(NEW YORK) — A winter snowstorm is taking aim at the Northeast and could wreak havoc for major cities during the Tuesday morning commute.
New York City’s public schools, the largest system in the country, will be closed Tuesday, with classes moving to remove learning, Mayor Eric Adams announced. Boston Public Schools will also be closed Tuesday.
The fast-moving storm will begin with rain in New York City Monday night, transitioning to snow at some point during the overnight hours.
The snowstorm is expected to last from about 7 a.m. to early Tuesday afternoon.
Snowfall rates could reach 1 to 2 inches per hour in New York City and 3 inches per hour inland of New York City, causing a very dangerous morning commute.
Winds will also be gusting between 20 and 40 mph, limiting visibility.
In Boston, the snowfall could reach extremely heavy rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour.
Eight to 12 inches of snow is expected in Boston, while suburbs to the west of Boston could be buried under 12 to 18 inches of snow.
New York City and Long Island are forecast to get 4 to 8 inches while Westchester County, New York, and northern New Jersey could see 8 to 12 inches.
Twelve to 18 inches of snow is possible in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
(HOUSTON) — A woman opened fire with a long gun inside celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Texas on Sunday afternoon before being shot and killed by off-duty police officers, authorities said.
The armed woman, who was between the ages of 30 and 35 years old, entered the Lakewood Church in Houston just before 2 p.m. local time alongside a 5-year-old boy, who was critically wounded in the shootout with police. A 57-year-old man, who is not believed to be involved in the incident, was also shot but is in stable condition, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner.
The suspect was gunned down by two off-duty officers who were working security at the church. She was pronounced dead at the scene, Finner said.
The injured child is hospitalized in critical condition, according to Finner.
When asked if the responding officers shot the child, the police chief told reporters he didn’t know. He added, “If it was, unfortunately, and that female, that suspect, put that baby in danger, I’m gonna put that blame on her.”
The suspect claimed to have a bomb, but no explosives were found by police, according to Finner.
“She had a long gun and it could’ve been a lot worse,” Finner said during a press conference on Sunday.
The shooting unfolded shortly before the church’s 2 p.m. Spanish language service was set to begin. Osteen’s Lakewood Church is one of the largest megachurches in the United States.
“I can only imagine what would have happened if this happened during the 11:00 service,” Osteen said. “She could have done much worse damage.”
Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
(HOUSTON) — Officers are responding to reports of a shooting at pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, according to Houston police.
It appears “a possible shooter is down,” shot by one of the deputies at the scene, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said some Harris County deputies also work at the church as a part-time job.
The church confirmed shots were fired, adding, “Please pray for Lakewood and our community.”
There is an active situation involving shots fired at Lakewood. Law enforcement is on the scene.
That is all the information we have at this time. Please pray for Lakewood and our community.
(KANSAS CITY, Mo) — A mother in Kansas City, Missouri, has been arrested and charged in the death of her 1-month-old infant after allegedly mistakenly placing the baby in an oven instead of a crib, the prosecutor’s office said.
Mariah Thomas, 26, has been charged with a Class A felony, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, in the death of her baby, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Saturday.
“We appreciate all first responders who worked this scene and the prosecutors who went to the scene in order to issue these charges,” Baker said in a press release. “We acknowledge the gruesome nature of this tragedy and our hearts are weighted by the loss of this precious life. We trust the criminal justice system to respond appropriately to these awful circumstances.”
Police officers were dispatched to a residence in the Manheim Park neighborhood of Kansas City at around 1:30 p.m. local time Friday, responding to a call about a nonbreathing infant, according to court documents filed Saturday and obtained by ABC News.
Upon arrival, officers observed the infant victim had apparent burn wounds, according to the court documents. The Kansas City Fire Department responded and declared the 1-month-old dead at the scene, according to the court documents.
Thomas alleged she was putting the child down for a nap and accidentally mistakenly placed the child in the oven instead of the crib, according to the court documents.
“I thought I put [infant’s name redacted] in her crib, and I accidentally put her in the oven,” Thomas allegedly told the infant’s grandfather, who gave a statement to police, according to the court documents.
Court records do not yet show if Thomas has an attorney representing her.
If convicted, Thomas could face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, according to Missouri state law.
The brother and girlfriend of a Tennessee man accused of shooting two deputies during a traffic stop, killing one of them, have been arrested amid a manhunt for the fugitive, according to authorities and court documents.
Kenneth DeHart, 42, is wanted on first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting of two Blount County deputies, state police said. He also faces one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has Kenneth DeHart on its “most wanted” list.
The incident occurred Thursday evening in the 4900 block of Sevierville Road in Maryville, the sheriff’s office said. “Erratic driving” prompted the traffic stop, police said. Details on what led up to the shooting have not been released.
The last known location of Kenneth DeHart was in the Wildwood area, the sheriff’s office said. He is believed to be on foot and is considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff’s office said.
