(NEW YORK) — The owners of a nursing home in Western New York allegedly “wove a complicated web of fraud” that resulted in patient neglect and caused the conditions that led to deadly problems exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged Tuesday in a new lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed against the owners, operators and related companies of The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center, said the defendants took advantage of the state’s Medicaid program to increase their personal profits, rather than use those funds for the intended purposes of staffing and patient care.
“Every individual deserves to live out their golden years in comfort and with dignity,” James said. “Yet the abject failure of The Villages and its owners to uphold their duty under the law caused residents to suffer inhumane treatment, neglect, and harm.”
Between 2015 and 2021, The Villages’ received more than $86 million in Medicare and Medicaid payments meant for resident health care. The lawsuit said the owners steered 20% of it into separate entities they formed to increase their personal profits. The result was insufficient staffing and low quality of care, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, residents were forced to sit in their own urine and feces for hours; suffered malnourishment and dehydration; developed sepsis, gangrene, and other infections due to gaping bed sores and inadequate wound care; endured medical toxicity and unexplained doping; and sustained falls and other physical injuries. Some of these abuses, including other unmonitored or undocumented circumstances, resulted in hospitalization and death.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Villages management tried to keep positive cases secret and either delayed or entirely neglected to enforce proper protocols for quarantining infected residents, the lawsuit said, resulting in preventable deaths. Staff members were forced to report to work even when they were sick and were provided little to no personal protective equipment.
The Villages was so short-staffed that employees were caring for residents who were both positive and negative for COVID-19 without following any quarantine protocols. As the pandemic progressed, COVID-19-positive employees, forced to report to work despite being sick, mixed with COVID-19-negative residents, and all residents intermingled regardless of infection status. Employees were told that if their temperature check indicated they had a fever, they were to go outside for an hour and come back to take their temperature again.
The lawsuit sought to compel the owners to return all funds fraudulently received, to appoint a receiver and financial monitor to stop the self-dealing and a healthcare monitor to improve care, and to require The Villages to stop admitting new patients until further notice.
“The owners of The Villages gave themselves millions while they let our most vulnerable suffer,” James said in a statement Tuesday. “Today, we’re taking action to hold them accountable and ensure no one is ever treated this way again.”
(DELPHI, Ind.) — A judge presiding over the Delphi, Indiana, double murder case issued an order on Tuesday unsealing the probable cause affidavit related to suspect Richard Allen’s arrest.
Judge Frances Gull found that “public interest is not served by prohibiting access” to the evidence in the murders of Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14. The judge added that witness safety is ensured by redacting their names.
The newly released probable cause affidavit said one of the girls mentioned “gun” as a man approached, according to video recovered from one of the victim’s phones.
A man is seen and heard telling the girls, “Guys, down the hill,” and Abby and Libby go down the hill, according to the probable cause affidavit.
A .40-caliber unspent round was found less than 2 feet away from one of the bodies, and that unspent round went through a gun that Allen owns, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Clothes belonging to the girls were found in Deer Creek, south of where their bodies were discovered, the document revealed.
Police still have not released how Abby and Libby died.
Allen, a 50-year-old Delphi man, was arrested last month and charged with two counts of murder for the Feb. 2017 killings. Abby and Libby, best friends in the eighth grade, were on a hiking trail in rural Delphi when they were killed. Allen has entered a not guilty plea.
When interviewed by police in 2017, Allen said he was on the trail that afternoon, according to the affidavit.
On Oct. 13, 2022, Allen told police he saw juvenile girls on the trails east of Freedom Bridge and said he went onto the Monon High Bridge.
Allen confirmed to the police he owns guns, the document said.
A search warrant was executed at Allen’s home on Oct. 13, 2022, the document said. Officers found knives and guns, including a Sig Sauer, Model P226 and .40-caliber pistol, the document said.
Indiana State Police’s lab analysis of Allen’s gun “determined the unspent round located within two feet” of one of the girl’s bodies “had been cycled through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” the probable cause affidavit said.
Allen voluntarily spoke to police on Oct. 26, 2022, and said he never allowed anyone to borrow that gun, the document said.
“When asked about the unspent bullet, he did not have an explanation of why the bullet was found between” the girls’ bodies, the probable cause affidavit said.
