(BAYTOWN, Texas) — One person is dead and 14 are injured — three critically — after a shooting in Baytown, Texas, officials said.
A gunman opened fire on a crowd participating in a celebration of life in the area, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to ABC’s Texas station, KTRK.
KTRK spoke to HCSO’s sergeant, who said a mother was holding a vigil for her son who was killed at his home a couple weeks ago, when an unknown suspect drove down the road shooting rounds into the crowd.
“@HCSOTexas units responded to 1403 N Market Loop. Preliminary info: a large crowd gathered for a celebration of life. A vehicle approached and someone from the vehicle began shooting into the crowd. At least 8 people sustained injuries; 7 are non-fatal, but one has been,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted.
“Update to shooting on N. Market Loop: told the number of wounded individuals is now up to 14; 1 has been pronounced deceased, 3 being taken by Lifeflight in critical condition, and the remaining ones are said to have non/fatal injuries,” he later added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 797,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 60.8% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 13, 5:29 am
Omicron appears to spread faster and weaken vaccines, WHO says
The omicron variant appears to have a “growth advantage” over the delta variant, the World Health Organization said in a technical brief released Sunday.
“It is spreading faster than the delta variant in South Africa where delta circulation was low, but also appears to spread more quickly than the delta variant in other countries where the incidence of delta is high, such as in the United Kingdom,” the WHO said in the brief, which was dated Friday. “Whether omicron’s observed rapid growth rate in countries with high levels of population immunity is related to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility, or a combination of both remains uncertain. However, given the current available data, it is likely that omicron will outpace the delta variant where community transmission occurs.”
Meanwhile, preliminary findings from South Africa suggest omicron may cause less severe illness than delta, and all cases of omicron reported in Europe to date have been mild or asymptomatic. But the WHO said “it remains unclear to what extent omicron may be inherently less virulent” and that “more data are needed to understand the severity profile.”
The WHO also noted that “there are limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for omicron.” However, preliminary evidence, and the considerably altered antigenic profile of the variant’s spike protein, suggests a reduction in vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission associated with omicron.
“There is some preliminary evidence that the incidence of reinfection has increased in South Africa, which may be associated with humoral (antibody-mediated) immune evasion,” the WHO said.
The diagnostic accuracy of routinely used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and antigen-based rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) assays does not appear to be influenced by omicron. Therapeutic interventions for the management of severe or critical COVID-19 symptoms associated with omicron are also expected to remain effective, according to the WHO.
“However, monoclonal antibodies will need to be tested individually, for their antigen binding and virus neutralization and these studies should be prioritized,” the WHO added.
Dec 13, 4:37 am
South Africa’s president tests positive for COVID-19
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is receiving treatment for “mild COVID-19 symptoms” after testing positive for the virus on Sunday, his office said in a statement.
Ramaphosa, 69, began feeling unwell earlier Sunday after leaving a state memorial service in Cape Town in honor of Frederik Willem de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid president and a Nobel laureate, who died last month. Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, was experiencing “mild” symptoms and a test confirmed he was infected, according to his office. The statement didn’t say whether he has the omicron variant, which was discovered by scientists in southern Africa last month and is spreading rapidly.
Ramaphosa is self-isolating in Cape Town and is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service. He has delegated all his responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week, his office said.
Last week, Ramaphosa traveled with a delegation to four West African nations. He and the members of the South African delegation were all tested for COVID-19 in each of the countries during their trip. They returned to South Africa on Dec. 8, after testing negative in Senegal. Ramaphosa tested negative again upon arriving in Johannesburg that day, according to his office.
The statement advised people who had contact with the South African president on Sunday to watch for symptoms or to get tested for COVID-19.
“President Ramaphosa says his own infection serves as a caution to all people in the country to be vaccinated and remain vigilant against exposure,” his office said in the statement. “Vaccination remains the best protection against severe illness and hospitalization.”
