National

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico is suing the city of Albuquerque over its treatment of the city’s homeless population.

Attorneys from the law firm of Ives and Flores, the ACLU-NM and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP) filed suit Monday, accusing the state’s largest city of illegally destroying property and encampments for the homeless, as well as jailing and fining them.

“They’re criminalizing those residents, fining them for existing in public spaces and they are also taking their property [that they] need to function within our society and to hopefully transition out of homelessness,” Laura Ives, partner at the law firm of Ives and Flores, told ABC News.

Albuquerque has gotten rid of tents, bed rolls, shopping carts, identification cards and even birth certificates, all things that can help people escape homeless, Ives said.

The ACLU said that the city closed Coronado Park, a place where homeless New Mexicans could sleep at night, by fencing it off, ultimately forcing those staying at the park to leave and got rid of their belongings, according to the suit.

“Unhoused people in Albuquerque make up the city’s most vulnerable population,” the lawsuit reads. “Subject to the harms and indignities of abject poverty, many unhoused people live outdoors, exposed to the extremes of Albuquerque’s climate, to hunger, thirst and to the constant fears and worries that accompany being unsheltered.”

There aren’t enough shelter spaces in Albuquerque for even close to every homeless person to go to the shelters, Ives said, describing the conditions at the shelters as “inhumane.”

The City of Albuquerque did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller announced in July that the city would revisit its policies addressing homelessness and the encampments.

Albuquerque has designated lots or partial lots that has space for tents, recreational vehicles, and/or light vehicles and can offer social services and support facilities as Safe Outdoor Spaces(SOS).

The city doesn’t consider Coronado Park as an SOS because those spaces cannot be located in parks, according to the city.

Individuals experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque have declined in the last 22 years, according to data from the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness (NMCEH). In 2000, about 2,002 homeless people were living in the city. As of Jan. 31, 2022, that figure sits at 1,311, according to a recent report by NMCEH.

In the first quarter of 2022, rent in Albuquerque increased between 10% and 19.9%, according to the ACLU.

“The housing crisis impacts everyone, but disproportionately hurts people with mental health and other disabilities,” Maria Griego, director of economic equity at NMCLP, said in an ACLU press release. “Being forced to move and having belongings confiscated increases instability, making it even harder to find work, get medications, see a social worker, or find permanent housing.”

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(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) — A missing 5-month-old boy was found safe in the car he was apparently stolen in, police said Thursday, after three days.

Nalah Jackson, 24, the suspect sought in the kidnapping, was taken into custody Thursday in Indianapolis, Indiana, police said hours earlier.

Kason Thomass was found near a Papa Johns in Indianapolis, police said, adding that the “5-month-old boy is in good health & being transported to a hospital to be checked out.”

The search for Kason was launched Monday night after a homeless woman allegedly stole his mom’s running 2010 Honda Accord in Columbus, Ohio. Kason and his twin, Kyair, were inside the vehicle while their mom stepped away to pick up a food order, police said.

Kyair was found around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday abandoned at the Dayton International Airport, more than 70 miles from Columbus. Surveillance cameras captured Jackson allegedly abandoning Kyair in his car seat in a parking lot at the Dayton airport, authorities said.

Police identified Jackson as the suspected car thief and initially said investigators believed she still had Kason in her possession. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said witnesses told police Jackson was seated inside the restaurant when the mother walked in.

Jackson was taken into custody in Indianapolis around 2 p.m. local time Thursday, Columbus police said. Kason, who was last seen wearing a brown onesie, was not with Jackson at the time of her arrest, according to Bryant.

Police had received tips earlier Thursday that Jackson may have been spotted in Indianapolis. A person believed to be Jackson was stopped by police Thursday afternoon in the city and was positively identified through fingerprints an hour later, police said.

Jackson has been charged with two counts of kidnapping and is currently being questioned by police, Bryant said.

“We are relieved to have located the suspect, and it takes us one step closer to locating Kason,” Bryant told reporters during a briefing Thursday early evening. “But we will not stop searching until he is brought home safely.”

The FBI assisted in the search for Kason, providing personnel and technology.

Amid the search for Kason, Dion Green, who survived a 2019 mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, that claimed the life of his father, established a $10,000 reward for the baby’s safe return.

“I hope and pray that this baby is found safe and that we can get him back home to his mother,” Green said in a Facebook post on Wednesday announcing the reward.

