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(NEW YORK) — America’s graduating high school class of 2022 had the lowest average ACT score in more than 30 years, according to new data.

This year’s high school seniors who took the ACT, a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States, had a national average composite score of 19.8, compared to 20.3 for the class of 2021. It’s the first time since 1991 that the average ACT composite score was below 20, according to data released Wednesday by a nonprofit organization of the same name that administers the exam.

“This is the fifth consecutive year of declines in average scores, a worrisome trend that began long before the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has persisted,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a statement.

What’s more, the data showed that only 22% of students among the 2022 graduating class met the benchmarks in all four main ACT test sections — english, math, reading and science — while 42% did not meet a single one. The benchmarks “demonstrate the minimum ACT scores required for students to have a higher probability of success in credit-bearing first-year college courses,” according to ACT. Last year, 25% of students met all four benchmarks while 38% of students met none.

The four ACT test sections are individually scored on a scale of 1 to 36, and a composite score — the rounded whole number average of the four sections– is provided.

“The magnitude of the declines this year is particularly alarming, as we see rapidly growing numbers of seniors leaving high school without meeting the college-readiness benchmark in any of the subjects we measure,” Godwin added. “These declines are not simply a byproduct of the pandemic. They are further evidence of longtime systemic failures that were exacerbated by the pandemic. A return to the pre-pandemic status quo would be insufficient and a disservice to students and educators. These systemic failures require sustained collective action and support for the academic recovery of high school students as an urgent national priority and imperative.”

However, more high school students are taking the ACT now than ever before — a trend that has been increasing since 2015, when only 27% of graduates had taken the test as part of a statewide or districtwide administration. For the class of 2022, 60% of students tested at least once through the program, which also enables lower-income students to participate when they wouldn’t have otherwise.

The data released included ACT score results from all 50 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia. Sixteen of those states required all high school students to take the ACT as part of their statewide testing programs, while another seven states funded ACT testing on an optional basis.

The College Board, another nonprofit organization that administers standardized tests, has also noted a slight decline in scores for the SAT, which is widely used for college admissions in the U.S. According to data released in September, the average SAT total score for the graduating high school class of 2022 was 1050, compared to 1060 for the class of 2021.

Scores on the SAT range from 400 to 1600, combining test results from two main sections — math and evidence-based reading and writing — scored on a scale of 200 to 800.

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(NEW YORK) — A juror in a trial connected to the 1996 disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart was excused Thursday after the judge learned he had discussed the case with his priest.

Smart, 19, a student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, went missing while walking home from a party.

Two separate juries started deliberating last week in the trials of Paul Flores, 45, and his father, Ruben Flores, 81, who were both arrested and charged last year in connection with her disappearance.

Paul Flores, a former classmate of Smart’s, was charged with murder, while his father was charged with being an accessory to the crime. Prosecutors say he helped hide Smart’s body on his property in Arroyo Grande before moving it in 2020.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe excused the male juror from the trial of Ruben Flores Thursday afternoon after he had disclosed to another juror that he discussed his difficulties with making a decision during confession. The other juror then informed the judge in a note through the bailiff.

O’Keefe heard from both jurors on the record Thursday, starting with the since-excused juror, #262.

Juror #262 told the judge he had to “cleanse my body, that’s all,” and that he “did not discuss the facts of the case.”

“This case hasn’t been easy. It’s very hard. There’s lives at stake,” he told the judge, before being sent to the jury room.

O’Keefe then heard from the female juror, who reported that juror #262 told her he had told his priest he could only talk about the case inside confession — which indicated to her that he was discussing the case outside the courtroom.

The judge has reminded the jurors throughout the months-long trial that they cannot discuss the case with anybody, including spiritual advisers.

The judge brought juror #262 back to the courtroom and told him she had received information “that’s clearly opposite of what you’ve told us in court.”

She thanked him but explained that she needed to excuse him.

“Sometimes the appearance of impropriety is just as bad as actual impropriety. I need to protect the record,” O’Keefe said.

An alternate female juror was soon sworn in, and the jury was informed they need to begin their deliberations from the start.

