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(CHELAN COUNTY, Wash.) — It’s been nearly a month since Travis Decker went on the run after allegedly killing his three young daughters near a Washington state campground, and at least one expert told ABC News he believes the fugitive father is likely still alive and will “eventually surface.”

Paityn Decker, 9; Evenlyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were killed after they left home for a “planned visitation” with Decker at approximately 5 p.m. on May 30, officials said. At approximately 3 p.m. on June 2, officials located the bodies of the three girls, and Decker’s vehicle, near the Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, Washington.

Nearly one month later, the manhunt for Decker, an Army veteran, continues.

On Monday, officials said that “there is no certain evidence that Decker remains alive” or in the surrounding area after “seemingly strong early leads gave way to less convincing proofs over the last two weeks of searching.”

“We can’t and won’t quit this search,” Kittitas County Sheriff Clay Myers said in a statement. “Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia Decker deserve justice. Decker remains a danger to the public as long as he’s at large.”

But Todd McGhee, a law enforcement and security analyst and former Massachusetts state trooper, told ABC News he believes Decker is alive, especially since canines have “not picked up on any type of cadaver or any type of presence of a deceased body.”

“Canines are trained to look for cadavers and sniff for those types of odors, so he’s still maybe on the move,” McGhee told ABC News.

McGhee said he believes Decker may have “slipped out of the U.S.,” escalating the search into an “international manhunt.” An affidavit previously revealed that Decker’s Google searches leading up to the murders included “how does a person move to Canada” and “how to relocate to Canada.”

Decker has likely been able to evade from law enforcement for so long due to his military training, which allows him to “navigate with limited resources in the wilderness,” McGhee said. Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison previously said Decker’s father revealed that his son had been known to go out and live “off the grid” for up to 2 and a 1/2 months.

Since he has managed to hide from officials for an extensive period of time, McGhee said Decker could have developed an escape plan, allowing him at least time to “process everything as far as turning himself in [and] standing trial.”

McGhee said Decker will likely “leverage every bit” of his military experience but said he believes he will “eventually surface.”

“He’ll eventually have to surface through seeking shelter, seeking food, nutrition — those types of things will require him to come out of hiding and, to some degree, expose himself to the general public,” McGhee said.

Regardless of where Decker may be, McGhee said he is “confident” the search efforts will lead to some form of closure.

“I’m confident that something should reveal itself as far as a resolution as to where his existence is and hopefully a capture and an arrest,” McGhee told ABC News.

What we know about the deaths of Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia Decker

On May 30, Decker picked up the girls, talked to his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, for about 15-20 minutes and then left, according to Arianna Cozart, Whitney Decker’s attorney. While Whitney Decker had full custody of the children, Travis Decker was granted visitations to see the children for three hours on Fridays and eight hours every other weekend, so long as he remained in Wenatchee Valley with the girls, Cozart told ABC News.

“He said, ‘Hey, I will see you at 8 [p.m.]’ and he left, and he never came back,” Cozart said.

Whitney Decker contacted police that evening with a civil complaint, saying she had not heard from Travis Decker and he had failed to bring the girls home at their scheduled time, officials said.

Detectives later learned Travis Decker and his daughters did not arrive at a “planned 5K running event” on Saturday. Officials believe that Decker traveled to the campground where the girls’ bodies were found on May 29 and returned the next day with his three children, according to court documents.

When the girls were reported missing, the investigation had not met Amber Alert criteria, officials said, but an Endangered Missing Persons Alert had been issued through the Washington State Patrol.

When the bodies of the girls were discovered, there were plastic bags over the heads of each one and their wrists were zip-tied, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.

Around Decker’s vehicle, deputies located zip ties and plastic bags “strewn throughout the area.” The tailgate of the truck had what appeared to be “two hand prints of blood,” according to court documents.

An autopsy determined the girls were suffocated, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said on June 9.

Decker’s mental health struggles, PTSD

Travis Decker had struggled with mental health issues, including PTSD, and was unable to access help through veterans’ resources, Cozart said.

“The courts didn’t fail these girls. It wasn’t the judge and it wasn’t Whitney; it was our system,” Cozart said. “[Whitney] feels like the system really let Travis down. If somebody would have provided Travis with the help that he needed, those girls would be alive.”

