(WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash.) — A search for nine people presumed dead after a floatplane crashed in Washington’s Puget Sound was suspended on Monday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard called off the search around noon local time after conducting 26 search sorties it said covered about 2,100 square nautical miles.
“It is always difficult when it comes time to make a decision to stop searching,” said Capt. Daniel Broadhurst, the incident management branch chief for the 13th Coast Guard District. “The hearts of all the first responders go out to those who lost a family member, a loved one or a friend in the crash.”
The de Havilland DHC-3 Otter float plane crashed in Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island around 3:10 p.m. local time Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
There were 10 people onboard, nine adults and one child, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard recovered the body of one person, the branch’s Pacific Northwest division wrote on Twitter Sunday evening. The Coast Guard said Monday that search-and-rescue crews found no signs of the others.
At the time it was suspended, rescue crews were focusing on Mutiny Bay, west of Whidbey Island, according to the Coast Guard.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the FAA said. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”
The NTSB said on Twitter Monday that it is sending a seven-member team to investigate the crash.
The plane was traveling from Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to Renton Municipal Airport near Seattle when it crashed, the USCG said, with the cause of the crash unknown at this time. The Coast Guard had initially said the plane was traveling from Friday Harbor to Seattle Tacoma International Airport, which it later corrected.
The Coast Guard responded to a report of the crash that was initially said to have eight adults and one child onboard, according to USCG Pacific Northwest. The USCG later corrected its statement, saying there were 10 people unaccounted for in the crash.
South Whidbey Fire/EMS said that its crew was at the scene near the west side of Whidbey Island.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck, Teddy Grant and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(NORFOLK, Va.) — A shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday has left two people dead and five others injured, law enforcement officials said.
The Norfolk Police Department said the incident happened around midnight Saturday into early Sunday morning at a party in the 5000 block of Killam Avenue.
Four women and three men were wounded in the shooting and sent to area hospitals, with two people later succumbing to their injuries, according to Norfolk police.
Several of the victims were students at Norfolk State University, the school said. The university is offering counseling services to students impacted by the shooting.
Zabre Miller, 25, and Angelia McKnight, 19, died at the hospital as a result of their injuries, Norfolk PD said.
McKnight was a second-year student at the school studying nursing, university President Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston said in a statement.
“Angelia’s life was important and every Spartan is a key member of our campus,” Adams-Gaston said. “With our strength, we will continue to work together.”
Authorities said that a fight broke out at the party, where a suspect took out a gun and started shooting. There were reportedly multiple firearms used in the incident, police said.
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander called for crime to end in the city.
“Let me be clear to anyone in our community committing crimes and engaging in acts of lawlessness, we will hold you accountable for your actions. The violence must end now,” Alexander said at a press conference on Sunday.
(WEED, Calif.) — A wildfire raging in Northern California took a tragic turn as two bodies were recovered after the blaze swept into a small town, damaging or destroying more than 100 structures, authorities said.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue broke the grim news at a community meeting Sunday night, telling residents that the Mill Fire, which has burned more than 4,200 acres near the town of Weed, had claimed two lives.
“It’s one thing to come up here and tell you things, but to look at your faces … it almost brings me to tears,” LaRue said before reporting that two people had been killed and asking for a moment of silence.
The sheriff’s office released a statement early Monday reporting that the two deceased individuals were women, ages 66 and 73. The sheriff’s office said the remains were located on Friday by first responders within the city limits of Weed.
The sheriff office did not provide any further details on the deaths.
The news came as firefighters appeared to be getting a handle Sunday on the Mill Fire while dealing with new challenges being caused by the Mountain Fire, which is also burning in Siskiyou County near the Oregon border.
The Mill Fire was 40% contained Sunday night after burning 4,254 acres since igniting on Friday, according to Cal Fire officials.
The Mountain Fire has grew from 6,451 acres Sunday morning to nearly 9,000 by Sunday night , according to Cal Fire. The Mountain Fire, which was only 10% contained Sunday night, forced the evacuations of more than 300 people living in the remote rural area of Siskiyou County, officials said.
Winds on the ridges of the Mountain Fire were of particular concern for firefighters, who feared they could spread burning embers and ignite spot fires, according to Cal Fire’s update Sunday on the blaze.
Firefighters are battling the dueling fires amid triple-digit heat.
