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(PITTSBURGH) — As the investigation to identify suspects entered its fourth day in a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh Airbnb house that left two teenagers dead, police amended the number of gunshot survivors from eight to nine.

The Pittsburgh Police Department said in a statement that the new non-fatal gunshot victim was taken to a hospital in a private car and arrived at an emergency room on the morning of the shooting in stable condition.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said another five people suffered cuts and broken bones fleeing the gunfire, some by jumping from second-story windows.

No arrests have been announced in the shooting that occurred early Sunday morning during a party at an Airbnb rental in the East Allegheny neighborhood of North Pittsburgh that police said was attended by more than 200 people.

Schubert said Tuesday that about two hours before the shooting erupted, a police officer responded to a noise complaint at the Airbnb house, but left after issuing a verbal warning to keep the noise down.

“There was nothing unusual to indicate that something was wrong,” Schubert said. “We have some information that shows that a lot of these people didn’t come until after midnight.”

The shooting erupted around 12:40 a.m. Sunday, and investigators collected 90 shell casings from the scene, including 50 from inside the Airbnb home.

Schubert said the shooting broke out after an “altercation” inside the house, but has declined to elaborate.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two 17-year-olds killed in the shooting as Mathew Steffy-Ross and Jaiden Brown. Both teens were scheduled to graduate from high school in June, according to friends and loved ones.

“Matthew was a fun, loving kid that cared so much about everybody. Matthew would give you the shirt off your back,” Steffy-Ross’ great-aunt, Bonnie McLain, told ABC affiliate station WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.

She described Steffy-Ross, a senior at Grace Non-Traditional Christian Academy in Pittsburgh, as having “the biggest smile in the world.”

“He cared about people and he loved people, and he acted upon it,” McLain said, adding that she last spoke to her nephew on Saturday morning and heard of his death from a neighbor on Sunday.

Pittsburgh community activist Lee Davis of the Greater Valley Coalition Against Violence told WTAE that he was a mentor to both Steffy-Ross and Brown.

“I have been to over 100 funerals in the 17 years I have been doing this work, and I thought I was all cried out, but when I seen what happened to Jaiden and Matt, the tears just came all over again,” Davis said. “It just hurt my heart.”

Davis said he knew Brown, a senior at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh, since he was a child.

“His energy was great,” Davis said of Brown. “Everybody loved him, and he became very well-liked in the community. To see this happen to him was really heartbreaking … because he had a very bright future.”

Cathy Jo Welsh, a member of the youth anti-violence program Helping Out Our People in Pittsburgh, said Brown’s father died from an illness a few years ago and that Steffy-Brown’s mother died recently.

“(Steffy-Brown) was just getting his bearings from losing his own mother and just learning how to live with trauma and grief,” Welsh told WTAE.

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(NEW YORK) — The man accused of pushing a New York City woman to her death in front of an oncoming subway train in January was deemed unfit to stand trial at a court hearing Tuesday in accordance with findings from a psychiatric evaluation.

Simon Martial, 61, will now be sent to a psychiatric facility under the custody of the city’s Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Briggs’ office.

The DA’s office did not contest the determination, but told ABC News that the office will continue to review the case and pursue Martial’s conviction.

Michelle Alyssa Go had been standing on the southbound N/Q/W/R platform at Times Square station on Jan. 15, looking at her phone, when she was suddenly shoved, unprovoked, onto the tracks, police say. She was pronounced dead at the scene just weeks after celebrating her 40th birthday.

Martial, who is homeless, fled the station but turned himself in later that day, according to police. He was charged with second degree murder.

New York County Defender Services, which is representing Martial, declined to comment Wednesday when reached by ABC News.

Though police have not classified the tragic attack as a hate crime, Go’s death heightened anxiety around a rise in anti-Asian sentiments and violence, weighing heavily on many as they came together for vigils in Times Square and San Francisco’s Chinatown in honor and remembrance of the Fremont, California, native and several other Asian crime victims back in January.

