(CHESAPEAKE, Va.) — Seven people have died, including the shooter, after a shooting at the Walmart on Sam’s Circle in Chesapeake, Virginia, Tuesday night, police said.
A law enforcement source told ABC News that “preliminary info is it was an employee, possible manager, went in break room and shot other employees, and himself.”
Police could not confirm if the shooting was contained to one part of the store and said it’s “very fluid, very new right now.”
“It’s sad, we’re a couple days before the Thanksgiving holiday,” Kosinski said.
“We’re only a few hours into the response, so we don’t have all the answers yet,” the city of Chesapeake tweeted. “Chesapeake Police continue their investigation into the active shooter event at Walmart on Sam’s Circle. We do know there are multiple fatalities plus injuries and the shooter is confirmed dead.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is en route to the scene, ABC News can report.
“Our first responders are well-trained and prepared to respond. Our communications team is set up and will be releasing additional information as it’s confirmed,” Chesapeake Deputy Director of Public Communications Elizabeth Vaughn said in a statement.
Law enforcement sources tell ABC News authorities are investigating whether this was a case of working violence.
Chesapeake mayor Rick West issued a statement following the shooting, calling it a “senseless act of violence.”
“I am devastated by the senseless act of violence that took place late last night in our City,” West said in a statement on Twitter. “My prayers are with all those affected – the victims, their family, their friends, and their coworkers. I am grateful for the quick actions taken by our first responders who rushed to the scene. Cheaspeake is a tightknit community and we are all shaken by this news. Together, we will support each other throughout this time. Please keep us in your prayers.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made a statement regarding the shooting on social media in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“Our hearts break with the community of Chesapeake this morning. I remain in contact with law enforcement officials throughout this morning and have made available any resources as this investigation moves forward,” said Youngkin. “Heinous acts of violence have no place in our communities.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — A second busload of migrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia this week, despite the city’s plea for coordination with the state amid Gov. Greg Abbott’s ongoing efforts to send asylum-seekers to Democratic-led areas, a city spokesperson said.
A Nov. 17 letter from Philadelphia Emergency Management Director Dominick Mireles to Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd implored the state official tasked with executing Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing of migrants to “uphold a core tenet of our shared profession: collaboration.”
Mireles asked his Texas counterpart to communicate with city officials if he planned to continue busing groups of migrants to the city, the letter obtained by ABC News shows. It appears to have been written a day after a bus traveling from Del Rio, Texas, arrived at a Philadelphia transit station transporting 28 migrants.
“Your bus of asylum seekers that arrived yesterday, November 16, 2022, took the City of Philadelphia and its partners by surprise. As you may have heard, a child required emergency medical care upon arrival,” Mireles wrote.
A spokesperson for the City of Philadelphia told ABC News that Texas officials have not responded to the letter as of Tuesday. A group of 46 migrants were bused to Philadelphia from Texas on Monday, Philadelphia officials said.
TDEM did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Since Abbott began directing his emergency management department to dispatch buses to Democrat-led cities as a way of calling attention to what he calls the Biden administration’s “open-border policies,” officials in Chicago, New York City, Washington D.C., and now Philadelphia, have had to accommodate the sudden increase of asylum seekers entering their shelter system without any formal coordination from Texas.
“The Lone Star State will continue doing more than any state in history to secure our border, including adding more sanctuary cities as drop-off locations for our busing strategy,” Abbott tweeted in announcing the first bus of migrants to Philadelphia.
Highlighting a lack of coordination, Mireles asked Kidd that, “Any bus scheduled for Philadelphia be directed to report to a safe and secure location of our choice, not a street corner that you have identified in a jurisdiction that you have no formalized connection to.”
Abbott has recently also decided to start busing migrants to an area close to the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the home of Vice President Kamala Harris. His busing efforts have left local non-profit organizations scrambling to find housing and provide resources the migrants need to reach their chosen destination where they need to complete the next steps in the asylum claim process.
