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(UVALDE, Texas) — ABC News has confirmed that a former Texas state trooper now under investigation for her conduct in responding to the May 24 Uvalde school shooting rampage is among the new officers hired for the Uvalde school district police department — the same force that has come under fire for the bungled response to the massacre.

The news was first reported by CNN.

CNN reported Wednesday night that the former trooper is Crimson Elizondo, the first member of the Texas Department of Public Safety to enter the hallway at Robb Elementary School after the shooter gained entry. A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation confirmed CNN’s report.

The trooper did not bring her rifle or vest into the school, according to the results of an internal review by DPS that was detailed to ABC News. As a result of potential failure to follow standard procedures, the trooper was among five DPS personnel whose conduct is now being investigated by the agency’s inspector general. The five have been suspended; the trooper in question resigned from DPS and went to work for the Uvalde schools.

Elizondo is the second officer listed on the district’s police webpage.

The official said DPS was not contacted by Uvalde’s school personnel prior to hiring the former trooper.

DPS declined to comment. The Uvalde school district has not responded to a request for comment. The trooper declined to comment to CNN.

Nineteen students and two teachers were killed during the massacre in May. Some families of the dead have joined to form a group called Lives Robbed.

In a statement Wednesday night, the group said: “We are disgusted and angry at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s (UCISD) decision to hire Officer Crimson Elizondo. Her hiring puts into question the credibility and thoroughness of UCISD’s HR and vetting practices. And it confirms what we have been saying all along: UCISD has not and is not in the business of ensuring the safety of our children at school.”

The statement continues: “We cannot trust the decisions that have been made in regard to the safety of our schools. Therefore, we are calling for all UCISD officers to be suspended, pending the conclusion of the investigation by JPPI Investigations LLC. The results of this investigation must be released to the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary shooting, as well as to the public. Our families have been calling for accountability, and we deserve transparency and justice at the state, local and federal levels. Our children have been taken from us. We will not stop fighting until we have answers and we ensure the safety of the children in our community is the top priority.”

Questions were also raised about the district’s pre-hiring vetting of Pete Arredondo, the former district police chief who has been blamed for much of the bungled shooting response and has been fired because of it. He had been demoted in a previous job, and critics contend that work history was not taken into account when the district hired him to run its police force.

The practice of police officers switching jobs and jurisdictions despite concerns raised in prior posts has become a concern nationally. Some have called for the creation of national standards and databases that would enable prospective employers to learn quickly whether a cop has anything potentially disqualifying in their employment history.

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(NEW YORK) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones declined to take the stand in his own defense Wednesday in the Infowars host’s second defamation trial over his Sandy Hook comments, as jurors are slated to begin deliberating the damages this week.

Standing outside the Connecticut courthouse on Tuesday, Jones called the trial a “fraud” and told reporters he was likely not going to testify again because he could be held in contempt if he says he is “innocent.”

“I’m being ordered to perjure myself when they ask me questions, or I’ll be arrested if I tell the truth,” he said.

His attorney, Norm Pattis, told the court Wednesday that Jones is “boycotting” the trial because he would commit perjury if he testifies under the court’s orders.

Pattis did not call any witnesses for the defense, which is aiming to limit the amount of damages Jones must pay for calling the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School a hoax.

The six-member jury is expected to begin deliberating on Thursday after hearing closing arguments.

The judge last year found Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, liable in the defamation lawsuit, whose plaintiffs include an FBI agent who responded to the scene and eight families of victims that Jones called actors.

Parents of some of the 20 children killed in the massacre have testified during the weeks-long trial, detailing how they have faced years of death threats, rape threats and confrontations outside their homes from people who believed Jones’ lies.

Jones did testify last month after called to the stand by the plaintiff’s attorney. During the tempestuous testimony, Jones suggested the families who sued him have a political agenda because they are advocates for gun safety.

After the plaintiffs’ attorney, Chris Mattei, at one point told Jones to “show a little respect” to the families of victims in the courtroom, Jones responded, “I’ve already said I’m sorry hundreds of times and I’m done saying I’m sorry.”

