(NEW YORK) — A 22-year-old man hiking in South Dakota’s Badlands National Park during extreme temperatures died after running out of water, authorities said.
Maxwell Right, of St. Louis, was following an unmarked trail with a friend when he collapsed Wednesday and died of suspected heat exhaustion and exposure, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office said.
The friend was flown to a hospital for treatment, a park official told ABC News on Saturday. The official, Superintendent Brenda Todd, said she did not know his condition.
The sheriff’s office initially said the two were on a trail that had been featured in a social media challenge, but later clarified that they were simply following a trail on a hiking app.
A spokesperson for the university, Andrew Careaga, told ABC News that records show a Maxwell Right graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in information and technology.
The Badlands experienced record temperatures this week, according to Todd, who said the area reached 108 degrees on Monday before cooling off slightly on Wednesday.
“It’s real hot. There’s no shade. It can just really get to you quickly,” she said, adding that hikers should go early in the day and bring plenty of water.
“There’s no water out in the Badlands, generally speaking,” Todd said. “You can’t rely on your GPS out here and cell phone service can be really spotty.”
At least two other fatalities were reported in national parks this week amid extreme heat.
A 75-year-old man from Houston was found dead on a trail in Big Bend National Park in Texas on Thursday evening, park officials said. There was no obvious cause of death, though officials noted in a statement that temperatures along the trail exceeded 104 degrees Thursday afternoon.
On Tuesday, the body of a man who had been reported overdue from a hike in Canyonlands National Park Sunday evening was found, park officials said. County officials are investigating the death. Park officials said in a statement on the fatality that visitors are “strongly encouraged to plan ahead and prepare for extreme heat” during the summer.
(JACKSON COUNTY, Iowa) — Two parents and their 6-year-old daughter were fatally shot Friday at an Iowa state park, while their 9-year-old son survived the attack, officials said.
The suspected gunman was also found in the park dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
Investigators are still working to determine the relationship between the victims and suspect in the triple homicide, which occurred Friday shortly before 6:30 a.m. at Maquoketa Caves State Park in Jackson County.
Responding officers found the bodies of the three victims at their campsite. As they canvassed and evacuated the area, officers learned there was a camper registered at the park who was unaccounted for, authorities said.
“They noted that there was one camper unaccounted for that they believed could have possibly been armed,” Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Mike Krapfl told ABC affiliate WQAD in Moline, Illinois. “They searched the area for that individual and then later on, about 11 a.m., we found a deceased individual inside the park.”
DCI identified the suspect as Anthony Orlando Sherwin, 23.
There is believed to be no ongoing risk to the public and the Maquoketa Caves State Park is closed until further notice, authorities said.
DCI identified the victims Friday night as Tyler Schmidt and Sarah Schmidt, both 42, and Lula Schmidt, 6. The family was from Cedar Falls.
Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green said he was “devastated” after hearing the news.
“I knew Sarah well, and she & her family were regular walkers here in the Sartori Park neighborhood,” he said in a statement on Facebook.
Green said the family’s 9-year-old son, Arlo, survived the attack “and is safe.” No further details were provided.
Sarah Schmidt was an employee at the Cedar Falls Public Library, Green said. The library closed Saturday following the tragedy to allow her colleagues to grieve, he said.
Green said more details will be forthcoming on services and other memorials planned for the family.
“Please offer some extra grace to the Schmidts’ many friends, neighbors, and coworkers as we try to process this horrible tragedy,” he said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Twitter that she was “horrified” by the shooting and “devastated by the loss of three innocent lives.”
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which maintains the state parks, said its staff is working with law enforcement on the investigation.
“Our long standing tradition of enjoying Iowa’s natural wonders was shaken today, but the legacy for the millions of families that recreate at Iowa State Parks will continue,” Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon said in a statement Friday. “This heartbreaking incident hits home for the DNR family; not only as people who are passionate about getting folks outside, but as people who regularly camp with our families at these same parks.”
The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner will conduct autopsies of the three victims and the findings will be released, DCI said. The state medical examiner will perform an autopsy on the suspect.
No further information on the incident will be released at this time amid the investigation, DCI said.
(CHICAGO) — A 29-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her ex-husband in a murder-suicide on Monday in Chicago after opening up about her divorce and healing journey on social media, according to police.
