(MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y.) — Police are digging up the Gilgo Beach, New York, murder suspect’s backyard as the search for evidence continues.
A backhoe was brought to Rex Heuermann’s suburban Massapequa Park, Long Island, home on Sunday. The excavating equipment was in use for about three hours on Sunday and remains at the scene.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Saturday that the search would likely wrap up this week.
One theory investigators are exploring is whether Heuermann, a husband and father of two, killed any of his alleged victims inside his house, but law enforcement sources told ABC News they are still searching for the evidence.
Prosecutors have said that, based on phone records, Heuermann’s wife and children were not home at the time of the killings. The records also point to the house as a location where phones pinged, but prosecutors were careful not to identify a location yet where they believe the victims died.
Heuermann, a New York City architect, was arrested on July 13 for the murders of three sex workers — Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello — whose bodies were found covered in burlap on Long Island’s South Shore in 2010. The young women disappeared in 2009 and 2010.
Heuermann’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
He is also the prime suspect in the death of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in 2007, though he has not been charged in that case.
Video showing a police dog attacking and biting a suspect who had his hands up and was on his knees during a July 4, 2023, incident was released on July 21, 2023, by the Ohio State Highway Police. — Ohio State Highway Police
(CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio) — An investigation is underway into why a police dog was deployed to attack a semi-truck driver who appeared in body-camera footage to be complying with orders to get on his knees and keep his hands in the air after allegedly leading officers from several law enforcement agencies on a highway chase, authorities said.
The incident occurred on July 4 on U.S. Route 23 near Circleville, Ohio, about 28 miles south of Columbus, but police body-camera footage of the arrest of 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose was not released to the public until Friday, July 21, by the Ohio State Highway Police.
The body-camera video shows the German Shepherd K-9, a member of the Circleville, Ohio, Police Department, arriving at the scene and initially being held back by its handler as troopers yelled to Rose, “Get on the ground or you’re going to get bit.”
The footage shows Rose complying with orders to get on his knees with both hands in the air. A police trooper can be heard in the video repeatedly yelling, “Do not release the dog with his hands up.”
The dog, however, was let loose and attacked Rose, grabbing his arm as he screamed, “Get it off” and appeared to be in pain.
Other officers, including the dog’s handler, rushed to Rose as he was being attacked in the grassy center medium and pulled the animal off Rose, according to the video.
“As troopers were attempting to gain compliance by providing verbal commands to the suspect, the Circleville Police Department deployed their canine, which resulted in the suspect being bitten by the canine,” the Ohio State Highway Police said in a statement.
Rose was taken into custody and troopers immediately performed first aid on him as they waited for paramedics to arrive, according to the statement.
Rose was treated at a hospital and released into the custody of the state Highway Police. He was booked at the Ross County Jail on charges of failure to comply, a fourth-degree felony, according to the highway patrol.
It remained unclear Sunday why Rose did not immediately pull over when troopers initially ordered him to.
The Circleville Police Department said the city’s Use of Force Review Board is conducting an investigation.
The state Highway Police identified the K-9 Officer who was handling the German Shepherd during Rose’s arrest as Circleville Police Officer R. Speakman. Circleville officials would not say if Speakman has or will be placed on leave during the investigation.
Efforts by ABC News to reach Rose or Officer Speakman for comment were unsuccessful.
According to online records, Rose has been released from the Ross County Jail. It is unclear if he has hired an attorney.
The union representing the Circleville police officers told ABC News affiliate station WSYX-TV in Columbus that it is asking “everyone reserve judgment” and declined further comment.
Nana Watson, president of the NAACP Columbus Chapter, said the organization is also looking into the incident. Watson said that after viewing the body-camera video of Rose’s arrest, she was “traumatized because it brought back memories from the 1960s.”
“I was afraid for him. I was fearful for him,” Watson told WSYX. “I was taken aback when he had his hands up, and they unleashed the dog on him.”
Watson added, “It saddens me that in 2023 we have officers who are unleashing dogs on a person who clearly had his hands in the air. That did not matter to the Circleville Police Department.”
The incident began about 9:30 a.m. on July 4, as troopers from the state Highway Police Department’s Motor Carrier Enforcement Inspector unit attempted to pull Rose over on westbound U.S. Route 35 for what they described as an alleged traffic defect violation, according to an initial incident report released by the state Highway Police.
Rose allegedly refused to pull over and led troopers on a chase through two counties, according to the incident report.
