(NEW YORK) — Joshua Schulte, who was convicted of orchestrating the largest leak of classified material in CIA history, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.
Schulte, 35, handed WikiLeaks a trove of CIA cyber espionage tools known as Vault 7, in what federal prosecutors called “some of the most heinous, brazen violations of the Espionage Act in American history.”
On March 7, 2017, WikiLeaks began publishing classified data from the stolen CIA files, the first of 26 disclosures.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(FLORENCE, Ky.) — A group of current and former staffers at Rector A. Jones Middle School in Florence, Kentucky, are celebrating this week after they played the Kentucky Powerball and won $1 million.
The group calls themselves the “Jones 30” and among them are Sharon Reynolds, Jones’ 7th-grade vice principal, and Michelle Cravens, a 7th-grade guidance counselor.
“Every person that won has walked the halls of Jones at some point in their career. Thirteen of us are still here and 17 of us are in other schools, other districts, or retired,” Reynolds explained to “Good Morning America.”
Cravens said she’s been playing the lottery with her fellow educators for the last couple of years.
“One of our [retired] math teachers was on and off playing the lottery and people would jump in and play with her and then she got it a little bit better organized and she had a group of 30 people that we all put money in,” Cravens told “GMA.” “She’s just been keeping that going for the last two, three years and she’s played the same numbers every week.”
The winning numbers were 7-38-65-66-68.
As for the winning numbers, Reynolds said “three of them were in the 60s” and then she said they “missed the Powerball by like, five digits,” but they plan on playing the lottery again and just might play with the same numbers.
Reynolds and Cravens said they were both very surprised to find out their group lottery ticket was a winner.
“Every week, she sends us a picture of our ticket in a group chat thread so we all see the ticket and know that it’s purchased before the drawing so we know it’s our ticket. And she goes, ‘I think we’ve won,’ and I was like, ‘There’s no way. You’re just messing with me because my birthday is tomorrow,'” Reynolds recalled. “And she goes, ‘No, I really think we won. I need you to double check the numbers.'”
Reynolds double-checked and then after several others learned the numbers matched up, a caravan of the Jones 30 group traveled together Tuesday evening, after school let out, to collect their winnings.
Now that they’ve won big, Cravens said she’s happy to see Jones Middle School get its turn in the spotlight.
“We have a very special population of students here,” the counselor said. “We just want everybody to know that we’re here. … I’m very happy that the world is getting to know Jones Middle School and getting to know our students and that they are getting the exposure that they deserve.”
After they divided the $1 million equally, each member of the Jones 30 received about $33,333, which after taxes, totaled about $24,000.
Cravens said she plans on paying off some debt but that some of her winnings also went to an unexpected expense that recently came up for her.
“I’ve got two small kids and we’ve got a little farm and I just randomly had a pigeon. We have a pet pigeon who had to have emergency surgery so it’s really nice because it paid for all of that,” Cravens said. “The rest of it is just going to clear a lot of my debt and just give me some room to breathe.”
With her winnings, Reynolds said she plans on giving a helping hand to each of her three daughters, one who can benefit from new car tires, another who is getting married, and a third who is currently renovating their home.
“I grew up very poor so to me, this $24,000 is a lot of money,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, testified she and her husband often argued with their son about missing school assignments and said her husband struggled to keep a job as her manslaughter trial continued Thursday with her taking the stand in her own defense.
Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, James Crumbley, are each facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the school shooting, which was carried out by their then-15-year-old son Ethan. James Crumbley is being tried in a separate trial in March.
Ethan Crumbley has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing four students and injuring seven others in November 2021.
One day after Brian Meloche, the man with whom Jennifer was having an affair, took the stand, she admitted to the relationship in her own testimony.
She told the jury that Meloche was a long-time friend who was also a part of the horse community; Jennifer was a regular rider, with her texts to her husband from the horse farm featuring earlier in testimony. She said she saw Meloche an average of once a week and the affair lasted about six months.
Jennifer Crumbley testified that she believes the affair did not cause her to neglect her son in any way, saying the two met in the mornings while her son was at school.