Go was a consultant for Deloitte and a longtime volunteer and advocate for the homeless, according to ABC affiliate WABC-TV.

Her family released a statement describing her as a “beautiful, brilliant, kind, and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and help others.”

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(BETHANY, Conn.) — A Connecticut State Police trooper was arrested on a felony manslaughter charge after a report by the state inspector general alleged his use of deadly force was not justified in the January 2020 shooting of a 19-year-old Black man.

Trooper Brian North, 31, surrendered Tuesday at the state police barracks in Bethany, Connecticut, after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of Mubarak Soulemane, state police said.

State Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr.’s investigation found that although Soulemane was allegedly armed with a steak knife, had stolen a Lyft rideshare vehicle and was apparently off his medication for schizophrenia, he was not a threat to North and other officers when he was shot multiple times, according to the report released Wednesday.

Soulemane was killed when North allegedly fired seven times at him through the closed driver’s side window of a stolen Lyft vehicle after troopers stopped him and pinned him in on Interstate 95 in West Haven following a chase that reached speeds of 100 mph, according to the report.

Delvin’s investigation found that Soulemane was sitting behind the wheel of the car surrounded by troopers and officers from other agencies and was trapped inside because North’s cruiser was blocking the driver’s side door.

An officer from the West Haven Police Department was bashing in the passenger-side window with a baton and another trooper was poised to deploy a stun gun on Soulemane when North opened fire as Soulemane reached into his pocket and pulled a knife, according to the report.

“Stated briefly, the investigation establishes that, at the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane,” Devlin concluded in his report. “Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable. I therefore find that North’s use of deadly force was not justified under Connecticut law.”

North, a seven-year veteran of the Connecticut State Police, was booked on a charge of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, Devlin said in a statement. North was released on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Milford on May 3.

‘A good day’

North was placed on administrative leave and his police powers have been suspended pending criminal proceedings, according to state police.

Mark Arons, the attorney for Soulemane’s family, said the arrest marked “a good day” for the family.

“This is the first step in the journey for justice for the wrongful killing of a 19-year-old Black youth in Connecticut…The family looks forward on this matter being tried and this state trooper being convicted,” Arons said in a statement.

The incident unfolded on Jan. 15, 2020, in Norwalk, Connecticut, after police received a complaint that Soulemane was armed with a knife and acting erratically at an AT&T store, according to Devlin’s report.

Police were called to the store, but Soulemane left in a Lyft vehicle as they arrived. The Lyft driver told police that Soulemane ordered him to “drive, drive, drive” when he got into the car, according to the report.

The driver alleged that Soulemane demanded his cellphone and slapped him on the side of the head when he refused, the report says. The driver told police he drove to a gas station and got out of the car, pulling a gun on Soulemane and flagging down a police officer, according to the report.

Soulemane allegedly jumped into the driver seat and fled, prompting the police chase.

Trooper claims he was protecting officers

North told investigators, according to the report, that he opened fire because he was concerned that the officers on the passenger-side of the car were in “imminent risk of serious physical injury or death.”

“As a result, I discharged my duty firearm to eliminate the threat,” North told investigators, according to the report.

North’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Connecticut State Police Union officials released a statement to ABC affiliate station WTNH-TV in New Haven, saying they are “disappointed” in the inspector general’s decision to prosecute North.

The union added that North “was forced to make a split-second decision during these dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances.”

The union asked the public to reserve judgment “until all facts are known in this case.”

“Trooper North was risking his own life while trying to fulfill his oath of office to protect the lives of others,” the union’s statement said. “Regardless of the Inspector General’s decision, we will respect the judicial process while we vigorously defend Trooper North and his actions. It is our obligation to protect Trooper North’s constitutional right to due process of law and a fair trial.”

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(CHICAGO) — Chicago’s top prosecutor announced Wednesday that her office completed its Cannabis Expungement Project with over 15,000 cannabis convictions removed from the record.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said that her office has complied with Illinois’ new cannabis rules that took effect two years ago after the substance was legalized.

