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(NEW YORK) — An 11-year-old is being praised for her quick action after a man allegedly attempted to kidnap her in an incident that was caught on camera in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday.

In security camera footage obtained by the Glendale Police Department, a driver in a car is seen making a sharp U-turn before pulling up next to a fifth-grader walking to school. Seconds later, the driver gets out of the car and appears to try to grab the girl as she sprints away and screams for help.

“In that moment, this male jumped out and started running towards her with his arms extended towards her as if trying to grab her, which caused her obviously to flee,” Glendale Police Public Information Officer Moroni Mendez explained.

With the help of the video and the girl’s description, authorities identified the suspect as 37-year-old Joseph Leroy Ruiz, who they said lives in the same apartment complex as the girl.

Ruiz was arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping and custodial interference. He is currently being held under $250,000 bond.

According to court documents, the girl said she first spotted Ruiz outside her home and claimed he gave her an “odd look.” She said she then ran towards her school, where police say Ruiz pulled up in his car, got out and lunged at her.

“We just want to praise her and congratulate her for doing such a good job and protecting her own life,” Mendez said. “She was aware of everything that was going on around her and observed that the male was actively trying to grab her.”

Mendez shared tips for parents who may be concerned about letting their kids walk to school, including getting to know one’s surroundings, letting kids know it’s OK to run away and scream if they feel uncomfortable and to use codewords if necessary.

“Walk with your child, walk with your student on the path they’re going to take to school so that they’re aware of it, so that they know where they can run to if need be,” Mendez said.

“Make sure the child knows the parent’s phone number or ways of contacting them,” Mendez added. “Also let them know that at school, there’s a lot of great people, that they’re going to want the best for them and their well-being and their safety, so they can confide in those teachers and upper management staff.”

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(NEW YORK) — Two brothers have been arrested after police found homemade explosives along with a hit list and an arsenal of ghost guns in the apartment they shared with their mother and another brother, authorities say.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that two New York City residents — 39-year-old Andrew Hatziagelis and 51-year-old Angelo Hatziagelis — have been indicted on 130 counts of criminal possession of a weapon and related charges stemming from the discovery of “an arsenal of improvised explosive devices and ghost guns, including assault rifles, was found inside an Astoria apartment they shared with their mother and another brother.”

“Instructions for making a variety of bombs, anarchist propaganda and a ‘hit list,’ with ‘cops, judges, politicians, celebrities’ and ‘banker scum’ scrawled on it, were also found during a search of the home,” Katz said in her statement announcing details of the case against the Hatziagelis brothers.

The defendants are now awaiting arraignment on the litany 130-count indictment, including “eight counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree, nine counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, 47 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, six counts of criminal possession of a firearm, eight counts of reckless endangerment in the second degree, 14 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, six counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree, 15 counts of make/transport/dispose/deface weapons and dangerous weapons, three counts of unlawful purchase of body armor, one count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, one count of attempted criminal possession of a firearm, and three counts of unlawful possession of a pistol or revolver ammunition, and nine counts of unlawfully dealing with fireworks and dangerous fireworks,” according to the Queens district attorney.

“Today’s charges underscore the harsh reality that our communities contain a small number of people who conceivably harbor evil intent. This cache of weapons – including explosives and untraceable, 3D-printed ghost guns – had the potential to wreak horrendous carnage,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “Along with our NYPD investigators, I thank all of our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners for their persistence in identifying, investigating, and holding fully accountable anyone who poses a risk to New Yorkers’ safety and well-being.”

Once inside the property, police ended up seizing eight operational improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one partially constructed trip-wire IED, two loaded AR-15 style ghost gun assault weapons, each with a detachable magazine, muzzle compensator and threaded barrel, two loaded 9 mm semiautomatic ghost gun pistols, two loaded 9 mm semiautomatic 3D-printed ghost gun pistols, a partially constructed AK-47 style ghost gun, more than 600 rounds of ammunition for each of the firearms above, a 3D printer, three sets of body armor, along with a radio set to the frequency of the 114th Precinct in Astoria and notebooks and manuals on how to build explosive devices, officials said.

“The city is safer today. My Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau launches investigations every day so that we find illegal weapons, including guns and in this case explosive devices,” District Attorney Katz said in her statement. “We cannot measure the number of lives that were saved, but we do know that these weapons will never hurt anyone. My Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau launched this investigation. Upon securing a search warrant we worked with the NYPD, Homeland Security, State Police and uncovered eight fully operable bombs, several guns and numerous other weapons.”

The defendants’ next court date is Feb. 15 and, if convicted, they each face up to 25 years in prison.

