(NEW YORK) — The New York City Police Department is responding to a new threatening letter sent to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to police sources.
The sources told ABC News the letter contained a white powder and was discovered just after 3 p.m. in the basement mailroom at 80 Centre Street.
There are no reports of injuries or sickness.
The NYPD, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Office of Emergency Management are all responding, authorities said.
This is at least the second time Bragg has received a letter containing a suspicious white powder since former President Donald Trump started writing on social media about his impending indictment.
Bragg has been receiving additional security protection.
His lawsuit against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said the office has received more than a thousand threatening or harassing calls and emails. Bragg himself has received “multiple” death threats since Trump’s indictment, police sources told ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A judge overseeing Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News on Wednesday imposed a sanction against the network after it made “misrepresentations” to the court and potentially withheld evidence.
Dominion’s lawsuit accuses Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company had somehow rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor, so the network could retain viewers.
The judge said during a pretrial hearing on Wednesday that Fox News would have to pay for any last-minute additional depositions that Dominion would need to do before the case is set to head to trial on Monday. Dominion did not immediately make clear if any such depositions were needed.
“If there is a deposition that needs to be done, it will be done,” Judge Eric Davis said. “Fox will do everything it needs to make the person available, and it will be at the cost of Fox.”
But potentially more significantly, the judge said he would “most likely” appoint a special master to “do an investigation” into whether representations by Fox made to the court as part of the case were “untrue or negligent” — including a certification it had made in December that it had essentially completed its discovery process in accordance with the case.
The special master was already involved in the case to oversee the discovery process, but the new investigation will determine “what sanctions could be implemented” against Fox, the judge said — a significant development on the eve of trial.
“This is very serious,” Judge Davis said of the issue.
The unexpected move came in response to concerns raised by Dominion that Fox News was still turning over evidence in the case, and that in some instances Dominion was still learning of evidence from the public domain. This included, for example, an internal recording they said they only recently obtained appearing to show former President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani privately expressing doubts over the claims regarding Dominion’s voting software.
The recordings, Dominion’s attorney said, were made by a Fox News producer, Abby Grossberg, on her phone during the pre-taping of an interview Giuliani gave on the network on November 8, 2020.
“What about this software, this Dominion software?” Fox News host Maria Bartiromo could be heard asking Giuliani on the recording, which was played out in court.
“That’s a little harder, it’s being analyzed right now,” Giuliani said.
Dominion’s attorney, Davida Brooks, said the interview “marched forward” even after Giuliani failed to give credence to the question. She said the recordings were “obviously relevant” and expressed concern over what else might exist that Fox has not turned over as evidence.
“What I don’t know is, are there more recordings?” Brooks asked the judge.
An attorney for Fox pushed back, claiming they had handed over all relevant documents and that they were not aware the recordings existed until recently.
“They are recordings of a Fox employee,” Davis responded. “How could Fox not know?”
Grossberg is engaged in separate litigation with the network, claiming in a lawsuit that that she was “coerced” by Fox’s attorneys as part of her deposition in the case.
In a statement issued after the hearing, Fox said, “As counsel explained to the Court, FOX produced the supplemental information from Ms. Grossberg when we first learned it.”
Also Wednesday, the judge questioned Fox attorneys over allegations from Dominion that the network had concealed the official role of Rupert Murdoch as an officer at Fox News. Although Murdoch is the chairman of the network’s parent company, Fox Corporation, Dominion said Fox News’ lack of disclosure regarding Murdoch’s position with Fox News had hindered, among other things, their ability to obtain evidence regarding him.
“We have been litigating based on this false premise that Rupert Murdoch wasn’t an officer of Fox News,” Dominion’s attorney, Justin Nelson, told the judge. Nelson also pointed out that Murdoch himself said during his deposition that he was not an officer of Fox News.
The judge appeared taken aback by the revelation, which first arose on Tuesday, saying Fox attorneys had been “evasive.”
“I need people to tell me the truth,” Davis said on Tuesday. “And by the way, omission is a lie.”
Davis said he was ordering Fox attorneys to preserve all communications related to the issue.
“I’m very uncomfortable right now,” Davis said. “I’m going to let you know — I’m very uncomfortable.”
Fox’s attorney, Dan Webb, said that Murdoch himself “did not know” that he was an executive of the network. An attorney for Fox on Tuesday had said it was an “honorific” title.
“I don’t think there’s any documents withheld related to Rupert Murdoch that are relevant to this case,” Webb said. “Nobody intentionally withheld information with them.”
In a statement on Tuesday night Fox pushed back on the idea that Murdoch’s status at Fox News had been concealed.
“Rupert Murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of FOX News in our SEC filings since 2019 and this filing was referenced by Dominion’s own attorney during his deposition,” Fox said in the statement.
“Now the question becomes, ‘What do I do with attorneys that aren’t straightforward with me?'” Judge Davis said. “That’s the next question.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — Eulalio “Lalo” Diaz Jr. reminded the small gathering in Uvalde, Texas, that their community “is known as the tree city,” as the Uvalde Moving Forward Foundation announced their new elementary plans and schematic design.
Diaz, a representative of the Uvalde CISD Community Advisory Committee, said Tuesday that when a new elementary school is built in the community, a prominent feature will be a tree with 21 branches – one branch for each of the people killed at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, in a mass shooting. Two branches will be larger than the rest and they will represent the teachers who were killed: Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles. Another 19 branches will memorialize each of the children who lost their lives in the adjoining fourth-grade classes that day last spring.
Diaz said that trees show “strength and stability.”