During a memorial service for the girls last weekend, Whitney Decker briefly spoke for the first time since her daughters’ deaths. She said the girls had “warm and open hearts.”

“I’m so thankful for the time that I had with the girls. I truly hope that the legacy of the girls’ lives lives in everyone’s hearts forever. They were incredible,” Whitney Decker said at the memorial on June 20.

Decker, who is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a light shirt and dark shorts, police said, and a new suspect flyer was released by authorities on June 16. He is currently wanted for three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping, police said.

Officials said anyone who has any information on Decker or knows of his whereabouts should call 911 immediately.

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(FORT WORTH, Texas) — A man was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Thursday for murdering a Texas college student in a random shooting in 2023.

Wes Smith, a 21-year-old junior at Texas Christian University, was shot multiple times outside a Fort Worth bar in September 2023, prosecutors said.

Matthew Purdy, 23, pleaded guilty to his murder during a hearing in Tarrant County on Thursday. A judge then sentenced him to 60 years, under the terms of a plea agreement.

Smith’s parents addressed the court during Thursday’s hearing.

“Your actions caused catastrophic, monumental mourning by thousands of people,” his father, Philip Smith, said while addressing the defendant, saying he believed Purdy has a “dark and ugly soul, if you have any soul at all.”

He remembered his son as a “beautiful human being” who had a great laugh and quick wit.

“He was a true leader of people,” Philip Smith said. “He was a gifted athlete. He was an honor student. He was a loved son. He was a cherished brother.”

His mother, Dorree Smith, remembered him as a “competitor to the core in a way that encouraged and brought out the best in everyone.”

“He thought being a mentor was so important, along with putting others before yourself and serving others however needed,” she said. “He wasn’t perfect, but he was striving for growth, building a foundation and leaving warmth and laughter in his wake.”

She said her son’s last evening was spent doing the two things he loved most — football and mentoring young athletes, while helping coach middle school students — before heading to a bar to meet up with friends.

He was helping women find safe rides home when he was shot, she said.

Addressing Purdy directly, she said, “You didn’t know Wes. You never met him. But in that moment, you made a devastating, evil choice. You decided you mattered more than he did. And you took Wes’ earthly life. And now Wes’ loss is not just a personal loss but a communal wound.”

The shooting occurred in Fort Worth’s West 7th entertainment district shortly after 1 a.m. local time on Sept. 1, 2023.

An officer patrolling the district heard gunshots and found Smith suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the affidavit. Smith was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The gunman hit another TCU student who was fleeing the scene in the back of the head with the gun, causing a laceration, according to the affidavit.

Purdy was arrested two blocks from the bar and admitted to shooting Smith three times for no discernible reason, according to the affidavit. He told police he didn’t shoot the other TCU student “because he ran out of bullets,” prosecutors said.

After being read his rights, Purdy agreed to provide a statement, in which he “admitted to approaching Wes, who he didn’t know and shooting him three times” in the stomach, shoulder and back of the head after he fell, the affidavit stated.

“Matthew could not provide a clear reason as to why he shot Wes,” the affidavit stated, noting that Purdy asked the victim if he knew his father, who was assaulted in the past in the area, before shooting him.

Purdy also pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated assault for pistol-whipping the other TCU student and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a police interview, he said he didn’t shoot her because he ran out of bullets.

He was additionally sentenced on eight other felony charges, for a total of 206 years in prison. The sentences will run concurrently, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said.

His trial had been scheduled to start in July. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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(HENNEPIN COUNTY, Minn.) — The wife of accused Minnesota lawmaker gunman Vance Boelter said she’s “completely blindsided” by the shootings allegedly carried out by her husband.

“On behalf of my children and myself, I want to express our deepest sympathies to the Hortman and Hoffman families,” Jenny Boelter said in a statement released by her attorneys on Thursday. “We are absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided.”

“It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith,” she continued. “We are appalled and horrified by what occurred and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of this unfathomable tragedy.”

Vance Boelter is accused of shooting and killing Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in Brooklyn Park and shooting and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their house in nearby Champlin on June 14, authorities said.

