(NEW LISBON, Wisc.) — A man who allegedly killed a retired Wisconsin judge in a “targeted act” has died from what authorities described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Douglas Uhde, 56, was pronounced dead on Thursday when he was taken off life support and his organs were harvested for donation, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Uhde was declared brain dead on Saturday, one day after police found him gravely wounded in the home of slain retired Judge John Roemer, 68, in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, officials said.
The suspected killer was discovered in the basement of Roemer’s home suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
Uhde allegedly shot and killed Roemer on Friday morning after he showed up at the judge’s home, according Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Uhde had a hit list that included U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Police responded to Roemer’s home around 6:30 a.m. Friday after a 911 caller, who fled the home after shots were fired, reported that an armed man was in the judge’s home and had fired two shots, Kaul said.
The Juneau County Special Tactics and Response Team responded and attempted to negotiate with the alleged shooter before entering the home. Inside, they found Roemer dead and zip-tied to a chair, and the mortally wounded suspect in the basement, officials said.
“This does appear to be a targeted act,” Kaul told reporters during a news conference Friday. “The individual who is the suspect appears to have had other targets as well. It appears to be related to the judicial system.”
Wisconsin court records show that Roemer was involved in Uhde’s sentencing for a 2002 criminal conviction. In 2005, he sentenced Uhde to six years in state prison and nine years extended supervision for armed burglary, a felony, with concurrent sentences for three lesser counts. Uhde had pleaded no contest to the charges.
Uhde’s alleged hit list had more than a dozen names and was found inside his car outside Roemer’s home. In addition to McConnell and Whitmer, the hit list included Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the source told ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — TiJae Baker, 23, took a train from New York City to Washington, D.C., on May 1 and has yet to return to home.
Her mother, Toquanna Baker, is desperate to find her daughter. She told ABC News that the details of TiJae Baker’s disappearance have led her to believe she may have been dragged into a human trafficking scheme.
“After this rally, I’m going right back out there, because I’m going to find my daughter,” Toquanna Baker said at a rally Monday, according to New York ABC station WABC.
TiJae is an up-and-coming artist in Brooklyn and a student in her final year of college. She went to D.C. to apparently make posters for a woman she met online, her mother said.
Toquanna Baker said her daughter got off at Washington Union Station and was supposed to return the next day. When she did not, Toquanna Baker filed a police report with the New York Police Department a few days later.
After a few weeks of silence, TiJae Baker called home June 1 and begged to be rescued by her mother. Toquanna Baker immediately traveled to the D.C. area, but has yet to find her daughter. She hasn’t spoken to her since.
Toquanna Baker said she fears for her daughter, saying the disappearance is not getting much attention because TiJae is a Black woman.
“I haven’t slept at all,” Toquanna Baker told WABC.
Toquanna Baker said she provided the identity of the girl TiJae Baker went to visit to police.
She is 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black sweater, gray shorts and a white top, according to the NYPD.
The NYPD asks that anyone with information on her disappearance or whereabouts call 800-577-TIPS.
(HOUSTON) — Texas prison officials have suspended inmate transports after a convicted murderer allegedly killed a man and his four grandchildren after escaping from custody.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, escaped a prison bus after stabbing the driver in the hand and chest on May 12. Lopez was serving a life sentence for capital murder in Hidalgo County and an attempted capital murder in Webb County.
“TDCJ has temporarily suspended the transport of inmates as the agency conducts a comprehensive review of its transportation procedures. If it becomes necessary to do a transport such as releasing or an emergency medical appointment, additional security measures will be implemented,” the TDCJ wrote in a statement to ABC News Houston station KTRK. “The agency is conducting an internal Serious Incident Review and also intends to bring in an outside firm to conduct an independent review to identify factors that may have lad to the escape of (Gonzalo) Lopez.”
State Sen. John Whitmire, chair of the Texas Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee, said the Texas Department of Justice should suspend transports until safeguards are in place.
Whitmire is calling for the requirement of three armed correctional officers on a bus that carries violent offenders with a trailing vehicle behind.
Currently, the state only requires two officers on the bus and there are no requirements for a car following the transport.
