(NEW YORK) — A deadly storm is bringing extreme rainfall and dangerous tornadoes to the South, with the severe weather stretching from Texas to Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama to Florida.
One death was reported in Scott County, Mississippi, according to Mississippi Emergency Management officials.
At least one person in Mississippi was injured and at least 72 homes across the state have been damaged, officials said.
Three tornadoes have been confirmed so far: two in Louisiana and one in Texas.
One of the confirmed tornadoes ripped through Slidell, Louisiana, about 30 miles outside of New Orleans, damaging buildings and downing power lines as rain pounded the town.
More than 50 people have been rescued so far in Slidell, and some were taken to hospitals for their injuries, none believed to be life-threatening, according to local police. Many of the injuries came at a heavily damaged apartment complex that had the second-floor roof ripped off.
In a press conference Wednesday evening, Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal confirmed there were no deaths or major injuries as a result of the tornado.
However, Fandal said authorities have described the damage in Slidell and parts of St. Tammany Parish as “catastrophic.”
According to authorities, hundreds of homes were damaged from the storm in St. Tammany Parish, and likely just under a hundred were damaged within the city limits of Slidell. Over 50 people were evacuated from an apartment complex damaged by the storm, Slidell Fire Chief Chris Kaufmann said in the briefing.
A tornado watch remains in effect through Wednesday evening along coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and near Panama City, Florida.
Severe flooding is also a serious threat due to the torrential rain.
More than 150,000 customers lost power in Louisiana and many schools across the state are closed.
(WASHINGTON) — One person was killed and five others injured, including two children, after gunmen opened fire in a residential area of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, police said.
A suspect vehicle is being sought in connection with the shooting, police said.
The incident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. ET in the Carver Langston neighborhood in Northeast D.C., on the 1100 block of 21st Street, NE, police said.
Based on preliminary information, the suspects exited a vehicle and “began shooting into the crowd” outside, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters.
One man was killed in the shooting, Smith said. Two men, one woman and a 9-year-old boy were transferred to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.
A 12-year-old boy also arrived at a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound from the shooting, Smith said.
Police said they are searching for a light blue Toyota sedan “possibly occupied with two shooters inside” in connection with the incident.
“This is another example … of violence that we cannot, we just cannot accept in our communities,” Smith said, calling it a “senseless act” of gun violence.
(NEW YORK) — Federal authorities have arrested a man accused of detonating an explosive device outside the office of the Alabama attorney general in late February.
Kyle Calvert, 26, of Irondale, Alabama, was arrested Wednesday on charges of malicious use of an explosive and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to the Department of Justice.
The device was set off on Feb. 24 at approximately 3:42 a.m. outside the Montgomery office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, authorities said. No one was injured and the contents of the exploded device were only discovered by staffers from the attorney general’s office when they arrived at work the next morning, authorities said.
Agents who recovered the exploded materials determined the device came in a coffee container-like vessel and was packed with gasoline, a mortar, firecrackers and nails “to increase its destructive capability,” according to court filings.
The FBI pulled surveillance footage from around the area that showed the subject placing stickers around Montgomery before planting the explosive device, according to court filings. One of the stickers read “Support your local antifa” while others included phrases such as “EAT THE RICH,” “FEMINIST ACTION” and “ABOLISH ICE,” according to the filings.
Investigators later tracked down Calvert through a vehicle the subject was seen in prior to and after the incident, according to the filings. They also compared surveillance footage of Calvert from a prior employer to the footage of the subject captured at the scene and saw both had a similar “unique gait,” the filings stated. Calvert also posted a photo to social media wearing goggles that were “identical” to ones worn by the subject who detonated the explosives, according to the filings.
Calvert allegedly posted about his “violent impulses” and his frustrations with the government on social media, according to the filings. “How the f— are we not killing the government right now!” Calvert reportedly said in a video posted on Dec. 12, 2023, according to the filings.
Investigators also spoke to a more recent employer of Calvert, who reported he was exhibiting “strange behavior” at work, according to the filings.
Calvert was taken into custody on Wednesday following a grand jury indictment. He will be represented by a federal defender though online records do not list the name of an attorney. ABC News left a message with the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama.
