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(BOSTON) — William “Rick” Singer, the ringleader in a college admissions cheating scandal that spanned the country, was sentenced to 42 months in prison by a federal judge on Wednesday. Singer will then be on supervised release for three more years.

He will turn himself over to authorities on Feb. 27.

The former college admissions consultant pleaded guilty in March 2019 to helping parents of dozens of well-to-do high school students cheat their way into elite universities.

His sentence comes nearly four years after his plea, as he helped prosecutors convict his former clients, including high-powered executives, fashion moguls and Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

Singer, 62, pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six years in prison — much more than the six-month maximum Singer’s lawyers requested.

Prosecutors called it the “most massive fraud” ever perpetrated in the U.S. education system.

“Without this defendant, without Rick Singer coming up with a scheme, masterminding the scheme, orchestrating the scheme it never would have happened,” the prosecutor said.

Singer’s lawyer Candice Fields said Wednesday in a statement: “It was a sobering day in court but Rick is resilient and committed to a future dedicated to the underserved. He hopes to continue making amends for mistakes of the past.”

His sentence all but marks the end of “Operation Varsity Blues,” the moniker for the FBI’s investigation that uncovered a cheating ring of approximately 50 defendants.

Among those prosecuted were parents who paid Singer more than $6 million, Ivy League coaches who opened sham spots on their rosters for Singer’s clients in exchange for bribes and test administrators who were paid to fudge applicants’ entrance exam scores.

Prosecutors said Singer was the mastermind of the decadeslong scheme, which has since become the subject of at least four books, a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary.

“He is the architect, he is the face of this fraud,” the prosecutor said.

Before the sentencing, Singer read a letter apologizing to students whose parents paid him to bribe their kids’ way into school, to some of the institutions, and to his family and friends.

“Those students were intelligent and deserving of more integrity than I showed them,” he read aloud in court.

“I can see the difference between how I was and how I am now and always want to be,” he said. “All I want to do is live a life that is deeper and more enriched by devoting myself to making a difference in other people’s lives,” he continued.

“Despite my passion to help others, I have lost my ethical values and I have so much regret. To be frank, I am ashamed of myself,” he also said.

Singer sat slumped in his chair between his two attorneys throughout the hearing, and did not react to the sentence.

He had convinced wealthy clients to pay him bribes in order to give their children a leg up at schools such as Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, prosecutors said. Singer then funneled the money through his charity he said would support disadvantaged youth, allowing his co-conspirators to write off their dues as tax deductions.

Singer was “exceptionally valuable” following his plea deal, according to prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum. He agreed to have his phone tapped to help indict his former clients and accomplices, allowing the government to secure the convictions.

Still, his cooperation was laden with missteps, prosecutors wrote. He met in person with at least six of his former clients to warn them about the investigation and was subsequently convicted of obstructing justice.

“He was the architect and mastermind of a criminal enterprise that massively corrupted the integrity of the college admissions process,” prosecutors wrote in the memorandum.

“Without Singer, the scheme never would have happened,” they added.

In his own memorandum, Singer wrote that he had forfeited his assets, including a sprawling mansion in Orange County, California, which he exchanged for a modest home in a Florida trailer park.

“I have been reflecting on my very poor judgment and criminal activities that increasingly had become my way of life,” he wrote. “I have woken up every day feeling shame, remorse and regret.”

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Potential for deadly flooding, damage from incoming monster storm

Potential for deadly flooding, damage from incoming monster storm
Millions in Northern California are bracing for a massive winter storm, just days after the area…

After significant rainfall last week, the West Coast is bracing for another major storm that is expected to bring the threat of flooding rain, damaging winds and mudslides.

A “potent atmospheric river” will start impacting northern California on Wednesday, before moving to the central and southern coast into Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Damaging winds gusts of at least 50 mph are forecast Wednesday as the front moves in, with gusts up to 70 mph possible near the coast. The gusty winds may down trees and cause power outages, the agency warned.

The storm will bring “substantial rainfall to the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast on top of already saturated soils,” the National Weather Service said.

Excessive rain, with river flooding and flash flooding, is possible. Some rivers, like the Russian River, are expected to rise more than 20 feet in just over 24 hours.

“As a result look for rapid rises in area creeks, streams, and rivers. Bankfull exceedance is possible,” the National Weather Service said.

Burn scars will also be vulnerable to flooding, the agency said.