“While the investigation continues into exactly what happened with the recent escape and tragic murder of 5 members of the Collins family, we must act swiftly to ensure no other Texan is in danger of losing their life or being harmed by an escaped inmate being transported on Texas roads,” Whitmire said in a statement prior to the decision to suspend transports.
Lopez escaped from a prison bus on May 12 after breaking out of a cage structure and stabbing the driver. Lopez was being transported from Gatesville to Huntsville for a medical appointment.
Lopez, the driver and a second officer all exited the bus before Lopez got back in and drove away in the vehicle.
Lopez remained on the run until June 2, when he is believed to have murdered five other people before being shot and killed by authorities in a shootout.
Officials allege Lopez entered Mark Collins’ home in Leon County and murdered Collins and his four grandchildren, whose ages range from 11 to 18.
Authorities have alleged that Lopez stole clothes, firearms and a 1999 white Chevrolet Silverado from the residence.
The victims were seen on the morning of June 2 and found murdered that evening around 6 p.m., according to authorities.
Deputies from the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office spotted the suspected stolen vehicle later that night and followed it until officials were able to lay out spike strips that flattened the truck’s four tires in Jourdanton, almost 250 miles from Leon County.
According to authorities, Lopez fired the first shots with a rifle aimed out of the truck’s window. The deputies returned fire, killing Lopez.
Prior to the shootout, Lopez was added to Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List and officials issued a $50,000 reward for his capture.
(WASHINGTON) — After extremists praised last month’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and called for at least one copycat attack, the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday warned of a “heightened” threat environment.
Law enforcement uses the term “domestic violent extremist” to label those from a broad swath of the ideological spectrum from racially motivated extremists to white supremacists.
The bulletin, which is the sixth bulletin DHS has issued since the beginning of the Biden administration, said domestic violent extremists are propagating disinformation.
“Others have seized on the event to attempt to spread disinformation and incite grievances, including claims it was a government-staged event meant to advance gun control measures,” the bulletin said, referring to the Uvalde school shooting.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the threat environment “heightened.”
“As recent acts of violence in communities across the country have so tragically demonstrated, the nation remains in a heightened threat environment, and we expect that environment will become more dynamic in the coming months,” Mayorkas said.
Public gatherings, faith-based institutions, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and critical infrastructure may be targets of domestic violent extremists, a DHS official told reporters on a conference call.
“We do expect that the threat environment is likely to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets,” the official said.
The official said DHS is seeing threats from the “ideological spectrum” of actors, but did not offer more specifics.
Officials also said they are concerned about the midterm elections, because some could still be holding onto grievances from the 2020 presidential election. Officials say they are also concerned about possible fallout from an expected Supreme Court decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade, as ABC News has previously reported.
“Given a high-profile U.S. Supreme Court case about abortion rights, individuals who advocate both for and against abortion have, on public forums, encouraged violence, including against government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as those with opposing ideologies,” DHS officials wrote.
The bulletin said issues along the southern border could also present a trigger point for extremists.
“Some domestic violent extremists have expressed grievances related to their perception that the U.S. government is unwilling or unable to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and have called for violence to stem the flow of undocumented migrants to the United States,” the bulletin said. “We assess that there is increased risk of domestic violent extremists using changes in border security-related policies and/or enforcement mechanisms to justify violence against individuals, such as minorities and law enforcement officials involved in the enforcement of border security.”
The Department also hasn’t taken their eye off of foreign terrorists.
“Foreign terrorist organizations will likely continue to use online platforms to attempt to inspire U.S.-based individuals to engage in violent activity,” it said.
John Cohen, the former acting undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis at DHS, told ABC News this isn’t new.
“This bulletin reinforces what DHS and FBI have been telling the American people over the past year and a half,” Cohen, who is now an ABC News contributor, said.
He added, “The Nation faces a terrorism threat environment that is volatile, complex and dangerous. Lone offenders continue to engage in targeted acts of violence inspired by extremist or other content posted online. The tempo of these attacks are increasing. And these ideologically motivated attacks are occurring at the same time that localities across the nation are experiencing increased levels of violent crime. These are incredible challenging times for law enforcement and communities across the Nation.”