“Weather continues to be hot and dry with poor overnight relative humidity recoveries,” Cal Fire said Sunday.
The agency said firefighters will remain focused on defending structures and expanding containment lines around the two blazes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in Siskiyou County to support the response to the fires.
The mayor of Weed, meanwhile, reported new details on the Mill Fire, which ravaged her town of more than 2,600 people, injuring several people as they fled the flames and damaging or destroying at least 132 structures, including many homes.
Mayor Kim Greene told ABC News the Mill Fire started Friday in an old warehouse at the town’s lumber mill, the Roseburg Forest Products, which sits near a park and a cluster of homes she said were nearly all destroyed.
“My co-worker’s husband ran in and said, ‘There’s a fire,'” Greene recalled. “By the time we go out the front door to see, [there] was just a big puff of black smoke. You could hear the small explosions.”
Fanned by 30 mph winds, Greene said the blaze spread quickly, jumped a set of train tracks and swept into a neighborhood.
Green said many people had only minutes to escape. An ABC News crew observed several walkers and wheelchairs abandoned along streets as people fled for their lives. Numerous vehicles sat charred in roadways and driveways of homes completely destroyed.
The Mill Fire, according to Cal Fire, caused more than 1,000 people to be evacuated.
Firefighters got a break from the high winds on Saturday, but high temperatures continue to be a challenge, Cal Fire officials said. The temperature in Redding, in Northern California, was expected to be 111 degrees on Monday.
Capt. Robert Foxworthy of Cal Fire said the high temperatures are forcing firefighters to take precautions to protect themselves physically.
“It makes it a little bit tougher physically on those firefighters that are working on the ground,” Foxworthy told ABC News. “You have them making sure they are hydrating and making sure they are getting good rest cycles, making sure those folks are getting good meals and nutrition so when they do go and work on these fires in those conditions, they are the best they can be to deal with those conditions.”
ABC News’ Alex Presha and Alyssa Pone contributed to this report.
Flores Elementary School is pictured in Uvalde, Texas, on Aug. 21, 2022. – Kat Caulderwood/ABC News
(UVALDE, Texas) — When gunfire broke out at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, teacher Elsa Avila said her fourth graders followed lockdown protocols.
“I slammed my door. I turned off the lights, and I told the kids, ‘Let’s move, let’s move. Let’s go, let’s go.’ They knew what to do,” she told ABC News.
As soon as they hid in a corner of the classroom, they heard gunfire in the hallway, Avila said, and the kids started crying.
When Avila stood up to check on her students, she said she felt a gunshot pierce her abdomen and she fell to the floor.
“The kids are terrified,” she said. “I was in so much pain. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk.”
She said her fourth graders comforted her and told her, “It’s going to be okay…We love you.”
The gunman never entered Avila’s classroom. She spent weeks in the hospital recuperating.
As the summer drew to a close, Avila, an educator for more than 30 years, knew she wasn’t ready to return to school.
Tuesday marks the first day of classes for the Uvalde school district, over three months after the May 24 massacre that killed 19 students and two teachers. The school year, which usually starts in August, was pushed back to give everyone more time to prepare for the new year.
With Robb’s doors shuttered, students from that school will be moved to one of three other district elementary schools.
The students who were wounded at Robb left the district and are now attending Uvalde’s Sacred Heart Catholic School, where classes started in August, according to the diocese. In the wake of the massacre, Sacred Heart said its enrollment more than doubled to over 100 students.
Some Uvalde families, critical of the school district’s safety protocols, aren’t ready to send their kids back to classrooms and are opting for homeschooling or virtual learning. Uvalde’s school district said it created a new virtual schooling framework so children can learn from home and access counselors and other resources remotely.
Eight-year-old Zayon Martinez, who was at Robb the day of the massacre, is one of those choosing virtual learning as he starts third grade.
Zayon didn’t act like himself for weeks after the shooting, his dad, Adam Martinez, told ABC News. Zayon is starting to get back to normal, he said, but still has nightmares and is extra cautious.
Early in the summer, Adam Martinez said he knew his 12-year-old daughter and Zayon wouldn’t be ready to return to their classrooms.
“We started putting pressure on the school board and the police, city council,” he said. “We were demanding actions like more school safety, firing the cops, fencing, bulletproof windows.”