“He again admitted that he was on the trail but denied knowing Victim 1 or Victim 2 and denied any involvement in their murders,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
Video from one of the girl’s phones shows a man wearing dark jacket and jeans. Allen told investigators on Oct. 13, 2022, that he wore jeans and a blue or black Carhartt jacket that day, according to the probable cause affidavit. Allen’s wife confirmed to police that he owns a blue Carhartt jacket, the document said.
Investigators believe Allen is the man seen on the cellphone video. Investigators also claim he forced Abby and Libby down the hill to the spot where they were killed, according to the document.
Investigators believe Allen was seen walking back to his car with “clothes that were muddy and bloody,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
Prosecutors wanted to keep the probable cause affidavit sealed.
The document was released in response to a motion filed by news organizations, including ABC News.
Allen is set to return to court on Feb. 17 for a bond hearing and pretrial hearing.
The defense submitted a change of venue motion on Tuesday requesting that the trial take place at least 150 miles from Carroll County (where Delphi is located).
Police still ask anyone with information about the case to submit a tip at abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com or 765-822-3535.
(NEW YORK) — Scientists have observed two new lava flows out of the Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island — the largest active volcano in the world.
The lava is flowing north out of Fissure 3 in the northeast rift zone, crossing the road outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s observatory overnight, the U.S. Geological Survey announced Tuesday morning.
Ash and lava began spewing out of the volcano on Sunday around 11:30 p.m. and continued into Monday, is the first eruption from Mauna Loa in nearly 40 years.
The lava was contained to the summit, and there are currently no threats to populated areas, according to the USGS.
However, the eruption has migrated from the summit to the northeast rift zone, where fissures are feeding several lava flows, according to the USGS, which advised residents at possible risk from Mauna Loa lava flows to review preparedness and refer to Hawaii County Civil Defense information for further guidance.
Lava flows are significant enough to be visible from Kona, dozens of miles away.
Mauna Loa is so large it takes up more than half of the Big Island. The last time it erupted was in March and April 1984.
The volcano has erupted dozens of times since the 1880s, allowing volcanologists to get to know its “personality,” Michael Poland, research geophysicist for the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, told ABC News. This means that scientists are predicting that the flow will likely abate now because the initial eruptions are typically the heaviest.
Since the eruption is occurring to the northeast, where the peak’s slope seaward is more gentle, it would take weeks of a continuous eruption for it to reach Hilo, Poland said.
Gov. David Ige told ABC News Live that he was not yet worried about any impact on Hawaiians.
“I think right now we’re not that concerned,” Ige said. “The eruptions and the fissures are very high up. … In fact, there really is no communities or no structures anywhere close to the fissures that are erupting right now.”
“It will take weeks, if not longer, of eruptions occurring in order for the Northeast Rift Zone eruption to reach any kind of community or get close to any infrastructure,” the governor added.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has closed the Mauna Loa Summit Area to visitors as a precaution
Video posted to Twitter by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory shows thermal footage of the lava flowing out of the volcano’s summit.
In conjunction with the lava flow, there were more than a dozen earthquakes in the region of more than 2.5 magnitude early Monday morning, according to the USGS.
Lava was still erupting from the summit and was overflowing from the caldera Monday, according to USGS Volcanoes. The National Weather Service issued an ashfall advisory for depositing ash and debris, as well as light accumulation of ash on vessels, until 6 a.m. along the Alenuihaha Channel, Big Island windward waters, Big Island leeward waters and Big Island southeast waters.
The NWS advised that vessels should remain at port or avoid advisory areas, and those with respiratory sensitivities should take extra precautions to minimize exposure.
Falling volcanic ash and debris can also render engines or electronics inoperative, according to the NWS.
Hawaii is home to several active volcanos, including the Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island, one of the most active in the world.
Volcano activity has been recorded all around the globe over the past year.
Major eruptions could be underway from two volcanoes on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula after clouds of ash and lava began spewing on Nov. 20.
In July, an eruption at the Sakurajima volcano in Japan prompted evacuation orders for residents nearby in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima.
And last week, marine geologists announced that the underwater volcano eruption that occurred on Jan. 15 in the Tongan archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean is the largest ever recorded.
ABC News’ Max Golembo, Matt Gutman and Bonnie Mclean contributed to this report.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Across the country, police forces are scrambling to keep their roll call numbers at full staff, but officials said they’ve been hit with challenges.
