(WASHINGTON) — Two uniformed military personnel, appearing to be National Guardsmen, have been shot in downtown Washington just blocks from the White House, according to two sources familiar with the ongoing situation.
The Metropolitan Police Department said it is on the scene of a shooting at 17th and I streets.
“Please avoid the area as MPD and our partners work to secure the scene,” the MPD wrote on X.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Ihab Mustafa El Mahmoud in a police booking photo. (West Palm Beach Police Department)
(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) — A Florida driver was arrested after allegedly trying to hit members of an LGBTQ running club with his vehicle at a local park, according to the West Palm Beach Police Department.
Ihab Mustafa El Mahmoud, 43, was arrested on Monday evening for “attempting to strike members of a local running club at a park, making multiple passes and driving recklessly before fleeing,” police said in a press release on Tuesday.
Police responded to the scene at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Monday, and upon arriving, “met with members of a local LGBTQIA+ running club” who reported an individual allegedly driving a Ford Bronco SUV and “intentionally” trying to strike the group with his car, officials said.
Witnesses told officers the individual — later identified as El Mahmoud — had “accelerated toward the runners, making a second attempt to strike them, he then drove recklessly along sidewalks, through grass, and up an embankment before fleeing eastbound,” police said.
Upon further investigation, officials learned that El Mahmoud “became upset over a perceived comment by a male member of the running club, leading to his agitation and subsequent actions,” police said.
The running club was identified as Night Runners WPB, which hosts walks and runs every Monday and Thursday night, according to ABC West Palm Beach, Florida, affiliate WPBF.
Rudolph Galindo, who has been a part of the club since its start nine years ago, told ABC News the suspect’s car was heading right toward him after he asked El Mahmoud if he was there for the running group, which he said “bothered” the suspect.
“As I was talking to a few others, I saw out of the corner of my eye that he got into his car and then started accelerating in reverse directly toward me where I was standing in the parking lot,” Galindo said, describing the incident as a “traumatic experience.”
Galindo, 41, said he then began yelling at the 40 other runners in the area to clear out of the parking lot, with many hiding behind trees.
Seeing the suspect’s car barreling toward the runners, Galindo said he believes the vehicle could have been traveling at a speed of 60 to 80 mph.”He definitely had his foot down on the gas, full pedal to the metal,” Galindo said.
Now Galindo said the club is trying to reassure other members it is safe to take part in their runs.
“It was a scary moment. I’m sad that someone could be that aggressive with a group of people,” Galindo told ABC News.
Shortly after the incident, police said they located El Mahmoud pulling into a parking garage where he tried to remove the license plate from his SUV. He was then taken into custody.
El Mahmoud has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with the intent to commit a felony and one count of reckless driving, police said. He may also be charged with a hate crime, with officials reviewing his charges for potential enhancement under the state’s hate crime statute, police said.
El Mahmoud is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. The name of the public defender representing El Mahmoud was not immediately available.
(LOS ANGELES) — Three men have been charged with murder in the “ambush-style” shooting of a 22-year-old Latin singer, officials said Wednesday.
The victim, Maria De La Rosa, was known professionally as DELAROSA, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which announced the charges in the fatal shooting that occurred in the Northridge neighborhood over the weekend.
Shortly before 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the suspects allegedly approached a parked car, “demanded money, then opened fire, striking all three occupants,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
De La Rosa was taken to a hospital where she died from gunshot wounds, police said. The other two victims suffered critical injuries, prosecutors said.
Two of the suspects — Francisco Otilio Gaytan and Benny LiconGomez, both 27 — were arrested over the weekend, while an arrest warrant has been issued for the third — 21-year-old Eduardo Lopez, prosecutors said.
The three suspects, all of Northridge, have each been charged with one felony count of murder and two felony counts of attempted second-degree robbery, prosecutors said.
LiconGomez is being held on $2,280,000 bail and is set to be arraigned on Wednesday. Gaytan’s bail was set at $2,180,000 and he is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 7, 2026.
Lopez’s bail has been set at $2,205,000, with an arraignment to be scheduled at a later date.
If convicted as charged, the suspects face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“This was a ruthless and targeted attack that stole the life of a young woman and artist and inflicted profound lifelong trauma on her family and the two survivors,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “My Office will pursue this case aggressively to ensure those responsible are held fully accountable for this senseless and deadly violence.”
