(NEW YORK) — It’s been a very active week for severe storms and tornadoes — and more rough weather is in the forecast for Memorial Day weekend.
On Thursday, there were more than 2 dozen reported tornadoes across Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Thursday also brought damaging winds that knocked down trees and power lines across Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
On Friday, as people hit the road and head to the airport for Memorial Day weekend, more severe weather is in the forecast from Austin, Texas, to Chicago.
Tornadoes, damaging winds and hail are possible in Dallas, Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri; Indianapolis and Chicago.
On Saturday, Kansas and Oklahoma could see strong tornadoes, severe wind gusts and large hail.
On Sunday, cities in the bull’s-eye for tornadoes will be St. Louis; Louisville, Kentucky; and Indianapolis.
On Memorial Day, the Northeast will face heavy rain and thunderstorms. Flash flooding is possible along the Interstate 95 corridor, especially around Philadelphia and just west of New York City.
Record highs are also in the forecast this weekend for Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
Monday could be the hottest Memorial Day on record for San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans and Miami.
The heat index — what the temperature feels like with humidity — could top 100 degrees.
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an alert on Friday that it is preparing for the “possibility of increased risk to human health” from bird flu following an outbreak among dairy cows and two confirmed human cases.
However, the federal health agency also said the risk of bird flu, also known as avian influenza, to people in the U.S. is currently low.
Federal and state public health officials said in late March they were investigating an illness among primarily older dairy cows in Kansas, New Mexico and Texas and causing symptoms including decreased lactation and low appetite.
The first case was confirmed in a U.S. farm worker in Texas and the second case in a Michigan farm worker who had regular exposure to livestock-infected bird flu.
“Though currently circulating A (H5N1) viruses do not have the ability to easily spread to and between people, it is possible that influenza A(H5N1) viruses could change in ways that allow them to easily infect people and to efficiently spread between people, potentially causing a pandemic,” the CDC wrote in its alert.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The daughter and son-in-law of Missouri state representative Ben Baker have been killed by a gang in Haiti, according to the lawmaker and officials in the country.
Baker said his daughter, Natalie Lloyd, and son-in-law, Davy Lloyd, were missionaries in Haiti, where residents are facing unprecedented levels of gang violence.
“They were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed,” Baker, a Republican, wrote on Facebook early Friday morning.
“My heart is broken in a thousand pieces,” Baker said. “I’ve never felt this kind of pain.”
Police said the two Americans were attacked by three cars while they were on their way back from church in Lison. They were killed after the gangs looted their house, police said.
“Absolutely heartbreaking news,” Missouri Gov. Mike Parson wrote on X.
“Natalie and Davy were two young people sharing peace, comfort, and God’s word,” Parson said. “In light of this unimaginable, senseless tragedy, we remember the good they offered the world.”
(NEW YORK) — American Bryan Hagerich was spared a lengthy prison sentence under Turks and Caicos’ strict gun laws and will return to the U.S. after paying a fine. The father of two was caught with ammunition in his baggage earlier this year.
A judge sentenced Hagerich on Friday to a suspended 52-week sentence with a fine of $6,700. Once he pays this fine, he will be given his passport and can return to the United States without serving the sentence.
Hagerich had faced a possible 12-year sentence, the country’s minimum for possessing guns or ammunition, under a strict law in place aimed at addressing rising crime and gang violence. However, the judge found exceptional circumstances and that the mandatory minimum of 12 years was unjust and disproportionate to the crime committed.
The Pennsylvania father of two was arrested in February while returning home from a family vacation after ammunition was found in his checked luggage. He pleaded guilty to possession of 20 rounds of ammunition.
He told ABC News he forgot hunting ammunition was in his bag while he was traveling.
“I’m a man of integrity, character,” he told ABC News in an interview alongside his wife Ashley earlier this month. “I did not have intent in this.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker behind the award-winning documentary “Super Size Me,” died from cancer complications, his family announced on Friday.
“Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity,” his brother, Craig Spurlock, said in a statement. “The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man.”
Spurlock died Thursday, according to his family. He was 53 years old.
How eating ultra-processed foods could lead to increased risk of death, study shows The documentarian and director from West Virginia famously ate fast food for 30 days to create his hit 2004 film, during which Spurlock claimed to only consume McDonald’s menu items for all three meals, which highlighted the radical impact that diet had on his physical and psychological health.
The New York University alum later followed up with a 2017 sequel, “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!,” which was Spurlock’s final documentary.
In the sequel, Spurlock explored how the fast food industry attempted to rebrand under a healthier guise since his first go around. This time, he opened his own fast-food fried chicken restaurant in order to expose the marketing tactics fast food companies had been using on consumers in the 12 years since his original documentary.