Sania Khan, a Pakistani American photographer who had recently moved to Chicago, was allegedly shot and killed by her ex-husband, 36-year-old Raheel Ahmed, who traveled from his home in Alpharetta, Georgia — a suburb of Atlanta – to Khan’s residence in Chicago, where she had recently moved, according to a police report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to her website, Khan was a professional photographer who moved to Chicago in June 2021.
Chicago police told ABC News in a statement that officers arrived on Monday afternoon at the 200 block of E. Ohio street where they found a woman and a man with gunshot wounds to their heads inside a residence.
The woman was pronounced dead on the scene, while the man was transported to Northwestern Hospital where he was pronounced dead, and a weapon was recovered from the scene, police said.
While police did not name the individuals, the Cook County Coroner’s office confirmed to ABC News their identities as Sania Khan and Raheel Ahmed and said that Khan’s death was ruled a homicide, while Ahmed’s death was ruled a suicide.
Police in Chicago arrived at Khan’s condo on E. Ohio to conduct a welfare check for Ahmed at the request of police in Alpharetta.
After family members of Ahmed reported him missing, police who arrived on the scene were told that he could be at Khan’s residence in Chicago, a spokesperson for the Alpharetta police department told ABC News
According to Khan’s own posts on TikTok, where she shared under the username “geminigirl_099,” her marriage lasted less than a year before she filed for divorce.
Khan, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, talked about her marital struggles on TikTok, her journey to finding empowerment through divorce and starting a new life. She urged women to “stop ignoring those red flags” and shared her struggles with her own family and some in the South Asian community, who did not support her decision to get a divorce.
“Going through a divorce as a South Asian Woman feels like you failed at life sometimes,” she wrote in a TikTok video. “The way the community labels you, the lack of emotional support you receive, and the pressure to stay with someone because ‘what will people say’ is isolating. It makes it harder for women to leave marriages that they shouldn’t have been in to begin with.”
In another video, she wrote that she was sitting in a coffee shop “getting lectured by family members” after her TikTok video about her divorce journey went viral.
“Women are always expected to stay silent,” she wrote. “It’s what keeps us in messed up situations in the first place. I’m done with this mentality.”
And in a video on the eve of her 29th birthday, Khan showed off her first tattoo – “XXVIII” which is 28 in Roman numerals. She wrote that being 28 was the year that “changed f—— everything.”
“The year I got married, the year I moved from a small town to one of the largest cities in the country, the year I filed for divorce, the year I almost died.”
A GoFundMe account set up to help her family with her funeral expenses received more than $35,000 in donations by Friday afternoon.
According to a study by the World Health Organization, instances of domestic violence increased globally during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the U.S. more than 10 million adults experience domestic violence annually in the U.S., according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Meanwhile, women ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 generally experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence. according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The data also shows that most women who are victims of intimate partner violence were previously victimized by the same offender, at the rate of 77% for women ages 18 to 24 and 76% for ages 25 to 34.
According to a 2021 study by The Network, a Chicago-based organization working to address domestic violence, the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline received 32,363 contacts in 2021 — a 9% increase from 2020 — that is consistent with a surge across the state. The study also shows that in 2021, there were 121 domestic violence related shootings recorded by the Chicago Police Department — a 64% increase from 2020.
(RENTON, Wash.) — One person has been killed and at least five people injured in a shooting outside a large gathering in a Seattle, Washington, suburb.
The incident occurred at approximately 1 a.m. in Renton, Washington, — a suburb situated 11 miles southeast of Seattle — when police officers from the Renton Police Department were called to the 100 block of Logan Avenue South after they received reports of multiple gunshots being fired, police say.
When authorities arrived they discovered multiple victims, five of which were treated at the scene and one who was confirmed dead.
The initial investigation by police indicated that the shooting stemmed from a dispute outside a large gathering or event in Renton, possibly by more than one suspect as well.
Authorities have confirmed that this is not an active shooter situation but, due to the large crowd at the scene of the crime, multiple agencies were called in to assist with the investigation.
This is an active scene still and the investigation will be ongoing.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this story.
(FRESNO, Texas) — A man has been arrested after his seven dogs mauled a 71-year-old man to death while he was walking to a local neighborhood store.
The incident occurred on July 18 in Fresno, Texas, when 71-year-old Fresno-native Freddy Garcia was walking to a store in his neighborhood at approximately 1:30 p.m. when the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a witness reporting that the man was being mauled by seven dogs, authorities say.
Authorities responded to the scene and found Garcia who was immediately transported via Life Flight to Memorial Hermann — a hospital in the downtown Houston area — and was later pronounced deceased from wounds suffered during the attack.
