Federal charges for man who allegedly stole then crashed plane into Mississippi field

Federal charges for man who allegedly stole then crashed plane into Mississippi field
Federal charges for man who allegedly stole then crashed plane into Mississippi field
Taro Hama/Getty Images

(TUPELO, MS) — A Mississippi man faces federal charges after allegedly stealing a plane and threatening to crash it into a Walmart earlier this month.

Cory Patterson, 29, was arrested by local authorities on Sept. 3 after the small plane landed in a field after circling over Tupelo for several hours. Tupelo police had warned residents early that morning that the plane’s pilot was threatening to intentionally crash into a Walmart.

Patterson, an unlicensed pilot, allegedly stole the small plane from the Tupelo Regional Airport, where he worked as an employee of Tupelo Aviation, police said.

He was charged on Sept. 3 with grand larceny and making terroristic threats by local authorities.

He was additionally charged in federal court on Monday with destruction of aircraft and threats involving the destruction of aircraft.

ABC News did not immediately receive a response from Patterson’s attorney to an email seeking comment on the federal charges.

According to the affidavit, Patterson had previously taken flying lessons and claimed to have watched YouTube videos to figure out how to fly.

He allegedly called 911 on his cellphone and “threatened to crash the airplane” into the Tupelo Walmart, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent.

When the 911 operator asked if it was intentional that he was about to crash the plane, Patterson reportedly responded, “Oh yeah,” the affidavit stated.

“When asked what his motive was, Patterson stated, ‘l just don’t want to live anymore and want to cause chaos while I’m at it,'” the affidavit continued.

Patterson reportedly told the 911 operator “he did not want to hurt anyone else,” according to the affidavit.

Police said that negotiators spoke to Patterson and were able to convince him to land the aircraft at Tupelo Regional Airport.

Patterson received “instruction” over the phone on how to land the plane from a professional pilot, the affidavit stated. Patterson was able to lower the landing gear and made an approach to the airport but aborted the landing, it stated.

He eventually crash-landed the plane — a Beechcraft King Air C-90 twin-engine aircraft — in a soybean field in Ripley, Mississippi, authorities said.

No one was harmed and only the pilot was on board the aircraft, police said.

An instructor pilot who saw the plane after it landed assessed that the aircraft was a “total loss” and would likely be sold for parts, according to the affidavit.

Patterson appeared in Oxford federal court on Wednesday and was remanded to U.S. Marshal custody pending a preliminary and detention hearing or psychiatric evaluation, court records show.

His attorney has filed a motion for a psychological exam, court records show.

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NYC ‘nearing its breaking point’ as Republican governors continue to send asylum seekers to city

NYC ‘nearing its breaking point’ as Republican governors continue to send asylum seekers to city
NYC ‘nearing its breaking point’ as Republican governors continue to send asylum seekers to city
John Smith/VIEWpress/ Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — New York City is “reassessing” longstanding procedures that stem from a law requiring the city to shelter undomiciled people.

It follows an influx of more than 11,000 asylum seekers who have been bussed from Texas, the mayor’s chief counsel said Thursday after touring the city’s first Asylum Seeker Resource Navigation Center.

“We are reassessing the city’s practices with respect to the right to shelter,” Brendan McGuire, the chief counsel, said. “It is important — because we don’t exist in a vacuum — to reconsider the practices that the city developed that flow from the right to shelter.”

McGuire declined to elaborate what, specifically, might need to change but the city’s prior practices involving mainly people experiencing homelessness “never contemplated the bussing of thousands of people into New York,” Mayor Adams said earlier this week. “We expect thousands more to arrive every week going forward. The city’s system is nearing its breaking point.”

The comments followed the failure of the city’s shelter system to offer beds to 60 men who arrived Monday at the men’s intake shelter on E 30 St.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, since early May, has been sending busloads of migrants out of Texas to cities with Democrat leaders, including New York City and Washington, D.C. The Republican governor says he started the busing programs in response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies which he claims inadequately secure the border, forcing states like his to bear the brunt of migrant waves.

Officials said Texas authorities have not coordinated with New York officials, meaning that officials are unaware of when buses will arrive or how many individuals will be on the buses.