The worst of the storm is expected to hit Northern California and the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon into the evening.

“Between 3 and 7 p.m. you do not want to be on the roads anywhere in the Bay Area,” ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee said.

The heavy rain will move into Los Angeles Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, with flash flooding possible.

Over the next few days, 2 to 4 inches of rain is possible from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with 4 to 8 inches forecast in the mountains.

The excessive rain comes days after San Francisco reported its second-rainiest day ever, when over 5 inches of rain fell on New Year’s Eve.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said during a press briefing ahead of the storm that the city is anticipating “something just as significant” on Wednesday.

Ahead of the storm, the city activated its Emergency Operations Center to clear storm drains, distribute sandbags and “ensure residents are prepared,” Breed said.

The storm is forecast to then bring heavy snow as it moves into the Rockies Thursday and Friday, where up to a foot of snow is expected. Avalanche danger will be high.

This is the latest atmospheric river storm to bring significant rainfall to the region in recent weeks.

The long, narrow regions in the atmosphere are like “rivers in the sky,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They carry large amounts of water vapor over the Pacific Ocean, which is released as rain in lower elevations or snow in higher elevations when they make landfall.

The events are “tied closely to both water supply and flood risks,” NOAA said. Extreme rainfall from an atmospheric river can also cause mudslides, it said.

ABC News’ Max Golembo contributed to this report.

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(MOUNT DORA, Fla.) — A husband and wife in their 80’s were murdered in their home at a Florida retirement community in what the police called a “random crime,” and a female person of interest is now in custody.

Darryl Getman, 83, and Sharon Getman, 80, were “enjoying their golden years of retirement” at Waterman Village in Mount Dora, Mount Dora Interim Police Chief Mike Gibson said at a news conference Tuesday.

But “the golden years of Darryl and Sharon were tragically cut short by a ruthless and senseless double homicide,” he said.

Gibson was choked up as he told reporters, “I retired once. I think about those golden years. So this, I do take this personal.”

On Dec. 31, a concerned neighbor saw the Getmans’ garage door open and called security, according to police. Security responded and found the couple dead.

A woman has since been found driving the Getmans’ car and has been taken into custody in another state on car theft charges, the chief said.

Gibson, who did not release the woman’s name, said she is a person of interest in the homicides.

Police have not released a motive or how the Getmans were killed.

That woman was first seen at the retirement complex at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 30 and was escorted out by security, police said.

At about 4:14 p.m. on Dec. 30, the woman was caught on security camera back at the complex, police said.

At about 10:58 p.m. on Dec. 30, the person of interest entered the complex again and went to an apartment (not the Getmans’), knocked on the door and asked the resident if she could take a shower, according to Gibson.

The tenant “panicked” and hit her alarm button to alert security and police, Gibson said. The person of interest asked the resident if she called 911, and when she responded yes, the woman “took off,” and on her way out, she allegedly grabbed keys to the tenant’s car and mailbox, Gibson said. Officers responded but could not find the woman, according to police.

At 2:02 a.m. on Dec. 31, the Getmans’ car was seen leaving the retirement facility, police said.

About 10 or 11 minutes later, the person of interest walked to the complex but security wouldn’t let her in, Gibson said. Security followed her to the edge of property and then “lost sight of her,” Gibson said.

“We are shocked and saddened by the recent deaths of our residents which are currently under investigation,” Waterman Village said in a statement Tuesday. “We are cooperating fully with the law enforcement authorities and have additional police presence on property during this time. If you have any information that could assist the investigation, please call 352-735-7130 or contact Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.”

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(SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif.) — A Southern California man has been arrested for attempted murder and child abuse after California Highway Patrol officials say he intentionally drove a Tesla over a cliff with a woman and two children in the car.

The driver of the car, Dharmesh A. Patel, of Pasadena, California, is being treated for his injuries and will be booked into San Mateo County Jail upon his release from the hospital, according to CHP.

According to Patel’s arrest report, the other occupents of the car were a 41-year-old female, a 7-year-old female and a 4-year-old male.

Investigators were not able to determine what driving mode the Tesla was in, but CHP said it does not appear to be a contributing factor in the incident.

CHP received a call about a vehicle plunging over a cliff on Highway 1, south of the Tom Lantos tunnels, CHP said in a statement to ABC News.

CHP officers and additional emergency personnel arrived at the scene and saw a white Tesla about 250 to 300 feet down the cliff, according to CHP.

