(NEW YORK) — Deliberations began Tuesday in former President Donald Trump’s defamation and battery trial that’s based on a civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in his 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.
The jury is considering whether to hold Trump liable for battering Carroll and for defaming her and, if so, whether she deserves to be paid damages.
The verdict form requires the jury to answer ten questions, including which degree of battery, if any, for which to hold Trump liable. The jury could find Trump liable for raping Carroll, for sexually abusing her, or for forcibly touching her. Any of the three would be enough to find Trump committed battery against Carroll, and the jury could then consider what damages to impose, if any.
The judge reminded the jury that the standard of proof is less in a civil case than it is for a criminal case. Carroll must prove her claims by a preponderance of the evidence and not beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Each of you must decide for yourself the answers to the questions I put to you,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said. “Your answers to each question are to be unanimous.”
Before deliberations started, Trump posted on social media, “Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me. In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome.”
Early in the trial the judge had admonished the defense over Trump’s social media posts about Carroll and her allegations. The judge did not address this most recent post, but previously indicated that if Trump wanted to speak about the case he should testify under oath, which Trump declined to do.
In a civil case jurors are allowed to draw a negative inference when a defendant decides not to testify.
“He just decided not to be here. He never looked you in the eye and denied raping Ms. Carroll. Never did that,” Carroll’s attorney, Michael Ferrara, told jurors during the trial.
Defense attorney Joe Tacopina said there was no reason for Trump to appear because Carroll’s story was “completely made up” and lacked credibility because she could not pinpoint when the alleged rape occurred.
“And if Donald Trump testified, what could I have asked him?” Tacopina said. “Where were you on some unknown date 27 or 28 years ago?”
Noting the media coverage of the case, the judge told jurors, “Hopefully you have not partaken of any of it, or allowed anybody to communicate it to you.”
The judge then sent the jury off to deliberate with a reminder not to freelance.
“In reaching your decision on the facts, it is your sworn duty to follow all the rules of law that I explained to you,” he said. “I know you’re going to do you duty and render a just and true verdict.”
(NEW YORK) — As the total of mass shootings in the United States this year climb, a new report focuses on gun violence in Chicago, suggesting that over half of the city’s Black and Hispanic population and a quarter of its white population have seen a shooting by the age of 40.
The recent study published by JAMA Network Open, analyzed 2,418 Chicagoans from The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), a Harvard project that followed multiple cohorts of children from 1995 to now.
“We followed the same individuals, from multiple birth cohorts, over the last quarter-century,” said principal investigator of PHDCN and Harvard professor Robert J. Sampson. “We hoped it would last for decades, but nobody was sure.”
Now, 28 years later a study led by Dr. Charles Lanfear, in collaboration with researchers from Harvard and Oxford universities, explores a piece of the Chicago project.
The recent study’s sample was split evenly between men and women born in the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, drawn from PHDCN data and includes 890 Black respondents, 1,146 Hispanic respondents and 382 white respondents, with around 56% of Black and Hispanic residents and 25% of white Chicagoans witnessing at least one shooting by the time they turned 40.
Although the rate that white residents witnessed a shooting was significantly lower than Black and Hispanic Chicagoans, the average age when participants witnessed their first shooting was just 14 for the whole population polled.
“That’s pretty early, but a lot of kids are still seeing shootings earlier than that,” said study lead author Dr. Charles Lanfear, from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology. “Fourteen might be an average, but a lot of it is happening before then too.”
Analyzing the numbers in the study group that fell victim to gun violence, of the white participants, 3.13% had been shot by the age of 40. By contrast, of the Black and Hispanic participants, 7.47% and 7.05% had been shot respectively. According to the report, one Black respondent and one Hispanic respondent were fatally shot. The average age for being shot was 17 years old.
According to the results of the study, the racial and ethnic differences were “strongly age-patterned” with no white respondents being shot after the age of 21, but seven Black participants and five Hispanic participants being shot after 21.
Male respondents were five times more likely to be exposed to being shot than female respondents by age 40 with women (42.81%) less likely to witness a shooting than men (57.64%).
“We know, of course, that men are much more likely to be shot than women because men are much more likely to shoot people than women,” Lanfear told ABC News. “But the one remarkable thing was just how similar the levels of seen shootings are. So, one thing is that it seems like women are probably a lot more exposed to gun violence than we typically know and understand at community levels.”
The researchers of the study argue that the early and consistent exposure to gun violence may cause mental and physical health concerns, not just in Chicago, but across the United States.
“You would imagine that in places where there’s very high levels of exposure, that there’s population health effects that in neighborhoods… might be subject to disproportionate health impacts if these things occur due to exposure,” Lanfear said.
