(COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz.) — A woman died after she was caught on a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a local sheriff’s office.
On April 11, Cochise County, Arizona, deputies were dispatched to a section of the border where they found a 32-year-old woman hanging upside down, the sheriff’s office said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“The woman reportedly climbed onto the top of the International Border wall and when attempting to maneuver down on the US side via a harness similar to rappelling, her foot/leg became entangled and she was trapped upside down for a significant amount of time,” the statement said.
An autopsy was being conducted to figure out exactly how the woman died.
“These types of incidents are not political, they are humanitarian realities that someone has lost a loved one in a senseless tragedy,” Sheriff Mark Daniels said. “We have to do better in finding solutions to the challenges facing our border, and we have to do it for the right reasons. Regardless of opinions, it is the facts that should direct our progress and we will keep working towards a shared goal of border safety and security.”
In a statement, Customs and Border Protection told ABC News the incident is under investigation.
“On April 11, 2022, Tucson Sector Agents received information from the emergency services dispatch in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico of an incident approximately 10 miles west of the Douglas Port of Entry at the International Boundary Barrier,” a CBP spokesman told ABC News.
“Border Patrol Agents and local emergency services responded to the scene and located an individual who was transported to a local hospital. Personnel from the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating; more information will be shared as it becomes available,” the spokesman said.
The incident comes as Customs and Border Protection had over 220,000 encounters with migrants along the southwest border in March, the third-highest on record.
Lauren Owens Lambert/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(BOSTON) — It was a triumphant and emotional moment for Henry Richard as he threw his arms up in the air and crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon Monday.
Nine years ago, Henry’s younger brother, Martin Richard, was one of three people who were killed when two bombs detonated near the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15, 2013. Martin was 8 years old at the time.
Henry told ABC Boston affiliate WCVB-TV that he thought about his brother while running the course’s 26.2 miles.
“I know if he was here, either this year or the next coming years, he would have been doing it with me. So that’s all I could think about,” Henry said.
Henry had his brother’s name written in black marker on his right arm and his sister’s name on his left arm for the occasion, he said. He also wore a yellow jersey with the word “Peace” written on it, underneath “Team MR8,” the logo for the Martin Richard Foundation. The organization was launched in 2014 in Martin’s honor, to promote the values of “inclusion, kindness, justice and peace,” according to its website.
Before he reached the finish line, Henry also paused at the marathon’s memorial with a teammate and after he crossed the finish line, he shared an embrace with his parents, Denise and Bill Richard, and his sister, Jane Richard.
“So many people were out there for me. All my friends, my family. Motivation was the least of my worries. There was so many people there to support me. It was wonderful and I couldn’t believe it,” Henry told WCVB.
Henry added that he would definitely run another Boston Marathon in the years to come.
“I loved every second of it and this feels so great, I can’t wait to do it again,” he said.
Monday’s race was the 126th running of the Boston Marathon and passed through eight Massachusetts towns: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline, before finishing on Boylston Street in Boston. The top finishers this year were Evans Chebet for the men’s division, who clocked in at 2 hours, 6 minutes, 51 seconds, and Peres Jepchirchir for the women’s division, who finished in 2 hours, 21 minutes, 1 second, ESPN reported.
(NEW YORK) — Over the holiday weekend, 12 people were shot at a Columbia, South Carolina, mall. In nearby Hampton County, nine people were shot outside a nightclub. And in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, two juveniles were killed and eight were injured after a shooting at a birthday party.
The recent incidents are just the latest examples of mass shootings that have been occurring at a sustained pace across the United States for the past two years and counting and which coincide with an increase in fatal shootings overall. Fatal shootings, not including suicides, jumped by more than 4,000 from 2019 to 2020 — a 26% increase in one year, according to statistics compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit which identifies mass shootings as cases in which four or more people are shot and tracks them through public data, news reports and other sources.
“These two devastating shootings will leave permanent scars on survivors and entire communities, and unfortunately, they represent only a fraction of the gun violence that impacts South Carolinians on a daily basis,” said the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety in a statement responding to the South Carolina shootings. “Just weeks ago, a twelve-year old was killed in a shooting at Greenville’s Tanglewood Middle School. Days after that, five people were wounded in a shooting along a rural road in Colleton County.”
