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(CLEVELAND) — Nine people were shot early Sunday in Cleveland’s historic Warehouse District when a gunman opened fire as bars and nightclubs were closing and police officers were nearby patrolling the bustling entertainment area, according to the Cleveland Police Department.

Police officers were on weekend patrol in the Warehouse District when they heard gunshots erupt at 2:25 a.m. They discovered multiple victims at the corner of West 6th Street and Johnson Court suffering from gunshot wounds and in need of medical aid, police said.

Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond said at a news conference Sunday that several officers were on duty in the area when an “individual started shooting toward the crowd.”

“I stress, we had officers assigned here … a very visible presence of officers, yet this individual decided to use that weapon and shot individuals even with our officers here,” Drummond said. “So it’s not a matter of police response. It’s not a matter of police visibility because we were here and we will continue to be here.”

Cmdr. Richard Tucker of the Cleveland Police Department said the gunman opened fire 50 to 75 feet away from the crowd he targeted before fleeing the scene.

“I’m really proud of our officers. They were here and they responded immediately. They ran to the gunfire and took care of the victims until EMS could respond,” Drummond said. “I hope what they did helped save some of those victims.”

No arrests have been announced and a motive for the shooting remains under investigation, police said.

“Investigators are in the process of reviewing evidence and video, as well as interviewing victims at MetroHealth Medical Center,” according to the police statement.

One victim was in critical condition Sunday afternoon while the others were in serious to stable condition, police said.

Of the nine victims, seven are men and two are women, officials said. The victims ranged in age from 23 to 38.

The victims were all being treated at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

Drummond said the preliminary investigation indicates the shooting came without warning and no apparent provocation.

“We have no information, at least right now, from our investigators that there was any type of issues or concerns, or trouble taking place … before this individual started shooting,” Drummond said.

A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the gunman, authorities said.

Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call them immediately.

Drummond said investigators are following several leads in an attempt to identify the gunman.

Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb said he was thankful no one was killed and that shooting illustrates “the massive gun problem we have not just in Cleveland, not just in Ohio, but across this nation.”

Drummond said police are also investigating a shooting that occurred at 1:10 a.m. Sunday on West 6th Street in the neighboring Tremont area in which three men were wounded. The chief said investigators have found no evidence connecting that shooting with the mass casualty incident that erupted 95 minutes later.

“From what we know right now, there was some kind of street party and an argument ensued. An individual pulled out a firearm and started shooting and three individuals were struck there,” Drummond said, adding that all three victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

No arrests have been announced in the Tremont neighborhood shooting.

The shooting came just days after 22 mass shootings occurred across the nation over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks shootings nationwide and defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed. The mass shootings, according to the website, occurred in 17 states and Washington, D.C., and rocked several major cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas.

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(NEW YORK) — Heavy rain from the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast prompted flash flood alerts in parts of New York state Sunday.

A flash flood warning and a flash flood emergency were both issued in the lower Hudson Valley, New York, by the National Weather Service.

Southeastern Orange, western Putnam, Rockland and northern Westchester counties continue under flash flood warnings through 12:15 a.m. Monday, meteorologists said. Thunderstorms are impacting the area, which has already seen 5 to 8 inches of rainfall.

County Executive Steve Neuhaus declared a state of emergency in Orange County, New York, due to Sunday’s storms.

Neuhaus later confirmed the drowning death of a woman in her mid-30s he said was trying to leave her house with her dog when she got swept up. Officials are trying to rescue a number of people trapped on U.S. Route 9W, Neuhaus said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared states of emergency in both Ontario and Orange counties late Sunday night.

Over the next few hours, rain showers and thunderstorms will continue to make their way east to New York City, according to the National Weather Service’s New York division.

As the storm system slowly moves through the northeast Sunday and throughout the day Monday, there is a concern for catastrophic flooding in parts of New England, according to meteorologists.

The Weather Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, issued a rare high-risk warning for excessive rainfall for Monday in Vermont and parts of New York. These areas could see up to 5 inches of rain through Tuesday.

The already-soaked ground could lead to major flooding, especially in the morning hours.

Parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey and Maryland are under a flood watch, with impacted areas seeing a possible 1 to 2 inches of rainfall per hour through Monday, according to experts.

There has already been significant flooding in the area. Norfolk, Connecticut, has issued an emergency declaration after several roads and bridges were washed out in the northwestern Connecticut town.

Extreme weather is impacting other parts of the country, as 37 million Americans are on alert for dangerous heat.

The National Weather Service issued dangerous heat alerts Sunday for residents from the Pacific Northwest to the deserts in the Southwest — even stretching east toward the Florida Panhandle.

Phoenix has reached at least 110 degrees for nine consecutive days, with the pattern of scorching temperatures expected to continue for another week, meteorologists said.