Amid the search, the suspect’s brother and girlfriend have been arrested in connection with the case on the charge of accessory after the fact, according to officials and court documents.
The suspect’s brother — Marcus DeHart, 41 — was taken into custody Friday “for aiding the defendant after the commission of the homicide,” Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond said during a press briefing. He is being held on a $1 million bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Desmond said.
The suspect’s girlfriend — Carrie Mathews, 32 — was also booked into custody in Sevier County after local deputies interviewed her about Kenneth DeHart’s whereabouts, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. While being interviewed at her residence Thursday night, Mathews took a call from someone purportedly named “Janeisha” who was later determined to actually be Kenneth DeHart, according to the affidavit. Mathews allegedly told the caller, “They’re here,” which the affiant claimed warned Kenneth DeHart “of impending apprehension or discovery,” according to the affidavit.
It is unclear if the two alleged accessories have an attorney at this time.
Authorities said they are unable to release any additional details on the case at this time.
A #TNBlueAlert has been issued for 42 y/o Kenneth Wayne DeHart.
He is wanted by the TBI and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office for Assault on two law enforcement officers.
— Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) February 9, 2024
More than $80,000 in reward money is being offered for information leading to the fugitive’s arrest, according to the Blount County sheriff. That includes a $40,000 reward being offered by Smith & Wesson, which is headquartered in Maryville.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office urged those in the Wildwood area with outdoor security or doorbell camera video systems to check for video or photos of “possible suspicious persons or activity that may have occurred near your resident overnight.”
“We will get this man off the streets of East Tennessee and put him behind bars,” Blount County Sheriff James Berrong said during a press briefing early Friday.
A visibly emotional Berrong identified the deceased deputy as Greg McCowan during the briefing.
“I’m so sorry that we’ve lost a young man. I talked to his family earlier. I apologized for not protecting him,” Berrong said.
McCowan, 43, began working with the sheriff’s office in 2020, after making a career change from manufacturing. He was commended by the sheriff’s office in April 2021 for helping save the life of a man trapped in a burning vehicle. He enjoyed riding motorcycles and restoring old vehicles, the sheriff’s office said.
“Deputy McCowan was a hero both in life and in his death,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Sheriff Berrong and our deputies are heartbroken at his senseless death.”
He is survived by his fiancé, two children, granddaughter and parents.
Deputy Shelby Eggers, 22, who returned fire during the incident, was shot in the leg, the sheriff’s office said. She has since been released from an area hospital.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Alliance for Women in Media Foundation
(NEW YORK) — In 2018, an emaciated male body was found in the Florida wilderness with little clues about his identity.
But through a group of internet sleuths, the man was later identified as a hiker known by his nickname of Mostly Harmless.
The story is now being re-examined in a Max documentary “They Called Him Mostly Harmless,” which premiered Thursday.
ABC News Live’s Phil Lipof spoke with Emmy award-winning director Patricia Gillespie about the documentary and the interest in true crime.
ABC NEWS LIVE: This looks fascinating. What made you want to turn this story into a documentary?
PATRICIA GILLESPIE: I was initially approached with this story by my colleague, Ethan Goldman at Anchor Entertainment. And at that point, it was the story of this man who had been found deceased and had no identity. But what I saw when I looked deeper was a bigger story about the true crime community and the sleuthing community and why these stories really grab us and move us. And I was interested in exploring that and some of these themes about what it means to be alive in the digital age.
ABC NEWS LIVE: There are quite a few cases of unidentified persons, as you know, what was it about Mostly Harmless that intrigued internet sleuths in that community so much?
GILLESPIE: Yeah, I mean, I think there are some sort of straightforward answers about, the fact that he had met so many people on the trail but not giving them his name; the fact that he died in this very unusual circumstance. He was emaciated but had food in his tent. There were a bunch of facts about the case that made him interesting. But at the end of the day, I also think it’s worth mentioning he’s a good-looking, relatively young white guy and that’s very shareable. And there are thousands and thousands of others, those who don’t find themselves in that demographic, and their stories don’t get shared. So I appreciate you asking that question.
ABC NEWS LIVE: We’ve all heard about these amateur investigators, who use the internet to look into these cases. What did you find out about them as you interviewed them for this documentary as a community? What is it about them?
GILLESPIE: Yeah. So I think there’s been a lot of discourse around true crime, lately, and I think some of it has been kind of dismissive and or critical. And I never mind when they’re critical of us, the makers. But there’s something that always bugs me when they’re critical of our audience.
ABC NEWS LIVE: You have said before that you don’t like how people are critical of this particular community. Why is that?
