(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland has named a team of nine law enforcement experts to advise the Justice Department in its review of the law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The goal of the review, according to the DOJ, will be to “provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses, identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events, and provide a roadmap for community safety and engagement before, during and after such incidents.”
At an appearance Wednesday announcing plans for the review, Garland said that members of the review team will conduct regular site visits to Uvalde and interview a “wide variety” of stakeholders, including law enforcement, government officials, school officials, witnesses, families of the victims and community members.
The team of experts includes several members of law enforcement who handled the response to previous major mass shootings or led similar review teams.
Team members include retired Sacramento, California, police chief Rick Braziel, retired Virginia Tech deputy chief Gene Deisinger, retired Coral Gables, Florida, public safety director Frank Fernandez, FBI Unit Chief Albert Guarnieri, retired Pennsylvania State Police Major Mark Lomax, McElroy Media Group CEO Laura McElroy, Orange County, Florida, sheriff John Mina, Vibrant Emotional Health assistant vice president April Naturale, and retired Aurora, Illinois, chief Kristen Ziman.
Asked whether he was concerned about the lack of transparency thus far from authorities in Uvalde, and whether the team leading the review will have the tools necessary in the event that officials choose to not cooperate, Garland cited assurances from Uvalde’s mayor, who had asked the DOJ to conduct its independent review.
“As I said, we’ve been invited by the mayor, we have been promised, assured and welcomed with respect to cooperation at every level of law enforcement — state, federal and local — and we’ll participate in that vein,” Garland said. “We don’t expect any problems.”
When pressed further, Garland said, “We expect voluntary cooperation from everybody at every level.”
The attorney general reiterated that the review, as stated earlier, “is not a criminal investigation,” and compared it to past reviews that followed the San Bernardino and Pulse nightclub mass shootings.
The assessment will examine the policies and training that authorities who responded to the shooting had received, and will provide a “complete incident reconstruction” detailing how the various law enforcement agencies responded during and after the shooting, DOJ officials said.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump, his eldest son and eldest daughter have agreed to sit for depositions as part of a civil investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office next month unless the state’s highest court intervenes, according to a stipulation filed Wednesday said.
Absent court intervention, former President Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump will appear for testimony beginning July 15, and concluding by the following week, the stipulation said.
A state appellate court ruled in May that the subpoenas for their testimony were not, as the Trumps argued, part of a politically motivated investigation into how the family valued its real estate holdings.
The stipulation gave the Trumps until Monday to file for a stay to the Court of Appeals.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A $30,000 reward is being offered in the search for a third suspect in a Philadelphia mass shooting that erupted Saturday night in the busy South Street entertainment district that left three people dead and 12 injured, authorities said.
The Philadelphia Police Department released a series of security video clips and still images showing the teenage suspect from multiple angles on South Street around the time of the shooting.
“This male is considered armed and dangerous,” police said in a statement.
The episode was one of at least 11 mass shootings across the country over the weekend, including one that left three people dead and 11 injured in Chattanooga, Tennessee, another in which three people were killed at a graduation party in Socorro, Texas, and yet another that left a 14-year-old girl dead and eight people injured at a strip mall in Phoenix.
In total, 17 people were killed and 62 were injured in the mass shootings.
As the search for the third suspect in the Philadelphia shooting continued Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee was holding a hearing on gun violence in which survivors and relatives of those killed in recent mass shootings at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school and a Buffalo, New York, supermarket testified.
The Philadelphia mass shooting occurred just before midnight Saturday when a physical confrontation on the street prompted multiple people to open fire near the intersection of South and Second streets, which was teeming with people at the time.
Two of the three people killed and many of those injured were innocent bystanders, police said. Police initially said 11 people were injured, but that number was revised to 12 in the police department’s latest statement.
Police said four or five different guns were used in the shooting and two, including an untraceable ghost gun — a firearm without serial numbers — .with an extended magazine, were found within a two-block crime scene.
Investigators said arrest warrants for additional suspects could be issued as the investigation unfolds.
Police said the wanted suspect still at large is Black, in his late teens, tall and heavyset, light- to medium-complected and with bushy hair. He was wearing a COVID-style mask and a black hooded shirt with distinctive markings, police said. Video released by police showed the suspect wearing dark sneakers with brightly colored shoe laces as he went into stores and mingled with people on the street.
