(GRAPEVINE, TEXAS) — An 18-year-old who was kayaking on Grapevine Lake in Texas over Memorial Day weekend was killed after being struck by a jet ski, whose driver fled the scene, police said.
The incident happened on Sunday evening when the jet ski, with a driver and a passenger onboard, hit the victim, Ava Moore, according to the Grapevine Police Department.
Grapevine Lake is a reservoir in northern Texas, approximately 20 miles northwest of Dallas and northeast of Fort Worth.
The passenger on the jet ski remained at the scene to be interviewed by first responders, police said, while the driver fled with an adult male.
While leaving the area, the driver and the man then struck another vehicle, according to Grapevine Police.
Police are investigating the related automotive hit-and-run incident, while Texas Game Wardens are leading the investigation into Moore’s death on the lake.
Grapevine Police released an image of the alleged jet ski driver, asking anyone with information about the incident and the individual to contact Grapevine Police detectives at cidmail@grapevinetexas.gov.
“Our thoughts are with Ava’s family and friends during this difficult time. Texas Game Wardens remain committed to keeping our public waters safe,” Grapevine Police said in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — Across two weeks of testimony in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, federal prosecutors called 16 witnesses, attempting to prove the rap mogul embraced violence and threats to coerce women into sex and protect his music empire.
In addition to hearing four days of testimony from star witness Cassie Ventura – who alleged that Combs subjected her to a decade of abuse – the jury has heard from five witnesses who testified they saw Combs be violent toward Ventura, two of Combs’ employees who allegedly helped him commit crimes, two escorts who said they were paid by Combs and two federal agents who conducted searches of Combs’ property.
Prosecutors called multiple witnesses who, they argue, corroborate Ventura’s testimony, including a makeup artist and male escort who both testified about witnessing Combs’ violence. Ventura’s mother said she took out a home equity loan after Combs allegedly blackmailed her daughter, rapper Kid Cudi testified that Combs broke into his home — and said he suspected that Combs coordinated the firebombing of his car in retaliation for his relationship with Ventura — and Kerry Morgan told jurors that she pleaded with her former best friend to leave what she said was a toxic and abusive relationship with Combs.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting or trafficking anyone. Combs’ lawyers have argued that the rap mogul’s domestic violence was driven by jealousy and drug addiction, and that his voyeuristic sexual activities, while not mainstream, are his private business and do not amount to sex trafficking.
When court resumes on Tuesday, federal prosecutors plan to call Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark and representatives from Los Angeles fire and police departments.
Here are the federal witnesses who have been called so far:
Israel Florez, hotel security guard
Prosecutors began their case by calling a witness whose testimony allowed them to show the jury multiple videos of Combs assaulting Ventura on March 5, 2016, in a Los Angeles hotel.
After receiving a report of a woman in distress, security guard Israel Florez testified that he found Combs and Ventura in the elevator vestibule on the sixth floor of the InterContinental Hotel Century City in Los Angeles.
“The best way I can describe it is like a devilish stare. He was just looking at me,” Florez said about first encountering Combs, adding that he noticed Ventura had a “purple eye.”
After escorting Ventura out of the hotel, Florez said Combs attempted to offer him a bribe, which he rejected.
“He was pretty much holding like a stack of money,” he said. “He was pretty much telling me, like, ‘Hey, take care of this, don’t tell nobody,’ pretty much.”
During Florez’s testimony, prosecutors entered into evidence multiple videos of the alleged assault, showing Combs grabbing Ventura, throwing her to the ground and dragging her. Defense attorneys argued that the video – which they acknowledged depicted domestic violence – would be unfairly prejudicial to the jury, but the judge allowed the jury to see the videos.
Defense attorneys also noted that his comments about a “devilish stare” were not in written reports about the incident.
Daniel Phillip, male escort
For their second witness, prosecutors called Daniel Phillip to testify about witnessing Combs being violent toward Ventura.
Phillip – who said he was paid as much as $6000 each time he had sex with Ventura while Combs sat in the corner masturbating – testified that he saw Combs throw a bottle at Ventura then drag her across the floor after she did not immediately follow his instructions.
“Mr. Combs came out of the room, and I just saw a bottle fly past her and hit the wall,” he said. “He grabbed her by her hair, and started dragging her by her hair into her bedroom.”
