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2 members of Tennessee college cycling team killed in highway collision

Two members of the Milligan University cycling team were killed, and several more injured, in a collision with a vehicle on a rural highway in eastern Tennessee on Wednesday morning, both state officials and the school confirmed. A driver has been arrested. 

In a news conference Wednesday night, Milligan University President Dr. Stephen Waers said that 11 cyclists were on a training ride when the crash occurred at about 8 a.m. local time. Waers said that two cyclists were killed and seven others hospitalized. 

Waers identified the two deceased victims as sophomores Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers.    

“This is an elite cycling team, it’s not a bunch of club guys getting together to ride, they know what they’re doing,” Tennessee First Judicial District Attorney General Steven Finney told reporters.

2 members of Tennessee college cycling team killed in highway collision, officials say
Undated photos of Haylan Engdahl, left, and Brayden Rogers, two members of the Milligan University cycling team, who were killed in a collision with a car while on a training ride with their teammeates in Hampton, Tennessee, on Aug. 19, 2026.  

Milligan University

Officials reported the injured cyclists were airlifted by helicopter to Johnson City Medical Center, an area hospital. Dr. Bracken Burns, the trauma medical director for Johnson City Medical Center, said in the news conference that of the seven patients the hospital received, four were in critical condition, two were in stable condition, and the seventh was evaluated and released.   

Milligan University, a small Christian college located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, said the crash occurred in the community of Hampton, about 10 miles east of the campus.

Tennessee Highway Patrol said the crash took place on a rural highway. Officials did not provide any details on the circumstances of the crash during the news conference. A highway patrol source told CBS News that it occurred in a mountainous area. 

“Our troopers are now trying to determine exactly what happened,” Tennessee Highway Patrol Maj. Roy Brown said in the news conference. 

Finney said the suspected driver, identified as 69-year-old John Benfield from Newland, North Carolina, was taken into custody on two counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness and five counts of aggravated assault by vehicle by recklessness. 

“We will keep trying and working, additional charges could come,” Finney said.  

Woman told House panel that Gomez sexually assaulted her, attorneys say

Washington — A woman told the House Ethics Committee that Rep. Jimmy Gomez sexually assaulted her, according to her attorneys, a claim that comes as the panel investigates sexual misconduct allegations against the California Democrat.The bipartisan committee said Monday that it's looking into allegations against Gomez, including that he engaged "in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer." Gomez acknowledged in a statement Monday that he "made personal mistakes outside my marriage" and that his "actions were consensual in nature." The attorneys for the unnamed woman pushed back on the assertion that Gomez's actions were consensual. "We represent one of the women who was interviewed by the House Committee on Ethics about her experience of sexual harassment and assault by Representative Jimmy Gomez. Contrary to Representative Gomez's assertion in his statement, his actions were not 'consensual in nature' with respect to our client. We fully expect that the House Committee on Ethics will come to the same conclusion in its investigation," said her attorneys, Lisa J. Banks and Sarah E. Nesbitt. CBS News has reached out to Gomez's office for comment on the allegations. Banks and Nesbitt did not identify their client, and CBS News has not verified her claims.In his statement earlier this week, Gomez said he was "ready to cooperate with the Ethics Committee inquiry and provide it with whatever information it might need." "Out of respect for my family and the ongoing process, I will have no further comment," he added. House Democratic leaders called the allegations "serious and disturbing." "We encourage the Committee to conduct a thorough and swift investigation," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement Wednesday. In announcing the probe on Monday, the Ethics Committee said that "[n]o other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules."The investigation comes as the House is poised to consider legislation to overhaul the chamber's ethics rules. The proposal would, among other things, ban lawmakers from having sexual relationships with any congressional staffers, not just those under their direct supervision.
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