National

(NEW YORK) — Residents across the U.S. are bracing for multiple powerful storms forecast to impact a large swath of the country with heavy rain and snow.

The systems will bring high surf to much of the West Coast before they trek east.

Here is what to expect from the first storms to start the new year:

Impacts from first storm system have already begun

The first storm began to bring rain to the coasts of Oregon and Washington on Tuesday morning. By the evening, it will be snowing in the higher elevations from Washington to Northern California, with rain stretching through San Francisco.

It will be raining or snowing throughout much of California by Wednesday morning, with the system bringing snow as it moves over the Rockies on Thursday morning and begins to push east.

Rough waves are expected to hit California this week and through the weekend due to the back-to-back storms.

The high surf advisories begin Tuesday night and will continue through Thursday for much of the California coast, including recently hard-hit beaches and piers.

The northern part of the advisories extend from north of San Francisco to Big Sur, where large breaking waves could reach 23 feet.

Beaches in Ventura County, San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County could see waves reach up to 18 feet.

San Diego beaches could see waves up to 10 feet Wednesday afternoon through Thursday.

While these waves are not expected to be as high as the last storm, they will still pose a danger.

Last week, strong waves in Ventura County, California, injured eight people after rogue waves crashed over the seawall and flooded coastal areas.

There will also be an increased risk of ocean drowning, as strong rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Large breaking waves can also cause injury, wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats near shore.

Both storm systems will dampen the weekend

The next storm system will start as the first one is making its way across the country.

Heavy snow will fall near Kansas on Friday morning, while rain inundates regions near Houston and Dallas. The storm will then move across the Gulf Coast throughout the day on Friday, bringing the chance for minor flooding.

From the Florida panhandle to Alabama and Georgia, the South will start experiencing heavy rainfall by Saturday morning. Some snow may fall in parts of Ohio and Kentucky, but accumulations will heavily depend on moisture availability and temperature.

The storm could bring snow to the Northeast on Sunday, depending on whether temperatures stay cold enough.

The next cross-country storm will begin on the West Coast on Saturday and will bring more rain and snow as it moves east through Jan. 10, forecasts show.

While the next storm system could be a big snow-maker in the Midwest, the precipitation will likely turn to rain as it reaches higher temperatures in the Northeast.

Another round of high surf on the West Coast is also likely over the weekend as the next major storm rolls in.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Embattled Harvard University President Claudine Gay has resigned, she announced on Tuesday.

“It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president,” she said in a lengthy letter to the school community. “This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great university across centuries.”

“But, after consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual,” the statement continued.

The resignation comes amid allegations of plagiarism over Gay’s academic writings and following backlash over her response at a congressional hearing to questions about antisemitism on U.S. college campuses, which sparked calls for her to step down as president.

The news was first reported by The Harvard Crimson.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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(NEW YORK) — The driver suspected of causing a fiery fatal crash outside a concert venue in upstate New York early New Year’s Day was identified on Tuesday, however, officials added they have not yet found any nexus to terrorism after multiple canisters full of gasoline were found in his vehicle, officials said.

Two people in a ride-sharing car were killed after a rented Ford Expedition driven by the suspect, 35-year-old Michael Avery, slammed into it and burst into flames as it sped in the direction of pedestrians in a crosswalk outside the Kodak Center at about 12:52 a.m. Monday, Rochester Police Chief David Smith said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The two passengers riding in the backseat of the ride-share, a Mitsubishi Outlander, were killed, Smith said. The ride-share driver was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the chief said.

Avery was also killed in the collision with the ride-share vehicle that was struck as it was exiting a parking lot at the Kodak Center, where a Grateful Dead tribute band had just performed, Smith said.

Smith said video of the incident reviewed by him and investigators appears to show the pedestrians in the crosswalk outside the theater were Avery’s targets.

“Avery sped up, crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and appears to have intentionally been driving towards the pedestrian crossing,” Smith said.

During a press briefing Monday, Smith said the the force of the collision caused the two vehicles involved in the collision to strike a group of pedestrians who were in the crosswalk, and then plow into two other vehicles,

“There was a large fire associated with the crash that took the Rochester Fire Department almost one hour to extinguish,” Smith said.

On Tuesday, he said at least nine pedestrians were injured in the incident, including one who suffered life-threatening injuries.

First responders found at least a dozen gasoline canisters in and around the Ford Expedition once the fire was extinguished, the police chief said.

