(WASHINGTON) — An active-duty airman has died after authorities say he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The man was identified by the Metropolitan Police Department as 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell of San Antonio.
The incident unfolded just before 1 p.m. ET outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy in northwest Washington, according to statements from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department and Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
“We arrived to find an apparent adult male who had been on fire,” the Fire and EMS Department said in its statement.
Members of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division extinguished the flames before fire crews arrived, officials said. Later Sunday, the U.S. Air Force confirmed the man involved was an active duty airman.
Bushnell was unconscious when he was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Police officials did not comment on why the man set himself ablaze.
Police detectives, the Secret Service Uniformed Division and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the incident.
The police department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit was also called to the scene as police investigated a suspicious vehicle in the area that authorities believe is linked to Bushnell. The vehicle was searched, but no hazardous material was found, police said.
The Israeli Embassy released a statement saying the man was “unknown” to embassy staff.
No embassy workers were injured in the incident, and all were reported safe, embassy officials said.
A similar incident occurred on Dec. 1 outside an Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta, where a woman wrapped in a Palestinian flag intentionally set herself on fire in an apparent political protest, according to police. The woman, who was critically injured, ignited herself after dousing herself with gasoline, police said. A security guard suffered burns when he attempted to put the fire out, according to police.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Sinead Hawkins and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
Inmate Leon Ruffin in a mugshot from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office
(HARVEY, La.) — A convicted felon who had been in custody on a second-degree murder charge escaped on Sunday after pepper spraying his transporting deputy and stealing her car, authorities said.
The inmate, Leon Ruffin, should be considered “armed and dangerous,” Sheriff Joseph Lopinto of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana, told the media Sunday night at a press briefing.
Lopinto said he doesn’t believe the man “has anything to lose” as he could be facing life in prison if convicted on the second-degree murder charge.
Ruffin had been transferred from the medical facility in the corrections center to a local hospital around noon on Sunday on the advice of the medical team after suffering from a possible seizure. After being treated at the hospital, Ruffin created some type of disturbance as he was being driven out of the hospital parking lot, Lopinto said. The female deputy got out of the car and he pepper sprayed her, the official said. The suspect then took the deputy’s vehicle, he added.
The deputy fired shots at the car but does not know if Ruffin was hit.
At present, authorities do not know where the suspect got the pepper spray. The deputy still had her pepper spray, taser and weapon following his escape.
Authorities have contacted the family of the victim in Ruffin’s alleged second-degree murder case.
Prior to his trip to the hospital, Ruffin had been in the medical unit at the corrections facility, but Lopinto said they believed he was faking his injuries.
(WASHINGTON) — A man identified by the Air Force as an active-duty airman was hospitalized in critical condition Sunday after authorities say he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The incident unfolded just before 1 p.m. ET outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy in northwest Washington, according to statements from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department and Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
“We arrived to find an apparent adult male who had been on fire,” the Fire and EMS Department said in its statement.
Members of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division extinguished the flames before fire crews arrived, officials said. Later Sunday, the U.S. Airforce confirmed the man involved was an active duty airman.
The man, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and is listed in critical condition, according to police.
It was not immediately clear why the man set himself ablaze.
Police detectives, the Secret Service Uniformed Division and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the incident.
The police department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit was also called to the scene as police investigated a suspicious vehicle in the area that authorities believe is linked to the man. The vehicle was searched, but no hazardous material was found, police said.
The Israeli Embassy released a statement saying the man was “unknown” to embassy staff.
No embassy workers were injured in the incident, and all were reported safe, embassy officials said.
A similar incident occurred on Dec. 1 outside an Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta, where a woman wrapped in a Palestinian flag intentionally set herself on fire in an apparent political protest, according to police. The woman, who was critically injured, ignited herself after dousing herself with gasoline, police said. A security guard suffered burns when he attempted to put the fire out, according to police.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Sinead Hawkins and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Judge Lewis Kaplan has declined to grant a stay of Donald Trump’s $83.3 million judgment in his defamation case and requested a written response from columnist E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers.
“The Court declines to grant any stay, much less an unsecured stay, without first having afforded plaintiff a meaningful opportunity to be heard,” Kaplan wrote in an order filed Sunday morning. Kaplan set a Thursday deadline for Carroll’s response and a March 2 deadline for Trump’s reply.