Burnout, low morale, and dejection have caused many cops, both long-time veterans and newcomers, to quit and change careers and recent public backlash against excessive police force has resulted in a drop in new applications, according to police officials.
In Philadelphia, the police force is facing a shortage of 600 officers, roughly 10% of its full force.
“It’s critical now,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told ABC News of her force’s staffing levels. “It’s already critical, was critical a year ago.”
Outlaw and other police chiefs said the nation’s officer turnover issue is coming at a crucial time with crime on the rise and they’re working hard to get officers on the streets.
Several other cities have also reported officer shortages during the last two years.
Los Angeles’ police force is down roughly 500 officers and New Orleans’ police department has 300 fewer officers this year compared to 2021, according to data from the departments and local media reports.
A survey released two weeks ago by the Police Executive Research Forum found that three out of every four police departments have warned that their number of new applicants have declined over the last five years.
Kevin Davis, the police chief for the Fairfax County Virginia police, told ABC News that exit interviews show officers are leaving because they’re not feeling valued and can find better opportunities elsewhere.
“They’re going into IT, they’re going into sales, they’re teaching,” he told ABC News. “We’ve even had a person leave to go be a farmer.”
Anthony Carapucci told ABC News that he turned in his badge and gun after about a decade with the Philadelphia police department this year because he felt burned out.
“Yes, it’s a good job. It’s an honorable job, but it’s almost not worth it,” Carapucci, the son of two police officers, said.
Outlaw acknowledged the increased toll that her officers are facing, especially since they’re needed to take on extra duties to fill the voids.
The retention issue has also created a grave safety concern, she said. While Philadelphia police still respond quickly to 911 calls for shootings, homicides, and other serious crimes, the commissioner said it may take longer for officers to respond to lower-priority calls.
Philadelphia saw a record-breaking 562 homicides last year, according to police statistics. More than 460 people have been murdered in the city so far this year, statistics show.
Some Philly residents have said they’ve seen a difference in the lower police presence.
Kanitra Scott, who runs Nuvo’s Glam and Glow Hair Salon in Germantown, told ABC News that there have been a number of shootings outside her store since a patrol car stopped coming to patrol.
“All the killings started from the summer until now,” she said.
Police officials said that some of their officers have been discouraged by the public criticism following instances of police brutality.
When asked to respond to critics who say law enforcement may have undermined its own credibility and discouraged some potential recruits from pursuing a career in law enforcement, Outlaw rejected that notion adding “the same people who raised their voices against misconduct were the same ones “that will call 911 and will file a complaint if we don’t get there quickly enough.”
Still the commissioner and other chiefs said that the best way to tackle this issue is to convince communities that policing is still a “trusted profession.”
“Examine your heart, do you want to serve? Do you want to make your community better and your family safer and your neighbor safer and your friends safer?” Fairfax County’s Davis said.
(WACO, Texas) — A woman accused of helping Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen’s suspected killer dismember and dispose of her body pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges on Tuesday, weeks before her trial was scheduled to start.
Cecily Aguilar, 24, was indicted last year on 11 federal charges. She pleaded guilty to four of them in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Waco — one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of false statement or representation.
Aguilar faces a maximum possible penalty of 30 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Several of Guillen’s family members traveled to Waco to attend the hearing in person.
“Please God. Let justice prevail. Give my self & my parents the strength we need as we face her in court …” her sister, Mayra Guillen, tweeted beforehand, calling Aguilar a “monster” in another tweet.
Mayra Guillen said she was surprised by the guilty plea and had expected Aguilar to “keep fighting back.”
“Still a lot of mixed emotions — it’s both anger and frustration,” she told reporters following the hearing. “Now we have to wait for the actual sentencing.”
When asked what she was hoping for as far as the sentencing, Mayra Guillen said, “I comfort myself in knowing that she will be locked up for most of the rest of her life.”
“I hope she has time to sit down and think about what it is that she did and how she impacted our life,” she said. “Not only our life, but a lot of people that know Vanessa’s name.”
ABC News did not immediately receive a response to an email seeking comment from Aguilar’s attorneys.
Aguilar was indicted by a grand jury on the charges a month after a Texas judge denied her attorneys’ motion asking that her confession in the crime be thrown out. She previously entered a plea of not guilty during an arraignment in August 2021. A jury trial in the case had been scheduled to start in January 2023.
Vanessa Guillen, 20, was a Fort Hood Army specialist who disappeared in April 2020. Her remains were found two months later near the Leon River in Belton, Texas.