Emergency personnel rappelled down to the vehicle and found two adults and two children inside, according to CHP.

All four people were successfully rescued from the car and taken to the local hospital with serious injuries, according to CHP.

CHP officers interviewed witnesses and gathering evidence from the scene. Based on evidence gathered, investigators developed probable cause to believe the accident was an intentional act, according to CHP.

CHP said it does not charge people for crimes, it only recommends charges after an arrest. It will ultimately be up to the district attorney whether charges will be brought against Patel.

The investigation remains ongoing and CHP said it will not release any further information at this time.

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(NEW YORK) — A Maine teenager charged in a New Year’s Eve machete attack on three New York City cops near Times Square was arraigned from a hospital bed on Wednesday as an unsealed criminal complaint alleges he “wanted to kill an officer in uniform.”

Trevor Bickford, 19, who was shot in the shoulder during Saturday night’s rampage as he allegedly shouted “Allahu Akhbar” while wielding a curved 18-inch kukri knife, was arraigned on charges of attempted murder, assault and attempted assault. If convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Bickford of Wells, Maine, carried out what a senior police official told ABC News was a terror attack likely motivated by Islamic extremism.

“I wanted to kill an officer in uniform,” Bickford allegedly told police, according to the criminal complaint. “I saw the officer and waited until he was alone. I said ‘Allahu Akbar.’ I walked up and hit him over the head with a kukri. I charged another officer but dropped the knife and I tried to get the police officer’s gun but couldn’t.”

Bickford did not enter a plea during Wednesday’s hospital room hearing. He was represented by an attorney from the Legal Aid Society who noted Bickford’s lack of criminal history and that his employment history includes working at a golf course in Maine.

“Earlier today, Mr. Bickford was arraigned from Bellevue Hospital after languishing in NYPD custody for nearly four days despite a well-established court requirement that an arraignment take place within 24-hours of arrest,” the Legal Aid Society said in a statement Wednesday. “We’ve just received initial discovery from the District Attorney’s office, and we’ll have more to say about this case after a thorough review and investigation. For now, we ask the public to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions and to respect the privacy of our client’s family.”

The suspect was ordered be to be held without bail by a Manhattan judge, who determined Bickford to be “a significant flight risk.”

During the arraignment, prosecutors alleged that Bickford said all government officials “cannot be proper Muslims because of U.S. support for Israel.”

“He knew what he was doing. He knew why he was doing it and he thought he would die in the attack,” Thomas Galati, NYPD Chief of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, told ABC News, this week.

Galati said the FBI interviewed Bickford last month in Maine after his mother reported her concern that her son was possibly becoming radicalized. The FBI determined Bickford wanted to fight in Afghanistan and placed him on a federal watch list to prevent him from travelling overseas.

Instead, Bickford acquired a large sum of cash, packed a machete and boarded a train to New York on Dec. 29. He arrived with what Galati described as intent to carry out an attack on “police officers or anybody in uniform,” seeming to advance jihadist propaganda that has called for such attacks using low-tech tactics like stabbings.

A diary found at the scene indicated Bickford thought he would die a martyr, law enforcement sources told ABC News. He ended up shot in the shoulder by an officer on the force just eight months.

“So the event happens outside the secure zone, not inside Times Square,” Galati said. “Means that our plan works.”

But some counterterrorism experts said the attack is yet another example of law enforcement, more than 20 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, being unable to deal with threats they are aware of prior to an attack. Other examples include the Nov. 19 Colorado Springs nightclub shooting, the 2018 Parkland, Florida, high school massacre and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building.

Though the circumstances and law enforcement agencies were different, the problem and results are the same, said John Cohen, a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security acting undersecretary for intelligence, and a former police officer and detective.

“It has become increasingly clear that the protocols used by federal and local authorities to assess the risk posed by individuals who exhibit threat-related behaviors is out of date and inconsistent with the current threat facing the nation,” said Cohen, an ABC News contributor.

“Yet again we have experienced a mass casualty attack by an individual who was known to law enforcement, who had exhibited the warning signs but was not subject to a threat management strategy. Unfortunately this has become an all too common occurrence and too many communities have suffered as a result,” Cohen said.

Cohen said traditional approaches to disrupting international terror plots do not seem to work when dealing with “ideologically motivated, domestic offenders.”

“How many mass casualty attacks need to occur before we change our approach to assessing and managing risk?” Cohen said.

