(NEW YORK) — A 13-year-old girl from South Carolina was found in Florida on Tuesday after she was allegedly kidnapped by a 35-year-old man from Wisconsin, authorities said.
The young teenager was reported missing from her hometown of Simponville, South Carolina, after she was last seen at her residence on Sunday evening, according to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, which initially described the girl as a “runaway” in social media posts.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in the Florida Keys said it received information that the girl’s alleged captor — Tyler Michael Berlick of Mukwonago, Wisconsin — may be heading to the area. Both he and the girl were found by deputies inside a pickup truck in the parking lot of a Key Largo shopping center early Tuesday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, which said it has notified the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Berlick was arrested and charged with kidnapping. He was being held without bond in the Monroe County Jail in Key West, according to online records. A date for his arraignment had not yet been set.
Miami ABC affiliate WPLG-TV reported that Berlick was awaiting extradition to South Carolina. Authorities said he met the girl through an “online chatting service and gaming app,” according to WPLG.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the incident.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — One person is dead and at least five people were injured after a vehicle crashed into a hospital in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, authorities said.
A vehicle crashed into the emergency room at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time, Capt. Christa Stedman, a spokesperson for the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
The driver of the vehicle was extricated from the car and received CPR, but was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Austin Fire Department Chief Thayer Smith.
Two children and one adult were transported to Dell Children’s Medical Center, according to Chief of Austin-Travis County EMS Robert Luckritz. One child was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while the adult and second child had injuries that were non-life-threatening, Luckritz said.
A second adult with potentially life-threatening injuries was transported to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, according to Luckritz.
Eight other people who were in the ER but not injured in the crash were being transported to different area hospitals so the emergency room could “regroup,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Peter DeYoung said during Tuesday’s presser.
“This incident does not appear to be an intentional act,” a Facebook post from Austin Police Department said.
Vehicular homicide officers were on the scene to investigate the cause of the crash, officials said.
According to DeYoung, the building appears to be in good condition and none of the hospital’s operations were interrupted. The ER was re-routing ambulances but still accepting walk-in patients.
(KNOXVILLE, Tenn.) — A murder suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a Tennessee deputy has been caught following a nearly weeklong manhunt, authorities said.
Kenneth DeHart was detained in Knoxville on Tuesday, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office said on social media while sharing a photo of a large police presence outside a residence.
The 42-year-old fugitive was wanted on first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting of two Blount County deputies on Thursday, state police said. He also faces one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
The shooting occurred during a traffic stop in Maryville Thursday evening, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office said. “Erratic driving” prompted the stop, authorities said. Blount County deputy Greg McCowan, 43, was killed and deputy Shelby Eggers, 22, was shot in the leg, the sheriff’s office said. She has since been released from an area hospital.
More than $100,000 in reward money was being offered for information leading to the fugitive’s arrest, according to the Blount County Sheriff’s Office. That includes a $40,000 reward offered by Smith & Wesson, a firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had posted billboards across the Southeast region amid the search for the suspect, who was on the agency’s most-wanted list.
Maryville is located about 17 miles south of Knoxville.
In the wake of the shooting, the suspect’s brother and girlfriend were 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.
His attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and argued that the bond was “excessive” during a court appearance on Monday. A bond hearing in his case has been scheduled for Thursday.
The suspect’s girlfriend — Carrie Matthews, 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, Matthews took a call from someone purportedly named “Janeisha” who was later determined to actually be Kenneth DeHart, according to the affidavit. Matthews allegedly told the caller, “They’re here,” which the affiant claimed warned Kenneth DeHart “of impending apprehension or discovery,” according to the affidavit.
She was released from custody on Monday after a judge granted the request for a $350,000 bond with GPS monitors, according to ABC Knoxville affiliate WATE.
Attorney information for Matthews was not immediately available.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) –An Indiana man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly posting threats to kill Jewish people and U.S. government officials who expressed support for Israel following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, newly unsealed court records show.
An FBI arrest affidavit says Jeffrey Stevens, 41, admitted in interviews with law enforcement that he leveled the threats in posts to the CIA’s website as well as in a Facebook direct message to the Fort Wayne Police Department.
“I am going to shoot every pro-israel US government official in the head, and there is nothing you can do about it because you are the pathetic CIA,” Stevens allegedly said in a Nov. 17 post to the agency. “I am going to kill all of you.”
In his message to the Fort Worth Police Department, Stevens allegedly wrote, “I am going to kill every Jew in [Fort] Wayne, and there is nothing you can do about it,” the charging docs say.