Mireles listed 8 demands for TDEM, including that they give a 72-hour notice for any bus arriving in Philadelphia. Mireles also asked Kidd to screen travelers for medical conditions like COVID and RSV and to keep family units together during transportation.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney condemned Abbott’s efforts at press conference last week, calling it a “purposefully cruel policy” of using immigrant families for political gain.
“It is truly disgusting to hear today that Governor Abbott and his Administration continue to implement their purposefully cruel policy using immigrant families—including women and children—as pawns to shamelessly push his warped political agenda,” he said. “Sadly, racism and human cruelty have historically been intertwined in how immigrants are received by and within this country, something the previous presidential administration openly and actively encouraged.”
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Many of the migrants that have arrived in Philadelphia have been picked up by relatives or have gone on to other cities, but some remain at a welcoming center the city established as a temporary stop before they figure out next steps, the city said. Being just the latest city added to Abbott’s radar, city officials say they’re well positioned to receive migrants who arrive within their city limits.
“Since the summer, the City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Office of Emergency Management have been preparing for the potential arrival of migrants via unplanned and uncoordinated bus routes from southern states,” a spokesperson for the City of Philadelphia said in a statement. “The agencies have been meeting and coordinating regularly with nearly 15 local community-based organizations and partners to plan a local response, including preparations for immediate reception and shelter space, emergency health screening, food, water, and more.”
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Police in Moscow, Idaho, said they have not been able to verify or identify a stalker of one of the slain University of Idaho students, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves.
“Investigators have looked extensively into information they received about Kaylee Goncalves having a stalker. They have pursued hundreds of pieces of information related to this topic and have not been able to verify or identify a stalker,” Moscow police said. “If you have information that can help detectives, please contact the tip line at 208-883-7180 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.”
The update came after authorities said earlier in the day they were aware of reports of Goncalves possibly having a stalker.
“We’re aware of these various reports and we’re investigating,” Idaho State Police spokesman Aaron Snell told ABC News earlier Tuesday.
The other students killed in the off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13 were Ethan Chapin, 20; Chapin’s girlfriend, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Goncalves’ lifelong best friend, Madison Mogen, 21.
Although no suspects are in custody more than one week after the four students were stabbed to death, Snell said he remains “optimistic.”
“There is a piece of evidence out there somewhere that’s gonna help us solve this case,” he said.
Community members are in fear, Snell said, but they’re also patient. While police can’t release certain information, Snell said, “We continue to work hard and we want the community to know what we’re doing.”
More than 100 investigators, officers and support staff have fielded about 600 tips, officials said Sunday. As the tips pour in, each has been processed, vetted and cleared, according to the Moscow Police Department.
Investigators said they’re searching for surveillance video and are asking for tips from anyone “who observed suspicious behavior.”
Investigators have also released timelines detailing the whereabouts of the victims and the other students who lived at the off-campus house.
ABC News contributor and former FBI agent Brad Garrett told “Good Morning America” on Monday that the killer or killers may have been familiar with the layout of the house.
“It tells me that someone came into the house with a comfort level — that they probably knew their way around the house,” Garrett said.
The Moscow Police Department said it has dedicated four detectives, 24 patrol officers and five members of its support staff to the investigation. They’ve been joined by a wave of outside investigators, who’ve taken over Moscow, a college town with about 25,000 residents.
The FBI sent 22 investigators to Moscow, according to the local police. Another 20 agents were working on the case but located in Treasure Valley, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah; and West Virginia. Two members of an FBI behavior analysis unit were also working on the case, police said.
The murder weapon remains missing, police said.
Two roommates were in the house at the time of the murders and appeared to have slept through the crimes, according to police.
A 911 call on Nov. 13 from inside the house was made on one of the surviving roommates’ cellphones, police said. The roommates told authorities that someone was passed out and wouldn’t wake up, officials said.
“Multiple people talked with the 911 dispatcher before a Moscow Police officer arrived at the location,” officials said. “Officers entered the residence and found the four victims on the second and third floors.”
