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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security has abruptly reversed a decision to temporarily suspend the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck and Global Entry programs due to what the agency described as lapse in funding.

Less than a day after the suspension order was announced by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the TSA said that PreCheck at the nation’s airports will remain open.

“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public. As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC. 

The TSA added that courtesy escorts for members of Congress have been suspended and that those resources “can be directed towards keeping the flying public safe.”

For a few hours on Sunday morning, several airports, including Los Angeles International Airport and St. Louis Lambert International Airport, reported TSA precheck closures.

Sources familiar with the issue told ABC News that airports are now being advised by the TSA that they can keep their precheck lanes open if they have enough staffing.

Earlier Sunday, Noem released a statement saying that the precheck service was being temporarily suspended.

“TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts,” Noem said in a statement.

The two programs, which allow expedited clearance processes for pre-vetted domestic and international travelers, were expected to be suspended starting at 6 a.m. ET Sunday, according to a DHS official. 

The initial plan called for DHS personnel assigned to these programs to be redirected to assist the broader traveling public, as travelers braced for longer lines to clear security.

The decision to suspend the programs came as an anticipated winter storm had already prompted the cancelation of more than 7,000 flights across the country. The decision and its quick reversal also comes just weeks before the spring break travel rush. 

In addition, Noem also announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also halt “all non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters,” underscoring the impact of the upcoming winter storm.

Before the decision to suspend the PreCheck program was reversed, a ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, immediately blasted the move.

“This is Trump and Kristi Noem purposely punishing the American people and using them as pawns for their sadistic political games,” Thompson said in a statement. “TSA PreCheck and Global Entry REDUCE airport lines and ease the burden on DHS staff who are working without pay because of Trump’s abuse of the Department and killing of American citizens,” he said.

“Trump and Kristi are making your lives harder — and your travel less safe — all on purpose because they know you don’t trust them. They pulled these games with FEMA disaster response last week, now this madness. They would rather force Americans to miss their travel waiting in long lines at the airport than stop Trump’s secret police from shooting our neighbors.”

U.S. Travel, a non-profit organization that represents the nation’s travel industry also expressed its “disappointment” and criticized the move in a post on X writing, “Travelers should be prioritized, not leveraged. Travel is the gateway to the American economy and Americans should not have their mobility, security or travel experience diminished because elected leaders fail to resolve their differences.”

The temporary suspension was first reported by the Washington Post. 

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(NEW YORK) — A man authorities alleged was carrying a shotgun and a gas canister was fatally shot by U.S. Secret Service agents and a deputy sheriff early Sunday outside of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, according to the Secret Service.

The shooting unfolded around 1:30 a.m. local time near the north main gate of the estate, Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Miami field office, said at a news conference later Sunday.

“We want to be clear: the president of the United States was not in the state of Florida,” Barros said.

No “Secret Service protectees” were at the property at the time of the shooting, according to a statement from a Secret Service spokesperson earlier Sunday.

The FBI identified the man killed as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Moore County, North Carolina.

According to North Carolina state records, an individual named Austin Tucker Martin is listed as the founder of the business Fresh Sky Illustrations LLC. The business features various drawings of golf courses in North Carolina and is described on its website as “an artwork company that mainly focuses on bringing to life the hopeful feeling of being on a golf course.”

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at Sunday’s news conference outside of Mar-a-Lago that the individual was shot after he allegedly pointed the shotgun at the law enforcement officers.

Bradshaw said the man had made his way into the inner perimeter of Mar-a-Lago and that he was confronted by two Secret Service Agents and a deputy sheriff.

“They confronted a white male that was carrying a gas can and a shotgun,” Bradshaw said.

He later held up a printed copy of photo he said showed the weapon and canister.

“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him, at which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said of the alleged intruder.

“At that point in time, the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons and neutralized the threat,” Bradshaw said, adding that the individual was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Fortunately, nobody was injured inside because of the quick action that was taken by the deputy and the Secret Service,” Bradshaw said.

Investigators are determining how many shots were fired in the incident and whether the alleged intruder fired a shot at the law enforcement officers, who were part of the security detail at Mar-a-Lago, Bradshaw said. He added that it wasn’t yet known whether the shotgun was loaded.

The FBI is spearheading the investigation, said Brett Skiles, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, adding that FBI personnel was on the scene collecting evidence.

A motive for the incident is unknown at this time, officials said.

Skiles asked residents living near Mar-a-Lago to check their exterior security cameras for footage from Saturday night into early Sunday morning for “anything that looks suspicious or out of place,” and to contact the FBI or the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office if they do.