While the rate of increase in fatal shootings slowed last year, the total number of fatal shootings still grew — to nearly 21,000, according to the GVA. And as the overall number of fatal shootings has increased, there has also been a rise in mass shootings. In 2019, there were 417 mass shootings, and just two years later, there were 693. Through April 17, the pace of mass shootings has slowed, but there have already been 139 such incidents (compared to 148 by the same date last year). Meanwhile, the number of non-mass shootings is on the rise from 5,445 through April 17 last year to 5,451 for the same period this year.
In an effort to address gun violence, President Joe Biden announced earlier this month an initiative to combat ghost guns — a firearm that comes packaged in parts, can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace.
“Anyone could order it in the mail, anyone … Terrorists and domestic abusers can go from a gun kit to a gun in as little as 30 minutes. Buyers aren’t required to pass background checks because guns have no serial numbers,” Biden said.
The new rule essentially expands the definition of a “firearm,” as established by the Gun Control Act, to cover “buy build shoot” kits that people can purchase online or from a firearm dealer and assemble themselves. It will make these kits subject to the same federal laws that currently apply to other firearms.
The goal, officials said, is to keep untraceable guns off the streets and out of the hands of those prohibited from possession.
Biden also nominated former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach to become the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a role that includes enforcing and implementing gun laws.
The White House and gun control advocates, however, have argued that substantive gun control measures will require legislative action through Congress, but that is unlikely given Republican opposition.
“The United States is not the only country with mental illness, domestic violence, video games, or hate-fueled ideologies, but our gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than our peer countries. The difference is easy access to guns,” according Everytown for Gun Safety, which applauded and had called for the recent moves by the Biden administration.
(NEW YORK) — The New York City Police Department is searching for the person who stabbed a New York City mother to death and dumped her body in a large rollable duffel bag, police sources told ABC News.
Just after 8 a.m. Saturday, authorities responded to a 911 call reporting a suspicious duffel bag with blood on it on a Queens, New York, street corner, the NYPD said.
Officers found 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal inside the bag, police said.
Gaal was stabbed dozens of times, according to police sources. The medical examiner’s office said she died from “sharp force injuries” to the neck.
A trail of blood from the duffel bag led to Gaal’s Queens home, police said.
According to police sources, Gaal may have known her killer.
It’s believed she went out for the night while her husband was out of town and it appeared she was killed in her basement, sources said.
Detectives are looking to speak with three men whose numbers were found in Gaal’s phone, sources said.
(LOS ANGELES) — A 15-year-old girl was fatally stabbed by an intruder at a high school in Stockton, California, on Monday, according to officials.
The student was killed when a man in his 40s entered Stagg High School and stabbed her multiple times. Responders immediately began lifesaving measures, but she was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Stockton police said.
“A trespasser entered the front of our school today, stabbed one of our students multiple times,” Stockton Unified School District Superintendent John Ramirez Jr. said at a press conference. “Unfortunately, she did not make it. The assailant was taken, was detained, and taken into custody immediately.”
“The school was also put on lockdown to assure the safety of the rest of our students,” he added. “We began to work with local law enforcement immediately and they’ve taken over the investigation.”
Officials said they do not have a motive for the attack, but said the man was not a parent.
Ramirez praised the school’s resource officer for acting quickly to apprehend the suspect, saying it helped to prevent the stabbing from continuing.
“When the incident happened, there were staff immediately there,” he said. “It had been so quick that they weren’t able to stop it, but they were there immediately.”
Stockton Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Kane said they are still investigating the relationship between the girl and the unidentified attacker.
ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Colorado River, a major freshwater source for over 40 million people in seven southwestern states and parts of northern Mexico, has lost 20% of its water levels over the past 22 years and environmentalists forecast it’s going to get worse.
Farmers and other agriculture workers have been especially hit by the water loss as the fields have dried up, making it harder to cultivate crops and cattle.
“We’ve really been working on some of this for two decades. You know, we’ve kind of seen this coming,” Paul Bruchez, a fifth-generation Colorado rancher, told ABC News.
Now Bruchez, his family, other ranchers and farmers are teaming up with conservationists to adapt to the changing environment and try to repair some of the damage, and they hope that they can encourage others to step up before it’s too late.
Twenty-three years of drought conditions in the West and Southwest have resulted in the lowest water levels at the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dam reservoirs since they were filled. The Colorado River is now at the top of the country’s most endangered rivers list, according to the non-profit American Rivers.
“We’re faced with this, this new reality where we have to learn to live with less water,” Matt Rice, the southwest regional director for American Rivers, told ABC News.