(NEW YORK) — At least 22 reported tornadoes ripped across six states overnight, devastating communities and killing dozens of people, including over 70 in Kentucky, during what is typically a quieter time in the United States for the storms.
Tornadoes can happen any time of year, though the greatest threat is typically in spring and summer, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, with the peak season on the earlier side for more southern states. So far this year, the days that reported the highest number of tornadoes were in March, May and July, a National Weather Service tally shows.
That’s what makes the latest activity so rare, experts say.
“Something like this is an unusual event for the month of December. It’s typically our quietest month for tornadoes, especially in Kentucky,” ABC News meteorologist Rob Marciano told “Good Morning America” on Saturday.
It’s unclear if climate change could play a role in the activity, he said.
“There’s no evidence that climate change has any impact on the strength of severe storms or tornadoes,” he said. “That said, to get a tornado this strength and magnitude or length — in December — is incredibly rare.”
An average of 24 tornadoes were reported in the U.S. during the month of December from 1991 to 2010, according to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. Last year, there were 30 preliminary tornado reports in December.
At least 22 tornadoes alone were reported Friday night through Saturday morning in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. A powerful supercell thunderstorm traveled more than 200 miles, from Arkansas to Kentucky, and likely spawned several massive tornadoes.
Kentucky is combing through the wreckage of likely the deadliest tornado system in state history, with at least four tornadoes reported in western Kentucky.
Among the at least 70 people killed in western Kentucky, dozens were at a candle factory in Mayfield, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
“This has been the most devastating tornado event in our state’s history,” Beshear said during a press briefing Saturday. “And for those that have seen it, what it’s done here in Graves County and elsewhere, it is indescribable. The level of devastation is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
At least two people also were killed in southern Illinois, when an Amazon distribution warehouse in Edwardsville was ravaged by a tornado, officials said.
In Arkansas, two people were reported dead from a tornado, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
The deadliest tornado in Kentucky history was March 27, 1890, when 76 people died, according to the National Weather Service. Beshear said he anticipates the current death toll will exceed 100.
In more recent memory, Kentucky’s only recorded F5 tornado killed more than 30 people on April 4, 1974.
One of Kentucky’s most violent storms to have occurred later in the year was a multiple-vortex tornado that destroyed over 150 buildings in Hopkins County on Nov. 15, 2005, according to NWS. No fatalities were reported.
ABC News’ Kelly McCarthy and Dan Peck contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb in Pennsylvania, straining health care facilities across the state, hospitals are working to find ways to free up valuable bed space once again.
WellSpan Health, which operates six acute care facilities in south-central Pennsylvania, has been approaching 400 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in recent days — a volume not seen in nearly a year. About one-third of current hospitalizations are for COVID-19, hospital officials said.
As the number of COVID-19 patients quickly escalates, WellSpan’s hospitals are operating at 110% to 140% occupancy, Dr. Michael Seim, chief quality officer and senior vice president of WellSpan Health, told ABC News. He doesn’t expect the volume to let up for several more weeks.
“Unfortunately, our predictive models don’t show this wave peaking until January 2022,” Seim said. “I think we’re all bracing for this to be longer than last year.”
The health care system has been in this spot before. During the region’s first coronavirus surge, it converted its 73-bed WellSpan Surgery & Rehabilitation Hospital in York into an acute care facility to handle both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients — a measure it has resorted to once again in recent weeks. Twenty patients were at the hospital as of Friday afternoon.
To free up beds for acutely ill patients, WellSpan has also been working with a community partner to discharge patients to skilled nursing facilities for longer-term care. Though that’s also meant working around staffing shortages.
“A unique problem across south-central Pennsylvania is some of our skilled nursing facilities have empty beds, but they don’t have staffing,” Seim said. “So that’s creating a backlog in our hospitals, making it difficult to discharge patients to a skilled facility.”
To help, WellSpan has been training and deploying several of its nurses to staff those extra beds.