“I could hear Cassie yelling, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ and then I could hear again what sounded like she was being slapped or someone was being slapped around and slammed around the room,” he testified.
Phillip told jurors that he did not feel comfortable intervening because of the power dynamic between him and Combs.
“My thoughts was that this was someone with unlimited power, and chances are that even if I did go to the police, that I might still end up losing my life,” he said.
On cross-examination, Combs’ lawyers tried to highlight an alleged inconsistency in his account – whether Combs asked him to leave after the alleged violence or resume having sex with Ventura – but Phillip stood by his original testimony.
Cassie Ventura, musician and Combs’ ex-girlfriend Combs’ former girlfriend and musician Cassie Ventura testified for four days during the first week of the trial, as prosecutors attempted to lay the foundation of their criminal case against Combs. Prosecutors called her as one of their first witnesses in part because she was eight months-pregnant at the time of her testimony.
After Combs signed Ventura to Bad Boy Records, she testified that they began an on-and-off relationship that lasted for more than a decade. While Ventura said their relationship had a loving and positive start, Combs allegedly became increasingly violent with her, threatened her if she ever disobeyed him and required her to participate in drug-fueled sex parties called “freak offs.”
“Every freak-off was directed by Sean. Like, he knew specifically where he wanted everyone to be, the lighting and such,” Ventura said.
Ventura also testified about multiple violent episodes where Combs allegedly abused her, including the 2016 incident that jurors watched on video.
“When I chose to leave, I grabbed what I could and I got out and Sean followed me into the hallway before the elevators and grabbed me up, threw me on the ground, kicked me, tried to drag me back to the room,” she said.
Ventura testified that the threats and incessant sexual demands from Combs — as well as a pattern of coerced sex with strangers — drove her into addiction, exposed her to regular spates of violence and led her to contemplate suicide.
The couple broke up in 2018, and in 2023 Ventura sued Combs over what she alleged was a “cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking.” While the lawsuit was quickly settled – according to Ventura for $20 million – with no admission of wrongdoing from Combs, the allegations in her lawsuit prompted federal investigators to begin looking into Combs.
Ventura told the jury that she decided to testify in the case because it was the “right thing” to do.
“I can’t carry this anymore. I can’t carry the same, the guilt, the way I was guided to treat people like they were disposable. What’s right is right, what’s wrong is wrong. I’m here to do the right thing,” she said.
During cross-examination, defense lawyers attempted to use years of text messages between Combs and Ventura to suggest that she was a willing participant in the sex parties and that their relationship was driven by mutual jealousy and infidelity. Defense lawyers have argued that Combs’ violence was influenced by his drug use and fundamentally driven by jealousy, not as a desire to coerce others into sex, as prosecutors have alleged.
Yasmin Binda, federal agent
Yasmin Binda, a federal agent with Homeland Security Investigations, testified about the search conducted on Combs’ hotel room shortly after he was arrested in September 2024.
According to Binda, investigators found $9,000 in cash, substances that tested positive for MDMA and ketamine, and supplies like lubricant and baby oil that other witnesses have said were commonly used during freak-offs. Jurors were shown photos of the inside of Comb’s Park Hyatt hotel room during Binda’s testimony.
Dawn Richard, former member of Danity Kane
Dawn Richard, a former member of the Combs’ pop group Danity Kane, told jurors that she personally witnessed Combs assaulting Ventura on multiple occasions, including a 2009 outburst in Los Angeles while Ventura tried to cook breakfast.
“He came downstairs angry and was saying where the f— was his eggs – excuse my language – and he was telling Cassie that she never gets anything right, where the f— is his food, and he proceeded to come over to her and took the skillet with the eggs in it and tried to hit her over the head with it and she fell to the ground,” she testified.
Richard also told jurors that she witnessed Combs punch his then-girlfriend Ventura in the face with a “closed fist” in 2009 before a music festival in Central Park. After Ventura put on sunglasses and makeup to hide the injury, Richard said she put on sunglasses “in solidarity” with Ventura. The jury then saw a photo of Richard, Ventura and another member of Danity Kane wearing sunglasses at the festival.