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(NEW YORK) — Newly obtained body camera video shows the moment the Indiana State Police unknowingly pulled over the suspect in the University of Idaho murders as he drove cross-country after the crimes.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, was a Ph.D. student in Washington State University’s department of criminal justice and criminology at the time of the murders. Washington State is less than 10 miles away from Moscow, Idaho, where four University of Idaho college students were murdered.

After Kohberger’s semester ended this December, he and his father drove cross-country together to spend the holidays at the family’s Pennsylvania home, his attorney in Pennsylvania, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, told ABC News.

They drove the pre-planned road trip in the white Hyundai Elantra that authorities said they were looking for in connection to the murders, according to LaBar.

Indiana State Police said a trooper stopped Kohberger and his father east of Indianapolis on Dec. 15 for following another vehicle too closely.

Police bodycam shows the trooper identifying himself and asking for license and registration. Bryan Kohberger was in the driver’s seat.

“The Trooper, having learned the two had been stopped minutes before by a Deputy from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, who he knew was working just down the interstate from him, used his discretion and released the two men with a verbal warning,” state police said in a statement.

The state police added: “At the time of this stop, there was no information available on a suspect for the crime in Idaho, to include identifying information or any specific information related to the license plate state or number of the white Hyundai Elantra which was being reported in the media to have been seen in or around where the crime occurred.”

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said it stopped Kohberger just nine minutes before the Indiana State Police. The father and son were pulled over at that time for speeding, according to LaBar. The sheriff’s department also said there was no information at the time on the suspect in the Idaho crimes or specific information on the white Hyundai Elantra.

Kohberger, who was arrested in Pennsylvania on Friday on first-degree murder and burglary charges, agreed to be extradited to Idaho during a Tuesday court appearance.

LaBar said his client was “eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”

Kohberger is accused in the Nov. 13 murders of University of Idaho roommates Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin. The four victims were stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus house in the middle of the night in a crime that terrorized the college town and garnered national interest.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry said the Moscow Police Department’s only prior interaction with Kohberger was a traffic citation for not wearing a seat belt that was issued while the suspect drove the white Elantra.

ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.

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(BOSTON) — William “Rick” Singer, the ringleader in a college admissions cheating scandal that spanned the country, is expected to be sentenced Wednesday by a federal judge.

The former college admissions consultant pleaded guilty in March 2019 to helping parents of dozens of well-to-do high school students cheat their way into elite universities.

His sentence will come nearly four years after his plea, as he helped prosecutors convict his former clients, including high-powered executives, fashion moguls and Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

Singer, 62, pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of six years in prison — much more than the six-month maximum Singer’s lawyers requested.

His sentence all but marks the end of “Operation Varsity Blues,” the moniker for the prosecutors’ investigation that uncovered a cheating ring of approximately 50 defendants.

Among those prosecuted were parents who paid Singer more than $6 million, Ivy League coaches who opened sham spots on their rosters for Singer’s clients in exchange for bribes and test administrators who were paid to fudge applicants’ entrance exam scores.

Prosecutors said Singer was the mastermind of the decades-long scheme, which has since become the subject of at least four books, a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary.

He convinced wealthy clients to pay him bribes in order to give their children a leg up at schools such as Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, prosecutors said. Singer then funneled the money through his charity he said would support disadvantaged youth, allowing his co-conspirators to write off their dues as tax deductions.

Singer was “exceptionally valuable” following his plea deal, according to prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum. He agreed to have his phone tapped to help indict his former clients and accomplices, allowing the government to secure the convictions.

Still, his cooperation was laden with missteps, prosecutors wrote. He met in person with at least six of his former clients to warn them about the investigation and was subsequently convicted of obstructing justice.

“He was the architect and mastermind of a criminal enterprise that massively corrupted the integrity of the college admissions process,” prosecutors wrote in the memorandum.

“Without Singer, the scheme never would have happened,” they added.

In his own memorandum, Singer wrote that he had forfeited his assets, including a sprawling mansion in Orange County, California, which he exchanged for a modest home in a Florida trailer park.

“I have been reflecting on my very poor judgment and criminal activities that increasingly had become my way of life,” he wrote. “I have woken up every day feeling shame, remorse and regret.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot is closing in on another 10-digit jackpot in the billions after no ticket matched all six numbers that were drawn on Tuesday night.