Robb Elementary, closed since the shooting, will be torn down. The new school, yet to be named, is scheduled to be open by fall 2024.
“This [tree] will be the anchor to hold up the school,” said Diaz.
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series focused on the Uvalde community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
The committee worked alongside the Uvalde school district’s Moving Forward Foundation, a nonprofit tasked with collecting funds for the construction of a new elementary campus in the school district. The committee – composed of educators, parents and other community members – was set up to provide input and bring differing perspectives to the design and needs of a new $60 million elementary school.
Committee co-chair Natalie Arias was born and raised in Uvalde and said she has a unique perspective because she is an educator at Uvalde High School and a mother of four children.
“It was very hard,” Arias told ABC News. “I grew up going to school at Robb Elementary. I loved Robb. It was some of the best times of my life.”
Specifically, it was hard for Arias to come to terms with the new location because she worried there would be a gap of schools in the west side of the city, a neighborhood known to be underserved than others in Uvalde. But after weeks of discussion, the committee realized the final site selection would be beneficial because it borders Dalton Elementary and therefore, students can share facilities.
The proposed school will comprise three buildings: the academic wing with a library, dining hall and gymnasium. The committee drew inspiration not only from native oak trees that can be found throughout multiple neighborhoods in Uvalde, but other elements of Uvalde’s fabric including Texas sunsets, monarch butterflies that migrate through the city and honey production. Each of these elements will impact the color scheme throughout the school to be “whimsically, kid-friendly” according to the committee.
“One day I will have a discussion with my children [when they are older] and explain how their beautiful school came to be,” Arias told ABC News.
The committee will present the schematic design to the school district board for approval on Monday, April 17.
(TITUSVILLE, Fla.) — When Crosley Green was released from a Florida prison in 2021 after serving 33 years for a murder he said he did not commit, he and family members who met him outside the penitentiary walls believed his long nightmare was over. As loved ones hugged Green and cried tears of joy, his lawyers said they were confident evidence discovered after his conviction would exonerate him.
Green, however, has been ordered back to prison next week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit rejected his claim that his guilty verdict was obtained in violation of his constitutional rights. The appellate court described the evidence uncovered post-trial as “strictly circumscribed” and concluded it would not have changed the outcome of his 1990 conviction by an all-white Brevard County, Florida, jury.
“The most important thing is an innocent man has served 33 years in prison and is going back in for a crime he didn’t commit,” one of Green’s attorneys, Jeane Thomas, told ABC News.
Thomas said three key prosecution witnesses, including Green’s sister, recanted testimony that Green, who is Black, confessed to fatally shooting Charles “Chip” Flynn, a 21-year-old white man during a 1989 carjacking, alleging they were all coerced by prosecutors and investigators into lying on the witness stand.
Additionally, Green’s legal team said the prosecution never turned over to the defense evidence that the two sheriff’s deputies who initially responded to the shooting did not believe the sole eyewitness, Flynn’s ex-girlfriend, a white teenager, who claimed a “Black guy” committed the slaying.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in late February not to review Green’s case, exhausting his final appeal.
Green, 65, is scheduled to report to the Florida Department of Corrections by Monday to resume his life sentence. But, he said he has not given up and hopes he will walk free again.
“It’s bad, but it ain’t enough to affect me any kind of way. It can’t make me feel down, out and stuff like that because I came too far,” Green said in a video statement released to ABC News by his lawyers. “There could be a lot more I’d like to do. But in reality, one day I’m going to get to do it. Right now, I’m going to abide by the rules about what was set forth and be returned back to prison.”
‘He did not kill that boy’
The 11th Circuit decision overturned a ruling made in 2018 by U.S. District Court Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. of the Middle District of Florida. Dalton set aside Green’s conviction, granted him a conditional release citing concerns over the COVID pandemic and sent the case back to the state to free Green or hold a new trial.
Dalton, according to his ruling, found that now retired Assistant State Attorney Chris White violated the so-called Brady rule constitutionally requiring prosecutors to disclose material evidence favorable to a defendant. He concluded White should have turned over to the defense notes of conversations with the first two sheriff’s deputies who responded to the Flynn shooting and told him they suspected Flynn might have been shot by his ex-girlfriend — the star prosecution witness.
“It is difficult to conceive of information more material to the defense… than the fact that the initial responding officers evaluated the totality of evidence as suggesting that the investigation should be directed toward someone other than (Green),” Dalton’s ruling reads.
Diane Clark, a retired Brevard County Sheriff’s Office major, was one of the two deputies who responded to the Flynn shooting. Clark told ABC News in a telephone interview this week she was “devastated” when she heard Green was ordered back to prison.
“He doesn’t belong there. He spent too many years there to start with. And to this day, I’ll say he did not kill that boy,” Clark said. “When I got the news that he was going back to prison, I just felt terrible about it.”
Regardless of the new evidence, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody appealed Dalton’s ruling, leading to the 11th Circuit decision.
“The Florida Attorney General’s Office is charged by statute to represent the State of Florida in upholding judgments and sentences sought by the State Attorney in each circuit and imposed by trial courts when they are appealed,” a spokesperson for Moody said in a statement to ABC News.
In the two years Green, the father of three sons, has been out of prison, he has lived a model life, said Thomas, who has worked on Green’s case for the past 15 years. As part of his conditional release, Green is required to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet and report regularly to a probation officer.
He’s allowed to leave his house only to go to his job as a skilled machinist at a manufacturing company and services at his church on Sundays.
