National

(NEW YORK) — Alleged New York City subway shooter Frank James wants to plead guilty to federal terrorism charges, his attorneys said Wednesday in a letter to the court.

James, who was charged last week in a superseding indictment with 10 counts of committing a terror attack on a mass transit system, was accused of opening fire on a Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn on April 12.

Ten people were hurt in a shooting that prosecutors said terrorized the city. James was caught after initially escaping in the chaotic aftermath of the train pulling into the 36th Street station in Sunset Park.

“Mr. James has advised undersigned counsel that he wishes to schedule a guilty plea to the superseding indictment. If the Court is available, we wish to proceed during the first week of January 2023,” the defense letter said.

The court has scheduled a change of plea hearing for Jan. 3.

The superseding indictment charges James with 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and vehicle carrying passengers and employees — one count for each injured passenger. He was also charged with a count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

James had previously been charged with a single terrorism offense to which he pleaded not guilty.

James “terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way this City hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik said when James first appeared in court. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated; it was carefully planned; and it caused terror among the victims and our entire City.”

The shooting, which took place during a Tuesday morning commute, set off a 24-hour search for the gunman. The following day, several callers to the New York Police Department tipline said a man matching the description of the shooter was wandering around the Lower East Side and East Village. James himself also called the tip line to turn himself in.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear, but authorities have said James posted a number of “race-based grievances and conspiracy theory narratives” on social media.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and the co-founder of FTX have each pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with prosecutors, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Wednesday.

Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s privately-controlled hedge fund, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty earlier this week, according to newly unsealed court documents.

Ellison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research and wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the court documents.

Together, the seven counts carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

Wang pleaded guilty to four counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, the court documents stated. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

Wang’s attorney, Ilan Graff, who is a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, said in a statement: “Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness.”

Word of the guilty pleas and cooperation agreements came after Bankman-Fried took off from the Bahamas aboard a U.S. government plane flying to New York, where he is expected to be arraigned Thursday on an eight-count indictment that charges him with orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.

Williams made the announcement in a videotaped message shared with ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DETROIT) — 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.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A woman who allegedly stole a car in Columbus, Ohio, with twin babies inside has been charged with two counts of kidnapping as the FBI joined a massive multi-state search for her and one of the missing infants police suspect is still in her possession.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said at a news conference Wednesday evening that detectives have found no trace of the suspect Nalah Jackson, 24, or the kidnapped 5-month-old baby, Kason Thomass, since early Tuesday morning when Jackson was allegedly caught on surveillance video abandoning Kason’s twin at the Dayton International Airport.

The search for Kason, who was last seen wearing a brown onesie, was launched Monday night after he and his twin brother, Kyair, went missing when Jackson, homeless woman, allegedly stole their mom’s running car. The twins were inside the vehicle as their mom stepped away to pick up a food order, police said.

Kyair Thomass was found around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday abandoned at the Dayton International Airport, more than 70 miles from Columbus, which a deputy police chief called, “a troubling aspect of this case.”

Bryant said two counts of kidnapping were filed against Jackson late Tuesday.

She said the FBI is assisting in the search for the suspect and Kason, providing personnel and technology.

She pleaded with the public Wednesday to come forward with any information no matter how small it may seem.

Bryant said the search has been expanded to five states surrounding Ohio.

Wednesday’s news conference came about 24 hours after Bryant made a direct appeal for Jackson to surrender the baby, saying, “we’re begging you to please return Kason.”

Surveillance images released by police captured Jackson at a gas station in the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights early Tuesday morning driving the stolen black 2010 Honda Accord. In a statement posted on Twitter, police said that while at the gas station, Jackson asked an employee for money.

Columbus Deputy Chief Smith Weir said Jackson was captured on the gas station’s surveillance cameras shortly before additional security video showed her dropping off Kyair at the Dayton airport.

Weir said several witnesses who encountered Jackson at the airport said she asked to borrow their cellphones to make a call.

He said it was “troubling aspect” that Jackson would leave one of the babies but keep the other.

“It’s perplexing as to why that would be,” Weir said. “Obviously we could all let our imaginations run wild, but we have to deal with what the facts are, and the facts are we’re still looking for one child.”

