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(NEW YORK) — Just one week ago, an 18-year-old suspect allegedly gunned down 10 Black people at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in what authorities called a “racially motivated hate crime.”

A day later, a shooting at a Southern California church would leave one person dead, five others injured. The suspect, a 68-year-old man, was motivated by the political tension between China and Taiwan, the Orange County Sheriff’s office said this week.

In both cases, the FBI is said to be investigating the shootings for possible hate crimes.

But aside from those high-profile deadly shootings, a recent spate of violence has occurred at gatherings typically known to bring joy and celebration to children and parents alike — graduations.

There have been at least three shootings this week at graduation ceremonies across multiple states, none appearing to be at random.

An 18-year-old identified as Hasani Brewer was killed and a 17-year-old injured in a shooting Wednesday night as a crowd was leaving a Riverdale high school graduation ceremony being hosted on the Middle Tennessee State University campus.

Murfreesboro Police said the shooting stemmed from an altercation between Brewer and the teen near the on-campus arena when another 17-year-old opened fire. The alleged teen shooter was taken into custody Thursday and arraigned in juvenile court on a first-degree murder charge, according to police.

In Louisiana, chaos ensued Thursday night when shots rang out as family and friends were leaving the University Center at Southeastern Louisiana University’s campus after a Hammond high school graduation ceremony.

Hammond Police said three bystanders were shot after an argument turned into gunfire and another person was injured attempting to flee the scene. All the injuries were considered to be non-life threatening, according to police. No students were believed to be involved or among the injured.

“The sad thing is that people bring guns to events like this when it should be a joyous moment for people that have spent the last twelve years of their life, come to a graduation and all of a sudden we end up in a situation like this,” Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr. said during a press conference.

“[I’m] in disbelief that something like this could be happening at such a joyous occasion for these, you know, there was 280-something kids graduating,” Penny Lapre told ABC affiliate WBRZ-TV. “It was mass chaos,” Lapre said.

20-year-old Trent Thomas was arrested in connection to the shooting and faces three counts of attempted second-degree murder, possession of a firearm in a gun-free campus, and obstruction of justice, according to Southeastern Louisiana University Police Chief Michael Beckner.

And in Michigan, two people were injured Thursday when gunfire erupted in the parking lot of a high school campus hosting a graduation ceremony on its football field with 400 people in attendance.

The Kent County Sheriff’s Office said a gun battle between two vehicles occurred in the parking lot following the end of a graduation for Crossroads Alternative High School students at East Kentwood High School. A 16-year-old male from Texas suffered a wrist wound and has since been released from the hospital. The vehicles involved had fled the parking lot. A 40-year-old Grand Rapids woman suffered wrist and abdomen injuries and remained hospitalized in critical, but stable condition, authorities said. The vehicles involved had fled the parking lot.

On Friday, the sheriff’s office said they had located the two vehicles involved, a white Hyundai sedan and a white Mercedes-Benz sedan. The Hyundai was found abandoned and still running behind a business in Grand Rapids. The car had bullet holes in it and was reported stolen from the city of Kentwood.

Later that day, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office announced they had detained five people in connection with the shooting following a traffic stop in Livonia, Michigan.

“It is believed that two of the individuals detained were involved with the shooting incident at East Kentwood. There is possibly a third individual as well, but we are awaiting further investigation by detectives on scene,” a statement said. Multiple guns were recovered.

The series of shootings at graduations adds to an ongoing alarming trend of gun violence in the United States. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 1,247 teens ages 12 to 17 were killed in 2021, and 3,381 others were injured.

So far this year there have been 487 teens killed in that same age group and 1,248 injured.

More broadly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data this month showing gun homicides increased 35% across the country during the first year of the pandemic to the highest level in 25 years.

According to the new CDC study, firearm homicides increased 40% for those ages 10 to 24 in 2020 — the highest increases for people of color, notably Black males.

The rise in violence could be attributed to the social and economic pressures stemming from the pandemic that reinforced “longstanding” inequities between communities, the study noted.

“Longstanding systemic inequities and structural racism have resulted in limited economic, housing, and educational opportunities associated with inequities in risk for violence,” the authors of the study wrote, “the COVID-19 pandemic might have exacerbated existing social and economic stressors.”