(SAN ANTONIO, Texas) — Arnulfo Reyes woke up ready for a good day. His third- and fourth-grade class at Robb Elementary had finished its final tests the week before. Awards were going to be handed out. He planned to show his students a movie, The Addams Family — the animated version.
“It was going to be a good day,” Reyes told ABC News anchor Amy Robach in an exclusive interview. “There was nothing unusual that day, we were just walking back to the classroom … to watch the rest of the movie.”
Around 11:30 a.m., however, the normalcy shattered. Reyes said he heard a bang. Unsure of what it was, he told the students to get under their desks — just like they’d practiced.
“The kids were yelling, ‘What’s going on, Mr. Reyes?'” he said. “[The students] were going under the table, and I was trying to get them to do that as fast as I could.”
“When I turned around,” he said, “I just saw him.”
The next 77 minutes of carnage “destroyed” Reyes, he said, and forever changed a school, a community and perhaps a country. By the end of his rampage, a gunman had killed 19 students — including all 11 in Reyes’ classroom — and two teachers. Reyes himself sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
“I feel so bad for the parents because they lost a child,” Reyes told Robach. “But they lost one child. I lost 11 that day, all at one time.”
From his hospital bed in San Antonio, less than two weeks after surviving the second-most deadly school shooting in U.S. history, Reyes offered the most vivid account yet of what transpired inside classroom 111 of Robb Elementary School on May 24.
He also waded into the nationwide debate over gun violence and slammed local police as “cowards” for failing to act faster. And while Reyes recovers, he’s already plotting his next act: ensuring this never happens again.
“The only thing that I know is that I won’t let these children and my co-workers die in vain,” he said. “I will go to the end of the world to make sure things get changed. If that’s what I have to do for the rest of my life, I will do it.”
Inside the classroom
Before the gunman entered his classroom, Reyes said he told his students, “Get under the table and act like you’re asleep.” When he turned, he saw a blur — and then gunfire.
Two shots rang out. Reyes immediately “knew something was wrong,” he said. He couldn’t feel his arm, and he fell to the floor as the gunman fired indiscriminately into the classroom of 10- and 11-year-olds. After a short time, silence fell over the room.
“I prayed that I wouldn’t hear none of my students talk,” he said. “And I didn’t hear talk for a while. But then, later on, he did shoot again. So, if he didn’t get them the first time, he got them the second time.”
Wounded on the ground, Reyes said he followed his own advice and pretended to be unconscious. Reyes said the gunman again fired his weapon.
“And that was the second time he got me,” Reyes said. “Just to make sure that I was dead.”
The second gunshot pierced Reyes’ back and lung.
“I had no concept of time,” Reyes said. “When things go bad, it seems like eternity. The only thing that I can say is I felt like my blood was like an hourglass.”
In the 14 days since the shooting, Reyes said he has undergone five surgeries and twice had his blood replaced.
Unbeknownst to Reyes, parents and onlookers eventually gathered outside of the school, encouraging officers to enter the building. It wasn’t until 12:50 p.m. when a tactical unit finally breached the classroom door and killed the gunman.
“After that it was just bullets everywhere,” he said. “And then I just remember Border Patrol saying, ‘Get up, get out,’ and I couldn’t get up.”
System failure
In the wake of the shooting, law enforcement has come under immense scrutiny for failing to act faster. Seventy-seven minutes passed from the time the gunman entered the school until officers breached the door and killed him.
“They’re cowards,” Reyes said. “They sit there and did nothing for our community. They took a long time to go in… I will never forgive them.”
Law enforcement and state officials have repeatedly corrected themselves and at times provided conflicting details about their response. At one point, a Texas Department of Public Safety official said the on-scene commanding officer made the “wrong decision” to wait to breach the barricaded classrooms.
Robb Elementary School prepared for active shooter events, conducting drills as recently as a few weeks before the mass shooting. But Reyes described failures in protocol at nearly every step of the security process on May 24 — missteps in protocol and execution that he says cost lives.