Vance Boelter, 57, allegedly showed up to their doors in the middle of the night impersonating a police officer and wearing a realistic-looking latex mask to carry out his “political assassinations,” prosecutors said.

When Vance Boelter allegedly fled the Hortmans’ home, sparking a massive manhunt, investigators recovered a list of about 45 elected officials in notebooks in his car, according to prosecutors. Two other lawmakers were spared the night of the shootings, officials said.

Jenny Boelter stressed in her statement that her family has cooperated with law enforcement from the start. She said when the authorities called her on the morning of June 14, she immediately drove to meet them.

“We voluntarily agreed to meet with them, answer their questions, provide all items they requested, and cooperate with all searches,” she said.

Hours after the shootings, Vance Boelter allegedly texted his family, “Dad went to war last night … I don’t wanna say more because I don’t want to implicate anybody,” according to an affidavit. He also allegedly texted his wife, “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation … there’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around.”

In a search of Jenny Boelter’s car, law enforcement recovered at least one gun, about $10,000 in cash and family passports, the affidavit said.

After a nearly 48 hour manhunt, Vance Boelter was apprehended without incident.

“We thank law enforcement for apprehending Vance and protecting others from further harm,” Jenny Boelter said at the conclusion of her statement.

Vance Boelter faces federal charges including stalking and state charges including first-degree murder. He has not entered a plea and is due in court on Friday for a preliminary hearing.

ABC News’ Christiane Cordero contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Relief from the extreme heat is moving in for some cities on Thursday, but more than 60 million people in the East are still on alert for dangerously high temperatures.

Meanwhile, severe storms with reported tornadoes are targeting the Southeast and the Midwest.

Here’s the latest:

Severe storms

In the Midwest and the Southeast, tornadoes were reported as severe storms struck Wednesday evening — and more storms are on the way.

Ten tornadoes were reported in southern Minnesota and one was reported in Wisconsin on Wednesday.

In Ranchero Village on Florida’s west coast, video captured the moment the strong winds lifted up a 76-year-old woman’s house.

The woman was home at the time but is OK, her daughter, Stephanie Glenn, told ABC News.

“I don’t know how she survived,” Glenn said. “She got thrown around and beat up pretty bad, but is OK.”

On Thursday, severe storms with a few tornadoes will be possible again in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, though the storms are expected to be less widespread than Wednesday’s.

The expansive area of high-pressure and heat will also bring scattered showers and thunderstorms from the Heartland to the East Coast, with some of the storms possibly being strong enough to produce some isolated damaging winds. Lightning will also be a concern.

On Friday, a new severe weather threat emerges in the Upper Midwest, with the highest threat stretching from northern Nebraska to South Dakota to North Dakota to Minnesota. Very large hail, damaging wind gusts, spotty flash flooding and a few brief tornadoes are possible.

Heat

More heat records were broken across the East Coast from Connecticut to South Carolina as the dayslong heat wave continued on Wednesday. New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport registered at a scorching 102 degrees for the second day in a row.

The peak of this record-breaking heat wave has now passed, but high temperatures are ongoing on Thursday from Mississippi to Michigan and from North Carolina to Pennsylvania.

The heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — is forecast to climb to 90 degrees in Philadelphia, 105 degrees in Washington, D.C., 100 in Atlanta, and 106 in Charleston, West Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The heat index is cooling to a balmy 77 degrees in New York City and 66 degrees in Boston.

A few showers and storms, combined with the responsible area of high pressure beginning to weaken, will all help weaken the heat across the East heading into the weekend.

The heat does return next week for the East, but not at the same intensity as this week’s heat wave.

ABC News’ Naomi Vanderlip contributed to this report.

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(GARY, Ind.) — Five people have been killed after a train hit their vehicle when the driver allegedly went around the crossing gate, authorities said.

The incident occurred near Highway 20 and Utah Street in Gary, Indiana, when a witness told Gary Police that the crossing gate for the oncoming South Shore train was down when the driver of the vehicle went around it to beat the train, according to ABC News’ Chicago Station WLS.

It appears the train may have also been damaged in the crash, according to WLS. South Shore service was temporarily suspended but is now up and running again Thursday morning, WLS said.

Authorities have not yet released the names of those involved in the crash and the investigation into the incident is currently ongoing.