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(POTOMAC, Md.)– Investigators in Maryland have released a video of a person wanted in connection with the murder of an 87-year-old man known for his philanthropy and are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect whose face does not appear.

Robert Fuller Jr., 87, was found in his apartment at a senior living facility in Potomac, Maryland, on Feb. 14. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.

Fire and rescue responded to the Cogir of Potomac senior living facility at around 7:30 a.m. Fuller was found unresponsive in his apartment. Life saving measures were attempted, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Major crimes investigators were notified after responders saw trauma to the head. Investigators determined he was murdered, according to police.

Investigators were able to obtain the surveillance video showing a person on the senior living facility property around the time of the murder. The individual is a suspect in the murder, according to police.

Authorities have not been able to identify the suspect’s gender or race, saying the person shown in the video could be male or female, according to authorities. 

“Investigators are asking anyone who recognizes the clothing worn by the individual, or who can identify any distinguishing characteristics, including the person’s gait, to call the Major Crimes Division at 240-773- 5070 or Crime Solvers of Montgomery County,” authorities said in a statement.

Fuller was known for his philanthropy after he donated $1.64 million to upgrade a high school’s athletic field in Maine, according to ABC affiliate WMTW in Portland, Maine. 

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(NEW YORK) — A significant nor’easter is expected to march up the East Coast on Sunday into Monday, bringing significant snow for the I-95 corridor and placing New York City under a blizzard warning for the first time in nearly a decade, with the last one coming in March 2017.

As of Saturday morning, more than 40 million Americans are on alert for winter storm conditions beginning on Sunday and continuing into Monday.

The National Weather Service has upgraded southern Delaware, the Jersey Shore, all of New York City, Long Island and coastal Connecticut to a blizzard warning for increased confidence in snowfall of more than one foot and gusty winds that will likely cause blizzard conditions.

Coastal flood watches are also up from coastal Delaware to the Jersey Shore and Long Island to the coast of southern New England for minor to moderate coastal flooding during high tide.

As the forecast continues to become clearer, expect additional winter weather alerts to be issued over the next 24 hours across the Northeast.

While the exact snowfall totals and which locations will get the most precipitation from the storm remains uncertain, confidence has increased that the eastern seaboard will be dealing with a powerful coastal storm Sunday through late Monday that will bring significant snowfall, high winds and coastal flooding.

This coastal storm is expected to start taking shape over the coastal Carolinas on Sunday, bringing rain to the Mid-Atlantic and some scattered light to moderate snow from Northern Virginia up into Pennsylvania and into parts of New Jersey and New York come Sunday morning into the afternoon.

By late Sunday afternoon, the coastal storm will begin to quickly intensify off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia as it tracks to the Northeast and parallels the East Coast.

By early Monday morning, the storm is anticipated to bring heavy snow, strong wind gusts and coastal flooding across much of the coastal Northeast.

The Jersey Shore, Long Island, the southern coast of New England and Cape Cod could all see blizzard and whiteout conditions early Monday from the combination of heavy snow and very strong wind gusts.

By Monday evening, snow should begin to taper off almost completely for the Northeast except for New England which could still see intermittent precipitation.

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(NEVADA) — Authorities in Nevada are investigating a “counter terrorism incident” involving a man who allegedly tried to ram a vehicle into an L.A. power and water facility near Boulder City, Nevada, Thursday afternoon, according to officials.

The suspect was identified by authorities as Dawson Maloney, 23, of Albany, New York. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference Friday.

Authorities said they recovered firearms and explosive materials in Maloney’s hotel room.

The incident began unfolding at around 10 a.m. local time Friday, a 911 caller reported a vehicle crashing through a secured gate at the power substation. The caller reported that the suspect appeared deceased and shots were heard after the crash, according to McMahill.

At the press conference, investigators showed videos of a vehicle driving up to the facility before ramming through the gate. The vehicle was stopped when it ran into large industrial wire reels, McMahill said.

The suspect allegedly traveled from New York with the intent to cause chaos, according to a source. Maloney was reported missing from Albany and made contact with his family just before the attempted ramming, according to McMahill.

“The suspect had made multiple statements referencing self harm and alluding to committing an act that would place him ‘on the news.’ In a message to his mother, the suspect referred to himself as a ‘dead terrorist son’ and stated he felt he had an obligation to carry out his act,” McMahill said.

The suspect was also discovered to be wearing soft body armor at the time of the incident, McMahill said.

“These findings significantly elevate the seriousness of this incident,” McMahill said.

