(WATSONVILLE, Calif.) — Three people are dead after two small planes collided mid-air at a California airport on Thursday, authorities said.
The crash occurred shortly before 3 p.m. local time at the Watsonville Municipal Airport in Watsonville, an agricultural area located about 50 miles south of San Jose, officials said.
The two planes were attempting to land when they collided, the city of Watsonville said on social media. “We have reports of multiple fatalities,” it said.
A single-engine Cessna 152 and a twin-engine Cessna 340 “collided while the pilots were on their final approaches,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
One person was in the Cessna 152 and two were in the Cessna 340, the agency said. No injuries were reported to anyone on the ground.
The Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office said Friday that all three onboard the planes were killed in the crash. The names of the victims will be released following family notification.
The city tweeted Thursday that it was “absolutely saddened to hear about the tragic incident that took the lives of several people.”
“The City of Watsonville sends its deepest condolences to the friends and family of those who passed,” it added.
“We are grieving tonight from this unexpected and sudden loss,” Watsonville Mayor Ari Parker said. “I want to express my deepest and most heartfelt condolences.”
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said it responded to an aircraft collision on Aviation Way near the airport and secured the scene with the Watsonville Police Department.
“This afternoon, two planes collided and came to rest at and near the Watsonville airport. There are multiple fatalities right now,” Lt. Patrick Dimick said. “There are multiple fatalities. We cannot confirm anything else at this time as we’ve just secured the airport for the NTSB and FAA to arrive and conduct their investigation.”
An investigation is underway by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.
ABC News’ Michelle Mendez and Alex Stone contributed to this report.
(WINTER SPRINGS, Fla.) — A Florida woman was killed Thursday by lightning that also struck her child and a dog, authorities said.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon in Winter Springs, a small city in central Florida’s Seminole County, some 15 miles north of Orlando. The Winter Springs Police Department said it received multiple reports of people possibly being struck by lightning near Trotwood Park at about 2:20 p.m. local time and deployed officers to the scene. Lightning appeared to have “hit a nearby tree, energizing the area and striking the victims,” police said.
The Seminole County Fire Department also responded and provided immediate lifesaving aid to the victims on site. A woman and her child were subsequently transported to area hospitals for treatment, where the mother died, according to police.
“The child and K9 have been seen by medical professionals and are doing fine,” the Winter Springs Police Department said in a press release Thursday. “We are not releasing the names so the family may grieve from this unfortunate event.”
Seminole County Public Schools confirmed that the victims included a Keeth Elementary School student and their parent.
“SCPS and Keeth Elementary School remain committed to the safety and security of all students and will continue to take safety precautions in the event of inclement weather,” the school district said in a statement via social media on Thursday. “Additional counselors will be on campus to support students and/or staff impacted by this event.”
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said it was “a tragic day in the City of Winter Springs and the entire Seminole County Community.”
“Please say a prayer for the family who has lost a mother, and all of those involved and affected by today’s storm,” Lemma said in a statement via social media on Thursday. “Our team responded to assist the City and family — and remains ready to support the school district and community with any needs.”
The death brings the total number of lightning-related fatalities in the United States so far this year to 14. Based on the past decade, an average of 18 lightning deaths occur in the country by mid-August, according to data compiled by John Jensenius, a meteorologist with the National Lightning Safety Council who retired from the National Weather Service in 2019 after more than 41 years with the agency.
Lightning is a major cause of storm-related deaths in the U.S. A lightning strike can result in cardiac arrest, though only about 10% of victims are killed, according to the National Weather Service.
Nevertheless, lightning strikes can leave a person with various degrees of disability and many long-term health problems, including muscle soreness, headaches, cognitive problems and nausea.
The odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime are 1 in 15,300, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Uvalde residents, including families of Robb Elementary School shooting victims, have signed and sent a petition against assault weapons to Randy Klein, the owner of Oasis Outback, the local sporting goods store where the gunman retrieved the AR-15 he used to shoot at the school.
ABC News has reached out for comment.
