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(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer convicted of killing Daunte Wright — a 20-year-old Black man shot during a traffic stop — was released from a Minnesota Correctional facility Monday.

Potter was released at 5 a.m. ET, Andy Skoogman, spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, said in a press release Monday.

She was released early this morning “out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Ms. Potter, DOC staff and the security of the correctional facility,” according to Skoogman.

Potter was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11, 2021, incident. She had pleaded not-guilty to both charges. She was sentenced last year to 24 months in prison and a fine of $1,000, far below what the prosecution had asked for.

Wright was pulled over for an expired registration tab and a hanging air freshener in the rearview mirror, according to police.

Potter then determined Wright had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge and tried to detain him, according to former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned after the incident.

As officers were arresting Wright, he escaped the officers’ grip and was scuffling with them when he was shot by Potter, police said. Her attorneys said she meant to grab her stun gun but accidentally shot her firearm instead.

Wright — who was in the driver seat when he was shot — then drove away before crashing into another car.

A judge ordered Potter to serve 16 months in prison and eight months on supervised release. She already had a credit of 58 days served in jail while awaiting sentencing.

“I recognize there will be those who disagree with the sentence. That I granted a significant downward departure does not in any way diminish Daunte Wright’s life. His life mattered. And to those who disagree and feel a longer prison sentence is appropriate, as difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Ms. Potter’s situation,” Judge Regina Chu said during the sentencing hearing.

Chu called the case “one of the saddest cases I have had in my 20 years on the bench.”

The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter — 10 years and a $20,000 fine.

ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — New York City police are no longer asking for help finding a woman who was seen being carried into a minivan, now announcing that the woman was not kidnapped and knew the man she was with.

“The male and female depicted in the video were both found,” the NYPD said. “Both parties were known to each other and it was deemed to have not been a crime.”

Police said earlier that the unknown woman was kidnapped around 1:45 a.m. Friday in Brooklyn.

“The unknown male placed the victim into a minivan before fleeing northbound on Stillwell Avenue,” the NYPD said in its earlier statement.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Elaine Gilmer has seen the performance of “Fantasmic!” at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, over 100 times, but Saturday evening’s show was one to remember.

“The dragon’s head started to glow, and I see fire and kind of smoke coming out,” she said with hesitation. “I was like, ‘Oh … they added some new stuff because that didn’t didn’t happen like that before.'”

However, Gilmer’s daughter Elyssa began to realize that the fire from the animatronic dragon’s mouth appeared to spread to the body of the 45-foot creature, which is styled after the storybook villain of Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent.

“We saw some small explosions coming out of the head, and then, all of a sudden, the whole dragon was just engulfed, and then, all of a sudden, the worker started coming around escorting everybody out for safety,” Elaine said.

Videos of the incident quickly circulated online, showing the massive dragon wholly engulfed in flames — an uncharacteristically chaotic ending for the show that usually climaxes with Mickey Mouse casting a spell to defeat Maleficent.

All cast members were evacuated from Tom Sawyer Island, where the show is staged, due to the fire, according to a Disneyland official. The Anaheim Fire Department reported no injuries related to the incident, according to ABC News affiliate KABC.

“The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time,” wrote the official.

Dark plumes of smoke emanated from the dragon and impacted nearby attractions, prompting Disneyland to clear some guests from the area.

“I would love to say that I was cool for the whole thing, but obviously there comes a little moment where it’s worrisome because it starts to spread a lot,” said Brenda Coutiño, who was visiting Disneyland from Tucson, Arizona. “I thought it was gonna cut into the buildings, and since there’s so much connected to that little island — I was just a little scared that it would spread out.”

Park guests reported that the incident was shocking initially, but the response, including moving some guests from impacted regions, went relatively smoothly.

Videos of the incident show guests watching and recording the show’s unplanned conclusion while a loudspeaker informs them that the “performance cannot continue due to unforeseen circumstances.”

The live show uses water and fire special effects to tell the story of Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, interspersed with clips from classic Disney movies.

Disneyland describes the show as “Daring heroes and epic villains do battle on a grand scale in an incredible nighttime show — starring Mickey Mouse.”