“I activated my marked patrol vehicle light bar and siren, but the suspect failed to stop. I drove in the left lane and along the left side of the vehicle in an attempt to get the driver’s attention. The driver would not make eye contact and did not acknowledge me,” a trooper wrote in the report.
As the chase shifted onto U.S. Route 23, the big rig forced a trooper to “swerve off the right side of the roadway to avoid contact,” according to the report.
Troopers placed stop-sticks, or spike strips, in the roadway ahead of the chase and blew out Rose’s tires, forcing him to pull over on Route 23 in Pickaway County and surrender, according to the report.
A Coast Guard aircrew saves two men Sunday morning after their boat capsized off the coast of Jekyll Island in Georgia, in this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah. — U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah
(JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga.) — A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah aircrew said it saved two men Sunday morning after their boat capsized off the coast of Jekyll Island in Georgia.
The U.S. Coast Guard received a distress call through 911 dispatchers Saturday evening after two men did not return to Christmas Creek Marina, and after calls to both of their phones went straight to voicemail.
An aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was deployed Sunday and was able to spot the two men who were waving their arms from the water about four miles off the coast of Jekyll Island, the Coast Guard said in a press release. One man was sitting on top of the capsized 16-foot boat, and the other was in the water when the crew arrived.
Both men were successfully pulled out of the water by the Coast Guard and were later seen by medical personnel, officials said. Neither boater was reported injured.
“The southeast is prone to powerful storms that aren’t predictable and are capable of capsizing smaller vessels,” said Lt. Tucker Williams, Air Station Savannah’s public affairs officer. “We recommend all mariners carry a radio, flares and other distress signals in case they encounter an unexpected situation.”
(NEW YORK) — Separate boat crashes in Massachusetts and Missouri over the weekend have left multiple people injured and at least one person dead.
A 17-year-old girl was killed and five other people were injured when a boat crashed Friday night into a jetty in Cape Cod, according to Massachusetts State Police (MSP).
The boat crashed into Sesuit Harbor in Dennis, Massachusetts, around 9 p.m. local time, the Massachusetts State Police said Sunday morning.
The body of the 17-year-old was recovered at 11:30 p.m., local time by the MSP regional dive team with help from the Dennis Fire-Rescue team, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a letter obtained by ABC News to Dover Sherborn High School students and staff, the school identified the teen who died as Sadie Mauro.
“Our school community is devastated and heartbroken,” the school said. “Sadie’s smile could light up a room, she had a heart of gold and the sweetest spirit. She had such a strong sense of self and had a love for adventure and anything outdoors. A hardworking student and great athlete, Sadie was genuine and effortlessly kind.”
The school’s principal said the school is offering counseling services on Monday for students and staff members.
Another passenger, described as a teenage male, sustained a head laceration and was sent to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment, according to MSP.
The MSP Marine Unit and the Underwater Recovery Unit will dive and search the crash site Sunday for debris from the boat, as their investigation continues.
Mauro’s death is being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands District, Dennis police and the Cape and Island District Attorney’s Office.
On Saturday, eight people were injured after an intoxicated boater crashed ashore and hit a home in the Lake of the Ozarks, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The incident occurred at 11:55 p.m. on Saturday, local time, when the 1200-horsepower boat ran aground, crashed into a shorefront home, overturned and ejected its seven passengers and driver, according to the Highway Patrol.
Two passengers sustained moderate injuries, five passengers and the boat’s driver suffered serious injuries, the Highway Patrol said.
In a press release, the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District said one person was in critical condition.
The driver of the boat, Adam Ramirez, 47, of Huntington Beach, California, was charged with two counts of boating while intoxicated on Sunday morning, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He has since been released for medical treatment.
The home, which was occupied at the time of the incident, suffered “extensive damage” according to the Highway Patrol and the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District.
(NEW YORK) — A shooting that erupted in a Houston park over the weekend that left a pregnant woman dead and four other people injured marked the 400th mass shooting in the United States in 2023, according to a national website that tracks firearm deaths and injuries.
The Houston incident was among six mass shootings that occurred on Saturday and early Sunday in cities across the nation, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed.
With a little over six months still to go in the year, the number of mass shootings is up 9% from 365 mass shootings that occurred as of this time in 2022 — a year in which a total of 647 mass shootings unfolded, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed.
The Houston shooting happened just after 1 a.m. on Saturday at Margaret Jenkins Park in the southern part of the city as a birthday party was ending, police and witnesses said. Killed in the shooting was a 21-year-old woman, identified by her family as Autumn Vallian.
