1 killed, 1 hurt in copter crash

A Houston police helicopter crashed early Saturday, killing one of the two officers on board and critically injuring the other, while assisting a call to search for bodies in a nearby bayou, officials said.

A pilot and a tactical flight officer were aboard a police helicopter when it crashed at an apartment complex around 2 a.m. They were flown to a hospital where the tactical flight officer died, police Chief Art Acevedo said hours after the crash during a news conference with Mayor Sylvester Turner.

The department identified the officer who died as Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox. He is survived by a wife and two young children, who were at the hospital along with his parents and inlaws, Chief Acevedo said.

“We’re going to miss him,” the chief said. “He had a heart of gold, integrity second to none.”

No cause for the crash was given, and Chief Acevedo said the National Transportation Board and the Federal Aviation Administration would investigate while Houston police conduct a separate homicide investigation.

Chief Acevedo noted that shots rang out across the street from the scene about 3 a.m., and six people were taken into custody. The investigation will explore whether the helicopter was struck by gunfire, the chief said.

The pilot, Senior Police Officer Chase Cormier, was “very banged up” and had serious injuries, but was conscious Saturday afternoon. There were no injuries to anyone on the ground at the apartment complex, a masked Chief Acevedo told reporters.

At least 46 dead in Venezuela prison riot

At least 46 people have died in a riot at the Los Llanos Penitentiary in the

Venezuelan state of Portuguesa, according to a lawmaker from the area.

Dozens of others were also injured in the riot that began during an alleged escape attempt, said Maria Beatriz Martina, an opposition party National Assembly representative for Portuguesa. Ms. Martina said a grenade exploded during the attempted escape, injuring at least one officer.

The prison’s director, Carlos Toro, is among those injured, according to the nongovernmental organization Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, which works to improve human rights for prisoners, according to its website.

Ms. Martina tweeted that the riot “is a clear reflection” of Venezuela’s failed state. She also criticized Minister of Penitentiary Affairs Iris Varela’s prison human rights reform plan.

The Ministry of Penitentiary Affairs and Ministry of Information did not respond to requests for comment.

Johnson names son for doctors who saved him

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds have named their newborn son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, it was announced Saturday.

The baby was born Wednesday and was given the middle name Nicholas in honor of two doctors who treated Mr. Johnson while he suffered from COVID-19 last month.

“Wilfred after Boris’ grandfather, Lawrie after my grandfather, Nicholas after Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart - the two doctors that saved Boris’ life last month,” Ms. Symonds wrote on her private Instagram account Saturday.

Mr. Johnson returned to work Monday, after becoming the first world leader to fall ill with the virus in March. He spent three nights in intensive care in early April before his condition improved.