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

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(LOS ANGELES) — When Los Angeles Police Department officers went racing toward a potential kidnapping call downtown this week, callers indicated a true kidnapping was underway, according to police.

Police say the caller stated that several individuals were involved, but did not identify themselves.

Officers and an LAPD supervisor say they arrived on scene to find an agitated crowd as federal agents were taking part in an immigration enforcement arrest, which have been increasingly common in Los Angeles as the Trump administration has surged resources to the city in recent weeks.

The arrests prompted days of protests earlier this month, which saw both peaceful marches and violent clashes with law enforcement.

The alleged kidnapping, which happened Tuesday morning, has similarities to an incident earlier in June when federal agents, driving cars that appeared to be civilian vehicles, crashed into a car while making an immigration arrest, prompting calls to the LAPD of a hit-and-run accident. The agents left, with their apparent target in handcuffs, after the encounter and before police arrived.

LAPD traffic officers responded and investigated the case as a hit and run, not initially knowing it had been a federal immigration arrest.

The LAPD says federal agents do not notify the police department of planned enforcement activity in advance. The department is in the dark on when or where operations will unfold or what methods federal agents will use.

They say this is partly because the department has been prohibited from immigration enforcement in a policy that goes back to 1979. And now, California law prohibits police agencies from working with federal immigration agents.

During recent federal immigration operations, agents involved almost completely cover their faces with masks or other coverings to protect their identities. They also typically wear street clothing and professional sports team hats along with tactical vests that often don’t clearly identify which agency they are with, besides the words “Police” or “Federal Agent.” They don’t display any serial number, badge number or name to identify themselves.

The lack of transparency by federal agents has California lawmakers proposing legislation that would require most federal, state and local law enforcement operating in the state to wear uniforms of some kind, clearly show a badge, identifiable information and their faces would have to be uncovered.

“Law enforcement officers are public servants, and people should be able to see their faces, see who they are, know who they are,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-Calif., when introducing the bill. “Otherwise, there is no transparency and no accountability.”

Wiener and the co-authors of his legislation are calling it the “No Secret Police Act.”

Lawmakers say the masks intimidate and the lack of any police uniforms and gear can make it unclear if the federal agents are even real law enforcement or are imposters posing as police to commit crimes or take advantage of the situation.

“What we have been seeing in the last few weeks are law enforcement — some local, some federal — who are wearing masks to completely hide their faces while they are carrying out deportation and other enforcement activities,” said Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair Jesse Arreguin, D-Oakland.

The legislation would, however, allow SWAT team members to cover their faces along with law enforcement who need to cover uniforms for wildfire gear and medical-grade masks over their faces if there is an airborne threat like smoke, a chemical agent or a virus.

In Tuesday’s potential kidnapping call, the LAPD says they found a woman partially handcuffed who moved toward officers and stood next to an LAPD patrol SUV. Police say that is when a federal agent approached and apprehended her. The LAPD says it was not involved in her detention or arrest. But officers moved onlookers out of the roadway and, like this month’s protests, were tasked with clearing the street and maintaining order and public safety.

But community activists allege local police allowed the “kidnapping” to go forward. “Guess who were protecting the kidnappers who were kidnapping our people? LAPD officers. They completely protected the ICE operation that kidnapped our people,” Ron Gochez, founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Union del Barrio, which has been reporting ICE sightings in real time on social media, told ABC News’ Los Angeles station KABC.

But the LAPD said it did not take part in the federal operation and will “not participate in or assist with civil immigration enforcement,” according to a police statement. Rather, the LAPD said its officers remained on scene to “de-escalate tensions, move pedestrians out of the roadway, and allow emergency vehicles safe passage.”

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(WASHINGTON) — With the Fourth of July just days away, law enforcement and federal officials are on guard about Iranian retaliation in the United States, despite officials saying there are no specific, credible threats at this time.

This comes after the U.S. military’s strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities by B-2 stealth bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“We would be foolish to assume that they’re not plotting revenge even if we can’t see it right now. It will come, and we need to maintain vigilance because if we don’t, they will use the element of surprise to their advantage and cause harm,” said Elizabeth Neumann, a former Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for counterterrorism during the first Trump administration.