Fellow soldier Aaron David Robinson — Aguilar’s boyfriend at the time — was one of the last people in touch with Vanessa Guillen based on cellphone records, according to court documents.
The indictment accused Aguilar and Robinson of dismembering, destroying and concealing Vanessa Guillen’s body, then making false statements to prevent themselves from being charged with any crime.
Prosecutors said Vanessa Guillen was bludgeoned to death with a hammer by Robinson in the armory of the Killeen, Texas, military base, on April 22, 2020, according to the criminal complaint.
An attorney for Vanessa Guillen’s family has said investigators told her that Vanessa Guillen and Robinson had an argument after she discovered his relationship with Aguilar, the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier.
Robinson told Aguilar that he killed Vanessa Guillen with a hammer, transferred her body off the Army base, and then the two of them dismembered, attempted to burn and buried her remains near the Leon River, according to the complaint.
While searching Robinson’s phone records, investigators found that Robinson had called Aguilar multiple times on the night Vanessa Guillen vanished. The calls raised suspicion, as Robinson initially told investigators he had been with Aguilar all night. Aguilar later changed her story, claiming that she and Robinson went on a drive to look at the stars that night, according to court documents.
During the investigation into Vanessa Guillen’s disappearance, Aguilar ultimately made “four materially false statements to federal investigators,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said.
When investigators found Vanessa Guillen’s remains near the Leon River on June 30, 2020, they confronted Aguilar, after which they say she confessed.
Robinson died by suicide in July 2020 when confronted by police.
Months before Vanessa Guillen was killed, her family said she told them she was being sexually harassed by a superior.
A U.S. Army investigation determined that Vanessa Guillen was sexually harassed by a supervisor, and that the leaders in her unit did not take appropriate action after she stepped forward.
The family has been seeking to reform the way the military handles sexual assault and harassment cases since her death.
Natalie Khawam, the attorney for the Guillen family, called Aguilar’s guilty plea “another step on the long path toward justice for Vanessa, my client and her courageous family.”
(CHESAPEAKE, Va.) — A Virginia community is reeling after a man armed with a handgun shot and killed six people and injured several others in a mass shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake.
Survivors said the gunman walked into a break room and opened fire on Nov. 22.
The suspect, a current employee, died at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Two victims remain in the hospital and two have been released, Walmart said Tuesday.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 29, 7:29 PM EST
Employee complained about suspect’s behavior months before shooting: Lawsuit
In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, a Walmart employee accused the company of being negligent by continuing to employ suspected shooter Andre Bing despite a written complaint the employee submitted about Bing’s alleged disturbing behavior more than two months before the shooting.
Donya Prioleau, an employee who had worked at Walmart for more than a year and was in the room during the shooting, alleged Walmart knew or should have known about Bing’s “violent propensities” and accused the company of failing to “enact any preventative measures to keep Walmart customers and employees safe,” according to the suit.
Prioleau is seeking $50 million in damages.
Walmart said that it’s reviewing the complaint and “will be responding as appropriate with the court.”
-ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab and Luke Barr
Nov 29, 6:47 PM EST
Walmart to close store for the ‘foreseeable future’
Walmart has announced plans to close the Chesapeake store for the “foreseeable future.”
“All associates will continue being paid regardless of planned schedules,” CEO John Furner wrote in an email to staff on Tuesday.
The company is supporting the victims’ families with funeral, travel and other expenses, and the Walmart Foundation intends to contribute $1 million to the United Way of South Hampton Roads’ Hope & Healing Fund, “which will support those impacted by the shooting and the broader Chesapeake community,” Furner added.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
Nov 25, 12:18 PM EST
Identity of 16-year-old killed in shooting revealed
The 16-year-old victim killed in the Walmart shooting is Fernando Chavez-Barron, according to the City of Chesapeake. His identity had been previously withheld due to his age.
“We are saddened to announce the names of those we lost on Tuesday evening at the shooting at Walmart on Sam’s Circle but hope that with this information we can honor their lives in our community,” city officials said in a statement Friday.
“The City of Chesapeake has always been known as the ‘City That Cares’ and now, more than ever, we know our City will show up and care for those who need it most. Please join us in praying for the family and friends of these community members who we have lost,” the statement continued.
