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(NEW YORK) — The residents of Perryton, Texas, are digging out after a deadly tornado ripped through the small town, destroying at least 200 homes.

Devastation in Texas

Three people in Perryton were killed: Becky Randall, a woman in her 60s who was found in a print shop; Cindy Bransgrove, a woman also in her 60s who was found in a food bank; and Matthew Ramirez, an 11-year-old boy who died at a trailer park, according to Ochiltree County Sheriff Terry Bouchard.

Becky Randall is survived by two sons and four grandchildren, who were “her world,” Randall’s daughter-in-law, Randi Cunningham, told ABC News.

“She loved life. She found joy in everything. There wasn’t a single day that she wasn’t smiling or laughing or making me feel better,” Cunningham said.

Randall grew up in Perryton, Cunningham said.

“She loved this town, and loved the people in it. And they loved her,” she said.

Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher estimated the tornado’s path through Perryton, near the state line with Oklahoma, was about 1.5 miles. Dutcher said 2 1/2 blocks of the downtown area is “completely wiped out.”

Tommy Kerbl’s daughter’s trailer park neighborhood was among the areas hit.

Kerbl helped with the search and rescue efforts for hours and said he found the body of Ramirez, who was thrown more than 150 yards from his trailer home.

“It’s such a panic mode,” he told ABC News. “Mom was screaming crying, there was nothing we could do but cover the kid up.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 33 years doing this,” Dutcher told ABC News as he held back tears. “We know these people. They go to our church, they live and volunteer here.”

Julio Garcia Merces told ABC News that eight people were in his daughter’s trailer home when the tornado touched down.

They first huddled in a back room and hallway, he said, and then he directed everyone to hunker down in a bathroom.

As Merces ushered everyone into the small room, he said the wind threw him into the air and against the wall like a rag doll.

He said he yelled out to God to protect them.

They all survived, but the home is barely standing. They’re now staying at a small hotel nearby while they figure out what’s next.

At least 56 people in Perryton were hurt, with injuries ranging from minor to severe, officials said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy state emergency response resources to meet urgent life-safety needs in Perryton.

Abbott said in a statement, “I encourage all Texans to heed the guidance of state and local officials and to take all necessary precautions to protect yourselves and your loved ones. We remain ready to quickly provide any additional resources needed over the course of this severe weather event.”

Fatalities in Mississippi and Florida

Perryton wasn’t the only area hit; tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm watches extended across the South.

One person was killed and at least 69 homes damaged in Mississippi from the severe weather, state officials said, and a tornado struck Pensacola, Florida, killing one person after a tree fell on their home, according to Escambia County Fire Rescue.

More storms to come

More storms are still in the forecast.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for eastern Virginia for Friday night.

On Saturday, there’s an enhanced severe weather threat for Oklahoma.

On Sunday, tornadoes and strong winds are in the forecast for Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; and Birmingham, Alabama.

Meanwhile, dangerous, triple-digit heat is baking the South. Record-high temperatures are possible over the next few days in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and New Orleans.

ABC News’ Izzy Alvarez, Jenny Wagnon Courts, Jessica Gorman, Marilyn Heck, Chris Looft, Mireya Villarreal and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.

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(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — Federal investigators looking into the Surfside, Florida, condo collapse that killed 98 people in 2021 said Thursday the structure did not meet building codes when it was erected 42 years ago.

“Our preliminary analysis of the original structural design of CTS shows that the building did not meet building codes in effect at the time, nor today’s building codes,” National Institute of Standards and Technology project leader James Harris said at a public hearing. “Furthermore, there’s evidence of errors in construction and renovations that compounded those deficiencies.”

NIST cautioned that these updates are preliminary. Investigators are placing a particular emphasis on the pool deck, with NIST’s Glenn Bell saying there were pervasive concerns with the deck’s design and misplaced slab reinforcement, along with possible problems with planter changes, the addition of fill and paving and slab reinforcement corrosion.

“Our analysis to date shows that even absent any sudden overload or obvious initiator of a failure on that tragic night of the collapse, the conditions that existed in the pool deck slab at that time represented a serious safety concern for the building,” Bell said.

NIST is hoping to find footage from Champlain Towers South’s surveillance cameras. It also plans to create a virtual reality model and conduct more testing.

