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(NEW YORK) — A man has been arrested for the 2003 killing of his ex-girlfriend, 20-year-old Megan McDonald, according to authorities, who allege he was “infatuated” with her and went “into a rage.”

Edward Holley, 42, of Wawayanda, New York, who is charged with second-degree murder, allegedly hit McDonald multiple times in the head while in her car in the early hours of March 14, 2003, according to New York State Police and the criminal complaint.

“We believe this crime was intimate partner violence,” state police Capt. Joseph Kolek said at a news conference Thursday. “Additionally, Ed Holley owed Megan a substantial sum of money.”

McDonald was found dead from blunt force trauma on a dirt path in Wallkill, New York, the day after she was killed, according to police. McDonald’s father, an NYPD detective, died one year earlier, in 2002, according to The New York Times.

Holley allegedly owed McDonald money that was causing “hostility” between them, according to the felony complaint. She allegedly tried to end their relationship several days before she was killed, according to the complaint, and authorities added that it appeared Holley “was infatuated” with McDonald.

On the morning of March 13, McDonald dropped off her new boyfriend at his apartment. He said he never saw her again, according to the felony complaint.

McDonald arrived at a home in Wallkill for a birthday party that night around 7 p.m., but she didn’t go inside because Holley was there, the complaint said.

About 30 minutes later, McDonald arrived at a house in Middletown and made multiple calls trying to find marijuana, including one call to a friend at the party where Holley was, the complaint said.

Around midnight, McDonald left the party and said she was going straight home because she had to work the next day, the complaint said. At about 12:15 a.m., McDonald arrived back at the Wallkill birthday party and told people she was going to go smoke, and two minutes later she drove away, the complaint said.

Around 12:25 a.m., McDonald arrived at “suspect 2″‘s house, and he got in her car and told McDonald he didn’t have marijuana for her, the complaint said. McDonald then told him she’d go get marijuana from Holley, according to a 2010 interview with “suspect 2,” the complaint said.

Holley was McDonald’s main marijuana supplier and police believe McDonald reached out to him as a “last resort” on the night she was killed, the complaint said.

Around 12:30 a.m., a witness saw McDonald’s car being followed through Wallkill by a dark Honda Civic hatchback, according to the complaint.

Days later, when McDonald’s car was found 500 feet from Holley’s home, police determined the 20-year-old had been killed while she was in the driver’s seat of her car, the document said.

Holley later told police he knew McDonald was outside the house party where he was on the night she was killed, according to the complaint. In one interview, Holley told police he drove his purple Honda Civic hatchback back to his home that night, according to the complaint.

Holley “provided numerous contradictory stories and alibis,” according to the complaint. Authorities said Holley consistently told police he last saw McDonald several days before she was killed when they had an altercation, though police said his reason for the altercation changed in each interview, according to the felony complaint.

In 2021, an analysis showed McDonald’s DNA and Holley’s DNA on McDonald’s phone, which was left in her car, the complaint said. Authorities believe the night of the murder Holley went through McDonald’s phone and saw she had recently called an ex, “causing Holley to go into a rage,” the complaint said.

In January 2023, an analysis placed McDonald, Holley and “suspect 2″‘s cellphones “together at key locations” on the night the 20-year-old was killed, the complaint said. “Suspect 2,” who died in 2010, was familiar with the area McDonald’s body was found, the complaint added.

In March 2023, DNA evidence showed Holley had been in McDonald’s car, the complaint said.

Holley has been arraigned and remanded without bail, state police said.

As Holley was transported by police, he told reporters, “I am definitely not guilty. I love Megan with all my heart.”

It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.

The state police said Thursday that they’re still asking anyone with information to call them at 845-344-5300.

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(DENVER) — Alexa Bartell spoke to a friend over the phone while driving Wednesday night near Denver when the line suddenly dropped.

Concerned about Bartell’s well-being, her friend eventually tracked Bartell’s phone to a field in Jefferson County, Colorado, where she found a damaged yellow Chevy Spark. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, a large rock had broken through the car’s windshield, striking and killing the 20-year-old Bartell — one of at least five similar incidents in Colorado over three hours on Wednesday evening.