Two other suspects have been arrested and charged in the shooting. Arrest warrants were issued Monday for Quran Garner, 18, and Rashaan Vereen, 34.
Garner, who was shot in the hand by a police officer during Saturday’s episode, was already in custody at a hospital when Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced on Monday that he is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.
Vereen was arrested by U.S. Marshals Monday afternoon at a home in South Philadelphia. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violating the uniform firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
Citing security video, Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said the shooting started after one of the victims she identified as Mika Townes got into a physical confrontation with Gregory Jackson, a 34-year-old man who was killed in the shooting.
Pescatore said Townes and Jackson were passing each other on the same side of South Street when words were exchanged, setting off a melee. She said Jackson is captured on video punching Townes in the face and then Vereen, who was with Jackson at the time, allegedly helping Jackson beat Townes.
Jackson and Townes, who both had valid permits to carry concealed weapons, both drew weapons during the confrontation, Pescatore said. She said Townes, who police have deemed a victim in the incident and is not facing charges, fatally shot Jackson in self-defense before he was was allegedly shot and seriously injured by Vereen.
She said Garner, who was with Townes at the time, then allegedly drew a weapon and fired in the direction of where the melee occurred as police converged on the scene. Garner, who Pescatore alleged was armed with the ghost gun police recovered at the scene, then allegedly aimed his weapon at officers, who fired at him, striking him in the hand.
Innocent bystanders Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College prep school in Philadelphia, and Alexis Quinn, were killed in the shooting.
Minners was out celebrating his 22nd birthday when he was shot.
“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the Girard College teachers’ union said in a statement read.
Quinn was described by her mother, Tina Quinn, as a loving daughter whose favorite color was purple and someone who learned every new TikTok dance.
“She said ‘mom, you’re my Valentine,’ I say ‘awww,” Tina Quinn told ABC Philadelphia station WPVI.
The mother described her 24-year-old daughter as her “mini-me.” She said her daughter called her “old lady.”
“That’s what I’m going to miss. I’ll miss the morning phone calls. Every day she called me. ‘Hey! Hey old lady, what’re you doing?'” Tina Quinn said.
She added, “I just want closure for my daughter you know? I just want this gun violence to end.”
(NEW YORK) — Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has switched up his legal team as the longtime employee of former President Donald Trump prepares to go to trial on charges of tax evasion.
The Manhattan district attorney indicted Weisselberg and the Trump Organization last July following a nearly two-year investigation into the financial dealings of Trump, his company, his family, and his associates.
Attorney Nick Gravante, who represented two other Trump Organization employees who avoided charges in the Manhattan DA’s probe, has now joined Weisselberg’s defense team, Gravante confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.
“If there was a deal to be reached in this case, there has been plenty of time to do it,” Gravante said. “My mission now is to lead this trial team and win, and that’s what I intend to do.”
According to the indictment, beginning in 2005, Weisselberg allegedly concealed “indirect compensation” by using payments from the Trump Organization to cover nearly $360,000 in upscale private school payments for his family, and nearly $200,000 in luxury car leases.
“This was a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme,” said Carey Dunn, general counsel for the Manhattan DA’s office, when the charges were announced. “It was orchestrated by the most senior executives.”
Weisselberg has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges are a “disgrace” and “shameful,” Trump told ABC News after the indictment was unsealed, calling Weisselberg “a tremendous person.”
Gravante has represented longtime Trump employee Matt Calamari, who was under investigation by the Manhattan DA until prosecutors ultimately decided not to move forward with charges.
A trial date for Weisselberg has not been set, but is expected to be sometime this fall.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on Weisselberg’s change of counsel.
(MARSHALL COUNTY, Ky.) — A man being questioned by authorities shot and killed a Kentucky sheriff’s deputy during a cigarette break last month, authorities have told ABC News.
Gary Rowland, 30, was arrested by a Marshall County Special Response Team for outstanding arrest warrants on May 16, authorities said in the release acquired Wednesday.
Charges against Rowland included absconding from parole and other drug- and firearm-related crimes, according to authorities.
Rowland was transported to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office after his arrest, where two deputies were interviewing him for an investigation unrelated to the arrest warrants.
The deputies, who were part of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force, were identified as Marshall County Sheriff’s Deputy Donald Bowman and Calloway County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jody Cash.
Rowland asked to smoke a cigarette during the interview, so Bowman and Cash escorted him out to the front of the sheriff’s office. While he was smoking, he took out a handgun, which had been concealed, and fired at Cash, striking him.
