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(NEW YORK MILLS, Minn.) — Authorities are praising a group of factory employees they say disarmed a 21-year-old colleague who allegedly shot at and chased a co-worker at a boat manufacturing facility in northern Minnesota on Thursday morning.

According to the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, an employee at Lund’s Boat Factory, in the city of New York Mills, pulled a handgun during a verbal argument with a 31-year-old co-worker shortly after 7:00 a.m. and fired at him.

The bullet missed the victim, who ran outside the building with the suspect allegedly chasing him, possibly firing more shots, the sheriff’s office said.

An employee blocked the door while others ran down the suspect and subdued him before law enforcement arrived and arrested him.

The sheriff’s office late Thursday identified the suspect as David Jeremiah Gadsden. County records show Gadsden is facing four counts, including second degree assault with a dangerous weapon, second degree intent to murder, carrying/possessing a gun without a permit and intentionally pointing a gun.

“Had it not been for the quick actions of Lund staff members, the outcome may have been much worse,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release.

Lee Gordon, a spokesperson for Brunswick Corporation, which owns the factory, said in an email to ABC News that there were “no issues that we are aware of” during Gadsden’s employment at the facility.

The plant was closed after the incident and will reopen Monday with increased security, the company said in a statement.

“The health and safety of our employees and the New York Mills community is our number one priority, and we are fortunate that there were no injuries during this morning’s incident,” the company said. “We are working very closely with local law enforcement in Otter Tail County and will continue to support them in their investigation.”

The statement added, “We want to thank our employees who worked quickly to respond to the situation and appreciate the outreach and support from the local community.”

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(TALLAHASSEE) — The College Board has addressed the Florida Department of Education’s rejection of AP African American Studies courses and subsequent criticism of the program, as well as the controversy that ensued.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ DOE initially rejected the course on Jan. 12 in a letter obtained by ABC News, calling it “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.”

Florida’s “Stop WOKE” Act restricts certain race-related content in workplaces, schools and colleges in the state. Supporters of the legislation argued that some lessons taught “kids to hate our country or to hate each other,” according to DeSantis in a 2021 statement on the law.

Critics claim the legislation will be used to remove important lessons on race, racism and oppression from classrooms.

According to an open letter from the College Board on Thursday, the College Board said it never received written feedback from the Florida DOE specifying how the course violates Florida law, despite repeated requests.

“On three occasions beginning in September 2022, we requested from FDOE specific information about why the pilot course was deemed out of compliance with Florida law,” the College Board open letter read. “We received a commitment that such feedback would be provided, but it never was.”

College Board also claimed that in a Feb. 7 letter from the state DOE, the department characterized course topics as “historically fictional” but did not specify which topics were as described, or why they were deemed as such.

“If the course comes into compliance and incorporates historically accurate content, the department will reopen the discussion,” a Florida DOE official told ABC News in January about the course rejection.

The College Board denied it provided the FDOE with a preview of the official course framework and that “no topics were removed because they lacked educational value. We believe all the topics listed in your letter have substantial educational value.”

The FDOE did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. An alleged letter from the Florida Department of Education, reported on by the New York Times, claimed Florida officials and the College Board were in consistent communication about the state’s complaints concerning the course.

The official framework was released on Feb. 1 in honor of Black History Month.

The course was first piloted during this 2022-23 school year in just 60 schools and will be expanded to hundreds of additional schools with the official course framework for the next round of pilot courses in the 2023-24 school year.

The College Board said that all piloted courses go through revision before they are officially launched.

The framework was missing some of its most controversial material – including lessons on intersectionality, Black queer studies, Black Lives Matter and critical race theory, which particularly angered some conservatives and the DeSantis administration.

However, the College Board claims it was not influenced by Florida officials.

“Many AP courses, especially those based in history and culture, deal with contested topics. The AP Program navigates those challenging waters by relying on our AP Principles,” the open letter read. “These principles make it abundantly clear that we stand against censorship and indoctrination equally.”

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(MARQUETTE, Mich.) — Deep in the rough waters of Lake Superior, researchers have discovered a 19th century ship that had actually sank twice before its final demise.

The 144-foot barquentine named Nucleus was found under 600 feet of water around 40 miles northwest of Vermilion Point Nature Preserve on Lake Superior, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.

The ship was carrying a load of iron ore after leaving Marquette, Michigan, when it sank on Sept. 14, 1869, amid a storm, researchers said. Once the Nucleus started to take on water, the crew abandoned the vessel on a lifeboat.

After a few hours on the water, officers aboard the S.S. Union reportedly spotted the crew struggling in the storm but did not rescue them, according to researchers.

