National

(LONDON) — At least nine people are dead and over 2,750 people were injured after pager devices owned by a large number of workers in various Hezbollah units and institutions exploded on Tuesday, according to Lebanese officials and the group.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack and vowed it would respond. The apparent attack comes amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said in a statement. “This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive his just punishment for this sinful aggression, whether he expects it or not.”

The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah, such as a 10-year-old girl killed in the eastern village of Saraain, according to Hezbollah-owned Al-Ahed News. Two Hezbollah members were also dead, the outlet reported.

“These explosions, the causes of which are still unknown, led to the martyrdom of a girl and two brothers, and the injury of a large number of people with various injuries,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

About 200 of the injuries are critical, meaning they needed surgery, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Most of the injuries were to the face, hand or abdomen, officials said.

The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured due to an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV.

Amani said in a phone call after the incident that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.

The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said it condemned the alleged Israeli attack and have begun preparing a complaint to the Security Council.

The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards,” adding that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”

Hezbollah said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation to determine the causes that led to these simultaneous explosions.”

There have also been high-level contacts between the U.S. and Israel prompted by Tuesday’s incidents in Lebanon, according to a U.S. official.

The U.S. said it had no role in the apparent attack on Hezbollah and no warning that it would happen, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. He also declined to offer an assessment on who could be behind it, saying only that the administration was “gathering information” on the incident.

Miller wouldn’t say whether the administration had any information to doubt Hezbollah’s claim that Israel was behind the explosions and only said that he didn’t want to offer an assessment “one way or the other.” The Israeli government has declined to comment on the matter.

The White House also said it was not aware the attack was going to happen ahead of time and would not speculate on who was behind it, according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

This attack comes as U.S. diplomats have been working intensely to avoid escalation at Israel’s northern border and amid fears that a full-blown war between the country and Hezbollah, which sits on a vast trove of missiles, could engulf the entire region. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is, coincidentally, on his way to the region and scheduled to land in Egypt on Tuesday night.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke again on Tuesday after speaking on Monday.

The latest conversation was intended “to touch base regarding ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the threats facing Israel, to include the Houthi missile attack over the weekend,” according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Ryder said America’s focus was to ensure tensions in the region do not escalate.

“We strongly believe that the way to reduce tension along the Israel-Lebanon border is diplomacy,” he said.

Iran and Hezbollah are likely to retaliate for the attack, but it could take them time to do so while they assess what happened, according to a U.S. official. The official also said 50 or more people were targeted in Syria in this attack.

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health has issued a statement Tuesday instructing all hospitals in various regions of Lebanon to be on maximum alert and raise their level of readiness to meet the rapid need for emergency health services.

The ministry noted that preliminary information indicates “the injuries were related to the explosion of wireless devices that were in the possession of the injured.”

The ministry also asked all citizens who own pagers to throw them away immediately.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it has deployed “more than 30 ambulances” to help treat and evacuate “the wounded as a result of multiple explosions in the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut,” according to a post on its official X account.

The group also added “50 more ambulances and 300 Emergency Medical Technicians [are] on standby to assist in the evacuation of victims.”

About 100 hospitals took in the wounded, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

Back in February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had urged members to stop using mobile phones, saying, “I call for dispensing with cellphone devices at this stage, which are considered a deadly agent.”

ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday upheld the sex crimes conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associated of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Ghislaine, in March, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and grooming the underage girls who Epstein sexually abused, arguing she was immunized by an agreement federal prosecutors in Florida arranged with Epstein in 2007.

On Tuesday, the appeals court ruled that Maxwell was not covered by Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement and said the alleged crimes fell within the statute of limitations.

Maxwell’s attorneys had argued that she was made a “proxy” for Epstein, who died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial, to “satisfy public outrage” about his conduct.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 after prosecutors said that, from 1994 to 2004, she worked together with Epstein to identify girls, groom them, and then transport them to Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, and elsewhere. The girls — some of whom were as young as 14 years old — were then sexually abused, often under the guise of a “massage,” prosecutors said.

Maxwell is currently incarcerated in a low-security prison in Tallahassee and eligible for release in 2037.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy, alleging he ran an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes,” according to the indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in Midtown Manhattan Monday night and he spent the night in federal custody, sources told ABC News. He will be arraigned in federal court on Tuesday.