Bowman and another deputy, Brandon Little, shot Rowland. Lifesaving measures were attempted on both Cash and Rowland, but both were pronounced dead at Marshall County Hospital.
Bowman and Little were placed on administrative leave after the shooting.
Cash was a 22-year law enforcement veteran who had served with the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office since 2020.
Kentucky State Police are still investigating the shooting.
“This deputy has paid the ultimate sacrifice today while serving our commonwealth. Let us honor the life, bravery and service of this deputy,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on the day of the shooting.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to provide details about a review from the Justice Department that will examine the law enforcement response to attack on the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Twenty-one people, including 19 students, were killed in the mass shooting on May 24.
The review will not be a criminal investigation. It will involve a team of experts who will examine the actions of law enforcement and determine what worked and what failed.
A report will be issued once the review is done and will be published so that the public and law enforcement can learn from any mistakes. Similar DOJ reviews were done following the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
(UVALDE, Texas) — The families of four students injured in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting is suing the suspected gunman’s estate and want answers about how he gained access to the school.
Attorney Thomas J. Henry filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families in a Texas district court on Monday.
On May 24, Salvador Ramos, 18, allegedly killed 19 children and two teachers at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School. The victims represented in the lawsuit are among 17 kids injured during the shooting.
Henry and his team are leading an investigation examining the shooting, how the suspected gunman was able to buy an AR-15 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and how he entered the school.
“This initial lawsuit will allow us to discover evidence and possibly add other parties to the lawsuit, if necessary,” Henry said in a press release. “The discovery process will focus on the school system, law enforcement, social media, and gun and ammunition manufacturers.”
The plaintiffs suffered severe injuries to the face, leg, back and other parts of the body, resulting in having them undergo multiple surgeries, as well as experience mental trauma stemming from watching their classmates and teachers die, according to the lawsuit. The parents are seeking $100 million in damages.
“He intentionally injured these young children, stole their innocence, and forever changed their lives,” the lawsuit says.
Henry’s firm will also investigate Ramos’ past to see if he had a violent history.
The suit may be one of many stemming from the shooting that rocked a Texas community and reinvigorated the debate about gun control in the U.S.
Alfred Garza, the father of Amerie Jo Garza, one of the children killed in the Uvalde shooting, hired Connecticut lawyers who successfully sued the manufacturer of the gun used in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, according to a news release.
Garza’s attorneys filed a letter last week requesting documents from Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the gun used in Robb Elementary School.
“We have to honor her and make sure we do good. From this day forward, I want to live my life for my daughter,” Garza told ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir.
Through her attorney, a Robb Elementary School teacher, who the Texas Department of Public Safety falsely accused of leaving a school door open that allowed the gunman to enter the school, filed a petition for information on Daniel Defense, ABC News reported.
President Joe Biden called for Congress to lift the immunity that protects gun makers from being held liable in a speech from the White House on June 2.
“We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And if we can’t ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21, strengthen background checks, enact safe storage laws and red flag laws. Repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability, address the mental health crisis,” he said.
(DETROIT) — Saniyah “Niyah” Pugh, 11, was sleeping over at her grandmother’s Detroit home this weekend when gunfire erupted outside. Bullets penetrated the house, striking and killing Saniyah, who was in a bedroom.
“I heard two pop sounds … then I heard my daughter scream, ‘Niyah got shot!'” Saniyah’s grandmother, Lawanda Melton, told ABC News.
“I put a towel over her back to cover her bullet hole. And she was just bleeding so badly out her mouth and nose, but she was still trying to breathe,” she said.
When police arrived, “Niyah’s hand went limp and she was gone,” Melton said.
“My children and my grandson had to step over Saniyah’s deceased body,” she said.
No one else was hurt in the shooting, which took place around 10:15 p.m. Saturday at Melton’s home, Detroit police said. Two people are in custody: one adult and one minor, police said.
Saniyah loved cheerleading, gymnastics and TikTok.
“Saniyah was a very, very beautiful, talented little girl,” Melton said.
Melton is now planning her granddaughter’s funeral to help Saniyah’s distraught mother. The grieving grandmother said the unrelenting gun violence must stop.
“This is my home. This is somewhere that all my kids and myself should always feel safe,” Melton said. “There’s no safety in these schools for these children, there’s no safety in their own homes.”