On Aug. 4, 2019, Green was out with his father, Derrick Fudge, in Dayton’s Oregon District when a 24-year-old man went on a shooting rampage, killing nine people, including Fudge, and wounding dozens more. In the aftermath of the massacre, Green founded the Fudge Foundation to help individuals impacted directly and indirectly by mass shootings, violence, human trafficking, domestic abuse and other forms of trauma.

“My main concern is the child,” Green told ABC affiliate station WSYS in Columbus. “I just want to get the baby and make sure we get him returned back home safely.”

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(NEW YORK) — Break out the gloves and hats: bitter cold is moving in, bringing what could be the coldest Christmas in decades for parts of the U.S.

On Friday morning, the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — is forecast to fall to minus 6 degrees in Dallas and 1 degree in Houston. This will mark the coldest air mass for the Rio Grande River since the late 1980s.

On Saturday morning the wind chill will plunge to a bone-chilling minus 15 degrees in New York City, minus 32 degrees in Chicago and minus 39 degrees in Minneapolis. On Christmas Eve, the wind chill is forecast to clock in at minus 10 degrees in New York and minus 1 degree in Nashville.

Here is your cheat sheet for how to brave the frigid weather:

How to keep pipes from freezing

Keep the temperature in your home consistent during the day and night, the Red Cross advised. If you’re leaving home for the holidays, keep the heat on with the temperature set at a minimum of 55 degrees.

Prop open the cabinet doors in your kitchen and bathroom so warmer air can circulate around the plumbing, according to the Red Cross — just make sure to move any chemicals so children can reach them.

Keep your garage door closed if there are water supply lines inside, the Red Cross said.

You can also let the water drip, even at a trickle, from the faucet connected to exposed pipes, according to the Red Cross.

How to stay safe outside

Those with prolonged exposure or those not dressed appropriately for the weather are in danger of frostbite and hypothermia, National Weather Service meteorologist Jay Engle told ABC News.

Frostbite results in the loss of feeling and color in affected areas — usually the nose, ears, cheeks, fingers, toes or chin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Frostbite could potentially cause permanent damage and, in severe cases, can lead to amputation, the CDC said.

Someone suffering from frostbite can be unaware of it because tissues that become frozen are numb, the CDC said. These are all signs of frostbite: numbness, white or grayish-yellow skin, or skin that feels unusually firm or waxy.

“Don’t rub your hands — if you have frost-nip or frostbite, rubbing actually causes tissue damage,” Dr. Randall Wexler, professor of family medicine at Ohio State University, told ABC News.

If you think you are developing frostbite, “keep the area covered if you can … because if you have frostbite on your hand and you pull off your glove, you may cause tissue damage,” Wexler said.

He added, “That’s also when you want to start trying to raise your core body temperature — get rid of wet clothes, put on clothes that are warm and dry.”

There’s also hypothermia — or abnormally low body temperature — which can impact the brain, “making the victim unable to think clearly or move well,” the CDC said. “This makes hypothermia especially dangerous because a person may not know that it’s happening and won’t be able to do anything about it.”

Warning signs for adults are shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness. Warning signs for infants are bright red or cold skin and very low energy, the CDC said.

Engle recommends to “dress in three or more layers. One big thick winter coat tends not to do the trick. You have to have a thick sweater underneath and then a lighter jacket on top of that and then your winter coat.”

“People really should keep their heads covered because that’s where majority of heat gets lost,” Engle added.

Wexler said moving can generate heat. But try to avoid sweating.

“If you are overheated and start to sweat, that lowers your body temperature and makes you more susceptible to cold injury,” he said. “You want to be able to adjust your layers, zip and unzip.”

Wexler also recommended staying hydrated because “dehydration can help promote cold injury.”

The young and elderly should be especially careful in the cold.

“Their ability to maintain core body temperature is harder than mid-age and younger adults,” he said. “Kids, especially babies, lose a disproportionate amount of heat from their head — that’s why you want to have a hat on their head when you’re out there. Older people are more at risk simply because it is more difficult to regulate our core body temperature as we get older.”

It’s also more difficult to maintain your core temperature if you are diabetic or taking decongestant antihistamines or certain blood pressure medications, Wexler said.

How to keep your car safe

When the temperature dips, getting behind the wheel can prove to be a challenge. Problems include dead car batteries, iced-over windshields, broken car locks and driving with no traction.