A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned an indictment against Combs, which set in motion his arrest, sources told ABC News.

Combs “knew this was coming,” the music mogul’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told reporters Tuesday on his way into federal court. 

“We brought him to New York two weeks ago because, sure, we knew this day would come and it’s here,” Agnifilo said.

He said Combs has anticipated federal charges ever since the March raids on his homes in Florida and California.

Combs’ spirits are good, Agnifilo said, adding, “He’s dealing with this head on the way he has dealt with every challenge in his life.”

Agnifilo said in an earlier statement, “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.”

“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said. “To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Combs has been under investigation for the better part of a year since his former, longtime girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, came forward with allegations in a civil lawsuit. At least 10 additional lawsuits followed. Combs has denied the allegations in all of them.

In March, when Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by federal agents, a Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said the raid was executed as part of an “ongoing investigation.”

Law enforcement sources told ABC News in March that federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations seized a number of electronic devices as part of the court-authorized searches of Combs’ two properties.

The searches were part of a federal sex trafficking investigation into the hip-hop and liquor mogul, the sources said.

HSI agents flooded Combs’ mansions and gathered evidence as part of an investigation led by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Steve Witkoff — a friend of, and donor to, former President Donald Trump — told ABC News’ Good Morning America on Tuesday that Secret Service agents protecting the Republican presidential nominee during Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt did “exactly what they’re supposed to do.”

Witkoff was with the former president at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when Secret Service agents fired several shots at would-be gunman Ryan Wesley Routh, who was allegedly concealed in a tree line 300 to 500 yards from the Republican presidential nominee.

“We were having a great day,” Witkoff said of the incident, during which Secret Service agents rushed Trump to a safe location. 

He added that, after hearing the first shot, “I saw the Secret Service do exactly what they’re supposed to do, which was get right on top of the president.” There were “a whole bunch” of agents on top of Trump, Witkoff said.

“They did that job in an exemplary way,” he said. “I was almost mesmerized by everything that was happening.”

“In quick succession, there were four shots and then the Secret Service was whisking him out of there, getting him back to the club house, as he’s the first priority — he’s the protectee,” Witkoff said. “They were engaging in that corner on the sixth hole where evidently … this would-be assassin had put himself, had created a sort of lair there.”

Trump, he said, was “looking over” and “gesturing” to the area at which the Secret Service agents fired. As he was rushed away, the former president appeared “very concerned” about the friends and staffers with him on the course, Witkoff said. 

“That’s all he was concerned about,” Witkoff said. 

Routh, 58, lay in wait for Trump for nearly 12 hours, authorities said. Secret Service Acting Director Ron Rowe Jr. said the suspect did not fire any shots or have a line of sight on the former president at any time.

Secret Service agents spotted Routh’s gun barrel poking out from the tree line near the sixth green, authorities said. After they fired at the suspect, Routh fled leaving behind a digital camera, two bags including a backpack, and a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope.

Routh was detained attempting to leave the area in a vehicle, a witness having reported his license plate number to police. He appeared in court on Monday and currently faces two felony gun charges.

Trump said during an online conversation on the platform X — formerly known as Twitter — that he “was with an agent and the agent did a fantastic job.” The former president posted to the Truth Social platform soon after the incident on Sunday: “I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes – It was certainly an interesting day!”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the investigation into Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump continues, the FBI is turning its attention to the obliterated serial number of the recovered assault-style weapon, using highly specialized techniques to uncover what’s been altered on the surface of the rifle.

Investigators are working to understand how suspected gunman Ryan Wesley Routh, who, according to court records, has a felony criminal history, allegedly obtained the semi-automatic SKS rifle.

In the tree-lined, chain link fenced area surrounding the Trump International Golf Club where the suspect was spotted by Secret Service personnel Sunday, agents found a digital camera, two bags, including a backpack and a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope, according to a criminal complaint released Monday.

The serial number on the rifle “was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye,” the complaint states.

Analysis into firearms includes conducting an urgent firearms trace. But to begin a gun trace, investigators need a serial number, and in this case, that key information was allegedly obliterated.

However, agents have several forensic techniques they can employ to restore obliterated serial numbers from a firearm.

Sources told ABC News Monday the FBI is forensically examining the firearm at its lab.

How investigators could recover an ‘obliterated’ serial number

Firearms manufactured in or imported to the U.S. are required by law to have a conspicuously engraved, cast or stamped serial number.