If convicted, Calvert faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the DOJ.
A possible motive has not been released.
“Thanks to the work of the FBI and our state and local law enforcement partners, this defendant is being held accountable for allegedly detonating an explosive device outside of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department has no tolerance for acts of violence targeting those who serve the public.”
The Alabama attorney general expressed relief at news of the arrest.
“Although more information will be provided in the weeks to come, I think it is safe to say that this was not a random act of violence,” Marshall said in a statement. “We are grateful to our federal and local partners for their assistance in this matter and are pleased that the offender faces federal charges carrying significant prison time.”
(NEW YORK) — A 21-year-old man has died while attempting to perform a “high-risk skiing stunt” trying to jump the width of a U.S. highway in Colorado, authorities say.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at approximately 3 p.m. when the Grand County Communications Center in Colorado received a 911 call regarding a skiing accident on Highway 40, just west of Berthoud Pass Summit about reports of a 21-year-old male skier who was found “unconscious and not breathing,” according to a statement from the Grand County Sheriff’s Office released on Wednesday.
“The preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was attempting to perform a high-risk skiing stunt by trying to clear the width of Highway 40 and unfortunately lacked the necessary speed and distance and subsequently landed on the highway pavement,” authorities said. “The victim had been wearing a helmet and other protective gear.”
Officials initiated CPR on the man but could not resuscitate him.
“Emergency responders arrived on scene and determined that the male subject was deceased and the Grand County Coroner’s Office was notified to respond to the scene,” according to Grand County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident impacted Highway 40 traffic in both directions while investigators processed the scene and maintained the privacy of the victim, police say.
The Grand County Coroner’s Office has now assumed primary jurisdiction over this case and will release the victim’s identity and cause and manner of death “when appropriate,” authorities said.
The investigation into the accident is currently ongoing.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Multiple people were injured after gunfire broke out at a celebration to mark the end of Ramadan in Philadelphia, police said.
The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon in the Parkside neighborhood at an Eid al-Fitr event that was attended by approximately 1,000 people, police said. The holiday marks the end of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting.
Two “factions” pulled out guns and started shooting at each other at the outdoor gathering, according to Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. About 30 shots were fired, he said.
A 22-year-old was shot in the stomach during the gunfire and a juvenile self-transported to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand, Bethel said. Both are in stable condition, he said.
An officer at the event also shot a 15-year-old boy who was allegedly armed with a gun, according to Bethel. The teen was shot in the shoulder and leg. The officer recovered the firearm and transported the teen to a hospital, he said.
A child also fractured their leg when they were hit by a responding police officer’s car, Bethel said.
Five people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, Bethel said. They include the 15-year-old who was shot by the officer, as well as four suspects — three juveniles and an adult– who fled the scene with guns, according to Bethel. Five weapons were recovered overall, he said.
A motive remains unknown, Bethel said.
Bethel praised individuals in the park who “grabbed kids and got them out of harm’s way” and said it was “fortunate” that there were no further casualties in the shooting.
“We know that the majority, 99% of the individuals at this event, are good people who wanted to have a good time,” Bethel said.
The shooting incident is under investigation. Local law enforcement are collaborating with federal partners, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI.
One attendee described the chaotic scene to Philadelphia ABC station WPVI-TV.
“I just saw everybody just running and frantic,” she told the station. “People’s strollers getting turned over, everybody screaming.”
“Everybody just ran away like it was an elephant stampede,” she continued.
(FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho.) — Prosecutors claimed that Chad Daybell’s pursuit of “sex, money and power” led to him killing his first wife and his second wife’s two children during opening statements Wednesday in his triple murder trial in Idaho.
His capital murder trial comes nearly a year after his second wife, Lori Vallow, was convicted of murdering her two youngest children — Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16 — in the so-called doomsday plot.
Prosecutors claim that Vallow and Daybell thought the two children were “dark spirits ” and “zombies” and murdered them in 2019, approximately a year after meeting at a religious conference. The children’s remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search, police said.
Ryan’s DNA was found on two tools in Daybell’s shed, prosecutor Rob Wood said during his opening statement in Daybell’s trial on Wednesday.