She testified Thursday that she cared about her job and said she enjoyed her work.
Earlier, prosecutors and her defense attorney, Shannon Smith, clashed over admitting evidence Smith previously sought to suppress.
The two sides were at odds over admitting excepts from Ethan Crumbley’s journal, including information about him torturing birds.
The evidence was presented during testimony from Oakland County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Timothy Willis about what police found in Crumbley’s backpack after the shooting. The journal was found in his backpack, along with roughly 90 loose papers with school assignments, 50 of which the shooter had drawn guns on.
Willis testified there were 22 pages of written information in the journal, all of which referenced a school shooting.
Ethan Crumbley wrote in an entry apparently from before the shooting that he planned to shoot up his school the next day.
“I want to shoot up the school so f—— badly,” one of the excerpts said. “Soon I am going to buy a 9 mm pistol.”
“I’m about to shoot up the school and spend the rest of my life in prison,” the shooter wrote in another excerpt.
In other excerpts, the shooter appeared to be writing about wanting help.
“I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help,” the shooter wrote.
Police also had concerns on the day of the shooting that there were secondary devices or bombs at other locations around the school, Willis testified.
(ATLANTA) — Police in Atlanta said they are searching for three suspects who chased down and opened fire on an 11-year-old boy, injuring him.
Atlanta police released surveillance footage on Wednesday that captured the incident while asking for the public’s help in identifying the three male suspects.
The incident occurred on Jan. 14. Officers responded to a report of a person shot around 6:18 p.m. local time, Atlanta police said.
Surveillance footage showed the victim running from the three suspects and then hiding near a laundromat. The assailants found him and all three discharged firearms, striking the victim twice, police said. The victim was struck in the left foot and left fibula, according to the police incident report.
The officers found a dozen shell casings at the scene and a pair of sneakers, according to the incident report.
The victim’s family told police that he made it back to his nearby home after the shooting and “fell down,” the report stated. He was transported to an area hospital via an ambulance, police said.
The victim has since been released from the hospital, his mother told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV.
Two suspects were seen in the surveillance footage wearing all black, while a third was wearing white shoes, black pants and a gray or white hoodie with a black jacket, police said.
The incident remains under investigation. No additional information is being released at this time, a police spokesperson told ABC News.
Police are offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information on the case.
(CHICAGO) — One teenager was killed and two were injured in an apparent targeted shooting in broad daylight a few blocks from their Chicago school, according to police.
The three teens were walking Wednesday afternoon when a car pulled up, and several people got out and fired shots toward the victims, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference.
One teen was killed, one is in critical condition and the other is in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the leg, Snelling said.
“We do believe that the three individuals were targeted,” Snelling said.
The victims, all Nicholas Senn High School students, are ages 15 and 16, Snelling said.
“A loss of life is horrific under all circumstances, but it is especially harsh when our young people are targeted,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We do everything in our power to keep our children safe. So this hurts, and I know our city is hurting.”
The mayor and police chief vowed to bring the shooters to justice.
“The individuals who are responsible for this kind of violence, it has to end,” Johnson said. “Whatever conflict, whatever pain you are expressing — this is not the way to do it. The loss of life is tearing at the fabric of this city.”
“We have to push back against this type of violence, this type of brazenness,” Snelling said. “We will hold violent criminals accountable — I can promise you that.”
(NEW YORK) — A powerful Pacific jet stream is bringing two dangerous storms fueled by an atmospheric river to the West Coast, the first of which struck Northern California on Wednesday and is pummeling Southern California on Thursday.
This first storm brings a “significant threat to the safety of Californians,” Brian Ferguson, spokesman for the state’s Office of Emergency Operations Services, warned Wednesday.
The rain reached the San Francisco Bay area on Wednesday and has since dropped 3 to 5 inches of rain in Northern California.
Flash flooding was reported overnight and wind gusts topped 70 mph, knocking down trees.
The rain started in Southern California Wednesday night and is at its heaviest Thursday morning.