Martin and Pablo Langesfeld, whose sister and daughter Nicole died during the collapse, spoke at the meeting.

“What many of the affected families find most troubling is the possibility of new development on the site of the collapse,” Martin Langesfeld said, referring to plans filed on Monday for new condominiums that could be built starting in 2024.

He went on, “You have repeatedly mentioned that NIST will inform the public if any signs of danger are discovered but how will this work if the building has already been developed?”

If approved and ultimately constructed, the new luxury development at the site of the collapse would be 12 stories tall, just like Champlain Towers South. In a letter to Surfside officials, an attorney representing the company proposing the new building said the project “will be a significant improvement to the property and a benefit to the area.”

The developer bought the property last year for $120 million.

NIST’s investigation will not be finished until May 2024 at the earliest. The final report could take an additional year.

“We do not need hypotheses. We need concrete answers,” Pablo Langesfeld said. “While I understand that a proper investigation takes time, it feels like an excessive delay.”

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(DELPHI, Ind.) — Prosecutors are alleging that Delphi, Indiana, double murder suspect Richard Allen, while in custody, confessed five or six times to the killings.

Defense attorneys didn’t dispute the allegation in a Thursday hearing, but argued the confessions were unreliable because of Allen’s deteriorating mental and physical health.

Judge Fran Gull is considering the defense’s request to move Allen to a different facility.

Allen was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14. The best friends were enjoying a day off from school when they were killed on a Delphi hiking trail in February 2017.

Allen, a Delphi resident, has pleaded not guilty.

Allen’s trial has been scheduled for January 2024.

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(PITTSBURGH) — Robert Bowers was found guilty on Friday on all counts in the 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 worshippers.

Bowers was convicted on all 63 charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. Bowers offered to plead guilty if the death penalty was taken off the table, but prosecutors turned him down.

The jury deliberated for less than one day. Jurors will next weigh if Bowers should be sentenced to death.

Bowers stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, gunning down 11 people in the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. Bowers allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to kill Jewish people, according to a criminal complaint.

Prosecutors said Bowers, armed with a semi-automatic assault-style rifle and three handguns, moved “methodically” through the synagogue and shot many of his victims at close range.

In opening statements in May, defense attorney Judy Clarke admitted that Bowers was the shooter and said he “shot every person he saw … and injured first responders who came to their rescue.”

“There will be no question that this was a planned act and that he killed 11 people,” Clarke said, but she asked the jurors to “scrutinize his intent.”

The jury, comprised of 11 women and seven men, included an intensive care nurse, a new father and a veteran.

The penalty phase is set to begin June 26.

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(PITTSBURGH) — A verdict has been reached in the federal death penalty trial of Robert Bowers, who is accused of killing 11 worshippers in a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Bowers allegedly stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, gunning down 11 people in the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. Bowers allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to kill Jewish people, according to a criminal complaint.

Prosecutors said Bowers, armed with a semi-automatic assault-style rifle and three handguns, moved “methodically” through the synagogue and shot many of his victims at close range.

In opening statements in May, defense attorney Judy Clarke admitted that Bowers was the shooter and said he “shot every person he saw … and injured first responders who came to their rescue.”

“There will be no question that this was a planned act and that he killed 11 people,” Clarke said, but she asked the jurors to “scrutinize his intent.”

Bowers faces 63 charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. Bowers offered to plead guilty if the death penalty was taken off the table, but prosecutors turned him down.

The jury, comprised of 11 women and seven men, includes an intensive care nurse, a new father and a veteran.

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

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(MINNEAPOLIS) — The Minneapolis Police Department for years engaged in a pattern of discriminatory law enforcement practices against Black and Native American people, using unnecessary excessive force and violating the rights of protesters expressing their First Amendment rights, a more than two-year investigation by the Justice Department released Friday found.

The results of the sweeping ‘pattern-or-practice’ investigation, prompted in part because of the police killing of George Floyd that sparked racial justice protests across the country in 2020, show that “the systemic problems in MPD made what happened to [Floyd] possible,” the department said in its final report.

The systemic problems continued despite reform efforts, the report said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland traveled to Minneapolis Friday to announce the findings.