The winning numbers that were drawn — the white balls 25, 29, 33, 41 and 44, plus the gold Mega Ball 18 — means that the estimated prize is now at an estimated $940 million — or a lump sum cash option of $483.5 million — for the next drawing which will take place this Friday evening.

“In more than 20 years since the game began in 2002, there have been just three larger jackpots than Friday’s estimated prize,” Mega Millions said in a statement announcing that nobody had won the Mega Millions jackpot. “The Mega Millions record remains $1.537 billion, won by a single ticket in South Carolina on October 23, 2018. Two years ago, a $1.05 billion prize was won in Michigan on January 22, 2021, and there was that big $1.337 billion jackpot won in Illinois last July.”

There have now been 23 consecutive drawings with no Mega Millions jackpot winner dating back to Oct. 14.

“Across the country, 68 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize,” Mega Millions said. “Twelve of those tickets are worth $40,000 each, because they also included the optional Megaplier. The other 56 third-tier winning tickets are worth $10,000 each.”

In total, there were six Mega Millions jackpots awarded in 2022, ranging from $20 million in Tennessee to $1.337 billion in Illinois. The jackpot that was awarded in the latest win in October was $502 million, shared by winning tickets in California and Florida.

“Since the jackpot was last won on October 14, the number of winning tickets at all prize levels has grown to more than 22.7 million across the country through 23 drawings,” Mega Millions said. “These include 47 worth $1 million or more, won in 19 different states from coast to coast: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.”

The drawing on Jan. 6 will be the second drawing of 2023 and, if nobody wins again, the jackpot will likely be estimated to be into the billions.

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(NEW YORK) — A New Year’s Eve machete rampage targeting police officers in Times Square is the latest example of law enforcement failing to prevent an individual already on their radar from carrying out an act of violence, prompting some counterterrorism experts to call for a new model for evaluating would-be attackers.

The Times Square assault on three New York City police officers came just weeks after the suspect, 19-year-old Trevor Bickford of Maine, was placed on a federal watch list, authorities said. The FBI evaluated Bickford when his mother informed the agency he was gravitating toward Islamic extremism, officials said.

While Bickford was placed on a federal no-fly list, he took an Amtrak train to New York allegedly intent on attacking police officers, authorities said.

Bickford was taken into custody after being shot in the shoulder by a police officer. He is charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of attempted assault. He remained in a hospital Tuesday evening, pending an arraignment.

John Cohen, a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security acting undersecretary for intelligence, said the case is the latest in a string of attacks nationwide where law enforcement made contact with a suspect prior to an attack and assessed the potential for them to carry out a violent act.

“It has become increasingly clear that the protocols used by federal and local authorities to assess the risk posed by individuals who exhibit threat-related behaviors is out of date and inconsistent with the current threat facing the nation,” said Cohen, now an ABC News contributor.

Cohen noted that suspects in several recent mass casualty incidents had been evaluated by law enforcement prior to committing the acts of violence, including Payton Gendron, the teenager who pleaded guilty to killing 10 Black people in a racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, and Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty to killing 17 students in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, who allegedly killed five people and wounded 17 others at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado in November, had been arrested in 2001 on allegations of making a bomb threat that led to the evacuation of about 10 homes. A year before he killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis in 2021, Brandon Scott Hole was taken into custody by police and temporarily placed in a mental detention facility for further assessment after his mother complained he assaulted her when she asked what he was going to do with the gun, officials said.

Omar Mateen, who in 2016 killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was allowed to legally purchase an AR-style rifle and a handgun despite his name appearing on a federal watch list after being interviewed three times by the FBI in the years leading up to the massacre at the gay nightclub, according to authorities.

“We’re still, from an investigator’s perspective, looking for that Mohamed Atta,” said Cohen, referring to one of the hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks. “We’re looking for somebody who we can associate with a foreign terrorist group or looking at somebody who meets the threshold of a federal terrorism investigation.”

Cohen added, “That’s why we continue to see instances where people come to the attention of the bureau or law enforcement, they’re assessed that way, they don’t meet that threshold, they don’t become the subject of a full-field investigation, yet they go out and commit an act of violence.”

Cohen said threats today are very different from ones the nation faced on Sept. 11, 2001.

“We’re not dealing with a group of sophisticated, ideologically motivated foreign terrorists. We’re dealing with individuals, all of which, regardless of the motive, are experiencing somewhat consistent behavioral health issues,” he said.

