(AURORA, Colo.) — Six high school students are in the hospital after they were shot at a park near their Aurora, Colorado, school, police said.
All injuries are non-life-threatening, Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson said at a news conference. School resource officers put a tourniquet on one victim who is in surgery, she said.
The students, who all attend Aurora Central High School, are ages 14 to 18, Aurora police said.
There are believed to be “multiple” suspects who are all at large in the wake of the shooting, which took place just north of Aurora Central High School, at Nome Park.
The shooting appeared to be a drive-by, Wilson said, adding that people may have also fled on foot.
The parents of all victims have been notified, Wilson said.
Wilson urged residents in the area to send authorities their home surveillance footage to help police with the investigation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Details have emerged in the criminal case against the mother of a 14-year-old who went missing in October from her home in New Jersey before being sound safe nearly a month later in New York. According to officials, she ran away in order to escape abuse at home.
The criminal complaint against 40-year-old Jamie Moore, filed Friday in Essex County Court, describes several instances of alleged abuse against the young girl, including “stabbing the victim to her shoulder causing a laceration that is still visible, spraying bleach in her eyes, pulling her braids out” and striking her with several objects, including a frying pan.
According to the complaint, Moore also allegedly struck her daughter with her hands and put her knees on her neck and back, “causing her to struggle to breathe.”
MORE: Mom of missing New Jersey teen charged with child endangerment
Moore is also accused of “educational neglect.” Officials stated in the criminal complaint that she forced the 14-year-old to not attend virtual learning classes during the 2020/2021 school year and did not enroll her in the 2021/2022 school session.
The charges against Moore were announced last week in a press release from acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens and East Orange Police Chief Phyllis Bindi. Police said her daughter had run away from home and did not want to return.
Moore was arrested Friday and is being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility. Attempts to find a lawyer for Moore were unsuccessful. Her detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Moore’s daughter reportedly ran away Oct. 14 after stopping at Poppies Deli Store in East Orange, New Jersey, after Moore allegedly verbally scolded and cursed her for misplacing a grocery card, grabbed her by the neck, scratched her and physically assaulted her, according to the complaint.
The complaint stated that Moore told her daughter not to come back home until she found the card. Officials say she said did not return because her “mom would beat her and leave her all bruised up.”
At a Nov. 5 press conference, Moore tearfully recounted a different narrative about the grocery card than the one that was filed in the criminal complaint: “So, I said, ‘Baby backtrack your steps, because you lost it before and found it. So it’s probably right outside or when you went in your pocket, it probably fell out.’ So she did. She left, she backtracked her steps. That was the last time I saw her.”
“I cannot imagine what she might be going through just being away from us this long, being away from her family who loves her very much,” Moore said at the time. “If anybody knows anything, please, please come forward.”
The 14-year-old — who was found at a women’s shelter in New York after a weekslong search by local officials — and her 3-year-old brother have been removed from Moore’s custody.
(NEW YORK) — The Consumer Product Safety Commissions (CPSC) announced on Nov. 10 a voluntary recall on the “ABUS Mountz Youth Helmets,” citing that the products pose a risk of head injury.
The recall involves the ABUS ACM (MountZ) youth medium-sized helmets and were sold in “velvet black” and “polar white” color,” according to the ABUS press release.
ABUS ACM (MountZ) youth helmets are pictured in velvet black and polar white colors.
No injuries have been reported, but CPSC urged consumers to return the helmets for a refund.
“Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled helmets and return them to ABUS’s Recall Administrator, Sedgwick, free of charge, for a full refund,” said the press release.
The helmets were manufactured in March 2020 or October 2020 and were sold at independent bike shops nationwide from April 2020 through October 2021 for about $81, according to CPSC.
The recall does not affect any other ABUS products.
(NEW YORK) — Controversial radio and TV personality Alex Jones was found liable Monday for damages in a lawsuit brought by the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones liable for damages by default because Jones and his companies, like Infowars, showed “callous disregard” for the rules of discovery. She previously faulted the Infowars host for failing to comply with requests for documents and other procedures.
The ruling sends the case to a jury to award the families damages without a civil trial. It is legal a victory for eight parents of Newtown victims who sued Jones for defamation after he called the elementary school shooting massacre a hoax.
The plaintiffs earlier alleged a “yearslong campaign of abusive and outrageous false statements in which Jones and the other defendants have developed, amplified and perpetuated claims that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged and that the 26 families who lost loved ones that day are paid actors who faked their relative’s deaths.”
The judge agreed with the families that Jones, Infowars and his other companies failed to turn over documents to the families that they would need to prove their case, as required by law.