“As I told George Floyd’s family this morning, his death has had an irrevocable impact on the Minneapolis Community, and our country and on the world. His loss is still felt deeply by those who loved and knew him and by many who did not. George Floyd should be alive today,” Garland said.

“We observed many MPD officers who did their difficult work with professionalism, courage, and respect. But the patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible,” he said. “As one city leader told us, ‘These systemic issues didn’t just occur on May 25, 2020. There were instances like that, that we’re being reported by the community long before that.'”

“We also found that MPD officers routinely disregard the safety of people in their custody. Our review found numerous incidents in which MPD officers responded to a person saying that they could not breathe with a version of, ‘You can breathe, you’re talking right now,'” Garland said.

In vivid detail during his remarks, Garland described some of the disturbing conduct investigators found.

In 2017 an MPD officer “shot and killed an unarmed woman who he said had “spooked him” when she approached his squad car,” Garland said.

“The woman had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in a nearby alley,” he said.

The report also outlines how MPD officers stop, search and use force against people who are Black and Native American at disproportionate rates.

“The data showed, for example, that MPD stopped black and Native American people nearly six times more often than white people in situations that did not result in arrest or citation,” Garland said.

At times, officers reported for racist conduct or remarks were not held accountable until there was public outcry, he said.

In one stop of a car full of four Somali American teens, one officer told them, “Do you remember what happened in Black Hawk Down when we killed a bunch of your folk? I’m proud of that. We didn’t finish the job over there. If we had you guys wouldn’t be over here.”

“Such conduct is deeply disturbing, and it erodes the community’s trust in law enforcement,” Garland said.

Investigators found the MPD used unjustified deadly force in encounters with suspects, engaged in unreasonable use of force in encounters with young suspects and at times failed to give proper medical aid to people they had taken into custody.

After Floyd’s murder at the hands of Officer Derek Chauvin and as the MPD’s policing practices fell under increased scrutiny, officers suddenly stopped reporting the race and gender of suspects they encountered in law enforcement actions, the report showed, with the percentage of recorded race data dropping from around 71% of encounters to about 35% afterwards through the next two years.

In 2021, Chauvin was convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges and later pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges both for Floyd’s murder and for holding a 14-year-old teen by the throat and beating him in 2017. A federal jury found three other officers involved in the encounter with Floyd guilty of federal civil rights offenses for failing to save him.

A separate state investigation into MPD resulted in a consent decree returned in March that required the department to implement widespread changes after disturbing findings of race discrimination and excessive force by police.

The DOJ report examines the MPD’s use of neck restraints, like the one used by Chauvin against Floyd, and found “numerous incidents” where officers used them even in situations that did not result in an arrest or where they were otherwise unjustified. Of nearly 200 encounters between 2016 and 2022 where neck restraints were used against suspects, officers did not make an arrest in 44 of them, the report shows.

And although in June 2020 the MPD banned the use of all neck restraints and chokeholds, the policy met “considerable resistance” from officers in the force and the DOJ investigation found MPD officers continued to use neck restraints since the ban was implemented, including against racial justice protesters.

The report also paints a concerning portrait of MPD’s abilities to repair its strained relationship with the broader public, pointing to instances where officers found to have committed misconduct were never disciplined and complaints from members of the public went disregarded.

One officer told DOJ investigators that morale in the department is “at an all time low,” which is reflected in the increasingly depleted ranks of MPD. As of May 2023, there were 585 sworn MPD officers, the report says, down from 892 in 2018.

The more than two-year investigation included interviews with more than 2000 community members and local organizations, the report says, including family members of people killed by MPD officers. Investigators also interviewed dozens of MPD officers, reviewed thousands of documents detailing police encounters and participated in more than 50 ride-alongs.

Friday’s report includes several disturbing details of racist comments by MPD officers that were described to investigators or captured on video.

In one protest in May 2020 following Floyd’s murder, a lieutenant was caught on camera saying, “I’d love to scatter ’em but it’s time to fu—-‘ put people in jail and just prove the mayor wrong about his white supremacists from out of state,” the officer is heard saying. “Although, this group probably is predominantly white, ‘cuz there’s not looting and fires.”