Nov 25, 10:32 AM EST
Gunman purchased gun day of shooting, left note on his phone
The city of Chesapeake, Virginia, released messages found on the gunman’s phone and the 9 mm handgun that Andre Bing legally purchased on Tuesday, just hours before the shooting.
In the note, Bing complained about his colleagues, referred to murder and asked for forgiveness. Bing claimed his coworkers made fun of him and compared him to Jeffrey Dahmer, even naming some he said would mock and laugh at him.
-ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, Beatrice Peterson and Arthur Jones II
Nov 24, 3:35 PM EST
Walmart employee spends Thanksgiving traumatized at home
There are those in Chesapeake, Virginia, who haven’t celebrated a moment of Thanksgiving. Jessie Wilczewski, who’d only been on the job at Walmart for five days, told ABC News she is still haunted by images of the shooting.
“When I sleep like it still plays, bits and pieces, so I can’t run away from it, like I had to sit there on the floor and in front of me watch my coworker have her last moments,” she said, with tears in her eyes.
The shooter spared Wilczewski’s life, she said. Wilczewski believes the attack was targeted and she was let go because she had not worked with the shooter long.
“I looked at him after I got up from under the table and he saw it was me. And he had the gun pointed at me [gesturing] and he went like this and put the gun up. And then he just looked at me and said, ‘Jessie go home,'” Wilczewski said.
A mom of a 15-month-old boy, Wilczewski spent her Thanksgiving traumatized at home. The shades are drawn. Too many cars on the street can terrify her. Her biggest goal since the shooting was going to 7/11, which she accomplished on Thursday.
There are countless families in Chesapeake now facing this reality, reeling from tragedy on this holiday and preparing for a holiday season that won’t feel the same.
-ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, Beatrice Peterson and Arthur Jones II
Nov 24, 3:29 PM EST
Walmart hosts Thanksgiving for store employees, families at Delta Hotel
Walmart hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for shaken store employees and their families at a Delta Hotel in Chesapeake, Virginia. Counselors and faith leaders were on hand to talk people through the shooting’s immediate aftermath.
Whole families were seen going into counseling sessions together.
Six families in Chesapeake are without loved ones this Thanksgiving. Seven others have relatives in the hospital. And, countless people in the Chesapeake community are celebrating a holiday that will never be the same, after a store manager at a local Walmart opened fire on staff during a meeting Tuesday night.
-ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, Beatrice Peterson and Arthur Jones II
Nov 24, 12:09 PM EST
2 victims remain hospitalized in critical condition
Two of the injured victims from Tuesday night’s mass shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart remain hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.
Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, just north of Chesapeake, is continuing “to treat two patients who remain in critical condition,” a spokesperson told ABC News on Thursday.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
Nov 24, 6:48 AM EST
Governor orders flags to fly at half-staff through Sunday
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff over the state Capitol and all local, state and federal buildings and grounds across the commonwealth “in respect and memory of the victims of the Chesapeake shooting, their families, and the entire Chesapeake community.”
“I hereby order that the flags shall be lowered immediately on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 and remain at half-staff until Sunday, November 27, 2022 at sunset,” Youngkin said in a statement.
Nov 23, 7:25 PM EST
Victims of shooting identified
Five of the victims of the shooting have been publicly identified by Chesapeake officials as Lorenzo Gamble, Brian Pendleton, Kellie Pyle, Randall Blevins and Tyneka Johnson.
The name of the sixth victim — a 16-year-old boy — has not been released due to his age.
Nov 23, 7:14 PM EST
‘He had a real big heart’: Mother of victim Brian Pendleton
Brian Pendleton, one of the six people killed in the shooting, would have turned 39 next week, his mother said in an emotional phone interview Wednesday.
“He had a real big heart,” his mother, Michelle Johnson, said. “Anybody that wanted to laugh, or just want company, he’d buy you lunch. He’d buy you anything in a minute.”
Pendleton worked at the Walmart for nearly 11 years as a custodian and “loved his job,” she said.
“He was just a hard worker and a good kid,” she said.
When a family friend called and told her there had been a shooting at his Walmart, Johnson’s husband went to where families had been told to convene for reunification. He was told Brian had been transferred to Norfolk General Hospital, so Johnson and her husband drove there, she said.
“We waited, and then the police came out with a nurse and they took us to a side room and that’s when they told us that he didn’t make it,” Johnson said, choking up.