“They’re not letting us know what are the needs of the people on the bus. They’re not giving us any information, so we’re unable to really provide service to the people en route,” Adams told ABC affiliate WABC earlier this summer.

The mayor and his chief counsel have each stressed the city is not reneging on the obligation to shelter itself, which the courts have guaranteed for three dozen years.

“There’s no ambiguity there, so it’s an important distinction. We are not reassessing the right to shelter. We are reassessing [the] practices around the right to shelter,” McGuire said.

Homeless advocates aren’t so sure and warned the mayor not to end any practice that would force people onto the streets.

“@NYCMayor challenging the right to shelter is dangerous. Without this right tens of thousands of people will be on the street,” the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center wrote on Twitter.

Adams announced the opening of New York City’s first Asylum Seeker Resource Navigation Center on Thursday.

The center, according to the city, “will support individuals and families who have arrived in New York City on or after January 1, 2022. The center will serve as a central place where newly arrived asylum seekers will receive free and confidential help accessing a variety of important services and resources that will help them integrate and thrive in New York City.”

“Our city continues to welcome the thousands of families who have arrived in New York City in the last few months, but, today, we are announcing a one-stop-shop for those seeking asylum to receive free and confidential help accessing the important services and resources that will help them integrate and thrive in New York City,” Adams said Thursday.

“We are always willing to work with the City on ways to improve services for anyone in need of shelter, including asylum seekers, so long as any proposal complies with well-established court orders and New York State’s Constitution, which require the City to provide homeless individuals and families placement in a safe and accessible shelter,” The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said in a statement Thursday. “We were glad to hear City officials affirming their commitment to those obligations this morning.”

ABC News’ William Mansell, Briana Alvarado and Kyla Guilfoil contributed to this report.

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DeSantis sends National Guard to help with Florida prison staffing shortage

DeSantis sends National Guard to help with Florida prison staffing shortage
DeSantis sends National Guard to help with Florida prison staffing shortage
Mikhail Pivikov / EyeEm/ Getty Images

(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has activated the Florida National Guard to address staffing shortages at the state’s correctional facilities.

“Members of the Guard have the training and capability to assist Florida’s correctional officers with certain duties, such as manning guard towers, perimeter patrols, and control stations, which will allow the correctional officers to concentrate on directly supervising and caring for inmates,” an executive order DeSantis signed Friday said.

The order said the Guard will remain in Florida correctional facilities on a “short term basis” and notes current hiring efforts have “shown early signs of success.”

Florida’s staffing shortage has resulted in the “temporary closure of 176 inmate dorms and suspension of 431 supervised work squads,” it said. “This shortage threatens the safety of officers, inmates, and the public.”

The Florida Department of Corrections is authorized to hire 20,000 correction and probation officers — nearly one quarter of the state’s employees.

There is a severe staffing shortage at federal prisons nationwide as well.

“The unprecedented and remarkable steps taken by Governor DeSantis in sending the National Guard to assist the Florida Department of Corrections is indicative of a profession in crisis with nationwide public safety implications,” Shane Fausey, President of the National Council of Prison Locals 33, the union that represents federal corrections officers around the country.

“The Bureau of Prisons, much like our state and county counterparts, have seen an ominous exodus from our agency, aggravated by serious difficulties in recruiting and hiring,” he said.

Fausey said the Bureau of Prisons saw a departure of nearly 3,000 correctional officers and employees in 2021, and is on course to lose an additional 3,000 by the end of 2022, nearly 20% of its total workforce.

The BOP declined to comment on staffing issues to ABC News.

“I implore executive action by the White House administration, coupled with emergency actions of Congress, be implemented immediately to address our inadequate pay bands, crippling staffing shortages, and incentivize the retention of our most experienced officers and employees,” Fausey said.

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Tropical Storm Fiona takes aim on Puerto Rico

Tropical Storm Fiona takes aim on Puerto Rico
Tropical Storm Fiona takes aim on Puerto Rico
NOAA

(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Fiona is taking aim on the Caribbean and is set to bring heavy rain and possible flash flooding and mudslides to Puerto Rico this weekend.

Puerto Rico will see the first impacts from Fiona early Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon and evening, the heavy rain will move in as the core of the storm churns just south of the island.