Detroit Police Chief James White spoke out on the case Monday, saying the 11-year-old was “making TikTok videos and laughing one minute and being shot in the back … the next.”
The police chief blamed “irresponsible gun ownership” and “irresponsible use of a weapon.”
“It is of epidemic proportions right now in our country and in our city,” he told reporters.
Melton said, “I feel very broken. I feel very empty. I feel like I was supposed to be able to save her.”
“If I could take that bullet a million times over, I would, just for my daughter to still have her daughter, her only child,” she said.
(TARRANT COUNTY, Texas) — An Arizona man sued American Airlines this week after, he claims, the carrier wrongfully identified him as a suspect in an airport burglary — leading to his arrest and what he called a harrowing 17-day stint in jail.
Michael Lowe filed his lawsuit on Monday in Tarrant County, Texas, after he says he was arrested last July for a crime he didn’t commit.
According to the lawsuit, a duty-free shop at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Tarrant County was burglarized in May 2020. Surveillance footage of the incident showed the culprit was a passenger of American flight 2248, and investigators obtained a search warrant ordering the airline to produce “any and all recorded travel data for all individuals” on that flight, the suit stated.
Instead, Lowe said, American only produced identification for one passenger — him.
“That was a hasty decision on behalf of American Airlines to offer up one suspect and one suspect only, and without that we wouldn’t be talking. This wouldn’t have happened,” Lowe’s attorney, Scott Palmer, told ABC News in a phone interview.
Palmer said his client looks nothing like the man suspected of committing the airport burglary.
“I am faulting American Airlines for outing one of their own passengers,” he said.
Lowe was arrested more than a year after the incident while he was in New Mexico — where he was held in jail for more than two weeks.
“The terror Mr. Lowe experienced while imprisoned in Quay County for the next 17 days was existential,” his lawsuit stated. He was made to sleep on the concrete floor and the jail did not have proper COVID-19 protocols, according to the complaint.
He was subsequently released with no explanation, his suit said.
“He shouldn’t have been in jail. He didn’t commit a crime,” Palmer said.
Lowe was subjected to a strip search while he was detained and was told very little information about why he was behind bars, according to his lawsuit.
“It could’ve been you or me,” Palmer said. “I’ve never seen a fact pattern like this.”
The suit further alleges that the Dallas-Fort Worth airport police detective who was handling the case initially expressed “disappointment” that Lowe was released and had missed a court appearance in Texas the same morning — because, according to the suit, the detective still mistakenly thought he was the suspect.
The detective eventually compared Lowe’s mug shot to the suspect surveillance photo from the burglary and realized it was not him, according to the suit.
Palmer told ABC News that, to his knowledge, the actual suspect has still not been caught.
Dallas-Fort Worth airport police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
American Airlines said it was “reviewing the lawsuit.”
(NEW LISBON, Wisc.) — A man who allegedly killed a retired Wisconsin judge in a “targeted act” has died from what authorities described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Douglas Uhde, 56, was pronounced dead on Thursday when he was taken off life support and his organs were harvested for donation, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Uhde was declared brain dead on Saturday, one day after police found him gravely wounded in the home of slain retired Judge John Roemer, 68, in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, officials said.
The suspected killer was discovered in the basement of Roemer’s home suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
Uhde allegedly shot and killed Roemer on Friday morning after he showed up at the judge’s home, according Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Uhde had a hit list that included U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Police responded to Roemer’s home around 6:30 a.m. Friday after a 911 caller, who fled the home after shots were fired, reported that an armed man was in the judge’s home and had fired two shots, Kaul said.
The Juneau County Special Tactics and Response Team responded and attempted to negotiate with the alleged shooter before entering the home. Inside, they found Roemer dead and zip-tied to a chair, and the mortally wounded suspect in the basement, officials said.
“This does appear to be a targeted act,” Kaul told reporters during a news conference Friday. “The individual who is the suspect appears to have had other targets as well. It appears to be related to the judicial system.”
Wisconsin court records show that Roemer was involved in Uhde’s sentencing for a 2002 criminal conviction. In 2005, he sentenced Uhde to six years in state prison and nine years extended supervision for armed burglary, a felony, with concurrent sentences for three lesser counts. Uhde had pleaded no contest to the charges.
Uhde’s alleged hit list had more than a dozen names and was found inside his car outside Roemer’s home. In addition to McConnell and Whitmer, the hit list included Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the source told ABC News.