“That’s when they said that he didn’t make it,” Johnson said, sobbing. “I just wondered, was he afraid at that time? I know my son. I didn’t want him to be afraid, and I didn’t want him to hurt.”
Pendleton had a condition called congenital hydrocephalus. Johnson has it too, she said, but they had both been “blessed” not to have a severe case.
“We’re fighters, and we trust the Lord,” she said.
This was Pendleton’s favorite time of year, with Thanksgiving and his birthday on Dec. 2, said Johnson.
“I don’t understand why, what happened, happened,” she said.
“I will never go near that Walmart again,” she added.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Nov 23, 6:21 PM EST
‘We will get through this together’: Chesapeake mayor
Chesapeake Mayor Rick West offered words of support in a brief video statement Wednesday evening.
“I know this community, and I know it well, and I know that we will come together and lend a helping hand to the victims’ families,” West said. “We’ll share this burden together and we’ll be stronger for it.”
The mayor promised to share more information on the incident.
“Until then, please know that we will get through this, and we will get through this together, and we will never forget those that we have lost,” he said.
Nov 23, 9:28 AM EST
Employee recounts hiding during shooting
Walmart employee Kevin Harper told ABC News he arrived to work early Tuesday night. He was sitting in the break room when he said something didn’t feel right — so he left.
Moments later, Harper said he heard around three or four muffled gunshots and he ran into a clothes hanger to hide.
“I couldn’t tell you how long I hid in there. Time just stopped at that moment,” he said.
He said he then ran as fast as he could out of the employee entrance. On his way out, he said he saw two people on the floor, including one woman covered in blood.
“I’m just praying for my Walmart family,” Harper said.
Nov 23, 9:15 AM EST
‘Very, very proud of the response,’ city manager says
Chesapeake City Manager Chris Price said Wednesday that he was “very, very proud of the response of our public safety team” after the mass shooting at a Walmart.
“You hope a day like this never comes, but you train for it,” Price said during a press conference. “We practice, we talk about it, we discuss, we learn lessons from other places, we try to put those lessons to good use, hoping those lessons will never have to be put to good use.”
Price described Chesapeake as a “wonderful place” where the community comes together “when times are good” and “when times are difficult.”
“I know it pains all of us to be together today on this day of incredible tragedy and unimaginable sadness,” he added.
Price then read a statement from Chesapeake Mayor Rick West, who tested positive for COVID-19 and could not attend the press conference.
“I am devastated by the senseless act of violence that took place late last night in our city,” Price said, quoting West’s statement. “My prayers are with all those affected — the victims, their family, their friends and their coworkers. I am grateful for the quick actions taken by our first responders who rushed to the scene. Chespeake is a tighknit community and we are all shaken by this news. Together, we will support each other throughout this time. Please keep us in your prayers.”
The mayor as well as the city council have all been fully briefed on the shooting and the response, according to Price.
Nov 23, 8:52 AM EST
Seven people dead, four others injured, police say
In addition to the seven fatalities, four people were wounded in Tuesday night’s shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart, according to police.
“While our investigation continues we can tell you the following: six victims have died, four victims are in area hospitals with conditions unknown at this time and the suspect is dead from what we believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky said during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
While police believe the suspect was a current employee of the store, Solesky would not confirm whether the victims were all employees as well. He told reporters that it’s unclear whether the shooting was a targeted or random attack.
Nov 23, 8:42 AM EST
Gunman may have been a store manager, sources say
Preliminary information indicates a gunman walked into the break room of a Chesapeake Walmart and opened fire at people before shooting himself, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The suspect was an employee of that store and, possibly, a manager, according to the sources.
Law enforcement sources also told ABC News that authorities are investigating whether the shooting was a case of workplace violence.
Nov 23, 8:24 AM EST
Police confirm deceased suspect was an employee
The suspect in Tuesday night’s mass shooting at the Walmart on Sam’s Circle in Chesapeake is believed to be a current employee and appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky.
“We have reason to believe that there’s no risk to the public at this time,” Soleksy said during a press conference on Wednesday morning. “We cannot tell you the identity of the shooter because his next of kin has not been notified.”
Police received the initial 911 call at 10:12 p.m. local time. Officers responded to the scene within two minutes and entered the store at 10:16 p.m. local time, where they found the deceased suspect and multiple victims. The scene was declared safe by 11:20 p.m. local time, according to Soleksy, who described the shooting as “senseless violence.”