At times, officers would invoke racist stereotypes in their encounters with suspects, with one officer purportedly telling an arrestee, “we’ll get you Popeyes in a minute.”

One Black officer said he regularly heard his white colleagues making racist remarks, calling Black people “ghetto,” saying “Black people don’t work,” and “you don’t have to worry about Black people during the day ‘cuz they haven’t woken up — crime starts at night.”

Garland previously traveled to Louisville just last March to announce a disturbing series of findings out of the DOJ’s investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department, that found police engaged in a pattern of violating citizens’ civil rights by conducting unlawful searches and discriminating against residents based on race.

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(NEW YORK) — “Lottery lawyer” Jason Kurland promised his clients protection from swindlers but he ended up swindling them himself, a federal judge said Thursday as he sentenced Kurland to 13 years in federal prison for defrauding clients out of more than $107 million.

“They were lucky winners, but when they got Mr. Kurland, they were losers,” Judge Nicholas Garaufis said before handing down a sentence that was higher than what prosecutors sought.

“When they won the lottery, they were very vulnerable,” Assistant United States Attorney Olga Zverovitch said. “They needed guidance and they needed help. Instead, he exploited his clients’ trust.”

Kurland was convicted last July of fraud, conspiracy and unlawful monetary transactions. He steered his clients, winners of some of the biggest lottery jackpots ever in the U.S., into investments in companies that, unbeknownst to them, he owned or were owned by co-conspirators in the scheme, who siphoned money for themselves and paid Kurland secret kickbacks.

When risky investment strategies involving jewelry deals resulted in big losses, Kurland doubled down, convincing clients to invest in COVID-19 personal protective equipment deals, at least two of which were brokered by one of his co-defendants.

The victims were not identified by name, but prosecutors said they included the winners of a then-record $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot, a $245 million Powerball jackpot and a $150 million Powerball jackpot.

“I am so deeply sorry,” Kurland said through tears. “I stand here before the court deeply regretful.”

The 13-year prison sentence “far exceeds what’s necessary,” the defense said.

“The numbers are gargantuan,” defense attorney Tim Kasulis said. “We ask for whatever mercy we can.”

Kurland must report to prison no later than Oct. 18.

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(NEW YORK) — Tornadoes tore through parts of the United States on Thursday night, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

Three of the deaths occurred in Perryton, Texas, where a tornado destroyed homes and communication towers. The victims were identified as Becky Randall, a woman in her 60s who was found in a print shop; Cindy Bransgrove, a woman also in her 60s who was found in a food bank; and Matthew Ramirez, an 11-year-old boy who was found in a trailer park, according to the Ochiltree County Sheriff Terry Bouchard.

Another 56 people in Perryton were injured and one person — identified as 64-year-old Ruben Villegas — is missing, Bouchard said.

Meanwhile, one person died in Pensacola, Florida, after a tree fell on their home during a tornado, according to the Escambia County Fire Rescue.

There were several reported tornadoes throughout the night across Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida.

Perrtyon, a small town near Texas’ state line with Oklahoma, was particularly hard hit, with the most significant damage on the north and east sides, according to Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher.

Dutcher told ABC News on Thursday that the number of injured may be around 100 people. The injuries range from minor to severe and multiple patients have be transferred to trauma centers.

Multiple agencies have responded to the scene, Dutcher added.

There is currently no power to Perryton, according to Xcel Energy, an electric utility and natural gas delivery company.

“Our crews are arriving on site and are assisting in removing lines from cars and across the roads,” the company told ABC News in a statement. “We are patrolling the transmission feeds into the city and also assessing possible damage at the main substation in town. One of the three main transmission feeds into the city was apparently undamaged, but we deenergized it for safety reasons.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy state emergency response resources to meet urgent life-safety needs in Perryton.

“The State of Texas is swiftly deploying critical emergency response resources to provide all necessary support and assistance to protect Texans and help those impacted by tornadoes in Perryton,” Abbott said in a statement. “I encourage all Texans to heed the guidance of state and local officials and to take all necessary precautions to protect yourselves and your loved ones. We remain ready to quickly provide any additional resources needed over the course of this severe weather event.”

Ochiltree General Hospital, the area hospital for Perryton, is currently without power, an official said on Thursday.