He said a better approach, increasingly adopted by state and local agencies, is to “look at individuals holistically” when they come to the attention of law enforcement.

“What it entails is that you have specially trained law enforcement working with mental health professionals. They look at individuals holistically. Maybe they come to the attention of law enforcement initially because of their online behavior, maybe it’s other behaviors they’re exhibiting that family or others observe,” Cohen said.

He said there are reams of data culled from mass shootings and terrorist attacks showing a common pattern of behavior in perpetrators that can be used in assessing risk.

“We’re dealing with individuals, all of which, regardless of the motive, are experiencing somewhat consistent behavioral health issues,” Cohen said. “They feel disconnected from community, they’re angry, they’re searching for a sense of life meaning, they come from dysfunctional family backgrounds, they spend a considerable amount of time online viewing content placed there by terrorist groups, by extremists, content regarding past shootings and other ideological or extremist content until ultimately they connect with something or a blend of beliefs, or a blend of beliefs and grievances.”

Cohen said much of the new model for assessing the risk of such individuals is detailed in a 2015 FBI report titled, “Making Prevention a Reality.”

“Threat assessment is a systematic, fact-based method of investigation and examination that blends the collection of analysis of multiple sources of information with published research and practitioner experience, focusing on an individual’s patterns of thinking and behavior to determine whether, and to what extent, a person of concern is moving toward an attack,” the report states.

The report adds, “By engaging in the assessment and management process as soon as a person of concern is identified, threat managers are more likely to succeed in preventing a violent outcome. Steering a person in a different direction early on may mean offering assistance to someone who needs it before that person concludes violence is necessary.”

Thomas Galati, NYPD Chief of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, said the suspect in Saturday night’s Times Square attack was interviewed by FBI agents last month in Maine after his mother reported concerns that her son was possibly becoming radicalized. The FBI determined Bickford allegedly wanted to fight in Afghanistan and placed him on a federal watch list to prevent him from traveling overseas, Galati said.

“The way you know they (the FBI) took the traditional approach is they viewed the primary threat as his travel to Afghanistan,” Cohen said. “So, they no-flyed him. They tried to restrict his ability to travel, but look what happened.”

By contrast, he noted a recent case in Maryland, where a teenager posted on Instagram that he wanted to shoot up his high school and was reported to a school resource officer by classmates.

“The school resource officer went to the threat management unit, which did a threat assessment and deemed the person to be high risk,” Cohen said. “They believed this person was on their way to engage in violence and they prevented it. They went to the courts, they invoked the red flag law. The person got additional mental health care.”

But Cohen conceded there are likely “thousands” of reports like the one flagged to authorities in Maryland.

“I acknowledge that it requires additional training, it requires resources, it requires a different way of looking at these issues,” Cohen said. “But the alternative is we continue to experience the weekly shootings or other mass casualty attacks that we seem to be experiencing today.”

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(KEY WEST, Fla.) — Two cruise lines rescued two dozen people on small boats on Monday, cruise officials told ABC News.

Staff on the Fort Lauderdale-bound Celebrity Beyond ship rescued 19 people from a boat Monday and provided them food, shelter and medical services, the ship’s Capt. Kate McCue said in a video posted on Instagram on Tuesday.

“We are grateful for our crew’s quick action and the lives saved as a result,” Celebrity Cruises told ABC News in a statement.

Additionally, crew members from the Carnival Celebration noticed five people about 29 miles northwest of Cuba and stopped to help them, company spokesperson Matt Lupoli told ABC News in a statement.

The crew reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard and met up with them near Key West, Florida.

After that, “The ship resumed on its voyage with its scheduled itinerary unaffected and Carnival Celebration returned to Miami on Tuesday morning after a week-long Caribbean cruise,” Lupoli said.

The Coast Guard did not respond to request for comment.

The rescues came the same day as Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys announced Monday it would close to the public after an influx of migrant landings over the past few days shut down operations at the park there.

“Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast is aware of multiple migrant landings this weekend on Dry Tortugas National Park and the Marquesas. The U.S. Coast Guard and partner federal, state and local components in HSTF-SE are coordinating efforts to recover the individuals currently stranded on the remote, uninhabited islands,” Rear Adm. Brendan C. McPherson, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District and director of Homeland Security Task Force, said in a statement.

Dry Tortugas is a 100-square-mile park located 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. It comprises seven small islands and is accessible only by boat or seaplane.

ABC News’ Armando Garcia contributed to this report.

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