TENAFLY, N.J. -- The bodies of three people found inside a home this week were so badly decomposed that their identities will have to be confirmed through dental records, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said Saturday night.

Puccio said officials would likely not be able to confirm the victims' identities until sometime next week. However, authorities believe the three -- described as a man apparently in his 70s, a woman apparently in her 50s and a male believed to be in his 20s -- lived in the home and that one of them owned it.

Each victim was stabbed multiple times, and authorities said the bodies could have been in the three-story home for over a week. It appears that the last time anyone had contact with any of the victims was May 3, Puccio said.

DEKALB, Ill. -- Hundreds of students ran screaming from the lecture hall three months ago to escape a gunman who had opened fire inside. On Saturday, while much of the rest of the campus celebrated graduation, a somber Laurel Dubowski stood outside the building's glass doors.

"I'm still very, very sad," she said, her voice breaking. "I'm devastated."

Earlier Saturday, Dubowski had walked onto an auditorium stage to accept a posthumous degree for her daughter Gayle Dubowski, one of five students killed in a geology class in the red-bricked Cole Hall on Feb. 14.

In all, three of the five students shot dead were to receive posthumous degrees on Saturday. Families of the other two said they would accept degrees later.

The 20-year-old Gayle Dubowski was among the first to receive a degree at commencement ceremonies, and hundreds of seniors stood to cheer as her name was read. NIU's president gave her mother, father and brother each a hug as they came on stage.

The school did not plan separate events marking the killings, apparently wanting to make the day as joyous as possible for the more than 3,000 students receiving degrees.

LAFAYETTE, La. -- Six cars of a freight train derailed Saturday, causing a hydrochloric acid leak that forced thousands of people to leave homes, businesses and a nursing home within one mile of the wreck.

The spilled acid sent a toxic cloud over the area, and at least five people, including two railroad workers, were taken to a hospital and treated after complaining of skin and eye irritation, said Lafayette Parish sheriff's Lt. Craig Stansbury.

A nursing home with 161 residents was evacuated, said Dr. Jimmy Guidry the state health officer, said. About 35 of the residents deemed too frail to travel were taken to area hospitals, he said.

Police walked door-to-door notifying residents of the mandatory evacuation in an area with an estimated population of 3,500 people. "We're advising them to take enough supplies for approximately 48 hours," Stansbury said.

Mona Hebert and Jeffrey Ferrara said they were rousted from their trailer around 3:45 a.m. and told they had two minutes to leave. Ferrara, who lost his home in Hurricane Katrina and has been staying with friends like Hebert since then, didn't have time to grab his shoes or any of his medications.

"This is gravy compared to" Katrina, Ferrara said, adding that the morning air smelled of chlorine, like a swimming pool.

Hydrochloric acid can cause respiratory problems and skin and eye irritation, according to Joe Faust, a spokesman for the Texas-based BNSF Railway that operated the train involved in the spill.

An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 gallons of the acid was spilled, he said. The acid formed a yellowish pool at the site of the derailment.

LOS ANGELES -- A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a church festival Saturday, wounding his ex-wife and two bystanders before festival-goers grabbed him and held him for police, authorities and a church official said.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with people screaming and running for the exit after gunfire rang out on a grassy field where the festival was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish.

"I heard bang, bang, bang, bang. It sounded like balloons popping," said Jeff Sempelsz, a church volunteer who was setting up a booth when the man started shooting. "I didn't know what it was but I could see the rifle in his hand."

Father Robert Milbauer, the parish's pastor, said a woman injured in the attack was the gunman's ex-wife. The two have a child who attends the school and had been mired in an ongoing dispute, Ruiz said.

"We believe this is an isolated incident, a domestic-violence dispute," police Capt. Steven Ruiz said.

The gunman's identity was not immediately released.

ANGELS CAMP, Calif. -- A mechanical failure caused the collapse of a spinning-chair ride at a county fair that injured all 23 aboard, mostly children, according to an initial investigation by state inspectors.

All of the victims but two had been released from hospitals by Saturday, a day after the ride broke down. A 12-year-old girl was hospitalized in good condition and a 14-year-old girl was listed in stable condition, according to sheriff's Sgt. Dave Seawell. The sheriff's office initially said 24 people were injured, but revised the number on Saturday.

The Yo-Yo ride has a series of metal arms extending from a rotating hub. A chair is attached to the end of each arm by long chains, and the arms and chairs swing outward as the hub rotates and picks up speed.

People who witnessed the accident at the Calaveras County Fair said they saw the ride's arms and chairs suddenly collapse, dragging the passengers on the ground until the machine came to a halt.

"It was spinning in the air and then it just dropped," said Mark Pearson, 14. "It was all tangled and everything. Little kids were just laying there screaming. People were screaming, 'Oh my God, it's horrible!' ... Then I saw people lying on the ground, with blood out of their legs. It scared me."

The NAACP selected Benjamin Todd Jealous as its president Saturday, tapping a young, Oxford University-educated activist to lead the nation's oldest civil rights group.

Jealous, 35, was chosen by the group's 64-member board after a year-long search and was introduced at the group's national headquarters in Baltimore. He is expected to start his new job Sept. 1.

In selecting Jealous, the NAACP broke with its tradition of picking politicians and ministers to lead, as it did three years ago with its selection of telecommunications executive Bruce Gordon. Jealous is the president of the Rosenberg Foundation in San Francisco, which advocates for immigrants and working-class families.

Jealous also is a former news executive, having served as executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which encompasses about 200 black newspapers, and as managing editor of the Jackson Advocate, a black newspaper in Mississippi.

"Ben Jealous has spent his professional life working for and raising money for the very social justice concerns for which the NAACP advocates," NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said in a statement. "He is a perfect match. ... We are looking forward to a great future under his leadership."