A lawyer for the former president requested last week that Kaplan temporarily delay the judgment or permit Trump to post a bond for “an appropriate fraction” of the total damages.
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba filed the motion on Friday, requesting a stay until 30 days after the resolution of his post-trial motions filed in early March, or grant a partially secured stay while Trump posts a reduced bond.
“There is a strong probability that the disposition of post-trial motions will substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the amount of the judgment,” Habba argued in the motion.
“Plaintiff failed to offer any evidence that her alleged distress was of any significant severity or duration, or that it resulted in any medical, physical, or clinical consequences—or even any extreme emotional effects,” Habba wrote about the emotional damage suffered by Carroll, who described living in a state of fear following Trump’s statements.
Habba suggested that the court should project a reduction of the total judgment to $22.25 million, for which Trump could post a $24.475 million bond.
“The figure awarded to Ms. Carroll is egregiously excessive,” Habba said in a statement to ABC News. “The Court must exercise its authority to prevent Ms. Carroll from enforcing this absurd judgment, which will not withstand appeal.”
The request comes amid a renewed spotlight on the former president’s finances following two costly New York civil trials. On Friday, New York’s Supreme Court entered the judgment in Trump’s civil fraud case, in which he owes $355 million in fines plus approximately $100 million in interest.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn’t know who Carroll is.
(WASHINGTON) — A man was hospitalized in critical condition Sunday after authorities say he set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The incident unfolded just before 1 p.m. ET outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy in northwest Washington, according to statements from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department and Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
“We arrived to find an apparent adult male who had been on fire,” the Fire and EMS Department said in its statement.
Members of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division extinguished the flames before fire crews arrived, officials said.
The man, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and is listed in critical condition, according to police.
It was not immediately clear why the man set himself ablaze.
Police detectives, the Secret Service Uniformed Division and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the incident.
The police department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit was also called to the scene as police investigated a suspicious vehicle in the area that authorities believe is linked to the man. The vehicle was searched, but no hazardous material was found, police said.
The Israeli Embassy released a statement saying the man was “unknown” to embassy staff.
No embassy workers were injured in the incident, and all were reported safe, embassy officials said.
A similar incident occurred on Dec. 1 outside an Israeli Consulate office in Atlanta, where a woman wrapped in a Palestinian flag intentionally set herself on fire in an apparent political protest, according to police. The woman, who was critically injured, ignited herself after dousing herself with gasoline, police said. A security guard suffered burns when he attempted to put the fire out, according to police.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ABC News’ Luke Barr and Sinead Hawkins contributed to this report.
(ATHENS, Ga.) — A suspect was taken into custody a day after a woman who went for a run on the University of Georgia’s Athens campus was found dead due to “foul play,” school officials said Friday.
The victim, Laken Hope Riley, 22, was found in a wooded area on campus on Thursday with “visible injuries,” the university said. She died from blunt force trauma, according to University of Georgia Police Department Chief Jeffrey Clark.
A suspect in her death, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstructing an emergency call and concealing the death of another. He was denied bond during an initial court appearance on Saturday and is being held at the Clarke County Jail.
Clark told reporters Friday evening they took three to four people into custody in connection with the murder but only plan to arrest Ibarra, who is from Venezuela.
“The evidence suggests that this was a solo act,” he said.
Police do not believe he knew the victim and do not have a motive, according to the chief.
“I think this was a crime of opportunity, where he saw an individual and bad things happened,” Clark said.
“Key input” from the community, physical evidence and video footage from campus security cameras helped lead investigators to the suspect, who lives in Athens, the chief said.
“There are no indications of a continuing threat to the community related to this case at this time,” Clark said.
The Justice Department said Saturday that Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, had also been arrested during the course of the investigation for presenting a fake green card after officers approached him because he matched the description of the suspect. Diego Ibarra has been charged by federal complaint with possessing a fake green card and is in state custody.
In a statement Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Jose Ibarra had been arrested on Sept. 8, 2022, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “after unlawfully entering the United States near El Paso, Texas.”
“He was paroled and released for further processing,” ICE said.
