10:45 p.m. He said he'd been hit by another vessel and that his 36-foot pleasure craft was taking on water, authorities said.
"We kept getting report after report of more people in the water," Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll said.
Eight people were initially transported to Miami hospitals. Two of them, a man and a woman, later died. Relatives of a third victim found her body in the water Saturday, and a fourth body was located later by investigators, authorities said.
The victims' names and ages weren't immediately released.
Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 07/06/2014