Rock Creek Public School students were back in class Wednesday, and buses are running normally just over 24 hours after several students were injured in a school bus accident on U.S. Highway 70 East of Bokchito. First News reporter Rita Kotey looked at the laws regarding school buses stopped on busy roads.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Nabors has been a police officer for many years, but he says nothing could have prepared him for Tuesday’s bus accident. Nabors says when a call comes in, and it’s a school bus that level of urgency really arises because they know there are children involved.

Many question why the bus was stopped on a major rural highway. We thought to find out what the state law says about stopped buses.

Oklahoma State Law says buses can stop anywhere, but drivers must look for warning lights and a stop sign on the bus. Motorists must stop a safe distance behind the bus.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a city, street, or county road, or a state or a U.S. highway, but if a school bus is stopped with the lights activated, everybody is required to stop. It doesn’t matter where you are,” Nabors says.

But in Tuesday’s crash the students not only had to get off the bus on the highway, they also had to cross the road to get home.

“That’s why there is a law that allows them to stop, and they are allowed to stop. But it is everybody else’s responsibility to obey that stop,” says Nabors.

Nabors says it’s unlikely the law will change because it is a state and federal law, but he says the best way to keep children safe is for adults to follow the rules.

“There is no clear cut solution than for everybody to pay attention when they are around a school bus, especially at 3:15 to 3:20 in the afternoon. The school buses are well marked, uniformly marked and everybody in the state is uniformly in compliance with their laws on what is required by the public.”

Nabors says there is a fine of $100 to pass stopped school buses. In the case of the driver of the semi Tuesday, he has not been issued a citation or charged with any crime, but as OHP continues their investigation, they say if they issue a citation, it will be for driver inattention.

Source: kxii.com

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi could enter today’s Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament without yet another starter.

Coach Robert Robinson said center Myeisha Myles will be a game-time decision when the Islanders meet Texas-Arlington at 6, tonight at Katy’s Merrell Center. Myles was involved in a car accident Tuesday morning.

Myles was heading to meet the team bus and minutes from campus when the wreck occurred. She was given precautionary tests, but everything turned up negative. Myles went to Katy on Tuesday afternoon, but was experiencing soreness in her shoulders and neck.

A&M-Corpus Christi made the tournament’s field of eight as the eighth seed despite losing three starters during the course of the season.

Two people are in the hospital after a car accident and shooting outside city hall in the City of Gonzales. Witnesses tell us it all started as a fight between two feuding families.

Tuesday afternoon, two cars were involved in a car accident outside the city hall. Five people were injured when a fight broke out right after that crash. The fight escalated and witnesses say one man was shot, and another man was hit by a car. They were airlifted to University Hospital and are in critical condition.

News4 WOAI has learned 17-year-old Damien Navarro is one of those who is badly injured. Also injured in the fight was Navarro’s mother and two other men.

Police have 32 year-old Jaime Gloria in custody.

Witnesses tell us that police are searching for 18-year-old Danny Navarro. But Officers confirm they are searching for someone, but won’t confirm that they are looking for Navarro.

People living in Gonzales say the Gloria’s and Navarro’s have been fighting since November resulting in three different shootings including this one.

Source: kcbd.com

Five family members killed in an accident near Shallowater will be laid to rest this week.

Funeral services for Rita Gutierrez, Guadalupe Salinas, 8-year-old Fabian Sanchez, 10-year-old Xavier Sanchez, and 7-year-old Isiac Gutierrez will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the San Jose Catholic Church in Crosbyton. Rosary will be at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night.

Donations to the funeral fund can be made in the Gutierrez family’s name at any City Bank location in Lubbock.

Services for 76-year-old Jean Green will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning at the Main Street Church of Christ in Olton.

Emergency personnel in Bryan Co. responded to an accident involving a semi and a Rock Creek school bus that injured 7 people on U.S. Highway 70 East, 2 miles east of downtown Bokchito at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Six students and the adult bus driver were on board when a semi ran into the the back of the school bus as it was coming to a stop in the east-bound lane of Highway 70.

O.H.P. says that the bus had not yet come to a complete stop when it was hit, however, the flashing red lights as well as the flip-out stop sign had already been activated.

Three students seated in the back of the bus were ejected upon impact. Two of those students were flown from the scene to Parkland Hospital in Dallas by medical helicopter. They are identified as 16-year-old Jennifer Russell and 16-year-old Chase Thompson.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Russell was listed in stable condition, but at that time, Thompson was in surgery suffering from head trauma.

The third ejected student was Chase Thompson’s brother, Briar. He was originally transported to the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma hospital in Durant by ambulance, but was soon thereafter flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night he was listed in stable condition.

Also as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, two of the other students were still under observation at M.C.S.O. after being transported there by ambulance.

The remaining student actually managed to walk to his house from the scene of the accident, and was driven to M.C.S.O. by his mother. He was treated and released shortly thereafter.

Brad McKnight is identified as the driver of the school bus, and according to the O.H.P. he was treated and released by M.C.S.O. as well. McKnight is also the head coach of the Rock Creek boys basketball team.