Bruchez said ranchers have been hit hard, because without the freshwater supply, the forage isn’t fertile enough for livestock to feed on. He said his family had to sell half of their livestock due to poor land conditions.
“Mother Nature is key for our business,” he said.
Bruchez, who sits on the Colorado Water Conservation Board, however, isn’t taking the climate crisis lying down and has implemented ecological projects to mitigate the damage and restore the river.
Working with conservationists, Bruchez installed five artificial riffles along a 12-mile stretch of the river. The riffles use cobbles at parts of the river that cascades down and promotes irrigation and invertebrate growth at low water level areas.
“It is this region’s adaptation to climate change,” he said.
Bruchez’s family has also worked on restoring the soil so that it can make use of what little water it does get.
Doug Bruchez has worked with his brother to bring in specialized plants and forages that are better suited to the fields around the river.
“We are looking for drought-resistant plants, we are looking for plants that will use less water,” Doug Bruchez told ABC News.
Paul Bruchez said since his family rebuilt a meadow using this drought-resistant flora, the livestock has been liking their feeds “significantly better.”
“The nutrition value of the feed is higher, and we use them as a tool to assist us in managing the soil,” he said.
Rice said these Colorado River restoration projects have “quantifiably improved the habitat and the environmental health of the river.”
“We’re actually implementing them kind of in real-time right now. If we weren’t doing that, not only would it have a tremendous impact on the communities upstream of here, the agricultural communities, it [would have] a tremendous impact on the environment,” Rice said.
Bruchez said he is looking to expand these programs throughout the Colorado River basin and improve the water and soil conditions throughout the southwest.
Bruchez said of his efforts and outreach that “it is both an honor and terrifying,” but in the end he hopes that they can make a difference.
“These are tough conversations when people realize that survival will require adaptation,” he said. “Without adaptation, we wouldn’t be here for our generation [and] the generation after us.”
(NEW YORK) — Kentucky state Sen. Karen Berg went viral last month for an impassioned speech in the Senate chambers against the state’s new law that bans abortions after 15 weeks, calling the legislation a “medical sham.”
Now that the bill is the law of the land, the Democratic senator told ABC News Live on April 15 that she will continue to raise her voice as the controversial legislation faces lawsuits.
“I don’t really understand how your morals could possibly think that is the appropriate thing to do,” she told ABC News, regarding the new abortion law.
The state bill went into effect on April 13 after the GOP-led legislature overturned Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto. Under the new rules, any physician who performs an abortion after 15 weeks would lose their license for at least six months.
The bill allows for exceptions if there is a medical emergency in which continuing the pregnancy would result in “serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” or “death of the pregnant woman.” There are no exceptions for rape or incest.
The bill’s proponents have argued that abortion is morally wrong, including Kentucky’s Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron, who said the bill was meant “to protect life and promote the health and safety of women.”
During the March 10 vote, Berg scolded the legislators who signed onto the bill for ignoring the personal choices of a pregnant woman.
“What you are doing is…putting your knee, putting a gun to women’s heads. You’re killing them,” she said.
Berg told ABC News that the speech wasn’t prepared and came about from her frustrations on the number of state legislatures in the country that choose “to ignore what is safe for women, to ignore what women want, and sometimes need for their own safety, and instead insert their own moral values that have nothing to do with health care.”
“That, honestly, is such an overreach of what government is supposed to be doing,” Berg said.
She recalled that her father, a surgeon, taught her how dangerous backstreet abortions can be, and was baffled as to why lawmakers would reduce access to safe options.
“I have actually seen what it looks like inside of a woman who is dying from sepsis, from a botched illegal abortion,” Berg said.
The bill also changed the regulations for prescription drugs used for medication abortions, which is a nonsurgical procedure typically used up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.
In order for a physician to provide the medication, they must have hospital admitting privileges in “geographical proximity” to where the abortions are being performed, give the patient an in-person examination 24 hours before the medication abortion and cannot mail the drugs.
MORE: Oklahoma passes bill that would make it a felony to perform abortions
Berg said all of the clinics that provide medication abortion have had to shut down because they cannot comply with the new regulations.
“We do not have the system,” she said.
Two federal lawsuits were filed April 14 by abortion advocates, including Planned Parenthood, arguing that it is “impossible to comply” with the new regulations and the new law resulted in “unconstitutional ban on abortion in Kentucky.” Cameron said in a statement he would defend the law, reiterating that the “General Assembly passed HB 3 to protect life and promote the health and safety of women.”