The heavy rain and winds are stretching from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, with flash flooding in the forecast for Los Angeles during the morning commute.
The heavy rain and flash flooding threat will reach San Diego later in the morning, with showers lasting into the afternoon.
Cal Fire’s Nick Schuler encouraged Californians to have an evacuation plan, a full tank of gas and a packed “go bag.”
“Do not drive through moving water, and most importantly, if you are asked to evacuate, please do so without hesitation,” Schuler said.
The second storm will strike California on Saturday afternoon and last through Wednesday.
The heaviest rain will hit from San Francisco to Santa Barbara Sunday night.
Southern California will face its heaviest rain from Monday morning to Tuesday night. Flash flooding, mudslides and rock slides are expected.
Rainfall totals in Southern California are forecast to reach 3 to 5 inches along the coast and 5 to 10 inches in the mountains.
(BOISE, Idaho) — Three people died and five were left in critical condition after a building under construction near the Boise, Idaho, airport collapsed Wednesday night, according to fire department officials.
“Tonight, there was a catastrophic collapse of a metal structure at a construction site. First responders found a hectic scene and worked to secure and rescue victims,” Division Chief of Operations Aaron Hummel said in a statement late Wednesday night. “The Boise Airport, City of Boise, and all first responders extend their deepest sympathies to those impacted.”
Three people died at the scene, and nine people were injured, officials said. Five of the injured were in critical condition late Wednesday night and were being treated in local hospitals, according to the fire department.
Authorities said the incident happened around 5:00 pm MT at a privately owned steel hangar under construction.
Emergency responders, including eight fire engines, three ladder trucks and a dozen ambulances, reported to the scene of the building collapse at W. Rickenbacker St. and Luke Street, officials said earlier in the evening.
Upon arrival, fire crews worked to stabilize the scene. Hoists were needed to rescue some of the injured, and some of the rescues were “challenging,” Hummel said at a press conference Wednesday night.
A crane at the scene was impacted, but it was unclear when or how the crane fell.
Jackson Jet Center said it was their “39,000 square-foot steel hangar under construction” that collapsed in the incident.
“Tonight, our hearts go out to everyone affected by this horrific event, especially those with loved ones on site when this tragedy occurred,” the company said in a statement. “We’re immensely grateful for the rapid and professional response of Boise Fire, Boise Police and Ada County Paramedics along with the expert care of our area hospitals.”
An airport official confirmed the building was on airport land but not a Boise Airport project. The airport itself was not impacted by the incident.
Hummel said everyone at the site was accounted for.
In this June 27, 2023, file photo, Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. (August Frank-Pool/Getty Images)
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Arguing that a “fair and impartial jury cannot be found” in the area where four Idaho college students were killed in 2022, lawyers for the accused killer are asking that his capital murder trial be moved to a different location so it would be heard by jurors who have not been exposed to more than a year of news coverage about the case.
The “extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, allegations” made about Bryan Kohberger, who stands accused of the killings, the “small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges” he faces makes pulling an unbiased group of local people impossible, his lawyer Anne Taylor said in a two-page filing filed Tuesday, posted to the public docket Wednesday.
Kohberger is charged with stabbing to death four University of Idaho students in November 2022 — a crime that has rocked the quiet Idaho college hamlet of Moscow and garnered international attention.
Because the crimes hit home for so many who might one day be tasked with deciding Kohberger’s fate, his lawyer argues simply enlarging the jury pool within Latah County “will not do anything to overcome that pervasive prejudicial publicity” since the local population is too small and close-knit “to avoid the bias in the community” toward their client — and so they need a jury from elsewhere, as well as moving the trial outside the area.
Prosecutors have signaled they do not agree — that the “national, if not international attention” the case has received makes moving it out of the county futile.
“It’s not Moscow. It’s not Latah County. It’s everywhere. So, I don’t think that a change of venue is going to solve any of these problems,” Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, leading the case against Kohberger, said at a pretrial hearing Friday when the issue was raised. “I have people, friends in this community who have traveled to Mexico. And they say, ‘You’re from Moscow?’ And immediately, they want to talk about this case.”