De La Rosa was a Latin singer growing in popularity with about 40,000 Instagram followers.
The victim’s mother, Deyanira De La Rosa, told Los Angeles ABC station KABC that her daughter had been out with friends when they were shot.
“How do [you do] that to her?” her mother said. “Who do this to her? Because this is not normal.”
President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One on November 25, 2025 in flight en route to Florida. The Trumps are traveling to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case against President Donald Trump and others has been dismissed after the prosecutor who took over the case requested that it be dropped.
“In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years,” wrote Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, who took over the case after the original prosecutor was disqualified from the case.
Within minutes of Skandalakis’ court filing, the judge overseeing the case granted the request and dismissed the case.
“This case is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee wrote.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The charges, which were brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis following Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to win the state, allege that the defendants solicited state leaders throughout the country, harassed and misled a Georgia election worker, and pushed phony claims that the election was stolen, all in an effort for Trump to remain in power despite his election loss.
Defendants Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
Willis was subsequently disqualified from the case following accusations of impropriety regarding her relationship with a fellow prosecutor, leaving a council of Georgia attorneys to assign an independent prosecutor to take over the case and determine its fate.
Skandalakis took over the case himself earlier this month after he said he was “unable” to find someone else to accept the job.
In a statement following the dismissal of the case, Trump attorney Steve Sadow said, “The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”
The dismissal marks the end of the two major election interference cases Trump faced following the 2020 election.
Following an eight-month investigation by then-special counsel Jack Smith, Trump pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called “fake electors,” using the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations,” trying to enlist the vice president to “alter the election results,” and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged.
After Trump was reelected president last year, the case was dismissed without prejudice due to the Justice Department’s long-standing policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
In a 22-page filing explaining his decision to drop the Fulton County case, Skandalakis wrote that the allegations and case theory are “not a viable basis for prosecution,” and noted the timing and logistical difficulties of continuing the case specifically against Trump.
He acknowledged the seriousness of the case, writing that the indictment, if proven, would establish a conspiracy undertaken by multiple individuals … to overturn the results of the November 2020 Presidential Election,” but said that trying a criminal case against Trump would not be feasible.
“There is no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial on the allegations in this indictment,” he wrote. “And even if, by some extraordinary circumstance, [Trump] were to appear in Georgia on January 21, 2029 — the day after his term concludes — an immediate jury trial would be impossible.”
Regarding the specifics of the case against Trump, Skandalakis wrote that “Overt acts such as arranging a phone call, issuing a public statement, tweeting to the public to watch the Georgia Senate subcommittee hearings, texting someone to attend those hearings, or answering a 63-minute phone call without providing the context of that conversation, just to name a few examples, are not acts I would consider sufficient to sustain a RICO case” against the president, referring to the racketeering charges that Trump faced.
Skandalakis wrote that he considered severing Trump from his co-defendants but concluded that such a move would be “futile and unproductive.”
He also concluded that the case should have been pursued federally, not in a Fulton County courtroom.
“The criminal conduct alleged in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit’s prosecution was conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia. The federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution, not the State of Georgia,” he wrote.
He also identified a series of flaws in the prosecution’s case theory, including that the Republican electors charged lacked criminal intent and that the allegations against federal officials Jeff Clark and Mark Meadows “fall short of the far more rigorous standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt required to sustain a criminal conviction.”
In concluding his explanation, Skandalakis acknowledged that his decision would receive pushback — but said he still had to make it.
“The role of a prosecutor is not to satisfy public opinion or achieve universal approval; such a goal is both unattainable and irrelevant to the proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion. My assessment of this case has been guided solely by the evidence, the law, and the principles of justice,” he wrote.
(NEW YORK) — An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 struck the southeastern portion of Hawaii’s Big Island Wednesday night just before midnight local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS said in a press release that the earthquake had a depth of about three miles underground, and that the seismic event does appear to be related to the recent Kilauea volcanic eruptions.
“The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes. The event followed the end of episode 37 lava fountaining on Kīlauea by 10 minutes, but does not appear directly related to the eruption. Most earthquakes in this region are caused by movement of the south flank of Kīlauea,” the press release read, in part.
