(NEW YORK) — Millions of people who hit the roads and the skies for the Thanksgiving holiday are not expected to face any significant weather issues, but a few storms in the South and the Northeast may cause a few hiccups for travelers.
While most parts of the country are expected to experience nice and quiet weather on Wednesday, a few snow showers in the northern Rockies are expected.
By Thanksgiving Day, the snow showers will drop into the central and southern Rockies, with heavy rain and a few thunderstorms developing in the Deep South, which can cause airport and traffic delays.
The American Automobile Association predicts 54.6 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home on Thanksgiving, a 1.5% increase over last year.
This year is forecast to be the third-busiest for Thanksgiving travel since AAA started tracking in 2000.
According to the National Weather Service, powerful storms are possible in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana.
In Houston, thunderstorms are expected ahead of a cold front, sending temperatures to the low 60s in the evening, down from the 70s early in the day.
A few light and scattered showers will move into the Northeast Friday. Atlanta could see a wet start as rain also moves into the Southeast U.S. by Friday morning.
A second storm system will bring more rain across the South from New Orleans to Memphis to Atlanta throughout the day.
Rain is expected to move into the Northeast from Washington, D.C., to NYC and Boston on Sunday, one of the year’s busiest travel days.
The Transportation Security Administration estimates that over 2.5 million people will be screened at airport security checkpoints on Sunday.
(DETROIT) — Detroit police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man suffering a mental health crisis in October acted in self-defense and will not face any charges, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office said.
A report from the prosecutor’s office said the officers acted in self-defense because they spoke to Porter Burks using his first name, posed open-ended questions, asking what he wanted and then offered to take him wherever he wanted to go if he put the knife down.
The officers repeatedly told Burks to drop his weapon, which can also be seen on bodycam video released by the police department. Burks repeatedly refused to drop the knife and the officers did not make “any threats and used no hostile remarks or tones,” a statement from the prosecutor said.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy called the shooting a “truly tragic case.”
“Mr. Burks had a long history of mental illness and violent behavior and a propensity for carrying knives that had been communicated by his family to the responding officers,” Worthy said in a statement. “He previously allegedly cut two individuals and a seven-year-old girl in 2020. The police spent a significant amount of time trying to get him to drop his weapon. He suddenly ran at them with the knife and covered the distance between them in approximately three seconds. Eyewitnesses to the shooting were interviewed and indicated that the police did all that they could to de-escalate the situation before Mr. Burks charged at the police.”
She added, “Unfortunately, Mr. Burks was fatally shot by the officers in self-defense and defense of others.”
Burks had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to his family. His brother, Damondo Anderson, was the one who called authorities for help on Oct. 1 claiming he was “concerned for people” because his brother was walking around the neighborhood with a knife and was having a “real bad episode,” according to police. Anderson also told officers his brother was frantic and slashed his tires, which can be seen in bodycam footage.
Detroit police said they fired 38 shots in three seconds at Burks. According to the prosecutor’s investigation, Burks ran approximately 40 feet in under three seconds towards officers. Before he collapsed, he was approximately six to eight feet from the officer who tried to talk him into dropping his knife. The prosecutor’s investigation also indicated a taser was deployed but there is no evidence of whether the taser had an effect on Burks.
This report comes on the heels of Porter’s family announcing earlier this month that they plan to sue four unnamed officers for $50 million for wrongful death, according to the family’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger.
Fieger claims Detroit Police Chief James White has “failed to provide the names of the officers who were involved in the execution-style killing of Porter Burks.”
The Detroit Police Department did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Fieger’s comments.
“The chief, despite my request to him directly to provide everything, the videos and everything involved in this case…to date for the last two weeks, I’ve received nothing,” Fieger said at a press conference on Nov. 1, announcing the lawsuit. “They have not been forthcoming with any information.”
White in a statement Nov. 23 called the shooting a “tragic event” and called for additional resources for individuals suffering from mental illness. He thanked Worthy’s office for its “objective review.”
“Their independent review confirms that the actions of our officers were justified under those circumstances,” the statement said.