Stevens, according to his arrest affidavit, tried to explain the posts to law enforcement by telling them he has a “drinking problem.”
His arrest is the latest in a wave of threats cases brought by the FBI in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed at least 1,200 people. In the Gaza Strip, at least 28,473 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the attack, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Pierre Thomas in December, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco revealed the FBI had seen a surge of “more than 1800” reports of threats and tips in some way related to the conflict, with more than 100 criminal investigations opened as a result.
Stevens has not yet entered a plea in his case and did not have an attorney listed for him as of Tuesday afternoon. The government has moved for him to remain detained pending trial, citing what they argue is his danger to the community and risk of fleeing prosecution.
(NEW YORK) — A major winter snowstorm is hitting the northeastern United States on Tuesday and could wreak havoc on roadways from New York City to Boston.
The fast-moving storm is expected to last only from Tuesday morning to Tuesday afternoon, but it could bring up to 1 foot of snow to parts of the Northeast.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Feb 13, 2:11 PM
New England snowfall totals
In Farmington, Connecticut, a whopping 15.5 inches of snow has been recorded so far.
Foster, Rhode Island, has seen 10 inches of snow, while Dudley, Massachusetts, recorded 8.8 inches.
Boston, where schools were closed as the city braced for 4 to 8 inches of snow, has recorded just 0.1 inch.
Feb 13, 2:00 PM
Snow totals near New York City
Tuesday’s storm dumped 4.9 inches of snow at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport and 4.2 inches at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Sussex, New Jersey, recorded 15 inches of snow.
In Manhattan, Central Park recorded 3.2 inches of snow — the park’s highest daily snowfall in more than two years.
New York City is under a travel advisory.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, has seen 7.6 inches of snow and the snow is still falling.
ABC News’ Melissa Griffin
Feb 13, 12:04 PM
More than 139,000 power outages in Pennsylvania
More than 139,000 customers are without power in Pennsylvania amid the fast-moving snowstorm.
In Philadelphia, public schools opened on a two-hour delay.
Feb 13, 12:00 PM
1,500 flights canceled
More than 1,500 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 9:21 AM
Over 1,400 flights canceled
More than 1,400 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 8:18 AM
Snow totals so far
The storm is hitting fast, with some in the Northeast waking up to massive snowfalls.
Jim Thorpe in eastern Pennsylvania has recorded 10.5 inches of snow so far, while Port Jervis, by the New York-New Jersey border, has seen 8.5 inches.
Feb 13, 8:07 AM
‘Avoid travel if possible’
The wet, heavy snow slamming the Northeast is bringing dangerous conditions to the roads.
Snowfall rates have reached 1 to 2 inches per hour Tuesday morning.
“Use extra caution or simply avoid travel if possible this morning,” the National Weather Service in New York advised.
Feb 13, 7:12 AM
Over 1,000 flights canceled
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 5:52 AM
50 million Americans on alert for heavy snow
Some 50 million Americans are on alert for heavy snow in the northeastern United States on Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to hit the region in the morning hours before exiting by the afternoon.
It’s the first time in two years that the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for New York City.
Rain began changing to snow early Tuesday and much of New York City was already under snow by 5 a.m. ET. The freezing line hadn’t quite made it to Philadelphia at that time but was expected to soon.
Since this is a wet snow falling into temperatures that are generally at or above freezing, the initial accumulation on the ground will melt before it starts to stick.
Snowfall rates are expected to be moderate, from 1 to 2 inches per hour, with heavier bands mixed in at times.
Winds are forecast to gust 20 to 40 miles per hour, blowing the snow and reducing visibility. However, due to the wet nature of the snow, blizzard-like conditions were generally not expected and should only be short-lived if they occur at all.
Coastal flooding was also expected to be an issue from Washington, D.C., to Delaware to New Jersey and Long Island and then from Cape Cod to Boston and Portland.
Feb 13, 4:00 AM
New York City, Boston close schools
New York City’s public schools, the largest system in the country, will be closed Tuesday, with classes moving to remote learning, Mayor Eric Adams announced.
This marks the first time in two years that New York City has been under a winter storm watch.
Boston Public Schools will also be closed Tuesday.
(NEW YORK) — Dramatic new body camera footage showing Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies in Houston, Texas, opening fire through a window while responding to a reported break-in has been released.