The new CDC data confirms trends identified by ABC News as it studied data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive over the past year.

Back in Tennessee, a family and community is in mourning over the loss of their loved one.

“Always had a smile, always ready to joke, he was a prankster. He just had this light,” said Natalie Gant speaking at a vigil Thursday evening for her son, Hasani Brewer, also known as Sunny Gant, WKRN reported.

ABC News’ Med Unit contributor Eli Cahan contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Temperatures are expected to soar into the mid- and upper-90s across much of the Northeast on Saturday and into Sunday — about 20 degrees higher than is typical for this time of year for some of the region.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a heat emergency for Saturday and Sunday due to the unseasonably high temperatures and humid weather forecasted.

With temperatures expected to be in the low- to mid-90s, the city has opened cooling centers and splash pads at parks and playgrounds ahead of schedule.

“We’re working quickly to make sure all of our Boston residents and families are protected during this weekend’s extremely hot weather,” Wu said in a statement. “As we head into summer, it is clear that earlier, more frequent extreme heat days from a changing climate are a risk to our health and communities.”

In New York City, over 600 spray showers have been activated across the city in anticipation of the high temperatures, with a heat advisory issued through 8 p.m. Saturday.

This year’s Preakness Stakes will be the hottest in recent memory, with forecasted high temperatures in the mid-90s and heat indices approaching 100 in Baltimore on Saturday. The temperature is usually in the mid-70s this time of year.

“The abrupt beginning of hot temperatures early in the season after a relatively cool spring brings an increased risk of heat illnesses unless proper precautions are taken for those working or recreating outdoors,” the National Weather Service said in a statement for the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., region. “Since many outdoor events are planned this weekend in the region, be aware of the heat, and take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside this weekend.”

Racetrack officials will track the temperature, humidity and wind speed to determine whether to delay or cancel the horserace, according to the Baltimore Sun.

The Northeast will see some relief after a cold front comes through on Sunday, bringing temperatures back to more seasonable levels by Monday.

ABC News’ Daniel Amarante contributed to this report.

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(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — In the early months of the pandemic, security experts sounded the alarm over the possible escalation of online radicalization and terrorist violence as people isolated and spent more time on social media.

An internal Department of Homeland Security memo in early 2020 cautioned that the new pandemic lifestyle could “increase the vulnerability of some citizens to mobilize to violence.” The U.N. warned in a November 2020 report of cases involving “malicious” use of social media for fomenting extremist beliefs.

The suspect behind an attack on Saturday at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York – which left 10 dead, all of whom were Black, and three others wounded – appears to have posted writing that epitomizes these fears. In a 180-page document, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, allegedly shared a litany of bigoted views and conspiracy theories. One theory he espoused — “replacement theory” — argues that Democrats are trying to bring about a demographic shift to consolidate power.

Gendron has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges.

The tragedy highlights the threat posed by online radicalization, several experts told ABC, pointing to a toxic blend of circumstances brought about by the pandemic: widespread social isolation, heightened social media use and the spread of conspiracy theories. Further, the prevalence of extremism on the internet has exposed the shortcomings of social media platforms to police content, experts said.

The last two calendar years are the highest on record for domestic terror plots and attacks going back to at least 1994, the first year for which the Center for Strategic and International Studies collected such data, the Washington D.C.-based think tank said in a recent report.

The notion of radicalization can prove difficult to pin down because definitions vary, Deana Rohlinger, a professor at Florida State University who studies media and social movements, told ABC News. She defined the term as a process of interacting with individuals, groups, or pieces of content that engender pure or extremist views.

She defines extremist views as those which are “fundamentally opposed to the status quo.” In the U.S., that would include opposition to the democratic welfare state or tolerance of diverse ideas, she said. A key component of the definition includes a consideration of or willingness to commit violence in advancing one’s viewpoint, she added.

Ciaran O’Connor, an analyst at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue who tracks internet disinformation and extremism, told ABC News that the alleged shooter “exhibits so many of the signs of people who have become engaged in conspiracies and extremist spaces over the last two years,” citing reports of what the alleged shooter said in a 180-page document.

O’Connor and Rohlinger cited evidence that suggests an uptick in online radicalization during the pandemic. However, one expert questioned whether a rise in online radicalization has taken place.