Audra Fordin, founder of Woman Auto Know and the owner of Great Bear Auto Repair in Queens, New York, provided these tips:

1. Before you hit the road, check under the hood.

“If it’s really cold outside, you want to make sure that your battery is going to be good in the freezing cold weather,” Fordin said. “If you see any snow or blue stuff that’s growing off your battery, that’s an indication you want to go to the shop to have your battery checked.”

2. Iced out windshields? Turn to your wallet for help.

“If you get to your car and can’t see, pull out a credit card, and you can just wipe that frost away,” Fordin said.

3. Fighting a stubborn car lock? Get sanitizing.

“If your lock is frozen, put the sanitizer on the key, and then put the key into the lock,” Fordin said.

4. If your car can’t gain traction, let your floor mat give an assist.

“Grab your floor mat, you’re going to put it underneath the wheel,” Fordin said. “That will give you enough traction to pull your car out and hit the road.”

This story was originally published in the winter of 2017 – 2018.

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(NEW YORK) — A massive storm bringing heavy snow and blizzard conditions is hitting the U.S. right as the holiday travel rush gets underway.

Over 2,200 flights are canceled in the U.S. so far on Thursday. Chicago and Denver are seeing the most cancellations.

Blizzard warnings are in effect in the Dakotas, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Grand Rapids and Buffalo.

Philadelphia schools will be closed on Friday due to the weather.

“This is really a very serious weather alert,” President Joe Biden warned Thursday. “Please take this storm extremely seriously.”

Here’s the latest forecast:

The storm is barreling across the Midwest and Great Lakes on Thursday.

St. Louis, Chicago, Indiana and Michigan will see the brunt of the blinding snow and high winds.

Although only a few inches of snow is expected for most of the Midwest, the combination of the snow, wind and brutal cold will make travel extremely dangerous. Michigan could see the most snow, with 1 foot possible in some areas.

The Illinois State Police is urging people to stay home.

“The snow, wind and bitter cold are headed our way creating hazardous roadways today and tomorrow,” police tweeted Thursday. “If you must travel because of an emergency, please slow down, remain vigilant, and Don’t Crowd the Plow!”

Bombogenesis — or a “bomb cyclone” — is forecast Thursday night into Friday when the storm rapidly strengthens over the Great Lakes.

Blizzard conditions will continue in the Great Lakes into Friday. The blowing snow will cause very low visibility making travel nearly impossible.

Heavy rain will invade the Northeast starting Thursday afternoon, causing a dangerous travel day.

The worst of the heavy rain will hit the Northeast late Thursday night and extend overnight.

A flood watch has been issued for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Albany, New York, and Portland, Maine, where some areas could see 2 to 4 inches of rain in a short period of time.

The strongest winds will arrive in the Northeast Friday morning, with winds gusts possibly topping 60 mph. The pounding winds could cause widespread power outages and major airport delays.

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(WASHINGTON) — Two Washington, D.C., police officers were found guilty in the death of Karon Hylton-Brown during a police pursuit.

On Oct. 23, 2020, Hylton-Brown was driving an electric scooter without a helmet on a sidewalk when two Metropolitan police officers attempted to stop Hylton-Brown.

Body camera footage released by the MPD shows officers following Hylton-Brown down an alleyway, where he is hit by a civilian’s car as Hylton-Brown turned onto a busy street during the chase.

He died at a hospital a few days later, according to officials.

The officer who led the chase, Terence Sutton, was found guilty of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice in a federal district court on Wednesday.

The officer who drove the second vehicle, Andrew Zabavsky, was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice.

Wednesday’s verdict reportedly marks the first time that an on-duty police officer has been charged and convicted of murder in the District of Columbia.

Sutton had allegedly turned off his lights and sirens as he sped up behind Hylton-Brown, according to the indictment of the two officers.

The charging documents also said that neither Sutton nor Zabavsky made any officials in the MPD chain of command aware about Hylton-Brown’s injuries, which delayed notification to the internal affairs division in charge of making formal referrals to federal authorities responsible for launching civil rights investigations.

Neither of the officers took steps to collect evidence or preserve the scene and roughly 20 minutes after the crash both officers allegedly deactivated their body-worn cameras to speak privately to each other, according to the charging documents.