“What a bunch of jerks, right?” Corey Adkins, communications director for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, told ABC News.

After about five hours in rough waters, crew members were picked up by a schooner called Worthington, researchers said.

“Lake Superior is often referred to as a freshwater ocean. It’s one of the biggest lakes on the planet,” Adkins said. “So I’m sure during this storm in September 1869, it was probably not very hospitable — to the crew of the Nucleolus or the ship.”

The Nucleus is nicknamed the “Bad Luck Barquentine” due to its multiple accidents — one of them occurring in 1854 when it rammed and sank a side-wheeler called S.S. Detroit in Lake Huron. In the two previous incidents, the Nucleus was re-floated, repaired and reused, Adkins said.

Researchers first detected the shipwreck in the summer of 2021 using marine sonic technology from the surface of Lake Superior, Adkins said. It was then positively identified as the Nucleus in 2022 after researchers used a remotely operated vehicle to explore the site further.

The ship was one of the oldest to go down along Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast, making it a “significant discovery,” Shipwreck Society Executive Director Bruce Lynn said in a statement.

The wreck site is “littered” with shovels and some dinner plates, which speaks to the crew’s work and shipboard life, Lynn said.

The ship is mostly intact, Darryl Ertel Jr., the historical society’s director of marine operations, said in a statement.

“At first, I thought it was totally in pieces on the bottom,” Ertel said.

Ertel had a “very good year of shipwreck hunting” in 2021, finding 10 in that year alone, Adkins said.

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(PHOENIX) — A suspect has been arrested in connection with a “high-value theft” amid Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix, police said Thursday.

Officers responded to the report of a theft at a parking garage in downtown Phoenix on Saturday. Approximately $100,000 worth of production equipment had been taken from the location, police said.

The production equipment was “being utilized for events downtown,” according to Phoenix Police spokesperson Sgt. Robert Scherer.

The victim was a third-party vendor for the Super Bowl Experience, occurring nearby, ABC Phoenix affiliate KNXV reported.

George Rodriguez, 36, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the incident and was booked on theft charges, police said.

Information gathered during the information led police to identify Rodriguez as “one of the people involved,” Scherer said in a statement.

Booking records show Rodriguez was booked on Wednesday on one count of theft. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 16 in the case. Online court records do not list attorney information for Rodriguez.

The stolen production equipment was located and returned to the victim, police said.

“The investigation remains an open investigation as detectives continue to follow up on leads associated with the case,” Scherer said.

The Super Bowl Experience is being held at the Phoenix Convention Center ahead of Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at Phoenix’s State Farm Stadium.

Police said they have ramped up security ahead of Super Bowl 57, including updating security cameras around the downtown area.

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(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — The teacher shot in class by her 6-year-old student in Newport News, Virginia, claims the shooter had a history of violent behavior at school and accused the school’s assistant principal of failure to act despite being told repeatedly that the student had a gun at school, her lawyer alleged in a letter notifying the district of the intent to file a lawsuit.

The letter is one of three intent-to-file lawsuit letters sent to the school district and obtained by ABC News. Two other letters were submitted by parents of students who go to Richneck Elementary School.

In the letter, a lawyer for Abigail Zwerner, the teacher who was shot, alleged that four teachers, including Zwerner, and a guidance counselor all warned the school’s assistant principal, Ebony Parker, about the shooter’s behavior on the day of the shooting, but Parker failed to act when she was first notified, between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., and when Zwerner was shot at 1:59 p.m.

Zwerner sustained a gunshot wound through her hand and into her chest on Jan. 6 when the student brought a gun into a classroom at Richneck Elementary School and intentionally shot and wounded her, according to police. A bullet remains lodged in her body, according to Diane Toscano, Zwerner’s lawyer.

The letter also alleged that the shooter had a history of concerning behavior at Richneck Elementary School, which Parker was aware of.

The student had allegedly been removed from the school a year prior after he “choked his teacher until she couldn’t breath,” according to the letter.

“This school year, the shooter was put on a modified schedule in the fall of 2022 after the school year had started because he constantly cursed at the staff and teachers and then one day took off his belt on the playground and chased kids trying to whip them,” according to the letter.

The shooter had been suspended the day before the shooting because he “slammed Ms. Zwerner’s phone breaking it” and had cursed at the guidance counselors,” according to the letter.

Zwerner also alleged that she told Parker that the student was in a “violent mood” and had already threatened to beat up a kindergartner on the day of the shooting.

Parker resigned from her position on Jan. 25, according to a school spokesperson.