“There was no announcement. I did not receive any messages on my phone — sometimes we do get a Raptor system,” he said, referring to the school district’s emergency alert program, “but I didn’t get anything, and I didn’t hear anything.”
Reyes also described complaints he said he had made about his door, which is meant to remain shut and locked while class is in session. At prior security checks, Reyes said he noticed that his door would not latch — an issue he said he raised with the school’s principal.
“When that would happen, I would tell my principal, ‘Hey, I’m going to get in trouble again, they’re going to come and tell you that I left my door unlocked, which I didn’t,'” he said. “But the latch was stuck. So, it was just an easy fix.”
Even with the failures in plan implementation, Reyes said the outcome felt inevitable: “No training would ever prepare anybody for this.”
“It all happened too fast. Training, no training, all kinds of training — nothing gets you ready for this,” he said. “We trained our kids to sit under the table and that’s what I thought of at the time. But we set them up to be like ducks.”
The Uvalde Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and Robb Elementary School did not respond to requests for comment.
The solution is not more training, according to Reyes, but an overhaul of a system that allows easy access to firearms. Reyes emphasized that he is not against gun ownership, but advocated for common-sense gun legislation that would raise the age limit for would-be gun purchasers.
“If you want to buy a gun, you want to own a gun, that’s fine,” he said. “But the age limit has to change. And I think that they need to do more background checks on it. Things just have to change. It must change.”
(NEW YORK) — Multiple climbers were airlifted off California’s Mount Shasta, some in critical condition, on Monday, with one dying as a result of their injuries, authorities said.
At least four climbers were rescued, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. Climbers had reported poor conditions after Sunday snowfall turned into ice overnight.
Mount Shasta is a potentially active volcano with an elevation of 14,179 feet — the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range.
The first incident was reported at 8:39 a.m. of a climber suffering severe injuries and in critical condition and one recovering from injuries that included a broken ankle, the sheriff’s office said, which said at the time that another climber had died as a result of their injuries.
Another climber was reported in critical condition at 12:31 p.m., and a third incident was later reported at 4 p.m., at which time the sheriff’s office said a helicopter crew was trying to locate a female climber who was said to be injured on the mountain.
The first two incidents were in the area of Avalanche Gulch, a snowy glacier climb on the mountain, the sheriff’s office said.
As of 6 p.m., the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office was coordinating rescue efforts for a fifth climber, it said. It was unclear exactly how many climbers were injured or what the nature of their climb was.
The identity of the deceased climber is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office was coordinating rescue operations with the Mount Shasta City Fire Department, the Siskiyou County Search and Rescue (SAR), USFS Climbing Rangers, the CHP – Air Operations H-14 crew and Mount Shasta Ambulance, as well as Reach 5 Air Ambulance.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Marshals Service is looking for three men after they climbed through holes they made in the ceiling of their cells and escaped out the back door of the Barry County Jail in southwest Missouri early Friday morning.
The Barry County Sheriff’s Office said in Facebook posts that the men, two of whom were booked on drug charges and the other on a stealing charge, broke out of jail overnight. They should be considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff Danny Boyd told ABC News that his staff learned when they arrived for work Friday that the inmates had climbed through holes they’d made in the ceiling and left the building through a maintenance door.
The jail building is old with ceilings made of plaster, which Boyd said allowed the escape to take place. He said the inmates — Lance Stephens, Matthew Crawford and Christopher Blevins — were acquaintances. Two shared a cell while the other was in a cell several feet away.
The sheriff said there is no indication that an employee aided the escape but noted that he is interviewing everyone who was working that morning to be sure. His staff has pulled all surveillance video from the time of the escape.
Boyd said tips he’s received suggest at least two of the inmates have left the state.
The U.S. Marshals did not respond to requests for comment about their search.
The sheriff’s office asked the public for tips and information on the escapees Monday, saying it would pass the information along to the Marshals.
The Barry County Jail incident is the latest of a string of jail escapes that have occurred in the past several months.
Last week, a Houston area family of five was allegedly murdered by escaped prisoner Gonzalo Lopez, who broke into their home.
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Lopez died in a shootout with police hours after authorities found the family’s bodies.