“The defendants were ordered to produce the documents,” Bellis said during Monday’s hearing, which was conducted remotely. “Discovery is not supposed to be a guessing game. What the Jones defendants have produced by way of analytics is not even remotely full and fair compliance.”
Jones was similarly defaulted in Texas for failing to turn over documents.
The U.S. Supreme Court had declined to take up a petition from Jones earlier in April, who had challenged legal sanctions imposed on him by a court in Connecticut.
“This callous disregard of their obligations to fully and fairly comply with discovery and court orders on its own merits a default against the Jones defendants,” Bellis said.
“While the families are grateful for the Court’s ruling, they remain focused on uncovering the truth. As the Court noted, Alex Jones and his companies have deliberately concealed evidence of the relationship between what they publish and how they make money,” Chris Mattei of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, which represents the eight families suing Jones, said.
“Mr. Jones was given every opportunity to comply but, when he chose instead to withhold evidence for more than two years, the Court was left with no choice but to rule as it did today. While today’s ruling is a legal victory, the battle to shed light on how deeply Mr. Jones has harmed these families continues,” Mattei said.
The judge in Connecticut will hold a hearing in August to determine how much Jones will have to pay in damages.
Twenty children and six staff members died in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut, school at the hands of gunman Adam Lanza.
(NEW YORK) — A Wisconsin jury could begin deliberating the fate of Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday after hearing what is expected to be starkly different theories of the same evidence in the homicide case with prosecutors set to portray the teen as a trouble-seeking active shooter to counter defense claims he shot three men, two fatally, in self-defense.
The closing arguments are currently unfolding in Kenosha County Circuit Court.
Rittenhouse was 17 and armed with a semiautomatic rifle at the time he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and severely wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, during an Aug. 25, 2020, protest in Kenosha.
During the trial, which began on Nov. 2, Rittenhouse testified that he shot all three men in self-defense as they and others allegedly attacked him during the demonstration over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left paralyzed.
The court hearing began Monday with a presentation from Judge Bruce Schroeder of instructions to the jury that included allowing the panel to consider lesser charges against the 18-year-old.
Schroeder also spent time instructing the jury on the legal elements of self-defense.
“The law of self-defense allows the defendant to threaten or intentionally use force against another only if he believed that there was an actual or imminent unlawful interference with his own person, and he believed that the amount of force which he used or threatened to use was necessary to prevent or terminate the interference and his beliefs were reasonable,” the judge said.
On Friday, Schroeder told Rittenhouse he runs the risk of being convicted on the lesser charges if the jury finds him not guilty of the original counts of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
The judge also granted a defense motion Monday to dismiss a charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 after the prosecution agreed that the rifle Rittenhouse used in the shooting did not meet the required standard of a short-barreled rifle under the law.
Immediately following the jury instructions, prosecutor Thomas Binger began giving his summation by telling the jury, “This is a case in which a 17-year-old teenager killed two unarmed men and severely wounded a third person with an AR-15 that did not belong to him.”
“This isn’t a situation where he was protecting his home or his family,” Binger said. “He killed people after traveling here from Antioch, Illinois, and staying out after a citywide curfew.”
Binger launched into detail about the first killing on the night of Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, showing the jury video the prosecutor claims shows that Rittenhouse provoked the deadly encounter with Rosenbaum.
Binger said Rittenhouse sat down a fire extinguisher he had in his left hand and pointed his gun at Rosenbaum and others. In a dramatic reenactment, Binger sat down a water bottle as if it were the fire extinguisher with his left hand and raised the semiautomatic rifle used in the shootings at the courtroom gallery.
“That is what provokes this entire incident. And one of the things to keep in mind is that when the defendant provokes the incident, he loses the right to self-defense,” Binger said. “You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create. That’s critical right here. If you’re the one who is threatening others, you lose the right to claim self-defense.”
The prosecutor asked the jury to watch the video of the Rosenbaum shooting closely, pointing out that Rosenbaum held up his hands as he ran after Rittenhouse and cited the teenager’s testimony during the trial that he knew the man was unarmed.
“Mr. Rosenbaum is not even within arm’s reach when the first shot occurs,” Binger said, playing the video of the shooting several times.
Binger described the confrontation between Rosenbaum and Rittenhouse as being akin to a “bar fight,” even showing the jurors an image of Patrick Swayze in the movie “Roadhouse,” in which the actor played a bar bouncer who protects a small town from a corrupt businessman.
“This is a fight that maybe many of you have been involved in,” Binger said, referring to the confrontation between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum. “Two people, hand to hand. We’re throwing punches, we’re pushing, we’re shoving, we’re whatever. But what you don’t do is you don’t bring a gun to a fistfight.”
