New England news in brief

ACTON

Man shot several times is expected to survive

A man who was shot multiple times in Acton on Wednesday night is expected to survive and as of Thursday morning, no arrests had been made, authorities said. The shooting occurred shortly before 9 p.m. at a residential complex on Strawberry Hill Road, and the victim was taken to an area hospital, according to a joint statement from Middlesex prosecutors and Acton Police Chief Richard Burrows. As of Thursday morning, the investigation was still underway. Investigators said the people involved knew one another and the incident did not appear to be random.

BOSTON

Three men arrested in fentanyl drug bust

Three Boston men were arrested Wednesday in connection with distributing large amounts of fentanyl in a drug ring that spanned from Dorchester to Plymouth County, according to authorities. In a statement, Plymouth County prosecutors identified the suspects as Delfin Daniel Mendez, 33, Jose Armando Reynoso, 21, and Omar Saldana, 27. They were arrested after a two-month probe, with Mendez and Reynoso caught around 4:35 p.m. Wednesday as they were traveling in an Acura, the release said. As troopers searched the car with a warrant, another squad executed a second warrant at a Dacia Street residence in Dorchester, the release said. They spotted “numerous clear plastic bags containing suspected fentanyl floating in the bathroom toilet and additional bags were observed clogging the toilet drain,” the statement said.

SMYRNA, Maine

2 children hurt, horse killed in buggy crash

Police in northern Maine said two children were injured and a horse was killed when their horse-drawn buggy came into the path of a trailer truck. The crash happened Wednesday afternoon in Smyrna. Police said the buggy was being operated by a 12-year-old boy who entered the roadway in front of the truck. The truck struck the horse and killed it. Police said the buggy was redirected to the southern side of the roadway, and two of the seven children riding in it suffered minor injuries. Police declined to identify the child who was operating the buggy. They also did not identify the injured children. (AP)

Medford

Tufts University student investigated for posting

A Tufts University student allegedly posted a photo of herself in blackface to social media, drawing condemnation from the school’s president Thursday and an investigation into the matter, the university said. In a statement, Anthony P. Monaco, Tufts president, said the school received reports that a student recently posted a photo of herself in blackface to Instagram. “Blackface has a long history of being used to demean, belittle, and objectify people of color in the United States and worldwide,” Monaco said. “I condemn this behavior in the most unambiguous terms possible.” Monaco said the school is investigating the incident through its Office of Equal Opportunity and will “ensure that appropriate disciplinary processes are followed for violations” of school policy. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, “There are a range of possible disciplinary measures,” Tufts spokesman Patrick Collins said in an e-mail Thursday evening. The university did not disclose the identity of the student on Thursday.

He continued, “Racist expressions such as these are profoundly offensive and deeply hurtful. They contradict our values as a welcoming and inclusive community, and have no place at Tufts.”

“It would be premature for us to speculate on what they might be,” he said.