At least seven people were injured in a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday morning near the Antelope Valley community of Pinion Hills, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear how many vehicles were involved in the crash, which left a big-rig truck engulfed in flames about 6:45 a.m. on the Antelope Highway (Route 138) at 263rd Street East, said California Highway Patrol Officer Krystal Carter.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department extracted several people from a vehicle involved in the crash, said Inspector Matt Levesque. Six people were reported to have minor injuries and another was flown by helicopter in critical condition to a nearby hospital, he said.

The CHP shut down the intersection, about 30 miles southeast of Palmdale. Traffic was being diverted from the Antelope Highway to Pearblossom Highway (Route 18) and back along Oasis Road, Carter said.

-- Alexandra Zavis

Map: The location of the crash. Credit: Google Maps

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A bomb threat at Palmdale High School that prompted a campus evacuation Friday probably was a prank, officials said.

Steve Radford, the school’s assistant principal, confirmed that Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies conducted a search, but did not find anything threatening on campus.

“We feel at this time that it was a hoax,” Radford said Friday afternoon.

Deputies at the Palmdale sheriff’s station received a report about 8:30 a.m. of a bomb threat at the campus, 2137 E. Avenue R.

Radford said the school was evacuated and students were moved to a safe location off the premises “as a precaution” while deputies conducted an investigation.

The incident was resolved by about 10.30 a.m, he said.

--Ann M. Simmons

Learn more about Palmdale High School's enrollment and performance in The Times' California Schools Guide.

L.A. County sheriff’s deputies were investigating a bomb threat Friday at Palmdale High School that led to the campus being evacuated.

“Someone called in that there was a bomb on campus,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Dan McPherson.

The report at the school at 2137 E. Avenue R was made about 8:30 a.m., authorities said.

“They evacuated the children to a safe location on the outside edge of the campus,” McPherson said.

Officials at the school could not be reached for comment.

-- Ann M. Simmons

Learn more about Palmdale High School's enrollment and performance at the Times' California Schools Guide.

Strong winds, with gusts up to 60 mph, are expected to continue across Southern California through Wednesday night, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service issued a high-wind warning for mountain areas in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Strong northwest to north winds were expected to persist Wednesday, except for a lull in the late morning and early afternoon, the weather service said.

The winds could create dangerous sea conditions and hazardous driving conditions for motorists in mountain areas and the Antelope Valley.

The strongest winds are expected along Interstate 5 on the Grapevine, with gusts up to 60 mph, according to the weather service. Motorists who drove through the pass Tuesday said that wind was blowing snow across the highway in the Frazier Park area.

-- Robert J. Lopez

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A dispute at a Lancaster movie theater during a screening of "Shutter Island" ended when a man, who had complained about someone nearby talking on a cellphone, was stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer.

The incident occurred two weeks ago at the Cinemark 22 theater in Lancaster, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The theater was packed for a 9 p.m. Saturday screening of the Martin Scorsese horror movie when the victim complained about a woman near him who was using a cellphone during the show. She and two men with her left the movie theater. Two men returned a few minutes later and stabbed the victim, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

"It was vicious and cowardly attack," Whitmore said.

The victim, who was not identified, was hospitalized with serious injuries Two other moviegoers who came to the victim's aid were also were hurt during the fight, officials said.

The attackers are still at large. Anyone with information on the attack is asked to contact the Lancaster sheriff's station at (661) 948-8466.

-- Richard Winton

There were 18 homicides in Los Angeles County during the first week of March, according to the Times' Homicide Report database. The year-to-date total of homicides for the county is 108 – down from 138 for the same period last year and 161 in 2007.

Last week's killings included Ronisha Chatman, a 22-year-old woman who was shot in the stomach. Chatman was shot in the 44500 block of 15^th Street East in Lancaster and died March 2 at 8:15 p.m., according to coroner's records.