Bryant said the incident unfolded about 9:45 p.m. Monday while Kyair and Kason were alone in the Honda Accord their mother left running after stopping a Donatos Pizza restaurant in the Short North Arts District of northeast Columbus to pick up a Door Dash order.

The mother’s car was stolen soon after she went into the restaurant, police said. When the mother turned to look at her car from inside the restaurant, she noticed it was gone along with her twin babies, police said.

Bryant said witnesses told police that Jackson was seated inside the restaurant when the mother walked in.

The car has not been located and Bryant said it remained unclear if the suspect dumped the vehicle somewhere or was still driving it.

An Amber Alert was issued by the state Highway Patrol around 1:37 a.m. Tuesday. Police said the delay in issuing the alert was due to the stolen vehicle, which the mother recently purchased, not having license plates.

Bryant said at least 60 Columbus police officers have been assigned to the case and other law enforcement agencies were assisting in the search for the child. The chief said officers checked multiple residences around Columbus where Jackson once lived and searched several homeless encampments in Columbus she has been known to frequent.

Weir said he is worried about Kason’s well-being, saying, “We consider this child to be in danger.”

“This is a cry for help,” Weir said. “We’re asking the community to come forward and help us find this child.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — For the second year in a row, a 12-year-old Boy Scout has turned into secret Santa, buying Christmas presents for over a hundred children in foster care and shelters who might not otherwise get to enjoy the holiday season.

Jonathan Werner said he was inspired to carry out his philanthropy project after hearing about his father’s own childhood experience in foster care.

“Based upon stories that I have from him, it didn’t really sound like they had much of a Christmas,” he told “Good Morning America.”

“I was in foster care from the time that I was five to [when] I got adopted at about 12, so like seven years of my childhood and I don’t remember my Christmases ever really being very special until after I was adopted,” Jonathan’s dad, Steven Kolk, told “GMA.” “So having him do a project like this and knowing that where I was those years, I could have had somebody like [Jonathan], it would have been really special.”

This year, 138 children across four Minnesota counties – Kanabec, Isanti, Pine and Chisago counties – as well as some children in part of Anoka County will receive basic necessities and personal care items some requested and gift cards and toys Jonathan selected for them. He chose the items on multiple shopping trips based on lists that local social workers he partnered with would share with him to help guide the process.

“For example, if the kid had asked for a Lego set of some sort, we would go off of age and gender and then we would buy a Lego set for them and based upon other interests, we would also try to find a Lego set that also intertwines with those interests as well,” Jonathan said.

The seventh-grader said he bought about 600 presents overall, totaling approximately $11,300.

To fund the gifts, he sold popcorn to local community members and this year, he made more than he was expecting.

MORE: Boy Scouts jump into action after Amtrak derailment: ‘We’re really proud’
But throughout the journey, Jonathan said he’s simply happy to give back.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot throughout this. I’ve learned money management. I’ve learned other things of that nature as well. It also makes me really happy to know that kids that wouldn’t really get a Christmas are getting a Christmas because of my project,” Jonathan said.

His parents say they couldn’t be more impressed.

“I’m proud of what he chose to do and the number of people that he can reach with this project,” Steven Kolk told “GMA.”

“It’s really special. I have seen it move not even myself, it has inspired me personally. But I’ve also seen it inspire our other children and friends of ours and other people in the community at the stores and things like that and so it’s really special. It really brings a tear to your eye and makes you feel like he’s really making a difference for people,” Serena Kolk added.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A grieving mother’s fight to find answers about the death of her son has helped to shed light on a suspected rash of druggings and robberies affecting New York City’s gay nightlife scene.

Linda Clary’s 33-year-old son, John Umberger, was found dead in June after he was last seen walking out of a midtown Manhattan bar with two strangers. Umberger, who was visiting for work from Washington D.C., was out earlier with his friends, but was at the bar alone.

“It’s the worst phone call that any mother can ever get and ever want to get,” Clary told ABC News. “It’s the greatest pain and anguish of anything.”

Someone using Umberger’s phone and credit cards stole more than $20,000, Clary said. Lidocaine, a numbing agent, and fentanyl were both found in his system, according to police.

