(BRANSON, Mo.) — Seven people have been hospitalized after a train derailed at the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Branson, Missouri, Wednesday night.
Sections of the Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train derailed from the track, and six guests and one employee were transported to nearby medical facilities, the park said in a statement.
“At this time, we are wholeheartedly focused on providing support for guests and team members in partnership with Stone County first responders,” it added.
Stone County Emergency Management Director Tom Martin said three of the cars turned over, and the ride is closed.
“The state fire marshall has been contacted to investigate if any malfunctions happened on the ride,” Martin said.
(NEW YORK) — A whopping $800 million is up for grabs in the next Powerball drawing on Saturday night, lottery officials said, in what is expected to be the second biggest jackpot drawing of all time.
The winning numbers drawn on Wednesday night were 19, 36, 37, 46, 56 and 24, and the Power Play is 2X.
Wednesday’s jackpot was Powerball’s largest prize so far this year, the fifth-largest in the American lottery game’s 30-year history and the eighth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever, according to a press release from Powerball.
Jackpot winners can either take the money as an immediate cash lump sum or in 30 annual payments over 29 years. The cash value of Wednesday’s $700 million jackpot is $335.7 million, Powerball said.
Tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was purchased, according to Powerball.
The jackpot grows based on game sales and interest rates. But the odds of winning the big prize stays the same — 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball said.
Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The drawings are also livestreamed online at Powerball.com.
(NEW YORK) — A Texas man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly trying to smuggle dozens of undocumented immigrants across the U.S. border hidden in a dump truck, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Robert Flores Jr., 38, from Poteet, Texas, was charged with 84 counts of human smuggling after being stopped on Interstate Highway 35 in Cotulla, Texas, for a commercial motor vehicle safety inspection, authorities said.
Texas DPS said Flores Jr. was allegedly smuggling 84 migrants from Guatemala and Mexico.
The suspect allegedly bypassed a border patrol checkpoint in Texas’ Webb County when he was pulled over, Texas DPS spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez said on Twitter.
“The Texas Department of Public Safety remains committed in deterring human smuggling and disrupting criminal activity,” Olivarez told ABC News in a statement. “As part of Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, DPS will continue to enhance border operations and commercial motor vehicle safety inspections.”
The migrants were handed over to U.S. Border Patrol, according to Texas DPS.
U.S. Border Patrol’s apprehensions of migrants have exceeded two million so far this fiscal year, including people who turn themselves into authorities between land ports of entry, according to agency data from September.
Last year, law enforcement officials detained 1.66 million migrants and encountered them nearly two million times. As of September, there have been more than 2.4 million encounters.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice will not pursue any federal charges in the in-custody death of a mentally ill Black man at a South Carolina jail last year, officials said Wednesday.
Jamal Sutherland, 31, died on Jan. 5, 2021, at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in North Charleston hours after deputies attempted to remove him from his cell to attend a bond hearing for a misdemeanor assault charge that morning. He was arrested the day before following a fight at a mental health and substance abuse center where he was being treated for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, his family said.
Body-camera footage released by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office showed deputies repeatedly deploy stun guns, use pepper spray and place a knee on Sutherland’s back. He became unresponsive and was later declared dead.
Two deputies, Lindsey Fickett and Brian Houle, were later fired amid the investigation into his death. A local solicitor ultimately declined to issue any criminal charges against them, saying the two made “grave mistakes” but that their actions didn’t amount to a crime. Charleston County agreed to pay a $10 million settlement to Sutherland’s family last year.
After reviewing evidence including “reports, law enforcement accounts, witness statements, physical evidence reports, training materials, photographs and videos of the incident,” the Justice Department said it will not pursue any criminal civil rights charges against two former deputies for Sutherland’s death, though it did not identify them by name.
“They also reviewed the Charleston County Solicitor’s Office’s public report on Sutherland’s death, including the expert force and medical analyses referenced in that report, which laid out the reasons why the state declined to pursue criminal charges,” the DOJ said in a press release.
Federal prosecutors were determining whether the force used against Sutherland violated federal criminal civil rights laws, including a federal criminal civil rights statute that “prohibits certain types of official misconduct,” the DOJ said.
“After this review, prosecutors determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that deputies willfully violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes,” the DOJ said.
Representatives of Sutherland’s family have been informed of the determination, and the department’s review of the incident has been closed, according to the DOJ.
Sutherland’s mother, Amy Sutherland, told reporters she spoke with DOJ officials in Charleston on Tuesday.
“I wanted to scream again, but screaming days is over,” Amy Sutherland said when asked about her reaction to the decision during a press briefing Wednesday. “My tears didn’t do anything to solve any problems.”
She said she did feel some closure at the news.
“I was upset from the time my son died until yesterday, because I felt like I had failed him in getting help,” she said. “But yesterday, after they came down, I was able to say, Jamal, your mom did all she could.”