Garrett said investigators should be broadening their search outside the victims’ immediate circle of friends and family.
“You’re going to have to start spreading out to people they had just a casual relationship with,” he said.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro, Kayna Whitworth, Connor Burton, John Capell, Melissa Gaffney, Marilyn Heck, Izzy Alvarez and Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.
(HINGHAM, Mass.) — A man has been charged after his SUV plowed into an Apple store in Hingham, Massachusetts, on Monday, killing one and injuring many others, prosecutors said.
The driver, 53-year-old Bradley Rein, told police that his 2019 Toyota 4Runner barreled through the glass wall and into the store when his foot got stuck on the accelerator, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
People both inside and outside of the store were injured, and a few people were pinned up against the wall of the store, according to Hingham Fire Chief Steve Murphy. Bystanders helped provide first aid, Murphy said.
Eighteen people were taken to hospitals on Monday; eight patients remain hospitalized as of Tuesday, prosecutors said.
Officials at South Shore Hospital said it received patients with head trauma, “mangled limbs” and life-threatening injuries.
Rein pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to reckless homicide by a motor vehicle and reckless operation of a motor vehicle, prosecutors said.
Kevin Bradley, 65, of New Jersey, was identified as the man killed. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Rein is next in court on Dec. 22.
Hingham is about 20 miles southwest of Boston.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A young child in California has died of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, health officials said.
In a release Tuesday, Riverside University Health System – Public Health did not disclose the child’s name, city of residence or sex, just that they were under age 4.
Additionally, officials did not reveal details about the child’s illness aside from the fact that they died at a local hospital “after contracting a respiratory illness that is possibly linked to Respiratory Syncytial Virus.”
Jose Arballo Jr., spokesman for RUHS – Public Health, told ABC News the death occurred late last week but was only officially released to the public on Tuesday.
He added that the child was experiencing “several days of symptoms” before being brought to the hospital and was only hospitalized for “a short period of time” before they died.
“The loss of a child is devastating and all of Public Health sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, loved ones and anyone impacted by this tragic event,” Dr. Geoffrey Leung, public health officer for Riverside County, said in a statement.
The death comes as infections of RSV continue to spread across the country. Public health officials have said the season has started much earlier than usual, with autumn cases on par with those usually seen in January or February.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, weekly RSV cases nationwide have risen from 5,872 the week ending Oct. 1 to 16,512 the week ending Nov. 5.
In California, the five-week average of positive RSV tests has increased from 353.3 the week ending Oct. 1 to 1,335 the week ending Nov. 5, CDC data shows.
The surge has led to several hospitals operating at or near capacity and emergency departments with long wait times.
Health experts have said RSV is emerging earlier and affecting more children than typical because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, there was little to no RSV activity due to lockdowns, school closures and mitigation measures such as mask wearing and social distancing. Now, with most of these measures lifted, children are being exposed to viruses like RSV for the first time.
“That just leaves a lot of children, young children in particular, that have been born since March of 2020 who haven’t yet encountered RSV infections,” Dr. Larry Kociolek, medical director of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, told ABC News in a recent interview. “And so that will increase the ability of the virus to spread and increase the number of children who will get infected.”
Although deaths are not common and usually occur among those with pre-existing conditions, between 100 and 500 pediatric deaths are attributed to RSV every year, according to the CDC.
This is not the first reported death from RSV in the U.S. Earlier this month, California reported a pediatric death from a combination of RSV and the flu with deaths also reported in Michigan and Oklahoma.
Arballo Jr. said the county is also investigating the death of a child under the age of 10 who tested positive for RSV.
The county is asking families over the holiday season to be very careful around babies and young children, who are particularly susceptible to RSV. Arballo Jr. said adults should consider wearing a face mask and frequent hand washing, and advised against handling children if ill.
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — The 22-year-old who is suspected of gunning down multiple people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado’s second-largest city has been moved from the hospital to the local jail, police announced Tuesday.
