(SANTA FE, NM) — A major storm system is bringing a historic early season snowstorm to New Mexico and Colorado.
Some areas could see up to 3 to 4 feet of snow, as the storm system moves out of the Southwest and into the western Plains.
A blizzard warning has been issued for parts of northern New Mexico, where a combination of strong winds and snow could reduce visibility to near zero.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued two statewide emergency declarations this week in response to the storm.
“This declaration gives the state more resources to continue supporting local responders as this major snowstorm persists,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement on Thursday. “I thank every single responder who has been out in the cold since Wednesday clearing roads, escorting people to safety, and doing what needs to be done to support New Mexicans challenged by this storm.”
Since Wednesday, New Mexico State Police officers have responded to “multiple calls” to assist stranded motorists, the governor’s office said.
The state’s Department of Transportation and New Mexico National Guard have been working to clear roads.
In Colorado, several locations, from Pueblo to Colorado Springs, have already gotten 12 to 18 inches of snow as of the late morning Friday, as snow continues to fall.
A winter storm warning is in effect Friday for Denver, which could see 8 to 16 inches of snow.
Schools were canceled Friday in Denver due to the storm.
“Major” weather impacts are expected in eastern Colorado starting Friday, the Colorado Department of Transportation said.
“Conditions will worsen through the day and evening as heavy snow spreads northwest across the area,” the National Weather Service in Boulder said on social media. “Impossible travel east and southeast of Denver!”
The same storm system is also expected to bring heavy rain to parts of Texas and Oklahoma, where there is a flash flood threat Friday. Locally, at least 5 inches of rain is possible.
As the storm system moves north and east on Saturday, the heavy rain threat will move into the Mississippi River Valley, from Tennessee to Louisiana.
ABC News’ Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A text messaging service said Friday that it discovered “one or more” of its users allegedly sent out racist text messages to phone numbers across the country and that the service quickly shut down the accounts.
A representative from TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, told ABC News that the company was cooperating with law enforcement and condemned the vile messages that were sent to users this week.
The texts, which tell the user they’re going to be taken to a plantation to “pick cotton,” have been reported in at least 14 states and primarily appeared to target Black users from teenagers to adults, according to investigators in several states.
The messages address the recipients by name.
The TextNow representative said once the accounts that were allegedly behind the texts were reported, their teams disabled the accounts in less than an hour.
“As part of our investigation into these messages, we learned they have been sent through multiple carriers across the US and we are working with partners and law enforcement cooperatively to investigate this attack,” the representative said in a statement.
“We do not tolerate or condone the use of our service to send messages that are intended to harass or spam others and will work with the authorities to prevent these individuals from doing so in the future,” the representative added.
One text message reviewed by ABC News read, “You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 pm sharp with your belongings. Our executive slaves will come get you in a brown van. Be prepared to be searched down once you’ve enter the plantation. You are in plantation group W.”
As of Friday, the texts were reported by authorities in California, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and New York.
Local and federal investigators, including the FBI, said they were looking into the messages and urged anyone who received them to contact the authorities. The probes are ongoing.
A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that it has not been determined if the source of the racist texts is domestic or foreign, but efforts are underway to determine the origins of the sources.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a video statement posted on X Friday that “some” of the racist text messages “can be traced back to a VPN in Poland.”
“At this time, they have found no original source – meaning they could have originated from any bad actor state in the region or the world. We will continue to investigate,” Murrill said.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson condemned the texts and said that many in the Black community are already on edge because of what he sad was a rise in racist rhetoric during the election season.
“These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results,” Johnson said.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Abby Cruz, Luke Barr, Pierre Thomas and Emmanuelle Saliba contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case has paused all upcoming deadlines in the case, after special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Friday requesting the pause.
As ABC News previously reported, Smith and the Justice Department are in talks about the best way to wind down the election case and his classified documents case, following Trump’s election victory on Tuesday.
The decision is based on longstanding Department of Justice policy that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution while in office, sources said.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” Friday’s filing said. “The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations. The Government has consulted with defense counsel, who do not object to this request,” said the filing.
Trump last year pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power.
Smith subsequently charged Trump in a superseding indictment that was adjusted to respect the Supreme Court’s July ruling that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken as president.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has been in the process of considering how the case should proceed in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling,
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Teen believed to be armed stopped from entering Wisconsin elementary school. Via Kenosha Police Department
(KENOSHA, Wis.) — Several replica guns have been recovered from the home of a 13-year-old who allegedly planned to scare students at a Wisconsin elementary school, but was stopped from entering the building, according to police.