Even before Saturday’s bombing mission in Iran, the U.S. was at a heightened level of security after a string of high-profile terrorist attacks occurred across the country in the first six month of 2025 — including a deadly truck ramming rampage in New Orleans on New Year’s Day and a June 1 Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder, Colorado.

The wave of extremist violence has come against a backdrop of a rising number of assaults, vandalism and harassment nationwide linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

In the wake of the U.S. mission to cripple Iran’s ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, released a message on social media saying, “We will not surrender.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened in a speech that his country will seek revenge that will have “everlasting consequences” and accused the United States of committing “dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.”

“In accordance with the U.N. Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interests, and people,” Araghchi said.

On Monday, Iran carried out a missile attack on the United States’ Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. U.S. Central Command said both U.S. and Qatari forces “successfully defended” against the attack and that no casualties were reported.

Later in the day, President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire had been agreed upon between Israel and Iran, but tensions remained high into Wednesday.

‘A long memory’

In reponse to the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear apparatus, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a nationwide bulletin, saying the ongoing conflict is “causing a heightened threat environment in the United States” and warning that “low-level cyber-attacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct against US networks.”

Neumann, an ABC News contributor, said Iran’s initial response to the U.S. bombing of three of its nuclear facilities is similar to what the country did following the Jan. 3, 2020, U.S. strike in Baghdad, Iraq, that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s elite Quds Forces.

Five days after Soleimani’s death, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard launched a ballistic missile attack on the U.S. Al Asad airbase in western Iraq. The attack left over 100 U.S. service members with traumatic brain injuries, according to the Pentagon.

“We were definitely very concerned about the potential for something to happen in the homeland,” said Neumann, who was working in the DHS under the first Trump administration when Soleimani was killed.

Neumann said the DHS’s Iran specialists assumed Iran would activate sleeper cells possibly in the United States and that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militia group, would launch terrorist attacks against U.S. interest.

But Neumann said Iran’s attack on the Al Asad airbase was used by Iran to appease its domestic audience by publicly displaying pictures of the attack to give the impression they were pushing back against the United States.

“Since they mostly control the airwaves in Iran, they can kind of get away with it. They don’t actually have to do a major military strike and hurt us the way that we’ve hurt them because they can just kind of manufacture the story that they want for their domestic audience,” Neumann said.

Neumann recalled that at the time, the DHS rapidly prepared an assessment of what Soleimani’s assassination could mean for the United States and released a bulletin similar to the one DHS put out this week. But after the attack on the Al Asad airbase, Iran’s response quieted down.

“The Iranian regime … has a long memory and they recognize that they do not have the strength right now to get back at us,” Neumann said. “But they will wait and they will look for opportunities to cause harm.”

She noted that in August 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard attempted to pay an individual $300,000 to kill John Bolton, the National Security Advisor during Trump’s first term, saying it was likely in retaliation for Soleimani’s death.

In November 2024, the Department of Justice announced that three people, including one described as an “asset” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, were charged in Iran-linked murder plots, with one of them accused of trying to assassinate then-President-elect Trump to avenge the killing of Soleimani.

Iran could turn to ‘crude or escalatory tactics’ employing proxies

A threat assessment by the Center for Internet Security that was released after the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, said, “Tehran is likely to leverage a combination of direct, proxy, and irregular/inspired forces to conduct physical, cyber, or terrorist attacks against US interests both at home and aboard.”

“In light of Israeli strikes and the degradation of the Iranian proxy network in the Middle East, Iran will likely seek to re-establish deterrence against its adversaries, potentially relying on crude or escalatory tactics and informal networks,” according to the assessment. “US interests — particularly Embassies and military bases overseas — are likely to be targeted, and it is possible that Tehran will order or encourage attacks on the US government institutions, businesses, critical infrastructure, or civilians.”

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, widespread surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists that ignited the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the DHS and FBI have repeatedly issued warnings that large-scale events are prime targets of violence.

“Violent extremist messaging continues to highlight major sporting and cultural events and venues as potential targets, and threat actors — including domestic violent extremists (DVEs), homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) inspired by Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and other mass casualty attackers not motivated by an ideology — previously have targeted public events with little to no warning,” according to the joint bulletin put out in May by the DHS and FBI.

