The nation in brief

An Arlington, Texas, police vehicle sits outside the Mansfield school district’s Center For The Performing Arts on Wednesday where families were being reunited with their children after a school shooting at Timberview High School in nearby Arlington.
(AP/Tony Gutierrez)
An Arlington, Texas, police vehicle sits outside the Mansfield school district’s Center For The Performing Arts on Wednesday where families were being reunited with their children after a school shooting at Timberview High School in nearby Arlington. (AP/Tony Gutierrez)

Texas school-shooting suspect released

ARLINGTON, Texas — An 18-year-old student accused in a shooting at a Texas high school was released from jail Thursday after posting bond.

Police accuse Timothy George Simpkins of opening fire in a classroom Wednesday at Timberview High School in Arlington. Two people were shot and two others suffered unspecified injuries. He was jailed on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police have said the shooting happened after a fight, but Simpkins’ family said he had been bullied and robbed twice at school.

“The decision he made, taking the gun, we’re not justifying that,” said family spokeswoman Carol Harrison Lafayette, who spoke to reporters outside the Simpkins’ home Wednesday night. “That was not right. But he was trying to protect himself.” Police said a 15-year-old student who was shot remained in critical condition while a 25-year-old teacher who was shot was in good condition Thursday.

Alabama deluge leaves 4 people dead

PELHAM, Ala. — Terrified drivers climbed out of swamped cars and muddy floodwater flowed through neighborhoods after a stalled weather front drenched Alabama for hours, leaving entire communities under water Thursday and killing at least four people.

Dozens of people had to be rescued Wednesday night in central Alabama, where the National Weather Service said as much as 13 inches of rain fell, and a south Alabama town temporarily lost its main grocery store when a creek came through the doors of the Piggly Wiggly. Near the coast, heavy rains caused sewage to bubble out of underground pipes.

Metro Birmingham remained under a flash flood watch much of the day until storms moved into Georgia. Another 3 inches of rain could fall there and in western South Carolina by nightfall, the weather service said, and the Florida panhandle could get doused.

A 4-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman died in separate incidents when floods carried away vehicles in northeast Alabama, said Marshall County Coroner Cody Nugent. Searchers found the bodies of a boyfriend and girlfriend, both 23, inside a car that was swept away by a swollen stream in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover, said Shelby County Coroner Lina Evans.

Some of the worst flooding happened in Pelham, outside Birmingham, where 82 people were rescued from homes and more than 15 were pulled from vehicles after creeks and streams overflowed, the Pelham Fire Department said early Thursday. More than 100 rescuers with 16 boats were involved, the statement said.

Sailors hurt in S. China Sea sub incident

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy attack submarine struck an object while submerged in international waters in the South China Sea, officials said Thursday, injuring a dozen sailors.

In a brief statement providing few details of an incident that happened five days ago, U.S. Pacific Fleet said the USS Connecticut remained in a “safe and stable condition” and was fully operational. The Seawolf-class submarine’s nuclear propulsion plant was not affected, it added.

The statement did not specify the location of the incident, but two Navy officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not announced publicly, said it happened in the South China Sea while the Connecticut was conducting routine operations. The officials said the sub then headed toward port at Guam.

The officials said it was unclear what the sub had struck. One official said it could have been a sunken vessel, a sunken container or other uncharted object.

Two sailors suffered moderate injuries and about nine others had minor injuries like scrapes and bruises, official said. All were treated aboard the sub.

4 states to share data on gun purchases

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The governors of four northeastern states agreed Thursday to share information about firearms purchases to help detect and investigate straw buyers and other gun crimes.

Chief executives in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania signed a 10-page agreement to exchange gun crime data for use only by law enforcement, with provisions governing security and mandated notice if the information is misused or improperly accessed.

The four Democratic governors said the initiative will help target gun networks that cross state lines.

“Firearms trafficking networks frequently engage in criminal activities on an interstate basis, and in order to prevent gun violence in our communities, we must work collaboratively as a region,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.

The states plan to share details they get from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives through “eTrace” reports that show who first bought and sold guns recovered during criminal investigations. The states can also share gun data that predates the Thursday agreement.

The memorandum of understanding expires in five years but will automatically be renewed annually after that unless a state wants to get out.

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