(NEW YORK) — In an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. blasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling him unqualified and saying he just wants to please President Donald Trump.
The comments came after Hegseth asked the Navy secretary to review Kelly’s comments in a video to troops for “potentially unlawful conduct,” according to a memo posted on social media by the Pentagon.
Kelly told Kimmel that the president and his administration’s reaction sows fear, calling it an example of “how democracies die.”
“It is right out of the playbook, you know, the playbook of authoritarianism. That’s what they do. They try to suppress speech,” Kelly said. “Every one of us has First Amendment speech rights, and I think the president is infringing on those and he is sending, he is sending a pretty strong message. You do not want to cross him, and your loyalty should be to him. It should not. It should always be to the Constitution.”
Kelly also addressed the Defense Department’s review of his comments in the video, saying that Hegseth is “totally unqualified” for the job and that “he just wants to please the president.”
“He can go after me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is law in the military, which is kind of wild, because we recited something in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he’s going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Kelly said. “It is so ridiculous, it’s almost like you can’t make this s*** up.”
Kelly also told Kimmel how he found out that Trump first reacted to the video with the post, calling it “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by death!” Kelly detailed that he was with Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., when a staffer interrupted their briefing and slid her a piece of paper.
“So somebody comes in in the middle of our brief, slips her piece of paper and I take a look at the piece of paper, and it says ‘the president is calling for your execution’– to her, to Elissa, so she, she looks at me, she gets up, she walks out,” Kelly said. “About five minutes later, she comes back in, looks at me and says, ‘Well, he’s calling for your execution too.’ So I wasn’t off the hook.”
Kelly also pointed to Trump’s attacks on Kimmel, as well as his administration’s alleged targeting of law firms, universities and media companies, saying that he is “suing people repeatedly to suppress their opinion, to make sure that everybody knows that your loyalty should be to Him.
All military officers who have retired after 20 years of service are able to be recalled to active duty, and if they are determined to have engaged in misconduct, they are subject to military prosecution — potentially a court-martial.
Kelly served for 25 years in the Navy and at NASA, retiring in 2011.
The code referenced by the Defense Department could subject Kelly to an “administrative measure,” which could include a reduction in rank — and a reduction in his pension entitlement.
“That is not how our democracy works, and we cannot go down that slippery slope,” said Kelly.
Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, Ma., on Sept. 8, 2004. Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is facing new scrutiny over the decision to withhold the Jeffrey Epstein files earlier this year.
A federal judge on Monday ordered the DOJ to expedite processing of a Freedom of Information Act request related to the Trump administration’s decision in July not to release files from the investigation of Epstein.
With the DOJ already facing a Dec. 19 deadline to turn over the Epstein files, as mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the ruling could shed light on why the Trump administration reversed course on its earlier vow to release the files. A joint FBI and DOJ memo in July concluded there was “no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials” and that their review “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Progressive legal nonprofit Democracy Forward brought the lawsuit after the Justice Department “constructively denied its expedited review request” regarding the internal records, according to the ruling, including whether Attorney General Pam Bondi “misled the American people in representing that the ‘client list’ was on her desk and ready for review,” and whether the DOJ “reversed course on the decision to disclose the Epstein matter case files out of a desire to cover-up the content within.” Specifically, the FOIA request sought records that might show that the reported mention of Trump’s name in the files prompted the reversal.
Judge Tanya Chutkan – who oversaw Trump’s criminal case related to his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result – ruled on Monday that Democracy Forward demonstrated that their request was reasonably tailored to a “matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government’s integrity that affect public confidence,” clearing the legal bar to order expedited processing.
“The request for ‘records reflecting all correspondence between Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’ is plainly tied to the concern discussed in the media that the Justice Department reversed its position on the disclosure of the Epstein documents only after Attorney General Bondi reportedly informed the President that his name appeared in the files,” Judge Chutkan wrote.
In the same ruling, Judge Chutkan partially denied Democracy Forward’s request for records mentioning “whistleblower” and “flight logs” – concluding that those terms were overbroad – but granted the bulk of their request.
Chutkan ordered both sides to file a report by Dec. 5 to determine the next steps in the FOIA request and lawsuit.