Richard also told the jury that the alleged violence extended to other public settings, testifying that Combs punched Ventura in the stomach during a group dinner attended by Usher, Ne-Yo and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine. Richard mentioned that allegation in her civil lawsuit against Combs, but defense lawyers highlighted that Richard’s prior discussion of the dinner did not mention the high-profile guests.
Richard in 2024 sued Combs for assault, copyright infringement and false imprisonment, alleging — among other things — that he groped her on numerous occasions and forced her to endure inhumane work conditions. Combs denied all of the allegations and his attorneys in May filed a motion to dismiss the case.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland said Richard’s account of an alleged assault has changed several times and suggested Richard agreed to testify against Combs because he ruined her music career by dismantling the music groups she had once been a part of.
Kerry Morgan, Ventura’s former best friend
Ventura’s former best friend Kerry Morgan testified about two instances when she said she personally saw Combs assault Ventura. She said she saw Combs hit Ventura in a home Combs rented in Hollywood Hills, and she testified about a second instance when Comb assaulted Ventura during a trip to Jamaica.
“I heard her screaming and I went to the hallway. The hallway was extremely long. And they were coming out of the master bedroom and he was dragging her by her hair on the floor,” she testified about the incident.
Prosecutors also asked Morgan about the aftermath of a 2016 incident when Combs is accused of assaulting Ventura. Morgan’s account matched what Ventura told jurors last week, saying the police arrived after the incident but Ventura refused to cooperate.
Morgan said her relationship with Ventura ended in 2018 after she says Combs tried to choke Morgan and hit her with a wooden coat hanger. Morgan testified that Combs demanded she tell him “who Cassie was cheating on him with” while Ventura locked herself in a bathroom. Morgan said she later accepted a $30,000 payment from Combs after she threatened to sue. She agreed to a confidentiality deal in return for the money, she testified. She testified her friendship with Ventura ended at that point.
David James, Combs’ former personal assistant
David James, Combs’ former personal assistant, testified about his tenure working as Combs’ personal assistant, offering jurors an anecdote about his first time entering the headquarters of Bad Boy Entertainment for a job interview.
“This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it,” James said an employee told him after pointing to a photo of Combs.
James told jurors about the wide range of tasks he completed for the rap mogul: from stocking hotel rooms and allegedly buying drugs to being the driver when Combs – allegedly armed with multiple guns – wanted to confront rival record executive Marion “Suge” Knight.
Jurors first heard about the alleged interaction between Combs and Knight during Ventura’s testimony, and James said the interaction prompted him to eventually leave his job working for Combs.
“I was really struck by it. I realized for the first time being Mr. Combs’ assistant that my life was in danger,” James testified.
Regina Ventura, Cassie Ventura’s mother
Regina Ventura, the mother of star witness Cassie Ventura, told the jury that she took out a home equity loan to pay Combs in order to prevent him from following through on an alleged threat to release a sex tape of her daughter.
“The threats that have been made towards me by Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs are that … he is going to release 2 explicit sex tapes of me,” Ventura wrote in an email to her mother and Combs’ assistant Capricorn Clark on Dec. 23, 2011. Jurors saw the email when Cassie Ventura testified.
“I was physically sick. I did not understand a lot of it. The sex tapes threw me. I did not know [Combs] but I knew that he was going to try to hurt my daughter,” she told jurors.
Regina Ventura testified that she and her husband decided to take out a loan so they could send Combs the $20,000 he demanded, though he ultimately returned the money. She also testified that she took photographs of the injuries her daughter allegedly suffered from Combs so that they would have a record of the alleged abuse.
Approximately 15 years after she documented the injuries, prosecutors last week showed the photos to the jury to underscore Cassie Ventura’s testimony about the violence she suffered at Combs’ hands.
Sharay Hayes, male escort
Known professionally as The Punisher – a nickname based on his style of playing basketball – male escort Sharay Hayes told the jury that he was hired about a dozen times by Combs and Ventura.
He said he first met Combs and Cassie Ventura in 2012, when he was hired to help create a “sexy erotic scene” for what, Ventura said, was Combs’ birthday. He testified that Ventura instructed him to come to Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West in Manhattan to perform a strip act. When he arrived, Ventura asked him to cover her in baby oil while Combs watched, Hayes said.