According to Fieger, Burks’ autopsy report reveals that no shots were fired by police in close proximity and that Burks was hit at least 19 times with shots to the head, face, chest, arms and legs.
Fieger did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the prosecutor’s findings.
New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief
A Massachusetts hiker, who had gone missing after departing on a solo hike over the weekend, was found dead in New Hampshire on Wednesday, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief.
Emily Sotelo, 20, was found on northwest side of Mount Lafayette, in Franconia after departing on a hike of Franconia Ridge on Saturday.
A family member had reported Sotelo missing when she did not return at a planned time.
Sotelo was dropped off at Lafayette Place Campground in Franconia, New Hampshire on Sunday morning. She planned to hike Mount Lafayette, Haystack and Flume in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, according to law enforcement.
Three search teams were sent out to look for her on Sunday night, but temperatures along the ridge where she was hiking were about zero degrees with 30 to 40 mph winds, according to Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team, which helped with the search efforts.
“Due to the harsh weather conditions a search commenced Sunday evening and [through] the night. Searchers were hampered by high winds, cold temperatures and blowing snow,” New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief said in a statement Wednesday.
Searchers spent two days looking for Sotelo before finding tracks and some of her belongings at the headwaters of Lafayette Brook on Tuesday. Her body was found Wednesday morning.
A New Hampshire Army National Guard helicopter was able to help with the extradition of Sotelo to the Cannon Mountain Ski Area, according to law enforcement. Officials did not release any information regarding Sotelo’s cause of death.
(WASHINGTON) — It’s been nearly half a year since Secretary Deb Haaland released the first report in the Interior Department’s investigation into the legacy and lasting trauma from Indian boarding schools.
For more than a century, from 1819 to the late 1960s, the federal government and some religious organizations took Indigenous children from their families, their land and forcibly assimilated them into White European culture.
“I called the boarding school era, one of America’s best kept secrets,” said scholar Denise Lajimodiere. “Boarding school and the legacy of boarding schools has impacted every…Native family.”
Lajimodiere chronicled the experience of boarding school survivors in her book Stringing Rosaries.
“Their hair was immediately cut…some had kerosene put in their hair. And they said it burned…they were given uniforms,” Lajimodiere said. “They had to work half a day… in the kitchen, in the laundry room…work in the fields that they didn’t get paid for.”
For more than a decade, Lajimodiere has researched the number of schools that existed in the United States, something the government didn’t begin to do until last year.
The report released by the Interior Department found that more than 500 American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children died over the course of 150 years in the boarding schools. Scholars estimate the numbers could be much higher. Countless others were physically, mentally and emotionally abused as their language and cultural identities were forbidden by school staff, according to the investigation.
Haaland, the first Indigenous cabinet member, has been traveling around the country as part of the “Road to Healing Tour,” to meet with Indigenous communities.
“I want apologies. I want my language back. I want our land back. I want everything back,” an emotional Ruby Left Hand Bull Sanchez told Haaland during her stop at the Rosebud Sioux reservation last month.
Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, recounted her own family’s history with boarding schools.
“We all carry the trauma from that era in our hearts. My ancestors endured the horrors of the Indian boarding school assimilation policies carried out by the same department that I now lead. This is the first time in history that a United States Cabinet secretary comes to the table with this shared trauma. That’s not lost on me. I’m determined to use my position for the good of our people,” Haaland said at the Oct. 15 meeting.
For those who lived through the abuse, the pain is still raw.
Dorothy McLane was six years old when she became a student at a Rosebud boarding school, where Haaland’s meeting took place. The school has long been closed but the memories still fresh for McLane.
She told “Nightline” she vividly remembers being forced to run laps around a building and being beaten by a school matron as punishment.
“I see myself as a little girl here, 6-years-old and trying to just…be a kid, trying to be a child and trying to be loved and it wasn’t in here,” McLane said. “I mean, there’s I don’t ever remember anybody telling me they loved me. What I remember most is the punishment.”
Shylee Brave, a granddaughter of a boarding school survivor and an alum of the Sicangu Youth Council, has been pushing for the federal government and others to acknowledge the abuses and help tribes rebuild their lost culture.