Spurlock also starred in and created the 2011 metacinema documentary “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” which was paid for entirely by sponsors as he dove head first into the world of product placement, marketing and advertising.
He is survived by two sons, Laken and Kallen; mom Phyllis Spurlock; dad Ben; brothers Craig and Barry; and ex-wives Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, the mothers of his two children.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — A priest in Florida bit a woman’s hand during a physical altercation while he was administering Communion to the congregants of his church, officials said.
The incident between the priest and a female parishioner began at approximately 10 a.m. on Sunday during Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in St. Cloud, Florida, when a woman “came through Father Fidel Rodriguez’s Holy Communion line and appeared unaware of the proper procedure,” according to a statement released by the Diocese of Orlando.
“After a brief exchange with the woman, it was determined that she was neither prepared nor disposed to participate in Communion,” read the statement. “Father Rodriguez gave the woman a blessing and advised her to receive the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) before coming back to receive Holy Communion (Eucharist).”
The same woman is said to have arrived at 12 p.m. for Mass on Sunday and stood in Father Rodriguez’s Communion line when he asked her if she had been to the Sacrament of the Penance (Confession) to which she replied that “it was not his business,” according to the Diocese of Orlando.
“Father Rodriguez offered the woman Holy Communion on the tongue,” church officials said. “At that point, the woman forcefully placed her hand in the vessel and grabbed some sacred Communion hosts, crushing them. Having only one hand free, Father Rodriguez struggled to restrain the woman as she refused to let go of the hosts. When the woman pushed him and reacting to a perceived act of aggression, Father Rodriguez bit her hand so she would let go of the hosts she grabbed.”
The woman was immediately asked to leave, according to the Diocese of Orlando’s statement.
“It should be noted Father Rodriguez had no prior knowledge of the woman’s background,” officials said. “Further, while the Diocese of Orlando does not condone physical altercations such as this, in good faith, Father Rodriguez was simply attempting to prevent an act of desecration of the Holy Communion, which, as a priest, Father Rodriguez is bound by duty to protect.”
Authorities have not yet charged the priest with any crimes though it is possible he could be charged pending the investigation. Officials have not given any details on injuries the woman may have suffered during the altercation.
In the Catholic tradition, the Eucharist is considered “the source and summit” of worship and faith, said the Diocese of Orlando. “The act of participation in Holy Communion therefore calls for a proper understanding, reverence, and devotion.”
“The Diocese of Orlando believes all people of all faiths should be respected and that their religious ceremonies or services should never be disrupted,” officials said.
The Diocese of Orlando has said they will not comment any further on the incident and the investigation is currently ongoing.
(UVALDE, Texas.) To Veronica Mata, mother of 10-year-old Uvalde, Texas, victim Tess Marie Mata, the second year after her daughter’s death feels even “more real.”
“The reality is hitting that Tess is no longer here with us,” she said. “She’s gone and is never coming back.”
In the two years since 19 students and two teachers were killed in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting, some families of the 21 victims killed continue to search for answers and seek justice.
The city of Uvalde and the federal government are among the agencies that investigated the shooting, leading to an overhaul of the city police department’s policies and the implementation of training. Some families say that is not enough, demanding accountability for the first city officers to arrive on scene at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022.
“How much more can we take?” Mata said. “Our girl [was] taken in the most horrific way possible, and we just want people to understand that we are fighting for what is right. And we feel so defeated.”
Here’s where the investigation stands:
Among multiple agency investigations, the only open investigation is a criminal case brought by Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell. A grand jury started reviewing evidence against hundreds of officers in January.
The DA began her criminal investigation into the law enforcement failures shortly after the shooting. Mitchell said in May 2023 that she had been “optimistic” that the investigation would be completed by the one-year mark, but added that it was “not surprising” that it was still ongoing “given the magnitude of this investigation.”
The investigation has since extended into 2024.
In January, the Justice Department released a scathing report after it found “critical failures” before, during and after the shooting, and major departures from established active-shooter protocols.
The school district was woefully unprepared, the report found. Most officers “lacked specialized, advanced training and preparation to handle such situations” and the school district had cultivated “a culture of complacency regarding locked-door policies” — both of which contributed to the challenges in responding to the shooting.
The report stressed that the “most significant failure” was when the officers who arrived first on scene retreated from the classroom and treated the gunman as a barricaded subject, not an active shooter.
Officers from Uvalde police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Department of Public Safety were among those who rushed to the school. But law enforcement waited some 77 minutes before breaching a classroom and killing the gunman.
The officers “should have immediately recognized the incident as an active shooter situation, using the resources and equipment that were sufficient to push forward immediately and continuously toward the threat until entry was made into classrooms 111/112 and the threat was eliminated,” the report said.