Debbie Beck, chief financial officer of Ochiltree General Hospital, told ABC News 50 to 100 patients were treated for tornado-related injuries.

No victims died at the hospital and some patients were transferred to Northwest Texas Hospital, according to Beck.

Weather alerts, including tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm watches, were issued across the South for Thursday. Georgia and Alabama were both slammed with heavy rain and flooding.

Southeastern Colorado to southwestern Kansas are also bracing for rough weather, with a severe thunderstorm watch issued. Residents in the region are told to expect dangerous winds up to 80 mph, hail up to 4 inches in diameter and possible tornadoes.

More storms are expected Friday from Colorado to the Gulf Coast, with damaging winds and hail the main threat. Severe storms are also possible Friday afternoon and evening from Virginia to New Jersey.

Meanwhile, dangerous, triple-digit heat is baking the South. Record-high temperatures are possible over the next few days in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and New Orleans.

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(NEW YORK) — Three young brothers — aged just 7, 4 and 3 years old — have allegedly been shot and killed by their father and their mother has been wounded at a home in Ohio, police said.

The triple homicide occurred at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Thursday when authorities the Clermont County Communications Center received a call from an unknown female who was screaming that “her babies had been shot.” A second call was placed just three minutes later from a person passing by who reported a young female running down the street screaming that “her father was killing everyone.”

Clermont County Sheriff’s Road Patrol Deputies immediately responded to the residence on Laurel Lindale Road in Monroe Township, approximately 26 miles southeast of downtown Cincinnati, and found an adult male — later identified as 32-year-old Chad Doerman — sitting on a step outside of the home where they detained him for questioning without incident.

But when deputies began their investigation, they discovered “three unresponsive gunshot victims in the yard of the residence,” according to a press release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities immediately began life-saving measures on the victims until Monroe Fire/EMS officials arrived on the scene minutes later.

“All life saving measures were unsuccessful and all three gunshot victims succumbed to their injuries while on scene,” police said. “A fourth gunshot victim, later identified as an adult female age 34, was also located outside of the residence. The female sustained what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to her hand [and was] non-life threatening.”

The injured woman was taken by Monroe Township EMS to University Hospital Cincinnati where Sheriff Leahy from Clermont County notified her that her three sons — aged 7, 4 and 3 — had died in the shooting.

The suspect and father of the three deceased juveniles, Chad Doerman, was taken to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office and interviewed by detectives. He was subsequently charged with three counts of aggravated murder and taken to the Clermont County Jail where he is currently being held without bond, police said.

Clermont County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that there were no signs of forced entry into the home and that they were not looking for any other suspects involved in the murders.

Doerman is due in court at 10 a.m. on Friday morning for his arraignment.

Meanwhile, the Clermont County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene on Thursday and transported the bodies of the deceased brothers to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office for autopsies.

“The investigation remains ongoing and will be reviewed in its entirety with the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office for presentation to the Grand Jury for consideration of additional charges,” authorities said. “Additional information will be released as it develops.”

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(NEW YORK) — A judge has set an early 2024 trial date for writer E. Jean Carroll’s original 2019 defamation case against former President Donald Trump.

Judge Lewis Kaplan set a trial date of Jan. 15, 2024, for the case, in which Carroll claims then-President Trump defamed her in 2019 when he said she was “not my type” while denying that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Trump has denied all accusations.

Last month, in a separate suit, a jury found Trump liable for battery and for defaming Carroll when he said in a 2022 Truth Social post that her allegations were “a Hoax and a lie” and saying again that “This woman is not my type!”

Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, added the 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.

Jury members, who found that Trump did not rape Carroll but sexually abused her, awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in the suit.

The Jan. 15 date puts the start of the upcoming trial one week before the scheduled date of the Iowa Republican caucuses, as Trump campaigns for a second term as president. However, Trump is not required to attend the civil trial, just as he did not attend the other trial last month.

Judge Kaplan ruled earlier this week that Carroll could add to the original suit allegedly defamatory statements Trump made last month after he was found liable for sexually assaulting her.

Trump has argued that the Justice Department should be substituted as the defendant in the original case because, at the time of his allegedly defamatory statements, he was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government.

Such a ruling would make the case go away, as the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.

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