“This investigation is still ongoing, so there’s no clear motive at this time,” he told reporters. “We’ll be processing that scene for days.”
(NEW YORK) — The tornadoes are expected to hit from Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night. People who live in weaker homes are encouraged to go to storm shelters.
The severe storms could also bring damaging winds and large hail.
Cities in the bullseye are: Jackson, Mississippi; Alexandria, Louisiana; and Memphis, Tennessee. Impacts could also reach New Orleans, Mobile and Birmingham, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee and eastern Kentucky.
Flash flooding is possible in southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
On Wednesday, the storm system is forecast to move east.
Strong thunderstorms are possible from the Florida Panhandle to the Carolinas. In addition, heavy rain and gusty winds are expected from Washington, D.C., to Boston.
(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) — A former Virginia police officer allegedly “catfished” a teenage girl online before traveling to Riverside, California, and killing her family, according to police.
The murders were discovered on Friday after authorities received a report of a girl “who appeared distressed” while getting into a car with a man, Riverside police said.
As officers responded to that report, they received calls of a fire at a nearby house.
Police said three family members were found dead in the house from apparent homicides: 69-year-old Mark Winek; his wife, 65-year-old Sharie Winek; and their daughter, 38-year-old Brooke Winek.
The Wineks “were loving people who didn’t deserve this,” the family said in a statement.
The fire appears to have been intentionally set, police said, adding that the causes of death were still pending.
Authorities said the teenage girl lived at that house and the victims killed were her mother and grandparents.
The man getting in the car with the teen was identified as 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards of Virginia, according to police.
The girl is 15, according to Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback.
Several hours after the three bodies were found, authorities said they spotted Edwards driving with the girl.
Edwards — who had worked for the Virginia State Police — allegedly led deputies on a chase and fired shots at them, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said. Edwards lost control of his car and drove off the road, pointing a gun at a sheriff’s helicopter, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies then fired at Edwards who was declared dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
The teen was rescued and wasn’t hurt, according to police.
Riverside police said they determined Edwards met the teen online through “‘catfishing,’ where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are.”
Police believe the 28-year-old suspect was pretending to be a teenager, according to Railsback.
After Edwards developed a relationship with the girl online, police said they believe he drove from Virginia to California, parked in a neighbor’s driveway, went to the girl’s home and killed her family. Edwards then allegedly took the teen and drove away, according to police.
Edwards was hired by the Virginia State Police in July 2021 and quit on Oct. 28, 2022, the agency said.
Edwards passed the state’s background check, state police said.
“As a probationary employee, Edwards was also given monthly performance evaluations, in accordance with department policy. During Edwards’ short tenure with the department, he never exhibited any behaviors to trigger any internal administrative or criminal investigations,” the state police said in a statement.
Edwards was hired by the Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 16, 2022, and had started orientation with the department, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Past employers and the Virginia State Police were contacted during the hiring processing; however, no employers disclosed any troubles, reprimands, or internal investigations pertaining to Edwards,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis added in a statement: “It is shocking and sad to the entire law enforcement community that such an evil and wicked person could infiltrate law enforcement while concealing his true identity as a computer predator and murderer. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Winek family, their friends, officers, and all of those affected by this heinous crime.”
ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson, Jenna Harrison and DeMarco Morgan contributed to this report.
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The father of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four University of Idaho students mysteriously stabbed to death in an off-campus house, said he’s feeling “a little defeated” and frustrated by the lack of transparency from police.
But Steve Goncalves said he supports and trusts the law enforcement officers who are diligently working on the investigation.
“I have to assume and hope that this is all part of their plan and … they’ve got this all figured out,” he told ABC News. “I know that there’s some really good, hard-working guys and girls that are on this case that I’ve met. And they looked me in the eyes and they told me straight-out that they’re working and they’re doing everything in their power.”
Goncalves added, “My wife’s biggest fear, part of the reason we didn’t have a funeral, is because she couldn’t be guaranteed that that monster was going to not be there.”
Goncalves, 21, her lifelong best friend, Madison Mogen, 21, another roommate Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were killed in the girls’ off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13. No suspects have been identified.
Two other roommates were in the house at the time and survived, appearing to have slept through the crimes, according to police. The surviving roommates are not considered suspects, police said.
“You can’t imagine sending your girl to college and they come back … in an urn,” Goncalves said. “You’re numb … you can’t absorb that amount of pain and agony.”