“On Sept. 14, 2023, [Jose] Ibarra was arrested by the New York Police Department and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation,” the statement continued. “He was released by the NYPD before a detainer could be issued. On Feb. 23, 2024, ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] Atlanta encountered Ibarra pursuant to his arrest by the University of Georgia Police Department and being charged with murder and other crimes. ERO Atlanta lodged a detainer.”
A friend reported Riley missing shortly after noon on Thursday when she failed to return home from a run at the school’s intramural fields earlier that morning, the university said.
University police officers subsequently found her behind a lake near the fields “unconscious and not breathing,” the university said. Officers attempted to provide medical aid but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Riley was a junior at the Augusta University College of Nursing who studied at its Athens campus, the school said. She had previously attended the University of Georgia.
“This sudden loss of one of our students is truly heartbreaking,” the Augusta University College of Nursing said in a statement on Friday.
She graduated from River Ridge High School in Woodstock, Georgia, in 2020, where she ran on the school’s cross-country team for four years.
“Her passion for health care science and running are to be admired,” River Ridge High School cross-country coach Keith Hooper said in a statement to ABC News. “She will always accompany us as we run.”
Classes were canceled at the nursing school on Friday, with counselors available to staff and students.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Athens-Clarke County Police Department are assisting in the homicide investigation, the university said.
“We have been fully briefed on this terrible situation,” the university said in a statement. “We want to assure you that the safety and welfare of our campus community is our top concern.”
The incident follows the “sudden death” of a student in the campus’ Brumby Hall Wednesday night, the school said. A cause of death has not been released.
Chief Clark said there is no connection between the two deaths.
Classes will resume on Monday, the school said, calling the past 24 hours a “traumatic time” for the university.
University officials recommended that students travel in groups when possible and download the school’s safety app.
Clark urged anyone with information on the incident to contact the University of Georgia Police Department.
There has not been a homicide on the campus in the past 20 years, according to Clark.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Alyssa Gregory, Jason Volack and Nick Uff contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A new cross-country storm is expected to begin Sunday in the West and travel across America, hitting the East Coast by Wednesday evening.
On Sunday morning, 11 states from Washington to New Mexico were put on alert for heavy snow and strong winds.
By Monday, the storm will stretch from California to the Rockies with snowfall, strong winds and coastal rain expected.
Heavy mountain snow will continue in the Northwest throughout the day on Monday extending from Washington and Oregon into Montana and Utah.
This is not expected to be a major storm for California. San Francisco to Los Angeles could see some light rain showers while up to a foot of snow could fall in the highest elevations of the Sierras.
On Tuesday afternoon and evening, the storm will move into the Midwest with severe thunderstorms possible from Missouri to Michigan, including major cities such as Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis.
The biggest threat with these severe thunderstorms will be damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.
On Wednesday, the severe weather will move into the Mid-South with a threat for damaging winds possible from Kentucky to Alabama, including major cities such as: Louisville, Nashville and Memphis.
On the back side of this same storm, snow will be possible from Denver to Minneapolis and Green Bay.
Ahead of the storm, the Plains to the East Coast will enjoy spring-like temperatures from Monday to Wednesday as high temperatures soar to 10-30 degrees above normal.
The core of the storm will move to the East Coast and I-95 corridor late Wednesday with heavy rain and very warm temperatures possible from D.C. to Boston.
The storm is projected to exit to the East early Thursday morning with colder, more seasonable, air filtering in behind it.
ABC News’ Max Golembo and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
(CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky.) — A suspect has been arrested in connection to the death of a Kentucky student who was found dead in his dorm room over the weekend at Campbellsville University, according to police.
Josiah Kilman, 18, was discovered unresponsive in his Campbellsville dorm room around 1 a.m. local time Saturday morning and was transported to Taylor Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the university said in a press release.
On Saturday evening, the Green County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police announced that 21-year-old Charles Escalera was arrested at approximately 5:15 p.m. in connection with Kilman’s death, officials said.
Authorities were dispatched after receiving a call for a “suspicious male located inside a barn” on the Green County and Taylor County line, according to a police update posted to Facebook.
Police said Escalera was taken into custody without incident.
Escalera is facing murder and burglary charges and is being held in the Taylor County Detention Center, according to online records. He does not yet have an attorney listed.
