Nation briefs

7 shot at spring break house party

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Seven people were injured, some critically, during an early-morning spray of gunfire Saturday at a spring break party on the Florida Panhandle, police said. An Alabama man was apprehended. Multiple 911 calls flooded in just before 1 a.m., reporting the shootings at the house party in Panama City Beach, and deputies found a sprawling crime scene with victims inside the home, outside and across the street from it and in the street's median, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said. Officers set up a perimeter and found a suspect matching witnesses' description. David Jamichael Daniels, 22, of Mobile, Alabama, was charged with seven counts of attempted murder and jailed awaiting a first court appearance.

21 hurt when train hits car, derails

LOS ANGELES -- A commuter train slammed into a car at a crossing in front of the University of Southern California on Saturday, seriously injuring the driver and the train's operator. Nineteen passengers on the train suffered lesser injuries. The train was heading east toward downtown shortly before 11 a.m. when authorities said it appeared the car's driver didn't see it and tried to make a left turn across the tracks from a major thoroughfare. The first two of the train's four cars slightly derailed, but they remained upright. "We had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate the driver, and we transported him to a local hospital. He was in extremely critical condition," fire Capt. Daniel Curry said at the scene. The train's operator was also badly hurt. Neither his name nor that of the car's driver were immediately available.

Search dims after NYC building blast

NEW YORK -- Searching with hands and dogs through scoops of rubble from three apartment buildings leveled in an apparent gas explosion, emergency workers painstakingly looked for signs of two missing people Saturday, though authorities acknowledged chances were slim. Meanwhile, investigators worked to piece together exactly what caused the blast that injured 22 people in Manhattan's East Village. Officials estimated it could take a week of 24-hour-a-day work to sift through the heap of loose brick, wood and debris.

Senate Minority Leader to retire

LAS VEGAS -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's decision to retire next year leaves no clear successor in his home state of Nevada. Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval appears reluctant to change jobs. And the pending loss of Reid's clout in Washington is causing anxiety over who might replace him. Sandoval is likely to face pressure from national Republicans to pick up where Reid leaves off on Capitol Hill. Sandoval didn't deliver an unequivocal "no" Friday but he made clear the 2016 contest wasn't on his agenda. Beyond the governor, the race would be wide open. Reid blessed former Nevada attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto, and Rep. Dina Titus, another Democrat, said she would consider a bid. Republican possibilities are Rep. Joe Heck, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt and former lieutenant governor Brian Krolicki.

-- Associated Press