Kaylee, the Goncalves’ middle child, was planning to move to Texas. She had mentioned going to Chicago, but her parents said it wasn’t safe enough.
“She was going places. She was highly motivated,” her dad said. “I hope people understand how all these kids … were doing everything right and they were going to be the type of people that you want to be your neighbor.”
The Goncalves considered Mogen their “bonus child.”
“When you’re sick and you’re down and you’re out, you want to have that one great friend that’s always there for you — and that’s what they had,” Goncalves said. “There is no Kaylee without Maddie.”
It’s believed the four students were killed between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, according to Moscow Mayor Art Bettge. On the morning of Nov. 13, the two surviving roommates called friends over because they thought one of the victims had passed out and wasn’t waking up, police said.
At 11:58 a.m., a 911 call from one of the roommate’s phones requested help for an unconscious person, police said. “Multiple people talked with the 911 dispatcher,” police said, adding that they do not believe anyone at the house at the time of the 911 call was involved in the murders. Responding officers found the four victims on the second and third floors, police said.
Goncalves said the students died quickly and did not bleed for hours, so an earlier 911 call would not have saved their lives.
“Nobody suffered and nobody felt like that kind of pain,” Goncalves said.
The murder weapon — which police believe to be a fix-blade knife — has not been found.
Goncalves said the victims suffered “large punctures” from a “brutal weapon.”
“The detective said this weapon is probably something [the killer] paid money for and something that they’re proud of,” he said.
Goncalves said the only thing worse than losing his child is knowing that her killer is “having a great life out there — and you’re just left in shambles.”
“I have to have my justice. These families deserve that,” Goncalves said. “We just have to come together as a community. Submit all those pieces of evidence … and get this guy off the streets.”
Anyone with information can upload digital media to fbi.gov/moscowidaho or contact the tip line at tipline@ci.moscow.id.us or 208-883-7180.
ABC News’ Timmy Truong contributed to this report.
(UVALDE, Texas) — The mother of a girl killed during the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, last May, filed a lawsuit Monday against gun distributors, local governments and 16 law enforcement officers on the scene during the shooting — claiming their negligence led to her daughter’s death.
“Eliahna loved her family, and she knew how much we loved her,” Sandra Torres, the mother of 10-year-old Eliahna Torres, said in a news release. “I miss her every moment of every day. I’ve brought this lawsuit to seek accountability. No parent should ever go through what I have.”
Filed Monday in Del Rio, Texas, the lawsuit is the first submitted by the family of one of the children killed during the mass shooting.
Eliahna was among 19 students and two teachers killed on May 24 at Robb Elementary School in the small south Texas community.
Some of the defendants in the case, including then-school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo, former acting Uvalde Police Chief Mariano Pargas and gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, are already facing separate cases filed in federal court back in September by families of some who survived the shooting.
The Torres family is seeking unspecified punitive damages.
In an August interview with ABC News, Sandra Torres described how hard it has been processing her daughter’s death.
“It’s like sometimes it feels unreal like you know, it’s just a bad dream,” the mother said. “You know, she’s going to appear one day and then reality hits and my baby’s never coming back.”
Eliahna was known by her friends and family for her love of softball, according to the complaint, but she never made it to her final game of the season, which was scheduled for the night of the massacre.
“She hated sweating (despite the Uvalde heat), but she had fallen in love with playing softball and was a promising young infielder,” read the complaint.
The officers listed in the lawsuit work for the Uvalde Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Uvalde school district police force.
A special investigative committee of the Texas House of Representatives released a report in July concluding that the police response to the shooting was riddled with failures, allowing the shooter to remain in the classroom for 77 minutes even though 300 officers had arrived at the scene. The lawsuit argues that that delay is evidence of negligence.
Arredondo, the school district police chief who was later fired because of the response, has said he took all “reasonable actions” on the day of the shooting. He did not respond to questions about this lawsuit. Pargas, a Uvalde police lieutenant who was in charge of the city’s police force on the day of the shooting, also did not respond to requests for comment. Pargas quit two weeks ago, after the city’s leaders announced they planned to fire him.
The Torres family is also suing the city of Uvalde, the county of Uvalde, the Uvalde School District, the gun shop where the shooter purchased his firearms and gun manufacturer Daniel Defense.
The city, county, school district and Daniel Defense did not respond to requests for comment.
