LAUREL, Neb. —

An arrest was made early Friday in connection to the four people found dead in a small Nebraska town on Thursday, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

A press conference is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. CT Friday.

The four were found dead in two separate homes in Laurel, a northeast Nebraska town, and authorities said fire was involved at both locations. Authorities believe gunfire also played a role in the deaths.

Investigators believe the fire in the 500 block of Elm Street may have started around the same time as the reported explosion in the 200 block of Elm Street. Both are believed to have happened shortly after 3 a.m.

Three people were found dead in the second residence and fire crews worked to preserve evidence while putting out the fire, according to Nebraska State Patrol.

According to the state patrol, foul play is suspected in the death of the four people at two different crime scenes that are about five blocks apart in Laurel, which is in Cedar County, is home to fewer than 1,000 people, and is about 100 miles northwest of Omaha.

Officials are waiting on autopsies for the causes of death.

"This is a tiny, safe community. We aren't sure if they knew each other, but everyone knows everyone in this community," Cedar County Sheriff Larry Koranda said. "If people see something out of the ordinary, call the state patrol."

Shortly after the second fire, a silver sedan, reportedly driven by a Black male, was seen leaving Laurel and may have picked up a passenger before leaving town, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. —

An SUV packed with people crashed into a semitruck in Imperial County, California, on Tuesday morning, leaving 15 dead, hospital officials said.

A vehicle was traveling westbound on Norrish Road near State Route 115 when it traveled "in the direct path" of a semitruck traveling northbound on the 115, California Highway Patrol officer Arturo Platero said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

There were 27 passengers in the SUV that struck a semitruck full of gravel, said Judy Cruz, the managing director of the Emergency Room Department at El Centro Regional Medical Center.

She said 14 people were dead on the scene, and another person died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

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The Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs is caring for four patients from the crash, hospital director of communications Todd Burke told CNN. Three of the four patients are in the intensive care unit, and all four were flown in directly from the scene to the trauma center.

"Patients are going through a difficult time as you can imagine," El Centro Regional Medical Center CEO Adolphe Edward said. "This was a major accident and we are taking care of them in the emergency room department."

Multiple patients were flown or transferred to hospitals for their injuries.

Imperial County Fire officials said multiple agencies were responding to the crash, which is being treated as a mass casualty event.

The site of the crash is in southeastern California about 10 miles east of El Centro and about 10 miles north of the Mexican border.

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This is a breaking story and will be updated.

The Associated Press contributed.

SAN JOSE, Calif. —

A shooting at a public transit control center in San Jose, California, Wednesday morning left multiple casualties and fatalities, Deputy Russell Davis of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said.

The suspect is dead, he said. Employees of the Valley Transportation Authority were among the victims, and the extent of the victims' injuries was not immediately clear, Davis said.

The shooting occurred at about 6:34 a.m. PT at a VTA control center, which Davis described as a hub that stores multiple VTA trains and a maintenance yard. The VTA said its employees have evacuated and that service was not impacted.

The VTA is a public transit service that operates bus and light rail services in the Santa Clara Valley and employs about 2,000 workers.

Overhead video of the VTA rail yard from CNN affiliate KGO showed a large law enforcement presence on the scene as well as several ambulances. The first responders on the scene did not appear to be acting urgently as of 8 a.m. PT.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) responded to the scene, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was monitoring the situation.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said earlier Wednesday in a tweet that "the shooter is no longer a threat" and the facility had been evacuated.

He said the shooting "has left several people being treated, but the situation is still being assessed."

“Our hearts are pained for the families of those we have lost in this horrific shooting,” Liccardo said on Twitter.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a tweet that his office was “in close contact with local law enforcement and monitoring this situation closely.”

CNN contributed to this report.