The heavy rain will continue into Sunday morning with the threat of flash flooding and mudslides lingering.

Most of the island could see 3 to 6 inches of rain, but the mountains could see 6 to 10 inches.

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Two pit bulls attack boy and grandmother, police say

Two pit bulls attack boy and grandmother, police say
Two pit bulls attack boy and grandmother, police say
Oliver Helbig/Getty Images

(GOLDEN, Colo.) — A child and his grandmother were seriously injured by a pair of pit bulls that attacked them in a backyard in Colorado on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

The incident occurred at approximately 3:35 p.m. local time in the city of Golden, a former gold rush town at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The Golden Police Department said it received a 911 call about a 12-year-old boy who had been attacked by dogs but managed to escape and run to a neighbor’s house.

“The young male was at a neighbor’s house, where he sought help from neighbors and emergency services were called,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.

Upon arriving on scene, the officers found blood leading into the residence where the incident took place. They entered the backyard, where they saw two pit bulls attacking an older woman, according to police.

“During the rescue, Golden Police Officers placed themselves between the dogs and the victim,” police said. “Officers challenged both dogs verbally and ultimately utilized tasers and less lethal shotguns to attempt to create distance between the victim and dogs.”

The officers repeatedly tried to approach the victim, but the dogs circled the officers each time, according to police.

“Additional officers arrived on scene and were able to hold off the dogs while rescuing the victim from the backyard to awaiting paramedics that were staged in the kitchen of the home,” police said.

The 89-year-old woman was immediately transported with critical injuries to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood, about 10 miles southeast of Golden. Her grandson was transported with serious injuries to St. Anthony’s Hospital but ultimately airlifted to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, about 15 miles east of Lakewood.

Police said the dogs involved in the attack are known to the two victims. The animals “are currently contained and are not a threat to the public,” according to police.

The incident remains under investigation.

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Indiana abortion ban goes into effect despite ongoing lawsuits

Indiana abortion ban goes into effect despite ongoing lawsuits
Indiana abortion ban goes into effect despite ongoing lawsuits
Joseph Sohm; Visions of America/Getty Images

(INDIANAPOLIS) — Indiana’s abortion ban went into effect Thursday.

The ban will limit access to more than 1.5 million people of reproductive age in Indiana, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Indiana was the first state to pass an abortion ban since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, removing federal protections for abortion rights.

This comes as a lawsuit filed by abortion providers challenge the legality of the law under the state’s constitution. The plaintiffs have asked the court to grant a preliminary injunction, temporarily keeping the ban from going into effect while litigation continues. A hearing for the injunction is scheduled for Sept. 19.

The lawsuit claims the abortion ban infringes on residents’ right to privacy, violating Indiana’s guarantee of equal privileges and immunities and violates the Constitution’s due course of law clause because of its unconstitutionally vague language.

The Indiana lawsuit filed against members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana and county prosecutors, was filed by Planned Parenthood, the Lawyering Project, the ACLU of Indiana and WilmerHale on behalf of abortion providers including Planned Parenthood, Women’s Med Group Professional Corp and All-Options.

While the lawsuit was filed on Aug. 31, two judges recused themselves from presiding over the case and a third judge only agreed to take up the case on Friday. The first two judges did not reveal why they recused themselves.

Plaintiffs had filed a request for a hold on the abortion ban since Aug. 31.

A second lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and five women claims the abortion ban violates their religious freedom by limiting their ability to get an abortion under circumstances prohibited by the ban.

Indiana’s ban makes it a felony to provide abortion services and only allows for limited exceptions. It replaces a previous 22-week abortion ban with a near-total ban on abortion.

Abortions up to certain stages in pregnancy are permitted if the woman’s life is in danger, the fetus is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, according to the lawsuit.

Providers who violate the ban will have their license revoked and could face between one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

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Package explosion at Northeastern University may have been a hoax, sources say

Package explosion at Northeastern University may have been a hoax, sources say
Package explosion at Northeastern University may have been a hoax, sources say
Oliver Helbig/Getty Images

(BOSTON) — Boston police and federal authorities are questioning whether an explosion ever took place on the Northeastern University campus Tuesday evening, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Police and school officials said Tuesday that a package had detonated at the university, resulting in a school staff member sustaining a minor hand injury.