Foxx said in a statement that the expunges have brought relief to thousands of people.

“Felony charges can affect every aspect of a person’s life, from jobs to housing, long after the debt to society has been paid,” she said in a statement.

Foxx filed her first 100 motions to vacate cannabis related offenses in December 2019 and has presented more motions since.

On Friday, she will present 214 additional cannabis expungement requests, bringing the total to 15,191, according to her office.

There are 588 remaining cannabis cases in the system that date back as far as 1965, however, the state attorney’s office said it will require additional time for research and data to expunge those records.

 

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(FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.) — Dangerous fire conditions are creating the perfect fuel for wildfires to scorch through the arid landscapes of the Southwest.

The Tunnel Fire, which sparked Sunday about 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, exploded to more than 16,000 acres by Wednesday morning, destroying at least 25 structures, according to Coconino County officials. More than 200 firefighters are battling the fast-moving inferno, which is currently 0% contained.

An additional 250 structures are threatened, which has prompted evacuations of nearly 800 homes and 1,000 animals in the area. While the Red Cross has opened a shelter at a local middle school, the Fort Tuthill County Stables has been opened for horses, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens that reside in the evacuation zone, according to the county.

A red flag warning has been canceled in Arizona due to relaxing winds but remains in five neighboring states from Nebraska to New Mexico.

Videos taken in the region show skies covered in orange flames and thick plumes of smoke as the blaze continues to gain traction and spread. Some flames are reaching up to 100 feet, according to officials.

A decades-long megadrought, combined with low humidity and high winds, has created tinderbox conditions in the area.

The Southwest is experiencing the driest conditions in at least 1,200 years, a study published in Nature Climate Change in February found.

Officials have declared a state of emergency in the area affected by the Tunnel Fire.

ABC News’ Max Golembo and Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.

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(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) — Police officers in Syracuse, New York, are under scrutiny after a video went viral of an 8-year-old boy being put into the back of a police cruiser after allegedly stealing a bag of chips.

The boy is seen crying and screaming while an officer walks him to a marked police vehicle. Bystanders are heard shouting at police to let go of the child, offering to pay for the chips and to walk him home themselves.

The boy was not handcuffed or arrested and was not injured, officials said. Police say they drove the boy home to his father following the incident on Sunday in the city’s northside.

Kenneth Jackson, the man who took the video, can be heard shouting in protest: “I’m taking this video to help to make sure you all don’t kill him because that’s what you all do.”

He told Good Morning America in an interview that he believes the incident highlights the tension between law enforcement and the people they serve.

“We have a policing problem when it comes to policing the community,” Jackson said. “Clearly, as the world can see, there’s a big disconnect.”

The footage has been viewed millions of times on social media, sparking outrage and criticism of the police officers’ actions.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul denounced the officers’ actions.

“As a mother, that was a heart-wrenching video to witness,” she said Wednesday at a press conference. “Many of us are parents and you can’t help but imagine the fear in that child as he had to endure that experience.”

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh released a statement on the incident, saying, “What occurred demonstrates a continuing need for the city to provide support to our children and families and to invest in alternative response options to assist our officers.”

He added that the child was not handcuffed nor arrested during the incident.

“He was placed in the rear of a patrol unit where he was directly brought home,” the department statement said. “Officers met with the child’s father and no charges were filed.”

The Syracuse Police Department has said that the incident is under investigation. The department is also reviewing body camera footage taken of the incident.

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(MILWAUKEE) — Milwaukee Public Schools reinstated the school district’s mask mandate Tuesday after just one day of making face coverings optional for students.

In a press release, MPS cited “significant transmission” of COVID-19 within the city as the reason for the mandate returning. Starting Wednesday, all students through 12th grade and staff will be required to mask up while inside district buildings.

MPS said the district can go back to a mask-optional policy if school leaders determine risk is low for viral transmission within the city and within the school district over the next few weeks.