The names of the two people killed in the incident were not immediately released.

“We are continuing to work with our federal partners, including the FBI, to learn exactly what led to this crash,” Smith said.

During Tuesday’s news conference, Smith said investigators executed a search warrant on a hotel room where Avery had been staying in Greece, New York, about 9 miles northwest of Rochester. Investigators also executed a search warrant on Avery’s personal vehicle, which was found at a parking garage at the Rochester Airport, the chief said.

Smith said no suicide note or written journals were discovered in the search of Avery’s car and vehicle.

“Investigators are still combing through evidence recovered from his vehicle, but nothing, thus far recovered provides any additional insight into why this occurred,” Smith said.

In interviews with Avery’s family members, investigators learned the suspect “may have been suffering from possible undiagnosed mental health issues,” said Smith, who declined to elaborate.

“At this time, we have not been able to identify that there was anyone else involved in the crime or that it was part of a larger plot,” Smith said. “Additionally, we have not recovered any information leading us to believe the actions of Michael Avery on New Year’s Eve were motivated by any form of political or social biases.”

Jeremy Bell, the FBI agent in charge of the bureau’s Rochester office, confirmed that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved in the investigation, saying that is “not abnormal in a case like this.”

“But I can tell you is that, so far, we’ve uncovered no evidence of ideology and no nexus to terrorism either international or domestic,” Bell said.

Smith said investigators believe Avery checked into a room at the WoodSprings Suites hotel on Saturday and rented the Ford Expedition on Monday from a car rental agency at the Rochester Airport.

On Tuesday, between 9 a.m. and about 6 p.m., Avery made at least a half-dozen purchases of gas containers from different locations in Monroe and Ontario counties.

“Thus far, our information has shown he was alone when making these purchases,” Smith said.

“The force of the collision caused the two vehicles to go through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk, and then into two other vehicles,” Smith said at a press briefing Monday. “There was a large fire associated with the crash that took the Rochester Fire Department almost one hour to extinguish.”

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans urged people to contact the Rochester Police Department’s Major Crime Unit with any information about the incident.

“The most important thing today I think for us as we go into the new year is the victims of this horrific accident,” Evans said at Tuesday’s news conference. “Remember, these folks were going to see a Grateful Dead tribute band and they were expecting to ring in the new year and have a good time. Instead, we have individuals that are now going to be burying family members and we have people who have now life-altering injuries because of the choices that this suspect made.”

ABC News contributor Richard Frankel said that due to the “numerous” gas cans found at the scene, the deadly incident would need to be looked at as a “potential terrorism matter” until proven otherwise.

“All matters where you’re not sure of what they are, but there’s loss of life and they can’t be explained away immediately as an accident, have to be looked at as if they’re terrorism until they’re proven to not be terrorism,” Frankel said.

Frankel, who previously led the FBI’s office in Buffalo and is an expert in terrorism investigations, said the incident also comes at a time when law enforcement is already concerned about how domestic politics and the Middle East war have been inflaming tensions around the country.

 

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(NEW YORK) — One ticket in Michigan won the first Powerball jackpot drawing of the year, winning an estimated $842 million. The estimated cash value for the drawing is $425.2 million, according to the lottery.

The winner bought the ticket at the Food Castle in Grand Blanc, Michigan, located just outside Flint, the Michigan Lottery said. The person has yet to reach out to the lottery.

The winning numbers drawn on Monday night were 12, 21, 42, 44, 49 and the Powerball was 1. The power play was 3x.

There had been 34 consecutive Powerball drawings without a jackpot winner.

One ticket in Florida and one in Texas matched five numbers and the power play and were each awarded $2 million.

Tickets bought in California, Connecticut, Florida and Maryland were each awarded $1 million.

Monday’s $842.4 million jackpot is the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot ever won and the 10th largest jackpot won in U.S. lottery history. The jackpot also is the second-largest lottery jackpot ever won in Michigan.

The last prize of 2023 — an estimated $760 million — was the fourth jackpot to exceed more than $500 million that year. The year’s largest jackpot prize of $1.765 billion was won on Oct. 11 in California. The second largest prize was $1.08 billion, which was won on July 19 in California, according to Powerball.

Powerball tickets are sold for $2 each.

The odds of winning the jackpot prize are one in more than 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.

The game’s largest prize ever — of $2.04 billion — was won on Nov. 7, 2022.