Daybell was also charged with murder in the death of his former wife, Tamara Daybell, who died Oct. 19, 2019, of asphyxiation, prosecutors previously revealed during Vallow’s trial. Seventeen days later, Vallow and Daybell married in Hawaii, prosecutors said.
During his opening statement on Wednesday in the Boise courtroom, Wood described Daybell as a “seemingly ordinary man” who was the author of books about the apocalypse and possessed a “desire for sex, money and power” — echoing the prosecutor’s statements during Vallow’s trial.
“When he had a chance to what he considered his rightful destiny, he made sure that no person, no law would stand in his way,” Wood told jurors. “This desire for sex, money and power led him to pursue those ambitions, and this pursuit led to the deaths of his wife and Lori’s two children.”
Wood told jurors they can expect to hear during the trial Daybell’s “extended text messages to reveal his mindset and his motivations.”
Defense attorney John Prior told the jurors during his opening statement Wednesday that Daybell had “no remarkable background” and was married to his first wife for nearly 30 years and had five children with her before meeting Vallow.
He described Vallow as a “beautiful, vivacious person” who was “very manipulative” and pursued Daybell, her fifth husband.
He told jurors they can expect to hear about Vallow’s past tumultuous relationships and the death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was fatally shot by her brother in 2019 during a confrontation at her Arizona home. Police were investigating claims that her brother, Alex Cox, shot his brother-in-law in self-defense when Cox died from natural causes months after the fatal shooting.
Prior told jurors that Cox “would do anything” for his sister.
“Whenever there was a problem or threat, you will hear testimony that Alex Cox came to the rescue,” Prior said.
Prior told jurors they will hear testimony from a DNA expert who determined that fingerprints found on the plastic that JJ was discovered in belonged to Cox.
Prior also said a forensic pathologist will testify that there was no way to determine Tamara Daybell’s cause of death. Several of Daybell’s five children also plan to testify about their mother’s health, Prior said.
Jury selection for Daybell’s trial, which began on April 1, took six days. The trial is expected to last around nine weeks, court records show.
Daybell, 55, was also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the death of his former wife and two counts of insurance fraud related to life insurance policies he had on her for which he was the beneficiary, prosecutors said.
He pleaded not guilty to his charges. He faces the death sentence if convicted of murder.
His case is being presided over by the same judge from Vallow’s trial, Judge Steve Boyce.
Boyce sentenced Vallow to life in prison without parole after the jury in her trial found her guilty of all charges. The judge had granted the defense’s motion to dismiss the death penalty in her case before her trial began.
Vallow has also been accused of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. She was indicted on one count of first-degree murder by a Maricopa County grand jury in 2021 in connection with his fatal shooting.
She was also charged with first-degree premeditated murder for allegedly plotting to kill the ex-husband of her niece.
(BRANDON, Miss.) — Six former white Mississippi law enforcement officers were sentenced to decades in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to state charges related to the racially motivated torture, sexual assault and shooting of two Black men in January 2023 and their subsequent actions to cover up their crimes.
The group of officers includes five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies — Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke — as well as former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield. The sheriff’s deputies had dubbed themselves the “Goon Squad” for their willingness to use excessive force, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
McAlpin, Middleton and Opdyke were each sentenced Wednesday to 15 years for hindering prosecution and five years for conspiracy to commit hindering prosecution, according to Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT. Hartfield was sentenced to 10 years for hindering prosecution and five years for conspiracy to hinder prosecution.
Dedmon was sentenced to 20 years for burglary and five years for conspiracy to commit hindering prosecution, and Elward was sentenced to 20 years for aggravated assault, 20 years for burglary and five years for conspiracy to commit hindering prosecution, per WAPT.
According to the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Finch, the six former officers pleaded guilty in a Rankin County Circuit Court on Aug. 14, 2023, to aggravated assault, home invasion, obstruction of justice/hindering prosecution in the first degree and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice.