El Paso, Texas, has set a record for the longest streak of consecutive days above 100 degrees, with Sunday marking the 24th day in a row with a temperature in the triple digits. The city broke a record on Saturday after reaching 108 degrees, exceeding 107, set in 1951.

Regions worldwide have been experiencing extreme heat in recent days, leading to the hottest temperatures ever recorded on the planet.

Earth warmed to the highest temperature ever recorded by human-created tools when the average global temperature reached 17.18 degrees Celsius, or 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit, on the Fourth of July.

ABC News’ Julia Jacobo and Kenton Gewecke contributed to this report.

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(MICHIGAN) — A Michigan man faces federal charges for allegedly kidnapping his former girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter and then apparently strangling the toddler, whose body was found days later in Detroit.

Rashad Trice, 26, of Detroit, was charged by criminal complaint with kidnapping a minor and kidnapping resulting in death, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan announced on Friday.

Trice now faces both state and federal charges in connection with the incident, which allegedly stems from a violent altercation over money between the suspect and his ex-girlfriend that occurred in the women’s Lansing apartment on the night of July 2, according to the federal complaint.

“In self-defense the [ex-girlfriend] stabbed Trice,” the complaint stated. “Trice then stabbed the complainant multiple times and sexually assaulted her. The complainant then left the residence.”

The ex-girlfriend then fled to her mother’s apartment in the same complex — leaving behind a 1-year-old boy she shares with Trice and a 2-year-old girl who was not his daughter — and reported to Lansing police that she had been attacked, according to the complaint. When officers responded to her apartment, the 1-year-old was there but Trice and the 2-year-old — Wynter Cole-Smith — were not, the complaint stated.

Police say that they discovered that Trice had taken his ex-girlfriend’s white Chevrolet Impala and an Amber Alert was issued for Wynter early on July 3 that noted the description of the car, according to the complaint.

“I love y’all but I have to end this s— man,” Trice allegedly texted his uncle after driving from Lansing, according to the complaint.

Trice drove to the St. Claire Shores area of Michigan, where an officer recognized the Impala from the Amber Alert the morning of July 3, prosecutors said. Trice allegedly crashed the car after attempting to flee from police and then tried to disarm an officer before being arrested, according to the complaint.

When the FBI searched the car, they found “significant” amounts of blood and a pink cellphone charging cord, according to the complaint.

After a dayslong search, Wynter’s body was found in a Detroit alley on July 5 with what appeared to be markings consistent with strangulation using the charging cord, the complaint said. The cause of death is believed to be strangulation though a medical examiner’s final report is still pending, the complaint said.

The charge of kidnapping resulting in death carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted and is death penalty eligible, federal prosecutors said.

“The allegations in this case are heart-wrenching,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten said in a statement. “My thoughts are very much with Wynter’s family, as we were all praying for her safe return home.”

It is unclear if Trice has an attorney who can speak on his behalf. He has been held on no bond following his arrest by local authorities.

Prior to Wynter being found dead, Trice was arraigned in Ingham County on July 5 on multiple state charges in connection with the “brutal physical and sexual assault” that allegedly occurred on July 2 in the apartment, including assault with intent to murder, criminal sexual conduct, home invasion and unlawful imprisonment, the Ingham County prosecutor said. He was charged as a violent habitual fourth offender and is scheduled to appear in court on July 13 for a pre-trial probable cause conference.

“As this investigation transitions from a missing person to a homicide investigation, our office supports the efforts of our law enforcement partners at the state and federal level to hold those responsible for Wynter’s death accountable for their actions,” Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said in a statement after Wynter was found.

A vigil was held in honor of Wynter on Friday night in Detroit that was attended by family, friends and others in the community.

“She was my burst of joy. She really brought light to our lives,” Wynter’s grandmother, Sharen Eddings, told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ at the vigil. “We are really grateful that we got a chance to know her and she will always be remembered.”

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(CALIFORNIA) — Six people were killed when a business jet traveling from Las Vegas to southern California crashed into a field while approaching an airport and then became engulfed in flames, authorities said.

The crash occurred around 4:15 a.m. PT Saturday in Murrieta in Riverside County, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Cessna C550 business jet had departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and “crashed short of French Valley Airport during its second approach,” the NTSB said based on preliminary information.

Deputies responding to the crash “located an aircraft fully engulfed in flames in a field,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

All six occupants aboard the plane were located and pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

The fire from the crash burned approximately one acre of vegetation and was contained by 5:35 a.m. PT, fire officials said.

Aircraft Emergency:rpt@4:16 a.m. Auld Road X Briggs Road in French Valley. Cessna aircraft down in a field, fully involved in fire. The fire burned approximately one acre of vegetation, was contained at 5:35 a.m. and the incident has been turned over to RSO and the FAA. Please… pic.twitter.com/szG5HLH4n7

— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) July 8, 2023

The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating. Investigators with NTSB, which is leading the investigation, are responding to the crash site to document the scene and examine the aircraft.