“This is the most tragic of a series of similar crimes that happened overnight throughout Jefferson and Boulder counties,” the press release noted about the homicide.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has been unable to identify any suspects associated with the crime spree, including the homicide. Investigators also believe there may have been more than five incidents and have asked victims to come forward.

Law enforcement initially believed the incidents were associated with a 2003-2005 Dodge Ram pickup truck and asked the public to help identify its owners. However, investigators later confirmed the owner of the car was not “involved in the crime series related to the death of Alexa Bartell,” leaving no suspects.

“[Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office] continues to urge anyone with information about the crime to call our tip line at 303-271-5612,” the press release read.

Based on a timeline released by the sheriff’s office, the incidents began around 10 p.m. Wednesday when the suspect or suspects threw a rock through a car’s windshield in Westminster, CO. The driver was uninjured by the incident.

Thirty minutes later and roughly ten miles away, another rock was thrown through a windshield, injuring the driver. A minute later, at the same location, the suspects threw a rock at Toyota SUV, damaging the vehicle’s body but leaving the driver unscathed.

The event that resulted in Bartell’s death was the fourth such recorded incident Wednesday evening. At 10:45 p.m., Bartell was driving down Indiana Street in Jefferson County, CO, when a large rock broke her windshield and fatally wounded her.

Nearly two hours after striking Bartell’s car, the suspects allegedly struck their final car of the evening in Arvada, CO – more than 25 miles from the scene of the fatal incident. The last incident injured the car’s driver.

“We believe there may be more victims,” the sheriff’s office’s release noted, urging the public to come forward if they have any information or dash camera video from the evening that might offer insights into the deadly incident. With incidents crossing multiple counties in the Denver metropolitan area, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is working with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Arvada Police, and Westminster Police.

As of Thursday evening, the Sheriff’s office has been unable to identify any new suspects.

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(BLOOMINGTON, Ind.) — An Indiana woman has been charged with a federal hate crime for a racially motivated attack and stabbing of a woman of Chinese descent on a public transit bus.

The incident occurred on Jan. 11, 2023 when 56-year-old suspect Billie Davis “willfully caused bodily injury to the victim and attempted to do so using a knife because of the victim’s race and national origin” on a public bus in Bloomington, Indiana, the Department of Justice said in a statement detailing the charge against Davis.

“The victim reported to investigators that she had been riding the Bloomington Transit bus and had stood up to exit the bus,” the Bloomington Police Department said at the time of the attack. “She said that as she was standing and waiting for the bus doors to open, another passenger on the bus began to strike her repeatedly in the head, which resulted in immediate pain.”

Davis was originally transported to the Monroe County Jail and booked in for the charge of Battery, level 5 felony, according to authorities. But once it was determined that the victim had multiple stab wounds to her head, investigators accessed camera footage from inside the bus which captured the assault and saw that the suspect and victim had no prior interactions prior to the suspect stabbing the victim multiple times in the head as the victim waited for the bus doors to open.

“Billie Davis was then re-interviewed by investigators at the Monroe County Jail,” the Bloomington Police Department said. “At the conclusion of the interview, her charge was amended to Attempted Murder, level 1 felony.”

It was announced on Thursday by the Department of Justice that a federal grand jury in Evansville, Indiana, returned a single-count indictment charging Davis with committing a hate crime for her racially motivated attack and alleges that the offense included an attempt to kill the victim.

The FBI Indianapolis Field Office and Bloomington Resident Agency led the investigation on this case along with assistance from the Bloomington Police Department.

Indiana University in Bloomington’s Asian Culture Center issued a statement following the attack in January and said it was “outraged and heartbroken by this unprovoked act of violence.”

“Our thoughts go out to the victim of this horrendous act, to her family, and to everyone in the community who is affected by this racial violence,” said the Asian Cultural Center in response to the stabbing.