Paul and Ruben Flores are being tried at the same time with separate juries hearing the case together. Once a verdict is reached by one jury, it will be sealed until the other jury reaches its verdict.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to their charges.

A judge earlier this year ordered that the Flores trials be moved out of San Luis Obispo County more than 100 miles away — north to Monterey County — to ensure fair legal proceedings.

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(FRESNO, Calif.) — A California teenager was arrested on Wednesday in what authorities described as a thwarted possible school shooting.

The unnamed 15-year-old boy — a student at Tranquillity High School, some 30 miles west of Fresno — was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and making criminal threats. He was booked into Fresno County’s Juvenile Hall, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

The student was taken into custody after he had allegedly posted threats on social media to shoot up his school. He was apparently upset after recently being involved in a fight at school, the sheriff’s office said.

Members of the community noticed the social media posts on Wednesday and quickly relayed them to school administrators, who then contacted their school resource officer — a deputy with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

That afternoon, deputies went to the student’s home and searched the house. They found a TEC-9 pistol and a magazine in his backpack. They seized the gun and arrested the teen, the sheriff’s office said.

Golden Plains Unified School District released a statement regarding the incident, thanking authorities and community members.

“School safety is a top priority for the district,” the statement read. “We appreciate the work of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and are fully cooperating with their investigation. We applaud the community members who chose to speak up and report the concerning social media messages and encourage others to do the same moving forward. Many lives at Tranquillity High School were potentially saved this week.”

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(GULFPORT, Miss.) — The shooting of a Black teenager by police in Gulfport, Mississippi, has led to outcry from family members and activists who say the teen was unarmed with his hands up when he was confronted by police. The teen died days later after being taken off life support.

Police say 15-year-old Jaheim McMillan was armed and refused to drop his weapon when officers fired at him following a foot chase.

The hashtag #JusticeForJaheim has been trending on social media, with some posting photos of the teen bleeding out while handcuffed on the ground.

During the Oct. 6 incident, officers responded to a 911 call about five teens waving firearms at passing cars and began chasing one of them, according to Gulfport police chief Adam Cooper, who held a press conference on the officer-involved shooting Wednesday.

Cooper told reporters that one officer observed McMillan was armed and gave orders for him to stop and drop his weapon.

“McMillan did not comply,” Cooper said.

Cooper also claimed McMillan “turned his body and weapon towards the officer,” so the officer fired at him.

Debra Stout, a Long Beach, Mississippi, resident told ABC News she witnessed the encounter and said she saw McMillan with his hands up. She says she was waiting outside her home for a phone call when she heard the gunshots.

“I did hear gunshots, I ducked. I didn’t know where they were coming from,” Stout told ABC News in a zoom interview. “There were guys on the ground, then I noticed the boy who passed away at the front door, but before that I did see him with his hands up.”

Stout says she could not see if McMillan was armed.

“I didn’t know if he was alive or dead,” she said.

She said she believes there was a lack of urgency in the medical response to McMillan, because the ambulance, she said, arrived on scene without a siren on.

“I feel terrible. I probably have to get counseling,” Stout told ABC News. “I dream about it every night.”

Family members disagree with Cooper’s claims that Jaheim was armed.

“If Gulfport Police Department had footage of my little cousin holding a gun, best believe it would already have been released,” one family member, Court Elle Bolton, said in a Facebook post.

A spokesperson for the Gulfport Police Department declined to comment. Family members of McMillan did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s office has jurisdiction on cases where officers use deadly force, Cooper said during the press conference. He said the Gulfport Police Department is “cooperating fully” with the AG’s investigation and will conduct an internal investigation.

Family members of McMillan also claimed in a Facebook video they were initially barred from entering a hospital in Mobile, Alabama, where the teenager was airlifted to following the shooting. The hospital — USA Children & Women’s Hospital — did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

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(NEW YORK) — Kiely Rodni, a California teenager who was missing for two weeks before her body was found in a car submerged in a reservoir, died due to drowning and there is no evidence of foul play, autopsy results released on Thursday determined.

The 16-year-old’s death has been ruled accidental by the Coroners Division of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, authorities said.