John Feehan, a 47-year-old man, died from "multiple penetrating wounds to the left side of the head and neck," according to coroner's records. Feehan sustained his injuries in the 10000 block of 253^rd Street in Harbor City. He died March 3 at 11:40 a.m., according to coroner's records.

Juan Sanchez, a 20-year-old man, died after being shot in the head. Sanchez was shot in the 1200 block of East 68^th Street in Florence-Firestone and died March 7 at 3:17 a.m., according to coroner's records.

The Times' Homicide Report provides an interactive map and database of all homicides in Los Angeles County reported by the coroner since Jan. 1, 2007. Are you interested in finding homicides near you? Search the database for an address.

-- Anthony Pesce

Chart: Comparing the number of homicides in Los Angeles County between Jan. 1 and March 7 for the last four years. Credit: Ken Schwencke / Los Angeles Times

A single mother wounded during a July 10 drive-by shooting in South Los Angeles is due to be evicted Thursday.

Rashaun Williams, 29, was a home health aide and crossing guard, but she has been out of work since she was shot in both legs, an innocent bystander caught in gang crossfire on Imperial Highway.

Williams has been surviving on $328 in monthly CalWorks welfare payments, but she said she can no longer afford the two-bedroom apartment in Lancaster that she shares with her 6-year-old daughter, Ky'mariy Redd.

Williams said Ky'mariy’s father had been helping with the bills until he was hospitalized last month with a heart attack. She said her only option now is to move in with relatives, probably her mother, who lives in a section of Torrance where Williams said gang violence has surged recently.

“In my condition, that’s the last place I would want to be,” she said, but “I really have no options.”

Williams said her application for federal disability assistance was denied. A doctor recently told her that she may needed additional surgeries on her right leg. She is on Medi-Cal and has been on a waiting list for rehabilitation since the shooting.

The attack “changed my life. It just changed everything completely,” she said. “I haven’t been able to provide for my daughter like I want to.”

[Updated, 9:45 p.m.: Community activists Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Eddie Jones announced late Wednesday evening that they plan to hold a meeting at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Lucy Florence Cultural Center, 3351 W. 43rd St., Los Angeles, to demand that state officials approve Williams' application for disability assistance. In a statement, they called the denial "shameful and unconscionable."]

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Members of Los Angeles-area Islamic organizations said Tuesday they welcomed an apology from Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, who drew criticism after telling an audience of mostly Christian ministers that he was “growing a Christian community.”

"This episode demonstrates that we must all come together as Americans to uphold the constitutional principle of separation of church and state, and to maintain the values of inclusiveness and fair treatment," Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the greater Los Angeles area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.

Parris touched off a firestorm after saying in his Jan. 27 “State of the City” address that Lancaster was “growing a Christian community, and don't let anybody shy away from that.” The mayor added that he needed the community to stand up and say “we're a Christian community, and we're proud of that."

On Monday, Parris acknowledged to a group of local leaders, including representatives of Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Jewish communities, that his remarks might have caused a lot of people to feel left out.

Kamal Al-Khatib, founder and president of the American Islamic Institute of Antelope Valley, said in a statement that he accepted Parris’ regret, and hoped the mayor would now “work with the rest of the community to help heal the division and tension that his remarks caused over the last 16 days."

-- Ann M. Simmons

Authorities have ordered the evacuation of as many as 52 homes in Acton, an unincorporated rural area in Antelope Valley, because of the danger of mudslides and debris coming down the hills.

These homes were ordered evacuated during the heavy rains in mid-January, but they suffered no damage, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Larry Gregg. He said that during the last evacuation, the vast majority of residents refused to leave.

"Once we pull out of the area, it's nearly impossible to get back in, even with a four-wheeler," he said.

The homes are just below an area that was burned in the Station fire. The properties range in size from an acre to as big as 30 acres, Gregg said, with dirt roads that have turned to mud. Many people have horses and other animals, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Matt Levesque.

He said the evacuation order was based on mud flow forecasts by the US Geological Survey.

-- Jeff Gottlieb