The district soon “started moving a little faster” with the new protocols, like fencing and a larger police presence, he said.
“But as I told my children that, they didn’t care,” Adam Martinez said. “They said, ‘Who cares if there’s cops or not? They’re not gonna go in, they’re not gonna protect us.'”
A state investigation found the police response to the school shooting was delayed 77 minutes and plagued with failures. A special committee in the Texas legislature issued a report that found school district police chief Pete Arredondo “failed to perform or to transfer to another person the role of incident commander.”
Arredondo was fired on Aug. 24.
His lawyers said in a statement that day that he couldn’t have served as incident commander because he was on the front line and that officers were unaware there were others in the room with the shooter.
The legislature’s report also found failures in facilities maintenance and advance preparation, including insufficient security at points of entry and a “culture of noncompliance by school personnel who frequently propped doors open and deliberately circumvented locks.”
District superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell announced new security measures this summer, including assigning 33 state public safety officers to the district; installing 500 cameras; creating one single point of entry at each school; and hiring a “campus monitor” responsible for walking the grounds and checking the gates, locks and doors.
Avila, who isn’t returning to teach as she recovers, said she’s not sure what will make students and parents feel comfortable to transition back to classrooms, because she sees a lot of holes in the district’s protocols.
Avila said Uvalde’s schools need better training, nothing that teachers had been trained for a “lockdown,” but not an active shooter.
“I know if the shooter’s in the building we should be trying to get out. But we were never trained on, how are you going to get out if there’s somebody in the building?” she said, noting that the classroom windows didn’t open.
She said some of the protocols — locking doors and turning off lights — were a hindrance to police who had no idea they were in the classrooms.
The district said it’ll conduct “extensive professional development and training on campus security, campus and district protocols.”
Avila’s also concerned about staff communication. She said she texted her principal saying she’d been shot, but said that wasn’t shared with police.
The district has promised to “evaluate and audit communication and WiFi” at its campuses.
While the district is now providing mental health resources, Avila said she’s worried about the students whose parents aren’t comfortable letting their children meet with counselors.
And although Uvalde is offering virtual learning, Avila said she didn’t find online school during the pandemic especially effective.
“A lot of them don’t have adult supervision during that time…so it’s up to the child to be disciplined and follow along. And we just didn’t see that happening,” she said.
Adam Martinez said his wife will be at home to monitor their 8-year-old and 12-year-old’s virtual learning. The family plans to reevaluate online schooling at the end of the semester.
Venessa Rendon is sending her three children back to in-person school, including her son who attended Robb.
“In my home, virtual is not an option. I feel that their interaction with their peers, and then being in a classroom setting, is more beneficial to them,” she said.
Junior Andrea Perez said her mom wanted her to try virtual learning, but she felt it’d be too difficult to learn that way. Her cousin who attended Robb isn’t going back to in-person learning yet, she added.
Senior Jazmin Cazares, whose 9-year-old sister, Jackie, died at Robb, is also returning to the classroom.
“I’m mentally preparing myself,” she said. “I’m ready to be back, to try to find a little normalcy in my life, but it’s really rough.”
Cazares found it hard to stay focused during COVID-19 virtual learning, so she chose in-person to get more interaction with her teachers.
“Everyone’s a little divided” on back to school, she said. The teen said she thinks the district hasn’t “done much” to upgrade security.
“If you don’t feel safe at school, if your parents don’t feel like you’re safe at school, don’t go. There’re so many other options,” the teen said.
Veronica Mata, whose bubbly 10-year-old daughter, Tess Mata, was killed at Robb, is returning to her job as a kindergarten teacher at another elementary school in Uvalde.
“Teaching was always something that I wanted to do. And I know that Tess would have wanted me to go back,” she told ABC News. “I think if I would have stayed home, it wouldn’t have been good for me.”
“She always loved teaching,” her husband, Jerry Mata, added.
Veronica Mata said she feels safe going back to the classroom.
She added, “We want the accountability. But we can’t let that anger take over our lives. Tess wasn’t an angry person and I think I cannot live being angry all the time.”
ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Olivia Osteen, Jim Scholz, Lucien Bruggeman, Joe Diaz, Kiara Alfonseca, Kat Caulderwood, Brian Mezerski, Mireya Villareal and Patrick Linehan contributed to this report.
(WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash.) — At least one person is dead and several others are unaccounted for after a float plane crash in Puget Sound on Sunday, officials said.
“A de Havilland DHC-3 Otter crashed in Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island, Wash., around 3:10 p.m. local time Sunday,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
There were 10 people onboard, nine adults and one child, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The FAA said initial reports “indicate 10 people were aboard.”
The Coast Guard recovered the body of one person, the branch’s Pacific Northwest division wrote on Twitter Sunday evening.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the FAA said. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”
The plane was traveling from Friday Harbor to Renton Municipal Airport when it crashed, the USCG said, and the cause of the crash is unknown at this time. The Coast Guard had initially said the plane was traveling from Friday Harbor to Seattle Tacoma International Airport, which it later corrected.
The Coast Guard responded to a report of the crash that was initially said to have eight adults and one child onboard, the USCG Pacific Northwest had said earlier Sunday. The USCG later corrected its statement, saying there were 10 people unaccounted for.
South Whidbey Fire/EMS said that its crew was at the scene near the west side of Whidbey Island.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck, Teddy Grant and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — A shooting in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday has left five people injured, according to the Charleston Police Department.
Five people were wounded and treated at area hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, Sgt. Elisabeth Wolfsen told ABC News.
Teenager killed, 3 people wounded in 7-Eleven shooting in Maryland: Police
The shooting incident occurred around 12:55 a.m. near King and Morris streets, Charleston police said.
Law enforcement officials arrested 20-year-old Trayvon Davis and an unidentified 16-year-old male suspect in connection to the shooting. Both have been charged with firearm violations, police said in a press release.
According to the Charleston Police Department, a sixth person was believed to be wounded by gunfire, but police determined that the person was injured after falling to the ground.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Surveillance video obtained by investigators shows missing Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher being violently abducted during her early morning jog by a man matching the description of a suspect charged in the kidnapping, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
A massive search for Fletcher is ongoing and her family has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.
The Memphis Police Department announced via Twitter early Sunday that 38-year-old Cleotha Abston has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence in the case of the missing kindergarten teacher.
Police said they detained Abston on Saturday evening after he was found inside an SUV that authorities were searching for in connection with the abduction.
An affidavit of the complaint made public Sunday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and obtained by ABC affiliate station WATN-TV, said Abston was taken into custody outside the home of a woman the SUV is registered to and where Abston was residing, according to the affidavit.
Abston allegedly tried to flee in the SUV, but a team of U.S. Marshals was able to quickly take him into custody, the affidavit states.
Earlier Saturday, police contacted Aston’s brother and another witness, who both claimed the suspect showed up at their home around 7:50 a.m. on Friday and they saw him cleaning the inside of the SUV, washing his clothes in a sink and “acting very strangely,” according to the affidavit.
Police, according to the affidavit, suspect the 34-year-old Fletcher suffered “serious injury” during the abduction. During questioning, Abston, who works at a dry cleaner, refused to tell investigators anything about Fletcher’s whereabouts, according to the affidavit.
Abston’s brother, identified as 36-year-old Mario Abston, who is currently not believed to be linked to the abduction, was also arrested on drug and firearm charges, according to police.
Police said Fletcher remains missing and they, along with their local and federal partners, continue to search for her. The investigation into her abduction is “active and ongoing,” police said.
Fletcher was last seen jogging in the area of Central Avenue and Zach Curlin Street in midtown Memphis, near the University of Memphis campus in southwest Tennessee, on Friday morning at approximately 4:20 a.m. local time, before she was approached by a man and forced into a dark-colored GMC Terrain, according to police. The SUV took off, traveling westbound on Central Avenue, police said.
Fletcher’s husband, Richard Fletcher, reported her missing around 7 a.m. on Friday, telling investigators she never returned home from her regular 4 a.m. jog, according to the police affidavit.
A bicyclist told investigators that he was riding in the area of Central Avenue around 6:45 a.m. on Friday and found a cellphone that belonged to Eliza Fletcher lying in the street along with a pair of Champion slides sandals, according to the affidavit. The sandals were tested at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s lab and allegedly contained Cleotha Abston’s DNA, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also went to the location where the bicyclist found Fletcher’s cellphone and the sandals, and obtained surveillance video from a business they said captured the abduction, the affidavit states. The security video, according to the affidavit, showed the black GMC Terrain initially driving by Fletcher as she jogged and then stopping in a parking lot ahead of her and waiting for her to come by.