The fire cut off the show as it neared its conclusion. Recently refurbished, the show typically concludes with fireworks and visit from a steamboat full of dancing Disney characters and fireworks.

“The dragon is usually the highlight — that’s what most people look forward to,” Elyssa Gilmer said. “We always love that part, so it’s exciting to watch; it’s kind of sad knowing that [the fire] happened.”

Disney has not released a timeline for reopening “Fantasmic!”

ABC News’ Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.

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(NEW YORK) — A woman was allegedly kidnapped off a New York City street by a suspect who drove her away in a minivan, police said.

The incident occurred around 1:45 a.m. on Friday in Brooklyn, the New York City Police Department said.

An “unknown female victim was kidnapped by an unknown male individual at the intersection of Avenue W and Stillwell Avenue,” the NYPD said in a statement. “The unknown male placed the victim into a minivan before fleeing northbound on Stillwell Avenue.”

The vehicle was described by police as a late-model Toyota minivan. The registration is not known. Police are seeking the public’s help in locating the minivan.

The victim is a woman in her 20s with a light complexion and long hair, approximately 5 feet tall and 120 pounds, police said. She was last seen wearing a striped shirt, blue skirt and white sneakers.

Police described the suspect as a man in his 30s with a light complexion and facial hair who is approximately 5’10” and 175 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, dark pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to submit tips to the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477, online or on Twitter.

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(INDIANA) — A loud boom heard across Central Indiana Friday night reportedly shook some homes and left residents wondering what exactly just happened.

There were also reports of a light streaking across the sky and a “possible explosion,” the Hamilton County Emergency Management said, as the source of the activity was under investigation.

“It may have been a sonic boom,” Hamilton County Emergency Management tweeted Friday night. “Police and fire continue to investigate.”

A National Weather Service lightning detection system picked up “something over Carroll County,” Hamilton County Emergency Management said.

Experts soon surmised that the sonic boom was from a suspected meteor. The National Weather Service’s Indianapolis office said its Geostationary Lightning Mapper detected a “likey fireball meteor” over Carroll County.

A home security camera in Greenwood, Indiana, picked up a loud boom and streaks in the sky accompanied by a fireball at 8:47 p.m. local time.

The suspected meteor could be seen by pilots in Kentucky, according to Hamilton County Emergency Management.

The American Meteor Society received multiple reports of a fireball in Indiana Friday night, including in Indianapolis, Bloomingdale, Lafayette, South Bend, Covington and Albany.

Fireball reports also came in to the American Meteor Society Friday from parts of Michigan, including Kalamazoo, and Illinois, including Chicago and Danville.

The reports come as the Lyrids meteor shower is occurring across the United States. The shower occurs every year in mid-April, when Earth crosses the trail of debris left by the Comet Thatcher, according to NASA.

“These bits of comet burn up when they hit Earth’s atmosphere and produce this shower of shooting stars,” NASA said.

For prime watching, the Lyrids are set to peak Saturday night.

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(NEW YORK) — More than 20 million people on the East Coast are facing a severe weather threat Saturday.

The risk for severe thunderstorms stretches from New Jersey to South Carolina, up and down the I-95 corridor.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia until 6 p.m. ET.

The main threats are damaging winds and large hail, but an isolated tornado is possible as well. Wind gusts could reach up to 70 mph.

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia until 6 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/6xXGPHXfph

— NWS Severe Tstorm (@NWSSevereTstorm) April 22, 2023

The severe weather threat is part of a line of thunderstorms moving east with a potent cold front.

Elsewhere, heavy rain is expected in the Northeast Saturday night into Sunday, bringing a flash flood threat. Cities including Boston and Providence could be dealing with heavy rainfall into Sunday afternoon. Much of New England could see 1 to 3 inches of rainfall as this vigorous cold front sweeps across the East Coast.

In the South, there is also a risk for severe thunderstorms Saturday afternoon in south and central Texas, from Abilene to San Antonio. Large hail is the main threat, but scattered wind damage and an isolated tornado are also possible.