Berg said she is unsure how the lawsuit will play out, especially since the Supreme Court is slated to make a decision on a case that challenges a similar 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi.
“How is this going to play out? Well, a lot of it’s going to depend on the Supreme Court decision. There is a lot, a lot riding on that decision,” she said.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(ORLANDO) — Operator error is suspected as the primary cause in the death of a 14-year-old boy who slipped out of his seat on a drop-tower ride at a Florida amusement park and plunged to the pavement, officials said Monday.
Nicole “Nikki’ Fried, the Florida commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, announced the findings of a forensic engineer’s field investigation report on the March 24 incident that killed Tyre Sampson of St. Louis, Missouri, at Orlando’s ICON Park.
Fried said the report showed the operator of the park’s FreeFall ride, the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower at a height of 430 feet, “made manual adjustments to the ride resulting in it being unsafe.”
The report by Quest Engineering & Failure Analysis, Inc., said manual manipulations were made to the seat Sampson was sitting in to allow the harness restraint opening to be loosened, apparently to accommodate the more than 300-pound teenager. Fried said the harness restraint opening was “almost double that of a normal restraint opening range.”
Fried said the adjustment by the individual operator, who was not identified in the report, enabled the FreeFall’s sensor lights to illuminate, “improperly satisfying” the ride’s electronic safety mechanisms and enabling the ride to operate “even though Mr. Sampson was not properly secured in his seat.”
“This report answers the question of what mechanically took place as our investigation now enters into the next phase of how and why it occurred as we look toward potential penalties along with any changes of rules and regulations needed to help prevent future tragedies,” Fried said at a news conference.
The report showed the average restraint opening for other seats on the ride was 3.33 inches, which is considered “normal.” Sampson’s seat was adjusted before the ride started to an opening of 7.19 inches, the report found.
“During slowing of the ride, Tyre Sampson slipped through the gap between the seat and harness” and fell to his death, according to the report.
The forensic engineer who wrote the report said his conclusions were partly based an examination of the ride, video of the incident and a reenactment using two individuals, one 6-foot-3, the other 6-foot-5, and both weighing between 200 and 300 pounds.
“During our investigation, two individuals were positioned in a seat with an opening ranging from 6 to 10 inches. Both individuals were able to slip through the restraint opening without assistance,” according to the report.
The forensic engineer’s investigation concluded that the ride “did not experience a mechanical or electrical failure.”
The report also found there “are many other potential contributions to the cause of the accident,” but did not elaborate.
Fried did not take questions from reporters and said she is declining further comment until the investigation is completed.
She said the FreeFall ride will remain closed indefinitely.
Fried said she spoke to Sampson’s parents prior to the news conference to inform them of the forensic engineer’s report.
State Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, said at the news conference that the manufacturer’s guidelines for the FreeFall specifically say the maximum weight of the rider is 250 pounds.
“Tyre Sampson weighed in excess of 300 pounds. So, yes this is outside of the manufacturer’s guidelines,” Thompson said.
Thompson said she was “very disturbed” by the report. She said she has been in contact with the Sampson family’s attorney, Ben Crump.
“As you might imagine, the family is in shock,” Thompson said. “You send your 14-year-old son away for spring break and he does not return alive. So, they’re in shock.”
ICON Park said in a statement to ABC News on Monday that it was “deeply troubled” by the findings of the report.
“We are deeply troubled that the preliminary findings of the State’s investigation indicate a sensor on the Orlando FreeFall attraction, which is owned and operated by the SlingShot Group, had been mis-adjusted after the sensor was originally secured in place,” the statement said. “ICON Park is committed to providing a safe, fun experience for families. We will continue to support the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services with their ongoing investigation.”
SlingShot Group, the ride’s operator, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Monday.
The company said in a statement following Sampson’s death that it was “heartbroken” about the incident and was cooperating with authorities and ride officials in the investigation.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — In the aftermath of a mass shooting at an Airbnb rental house that left two 17-year-old boys dead and eight people wounded, neighbor Leonard Verdetto described what he said was “rapid fire” followed by panicked party-goers flooding out of the residence.
The episode erupted early Sunday morning across the street from Verdetto’s Pittsburgh home and was one of three mass shootings in the United States over the Easter weekend, including two in South Carolina at a mall and a restaurant.
The Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks shootings across the nation, has tallied 139 mass shootings in the country in the first 107 days of 2022.