The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was allegedly beaten by people inside the bar after opening fire, is being held without bond on 10 “arrest only” charges: five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, according to online court records. However, those charges “are only preliminary,” according to Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen, who serves El Paso and Teller counties.
“There have been reports that charges have been filed. That is not true,” Allen said at a press conference Monday. “Any case like this, an arrest warrant will be written up that is supported by probable cause affidavit and that will be submitted to a judge for approval of the arrest of a suspect. That has occurred here in this case.”
“Any charges associated with an arrest warrant are only preliminary charges,” he added. “Very customary that final charges may be different than what’s in the arrest affidavit. Typically, there will be more charges than what is listed in the arrest affidavit. So don’t be surprised when you see a different list of charges when we finally file formal charges with the court.”
The Colorado state public defender wrote in court filings released Tuesday that Aldrich is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and “will be addressed as Mx. Aldrich” in formal filings.
Aldrich is expected to have their first court appearance on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. local time, court records show. Allen told ABC News the appearance is to let Aldrich know the charges they’re facing and advise them on the no bond status.
The appearance will be done via video link from jail, according to the district attorney.
“Within a few days of that first appearance is when we will return to the courtroom and file formal charges with the court,” he added.
Aldrich allegedly began shooting a long gun as soon as they entered Club Q in Colorado Springs late Saturday night. At least five people were killed and 17 others were wounded by the gunshots, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department, which named the deceased victims as Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump and Raymond Green Vance.
Police said “two heroes” — identified as Thomas James and Richard Fierro — confronted Aldrich and fought with them, stopping the suspect from shooting more people. Officers responded to the scene and detained Aldrich just after midnight, less than six minutes after the first 911 call came in, according to police. Aldrich sustained “significant” but non-life-threatening injuries, Allen told ABC News.
Fierro, who served in the military, said he grabbed the suspect’s pistol from them and beat them. Fierro’s daughter’s boyfriend was among the five killed.
President Joe Biden spoke to Fierro to offer his condolences and thank “him for his bravery,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing Tuesday.
The El Paso County district court has sealed the arrest warrant and supporting documentation connected with Aldrich’s arrest. According to the motion by prosecutors, if the records were “released, it could jeopardize the ongoing case investigation.”
In June 2021, Aldrich was arrested in an alleged bomb threat incident after their mother alerted authorities that they were “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” according to a press release posted online last year by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. While no explosives were found in his possession, Aldrich was booked into the El Paso County Jail on two counts of felony menacing and three counts of first-degree kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office.
Aldrich’s 2021 arrest may not have appeared on background checks because the case does not appear to have been adjudicated, officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
ABC News and other news organizations have petitioned the court in Colorado to unseal the records regarding Aldrich’s 2021 arrest.
Allen told ABC News on Tuesday that after the suspect has their first court appearance, the DA will appeal to have Aldrich’s sealed 2021 records opened next week.
Colorado’s red flag law, which went into effect in 2020, allows relatives, household members and law enforcement to ask a judge to order the seizure of a gun owner’s weapons if that owner is believed to be a risk to themself or others. It’s unclear whether that law would have stopped the suspect from targeting Club Q, according to El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder, who did not recall the circumstances surrounding Aldrich’s 2021 arrest when asked by ABC News.
Club Q has been serving the Colorado Springs community for two decades and was considered a safe haven for LGBTQ people. The nightspot hosts a weekly drag show and live DJ on Saturday nights, according to its website.
Club Q co-owner Nic Grzecka told ABC News that Aldrich was a stranger to their long-established venue.
“He’s never spent money on a credit card or ID ever scanned in our business that we know of,” Grzecka said in an interview on Sunday. “I think this was a community of target for him.”
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told ABC News that the suspect “had considerable ammo” and “was extremely well armed” when they allegedly walked into Club Q. While a motive remains under investigation, Suthers said “it has the trappings of a hate crime.”