Radar data, weather information, plane maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records will be requested as part of the investigation, the NTSB said.

A preliminary report is expected to be published in 15 days.

The French Valley Airport is closed at this time amid the investigation into the crash, Riverside County Airport Manager Angela Jamison confirmed to ABC News.

The FAA has issued a temporary flight restriction in the area “to protect the integrity of the crime scene and the safety of any incoming aircraft,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said. The restriction is tentatively set through 1 p.m. Sunday, though that is subject to change, the sheriff’s office said.

This is the second crash this week near the French Valley Airport. On Tuesday, another small plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing one and injuring three others, according to the FAA.

ABC News’ Amanda Maile, Nicholas Kerr and Amanda Morris contributed to this report.

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(NORTH CAROLINA) — The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill announced that it would be providing free tuition and fees to students from North Carolina families making less than $80,000 a year.

Free tuition will be offered beginning with the incoming 2024 undergraduate class.

The announcement comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court set new limits on affirmative action, a policy in which universities took into consideration a student’s race or ethnicity during the admissions process. The policy was part of an effort to diversify college campuses.

The Supreme Court found that Harvard University and UNC violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment through their race-conscious admissions programs. The two universities had been sued by a conservative group called Students for Fair Admissions alleging the universities intentionally discriminated against Asian American applicants.

UNC said the decision keeping universities from being able to consider race while making admissions decisions is a “fundamental change” in the law that governs the admissions process for UNC and thousands of other universities.

“Our responsibility to comply with the law does not mean we will abandon our fundamental values as a university. We are and will remain passionately public, and we will ensure that every student who earns admission to Carolina can come here and thrive. Our University’s commitment to access and affordability and supporting a culture of belonging for everyone does not change with last week’s ruling,” UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in a statement.

“We want to make sure students know financial constraints should not stand in the way of their dreams,” Guskiewicz said.

The university also announced it has hired additional outreach officers for its admissions team to broaden access to future students.

“They are serving in under-resourced communities to spread awareness of our affordability and recruit students from across the state. We want the best students to know that a UNC-Chapel Hill education is a possibility for them,” Guskiewicz said.

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(NEW YORK) — After no ticket was selected on Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot grew to an estimated $480 million, with a cash option of $240.7 million. The next drawing will be on Tuesday.

No ticket matched all six numbers in the Friday drawing of white balls 8, 10, 17, 55 and 66, plus the gold Mega Ball 3.

Tuesday’s drawing will be the 24th drawing. The winning jackpot was won in New York on April 18.

This is the 14th largest draw in Mega Millions history.

There were nearly 1.2 million winning tickets across all prize tiers in the July 7 drawing.

One ticket sold in California won the game’s second highest prize, matching the five white balls, while 28 tickets from across the country matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball winning the third-tier prize.

Since the last jackpot was won, there have been 16 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more won.

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(NEW YORK) — Across six states on Saturday, 15 million Americans will be under heat alerts from Miami to Phoenix to Washington State.

In the Southeast, the heat index will be brutal this weekend with highs feeling like the 100s from Florida to Texas. Record-breaking highs are possible in parts of Florida over the weekend, including Miami.

Starting Tuesday and continuing through at least next Sunday, Southern California will be under a heat alert as temperatures are expected to be record breaking and reach near 120 degrees each day. An Excessive Heat Watch is in effect in anticipation for the extreme heat wave which will significantly increase the chance for heat related illness.

Saturday’s severe weather threat is for 11 million Americans and stretches from Denver to Oklahoma City to Nashville. While an isolated tornado is possible in Colorado along with large hail, much of the area is on alert for the potential for damaging wind.

 The cold front associated with this system will bring showers and storms along the southern and eastern coasts. The Northeast will see rain starting Sunday and continuing on Monday.

On Sunday, the threat of severe weather could impact 36 million Americans, stretching across much of the South and mid-Atlantic from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Savannah, Georgia, to Washington, D.C.

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(NEW YORK) — More cases of locally acquired malaria have been detected in the United States, bringing the total up to seven across the country.

In a recent report, Florida health officials said they detected two more cases of the mosquito-borne illness in Sarasota County.

It comes just two weeks after four people in Sarasota County and one person in Cameron County, Texas, were found to have malaria.

ABC News reached out to the Texas Department of State Health Services to see if more cases had been identified in the state but did not immediately hear back.

These are the first malaria cases acquired locally in the US since 2003. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory last week, warning doctors and public health officials in the affected areas to be alert for more cases.

The illness is caused when a person is bitten by a mosquito carrying malaria parasites, the CDC said. Malaria isn’t contagious and can’t be spread person-to-person.