After departing the scene of the crash, Sutton and Zabavsky allegedly made misleading statements describing their pursuit of Hylton-Brown and made no mention of his serious injuries, significantly delaying an investigation into their conduct.

Both officers pled not guilty. Sutton’s attorney, Michael J. Hannon, said at his initial appearance in federal court that the officers believed Hylton-Brown was a member of a drug gang and was armed and dangerous, according to the Washington Post.

Sutton and Zabavsky’s attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The death of Hylton-Brown was followed by days of protests outside the MPD’s 4th District station that resulted in clashes between activists and police in riot gear.

The D.C. Council this week passed legislation to limit police car chases. The measure, sponsored by council member Janeese Lewis George, would prohibit officers from chasing vehicles unless the occupants are suspected of being involved in a violent crime or if the pursuit would not risk death or bodily injury. The legislation would prohibit officers from roadblocking or ramming vehicles.

ABC News has reached out to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office to see if she intends to sign the bill.

“The verdict today provides some closure after two years of what has been a difficult and emotional matter for our city,” said the Metropolitan Police Department in a statement. “We recognize that the loss of any life is tragic. As a Department, we will continue to review our policies and training, adjusting as necessary.”

According to MPD, both Sutton and Zabavsky have been on indefinite suspension without pay throughout the legal proceedings.

MPD will complete an internal investigation into this incident now that the trial has concluded, the department said in a statement.

ABC News’ Alex Mallin contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Sal, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee, was going through a difficult time in his life when he first started at the agency. His mother was being physically abused by her partner, he said — and that was the tipping point.

“So one day at work … I’m just pacing back and forth and I have a miserable look on my face,” Sal, who was not identified by his last name, said during a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) podcast in September 2021. “And someone overheard me say, ‘I want to eat my own gun.'”

His life was saved, he recalled, after a coworker noticed that he wasn’t doing well and called to check in on him. His supervisors came to his apartment and made the decision to take his firearm away, helping him get the help he needed.

He was put on light duty and was able to attend counseling sessions, with people who checked in on him regularly, he said.

On the CBP podcast, Sal said that he and others worried their personal struggles could be a professional liability.

“The big thing is a lot of officers, they think that if they get depressed or they’re going through a difficult time that they can lose their job or that they’re going to be embarrassed,” he said. “And the entire time, that wasn’t the case. If anything, my situation got 10 times better at work because of this.”

He called it a “silver lining.”

“You’re not going to lose your job because you’re going through a difficult time. And there is nothing to be embarrassed about because, I don’t care how much money you have or what your job is or, you know, anything that you do in life — everybody gets depressed. Whether you’re the president of the United States, the biggest rock star in the world, you’re a surgeon. It doesn’t matter,” he said last year. “Everybody gets depressed.”

Though Sal was saved from his crisis, this year saw the most Customs and Border Protection agents die by suicide since 2009 — a total of 14.

CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner Benjamine “Carry” Huffman told ABC News the situation was “concerning” and that he believes there isn’t one factor that’s contributing to the increase in suicides.

Both he and a doctor at the agency, however, highlighted problems with stigma around mental health and the need to encourage officers to get help.

“Law enforcement is a challenging profession,” Huffman said.

“The things that we face and things that we do on a day-to-day basis, that we ask our workforce to do, is very difficult. Whatever crisis the nation is facing, we face it first. Whether it’s this big surge of migrants, whether it’s dealing with the first contact with people with COVID or other disease or whatever is going on. We’re the ones that come see it first, and those things are all contributing factors,” he said.

Huffman said the agency is hoping to destigmatize seeking help when people aren’t feeling well enough to work, including if they are dealing with mental health issues — the very outreach that Sal said last year had helped him. Huffman said he has held 60 town halls over the past year with the CBP workforce.

“We have a culture of toughness,” he explained. “We ask our people to do dangerous things in dangerous places, go places where other people won’t go, do things they won’t do to keep Americans safe.”

The downside, he said, is that sometimes that toughness “deters” people from reaching out — something he said he is trying to change. When an agent breaks their leg or gets a physical injury, they go on leave to get better; and Huffman said there is no difference with mental health.

“If you have some sort of a mental crisis, we need to change the culture where we have that same thought process: You get the help you need to get it fixed, you get back from job and you’re good to go,” he said. “That’s the message we’re trying to say is it’s no different between those things — getting a physical injury or a mental injury — and treat them the same way and just have that same acceptance of your peers.”