“But we’re going to have to see what the investigation shows in terms of, you know, social media and things like that to make a clear determination exactly what the motive was,” the mayor said in an interview on Monday.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Irving Last, Josh Margolin, Alyssa Pone, Tonya Simpson, Stephanie Wash, Robert Zepeda and Ashley Riegel contributed to this report.
(HENNESSEY, Okla.) — The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation identified a suspect in a quadruple homicide at a marijuana farm outside a small town in Oklahoma, but won’t release the person’s name because doing so would put others in danger, the agency said Tuesday.
Police said that a male suspect entered a building at the marijuana farm located west of Hennessey, Oklahoma, at 5:45 p.m. local time on Sunday and allegedly killed three men and one woman. One person was injured and was airlifted to an area hospital, police said.
The suspect was at the site “for a significant amount of time before the executions began,” OSBI said.
OSBI is working alongside the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation, officials said on Monday.
The names and ages of the victims were not released, but authorities confirmed that they were all Chinese citizens.
The victim’s family members were not notified yet “because of a significant language barrier,” OSBI said.
The Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call Sunday about a possible hostage situation. Sheriff’s deputies discovered four dead bodies upon arriving at the scene, according to OSBI.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, but law enforcement officials said they don’t believe this was a random event.
(WASHINGTON) — An Ohio man was charged with threatening to carry out a school shooting at a California middle school, the Justice Department announced this week.
Alex Jaques, 21, was charged with making interstate threats – and the FBI found out because he posted videos of his guns on YouTube, according to the Justice Department.
In the video posted on YouTube, Jaques allegedly shot a Chromebook and then made threats to Washington Middle School in Salinas, California.
“The video shows an Uzi-style weapon being discharged in rapid succession and multiple shots fired from a rifle-style weapon,” a release from DOJ says. That video was titled “Torture testing a Chromebook (Washington Middle School),” DOJ says. They say he obtained the laptop because one of his siblings allegedly went to the school.
Court documents say that Jaques made direct threats to the school.
“Hello guys, we are going to be torture testing a… Washington Middle School Chromebook, yea Washington Middle School Chromebook from Salinas, California where I plan to eventually return… uh to fill out my list of duties … that I have filled out with names and addresses of people who have wronged me throughout the years anyways … SUH SD that’s uh Salinas Union High School District,” Jaques said.
He then immediately stabbed the laptop repeatedly with a screwdriver, according to a compliant filed in federal court by DOJ.
“Jaques later stated, ‘Washington Middle School you are next,’ then fires at the Washington Middle School laptop multiple times with what appears to be three separate firearms,” the complaint continued.
Law enforcement says they found the weapon when they searched the home.
A lawyer for Jaques did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(LINCOLN COUNTY, Miss.) — D’Monterrio Gibson, the 24-year-old Mississippi man who authorities say escaped a racially motivated attempted murder, said he’s “satisfied” that charges were upgraded against the two men suspected of ambushing him.
A Lincoln County grand jury indicted Gregory Case, 57, and Brandon Case, 35, who are father and son, on Monday for the attempted murder of Gibson. The two previously faced aggravated assault charges.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Johnny Hall told ABC News the men were arrested after a jury released the indictments for their arrests for attempted murder, conspiracy and shooting into a vehicle.
On Jan. 24 around 7 p.m. in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Gibson was attempting to deliver FedEx packages and was allegedly ambushed by Gregory Case as he was pulling out of a driveway, according to Gibson’s attorney Carlos Moore. Moore said Brandon Case shot at his client’s vehicle.
According to affidavits obtained by ABC News, Brandon Case attempted to cause bodily injury to Gibson after allegedly shooting at the FedEx rental he was driving. Gregory Case was previously charged with aggravated assault after allegedly chasing Gibson with his pickup truck and trying to block him from leaving a driveway.
“I’ll be more satisfied when we get to trial and see how everything plays out,” Gibson told ABC News on Tuesday.
Moore said he and Gibson were disappointed it took so long for the charges to be upgraded.