SKS-type firearms are not manufactured in the U.S.; they are typically manufactured in Russia or China and imported to the U.S. with stamped serial numbers, according to firearms expert and retired ATF executive Scott Sweetow.

“When the metal is stamped, and the deeper the stamp was originally, the more likely that the metal is to be deformed a significant amount below the surface,” Sweetow said in an interview with ABC News.

“And even if you take a grinder or scratch it out, or try to sand it out, those markings, the impression and the metal were deformed from the original serial number stamping process … those markings are going to typically survive,” Sweetow added.

Using a combination of specialized chemicals and instruments, investigators can reveal the serial numbers that, to the human eye, appear to be permanently removed, according to Sweetow.

As part of the process, chemical treatments are applied to “eat away” some of the defacement, grinding or scratching that was done to obscure the serial number, which is followed by using special instrumentation to view the previously invisible numbers “for what I would almost describe as a shadow that’s left in the metal where it was pressed down,” Sweetow said.

FBI and ATF also possess more advanced capabilities, including x-ray and magnetic resonance imaging, to peer deeper into the metal beyond what can be seen at the surface.

Though obliterated serial numbers can pose a challenge, investigators frequently overcome criminal efforts to hide the numbers.

“It certainly makes it a little tougher for investigators, but so many people obliterate serial numbers now or deface face them that the forensic techniques have gotten actually pretty good, to restore them much better than they were, say, 20 years ago,” Sweetow said.

Routh’s alleged possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a potential sentence of 15 years in prison, and the possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number can carry an additional five years if convicted, according to federal statute.

Routh appeared in West Palm Beach federal court on Monday morning. Prosecutors said he is charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Routh did not enter a plea to the charges and was ordered to return to court on Sept. 23 for a pre-detention hearing. His arraignment has been scheduled for Sept. 30.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — The federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols continued Monday, with the cross-examination of a Memphis Police Department (MPD) lieutenant who trained the defendants.

Kevin Whitmore, who is representing ex-officer Tadarrius Bean, cross-examined Second Lt. Larnce Wright on training methods at the police academy, noting that Wright did not train Bean in several courses, so he could not speak to what Bean was taught, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom.

Wright did not teach the officers how to write reports, provide medical classes for them or teach them about the duty of an officer to intervene if another officer engages in misconduct, according to WATN.

Last Thursday, Wright testified that the scenario of the initial traffic stop involving Nichols should have been low-risk, according to WATN. Wright said during the initial stop, Nichols voicing that he was trying to do what was asked should have led officers to deescalate the situation. Wright claimed officers were not following training for several reasons and described Nichols’ behavior as human nature, according to WATN.

The former officers — Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid — charges that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On Monday, Whitmore showed Wright several presentation slides he uses in training, which the attorney said denoted that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop, which “could turn violent in an instant,” according to WATN.

The defense argued that training is only as good as the trainer.

Wright claimed that if a violent felony was not committed, pursuit is not allowed, according to WATN. Body-camera footage shows Nichols fled after police initially pulled him over for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him. Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days later. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The beating triggered protests and calls for police reform.

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate Nichols was driving recklessly.

Whitmore asked Wright if an officer could have tunnel vision during an arrest, alluding to the possibility that Bean was focused on handcuffing Nichols and didn’t see what was happening to the suspect, according to WATN.

Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, the two additional officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.

Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.

The prosecution told ABC News in a statement Thursday that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition where he later died. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.

Michael Stengel, Haley’s attorney, officially asked for a mistrial on Friday due to the forms — known as response to resistance — that were submitted as evidence for the trial, according to WATN. The ex-officers were required to fill out these forms to explain their use of force against Nichols. Stengel argued the documents were protected by Garrity. Garrity rights protect public employees from being compelled to self-incrimination during investigative interviews conducted by their employers, according to a Tennessee attorney general legal document. Stengel argued that the response to resistance forms the ex-officers filled out could not be used as evidence to protect the ex-officers’ Garrity rights.

Judge Mark Norris decided the documentation forms do not violate the ex-officers’ Garrity rights and ruled in favor of keeping them as evidence, according to WATN. Norris said on Monday that there are 37 witness testimonies left in the trial, and that a juror has potentially been lost due to illness, according to WATN.