Megan Squire, a professor of computer science at Elon University who focuses on far-right extremism online, said that research on the trend is “mixed,” noting her own work, which found a decline in traffic to some far-right websites during the pandemic that belies the supposed rise in such content elsewhere online.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a staunch defender of free speech, criticizes the term “radicalization,” arguing that the theory that extremist beliefs lead to violence is “unscientific” and ends up limiting constitutionally protected views.

As coronavirus cases and deaths mounted in the early days of the pandemic, the scientific community could not definitively explain the origins of the disease or how to stop its spread.

“It was a very complex period with no clear answer, no clear solutions,” O’Connor said. “A lot of extremists were very successful offering solutions and someone to blame — they found a lot of people.”

Marooned indoors, millions sought information and community on social media, Rohlinger said.

“Everyone’s world became even smaller and less connected in the ways humans crave,” she said.

“We don’t always find the best communities in which to get engaged,” she added.

Misinformation and conspiracy theories emerged in posts across major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Membership in Facebook groups devoted to the conspiracy theory QAnon increased by 120% in March 2020, and engagement rates in such groups increased by 91% that month, a study from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found.

Facebook announced a ban on QAnon pages in October 2020. The company pointed ABC News to a blog post that said, as of September 2021, the company had removed about 3,900 pages, 11,300 groups, 640 events, 50,300 Facebook profiles and 32,500 Instagram accounts for violating its policy against QAnon.

The company also removed about 4,000 Pages, 20,600 groups, 190 events, 54,900 Facebook profiles and 8,300 Instagram accounts related to militarized social movements, the blog post said.

Extremist views also circulated on lesser-known sites like 4chan, an anonymous imageboard site known for the appearance of hateful content. Gendron wrote that he visited 4chan during the pandemic. 4chan did not respond to a request for comment.

Discord, another social media site used by the alleged shooter in Buffalo, grew in popularity during the pandemic. The site is popular with teenagers and has been accused of spreading conspiracy theories.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families. Hate and violence have no place on Discord. We are doing everything we can to assist law enforcement in the investigation,” a spokesperson for Discord told ABC News.

A study by researchers at Northwestern University, released in September 2020, found that individuals who received their news from social media were more likely to believe in misinformation about coronavirus conspiracies and risk factors.

Squire challenged the default acceptance of the claim made by Gendron that exposure to extremist ideas on 4chan radicalized him. “Because that was a prevailing narrative in the media [at the time], it may be he was just repeating that or following that logic placed in front of him,” she said.

Online radicalization amid the pandemic has also drawn strength from the “mainstreaming” of extremist views among prominent politicians and public figures, Rohlinger told ABC News.

When questioned by reporters Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to directly denounce replacement theory, which several members of his party have been accused of promoting.

Asked if the eventual receding of the pandemic could lessen the threat of online radicalization, O’Connor said a reduction of time spent on the internet could have a “positive impact” on limiting exposure to extremist ideas.

“A lot of seeds may have been planted for people,” he cautioned. “It’s hard to dissuade people once they’ve been exposed.”

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(NEW YORK) — The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, urged two Arizona lawmakers to help reverse President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory in the state, according to emails reviewed by ABC News — suggesting that the conservative activist played a larger role in pushing to overturn the election than was previously publicly known.

Thomas, whose political activism following the 2020 election has faced growing scrutiny given her proximity to the Supreme Court, emailed Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Arizona State Rep. Shawnna Bolick in the days following the election in November, asking them to “fight back against fraud” and “do your Constitutional duty!” according to records.

The emails were obtained by ABC News on Friday through a records request to the Arizona House of Representatives. Their contents were first reported by The Washington Post.

“Please stand strong in the face of political and media pressure,” Thomas wrote in separate emails to the two GOP lawmakers on Nov. 9, 2020. “Please reflect on the awesome authority granted to you by our constitution. And then please take action to ensure that a clean slate of electors is chosen for our state.”

In another pair of emails to Bowers and Bolick, sent days later on Nov. 13, Thomas wrote, “As state lawmakers, you have the Constitutional power and authority to protect the integrity of our elections — and we need you to exercise that power now!”

“Never before in our nation’s history have our elections been so threatened by fraud and unconstitutional procedures,” Thomas added, according to the emails.