“A male exited the black GMC Terrain, ran aggressively toward the victim, and then forced the victim Eliza Fletcher into the passenger’s side of the vehicle. During this abduction, there appeared to be a struggle,” the affidavit states.
Citing the video, investigators said the SUV sat in a parking lot with the victim inside for about four minutes before it drove off, according to the affidavit.
The video also captured the same SUV in the area of the kidnapping about 24 minutes prior to the abduction, the affidavit alleges.
Fletcher was wearing a pink jogging top and purple running shorts at the time of her abduction. She has brown hair and green eyes, weighs 137 pounds and is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, according to police.
After confirming Abston’s DNA on the sandals left at the kidnapping scene, investigators learned the SUV was registered to a woman Abston lived with. Investigators also learned that Abston worked at a dry cleaners and obtained his cellphone number from his boss, according to the affidavit.
Investigators determined through an analysis of the cellphone that it was in the vicinity of the abduction when it occurred, according to the affidavit.
While investigating Abston’s whereabouts before and after the kidnapping, police obtained security video from a local movie theater that showed Abston there on Thursday wearing a pair of Champion slide sandals, according to the affidavit.
St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis said in a statement on social media that Fletcher is a “beloved” junior kindergarten teacher at the all-girls prep school.
Fletcher’s family released a video statement through the Memphis Police Department on Saturday, pleading for her safe return.
“We want to start by thanking everyone for their prayers and outpouring of support,” Fletcher’s uncle, Mike Keeney, said in the video while surrounded by members of their family, including Fletcher’s parents, brother and husband.
“Liza has touched the hearts of many people and it shows,” he added.
The family urged anyone with information on the case to contact authorities. They are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to Fletcher’s safe return.
“More than anything, we want to see Liza returned home safely,” Keeney said. “We believe someone knows what happened and can help.”
Anyone with information on Fletcher’s whereabouts can call the Memphis Police Department at either (901) 528-2274 or (901) 545-2677, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND, or to dial 911.
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A man has been arrested in connection with the abduction of a Memphis woman who never returned from her early morning jog, police said.
The Memphis Police Department announced via Twitter early Sunday that 38-year-old Cleotha Abston has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
Police said they detained Abston on Saturday evening after he was found inside an SUV that authorities were searching for in connection with the abduction. A public information officer told ABC News that they could not share where the vehicle of interest was located at this time.
A second individual, identified as 36-year-old Mario Abston, who is currently not believed to be linked to the abduction, was also arrested on drug and firearm charges, according to police.
Police said Eliza Fletcher, 34, remains missing and that they, along with their local and federal partners, continue to search for her. The investigation into her abduction is “active and ongoing,” police said.
Fletcher was last seen jogging in the area of Central Avenue and Zach Curlin Street in midtown Memphis, near the University of Memphis campus in southwest Tennessee, on Friday morning at approximately 4:20 a.m. local time, before she was approached by an unknown person and forced into a dark-colored GMC Terrain, according to police. The SUV — which authorities named a vehicle of interest — took off, traveling westbound on Central Avenue, police said.
Fletcher was wearing a pink jogging top and purple running shorts at the time of her abduction. She has brown hair and green eyes, weighs 137 pounds and is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, according to police.
St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis said in a statement on social media that Fletcher is a “beloved” junior kindergarten teacher at the all-girls prep school.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it is assisting the Memphis Police Department in the search for Fletcher.
Fletcher’s family released a video statement through the Memphis Police Department on Saturday, pleading for her safe return.
“We want to start by thanking everyone for their prayers and outpouring of support,” Fletcher’s uncle, Mike Keeney, said in the video while surrounded by members of their family, including Fletcher’s parents, brother and husband.
“Liza has touched the hearts of many people and it shows,” he added.
The family urged anyone with information on the case to contact authorities. They are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to Fletcher’s safe return.
“More than anything, we want to see Liza returned home safely,” Keeney said. “We believe someone knows what happened and can help.”
Anyone with information on Fletcher’s whereabouts is asked to call the Memphis Police Department at either 901-528-2274 or 901-545-2677, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND, or to dial 911.