On April 29, Vicky White, the Lauderdale County assistant director of corrections in Florence, Alabama, helped murder suspect Casey White escape from his cell, and the two fled the jail.
After an 11-day search, Vicky White and Casey White, who aren’t related, were caught by law enforcement in Evansville, Indiana, after a car crash.
Vicky White died on May 9 from injuries stemming from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
(UVALDE, Texas) — An elementary school teacher wounded in the second-most deadly school shooting in U.S. history in Uvalde, Texas, described the chilling moments he first encountered a gunman who would take the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
Arnulfo Reyes was watching a movie with 11 of his students when he heard the deadly shots ringing out, he told ABC News anchor Amy Robach for an interview airing Tuesday on “Good Morning America,” as he recovered from two gunshot wounds at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
The 17-year veteran teacher described multiple harrowing encounters with the gunman, offering the most vivid account yet of what transpired inside his classroom on May 24, when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos attacked Robb Elementary School.
Reyes and his students were in Room 111, one of the adjoining classrooms where Ramos allegedly carried out the attack, he said. When the children began asking, “What is going on?” Reyes said he attempted to remain calm and gave instructions to his students to keep them safe.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s go ahead and get under the table,” Reyes said he told the students. “Get under the table and act like you’re asleep.”
After Reyes told the children to get under the table, he turned around and saw the gunman standing there.
Ramos then almost immediately opened fire on the classroom, Reyes said.
Reyes said he was shot twice. One bullet went through an arm and lung, and another bullet hit him in the back.
As Reyes lay incapacitated, Ramos turned his AR-15 style rifle, bought days after his 18th birthday, onto the young children– mostly third and fourth graders.
Reyes then heard police officers outside the classroom as a child in the next room called for help, he said, adding that he believes the officers had walked away at that point, having not heard the pleas.
“One of the students from the next-door classroom was saying, ‘Officer, we’re in here. We’re in here,'” Reyes said. “But they had already left.”
The gunman then got up from behind Reyes’ desk in Room 111 and began shooting again in Room 112, Reyes said.
The next time Reyes heard officers, they were telling Ramos to come out — that they just wanted to talk and were not going to hurt him, Reyes said.
Then, silence. Before eventually officers breached the door and fatally shot him, Reyes said.
One student survivor, 10-year-old Samuel Salinas, told ABC News after the shooting that the gunman came into his classroom and said, “You’re all gonna die,” and just started shooting.
“He shot the teacher and then he shot the kids,” Salinas said, adding that he played dead to avoid being shot.
The funerals for the victims are continuing until June 25.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(PHILADELPHIA) — Arrest warrants were issued Monday for two suspects in a mass shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia as police continue to work to identify other gunmen in the rampage that left three people dead and 11 injured, according to prosecutors.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference that he approved charges against two suspects “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”
Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said warrants were issued for Quran Garner, who was shot by a police officer during the incident and is in custody, and a second individual, whose name was not released, and who remains at large.
Pescatore said Garner, who was undergoing surgery Monday on an injured hand, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.
The unnamed individual is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violating the uniform firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
Citing security video, Pescatore said the shooting erupted after one of the victims she identified as Micah Towns got into a physical confrontation with Gregory Jackson, a 34-year-old man who was killed in the shooting.
Pescatore said Towns and Jackson were passing each other on the same side of South Street when words were exchanged, setting off a melee.
“Jackson takes a swing at Micah Towns, striking him in the face,” Pescatore said.
She said the unnamed wanted suspect, who was with Jackson at the time, gets involved in the fight.
“Micah Towns is thrown against a window while they are beating on him,” Pescatore said.
She said Jackson, who had a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm, is seen on video pulling out a gun and holding it to his side. She said, Towns, who also had a concealed firearm permit, drew his gun and fired at Jackson in self-defense, killing him.
Pescatore said the unnamed suspect then shot Towns, who remains in a hospital in serious condition.
She said Garner, who was with Towns at the time, then allegedly drew a weapon and fired in the direction of where the melee occurred as police converged on the scene.
She said Garner then allegedly aimed his weapon at officers, who fired at him, striking him in the hand.