In late March, the MPS board voted during its monthly meeting to make masks optional starting April 18, but warned face coverings would return if cases began rising. MPS did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Milwaukee County is still considered an area with “low” community levels of COVID-19. However, the city is reporting an increase in cases. According to the City of Milwaukee Health Department, there is “substantial” transmission of the virus with 58.1 confirmed cases per 100,000 people.

The school district is not the only agency in the city to reverse its policy on masks.

Earlier Tuesday, Milwaukee County Transit System announced face coverings would be optional for riders on county buses. However, later in the day, it announced the mask mandate would remain in place “out of an abundance of caution” due to rising case counts.

Milwaukee County Chief Health Policy Advisor Dr. Ben Weston said COVID cases have risen 200% over the last three weeks from 34 new cases per day to 104 new cases per day. Additionally, he shared the test positivity rate is back over the 5% threshold for moderate transmission.

“That number is rising each day due to a combination of factors,” Weston said in a statement, according to local ABC affiliate WKOW. “The emergence of new, more transmissible variants and low vaccination rates throughout the county means we must remain vigilant to slow the spread of the disease.”

​​Data from the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management shows 61.9% of residents in the county have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, far below the national average of 77.4%.

Weston urged Milwaukee residents to continue wearing masks in high-risk settings and to get vaccinated and boosted if they haven’t already.

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(WASHINGTON) — An alleged “intruder” at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, D.C., was shot and killed by Secret Service Wednesday morning, according to authorities.

The suspect was found smashing windows of the Peruvian ambassador’s residence, D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told reporters.

The ambassador’s relatives were inside and called the police just after 8 a.m., Contee said.

The suspect was shot “following a confrontation” in the backyard of the residence, the Secret Service said. Contee said the suspect allegedly pulled a metal stake on police. Officers used lethal force when Tasers didn’t work, he said.

Contee said a motive remains under investigation, adding that it’s unclear if the suspect knew it was an ambassador’s residence.

The Peruvian ambassador’s residence was damaged by the break-in but the ambassador, his family and staff, along with Secret Service agents, are all safe, the embassy said in a statement.

Two officers are being evaluated for injuries, Contee said.

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Brooke Tansley and her husband Scott Herrmann were aboard a Delta flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Monday with their two young children when the pilot told passengers over the loudspeaker that masks were now optional.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I think you’re going to want to hear this. I have some really exciting news,” Tansley remembers the pilot saying. “The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) has lifted the mask mandate. You can all take off your masks.”

Tansley could hear scattered cheers and applause. She was stunned, then scared.

The couple had gone to extraordinary lengths to protect their kids who at ages 4 years old and 8 months old still don’t qualify for a vaccine. Her youngest also can’t wear a mask, and she had planned during her trip to meet up with a coworker who was immunocompromised. It was their first flight since the pandemic began.

“I don’t begrudge him his excitement,” she told ABC News of the pilot. “I just wish that he would have taken a minute to consider people in different circumstances and the decision he was making on behalf of everyone on that plane.”

Delta Air Lines, responding to the family’s experience, encouraged patience.

“We empathize with all who are navigating this sudden change in federal policy. As we work to provide our customers and people the most up-to-date information for their travels, we continue to encourage everyone to be patient and understanding with one another. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people,” the airline said in a statement to ABC News.

For a pandemic that seems never-ending, the federal government’s 15-month travel mask mandate came to a surprisingly abrupt end Monday after a Trump-appointed federal judge declared the mandate unlawful. Major airlines swiftly dropped the mandate they had grown to loathe, along with Amtrak, Uber and Lyft.

But airports in New York and Philadelphia kept their mask mandates intact — creating the confusing situation that people could fly maskless from one airport but have to put it back on depending upon where they land.

The Biden administration, which had recently renewed the mandate until May 3, seemed to be caught off guard by the judge’s decision, scrambling in the hours that followed to respond to questions. On Monday evening, an administration official told reporters that the TSA would no longer enforce the rule, even though federal health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would still recommended masks while traveling.