The PHDCN surveyed thousands of children in the 1990s in Chicago and continuously follow their lives growing up in Chicago or living elsewhere.
Participants of the project were chosen at random from a list of 80 Chicago districts, encapsulating the city’s differing racial groups and levels of “social advantage, or lack thereof,” according to the project.
While the recently published study focuses on Chicagoans who witness shootings, researchers emphasize the trend of violence in the country is not specific to the Midwest city.
“Chicago is not a hotbed of violence compared to other cities,” Sampson told ABC News. “In fact, Chicago was not even in the top 20 of homicide rates among cities over 100,000 population in 2019, the last year we have reliable data for comparisons.”
“All major cities have pockets of violence somewhere,” Lanfear said. “ There’s always places where there’s neighborhoods that are very dangerous and the exposure to violence is concentrated in areas where there’s more of it.”
(NEW YORK) — A 14-year-old girl was shot in the back of the head by a neighbor after playing hide-and-seek on his property, according to Louisiana authorities.
The shooting unfolded early Sunday morning at a home in Starks, near the Louisiana-Texas border, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Several children were playing hide-and-seek in the area and were hiding on a neighbor’s property, the sheriff’s office said.
The property owner, 58-year-old David Doyle, told police he saw “shadows outside his home,” and he went to get his gun, according the sheriff’s office.
When Doyle went back outside, he saw “people running away from his property, at which time he began shooting at them and unknowingly hit the girl,” the sheriff’s office said.
Doyle was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and illegal discharge of a firearm, according to the sheriff’s office.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Since the May 14, 2022, mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York supermarket, those who narrowly escaped with their lives and the loved ones of the 10 Black people gunned down by a white supremacist teenager say healing remains elusive.
Even the guilty plea from the killer, Payton Gendron, and his apology in open court at his sentencing, offered little solace.
Now, at the one-year mark of the shooting, the consensus among those residents and family members interviewed by ABC News is that they may never truly heal.
Here is how they are coping in their own words, based on condensed excerpts taken from recent interviews:
Fragrance Harris Stanfield was working inside the Tops store on Jefferson Avenue at the time of the mass shooting.
My life was destroyed. That’s probably why I don’t know what to say. I mean, it was destroyed.
I was a high-level person before. I kind of just moved at the speed of light.
Now, if I was Flash before, I’m like Captain America when he came back and was old, and he just sat down.
It feels like you’re a zombie. Or if you think about science fiction, there’s a space between the dead and the living. We live there. A lot of times you’re invisible. People don’t acknowledge you. You’re dismissed. Nobody understands you. They don’t know why you’re going through what you’re going through. You don’t get a lot of empathy. You’re expected to move on somehow, move on in a way as if it didn’t happen to you, to be grateful for what you have, as if I’m not grateful.
I feel like I’ve aged in the last year. My kids have walked me through crowds of people because I can’t do it anymore. They have held my hand, not me holding theirs. It’s like I’m the kid sometimes. My kids are still young and I’m not old. But I’m at the point where they have to help me.”
Mark Talley’s mother, Geraldine Talley, was killed in the massacre. He founded Agents for Advocacy, a nonprofit devoted to raising awareness of systemic racism and socioeconomic inequality.
The first three to five days after the attack were chaotic. I didn’t know how to feel, what to do. I just felt terrified. I felt like my mind was going crazy. And after those days were up, that’s when the advocacy started.
So I wouldn’t go crazy and stab the first person I saw when I was to walk outside, I just started volunteering on Jefferson Avenue (on the east side of Buffalo) with a bunch of organizations, seeing what they were doing, how they were doing it. That inspired me to want to start my own organization.
The organization I’ve created, Agents for Advocacy, our main mission is to raise awareness of systemic racism and to put awareness on socioeconomic equity and equality issues, while, hopefully, working on one day fostering a reality in which one’s race and environment doesn’t dictate one’s future.
My mother’s memory lives through me. I could really care less about all the monuments, basically all the stuff that’s being done and talked about with people from 5/14. Wherever I am, she’s at.
Barbara Massey Mapps, the sister of Katherine ‘Kat’ Massey, who was a community activist killed in the massacre.
I’m sad every day, but I’m not sad all the time. You break down. I could be just doing something and think of something funny, and I can’t call Kat.
Kat kept us together. She made us laugh, she made us think, she made us more compassionate. I can’t walk a mile in Kat’s shoes. But we can do more. We’re gonna do more because we have to make some changes.