Vallian’s mother, Ebony Vallian, told ABC station KTRK in Houston, the shooting occurred as she and her daughter were attempting to leave the party when at least two people engaged in an argument, pulled guns and started shooting.
“I looked back and my baby was down on the ground. Gone,” Ebony Vallian said. “I lost my baby. She was in school, trying to get a job, trying to become something, and she’s gone now.”
ShotSpotter gunfire detection technology in the area recorded 36 gunshots fired in the incident, which left four other people wounded, according to the Houston Police Department.
Two suspects in the shooting were among those hospitalized with gunshot wounds, police said.
The Houston incident was among six shootings across the nation over the weekend in which four or more people were wounded or killed.
Early Sunday, four people were shot in Seattle at an illegal street racing event, according to police. The shooting, which according to the Gun Violence Archive is the 401st mass shooting this year, occurred in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood around 4 a.m., and left two women and two men hospitalized, including one with critical injuries, police said. No arrests were immediately announced.
At least five people were shot, one fatally, in the Parkway Village Section of southeast Memphis around 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Memphis Police Department. One of the victims critically injured in the shooting was a child, police said.
No arrests were announced in the Memphis shooting.
In Wade, North Carolina, about 12 miles northeast of Fayetteville, one person was killed and three others were shot around 1 p.m. on Saturday during what police described as a “physical disturbance” at a gas station. No arrests were announced.
Four people were shot and wounded outside a hotel in Glendale, Arizona, Saturday morning, according to police. The shooting erupted about 2:15 a.m. as officers responded to an unrelated call and heard gunshots coming from the parking lot of a Renaissance Hotel, authorities said. No arrests were announced.
In Chicago, a 40-year-old man was killed and three other men were wounded during a shooting that occurred at 12:13 a.m. on Saturday in the city’s North Lawndale neighborhood, according to the Chicago Police Department. The victims were standing on a sidewalk when two men walked up and opened fire, police said. No arrests were announced.
Saturday’s shooting was the third mass shooting in Chicago this month, according to the Gun Violence Archive. On July 5, a man was killed and five other people were wounded when gunfire broke out at a Fourth of July gathering outside a residence in the city’s Englewood neighborhood, police said. On July 16, one person was killed and four others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood, according to police.
Eleven other cities have had two mass shootings in July, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Houston, Dallas, New York, Memphis, El Paso, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Lansing, Michigan and Shreveport, Louisiana, according to the Gun Violence Archive data.
July has been a particularly violent month in the United States with 65 mass shootings claiming the lives of 81 people and leaving 300 wounded, according to the website’s data.
Twenty-two of the mass shootings in July occurred over the extended Independence Day weekend, leaving 22 people dead and 126 injured, according to the website.
One of the deadliest Fourth of July weekend shootings unfolded in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia, where a man armed with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol, extra magazines and wearing a bulletproof vest and a ski mask, allegedly went on a rampage, firing at least 50 shots randomly at victims, killing five, including a 15-year-old boy, and wounding two other children, according to police.
Kimbrady Carriker, 40, the suspect in the Philadelphia shooting, was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. He has yet to enter a plea to the charges.
On July 2, a Fourth of July weekend block party ended in a mass shooting that left 2 people dead and 28 injured in the Brooklyn Homes neighborhood in the southern district of Baltimore, according to police. A 17-year-old boy suspected of being one of multiple shooters in the incident was arrested on July 7 and charged with possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of an assault weapon, reckless endangerment and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
The Baltimore mass shooting remains under investigation and more arrests are expected, police said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Three people have been hospitalized after a shooting took place outside a bar in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening.
All three people who were shot were listed in stable condition at local hospitals, officials said. Police believe that a 32-year-old woman who was shot was a bystander. Two men, aged 35 and 28, were also shot, police said.
Authorities were trying to determine the other two victims’ involvement, if any, in the shooting, police said.
No arrests have been made at this time, police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — An unrelenting heat dome continues to hover over the western United States this weekend, prompting heat alerts for tens of millions of residents.
Heat advisories and warnings were issued for 40 million Americans across 10 states on Sunday, with the highest temperatures concentrated in places like California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
Excessive heat warnings are currently in effect for cities like Las Vegas; Salt Lake City; Fresno, California; and Tucson, Arizona, where record stretches of dangerous temperatures are expected to continue for several days.