In the new body-worn video of the incident released by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which spans about four minutes in total, two officers can be seen approaching an upstairs Houston apartment in the early hours of Feb. 3. After encountering a window screen out of its window frame and set aside in front of the apartment, an officer can be seen knocking on the door before announcing, “Sheriff’s Office.”
The video shows that she then moves away from the door, joining the other officer at the top of the staircase.
A car alarm then begins to go off, and one of the officers says something to the other, and the two begin shooting. One of the officers re-loads their weapon and continues firing before the two retreat downstairs and notify colleagues through their radios that shots were fired.
The video contains a narrative of events from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office that reads that at 2:10 a.m. local time on Feb. 3, 2024, deputies responded to a call at 90 Uvalde Road. “The caller reported someone was inside her apartment,” the text on the video says.
At 2:14 a.m., the first officer responded, met the caller and a maintenance worker and “made sure the apartment was safe and secure,” per the video text.
A second deputy arrived to assist when a “resident of a neighboring apartment approached the deputy and reported that someone had broken into another nearby second-floor apartment,” according to text captions on the video.
According to the Sheriff’s Office account in the video, the deputies went to investigate the reported break-in and saw “the front window screen removed, broken glass and the blinds raised, near the front door.” The deputies knocked, and one of them announced their presence. It is unclear from the body camera footage where the glass was broken.
The woman, who was later identified as Eboni Pouncy, a friend of the woman who lived in the apartment, sustained a total of five gunshot wounds to the leg and torso, according to her attorney, Ben Crump, who reacted to the release of the video on Monday, calling it “evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force.”
None of Pouncy’s vital organs were struck by bullets, but the long-term effects of her injuries are yet to be determined, according to Crump. He told ABC News that Pouncy is traumatized by the incident.
Pouncy’s friend, who was with her the previous night, said that she had forgotten her keys to her apartment. The friend told Pouncy to break the window so they could enter, she said at a news conference last Friday.
The two had been in the house for about 20 minutes when they heard a loud banging on the door, Pouncy’s friend said. Pouncy grabbed her gun and went to the door before she was fired upon by the deputies, according to the friend.
On Monday, Crump said Pouncy, 28, was the woman struck by the bullets. He told ABC News she was shot five times in the torso and legs and is lucky to still be alive today.
“This newly-released body cam footage is evidence of the unnecessary and excessive force used against her,” Crump told ABC News in a statement Monday. “We demand that the deputies involved be immediately held accountable for the terrible injuries.”
“The shooting of Eboni Pouncy should have never happened,” Crump’s statement continued. “The video shows the deputies that responded to Eboni’s friend’s house shot first and asked questions later. It is concerningly clear by the video and Eboni’s injuries that deputies were not justified in shooting her five times.”
Since the incident, both officers have been placed on administrative leave, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s department and local district attorney are investigating, and the case is being referred to a grand jury.
In cell phone video acquired by KTRK, an ABC-owned station, officers can be heard directing Pouncy’s friend to come down the stairs after the shooting.
“I live here. Please don’t shoot,” she responds before officers order her to the ground and handcuff her.
Pouncy was taken to the hospital by paramedics for her injuries.
(NEW YORK) — A major winter snowstorm is hitting the northeastern United States on Tuesday and could wreak havoc on roadways from New York City to Boston.
The fast-moving storm is expected to last only from Tuesday morning to Tuesday afternoon, but it could bring up to 1 foot of snow to parts of the Northeast.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Feb 13, 9:21 AM
Over 1,400 flights canceled
More than 1,400 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 8:18 AM
Snow totals so far
The storm is hitting fast, with some in the Northeast waking up to massive snowfalls.
Jim Thorpe in eastern Pennsylvania has recorded 10.5 inches of snow so far, while Port Jervis, by the New York-New Jersey border, has seen 8.5 inches.
Feb 13, 8:07 AM
‘Avoid travel if possible’
The wet, heavy snow slamming the Northeast is bringing dangerous conditions to the roads.
Snowfall rates have reached 1 to 2 inches per hour Tuesday morning.
“Use extra caution or simply avoid travel if possible this morning,” the National Weather Service in New York advised.
Feb 13, 7:12 AM
Over 1,000 flights canceled
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 5:52 AM
50 million Americans on alert for heavy snow
Some 50 million Americans are on alert for heavy snow in the northeastern United States on Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to hit the region in the morning hours before exiting by the afternoon.
It’s the first time in two years that the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for New York City.
Rain began changing to snow early Tuesday and much of New York City was already under snow by 5 a.m. ET. The freezing line hadn’t quite made it to Philadelphia at that time but was expected to soon.