Boston EMS had responded to reports of an explosion at the university, with the 45-year-old victim transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police and officials.

The Northeastern University staff member who allegedly sustained injuries in what authorities called a “package detonation” had opened a hard-backed, Pelican-type case, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

There’s no apparent damage to the case and investigators have found no evidence of an explosion occurring, the sources said. Instead, authorities are looking at whether the entire thing was a hoax.

The alleged package was sent to Holmes Hall on Leon Street, where police responded at 7:18 p.m., authorities said. Boston Police Superintendent Felipe Colon said there was a second similar package that was rendered safe by the bomb squad.

Law enforcement’s preliminary assessment is that the reported minor explosion on campus was not random, two sources briefed told ABC News.

Authorities also found what the sources described as an anonymous note railing against virtual reality, among other things.

There is no intelligence indicating a further threat, according to the FBI’s Boston office.

A manager at Northeastern’s virtual reality lab, the sources said, is apparently the 45-year-old male staff member who was hurt. The injuries are reportedly minor abrasions to both forearms.

In a statement to Boston ABC News station WCVB, Northeastern University said a package delivered to Holmes Hall “detonated when a staff member opened it.”

A second suspicious package was cleared and did not contain an explosive, according to the two sources. There have been a number of reports of suspicious packages that police have checked, and they’ve searched buildings and mail rooms at Northeastern and nearby colleges for similar-looking packages, the sources said.

Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said a number of campus buildings were evacuated. He urged citizens to come forward if they see something out of the ordinary.

“We’re trying to gather facts now,” Colon added.

“The building has been evacuated and a notification was sent to the Boston campus at 7:55 p.m. urging people to avoid the area. We will update members of the Northeastern community when more information is available,” the university added in its statement.

Police for Northeastern University urged people to avoid areas around the school’s Holmes Hall as they conduct an investigation into the incident.

Nearby colleges and universities in and around Boston were advised to be on watch for similar-looking Pelican-type cases.

Sources said the case appears to have contained no explosive material. Instead, it was believed to have had somehow been pressurized and, when opened, rapidly depressurized, causing the supposed detonation.

The Boston Police Department’s bomb squad, Boston EMS and the Boston Fire Department were all on the scene investigating the incident, officials said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting with the investigation, according to a spokesperson.

Northeastern is a private research university located in Boston.

ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Arielle Mitropoulos and Jack Date contributed to this report.

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Mother charged in drowning deaths of her 3 children

Mother charged in drowning deaths of her 3 children
Mother charged in drowning deaths of her 3 children
RUNSTUDIO/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A New York City mother police said is suspected of drowning her three children while in the throes of a postpartum breakdown is now facing homicide charges.

The mother, 30-year-old Erin Merdy, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder, according to the New York Police Department. For each victim, she is charged with murder, murder with depraved indifference to human life and murder of a victim under 11 years old, officials said.

The charges were filed even as Merdy is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at a hospital and came a day after New York City’s chief medical examiner determined her three children — a 7-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and a 3-month-old daughter — died from drowning and that the manner of death was homicide.

Worried relatives and police found Merdy soaking wet, barefoot and alone early Monday on the Coney Island boardwalk after she called family members and allegedly threatened to harm her children, according to police. One official briefed on the probe told ABC News that the mother was “nearly catatonic” when police attempted to speak with her and are probing whether postpartum depression played a role in the alleged triple slaying.

The children were discovered by police unresponsive at 4:42 a.m. Monday at the water’s edge of Coney Island beach, about 2 miles from where the mother was located, authorities said.

Police said the deaths of the children appeared to be premeditated and not something that occurred at the spur of a moment.

The horrific incident began unfolding around 1:40 a.m. Monday, when a relative called 911 and said she was concerned that the mother was going to harm the children.

Officers went to the mother’s apartment in Coney Island, knocked on the door but got no answer, officials said. While at the address, a man showed up and identified himself as the father of one of the children, who also expressed concern for the well-being of the children and told officers he believed the mother had taken them to the boardwalk, according to authorities.

The mother was not able to communicate with police when they detained her for questioning on the boardwalk, officials said.

Police have obtained surveillance video of Merdy walking the children calmly to the ocean in the middle of the night, police sources told ABC New York station WABC.