“The State Sentencing on Wednesday in Rankin County will be a test to see if the prosecutors and the Judge Rankin County will hold the Goon Squad accountable like they were in federal court,” attorney Malik Shabazz, who represents the two victims Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, said in a statement Monday. “The state criminal sentencing is important because historically, the state of Mississippi has lagged behind or ignored racial crimes and police brutality against Blacks, and the Department of Justice has had to lead the way. The nation expects a change on Wednesday.”
The state sentencing comes after all six officers pleaded guilty to 16 felony charges related to this case in federal court last August and received federal prison sentences ranging from 10 to 40 years in March.
They will serve the federal and the state sentences concurrently.
“The depravity of the crimes committed by these defendants cannot be overstated, and they will now spend between 10 and 40 years in prison for their heinous attack on citizens they had sworn to protect,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on March 21.
“Officers who violate constitutional rights will be held accountable by the Justice Department for their crimes that harm individual victims and betray the trust of entire communities,” he added.
In their guilty pleas, the six former officers admitted to breaking into a home where Jenkins and Parker were residing without a warrant after a white neighbor reported that the men were staying with a white woman and alleged “suspicious” activity. They then proceeded to arrest Jenkins and Parker “without probable cause” that they committed any crimes, according to the DOJ.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, mocked them with racial slurs, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy, forced them to strip naked and shower together and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
Following the incident, the two victims faced false charges for months, according to the DOJ, stemming from the officers’ plan to cover up their actions by tampering with and planting evidence, including drugs and a gun.
The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in February 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit.
When asked about the status of the lawsuit, Shabazz told ABC News in March that the lawsuit is still in court and they are “fighting.”
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — Police in Birmingham, Alabama, are searching for the gunman who shot and killed a UPS worker in a targeted attack, authorities said.
The shooting unfolded at about 6:05 p.m. Tuesday as the victim walked to his car at a Birmingham UPS facility after his shift ended, Birmingham police Sgt. Laquitta Wade said in a video statement Tuesday night.
He was confronted by a gunman who fired shots and then fled the scene, Wade said.
Mayor Eric Adams holds a press availability at a news conference Jan. 08, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The sexual assault lawsuit against New York Mayor Eric Adams is “entirely fictitious” and should be dismissed, his defense attorney Alex Spiro wrote in a new court filing.
Spiro is assisting the city’s Law Department in defending the mayor, who, as a New York City Police Department captain at the time of the alleged conduct, is eligible for free legal representation from the city.
The attorney set to work Tuesday, filing the answer to a complaint from Lorna Beach-Mathura, who claimed she and Adams were both working for the Transit Bureau in the early 1990s when he allegedly sexually harassed her by driving her to a remote lot, demanding oral sex, exposing himself and forcing her to touch him. Her lawsuit also named the city and the NYPD.
“The allegations of wrongdoing in the Complaint are entirely fictitious, and Defendants expect and are looking forward to their day in court and complete vindication,” Spiro wrote.
Beach-Mathura, a Florida resident, alleged the abuse by Adams occurred in 1993 after she sought his help with an employment issue. Beach-Mathura has alleged sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, assault and battery and brought the case under the Adult Survivor’s act, which allowed claims to be brought long after the statute of limitations had lapsed. The mayor has denied the allegation.
“This did not happen. It did not happen. I don’t recall ever meeting this person during my time in the police department,” Adams said shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
Spiro will charge $250 per hour for work by partners and $175 for work by associates, according to city officials, significantly less than his customary $2,000 per hour rate.
(NEW YORK) — Students from Hawaii who were impacted by the wildfires on Maui traveled 4,000 miles to Japan to learn from the community there how residents recovered from their own devastating disaster.
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has helped fund a program called “Kibou for Maui,” which is being implemented by the U.S.-Japan Council. Kibou means hope in Japanese. The program aims to engage, inspire and empower the youth affected by the Lahaina wildfires that tore through the area in August 2023.
The program is designed to help youth from Lahaina lead a long-term recovery process that involves physical, mental and spiritual aspects and contributes to the betterment of their community.
Eleven students from Lahaina high schools traveled to Higashimatsushima, Miyagi, Japan, on March 17 to gain insights into the city’s recovery process after a deadly earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Miku Narisawa, co-founder of Odyssey Nature Japan and a survivor of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, was the driving force behind the trip.