During the trial, Mattei accused Jones of putting a target on the backs of families through his repeated lies about the massacre being a government-staged hoax and the families of victims being crisis actors.

Prior to testifying, Jones has spoken out amid the trial outside the Waterbury courthouse, calling the judge a “tyrant” and the trial a “political hit job.”

The Connecticut trial is the latest legal battle for Jones involving his comments on the Sandy Hook shooting, in which 20 children and six adults were killed.

In August, a Texas jury ordered Jones to pay nearly $50 million in damages to the parents of one of the victims — including $4.1 million in compensatory damages for the suffering he put them through and $45.2 million in punitive damages.

The judge in the case has yet to rule on whether to apply state caps for punitive damages to the amount awarded to the plaintiffs — Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse was killed.

In both the Texas and Connecticut cases, the judges issued default judgments against Jones because he failed to turn over court-ordered documents.

A similar decision was issued in a second Texas defamation case last year involving Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah was killed in the shooting. A trial to determine those damages has not yet started.

Amid the lawsuits, Infowar’s parent company, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy protection.

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(LOS ANGELES) — An attorney representing the family of a Los Angeles police officer who died after a training exercise in May alleged Wednesday that the officer was targeted and killed after filing a report accusing fellow officers of sexually assaulting a woman.

“I think it’s an intentional act because of the magnitude of injuries,” Brad Gage, the attorney for Houston Tipping’s family, told ABC News. “We know that Houston was a whistleblower who reported this alleged criminal act.”

Bicycle officer Tipping, 32, suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury after he and another officer fell to the ground during a simulation, according to a report released Tuesday by Los Angeles Police Department’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy, which called his death a “tragic accident.”

“The impact on the ground with the arm of the officer in that position around the backside of Officer Tipping’s neck…in that instance is where the fracture occurred,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore previously said.

Gage says they intend to file a lawsuit against the LAPD over the officer’s death.

A spokesperson for the LAPD told ABC News on Wednesday that the department does not comment on open and pending cases and that “the report that was released yesterday stands on its own.”

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office ruled Tipping’s death an accident.

The LAPD’s investigators said they found no evidence of wrongdoing.

According to the LAPD report, officers taking part in the training exercise are expected to be punched and kicked, which according to Gage, Tipping was subjected to during the exercise, leading to his injuries.

Gage disputed the department’s findings, claiming that Tipping was beaten in a retaliatory act for filing a report by a woman who claimed that four LAPD officers sexually assaulted her in July 2021, while wearing their uniforms.

One of the officers involved in the alleged sexual assault was at the training, according to Gage.

The autopsy report said that a cut to Tipping’s head and fractured ribs were sustained while officers tried to save his life.

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(TUCSON, Az.) — A professor was shot and killed on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson on Wednesday, campus police said.

The campus police chief said a male professor in the Department of Hydrology was shot and killed by a former student. The suspect was identified by police as Murad Dervish.

Police responded to the campus’ John W. Harshbarger building “for a shooting,” University of Arizona Police said on Twitter shortly after 2 p.m. local time Wednesday.

Police did not issue a lockdown but warned people to stay away from the building and surrounding area.

“Male suspect was ID’d but no longer on scene. Police currently looking for him,” University of Arizona Police said, describing the suspect as being in his mid-30s with short brown hair and wearing a blue baseball cap and carrying a dark backpack.

All remaining classes being held at the school’s main campus have been canceled Wednesday, police said.

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

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(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — The Florida barrier islands were hit the worst by Hurricane Ian as teams are still working to survey the damage and conduct search and rescues.

Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy spoke with ABC News Live’s Linsey Davis Tuesday night to discuss the latest updates.

ABC NEWS LIVE: What is going on the ground right now? What’s the first step in recovery at this point?

RAY MURPHY: Well, the first step, of course, is finishing this search and rescue. As soon as they get done with that, we can go in and start hauling off the debris and getting our utilities back up and so forth. So, there’s a lot else going on simultaneously with the search and rescue.

ABC NEWS LIVE: [I’m] curious to know what the short-term plan is with regard to two children who need to go back to school and stay local in order to do that, potentially?