According to a statement from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s office, four of the dogs were captured shortly after the mauling but three were on the loose for an undisclosed period of time before being captured. All seven of the dogs were a pit bull mix, according to authorities, but no owner of the animal was identified at the time.
However, following an investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office along with Fort Bend Animal Control and the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, authorities on Friday were able to identify and arrest 47-year-old Samuel Cartwright in connection to the mauling death of Garcia.
Cartwright currently remains in custody at the Fort Bend County Jail and has been charged with Attack by Dog resulting in Death — a second degree felony — and police have confirmed that his bond has been set at $100,000.
Meanwhile, Fort Bend Sheriff Eric Fagan says he is thankful that the dogs have been removed from the streets and another potential attack has been prevented.
“This devastating tragedy didn’t have to happen. I extend my deepest condolences to the Garcia family and his neighbors as they adjust to the loss of Mr. Garcia,” Sheriff Fagan said. “Special thanks go out to our deputies, Fort Bend Animal Services Director Rene Vasquez, and Fort Bend District Attorney Brian Middleton for the collaborative work of capturing the dogs and making an arrest.”
The investigation into the mauling death is ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — Jay Guercio and Krystle Purificato are like a picture-perfect married couple who share a life and a child together – but their relationship is non-traditional.
Known as platonic partners, the couple’s relationship is not centered around sexual attraction or physical intimacy, but sharing a lifelong partnership.
“My best friend and I of 8 years got married, had a commitment ceremony, whatever you want to call it, but we did it because we wanted to raise kids together,” said Guercio, who is now raising a foster son, Eddie, with Purificato.
Last fall, Guercio and Purificato got married – becoming each other’s platonic spouse. The two had to navigate what it meant to take their relationship from friends to wives.
“There’s not one way to be married. You know, we have good communication. We have similar values. We have a type of partnership that works for both of us that’s going to stand the test of time,” said Purificato.
Folks like Purificato and Guercio have been sharing their experiences of being in a platonic partnership on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook and Instagram – helping to dispel the stigma against non-traditional relationships.
Dr. Logan Levkoff is an expert on sexuality and relationships. She said platonic partnerships can be for anyone, regardless of how they identify.
“Platonic partnerships have nothing to do with sexual orientation at all. Anyone of any sexual orientation might find themselves wanting to be in a platonic relationship,” said Levkoff. “The only difference between a platonic relationship and a traditional relationship is that there is no sexual intimacy involved in a platonic one.”
Guercio said they mostly identify as “demisexual,” which is a sexual orientation in which a person feels sexually attracted to someone only after they’ve developed an emotional bond with them, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Purificato identifies as “graysexual.” “I use any and all pronouns. I’m gender fluid, identify as graysexual, which means that my attraction comes and goes. It’s not consistent like most people’s,” said Purificato.
Despite their deeply loving and trusting bond, Guercio and Purificato have faced criticism on social media – saying that people often try to invalidate their relationship by calling it a lie.
“Some people have said, ‘Your kids are gonna be confused.,'” said Guercio. And I’m, like, ‘How?’ Our kid is 17 years old. He sees nothing but love and two people who wanna take care of him and do everything in their power to be able to.”
April Lee and Renee Wong are another platonic couple based in Los Angeles – who often face the same questions surrounding their more than decade-long relationship.
“We were just classmates, then we just ended up spending a lot of time with each other, but it became like a deep connection, and we soon started calling each other kind of like soul mates, twin flames,” said Lee.
The two became separated when they went off to college: Lee was in Los Angeles and Wong in Singapore. But they continued to be drawn to each other half a world away.
“We would FaceTime when it was my morning and her night, and vice versa, and we just wanted to just spend all our time together,” said Lee.
After five years of long distance, Wong flew from Singapore to Los Angeles to be with Lee. The two share an apartment, a set of values and a plan for their lives together.
“We started saying, ‘I want to be your partner as you go out and do your career. I want to be who you come home to when you come home from work,'” said Lee.
Both Wong and Lee identify as demisexual and attribute the sexual orientation as a reason why a platonic partnership works for them on a daily basis. For example, Lee has started dating someone and said her platonic partnership eases the pressure of her romantic relationship.
“I’m dating someone right now and I’m crazy about him. However, I don’t plan on making him my life partner even in the future,” said Lee. “And I think that that’s to the benefit of my romantic relationship because now all pressure is off.”
Dr. Logan Levkoff said that all interpersonal connections are complicated and often not one size fits all.
