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Authorities battle massive fire in Clinton Township: “Stay inside and out of the vicinity”
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The Clinton Township Police Department is urging residents to avoid the area of Groesbeck Highway and 15 Mile Road Monday night due to a massive fire.
Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said the vacant building, which was possibly the former Goo Smoke Shop, had large butane and nitrous tanks still stored inside which is a possible cause of the fire.
Duncan said one firefighter was hurt in the fire and the building is a “total loss.”
“We can not stress enough the danger that is happening right now. Please, please, please stay inside and out of the vicinity,” police said in a social media post. “Debris is being projected into the air and coming down as far as a mile away from the explosion, so please stay out of the area and stay safe.”
The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, which is assisting police, said evacuations are underway.
Sterling Heights police say its 911 phone lines are down due to the fire. Residents can call their front desk at 586-446-2801.
Courtesy of Rick Osgood
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A teacher and student killed in a shooting earlier this week at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified Wednesday by authorities.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release provided to CBS News that 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara were fatally shot Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School.
Preliminary examinations determined the two died of “homicidal firearm related trauma.” Both were pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner said.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
The medical examiner also confirmed that a preliminary autopsy found that the suspected shooter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow — a student at the same school — was pronounced dead at a local hospital Monday of “firearm related trauma.” Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes had previously told reporters that Rupnow was pronounced dead while being transported to a hospital.
Police had also previously stated that she was believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooting at the private Christian K-12 school was reported just before 11 a.m. Monday. In addition to the two people killed and the shooter, six others were wounded.
Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said, but it was unclear where the gun came from or how many shots were fired. A law enforcement source said the weapon used in the shooting appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
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