“Just because it’s a horrific crime doesn’t mean a local juror who may have heard about it can’t be fair-minded about the facts before them – or that they’re going to be motivated to convict the wrong person,” said Matt Murphy, a former prosecutor in Orange County, California and an ABC News legal contributor. “They’re arguably all the more motivated to find the right person. When you’re talking about brutal murder – getting it wrong means the real killer may still be a danger to their families and their neighborhoods.”
“The way the right is written is — a jury of your peers — and while it’s right to consider in high-profile cases like this, because it’s so high-profile, moving it to another Idaho county won’t necessarily help,” David Calviello, former New Jersey prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney, told ABC News. “While it may be difficult to get a fair and impartial pool that’s not a reason itself to kick it.”
There’s a “very high bar” to clear for this change to be granted, Murphy said — and extensive attention to the case is not enough.
“Successful motions to change venue are exceedingly rare,” Murphy said. “Essentially, the defense has to establish that they cannot find 12 fair jurors in the current jurisdiction, which is a tall order. It’s not just that people have heard about the case, they must be fundamentally unable to follow the law and biased towards the defendant.”
In court on Friday, Thompson argued the local community offers a reason they “should” keep the case in Latah County — rather than grounds for moving it.
“We at least owe Latah County, the people of Latah County, the attempt to seat a jury here first. And not just rely on, ‘There’s been a lot of publicity.’ There’s been a lot of publicity everywhere,” Thompson said.
The prosecutor’s team has already drafted a “fairly comprehensive” juror questionnaire for parties’ review, Thompson said, “So that the court and counsel can assess the level of knowledge and the feelings of the potential jury pool.”
“We believe that we can select an appropriate panel of jurors from Latah County. We have the tools to work with that, that we’ve discussed with your honor,” he told the judge.
Prosecutors allege that in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger, then a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home and stabbed four University of Idaho students to death: Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
After a six-week hunt, police zeroed in on Kohberger as the suspect, arresting him in December 2022 at his family’s home in Pennsylvania. He was indicted in May and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. At his arraignment, he declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted.
His lawyers have said their client wasn’t in the home where the homicides occurred and was driving around alone that night.
A trial date has not yet been set.
Prosecutors have been pushing to hold the trial this summer but in court Friday, Kohberger’s lawyer said they did not believe that timeline was “realistic in any way,” given the complexity of the case and the weighty potential sentence — especially if the trial remains local.
“If a trial were to happen in Latah County, we would suggest looking at summer 2025,” Taylor said in court. “There are a lot of things that we have to still do.”
(NEW YORK) — Three New Mexico police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Robert Dotson while responding to the wrong home’s address will not be charged, according to a letter from the New Mexico Justice Department.
The shooting took place on April 5, 2023, when Farmington police officers, Daniel Estrada, Dylan Goodluck and Waylon Wasson, who were responding to a domestic violence call around 11:30 p.m. local time, mistakenly went to Dotson’s home — approaching house number 5305 instead of 5308, state police said, at the time.
Body camera footage released by the Farmington Police Department showed the officers knocking and announcing themselves several times, then debating whether they were at the right address after getting no response. As the officers were leaving, Dotson opened his screen door armed with a handgun. The officers opened fire, striking Dotson 12 times, according to a lawsuit filed by Dotson’s family in Sept. 2023. In court papers, the city and officers all deny wrongdoing.
Dotson was later pronounced dead at the scene.
After the initial shooting, Dotson’s wife, Kimberly, shot back at officers from the doorway, not knowing who had shot her husband, with officers returning fire, according to the lawsuit.
State police turned over their investigation into the shooting to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office in May 2023.
On Jan. 26, Deputy Attorney General Greer E. Staley said an export report proved responding officers did not use excessive force when they discharged their weapons and shot Dotson, due to the fact that both Dotson and his wife were armed. The report “recognized that the officers’ initial approach to the Dotson home, although they erroneously approached the wrong house, was reasonable, appropriate and consistent with generally accepted police practices.”
