SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Investigators focus on SUV in train crash that killed three

Investigators Sunday were trying to determine what motivated the driver of a sport utility vehicle to ignore a downed crossing arm and flashing lights and pull into the path of an oncoming commuter train.

Three died after the Saturday afternoon collision south of downtown, including a 21-month-old boy.

One of the four people inside the Nissan Pathfinder remained in the hospital Sunday at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she was being treated for serious injuries.

Authorities were trying to determine the relationships of those involved and were not releasing their names.

In addition to the toddler, the dead included a 25-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man, who was ejected from the Pathfinder when it was hit by the southbound light rail train traveling at 55 mph shortly after 4 p.m. The impact pushed the SUV about 30 yards down the track and flipped it.

Investigators and officials with the Sacramento Regional Transit District said video from cameras mounted on the intersection showed the SUV drive around the crossing arms just before impact.

BOCA RATON, Fla.

Santorum: Daughter Bella recovering from pneumonia

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Sunday that his 3-year-old daughter Bella remains in the hospital with pneumonia but is recovering after a rough 36 hours.

Santorum spoke with Florida supporters by telephone from Bella’s hospital room and said doctors hope she can go home in the next few days.

He also said, “We’re going to get out on the campaign trail later tomorrow … heading out to the Midwest, and start campaigning in the next states as we move this campaign forward.”

Santorum aides did not immediately provide details, but his advisers are looking at upcoming contests in Missouri and Minnesota, as well as Arizona and Colorado.

“I feel very, very good about where we are and where the campaign is going,” the candidate said.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Robbery report leads police to find bodies of five people

Police investigating a possible robbery at a Birmingham home early Sunday instead found five people dead inside, authorities said.

Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams said officers arrived at the house around 3:30 a.m. Sunday after getting a call that a robbery was in progress and soon found the victims.

He told reporters that investigators so far have made no arrests.

The victims’ identities and the causes of death were not immediately released. Birmingham authorities launched a homicide investigation, and police believe more than one person was involved.

MECHANICSVILLE, Va.

Three found dead were man, 3-year-old twins, police say

Authorities Sunday identified bodies found in a suburban Richmond home as a 40-year-old man and his twin 3-year-old daughters.

The bodies of Robert D. King and Caroline and Madison King were found Saturday in the father’s ranch-style home. The girls lived elswehere in Hanover County with their mother.

Police did not release the suspected cause of their deaths. Autopsies were planned.

Hanover Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Whitley called the deaths suspicious but said no suspect is being sought.

“Investigators continue to work with the families affected by this tragedy, as well as (to) evaluate all evidence gathered in this case in an effort to bring it to a final conclusion,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

LUTZ, Fla.

Gingrich proposes panel on ethics of fertility clinics

Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich called Sunday for a commission to study the ethical issues relating to in vitro fertilization clinics, where infertile women receive treatment to get pregnant and large numbers of embryos are created.

“If you have in vitro fertilization, you are creating life. And therefore we should look seriously at what should the rules be for clinics that do that because they’re creating life,” said Gingrich, who opposes abortion and says life begins at conception.

Gingrich, who is campaigning for votes in Tuesday’s Florida primary, did not expand on his proposal for a commission.

His remarks, offered outside the Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church, where he attended Sunday services, seemed to open the door to greater federal authority over IVF clinics across the country than currently exists.

— From news service reports