“This ruling is based on the pathologist’s finding that her death was the result of drowning and that there was no other information to suggest she was the victim of foul play,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The sheriff’s office is continuing to work with Rodni’s family “by evaluating any additional information related to this investigation,” it added.

Rodni was last seen on Aug. 6 around 12:30 a.m. local time near the Prosser Family Campground in the small town of Truckee, California, some 20 miles north of Lake Tahoe.

She was at a party with upward of 300 people when she vanished along with her vehicle, a silver 2013 Honda CRV. Her cellphone had also been out of service since she went missing.

A massive search effort ensued for two weeks before a body was found in a vehicle pulled from the Prosser Reservoir on Aug. 21, authorities said. The car matched the description of her SUV, and the body was confirmed to be that of Rodni two days later following an autopsy.

In a statement at the time, the teen’s family said they were “eternally grateful” for the love that friends, family, law enforcement, the media and communities all over the world showed them throughout their search for Rodni.

“We have weathered a storm of unfathomable force, and it is purely thanks to the army of warriors, matriarchs, healers and helpers holding us up that we continue to stand today,” her family said. “Mr. Rogers famously told a story of ‘looking for the helpers’ whenever he saw scary things in the news. We have not had to look for the helpers, as you have all come to our rescue in full force. We are forever indebted to you.”

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(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) — Police in Fayetteville, North Carolina, are investigating an incident involving a 22-year-old Black woman after she said officers assaulted and unlawfully handcuffed her in September.

Ja’Lana Dunlap’s attorneys released video footage of the incident, taken on Dunlap’s phone, this week.

On Sept. 6, Dunlap, a property manager at the time, said she was taking pictures of the property she oversees on behalf of the owner, who had recently gotten a citation from the city about people illegally dumping furniture and trash on the site.

“I was planning to take pictures because we had already hired somebody to clean it up,” Dunlap told ABC News. “So, I was just making sure that they did their job.”

After taking the photos, Dunlap said she had returned to her car when two Fayetteville police officers, who were searching for a suspected fugitive, approached asking why she was on the property. Dunlap said she responded, providing her name and explaining that she was taking photos for her boss.

Dunlap said one officer asked her to provide identification. She said she declined, knowing North Carolina is not a “Stop and Identify” state, meaning Dunlap was not legally obligated to provide her ID if she had not committed or been suspected of committing a crime.

“I know my story checks out,” Dunlap said. “I know if I didn’t do anything wrong, I shouldn’t have to give you my ID.”

But Dunlap said the officer continued to demand she provide her ID, at which point Dunlap began to record the encounter with her phone because she said she feared for her safety.

Soon after, she said another officer reached into the vehicle and grabbed her left arm. Dunlap can be heard repeatedly on the video recording asking the officers to “Please stop.”

The officers ask her to step out of the vehicle and when she doesn’t, they tell her to “stop resisting.” Dunlap tells the officer that she will exit the vehicle if they let go of her arm.

The cell phone video she released does not show the beginning of the encounter and becomes shaky once it appears that police pull her out. Afterwards, they pull her out — which is not shown in the video because officers took her phone — and Dunlap alleges that officers slammed her against the trunk and placed her in handcuffs.

Dunlap, who suffers from sickle cell anemia, said she began hyperventilating due to the stress, at one point even vomiting.

“They were actually trying to yank me back up with the handcuffs behind my back to the point where I had to ask, ‘Y’all please stop so I can finish throwing up,'” she said.

The officers eventually removed the fluorescent fanny pack around Dunlap’s waist to grab her ID, she said, and released her after verifying her identity.

She said her left hand was bruised and swollen for a week after the incident and still has visible scratches.

“I really was trying to do everything to still keep my composure, remain calm, but when you’re scared and terrified and you can’t call anybody,” she said. “You go into fight or flight pretty much, you go into survival mode.”

Dunlap, who was never arrested or charged with any crime, later filed a formal complaint to the Fayetteville Police Department.

Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins said in a statement that she understands why the cellphone video “causes concern and the desire of the public to know more.”

Hawkins said she is making a formal request for an area judge to permit the release of police body camera footage from the incident. An investigation is already underway and will be expedited by the Internal Affairs Unit, the police chief said.