Since this is a wet snow falling into temperatures that are generally at or above freezing, the initial accumulation on the ground will melt before it starts to stick.
Snowfall rates are expected to be moderate, from 1 to 2 inches per hour, with heavier bands mixed in at times.
Winds are forecast to gust 20 to 40 miles per hour, blowing the snow and reducing visibility. However, due to the wet nature of the snow, blizzard-like conditions were generally not expected and should only be short-lived if they occur at all.
Coastal flooding was also expected to be an issue from Washington, D.C., to Delaware to New Jersey and Long Island and then from Cape Cod to Boston and Portland.
Feb 13, 4:00 AM
New York City, Boston close schools
New York City’s public schools, the largest system in the country, will be closed Tuesday, with classes moving to remote learning, Mayor Eric Adams announced.
This marks the first time in two years that New York City has been under a winter storm watch.
Boston Public Schools will also be closed Tuesday.
(NEW YORK) — A major winter snowstorm is hitting the northeastern United States on Tuesday and could wreak havoc on roadways from New York City to Boston.
The fast-moving storm is expected to last only from Tuesday morning to Tuesday afternoon, but it could bring up to 1 foot of snow to parts of the Northeast.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Feb 13, 7:12 AM
Over 1,000 flights canceled
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 5:52 AM
50 million Americans on alert for heavy snow
Some 50 million Americans are on alert for heavy snow in the northeastern United States on Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to hit the region in the morning hours before exiting by the afternoon.
It’s the first time in two years that the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for New York City.
Rain began changing to snow early Tuesday and much of New York City was already under snow by 5 a.m. ET. The freezing line hadn’t quite made it to Philadelphia at that time but was expected to soon.
Since this is a wet snow falling into temperatures that are generally at or above freezing, the initial accumulation on the ground will melt before it starts to stick.
Snowfall rates are expected to be moderate, from 1 to 2 inches per hour, with heavier bands mixed in at times.
Winds are forecast to gust 20 to 40 miles per hour, blowing the snow and reducing visibility. However, due to the wet nature of the snow, blizzard-like conditions were generally not expected and should only be short-lived if they occur at all.
Coastal flooding was also expected to be an issue from Washington, D.C., to Delaware to New Jersey and Long Island and then from Cape Cod to Boston and Portland.
Feb 13, 4:00 AM
New York City, Boston close schools
New York City’s public schools, the largest system in the country, will be closed Tuesday, with classes moving to remote learning, Mayor Eric Adams announced.
This marks the first time in two years that New York City has been under a winter storm watch.
Boston Public Schools will also be closed Tuesday.
(NEW YORK) — The past of Genesse Ivonne Moreno, the suspected Lakewood Church shooter, includes a turbulent marriage, a contentious divorce, allegations of child and spousal abuse, a checkered criminal record and a well-documented history of mental health issues, according to an ABC News review of documents and records.
Moreno is accused of entering the Houston megachurch with her 7-year-old son before opening fire as hundreds of people were taking their pews before a Sunday afternoon service, according to police.
Moreno, 36, has used “multiple aliases,” including “Jeffrey Escalante,” Christopher Hassig, heading the investigation for the Houston Police Department, told reporters Monday. Although it appears she has gone by “both male and female names” in the past, investigators’ interviews and documents connected to her life so far show Moreno “has been identified this entire time as female,” Hassig said.
A turbulent marriage flecked by abuse, mental health issues
Moreno was previously married to a man named Enrique Carranza III. It ended in a contentious divorce and bitter custody battle; their divorce was finalized in 2022.
Carranza, in court papers, described a turbulent relationship and separation from a severely “abusive” relationship on Moreno’s part. In an affidavit he filed in 2020 related to divorce and custody proceedings, he described Moreno’s mental health issues and violence towards him and their son (in a later filing, Moreno herself pushed back, saying it was her husband who had “physically assaulted” her.)
They first met in 2015 while working at the Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Houston, according to Carranza’s affidavit — a “family-friendly American-Italian restaurant,” according to the restaurant’s website.
“As soon as we married, my wife became abusive,” Carranza said in his affidavit, adding she was “a diagnosed schizophrenic, so daily it was a new battle or fight in her realm” and that he let her put him “through hell to appease her delusional thought pattern.”
Carranza described being physically battered by his wife, whom he referred to as “Jeffrey.” He said she would “hit me with keys” and “cans of beans.” He said she “ripped a layer of my eye out once” because of impatience with the “interview process” for his job prospect and that she “also stalked me, getting me fired from jobs.”