Kilman’s cause of death has not been determined, according to police, who said his body was transferred to the Kentucky Office of the Medical Examiner in Louisville for an autopsy.
“Campbellsville University is grieving the loss of one of our family. We have lost a student and our hearts are broken,” Dr. Joseph Hopkins, Campbellsville University president, said in a statement.
“During this devastating time, the continued safety of our students and the residents of our community are our primary concern. With consultation from local law enforcement, we will continue to implement every measure necessary to protect and support students and our community,” Hopkins said.
Campbellsville University announced early Sunday that all scheduled classes, events and activities on campus will resume.
Campbellsville is a private Christian university that’s about 84 miles southeast of Louisville and approximately 83 miles southwest of Lexington.
Kilman’s death in Kentucky is at least the third death of a college student reported this month in the United States.
In Georgia, a 22-year-old woman was found dead last week after going for a run on the University of Georgia’s Athens campus. The victim, Laken Hope Riley, was found Thursday in a wooded area on campus with “visible injuries,” the university said. She died from blunt force trauma, according to University of Georgia Police Department Chief Jeffrey Clark.
A suspect in her death, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstructing an emergency call and concealing the death of another, according to police.
Tragedy also struck the University of Colorado — Colorado Springs campus earlier this month when a student allegedly gunned down two people in the dorms, including his roommate.
Nicholas Jordan, 25, was arrested on Monday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his roommate, Samuel Knopp, and Celie Rain Montgomery, who were found dead on Feb. 16, according to Colorado Springs police.
Jordan had allegedly told Knopp weeks prior that he’d “kill him” if he was asked to take out the trash again, according to court documents. Jordan allegedly had an AK-47-style assault rifle and a handgun in his car when he was arrested, according to prosecutors.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Jeffrey Cook and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(OWASSO, Okla.) — Newly released body camerage footage shows Nex Benedict, a nonbinary 16-year-old who died one day after a physical altercation with several other students in a bathroom at their Oklahoma high school, describing what led up to the fight during an interview with police from the hospital.
While lying on a gurney in the hours after the Feb. 7 fight at Owasso High School, Nex Benedict told a school resource officer, Caleb Thompson, that they had poured water on three students who were making fun of the way they and their friends laughed and dressed, the footage released Friday by the Owasso Police Department shows.
“We were laughing and they had said something like, ‘Why do they laugh like that?’ And they were talking about us in front of us,” the teen said in the 21-minute video about the students she had an altercation with. “And so I went up there and I poured water on them. And then all three of them came at me.”
The teen told the officer that they blacked out during the ensuing physical altercation.
“I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser. And then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground … beating the s— out of me,” Nex Benedict said. “And then my friends tried to jump in and help but I’m not sure, I blacked out.”
Nex Benedict said that they didn’t know the names of the students but the group had been “antagonizing” them in the days leading up to the fight. When asked by Thompson why they didn’t alert school administrators, she said they “didn’t really see the point” but had told their mother.
In the video, the teen’s mother, Sue Benedict, told Thompson she was “very mad” and “wanted something done” about the altercation. The mother called 911 after taking the teen to the hospital to report that her child was attacked at school, according to newly released 911 records.
While discussing the logistics of filing a report on the fight, Thompson told the two that Nex Benedict “essentially started it” by throwing the water.
“The way the courts are going to look at it is it’s a mutual fight,” he said. “Both parties are victims, but both parties are also suspects in this.”
Thompson advised that they consider whether they want to press charges and said he would follow up the next day and proceed from there.
The teen died on Feb. 8, a day after the altercation. On a 911 call made that day around 1 p.m. local time, Sue Benedict can be heard asking for an ambulance because the teen’s hands were “posturing.” Their breathing was shallow and their eyes were “kind of rolling back,” she said.
Police have said that preliminary information shows that the teen’s death was not a result of physical trauma from the altercation. The cause of death is pending until toxicology results and other testing results are completed, police said.
A final cause and manner of death will be determined by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
An investigation by Owasso Police is ongoing. Once concluded, the case will be forwarded to the FBI for a “complete and thorough review,” the police department said.
While awaiting the full results of the autopsy, the teen’s family is calling on “all school, local, state and national officials to join forces to determine why this happened, to hold those responsible to account and to ensure it never happens again.”