MURPHY: Our local school on the beach was destroyed as the other schools on the barrier islands were. So, I imagine the school district of Lee County will be determining where these children will be taken off the island and put into schools. I imagine that’ll be close to where they’ve been evacuated, too, because they certainly won’t be able to go to the schools that are here.

ABC NEWS LIVE: And what’s the long-term plan at this point?

MURPHY: Well, the long-term plan is to this is to rebuild our facilities. But as you say that that is long term, it’s going to take some time. But step by step, we have to clear the island first, get all the debris off the island, and then whoever can repair, make remedial repairs to their places and get back in can do that. Although there won’t be too many of them. There will be there’s going to be a lot of major repairs going on. Nobody was spared this storm. Every structure on the island. So, there’s going to be a big, big job ahead of us. But we’re up to the task. And I look forward to the challenge of it.

ABC NEWS LIVE: When you say there is a big job ahead, where does the money come from to rebuild, to tear down, to restore what the town is lost?

MURPHY: I’m sure in the short term, they’ll be there’ll be FEMA funds available and hopefully everybody had insurance on their properties that they’ll be able to make claims on to rebuild or they won’t. Or people may decide that’s one hurricane too much for me.

ABC NEWS LIVE: President Joe Biden is expected to visit Florida tomorrow. If you get a chance to talk to the president, what do you think your message will be to him?

MURPHY: Well, I’ll first of all, express my gratitude for coming down. And my message will be, so, President Biden, we can use all the help from the federal government.

We’re going to need assistance from our partners on the federal level. And I think I can count on the president to help us out down here.

ABC NEWS LIVE: And lastly mayor, when you envision the future, how do you see Fort Myers Beach now?

MURPHY: Well, I envision it with the rebuilds. People building up to today’s codes and the building stock being so much better. You can still have the same type of architecture and beachy cottages and all that sort of thing, but you just have to build them strong. All of the newer houses that have been built on the beach over the years, all the concrete homes, they did exactly what they were supposed to do. The water rushed through the bottom, blew it out, and the houses remain standing.

So that’s how the beach, any barrier islands for that matter, has to rebuild. If you’re going to live on the coastal barrier island, you have to build. You have to build so the buildings will stand. And so, I foresee a great future for the beach. Know people will always want to come to beachfront property and there’s a certain amount of the population, no matter what happens, they’ll come back to barrier islands. And so, I see a bright future, actually, and I look forward to seeing it happen.

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(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — A 20-year-old Purdue University student was killed in his dorm room early Wednesday and his roommate is in custody, school officials said.

Varun Manish Chheda, a senior majoring in data science, was found dead in his room at McCutcheon Hall, a residence hall on the school’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, after the suspect called 911 to report the incident at 12:44 a.m. local time, Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite said at a news conference Wednesday.

The suspect, 22-year-old Gji Min Sha, a junior majoring in cyber security, is in custody on a charge of murder, Weite said. He is an international student from Korea, she said.

No other roommates lived with the victim and suspect, Weite said.

A university spokesperson said, with the suspect apprehended, “there is no threat to the community.”

“This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event,” Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said in a statement Wednesday morning. “We do not have all the details yet. Our Purdue University Police Department is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident so that we all may learn more about what transpired.”

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(NEW YORK) — A New York City paramedic who responded to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, will be laid to rest on Wednesday, six days after she was stabbed to death.

Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, a nearly 25-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department, was stabbed approximately 19 times in the chest in an “unprovoked attack” while on duty in Queens on the afternoon of Sept. 29, authorities said. She was 61.

Peter Zisopoulos, 34, was subsequently arrested in connection with the slaying. He has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He has no prior arrests and no known connection to Russo-Elling, according to authorities.

Authorities said Russo-Elling was in the vicinity of 20th Avenue and Steinway Street in Astoria, near her station’s quarters, when she was attacked. Authorities obtained surveillance footage that purportedly shows the incident. In the video, Russo-Elling is seen walking past Zisopoulos, who is standing in the doorway of a building. Suddenly, Zisopoulos appears to pull out a steak knife and “runs full speed” behind Russo-Elling, knocking her on her back and attacking her, authorities said.