“This idea that there is one person out there, one magical person who is going to meet every one of your needs seems significantly counterintuitive to finding love,” said Dr. Levkoff. “Some are familial, some are platonic, some are sexual and they all count and they all matter.”
Like Guercio and Purificato, Wong and Lee hope for a future where their partnership won’t be in question.
“It’s been an amazing journey so far… It doesn’t matter what we are. The question is, ‘Are we happy?’ Yeah. So it’s valid,” Wong said.
(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — A suspect faces murder charges after a police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty Thursday night in Rochester, New York, officials said.
Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz, a 29-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department, was with his partner, Officer Sino Seng, an eight-year veteran, when they “were attacked in a cowardly ambush” on Bauman Street, according to Rochester Police Chief David Smith.
At least one male approached the officers and opened fire on them as they were conducting a detail at around 9:15 p.m. local time, according to Lt. Greg Bello of the Rochester Police Department.
Mazurkiewicz was shot at least twice in the upper body, while Seng was shot at least once in the lower body, authorities said. The pair “fell victim to the very violence in our community that we are trying to combat,” Smith said.
Mazurkiewicz was rushed to Strong Hospital, where he was listed in threatening condition late Thursday. During a press conference the next morning, the police chief announced that, “despite heroic efforts,” Mazurkiewicz had died. The officer was a husband and father.
Seng was taken to Rochester General Hospital, where he was treated and released. He is “now recuperating from his injuries at home with his wife and children,” according to Smith.
A 15-year-old girl who was inside her home near the incident was also grazed by one of three bullets that penetrated a wall of her home, officials said.
Kelvin Vickers, 21, was arrested within an hour of the shooting, Captain Frank Umbrino, Commanding Officer of the Rochester Major Crimes Unit, said in an update Friday evening. The suspect was taken into custody without incident.
The suspect allegedly fired 17 rounds into the officers’ vehicle from about 10 to 15 feet away, said Umbrino. The gun recovered following the arrest of Vickers matched the bullets recovered at the scene and in the home of the 15-year-old girl, according to Umbrino.
Vickers has been charged with murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, said Smith. He is expected to be arraigned Saturday morning in Rochester city court.
Chief Smith said a number of law enforcement agencies — local, state and federal — responded to assist and are “being utilized to bring whomever is responsible for this heinous act to justice.”
“This is an ongoing investigation and updates will be provided as they become available,” Smith, who was visibly emotional, said at the press conference on Friday morning. “As we speak, the brave men and women of the Rochester Police Department are continuing to protect our community, despite this horrific and shocking loss to our family.”
Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, who also spoke at the press conference, called it a “sad day for our community.”
“I am angry and upset because all too often we are seeing over and over again blatant disregard for life,” Evans said, “be it an old woman on her porch or a 10-year-old girl, braiding her mother’s hair, and now an officer in the line of duty, working to keep our city safe.”
The deadly shooting happened just hours after the mayor declared a local state of emergency due to “a surge” in gun violence. Rochester is situated on Lake Ontario in New York state, about 75 miles northeast of Buffalo.
“The city and our partners in government will dedicate all possible resources to bring an immediate end to this violence and prevent it from expanding further,” Evans said at a press conference earlier Thursday. “We know these shootings are directly tied to a deadly cycle of disputes and retaliations and we will do all we can to disrupt these disputes before they reach critical mass.”
On Friday, the mayor urged anyone with information on the triple shooting to come forward.
“Now is your time to speak up,” he said. “It was Tony Mazurkiewicz, but it can be any of us in this room tomorrow. This is a clarion call for this community to speak up.”
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(OAKLAND, Tenn.) — A Black man who says he was beaten by Oakland, Tennessee, police following a traffic stop attempt told ABC News he is traumatized following the incident.
“Looking back on the videos and the pictures, I realized I was really knocked out,” said Brandon Calloway in an interview. “It is kind of hard to watch. But it is fulfilling that to know that it was on video.”
Calloway’s attorney, Andre Wharton, says officers with the Oakland Police Department used excessive force when they allegedly beat Calloway with a baton and used a stun gun on him after a July 16 traffic stop.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is investigating the incident at the request of 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, the agency said. Several documents concerning the case, including body camera footage, remain confidential, TBI told ABC News.
According to an affidavit acquired by ABC affiliate WATN, officers followed Calloway to his home after he allegedly refused to stop for police. Officers say they tried to stop Calloway after he allegedly ran a stop sign and was going 12 mph over the speed limit. Calloway was going 32 miles per hour when the speed limit was 20, the affidavit says, according to WATN.