The pain is still fresh. I don’t know if it’s ever going to go away because, you know, there’s a big difference when you know your loved one is going to die because they’re sick.
We were too close, maybe. There isn’t going to be another Kat. I’m going to get a shirt that says, “Kat Massey, our family legend.”
Wayne Jones, whose mother, Celestine Chaney, was killed in the shooting rampage. He is a youth football coach and owner of a Buffalo construction company.
It’s like a dream. Like, I would wake up and be, ‘Yo, your mom’s gone. She died in Tops.’ Still today, I wake up and think the same.
The hardest thing for me to cope with is the calls from my older children having bad days, and crying on the phone. I might be having a good day, then here comes the children, ‘Oh, man, I miss grandmother today,’ or ‘My day is going bad.’ And me, I’m just not being able to be like the superhero I usually am and fix the problem. All I can do is talk to them and reassure them that it’s going to be OK.
So, the healing, I don’t know when that will come because it’s still so fresh, still just like it was yesterday. I have good days and bad days, but it’s always there in the back of my mind. It’s just an emptiness. At this point, it just sucks. But you got to deal with it.
Hopefully, it never happens to anybody else. But the reality that somebody else is gonna be sitting in this chair probably in the next two months, giving you the same interview about what happened to their parents or their child or their loved ones.
I wish the government could come together and do something. Do something, jeez! People are getting killed by weapons of war and we can’t come together and say, no citizen needs an AR-15. I’m not against weapons, but you don’t need a 30-round clip in the inner city. I mean, it just shows that in America, people really don’t care. It’s just news for the day and we move on. We don’t solve any problems.
Garnell Whitfield Jr., whose mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in the Tops shooting. He’s a retired Buffalo fire commissioner and co-founder of Pursuit of tRuth, a nonprofit fighting white supremacy.
My family made a conscious decision when this happened, we would not go quietly into the night. We would not allow our mother to be remembered as a victim and we’re not going to live the lives of victims. That requires us to speak out. That requires us to work.
Not being busy is not good for me. You asked me if I had time to grieve, actually, probably no. Maybe I’m avoiding it by doing what I’m doing because I don’t have time to grieve.
I still cry all the time. It’s not getting any easier.
I wrote an impact statement. I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t read it in court at the (killer’s) sentencing. I could have, but I didn’t want to. But I wrote that I forgive this guy because that’s my faith, that’s what I have to do as a Christian, as a believer. Because I’ve been forgiven, we have to forgive. But I don’t forget.
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — Kansas City suffered a violent weekend as three separate shootings impacted the city’s downtown over 30 minutes late Sunday.
The shootings come as Kansas City, Missouri, has already faced a violent year, with 59 homicides having already been recorded since the start of the year — the most since 2019.
The incidents began on Sunday at 5:47 p.m. when officers were dispatched to a chicken restaurant downtown. According to an incident summary from the Kansas City Police Department, a man entered the restaurant “saying he had been shot.”
Twenty minutes later, officers responded to the scene of a separate shooting. In that instance, the victim arrived at a local hospital via a private vehicle, according to the incident report.
The last shooting occurred six minutes later; officers responded to a shooting to find an unresponsive victim suffering from a gunshot wound in a grassy area near an intersection. Officers attempted life-saving measures until the arrival of EMS, according to the Kansas City Police,
The three men survived, with two remaining in critical condition, according to ABC News’ Kansas City affiliate KMBC-TV.
The brief period shattered by violence on Sunday paints a bleak picture of downtown Kansas City, where gun violence is so prevalent it is often underreported by media and unsolved by law enforcement.
Since the start of the year the city has suffered 59 homicides, according to analysis from the Kansas City Police, which does not consider officer-involved shootings in their count. While some of the homicides are caused by an argument or stem from domestic violence, the cause of most shootings is unknown by law enforcement. What is more apparent to law enforcement is the weapon of choice — nearly 90% involve some kind of firearm.
Kansas City, Missouri, and neighboring Kansas City, Kansas, have also had several shootings affecting minors last month. On April 13, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot by a resident after Yarl approached the wrong home while picking up his twin brothers. Last Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas, a young boy was fatally shot while playing in his front yard in broad daylight, according to KMBC. His family said 6-year-old Sir-Antonio Brown was riding his bike when three men in black face masks began firing.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors organized by Everytown for Gun Safety working to reduce gun violence.
“Just like how Big Tobacco needed to be held accountable for its role in promulgating a generation of lung cancer patients, so too does the gun industry need to be held accountable for its role in our gun violence epidemic,” Lucas said at a summit last summer on gun violence prevention.