An eyewitness is seen in the video apparently attempting to intervene, but Zisopoulos chases them away with the knife still in his hand. He then retreats to his apartment, where he barricaded himself before being taken into custody.

Russo-Elling was transported in critical condition to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital, where she died, according to authorities.

In the wake of her slaying, Russo-Elling’s colleagues described her as “the mother hen of the station” who “was always looking out for everybody.” She was the second emergency medical worker to be murdered on the city’s streets in the last five years and the 1,158th member of the FDNY to die in the line of duty, according to authorities.

In 2017, FDNY emergency medical technician Yadira Arroyo, 44, was struck and killed by her own ambulance after it was stolen in the Bronx.

Acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh announced Tuesday that Russo-Elling will be posthumously promoted to captain at her funeral, which will take place Wednesday at 11 a.m. local time.

“Alison Russo was everything we look for in a leader in our Department,” Kavanagh said in a statement. “A dedicated and accomplished veteran of 25 years, she responded to thousands of emergencies, mentored many new EMTs and paramedics, cared deeply for the communities she served, and set an incredible example for others at Station 49 and at every station she called home throughout her outstanding career. This posthumous promotion is a sign of our deep respect and admiration for all the courageous and selfless work she did throughout her career. We will never forget her.”

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(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — A Purdue University student was found dead inside a residence hall in West Lafayette, Indiana, before dawn on Wednesday, according to a university spokesperson.

The school’s police force is investigating the death as a homicide, the spokesperson said.

“A suspect is in custody and there is no threat to the community,” the spokesperson added. “An investigation is underway and ongoing.”

The suspect, who was the victim’s roommate, called 911 at 12:44 a.m. local time, according to the spokesperson.

Story developing…

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(NEW YORK) — A person of interest is in custody in connection with the kidnapping of four family members, including an 8-month-old girl, who remain missing, authorities said.

Eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri and her parents — 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur and 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh — were taken against their will from a business in Merced County in Northern California on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The baby’s uncle, 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.

A person of interest in the case is currently in custody, authorities said Tuesday. The man — identified as 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado — attempted to take his own life “prior to law enforcement involvement” and is currently in critical condition receiving medical attention, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said.

The update comes after detectives received information Tuesday morning that one of the victim’s ATM cards was used at a bank in the city of Atwater, in Merced County, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office initially said a subject captured in surveillance footage making a transaction at the bank matched the appearance of a suspect seen in surveillance footage at the kidnapping scene. The sheriff’s office later said a photo of the person at the ATM was not the person of interest who is in custody, and that it’s working with the bank to obtain the correct photo.

The four family members have not been found.

“Investigators continue to follow up on all leads and are working diligently to find the family,” the sheriff’s office said. “We continue to ask for the public’s help with any information that may assist us in locating the family’s whereabouts.”

No motive is known, the sheriff said.

“It’s imperative that we get some information on this. So far, as I know, no contact has been made, no ransom demands, nothing from the suspects,” the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s office announced on Tuesday that Amandeep Singh’s truck had been found on fire shortly before noon on Monday.

Police went to Amandeep Singh’s home around 12:35 p.m. Monday; while they couldn’t locate him, they did speak to another relative, the sheriff’s office said. When the relative couldn’t reach Jasleen Kaur, Jasdeep Singh or Amandeep Singh, the relative reported them missing, the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff’s officials then responded to a business, and “during the primary investigation, detectives determined that the individuals were kidnapped,” the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

“We’ve got detectives out canvassing, we’ve had aircraft out looking for evidence. People are gonna be working 24 hours on this until we get a break in this,” he said. “We’ve got to bring this family home safely.”

Merced County is located between San Francisco and Fresno.

The FBI, California Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies are involved in the search, the sheriff’s office said.

Anyone with information on the family’s whereabouts is asked to call the Merced County Sheriff’s Office at 209-385-7445.