Said Homeland Security Investigations New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan: “HSI New York is committed to supporting our law enforcement partners when they call. In this case, the collaboration among various law enforcement agencies led to a discovery that most certainly could have saved lives. I thank the members of the HSI Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) and the Queens District Attorney’s Office, along with the NYPD, ATF, and the New York State Police, for their outstanding efforts to resolve a potentially dangerous situation.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — Authorities say they have arrested five suspects after six people were found shot to death last week in a desert community in San Bernardino County, California.

At a press conference Monday night, authorities said multiple search warrants were served on Sunday in the case. Five suspects, whom authorities identified as Toniel Baez-Duarte, Mateo Baez-Duarte, Jose Nicolas Hernandez Sarabia, Jose Gregorio Hernandez Sarabia, and Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, were arrested, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said.

All suspects are being held without bail. Eight guns were recovered during the arrests, authorities said Monday night.

Following an investigation, investigators believe the victims had arranged to meet for a marijuana transaction, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said. The victims appear to have been involved in criminal activity, authorities said Monday night.

The victims were shot to death, and four of the six bodies were burned, according to officials. Only three of the victims have been identified by authorities: Baldemar Mondragon-Albarran, Franklin Noel Bonilla and Kevin Dariel Bonilla.

An official said there is a large, illegally grown marijuana problem in the area.

Last Tuesday night, Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 911 call around 8:16 p.m. PT from Franklin Noel Bonilla, who said he had been shot, authorities said Monday. He was unable to give his location.

Authorities were able to determine the call came from the area of Lessing Avenue and Shadow Mountain Road in Adelanto, California. Sheriff’s personnel responded and found five dead. A short while later, the caller — Bonilla — was also found deceased nearby.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had offered assistance to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation into the bodies found in the desert about 50 miles outside of Los Angeles, but local investigators are handling the case themselves.

A blue Chevy SUV was also seen riddled with bullet holes in the area where some of the bodies were found.

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(NEW YORK) — A judge denied Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial Monday in the homicides of his wife and son.

Judge Jean Toal dismissed a motion filed by Murdaugh’s attorneys last year that claimed the jury for the murder trial was tampered with by Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, who they allege was protecting a book deal. Hill, who testified during the hearings over the motion, denied she tampered with the jury.

Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison after a jury convicted him last March of murdering his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22.

They were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate in 2021.

Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings.

Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years in prison in November after he pleaded guilty to 22 counts for charges including fraud and money laundering after being accused of scheming to steal millions of dollars from his law firm and clients.

Murdaugh’s attorneys filed their motion for a retrial in September, contending Hill “tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.”

Hill and several jurors testified Monday during a hearing about the motion.

A few jurors have claimed that Hill told them to watch Murdaugh’s demeanor and actions when he testified in his trial and to pay attention to him. Hill denied the allegations testifying that at most she gave the jurors a pep talk on the day Murdaugh took the stand, saying, “Pay attention, it’s going to be a big day today.”

Hill, who cowrote the book Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders, which was pulled from publication over accusations of plagiarism, admitted that she wrote things in the book that were not true.

All of the jurors testified they stood by their verdict and were not swayed by anything Hill may have done.

In her ruling, Toal admonished Hill for her actions, arguing that she was “attracted by the siren call of celebrity,” but concluded they had no effect on the jury.

Toal also told the court that she read the trial’s entire lengthy transcript and found the verdict just.

“Each member of this jury took their involuntary assignment very seriously. They obeyed the instructions of the court. They obeyed the oath,” the judge said.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement that it was “time to move on and forward.”

“As with all cases, the Attorney General’s office and SLED’s (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) only mission is to seek the truth and deliver justice, wherever the facts lead,” he said in his statement.

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(WASHINGTON) — A former IRS contractor who pleaded guilty to leaking tax documents belonging to former President Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans was sentenced Monday to five years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.

Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October to one count of taking tax return information without authorization, for leaking the documents to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.

“The scope and scale [is] unparalleled in the IRS’s history,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said regarding Littlejohn’s crime as she handed down his sentence Monday in Washington, D.C. “You have caused and have risked causing immense harm to thousands of Americans.”

According to a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors, Littlejohn “abused his position by unlawfully disclosing thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information to multiple news organizations” that sources said included the New York Times.

“In the case of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, he was under no legal obligation to disclose them,” Reyes told Littlejohn Monday. “What you did in targeting a sitting president of the United States is an attack on our constitutional democracy.”

Littlejohn testified that he acted out of a “sincere belief” that he was serving a cause, but acknowledged that his actions caused “significant harm.”

The former contractor said he felt that taxpayers “deserved to know” how easy it is for the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying taxes.

His attorney, Lisa Manning, said Littlejohn was deeply sorry for his actions.

“He has very deep remorse, he has deep remorse for the victims,” Manning told the judge. “And if he would, he would take it back.”

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who read a victim impact statement at the hearing, asked the judge to sentence Littlejohn to the maximum amount, saying Littlejohn “abused his position of trust” to “harm Americans,” including Scott and his family.