“The members of this group feel strongly about our second amendment rights and support your establishment’s commitment to selling guns and ammunition,” the petition reads. “However, we come to you today with a request.”
It continued, “Out of RESPECT for and in support of those affected by this catastrophe, we strongly urge you to cease the sale of assault rifles and the ammunition paired with them.”
The petition also asks for Klein to end the handling of gun transfers of this style of firearm from gun retail stores and manufacturers.
“Doing so will ensure that children across Uvalde County will never have to worry about a new purchase of this type of weapon,” the petition reads.
In a Wednesday meeting of the “Uvalde Strong for Gun Safety” group, a local pediatrician and gun safety advocate Roy Guerrero said that Klein will have 30 days to respond to the petition. Guerrero urged others to sign and mail in the petition themselves.
If Klein refuses to respond or meet with victims’ families, the residents behind the petition have several plans of action – including protests, media campaigns, and calls to legislators.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone’s business, but I am here to do the right thing,” Guerrero said.
Several meeting attendees and petitioners – including parents of Robb Elementary School victims – have said they are gun owners themselves and are pleading with business owners and local leaders to make a change.
“You can’t meet us at a happy medium? Just raising the age on [gun purchases]?” said Nikki Cross, the aunt of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia and who is a gun owner herself. “I think that would be tremendous to start.”
In Texas, there are few restrictions on purchasing firearms. People 18 and older can legally purchase long guns, and “law-abiding Texans” can carry handguns without a license or training.
The Uvalde city council and school board have passed resolutions calling on Gov. Greg Abbot to increase the age for purchasing assault rifles.
According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates for gun control and studies gun laws across the country, four of the deadliest mass shootings in the U.S., including the Uvalde tragedy, have happened in Texas.
Abbott has blamed the mass shooting in Uvalde on mental health issues. He has said that law enforcement believes increased gun violence is due to the growing prevalence of people with mental health issues, not lax gun laws.
Meeting attendees said they plan to keep pushing for gun safety policy, in hopes that no one forgets the May 24 tragedy.
“Nobody understands what a victim’s parent is going through, or a family member is going through,” said one attendee. “They want to sit there and they want to bash [us]. But yet, you have no idea. You’re already back to your normal life like it’s nothing.”
(WASHINGTON) — A teenage suspect was arrested in Washington, D.C., on Thursday in connection with a mass shooting that killed one person and wounded three others, police said.
The 15-year-old boy, who lives in the northwestern part of the U.S. capital, was taken into custody by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was then transported to a juvenile processing center where he was charged with first degree murder while armed, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, which did not release the suspect’s name.
The charge stems from a deadly shooting that took place in Northwest D.C. on the night of June 19 during a music festival called Moechella, which was calling for racial and social justice while celebrating Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Police said they were ordering organizers to shut down the large event when suddenly gunshots rang out in the area. Police said they located a 15-year-old boy, a woman and two men, including a Metropolitan Police Department officer, who had all been struck by gunfire.
The victims were rushed to area hospitals for treatment. The 15-year-old boy, identified as Chase Poole, ultimately died from his injuries, while the three other victims were treated for non-life threatening injuries, according to police.
Poole is one of 856 children ages 12 to 17 who have died from gun violence so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings in the United States from more than 7,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources. Another 216 children who were 11 years old or younger have died from guns in 2022.
In a statement on June 21, Moechella organizers called the shooting a “senseless tragedy” and expressed their condolences to the victims and their families.
“Moechella has always been a peaceful demonstration of our constitutionally protected right of assembly and free speech under the 1st amendment,” the organizers added. “The purpose of this demonstration has always been to speak out against the social inequities plaguing Washington, D.C., like gun violence, like the lack of resources for the underserved community, police brutality and the need for D.C. statehood.”
Police said the Juneteenth shooting remains under investigation and that a reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099. In addition, information may be submitted anonymously to the department’s text tip line by sending a text message to 50411.
ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Three men were charged Thursday in connection with the 2018 death of notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, federal prosecutors announced.