While heat alerts have been lifted in much of the Southeast, some remain in southeastern Texas and South Florida. It will still be hot elsewhere in the Southeast.
Record-setting temperatures plaguing the planet
The last 20 days on Earth have been the hottest 20 days on record, meteorology records show. The hottest day ever recorded in the northern hemisphere was measured on Saturday, when average temperatures reached 22.46 degrees Celsius — or about 72.43 degrees Fahrenheit. The previous record, 22.18 degrees Celsius — about 71.92 degrees Fahrenheit — was set in summer 2022.
Several places in the U.S. broke records on Saturday as well. Palm Springs, California, hit 115 degrees on Saturday, breaking its record for consecutive days of 115 degrees, now nine days in a row. Temperatures are expected to drop closer to 110 degrees by Monday and through the week.
Phoenix broke a daily record on Saturday with a high of 118 degrees, continuing its record stretch with 23 consecutive days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees and six days in a row with temperatures at 115 degrees or higher. Sunday morning also continued the city’s record stretch of 14 consecutive days of not dropping below 90 degrees.
When Las Vegas reached 115 degrees on Saturday, it broke a record set in 1937 at 114 degrees, extending its streak to nine days in a row at or above 110 degrees. The record for consecutive days above 110 degrees could be broken on Monday.
Tucson, Arizona, hit a daily record of 111 degrees on Saturday, shattering the record set in 2006 at 108 degrees. The city is now at eight days in a row at 110 degrees or above, tying with the record set in 2021. Tucson is also extending the record for the total number of non-consecutive days at 110 degrees or above, now at 14 days this year. The previous records were set in 1990 and 1994, at 10 days.
In El Paso, Texas, the record-smashing consecutive days of 100 degrees or higher is currently at 37 days, with no end in sight in the foreseeable future. The previous record was set in 1994, at 23 consecutive days.
On the East Coast, Miami has now had a heat index of 100 degrees or higher for a record 42 consecutive days, 10 days over the previous record of 32 set in 2020.
Alaska is also feeling the heat. The National Weather Service in Caribou is predicting the region’s hottest month ever (of any month) for this July, with records going back to 1939.
Where will the heat be this week
The heat dome currently stationed over the west will move eastward toward the middle of the country this week.
While temperatures in the Midwest were below average last week, with highs in the 60s and 70s, the region will experience a summer wake-up call in the coming days.
Temperatures are expected to skyrocket in the 90s and 100s in places like Fargo, North Dakota; Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis this week. Some regions will experience heat indices of 105 degrees or more.
The heat will continue to blanket much of the U.S. through the end of July and into August, especially in the South.
Parts of the Great Lakes and Northeast may be spared by the extreme heat, with average or even below average temperatures forecast there for the start of August.
(VERDIGRIS, Okla.) — An Oklahoma mother killed her three children, including a 10-month-old, and then shot herself in an apparent triple murder-suicide, authorities said.
The Verdigris Police Department went to investigate a home on Thursday after they noticed fireworks erupting outside, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.
Upon arrival, they discovered 39-year-old Brandy McCaslin armed and barricaded inside the Verdigris home, the bureau said.
Police then began negotiations with McCaslin over a three hour standoff, according to the OSBI. After receiving no response, officers entered the home.
Inside the home they discovered McCaslin shot dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the bodies of her three children — a 10-month-old baby, a six-year-old and an eleven-year-old— all shot dead, according to the bureau.
Police said they determined McCaslin shot her three children then turned the weapon on herself.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Verdigris Police Department will continue to investigate the incident.
(HOUSTON) — A pregnant woman was shot and killed after a fight broke out at a Texas park early Saturday, her family told ABC Houston station KTRK.
Four other people were struck by gunfire, including two suspected shooters, after dozens of shots were reportedly fired, police said.
The shooting occurred at Margaret Jenkins Park in southeast Houston around 1:14 a.m., police said. The Houston Police Department received multiple reports of shots fired at the location through its ShotSpotter technology, Assistant Chief E. Garcia said.
“A total of 36 shots came in from that technology,” Garcia said at a press briefing.
Police believe a fight broke out between groups of people at the park, when the altercation led to some taking out firearms and shooting, Garcia said.
Three of the people struck by gunfire were transported to a local hospital, including the two suspected shooters, Garcia said. They are in stable condition, he said. One person suffered a graze wound and did not to go the hospital, he said.
The family of the woman killed in the shooting identified her to KTRK as 21-year-old Autumn Vallian.