“I was specifically told to … try not to look at him, no communication or anything between me and him,” he said. “The room was very dimly lit. … All of the furniture was covered in sheets and there was an area pretty much set up for me to sit and her to sit across from me, and there were little bowls in the area with baby oil in them.”
Hayes told jurors that Combs was nude for the encounter and wore a veil, occasionally masturbating during the interaction and offering “subtle directions” to Ventura.
After their first interaction, Hayes said he worked for the couple up to 12 more times, receiving $1,200 to $2,000 on each occasion.
Cross-examined by Combs’ lawyers, Hayes testified that he believed Ventura sometimes flinched during some of Combs’ directives but otherwise appeared comfortable during the exchanges, potentially undercutting the argument she was coerced to participate. The question of whether Ventura was forced or participated voluntarily is one of the most critical issues in the case against Combs.
Gerald Gannon, federal agent
Gerald Gannon, a special agent from United States Homeland Security Investigations, walked the jury through some of the evidence that he said was recovered from the rap star’s home on the exclusive Miami Beach enclave of Star Island.
Gannon testified that federal agents recovered the parts of two AR-15 assault-style rifles with defaced serial numbers only feet from where Combs allegedly stored materials for freak-offs — including baby oil, lingerie, platform heels and sex toys. Prosecutors have argued that the threat of violence allowed Combs to coerce his alleged victims to participate in freak-offs.
Holding parts of the weapons in court for the jury to see, Gannon testified that investigators recovered a fully-loaded handgun in a piece of luggage found in Combs’ residence.
Jurors also saw the trove of drugs allegedly found in Combs’ residence, including a variety of pills, marijuana, powders and other drugs that prosecutors have alleged were used to make women compliant during freak-offs and would allow them to perform long past the point of exhaustion.
Dawn Hughes, expert witness
Psychologist Dawn Hughes was called by prosecutors to explain to the jury that many people opt to stay in abusive relationships because they feel trapped or form an “intense psychological bond” that draws them to their abuser.
“It’s hard for us to break up with someone under the best of circumstances,” Hughes said. “When you have all this violence and abuse, you’re just trying to live day to day in this very micro way.” She explained that oftentimes victims’ emotional strength becomes devoted to avoiding beatings instead of plotting a way out of an abusive relationship.
While Hughes as an expert witness was not allowed to directly analyze Combs’ relationship with Ventura, she offered indirect context for some of the topics Ventura touched on during her testimony. If victims are able to escape an abusive relationship, Hughes told the jury, they often return, as Ventura testified that she did repeatedly with Combs.
Hughes also said that victims often adopt passive self-defense mechanisms that don’t provoke their abusers, such as “curling up in a ball.” Earlier witnesses Dawn Richard and Kerry Morgan both testified that they saw Ventura drop into a fetal position during beatings they said they witnessed Combs inflicting.
George Kaplan, former personal assistant
Testifying under an immunity deal so that he cannot be prosecuted for anything he admits to, Combs’ former assistant George Kaplan told jurors he quit his job after 15 months because he could no longer continue “fixing” problems for Combs after the mogul’s repeated acts of violence.
Kaplan testified that he saw Combs become violent on three occasions, including one episode when he was summoned to Combs’ bedroom only to find Ventura crying and bruised in bed. He also testified seeing Combs holding a whisky glass over Ventura’s head during a flight to Las Vegas and another instance in 2015 when a “very angry” Combs threw apples at another one of his girlfriends.
“In my heart of hearts I knew what was happening and I felt an element of guilt that I didn’t do anything to stop it,” he told jurors about why he stopped working for Combs.
Kaplan also told jurors about the process of setting up and cleaning hotel rooms for the rap mogul. He testified that he often was given only a few hours’ notice to set up a room and came prepared with a “hotel bag” filled with what were essentials for Combs: candles, baby oil, Astroglide lubricant, an audio speaker and extra clothing. He also said that he would be tasked with cleaning the rooms after Combs was done because he was concerned that if hotel staff had cleaned the rooms immediately after Combs left, they might try to sell videos of images of the aftermath of a freak-off.