“Donald Trump, Elon Musk … all attacked for political purposes,” Scott said.

Republic members of the House Ways and Means Committee had asked Judge Reyes, in a letter last week, to sentence Littlejohn to the statutory maximum of five years in prison.

“In our view, the seriousness of the crimes and the context surrounding them justify an upward variance. So that similar conduct is deterred in the future, we respectfully ask that you sentence Mr. Littlejohn to the maximum sentence of five years,” the letter said.

Before handing down the sentence, Judge Reyes said that because only 152 victims had their information published, the scope of the harm is not “necessarily known or done,” pointing out that Littlejohn admitted to leaking tax records belonging to “over a thousand” wealthy taxpayers.

The judge compared Littlejohn’s actions to the actions of some of the Jan 6. defendants she has sentenced.

“It cannot be open season on our elected officials,” Judge Reyes said.

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(NEW YORK) — Schools are the third-highest location for hate crimes in the United States, with as much as 10% of all reported hate crimes in 2022 happening at schools across the country, according to a new report the FBI released Monday.

Secondary schools — comprised of preschool to 12th grade — saw the highest amount of hate crimes from 2018 to 2022, the report found.

In 2022, there were more than 1,300 reported hate crimes at schools and college campuses — 890 of which happened at secondary schools that year, the FBI found.

“During these five years, over 30 percent of juvenile victims of hate crimes, experienced the offense at school and nearly 36 percent of juvenile offenders committed the offense at school,” the report said.

Hate crimes at school came in behind hate crimes committed at home and on the road, the FBI found.

School hate crimes saw an increase in 2022 — the most recent year of data obtained by the FBI.

The 2022 uptick is noticeable compared to the previous two years when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many students from traditional places of learning such as schools and college campuses. Also, there was a drop from 2019 to 2020 when the pandemic occurred. The FBI noted in its report that a 3.9% drop in reported of hate crimes from 2019 to 2020 “may have been due to pandemic-related stay-at-home orders causing schools to shift from in-person classes to online learning.”

Asked by reporters Monday about the impact of the pandemic on the hate crime data, FBI officials did not answer.

There is a more common time of year for hate crimes in schools, according to the FBI.

“The most common quarter for the occurrence of hate crimes reported at schools during the entire five-year period from 2018 to 2022 was October – December, with nearly a third (32.7 percent) of offenses reported for this quarter,” the report said.

During the five-year period, the FBI found the month of October had four hate crime offenses per day in schools across the country.

Anti-Black or African American hate crimes were the highest with 1,690 offenses that took place at schools over the five-year period, followed by anti-Jewish hate crimes, which saw 745 and anti-LGBTQ, which saw 741, according to the FBI.

In 2022, there were more hate crime offenses than the previous years in the five-year FBI review. The FBI found that there were 11,643 reported hate crime incidents involving 13,346 related offenses reported in 2022. The FBI defines an “incident” as one or more offenses committed by the same offender, or group of offenders acting together at the same time and place — therefore, “an incident may involve more than one offense,” the FBI wrote in the report.

While 2022 had the most overall reported hate crime offenses, 2020 was not far behind with 12,895, and 2021 had 12,470, according to the FBI. There were nearly 5,000 more reported hate offenses in 2022 than in 2018, the FBI report said.

Intimidation was the biggest form of hate crime, according to the FBI, followed by vandalism and simple assault.

On the call with reporters, the FBI said it wants the report to “draw attention to the data,” and said state and local law enforcement are best to offer resources to schools — not the FBI.

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(VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.) — Police are hunting for a man who they say followed an elderly woman home from a shopping trip and assaulting her on the doorstep of her own home.

The incident began at a store in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Monday in the 400 block of Putnam Road when, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department, a man began following an elderly woman around inside the establishment for reasons currently unknown.

“The man followed the woman throughout the store she was shopping in,” said the Virginia Beach Police Department in a statement following the incident. “He then followed her out of the store, making lewd comments to her in the parking lot.”

The woman subsequently got into her vehicle and left the premises to go home but, unbeknownst to her, the suspect followed her in his car back to her house before launching his assault on her at her front door, police said.

The motive for the attack is currently unknown and police are searching for a suspect they are describing as a “Black male wearing glasses, a black hair covering, a red long sleeve shirt, jeans, and boots,” according to the Virginia Beach Police Department’s statement following the incident.

The suspect was driving a “white 4-door Buick sedan with a spare tire on the rear driver’s side,” police said. “The vehicle has a sunroof, tinted windows, and Virginia tags attached to the vehicle with the last four possibly being 7663.” There is no front tag on the vehicle.