The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that assistant U.S. attorney Peter A. Blackett for the Southern District of Indiana and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case against Davis but reiterated that “an indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — An American Airlines employee at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was killed in a “crash incident” Thursday, authorities said.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. local time, officials said. The airline employee was injured outside the terminal where aircraft park at their gates, the airport said in a statement.

Austin-Travis County EMS responded and the employee was pronounced dead at the scene, the airport said.

“Our thoughts are with this employee and all those impacted by today’s tragic event,” the airport said.

The employee worked for American Airlines, the airline confirmed.

“We are devastated by the accident involving a team member at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS),” the airline said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and our local team members. We are focused on ensuring that all involved have the support they need during this difficult time.”

The Austin Police Department said it is investigating a “crash incident” at the airport.

There are “no significant impacts” to airport operations at this time, the airport said.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — A Colorado school bus driver faces 30 counts of child abuse after he braked hard in an apparent attempt to teach students on the bus a lesson, according to school and court records.

Brian Fitzgerald, 61, had recently started driving for the Douglas County School District when the incident occurred the afternoon of March 1, according to school records obtained by Colorado Springs ABC affiliate KRDO.

In camera footage from inside the bus, released by the school district, the driver can be heard telling Castle Rock Elementary School students to be in their seats before saying, “You guys want to see how dangerous that is?”

The students are then seen being thrown against the seats in front of them after the driver appeared to abruptly hit the brakes while driving around 9 mph.

“Did you get that?” the driver then says. “That’s why you need to be in your seat. Turn around and sit down properly.”

The surprised students can be heard saying “Why would he do that?” and asking each other if they are OK. One student can be seen taking out a cellphone and calling someone to report what happened, saying, “The bus driver hit the brakes, and somebody got hurt so badly and is, like, bleeding on the cheek.”

Later, the bus camera video captures the driver telling a parent that he is a substitute bus driver and that he was “trying to get them to get in their seats.”

“I was coming to a stop and I hit the brakes hard because they weren’t, they were not listening. So, I’m sorry if she got hurt,” he said.

A misdemeanor complaint was filed against Fitzgerald on April 12 that includes 29 charges of child abuse with no injury and one count of child abuse with bodily injuries, online court records show. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on May 12.

Fitzgerald did not respond to calls and messages from ABC News.

In a letter to the school district dated March 1, obtained by KRDO, Fitzgerald apologized for his actions and expressed concerns about what he described as “a repetitive historical pattern of improper student management” on the bus he was driving that day.

“I am sincerely sorry for my choice of actions today in my efforts of training students,” the letter stated. “I am still 100% responsible for my actions in trying to both educate and control students on the bus. Being a new driver, I did not make the best decision and if I were able to redo what I did I would rethink my decisions.”

The Douglas County School District hired Fitzgerald as a bus driver in October 2022 and he had finished his training days before the March 1 incident, according to internal school records reviewed by KRDO. He had previously only driven special education students before being asked to fill in on a route and drive a general education bus for the first time on March 1, according to the records. An investigation found that he “did brake check” the students while approaching a stop sign, according to the records obtained by KRDO.

A Douglas County School District spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that Fitzgerald is no longer with the school district. Thanks to parents and the principal who reported the incident, the school district was able to “take swift action and ensure this driver was never again allowed behind the wheel of a [district] bus,” the spokesperson, Paula Hans, said in a statement.

“The video is incredibly difficult to watch. Riding a bus to and from school should be a happy, enjoyable experience for students,” Hans said. “The behavior and actions of this bus driver are completely unacceptable.”

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(COLE, Okla.) — At least three people are dead in Oklahoma after a string of tornadoes broke out Wednesday night, officials said.

There have been eight confirmed tornadoes in the state, according to the National Weather Service. Three tornadoes were confirmed in Iowa.

McClain County Emergency Management confirmed that a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was over Cole, Oklahoma, Wednesday night. The McClain County Sheriff’s Office confirmed at least two deaths and said there were multiple injuries.

Overall, there were at least 15 reported tornadoes across three states: Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa. In addition, huge hail — some the size of a softball — was reported from Illinois to Texas.