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(CALIFORNIA) — The relentless downpour from this year’s record rainfall in California has caused a long-dormant lake to reemerge after being bone dry for generations.

And now farmers, residents and officials who live around Tulare Lake are scrambling to save their land, protect their homes and salvage their livelihood as waters continue to creep inland.

“If the weather would get real warm, then I think we’re all in trouble. There’s a lot of people going to be in trouble,” Peter de Jong, a 10th-generation California dairy farmer, told ABC News.

The central California lake, which is fed by the rivers and streams running down from the Sierra Nevada, was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. But in the 1880s, the water was diverted to be used by farmland and the lake dried up.

Farmers would cultivate the dried-up land for crops and cattle, and the region grew into the largest dairy-producing county in the nation.

Flooding from this year’s winter storms, which left record snowfall in the California mountains and later excess water from the melting, has deluged Tulare and Kings counties, leaving streets and properties under several feet of water.

De Jong said he was forced to let a house on his farmland that is used by workers flood damage to save his cattle.

“We moved 2,300 milking, 200 dries and probably in the neighborhood of 1,000 heifers off this site,” he told ABC News.

Although the farmer said he’s installing levees to control the water, experts said it could be years before it dissipates and crops can be replanted.

And the deluge doesn’t appear to be ending soon, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA.

“Something like 95% of the water that was up there a month ago is still there [in the Sierra Nevada], and still waiting to come downstream. So, as significant as the flooding is right now, it’s likely to get considerably worse in the weeks to come before it abates,” he told ABC News.

Corcoran, California, a city located near the lake with a population of nearly 20,000, is rushing to raise its levees in response to the changing water levels.

When asked if he felt town residents were “sitting ducks,” Corcoran City Manager Greg Gatzka said, “It all depends.”

“We just don’t know how much because it’s going to be a matter of how much gets dispersed,” he told ABC News.

ABC News’ Timmy Truong contributed to this report.

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(ATLANTA) — An Atlanta teen’s wish came true when she was accepted to over 50 colleges and universities, earning over $1.3 million in scholarship money, but there was no magic involved – just scheduling and hard work.

“It really wasn’t about the number of schools I applied to, it was really about making sure that I had options for my parents to really sit back and relax,” Daya Brown told “Good Morning America.” “Student loans are something that I do not want. So this is kind of a gift, both to myself and to them.”

Brown, a senior at Westlake High School in Atlanta, Georgia, said she tackled the college process by starting small and working gradually, with just a few hours every day dedicated to applying to each school.

“So I started my process in quarantine during my sophomore year,” said Brown. “I started to curate a list of schools that had certain majors or were great in what I wanted to study which was mass communications or film.”

Adding, “So once I had that list, it all came down to doing those extracurricular activities, because I think a lot of the times students don’t understand that you have to be more than just a student.”

The 18-year-old said she chose extracurriculars that were aligned with her passions: poetry, the written word and film production. She decided to combine her interests and create her own production company called Elom & Co. Productions, which focuses on emerging creators.

“That was my chance to showcase who I was as a person and who I was as a scholar. I think a lot of people think that if you’re smart, you can’t be cool,” she said. “So I found a way to showcase brilliance [and] still have fun while you’re doing it.”

Out of many choices, Brown said she chose to attend Duke University because it felt like “home.”

“When we stepped foot on Duke’s campus, I honestly had the feeling at that very moment… a sense of home,” said Brown. “I was welcomed by so many amazing Black students who look just like me, who have the same dreams and aspirations as me as well.”

Brown said she couldn’t have achieved her goals alone and has to thank “her village.”

“My father, he is a pastor [and] an educator, so I learned my rhetorical skills from him. My mother, she’s creative, so I learned her visionary attributes. My grandmother, she makes all of my gowns, so I learned all of her artistic abilities,” she said. “My brother, he reminds me to like laugh every day.”

Adding, “At the end of the day, I believe my village really showed up.”

Brown said she plans on studying visual media studies with a minor in journalism. Her advice to other students starting the college process is to do the work and do it with happiness.

“No, it wasn’t easy. Yes, you have to stay up many nights to get the work done if you want the GPA, but at the same time, it wouldn’t feel like such a burden, if it’s your passion,” she said. “I wake up every day, happy about what I do.”

