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(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a June 24 incident outside a WinCo Foods grocery store in Lancaster, California, where a sheriff’s deputy slammed a woman to the ground during a confrontation about an alleged robbery in progress.

The LASD said in a statement on Monday that they are releasing the body camera footage of the incident “in the interest of transparency” with the community.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has opened an investigation into this incident. While the Department does not make statements related to ongoing investigations, Sheriff Luna has made it clear that he expects Department personnel to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect, and that personnel who do not uphold our training standards will be held accountable,” the statement said.

According to the LASD, two deputies responded to the scene after a report of an in-progress robbery at the WinCo Foods store at the 700 block of West Avenue K-4 in Lancaster.

“Upon arrival, deputies approached a man and a woman, matching the description given by store security personnel in calls placed to 911,” the LASD said. “As deputies attempted to detain the individuals described by store security personnel, the encounter escalated into a use of force incident that was captured by a community member with a cell phone camera. The video is disturbing.”

The body camera video shows the two deputies approaching a man and a woman, who are both Black, outside the grocery store before the situation escalated.

“Why am I under arrest … for what?” the man asked.

“You are not under arrest, you are being detained,” the first deputy responded.

The other sheriff’s deputy is then seen approaching the woman, who appeared to be recording the deputies’ interaction with the man.

“You can’t touch me! You can’t touch me,” the woman said in the video.

“Get down on the ground. Get on the ground. Stop. Stop or you’re going to get punched in the face,” the sheriff’s deputy responded.

“STOP. If you touch me, you’re going to get sued,” the woman said.

The woman called out that she can’t breathe as the deputy appeared to place his knee near her neck.

“I can’t breathe,” she says at one point, followed by, “you threw me down to the ground.”

The deputy then appeared to pepper spray the woman.

The man can be heard telling deputies that the woman has cancer.

“She got cancer, man,” he said and then asked the woman to “relax” and “cooperate” with deputies.

The identities of the man and the woman, who were detained by police at the scene, have not been released by the sheriff’s office and ABC News’ attempts to independently verify their identities have not been successful.

The identities of the two sheriff’s deputies involved in the incident have also not been released, but Tom Yu, an attorney representing the deputies, told ABC affiliate in Los Angeles, KABC, that the deputies were responding to a robbery in progress and were attempting to detain the man and woman, who was recording the interaction.

“She was recording, but she’s involved in this robbery investigation so deputies have to pat her down; make sure she’s not armed, make sure she has no weapons, make sure people are safe,” Yu told KABC. “She failed to do that and then she begins to fight with deputies, so my client, as he’s trained, takes her down to the ground. It’s the safest way and the most tactful way to handcuff a suspect.”

ABC News reached out to Yu for further comment. WinCo Foods did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The LASD said both deputies involved were reassigned from field duty pending an administrative review, which will determine “if the force used was reasonable, necessary, appropriate, and proportional to the level of actions described.”

Amid outrage following the release of the video, community members and advocates are set to hold a protest outside the WinCo grocery store in Lancaster on Wednesday evening organized by Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley – an advocate group that is calling on the city of Lancaster to cancel its contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and invest those funds into communities of color.

“As Black residents of this community we are tired of living in fear of the police,” co-founder of Cancel the Contract Waunette Cullors said in a statement.

ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Police responded to three reports of possible shark bites in separate locations around the same time on the Fourth of July off the South Shore of Long Island, New York, a day after two similar incidents were reported, authorities said.

At 1:50 p.m., police responded to a report of an injured beachgoer at Quogue Village Beach in the town of Southampton, according to the Quogue Village Police Department.

In that incident, a 47-year-old man was swimming in chest-deep water when he was bitten on his right knee. Although a shark was not physically observed, the bite was from a larger marine animal, police said. The man suffered severe lacerations and was taken by ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police have notified all surrounding beaches of the marine life activity and are encouraging patrons to stay out of the water until the situation can be further assessed.

In the second incident, a 49-year-old man was bitten on the hand around 1:55 p.m. while swimming in the ocean off Fire Island, according to the Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau, who responded to the incident. The victim was brought to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment of a non-life-threatening laceration.