Last year, the city suffered 155 firearm-related homicides, according to police data. Based on the current rate of violence, the city is currently on track to break last year’s record.
(NEW YORK) — Officials representing some New York suburbs have rebuked New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to send migrants to their towns for shelter.
Rockland County’s top official declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to Adams’ plan to send 340 adult male migrants to live at an Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg, New York, for four months.
“The City declared itself a Sanctuary City in December of 2016 committing itself to supporting undocumented individuals while this County has not, for the simple fact that we are one-tenth the population of New York City and incapable of receiving and sustaining the volume of undocumented migrants Mayor Eric Adams intends to send over,” County executive Edwin Day said.
Rockland County is located close to 40 miles northwest of New York City and is near the Hudson River.
On Friday, Adams announced he was sending migrants to neighboring New York counties in response to the rising numbers of asylum seekers arriving in the city, which is reportedly overwhelming the city’s shelter system.
“Despite calling on the federal government for a national decompression strategy since last year, and for a decompression strategy across the state, New York City has been left without the necessary support to manage this crisis,” Adams said in a press release. “With a vacuum of leadership, we are now being forced to undertake our own decompression strategy.”
Adding, “This new, voluntary program will provide asylum seekers with temporary housing, access to services, and connections to local communities as they build a stable life in New York state.”
Adams’ announcement came nearly a week before the Trump-era Title 42 border policy is set to expire
Title 42 is a pandemic-era public health order that allows the U.S. to expel migrants without them being allowed to apply for asylum.
The policy, which is expected to end Thursday, has been implemented more than 2.8 million times to remove migrants since March 2020.
Teresa Kenny, supervisor for Orangetown, which is in Rockland County, served a notice of violation to Armoni Inn and Suites after the town’s fire inspector and assistant building inspector observed that the hotel was “essentially” turning into a shelter, which violated the hotel’s certificate of occupancy.
Officials from Orange County and Newburgh also criticized the mayor’s decision, while blasting the federal government for its “failed immigration policy and inability to control the border.”
“It is clear that the immigration crisis created by the federal government has negatively impacted Orange County,” Orange County executive Steven Neuhaus and Town of Newburgh supervisor Gil Piaquadio said in a statement. “It is a self-induced problem created by lack of planning and continues to burden our taxpayers.”
In a statement to ABC News, Adams’ press secretary Fabien Levy said New York City has taken care of over 61,000 migrants without any issues and that elected officials in New York and other parts of the country should “do their part and emulate the humane and compassionate approach New York City has taken over the past year,” until the federal government provides support.
“The Rockland County executive has sadly already shown he is not a leader this state needs,” Levy said. “Instead, we’ve been met with racist rhetoric and reprehensible threats from the head of a county that will be tasked with caring for less than one-fourth of 1% of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, and, once again, New York would be paying for shelter, food, and services.”
City officials also pushed back against claims that over 340 asylum seekers would be going to Rockland County, saying that it’s up to 300 people and it would be split between two counties.
Since April 2022, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bused thousands of migrants from the Texas-Mexico border to Democrat-led cities across the country, including New York City, citing a need to secure the border after claiming the Biden administration isn’t doing so.
The Biden administration has criticized Abbott’s bussing of migrants, calling his decision to send migrants in subfreezing temperatures to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence last year a politically motivated “stunt.”
In September, Adams called for “coordination” with the federal government and Republican governors over the busing and flying of migrants to the city, saying that New York City’s system was “nearing its breaking point.”
Adams said last year that New York City was managing the flow and influx of asylum seekers without help from state or federal officials.
(ALLEN, Texas) — Eight people were killed and seven others were injured when a gunman opened fire at an outdoor mall north of Dallas, Texas, on Saturday afternoon, officials said.
The alleged gunman died after a confrontation with police at the Allen Premium Outlets, police said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety released the names of the adult victims killed in Saturday’s shooting.
They were identified as Kyu Song Cho, 37, of Dallas; Cindy Cho, 35, of Dallas; Christian LaCour, 20, of Nevada, Texas; Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32, of Dallas; and Aishwarya Thatikonda, 26, of McKinney, Texas.
Investigators said three unidentified minors, ages 3, 8 and 11, were also among those killed.
-ABC News’ Stephanie Wash and Jack Date
May 08, 6:55 PM EDT
What police found after search warrant issued
ABC affiliate WFAA has obtained a search warrant return listing what was found by investigators at the suspect’s home.
Among the items were three boxes of ammo and loose rounds, a knife in a holster, two holsters and silver-colored handcuffs, according to the search warrant listing obtained by ABC affiliate WFAA.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
May 08, 1:36 PM EDT
Suspect terminated from Army after 3 months
The mass shooting suspect, Mauricio Garcia, joined the U.S. Army in June 2008 and was terminated three months later, according to an Army spokesperson.