Given the nation’s alarming security threat, the FBI is planning to reallocate potentially thousands of FBI agents away from immigration enforcement work to focus on cyber threats and counterterrorism efforts, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News on Tuesday. Months ago, as ABC News has previously reported, the FBI directed agents from around the country, many of them working on counterterrorism and cyber issues, to focus instead on helping DHS conduct immigration enforcement operations.

‘Lone wolf’ and cyberattacks

Richard Frankel, a retired FBI agent, said that no credible threats against the U.S. homeland have been uncovered, “but there has been a lot of chatter.”

Frankel said in an ABC News Live interview on Monday that the FBI has been briefing the governors across the country about the heightened threat.

“They’re going to tell the governors that they need to maybe heighten their protection of special sights,” said Frankel, an ABC News contributor, adding that the New York Police Department has added extra security to landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum as well as synagogues and other religious institutions.

Don Mihalek, a retired senior Secret Service agent and a national security and law enforcement consultant, said a major concern for law enforcement is that Iran or its proxies will try to elicit “lone wolf” attackers, who are radicalized online, to create mayhem on its behalf.

“I think that’s the bigger issue that everybody is worried about because I don’t think the Iranians are dumb enough to launch a state-sponsored, flag-waving attack against the continent of the United States,” Mihalek, an ABC News contributor, said. “But I think they definitely could get some guy in a basement who is antisemitic, who is anti-U.S., who just needed that little push to go to the local shopping center or a mall some place and conduct a low grade, low level attack that would disrupt that part of the United States and if it was coordinated it would have a significant impact on the U.S.”

Mihalek noted the possibility of Iranian sleeper cells being activated in the United States to organize and execute attacks.

During a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science on Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked by Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, how many Iranian sleeper cells currently exist in the United States.

“Congressman, I can’t talk about that in this setting. But what I can tell you is I know Homeland Security, I know the FBI, and they are focusing on doing everything we can to keep our nation safe. And they will continue to do that,” Bondi said.

Asked by Gonzales how many active cases of threats to the homeland the DOJ currently has open, Bondi answered, “Countless” without elaborating.

And just flagging DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s comments on the threat from Monday:

Reporters asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday about the possibility that people who have crossed the border illegally could be Iranian-affiliated, radicalized actors.

“We’re aware that some of these folks that may have come into our country could’ve been radicalized and so that is why we go out every day to identify individuals that could be a threat to our homeland,” Noem said. “We recognize that as tensions escalate, there could be more of a potential for threats here at home. That’s why we’re at an elevated threat right now and we will continue to stay diligent.”

Nome said that in the past, there have been people who have been radicalized both in the United States and abroad.

Asked about concerns over the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, Noem said, “There’s been concern since I took this job.”

“We have incredible threats to this country from many nations that are enemies to the United States of America,” Noem said. “It’s not just Iran. It’s North Korea, Russia, China — consistently every single day are trying to threaten our way of life.”

How can the average citizen help?

Mihalek said another worry for law enforcement is that Iran or its supporters will attempt to commit cyberattacks in the United States.

In 2023, then-White House deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger told the Associated Press that an Iranian hacker group known as “Cyber Av3ngers” had conducted low-level cyberattacks on U.S. water authorities in multiple states and were responsible for a string of ransomeware attacks on the health care industry.

Mihalek said the average citizen could play a significant role in protecting themselves and helping law enforcement thwart attacks, particularly during large events scheduled around the Fourth of July.

“If you see something strange or have somebody in your orbit who is acting strange, you want to let somebody know so they can look at it and investigate it. Often when that happens, the threat is mitigated before it becomes a problem,” Mihalek said. “The other part is if you’re going out some place, you’re going to an event, take the time to look for the exits, how to get out of some place, pay attention to your surroundings and listen to your gut.”

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(LAS VEGAS) — An American Airlines flight returned safely to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport following an “engine issue” on Wednesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Two videos showed what appeared to be smoke and flames coming from an engine while the plane was in the sky.

Matthew Villasista was at the Las Vegas National Golf Club when he saw what appeared to be smoke coming from the plane.