Bolick, according to records reviewed by ABC News, replied to Thomas on Nov. 10, 2020, saying, “I hope you and Clarence are doing great!” and providing instructions on how to file a complaint for those who “experience voter fraud.”

Bolick on Friday took to Twitter to fire back at news coverage of Thomas’ emails.

“The dishonest media wants to distract attention from election fraud & our efforts to secure elections,” she wrote. “Let’s cut through the conjecture & put this to bed. Here is the public records request from Washington Post & my emails, which show me responding as I would to any constituent.”

The emails reviewed by ABC News do not show any response from Bowers.

Reached by ABC News Friday, a spokesperson for Bowers, Andrew Wilder, said in a statement, “The emails appear to have been among the hundreds of thousands of messages sent to the Speaker’s office during that period. Speaker Bowers did not see, much less read, the vast majority of those messages, including the form email sent by Mrs. Thomas.”

Although a self-described Trump supporter, Bowers said following the election that he had seen no evidence of voter fraud. For his actions to protect election integrity in Arizona, Bowers this Sunday will receive the 2022 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, presented by the Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, alongside four other recipients that include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Neither Thomas nor her attorney responded to a request for comment from ABC News.

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(CHICAGO) — An investigation is underway after a Chicago police officer shot a 13-year-old boy during a foot pursuit who authorities allege was involved in two recent carjackings.

The incident occurred Wednesday night on the city’s West Side. Police tracked the license plate of a vehicle stolen two days earlier in Chicago to the area shortly after 10 p.m., according to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.

As officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the teenager got out of the car and fled, as several officers pursued him on foot, Brown said.

“The subject flees to a gas station parking lot … and turns toward the officer,” Brown told reporters during a briefing Thursday. “The officer then discharges his weapon, striking the individual once.”

Officers rendered first aid and moved the boy away from the nearby gas pumps due to concerns over a possible explosion following the gunfire, Brown said.

He was transported to an area hospital in serious but stable condition, according to the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, an independent agency that is investigating the shooting. He was also placed in custody for the stolen car, Brown said.

No weapon was recovered from the scene, Eaddy said.

The officer’s body-worn camera was on at the time of the shooting, according to Brown and COPA spokesperson Ephraim Eaddy. COPA also has third-party footage of the incident, Eaddy said.

COPA is unable to release any video of the shooting because it involves a juvenile, the office said. In the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last year, it released the body camera footage at the request of Toledo’s family.

Brown said he was limited in what he could discuss around Wednesday’s shooting, including the contents of the body-worn camera footage, amid the investigation.

“We cannot draw conclusions to an investigation that just started last night,” he said Thursday. “We’re not going to answer how many shots were fired. The ballistics evidence will say that. We’re not going to answer anything else about the shooting.”

It is not clear at this time where the teen was shot, said Brown, who added he would defer to medical personnel’s findings for that.

“We’re not going to speculate. This investigation will reveal the facts,” he said, adding that COPA has his department’s full support.

The driver of the stolen vehicle fled the scene in the car and has not been apprehended, police said. The car was found abandoned a couple of miles from the scene of the shooting and was being processed for evidence, Brown said.

Several witnesses told Chicago ABC station WLS that the teen had his hands up before he was shot.

When asked by a reporter whether the shooting was justified, Brown said it was too soon to jump to conclusions, and that the officer and suspect had yet to provide a statement.

“There’s a lot of evidence, a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said. “Jumping to conclusions is just not fair to any of the people involved because you might jump to the conclusion that is wrong.”

At the same time, Alderperson Emma Mitts, who represents the 37th Ward where the shooting occurred, was left questioning the use of force.

“Why would you want to shoot if you can easily go and chase him?” Mitts told WLS. “The 13-year-old did not have a weapon that was recovered from the scene. So now that brings up concern to why and what happened. Certainly we don’t want an officer out here shooting our children for no reason, that’s insane.”

In a statement, COPA said it was “committed to a full and thorough investigation into the officer’s use of force to determine if their actions were in accordance with Department policy and training.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she has been in contact with Brown and COPA regarding Wednesday’s shooting.

“I have full confidence that COPA will investigate this incident expeditiously with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department,” she said in a statement.

No information on the officer who discharged his weapon has been released at this time. The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days, the police department said.