In a second letter, the parents of one student alleged their daughter, Emari Nieves, who was in Zwerner’s class, was bullied by a student and witnessed the shooting.

Emari’s parents alleged they repeatedly notified Newport News Public Schools of the bullying and claim that the school division “did not take reasonable and appropriate actions to protect Emari and ensure Emari’s opportunity to attend a safe school environment. In addition, Emari was present in the classroom when the January 6, 2023 shooting occurred and suffered emotional harm as a result,” they wrote in the letter.

It is not clear whether the student who bullied Emari is the student who shot Zwerner.

The family is asking for all documents, information, video and audio recordings to be kept for the case.

The parents of the second student, Mark Garcia Jr., allege their son was feet away from the shooting.

According to lawyers, Garcia, who was allegedly in a classroom adjacent to the one where the shooting happened, also sent an intent-to-file lawsuit letter. Garcia’s lawyer said she is representing the student for “injuries sustained during” the shooting. They also are asking for the preservation of materials in this case. 

In the aftermath of the shooting, the district said it will install metal detectors at every school. Richneck Elementary School reopened to students on Jan. 30.

A spokesperson for the Newport News Public School district did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Parker could not immediately be reached for a comment.

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(SAN FRANCISCO) — At least one civilian and one firefighter were injured in a massive, three-alarm fire that impacted three homes in San Francisco on Thursday, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.

The civilian is in serious condition and the firefighter is in stable condition, the department said.

UPDATE 3- ALARM FIRE 3 HOMES AFFECTED- 1 INJURY AT THIS TIME- 1700 BLOCK OF 22ND AVE EVACUATED- AVOID THE AREA https://t.co/unrhslXklE pic.twitter.com/gOuwWUJ7J3

— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 9, 2023

Over 100 firefighters descended on the scene and the fire has since been contained, the department said.

One occupant is unaccounted for, San Francisco Fire Capt. Jonathan Baxter said.

3RD ALARM WORKING #FIRE, 3RD ALARM, 1700 BLOCK OF 22ND AVE @PGE4Me @SFPD on scene @KTVU @KRON4Desk @SFFDPIO on scene pic.twitter.com/QTedtC0hpM

— San Francisco Firefighters 798 (@SFFFLocal798) February 9, 2023

Some of the block was evacuated. The fire department is urging people to avoid the area.

“We are aware of the numerous calls and reports of an explosion and houses shaking in the area,” Baxter said.

There’s no threat to the public, Baxter said.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, the fire department said.

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(WASHINGTON, Kan.) — A spill of more than 500,000-gallons of crude oil from the Keystone Pipeline in December in Kansas was caused by a combination of a faulty weld and “bending stress fatigue” on the pipe, the conduit’s operator announced Thursday.

TC Energy, the pipeline’s Canadian operator, said the cause was determined by an independent lab analysis on the failed section of the 2,687-mile conduit.

“Although welding inspection and testing were conducted within applicable codes and standards, the weld flaw led to a crack that propagated over time as a result of bending stress fatigue, eventually leading to an instantaneous rupture,” TC Energy said in a statement.

The faulty weld in a fitting girth connecting two sections of pipe “was completed at a fabrication facility,” TC Energy said.

The cause of the bending stress of the pipeline remains under investigation.

At full operation, the pipeline normally pumps about 622,000 barrels, or more than 26 million gallons of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas, Illinois and Oklahoma, according to the company.

“The metallurgical analysis identified no issues with the strength or material properties of the pipe or manufactured fitting. The pipeline was operating within its operational design and within the pipeline design maximum operating pressure,” the company said.

TC Energy estimated that cost of cleaning up the oil spill was $480,000.

The Kansas oil leak is the biggest in the United States in more than a decade and the largest in the 12-year history of the Keystone Pipeline.

The leak in Washington County, Kansas, was first detected Dec. 7, about 20 miles south of the pipeline’s Steele City, Nebraska, terminal. The leak in the 36-inch diameter pipeline spilled down a hill and into a creek, prompting TC Energy to shut down the entire line.

The leak was the latest in a series of accidents on the pipeline. A federal report released in 2021 showed the conduit recorded 22 accidents between 2010 and 2020 and found the severity of spills has “worsened” in recent years. The report conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed the previous incidents leaked a total of 11,975 barrels of crude oil, or a little over 500,000 gallons.

The report found that four of the biggest Keystone Pipeline oil spills between 2010 and 2020 were caused by issues related to the original design, manufacturing of the pipe or construction of the pipeline.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Jan. 6 rioter who carried a Confederate flag, and was among the first people to breach the U.S. Capitol building, to three years in prison.