“I appreciate the AG’s office and their exhaustive look at this case. At the same time, this was extremely tragic, and I continue to say that I am extremely sorry for the Dotson family’s loss,” said Farmington Police Chief Steven Hebbe in a statement to ABC News.
In the wrongful death lawsuit, Dotson’s family sued the city of Farmington as well as the responding officers. The lawsuit alleged that the city failed to properly train the officers in use of force, and that the three officers “acted unreasonably” and “applied excessive, unnecessary force.” The suit also alleged they deprived Dotson, a father of two, of his state constitutional rights, including the right to enjoy life and liberty.
“Legally, he was deprived of his life and liberty. His heirs were deprived of his love, affection, income,” Doug Perrin, an attorney representing Dotson’s family, said in a statement to Albuquerque ABC affiliate KOAT-TV in Sept. 2023.
All three officers remained employed by the city of Farmington and returned to work after the April 5 shooting, Luis Robles, an attorney for the city of Farmington, confirmed to ABC News at the time.
(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — A 25-year-old mother made a distressed call to 911 before she vanished in Greensboro, North Carolina, and police are asking for the public’s help in locating her.
Marissa Carmichael was last seen in the early hours of Sunday, Jan. 14 at the Exxon on 809 East Market St. in Greensboro, according to police.
ABC News obtained a copy of a 911 call that Carmichael made to police from the Exxon gas station.
During the two-minute call, Carmichael, whose name is bleeped out when she identifies herself, appears distressed and asks for the non-emergency line.
She tells the 911 dispatcher that a man has asked her to pick up some things at the gas station but has driven off while she was inside and she has no way of getting home.
“I don’t know where I am in Greensboro. I just got all my stuff threw out the car, he took off with my phone. I have no clue where I’m at. I have no numbers,” Carmichael told the dispatcher.
Asked if she is hurt and needed an ambulance, Carmichael said “No, I’m not but I mean, like you told me to come into the store and grab some s— and like, took off on me and I don’t know where I’m at. I’m in the middle of Greensboro. He took my phone. I don’t have my phone.”
She does not provide a name for the man but refers to him as a “he.”
She is then asked what she is wearing so officers can identify her when they arrive.
“I’m wearing some blue jeans and a white shirt with some yellow sneakers,” she said, but added, “That’s not gonna help my problem though, ma’am. I’m stuck all the way in Greensboro and I don’t know where I’m at.”
“In order for me to get back home, I don’t have any of my contacts,” she said.
According to an incident report obtained by ABC News, when police arrived at the gas station Carmichael wasn’t there.
Asked if Carmichael has been located or if any foul play is suspected, a spokesperson for the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) told ABC News on Tuesday evening that “officers are actively attempting to locate Ms. Carmichael.”
“The investigation indicates Marissa Kay Carmichael was last seen at 3:46 a.m. Jan. 14 at the Exxon,” the spokesperson said.
“Detectives are continuing to actively pursue all leads in this case,” the spokesperson added. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, additional details are not being made public at this time.”
According to a missing persons report obtained by ABC News, Carmichael is a resident of High Point, North Carolina, which is approximately 25 minutes south of Greensboro and was reported missing on Sunday afternoon by Sara Kay Carmichael, who has identified herself to local media as Marissa’s mother.
Per the missing persons report, Sara Carmichael also provided the name of a man to police who she claims could be involved with her daughter.
“To maintain the integrity of this active investigation, certain specifics of the case – such as who has been interviewed – are not being released at this time,” a GPD spokesperson said.
According to the police advisory, Carmichael is described as a 5-foot-4 female and is approximately 260 pounds with long black and blonde braids.
She also has a heart tattoo on her face and a butterfly near her eye and was wearing a white Tweety Bird T-shirt, blue jeans, and yellow sneakers when she was last seen.
Police have posted multiple advisories on social media over the past two weeks urging the public for help in locating Carmichael. They ask anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.