“He was separated under the 2005 edition of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 5–17, Other designated physical or mental conditions,” an Army official said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
May 08, 1:32 PM EDT
6 victims remain in hospital
Medical City Healthcare said its hospitals are still treating six patients from the mass shooting.
Three are in critical condition, two are in fair condition and one patient — who is at Medical City Children’s Hospital — is in good condition, officials said.
May 08, 12:47 PM EDT
Schumer calls special meeting for Senate Democrats
In the wake of a spate of mass shootings, including in Allen, Texas, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called a special caucus meeting for Senate Democrats to discuss gun violence and the path forward on gun safety legislation, according to a Schumer spokesperson.
The meeting is set for Thursday, May 11 at 12:45 p.m. ET.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
May 08, 12:05 PM EDT
Memorial grows outside Allen Premium Outlets, therapy dogs arrive
A memorial outside the Allen Premium Outlets continues to grow.
Dallas native Roberto Marquez has made it his life’s work to create memorials at the scene of tragedies. He told ABC News that this memorial in Allen is his 11th.
Marquez said Home Depot donated the lumber he used to build the crosses.
Volunteers from Lutheran Church Charities have also arrived at the scene with therapy dogs. The group has over 140 dogs in at least 25 states.
The same dogs in Allen on Monday were on the scene in Uvalde last year when 19 students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary school.
A vigil for the Allen victims is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m., according to community leaders.
-ABC News’ Ike Ejiochi and Abigal Shalawylo
May 08, 6:54 AM EDT
‘I knew she was gone’: Witness describes aftermath
After a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets, Joshua W. Barnwell, an eyewitness with military experience, rushed to help the wounded.
A woman who was conscious asked him to help her daughter, he said.
“This woman had massive trauma, five to six gunshot wounds,” Barnwell told Good Morning America on Monday.
He went to the daughter to start chest compressions, he said.
“When I saw the massive amount of blood come out from her when I gave her chest compressions to her back,” Barnwell said. “I knew she was gone.”
May 07, 8:13 PM EDT
VP Harris on mall shooting: ‘All Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence’
Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement Sunday about the shooting, also urging Congress to act.
“Doug and I mourn for the eight adults and children who lost their lives, pray for those wounded, and send our gratitude to the first responders who ran toward danger,” she said in a statement.
“All Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence. But they are not,” Harris continued. “Not because we do not know the solutions. Not because the American people are divided on this issue — even a majority of gun owners support sensible reforms.”
Harris urged Congress to send a bill to President Joe Biden that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and would introduce universal background checks.
“We need action,” Harris added.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
May 07, 7:47 PM EDT
FBI alerts public on how to get vehicles left at Allen Premium Outlets
The FBI has provided details to the public on how they can retrieve their vehicles from the outlet mall.
Those with vehicles that were left at the mall can meet at the Allen Senior Recreation Center beginning at 5:45 p.m. local time Sunday, where they will be sent to the outlet mall, the FBI said Sunday in a press release.
The senior center will be managing the retrievals until 9:30 p.m. local time, the FBI said.
“Please drop off only one individual for vehicle retrieval,” the FBI said. “Be sure to have your car keys with you.”
Officials have urged the public not to go directly to Allen Premium Outlets.
May 07, 7:17 PM EDT
Suspect had history of mental health problems: Sources
Preliminary information developed during the investigation indicates the suspect was in the U.S. Army in 2008 and was “removed due to mental health concerns,” law enforcement sources briefed on the probe tell ABC News.
In addition to the insignia on the shooter’s equipment that suggested a right-wing extremist ideology, investigators have found social media accounts connected to the suspect that reveal hundreds of postings and images, including writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi material and material espousing the supremacy of the white race, the sources said.
None of the subject’s postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users nor were there any public comments, according to the sources. The suspect’s account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible, the sources said.
Investigators have determined the suspect had no criminal history and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, according to the sources. The shooter was equipped with a ballistic vest, numerous magazines and additional handguns, the sources said.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
May 07, 5:54 PM EDT
20-year-old security guard identified as victim in mall shooting
Christian LaCour, 20, is the first victim of the shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets to be identified.
LaCour died while working as a security guard at the outlet mall, his sister said.
“He was a really sweet kid,” Brianna Smith told ABC News over the phone. “I’m sad that he’s gone.”
Christian’s mother, Tracye LaCour, asked for privacy, telling ABC News that they are praying for the families of the other victims.