Scott Mescudi, musician and actor
Kid Cudi – whose legal name is Scott Mescudi – told jurors that his brief relationship with Cassie Ventura was marked by violent threats from Combs that prompted him and Ventura to stop seeing one another. He told jurors that he suspected Combs allegedly broke into his home and coordinated the firebombing of his high-end sports car.
After starting a romance with the singer and model who was involved with Combs on and off for years, Mescudi said he received an abrupt phone call from Ventura to warn that Combs had learned they were seeing each other. He said he picked up Ventura and soon received a call from Combs’ assistant informing him that Combs had broken into his home.
“I said, ‘M——-, you in my house?’ And he said, ‘What’s up?’ ‘Are you in my house? I just want to talk to you. I’m on my way over right now,'” he testified.
Mescudi said he quickly drove to his home but did not find Combs, though there were traces of his alleged visit. He said the Christmas gifts he bought for his family had been opened and his dog was locked in the bathroom. He also testified that he reported the incident to police.
Mescudi said he and Ventura eventually broke up because “things were getting out of hand” and he felt concerned for their safety.
During her testimony, Ventura said that Combs threatened to hurt her and Mescudi if their relationship continued and vowed to blow up the car of the rival rapper. Mescudi testified that he suspected Combs followed through with the threat in early 2012, telling jurors that someone had cut the soft top of his Porsche open and placed a lit Molotov cocktail inside. Jurors were shown the results of that episode when prosecutors entered into evidence multiple photos of the charred vehicle.
Defense lawyers have denied that Combs had any role in the firebombing of the vehicle.
Mylah Morales, makeup artist
Prosecutors called makeup artist Mylah Morales to testify about a 2010 incident when Combs allegedly assaulted Ventura in their hotel suite. According to Morales, Combs stormed into the room they rented at the Beverly Hills Hotel after a night out.
“Where the f— is she?” Combs allegedly shouted before he walked into the bedroom where Ventura was and closed the door, according to Morales’ testimony.
Morales said she heard “yelling and screaming” before Combs exited the hotel room. She said Ventura had a swollen eye, busted lip and “knots on her head” after the incident.
According to Morales, Ventura stayed with her for a few days to recover after the incident. Morales testified that a friend who was a doctor checked on Ventura to see if she had a concussion and suggested she visit an emergency room, according to her testimony, but Ventura allegedly said it was “her wish not to go to the ER.”
On cross-examination, Combs’ lawyers highlighted that Morales did not directly witness the alleged assault because she was outside the bedroom.
Frederick Zemmour, hotel manager
The general manager of the L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, Frederick Zemmour, said Combs frequently stayed at the hotel, and his guest profile noted some characteristics that other witnesses said were features of the drug-fueled sex parties called “freak offs” that Combs would host.
“Always spills candle wax on everything and uses excessive amounts of oil, place rooms out of order upon departure for deep cleaning,” Zemmour said, citing notes the hotel kept on Combs.
When Ventura testified last week, she said Combs often booked rooms at L’Ermitage Beverly Hills to host freak-offs. She recounted one instance when Combs allegedly requested she get into a blowup pool that was filled with “lube and oil.”
Joshua Croft, special agent
Joshua Croft, a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations, briefly testified about the process for examining some of the electronic devices recovered during the investigation into Combs.
He told the jury that he conducted computer extractions from three laptops that belonged to Cassie Ventura. One of the laptops included a user profile for Frank Black, an alias used by Sean Combs, he said.
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(FORT LAUDERDALE, FL) — Eleven passengers, including two children, were injured when a boat exploded in Florida on Memorial Day, according to officials.
The incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. on Monday in Fort Lauderdale near the New River Triangle, the Coast Guard said. There were 13 people aboard the vessel at the time, it said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue transported 11 people to Broward Health Medical Center after the explosion, two of whom were children.
There was also a dog on the boat that was rescued, uninjured, according to officials.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesperson Frank Guzman told ABC News the boat was anchored at a sandbar in the Intracoastal Waterway, where boaters are known to congregate on holiday weekends, when the explosion occurred.
When the boat driver turned the engine back on to head to shore, the boat exploded, throwing people into the water and sparking a flash fire, Guzman said.
The fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire, Guzman said.