GILLESPIE: I think that the true crime audience is skews female. And I think like a lot of things that skew female, it’s easy to dismiss or make light of. But in reality, there’s this perception that these are like lonely women who like gory details or whatever. But I think what’s actually going on is an exercise in empathy. I think these are women who are interested or people, the true crime audience, are people who are interested in examining life with these very high stakes of life and death, who are interested in seeing people maintain their goodness in the face of something dark or evil or scary.
And I really wanted to examine it through these women, in this story, because I felt they weren’t just spectating. They were doing something and I felt that was special and deserved to be highlighted.
ABC NEWS LIVE: There was a write-up in the New York Times. I’m sure you saw it. It was a nice write-up about the documentary. One line stuck out to me at the very end. The critic had said, the best documentaries turn the camera on us. I’m paraphrasing if she’s watching, but, that that was what I that was what I thought. And so I want to know, did you go into this thinking you were going to focus on Mostly Harmless or the community that was trying to solve the mystery?
GILLESPIE: As a filmmaker, I tried to go in with questions rather than answers. But what started to emerge to me that was that to me, the real story wasn’t about the details of this private citizen who had unfortunately died under these mysterious circumstances. It was about who he became as sort of this cipher on the internet that all these people, the hikers, the sleuths poured an idea into. And it was usually an idea of him being who they needed him to be, or wanted him to be, or wished him to be. And we do that so much online.
(NEW YORK) — This weekend will bring severe storms and a flood risk to the southern U.S., while the Rockies and Western Plains are expected to see heavy snow. Meanwhile, the Northeast will see record warm temperatures.
A very slow-moving storm system will bring heavy rain and storms to the South over the next three days. On Saturday, a flash flood threat looms from east Texas to western Tennessee, including Shreveport, Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee. This area could see 1 to 3 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts up to 4 inches.
Severe storms are also possible across the South through Monday.
Today’s storm threat could bring large hail to San Antonio, Texas. An isolated tornado and damaging wind is also possible in Texas, with all threats beginning Saturday evening and continuing overnight when the storms begin marching east.
On Sunday, the severe threat reaches from Houston, Texas, to Mobile, Alabama, and includes New Orleans, Louisiana. Damaging wind and tornadoes will be possible with these storms. The greatest threat is after dark and overnight.
On Monday, the storm pattern will hit the Southeast, centering around Georgia and Northern Florida and its panhandle. Damaging wind and tornadoes are the main threats here.
Heavy snow
On the backside of this storm system, there is quite a bit of snow expected for the Rockies and western Plains over the weekend. Snow is already falling from New Mexico to Wyoming.
From Denver to Greeley, Colorado, anywhere from 1-8 inches of snow have fallen. More snow is expected on Saturday, leading to storm totals between 2 to 12 inches depending on the location. Denver is expecting 2 to 6 inches.
Winter Storm Warnings are out for New Mexico, including Santa Fe. Lower elevations are expecting 3 to 8 inches with the mountains seeing up to 16 inches of snow this weekend.
Winter Storm Watches are set for western Oklahoma, which could see 3 to 5 inches of wet snow between Saturday night and Sunday evening. Winds may gust up to 40 mph, reducing visibility. In the Texas panhandle, between 3 and 10 inches of snow is expected between Saturday night and Sunday night.
One more day of record warmth
On Friday, Chicago tied a record daily high of 56 degrees; Grand Rapids, Michigan, tied at 55 degrees; Detroit, Michigan, tied at 64 degrees; and Syracuse, New York broke its previous daily record reaching 63 degrees, well above its 59 degree record from 1925.
Saturday is the last day with possible record highs. The extremely warm February weather will be in the Northeast. Burlington, Vermont, could break its old daily record of 46 degrees by reaching the 50s. Albany, New York, is also among the likely records on Saturday, reaching the upper 50s. The storm system in the South will head to the Northeast on Tuesday with snow possible.
(WASHINGTON) — Joel Greenberg, a one-time close friend of Rep. Matt Gaetz who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including federal sex trafficking, is cooperating with the House Ethics Committee probe into the Florida congressman, sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News.
Greenberg, who is currently in prison, served as a top witness in the Justice Department’s years-long probe into Gaetz that concluded with the DOJ’s decision not to being charges against him.
Greenberg has been in contact with the Ethics Committee for weeks and has provided documents related to the case, sources told ABC News.
The New York Times was first to report Greenberg’s cooperation with the committee.
The House investigation, which was reopened last summer, continues to ramp up, as the committee in recent weeks has contacted multiple new witnesses as part of its ongoing investigation into the Florida congressman, sources said.
In a statement, Greenberg’s attorney Fritz Scheller told ABC News that Greenberg “has and will cooperate with any congressional request.”
“In a functioning democracy, he has no other choice,” Scheller said. “One would hope that the Department of Justice shares in such a perspective. But then again, hope is the quintessential human delusion. Regardless, the documents provided to Congress are not subject to any investigative privilege since they were not provided to the defense by the DOJ.”
Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing. In a statement, a spokesperson for the congressman said, “The DOJ received the same material, deemed it unreliable, and declined to press charges. The press should not be laundering smears from people in prison.”
Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, reached a deal with investigators in May 2021 in which he pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a minor and introducing her to other “adult men” who also had sex with her when she was underage.
He also agreed to provide “substantial assistance” to DOJ prosecutors as part of their ongoing investigation into Gaetz and others, according to sources familiar with the arrangement.
(Nipton, CA) — No survivors were located after a helicopter crashed in the Mojave Desert in California Friday night, authorities said.
The crash was reported shortly after 10 p.m. Friday night, a statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday.
“The scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road,” the statement added. “We are not able to confirm how many people were on board or their names. No survivors have been located.”
A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration said a helicopter crashed near Nipton, California, Friday night.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(Sacramento, CA) — Sweeping advances in artificial intelligence have elicited warnings from industry leaders about the potential for grave risks, including weapon systems going rogue and massive cyberattacks.
A state legislator in California, home to many of the largest AI companies, proposed a landmark bill this week that would impose regulations to address those dangers.
The bill requires mandatory testing for wide-reaching AI products before they reach users. Every major AI model, the bill adds, should be equipped with a means for shutting the technology down if something goes wrong.
“When we’re talking about safety risks related to extreme hazards, it’s far preferable to put protections in place before those risks occur as opposed to trying to play catch up,” state Sen. Scott Wiener, the sponsor of the bill, told ABC News. “Let’s get ahead of this.”
Here’s what to know about what the bill does and how it could impact AI regulation nationwide:
What would the bill do to police the risks of AI?
The bill would heighten the scrutiny faced by large AI models before they gain wide option, ensuring that state officials test the products prior to their release.
In addition to mandating an emergency off-switch, the bill would implement hacking protections to make AI less vulnerable to bad actors.
To bolster enforcement, the measure would establish the Frontier Model Division within the California Department of Technology as a means of carrying out the regulations.
Since the legislation focuses on extreme risks, it will not apply to small-scale AI products, Wiener said.
“Our goal is to foster innovation with safety in mind,” Wiener added.
Even more, the bill would promote AI development by creating CalCompute, a publicly owned initiative that would facilitate shared computing power among businesses, researchers and community groups.
The effort would help lower the technical threshold for small firms or organizations that may lack the immense computing capacity enjoyed by large companies, Teri Olle, the director of nonprofit Economic Security California, told ABC News.
“By expanding that access, it will allow for there to be research and innovation and AI development that is aligned with the public interest,” said Olle, whose organization helped develop this feature of the bill.
Sarah Myers West, managing director of AI Now Institute, a nonprofit group that supports AI regulation, applauded the preventative approach taken by the measure.
“It’s great to see the focus on addressing and mitigating harms before they go into the market,” Myers West told ABC News.
However, she added, many current risks posed by AI remain unaddressed, including bias in algorithms used to set worker pay or grant access to healthcare.
“There are so many places where AI is already being used to affect people,” Myers West said.
For his part, Wiener said the California legislature has taken up other bills to address some of the ongoing harms caused by AI. “We’re not going to solve every problem in one bill,” Wiener added.
How could the bill impact AI legislation nationwide?
The California measure on extreme AI risk comes amid a surge of AI-related bills in statehouses nationwide.
As of September, state legislatures had introduced 191 AI-related bills in 2023, amounting to a 440% increase over the full previous year, according to BSA the Software Alliance, an industry group.
Legislation proposed in California carries special weight, however, since many of the largest AI companies are based in the state, said Olle, of Economic Security California.
“Regulations in California set the standard,” Olle said. “In complying with these standards in California, you affect the market.”
Despite recent policy discussion and hearings, Congress has achieved little progress toward a comprehensive measure to address AI risks, Myers West said.
“Congress has been kind of stuck,” Myers West added. “That does mean there’s a really important role for the states.”
Dylan Hoffman, executive director for California and the Southwest at industry lobbying group TechNet, emphasized the importance of U.S.-based AI regulation that shapes global rules surrounding the technology.
“America must set the standards for the responsible development and deployment of AI for the world,” Hoffman told ABC News in a statement. “We look forward to reviewing the legislation and working with Senator Wiener to ensure any AI policies benefit all Californians, address any risks, and strengthen our global competitiveness.”
While crafting the bill, Wiener borrowed some concepts from an executive order issued by President Joe Biden in October, such as the threshold used to determine whether an AI model reaches a large enough scale to warrant regulation, Wiener said.
Still, Wiener said he remains skeptical of the likelihood for federal legislation that would mimic the approach taken by the California bill.
“I would love for Congress to pass a strong, pro-innovation pro-safety AI law,” Wiener added. “I don’t have extreme confidence that Congress will be able to do anything in the near future. I hope they prove me wrong.”