Kenneth Corey, chief of department for the New York Police Department, said at a news conference on Monday that the children were found unresponsive at the water’s edge near the boardwalk at W. 35th Street. Officers immediately performed life-saving measures on the children, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but they were all pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital.

The mother has no prior arrests or history of being emotionally disturbed, according to NYPD records. She has prior domestic incidents of harassment and aggravated harassment that did not result in charges, according to the records. Corey said investigators have found no indication of a prior history of abuse and neglect of the children.

The city Administration for Children’s Services declined to discuss Wednesday whether it should have been looking into Merdy before the children’s deaths, and if the family slipped through the cracks.

“Our top priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all children in New York City. We are investigating this tragedy with the NYPD,” an ACS spokesperson said.

While police said they are investigating whether postpartum depression played a role in the episode, Dr. Anna Yegiants, a resident physician and member of the ABC News Medical Unit, explained there is a difference between postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.

Yegiants said that while it is possible for someone with postpartum depression to harm their children, it is not common. She said postpartum psychosis, however, presents essentially a break with reality and causes delusional thinking that could lead to such violence.

Up to 1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression, according to the American Psychological Association, and symptoms can occur during pregnancy and last for days or even months after delivering a baby.

“Postpartum depression is not your fault — it is a real, but treatable, psychological disorder,” the APA says on its website. “If you are having thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby, take action now: Put the baby in a safe place, like a crib. Call a friend or family member for help if you need to.”

ABC News’ Mark Crudele and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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‘Serial’ podcast subject’s conviction should be vacated, prosecutors say

‘Serial’ podcast subject’s conviction should be vacated, prosecutors say
‘Serial’ podcast subject’s conviction should be vacated, prosecutors say
Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

(BALTIMORE) — The conviction of Adnan Syed should be vacated, prosecutors said in a new court filing Wednesday.

Syed was the subject of the popular podcast “Serial,” which profiles various murders around the country and shed light on the lack of DNA testing in his case.

At 17-years-old, he was convicted for the 1999 murder of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. Prosecutors on Wednesday said that conviction should be vacated due to the lack of DNA evidence that “calls into question the integrity of the conviction.”

The Baltimore County, Maryland, State’s Attorney said in her filing the “evidence against the Defendant was not overwhelming and was largely circumstantial.”

Syed’s lawyer Erica Suter agreed.

In her response motion filed on Wednesday, she said his conviction rests on the word of a cooperating then 19-year-old who was “incentivized” to cooperate.

“Our criminal legal system serve us when we can have confidence in outcomes,” Suter wrote. “Mr. Seyed’s conviction rests on the evolving narrative of an incentivized cooperating, nineteen-year-old co-defendant, propped up by inaccurate and misleading cell phone location data.”

In November 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Syed’s appeal for a new trial, upholding a Maryland appeals court’s decision that rejected claims his trial lawyer failed to interview an alibi witness, and therefore Syed’s constitutional right to effective legal representation was violated.

State’s Attorney Marylin Mosby said her office was set out to right the wrongs of previous convictions.

“For that reason, after a nearly year-long investigation reviewing the facts of this case, Syed deserves a new trial where he is adequately represented and the latest evidence can be presented. As stewards of the court, we are obligated to uphold confidence in the integrity of convictions and do our part to correct when this standard has been comprised,” she said. “We have spoken with the family of Ms. Hae Min Lee and fully understand that the person responsible for this heinous crime must be held accountable.”

In March, the office asked Baltimore City Police Chief Becky Feldman and the defense filed a Joint Petition for Post-Conviction DNA Testing of the victim’s clothing. Specifically, the motion requested the clothing tested for touch DNA, which was unavailable at the time of trial.

In 2018, the Baltimore City Police Lab tested various items for DNA through an agreement between the Office of the Attorney General and the defendant’s previous counsel. However, the items now being tested were not previously tested in 2018, with the exception of the victim’s fingernail clippings.

In 2018 the State’s Attorney’s office conducted a DNA test but noted that some items were not tested.

The new filing says the re-investigation of the case revealed evidence regarding the possible involvement of two alternative suspects other than Syed.