The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured in the wreck, and was not transported from the scene.

O.H.P. says that the semi, including cargo, weighed approximately 70,000 lbs.

None of the students were in the process of exiting the bus when it was struck, since it had not yet come to a full stop.

Preliminary autopsy results following a fatal weekend accident at Total Petrochemicals Refinery in Port Arthur show a Fort Worth man died of head trauma.
See more in this on-line video report.

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Accident investigators are awaiting preliminary autopsy results following a fatal weekend accident at Total Petrochemicals Refinery in Port Arthur.

Jefferson County Justice Of The Peace VI McGinnis tells KBMT 12 News the victim is Thomas Whittwer, 24, of Ft. Worth. Judge McGinnis says a preliminary autopsy report is expected sometime Tuesday afternoon.

Whittwer was injured Saturday in an accident involving a crane. He passed away Sunday. Whittwere was an employee of McKinney Drilling Company out of Fort Worth. District Manager Dwayne Fry declined to comment but said a statement may be released later in the day.

Attempts to Reach Whittwer’s father Thomas Wilson have not been successful.

Total spokesperson Pat Avery tells KBMT grief counselors arrived at the plant Monday and are on site again today. Avery says investigators with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration were on site Monday and may still be at the plant looking at the circumstances surrounding the accident.

BRYAN COUNTY, Okla. ― Emergency personnel in Bryan Co. responded to an accident involving a semi and a Rock Creek school bus that injured 7 people on U.S. Highway 70 East, 2 miles east of downtown Bokchito at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Six students and the adult bus driver were on board when a semi ran into the the back of the school bus as it was coming to a stop in the east-bound lane of Highway 70.

O.H.P. says that the bus had not yet come to a complete stop when it was hit, however, the flashing red lights as well as the flip-out stop sign had already been activated.

Three students seated in the back of the bus were ejected upon impact. Two of those students were flown from the scene to Parkland Hospital in Dallas by medical helicopter. They are identified as 16-year-old Jennifer Russell and 16-year-old Chase Thompson.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Russell was listed in stable condition, but at that time, Thompson was in surgery suffering from head trauma.

The third ejected student was Chase Thompson’s brother, Briar. He was originally transported to the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma hospital in Durant by ambulance, but was soon thereafter flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night he was listed in stable condition.

Also as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, two of the other students were still under observation at M.C.S.O. after being transported there by ambulance.

The remaining student actually managed to walk to his house from the scene of the accident, and was driven to M.C.S.O. by his mother. He was treated and released shortly thereafter.

Brad McKnight is identified as the driver of the school bus, and according to the O.H.P. he was treated and released by M.C.S.O. as well. McKnight is also the head coach of the Rock Creek boys basketball team.

The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured in the wreck, and was not transported from the scene.

O.H.P. says that the semi, including cargo, weighed approximately 70,000 lbs.

None of the students were in the process of exiting the bus when it was struck, since it had not yet come to a full stop.

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Five family members killed in an accident near Shallowater will be laid to rest this week.

Funeral services for Rita Gutierrez, Guadalupe Salinas, 8-year-old Fabian Sanchez, 10-year-old Xavier Sanchez, and 7-year-old Isiac Gutierrez will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the San Jose Catholic Church in Crosbyton. Rosary will be at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night.

Donations to the funeral fund can be made in the Gutierrez family’s name at any City Bank location in Lubbock.

Services for 76-year-old Jean Green will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning at the Main Street Church of Christ in Olton.

GONZALES, Texas — Two people are in the hospital after a car accident and shooting outside city hall in the City of Gonzales. Witnesses tell us it all started as a fight between two feuding families.

Tuesday afternoon, two cars were involved in a car accident outside the city hall. Five people were injured when a fight broke out right after that crash. The fight escalated and witnesses say one man was shot, and another man was hit by a car. They were airlifted to University Hospital and are in critical condition.

News4 WOAI has learned 17-year-old Damien Navarro is one of those who is badly injured. Also injured in the fight was Navarro’s mother and two other men.

Police have 32 year-old Jaime Gloria in custody.
Witnesses tell News 4 WOAI police are searching for 18-year-old Danny Navarro. (Gonzales Police Department)

Witnesses tell us that police are searching for 18-year-old Danny Navarro. But Officers confirm they are searching for someone, but won’t confirm that they are looking for Navarro.

People living in Gonzales say the Gloria’s and Navarro’s have been fighting since November resulting in three different shootings including this one.

CORPUS CHRISTI — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi could enter today’s Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament without yet another starter.

Coach Robert Robinson said center Myeisha Myles will be a game-time decision when the Islanders meet Texas-Arlington at 6, tonight at Katy’s Merrell Center. Myles was involved in a car accident Tuesday morning.

Myles was heading to meet the team bus and minutes from campus when the wreck occurred. She was given precautionary tests, but everything turned up negative. Myles went to Katy on Tuesday afternoon, but was experiencing soreness in her shoulders and neck.

A&M-Corpus Christi made the tournament’s field of eight as the eighth seed despite losing three starters during the course of the season.

— Lee Goddard