Cole was “hit significantly,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Eric Foster said. There are “power lines down everywhere” and major damage to infrastructure, according to Foster, who said hundreds of first responders are on the scene.

On Wednesday night, the McClain County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that it was responding to “reported injuries & persons entrapped within their shelters,” and that power lines were down and there were outages. McClain County is just south of Oklahoma City.

Due to storm damage, Oklahoma State Highway 74 to State Highway 76 was closed, according to the McClain County Sheriff’s Office.

Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee reported there was significant damage to its campus, but reported there were no injuries. Students living in three on-campus building were relocated on Wednesday night, according to a tweet.

The university also canceled classes on Thursday and Friday.

The cross country storm is moving east and is producing severe weather outbreak with tornadoes, huge hail and extreme straight line winds. On Thursday, severe weather will stretch east from Texas to Illinois, including major cities such as San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis and Little Rock, Arkansas. The biggest threat will be damaging winds and huge hail.

Severe weather will move into the Southeast over the weekend and will stretch from the Carolinas down to Georgia. Cities in the bull’s-eye will be Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; and near Raleigh, North Carolina. Damaging winds will be the biggest threat Saturday.

The same storm will bring a threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms all the way to Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City Saturday evening.

Major flooding ongoing in the upper Mississippi river in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin is expected to get worse this weekend. The river is expected to continue to rise though the end of the week and into the weekend, reaching levels not seen in decades.

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(MIAMI) — Weather-related delays and panic-buying have led to a gas shortage in South Florida.

Over 55% of gas stations in Miami/Fort Lauderdale and over 34% of gas stations in West Palm Beach were without fuel as of Thursday morning, according to GasBuddy, a gas-tracking database.

“We ask that you please only purchase gas when you absolutely need it,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at a news conference Wednesday morning outside a Shell gas station. “Overly stocking up on gas is creating an extra strain on the delivery system. In other words, there’s no need to panic.”

The shortage in Port Everglades, where only nine of 12 gas terminals were working as of Thursday morning, is causing strain on the Fort Lauderdale region. Some of the fuel terminals at the port, which are privately owned and operated, were impacted by the Apr. 12 flooding in South Florida. The port is currently 70% operational and dispenses 9.1 million gallons of fuel daily, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Meanwhile, additional gas reserves are being sent to address the issue. At the direction of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Division of Emergency Management is sending a million gallons of fuel to South Florida, escorted by law enforcement and pulling fuel from Port Canaveral and Tampa. Companies are also sending additional fuel supplies from across the state and delivering to gas stations around the clock.

Most of the outages were due to panic buying and not the weather, GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said.

“It’s very much similar to the Colonial Pipeline and the toilet paper run in 2020,” he said. “People see something abnormal — lines and bags at gas stations — and it’s the fear of missing out on the supply of gasoline. Everyone fills everything up.”

In a video posted to Twitter, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called the situation “crazy.”

“They keep saying it’s going to get better but it’s not,” the Republican said. “They got to get this thing fixed. This is crazy.”

Both Democrats and allies of former President Donald Trump have criticized DeSantis’ response as inadequate.

“Remember when Florida governors used to respond to natural disasters and not flee the state?” Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party and a former gubernatorial candidate, tweeted Wednesday.

DeSantis held an event in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Jason Miller, a senior advisor to Trump, shared a Newsweek article headlined “Ron DeSantis Under Pressure Over Florida Gas Shortage: ‘Where is He?'”

DeSantis’ office hit back at the criticism, telling ABC News that “the state emergency response apparatus has been at work since the flooding occurred and continues in full swing responding to the needs of the localities as they are communicated to us.”

“The governor issued a state of emergency the day after the flooding occurred. And since then, Florida’s Division of Emergency Management has been activated to alleviate gas supply issues and ensure that no obstacles from the state keep companies in south Florida from keeping gas pumps stocked,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ press secretary, continued in a statement to ABC News.

The American Automobile Association estimates that it will take about a week for the issue to clear up.

ABC News’ Jay O’Brien contributed to this report.