“Detectives presented it as, it looked like a drug overdose, and that perhaps John had gone out to the bars and had been robbed and was so depressed, he took a bunch of drugs,” Clary said.

Refusing to believe her son had done that to himself, Clary flew from Atlanta to New York, where she leaned on police and started talking to the media. Her phone started ringing from others with similar stories, many of whom have survived their ordeals.

Six months before Umberger died, Brian Luke says he was targeted by two men in a different part of the city.

“I feel like I was targeted, probably because I was alone and probably because I was already a bit drunk when I arrived at the bar. And my memory from that point is pretty fuzzy. I can’t say for sure whether or not they drugged me,” Luke said.

Luke says they stole his phone and wallet, and then made a long list of charges to his credit and debit cards — in all, about $20,000. He doesn’t feel ashamed that he took the men into his home, but says the police weren’t as understanding.

“I think they did some level of due diligence to look into what I had reported, but I don’t think I was taken quite as seriously as I would have hoped,” Luke said.

Oscar Alarcon tells a similar story. He says, more than two years ago, he went out to a bar in the same neighborhood where Clary’s son was last seen. He later woke up confused in the lobby of a nearby hotel with no memory of what happened.

“I went to the police. They never took me seriously. They made me feel like it was my fault, like I did it to myself,” Alarcon said.

Then in April, just outside the same gay bar that Alarcon went to, 25-year-old Julio Ramirez was seen getting into a cab with three unknown men. The three men disappeared, and Ramirez spent the last moments of his life alone in the back seat of the cab, according to authorities. He was a beloved social worker, and his death would bring people marching in the streets.

“People have been hurt. People feel scared and afraid, and this has gone on too long, because it is clear to me from people who have reached out to me, this has happened since 2018,” Clary said.

Despite her initial concerns, Clary added that she’s thankful for the New York Police homicide detective who’s now working the case.

New York City police declined comment to ABC News, citing that they’re dealing with an ongoing investigation.

Police have said it’s not just gay men who are getting targeted and that they know this is happening in both straight and gay nightclubs across the city.

After months of worry across New York, they say they’ve now arrested six men who are facing grand larceny, identity theft, assault and other charges. They also said that more arrests are coming.

There are many who believe that the police investigation wouldn’t have gotten this far without Clary’s help.

“Thank God for Linda. That’s what it says about her tenacity. Her strength was exactly what we needed and her conviction was what was needed here in this city,” said community organizer Christopher LeBron to ABC News.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — It’s time to bundle up: this could be the coldest Christmas in decades for parts of the country.

Here’s the latest forecast:

The bitter cold is first hitting Denver, where temperatures will fall from 47 degrees on Wednesday to minus 16 degrees by Thursday morning.

The cold blast will reach the Rio Grande River on Thursday and Friday, bringing the coldest temperatures to the region since the late 1980s. On Friday morning the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — will drop to minus 7 degrees in Dallas and 1 degree in Houston.

Up north, the wind chill Friday morning will be a brutal minus 39 degrees in Minneapolis and minus 37 degrees in Chicago.

The cold air moves east into Christmas weekend.

On Christmas Eve, the wind chill will plunge to a bone-chilling minus 10 degrees in New York, minus 33 degrees in Minneapolis, minus 24 degrees in Chicago and minus 5 degrees in Kansas City.

Even the South will see a below-freezing Christmas. The wind chill is forecast to reach minus 1 degree in Nashville, 4 degrees in Atlanta, 20 degrees in New Orleans and 21 degrees in Dallas.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — As a desperate search for a baby taken in a car theft went into its third day Wednesday, Ohio police released new surveillance images of “person of interest” at a gas station with the stolen sedan.

The search for 5-month-old Kason Thomass was launched Monday night after he and his twin brother, Kyair, went missing when a homeless woman allegedly stole their mom’s running car in the Columbus, Ohio. The twins were inside the care as their mom stepped away to pick up a food order, police said.

Kyair Thomass was found early Tuesday morning abandoned at the Dayton International Airport, more than 70 miles from Columbus, which a deputy police chief called, “a troubling aspect of this case.”

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant identified 24-year-old homeless woman Nalah Jackson as a person of interest in the case.