The way the agency handled such issues in the past, he said, sometimes made the situation worse. Now, though, officials are trying to empower their officers.

Huffman said the influx of migrants along the southwest border isn’t going to impact the way CBP handles officer suicides, and they are offering the same help as they did before.

CBP is one of the only federal law enforcement agencies to have a suicidologist on staff. His name is Dr. Kent Corso.

“Culture change is by far the biggest challenge,” Corso told ABC News. “And some of the things we’re doing about that [are] we are hiring over a dozen operational psychologists. So these are specialists who are there to help consult with management, with employees. We have a new process in place, a policy that has come out of the commissioner’s office, that teaches managers how to slow the process down.”

When new recruits are at the academy, CBP officials work to make sure to let them know that it is OK to not be OK — part of the shift Corso and Huffman talked about.

Corso said the work environment is contributing to some of the challenges officers are facing.

“The last few years have been unprecedented,” he said, adding, “There are many changes going on. There is high unpredictability. And what we know from the psychology research is that when things become less predictable — that is to say, people perceive less control — it’s just more stressful. Add on to that the idea that everybody’s watching the border, it’s a bit of a fishbowl, if you will, that just makes things difficult.”

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(NEW YORK) — An American woman held in captivity in a Russian prison for most of this year says she was assaulted by an inmate and left without contact to the outside world.

“Nobody ever came,” Sarah Krivanek said.

Krivanek, who spoke to ABC News in an exclusive sit-down interview this week, was released Dec. 8, the same day that WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russian captivity.

She said she is suffering PTSD and malnourishment she endured but had to check herself into a local hospital upon arrival back home. She is currently working with a trauma specialist.

In a statement to ABC News, the State Department said, “The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.”

The statement added, “U.S. Embassy Moscow provided assistance on the case of U.S. citizen Sarah Krivanek for more than a year. We monitored the case throughout the process, including attending deportation hearings. We coordinated with Russian authorities to facilitate Ms. Krivanek’s safe return to the United States.”

Krivanek disputes that claim and says that she was put on a commercial flight by deportation center agents from Russia and had to sign paperwork that required her to repay the U.S. government for the travel costs. She said she was given only $100 in cash and was forced to travel alone. She also said she didn’t hear from anyone from the U.S. government throughout her imprisonment and after her arrest at the airport only met officials in her single deportation hearing.

Becoming a ‘sacrifice’

Krivanek, 46, had moved to Russia in 2017 to teach English. Fluent in both languages, she said she ended up enjoying a successful career teaching at elite schools in Moscow. Following a broken wedding engagement, she briefly lived with roommates, one of whom was a man who Krivanek said beat her. In December 2021, she was arrested and detained for attacking him with a knife that she said she used to defend herself.

A trial in February without a jury resulted in a 15-month sentence to a Russian penal colony, a verdict even her attorney told her was extreme for the circumstances, she said. Krivanek said she believes she became “a sacrifice” for the Russians to use to send a warning to the U.S. about intervening in the conflict.

“I just fell into the system… at the wrong time,” she said. “Because it came on the heels of starting a war with Ukraine, they used this as leverage.”

Vanquished hope

In the penal colony, located in the remote Oblast region of Russia, Krivanek said she faced harsh conditions: The colony consisted of “old, run-down buildings from the Stalin era” where she said she was forced to work in an asbestos-laden factory.

There, she sewed fake flowers for use in cemeteries. Because the factory lacked air conditioning, a guard broke windows for ventilation in the summer. A small heater warmed the workers in the fall and winter months. She subsided on a diet of cabbage and bread, she said.

Being an American, she said, often made her a target among prison officials and other inmates. She said she witnessed sex trafficking, drug use and gambling throughout her entire stay.

Blocked from using the official prison phone system, Krivanek said she used a smuggled cell phone to call the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. She said her seven-minute call was redirected to Washington where she told an operator her name and where she was located. The signal was lost immediately afterward.

“After that, I just had to pray and just hope that I had given them enough information to find me,” she said.

“I didn’t have anybody. No phone calls. No nothing. I’m left completely alone,” he said.

Watching an abduction

Krivanek’s situation eventually earned the attention of Russia Behind Bars, an activist group based in England that attempted to deliver items like clothing, toothpaste and soap. Representatives from the group tried to visit her, and during both visits, they were not allowed to see Krivanek in person, she said. Connecting the organization to Krivanek was Anita Martinez, whose friendship with Krivanek dates to 2008.