Remote care is another way the health care system has worked to shorten hospital stays during the pandemic. Through its home service, eligible patients who are in stable condition are monitored remotely and have clinicians visit them in their own homes. The hospital system treated over 400 patients through the program last year, saving 1,000 patient days in the hospital, Seim said.
The program will once again help free up bed space during the latest COVID-19 surge, and it is something the health care system will continue to offer post-pandemic, Seim said.
“It’s really designed to continue to be innovative in how we provide care to patients,” he said.
Though these practices will prove useful in the long-term, Seim said hospital workers were at one point hopeful they were moving past the pandemic and needing to find ways to free up hospital space is taxing.
“The fact that we’re taking a step back, it feels much worse to people,” Seim said.
Around 90% of WellSpan’s COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated, and almost 93% of COVID-19 patients on ventilators are unvaccinated, he said.
“We have to do our part to reduce the number of patients who require hospitalization for COVID,” Seim said. “We won’t be able to end or even curtail the pandemic until we vaccinate a substantially larger number of patients.”
Around 58% of Pennsylvania residents are fully vaccinated, according to state data. Hospital officials have been urging vaccination as COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the state are among the highest in the U.S.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Pennsylvania have increased at least 10% in the past week as of Friday, while available adult and pediatric intensive care unit beds have fallen to 13.5% and 7.7%, respectively, according to federal and state data. The vast majority of hospitalized patients statewide are not fully vaccinated.
Hospitals statewide are feeling the impact of the surge.
“From the northeast side to the northwest side, to down in the south-central, so all over Pennsylvania, hospitals are feeling a demand on beds,” Robert Shipp, vice president of population health and clinical affairs for the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, told Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.
Geisinger Health System, one of the state’s largest health systems, told the station it is running out of beds across its nine hospitals in central and northeastern Pennsylvania.
“The health care system in Pennsylvania is at the brink of collapse,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gerald Maloney told WPVI. “People continue to come with strokes, heart attacks, car accidents. It’s hard to get them out of the ambulance because we don’t have a place in the emergency department to put them.”
(NEW YORK) — A devastating tornado outbreak in western Kentucky has claimed the lives of at least 50 people, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
The total could reach 75 to 100 people, he added, calling it “one of the toughest nights in Kentucky history.”
“Dozens” were killed at a candle factory in Mayfield, where 110 people were working when the storm hit Friday night, Beshear said.
One tornado was on the ground for 200 miles, he said, devastating towns like Mayfield and Princeton late Friday. At least four tornadoes tore through western Kentucky.
Beshear has activated the National Guard with 181 guardsmen deployed for search and rescue and recovery operations.
“We will make it through this, we will rebuild,” Beshear said at a 4 a.m. press conference. “We are strong, resilient people, and we will be there every step of the way.”
In southern Illinois, in Edwardsville, an Amazon distribution warehouse was hit by an apparent tornado, causing massive damage to the facility, officials said. Officials there confirmed at least two fatalities, but called the search and rescue operations still ongoing. Several dozen workers were able to escape from the building on their own, Edwardsville Police Chief Michael Fillback said Saturday morning.
There were at least 18 reported tornadoes across four states: Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.
Michael Dossett, director of Kentucky’s Division of Emergency Management, compared the storms to the April 1974 outbreak that spawned hundreds of tornadoes across several states and killed more than 30 in Kentucky alone.
“Rescues and search efforts are ongoing, even before the wind stopped blowing, crews were out working,” Dossett said Saturday morning.
Beshear declared a state of emergency and has already submitted a request for a federal emergency declaration.
In Madisonville, Kentucky, a train derailment was caused by the storms, though there were no reported injuries. The freight train was carrying hazardous materials, Beshear wrote in his letter asking for a federal emergency declaration.
The storms began to cause tornadoes in the early evening hours west of Kentucky.
Shortly before 7 p.m. local time, a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was confirmed near Jonesboro, Arkansas, moving northeast at 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
A tornado near Hornersville, Missouri, was on the ground at about 8 p.m. local time.