The 13-year-old tried to enter his former school, Roosevelt Elementary School, around 9 a.m. Thursday, carrying a backpack and duffel bag, Kenosha police said.
The teen attempted to enter through other doors, but was not able to get in, Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss told reporters. He then approached the front entrance and was buzzed into a vestibule area. Two school employees confronted the student, who got nervous and then fled, Weiss said.
The suspect, who was taken into custody at his home on Thursday, has been charged with one count of terroristic threats, Kenosha police said.
In a search at the suspect’s home, police said they discovered several air soft replica handguns and a replica rifle.
No real guns were found, police said, and the suspect’s mother told authorities the teen doesn’t have access to guns.
The suspect told police he went to the school that day to sell candy, police said. The teen “later told a social worker that he went to the school with the intent to scare students,” police said in a statement.
The teen is expected to make his first court appearance on Friday, police said.
Police said the suspect looked up school shootings online and made comments to fellow students for weeks leading up to the incident.
“We narrowly missed a tragedy,” Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, before police determined the guns were not real.
“I can’t stress … really how heroic our office staff was,” Weiss said, adding, “They helped avert a disaster.”
Kenosha is located about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.
(NEW JERSEY) — Multiple wildfires have erupted across New Jersey amid windy and dry conditions
A large brush fire broke out on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Bergen County in northern New Jersey, near New York City. The fire covers 19 acres and is 30% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened.
On Friday, “conditions will be extremely dangerous for more brush fires and rapid fire spread,” the Englewood Fire Department warned.
New York City Emergency Management said New Yorkers may smell smoke on Friday.
Another wildfire is threatening over 100 structures in Burlington and Camden counties in southern New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia. The blaze spans 360 acres and is 75% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.
In Jackson Township, in central New Jersey, the Shotgun Wildfire has burned through 350 acres and is 80% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened.
A fourth fire, the Pheasant Run Wildfire, covered 133 acres in the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area, a wildlife park in southern New Jersey. It’s 50% contained and isn’t threatening any structures.
Fire danger has increased in the Northeast due to the combination of a historically dry fall, gusty winds near 30 mph and relative humidity down to 25%. A red flag warning has been issued from Boston to New York City and Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Mountain Fire in Southern California has exploded in size, blazing through 20,000 acres, destroying homes and prompting mass evacuations.
Police investigate a shooting spree near I-40 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Nov. 7, 2024. Via WTVD
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — A North Carolina State student has been arrested for a string of apparently random shootings at cars on multiple highways in Raleigh.
Since Monday, police have received 12 reports of shots being fired at vehicles and buildings in the vicinity of Interstates 40 and 440, according to Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson. Among the incidents, eight vehicles were fired into, resulting in one person being injured, she said.
Andrew Thomas Graney, 23, has been charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and 11 counts of firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle or dwelling, police said. Graney is a senior at NC State, majoring in anthropology and has been enrolled since fall 2019, the school confirmed to Raleigh ABC station WTVD.
A second person was taken into custody alongside Graney, but was released without charges, police said.
“At this time, we do believe that the 12 incidents are related,” Patterson said at a press briefing Thursday. “I can also confirm that we have identified a person of interest, and this person has been detained. However, we will continue to pursue all leads.”
The investigation led authorities to a residence in Raleigh on Thursday, where they detained the person of interest, police said. A second person who was also in the residence at the time was additionally detained, police said.
Police have urged drivers in the Raleigh area to remain vigilant following reports of vehicles being fired into during the early morning hours on I-40.
In one incident, on Monday, a woman was shot in the leg, suffering a non-life-threatening injury, police said.
Patterson said it is unclear at this time if shots were being fired from a vehicle or on foot.
Police previously said they believe a handgun was used in the shootings.
The shootings remain under investigation. Patterson urged anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage to come forward.
A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible, she said.
Teen believed to be armed stopped from entering Wisconsin elementary school. Via Kenosha Police Department
(KENOSHA, Wis.) — Authorities in Wisconsin say an armed 13-year-old carrying a backpack and duffel bag was stopped from entering an elementary school Thursday morning after being confronted by school staff and taken into custody several hours later.
“We narrowly missed a tragedy,” Kenosha Police Chief Patrick D. Patton told reporters Thursday.
The 13-year-old, who previously attended Roosevelt Elementary School, attempted to enter the building at about 9 a.m. local time, Patton said.