-ABC News’ Miles Cohen
May 07, 3:33 PM EDT
Alleged shooter ID’d in deadly Texas mall rampage
The suspect in the Allen, Texas, mall mass shooting was identified Sunday as Mauricio Garcia, according to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
The 33-year-old Garcia was fatally shot by a police officer who rushed to the gunfire and confronted him at the outlet mall on Saturday afternoon, police said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the investigation, was searching Mauricio’s home and vehicle on Sunday. The agency declined to comment further on Garcia and said the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
President Joe Biden said the assailant was dressed in tactical gear and armed with an AR-15-style assault weapon he used to gun down eight people and injure at least nine others.
May 07, 2:43 PM EDT
3 people wounded in attack remain in critical condition: Police
At least three people wounded in a mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall remained in critical condition on Sunday, according to police.
Four victims were taken to Medical City McKinney, a trauma center in McKinney, Texas, about seven miles from Allen. Three of the patients were in critical condition and one was listed in fair condition, according to a statement Sunday from the Allen Police Department.
Eight victims were killed in the attack and a total of nine people were injured, police said. The shooter, whose name has not been released by police, was confronted and fatally shot by a police officer.
Among the injured, one patient was transferred from Medical City McKinney to Medical City Plano and was in fair condition. Another patient was transferred to Medical City Children’s Hospital in fair condition, police said.
“We are a strong and caring community and we want all of the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you, and we are here for you,” Allen Mayor Kenneth M. Fulk said in a statement released Sunday. “The City of Allen pledges to offer our complete support. We know you are grieving, we are grieving. Rest assured, the nation and the world are also grieving.”
May 07, 2:40 PM EDT
Biden calls on Congress to pass assault weapons ban
President Joe Biden is renewing his call for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban following Saturday’s mass shooting at a Texas outlet mall.
“Yesterday, an assailant in tactical gear armed with an AR-15 style assault weapon gunned down innocent people in a shopping mall, and not for the first time. Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday.
“And yet, American communities have suffered roughly 200 mass shootings already this year, according to leading counts. More than 14,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives, credible estimates show. The leading cause of death for American kids is gun violence,” Biden said.
Biden argued that “some progress” has been made as a result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and his various executive actions, but blasted GOP lawmakers, saying, they “cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.”
“Once again, I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”
May 07, 12:03 PM EDT
Abbott says mall shooting underscores need to address mental health issues
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to visit Allen, Texas, on Sunday afternoon as he argued in a TV interview that the mass shooting at an outlet mall there underscores the need to focus on addressing mental health issues.
“Texans are hurting today. And the people who are hurting the most obviously are the families of the victims, the families of lost loved ones, families who have a loved one who is injured and our main priority right now is to help and support those families in the Allen community,” Abbott said on Fox News Sunday.
He said he is going to Allen on Sunday “to begin the process of providing hope and healing.”
“But I can tell you there are questions that are lingering that the families want answers to. And that is why this happened? Why did that gunman do this? How did this happen? And I know that those families need answers as quickly as possible,” said Abbott, who praised the quick response of police in confronting the shooter and killing him.
Abbott was asked about new polling that shows strong support for background checks for gun purchases, increasing the legal age to buy a gun to 21 and requiring mental health checks for purchases. The governor said his state is also looking at legislation to address “easy solutions” to get guns out of the hands of criminals.
But overall, Abbott argued, the focus should be on the “long term solution” of addressing mental health.
May 07, 11:23 AM EDT
Domestic terrorism probed in Texas outlet mall massacre
As authorities work to determine a motive for the outlet mall shooting in Allen, Texas, one avenue investigators are exploring is whether this was an act of domestic terrorism, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The shooter wore patches or stickers on his clothing that raised suspicion he may have gravitated toward right-wing extremism, the sources said, though they added no motive has yet been established.
Federal agents were seen at a home in the Dallas area believed to be associated with the shooter, ABC Dallas affiliate station WFAA reported.
Federal investigators are already going through the suspect’s electronic devices and social media as they work to understand what led to the killing rampage, the sources said.
In addition to a rifle used in the shooting, sources said investigators recovered additional firearms in a vehicle associated with the shooter.
The Texas Rangers are the lead agency on the case with assistance from the FBI, ATF and Allen police.
May 07, 11:08 AM EDT
‘I got him down’: officer who apparently killed Texas shooter says in radio transmission
Police radio dispatches from the Allen, Texas, mall shooting Saturday captured the chaotic moments as the massacre unfolded, including an officer who apparently confronted the killer, calling for backup before reporting, “I got him down.”