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(NEW YORK) — A deadly, fiery crash that occurred outside an entertainment venue in upstate New York early New Year’s Day is being investigated as possible terrorism, a law enforcement source briefed on the case told ABC News.

Two people were killed and five others injured after a Ford Expedition struck a Mitsubishi Outlander that was exiting a parking lot near the Kodak Center in Rochester, according to the city’s police chief, David Smith.

The collision occurred around 12:50 a.m. on Monday near a crosswalk, as concertgoers were leaving the venue, Smith said.

“The force of the collision caused the two vehicles to go through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk, and then into two other vehicles,” Smith said at a press briefing on Monday. “There was a large fire associated with the crash that took the Rochester Fire Department almost one hour to extinguish.”

Two occupants of the Mitsubishi Outlander were killed and the driver was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the chief said. The driver of the Ford Expedition was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, he said.

Three pedestrians struck in the crash were transported to a local hospital — one in life-threatening condition and two with non-life-threatening injuries, Smith said.

No additional details on the victims have been released.

First responders found at least a dozen gasoline canisters in and around the Ford Expedition once the fire was extinguished, the police chief said.

“We are continuing to work with our federal partners, including the FBI, to learn exactly what led to this crash,” Smith said.

The investigation is being led by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the law enforcement source said. Authorities do not yet know if this was a case of terrorism but they are investigating it that way until they can determine what happened and why, the source said.

Investigators are currently looking through the devices and social media of the driver of the Ford Expedition and are talking to friends and relatives to see if they can piece together additional information that might explain why there were so many gas cans there, the source said.

The driver is from Syracuse and drove his own vehicle to the Syracuse airport, where he rented the extra-large SUV, law enforcement officials confirmed to ABC News.

The Mitsubishi Outlander involved in the crash was an Uber, the officials said.

Local police and Rochester Mayor Malik Evans urged people to come forward with information.

“I know that the community will have lots of questions as it relates to this. I ask them to continue to stay tuned,” Evans said during Monday’s briefing. “More information will come out as we are able to.”

ABC News contributor Richard Frankel said that due to the “numerous” gas cans found at the scene, the deadly incident would need to be looked at as a “potential terrorism matter” until proven otherwise.

“All matters where you’re not sure of what they are, but there’s loss of life and they can’t be explained away immediately as an accident, have to be looked at as if they’re terrorism until they’re proven to not be terrorism,” Frankel said.

Frankel, who previously led the FBI’s office in Buffalo and is an expert in terrorism investigations, said the incident also comes at a time when law enforcement is already concerned about how domestic politics and the Middle East war have been inflaming tensions around the country.

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(NEW YORK) — A missing foreign exchange student from China was found safe inside a tent on a Utah mountainside following a dayslong search in what police called a case of “cyber kidnapping.”

Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing Thursday night by his high school, according to the Riverdale Police Department. The teen’s parents told school officials that they received a photograph of Zhuang from his alleged kidnappers indicating he had been abducted, police said.

His family told police they had transferred ransom money to bank accounts in China “due to continuous threats from the kidnappers,” the Riverdale Police Department said. They also provided the photograph, which appeared to show Zhuang being held captive and in danger, police said.

The teen’s host family was not aware he was missing and there were no signs that he was forcefully taken from his Riverdale home, police said. The family heard him at the home early Thursday, police said.

Riverdale police said they worked with the FBI, U.S. Embassy in China and Chinese officials to try to locate him in what they suspected to be a cyber kidnapping. Perpetrators of this crime tend to target foreign exchange students and tell their victims to isolate themselves and make themselves appear to be held captive in an attempt to extort the victims’ family for ransom, police said. Victims comply out of fear that their family will be harmed, police said.

Investigators learned Zhuang had purchased camping equipment and attempted to go camping in Provo, about 75 miles south of Riverdale, on Dec. 20, but local police were concerned for his safety and arranged transportation to return him to his host family, Riverdale police said.

The victim did not disclose to police or his host parents at the time that cyber kidnappers were controlling him, Riverdale police said.

Investigators believed Zhuang was now isolating himself at the direction of the cyber kidnappers in a tent in the Brigham City canyon area, about 27 miles north of Riverdale, amid dangerously cold temperatures, police said.