Bulger was allegedly bludgeoned to death in federal prison, according to prosecutors, by Fotios Geas, 55, also known as “Freddy,” and Paul J. DeCologero, 48, known as “Pauly.” Both are charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. A third man, Sean McKinnon, 36, is charged with making false statements to a federal agent and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Bulger was transferred to United States Penitentiary Hazleton in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, and shortly thereafter was murdered at the federal prison on Oct. 30, 2018.
Bulger, the leader of Boston’s Winter Hill gang, was on the run for 16 years before being caught by federal authorities, and later tried and convicted. Before being moved to a West Virginia lockup, the 89-year-old was housed in federal prison in Florida.
Geas is still incarcerated at USP Hazelton, according to prison records, and is serving a life sentence for a separate crime. DeCologero is no longer being held at USP Hazelton but remains housed in the federal prison system, and McKinnon was on federal supervised release at the time of the indictment and was arrested Thursday in Florida.
Bulger, who was serving a life sentence, was moved to West Virginia for no real reason, according to a lawsuit filed by his family.
He had suffered multiple heart attacks and was confined to a wheelchair, a source familiar with his condition told ABC News, leaving his attorneys puzzled over how Bulger’s medical condition suddenly improved so much that he was able to move prisons.
“Mr. Bulger’s physical/medical condition was fraudulently upgraded to effectuate a transfer and place to Hazelton on or about Oct. 29 or Oct. 30, 2018,” attorneys Hank Brennan and David Schoen wrote in an administrative claim against the Department of Justice, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News and was filed in 2019.
“To be clear, we do not believe that the transfer to Hazelton and placement in general population was simply dangerous, negligent, reckless and irresponsible; we believe it was also intentional and part of conspiracy among BOP, DOJ employees and others to intentionally cause Mr. Bulger’s serious injuries and death,” the complaint said.
Bulger’s death inside the federal prison is just one high-profile death that has not seen resolution, another other being the suicide of Jeffery Epstein in a Manhattan lockup.
The Bureau of Prisons has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK)– Thousands of migrants seeking asylum who endured a 2,000-mile journey over several days, with little to no belongings or family, aboard buses sent from Texas now find themselves facing challenges establishing their new lives in New York City.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, since early May, has been sending busloads of migrants out of Texas to cities with Democrat leaders, including New York City and Washington, D.C. The Republican governor says he started the busing programs in response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies which he claims inadequately secure the border, forcing states like his to bear the brunt of migrant waves.
Many of the migrants are still arriving almost daily in the Big Apple, including 18-year-old student Brayan Amaro, who began his journey alone in his home country of Venezuela.
“The journey was terrible; going through all those countries was terrible because there was extortion, you had to pay . . . you had to pay all the police,” Amaro told ABC News. “There was not one of them that wasn’t corrupt…”
“I’m still a boy who’s very young. I hope to have better opportunities here,” Amaro said. “If I can keep on studying. All of that.”
Amaro says this will be his opportunity to “get ahead and be a better person than in Venezuela.” Migrants arriving from Texas at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan are greeted by volunteers from aid groups, nonprofits and the city’s immigration office.
“Many of them are seeking asylum at the border,” Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, told ABC News. “Instead of people being taken at a place of their choice, or what would be the most logical place for their claim to be processed, they’re being sent to New York and D.C., where they may not have any family, where they may not have a lawyer that they would choose to be represented by.”
Nonprofit organizations continue to step in and distribute resources to welcome migrants arriving with their few belongings.
Ariadna Phillips, the founder of South Bronx Mutual Aid, and a group of volunteers lead efforts to secure transportation for migrants.
“This is just regular people here in New York banding together to make sure that, you know, our friends that are coming in are feeling safe and welcome and appreciated,” Phillips told ABC News.
For many migrants like licensed nurse Joana Alvarez, New York City is not the final destination.
“I have my mother and my father. Look, it was for them, I came for them,” Alvarez said in Spanish.