Thomas, a partner in the Washington D.C. law firm Crowell & Moring, said Green has also gotten the chance to know his many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
“They’re all going through this with him, sort of grieving him going back into prison. But he’s strong for all of them and he’s an example to all of them,” Thomas said.
April 4, 1989 homicide
Flynn’s slaying unfolded in the early morning hours of April 4, 1989. His ex-girlfriend, identified in court documents as Kim Hallock, claimed Flynn came to her house to discuss their relationship and they ended up going to a Little League baseball park in Titusville, Florida, where they smoked marijuana and talked. The then 19-year-old Hallock claimed a “Black guy” approached the pickup truck they were in and carjacked them at gunpoint, the court records state.
Hallock, who testified at Green’s trial, claimed the assailant tied Flynn’s hands behind his back with a shoestring, got into the driver’s seat of the pickup and drove them to a remote orange grove, according to the court documents. She claimed that while driving the vehicle, the assailant shifted the gear shift while pointing the gun at her, according to the court records.
While at the orange grove, Hallock alleged the armed perpetrator forced her from the vehicle, according to the court records. While they were outside the truck, Flynn managed to retrieve his handgun Hallock had surreptitiously placed on the seat under a pair of jeans and despite his hands still tied behind his back, managed to fire a shot at the assailant that missed, according to court documents.
Hallock maintained that after Flynn fired the gun, she broke free from the assailant, jumped in the pickup and fled, according to court documents. She claimed she heard several shots as she drove away. She told investigators she went to Flynn’s best friend’s house and called 911, according to court records.
Clark, who was a sheriff’s sergeant at the time, said that when she and another deputy, Mark Rixey, found Flynn, he was covered in blood, but was conscious. Flynn’s .22-caliber handgun was found about four or five feet away from him.
“When we found him and I asked him his name, he didn’t tell me. I asked who did this and all he would say is, ‘I’m hurt. Take me home,'” said Clark, adding she and Rixey performed CPR on Flynn.
Flynn was taken to a hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead upon arrival, according to court records.
Clark said a big red flag was the story Hallock told sheriff’s investigators about what she did after fleeing the orange grove.
“This is something that has always kind of stuck in my throat for years: She went past houses, she went past a convenience store that’s open 24 hours a day. She passed another pay phone. She went past Parrish Medical Center, which is a hospital in that area, and went to his (Flynn’s) friend’s house to call 911,” Clark said. “My own belief is he might have survived had he had medical care sooner.”
In her initial tape-recorded interview with homicide detectives, Hallock could not describe the assailant, telling detectives, “I really didn’t get a good look at him. I was really scared,” according to the recording.
Hallock described the assailant in a subsequent meeting with a police sketch. Thomas said Hallock described the assailant as big and bulky, sporting a long jerry curl hairstyle.
“Crosley did not resemble that description in any way, shape or form,” Thomas told ABC News. “He’s slight of build, he’s always had a very close-cropped hairstyle.”
But at least two community residents, including an auxiliary police officer, told investigators the sketch resembled Green, who was seen at the park hours before the carjacking, according to court documents.
A photo of Green, who had just gotten out of prison after serving time for a drug conviction, was placed in a photo lineup detectives showed Hallock, who was told by the head of the sheriff’s homicide unit that one of the photos “may or may not (be) of the individual who had done these things,” according to the court documents.
“They put six photos for her to take a look at. They put Crosley in what we call the ‘bull’s eye position,’ which is the center of the top row. And his photo is much darker than the other individuals in this particular lineup,” Thomas said.
Hallock picked out Green’s photos and detectives told her she selected the right person, Thomas said.
About two months after Flynn’s slaying, Green was arrested and charged with murder.
Thomas said no physical evidence connected Green to the Flynn shooting, including any fingerprints found at the crime scene or inside Flynn’s pickup truck. No gunshot residue was found on Flynn’s hands to support his ex-girlfriend’s claim he fired his gun at the assailant, Thomas said. And, according to Thomas, investigators never examined Hallock’s hands for gunshot residue, nor considered her a suspect.
During the trial, Green’s defense attorney, John Parker, raised the possibility that Hallock killed Flynn, noting that at the time of the homicide Flynn was dating another woman.
The jury convicted Green of murder, kidnapping and armed robbery in 1990, deliberating three hours before reaching a verdict. Green was initially given a death sentence, but he was removed from death row in 2009 because a prior conviction in New York for armed robbery when he was 18 could not be used as an aggravating circumstance because he was sentenced as a youthful offender.
“With no physical evidence tying Green to the crime, before an all-white jury with the sole eyewitness claiming a ‘Black guy’ did it, [the girlfriend’s] credibility as well as the credibility of the police investigation was critical to the outcome of the trial. But the first two police officers on the scene knew the teenager’s claim that a ‘Black guy did it’ was nothing more than a hoax,” Green’s lawyers wrote in their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Efforts by ABC News to reach Hallock were unsuccessful.
In a statement to CBS’ “48 Hours” in 1999, Hallock said, “The fact is that there are only two surviving witnesses from that evening, myself and Crosley, and I’m sure deep down inside Crosley knows that he is right where he deserves to be.”
White, the prosecutor in the case, told ABC News in a statement that the 11th Circuit decision affirmed state court rulings that he did not violate Green’s right to a fair trial by failing to disclose notes he took of his conversations with the two deputies, Clark and Rixey, adding, “Those opinions would not have been admissible in evidence.”