Police believe the 13-year-old boy was involved in the carjacking of that vehicle, as well as a second carjacking that occurred on Tuesday in Oak Park, Brown said. In that incident, a car left running with a 3-year-old girl in the back seat was stolen, and the mother was dragged after grabbing onto the car before falling and breaking her clavicle, the superintendent said.

The car was soon recovered with the child still safely inside, he said.

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(NEW YORK) — When Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old white man charged in connection with the murders of 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, was a senior in high school, he allegedly wrote a paper saying that he wanted to commit murder-suicide, according to authorities.

That prompted the assistant principal of Gendron’s high school to call New York State Police and report Gendron, according to law enforcement. After a day-and-a-half mental health evaluation a year ago, Gendron was released and his behavior wasn’t flagged to authorities before he allegedly carried out the mass shooting last Saturday.

Gendron has pleaded not guilty.

Law enforcement sources tell ABC News how they handle mental health evaluations and police investigations regarding disturbed people and their access to firearms is very much a work in progress.

They point to how easily Gendron allegedly sidestepped an investigation to see if he was dangerous following the incident at his high school.

Buffalo suspect had made references to murder-suicide, sources say

A review by ABC News of the 589-page document allegedly containing messages first posted on the social media platform Discord appears to show that Gendron simply misled law enforcement and mental health officials when confronted after writing that senior class paper that he had thoughts of murder-suicide.

In the document, Gendron writes of landing in a hospital emergency room in May 2021 for 20 hours because he referenced murder-suicide in terms of how he planned to mark his graduation from high school — as part of an economics assignment.

He told law enforcement and mental health officials he been joking. According to the social media messages, that was a lie. He allegedly wrote in Discord that the murder-suicide reference was specifically about his developing plans to murder minorities whom he believed were replacing white people in American society.

Gendron said the murder-suicide quote in his school assignment may have even been a cry for help but he lied so he could keep his plan in motion, because killing, he said, was precisely what he was planning.

Ohio shooter made hit-list in high school

Previous mass shooters have often left clues or raised concerns with others and, in some cases, authorities have missed signals that could have otherwise prevented an attack.

On a summer night in August 2019, Connor Betts opened fire at the entrance of Ned Peppers Bar in downtown Dayton, Ohio, killing nine, including his brother, and wounding 17 before responding officers shot him to death.

Betts, according to the U.S. Secret Service, “had a history of concerning communications, including harassing female students in middle and high school, making a hit list and a rape list in high school, telling others he had attempted suicide, and showing footage of a mass shooting to his girlfriend.”

Betts had an “enduring fascination with mass violence,” the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit concluded in a report released in November.

“The FBI’s BAU assessed the attacker’s enduring fascination with mass violence and his inability to cope with a convergence of personal factors, to include a decade-long struggle with multiple mental health stressors and the successive loss of significant stabilizing anchors experienced prior to August 4, 2019, likely were the primary contributors to the timing and finality of his decision to commit a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio,” the report stated.

One reason that family and friends did not alert authorities about Betts was potentially because of “bystander fatigue,” according to the report.

Bystander fatigue occurs when people around the suspect don’t pay attention or take any action “due to their prolonged exposure to the person’s erratic or otherwise troubling behavior over time,” according to the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

FBI warned about accused Parkland high school shooter

Nikolas Cruz has pleaded guilty to walking into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 18, 2018, and opening fire inside the school killing 17 and wounding 17 more.

More than a month before the shooting, the FBI was warned about Cruz by a person close to him through the FBI’s public access tip line, according to an FBI statement in 2018.

“The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” the FBI statement says.

The information, the FBI admitted, should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami field office and assessed as a “threat to life,” where it would’ve been investigated.

The school shooting was one of the deadliest in American history.

The FBI was later sued by the families of the Parkland shooting for not appropriately assigning the call to the Miami Field Office. In March, the Justice Department, while not admitting the full guilt of missing the signals Cruz exhibited, settled with the families for $127 million.

A jury will decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without chance of parole.

Synagogue shooting suspect posted antisemitic images

In October of that same year, Robert Bowers is accused of walking into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and killing 11 people. Bowers, according to a criminal complaint charging him with the crime, made comments shortly after he was arrested to investigators about wanting to kill people who are Jewish.