“Ten months, nearly 10 months from the date he was accosted, assaulted, almost killed, we finally have an indictment or indictments,” Moore said.
Moore said he’s asked the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI to investigate Gibson’s case as a hate crime.
“I can see no other reason than white supremacy racial animus towards Mr. Gibson that motivated the Cases to do what they did,” Moore said.
Attorneys for the Cases did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
The Cases will be arraigned in December, according to Moore, and a trial may begin as early as May 2023.
According to the Brookhaven municipal court, attorneys for the Cases entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.
Moore said FedEx sent Gibson back on the same route after the alleged incident took place and plans to sue the company for “racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
Gibson said he’s currently in therapy to heal from the alleged incident.
“I’m still trying to cope with everything … really there’s been no progress as far as therapy,” he said.
“FedEx takes this situation very seriously, and we remain both saddened and outraged by what Mr. Gibson experienced,” A FedEx spokesperson said in a statement obtained by ABC News. “At FedEx, our workforce is as diverse as the world we serve, and the safety of our team members is our top priority. We remain focused on Mr. Gibson’s wellbeing and continue to support him, including pay under our benefits policy.”
ABC News’ Kendall Ross contributed to this report.
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(ORLANDO) — Florida officials are seeking to fine an amusement park operator at least $250,000 over the death of a 14-year-old boy who fell from a drop-tower ride earlier this year.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which inspects amusement rides in the state, filed an administrative complaint Tuesday against Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot LLC, the operator of the Orlando FreeFall ride, alleging multiple violations of state law.
Tyre Sampson, an eighth grader who visited ICON Park in Orlando with his football team on March 24, died from blunt force trauma after slipping out of his seat while on the ride.
The department’s investigation concluded that Tyre fell “due to the changes made” by the ride’s operator, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried said during a press briefing Tuesday.
Tyre was seated in one of two seats on the Orlando FreeFall ride where the harness proximity sensor was manually repositioned to allow for a larger restraint opening than the ride’s other seats, Fried said. The ride’s attendants were instructed to seat larger guests in those seats, according to the department’s complaint.
“Because his seat harness proximity sensor had been improperly adjusted, the ride was allowed to commence even though the ride was unsafe and led directly to his fall,” Fried said.
The investigation also found there was “minimal training” conducted on the 430-foot-tall ride and that neither the attendants nor the operator had read or seen the manufacturer’s manual, Fried said. The manual noted that the maximum weight for the drop-tower ride was 286 pounds; Tyre weighed approximately 383 pounds, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges the operator violated several state statutes and rules requiring that amusement park rides be operated safely and that employees are adequately trained.
“We are seeking an administrative fine exceeding $250,000, one of the largest administrative fines the department has ever sought, and a permanent revocation of the ride’s operating permit in the state of Florida,” Fried said.
Fried said she has also instructed her staff to forward their findings to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to consider criminal charges.
ABC News did not immediately receive a response seeking comment on the complaint’s allegations from Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot.
The attorneys for Tyre’s parents called the complaint “a significant step toward full accountability.”
“This week, Tyre’s family will experience their first holiday season without him,” personal injury attorneys Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law and Bob Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales said in a joint statement. “His family will always have an empty seat at the table — that anguish deserves accountability in the highest sense from the entities responsible for this tragedy.”
Sampson’s parents have filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit accusing ICON Park and other defendants, including the manufacturer and the operator of the FreeFall ride, of negligence.
In the wake of Tyre’s death, state Sen. Geraldine Thompson has proposed legislation to increase ride safety based on the department’s findings. The Tyre Sampson Law proposes an increase in inspections and required training, as well as expanded signage about patron requirements.
Thompson said during Tuesday’s press event that the “significant” fine “will put on notice” other amusement park ride operators “that there are consequences to not following the laws here in the state of Florida.”
The Orlando FreeFall ride has been closed since Tyre’s death. Now that the state’s investigation is complete, Thompson said she expects the ride to be removed.