“Crosley Green was not denied justice on procedural grounds but on the facts of law. Nor was he wrongfully accused and prosecuted because he was Black,” White said. “He was found guilty of the armed kidnapping of Kim and Chip, the armed robberies of them both, and the murder of Chip Flynn, and is now denied relief based on the facts of law.”
‘We’re not giving up’
Thomas told ABC News she and her defense team, “are out of legal options in court at this point.”
“We’re not giving up and we will never give up,” Thomas said.
She said the two possible avenues they are still exploring is getting the state of Florida to grant Green parole or to petition Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to grant clemency.
Green said he is putting his faith in God, saying, going back to prison “is just another part of what I’m going through now to get my freedom.”
“If it wasn’t for the Lord, I’d be down and out right now,” Green said in his video statement. “I’ve got God on my side. That’s what brought me through these 33 years, plus these two years I’ve been at home.”
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — New York City now has a “rat czar.”
Kathleen Corradi has been named the city’s director of rodent mitigation.
“You’ll be seeing a lot of me and a lot less rats,” Corradi said Wednesday after she was introduced by Mayor Eric Adams.
Added Adams: “Kathy has the knowledge, drive, experience, and energy to send rats packing and create a cleaner more welcoming city for all New Yorkers.”
The mayor also announced $3.5 million for rat mitigation in Harlem. The money will fund new techniques and new staff members to inspect, exterminate and clean public spaces.
“He hates rats. I hate rats. Every New Yorker hates rats,” Corradi said. “Rats are tough but New Yorkers are tougher.”
Corradi, a former elementary school teacher and land use expert who specializes in urban sustainability, was chosen out of 900 applicants.
“Destiny was calling. You see, I have a long history with rats,” she said.
As a child, Corradi said she used to campaign for anti-rat measures in her neighborhood and she previously served as a garden coordinator at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
She promised to immediately take on litter, garbage and food waste where rats thrive. She will also decide what new products the city should use to get rid of rats.
“Rat mitigation is more than a quality-of-life issue for New Yorkers,” she said. “Rats are a symptom of systemic issues, including sanitation, health, housing, and economic justice. New York may be famous for the Pizza Rat, but rats, and the conditions that help them thrive will no longer be tolerated — no more dirty curbs, unmanaged spaces, or brazen burrowing.”
The city’s sanitation department previously announced an anti-rat measure to limit the amount of time trash bags sit on curbs.
(TAYLOR FALLS, Minn.) — A search is underway for a teen who fell off a cliff and into the St. Croix River, which runs through Wisconsin and Minnesota, Tuesday night.
Police identified the missing teen as 18-year-old D’Andrea Sanvig of Luck, Wisconsin.
Sanvig was at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls, Minnesota, near a rock ledge when he lost his footing and fell off a cliff, authorities said. He eventually landed in the water.
“An extensive rescue effort was launched consisting of multiple area agencies. Search efforts were unsuccessful and paused at nightfall. The search will resume in the morning,” Chisago County Sheriff Capt. Derek Anklan said in a statement Wednesday.
Chicago County Emergency Communications Center began receiving 911 calls at around 6 p.m., according to police.
According to police, teams are actively searching for Sanvig by land, water and air.
Officials asked the general public not to search on or near the water at this time. The park issued a warning saying trails “still have significant snow and ice-coverage with bare and muddy areas in between.”
“The flow rate of the river, along with debris typically seen in the spring, has made for dangerous search conditions,” Anklan said.
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday they will not bring charges in the murder of Shanquella Robinson, a Charlotte, North Carolina, resident who was killed in October while vacationing in Mexico.
U.S. Attorneys Sandra J. Hairston and Dena J. King — who represent the Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina — wrote in a statement that in every case under consideration for federal prosecution, the government must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt, that a federal crime was committed.”
“Based on the results of the autopsy and after a careful deliberation and review of the investigative materials by both U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal prosecutors informed Ms. Robinson’s family today that the available evidence does not support a federal prosecution,” they wrote.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Record heat is moving from the Southwest to the Midwest and Northeast, where temperatures could approach 90 degrees in some areas this week.
On Tuesday, at least one dozen cities from Phoenix to Billings, Montana, broke or tied record high temperatures. Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, hit 99 degrees, Las Vegas reached 93 degrees, Denver clocked in at 85 and Salt Lake City reached 83.
On Wednesday, the heat moves east. Record-high temperatures in the 80s are possible in cities including Minneapolis; Denver; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Sioux City, Iowa.
The summer-like weather then moves into the Northeast later on Wednesday and will last through Thursday and Friday, bringing temperatures nearly 30 degrees above normal for the middle of April.
On Thursday and Friday, record-high temperatures in the upper 80s are possible for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.
New York City could reach a whopping 88 degrees on Thursday.
(NEW YORK) — Kimberly Dukes is up as early as 4 o’clock some mornings, driving around Atlanta in her Ford Expedition, knocking on families’ doors.
The executive director of the local group Atlanta Thrive, better known as “Momma Dukes,” said she takes as much time as she can searching for chronically absent students while working to make sure more kids get to school — and getting to know what keeps them away.
“I have a mom whose baby missed 80 days one year [amid the COVID-19 pandemic],” Dukes, a mother of 10 and local education activist, told ABC News. “What I learned from this mama is she had a chronic illness. There was a reason why she could not get him there. Some mornings she gets him there at 11 o’clock and he only goes twice a week.”
“Once I built that relationship, I understood it,” Dukes said.
From kindergarteners to high school seniors, chronic absenteeism persists around the country, fueled in part by disruptions from the spread of COVID-19 in the last three years, government data shows. In some places, repeated absences are getting much worse.