The Weber County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Drone team and Brigham City police assisted in searching a large area along the Wasatch front in Brigham City for the teen. A Riverdale police detective who hiked the mountainside on foot came across the teen “alive but very cold and scared” inside the tent in a wooded area on Sunday, police said.

“The victim was relieved to see police,” Riverdale police said. “The victim had no heat source inside the tent, only a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber kidnapping.”

First responders cleared the teen of any major medical concerns at the scene.

“The victim only wanted to speak to his family to ensure they were safe and requested a warm cheeseburger, both of which were accomplished on the way back to Riverdale PD,” police said.

The investigation is ongoing.

Riverdale police urged anyone who has become the target of cyber kidnapping to discontinue contact with the suspects and not send them money, and to contact their local police department immediately.

“I want foreign exchange students to know they can trust police to protect them and to work with police to ensure their safety as well as their family’s safety abroad,” Riverdale Chief Casey Warren said in a statement.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Ten people were shot, two fatally, during a New Year’s party in downtown Los Angeles, police said.

The shooting occurred Monday around 1 a.m. local time at an unsanctioned warehouse party, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told ABC Los Angeles station KABC-TV.

Two victims died at the scene and eight others were transported to area hospitals in various conditions, police told KABC. Most of the injured victims self-transported to the hospital, police said.

No further details on the victims have been released.

A suspect remains at large, police told KABC. There is no suspect information at this time.

The incident is possibly gang-related, police told KABC.

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(NEW YORK) — The prize stands at an estimated $810 million in the first Powerball jackpot drawing of the year on Monday at 10:59 pm ET. The estimated cash value for the drawing is $408.9 million, according to the lottery.

There have been 34 consecutive Powerball drawings without a jackpot winner.

The last prize of 2023 — an estimated $760 million — was the fourth jackpot to exceed more than $500 million that year. The year’s largest jackpot prize of $1.765 billion was won on Oct. 11 in California. The second largest prize was $1.08 billion, which was won on July 19 in California, according to Powerball.

Powerball tickets are sold for $2 each.

The odds of winning the jackpot prize are one in more than 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.

The game’s largest prize ever — of $2.04 billion — was won on Nov. 7, 2022.

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(NEW YORK) — A driver fleeing an early New Year’s Day dispute struck seven pedestrians and injured one police officer before crashing on a New York City sidewalk in midtown Manhattan, according to police.

The 44-year-old suspect was said to be in his vehicle in a dispute with another man at the intersection of West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue. Officers were investigating a possible crime in the area around 1:30 a.m. Monday when they attempted to intervene in the altercation.

Authorities said the suspect fled police and drove north — the wrong way — on the one-way avenue, striking multiple vehicles before fleeing at a high rate of speed westbound onto the sidewalk of West 34th street.

During the blocks-long driving spree, authorities said the driver struck a food truck that pinned a 39-year-old female pedestrian underneath it, police said. He also struck at least six other pedestrians. They were all taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

One police officer was transported to NYU Langone Medical Center for minor injuries and is in stable condition.

The driver was transported to Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition, authorities said.

The investigation is ongoing.

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(NEW YORK) — A Colorado mother suspected of killing two of her children has been found and arrested abroad, authorities confirmed on Sunday.

Kimberlee Singler, 35, was taken into custody in the United Kingdom on Dec. 30, Colorado Springs Police said Sunday evening. Singler has been accused of lying about a burglary at her home earlier this month in which two of her three children were found dead, Colorado Springs police previously said. Singler is suspected of killing two of her children and injuring a third.

Authorities said Sunday no further information would be shared until a later date.

Prior to her arrest in the U.K., Singler was last seen on Dec. 23, police previously said. A warrant had been issued for her arrest on four counts of felony murder in the first degree, two counts of felony attempted murder, three counts of felony child abuse and one count of felony assault in the first degree.

After receiving a 911 call for a burglary on Dec. 19, Colorado Springs police responded to the scene and found Singler and an 11-year-old girl both injured as well as a 9-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy deceased, authorities said.

The mother and injured daughter were treated at the scene before they were transferred to an area hospital, police said at the time.

Upon further investigation, police previously said the initial report of a burglary was “unfounded.”

Police established a probable cause for the murders on Dec. 26 and obtained an arrest warrant for Singler.

A court set a $10 million bond for Singler, but the details of the arrest warrant were sealed under a court order, police said.

Singler’s 11-year-old daughter is recovering and is safe and accounted for in the Colorado Springs area, police added.

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