Pescatore said Garner ran from the area yelling “he shot my hand off” and police lost him in the crowd. She said Garner later approached other officers dealing with a separate shooting on Second Street, claimed he had been shot in the incident and was taken to a hospital.
Pescatore said Garner allegedly fired a Ghost gun, a non-traceable weapon, in the shooting and that it remains unclear if he hit anyone. The gun also had an extended magazine.
The unnamed suspect remained at the scene rendering medical aid to Jackson, Pescatore said.
She said the suspect gave his name and address to police and was allowed to leave the scene. It was only after investigators reviewed the video did they realize the man was involved in the shooting and was caught on video picking up Jackson’s gun and giving it to an unidentified man in a blue hooded sweatshirt who fled with the weapon.
Pescatore said at least four guns — three 9mm weapons and a .40-caliber handgun — were involved in the shooting on Second Street, a popular nightlife area full of bars and restaurants that was crowded with hundreds of people when the shooting erupted.
She said the crime scene encompassed about a two block area.
Philadelphia police officials said officers recovered two guns from the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities said.
“Hour by hour we are finding out more information,” Krasner said.
Krasner described witnessing a “chilling” scene when he visited the site of the shooting just hours after it occurred.
“It is no less chilling that it happened in no less than 10 places around the country in a space of a few days,” said Krasner, referring to mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in nine different states that left a total of at least 17 people dead and 62 injured.
The Philadelphia shooting erupted just before midnight Saturday at the busy intersection of Third and South streets.
Inspector D.F. Pace of the Philadelphia Police Department said hundreds of people were milling about the area when the shooting caused a panic and sent people running in all directions, some diving behind cars for cover.
Investigators are combing through security video to identify other suspects and determine a motive for the shooting, Pescatore said.
She urged anyone with information about the shooting to contact homicide investigators.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference on Sunday that two of the slain victims were innocent bystanders as well as many of those who were wounded.
One of those killed was identified as Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College in Philadelphia, the Girard College Federation of Teachers union said in a statement. Two more victims were identified by the Philadelphia Police Department Sunday afternoon as Jackson and 27-year-old Alexis Quinn.
“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the teachers’ union statement read.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — The Sacramento City Unified School District reinstated its mask mandate Monday just two months after making face coverings optional.
School officials said the decision came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated the county as having high levels of COVID-19 in the community.
When counties enter this category, the federal health agency recommends masking in indoor, public spaces and on public transportation.
“Sacramento is a community that has been devastated due to COVID,” SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar told ABC News. “Our district has been really committed in the overall safety of our students and staff … so we established the CDC threshold would be the drivers for our decision-making.”
According to the CDC, the county is currently recording 283.49 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people every week.
Data from the district shows the case rate is currently more than seven times higher than when the mask mandate was lifted.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News that cases in Northern California are rising for several reasons, the main being the spread of new omicron subvariants.
“The new generations of subvariants are looking so different from the original variants from Wuhan that the antibodies don’t recognize them as easily,” he said.
He described immunity from vaccination against the new subvariants as two levels of defense.
“I think of the antibodies as guards at the front gate that are a little bit sleepy that let the virus in,” Chin-Hong said. “But you have B-cells and T-cells so, once the virus is in, they’re like the guard dog that attacks. So, you get infected, but you won’t go to the hospital.”
SCUSD’s decision comes as several school districts have reimposed mask mandates amid increasing COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
These include Philadelphia; Brookline, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island, as well as universities such as the University of Delaware and the University of Hawaii.
“I know that April to June is not a very long time and people were just getting used to” not having a mask mandate, Aguilar said. “I do recognize that this is a very divisive topic but we’ve been very fortunate that the vast majority of our community has stood firm and in support of the kinds of measures that we’ve put in place.”
Chin-Hong said SCUSD’s decision to reimpose mask mandates is an example of what health officials mean when they discuss ramping up mitigation measures when cases rise and easing them when cases fall.
“This is a good example of what turning on and off the switch of protection looks like,” he said. “I think we’ll have to get used to it to keep hospitals intact and keep people healthy.”