Like Amaro, Alvarez made the journey through Venezuela to Texas’ border on her own. With Phillips’ support, Alvarez is set to board another bus headed for upstate New York, where she will stay with a host family that she has yet to meet.
“In New York, we have what’s called the right-to-shelter city, where if anyone comes to our city, we have a moral and legal obligation to provide shelter, and we’re doing that every day,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told ABC News.
Abbott’s busing operation led to the arrival of more than 6,000 asylum seekers in New York City alone, according to Adams. The high demand placed unforeseen strain on the city’s social services, calling for the opening of 13 emergency shelters to house the incoming migrants.
Adams said this “crisis calls for coordination” between the two administrations, but they have still been unable to collaborate on the issue.
In New York City, overwhelming support is being traced back to nonprofits, which are bearing the brunt on the unprecedented migrant influx and the decreased availability of resources and services.
A mother from Colombia, now based in the South Bronx with her four children, arrived on a bus from Texas a few days ago. The bus ride, she said, was “a little hard,” with not even a bathroom for her children to use.
“We lasted three days in the bus with hunger, with thirst,” the mother told ABC News in Spanish.
With the help of one organization, she’s been able to make strides toward opportunity and stability for her new life with her family in New York City.
“To be able to give a, offer a good future for my kids,” the mother said in Spanish. “So that in that same way we’re able to support other people who arrive here as well, just like how they have supported me.”
(WATSONVILLE, Calif.) — “Multiple fatalities” were reported after two small planes collided mid-air at a California airport on Thursday, officials said.
The crash occurred shortly before 3 p.m. local time at the Watsonville Municipal Airport in Watsonville, an agricultural area located about 50 miles south of San Jose, officials said.
The two planes were attempting to land when they collided, the city of Watsonville said on social media. “We have reports of multiple fatalities,” it said.
A single-engine Cessna 152 and a twin-engine Cessna 340 “collided while the pilots were on their final approaches,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Three people were on board the planes — one in the Cessna 152 and two in the Cessna 340 — the agency said, though it did not provide an update on their conditions. No injuries were reported to anyone on the ground, it said.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said it responded to an aircraft collision on Aviation Way near the airport and secured the scene with the Watsonville Police Department.
An investigation is underway by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(OTTUMWA, IA) — A 68-year-old man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting his wife with a crossbow while she slept on a sofa in their home.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:13 a.m. on Wednesday morning when authorities in Ottumwa, Iowa, responded to a report that a woman had been shot at a residence in the town, which is located approximately 90 miles southeast of the state capital of Des Moines.
The victim, later identified as 68-year-old Lillian Dennison, was reportedly on the sofa when her husband approached her with a crossbow and shot her as she slept, according to a press release published by the Ottumwa Police Department.
Authorities say that Dennison was taken to a local area hospital and treated for minor injuries suffered in the attack. She was subsequently released and is expected to survive.
Her husband managed to flee the scene of the crime after he allegedly shot her but was located approximately nine hours later, according to police.
“Later that morning at approximately 10:00 a.m., officers from the Ottumwa Police Department and the Wapello County Sheriff’s Department arrested George Edward Dennison, age 68, near the wooded area around Evergreen and Mable in Ottumwa,” police said in a statement.
George Dennison was arrested and taken into custody and charged with attempt to commit murder along with domestic abuse assault. Authorities did not disclose any possible motives in this case.
He is now being held on these charges in the Wapello County Jail with a $50,000 cash only bond but it is unclear when he will be appearing in court.
(LEXINGTON, MS) — A month after the police chief of a Mississippi town was fired following leaked audio allegedly of him using racial slurs, a civil rights group is suing the department.
Jill Colin Jefferson, the founder of the civil rights organization Julian, filed a lawsuit against Lexington, Mississippi, its police department, and others on behalf of five residents who claimed to have been victims of mistreatment by officers.
The lawsuit contends that the police force has had a long history of racially profiling its Black residents including with alleged targeted traffic stops, harassment and retaliation for speaking out against cops.