According to the CDC, people infected with malaria often experience symptoms including fever, chills, and flu-like illness. It can also cause anemia and jaundice because of the loss of red blood cells.

Although about 2,000 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, these cases are typically among people who traveled to countries where transmission is common, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Malaria used to be commonly acquired in the U.S, but a public health campaign beginning in 1947 consisting of spraying insecticides on the interior surfaces of rural homes or entire premises in counties where malaria was prevalent — as well as removing mosquito breeding sites and drainage — led to a total elimination of transmission by 1950.

The World Health Organization estimates that in 2021, the latest year for which data is available, there were 247 million cases of malaria around the world and 619,000 people died of the disease.

Any patient suspected of having malaria should be tested and treated promptly, the CDC said, because the disease can be life-threatening.

After the first cases were detected, the Florida Department of Health issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory on June 26.

The department said that the original four patients reported to be ill “have been treated and have recovered” but the status of the other patients is unclear.

The CDC says that the risk to the public of locally transmitted malaria is low. People living in areas where cases have been reported should take steps to prevent mosquito bites by using insect repellant, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, using screens on windows, and dumping out standing water.

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(WASHINGTON) — Police in Washington, D.C., are searching for the suspects who shot and killed a Lyft driver in one of many recent acts of violence in the city.

Nasrat Ahmad Yar, 31, was found shot in a car shortly after midnight Monday morning, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Four suspects were seen on surveillance cameras running away from the scene, police said.

Yar’s friend, Matthew Butler, told Washington, D.C., ABC affiliate WJLA that Yar was an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan for 10 years.

“He re-located to Philadelphia in 2022, and that was the last time I saw him and visited him there. [Then] he re-located to D.C. to be closer to family,” Butler told WJLA. “Last time I spoke to him was about a week ago and he was trying to start his own tow truck company.”

Butler said Yar is survived by his wife and four children.

A Lyft spokesperson said, “Our hearts are with Mr. Nasrat’s loved ones as they confront this unspeakable tragedy. We have reached out to his family to offer our support and are in contact with law enforcement to assist with their investigation.”

The police department is offering a reward up to $25,000.

Yar’s slaying is one of 10 murders in D.C. since July 1. And early Wednesday, nine people, including two children, were injured in a drive-by mass shooting in the city.

Homicides in the city are up 19% year-to-date from 2022, while all violent crime is up 30%, according to police data.

Local leaders gathered on Thursday to call for more help from the public as city officials prepared to vote on emergency legislation. Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced a number of new bills geared toward closing loopholes in the district’s criminal justice system.

“We have an obligation not to let a few people destroy that peace and tranquility for all of the rest of us,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters Thursday.

ABC News’ Chad Murray contributed to this report.

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(DOWNEY, Calif.) — A California man has been arrested in connection with serial murders targeting strip club workers in Mexico.

U.S. Marshals and the FBI on Thursday arrested 30-year-old Bryant Rivera, a U.S. citizen who lives in Downey, outside of Los Angeles, in connection with the case, a federal complaint shows.

Authorities in Mexico said late last year they were searching for a suspect responsible for the deaths of three women who worked in bars and strip clubs in Tijuana. Baja California Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez said at the time that investigators believed the suspect was an American who lived north of the border and likened the alleged serial killer to Ted Bundy.

A federal complaint filed on June 29 for his provisional arrest alleged that Downey brought a sex worker back to his Tijuana hotel room on Jan. 24, 2022. The woman was found dead from strangulation the following day, according to the complaint.

The complaint features photos that prosecutors say show Rivera with the alleged victim outside of the hotel elevator the night of Jan. 24, 2022, and him heading back to the U.S. less than two hours later.

Mexico has 60 days to file its official extradition request, which it has not done yet, according to federal prosecutors. The complaint stated that Mexico intends to submit a formal request for extradition within the time required.

Rivera’s next court appearance is set for Monday. It is unclear if he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

Rivera has been charged in Mexico with the crime of femicide — a form of gender-based violence — in connection with the January 2022 incident and a warrant for his arrest was issued out of Baja California in November 2022, according to the complaint.

The complaint states that Mexican authorities have publicly discussed the case, citing media coverage of the Baja California attorney general’s investigation into the 2022 murders of three strip club workers, whom he said were all found dead in hotel rooms.

“This subject has criminal tendencies associated with violent and psychopathic behavior,” Carpio Sánchez said during a meeting with reporters in Tijuana last year. “His profile is very similar to someone who became very well-known decades ago: Ted Bundy.”

Bundy was one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers, having confessed to murdering 30 women across the U.S. between 1973 and 1978. He was executed in 1989.

ABC News’ Teddy Grant and Anne Laurent contributed to this report.

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