“We got shots fired at the Allen Mall,” an officer is heard saying in the radio dispatches, according to the Broadcastify, which records emergency transmissions.
A police officer was at the Allen Premium Outlets when the shooting erupted around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, raced to the gunfire and fatally shot the suspect, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said at a news conference on Saturday.
“We got people running,” the officer on the scene radioed to a police dispatcher. “I need everybody I got.”
A short time later, the officer radioed, “I got him down,” referring to the gunman, who police have yet to identify.
May 06, 11:46 PM EDT
Shopper says she ‘hunkered down’ amid shooting
A woman was shopping when she says the shooting began and described how people began to flee for safety.
Elaine Penicaro said in an interview that she was finishing up her shopping when she heard “popping” noises and began to realize how dire the situation was.
“We saw sparks flying like it was right in front of us. So we just ran into the Converse store. They locked the door. We all hunkered down in the back. And that’s where we stayed,” she said.
Penicaro said she heard the police arrive within five to 10 minutes.
May 06, 11:13 PM EDT
Vigil planned for Sunday
A vigil will be held Sunday afternoon in the aftermath of the deadly shooting.
State Rep. Jeff Leach said that a vigil was planned for 5 p.m. at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church. He made the announcement during a briefing Saturday evening.
“This community is home for us and our hearts are devastated and broken tonight no law enforcement official no elected official Ever imagines or plans to or hopes to speak in front of a press conference like this,” Leach said.
May 06, 11:01 PM EDT
Mayor calls shooting a ‘tragic day’
Ken Fulk, the mayor of Allen, called the shooting a tragic day for the community and extended his sympathies. Fulk, who was elected in 2020, also pledged his support.
“Today is a tragic day for the city of Allen, our citizens, our friends and visitors who were at the Allen Premium Outlets today. We are a strong and caring community and we all want the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you. And we are here for you,” he said.
May 06, 10:47 PM EDT
Shooter killed at the scene
The shooter was killed at the scene, police said.
Allen Police Department Chief Brian Harvey said at a press briefing that an officer was at Allen Premium Outlets on an unrelated call when he heard gunshots and located the shooter who was then “neutralized.”
“We are asking for the public’s help if you are a witness,” Harvey said.
(NEW YORK) — The Justice Department recently unsealed charges against a man who allegedly put a camera inside a bathroom onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and filmed 150 people, including 40 minors.
Jeremy Froias boarded a Royal Caribbean ship bound for St. Maarten, San Juan and the Bahamas, in Miami on April 29, according to a complaint unsealed last week in federal court in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“On or about April 30, 2023, when the Harmony was navigating in international waters, Froias installed a hidden Wi-Fi camera in a public bathroom on the aft of the Harmony’s top deck, between the ‘Flow Rider’ surfing simulator and a bar,” an FBI special agent said in a criminal complaint.
That bathroom was a unisex bathroom, according to court documents.
When a passenger reported there was a hidden camera in the bathroom, security found it and reviewed the micro SD card that was inserted into the camera, which allegedly showed Froias adjusting the camera and connecting it to his phone.
“The initial videos depict Froias hiding the camera and adjusting the angle of the camera, so it focuses on the area of the toilet,” the complaint says. “Froias is also seen taking his Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max out of his pocket and appears to have connected the phone to the hidden camera using Wi-Fi. Froias then exits the bathroom.”
More than 150 individuals, including 40 minors, were seen naked or partially naked on camera, the Justice Department alleged, some as young as 4 or 5 years old.
“Individuals are seen coming into the bathroom to either use the toilet or to change into or out of swimsuits,” court documents say. “Froias’ camera captured these individuals in various stages of undress, including capturing videos of their naked genitals, buttocks and female breasts.”
Cruise ship security interviewed Froias, and he allegedly admitted to placing the camera in the bathroom and knew it had been found because he was not able to find it when he went to go get it a day later, court documents state.
Froias is charged with video voyeurism and attempted possession of child exploitation material. He was released on a $25,000 bond by a judge Monday pending trial. He didn’t enter a plea.
The FBI set up a website for anyone who might’ve been a victim to report it to the agency.
“The FBI believes he primarily targeted cruise ship passengers between the timeframe of April 30 and May 1, 2023, who may have used the public bathroom on the aft of the Harmony’s top deck between the ‘Flow Rider’ surfing simulator and a bar,” the form says. “Passengers using this bathroom may have been video recorded by Froias.”
A lawyer for Froias has not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — An 8-year-old boy survived for two full days in a Michigan state park after he disappeared while collecting firewood Saturday on a family camping trip.