Binger said that after shooting Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse ran away without attempting to provide first aid. The prosecutor said others in the crowd had every reason to chase after Rittenhouse to stop him.
“At that point, the crowd is dealing with what they perceive to be an active shooter, someone who has just shot someone who is still in possession of the gun, who is fleeing the scene, and how are we supposed to know where he’s going next?” Binger said.
He said those chasing Rittenhouse took the “least intrusive means possible” to stop the gunman.
Binger showed video of Rittenhouse running down a street and Huber hitting him twice with a skateboard, the second time after which, Rittenhouse lost his balance on his own and fell to the ground.
The prosecutor said Rittenhouse fired twice at an unarmed unidentified man who reportedly kicked him in the face, without regard for others standing nearby, before he shot Huber point-blank in the chest, killing him.
Binger said Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol, was shot in the right bicep when he tried to disarm Rittenhouse. “Gaige Grosskreutz had his own gun in his own hand. He could have aimed and fired at the defendant, but he did not,” Binger said.
He said that despite lying to people throughout the night that he was a trained EMT, Rittenhouse never attempted to help the people he shot.
“This is someone who has no remorse, no regard for life, only cares about himself,” the prosecutor said of Rittenhouse.
Binger wrapped up his argument by telling the jury to put themselves in Rittenhouse’s shoes and asking if a “reasonable person” would react in the same way.
“I submit to you that no reasonable person would have done what the defendant did. And that makes your decision easy,” Binger said. “He’s guilty of all counts.”
What happens next
Following the closing arguments, court officials will draw names to determine which of the 18 jurors who heard the evidence will be among the 12 that will deliberate on a verdict.
During the trial, Rittenhouse testified in his own defense, telling the jury, “I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.” During his stint on the witness stand, Rittenhouse erupted in sobs as he explained why he shot Rosenbaum.
Rittenhouse, who said he was a former lifeguard and firefighter EMT cadet, said he went to Kenosha that night to provide first aid to people in need and help protect businesses after looting and vandalism broke out in the city, saying he brought his medical supplies along with his AR-15-style rifle and 30-round ammunition clip.
During the trial, prosecutors leaned heavily on video, showing multiple angles to all three shootings, including Huber hitting Rittenhouse twice with a skateboard, Rosenbaum threatening to kill Rittenhouse and chasing him before he was shot dead, and Grosskreutz being shot as he approached the teenage armed with a loaded handgun.
In advance of the verdict, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has authorized about 500 National Guard troops to be on standby to support public safety efforts if needed in Kenosha.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 763,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
-Fauci says fully vaccinated families should ‘feel good’ about gathering for holidays
-US daily case average jumps 23%
-NYC residents over 18 can get boosters, health commissioner says
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 15, 2:39 pm
Consider rapid testing before Thanksgiving, experts say
Former Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said in an interview Monday hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center that her family is rapid-testing on Thanksgiving because they’re gathering indoors with multiple families and have young, unvaccinated children.
She said it was reasonable for families with immunocompromised members to continue to take precautions, like rapid test and gather outdoors.
“A family in which everybody is generally healthy and fully vaccinated might take very different types of risks than a family with unvaccinated young kids or elderly, immunocompromised family members,” she said.
Dr. Jerome Adams, former Surgeon General under President Donald Trump, said to make sure all relatives are vaccinated and that no one has cold symptoms.
“Even if you’re vaccinated, if you’re coughing, if you’re sneezing, if you’ve got symptoms, you still could be spreading the virus,” he said.
Looking to the future, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “If we can get most of the people who are eligible to be boosted, boostered, we can go a long way to make in 2022 much more of a normal year than what we’ve seen in 2021.”
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Nov 15, 1:45 pm
Long-term study of kids with COVID begins
The National Institutes of Health is starting a study to track the impact of COVID-19 infections in children, enrolling its first participant at the NIH’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
The idea of “long COVID,” or long-term health impacts, is of concern in children, and is one of the reasons doctors strongly encourage pediatric vaccination. Six million children in the U.S. have had COVID-19, and many “experienced significant acute and long-term effects,” the NIH said.
The study will track up to 1,000 children and young adults between 3 and 21 years old who previously tested positive for COVID-19 and evaluate the impact on their physical and mental health over three years.
The study will also try to determine risk factors for complications. It will evaluate the long-term immune responses to the disease, screen for genetic factors that may affect how children respond to COVID-19 infection and determine whether immunological factors influence long-term outcomes.