Martin, one of two ex-officers who plead guilty to charges connected to the death of Tyre Nichols, was called to the stand after Wright was finished with questioning. Martin began his testimony Monday, towards the end of day.

The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that has since been disbanded after Nichols’ death. All the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for the voting machine company Smartmatic and the cable channel Newsmax argued at a hearing Monday over evidence and witnesses expected to be presented when Smartmatic’s defamation case against the news channel goes to trial later this month.

Smartmatic has accused Newsmax of publishing dozens of false reports claiming that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 election. Newsmax has argued, in part, that they were reporting on newsworthy claims of fraud.

Howard Cooper, an attorney for Newsmax, argued at Monday’s hearing that the news channel should be able to introduce videos of broadcast segments that he says rebut Smartmatic’s argument that “Newsmax took this position of election fraud [and] not calling the election” for winner Joe Biden.

“One of the ways that we can rebut that theory is by showing shows that were contrary to President Trump’s position,” Cooper said of former President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed there had been massive election fraud.

The two sides also argued over the inclusion of witnesses who would testify about whether Newsmax, in the course of its reporting, reached out to Smartmatic — or instead only reached out to Dominion, another voting machine company that was falsely accused of wrongdoing.

Dominion, in a separate case last year, reached a $787 million settlement with Fox News in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit.

Newsmax officials have said under oath that the company contacted or attempted to contact Smartmatic during its coverage of the election and its aftermath.

“We’re not disputing that Dominion and Smartmatic are not the same,” said an attorney for Newsmax. “Some of these Newsmax personnel did get to contact Dominion. It is relevant to the case. It’s relevant to their state of mind.”

“I’d love for you to make that argument if I’m on the other side,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said in response. “Here is the executive producer of this show, and he doesn’t know the difference between Exxon and Chevron.”

After a lengthy argument about other types of evidence the parties would like to introduce at the trial, the judge reviewed the potential witness list and emphasized the need for clear and concise jury instructions.

At one point during the hearing, an attorney for Newsmax requested permission to depose Smartmatic’s damages expert, arguing that the expert’s “reports and charts” on the damages have changed frequently.

“I would only add they were looking for somewhere, and we don’t know yet, between $400 and $600 million in this case,” an attorney for Newsmax said, criticizing “the idea that we would go to a trial without having a full opportunity to do an up-to-date examination of their damages expert.”

An attorney for Smartmatic pushed back, saying that Newsmax attorneys have previously deposed the expert and that “none of the information has changed.”

Judge Davis said he would rule soon on each of the motions.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30 in Delaware.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A Pakistani national with ties to Iran pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges alleging he attempted to commit an act of terrorism and murder-for-hire as part of a scheme to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

The suspect, Asif Merchant, was ordered detained pending trial during the hearing in Brooklyn federal court.

Coincidentally, Merchant’s arraignment came the same day a different man — 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh — appeared in a Florida court to answer firearm charges connected to an unrelated apparent alleged attempt on Trump’s life.

Merchant was indicted on federal charges in August, after being previously arrested and charged by complaint the month prior. If convicted of the charges contained in the indictment, he faces up to life in prison.

ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate Iran’s efforts to target our country’s public officials and endanger our national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement following the indictment. “As these terrorism and murder for hire charges against Asif Merchant demonstrate, we will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against Americans.”

After spending time in Iran, Merchant arrived in the United States from Pakistan in April and contacted a person he believed could assist him with the scheme to kill Trump, the complaint alleged. That person reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source, according to the indictment.

Merchant sought to hire hitmen who could carry out the assassination of Trump and others, the indictment alleged. Merchant allegedly explained his plot involved multiple criminal schemes: stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; planning a protest; and killing a politician or government official, the indictment alleged.

Merchant met with the purported hitmen — who were in fact undercover U.S. law enforcement officers — in New York, according to the indictment. He allegedly told them they would receive instructions on who to kill either the last week of August or the first week of September, after Merchant had departed the U.S., according to the indictment.

After Merchant paid the $5,000 to the “hitmen,” the indictment quoted one of them saying, “Now we’re bonded,” to which Merchant allegedly responded, “Yes.” The undercover officer then stated, “Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,” to which Merchant allegedly responded, “Yes, absolutely,” according to the indictment.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Georgia teacher David Phenix was in his classroom at Apalachee High School when he was struck by two bullets — but he said he’s “incredibly blessed.”