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(HAMPTON, N.H.) — The U.S. Coast Guard is searching the waters off New England for four people reported missing after they sailed for a fishing trip Wednesday.

Michael Sai and three unidentified passengers departed Hampton, New Hampshire, in a 17-foot white center console boat, according to the Coast Guard.

“Their reported destination was fishing grounds near Jeffreys Ledge, approx. 50 miles offshore,” the Coast Guard tweeted.

A Coast Guard helicopter, plane and two boats were deployed to search for the missing people, the agency said.

On Thursday, an aircraft found an overturned vessel seven miles northeast of Cape Ann, but no people in the water were observed, according to the Coast Guard.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sector Northern New England at (207) 767-0303.

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(DADEVILLE, Ala.) — Five people, including three teenagers, have been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a birthday party in Alabama over the weekend where four victims were killed and 32 others were injured.

The most recent arrest was 19-year-old Willie George Brown Jr. of Auburn. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced Thursday that he’s been charged with four counts of reckless murder.

Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, were each charged with four counts of reckless murder on Tuesday. They have both been charged as adults.

Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, was arrested on Wednesday and also charged with four counts of reckless murder. Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee, was arrested and formally charged with four counts of reckless murder on Thursday, according to the ALEA.

Four victims are still in the hospital in critical condition.

The shooting took place at a crowded birthday party in the small town of Dadeville, located approximately 60 miles northeast of Montgomery, according toauthorities.

“Make no mistake, this is Alabama and when you pull out a gun, and you start shooting people, we’re gonna put you in jail,” Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sgt. Jeremy Burkett said at a press conference Wednesday.

Officials said they are still in the early stages of the investigation and more charges will be coming. Officials asked anyone who has information or was present at the shooting to come forward.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Mike Segrest, district attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Alabama. “We’re going to make sure every one of those victims has justice and not just the deceased.”

Officials did not reveal whether they have identified a motive for the shooting.

One of the victims killed in the shooting — 18-year-old Philstavious Dowdell — was attending his sister’s 16th birthday party, according to Segrest.

“There were so many kids in this venue and what they saw, they’re victims in this. Their families are victims of this,” Segrest said at a press conference Wednesday.

In addition to Dowdell, the three others killed in the shooting were identified as 23-year-old Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 19-year-old Marsiah Emmanuel Collins and 17-year-old Shaunkivia Nicole Smith.

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(WASHINGTON) — As air travel soars, the number of guns found at airport checkpoints is up, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reporting a more than 10% increase in recovered firearms for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same time last year.

TSA said officers intercepted 1,508 guns at airport security checkpoints from Jan. 1 to March 31 of this year, averaging 16.8 firearms a day — more than 93% of which were loaded. The agency found 1,367 during the same months in 2022, according to a press release from the agency.

“Firearms at TSA security checkpoints present an unacceptable safety and security risk to other passengers and I am deeply concerned that the majority of these firearms our [officers] catch are loaded,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a press release.

While the number of guns found at checkpoints is up, the rate at which they’re found has decreased. TSA said it found 7.9 firearms per one million passengers this year, down from the same time last year when the rate of discovery was 8.6 firearms per one million passengers.

This comes as air travel continues to rebound towards pre-pandemic levels – TSA says it screened 191 million passengers during Q1 of this year, up more than 20% from the 158 million screened in the first quarter of 2022.

While air travel numbers plunged during the pandemic, the rate of firearms discovered increased. TSA found a total of 3,257 firearms in carry-ons in 2020 — approximately 10 guns per million passengers screened. In 2021, the agency detected 5,972 guns. The rate of discovery that year was 10.2 firearms per million passengers.

Pre-pandemic numbers show the agency found 4,432 firearms in 2019 at a rate of five firearms per million passengers screened.

Passengers caught with guns in carry-ons can face fines up to $14,950.

“If you carry a firearm to the checkpoint, our [officers] will see it and there will be significant penalties, to include federal penalties and additional screening, which may prolong the security screening process,” Pekoske said. “You may still travel with a firearm — it just must be properly packed in your checked baggage and you must declare it to the airline.”

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