The two suspects may be involved individually or may be involved together, the filing said, noting these suspects were known persons at the time of the original investigation and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense. According to the trial file, the person said “He would make her [Ms. Lee] disappear. He would kill her.” The state said it cannot disclose names at this point.

The Serial podcast tweeted, “This is big news. For the first time, Baltimore prosecutors are saying they don’t have confidence in Adnan Syed’s conviction and are asking for his release.”

Prosecutors don’t make a determination whether he is innocent, just that the conviction should be vacated based on the evidence and Syed should be granted a new trial.

The court filing says that Syed’s case might have incurred a violation of what is known as the Brady rule — stemming from the Supreme Court precedent-setting case Brady v. Maryland that requires a remedy if the defense is not given all of the information at trial it could potentially foil the case.

“The State avers that considering the totality of evidence now available, the information about an alternative suspect would have been helpful to the defense because it would have helped substantiate an alternative suspect defense that was consistent with the defense at trial.”

 

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Mother charged in drowning deaths of her 3 children

Mother charged in drowning deaths of her 3 children
Mother charged in drowning deaths of her 3 children
Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A New York City mother police said is suspected of drowning her three children while in the throes of a postpartum breakdown is now facing homicide charges.

The mother, 30-year-old Erin Merdy, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder, according to the New York Police Department. For each victim, she is charged with murder, murder with depraved indifference to human life and murder of a victim under 11 years old, officials said.

The charges were filed even as Merdy is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at a hospital and came a day after New York City’s chief medical examiner determined her three children — a 7-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and a 3-month-old daughter — died from drowning and that the manner of death was homicide.

Worried relatives and police found Merdy soaking wet, barefoot and alone early Monday on the Coney Island boardwalk after she called family members and allegedly threatened to harm her children, according to police. One official briefed on the probe told ABC News that the mother was “nearly catatonic” when police attempted to speak with her and are probing whether postpartum depression played a role in the alleged triple slaying.

The children were discovered by police unresponsive at 4:42 a.m. Monday at the water’s edge of Coney Island beach, about 2 miles from where the mother was located, authorities said.

Police said the deaths of the children appeared to be premeditated and not something that occurred at the spur of a moment.

The horrific incident began unfolding around 1:40 a.m. Monday, when a relative called 911 and said she was concerned that the mother was going to harm the children.

Officers went to the mother’s apartment in Coney Island, knocked on the door but got no answer, officials said. While at the address, a man showed up and identified himself as the father of one of the children, who also expressed concern for the well-being of the children and told officers he believed the mother had taken them to the boardwalk, according to authorities.

The mother was not able to communicate with police when they detained her for questioning on the boardwalk, officials said.

Police have obtained surveillance video of Merdy walking the children calmly to the ocean in the middle of the night, police sources told ABC New York station WABC.

Kenneth Corey, chief of department for the New York Police Department, said at a news conference on Monday that the children were found unresponsive at the water’s edge near the boardwalk at W. 35th Street. Officers immediately performed life-saving measures on the children, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but they were all pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital.

The mother has no prior arrests or history of being emotionally disturbed, according to NYPD records. She has prior domestic incidents of harassment and aggravated harassment that did not result in charges, according to the records. Corey said investigators have found no indication of a prior history of abuse and neglect of the children.

The city Administration for Children’s Services declined to discuss Wednesday whether it should have been looking into Merdy before the children’s deaths, and if the family slipped through the cracks.

“Our top priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all children in New York City. We are investigating this tragedy with the NYPD,” an ACS spokesperson said.

While police said they are investigating whether postpartum depression played a role in the episode, Dr. Anna Yegiants, a resident physician and member of the ABC News Medical Unit, explained there is a difference between postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.

Yegiants said that while it is possible for someone with postpartum depression to harm their children, it is not common. She said postpartum psychosis, however, presents essentially a break with reality and causes delusional thinking that could lead to such violence.

Up to 1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression, according to the American Psychological Association, and symptoms can occur during pregnancy and last for days or even months after delivering a baby.

“Postpartum depression is not your fault — it is a real, but treatable, psychological disorder,” the APA says on its website. “If you are having thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby, take action now: Put the baby in a safe place, like a crib. Call a friend or family member for help if you need to.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.