Kevin Seefried of Delaware was part of a mob on the Senate side of the Capitol building and was the first to confront Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who successfully diverted the attackers away from senators nearby.

Goodman recalled Seefried threatening him and jabbing at him with his flag pole.

Members of the mob shouted threats at Goodman, prosecutors said, including: “He’s one person. We’re thousands.”

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden said this racially charged encounter was a negative factor in his sentencing determination for Seefried.

Seefried’s son, Hunter, is currently serving a two-year sentence for storming the Capitol with his father.

A court previously determined that while Hunter was still liable, his father influenced him in ultimately breaking the law.

Holding his hands behind his back, Seefried delivered a tearful apology to the judge, saying he was “deeply sorry” for his actions and particularly to the officers involved.

McFadden called Seefried’s conduct “deeply troubling” and disagreed with arguments from the defense that Seefried’s lack of mental acuity should weigh favorably in his sentencing.

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(NEW YORK) — Four days before the penalty phase is scheduled to begin, attorneys for Sayfullo Saipov sought on Thursday to strike the government’s decision to seek the death penalty, in part because of what the defense said was possible ethnic or religious discrimination.

Saipov was convicted of carrying out the deadliest terror attack in New York City since Sept. 11 when he drove a truck down a bicycle and pedestrian path along the Hudson River in October 2017, killing eight people.

The defense motion questioned why the government was pursuing the death penalty when the Biden administration has imposed a moratorium on federal executions and declined to authorize the death penalty in deadlier attacks, notably the hate crime at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart that killed 23 people in 2019.

“And given the recent decision to accept Patrick Crusius’s guilty plea to life imprisonment despite his unrepentant and premeditated hate killing of 23 Latinos at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas — Crusius being a white, U.S.-born citizen — the Court should have significant concern that a driving force behind the death notice in this case is Mr. Saipov’s religion and national origin, in violation of the Fifth and Eighth Amendments,” defense attorney David Patton said.

Saipov is willing to plead guilty, waive all appeals and consent to lifetime imprisonment under strict conditions that will all but eliminate his third-party communications for the foreseeable future, Patton said.

There was no immediate response from the government, which has previously defended its discretion to pursue capital punishment. The penalty phase of Saipov’s case is scheduled to begin Monday.

If the judge is unwilling to strike the death penalty, the defense said he should at least order federal prosecutors to reveal evidence behind the decision.

The Trump administration authorized the death penalty for Saipov and the Biden administration reauthorized it.

The defense pointed out then-President Donald Trump’s public calls for Saipov’s execution and his use of the truck attack to rail against so-called “chain migration” and the diversity visa lottery system.

“[I]n the days and weeks immediately following the truck attack, then-President Trump persistently demanded that Mr. Saipov face the death penalty based on nothing more than an intemperate assessment of his crime and his identity as an Uzbek Muslim immigrant who was a diversity visa lottery winner — an aspect of United States immigration policy that was long the focus of the Trump Administration’s ire,” the defense said.

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(NEW YORK) — The parents and sister of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed in the Rust on-set shooting, plan to file a new lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and the film, according to the family’s attorney.

Their attorney, Gloria Allred, said she will be holding a press briefing Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET to announce the filing of the lawsuit.

Hutchins was working as a cinematographer on the Western when Baldwin accidentally shot and killed her while he was practicing using a handgun on the New Mexico set in October 2021. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting.

Her husband, with whom she shared a young son, previously reached a settlement in his wrongful death lawsuit against the producers of the film.

Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, have been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the death Hutchins. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance virtually on Feb. 24.

Prosecutors claim that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed failed to correct reckless safety violations in their roles as producer and armorer, respectively, and that Baldwin had his finger inside the trigger and it was pulled — contradicting his statements saying he never pulled the trigger.

Attorneys for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed vowed to fight the charges.

First assistant director David Halls has already agreed to plead no contest for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. The plea agreement is pending a judge’s approval, prosecutors said. A plea conference has been scheduled for March 8.

Several other lawsuits have also been filed in the wake of the fatal on-set shooting.

The film’s script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, who is also represented by Allred, filed a civil suit in November 2021 accusing Baldwin of “playing Russian roulette” by pointing a Colt .45 revolver at Hutchins.

In November 2022, Baldwin filed a lawsuit over the fatal shooting, alleging negligence of several of the film’s crew members. The cross-complaint followed the lawsuit filed by Mitchell.

Gutierrez-Reed also filed a lawsuit early last year against the prop provider.

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