“We didn’t go to boarding school, but we still deal with the same traumas that our grandparents and great-grandparents went through,” Brave said.
Brave told “Nightline,” that Haaland’s visit sent a powerful message.
“I kind of just I’m hoping that people see how resilient we are as Native American people because they pretty much tried to kill us off and they couldn’t,” she said.
Brave said she was optimistic that the federal government would make amends.
“I think that Secretary Haaland and her team are doing what they can and what they know they should do, because if they didn’t think that the government did anything wrong, they wouldn’t be doing what they’re trying to,” Brave said.
The work of the youth council Brave belonged to has helped to heal some open wounds.
Last year, the remains of Indigenous children who died at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania over a century ago were finally returned to Rosebud Sioux reservation.
The Sicangu Youth Council helped lead 6 years of negotiations between the tribe and the U.S. Army which oversees the grounds where the school once stood.
The Rosebud Sioux community has also launched a new education program to help preserve their dying language.
Brave is among the people working at an immersion school that teaches children of Indigenous families as young as 4 the Lakota language. Tribal leaders predict the language could be wiped out in a decade.
“In order to do our ceremonies, we have to be able to sing and speak in the language to the spirits. And so if we can’t do that, then we can’t continue to do our sacred ceremonies,” Carmelita Shouldis, who teaches at the school, told “Nightline.”
The school is looking to expand beyond its kindergarten to second grade classes.
Brave said she is proud of the work she’s done to regain her community’s heritage and culture and hopes that it will pay off for generations to come.
“I just really hope to be able to one day sit down with my kids, if I ever have any, and speak the language and just be able to converse in the Lakota language,” she said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has been contacted by the Justice Department, which is seeking to question Pence in connection with DOJ’s ongoing probe into former President Donald Trump, the Jan. 6 riot and the efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter confirm to ABC News.
The former vice president is said to be considering the request, per sources.
The Department of Justice declined to comment when contacted by ABC News. A spokesperson for Pence did not respond to a request for comment.
Pence, who recently broke his silence on Trump and the events of Jan. 6 in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ David Muir, would be a critical witness for prosecutors.
As Pence told Muir, he was called on by Trump and his allies multiple times in the days leading up to Jan. 6 to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
“I mean, the president’s words were reckless. It was clear he decided to be part of the problem,” Pence told Muir regarding Trump’s speech to supporters on the morning of Jan. 6 prior to the attack on the Capitol.
The DOJ news was first reported by The New York Times.
(MARBLE FALLS, CA) — Marble Falls High School announced its plans this week to investigate reports of alleged racist behavior by student spectators at a girls basketball tournament on Friday.
The incident at the Texas school, which was captured on camera, depicts several students shouting monkey noises as East Central High School senior Asia Prudhomme, who is Black, was shooting free throws. Marble Falls High School’s student body is almost 50 percent white and only 1.5% Black.
“I’ve always been taught not to pay attention to the stands, so I wasn’t really paying attention to them,” Prudhomme, who successfully sank her free throw, told ABC News. “I was just focused on making my free throws and getting my team back into the game.”
After watching the video of the incident, however, Prudhomme said she was shocked.
“I’ve never had this happen to me,” she said. “I was heartbroken. In my head, I was just thinking why would anybody do this. It’s 2022.”
Marble Falls High School Principal Damon Adams said in a statement that administrators are reviewing video footage and will interview students and spectators who attended the game to ensure a thorough investigation.
He said the school takes the allegations of racism seriously and will “hold students accountable for any behaviors that violate our expectations.”
“As campus principal, I regret that any player or guest in attendance at our tournament experienced anything from our student body that made them feel uncomfortable or devalued,” he said. “I am saddened that the behaviors of a very small number of students could tarnish the impression that others have of the incredible group of kids who make up our student body.”
Marble Falls Independent School District also said in a statement that it will continue to work with administration at East Central High School to fully investigate the incident.
“Marble Falls ISD does not condone any form of discrimination, and we would like players at East Central to know they have our full support,” the statement reads.