Separately, on Tuesday, the Department of Justice asked two judges in the Southern District of New York to authorize the release of grand jury transcripts and exhibits from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, ahead of the Dec. 19 deadline for the DOJ to release the Epstein files, per the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton – whom Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped to lead an investigation into prominent Democrats associated with Epstein – signed a motion asking the judges who oversaw the Epstein and Maxwell cases to approve the release of the grand jury materials, subject to the necessary redactions.
“In the light of the Act’s clear mandate, the Court should authorize the Department of Justice to release the grand jury transcripts and exhibits and modify any preexisting protective orders that would otherwise prevent public disclosure by the Government of materials the disclosure of which is required by the Act,” the motion said.
In this June 4, 2024, file photo, House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Eric Swalwell speaks during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, FILE
(WASHINGTON) — A member of Congress is suing a Trump administration official who over the last year has triggered mortgage fraud investigations into several of President Donald Trump’s political adversaries.
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., filed suit Tuesday against William Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for violating his First Amendment rights and privacy by allegedly using government databases to “concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud” against him.
Swalwell alleges that Pulte “abused his position” by using databases maintained by mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pull private mortgage records of prominent Democrats he has accused of fraud, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Fed governor Lisa Cook and Rep. Adam Schiff.
According to the complaint, Pulte issued a criminal referral against Swalwell earlier this month based on private mortgage records. Swalwell’s lawyers argue the referral violates his First Amendment rights — allegedly punishing him for his criticism of the president — as well as a federal law that prohibits federal officials from disclosing sensitive information about any individual unless it is explicitly authorized by law.
“Pulte’s referral to the Justice Department was not only a gross mischaracterization of reality. It also represented a gross abuse of power that violated the law,” the complaint says.
Pulte has maintained that the documents from his referrals are part of the public record. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Swalwell has denied committing mortgage fraud, arguing that he maintains his primary residence in California while his wife’s primary residence is in Washington, D.C.
James, who successfully brought a civil fraud case against Trump last year, was indicted on Oct. 9 on charges that she falsely described a property she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, as a second home instead of an investment property in order to obtain a lower mortgage rate. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed the case against James on the grounds that the interim U.S. attorney who brought the case was unconstitutionally appointed.
“Since taking office, President Trump has engaged in unprecedented efforts to leverage the power of the Federal Government to seek retribution against his political enemies,” Swalwell’s lawsuit said. “Those efforts have resulted in the Department of Justice conducting a series of high-profile criminal investigations and prosecutions nakedly targeting some of the President’s most outspoken critics.” ]”Defendants’ unlawful actions in this case were not the result of some inadvertent failure to comply with obscure or technical legal requirements. Rather, they represent a purposeful attack on core democratic norms and reflect a base desire to achieve exactly what the First Amendment and the Privacy Act exist to prevent: the use of government machinery to chill and silence the government’s critics,” said the complaint.
Swalwell asked a federal judge to declare Pulte’s actions unlawful, force the withdrawal of the criminal referral, and issue damages.
The Department of Justice, according to sources, is scrutinizing whether Pulte and U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin potentially jeopardized the probes into James and Schiff by enlisting unauthorized individuals outside the Justice Department to help conduct the investigations, ABC News previously reported.
Morgan Geyser booking photo, Nv. 23, 2025. Posen Village Police Department
(POSEN, Ill.) — “Slender Man” stabbing assailant Morgan Geyser is scheduled to appear in an Illinois courtroom on Tuesday for a hearing in which prosecutors are expected to request that she be extradited to Wisconsin, where she allegedly fled a group home over the weekend.
The 23-year-old Geyser’s court appearance comes a day after the Wisconsin district attorney, whose office prosecuted her in the high-profile 2014 stabbing case, called on the state Department of Health Services to send her back to a mental institution.
A Wisconsin judge signed an order in September allowing Geyer a conditional release from a psychiatric facility, where she had been held for a decade, to a group home in Madison. At the time, prosecutors objected to her conditional release, alleging she had “violent” communication with a man outside the facility and had read a book in the facility with “themes of sexual sadism and murder.”
As part of the conditions of her release, Geyser was ordered to wear an ankle monitoring device.
On Saturday night, Geyser allegedly cut off her monitoring device and bolted from her group home with a 43-year-old person she told authorities she met a couple of months ago at a church event, according to a criminal complaint.