Martinez, who lives outside Fresno, California, was also the last person to talk with her friend, having watched Krivanek get arrested on camera by Russian authorities when both women were on a FaceTime conversation together.

“I froze. I didn’t know what to do. I was literally in a store in Fresno… and I’m standing in the store in shock,” Martinez said. “I thought, ‘did she just get kidnapped? Like, what did I just see?'”

Martinez said she then began a long and difficult effort to get her friend released, which included contacting the embassy in Moscow, the State Department, and activist and media organizations. She said a State Department official told her that they were aware of Krivanek’s location and were working on her release, but that they could not give her details because she didn’t have permission from Krivanek to allow them to speak to her.

“No one would tell me anything,” she said.

‘They found me’

The adjustment back to life in the U.S. has been difficult for both women. Krivanek said she is suffering from PTSD and is also dealing with the loss of her father who died when she was in Russia. She is now living with Martinez who said she was unprepared, financially and emotionally, to help her friend make the successful transition she needs to move forward in her life.

A GoFundMe account has been established to help Krivanek pay back the U.S. government loan, and Martinez has been helping her get medical care and therapy.

Krivanek said she owes her friend her freedom: “Anita’s just tough as nails. I knew that nobody could walk all over her and that if she had her mind set to something, she was going to get it.”

Nine months after her arrest, on Sept. 1, Krivanek received an email in prison that changed her life. It was from Martinez, asking about her condition.

“I was just about to give up,” Krivanek said. “And I got that letter and freaked out. I’m like, ‘they found me. They found me.'”

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(NEW YORK) — On July 6 of this year, Detroit police officer Loren Courts responded to a call for a shooting on Marlowe Street. When police arrived, the 19-year-old suspect shot and killed Courts while he was arriving in his cruiser, according to police.

At his memorial service, Courts, whose father was a retired Detroit Police Department officer, was lauded for his work.

“He was the person others leaned on and sought for advice. He had a calming influence within the precinct and on the street. I do not ever recall seeing him rattled or not on point,” one of his fellow officers said, according to local reports. “He was a consummate professional who was the epitome of what a Detroit police officer should be.”

Courts was one of the 323 police officers shot in the line of duty this year, according to statistics released by the National Fraternal Order of Police, one of the largest police unions in the country, on Wednesday.

The numbers are up 7% from 2020 and 13% from 2019, according to the FOP. In total, 60 law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in 2022, the FOP reports. The numbers are down from 2021, however, which was a record-breaking year.

“Last year we saw more officers shot in the line of duty than any other since the National Fraternal Order of Police began recording this data in late 2015, and this year is not far behind,” FOP President Patrick Yoes said in a statement. “If these violent criminals are willing to commit brazen acts of violence against the men and women of law enforcement, we can’t begin to fathom what heinous acts they are willing to commit against law-abiding citizens. As crime rates continue to rise, more citizens in this country are justifiably living in fear, constantly wondering if they too will become a victim.”

Texas, followed by Arizona, Georgia and California, had the most officers shot in 2022.

“Every felonious attack on a law enforcement officer, especially by gunfire, is disturbing regardless of the circumstances,” the report said.

Of concern, the union said, 124 law enforcement officers were shot in “ambush” style attacks, which lead to more than half the deaths in 2022. The union said the year-end report will be released in mid-January.

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(SAN ANTONIO) — One year after Lina Sardar Khil’s disappearance, the San Antonio Police Department has released more surveillance footage of the day the now 4-year-old went missing.

The new video, captured on a resident’s security camera, shows Lina playing with her mother and brother on the Villas del Cabo apartment complex playground where she was last seen on Dec. 20, 2021 until she eventually walks out of frame.

Police say this is the last known sighting on video of her.

One year and hundreds of leads later, Lina’s whereabouts are still unknown, police said in a video posted Tuesday.

“There are suspicious circumstances based on the child’s age, the fact that we have not found any evidence to indicate where she’s at other than where she was last at,” Detective German Fuentes said in the video.

“We’ve received hundreds of leads that we have followed up on,” lead detective Jeremy Volz added. “We’ve partnered with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to follow up on all the leads. Unfortunately, none of the leads we have received have led us to finding Lina.”