During the shooting, 10-year-old Khloie Torres made several phone calls to 911, begging law enforcement through whispers to come and rescue her and her classmates.
“Please hurry, there’s a lot of dead bodies,” Khloie told the dispatcher. “I know how to handle these situations. My dad taught me when I was a little girl. Send help for my teachers. They’re still alive, but they’re shot.”
After the shooting ended, investigators described a chaotic scene in which dead bodies were transported in ambulances and injured students were loaded onto buses.
“[Some] families received incorrect information suggesting their family members had survived when they had not,” the Department of Justice report said. “Others were notified of the deaths of their family members by personnel untrained in delivering such news.”
“The extent of misinformation, misguided and misleading narratives, leaks, and lack of communication about what happened on May 24 is unprecedented and has had an extensive, negative impact on the mental health and recovery of the family members and other victims, as well as the entire community of Uvalde,” the report said.
The purpose of the Justice Department’s probe was not a criminal investigation, but rather an exhaustive review of law enforcement’s response at Robb Elementary. This Critical Incident Review made many recommendations in its report, including: officers should be trained on active shooter courses in one-, two-, three- and four-person groups; responders “must be prepared to approach the threat and breach or enter a room using just the tools they have with them, which is often a standard-issue firearm”; intelligence should be shared immediately with all law enforcement; if an active shooter has access to victims, they “should never be … treated as a barricaded subject”; and each victim’s family should be assigned an advocate to work with them consistently.
After the Justice Department report, the city of Uvalde immediately announced it was putting in place new training, equipment and personnel for its police force.
In March, an independent investigative report commissioned by the city of Uvalde found that none of the initial five Uvalde Police Department officers who responded to the shooting violated policy or committed serious acts of misconduct.
But the report did find many failures in the police response, including a lack of communication, a lack of records and a lack of selecting a clear leader.
The report recommended that the SWAT team in Uvalde be disbanded and for the Uvalde officers to join a regional SWAT team until they gained more experience.
Weeks after the city council report was released, the new Uvalde police chief, Homer Delgado, unveiled a plan to “overhaul” the police department, with changes including: acquiring modern equipment; prioritizing and expanding community outreach; and dedicating time and funds to new training. Delgado said he’ll also hold department-wide reviews of past actions, including one-on-one interviews with every Uvalde police officer.
Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, was killed, said she’s not confident that any policy changes will make a difference, noting that the first officers who responded to the shooting are still employed by the department.
Veronica Mata and Gloria Cazares attended an April 23 city council meeting and pleaded with Uvalde mayor pro-tem Everardo Zamora to take action against the Uvalde police officers who responded that day.
“You are not in our shoes,” Veronica Mata told Zamora. “So for you to sit here and say that you understand and that you are trying to do things, you are not. You are not. How can you sit here and look at us — day, after day, after day — and do nothing. Nothing to help us. Our children sat in there for 77 minutes — and y’all did nothing and you continue to do nothing.”
Based on what the Cazareses had been told about their daughter’s injuries and the extent of the blood she lost, they said they believe Jackie could have survived if police hadn’t waited 77 minutes to confront the shooter.
“What I want is those officers that were in the hallway, those officers that were immediately in the hallway, there has to be some kind of consequences,” Cazares told ABC News. “I would like to see them lose their job.”
Zamora said the Uvalde police policies were outdated and officers didn’t have proper training, according to the independent investigative report commissioned by the city. The pro-tem mayor promised there’d be new training and new equipment.
This week, 19 families reached a settlement with the city of Uvalde. The city will pay out a total of $2 million from its insurance coverage.
As a part of the settlement, the families said they were involved in the efforts to improve the Uvalde Police Department. The settlement also mandates ways the city should support the community as residents heal, including creating a committee to design a permanent memorial funded by the city.
The families this week also announced lawsuits against 92 Texas Department of Public Safety officers. The lawsuit names the Uvalde School District and several of its employees as defendants, including the then-principal and then-school district police chief.
The families also plan to sue the federal government, their attorney said, noting that over 150 federal officers were at the school.
“We’re fighting for the things that we believe are right and to remember our loved ones,” Cazares said. “There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t remember them or that we don’t remember what happened. And I just don’t want the world to forget that, either.”
(PARK CITY, Utah.) — Kouri Richins, the Utah mother accused of murdering her husband by mixing a lethal dose of fentanyl with his cocktail, is speaking out from jail and proclaiming her innocence in a new audio recording.
The 34-year-old mother of three, who wrote and self-published a children’s book on grieving following her husband’s death, has remained behind bars in the Summit County jail since her arrest in May 2023. She was charged last year with aggravated murder and drug charges in connection with the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins, 39. She has yet to enter a plea to the charges but she denies the allegations.