The suspect tried to enter through other doors to the school building, but was not able to get in, Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss told reporters at a news conference. He then approached the front entrance and was buzzed into a vestibule area. Two school employees confronted the student, who got nervous and then fled, Weiss said.
“I can’t stress … really how heroic our office staff was,” Weiss said, adding “They helped avert a disaster.”
Police later identified the teen suspect, thanks to tips from the community.
“We can confirm that this was not just a suspicious individual, we believe that this was actually an armed suspect with a firearm and there was no legitimate reason to enter the school,” Patton said at a later news conference.
Police took the suspect into custody shortly after 2 p.m. local time. During the earlier news conference, police played a video they said depicted the suspect with a firearm and said the suspect looked up school shootings online and made comments to fellow students for weeks leading up to the incident.
Kenosha is located about 40 miles south of Milwaukee.
(LOS ANGELES) — A wind-whipped Southern California brush fire that exploded to over 20,000 acres in about 24 hours, destroying homes and prompting mass evacuations, remained out of control Thursday as Gov. Gavin Newsom rallied state and federal resources to battle the blaze.
The governor declared a state of emergency in Ventura County as firefighters struggled to gain an edge on the Mountain Fire, which had burned 20,484 acres and destroyed an undetermined number of homes since starting near the town of Camarillo. The blaze was 5% contained Thursday evening.
The November fire came amid unseasonably warm temperatures and strong Santa Ana winds. The National Weather Service issued red-flag warnings for Ventura and Los Angeles counties that are to remain in effect through at least Friday morning.
Aerial footage from ABC Los Angeles station KABC showed what appeared to be row after row of destroyed homes in the towns Camarillo, Moorpark and Somis.
Multiple people were taken to the hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries, Ventura County emergency officials said. Some victims became trapped in their cars as they raced from the fast-moving flames, officials said.
In a press conference Thursday evening, Ventura County Fire officials said 88 structures has been damaged and 132 structures were destroyed, the majority of which were homes.
Offcials said there were 10 confirmed injuries, most due to smoke inhalation and all were deemed non-life threatening.
At least 14,000 people were ordered to evacuate, said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff.
Newsom announced on Wednesday that he has mobilized statewide resources to help battle the fire and has secured a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make vital resources available to extinguish the fire.
The California Office of Emergency Services said it had prepositioned 48 pieces of firefighting equipment, nine helicopters and over 100 personnel in 19 counties across California in advance of dangerous fire weather forecast in many parts of coastal and inland California.
“This is a dangerous fire that’s spreading quickly and threatening lives,” Newsom said in a statement. “State resources have been mobilized to protect communities, and this federal support from the Biden-Harris Administration will give state and local firefighters the resources they need to save lives and property as they continue battling this aggressive fire.”
The Mountain Fire is one of two wind-driven fires that broke out in Southern California, leading the NWS to issue rare November red flag warnings for Los Angeles and Ventura counties alerting of an “extreme fire risk” from Malibu into the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Los Angeles, where winds could gust near 100 mph.
“A very strong, widespread, and long-duration Santa Ana wind event will bring widespread extremely critical fire weather conditions to many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Wednesday into Thursday,” according to the NWS warning.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Thursday.
Due to extreme wind conditions, fixed-wing aircraft are unable to assist in firefighting efforts, according to the Ventura Fire Department, which said ground crews, helicopters and mutual aid resources are “actively working to protect lives and property.”
Broad Fire
A second wildfire erupted in Los Angeles County’s Malibu area Wednesday — named the Broad Fire — and has burned at least 50 acres southwest of South Malibu Canyon Road and the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, according to CAL Fire.
The fire was 15% contained Wednesday evening, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Local fire officials have warned residents to prepare for potential evacuations and the PCH has been closed in both directions between Webb Way and Corral Canyon.
Santa Ana wind conditions
Named after Southern California’s Santa Ana Canyon, the region’s Santa Ana winds bring blustery, dry and warm wind that blows out of the desert, drying out vegetation and increasing wildfire danger.
The long-duration Santa Ana wind event was expected to peak late Wednesday, becoming moderate on Thursday, then tailing off to light offshore winds on Friday.
Northeast winds moving 20 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected across the canyons and passes of Southern California, with higher winds in the more wind-prone areas.
Another surge of wind is expected to peak through Thursday morning with widespread northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph before weakening considerably by Thursday afternoon.
Police investigate a shooting spree near I-40 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Nov. 7, 2024. Via WTVD
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — Two people have been detained in connection with a spate of shootings that occurred in Raleigh this week, authorities said Thursday.