Tornadoes were also confirmed on the ground in Mayfield, Kentucky, at about 9:30 p.m. local time and in Princeton, Kentucky, just after 10 p.m. local time.
In Monette, Arkansas, one person was killed at a nursing home when a suspected tornado moved through Friday night, Craighead County, Arkansas, Judge Marvin Day told Jonesboro ABC affiliate KAIT. Authorities had initially said two people were killed. Five others suffered serious injuries.
Beshear said despite a COVID-19 surge in Kentucky, hospitals were in good shape.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway, Matt Foster and Hope Osemwenkhae contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A major storm is moving from the Rockies to the East Coast over the next two days, bringing with it heavy snow to the Upper Midwest and severe thunderstorms to the east.
A winter storm warning has been issued in the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes where snow is set to blow through Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A winter storm warning is in effect for cities including Aspen, Sioux Falls and Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, from Arkansas to Tennessee to Kentucky to Indiana, the threat will be strong tornadoes and damaging winds on Friday night.
Shortly before 7 p.m. local time, a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was confirmed near Jonesboro, Arkansas, moving northeast at 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Tornado watches have also been issued in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee.
The worst tornado threat is from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Tornadoes are especially dangerous at night because residents may sleep through alerts.
Temperatures are forecast to climb to 62 degrees in Boston, 66 in New York, 73 in Washington, D.C., and 77 in Savannah, Georgia.
Wind alerts are being issued from Chicago to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Power outages are possible.
(NEW YORK) — The countdown is on for “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan and the Blue Origin crew of astronauts to blast off to space aboard New Shepard.
The team completed its Flight Readiness Review and confirmed the vehicle has met all mission requirements for launch.
The Dec. 11 mission will be the New Shepard rocket’s third human flight this year and marks the first with a full astronaut manifest of six crew members in the capsule, according to Blue Origin.
The “GMA” co-anchor took part in a training camp with his fellow crew members ahead of today’s launch from Blue Origin’s “Launch Site One” facility in a remote area in the West Texas desert.
Dec 11, 5:31 am
What Strahan will bring to space
Strahan told “GMA” that he’s bringing a few personal items to space including his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings, his retired Giants jersey, special watches and the shell casings from the gun that was fired at his father’s military funeral. Strahan said he also added his grandfather’s pocket watch that was given to him by his mom.
“This is a once in a lifetime experience, of course, you want to have your most prized possessions and meaningful belongings with you,” Strahan said.
Dec 11, 5:26 am
Meet the crew
Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard who was the first American in space and the fifth man on the moon, will follow in her father’s footsteps on Saturday. She told “GMA” her father would tell her to enjoy the moment and take in the view.
Space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, and Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess and his child, Cameron, will also be part of the crew for New Shepard’s 19th mission. Lane and Cameron Bess will become the first parent-child pair to fly in space.
Dec 11, 5:18 am
Thursday launch delayed, pushed to Saturday
Strahan and five others originally trained and prepared for a Thursday launch from West Texas, but the Jeff Bezos-owned aerospace travel company made the call Wednesday to delay due to weather.
“Due to forecasted winds on Thursday, December 9 and Friday, December 10, the New Shepard launch team has made the call to delay the launch of NS-19 to Saturday, December 11,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “Liftoff from Launch Site One is targeted for 8:45am CST / 14:45 UTC.”
(KENTUCKY) — A devastating tornado outbreak in western Kentucky has claimed the lives of at least 50 people, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
The total could reach 75 to 100 people, he added, calling it “one of the hardest nights in Kentucky history.”
One tornado was on the ground for 200 miles, he said, devastating towns like Mayfield and Princeton late Friday. At least four tornadoes tore through western Kentucky.
Beshear has activated the National Guard for search and rescue and recovery operations.
“We will make it through this, we will rebuild. We are strong, resilient people,” Beshear said at a 4 a.m. press conference.