Prudhomme said she is asking for a “sincere public apology” from the students who made the noises. Her mother Pamela Prudhomme added that she would also like to see the students suspended.
In September, Katy Independent School District, also in Texas, launched an investigation into reports of spectators making monkey sounds at Patricia E. Paetow High School’s junior varsity volleyball team, made up of predominantly Black and Hispanic girls, during their game against Jordan High School.
Prudhomme, who hopes to play basketball in college and eventually make it to the WNBA, said she is grateful for the support she has received from her coaches, teammates and fans.
“I have a lot of love at my school,” she said. “It’s really building me up to become a stronger person.”
(NEW YORK) — Ky Schevers is fighting back against the anti-trans movement she once took part in.
Schevers was assigned the sex of female at birth and later chose to start gender-affirming care by taking testosterone to transition from female to male in her mid-20s. She stopped taking testosterone, though, in the years that followed while she continued to explore and question her gender, later falling into an online anti-trans group of “detransitioners” – people who once did but no longer identify as transgender.
Now, Schevers says she has “retransitioned,” identifying as transmasculine and gender queer, which means she identifies with both genders. Schevers uses she and her pronouns, but heavily identifies with masculinity, as defined by the LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center states.
She says she considers herself to be a part of the transgender community.
When Schevers initially stopped taking testosterone, she sought out advice and companionship in online forums about detransitioning. In this virtual community is where she began to adopt anti-trans beliefs that misogyny and a patriarchal society caused her to initially transition from female to male. In blog posts, YouTube videos, interviews and workshops, she spread and promoted these beliefs. These posts became a popular tool for anti-trans activists looking to discredit the trans community in the name of feminism.
A 50-year study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior performed in Sweden estimated that less than 3% of people who medically transitioned experienced “transition regret.” Other studies have estimated similar results, some citing even lower figures.
Despite this low percentage, these individuals have become a focal point of anti-transgender legislation and activism.
More than 300 proposed bills across the country have targeted LGBTQ Americans in the last year, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Health care for trans youth in particular has become the target of such efforts.
Before the ages of 16-18, youth are treated with reversible treatments based on guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Irreversible medical interventions, such as surgeries, are typically only done with consenting adults, or older teens who have worked through the decision with their families and physicians over a long period of time, physicians across the country have told ABC News.
Despite these common practices, officials in many states have launched efforts to crack down on gender-affirming care for minors. Some legislators have cited disputed research on this topic, stating that the majority of gender dysphoric youth will grow out of their dysphoria. The methodology in these studies has been highly critiqued.
Major medical associations support gender-affirming care for youth and adults. Transgender youth tend to have high rates of suicide, but those who transition often experience significantly reduced psychological distress.
A recent large study from Harvard found that gender-affirming surgery was associated with improved mental health outcomes in those who are transgender.
Another recent large study from Harvard found that even among those who do go on to detransition, it is often due to external pressures such as stigma and non-acceptance in their environments, rather than a sudden resolution of gender dysphoria.
But that’s where “detransitioners” come in. Detransitioned activists have often testified in public hearings on policies concerning the transgender community.
“I was 30 and at the end of my rope when I transitioned … If I made this mistake as an adult, a young girl could too,” said one detransitioned speaker at the Oct. 28 Florida medical board hearing concerning a ban on gender affirming health care for youth. “Not only did my surgery exacerbate my mental health issues, I now struggle with physical complications as well.”
Another speaker at the hearing, who said she started gender-affirming treatments at the age of 16 and regrets it, spoke about struggling with her mental health while transitioning. She urged the board to ban hormones for people under 18 and surgeries for people under 21. “In 2019, I had a life-changing encounter with Jesus and began to find deep healing within myself. After nearly 4 years of being on testosterone, I decided to detransition and accept my womanhood,” she said.
The Florida Medical Board later passed a ban on gender-affirming care for youth. The decision would prohibit providers from administering gender affirming care, including puberty blockers, hormones, cross-hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery for people under the age of 18.
“I never liked people who call transitioning mutilation or call trans bodies mutilated…A lot of them called trans people delusional,” Schevers said. “Living as a trans person was something that people did to survive and actually, I didn’t think of it as crazy or irrational because I had lived that life.”