Bowers, according to authorities, made posts on the social media site gab and early as July 2018 posted and reposted photos with antisemitic tropes, as well as a photo of a target that he reportedly shot by with a handgun, according to authorities.

Bowers was not known to law enforcement before October 2018, the then FBI Special Agent in Charge told reporters at the time. Moments before he carried out the shooting, Bowers posted antisemitic statements on the platform.

Bowers is facing trial for the 2018 shooting and has pleaded not guilty.

Charleston church shooter reportedly went on bigoted rant

Three years earlier, in 2015, Dylann Roof walked into the Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed nine African-American parishioners attending Bible study.

Friends told the New York Daily News that two weeks before the shooting, Roof went on a bigoted rant while drunk about “segregation and killing people.”

“He said he was planning for about six months to do something crazy,” said Joseph Meek, a friend of Roof. “He wanted it to be segregated. He wanted it to be white with the white, Black with the Black. All the races segregated.”

Meek, according to the Daily News, took a gun away from Roof two weeks before the shooting unfolded.

“I only took it away because he was drunk. I didn’t take him seriously,” Meek said. “I do feel a little guilty because I could have let someone know,” Meek told the Daily News.

Roof is appealing his capital punishment sentence.

Signals before mass shootings common

Alerting someone or giving a warning sign before a mass shooting is common, according to the U.S. Secret Service, which published a report in 2020 titled Mass Attacks in Public Spaces. The report found that nearly 65% of the mass attacks they studied in 2019 the attacker had threatened someone in the past, and 57% of attackers made some form of communication prior to the attack that should’ve elicited concern but didn’t.

“These concerning communications included making paranoid statements, sharing videos of previous mass attacks, vague statements about their imminent death, and one attacker telling his school counselor that he had a dream about killing his classmates,” the report says.

Javed Ali, former senior counterterrorism director at the National Security Council, told ABC News the shooting in Buffalo underscores the challenges law enforcement has in identifying shooters.

“The horrific attack in Buffalo underscores the challenges for law enforcement in identifying and preventing mass-casualty lone wolf terrorist attacks, with this being the latest in a string of similar ones committed by other white supremacists in the United States,” Ali, now an associate professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said.

“In these attacks, white supremacist lone wolves focused on different victims — including African Americans, Latinos, Jews — based on their belief in anti-immigrant and racist tropes found in conspiracies like the “great replacement theory” or other sources like manifestos written by infamous attackers such as Anders Brevik and Brentan Tarrarent that fuel white supremacy across the globe,” Ali said.

Breivik is a Norwegian who killed 77 people in 2011 and Brenton Tarrant carried out the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand, shootings at two mosques, murdering 51 people.

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(NEW YORK) — Mothers across the U.S. are banding together to respond to the baby formula shortage emergency and execute short-term solutions in local communities while corporations and the federal government scramble to address the crisis on a national level.

Kerissa Miller, a mom from Kennewick, Washington, started the Find My Formula, Tri Cities WA Facebook group on May 11 to pay it forward after another mom helped her by donating much-needed formula for her 6-month-old son.

Miller’s son MJ was born two months early and needs to be fed a special baby formula made specifically for premature babies. Similac’s NeoSure is one of the formulas impacted by the Abbott Nutrition recall in February. Miller said she isn’t able to breastfeed her son and her son’s pediatrician also told her there weren’t any other formula substitutes that would work for him.

The Facebook group helps parents and caregivers like her in southeastern Washington ask for formula, share information on formula stock at local stores and facilitate formula donations for each other.

“Moms message us and call us crying. They’re on their last can of formula so the need is extremely urgent,” Miller told “Good Morning America.” “When these moms go on Facebook looking for formula, they’re at such a desperate state that delivery is really the only option to help that baby get fed right away.”

Miller and a team of several moderators as well as three delivery drivers, including Mac Jaehnert, set out every day to respond to Facebook posts from parents in need and coordinate formula pickups and drop-offs.

“We’ve fed hundreds of babies just by gifted formula to us. There’s no other option,” Miller said. “Pediatricians can’t supply the need. There’s just no formula to go around so we’re just depending on moms to donate formula to us to feed each other’s babies. It’s a crazy world we live in where Facebook feeds our babies.”

In just nine days, the public Find My Formula, Tri Cities WA group has ballooned to over 560 members. Some days, Miller said she drives up to six hours with her son to make formula deliveries after she gets off her eight-hour night shift as an environmental wastewater operator simply to help.