(NEW ORLEANS) — Eight inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail have been arrested after more than a week on the run, authorities announced.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced on Monday evening that inmate Lenton Vanburen was captured in Baton Rouge and is back in custody.
Vanburen was originally incarcerated on charges of parole violation, possession of a firearm by a felon and illegal carrying of a weapon, according to Murrill.
The inmate will now face additional charges related to the escape, Murrill added.
Additionally, inmates Leo Tate and Jermaine Donald were apprehended in Walker County, Texas, by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Louisiana State Police announced on Monday.
“This is a clear example of how effective collaboration and open communication between agencies can lead to successful outcomes,” Louisiana State Police said in a statement, commending the teamwork of local, state and federal partners.
Tate and Donald were arrested after leading law enforcement officers from several agencies on a high-speed chase through the Huntsville, Texas area, Huntsville Police said in a statement.
Donald was charged with outstanding warrants for escape and resisting an officer. His original charges were for illegally carrying a weapon and second-degree murder, according to police.
Tate was charged with outstanding warrants for aggravated escape and escape from custody. He was in custody on the original charge of obstruction of justice, police said.
Two more fugitives remain at large.
A total of 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center after climbing through a hole behind a toilet in the early morning hours of May 16. Their disappearance was not noticed for several hours and touched off a massive, more than weeklong manhunt.
Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of helping the escapees, including a jail maintenance worker accused of shutting off water to the toilet, another inmate in the jail, and five other people.
Three of the 10 inmates who escaped were apprehended within the first 24 hours of the jailbreak. The other two were captured in the following days.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds, Jason Volack and Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report.
(GREEN, OHIO) — A 13-year-old boy died after falling from a Memorial Day parade float in Ohio, authorities said.
The incident occurred late Monday morning during a Memorial Day parade in Green, located south of Akron in Summit County.
The teenager was riding in the parade on a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck, authorities said. He fell off the front of the trailer and was then run over by the trailer’s tires, sustaining severe injuries, authorities said.
Fire personnel who were already on site for the parade immediately responded. The teen was transported in critical condition to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the Green Fire Department said.
The name of the child, who was from North Canton, was not released.
The incident remains under investigation, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said, referring to the death as a “tragic accident.”
The parade ended immediately, ABC News’ Cleveland affiliate WEWS reported.
“Our hearts go out to the family at this time of terrible loss,” Green Mayor Rocco Yeargin told reporters. “We look to support them as a Green community any way that we can.”
The Green school district has offered counseling support to the North Canton school district, the mayor said.
Facebook / Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement
(BELL COUNTY, KY) — A black bear was discovered sitting on the stove inside a Kentucky home after crashing through the ceiling, authorities said.
The incident occurred last Wednesday when Game Warden Derick Creech in Bell County, Kentucky, received a call at approximately 5 a.m. to reports of a black bear inside of somebody’s home, according to a statement from Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement released on Sunday.
“Upon arrival, the bear was located sitting on the stove in the kitchen,” authorities said.
Game Warden Creech determined that the bear was able to climb up a ladder outside and squeezed through an opening into the attic of the residence before falling through the ceiling and directly into the residence below, authorities said.
Warden Creech was able to run the stunned bear out through an open door and back into the wilderness following its fall into the kitchen.
Authorities did not give an estimate on the amount of damage the home sustained during the incident.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Two people are dead, and nine others have been injured in a Memorial Day mass shooting in Philadelphia, authorities said.
The shooting took place at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Monday evening, the final day of the long Memorial Day weekend, when gunfire erupted at approximately 10:27 p.m. on Lemon Hill Drive at Poplar Drive, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Two people – an unnamed adult man and woman — were killed and at least nine others were injured in the shooting, including three teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
Multiple rounds were fired, Bethel said, and investigators are working to determine if several different weapons were involved.
No one is in custody, Bethel confirmed, and no weapons have been recovered.
Fairmount Park was busy during the day, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI, as families and members of the community gathered for Memorial Day cookouts and barbecues.
The names of the victims have not been released.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS) — Elon Musk has made no secret of his desire to send humans to Mars, and he wants SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft to be the vehicle that gets them there. But before SpaceX and NASA can send astronauts to the red planet, the company must prove Starship can fly and return safely and reliably.