Police are now asking anyone with knowledge of this incident, or who may be able to identify this individual, to please contact the VBPD Detective Bureau at 757-385-4101 or anonymously through Crime Solvers at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP/P3tips.com.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Arrests have been made after six people were found shot to death last week in a desert community in San Bernardino County, California, according to authorities.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said it would announce more information at a press conference Monday evening. It was unclear how many people were arrested or any information on the charges.

“No information will be released prior to the press conference,” law enforcement said.

Shortly after 8 p.m. local time Tuesday evening, authorities responded to a wellness check in a remote area off of Highway 395 and found “multiple deceased people,” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

Initially, five people were found dead Tuesday but a sixth body was located Wednesday morning during the ongoing investigation, San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesperson Mara Rodriguez said at a news conference.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had offered assistance to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation into the bodies found in the desert about 50 miles outside of Los Angeles, but local investigators are handling the case themselves.

A blue Chevy SUV was also seen riddled with bullet holes in the area some of the bodies were found.

Last week, law enforcement sources told ABC News there was not yet a clear picture of what led up to the murders.

The investigation remains ongoing, according to officials.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — When a former college professor opened fire at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, last month, killing three faculty members and injuring one, he had with him two laminated cards with details about his targets, according to a new confidential law enforcement investigative synopsis obtained by ABC News.

The Jan. 26 synopsis included new investigative details compiled by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. It revealed suspect Anthony Polito, 67, had a blood-stained, yellow, two-sided index card with job titles and room numbers, as well as a second, white, laminated card with employee photos, room numbers and crude comments written on it.

Polito died at the scene of the Dec. 6 shooting after a firefight with officers, about 10 minutes after shots were first reported at UNLV’s Beam Hall.

The investigative report said all but one of 22 white powder letters Polito allegedly sent to university workers across the country were intended for people related to his professional and academic background, but the one exception was a vehicle insurance claims supervisor.

In the letters sent to women, Polito allegedly called them derogatory names and made sexual allegations. He claimed one woman demanded that he and other faculty wore neckties because they were a sign of “male patriarchy,” the report said.

The powders were not harmful, police said.

Polito had applied to numerous colleges and was denied employment, authorities said.

Polito’s personal website was full of highlights about his career and life, including his intelligence, the report said. Law enforcement believes Polito’s attack was prompted by an inferiority complex and delusions of grandeur about himself, according to the investigative report. It is also believed he had grievances involving his career.

Polito used a legally purchased handgun in the mass shooting and was armed with more than 150 rounds of ammunition, according to authorities.

The UNLV employees killed were business professor Cha Jan Chang, assistant accounting professor Patricia Navarro Velez and associate professor of Japanese studies Naoko Takemaru.

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(PHILADELPHIA) — A teenage murder suspect who escaped from a hospital Wednesday has been captured, the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed Sunday.

Shane Pryor, 17, who was in custody for a 2020 fatal shooting and who had escaped from the Juvenile Justice Services Center staff at a hospital on Wednesday, was taken into custody “without incident” by the U.S. Marshals Service, authorities said. He was being taken to the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit, police said.

No further information is available, authorities said.

At a news conference Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Investigations Frank Vanore said Pryor escaped from the emergency room parking lot of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia shortly before noon on Wednesday after he was transported there from the Juvenile Justice Services Center for an apparent hand injury.

“He was able to escape from staff and run from this area on foot,” Vanore said.

According to court documents, Pryor was being held on murder charges for the October 2020 shooting of Tanya Harris. He was 14 years old at the time of the alleged shooting, which occurred in an alleyway in the Holmesburg neighborhood of Philadelphia. In December 2023, the courts decided to try Pryor as an adult.

At the time of his arrest, Pryor told police he solicited the victim for sex but that the woman was shot by another man, according to court documents.

Pryor’s defense attorney, Paul DiMaio, said his client “has always maintained his innocence,” and pointed to the December 2023 court decision as a motive for his escape. “He may have felt he wasn’t going to get a fair shake,” DiMaio told WPVI.

On Friday, police arrested the alleged accomplice of Pryor — 18-year-old Michael Diggs.

Diggs was Pryor’s alleged getaway driver, police said. Diggs was detained several hours after the escape and now faces multiple felony charges, authorities said Friday.

Following his escape from custody, Pryor was observed on surveillance footage entering a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia building, where he asked an employee to use her cellphone but was denied, Clark said. He left and was able to use a civilian’s phone to allegedly call his “associate,” Diggs, according to U.S. Marshals Deputy Rob Clark.

Diggs arrived around 12:30 p.m. and allegedly picked up Pryor in a cream-colored Ford Fusion and left the University City neighborhood, Clark said.

Diggs has since been charged with hindering apprehension, escape, use of communication facility and criminal conspiracy in connection with Pryor’s escape, police announced on Friday. Attorney information for Diggs wasn’t immediately available.

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Chris Donato and Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.

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