Through license plate reader data, investigators determined the suspect drove from New York to Nevada in a rental vehicle, according to McMahill.

Investigators believe he rented a vehicle on Feb. 12 then departed the area sometime around Feb. 14, crossing the country to Boulder City, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto.

While executing a search at the suspect’s hotel, investigators found books with extremist ideologies “including right and left wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacy and anti-government ideology,” McMahill said.

“We also recovered explosive materials and components to include thermite, ammonium nitrate, magnesium ribbon, metal pipes and gasoline,” McMahill said.

Investigators found multiple firearms found in the vehicle that rammed into the gate including two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, numerous loaded AR magazines, a box of shotgun shells and two flame throwers, according to McMahill.

There was no indication of any damage to the facility and there is no threat to the community, according to officials.

Investigators have not yet determined the suspect’s motivation behind the attack.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to impose his global tariffs a different way after the Supreme Court struck down most of the levies as illegal — a decision he lambasted as “deeply disappointing.”

“We’re going forward,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — The parents of a Seattle-area teenager who was allegedly pushed to take his own life by a member of the online extremist network “764” have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Discord, claiming the social media giant “caused” their son’s suicide and “abetted one of the most depraved and dangerous child abuse cults in modern history.”

According to the lawsuit, Discord “supplied 764 with unlimited victims,” including 13-year-old Jay Taylor, who in January 2022 died by suicide outside of a local grocery store in Gig Harbor, Washington.

“It’s almost biblical in its definition of evil, what happened,” Jay Taylor’s father, Colby, told ABC News in an exclusive interview in November.

As ABC News has previously reported, 764 members find vulnerable victims on popular platforms, elicit private information and intimate sexual images from them, and then use that sensitive material to blackmail victims into mutilating themselves, harming others, or taking other violent action.

Members of 764 often host live online chats so others can watch the self-harm and violence in real time. The further they can push their victims, the more stature and respect they will receive within 764, authorities say.

“Discord [provided] 764 access to its platform, failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or disrupt such exploitation, and affirmatively maintained the same product design and defaults that enabled the abuse,” the new 31-page lawsuit alleges.

Colby Taylor previously told ABC News that he and his wife, Leslie, were preparing to file a lawsuit against Discord, hoping that legal action would pressure the platform to do more to stop online predators. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in a Pierce County, Washington, court, seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

As the Taylors described it to ABC News, Jay Taylor was a vulnerable victim. He was “funny” and “sweet,” and he had a knack for drawing and crafts, his mother recalled. But by the start of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had left Jay feeling isolated and lonely. And though he was assigned female at birth, he was in the midst of a gender transition, exacerbating his feelings of loneliness, his parents said.

In January 2022, Jay posted a message to Discord, saying, “I’m looking for friends, preferably LGBTQ for crochet buddies,” Jay’s father recalled.

Someone responded to Jay’s message, bringing him into a live chat with several others. Within an hour or so, the others in the group chat began telling Jay he should kill himself, Jay’s parents recounted.

A Discord user who called himself “White Tiger” online was leading the charge, directing others to push and manipulate Jay, according to Jay’s parents.

“Eventually, the pressure took hold of Jay,” their lawsuit says.

The FBI later identified “White Tiger” as a young German-Iranian medical student from Hamburg, Germany. He is currently on trial in Hamburg, charged with Jay Taylor’s murder and more than 200 other counts for the alleged abuse of dozens of victims. According to the Taylors’ lawsuit, Discord poses “a foreseeable risk of harm to youth users” and is “not reasonably safe as designed.”

“From the outset, Discord designed a platform structurally rife with obvious, risk-amplifying features–and when those risks materialized through 764, Discord housed it, grew it, and meanwhile marketed itself to more child users, guaranteeing their exploitation,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit further alleges that Discord is “refusing to invest in commonsense safety measures” and “deliberately understaffs and under-resources its safety and response team, employing a tiny fraction of what is needed to effectively control abusive conduct.”

764 was started on Discord by a teenager in Stephenville, Texas, who named it after the first three digits of his local ZIP code. Born in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when teenagers were stuck inside and flocked to online spaces, 764 was an even more vicious offshoot of other online groups exploiting children through blackmail and self-harm, authorities said.

Since then, 764 has spread around the world, growing into more of an ideology than a singular group, experts say. And other groups, inspired by 764, have formed with different names but identical tactics and goals. As of November, the FBI was investigating more than 350 people across the United States with suspected ties to 764 or similar networks.