Hawkins also explained that officers approached Dunlap in a vacant lot 0.5 miles from where a potentially violent suspect ran away from police. Once police confirmed she was not the suspect, they let her go.

While Dunlap said she has seen the police department’s official statements on the incident, she said she has yet to receive a personal response or apology.

“You’re addressing my video footage but you’re not addressing me as a person or how I would feel about the situation,” she said.

Attorney Harry Daniels who is representing Dunlap, along with attorney Carnell Johnson, said he plans to file a federal lawsuit on her behalf.

“Quite frankly, I believe that Ms. Dunlap would not be subjected, would not be here today having this discussion if she was a different race,” Daniels said. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. I think they intimidated her because she’s a person of color. And we are here to fight on her behalf.”

Dunlap said she has since resigned from her job as a property manager, in part because of her experience.

“I just had to resign just for my mental health,” she said.

Now, she said she is just trying to take every day “one step at a time.”

 

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(RALEIGH, N.C.) — Police are searching for answers after a teenager allegedly killed five people, including a police officer, and injured two others in a mass shooting along a nature trail in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The suspected shooter, a 15-year-old boy, is a relative of one of the victims killed, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

Among the victims was Raleigh police officer Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work when he was shot and killed, according to Raleigh police Chief Estella Patterson.

The four others killed were identified as Nicole Connors, 52; Susan Karnatz, 49; Mary Marshall, 34; and James Roger Thompson, 16.

The unnamed suspect was taken into custody with life-threatening injuries, according to a memo issued by the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by ABC News. It’s not clear if the suspect’s injuries were self-inflicted, the memo said.

The suspect was still hospitalized in critical condition as of Friday morning, according to the police chief.

A motive is still unknown, according to Patterson, who told reporters that a five-day report will be released. She would not say what type of firearm was used in the shooting or how the suspect obtained the weapon.

“My heart is heavy because we don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” Patterson said during a press conference.

Officers searched the suspect’s home on Friday, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Detectives so far have not found any social media footprint for the suspect, the official said, adding that investigators are going through handwritten material.

The shooting took place in the vicinity of the Neuse River Greenway Trail, near Osprey Cove and Bay Harbor drives in Raleigh. The crime scene spans over 2 miles. The suspect first shot two people in the streets of the neighborhood before fleeing toward the nature trail, where he opened fire, killing three more people and wounding two others, according to Patterson.

The police chief told reporters that the arrest of the suspect came after a “long standoff” and was a “team effort” by multiple agencies.

A 59-year-old was among the two shot and injured and remains hospitalized in critical condition, according to Patterson.

Raleigh police officer Casey Joseph Clark, 33, was also injured; he has been treated and released from the hospital.

A police dog was also injured and will recover, a law enforcement official said.

In a statement on Friday, President Joe Biden called for an assault weapons ban.

“We are thinking of yet another community shaken and shattered as they mourn the loss of friends and neighbors,” he said. “Enough. We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings.”

Biden touted the bipartisan gun safety bill he signed into law in June but said “we must do more.”

“We must pass an assault weapons ban,” Biden continued. “The American people support this commonsense action to get weapons of war off our streets. House Democrats have already passed it. The Senate should do the same. Send it to my desk and I’ll sign it.”

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the mass shooting an “infuriating and tragic act of gun violence.”

“We’re sad, we’re angry and we want to know the answers to all the questions,” Cooper said during Friday morning’s press conference. “Those questions will be answered — some today and more over time.”

The Raleigh Police Department tweeted Friday afternoon, “The outpouring of love and support we have received from members of the community, our fellow law enforcement officers and first responders, as well as our local and state officials, has been truly heartening. … The road ahead is a difficult one, but we will take it one step at a time knowing the city of Raleigh walks with us.”

ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

 

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(RALEIGH, N.C.) — At least five people were killed, including an off-duty police officer, and two others were injured in a shooting along a nature trail in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday night, authorities said.

The suspect, who police said is a white male juvenile, has been taken into custody. There is no active, ongoing threat, according to Lt. Jason Borneo of the Raleigh Police Department, who told reporters that a motive will be determined over the coming days.

An injured officer has been released from the hospital and a second person remains in critical condition, Borneo said. A K-9 officer who has non-life-threatening injuries is among those injured, according to Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.