“The Benedicts know all too well the devastating effects of bullying and school violence, and pray for meaningful change, wherein bullying is taken seriously and no family has to deal with another preventable tragedy,” the Benedict family said in a statement to ABC News.
The Owasso Police Department has said Owasso High School and Owasso Public Schools have been cooperative in the investigation.
Owasso Public Schools declined to comment on the investigation into the teen’s death, but told ABC News in a statement that the “safety and security of our students is our top priority and we are committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.”
“Bullying in any form is unacceptable,” the statement read. “We take reports of bullying very seriously and have policies and procedures in place to address such behavior.”
The teen’s death has sparked calls against anti-LGBTQ bullying, including by Vice President Kamala Harris.
“My heart goes out to Nex Benedict’s family, friends, and their entire community,” Harris said on Friday. “To the LGBTQI+ youth who are hurting and are afraid right now: President Joe Biden and I see you, we stand with you, and you are not alone.”
The Human Rights Campaign is demanding federal investigations into whether protections for LGBTQ students were violated in the case. The organization sent letters to the Department of Education and the Department of Justice asking for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding their death.
The incident has also struck a chord nationwide with 2SLGBTQ groups and allies who are demanding answers regarding the circumstances around Nex’s death. 2SLGBTQ includes Two Spirit, an umbrella term used to describe a third gender in Native and Indigenous communities. Sue Benedict is a registered member of the Choctaw Nation.
Local organizations — including Transgender Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma, Freedom Oklahoma, and Oklahomans for Equality — are holding vigils across the state and country throughout the weekend so the 2SLGBTQ community can honor the teen’s memory.
A student walkout against bullying is also planned for Monday at Owasso High School.
ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseco, Tristan Maglunog and Erica Morris contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Flaco, the rare Eurasian owl that captured the attention of New York City and dubbed “the most famous owl in the world,” has died after an apparent collision with a building, the Central Park Zoo said in a statement.
“We are saddened to report that Flaco, the Eurasian eagle owl discovered missing from the Central Park Zoo after his exhibit was vandalized just over a year ago, is dead after an apparent collision with a building on West 89th Street in Manhattan,” the zoo said in a statement Friday.
The zoo said that Flaco was reported to the Wild Bird Fund (WBF) by people in the building. Staff from the WBF quickly responded, but he was non-responsive and they declared him dead shortly afterward.
“The vandal who damaged Flaco’s exhibit jeopardized the safety of the bird and is ultimately responsible for his death. We are still hopeful that the NYPD, which is investigating the vandalism, will ultimately make an arrest,” the statement continued.
Flaco unwittingly transformed from an obscure bird to a cause célèbre after being reported missing on Feb. 2, 2023, from the cramped Central Park digs that served as his home since 2010, when he arrived in the city as a fledgling from a North Carolina bird sanctuary. He had been hatched and raised in captivity for the first 12 years of his life.
Flaco had been released from captivity by Central Park vandals, police said. Despite an extensive search, Flaco was able to evade capture for an entire year—and developed a following.
Flaco immediately caused a stir on one of Manhattan’s most fashionable shopping streets, Fifth Avenue, where he landed on the sidewalk near the Bergdorf Goodman department store, drawing a crowd and the NYPD. Officers cordoned him off with yellow crime scene tape and set an open cage next to him, apparently in case he wanted to surrender. Before they could move in to catch him, the mottled-colored creature flew off to a tree in front of the Plaza Hotel.
“He’s certainly my most photographed bird of 2023,” David Barrett, the creator and manager of Manhattan Bird Alert, and encountered Flaco told ABC News last year. “He’s the most famous bird in the world.”
Flaco would continue to draw crowds and his survival skills stunned those who did not think he could survive outside the enclosure.
“Several days ago, we observed him successfully hunting, catching and consuming prey. We have seen a rapid improvement in his flight skills and ability to confidently maneuver around the park,” zoo officials said last year.
Feb. 2 marked a year since the apex predator slipped through an opening vandals cut in the stainless steel mesh of his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo and bolted into the wilds of America’s largest city, testing the limits of his six-foot wingspan for the first time in his life.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