“There’s a lot of different factors that contribute to absenteeism in a normal year and they’re all put on steroids with the pandemic,” said one expert, FutureEd Associate Director Phyllis Jordan.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that chronic absenteeism — defined as missing at least 10% of the school year — has increased from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a nearly 40% spike between the 2021 and 2022 school years. (NCES did not specify its absences to include quarantining.)
Chronic absenteeism also was not tracked by NCES prior to the pandemic. But outside analysis also points to a notable increase from before COVID-19.
According to a report released this year by researchers from the Universities of Tennessee and California and Attendance Works, a nonprofit focused on addressing absenteeism, one in six students were chronically absent in the 2018-2019 school year.
Now, however, the report indicates chronic absenteeism has doubled to nearly one in three students.
“The pandemic really, really, broke down connections and relationships between kids and schools,” said Hedy Chang, the CEO of Attendance Works.
By the numbers
In 2021, the School Pulse Panel was initiated by the Biden administration: In order to determine who had been struggling with pandemic-era challenges since 2020 school closures, the Department of Education and Institute of Education Sciences (IES) collected information to better understand the impact of the virus on students and educators.
The survey collected information from a national sample of elementary, middle, high and combined-grade public schools, focused on region, locale, minority and poverty levels. It did not report out estimates by individual grades or race/ethnicity.
The School Pulse Panel asked how chronic absenteeism had changed at school, and the majority of schools with 75% or more minority enrollment indicated that chronic student absenteeism had increased “a lot” as compared to before the pandemic. (NCES did not provide boundaries for “a lot.” The schools’ responses were up to their interpretation, a spokesperson said.)
Roughly six in 10 city schools saw chronic absenteeism increase “a lot” compared to before the pandemic. More than half of West Coast schools also said chronic absenteeism increased “a lot” between pre-pandemic levels and 2022.
In California, the country’s largest state and home to its second-largest public school district, the number of students who were chronically absent more than doubled between 2018-2019 and 2022, according to Chang.
On the other side of the country, in Washington, D.C., chronic absenteeism saw a 17% increase between the 2021 and 2022 school years, according to data released by D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
But the district said that uptick was driven primarily by increases in excused absences, while unexcused absences increased only “modestly.” Still, nearly half of D.C.’s students were chronically absent in 2022.
How family struggles interfere with stable schooling
Experts suggested to ABC News that there are many factors fueling the increase in absences, from the broader chaos and confusion touched off by the pandemic to more specific concerns about fighting and bullying, among other challenges.
The 2022 Delaware teacher of the year, Jahsha Tabron, said she worries behavioral problems exacerbated by pandemic school closures — a policy trade-off to prevent infections and death — have since contributed to the rise in excessive truancy.
“We have students who are really struggling socially because they’ve only been around their family group for this time,” said Tabron, the dean of students at Brandywine High School and former special education teacher.
“Then you have students who are significantly struggling with social anxiety and other behavioral issues that are really sparked by the idea of being in this building with all of these personalities,” she said. “And we don’t really have supports in place for that, because ideally you should be able to come to school and not worry about that.”
Tabron said some students go months without coming to class because of their home atmosphere. When her school opened after the 2022 winter break, there were kids who came back for the first time since last November, she said.
“When a family is struggling and they are between homes, in between jobs, they’re living where they can live,” she said.
“A lot of times we don’t see students, and the next time that we do see them is when a parent has a stable situation where they can say, ‘OK, let me take my child to school,'” she said.
Los Angeles mom Graciela Gonzalez has seen another kind of bad habit form with her own son, Ronaldino, a sophomore at Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Manual Arts High School.
When her son kept skipping school earlier this year, Gonzalez said, she would drive him through the streets of L.A. to show him people without homes, suggesting he needed to change his behavior for the betterment of his future.
The teen wasn’t like this before the pandemic began, his mother said.
“He would look for a lot of excuses [after schools reopened],” Gonzalez said. “He would tell me ‘I don’t have clothes,’… [then] he would tell me, ‘No, I’m tired.”
Chang’s organization places absenteeism into four buckets: barriers, aversions, disengagement and misconceptions. Barriers, including lack of transportation or unstable housing, come from the students’ community. Aversions are barriers, like bullying, that push students out of school. Disengagement happens when school activities or personnel have difficulty reaching or “pulling” students in.
Misconceptions suggest some families believe excused absences “matter” less because unexcused absences come with consequences, Chang explained. But there are other kinds of misconceptions about schooling.
“When you think about our youngest learners, historically, you’ve had higher levels of kindergarten absenteeism — it’s not nearly at the levels that we’re seeing now — and some of that has to do with families not seeing that kindergarten, you know, it’s not necessarily that essential,” Chang said.
Efforts to improve attendance
The LAUSD superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, has set out to change his city’s chronic absenteeism rate by knocking on doors and strategizing with members of his team. At the end of the 2021-2022 school year, the rate of absenteeism in L.A. schools was at 45.2%, according to data found through a public records request.
Carvalho has spent the last year attempting to connect with the students, he told ABC News, but many in his district, like Graciela Gonzalez’ son, are simply staying at home.
“We were speaking to [Gonzalez] assuming that the child may be in school. The mom told me, ‘He’s upstairs sleeping,'” Carvalho said.
That was an easy enough fix, he said: “We had somebody who drove him to school that day.”
Thirty-six percent of Carvalho’s students are still chronically absent as of March, 2023. Despite the district’s near 10% increase in attendance, Carvalho is not satisfied.