Search party volunteers found 8-year-old Nante Niemi at 1:30 p.m. local time on Monday, and the boy has since been reunited with his family, according to the Michigan State Police.
Niemi likely got lost while gathering firewood near his family’s campsite in Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, according to a press release from the Michigan State Police. Last seen around 1 p.m. on Saturday, Niemi was rescued roughly two miles from his campsite after 48 hours on Monday.
“He had braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found,” the press release noted.
Eli Talsma, an 18-year-old who aided in the rescue, told ABC News that Niemi survived for two days without eating or drinking anything.
Talsma said Niemi gathered branches and leaves to cover himself at night. When he saw a helicopter buzzing overhead at one point, Niemi attempted to signal to it, but the pilot appeared not to see him, according to Talsma.
Talsma said Niemi avoided drinking the water in the forest, fearing getting sick. However, he “ate” a few handfuls of snow – his only sustenance over the two-day period, said Talsma.
“If you didn’t know he was in the woods for two days, you wouldn’t know,” Talsma said about the moment rescuers found Niemi under a log.
“I mean, he was just normal. Nante was just walking around. He was talking. He was asking questions. He said he wasn’t hungry,” Talsma said. “He was perfectly fine, but we did give him a Cliff Bar and a banana and some water.”
Michelle Robinson, a Michigan State Police spokeswoman, said she did not know how the boy survived alone, but said Niemi was “in good health and reunited with his family.”
Over 150 search and rescue personnel participated in the search for Niemi, which covered 40 square miles of a remote and hilly portion of Michigan’s upper peninsula. Volunteers from Michigan and Wisconsin also aided in the successful search.
Steve Lombardo, the elementary school principal of the Hurley School District in Wisconsin, said the announcement about Niemi’s safe rescue prompted cheers through the K-12 school building, which had been on edge since the second-grader’s disappearance.
“We announced it to the entire school, and as my colleague said, it was like being at a big football game with our winning touchdown being scored,” Lombardo told ABC News. “The entire school lit up in cheers, and everybody was just relieved and thankful.”
(ALLEN, Texas) — A mom of two is recounting the harrowing moments she and other shoppers huddled for safety as a mass shooting unfolded at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.
Racquel Lee told ABC News she was shopping alone when a “spraying” of gunfire rang out.
“I see a woman running in the parking lot, or trying to get to the parking lot. And she’s by our window — and I see her get gunned down,” Lee said.
“All of us were just paralyzed,” she said. “I just remember crouching down. … There was nowhere to run in the store.”
Lee said a store associate then led her and 11 other shoppers to an employee area to hide as the sound of the shots moved closer.
“We’re huddled in this bathroom closet. And one of the men in the bathroom closet was trying to open the door [to get the employee, who hadn’t joined them in the safe area], and we kept begging him not to,” Lee said. “Shots are still going on. So in my mind, we’re next. He’s coming in here, and we’re trying to tell him, ‘Close the door.’ And he said, ‘I have to go get her.’ I didn’t realize [the employee] wasn’t with us.”
“Everyone’s trying to call 911,” Lee said. “No one could dial out and so I connect to WiFi from a store nearby, and I FaceTimed my husband at like 3:40 [p.m.] and I tried to text my family. And I said ‘Please, I love you. I hope you get this.'”
She said the group spent at least 90 minutes in that break room, not knowing if the shooting had ended.
“You’re thinking, ‘Oh God, we’re going to be next,'” she said. “I started praying. I was rocking on my knees and praying.”
“Everybody was just kind of having their own moment trying to reach loved ones,” she said. “I’m trying to text my family for what I thought was my last moments.”
Lee said she texted her husband: “Please tell everyone I love them. I can’t die like this.”
Lee said the group of 12 strangers came together to support each other.
“Every shot, you’re just, like, twitching. And I start crying, and someone’s petting my back. Then they start crying, I’m petting their back,” she said. “It didn’t matter what nationality, race, religion, color person you were. It was just everyone … everyone just collectively being in this moment together.”
Law enforcement eventually opened the door and told them to put their hands up and come out, Lee said.
“You just see bodies, bags, blood, bullets,” Lee said. “It felt like a war zone. … I can’t unsee it.”
Eight victims were killed by the alleged gunman, who died after a confrontation with police.
“That’s the hardest — that you survive, that you made it out. But you relive it and you think of faces,” she explained.
Lee said she’s desperate to find the store employee who ushered Lee and 11 other shoppers to the staff room to hide.
“I’m really trying to find the store associate’s family. I’m thinking about how she saved — that’s the part that really upsets me, that I don’t know if she’s alive,” she said.