“The world has yet to hear who I really am, what I’ve really done or didn’t do,” Kouri Richins insisted in the audio, provided to ABC News through a trusted confidant. “What I really didn’t do is murder my husband.”
Eric Richins was found dead in the couple’s bedroom on March 4, 2022. An autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication, and that the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document. The medical examiner determined the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade, according to the charging document.
Kouri Richins allegedly told police that she had made her and her husband Moscow Mules the night before and they drank them while sitting on the bed, according to the probable cause statement.
Kouri Richins was also recently charged with attempted murder in the case. Prosecutors allege she drugged her husband’s sandwich on Valentine’s Day 2022 in an earlier attempt to murder him.
The motive, prosecutors allege in court filings, was that Kouri Richins was engaged in an affair with a “paramour” and deeply in debt. She also faces charges of forgery and insurance fraud.
Kouri Richins said she is releasing the audio recording in the hope of setting the record straight.
“The world hasn’t heard the real facts of the case,” she said. “It’s time to begin some serious damage control. Who I really am and all that matters is a wife of Eric Richins and a mom to three beautiful boys.”
ABC News did not immediately receive a response from prosecutors regarding the recorded statement.
In response to the recording, a spokesperson for Eric Richins’ family said, “Those are the rantings of a sociopath, a woman who has no compassion, no feelings, no sense of remorse or guilt for what she’s done and is only thinking of herself. It’s sad it’s tragic and yes, we look forward very much to having the evidence presented in front of a jury, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
The audio was released a day before Kouri Richins is next scheduled to appear in court. She is expected to get a new attorney at a status hearing on Friday after her defense filed a motion last week to withdraw from the case due to an “irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation.”
A judge granted the motion for the defense firm to withdraw on Monday.
Her attorney has also filed a motion asking the court to disqualify prosecutors for what they allege is gross misconduct, including the claim that the state recorded and listened to privileged calls between Kouri Richins and her attorney.
In a statement this week, prosecutors called the motion “materially inaccurate” and charged it was “filed in bad faith.”
A preliminary hearing to decide if prosecutors have enough evidence to go to trial was postponed until June.
(NEW YORK) — It has been a very active week in severe weather across the country with almost 80 reported tornadoes since Sunday.
On Thursday alone, there were 21 reported tornadoes in North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas combined.
We also saw on Thursday at least 231 severe storm reports from Maine to Texas, including damaging winds in Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia as numerous trees and power lines were downed, particularly in and around the New York City tri-state area.
Elsewhere, the highest wind gusts from severe storms yesterday were in Kearney County, Nebraska, with winds gusting up to 85 mph.
Looking ahead this Memorial Day Weekend, severe weather will continue from the Plains into the Ohio Valley and more severe weather is expected from Dallas to Chicago on Friday with the biggest threat being damaging winds and large hail.
The highest tornado threat on Friday in the U.S. will be in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa including Milwaukee, Chicago and Davenport as Saturday and Sunday severe weather with tornado threats are expected to really ramp up from Oklahoma to Indiana.
On Saturday, the highest threat for tornadoes will be in Kansas and Oklahoma, just west of Wichita and Oklahoma City.
On Sunday, highest threat for tornadoes will be in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, including the major cities of St. Louis, Louisville and Indianapolis.
On Memorial Day Monday, thunderstorms with heavy rain are expected to move into the Northeast and there is a threat for flash flooding along the I-95 corridor, especially from Philadelphia and just west of NYC.
Meanwhile, it could be the hottest Memorial Day on record For millions across the United States as every single day this weekend — including Memorial Day — should hit numerous record highs that are forecast from Texas to Louisiana, as well as Mississippi into Florida.
It also could be the hottest Memorial Day on record in San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans and Miami with humidity and the heat index approaching or surpassing 110 degrees.
(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Two adults — a man and a woman — have been shot during a high school graduation taking place in California, according to police.
The incident occurred at approximately 7:45 p.m. at Skyline High School in Oakland, California, when two people, currently identified as an unnamed man and an unnamed woman, were shot on the north side of campus while the graduation ceremony was taking place, according to a statement from the Oakland Police Department.
The two shooting victims were taken to local hospitals where they are currently listed in stable condition.
Authorities are investigating reports that a dispute preceded the shooting but have so far not disclosed a motive or what the potential dispute could have been about.
Police say that this appears to be an isolated incident and that there are multiple suspects but have not yet released the identities of those who are suspected to be involved.
Skyline High School was placed on lockdown immediately following the incident but that was lifted shortly after the incident took place.
The investigation into the shooting remains open and anybody with information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department.