Following a massive search, Geyser and her companion were captured on Sunday night at a Posen, Illinois, truck stop, more than 165 miles from Geyser’s group home.
Geyser’s companion, identified by the Posen Police Department as Chad Mecca of Madison, was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification, police said. Mecca was released on a citation and notified to appear in court on Jan. 15.
Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese, whose office prosecuted Geyser in the 2014 stabbing case, expressed her hope that the state Department of Health Services, which has custody of Geyser, will file a petition to revoke the conditional release she had been granted.
“When we learned of Morgan’s escape over the weekend, it unfortunately validated the concerns we have raised from the very beginning,” Boese said. “We have been consistently and adamantly opposed to her release because her conduct has repeatedly demonstrated she poses a risk to the community.”
Boese added, “Her alleged actions this weekend only reinforce our position that a conditional release is unsafe and unacceptable.”
But attorney Anthony Cotton, who represented Geyser in the stabbing case, told ABC News correspondent Juju Chang on Monday that Geyser does not present a danger to her victim, the public, or to herself.
“The question becomes, going forward, is she still a risk to society? And I stand by every word of what I’ve said earlier. She is not a violent risk to others. I don’t believe that she is. And that’s why we found out that during her time out, she engaged in no violence whatsoever and had no weapons on her,” Cotton said.
Cotton said he hopes Geyser will be allowed to go back to a community group home.
“It will certainly present complications because we’re gonna have to go back to court eventually to try to get Morgan back into a community group home,” Cotton said. “So definitely this is not a good development and something that’s gonna have a negative impact on the work we do. It’s a setback.”
Geyser and another girl, Anissa Weier, were charged as adults and pleaded guilty to stabbing a classmate, Payton Leutner, 19 times in 2014, when they and the victim were 12 years old. Geyser and Weier, who were both prosecuted as adults, claimed they committed the attack on Leutner to appease “Slender Man,” a faceless, fictional internet-based character that garnered a cult-like following.
Geyser pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted intentional homicide and was sent to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in 2018. Geyser was later found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and was sentenced to up to 40 years in a psychiatric institution.
Weier was also found not guilty by mental disease or defect after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. She was sentenced to up to 25 years in a psychiatric institution. In 2021, at the age of 19, Weier was granted supervised release.
Travis Turner is seen in an undated photo released by Virginia State Police. Virginia State Police
(APPALACHIA, Va.) — A high school football coach who went missing last week is wanted for possession of child sexual abuse material and using a computer to solicit a minor, authorities in Virginia said Tuesday.
Travis Turner, 46, of Appalachia, Virginia, has been missing since Nov. 20, according to the Virginia State Police. The Union High School football coach is considered a fugitive, police said.
State police have obtained 10 warrants for Turner, including five counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor, authorities said. The investigation remains ongoing and additional charges are pending, police said.
Agents with the state police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation Wytheville Field Office were en route to Turner’s home on Nov. 20 as part of an investigation, not an arrest, when they were informed he was no longer there, police said.
“Police are actively searching for Turner,” Virginia State Police said in a statement on Tuesday. “Since his disappearance, VSP has utilized a number of assets, including search and rescue teams, drones and k9s, to assist in the search. VSP’s main priority is locating Turner safely; he is now considered a fugitive.”
Turner is a physical education teacher and head football coach at Union High School, in the Wise County public school district, according to the school’s website. Amid his disappearance, the football team has advanced to the Virginia regional final, scheduled for this weekend, during their 12-0 season.
ABC News has reached out to the Wise County Public Schools for comment on the charges Turner is facing.
School officials had previously said a Wise County Public Schools staff member had been placed on administrative leave, but did not identify the employee.
“A staff member has been placed on administrative leave with pay while an external agency reviews an allegation that was reported to the division,” the school district said in a statement to ABC News on Monday. “This is standard procedure and is not a determination of wrongdoing. This situation also involves an active law-enforcement matter, and the division cannot comment further.”
Wise County Public Schools Superintendent Mike Goforth said Monday that the school district is unable to provide additional details due to the “personnel and law enforcement components.”
Anyone with information on Turner’s whereabouts is asked to contact Virginia State Police Division 4 at 276-484-9483 or email questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