“We’re begging you to please return Kason,” Bryant said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon, directing her words to Jackson. “Right now our concern is to get the baby. We want to make sure Kason is safe.”

Surveillance images released by police captured Jackson at a gas station in the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights early Tuesday morning driving the stolen black 2010 Honda Accord. In a statement posted on Twitter, police said that while at the gas station, Jackson asked an employee for money.

Columbus Deputy Chief Smith Weir said Jackson was captured on the gas station’s surveillance cameras shortly before additional security video showed her dropping off Kyair at the Dayton airport around 4:30 a.m.

Weir said it was “troubling aspect” that Jackson would leave one of the babies but keep the other.

“It’s perplexing as to why that would be,” Weir said. “Obviously we could all let our imaginations run wild, but we have to deal with what the facts are, and the facts are we’re still looking for one child.”

Bryant said the incident unfolded about 9:45 p.m. Monday while Kyair and Kason were alone in the Honda Accord their mother left running after stopping a Donatos Pizza restaurant in the Short North Arts District of northeast Columbus to pick up a Door Dash order.

The mother’s car was stolen soon after she went into the restaurant, police said. When the mother turned to look at her car from inside the restaurant, she noticed it was gone along with her twin babies, police said.

Bryant said witnesses told police that Jackson was seated inside the restaurant when the mother walked in.

The car has not been located and Bryant said it remained unclear if the suspect dumped the vehicle somewhere or was still driving it.

An Amber Alert was issued by the state Highway Patrol around 1:37 a.m. Tuesday. Police said the delay in issuing the alert was due to the stolen vehicle, which the mother recently purchased, not having license plates.

Bryant said at least 60 Columbus police officers have been assigned to the case and other law enforcement agencies were assisting in the search for the child. The chief said officers checked multiple residences around Columbus where Jackson once lived and searched several homeless encampments in Columbus she has been known to frequent.

Weir said he is worried about Kason’s well-being, saying, “We consider this child to be in danger.”

“This is a cry for help,” Weir said. “We’re asking the community to come forward and help us find this child.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The number of migrant crossings into the El Paso area has dropped to 1,500 per day on average, down from 2,500 at one point earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Tuesday.

DHS was thrust into overdrive at the start of last week as it directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel to El Paso to assist with processing the influx of migrants.

More than 3,400 migrants have been expelled from El Paso under Title 42 or deported by ICE over the past week.

Nearly 6,000 were moved out of the area to other, less impacted Border Patrol stations and processing centers, DHS said.

“We have deployed additional agents to the region and deployed improved processing systems, automated surveillance towers, rescue beacons, mobile processing units, medical screening personnel, and nearly 1,000 Border Patrol Processing Coordinators for processing migrants and ensuring border security,” DHS said in a statement.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief for the El Paso Sector Peter Jaquez said Tuesday his agents foiled 12 smuggling schemes rescuing nearly 60 migrants from smuggling exploitation and taking 15 human smugglers into custody over the past two days.

Agents in the Border Patrol’s El Paso sector area cover 264 miles of border from West Texas across the state of New Mexico. The City of El Paso saw much of the migrant influx and officials and aid workers remain under strain to care for those still there.

The Red Cross is providing support to shelters with cots and food. The El Paso Office of Emergency Management said Tuesday it had identified two vacant schools to use to house migrants released into the community.

“All eyes are on El Paso and for this reason, we must show the world the compassion our community is known for and illustrate the resilience and strength of our region,” City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said Tuesday.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the holiday travel rush begins, a cross-country storm is bringing heavy snow, blizzard conditions and damaging winds.

Here’s the latest forecast:

Blizzard warnings have been issued in the Upper Midwest and the Plains on Wednesday as the storm moves in. Heavy snow will cause treacherous travel conditions in Des Moines and Minneapolis.

On Thursday, snow and gusty winds will slam Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago.

The storm then brings snow and gusty winds to Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee Thursday afternoon into Friday.

Michigan will see more than 1 foot of snow.

Chicago will get a few inches of snow which will be coupled with powerful 40 to 50 mph wind gusts, producing blowing and drifting snow.

In the Northeast, heavy rain, coastal flooding and disruptive winds are expected Thursday night into Friday. Gusts could reach 70 mph in some areas.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.