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss
Nov 15, 12:00 pm
Fauci says fully vaccinated families should ‘feel good’ about gathering for holidays
Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccinated family members “can feel good about enjoying a typical Thanksgiving, Christmas,” in an interview Monday hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center.
But Fauci warned that cases are still high, so people should wear masks when they’re in groups of people in indoor settings.
“We are not going to be going through this indefinitely,” Fauci said. “How quickly we get to the end depends on us: how well we vaccinate, how well we get boosted and how well we do the kinds of things to protect ourselves.”
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Nov 15, 11:19 am
US daily case average jumps 23%
The daily case average in the U.S. now stands at 78,500 – a 23% jump over the last 2.5 weeks, according to federal data
Twenty-one states have seen an uptick in daily cases of 10% or more over the last two weeks: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Last week marked the first national increase in hospitalizations in nearly 10 weeks. There are now more than 47,000 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals — up by about 2,000 patients since last Monday, according to federal data.
(HAWKINSVILLE, Ga.) — The search is on for three “violent” inmates who remain at large days after escaping from a Georgia jail, authorities said.
Tyree Williams Jr., 33; Brandon Pooler, 24; Dennis Penix Jr., 28; and two other inmates fled the Pulaski County Jail, about 130 miles south of Atlanta, on the night of Nov. 12, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
They had two Tasers and were last in a stolen white 2015 Kia Sedona van with Georgia license plate CMP8628, the GBI said.
One of the five escapees, Tyree Jackson, was taken into custody Sunday, the GBI said.
A second inmate, Lewis Wendell Evans III, was taken into custody late Sunday night in Warner Robins, about 100 miles south of Atlanta, the GBI said.
As the search continues for the remaining three escapees, the U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to any arrests, the GBI said.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 763,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 15, 7:17 am
Israel approves COVID-19 vaccination for younger children
Israel’s Ministry of Health announced Sunday that children ages 5 to 11 would be eligible for vaccination against COVID-19.
The decision follows an advisory panel’s approval last week of the low-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds.
“The majority of experts on the committee were of the opinion that the benefit of vaccinating this age group outweighed any risk,” the health ministry said in a statement Sunday.
A starting date for the inoculation campaign will be announced soon, the health ministry said. COVID-19 vaccination for this age group will not be made mandatory and parents will be given the choice to decide.
More than 62% of Israel’s 9.2 million people have already received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while nearly 44% have also gotten a booster shot, according to data from the health ministry.
(ATLANTA) — A woman killed while walking her dog in an Atlanta park this past summer was stabbed and cut over 50 times, according to a medical examiner’s report released this week.
Katherine “Katie” Janness, 40, was found dead in Piedmont Park around 1 a.m. on July 28, along with her slain dog, Bowie, in what police described as a “gruesome” scene.
Janness had more than 50 wounds on her face, neck, chest, back, arms and hands, according to the Fulton County medical examiner’s report.
“It is my opinion that Katherine Janness died due to sharp force injuries of her face, neck, and torso that caused injuries of major blood vessels and internal organs,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Sullivan wrote in the report, dated Nov. 10. “The manner of Ms. Janness’ death is classified as a homicide.”
At least 15 of the cuts were on Janness’ face, and more than a dozen were on her lower back, according to the autopsy report. The letters “F,” “A” and “T” were also found etched onto her chest, the medical examiner said. Janness also suffered from blunt force injuries.
Janness’ partner of seven years, Emma Clark, said Janness went to walk Bowie after dinner but didn’t return, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Clark tracked Janness’ phone’s location to Piedmont Park, where she discovered Janness and their dog.
Following the release of the medical examiner’s report, Emma Clark’s father, Terrell Clark, released a statement on behalf of the family to ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB.
“With today’s release of Katie’s autopsy report it’s more important than ever that the search for her killer be a top priority for APD and the FBI,” the statement said. “The report is extremely heartbreaking to read and know the exact nature of what Katie endured in her final moments on this Earth. Whoever is responsible is very disturbed and remains a danger to everyone’s safety. Please be vigilant and aware of your surroundings for we would hate for any family to be put through this nightmare.”
The Atlanta Police Department and FBI are investigating the murder, and a $10,000 reward is being offered for information that could help lead to an arrest.
The investigation into Janness’ murder “remains open and very active,” Officer Steve Avery, a spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department, told ABC News on Saturday.
“Our investigators continue working tirelessly to find the person(s) responsible,” Avery said in a statement. “We understand it is frustrating for there to be so little information released publicly. However, to ensure the investigation isn’t compromised, we simply cannot release much information on our active investigation. We know how important this case is to those in our communities and we will continue our work to bring this investigation to a resolution.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Atlanta Police Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477 or online.