After two recent Starship flight tests ended with the destruction of the spacecraft, SpaceX hopes the ninth time will be the charm.
SpaceX has scheduled the unmanned ninth test flight of Starship for Tuesday from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, with a launch window opening at 7:30 p.m. ET.
During Starship’s eighth flight test in early March, several engines shut down unexpectedly about 5 1/2 minutes into the launch, resulting in SpaceX losing control of the craft. Communication with the vehicle was lost several minutes later.
After an investigation, the company said a “hardware failure” with one of the engines caused fuel to mix and ignite where it shouldn’t have. And while the ship wasn’t instructed to self-destruct, SpaceX says it likely did so automatically.
As Starship broke up, debris fell across South Florida and parts of the Atlantic, leading to ground stops at nearby airports. Photos and videos shared on social media showed rocket debris streaking across the sky.
A similar failure occurred in January when stronger-than-expected vibrations caused a propellant leak and explosion. In both cases, the upper stage was lost, but the first-stage booster was successfully returned to the launch site and caught using giant robotic “chopsticks” attached to the launch tower.
SpaceX says it has made significant modifications to the upper stage based on what it learned from previous flight tests and noted that while both failures occurred around the same time during the missions, the causes were unrelated.
No astronauts were aboard the previous missions, and none will be on board this time.
To reach orbit, Starship is mounted atop a 400-foot Super Heavy rocket powered by 33 Raptor engines, making it the most powerful rocket system ever developed, according to the company. Unlike the partially reusable Falcon 9, SpaceX aims for Starship to be fully reusable and capable of launching, landing and flying again with minimal maintenance.
According to SpaceX, this test will mark “the first launch of a flight-proven Super Heavy booster,” one that flew and returned during the seventh test flight. The company says 29 of the booster’s 33 engines will also be reused from the previous test. Engineers inspected and replaced known single-use components like the heat shield but left the booster mostly intact to study real-world wear and tear.
The booster won’t attempt a return to the launch site this time. Instead, it will follow a modified flight path and “land” with a hard splashdown in the Gulf after testing new flight and landing configurations. One of the booster’s engines will also be disabled during the final landing burn to determine whether a backup can compensate.
The Starship upper stage will aim to complete objectives that eluded SpaceX during the previous missions, such as deploying eight Starlink satellite simulators, which would be a first for Starship, and performing a relight of a Raptor engine in space.
The spacecraft will also undergo extreme heat testing. Engineers have removed some of the thermal tiles used to protect the vehicle during reentry, exposing vulnerable areas on purpose, the company said. Different tile options and materials will also be tested during the launch.
“Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. But by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle,” SpaceX said in its launch announcement.
(JACKSON, Tenn.) — Gunfire erupted in a Jackson, Tennessee, park Saturday night leaving seven people, including juveniles, injured and police seeking the perpetrators of the shooting, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at the Kate Campbell Park northeast of downtown Jackson, according to the Jackson Police Department.
One of the gunshot victim was hospitalized in critical condition, two were in stable condition and four others were treated and released, police said in an updated statement Sunday morning.
No arrests have been announced.
Police officers responded to the park after receiving reports at around 8:41 p.m. of a shooting incident involving juveniles, authorities said in an earlier statement.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting and a motive for it remain under investigation, police said. Investigators were continuing to collect evidence at the crime scene Sunday morning and were interviewing witnesses.
The Jackson Police Department urged anyone with information about the shooting or who may have video footage of the incident to contact investigators immediately.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Gunfire erupted in a Jackson, Tennessee, park Saturday night leaving seven people, including juveniles, injured and police seeking the perpetrators of the shooting, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at the Kate Campbell Park northeast of downtown Jackson, according to the Jackson Police Department.
One of the gunshot victim was hospitalized in critical condition, two were in stable condition and four others were treated and released, police said in an updated statement Sunday morning.
No arrests have been announced.
Police officers responded to the park after receiving reports at around 8:41 p.m. of a shooting incident involving juveniles, authorities said in an earlier statement.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting and a motive for it remain under investigation, police said. Investigators were continuing to collect evidence at the crime scene Sunday morning and were interviewing witnesses.
The Jackson Police Department urged anyone with information about the shooting or who may have video footage of the incident to contact investigators immediately.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