She continued, “I get why someone would do this. Like, it did help me. I did get satisfaction from transitioning and I had to rationalize that experience and make it fit with this anti-trans ideology.”
Schevers said cracks began to show in her beliefs as more of the detransitioners and other activists she worked with began to partner with far-right groups like the Proud Boys on an anti-trans platform.
“That was kind of a huge wake-up call,” said Schevers. “It didn’t make sense to ally with the people who were creating the oppressive conditions.”
Her use of the hormone testosterone helped her embrace her gender queer identity, she now says.
When Schevers sees or hears anti-transgender detransitioners speak about their experiences, she thinks of her past self. She says she feels guilty, like she set the stage for them.
Schevers says she wants people to turn their attention to the dangers of anti-trans outreach to youth as well as the ongoing legislative attacks on trans Americans.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton also launched an effort to investigate gender-affirming youth care treatments as “child abuse” through the state department of child protective services. A state judge later issued a temporary injunction blocking the effort.
An Alabama law made it illegal to give any type of gender affirming care to anyone under the age of 18. This would criminalize parents and physicians.
Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, released a memo in June saying treatments like sex-reassignment surgery, and hormone and puberty blockers are not effective treatments for gender dysphoria.
These organizations say that research does show that the aforementioned gender-affirming treatments are safe and effective. Some, like the American Medical Association, even deem it “medically necessary.”
Gender exploration is an ongoing journey for Schevers, and she hopes the trans and gender queer youth in the U.S. continue to be able to access a journey of their own.
“I do feel more firmly rooted in who I am. It’s easier for me to accept myself as someone who has, like, multiple genders,” Schevers said.
(CHESAPEAKE, Va.) — A gunman shot and killed six people before turning the gun on himself at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Tuesday night, according to sources and local police.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that preliminary information indicates the gunman walked into the break room and opened fire at people before shooting himself. The suspect was an employee of that store and, possibly, a manager, the sources said.
The Chesapeake Police Department confirmed seven fatalities from the shooting, including the gunman. The suspect was believed to be a current employee and appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 23, 8:52 AM EST
Four people remain hospitalized with injuries, police say
In addition to the seven fatalities, four people were wounded in Tuesday night’s shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart, according to police.
“While our investigation continues we can tell you the following: six victims have died, four victims are in area hospitals with conditions unknown at this time and the suspect is dead from what we believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky said during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
While police believe the suspect was a current employee of the store, Solesky would not confirm whether the victims were all employees as well. He told reporters that it’s unclear whether the shooting was a targeted or random attack.
Nov 23, 8:42 AM EST
Gunman may have been a store manager, sources say
Preliminary information indicates a gunman walked into the break room of a Chesapeake Walmart and opened fire at people before shooting himself, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The suspect was an employee of that store and, possibly, a manager, according to the sources.
Law enforcement sources also told ABC News that authorities are investigating whether the shooting was a case of workplace violence.
Nov 23, 8:24 AM EST
Police confirm deceased suspect was an employee
The suspect in Tuesday night’s mass shooting at the Walmart on Sam’s Circle in Chesapeake is believed to be a current employee and appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky.
“We have reason to believe that there’s no risk to the public at this time,” Soleksy said during a press conference on Wednesday morning. “We cannot tell you the identity of the shooter because his next of kin has not been notified.”
Police received the initial 911 call at 10:12 p.m. local time. Officers responded to the scene within two minutes and entered the store at 10:16 p.m. local time, where they found the deceased suspect and multiple victims. The scene was declared safe by 11:20 p.m. local time, according to Soleksy, who described the shooting as “senseless violence.”
“This investigation is still ongoing, so there’s no clear motive at this time,” he told reporters. “We’ll be processing that scene for days.”
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — The alleged gunman in a deadly shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado is scheduled to make his first court appearance virtually on Wednesday, court records show.
Five people were killed and 17 others wounded by gunfire in the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs late Saturday night. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
The suspect, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, is being held without bond on 10 “arrest only” charges: five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, according to online court records.