Since Monday, police have received 12 reports of shots being fired at vehicles and buildings in the vicinity of I-40 and I-440, according to Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson. Among the incidents, eight vehicles were fired into, resulting in one person being injured, she said.
“At this time, we do believe that the 12 incidents are related,” Patterson said at a press briefing Thursday. “I can also confirm that we have identified a person of interest, and this person has been detained. However, we will continue to pursue all leads.”
The investigation led authorities to a residence in Raleigh on Thursday, where they detained the person of interest, police said. A second person who was also in the residence at the time was additionally detained, police said.
Police have urged drivers in the Raleigh area to remain vigilant following reports of vehicles being fired into during the early morning hours on I-40.
In one incident, on Monday, a woman was shot in the leg, suffering a non-life-threatening injury, police said.
Patterson said it is unclear at this time if shots were being fired from a vehicle or on foot.
Police previously said they believe a handgun was used in the shootings.
The shootings remain under investigation. Patterson urged anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage to come forward.
A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible, she said.
A still from body-camera footage of the suspect talking to an officer in Edmonds, Washington, Nov. 4, 2024. Via Edmonds Police Department
(EDMONDS, Wash.) — An 82-year-old white woman was arrested for a suspected hate crime and assault following an altercation with Trump supporters in which she confronted one about voting for the former president based on her skin color, according to a police report.
The incident occurred on Monday, a day before the general election, at an intersection where several Trump supporters were gathered in Edmonds, Washington, located about 17 miles north of Seattle.
The suspect, who was not publicly identified by police, is accused of pushing and punching a 55-year-old female Trump supporter after getting into a verbal altercation, Edmonds police said. She is accused of then punching in the chin a 66-year-old female Trump supporter who intervened while demonstrating how she pushed the initial supporter, according to the probable cause statement.
“Neither victim suffered significant injury nor required medical treatment,” the Edmonds Police Department said in a press release on Wednesday.
The suspect has not been charged in the incident, a Snohomish County prosecutor’s office spokesperson told ABC News on Thursday. The case will be reviewed by the prosecutor’s office for any charging decision.
The suspect, who was wearing a Harris-Walz pin, told a responding officer that she approached the first supporter and said, “I want to know why you’re voting for Trump,” according to body camera footage obtained and reviewed by ABC News. “And I said, ‘Because you’re brown-skinned.'”
“I hate the racism in this country, I hate how people are treated,” the suspect continued. “And so I’m wondering, why would somebody with brown skin support this man? And that was my question.”
She told the officer the Trump supporter “immediately started screaming ‘racist'” in her face.
“And my response was to push her away, and I put my hand to her chin, and I pushed on her shoulder,” the suspect said. “And it wasn’t hard. But I did do that.”
“I didn’t help the situation,” she added.
“I said why? Because of my skin color? I said, ‘You’re a racist,'” she said. “Then she came up and she pushed me. And then she hit me in the frickin’ chin.”
“She obviously didn’t hurt me,” she continued. “But it’s like, you know what, we have freedom of speech, you can say whatever you want. You can’t touch me.”
When asked if she wanted to press charges, the woman said yes. “That makes me nervous, you can’t do that,” she said.
The second Trump supporter said the suspect hit her face while demonstrating the initial altercation. “It was pretty forceful,” she told the officer.
The suspect told an officer at the scene that she has been wanting to talk to people of color who are supporting Trump.
“I am definitely not a racist,” the suspect said. “But I definitely want to flag people with brown skin or other color skins that, ‘Hey, you realize what’s gonna happen?'”
“That’s kind of racist if you’re targeting certain individuals,” the officer responded.
“I’m not targeting them,” she responded.
The suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for an alleged hate crime and assault, police said. She was released on personal recognizance following a probable cause hearing on Tuesday, according to the Snohomish County prosecutor’s office spokesperson.
There is no timeline on the case or any scheduled hearing dates, the prosecutor’s office spokesperson said.
ABC News was unable to reach the suspect for comment.
The Trump supporter who was initially approached in the incident told Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO she was still in “shock.”
“She made it very clear it was my skin color,” the woman told the station.
Edmonds Police Chief Michelle Bennett said in a statement that the officers “properly determined that this was more than just an assault and arrested the suspect for the appropriate charge.”
“The constitution protects peaceful rallies in our community, and community members should never be met with violence while exercising those rights,” she said.
Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen said he was “disheartened that this violence has occurred in our community.”
“Community members peacefully showing political support should not be subject to hateful violence,” he said in a statement. “I’m thankful there were no serious injuries, and the suspect was held accountable.”