During a three-week Christmastime visit in 2019 with his estranged wife and their son, Carranza said Moreno “called the cops on me twice and both times she had a gun and my son in her hand,” according to his affidavit.
“She is a diagnosed schizophrenic and [Child Protective Services] has told her that she cannot have a gun,” he said. “I am afraid of her having my address. She has guns and she brags about it while having my son in the car.”
“I strongly believe because of my wife’s schizophrenia, she does not have the capacity to discern reality from fiction,” Carranza’s affidavit said, adding “she is irrational and unstable” and “grabs the baby by his arm to pull him where she is to where his shoulder is out of socket.”
He described Moreno as willfully negligent towards their son: refusing to take him to the doctor and confining him to “one area.” He also said she “abuses her meds” and lets their son “stay up all times of the night.”
An affidavit from their child’s paternal grandmother, Walli Carranza, submitted during the couple’s separation fight echoes concerns over “complaints of child abuse and neglect, as well as reckless endangerment.”
In January 2020, Moreno “pulled an unlocked and loaded gun from underneath a seat in the car and pointed it at the head” of Carranza, “only hours after a first unlocked and loaded handgun was found” by their then-3-year-old son “in his own diaper bag,” according to the ex-mother-in-law’s affidavit.
When Carranza attempted to unlock his son from the car seat and remove him from the situation “as planned” with local authorities, Moreno “drove off” with the back door still “open” and their son not in his car seat, the affidavit said. Moreno “was stopped by Texas State Patrol after eluding them on back roads and then refusing to heed lights and sirens. Thus she had placed Samuel in imminent danger.”
The mother-in-law’s affidavit also suggests that Moreno should not have been able to own a gun, claiming that under an alias, Moreno had been under involuntary psychiatric commitment at least four times. She also claimed Moreno “filed a fraudulent birth certificate” for the child and “refused” to correct it and told hospital staff that the father [Carranza] was “dead” and, alternatively, that he was “homeless” and unknown.
Her son “has been reticent to file the criminal charges against his wife; now his former wife because, as she is not a US citizen,” the mother-in-law’s affidavit said, and “as she already has had criminal convictions, she would likely be deported if convicted of the 3rd degree felony that stems from filing a fraudulent birth certificate. He told [Houston Police] detectives this is not what he wants for the woman he loved and married and the mother of his child. He wants her to live, he told police, where she can get quality mental healthcare. He doesn’t hate her; he hates her mental illness and her refusal to treat it.”
The mother-in-law’s affidavit elaborates on the abuse allegedly inflicted by Moreno on her infant son.
The child “was drug exposed by his mother’s intentional use of illegal substances and legal” and “illegal substances were found in [the son’s] blood and urine at birth. His mother refused to allow a toxicology screen on her own blood and urine before birth; further jeopardizing her son.” The affidavit goes on to say Moreno kept her son “in diapers,” even at four years old, saying “‘its too messy to have to toilet train him. This is easier,'” dresses him only “in baby clothes” and “she dresses him in [girls’] clothes.” The affidavit also alleges that in December 2019, on a Christmas visit, Carranza caught Moreno putting “what appeared to be adult cold medicine” into their son’s feeding tube, saying, “‘this is the only way I can get him to sleep.'”
A day after Sunday’s shooting at Lakewood Church in Houston, Moreno’s former mother-in-law posted a lengthy statement on Facebook asking “that this be a wake-up call.”
“[M]y daughter-in-law when she was taking medication for schizophrenia was a very sweet and loving woman,” Walli Carranza wrote in the Facebook post on Monday. “But mental illness is real illness and when family members seek emergency protections they’re not doing so for their own sake but for the sake of the person who is ill….. And to protect her child and society.”
In a Dec. 2021 affidavit filed by Moreno under the name “Jeffrey Moreno-Carranza,” she told a different story, alleging that she has “personal knowledge” that her estranged husband was “a convicted sex offender” and had “multiple” DWI charges. She also alleged that during the marriage “he physically assaulted me on numerous occasions that made me fear for my safety and the safety of my son.” Carranza was found guilty by a Florida jury of Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Requirements in March 2023, after having been previously convicted of Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child in Colorado, according to the State Attorney for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and Texas DPS records.
“I have always been the primary caregiver for my son,” Moreno said in her 2021 affidavit, and that her husband “has never cared” for him “by himself and furthermore, he is not capable of caring for a child with special needs.”