Aldrich is expected to have his first court appearance on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. local time, court records show. The hearing is to let him know the charges he’s facing and advise him on the no-bond status, Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen, who serves El Paso and Teller counties, told ABC News.
The appearance will be done via video link from jail, according to the district attorney.
The district attorney’s office expects to file formal charges with the court within a few days of this first court appearance, Allen told reporters earlier this week. There may be more charges than what was initially included in the arrest warrant, he said.
“Very customary that final charges may be different than what’s in the arrest affidavit. Typically, there will be more charges than what is listed in the arrest affidavit. So don’t be surprised when you see a different list of charges when we finally file formal charges with the court,” he said.
The El Paso County District Court has sealed the arrest warrant and supporting documentation connected with Aldrich’s arrest. According to the motion by prosecutors, if the records were released, “it could jeopardize the ongoing case investigation.”
The gunman used a long rifle and was injured in the shooting, according to police. Two “heroes” — identified as Thomas James and Richard Fierro — confronted and fought with him, stopping him from shooting more people, police have said. Officers responded to the scene and detained Aldrich just after midnight and transported him to a local hospital, where he had been in custody in the days following the incident.
On Tuesday, the Colorado Springs Police Department said it had turned over custody of the suspect to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the jail.
Colorado Springs police said Tuesday they do not expect to provide additional updates on the case until Monday.
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told ABC News that the suspect “had considerable ammo” and “was extremely well armed.” While a motive remains under investigation, Suthers said “it has the trappings of a hate crime.”
The Colorado state public defender wrote in court filings released Tuesday that Aldrich is nonbinary.
In June 2021, Aldrich was arrested in an alleged bomb threat incident after their mother alerted authorities that they were “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons and ammunition,” according to a press release posted online last year by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. While no explosives were found in his possession, Aldrich was booked into the El Paso County Jail on two counts of felony menacing and three counts of first-degree kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office.
Aldrich’s 2021 arrest may not have appeared on background checks because the case does not appear to have been adjudicated, officials briefed on the investigation have told ABC News.
ABC News and other news organizations have petitioned the court in Colorado to unseal the records regarding Aldrich’s 2021 arrest.
Allen told ABC News on Tuesday that after the suspect has their first court appearance, the DA will appeal to have Aldrich’s sealed 2021 records opened next week.
(CHESAPEAKE, Va.) — Seven people have died, including the shooter, after a shooting at the Walmart on Sam’s Circle in Chesapeake, Virginia, Tuesday night, police said.
A law enforcement source told ABC News that “preliminary info is it was an employee, possible manager, went in break room and shot other employees, and himself.”
Police could not confirm if the shooting was contained to one part of the store and said it’s “very fluid, very new right now.”
“It’s sad, we’re a couple days before the Thanksgiving holiday,” Kosinski said.
“We’re only a few hours into the response, so we don’t have all the answers yet,” the city of Chesapeake tweeted. “Chesapeake Police continue their investigation into the active shooter event at Walmart on Sam’s Circle. We do know there are multiple fatalities plus injuries and the shooter is confirmed dead.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is en route to the scene, ABC News can report.
“Our first responders are well-trained and prepared to respond. Our communications team is set up and will be releasing additional information as it’s confirmed,” Chesapeake Deputy Director of Public Communications Elizabeth Vaughn said in a statement.
Law enforcement sources tell ABC News authorities are investigating whether this was a case of working violence.
Chesapeake mayor Rick West issued a statement following the shooting, calling it a “senseless act of violence.”
“I am devastated by the senseless act of violence that took place late last night in our City,” West said in a statement on Twitter. “My prayers are with all those affected – the victims, their family, their friends, and their coworkers. I am grateful for the quick actions taken by our first responders who rushed to the scene. Cheaspeake is a tightknit community and we are all shaken by this news. Together, we will support each other throughout this time. Please keep us in your prayers.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made a statement regarding the shooting on social media in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“Our hearts break with the community of Chesapeake this morning. I remain in contact with law enforcement officials throughout this morning and have made available any resources as this investigation moves forward,” said Youngkin. “Heinous acts of violence have no place in our communities.”