ABC News was unable to reach Fickett or Houle for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Angelo Colon-Ortiz pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder and unarmed robbery charges in connection with the 2016 killing of Vanessa Marcotte, a Google employee in New York City who was killed while jogging near her mother’s home in Princeton, Massachusetts.
Colon-Ortiz, who was arrested in 2017, was sentenced to life in prison.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said the Marcotte family asked prosecutors to accept the plea to spare them from listening to the details of Vanessa’s death during a trial.
“We know nothing can bring Vanessa back, but we know, through the meticulous work of the prosecutors and investigators involved, justice will be served, and the plea allows Vanessa’s family to move on from this tragedy,” Early said in a statement.
The Marcotte family issued a statement thanking prosecutors and remembering Vanessa.
“We are thankful and gratified the legal process has accomplished what we always wished for, that this man will now be in a place where he can’t hurt anyone else like the way he hurt Vanessa,” the Marcotte family said. “To honor and remember Vanessa, we will continue to educate and protect women through the Vanessa T. Marcotte Foundation.”
The foundation trains women in self-defense and teaches women and girls about jogger safety, violence prevention and healthy relationships.
Marcotte, 27, had worked for Google in New York City. She was visiting family in Massachusetts in August 2016 when she went out for a jog on the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2016, and was reported missing after she did not return to her family’s home. Marcotte’s body was discovered in the woods not far from her family’s home later that evening.
Investigators received more than 1,300 tips but a state trooper’s spotting of an SUV with a driver that matched the suspect’s description proved to be the big break in the case.
The trooper wrote down the license plate number on his hand and authorities were then able to obtain DNA from the suspect, who was identified as Colon-Ortiz. His DNA led to a match from evidence collected at the crime scene.
Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(MILWAUKEE) — A George Floyd mural was vandalized in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to ABC affiliate WISN 12. It’s unclear when the mural was vandalized.
Paint was splattered over the face of the Black man who was killed by a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer in May 2020, sparking a nationwide reckoning on racial injustice and police brutality.
Milwaukee was one of many cities across the country that saw crowds come out, day-after-day, to protest Floyd’s murder. This mural was completed in June 2020, according to local news outlet Urban Milwaukee.
Dom Whitehurst, one of the original painters who helped organize the mural, told WISN 12 that artists plan on repainting it and have discussed installing cameras in the area.
“Initially, I was like, ‘that’s horrible.’ More than likely, race related,” Whitehurst told the local news station. “It’s kind of sad that you have to do that for something so beautiful. This is supposed to be a peaceful representation of the community coming together.”
It’s not the first time a memorial created in honor of racial justice has been vandalized, with similar incidents occurring in New York, California, Michigan and more.
Milwaukee police told ABC News they did not receive a call or a report of the incident; however, the department is attempting to make contact with the building owner regarding the vandalism, officials said.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips.
(LAS VEGAS) — A former Nevada county official accused of fatally stabbing a Las Vegas journalist who was investigating his office has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Robert Telles, 45, appeared briefly in a Clark County courtroom Wednesday morning for his arraignment hearing. He waived his right to have a jury trial set within 60 days.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 2.
Telles was arrested last month in connection with the death of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, who police said was found stabbed to death outside his home on Sept. 3.
He was formally indicted by a Clark County grand jury last week on the charge of murder with use of a deadly weapon. The indictment alleged that Telles, “with malice aforethought,” killed German by stabbing him multiple times.
Telles, who served as the Clark County public administrator, blamed German for ruining his career in politics and his marriage, according to prosecutors.
Telles lost his bid for re-election following an investigation by German in the Review-Journal that exposed turmoil in his office and accusations of bullying, retaliation and an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a staffer.
Police said Telles was seen approaching the journalist’s home and allegedly had an altercation with him the day before the murder. He allegedly returned the following day in a disguise — described by police as a straw hat and reflective vest — and stabbed German outside his home, police said.
Telles was arrested on Sept. 7 after DNA evidence found by a SWAT team at his home linked him to the crime scene, police said.
Telles has been held without bail in Clark County Detention Center. He was denied bail during a court appearance this week, despite his attorney’s argument that he is not a threat to the community or a flight risk, Las Vegas ABC affiliate KTNV-TV reported.
Telles’ term as public administrator didn’t expire until Jan. 1, 2023, though he was officially removed from office on Oct. 5, according to KTNV.
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — One person is dead and up to three others are injured after a bridge that was under construction near Kansas City, Missouri, collapsed, authorities said.
Workers were pouring concrete on the bridge deck when it collapsed Wednesday afternoon, before 2 p.m. local time, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The bridge collapsed on top of the workers and rescue efforts ensued, Clay County Western Commissioner Jon Carpenter told ABC News.
Three to four workers became trapped, the sheriff’s office said. Two to three of them were able to escape from the collapse themselves and were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
The deceased victim has not been publicly identified.
There were multiple contracting companies on the scene at the time of the collapse and no county employees, authorities said.
The two-lane bridge spans Carroll Creek at Northeast 148th Street and Shady Grove Road in Washington Township, outside of Kearney, about 27 miles northeast of Kansas City.