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(NEW YORK) — With Ian already the deadliest hurricane in decades in Florida — and the death toll continuing to rise — Gov. Ron DeSantis told ABC News on Monday that there would “of course” be a review of the decisions that local officials made before the storm hit.

DeSantis responded brusquely at an afternoon press conference to questions from ABC News about the evacuation orders issued shortly before Ian made landfall in western Florida last Wednesday.

“Excuse me, this has been handled ad nauseam,” the governor said, cutting off the reporter’s question mid-sentence.

Lee County, which has seen the most fatalities, did not mandate evacuations until the day before the Category 4 storm leveled much of its coastline.

In the week since, both emergency officials and DeSantis have been pressed about that timeline and whether different choices could have lessened the casualties.

The governor and others, including the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have stressed that the decision was made at a local level but defended the evacuation timing, citing uncertainty about Ian’s path.

However, the National Hurricane Center forecast on Sept. 25 that Ian could bring a potential storm surge of between 4 and 7 feet along Florida’s southwestern coast from Englewood to Bonita Beach — covering the entirety of Lee County’s coast.

According to Lee’s emergency management plan from 2018, even a 10% chance of a 6-foot storm surge should be enough to prompt the evacuation of Zone A of the county, which includes low-lying coastal high hazard areas, mobile and manufactured homes.

On Sept. 27, less than 24 hours before Ian made landfall, Lee County issued mandatory evacuations for much of the area starting around 5 p.m. local time.

Asked Monday if he would order a formal review of how Lee County responded, DeSantis said: “Well of course you’re going to review everything you do in these storms. That’s the way it works.”

Lee County’s Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach were among the most severely damaged areas in the state. At least 54 of the storm deaths reported in Florida were in Lee County, the sheriff’s office said Saturday.

One resident, Pam Schlitten, rode out the storm in her Cape Coral home. Schlitten, a DeSantis supporter, asked ABC News before the governor’s appearance on Monday why no one knocked on her door and told her to leave.

“I didn’t know what was happening,” said Schlitten, 60.

Her phone service had gone out on Tuesday, she added, which was the day evacuation orders were given.

“There was no police,” she said. “You could have the police running in the area with their speakers. You [have] to get the communication out.”

DeSantis, Lee County defend evacuation timing

The governor has repeatedly said officials on the ground were “following the data” when making evacuation decisions — and it was the data from the forecast models that led them astray.

“When we went to bed Monday night, people were saying this is a direct hit on Tampa Bay, worst-case scenario for the state,” DeSantis said on Saturday. “As that track started to shift south, and the computer models the next morning, they called for the evacuation, they opened their shelters and they responded very quickly to the data.”

“But at the end of the day, Fort Myers and Naples, on Sunday, I think at the 11 a.m. advisory, 72 hours out, they weren’t even in the cone. That’s just the reality, so they followed it very closely,” he added.

The “cone of uncertainty” is what forecasters use to represent what’s likely to be the center of the storm. At least some parts of Lee County were in the cone in the days leading up to landfall, according to models from the National Hurricane Center.

Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said at a news conference on Monday that search-and-rescue efforts were continuing in Fort Myers Beach, with crews working 24 hours per day.

When asked about the timing of evacuations, Desjarlais insisted the decision was made at the “earliest possible moment when we got the weather information.”

“Based on all the conditions at the time, I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said, noting that — still — many county residents appeared to have chosen not to evacuate as only 4,000 people came to an area shelter that can house 40,000 individuals.

FEMA weighs in

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell discussed the timing of the Lee County evacuations during an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, echoing DeSantis’ comments about the unpredictability of the storm.

“Just 72 hours before landfall, the Fort Myers and Lee County area were not even in the cone of the hurricane,” Criswell said when asked if the late timing of the evacuation orders played a part in the death toll.

“And as it continued to move south, the local officials immediately — as soon as they knew that they were in that threat zone, made the decisions to evacuate and get people to safety,” she added.

Criswell said officials were aware Hurricane Ian would have a “significant impact to life,” which is why they prepared search and rescue teams to be deployed early in the morning the day after landfall.

“They are still there today going house-by-house to make sure we account for everybody,” Criswell said Sunday.

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