The number has only increased since then, experts say. On Tuesday, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, James Comer, R-Kentucky, sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, demanding that FBI officials brief committee staff on the agency’s efforts to “track and apprehend” members of 764.

Citing reporting from ABC News, Comer wrote that the “disturbing tactics attributed to this network” warrant “rigorous oversight and an evaluation of whether existing federal countermeasures are effective and adequately resourced to combat these elusive online perpetrators.”

In September, Patel told lawmakers during a public Senate hearing that fighting 764 is now “a priority” for the FBI. He called 764-related crimes a new form of “modern-day terrorism in America.”

On Friday, a spokesperson for Discord said the company is reviewing the new lawsuit filed by Colby and Leslie Taylor.

After ABC News interviewed the Taylors several months ago, a Discord representative told ABC News in a statement that the platform is “committed to user safety” and that the “horrific actions of groups like this have no place on Discord or anywhere in society.”

According to a Discord spokesperson, the platform invests “heavily” in specialized teams and newly-developed artificial intelligence tools that can “disrupt these networks, remove violative content, and take action against bad actors on our platform.”

Discord also said it shares intelligence with other platforms, which can help identify bad actors even before Discord has spotted them, and Discord said it cooperates with law enforcement, proactively providing tips and other information to them.

Its tips have led to many arrests, including the arrest of Bradley Cadenhead, the Texas teen who started 764 and is now serving an 80-year sentence in state prison after pleading guilty to child pornography-related charges. And Discord recently announced new tools aimed at giving parents more control and more insight into their children’s accounts.

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(NEW YORK) — More than six years after the infamous financier and sex offender’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, the investigation into potential wrongdoing at Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling hacienda in New Mexico is being reopened, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Justice Department. 

In its heyday, Zorro Ranch played host to a who’s who of Epstein’s prominent guests. It also became the site where multiple girls alleged that they were sexually assaulted. Among them: Annie Farmer, who offered key testimony during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial that she had been sexually abused at 16 years old by Epstein and Maxwell at the ranch in the mid-1990s.

The property, locally dubbed the “Playboy Ranch,” will now get fresh scrutiny over the many allegations of illegal activity on its grounds. 

“Upon reviewing information recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Raúl Torrez has ordered that the criminal investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch be reopened,” Lauren Rodriguez, Chief of Staff for the New Mexico Department of Justice, said in a statement to ABC News. 

While Epstein’s New York townhouse and his Caribbean island were raided as part of the case against Epstein, records now released by the DOJ indicate federal law enforcement never raided Zorro. 

“We have not searched the New Mexico property,” said a Dec. 20, 2019, email from a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York to a lawyer for Epstein’s estate. 

New Mexico’s prior investigation was “closed in 2019 at the request of the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” according to New Mexico DOJ’s Rodriguez. Lawmakers in New Mexico pushing for the renewed probe have also said there was no record of federal law enforcement searching Zorro. 

But now, “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination,” Rodriguez said. “Special agents and prosecutors at the New Mexico Department of Justice will be seeking immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and intend to work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners as well as the Epstein Truth Commission recently established by the New Mexico Legislature.”

“As with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations, and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,” Rodriguez added. “We are moving quickly and deliberately on this issue and will provide updates as appropriate.”

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(NEW YORK) — Authorities said they’re looking into using genetic genealogy in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s mysterious abduction, and an expert says the cutting-edge technique could be the key.

While authorities may find Guthrie’s kidnapper through other avenues of investigation, “if they don’t, investigative genetic genealogy definitely will,” genetic genealogist CeCe Moore told ABC News.

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of Feb. 1 by an unknown suspect.

The FBI ran DNA from a glove found during a roadside search through the national criminal database known as CODIS, but did not get a match to any of the roughly 22 million samples in the database, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.

That glove — which was found about 2 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s house — also did not match DNA found at her property, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Moore, a former ABC News contributor, said, “I think we have to exercise a lot of caution in putting too much emphasis on” the glove.

“If it had had Nancy’s DNA, or had matched the DNA at the crime scene, obviously that would be different. But with it being found at such a distance, I always was a little hesitant to get too hopeful about that,” she said. “I think the DNA found at the home is far more compelling.”

While the DNA found at Nancy Guthrie’s property is still being analyzed, the sheriff’s department said on Tuesday that investigators are “looking into additional investigative genetic genealogy options for DNA evidence to check for matches.”

Genetic genealogy takes the DNA of an unknown suspect left behind and identifies the suspect by tracing the family tree through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database. Genetic genealogy has been used to solve hundreds of cases since it was first implemented in the 2018 arrest of the “Golden State Killer,” a cold case that had stumped California law enforcement for decades.