The victim was with her friends and family at a birthday party when the fight broke out, KTRK reported. She was trying to leave when she was fatally shot, her mother, Ebony Vallian, told the station.
“My daughter came telling me, pulling me, ‘Mama, let’s get away, let’s get away,'” Ebony Vallian told KTRK. “I looked back, my baby was down on the ground. Gone.”
Her family told the station Autumn Vallian was 5 months pregnant and was excited to become a mother.
“I just lost my baby,” Ebony Vallian told KTRK. “I just lost my baby. [She was] in school, trying to get a job. Trying to become something, and she’s gone now.”
The two shooting suspects have been detained at the hospital, according to Garcia. Police are investigating to see if there are any additional suspects in the incident, he said.
(LINCOLN, Neb.) — A 26-year-old Nebraska man accused of posing as a high school student at two different schools has been arrested on sex crime charges, police said.
Zachary Scheich, of Lincoln, faces three felony charges — two counts of sexual assault, use of an electronic device, and one count of sex trafficking of a minor — following what started as a fraud investigation, Lincoln police said.
Police began their investigation on June 1 “after being alerted about an individual impersonating a student,” Lincoln Assistant Police Chief Brian Jackson told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday.
The individual had enrolled under the name Zak Hess at Northwest High School during the first semester of the 2022-2023 year, before transferring to Southeast High School during the second semester, police said.
The purported 17-year-old Hess was actually determined to be 26-year-old Scheich, who had graduated from the Lincoln school district in 2015, police said.
“Mr. Scheich is approximately 5’4″, 120 pounds, and appears to have blended in with other students,” Jackson said.
Further investigation uncovered “multiple contacts with juvenile students” by Scheich using the name Hess, leading to his arrest on the sex crime charges, Jackson said.
The charge of sexual assault, use of an electronic device, could mean engaging with someone via a phone or computer, Jackson said, while an individual could be charged with sex trafficking of a minor “if you coerce or pay for certain items.”
Scheich was arrested and booked into the Lancaster County jail on Thursday. He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon in Lancaster County Court. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Jackson said police are working to “identify the scope of his actions.” Authorities have not specified how many alleged victims there are amid the active investigation.
Since announcing Scheich’s arrest, police have received three calls from potential witnesses or victims in the case, Lincoln Police Department spokesperson Erika Thomas told ABC News Friday afternoon.
Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Paul Gausman told reporters Friday morning that they have identified “a number of people who are victims,” while urging anyone with information to come forward to police or the school district.
“There may be potential victims of this scenario that we aren’t aware of at this time,” Gausman said during a press briefing. “If there are those out there that have been victimized in some way or another we need to know about it,” he said.
The schools have social workers and mental health professionals who can provide any support to students who seek it, school officials said.
The school district sent out an alert to families at Northwest and Southeast high schools following Scheich’s arrest on Thursday, including a photo of the suspect, while also urging anyone aware of “concerning relationships” he may have had with students to come forward.
“This is an extremely serious situation; we are not taking this lightly,” Gausman said. “We understand the concern that this can cause.”
Scheich attended approximately 54 total days of school during the 2022-2023 school year, according to police. He began attending Northwest High School on Oct. 20, 2022, before transferring to Southeast High School on Jan. 12, according to the school district.
Scheich “exploited our enrollment process by using convincing, fake documentation to gain enrollment in our schools,” Gausman said.
The superintendent said he’s not aware of anything like this happening before in Lincoln Public Schools. He said he did not believe there were any red flags overlooked regarding Scheich’s enrollment, noting that the suspect presented “incredibly well-crafted, fraudulent documents.”
School officials said they are reviewing their enrollment processes and protocols in light of the incident.
Required enrollment documents are not verified and include a birth certificate, high school transcript, immunization records and a physical from a clinic, school officials said. All of Scheich’s documents appear to be fraudulent, according to Matt Larson, the associate superintendent for educational services at Lincoln Public Schools.
Scheich also appears to have provided a fake phone number and address, Larson said.
Scheich enrolled online, without a parent directly involved, Larson said. This is “not unusual,” but is something the school district will review and consider changing, he said.
The incident is one of several in recent months where an adult was arrested after allegedly posing as a high school student. In Massachusetts, a 32-year-old woman used fraudulent documents to enroll in three different schools during the previous academic year. A 28-year-old woman enrolled in a Louisiana high school as a ninth grader, a fraud that was also uncovered last month. In that case, the sheriff said she did so in order to learn English.