A third incident, also off Fire Island, took place at about 4:25 p.m. on Tuesday, the Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau said on Wednesday. An adult woman was bit on the upper thigh just west of Cherry Grove and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at South Shore University Hospital.

Two more apparent shark bites were reported at beaches on Long Island’s South Shore on Monday, WABC reported – one at Robert Moses State Park and another at Kismet Beach.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office is deploying drones across beaches to try and prevent encounters after a rise in shark attacks last year, when there were six shark attacks off beaches on Long Island in the span of three weeks.

Robert Moses State Park had a delayed opening for swimming Tuesday after state parks officials spotted about 50 sand sharks during their morning drone survey, WABC reported.

In Florida last week, a shark bit a fisherman who was washing his hands off the side of a boat in Everglades National Park. In another incident in Cocoa Beach, a 12-year-old girl received 50 stitches after a shark bit her on the leg.

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(NEW YORK) — Officials are searching for a hiker who went missing over the holiday weekend at California’s Yosemite National Park.

Hayden Klemenok was last seen backpacking with a group at Upper Chilnualna Fall on July 2. He entered the Chilnualna Creek near the trail junction at around 2 p.m. local time, according to park officials.

Officials said Klemenok was last seen wearing a tan brimmed hat, white sunglasses, red T-shirt, blue swimming trunks and white Adidas shoes.

Klemenok’s whereabouts are currently unknown, according to park officials.

Park officials ask anyone who may have seen Klemenok or hiked off the trail in the area of Upper Chilnualna Fall on or after July 2 to get in touch with officials.

“Simply knowing where you went and when you were there may help us focus the search, whether you saw anyone or not,” park officials said in a statement.

Yosemite National Park Dispatch can be contacted at 209-379-1992.

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(PHILADELPHIA) — Investigators are searching for answers as to why someone wearing a ski mask and body armor went on an apparently random shooting spree in Philadelphia on the eve of the Fourth of July, gunning down five people.

“This armed and armored individual wreaked havoc, firing with a rifle at their victims, seemingly at random,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said during a press conference Tuesday.

The Philadelphia Police Department received 911 calls about a shooting near Chester Street in the city’s Kingsessing neighborhood on Monday night just before 8:30 p.m. ET. Gunfire was heard in several areas near the first location during the shooting, according to police.

The suspect — identified by police as Kimbrady Carriker, 40, of Philadelphia — was arraigned Wednesday morning on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, as well as aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, carrying a firearm without a license and other charges. The suspect is being held without bail and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 24, court records show.

Five people died after being shot multiple times, according to police. The victims were identified by police as Daujan Brown, 15; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Ralph Moralis, 59; Dymir Stanton, 29; and Joseph Wamah, Jr., 31.

Kingsessing resident Theo James said he heard a young man screaming for “help” before realizing there were multiple gunshot victims.

“After I helped him out, I saw another person down the street, discovered them and helped them out. And one more person,” James told WPVI.

Surveillance video obtained by Philadelphia ABC station WPVI appears to show a person shooting at a nearby intersection.

Lashyd Merritt’s mother, Marie Merritt, said her son was headed to a store across the street from their home when he was shot dead, telling WPVI, “It’s like I feel him saying, ‘Why me, why me, why me?'”

Two unidentified children, as young as 2, were injured during the shooting while traveling in a car with their mother. One suffered an eye injury from shattered glass and the other was shot in the leg, according to police.

Police said responding officers came under fire as they pursued the suspect that night, arresting Carriker in a rear alley of Frazier Street after a brief chase on foot. The officers did not return fire and Carriker ultimately surrendered, police said.

Carriker allegedly used an AR-15-style rifle, which was recovered by police. A 9 mm handgun, magazines and a police scanner were also found on the individual, according to police.

ABC News’ Victoria Arancio, Trevor Ault, Joshua Hoyos, Aaron Katersky, Josh Margolin and Jason Volack contributed to this report.