“Just like in the hundreds of cases where we’ve been able to identify a violent criminal that couldn’t be found any other way, genetic genealogy has the power to do so through reverse engineering this individual’s family tree based on his DNA alone,” Moore said. “When you have this person’s DNA, you have so much information about their family tree at your fingertips. And so you can piece that tree back together … you just have to spend the time to look at all that information and sort through it.”

“So genetic genealogy often steps in and is successful when all the other leads have been exhausted,” she said.

In the Guthrie case, investigators “were very smart to start [pursuing genetic genealogy] early, and not wait for all those other leads to be exhausted,” Moore said. “Because if he’s not identified any other way, investigative genetic genealogy will definitely be the key — it’s really just a matter of time.”

And when it comes to that timeframe, Moore said, there are two factors: “the population group from which the person of interest descends — and luck.”

“Sometimes you just get lucky and somebody has a close relative in these very small databases,” Moore said.

“If the population group is one that’s not well represented, then that can make it extremely difficult. If the person has deep roots in the United States and primarily Northwest European ancestry, they may be identified in a matter of minutes or hours, because that’s the population group that’s best represented, and it’s also the one that we have the most information about being here in the United States,” she said. “If someone’s born in another country, or even as far back as their great-grandparents were immigrants, there’s far less representation in the databases that we’re able to use, and it’s also more difficult to work with records outside of the U.S.”

In the Guthrie case, law enforcement sources told ABC News on Wednesday that the FBI has reached out to Mexican authorities. There’s no evidence Nancy Guthrie was taken to Mexico, but it’s an avenue investigators are exploring given Tucson’s proximity to the border, the sources said.

If the Guthrie suspect’s parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were born in Mexico, Moore said, “it will likely take longer.”

Moore said she predicts the genetic genealogy process in the Guthrie case “won’t take more than weeks, maybe months.”

“I have worked on cases for years. However, I don’t think this case will take that long because of the large amount of resources being dedicated to it. I would suspect the FBI genetic genealogy team would be brought in if it takes too long, and they have 200 agents,” she said.

Moore also noted that investigative genetic genealogy can be slowed due to law enforcement’s limited access to DNA profiles.

“There are over 50 million people who have taken direct-to-consumer DNA tests, but most of them are in the three largest databases, and those companies have barred law enforcement from using their databases for these purposes,” Moore said. Currently, law enforcement is limited to accessing three smaller databases, which combined have about 2 million DNA profiles, she said.

“I do expect that if [the Guthrie suspect] is not identified soon, then law enforcement very likely will serve a warrant on those bigger databases” to try to request access, she said.

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(TRUCKEE, Calif.) — The group of skiers involved in the deadly avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains on Tuesday includes parents, mostly mothers, of students at a local school and ski academy, according to a source involved in the search and rescue effort and a statement from the school.

“Multiple members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community and others with strong connections to Sugar Bowl, Donner Summit, and the backcountry community died in an avalanche on Tuesday, February 17, 2026,” a statement from the school said.

Sugar Bowl Academy is a private independent school boarding and day school designed for competitive skiers. 

A source involved in the search and rescue effort on the scene told ABC News that most of both the deceased and surviving victims of the avalanche are parents connected to the school.

The parents’ kids are on a winter break from school, according to sources familiar. 

Authorities have not publicly identified any of the victims.

Emergency responders “are still working to recover all of the victims and are not at this time sharing the personal details of the victims and the survivors out of respect for the families affected,” the school said in the statement. “Sugar Bowl Academy is similarly not sharing the names of the victims and survivors out of respect for the families affected.”

The statement went on to say, “Sugar Bowl Academy is focused on supporting its athletes, students, staff, and families through this tragedy. Most importantly, the Sugar Bowl Academy community will continue to be there in the months and years ahead for the families that have lost loved ones.”

The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said earlier Wednesday that 15 people were part of the group of skiers who were caught in the avalanche on Tuesday at the end of a three-day guided trip.

Eight people are confirmed dead and one other person is still missing, but presumed dead, the sheriff’s office said. Of the dead and missing, seven are women and two are men. 

Six people survived the avalanche — four men and two women — and were rescued by crews after sheltering under a tarp for hours amid “highly dangerous” conditions, authorities said.  

The tragedy is the deadliest U.S. avalanche in 45 years, second only to an avalanche that killed 11 people on Washington’s Mt. Rainer in 1981.

A spokesperson for Nevada County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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