“The bullet that went into my side and the one that entered my foot managed to miss every vital ligament, tendon, bone, and organ. Had things been a quarter inch to the left or right, things could have been vastly different,” Phenix said in an emotional statement on Facebook.

“Physically, there are stitches, staples, and bandages to be removed and physical therapy to be endured,” Phenix said. “Mentally, will be just as challenging. I am sure trying to truly wrap my brain around what happened on September 4th will require just as much rehab.”

Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, is accused of killing four people and injuring nine others at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4.

Seven of the nine people who were hurt suffered gunshot wounds, including Phenix.

In his new statement on Facebook, Phenix expressed deep gratitude for those who took his “life in their hands” amid the “chaos.”

He thanked his co-teacher who he said “put pressure on my wound while, at same time, managing and calming a class of 23 scared, terrified, and panicked teenagers.”

He thanked the two 14-year-olds who he said filled in putting pressure on his wound while the co-teacher called for help. 

“You both are exceptional young people and have my everlasting gratitude,” he wrote.

Phenix shouted out the first responders, law enforcement, nurses and doctors who stepped in that day, as well as his wife and two daughters for their emotional support.

He also expressed his appreciation to the community for their “outpouring of encouragement, support, love and compassion.”

As he recovers, Phenix said the “pangs of sorrow and grief for the families” of the two teachers and two students who were killed “stay at the forefront of everything.”

“Families were shattered and worlds were turned upside down,” he wrote. “Please continue to pray for each of these families.”

“The images, sights, sounds, and actions are immense and will be forever etched in my memory and will take weeks, months, and even years to process,” Phenix said. “Right now, my emotions are so much easier to describe than the justifications and reasons behind them. From anger to mourning to sadness to gratefulness to even feeling blessed to be able to sit here and write this post, processing the reasons behind September 4th will be a long road which will most likely, never be truly understood.”

Gray is charged with four counts of felony murder. More charges will be filed, prosecutors said.

The teen’s father, Colin Gray, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said. He is accused of knowingly allowing his son to possess the weapon used in the shooting, according to the GBI.

Neither has entered a plea.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — One of the last messages sent from the doomed Titan submersible during its June 2023 voyage to the Titanic wreckage was “all good here,” according to a presentation from a U.S. Coast Guard hearing on the deadly implosion.

The Marine Board of Investigation for the U.S. Coast Guard’s two-week hearing into the incident began on Monday, 15 months after the OceanGate vessel catastrophically imploded during its deep-sea voyage, killing all five people aboard.

An animation created by the Coast Guard during the Monday hearing showed the text communications between the Titan and the surface vessel, Polar Prince, as the submersible descended toward the ocean floor on June 18, 2023. The short text messages were the only means of communication between the Titan crew and the personnel on the Polar Prince as the vessel attempted to reach the Titanic, which sits 3,800 meters below sea level.

At approximately 2,274 meters, the Titan sent the message, “All good here,” according to the animation.

The last communication from the submersible was sent at approximately 3,341 meters: “Dropped two wts,” meaning drop weights, according to the Coast Guard.

All communications and tracking from the submersible to Polar Prince were lost at 3,346 meters, according to the Coast Guard.

Debris from the Titan was found on the ocean floor four days later. All five crew members — including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush — were determined to have died in a catastrophic implosion.

The Coast Guard released a new image during the hearing Monday that shows Titan debris, including the tail cone, at the bottom of the ocean.

Tym Catterson, a former contractor for OceanGate, testified during Monday’s hearing that there were “no red flags” on the day of the incident. He said he believes the intention of shedding the two 35-pound weights was to slow the vessel down as it approached the ocean floor. He thought the weight was dropped a little early than is typical — not due to any emergency but to ensure a smooth landing, he said.

“Considering who was in the cab with Stockton at that particular time — there are two billionaires in there with him — I would absolutely guarantee that he’s trying to make sure that this just goes as absolutely perfect and spot-on as he can,” Catterson said.

He said when the tracking and communications were lost, the initial thought was that the transponder failed. When rescuers heard banging noises during their search for the vessel, he said they believed the vessel was drifting.

“This was all theories that were just flying around between people that were totally without sleep and very anxious,” he said. “It’s the worst thing that could be happening.”

Two witnesses say they wouldn’t go in the Titan

Some two dozen witnesses are scheduled to testify during the two-week hearing.