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(WEED, Calif.) — As firefighters appeared to be getting a handle Sunday on a wildland fire that damaged or destroyed more than 100 structures in a Northern California town, another blaze burning in the same county was giving fire crews new challenges, officials said.
The Mill Fire burning near Weed, California, in Siskiyou County near the Oregon border, was 25% contained Sunday after burning 4,254 acres since igniting on Friday, according to Cal Fire officials.
Another fire burning in Siskiyou County, the Mountain Fire, is now presenting fire crews with more concerns after growing overnight from roughly 4,800 acres to 6,451 acres, according to Cal Fire. The Mountain Fire, which was only 5% contained Sunday, forced the evacuations of more than 300 people living in the remote rural area of Siskiyou County, officials said.
Winds on the ridges of the Mountain Fire were of particular concern for firefighters, who feared they could spread burning embers and ignite spot fires, according to Cal Fire’s update Sunday on the blaze.
Firefighters are battling the dueling fires amid triple-digit heat.
“Weather continues to be hot and dry with poor overnight relative humidity recoveries,” Cal Fire said Sunday.
The agency said firefighters will remain focused on defending structures and expanding containment lines around the two blazes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in Siskiyou County to support the response to the fires.
The mayor of Weed, meanwhile, reported new details on the Mill Fire, which ravaged her town of more than 2,600 people, injuring several people as they fled the flames and damaging or destroying at least 132 structures, including many homes.
Mayor Kim Greene told ABC news the Mill Fire started Friday in an old warehouse at the town’s lumber mill, the Roseburg Forest Products, which sits near a park and a cluster of homes she said were nearly all destroyed.
“My coworker’s husband ran in and said, ‘There’s a fire,'” Greene recalled. “By the time we go out the front door to see, (there) was just a big puff of black smoke. You could hear the small explosions.”
Fanned by 30 mph winds, Greene said the blaze quickly spread, jumped a set of train tracks and swept into a neighborhood.
Green said many people had only minutes to escape. An ABC News crew observed several walkers and wheelchairs abandoned along streets as people fled for their lives. Numerous vehicles sat charred in roadways and driveways of homes completely destroyed.
The Mill Fire, according to Cal Fire, caused more than 1,000 people to be evacuated.
While firefighters got a break from the high winds on Saturday, but high temperatures continue to be a challenge, Cal Fire officials said. Temperatures are expected to dip to the low 90s on Sunday, officials said.
Capt. Robert Foxworthy of Cal Fire said the high temperatures are forcing firefighters to take precautions to protect themselves physically.
“It makes it a little bit tougher physically on those firefighters that are working on the ground,” Foxworthy told ABC News. “You have them making sure they are hydrating and making sure they are getting good rest cycles, making sure those folks are getting good meals and nutrition so when they do go and work on these fires in those conditions, they are the best they can be to deal with those conditions.”
ABC News’ Alex Presha and Alyssa Pone contributed to this report.
(CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md.) — A 15-year-old boy was killed and three other people were injured when at least two gunmen opened fire on them Saturday evening inside a 7-Eleven store in Capitol Heights, Maryland, officials said Sunday.
The teenager who was fatally shot was identified as De’Andre Johnson of Washington, D.C., according to the Prince George’s County Police Department.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the killers, police officials said.
The shooting unfolded about 8 p.m. Saturday inside a 7-Eleven convenience store on Ritchie Road in Capitol Heights, police said.
he preliminary investigation revealed two suspects walked into the convenience store and opened fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement released Sunday. “At this point in the investigation, this does not appear to be a robbery attempt or a random incident. Investigators are looking into whether any of the individuals in the store were targeted by the shooters.”
A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment of the killers, police said.
A second teenager, also 15 years old, was among those shot, according to police. The boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said.
The two other people shot were adults, including a store employee, police said. One of the adult victims was treated at a hospital and released while the other remained in a hospital Sunday in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
The Prince George’s County Police shared on Twitter Saturday evening that police responded to the shooting at 8 p.m. and made the discovery of the fatal shooting.
“Once on scene they discovered multiple people at a convenience store with trauma to the body. They were all taken to a local hospital,” the statement read.
Police initially reported that an adult was killed in the shooting, but clarified Sunday that it was the teenager who died.
Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call detectives at (301) 516-2512. Callers wanting to remain anonymous can call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477)