“All we have right now is community so we’re just doing everything that we can to help the babies because this has affected the wealthy, the middle class and the poor,” Miller, who is also currently four months pregnant, said.

“I’ve delivered formula to mansions and those moms can purchase it but they can’t because it’s just not available. And the moms that are suffering the hardest are the moms on WIC,” she added, referencing the federal benefits program for low-income Americans. “It’s just a crisis that you never knew existed in America.”

“All I can do is just go pick up a can of formula and go drop it off before I go to bed.”

Marcela Young has also been dedicating her time to ease the formula crisis. Young is a mom to an 8-month-old and although her son doesn’t need baby formula, seeing stories of other families impacted by the shortage resonated with her.

“I don’t formula feed personally, but I do know a lot of moms that do and just the feeling of not being able to help your child is just very close to home,” Young told “Good Morning America.”

Young, a consultant in the Houston area, remembered that one of her former classmates had started a company that lets people create interactive maps online and quickly realized the map tool could be one way for her to help others.

That’s how the 29-year-old launched her “Fighting the Formula Shortage” map last week. The map, hosted by Proxi, is viewable on a computer, phone or tablet, and lets anyone add any point to a global map and organize it under several categories: “need formula,” “can donate formula,” “need breast milk,” “can donate breast milk,” “formula in-store” and “milk bank.”

“The way the map works is you add a point anywhere in your country. You don’t have to put your actual address,” Young explained, adding that anyone who adds a new point will also receive a welcome email afterward.

But Young also tries to help arrange connections whenever possible.

“People do reach out and say, ‘Hey, I have this pin that I’m looking at near my area. They need formula. I see formula at my store, I would like to ship it to them or I’d like to take it to their house or wherever to meet up,’” Young said. “Then I, as the admin of the map, can see their information if they decided not to share it, and then put them in contact with each other. I make sure that the person receiving it knows who’s going to contact them and I try to make sure that the other one knows who needs it.”

Young has spread the word about her map through her friend network and on social media on the Fighting Formula Shortage Facebook and Instagram pages. As with many groups online, Young also warns others to stay vigilant about potential scammers.

“First and foremost, be careful, be safe,” Young said. “If you’re going to do something virtually with someone, ask a lot of questions. If you’re going to meet with someone locally, please do it in a public place. That way, you’re avoiding different issues out there.”

“There’s a lot of good in humanity still,” she added. “And it’s been really nice to see people stepping up and willing to spread [the] word, spread resources.”

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(CHICAGO) — Nine people were shot, two of whom died, in a chaotic scene outside a McDonald’s on Chicago’s Near North Side Thursday. Police said they have arrested a suspect.

A dispute broke out between two groups at approximately 10:41 p.m. eventually leading one individual to fire shots into the crowd, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters at a press conference Friday.

Police do not know what caused the fight, Brown said.

Officers pursued the suspect into a Chicago Transit Authority train stop and arrested a suspect as well as a person who Brown said obstructed the officers.

A woman fleeing in a group along with the alleged shooter came in contact with the third rail at the train stop and has been hospitalized, Brown said.

Police said surveillance footage showed that an individual had handed the shooter the gun, but they have not yet been able to identify that person, according to Brown. A gun was recovered from the scene, police said.

“If the person who did this doesn’t have a gun, this is just a personal conflict that may or may not lead to fights, [but] no one being killed,” Brown said.

Brown said police have installed two fixed posts of officers and a revolving post of officers in the area. The shooting took place in a crowded downtown area near Loyola University Chicago and the city’s so-called Magnificent Mile home to upscale shops and historic buildings.

Brown said there is an ongoing “gun crime crisis” in Chicago and across the country.

“Our officers have taken more guns that are illegally possessed off the streets of Chicago than we have in our history,” Brown said.

Police recovered 11,400 guns in 2020, and over 12,000 in 2021, both record-breaking years. Police are on pace to surpass last year’s record, Brown said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the shooting “an outrageous act of violence.”

“It is simply awful, and unacceptable that once again another tragedy occurs because firearms are in the hands of people who simply do not care about themselves or the value of another’s life,” Lightfoot said in a statement.