“These were the kids who were in crisis prior to the pandemic to begin with and can ill afford to be absent from school,” he said.
Absenteeism can concern districts of all sizes. A portion of David Schilling’s northern Vermont high school students were chronically absent during the pandemic, too, he said.
“Kids would disappear, definitely, for days at a time,” Schilling told ABC News, adding, “So what it seemed to me was not only did we have to do something about getting kids back into the building, but we had to make the building a place where they wanted to be.”
The former principal stepped down as head of Danville School — a PK-12 institution with under 400 students — to implement an attendance improvement blueprint that matched the learning needs of his students called Danville Works, which includes experiential programs such as work-based internships, community-based classes and outdoor learning labs.
The programs, open to all students, include a few chronically absent kids who missed 12-30% of school last year. So far this year, according to Schilling, some of those kids have perfect attendance.
“Let’s try to actually listen to what they want school to be and see what happens,” Schilling said. “That’s the magic for me. It was just listening to them.”
In Jefferson County, Kentucky, Dr. Tish Brookins, a certified social worker, said the issue of absenteeism has only grown over the last year, where the latest data suggests nearly a third of the county’s students remain regularly out of class.
She said the reason why “runs the gamut.”
Most of her cases are in low-income families and those still learning English, she said. She has team meetings with relatives and also visits their homes to address lagging attendance.
“We’re all at the table, even a mental health practitioner, a nurse may be at that meeting and possibly an outside agency that provides mental health support,” Brookins said. “And we’re at that table saying, ‘Hey, what can we do to support you and your family?'”
This year, in D.C., OSSE says it is tackling its absenteeism problem differently. The district’s 60-40 rule considers a student present if they attend at least 60% of the school day. Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant hopes these adopted changes encourage kids to attend school even if they are late.
Community building
However, experts like Chang believe schools aren’t the only ones responsible for showing up for students. She stressed that community relationships can also improve attendance.
“The relationship building is the most essential component,” she said. “The question is, how do you organize schools so they ensure meaningful relationship-building between school staff or … community partners and other folks who can support that relationship building?”
Without solving other issues in the community first, Brookins, too, is skeptical of reducing the absenteeism levels. She said they go “hand in hand.”
“It’s going to take the whole community to solve poverty and food deserts and transportation issues,” she said.
Momma Dukes, in Atlanta, said empowering parents whose children attend struggling schools is a “lifestyle” for her.
She started knocking on doors with Atlanta Thrive to fill the gaps between schools and families, she said, but believes that if districts don’t start accepting help from community organizers then the problem won’t end.
The problem now is a mind-set that says otherwise: “We’re never going to get the kids into the building because it’s a culture issue,” she said. “We don’t want to do it together, so we’ll never know what’s going on. We’ll never understand why kids are not showing up.”
Right now, she said, “we’re not working in partnership.”
“If you allow us to be that bridge, the school system wins,” Dukes said, “and the kids win.”
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Five people were killed and eight others were injured in a mass shooting at a bank in Kentucky’s largest city on Monday morning, according to police.
The suspect was killed by officers responding to the scene at Old National Bank in Louisville, police said.
Here’s how the news developed. All times Eastern:
Apr 11, 10:06 PM EDT
Suspect’s family issues statement
The family of the suspected gunman, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, issued a statement Monday night expressing their sorrow, also saying “there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act.”
“No words can express our sorrow, anguish, and horror at the unthinkable harm our son Connor inflicted on innocent people, their families, and the entire Louisville community,” the Sturgeon family said. “We mourn their loss and that of our son, Connor. We pray for everyone traumatized by his senseless acts of violence and are deeply grateful for the bravery and heroism of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department.”
“While Connor, like many of his contemporaries, had mental health challenges which we, as a family, were actively addressing, there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act,” the family said. “While we have many unanswered questions, we will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do all we can to aid everyone in understanding why and how this happened.”
Apr 11, 5:52 PM EDT
Timeline of police response
Louisville Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey provided a timeline of the police response to Monday’s shooting while sharing body camera footage from the responding officers:
–8:38 a.m.: Officers dispatched.
–8:41 a.m.: Officers Nickolas Wilt and Cory Galloway pull up to an entrance to the bank. Gunshots are immediately fired in their direction, forcing them to back up the car.
–8:42 a.m.: They exit the vehicle.
–8:44 a.m.: Wilt is struck and officers return fire. When Wilt is struck, Galloway is heard yelling, “He’s down! Get the officer!”
–8:45 a.m.: After a short barrage of gunfire, officers make entry to the bank and confirm the suspect is down.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Apr 11, 5:32 PM EDT
Body camera footage released
Louisville police have released body camera footage from Monday’s mass shooting.
The footage shows the interaction between the shooter and responding officers, including Nickolas Wilt, who was shot and remains in critical condition.
“You will see he never hesitates,” Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said of Wilt during a press briefing on the footage. “This young man went back in to the line of fire.”
Humphrey said the suspect “lied in wait” for officers to respond to the bank shooting.
The officers could not see inside the building on their approach, and the footage conveys the “tension” of the scene, Humphrey said.
Officers and EMS treated victims at the scene of the shooting. The actions of first responders “absolutely saved lives,” Humphrey said.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said authorities plan to release 911 audio of the incident within the next 24 hours.
“We know there are still a lot of unanswered questions,” Greenberg said at the briefing. “We will continue to provide information as soon as it is available.”
Of the eight people injured in Monday’s mass shooting, three remain at the University of Louisville Hospital.
One of those patients, 26-year-old police officer Nickolas Wilt, is still in critical condition, hospital officials said, and the other two patients are stable and in fair condition.