“When we heard the bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, we looked out the window and people were running out the door and screaming, yelling, crying,” Verdetto told ABC affiliated station WTAE in Pittsburgh of the shooting that broke at the Airbnb house being used for a party in his East Allegheny neighborhood on the city’s North Side.
When Verdetto’s wife went to look out a window to see what the commotion was, he said he yelled, “Get away from the window!”
“I could see the flashing of the shots coming out the windows because we look across at the windows,” Verdetto said. “I said, ‘Holy mackerel, that’s really rapid fire.’ I said, ‘Man, with all that shooting there’s got to be a lot of dead people over there. It was lucky it was only two.”
More than 90 shots were fired, including 50 inside the home, where the Pittsburgh Police Department said more than 200 people were attending a party. Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said at a news conference Sunday that the gunfire started after an “altercation” and confirmed that multiple shooters engaged in a gunfight.
Besides the 10 people shot, including the two slain teenagers, another five party-goers suffered broken bones and cuts attempting to escape the gunfire, some by jumping from windows, Schubert said.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the deceased as Mathew Steffy-Ross and Jaiden Brown, both 17. No arrests have been made and investigators were working Monday to identify suspects.
“They all come tearing out and they were falling over, crying. There were a lot of young girls,” Verdetto said. He added that prior to the shooting, he noticed mostly young people lined up outside the house.
“There was a long line getting into the building. I said, ‘Wow, where are all them people going?'” Verdetto said. “And then I’d come back again and come back again and the line was still going and going. I said, ‘I don’t know how they get all them people in there.’ And I mean, it was a lot of people in there.”
The owner of the Airbnb rental has not been identified.
The shooting marked the third time in nine days that gunfire erupted during parties being held at Airbnb rentals, including one near Sacramento, California, which left a teen dead, and another that rocked a suburban Houston residential neighborhood.
Airbnb said a statement to ABC News that the person who booked the Pittsburgh house has been issued a lifetime ban from Airbnb. The company confirmed that an “unauthorized party” was thrown without the knowledge or consent of the house host, who specifically stated in the listing page that no parties were allowed and that any evidence of a party would result in a $500 fee.
Airbnb said on Monday it is taking legal action against the person who booked the Pittsburgh rental.
“Airbnb strictly bans parties, and we condemn the behavior that is alleged to have prompted this criminal gun violence and the tragic loss of life. Yesterday we confirmed the booking guest has been issued a lifetime ban from Airbnb, and today we can confirm that we plan to pursue affirmative legal action against this individual,” Airbnb said in a new statement on Monday, adding that the company is cooperating with the Pittsburgh Police Department’s investigation.
Following the shooting, Verdetto said his grandson pointed out numerous vehicles in the neighborhood with shattered windows, and walls of nearby homes and businesses pockmarked with bullet holes.
“I’m just glad I’m here,” Verdetto said.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — South Carolina police have arrested a second suspect in the mall shooting that injured more than a dozen people and are continuing a manhunt for a third.
The Columbia Police Department has obtained an arrest warrant for 21-year-old Amari Sincere-Jamal Smith, Police Chief Skip Holbrook announced in a press briefing Monday afternoon, asking for anyone who sees him or knows of his whereabouts to call 911.
Marquis Love Robinson, 20, was arrested Monday on aggravated assault and attempted murder charges. Both he and Smith live in Columbia, Holbrook said.
At least 15 people ranging in age from 15 to 73 were injured Saturday when gunfire erupted at the Columbiana Centre mall in Columbia, Holbrook said. Nine people sustained gunshot wounds, while six people were injured in another manner, Holbrook said, adding that one victim remains in intensive care.
Investigators do not believe that it was a random act of violence, Holbrook said Saturday.
“We don’t believe this was random,” he said after the shooting. “We believe the individuals who were armed knew each other.”
MORE: 9 injured in shooting at South Carolina restaurant, police say
Jewayne M. Price, 22, was arrested Saturday on a charge of unlawful carrying of a pistol and has since received upgraded charges of aggravated assault and attempted murder, Holbrook said.
Holbrook called on lawmakers to do more work to ensure gun safety in the country, saying the “availability of firearms on the street for people that have illegal intentions or nefarious intentions to use those firearms against others” has gotten out of control.
“Something’s got to change,” he said Monday. “We need our legislators to legislate. We need more accountability for people that illegally carry firearms.”
ABC News’ Will McDuffie and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
