News in brief: 2.23 Issue

UPDATE ON SATURDAY MORNING CAR CRASH 

A vehicle veered off the northbound lanes of Broad Street around 1:40 a.m. Saturday, crashing through a light pole and then a tree before landing upside down on the sidewalk in front of Johnson and Hardwick Residence halls at 2029 N. Broad St. The preliminary investigation will take a few days, Temple Police said.

Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said they do not believe any alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash, and just that the driver “took a sharp turn.”

Becky Cole, a sophomore adult and organizational development major and resident assistant in Johnson and Hardwick said she called 911 after hearing a “big crashing sound” and saw the car overturned on the sidewalk from her dorm room window.

“When I initially got on the phone they transferred me … and the woman said they were just receiving another call about it and that someone was on the way,” Cole said. She added she saw a man standing by the car and shouting, but she did not believe it was the driver.

Temple Police said the driver went to the McDonald’s at 2109 N. Broad St. to get help, where he was met by fire rescue and taken to Temple University Hospital and treated for minor injuries.

-Julie Christie

STUDENT SAVES MAN AFTER HE FELL ON SUBWAY TRACKS 

A Temple student pulled another SEPTA rider off the subway tracks of the Broad Street Line Friday, CBS3 reported.

Rich Montgomery, a 21-year-old marketing major, jumped onto the tracks to help the man in the City Hall station, passing him to other riders on the platform.

A subway train was making its way to the platform but slowed down when Montgomery waved at it to warn there was a person on the tracks, CBS3 reported.

Montgomery told CBS he didn’t think to do anything else other than to help the man, although SEPTA has advised against going onto the tracks to help someone.

Both Montgomery and the man were uninjured, and the man declined medical attention.

-Julie Christie

STEAM TRIGGERS FIRE ALARM IN TEMPLE TOWERS 

Steam from a pipe on the first floor of Temple Towers triggered a fire alarm and resulted in an evacuation of the building Friday afternoon, said Charlie Leone, the executive director of Campus Safety Services.

He added there was no sign of danger and students and staff were allowed back into the building at 12:40 p.m. after the fire department deemed it safe.

“Whenever there’s an alarm we have to evacuate,” Leone said. “Then we go in and investigate to see what the cause was. In this case it wasn’t a big deal.”

-Julie Christie

SEPTA TO EXPAND ROUTE IN NORTH PHILADELPHIA 

A populated SEPTA bus line in North Philadelphia began adding stops on Sunday.

Route 53, which starts at Wayne Avenue and Carpenter Lane in West Mount Airy and ends at Broad Street and Hunting Park Avenue, now continues to G Street and Hunting Park Avenue in Juniata Park.

SEPTA officials said not all trips will add the new destinations, which will include several north-south SEPTA routes.

-Steve Bohnel

SIX DEAD AFTER SHOOTING IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

A 45-year-old Uber driver fatally shot six people and critically injured two in Kalamazoo, Michigan Saturday evening.

MLive.com reported that Jason B. Dalton told police he knew he was “taking people’s lives.”

Police said Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda; Mary Jo Nye, 60, Dorothy Brown, 74, and Barbara Hawthorne, 68, all of Battle Creek, were all fatally shot by Dalton at a Cracker Barrel in Texas Township after 10 p.m., MLive.com reported. The other two killed were 17-year-old Tyler Smith and his father, who were shot at Seelye Automotive on Stadium Drive.

MLive.com reported Dalton was arrested early Sunday and charged with six counts of murder among other offenses.

-Steve Bohnel