She added, “Our police department is hard at work to make sure those responsible for last night’s incident are held accountable, for the safety and well-being of us all.”

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(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — The funerals for several victims of the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, are starting to take place.

Ten people, all of whom were Black, were killed in a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in an attack authorities are calling a “racially motivated hate crime.”

The victims included four grocery store employees as well as six customers, several of them regulars at the store, according to the Buffalo Police Department and those who knew them.

Heyward Patterson

Deacon Heyward Patterson’s funeral will begin at 12 p.m. on Friday at Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church. Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton and other community leaders are expected to make an appearance at the service.

Patterson’s family described him as a loving person.

“An honorable man. A family man. A working man. A community man. An honest man that was at a grocery store in a parking lot,” a relative of Patterson in an interview with ABC-affiliate WKBW-TV.

He leaves behind a wife and daughter.

Roberta Drury

The family of Roberta Drury will hold her funeral on Saturday at the Church of the Assumption in Syracuse.

Her sister Amanda Drury described her as a “vibrant and outgoing” woman who could “talk to anyone” in an interview with ABC News.

An online obituary says Drury “couldn’t walk a few steps without meeting a new friend. She made sure every single person in the room was having a great time, ready to laugh and hug at a moment’s notice.”

Katherine “Kat” Massey

The funeral for Katherine “Kat” Massey will be held on Monday, May 23, at the Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.

Massey was a civil rights activist who worked tirelessly to improve Buffalo’s Black community.

“She’s in a true sense of the word, a warrior,” Betty Jean Grant, a friend and fellow community activist, told WKBW. “She loved working and she loved helping people.”

Sharon Belton-Cottman, a Buffalo school board member and a community activist who worked with Massey in the community group We are Women Warriors, told ABC News that she is dedicated to renaming Massey’s street after her late friend.

Celestine Chaney

Celestine Chaney, a mother and grandmother of six, will be laid to rest on Tuesday, May 24, at Elim Christian Fellowship.

Chaney’s son, Wayne Jones, told the Buffalo News, “If people’s moms are still around, just don’t be too caught up in social media and the world to pick up the phone and talk to your mom or your dad.”

Aaron W. Salter

Services for Aaron W. Salter Jr. will begin on Tuesday at the Amigone Funeral Home.

Salter, a retired Buffalo Police officer, was killed after he confronted the gunman, who entered the store wearing military fatigues, body armor and a tactical helmet.

He has been hailed as a hero for his actions against the alleged Buffalo shooter.

Salter retired from the police department several years ago and had been a “beloved” member of Tops as a security guard, according to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.

“He took on a responsibility to protect the customers and the employees in the store,” Gramaglia said. “And he did exactly what he signed up for.”

Pearl L. Young

Pearl L. Young’s funeral will be held on Wednesday at the Elim Christian Fellowship.

In a phone interview with ABC News, her sister, Mary Craig, said Young “was such a beautiful, sweet woman.”

Young raised three children — two sons and a daughter — and was a long-term substitute teacher with the Buffalo Public School District and Emerson School of Hospitality.

“She loved her children, her family, and her Good-Samaritan COGIC church family. She was a true pillar in the community,” the family said in a statement to ABC News.

Margus D. Morrison

Services will be held for Margus D. Morgan on Friday, May 27, at True Bethel Baptist Church, at 11 a.m.

In a text message, Cassandra Demps, his stepdaughter, told ABC News that he was “a great father, wonderful partner” who was “funny” and “always willing to help his family.”

Morrison is “a soul that will always be missed,” she added.

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(NEW YORK) — Billy McFarland, who pleaded guilty to scheming thousands of people out of money from his Fyre Festival, was moved to a halfway house this week, according to Bureau of Prison records.

McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison for defrauding investors. Customers and investors lost over $26 million in two separate fraud schemes, according to the Department of Justice. The festival was supposed to take place in the Bahamas in 2017.

He was moved to a halfway house in Brooklyn, New York and is scheduled to be released in August.

McFarland unsuccessfully tried to get released from an Ohio prison in August of 2020 due to COVID-19 conditions in the facility.

In a court filing, DOJ prosecutors argued that McFarland had a disciplinary violation, which counts against his release.

According to court documents, McFarland had a pen with a USB recording device inside the prison that he initially denied knowing about.

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