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(TAMPA, Fla.) — A 7-year-old bystander was fatally shot in the head by a stray bullet amid an altercation over jet skis on the July 4 holiday, according to Tampa, Florida, police.

When the gunfire broke out near a boat ramp, the 7-year-old boy’s grandfather pulled him into a truck to take cover, but the boy was still shot in the head and the grandfather was shot in the finger, Tampa police Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday.

It appears the boy and his grandfather were shot by the same bullet, Johnson said. The grandfather’s injuries were non-life-threatening.

Johnson said the shooter was “careless” with a gun and let “anger take over.”

“One group was mad because the second group was riding their jet skis too close to the shore,” Johnson said, adding “that confrontation led to gunfire.”

No arrests have been made and police are urging anyone with information to come forward.

To the shooter, Johnson said, “Turn yourself in. … Just imagine if that was your child that was killed over this.”

“I’m very angry,” Johnson said, calling the shooting “senseless.”

“We need to do better as a community, really, as Americans,” Johnson said. “There’s a better way to deal with anything you may be going through, other than going to that firearm.”

“Our thoughts are with the family of this innocent child,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement. “Our detectives will work tirelessly until all those involved are identified and arrested.”

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(PHILADELPHIA) — Investigators are searching for answers as to why someone wearing a ski mask and body armor went on a shooting spree in Philadelphia on the eve of the Fourth of July, gunning down five people.

“This armed and armored individual wreaked havoc, firing with a rifle at their victims, seemingly at random,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said during a press conference on Tuesday.

The Philadelphia Police Department received 911 calls about a shooting near Chester Street in the city’s Kingsessing neighborhood on Monday just before 8:30 p.m. ET. Gunfire was heard in several areas near the first location during the shooting, according to police.

Surveillance video obtained by Philadelphia ABC station WPVI-TV appears to show a person shooting at a nearby intersection.

Kingsessing resident Theo James said he heard a young man screaming for “help” before realizing there were multiple gunshot victims.

“After I helped him out, I saw another person down the street, discovered them and helped them out. And one more person,” James told WPVI.

Five people died after being shot multiple times, according to police. The victims were identified by police as Daujan Brown, 15; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Ralph Moralis, 59; Dymir Stanton, 29; and Joseph Wamah, Jr., 31.

Lashyd Merritt’s mother, Marie Merritt, said her son was headed to a store across the street from their home when he was shot dead, telling WPVI: “It’s like I feel him saying, ‘Why me, why me, why me?'”

Two unidentified children, as young as 2, were injured during the shooting while traveling in a car with their mother. One suffered an eye injury from shattered glass and the other was shot in the leg, according to police.

Police said responding officers came under fire as they pursued the suspect that night, arresting the 40-year-old in a rear alley of Frazier Street after a brief chase on foot. The officers did not return fire and the suspect ultimately surrendered, police said.

The alleged shooter had been using an AR-15-style rifle, which was recovered by police. A 9 mm handgun, magazines and a police scanner were also found on the individual, according to police.

The unnamed suspect is currently awaiting arraignment. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told reporters Tuesday that the person “will be facing multiple counts of murder and will also be facing multiple counts of aggravated assault as a first degree felony weapons charges, among others.”

Police said they are not formally naming the suspect until criminal charges are filed, which is expected to happen sometime on Wednesday.

Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that the suspect is Kimbrady Carriker.

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(WASHINGTON) — Nine people were injured in a drive-by shooting in Washington, D.C. early Wednesday as residents were still celebrating the Fourth of July, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly before 1 a.m. ET on Meade Street in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S. capital, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.

A preliminary investigation revealed that a dark-colored SUV was driving through the area when “it stopped and it fired shots in the direction of some of our residents that were outside, just celebrating the fourth of July,” Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Leslie Parsons told ABC News.

All nine victims have non-life-threatening injuries. Two are children, ages 9 and 17, Parsons said.

Police previously told ABC News that there were seven victims.

Some of the victims were transported to area hospitals via ambulances, while others sought treatment themselves, according to Parsons.