The bridge has been closed since 2016. Construction began in May 2021, and it was set to reopen in early 2023.
“The Clay County Highway Department states there were no safety concerns on the project prior to today,” the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Wednesday. “An engineering contractor was on scene today inspecting the bridge before the deck was poured.”
The sheriff’s office said it will turn over the investigation to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(CLEVELAND) — A pair of competitive fishermen reeled in by suspicious tournament officials after allegedly putting lead weights and fish fillets in their catch pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Wednesday.
Jacob Runyan, 42, and Chase Cominsky, 35, were indicted by a grand jury on charges including cheating, attempted grand theft and possessing criminal tools — all felonies — earlier this month, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said.
During their arraignment in a Cleveland courthouse, both Runyan and Cominsky pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on personal bonds of $2,500, court records show. A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 9.
ABC News reached out to their attorneys for comment.
According to authorities, the two men had participated in the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Tournament in Cleveland on Sept. 30, where anglers competed to see who could catch the heaviest walleye fish. The tournament’s director, Jason Fischer, became suspicious when he noticed their walleyes weighed in far more than expected, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Video of Fischer slicing open the fish shows him pulling out several round weights and fish fillets as the crowd reacts with anger. Cominsky and Runyan were disqualified and instructed to leave, and Cleveland police responded to the scene, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In total, 10 weights were found inside the walleyes — eight weighing 12 ounces and two weighing eight ounces, the prosecutor’s office said. The pair had also stuffed walleye fillets inside the fish.
Had the two men won the tournament, they would have received $28,760, prosecutors said.
“I take all crime very seriously, and I believe what these two individuals attempted to do was not only dishonorable but also criminal,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement on Oct. 12.
As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Hermitage Pennsylvania Police Department on Tuesday seized Cominsky’s boat and trailer used in the tournament, the prosecutor’s office said. The indictment cites both in the possessing criminal tools charge and that they were “intended for use in the commission of a felony.”
In addition to the felony charges, both men were charged with unlawful ownership of wild animals, a misdemeanor, for the alleged possession of walleye parts on their boat, the prosecutor’s office said.
The felony charges are punishable by up to 12 months in prison, and the misdemeanor by up to 30 days in jail, the prosecutor’s office said. A conviction on the unlawful ownership of wild animals charge could also result in an indefinite suspension of their fishing licenses, it said.
In the wake of the scandal, Fischer said “this type of behavior will not be tolerated” and vowed to implement changes to the tournament to “protect the integrity” of the sport.
“[We] witnessed one of the most disgusting, dishonest acts that the fishing world has ever seen in live time,” he said in a video statement posted on Oct. 3. “There’s always been stories about dishonesty in competition, but I personally have never seen anything quite like this.”
(ST LOUIS, Mo.) — The family of the 19-year-old suspect accused of opening fire in a St. Louis, Missouri, high school had recently removed the firearm used in the deadly school shooting from their home, but the teen somehow got ahold of it again, authorities said Wednesday.
One student and one teacher were killed in the Monday morning shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Several others were injured.
The suspect, Orlando Harris, who police said was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and more than 600 rounds of ammunition when he “forced entry” into the building, died during an exchange of gunfire, according to St. Louis Police Commissioner Michael Sack.
Sack told reporters during a news conference Wednesday that the family had previously contacted the department about a firearm discovered in the home.
On Oct. 15, police responded to a domestic disturbance at Harris’ home because the “suspect’s mother had located a firearm in the home and wanted it removed,” St. Louis Sgt. Charles Wall said in an update Wednesday evening.
Police determined that Harris legally possessed the gun, and a “third party known to the family” took the gun so it was no longer stored in the home, Wall said.
“While it is not yet clear when or how the suspect came to be in possession of the firearm after this incident, we can confirm that the firearm involved in this incident is the firearm used in the shooting Monday,” Wall said.
Harris — who graduated from the high school last year — had been seeing mental health professionals, Sack said Wednesday, and his family had him committed on some occasions.
Whenever Harris’ family “noticed him, kind of, stepping out of line … they always worked to try and get him back on his medication, back into therapy, whatever it is that he needed,” Sack said.
The family — who has been “fully cooperative” with police — appears to have “done everything they could have possibly done” to help Harris, Sack said, “but sometimes that’s not enough.”
Wall added that “this tragic incident occurred despite their best efforts.”
Harris “felt isolated and alone” and “there was a disconnect between him and what he felt was the school community,” Sack said.
The school “had always been the target,” he said.
Sack said Tuesday that Harris left behind a notebook with writings about his desire to “conduct this school shooting.”
According to Sack, Harris wrote: “I don’t have any friends, I don’t have any family, I’ve never had a girlfriend, I’ve never had a social life.”
Sack said Harris called himself an “isolated loner,” which Harris called a “perfect storm for a mass shooter.”
Harris’ family would search his room on occasion but the family was not aware of his notebook, Sack said.
It’s not yet clear when or how Harris bought the gun, Sack said.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