The 11 students from Maui were hand-selected and coached by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.
“When I saw the wildfires, I immediately said, ‘OK, this is something that I, we, should do for the kids in Lahaina,'” Narisawa told ABC News.
Similar to the students from Lahaina, Narisawa’s hometown was destroyed by the earthquake and the tsunami that soon followed.
The earthquake and tsunami caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, devastated entire towns and led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster 85 miles away.
Narisawa was 12 years old when she survived the earthquake by evacuating with hundreds of others to the third floor of her elementary school. She told ABC News her family lost their home and, along with other families, lived without electricity and running water for nearly two months.
“We lived with my grandparents for a month,” Narisawa said. “We [had] to relocate to a temporary housing and we lived there for two years.”
She says that day changed her life forever.
Now, 13 years later, she is trying to give hope to young students who faced a similar disaster.
“I want them to know that experiencing the wildfire was tough, I’m sure, but that it’s not the end of the world, and that’s not, you know, the end of everything,” Narisawa said.
The Kibou for Maui program is similar to “Tomodachi Rainbow for Japan Kids,” a program Narisawa participated in for Japanese kids. Narisawa and 150 Japanese children traveled to Hawaii for rest, healing and physical/psychological relief after the earthquake.
According to the Tomodachi website, the Tomodachi Rainbow program aims to foster long-term friendships with Hawaii’s children through outdoor activities and camping in the state’s natural beauty.
While participating in the program, Narisawa met Yoh Kawanami, a volunteer from Hawaii. The two met in 2011 and became good friends. Kawanami is now a board member for USJC
“When you have a role model who actually has walked the talk — she is a survivor, and now she’s a leader — nothing should stop the 11 students, the Maui students, from feeling the same way,” Kawanami said. “Having Miku in front of that is a true example of what hope could be for these students.”
While in Japan, the students met individuals who assured them they were not alone in their journey, and that their town could rebuild. They also got a glimpse of how the town once was compared to how it looks today.
“It’s very hard to tell that a tsunami happened here,” Sabrina, one of the 11 students, said. “It’s so beautiful, you know? You would, you would have never thought something like that happened. And I’m hoping that it’ll be the same for us.”
One student shared that the experience gave her hope for the future of her hometown in Hawaii. Seeing firsthand how a city can flourish again after a disaster boosted her optimism.
“It kind of gives us hope for Lahaina,” Cece said. “Because, you know, they were talking about how everything was underwater and seeing back home just everything’s burnt right now. To see there is hope and it can come back, flourish and have life again.”
The students visited an oyster farm, destroyed during the disaster, that’s now wholly centered on sustainability.
“In the ocean we had a lot of pieces of house, pieces of building, floating back to the ocean. So that was really the hardest part for the fisherman, cause they had to clean up,” Narisawa told the students.
“That really, like, struck a chord to me ’cause it really shows that, like, if you don’t give up and you keep persevering… you can return things to back to what they were,” Taika Swearinger said.
They also visited Onagawa, which was heavily damaged in the tsunami, to learn how they recovered following the earthquake and tsunami.
“I found it very interesting how they decided to rebuild,” Zean, one of the 11 Lahaina students, said. “While some areas decided to build a sea wall, Onagawa decided to divide the town into levels. This made me realize that we need to think strategically when it comes to rebuilding our hometown.”
Chaperones from the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii encouraged the students to apply lessons learned in Japan when they return home.
The Maui students said that they gained knowledge and hope from their weeklong visit.
Lahaina student Shiela shared that she was caught up in the pessimism that Lahaina would not be able to rebuild and recover.
“I’m actually ashamed to say this, but I also thought it was impossible ’cause after the fire, after seeing my house, I was kind of hesitant,” Shiela said. “But this trip really gave me hope and I thought if I got a spark of hope, I think my community will also.”
Lahaina student M Jee also shared her optimism.
“Even if we come out of a tragedy that destroyed many of our daily lives, there’s still hope for us to recover. There’s still hope for a better future,” he told ABC. “So kibou, hope for a better future. That’s what it means to me.”