The shooting appears to have been a targeted attack and police are searching for the suspect vehicle. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting with the investigation.

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(EL PASO, Texas) — The sentencing hearing for the El Paso Walmart gunman on dozens of federal hate crimes and firearms charges is set to begin Wednesday.

Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty in February to the racist 2021 massacre that killed 23 people.

Crusius had initially pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, but requested a rearraignment hearing after federal prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty in their case.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 9 a.m. MT in El Paso, Texas federal court and will likely “take several days,” the district court said.

The hearing was initially set to begin on June 30, though both parties requested in a joint motion that it be pushed back to “allow for the greatest number of participants to attend the entirety of the proceedings.”

Victims and victims’ family members will have preference for seating in the courtroom, the district court said.

Federal prosecutors investigated the shooting as both domestic terrorism and a hate crime because Crusius claimed to have targeted Hispanics. He allegedly told investigators he chose the store, located near the U.S.-Mexico border, because it was frequented by Hispanic shoppers.

Law enforcement officials said he cased the store the day of the August 2019 shooting, then returned wearing protective ear muffs, safety glasses and wielding a high-powered assault-style rifle.

Crusius allegedly told investigators following his arrest that he set out to kill as many Mexicans as he could after driving from his home in Allen, Texas, about 650 miles east of El Paso, officials said.

Twenty-two shooting victims died within days of the attack, while a 23rd person died eight months later. There were also 22 people injured in the attack.

Crusius pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges, including 23 counts for hate crime acts that resulted in death, 22 hate crime acts that caused bodily injury, 23 counts of using a firearm in a federal crime of violence resulting in death and 22 counts of using a firearm in a federal crime of violence.

Crusius is also facing capital murder charges in state court. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges. A trial date won’t likely be set until once the federal case is closed, according to the El Paso district attorney, who said in May he plans to seek the death penalty in the state’s case.

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(NEW YORK) — Police responded to two reports of possible shark bites in separate locations around the same time on the Fourth of July off the South Shore of Long Island, New York, a day after two similar incidents were reported, authorities said.

At 1:50 p.m., police responded to a report of an injured beachgoer at Quogue Village Beach in the town of Southampton, according to the Quogue Village Police Department.

In that incident, a 47-year-old man was swimming in chest-deep water when he was bitten on his right knee. Although a shark was not physically observed, the bite was from a larger marine animal, police said. The man suffered severe lacerations and was taken by ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police have notified all surrounding beaches of the marine life activity and are encouraging patrons to stay out of the water until the situation can be further assessed.

In the second incident, a 49-year-old man was bitten on the hand around 1:55 p.m. while swimming in the ocean off Fire Island, according to the Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau, who responded to the incident. The victim was brought to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment of a non-life-threatening laceration.

Two more apparent shark bites were reported at beaches on Long Island’s South Shore on Monday, ABC’s New York station WABC-TV reported — one at Robert Moses State Park and another at Kismet Beach.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office is deploying drones across beaches to try and prevent encounters after a rise in shark attacks last year, when there were six shark attacks off beaches on Long Island in the span of three weeks.

Robert Moses State Park had a delayed opening for swimming Tuesday after state parks officials spotted about 50 sand sharks during their morning drone survey, WABC reported.

In Florida last week, a shark bit a fisherman who was washing his hands off the side of a boat in Everglades National Park. In another incident in Cocoa Beach, a 12-year-old girl received 50 stitches after a shark bit her on the leg.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A 69-year-old woman has died following an alligator attack in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, authorities said Tuesday.

Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and Spanish Wells security personnel responded around 9:28 a.m. to a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon bordering the golf course in the Spanish Wells community.

They located the woman — a resident of the community who had been walking her dog — at the edge of the lagoon. She appeared unresponsive, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

While rescue efforts were being made, an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts, according to the sheriff’s office.

The alligator was safely removed from the area, and the woman’s body was recovered. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy.

Authorities said it wasn’t clear when the woman was taken into the water.

This is the second fatal attack in the area in less than a year. An 88-year-old woman was attacked by an alligator at a lagoon near her home last August.

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