The hearing’s first witness — Tony Nissen, OceanGate’s former engineering director — testified that he was kept in the dark and didn’t know that OceanGate’s goal when he was initially hired was to go to the Titanic.

Asked whether he felt comfortable going down to the Titanic in the submersible, Nissen responded that Rush had asked him to be the pilot to run the Titanic missions, and he turned him down.

“I told him, I’m not getting in it,” Nissen said. “He asked me why, and I said, ‘Because the operations crew, I don’t trust them.'”

“He said, ‘Well, what if I’m mission director?'” Nissen continued. “I said, ‘You still have the same operations crew.’ But I didn’t trust Stockton either. Take a look at where we started and when I was hired, nothing that I got was the truth.”

Catterson also testified that he would not have felt comfortable going to the depths of the Titanic wreckage in the Titan, saying he had questions about the integrity of its carbon fiber and titanium construction.

“I don’t believe that the composites are the correct material for a pressure vessel that’s experiencing external compression,” he said. “I had my doubts.”

When asked if he ever voiced his concerns to OceanGate employees, he testified that he told Rush, Nissen and David Lochridge, the former OceanGate operations director — “pretty much anybody that would listen.”

Catterson said he had raised the issue about the integrity of the carbon fiber hull with Rush “no less than half a dozen” times. He said he thought the sub was “underbuilt” and that Rush responded to his concerns by saying, “I have several engineers working on this and they say otherwise.”

The company’s former finance director, Bonnie Carl, a former contractor for OceanGate, testified Monday that she was aware of a conversation between Lochridge and Renata Rojas, a mission specialist, when Lochridge told Rojas not to go on the Titan, warning that it was “unsafe.”

Titan not classified

It is common for submersibles to get classification, but both Catterson and Nissen testified that the Titan had not been classified. Catterson talked about recommending classification for it to Rush.

“The reason for the classification is basically that it’s proof of due diligence. It’s also primarily one of the ways that you can get insurance for the submersibles. That’s one of the very big things,” he said. “I had explained this to [Rush], and he, well, I guess that wasn’t as big of a worry for him as it would be for most people. I don’t know, I said my piece.”

According to a Coast Guard presentation during Monday’s hearing, the Titan was tested to 1.09 times its operating pressure — the industry standard is 1.25 times.

Issues with sub

The Coast Guard and witnesses detailed issues and concerns with the sub.

The vessel had 70 equipment issues in 2021 that needed correcting, and 48 more in 2022, according to the Coast Guard.

The Titan partially sank four weeks before the incident following a night of high seas and fog, according to the Coast Guard. Days before the implosion, passengers slammed against the vessel during resurfacing, the Coast Guard said.

Nissen testified that he believes the Titan was struck by lightning in April 2018.

“That is a difficult thing to prove, except I had to drag a lot of my engineering team down there to replace all the electronics in it. And I could find all the lightning traces. So it took high energy for sure,” he said.

He testified that he wouldn’t sign off on a dive to the Titanic in July 2019 due to a crack in the hull, and said he was subsequently fired.

Carl said she was concerned about some of the employees working on OceanGate submersibles.

“There were some young engineers — and by young, I mean late teens, early 20s — without any experience, we were aware of, wrenching on the sub, and without supervision right there on them,” she said. “And that made me nervous.”

Hearing to last two weeks

The hearing is scheduled to run through Sept. 27. Former OceanGate employees scheduled to testify later in the hearing include Lochridge; co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; and Steven Ross, former scientific director, according to a schedule released by the Coast Guard.

The main purpose of the hearing is to uncover the facts related to the implosion and to make recommendations, according to Jason Neubauer, chair of the Marine Board of Investigation.

“The Marine Board’s investigation will determine as closely as possible the factors that contributed to the incident, so that proper recommendations for the prevention of similar casualties may be made,” Neubauer said at the start of Monday’s hearing.

The investigation will also examine whether there is any evidence of misconduct or criminal acts in connection with the incident, he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the implosion and will make its own determination as to the probable cause, according to Marcel Muise, an investigator with the agency’s Office of Marine Safety.

Attorneys with the firm Debevoise & Plimpton, which represents OceanGate, are also attending the hearing.

“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again,” Jane Shvets with Debevoise & Plimpton said during opening remarks.

In addition to Rush, those killed in the implosion included French explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.

The submersible company suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the deadly implosion.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.