Wilt was shot in the head while running toward the gunfire, according to police. Wilt just graduated from the police academy on March 31.
Wilt was on his fourth shift ever when he rushed the shooter, with his field training officer beside him, said Jackie Gwinn-Villaorel, Louisville’s interim police chief.
The training officer, Cory Galloway, shot and killed the suspect, authorities said, while being grazed by a bullet.
The suspected shooter, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, bought the AR-15 legally on April 4 in Louisville, Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel, interim chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Sturgeon was a current employee of the bank where the “targeted” shooting unfolded, she said.
Police said body camera footage from officers who responded to the shooting will be released Tuesday afternoon.
A vigil will be held Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
The mayor noted that, under Kentucky law, the gun used in Monday’s mass shooting will one day be auctioned off and back on the street.
He pleaded, “It’s time to change this law and let us destroy illegal guns and destroy the guns that have been used to kill our friends and kill our neighbors.”
“Five more families have lost a loved one,” the mayor said.
“This is happening in America everywhere and will keep happening until we say ‘enough’ and take meaningful action,” he said. “Doing nothing is not a strategy, is not a solution.”
The suspect left a note and “texted or called at least one person to let them know he was suicidal and contemplating harm,” Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., said at Tuesday’s news conference.
“But we don’t have the tools on the books to deal with someone who is an imminent danger to themselves or to others,” he said.
“We can come together at the federal level, working with each other to solve this problem which is impacting all of us in a uniquely American way, and get universal background checks so people who shouldn’t have a gun can’t buy one,” McGarvey said.
“That is not a political issue, but it becomes one when Kentucky Republicans would rather ban books and pronouns, and then make Kentucky a sanctuary state for weapons,” he said.
Apr 11, 10:48 AM EDT
One victim remains in critical condition
Of the eight people injured in Monday’s mass shooting, four remain at the University of Louisville Hospital.
One of those patients, 26-year-old police officer Nickolas Wilt, is still in critical condition, hospital officials said, and the other three patients are stable and in fair condition.
Wilt was shot in the head while running toward the gunfire, according to police. Wilt just graduated from the police academy on March 31.
Apr 11, 8:08 AM EDT
Suspect was armed with AR-15, mayor says
The alleged gunman in Monday’s mass shooting at a Louisville bank was wielding an AR-15 when he was gunned down by police, according to Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.
Craig revealed the detail during an interview with CBS News on Tuesday morning.
Apr 11, 7:54 AM EDT
What we know about Kentucky’s gun laws
Kentucky is one of 26 U.S. states that allow for permitless carry of firearms for eligible adults.
The Bluegrass State passed a law in 2019 removing the provisions that mandated state gun owners pass a background check if they were going to conceal carry their weapon. Under the law, most adults over the age of 21 can purchase and carry a firearm and take them to most places in Kentucky without any license.
Although gun owners can still apply for a gun license, which requires background checks, they are only meant for people who need such permits when traveling out of state.
Aside from federal laws that prohibit gun purchases by people with convicted felonies, there are no Kentucky laws that prohibit gun purchases to state residents who have mental health disorders, violent misdemeanor convictions, domestic abuse-related restraining orders or anyone with substance abuse disorders.
Firearms are still prohibited in several locations in Kentucky. Schools, government buildings, courthouses, police stations and any place that serves alcohol are gun-free locations, according to state law.
Kentucky law does not have any provisions preventing firearms in several locations such as hospitals, houses of worship, sports arenas, casinos, polling places and banks. However, local business owners and public and private colleges are also allowed to prohibit firearms on their properties, but they must have adequate signage on their premises, according to state law.
Apr 10, 10:59 PM EDT
Old National Bank releases new statement
“There are no words to adequately describe the sadness and devastation that our Old National family is experiencing as we grieve the tragic loss of our team members and pray for the recovery of all those who were injured,” Old National Bank CEO Jim Ryan said in a new statement Monday night.
Ryan and other members of the Old National leadership team have been in Louisville much of the day offering support to affected individuals and their families, and they will continue to be on hand to provide support in the days ahead.
“Obviously, this is an incredibly difficult situation, and our entire focus is on making sure that everyone affected has the support and assistance they need,” Ryan said. “On behalf of everyone at Old National, I also want to acknowledge and thank Louisville law enforcement, the medical community and state and local officials for their incredible response to this tragedy. And finally, we ask you to please continue to pray for all those affected.”
Apr 10, 11:01 PM EDT
Fifth person has died, police say
A fifth person has died following Monday’s mass shooting at a Louisville bank, police said.
Louisville police identified 57-year-old Deana Eckert as the latest victim.
Apr 10, 6:35 PM EDT
Louisville mayor vows to fight gun violence
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg spoke with ABC News’ Trevor Ault and pledged to make reducing gun violence his top priority in office, hours after four people, including his own friend, were gunned down inside a downtown bank.
“We have to take action. Today is a day for love and support to the victims… but this is life and death, so as mayor, this will continue to be our number one priority,” Greenberg – who was a victim of a workplace attack last year, said in the interview that took place a block away the bank.
Greenberg called his emotions “raw.”
“The second I got the alert that there was an active shooter going on, of course my mind immediately went back to the workplace shooting that I survived just over a year ago,” he said. “I know many people who work in that building, so I was thinking about them and everyone that was there.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Apr 10, 5:30 PM EDT
Shooting suspect was going to be fired from job: Sources
The suspected gunman who shot and killed four people at a downtown Louisville bank had recently been notified he was going to be fired from Old National Bank, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Connor Sturgeon had interned at Old National Bank for three years before earning a full-time job in June 2021, sources said. He had been promoted in April 2022.