“This was deeply disappointing,” tweeted Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coordinator for COVID-19. “CDC scientists had asked for 15 days to make a more data-driven durable decision. We should have given it to them.”

As of late Tuesday, though, it remained unclear how hard President Joe Biden might fight the ruling. The Justice Department said in a statement it would appeal the recent ruling if the CDC deemed it necessary. The CDC was noncommittal.

“CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings. We will continue to assess the need for a mask requirement in those settings, based on several factors, including the U.S. COVID-19 community levels, risk of circulating and novel variants, and trends in cases and disease severity,” the agency said in a statement.

The biggest hint though came from Biden himself. With the clock ticking toward the May 3 deadline, Biden suggested to reporters that a legal fight on masks wasn’t his priority.

When asked if people should continue to wear masks on planes, Biden responded tersely: “That’s up to them.”

Several legal experts told ABC that the Biden administration might not want to pursue a legal challenge for both pragmatic and political reasons. For one, by the time any kind of legal wrangling takes place, the administration might be willing to let the mask mandate expire anyway.

Another factor is that the case would likely have to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, where a favorable ruling isn’t a sure bet. The high court’s conservative majority has ruled against federal powers on other pandemic-era restrictions related to housing evictions and vaccine mandates for private industry.

Also, many Americans simply don’t like the mandate.

“Politically and legally, the administration is not going to have a lot of incentive to pursue this,” said Sarah Isgur, an ABC News contributor and former Justice Department official during the Trump administration.

Jeffrey Lubbers, a professor of administrative law at American University’s Washington College of Law, said he thinks the Florida judge’s ruling was “highly questionable” and that there’s ample room to challenge it. But whether the administration fights to defend the mandate would probably have more to do with preserving the federal government’s power to prevent the spread of communicable diseases — a power that could be useful in the future.

“This mandate is supposed to expire in two weeks, and it’s also an unpopular mandate. So, it it worth going to court?” he said. But on the flip side, “what happens in two or three months if there’s a new variant and we have a ruling on the books that says CDC can’t regulate this? The government has a political calculation here too.”

Isgur said it’s possible the administration also is considering the upside of having a court ruling to blame if COVID cases increase as a result of the mandate being lifted.

“At some point, the pandemic restrictions had to end, and no one wants to be left holding the bag,” she said.

As for Tansley, she said she hopes people will be compassionate and consider the immunocompromised and families like hers whose kids remain unprotected. She also doesn’t know how her family will get home next week and whether they’ll make the decision to fly again.

“It made me sad and upset to know that my family and my coworker’s safety have been put at risk because of one powerful person in a position and then a pilot who made a call to change the policy in mid-flight. It was something that could have easily waited,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — Lori Vallow pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges related to the deaths of her two children in 2019. Her husband Chad Daybell had previously pleaded not guilty on similar charges.

Vallow and Daybell appeared in court in Fremont County, Idaho. Last week, a judge ruled that Vallow was fit to stand trial after she was recently released from an Idaho mental health facility.

Nearly two years ago, authorities discovered the remains of Lori Vallow’s children on property belonging to Chad Daybell, Vallow’s husband and the children’s stepfather.

Since then, authorities said Vallow and Daybell’s story has publicly unraveled and both face charges in connection to multiple murders.

Daybell appeared in court Tuesday morning for a hearing on whether his trial should be moved from Fremont County to Ada County after the defense argued that the jury in Fremont County may be swayed by extensive media coverage in the area.

After hearing multiple arguments and witness testimony, the judge announced that a written ruling would be released at a later date.

Following Daybell’s court appearance, Vallow appeared in court for arraignment and pleaded not guilty to all charges. She’s charged with three counts of first-degree murder: her children, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and her husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.

The couple is scheduled to face trial starting in January 2023. Daybell and Vallow could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted on multiple first-degree murder charges.

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