The suit contends the plaintiffs have “been falsely arrested, forced to undergo baseless searches and seizures at roadblocks, and subjected to unreasonable force by LPD officers when they verbally object to police mistreatment,” among other incidents experienced by Black residents over the last two years.
Roughly 1,500 of Lexington’s 1,800 residents are Black, according to the suit.
Jefferson told ABC News Live that the suit stems from the department’s operation under former police chief Sam Dobbins, who is one of the defendants in the suit. Last month, Dobbins was fired after audio from a conversation he allegedly had with other officers was leaked in which he allegedly used racial slurs against Black people.
Jefferson contends that Dobbins still has a presence over the police force due to his time spent training and instructing officers.
“The way that this town functions is that it continues to function in his shadow. His dominance is still there,” Jefferson told ABC News.
The Lexington Police Department and Lexington’s mayor’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment from ABC News about the suit. Dobbins told the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, which released the audio, that he didn’t use racial or other slurs, adding, “I don’t talk like that,” when he was asked about his recorded comments in July.
The suit cites a few examples of police misconduct against Black Lexington residents.
One was an alleged incident involving brothers Darius and Robert Harris, who were approached by officers on New Year’s Eve. The officers allegedly cited the brothers for using fireworks on Robert Harris’s private property and violating a city ordinance, according to the suit.
During the incident, which was filmed, officers allegedly tased Darius Harris, the suit said.
Jefferson told ABC News that Dobbins then harassed her client while he was still in pain.
“Sam Dobbins went to Darius and actually showed his flashlight in his face when he’s on the ground and told him to put his hands behind his back. At that moment, that was physically impossible,” she said.
The lawsuit doesn’t cite charges filed against Darius Harris, but details an alleged pattern of retaliation by police officers against both Harris brothers.
In another example, the suit cited a March incident involving plaintiff Peter Reeves, who criticized a police officer on social media. Reeves was allegedly stopped at a roadblock by the same officer, according to the suit.
Reeves was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance because he had a Tylenol bottle in his vehicle, the suit contends.
Jefferson said other Black residents have been subjected to roadblocks by the police. Tasha Walden, a Lexington resident, told ABC News, that in addition to the roadblocks, she’s seen and experienced officers following Black residents outside the city limits.
“It’s more than me, it’s basically 99% of the Black [community],” she told ABC News.
The suit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Jefferson said she wants more policy changes to the police department to be enacted by the city government and better accountability when residents file complaints against officers.
Last year, more than 200 complaints were filed against the police department, the suit said.
“That’s the other thing we need…a civilian complaint review board to actually review these complaints as they come in, because right now they’re just being swept under the rug,” she said. “But on a larger level, we need a federal investigation into what is happening in Lexington, not just of this police department or one of two or one or two officers, but this entire municipality.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — When students in Uvalde, Texas, return to school in September, they will have brand new picnic tables where they can sit and gather.
Many of their classrooms will be stocked with school supplies ranging from new books to new pens and pencils, all donated by strangers. And some kids will ride to school on the first day on new bikes, also donated by strangers.
It’s all part of a national, grassroots effort to help the community after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School on May 24.
“For the Uvalde community, it’s just letting them know that they are not forgotten,” said Amanda Stevens, a mom of two from Dallas, Texas. “We will be here and we will honor their losses and support them with whatever they need.”
Stevens is one of the organizers behind an effort to fulfill Uvalde teachers’ wish lists — specifically teachers from Robb Elementary.
Across the country, as the back to school season approaches, many teachers post public wish lists of supplies they would otherwise have to pay for out of pocket, including everything from snacks for kids to books, educational materials and classroom supplies like tissues and hand sanitizer.
The wish lists are often shared on social media, where strangers can find them and donate the supplies.
For teachers in Uvalde, their lists have been shared far and wide this year, with people like Stevens working hard to make sure teachers there don’t have the extra burden of finding supplies.