“When we lose one of our own, it is a tragic, heartbreaking day for all of us,” Borneo told reporters.

“We must stop this mindless violence in America and we must address gun violence,” Baldwin added.

At least three people were transported to WakeMed Health and Hospitals’ trauma center in connection with the incident, a hospital official told ABC News. There was no word on their current condition, and the hospital official did not know if others were injured in the shooting.

The shooting took place in the area of the Neuse River Greenway Trail near Osprey Cove and Bay Harbor drives, according to police.

“Residents in that area are advised to remain in their homes,” the Raleigh Police Department said in a post on Twitter.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he has instructed state law enforcement to “provide assistance responding to the active shooter in East Raleigh.”

“State and local officers are on the ground and working to stop the shooter and keep people safe,” he said on Twitter.

“Tonight terror has reached our doorstep. The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh,” Cooper said during a second press conference Thursday night. “This is a senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence that has been committed.”

North Carolina Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe, Jr. also confirmed the department has made state resources available and is “working with local law enforcement to stop this shooter.”

North Carolina State Highway Patrol, North Carolina State Capitol Police and North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement are assisting the Raleigh Police Department with the incident.

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(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — A Purdue University student accused of stabbing his roommate to death in their dorm room has been ordered held without bond before he goes on trial.

Ji “Jimmy” Min Sha, 22, was formally charged with murder on Thursday in the killing of Varun Manish Chheda, 20, in what police called an unprovoked attack. Prosecutors allege that Sha “did knowingly or intentionally kill” Chheda, charging documents state.

Chheda was found dead in his room at McCutcheon Hall, a residence building on the school’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, after midnight on Oct. 5.

Sha had called 911 and told police “he had just killed his roommate with a knife,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

Responding officers found “apparent blood spatter on the wall, a pool of blood on the floor and a folding knife on the floor,” the affidavit said.

Sha “admitted he used the knife to kill Chheda while he was sitting in the chair where police found him,” according to the affidavit.

Chheda died from”multiple sharp force traumatic injuries,” according to the Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office.

Sha, an international student from South Korea, is scheduled to appear for a hearing on Dec. 2 in Tippecanoe Circuit Court. A trial date has yet to be scheduled.

ABC News did not immediately receive a response to an email seeking comment from Sha’s attorney.

As he walked into court for his first appearance before a judge last week, Sha told reporters “I am very sorry” when asked if he had a message to the victim’s family.

Sha also said “I was blackmailed,” though did not elaborate.

Police have not outlined a motive in the case.

“I believe this was unprovoked and senseless,” Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite told reporters last week.

Chheda, who grew up in Indianapolis, was a senior majoring in data science. The university held a vigil for him on Wednesday, a week after his death.

“This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event,” Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said in a statement last week.

ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

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(DALLAS) — A gun accidentally discharged inside a Texas elementary school cafeteria on Thursday after a child allegedly brought the firearm to school, according to the Dallas Independent School District.

The incident occurred before classes began as breakfast was served at John W Carpenter Elementary School in Dallas, a Dallas ISD official told ABC News.

The district official said no one was injured.

“I didn’t know what to think, what to feel… Just came over immediately,” parent Brandy Fields told ABC News Dallas affiliate WFAA. “She’s safe, so [deep breath].”

Fields told the station her daughter went directly to her class, but another student told her daughter a child was showing off a gun inside the cafeteria before it fired.

“My friend told me she almost got shot today,” Fields’ daughter, 5th-grade student Abbey told WFAA. “I was so confused. She told me someone brung [sic] a gun, and they were showing it to everybody. And while they was playing with it, it went off.”

Following the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old suspect fatally shot 19 students and two teachers, Dallas ISD decided to require sixth to 12th-grade students to wear clear or mesh backpacks.

“By being able to easily see the items in the backpacks as students enter the school, campus personnel will be able to ensure that prohibited items are not included among the students’ belongings,” Dallas ISD wrote on its website. “Clear or mesh backpacks will also speed up students entering the school at the beginning of the day because opening and inspecting every backpack may not be necessary.”

The Dallas Police Department is investigating the incident.

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