Suspected shooter’s criminal history
Moreno was put under an emergency detention order in 2016 by Houston police officers and is believed to have a “mental health history that is documented, through us and through interviews with family members,” Hassig said at Monday’s briefing.
Moreno had a string of arrests in Texas over the last two decades.
According to ABC affiliate KTRK-TV, Moreno’s criminal history dates back to 2005, with the latest case coming during the summer of 2022.
Among her charges are an August 2009 assault, for which she was sentenced to 180 days in Harris County Jail for kicking a detention officer; a May 2010 charge for forgery, for which she was sentenced to two days in Harris County Jail for trying to use a counterfeit $100 bill; a November 2010 charge for theft, for which she was sentenced to 30 days in Harris County Jail for stealing hats and makeup; a December 2010 charge for evading arrest, for which she was sentenced to 75 days in Harris County Jail; and a June 2022 charge for unlawful carrying of a weapon, which is still an active case.
The hunt for a motive
Authorities are now poring over all possible evidence to understand Moreno’s motive and intent — from raiding a Montgomery County home under her name and a “dark in color sedan” that is registered to her and parked at the home to forensic analyses of her digital devices, and data and images stored on them, according to a police search warrant affidavit.
The warrant includes approval for police to search for any “ammunition, firearms, explosives, materials used to make explosives, cell phones, computers, and any evidence tending to connect Moreno with the commission of the offense of aggravated assault, possession of prohibited weapons, and/or hoax bomb” that might be found.
Authorities are also investigating a YouTube page called “Genesse Moreno Investor,” according to a source briefed on the probe. That page portrays Moreno as involved in real estate investments, posting one video with the description, “We Buy Commercial Residential Multifamily Properties.”
Police said Monday the investigation is still “very new” and ongoing, and they’re urgently pushing to understand why this person chose to open fire at the megachurch Sunday. That process will “take time,” officials said.
“We’re in the infancy stages of this. I completely understand. We want to know the motive. How she got the weapon. Why she did this. We’re not there yet,” Doug Williams, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s Houston field office, said.
But even in these first 24 hours, authorities have already recovered some “anti-Semitic writings” which they believe might have contributed to Moreno’s actions, noting the contentious relationship with her ex-husband and his family.
“We do believe that there was a familial dispute that has taken place between her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s family,” HPD’s Hassig said. “And some of those individuals are of, are Jewish. So we believe that that … might possibly be where all of this stems from.”
“There was a sticker on the buttstock of the rifle” that Moreno used at Lakewood, Hassig said. That sticker “simply stated ‘Palestine.'”
Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law, Walli Carranza, who identifies herself as a rabbi, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that despite Morreno’s apparent antisemitic utterances, “this has nothing to do with Judaism or Islam.” Carranza pointed, instead, to Moreno’s untreated mental illness and a lack of “strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from having a gun.”
(NEW YORK) — A major winter snowstorm is hitting the northeastern United States on Tuesday and could wreak havoc on roadways from New York City to Boston.
The fast-moving storm is expected to last only from Tuesday morning to Tuesday afternoon, but it could bring up to 1 foot of snow to parts of the Northeast.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Feb 13, 5:52 AM
50 million Americans on alert for heavy snow
Some 50 million Americans are on alert for heavy snow in the northeastern United States on Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to hit the region in the morning hours before exiting by the afternoon.
It’s the first time in two years that the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for New York City.
Rain began changing to snow early Tuesday and much of New York City was already under snow by 5 a.m. ET. The freezing line hadn’t quite made it to Philadelphia at that time but was expected to soon.
Since this is a wet snow falling into temperatures that are generally at or above freezing, the initial accumulation on the ground will melt before it starts to stick.
Snowfall rates are expected to be moderate, from 1 to 2 inches per hour, with heavier bands mixed in at times.
Winds are forecast to gust 20 to 40 miles per hour, blowing the snow and reducing visibility. However, due to the wet nature of the snow, blizzard-like conditions were generally not expected and should only be short-lived if they occur at all.
Coastal flooding was also expected to be an issue from Washington, D.C., to Delaware to New Jersey and Long Island and then from Cape Cod to Boston and Portland.
Feb 13, 4:00 AM
New York City, Boston close schools
New York City’s public schools, the largest system in the country, will be closed Tuesday, with classes moving to remote learning, Mayor Eric Adams announced.
This marks the first time in two years that New York City has been under a winter storm watch.
Boston Public Schools will also be closed Tuesday.