There was no immediate indication why he was notified he would be terminated, according to sources.
The suspect allegedly left a note to parents and friends indicating he was going to shoot up the bank, sources said.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Apr 10, 3:50 PM EDT
Suspect worked at the bank, was armed with rifle
The suspected shooter, 23-year-old Connor Sturgeon, was armed with a rifle when he allegedly carried out a mass shooting at the Old National Bank, where he worked, according to police.
The suspect was livestreaming, police said, though officials did not elaborate.
Authorities said the suspect was killed by police.
Nine people were hospitalized, including three currently in critical condition, said Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer at University of Louisville Health. Three victims are in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and the three others have been released, Smith said.
Among the nine injured is 26-year-old police officer Nickolas Wilt, who was shot in the head, according to police. He underwent brain surgery and is in critical but stable condition, police said.
Wilt just graduated from the police academy on March 31.
The four slain victims were identified by police as Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said Elliott was “a very good friend of mine” and of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
“This was an evil act of targeted violence,” the mayor said.
“Today, I’m hurt and I’m hurting, and I know so many people out there are, as well,” Beshear said. “We lost four children of God today, one whom is one of my closest friends. Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad. … He was an incredible friend.”
The governor said of all four victims, “These are irreplaceable, amazing individuals.”
Apr 10, 2:56 PM EDT
Biden: ‘When will Republicans in Congress act?’
President Joe Biden tweeted Monday, “Once again, our nation mourns after a senseless act of gun violence.”
“Jill and I pray for the lives lost and impacted by today’s shooting. Too many Americans are paying for the price of inaction with their lives,” he wrote. “When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Monday’s briefing, “Once again, today the president has called on Republicans in Congress to work together with Democrats to take action to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to require safe storage of firearms, to require background checks for all gun sales, to eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”
“These are common sense actions we can ask for and should be getting right now,” she said.
“We need to act and we need Republicans to show some courage,” she said.
Apr 10, 1:02 PM EDT
2 officers among the injured, 1 in critical condition
Two officers and seven civilians were injured in the Louisville shooting, according to the University of Louisville Hospital.
One of those officers is in critical condition, according to police.
At least three patients have already been discharged, according to the hospital.
Apr 10, 11:27 AM EDT
McConnell ‘devastated’ by news of Louisville shooting
Republican leader and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who lives in Louisville, tweeted that he’s “devastated” by the news of Monday morning’s mass shooting.
“We send our prayers to the victims, their families, and the city of Louisville as we await more information,” McConnell tweeted.
His fellow Kentucky senator, Rand Paul, tweeted, “Our hearts break for the families of those lost.”
Apr 10, 11:21 AM EDT
Officers exchanged gunfire with suspect who died at scene
Officers arrived within three minutes of being dispatched and found the suspect still firing, Louisville police said.
Officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect who died at the scene, police said. It’s not yet clear if the suspect’s wounds were self-inflicted, police said.
Four victims were killed and eight people are injured, police said.
At least two officers were shot during the exchange of gunfire, police said, including one who is undergoing surgery.
It appears the suspect was a previous or current employee, police said.
“This is awful. I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today. And I have another close friend who didn’t, either, and one who is at the hospital that I hope is gonna make it through,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference.
Apr 10, 10:53 AM EDT
At least 15 mass shootings so far this month
There have been at least 15 mass shootings in the U.S. in the first 10 days of April, including Monday morning’s shooting in Louisville, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
So far this year, the nation has seen at least 146 mass shootings.
The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as at least four people shot, not including the suspect.
“It feels like every day in this country we are totally consumed by yet another mass shooting. Nowhere else in the developed world do people wake up to this preventable horror every single morning,” Kris Brown, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement Monday. “Whether it’s a bank, a school, a supermarket, or a church, Americans no longer feel safe in their communities. And Americans are increasingly tired of living in fear of being a victim of a mass shooting.”
“It does not have to be this way,” Brown said. “But until the gun industry no longer has a vice grip on our elected officials, this will continue to be our daily reality.”
Apr 10, 10:32 AM EDT
Shooting unfolded in bank conference room
The gunman opened fire in the bank’s first-floor conference room at about 8:30 a.m. local time, according to officials.
Eyewitnesses said the shooter appeared to have been armed with a long gun.
“He just started shooting,” Troy Haste told ABC Louisville affiliate WHAS-TV. “Whoever was next to me got shot. Blood is on me from it.”
Police said the suspect is dead.
A responding police officer was shot in the head, sources told ABC News. The officer’s condition is unknown.
According to preliminary information, this shooting is not believed to have been terror-related, sources told ABC News.
Apr 10, 10:19 AM EDT
Suspected shooter neutralized
Louisville police tweeted that the “suspected shooter has been neutralized,” adding, “There is no longer an active aggressor threat.”
There is no longer an active aggressor threat. The suspected shooter has been neutralized.
Apr 10, 10:05 AM EDT
Residents urged to avoid area
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg tweeted that residents should avoid the area around Slugger Field until further notice.
There is an active police situation downtown. Please avoid the area around Slugger Field until further notice. We will provide information as soon as possible.
— Mayor Craig Greenberg (@LouisvilleMayor) April 10, 2023
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he is heading to the scene.
“Please pray for all of the families impacted and for the city of Louisville,” he tweeted.
FBI and ATF agents are assisting with the incident.