Editor’s note: This was originally published on March 14, 2023.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Multiple people were injured in a shooting in Southeast, D.C., Friday night, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Police do not yet have an exact number of victims, ages, or their conditions.

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

Latest headlines:
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Apr 22, 1:40 AM EDT
8 people, including a 12-year-old girl, shot in Washington, D.C.

Eight people were shot, all with non-life-threatening injuries, in two shooting locations in Southeast, D.C. that may be connected, according to Washington, D.C. Police Assistant Chief Andre Wright.

Seven adult male victims with gunshot wounds were injured in the primary shooting location at the 500 block of Lebaum Street, SE shortly after 10 p.m. The majority of these victims self-transported to the hospital prior to the arrival of the Metropolitan Police Department. A public information officer off-camera said they are in stable condition.

At the secondary scene, a 12-year-old girl was found suffering a gunshot wound to her lower extremities. She is expected to survive and is in stable condition.

The search for the suspect or suspects is ongoing. MPD is looking for a black sedan — possibly a Mercedes — that was driven down Lebaum Street, SE, and opened fire indiscriminately at people gathered on the street, possibly enjoying the weather.

Based on the timing and close proximity of the two shooting locations, Assistant Chief Wright believes they are connected but more information is needed.

MPD has no motive at this time and is actively gathering more information.

When asked about an individual seen by reporters getting arrested, Wright says they are keeping certain information on a close hold and did not elaborate on that person’s connection to the investigation.

-ABC News’ Davone Morales

Apr 22, 12:53 AM EDT
DC Metropolitan Police confirm they are on the scene of a shooting with multiple victims

The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police have confirmed that they are on the scene of a shooting with multiple victims.

At this time, they do not have an exact number of victims, ages or their conditions.

A public information officer on scene told ABC News’ Washington, D.C. affiliate station WJLA that there is at least one juvenile that shot and that authorities are still searching for a suspect.

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(VERMONT) — Authorities have locked down a Vermont community as they search for a 24-year-old man they say exchanged fire with an officer responding to a domestic disturbance call in the village of Morrisville.

Henry Lovell allegedly fled the scene on foot before 9 p.m. on Thursday night, shotgun in hand, and entered a nearby Veterans of Foreign Wars post, where a patron wrestled the weapon from him, the Vermont State Police said Friday afternoon in a release.

Lovell is still at large, police said.

Authorities asked residents Friday morning to avoid the area around Morrisville, a village of roughly 2,000 people tucked among the mountains of northern Vermont, and requested that anyone who was on two nearby trails on Friday to call police if they saw anyone suspicious.

Area schools were closed Friday, State Police said.

Lovell is considered “potentially armed and dangerous,” though authorities have “accounted for all the firearms Lovell might have had access to.”

The search has expanded beyond the village, but “it is a possibility that he is still in the area,” Maj. David Petersen of the State Police said at a press conference Friday evening.

Adam Silverman, a spokesman for the agency, told ABC News in an email earlier Friday that there is “no evidence that Lovell has access to a vehicle.”

Police said Lovell faces multiple pending charges in unrelated cases including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, lewd and lascivious conduct and resisting arrest.

The officer Lovell allegedly shot, whom authorities have not yet named, “responded to a reported kidnapping and domestic disturbance involving Henry Lovell, a family and another individual,” according to the release, which noted that the officer “recognized Lovell from previous interactions.”

The officer sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from a hospital, police said.

In an interview with the News & Citizen, a local paper, Dorick Tallman described stripping Lovell of his shotgun when the suspect entered the bar area of the Morrisville Veterans of Foreign Wars building Thursday night.

“We cornered him by one of the offices, and I was like, ‘dude, just give me the gun.’ He sort of handed it to me and as soon as I grabbed it, he realized that he didn’t want me to have it,” said Tallman, who said a scuffle ensued.

“My thought was just public safety,” he told the outlet. “There were teenagers and a bunch of girls and whatnot in the dance hall, and I just didn’t want it to turn into a hostile situation or anybody else to get hurt.”

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