Police say the officers tried to stop Calloway, but he refused to stop and instead drove to his home and ran inside.
The affidavit said police announced themselves at the home, but Calloway ran upstairs. Officers then pulled out their batons and tasers and hit Calloway several times, WATN reports.
Video taken from Calloway’s girlfriend and provided by Wharton to ABC News, captures the incident.
According to the footage, officers follow Calloway inside and can be seen using their batons and stun guns against him as they chase him through the home. Photos following the incident show Calloway’s face covered in blood, as he lays on the ground.
The footage also shows an officer appearing to step on Calloway’s body.
“I’ve got these stitches in my head. I don’t know how many stitches I have. I’m not paying attention. I’m just worried about – I have stitches in my head,” said Calloway. “My head has really just been hurting constantly. I’ll wake up, if it’s really sunny out, my head hurts and I’ve got a sharp pain in my eye. I can’t focus. I can’t focus for like more than like 15 minutes now.”
The Oakland Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment. The department’s chief of police, Chris Earl, told HuffPost that one of the officers involved in the incident has been relieved of duty.
The Oakland mayor’s office declined to comment to ABC News.
Calloway is charged with evading arrest, resisting arrest, failing to stop at a stop sign and speeding, according to WATN.
Wharton said this incident is one of many instances of police brutality being seen across the U.S right now, and he hopes the investigation leads to accountability for the officers.
“For Brandon, this dream – if not nightmare – did become a reality,” Wharton said. “He experienced abuse and abuse of power and police misconduct. He’s yet another example of the long way we have to go as a community into resolving some of these issues.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde, Texas, school board has canceled its special session on Saturday that was to have considered the recommendation to fire Police Chief Pete Arredondo for cause following widespread criticism of how he handled the response to the May school shooting.
The school board sent an update Friday that the meeting to consider Arredondo’s termination will be held at a later date “in conformity with due process requirements, and at the request of his attorney.” The meeting has yet to be rescheduled.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District has recommended Arredondo be fired.
Arredondo is currently on leave while an investigation into the conduct of law enforcement at the shooting on May 24 takes place. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Arredondo will remain on unpaid leave at this time, the school district said Friday.
Saturday’s meeting would have been a closed session, but, legally, a determination to fire him would have to be publicly announced.
Despite the Uvalde school district’s active shooter plan calling for its police chief to assume command in the event of a shooting, Arredondo allegedly failed to take on the role of incident commander or transfer the responsibility to another officer on scene during the May 24 attack, according to a report issued this week by a joint committee of the Texas Legislature.
“The Uvalde CISD’s written active shooter plan directed its police chief to assume command and control the response to an active shooter,” according to the report.
Last month, Arredondo told The Texas Tribune he did not consider himself the commanding officer on the scene.
He also said that no one told him about the 911 calls that came in from students who were still alive in the classrooms during the 77 minutes before law enforcement breached a classroom door and killed the 18-year-old gunman.
“We responded to the information that we had and had to adjust to whatever we faced,” Arredondo said. “Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat.”
At an open forum hosted by the Uvalde school board Monday, parents and community members called on officials to fire Arredondo immediately, with some also calling for the firing of other members of Uvalde’s school district police force who were present during the shooting.
(NEW YORK) — More than 82 million Americans from California to New Hampshire are on alert for extreme heat Friday as the nation’s deadly, unwavering heat wave pushes on.
In the Northeast, heat advisories have been issued from Delaware to New Hampshire — and the heat is expected to intensify this weekend.
Record-high temperatures are forecast for Sunday from Philadelphia to New York City to Boston.
New York City’s Triathlon and Duathlon is shortening the run and bike portions of Sunday’s race due to the dangerous heat.
Philadelphia has enacted a heat health emergency.
In Boston, a heat emergency has been extended through Sunday. The city said cooling centers will be open and more than 50 splash pads are available.
The heat wave is also persisting in the South and the West.
Hard-hit Texas reached record highs in Austin (105 degrees) and San Antonio (102 degrees) on Thursday.
Dallas County reported its first heat-related death of the year on Thursday. The county’s Department of Health and Human Services said the victim was a 66-year-old Dallas woman with underlying health conditions.
Record highs are possible on Friday in Memphis, Tennessee, where the record stands at 103 degrees, and Phoenix, where the record is 116 degrees.