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Lina Sardar Khil. This video highlights the investigative efforts, agencies and the communities help that have gone into this year-long investigation.

FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/6uvjw6rIMm pic.twitter.com/0m9lBHI84K

— San Antonio PD (@SATXPolice) December 20, 2022

Lina was last seen at a park on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio between 4:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m., according to police. The park is near the family’s home at the Villa Del Cabo apartment complex.

Lina has brown eyes and straight, brown hair, and was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes, according to police.

Lina’s family is part of an Afghan refugee community in San Antonio. They arrived in the United States in 2019 and speak Pashto.

As the San Antonio Police Department Special Victims Unit continues its investigation, community members continue searches of their own in hopes to get closer to finding the toddler as her fifth birthday on Feb. 20 approaches.

Crime Stoppers of San Antonio is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in Lina’s disappearance. The Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to Lina.

“Until she’s found, no person and no theory can be ruled out on what happened to her,” Volz said.

SAPD stated in a release that anyone with any information on Lina’s case can contact the department’s missing person’s unit at 210-207-7660 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — A Black Army veteran allegedly beaten by Colorado Springs police during an October traffic stop has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the three officers involved in the encounter.

The lawsuit alleges CSPD officers Colby Hickman, Matthew Anderson and Christopher Hummel violated Dalvin Gadson’s Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force. Each defendant also failed to intervene in preventing the other defendants in using excessive force against Gadson, according to the lawsuit.

At the time of the Oct. 9 encounter, Gadson, a 29-year-old Army veteran, was homeless, living out of his car as he ran a business selling electronics.

“I was taking all my money from DoorDash, literally, and putting it into my business,” Gadson told ABC Denver affiliate KMGH.

Gadson said it felt like “paradise” to be self-sufficient as he saved up his earnings to eventually afford an apartment.

But everything changed the night of Oct. 9 when a CSPD officer pulled Gadson over, telling him it was for a missing license plate, bodycamera footage released by the Colorado Springs Police Department shows.

After taking Gadson’s driver’s license, the officers can be heard in the video discussing a knife they noticed in Gadson’s cupholder. They also described smelling cannabis coming from his vehicle.

When they return to Gadson’s car, telling him he’s under arrest for a DUI, Gadson responds saying, “no I’m not” and backs into his car. From there, the situation escalates with the officers grabbing Gadson to pull him outside of the vehicle and throwing punches at him.

“It turned into the worst nightmare I could ever imagine,” Gadson said.

CSPD said in a statement that its Internal Affairs division opened an ongoing investigation into the arrest but noted that a separate administrative review found that the officers’ use of force was in line with department policy.

“Mr. Gadson refused to exit the vehicle,” the statement says. “When officers attempted to pull Mr. Gadson from the vehicle he physically fought with officers and on more than one instance re-entered the vehicle in the area of the knife.”

Anderson, one of the officers named in the lawsuit, was previously named in a federal civil rights complaint in 2020 for allegedly wrongfully arresting and using excessive force against a man by wrenching his arm after the man made an obscene gesture. The case was dismissed in 2021.

The officers named in the lawsuit could not immediately be reached for comment. The police department declined ABC News’ request for comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.

Gadson was originally charged with two counts of second-degree assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, driving under the influence, and driving without license plates. Both assault charges were dropped, and the DUI charge was dismissed in a DMV hearing, his attorneys said.

“If you look at the video, Dalvin is laying on that cupholder. He’s lying on that panel with the knife,” Harry Daniels, Gadson’s attorney, said in an interview with KMGH. “If somebody is beating the hell out of you, I would hope you try to stop them beating the hell out of you. And I mean, try and stop and cover up. That’s not resistant, that’s what we call survival.”

Gadson suffered eye injuries, a ruptured eardrum, and PTSD after the incident, Daniels said. At one point in the video, Gadson is seen lying on the pavement in a pool of blood. Additional photos of Gadson at the hospital also show visible lacerations and contusions on his body as well as his swollen face.

“If you’ve ever been punched in the eye multiple times, it literally sends you unconscious. You can’t see. You can’t hear for some reason,” Gadson said. “I’m looking at my blood on the asphalt and I felt the punches in my face.”

“Sometimes, I just cry watching [the body camera video],” Gadson added. “I have to watch it alone with nobody watching me because it is heartbreaking to even know that that was me that went through this.”

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