“We could hear lots of booming noises, almost like a boombox. It sort of stopped us in our tracks to hear the noises,” he told ABC News.

Mark Jackson was in a parking lot when he said he heard what sounded like “large fireworks.”

“When we looked up and saw what was really happening, I was shocked and super sad thinking about how scared everyone on board must be,” Jackson told ABC News. “Those brave pilots working under some heavy pressure. It just looked like it was dropping rapidly.”

American Airlines Flight 1665 — an Airbus A321 — was heading to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, the FAA said.

The FAA said it’s investigating.

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(FRISCO, Texas) — A Texas grand jury has indicted a teenager for first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of another teen at a track meet, in a case prosecutors said has “shaken” the community.

The deadly stabbing occurred at a Frisco Independent School District stadium on April 2 during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.

Karmelo Anthony, a then-17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, was arrested and charged in the murder of Austin Metcalf, 17, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School who police said was stabbed during an altercation in the bleachers at the meet.

A grand jury has since indicted Anthony for first-degree murder, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis announced Tuesday. Willis said his team had presented evidence for several weeks before the Collin County grand jury returned the indictment. A trial schedule is yet to be set.

“We know this case has struck a deep nerve — here in Collin County and beyond,” Willis said in a statement. “That’s understandable. When something like this happens at a school event, it shakes people to the core. But the justice system works best when it moves with steadiness and with principle. That’s what we’re committed to. And that’s exactly what this case deserves.”

Willis’ office noted that 17-year-olds are considered adults in the Texas criminal justice system. If convicted, Anthony faces five to 99 years, or life, in prison, the office said.

The teen has allegedly said he acted in self-defense, according to court records, a claim also raised by his defense attorney.

Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, called the indictment an “expected and routine step in the legal process,” and said the teen “looks forward to his day in court.”

“It’s only in a trial that a jury would hear the full story, one that includes critical facts and context that the grand jury simply didn’t get to hear,” Howard said.

“We expect that when the full story is heard, the prosecution will not be able to rule out the reasonable doubt that Karmleo Anthony may have acted in self-defense,” he added.

The stabbing occurred under the Memorial High School tent in the stadium bleachers, according to the arrest report. Responding officers said they spoke to multiple witnesses, including one who reported the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move out from under their team’s tent, according to the arrest report.

The witness reported that Anthony allegedly reached inside his bag and said, “Touch me and see what happens,” according to the arrest report.

Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, according to a witness, and Anthony allegedly pulled out what the witness described as a black knife and “stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away,” the arrest report stated.

Anthony allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.

Following the indictment, Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA that he’s “pleased that we are moving forward.”

“With the first degree murder indictment, it now goes into the court system,” Jeff Metcalf said in a statement to WFAA. “I fully believe that justice will be served for Austin Metcalf. I look forward to the forthcoming trial. But it will never bring my son back.”

Anthony’s mother, Kala Hayes, spoke out on the incident at a press event in April, saying the family has “been under attack.”

“Whatever you think what happened … my three younger children, my husband and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about,” she said.

Anthony was initially held on $1 million bond following his arrest, though he was released from the Collin County Jail after a judge reduced his bond to $250,000.

As part of his bond conditions, he has been ordered to be on house arrest, be supervised by a parent or designated adult at all times and have no contact with Metcalf’s family, according to court records.

Both the Metcalf and Anthony families have launched fundraisers that have each raised more than $500,000.

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(ASBURY PARK, N.J.) — A lifeguard is in the hospital after she was impaled by an umbrella at a New Jersey beach on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The woman was found on the ground near the lifeguard stand with an umbrella stake that had pierced the front of her left shoulder and was sticking out the back of her arm by about 1 foot, Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy told ABC News.

She was being treated by her fellow lifeguards, Keddy said, and when the fire department officials arrived they took over and stabilized her. The fire department responders also cut the umbrella stake in the front and in the back to make the wound more manageable, he said.

Paramedics then responded and took the lifeguard to a hospital, Keddy said, adding she was conscious and alert the whole time.

“She’s a tough young woman,” the chief said.

The circumstances surrounding the impalement were not immediately clear, but Keddy said his advice to beachgoers is to always make sure umbrellas are placed securely in the sand and are carried with the point down.

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