Tornadoes were also confirmed on the ground in Princeton, Kentucky, just after 10 p.m. local time, in Mayfield, Kentucky, at about 9:30 p.m. local time and near Hornersville, Missouri, at about 8 p.m. local time.
Tornado watches were also issued in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Shortly before 7 p.m. local time, a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was confirmed near Jonesboro, Arkansas, moving northeast at 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
In Monette, Arkansas, one person was killed at a nursing home when a suspected tornado moved through Friday night, Craighead County, Arkansas, Judge Marvin Day told Jonesboro ABC affiliate KAIT. Authorities had initially said two people were killed. Five others suffered serious injuries.
Meanwhile, a winter storm warning has been issued in the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes where snow is set to blow through Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A winter storm warning is in effect for cities including Aspen, Sioux Falls and Minneapolis.
This will be the first major winter storm for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region this season. The Twin Cities area could see more than 1 foot of snow.
Along the East Coast, record-high temperatures are possible Saturday afternoon.
Temperatures are forecast to climb to 62 degrees in Boston, 66 in New York, 73 in Washington, D.C., and 77 in Savannah, Georgia.
But strong thunderstorms may hit the Carolinas and the Northeast on Saturday night. There is a small chance of tornadoes in the Mid-Atlantic.
Wind alerts are being issued from Chicago to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Power outages are possible.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The city of Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to pay $5.75 million in damages to people injured during a wave of protests last year, according to a settlement reached Thursday.
Protests had erupted across the nation and in Columbus after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck on May 25, 2020 while Chauvin was arresting Floyd.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd. He received a sentence of 22 1/2 years in prison on June 25.
Some protesters had filed a lawsuit against the city in July 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, alleging the police department used excessive force against them, violating their constitutional rights.
“During the protests in Columbus, some plaintiffs were significantly injured. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon the City to accept responsibility and pay restitution,” city attorney Zach Klein said in a statement. “Many Columbus Division of Police officers did perform their jobs professionally during that time, but this litigation highlighted serious issues that must be addressed.”
As part of the settlement, the city also agreed to a permanent injunction on the use of non-lethal force against peaceful protesters, who are not harming people or destroying property.The injunction bans the use of tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, wooden pellets, batons and more against peaceful protesters.
“While this has certainly been a difficult and painful moment for our community, it has yielded important, and in some instances long overdue, reforms to policing practices, policies, and oversight,” Klein said.
A federal judge had placed a preliminary injunction on the city earlier this year ordering police to stop using non-lethal force on non-violent protesters; the permanent injunction prevents police from reintroducing those tactics.
“We have implemented significant changes in protest response and training since last year’s protests,” said Columbus department of public safety director Robert Clark “Before there can be healing, there must be accountability,” he stated.
The settlement is conditional on the approval of the Columbus City Council, according to court filings. The funds to pay for the settlement will come from the city’s general fund account.
(OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich.) — Michigan’s Oxford school district is reopening for the first time since last week’s deadly shooting at Oxford High School.
Four students were killed and seven people were hurt in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township. The suspected gunman and his parents have been charged.
The high school has yet to reopen, but students in eighth grade and younger are returning to classrooms for a half-day on Friday, with several changes in place.
No backpacks are allowed in school through at least next week, Superintendent Tim Throne said in a statement Thursday.
Every building will have law enforcement, private security, trained trauma specialists and additional staff on-site, he said, and staff will undergo trauma-response training.
Every school will also have trained therapy dogs through the rest of the school year, he said.
Thorne also said that the district has software in place on school-provided accounts to manage “all outgoing content from students and staff” and immediately raise “any concerning images, links to websites and shared items from Google Drive for our technology safety and security team.”
Thorne said the schools “will be acknowledging, in an age/grade-appropriate way based on recommendations from trained mental health counselors and crisis response experts, why we have been closed for the last seven days.”
“If you and/or your child is struggling with the return to school, please contact your child’s principal so we can work to help them move forward,” he said.