Stevens is working alongside Frank Gomez, a teacher at her kids’ school and a Uvalde native, who said he specifically wanted to help the teachers at Robb Elementary School who are being relocated. The superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District announced in June that students and staff would not return to Robb Elementary when the new school year begins on Sept. 6, and would instead be served “on other campuses” around the district.
“Myself as a teacher, I started to think about what about the teachers,” said Gomez. “As they go into new buildings, what are they going to have to take with them? How are they going to get started?”
Gomez and Stevens said they have collected thousands of dollars worth of supplies for teachers in Uvalde by sharing teachers’ wish lists with their own school community and on social media. A GoFundMe started by Gomez also raised over $5,000, which he said is being used to purchase everything from books to classroom decorations to help the first day back at school seem more normal.
“The kids will see their teachers, their smiling faces,” Gomez said. “They’ll be a little bit nervous and scared and everything, but hopefully they’ll see their teacher and they’ll concentrate on getting back to school and getting back to the business of learning.”
On the first day of school, Uvalde students will also see new picnic tables at their schools, thanks to more than $15,000 that was raised in less than one day earlier this summer.
Katie Grossbard, 29, of Los Angeles, along with two of her friends, Val Vogt and actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, was an organizer of that fundraiser. She said she and the others spoke with Uvalde school officials to find something specific they needed for the new school year.
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
“We said to them, ‘How can we help?,’ and they said, ‘We need picnic tables,'” Grossbard recalled. “We said, ‘Great, send us links to what you want. We’ll figure out how much money it’s going to cost and we’ll make it happen.'”
In less than 18 hours, $15,000 was raised, according to Grossbard. She said the money has been used to purchase one dozen picnic tables that will be placed at schools to help accommodate students from Robb Elementary.
“One of the things that the people at the school district talked about when we were talking about making this happen was just creating a sense of community that was welcoming these students in with open arms and ready for them — and it not feeling like they were out of place or like that they weren’t supposed to be there,” Grossbard said. “They didn’t want it to feel like, ‘Oh, now we’re crowded and now you’re reminded every day that you’re not supposed to be here, you’re supposed to be somewhere else.'”
The picnic tables, according to Grossbard, will also be used as locations for students to sit and talk with mental health counselors as needed.
“People can sit down and be together and know that they’re not alone and know that they didn’t go through these experiences alone,” she explained.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District did not reply to ABC News for this story.
The district’s school board has held special sessions throughout the summer to plan accommodations for the new school year, including upgrading security measures and allowing all students K-12 the opportunity to attend classes virtually after parents said their children do not feel comfortable returning to school in person. The district also pushed the start of school back from mid-August to Sept. 6.
Tensions within the community have often spilled out at the board’s meetings, particularly in the wake of a 77-page report by a joint committee of the Texas Legislature slammed the police response to the incident and the school district’s lack of preparation for such an attack.
Earlier this month, the school district announced Mandy Gutierrez, the principal of Robb Elementary School, who was briefly suspended following the probe into the attack, will be leaving the school for a position in district administration.
The district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, remains on unpaid administrative leave, and the school district has recommended he be fired.
Amid the grief and tension in the community, Uvalde’s local library, the El Progreso Memorial Library, located just a few blocks from Robb Elementary School, has become a center of healing and community for people, largely thanks to strangers’ donations, according to library director Mendell Morgan.
Morgan said thousands of children’s books have been donated since the shooting, along with items like kids’ bicycles and toys.
“At a time like this, books can be such a comfort, a wonderful means to escape and a wonderful way to transport yourself into a different world where there is not hurting or pain,” Morgan said. “It’s always been our effort to bring the community here for times when we need to be together, in times of joy as well as times of sorrow when we need to comfort one another.”
The library has become a place to mourn and grieve through both reading and mental health counseling, as well as a place to have fun. Throughout the summer, the library has hosted everything from ponies and bounce houses to a special day that featured superhero characters reading books to kids, according to Morgan.
“People are so incredibly kind,” he said. “Great evil came to our community on May 24, no one can deny this, but the outpouring of good, the response has been overwhelming in the other direction, and we are so grateful.”
