National

(JACKSON, Miss.) — Staffing shortages, system issues and multiple equipment failures have led to a crisis where Jackson, Mississippi, residents have lost running water for an indefinite amount of time, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Lumumba attributed the city’s water crisis to a lack of maintenance over the last few decades, adding that it will cost billions of dollars to fix the issue.

“This is a set of accumulated problems based on deferred maintenance that’s not taken place over decades,” Lumumba said.

Lumumba estimated it would cost at least $1 billion to fix the water distribution system and billions more to resolve the issue altogether.

“The residents of Jackson are worthy of a dependable system, and we look forward to a coalition of the willing who will join us in the fight to improve this system that’s been failing for decades,” Lumumba said.

At least 180,000 people will go without reliable drinking water indefinitely in Jackson after pumps at the main water treatment plant failed this week, officials said.

A major pump at Jackson’s O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant was damaged, forcing the city to use backup pumps, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said at a news conference Monday evening.

Reeves declared a State of Emergency on Tuesday and activated the state’s National Guard to help officials deal with the ongoing water emergency.

“The state is marshaling tremendous resources to protect the people of our capital city,” Reeves said at the conference.

Residents will not have reliable running water in the state’s capital until the problem is fixed, officials said.

Reeves said the water shortage would make it more difficult for Jackson to produce enough water to fight fires, flush toilets and other essential needs.

Residents have lined up on roads and highways throughout the city to get to water distribution sites.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mississippi has not formally asked the federal government to help bring in water but is ready to help “in any way that we can” when that request is made.

“We stand ready and we are eager to assist further as soon as we receive an official request from the state,” she said on Air Force One Tuesday.

Officials are warning the city’s residents not to drink the water because it’s raw water from the reservoirs being pushed through the pipes.

Jackson has been under a boil water notice since July 29.

In February 2021, freezing temperatures caused water and power outages in Jackson.

A day after the current water crisis was announced, Jackson’s Public Works Director Marlin King was reassigned to another role, Lumumba said.

King now serves as the deputy director of public works, while the former director of planning and development, Jordan Hillman, will fill King’s old position, according to ABC News Jackson affiliate WAPT.

ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — At least two people have died amid severe storms in the Midwest.

In Michigan, a 14-year-old girl was electrocuted and killed on Monday when an electrical line fell during a thunderstorm, according to the Monroe Public Safety Department. She was walking with a friend in her backyard and reached for what she thought was a stick, but it was the charged electrical line, authorities said.

And in Toledo, Ohio, a woman was killed when a tree fell on her, fire officials said, according to ABC affiliate WTVG-TV.

More than 250,000 customers were without power across Michigan, Illinois and Indiana as the storms rolled through Monday.

That cold front is now moving to the East Coast on Tuesday, bringing strong storms from Virginia to Maine. Damaging winds will be the biggest threat.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The parent company of InfoWars has agreed to face a second defamation trial over the false claims its founder, conspiracy theorist and right-wing provocateur Alex Jones, made about the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Free Speech Systems said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Houston on Monday it would no longer oppose the trial in Connecticut despite the company’s bankruptcy proceeding, which would ordinarily offer a reprieve from legal action.

“The parties have reached a settlement on this. This will help facilitate the trial in Connecticut,” U.S. bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez said on Monday. “The fact that the parties reached agreement on this, I want to thank all the professionals.”

The Connecticut trial is expected to begin in September.

Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones liable in a defamation lawsuit for calling the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School a hoax. The trial in Connecticut does not involve a question of guilt or innocence, but rather, of damages, as the judge already determined that Jones is guilty.

In exchange for allowing the second trial to move forward, the families agreed not to oppose the company’s choice of lawyers, both of whom are under investigation for leaking sensitive medical records about the plaintiffs, something Bellis said “gravely concerned” her at a court hearing earlier this month.

Jones was successfully sued by the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the massacre after he claimed that the shooting — where 20 children and six adults were killed — didn’t happen. Jones later said at trial he thinks the shooting was “100% real.”

The plaintiffs, immediate family members of children and educators killed in at Sandy Hook as well as one first responder, successfully sued Jones for defamation in November 2021 and are seeking to hold him financially liable for his comments, which include calling them “crisis actors,” saying the massacre was “staged” and “the fakest thing since the three-dollar bill.”

At issue in the Connecticut trial, is how much Jones and Free Speech Systems will have to pay the families of children killed in the massacre.

Jones’ attorney did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Earlier this month, a Texas jury decided Jones should pay the parents of the 6-year-old victim $45 million in punitive damages and $4 million in compensatory damages.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(EL PASO, Texas) — One person has died after a train derailed in El Paso, Texas, Monday night, the El Paso Fire Department said.

“Nearby homes are being evacuated as a safety precaution. Please avoid the area of Franklin and Barton as it is an active emergency scene. TXGas en route,” the fire department tweeted.

There were no other injuries reported at this time, according to the fire department.

Story developing…

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DETROIT) — Using research and statistics, experts examine America’s history with guns, the real-life impacts of gun violence and what can be done going forward to mitigate the problem.

A 19-year-old man with no apparent criminal history was arrested for allegedly killing three people and wounding a fourth in a series of random, unprovoked shootings in Detroit on Sunday, police said during a news conference Monday.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, was arrested roughly 12 hours after allegedly committing the last shooting when someone close to him recognized him in a surveillance photo police officials released during a search for him and contacted authorities, officials said.

“Yesterday, I made a plea to family and friends of the shooter to turn him in. It didn’t seem likely that he could be taken into custody without incident,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said during Monday’s news conference. “But, in fact, somebody close to him did respond. It was that community input that allowed the police officers to take this individual into custody without any further violence.”

Police Chief James White said investigators are probing the suspect’s movements prior to his arrests to determine if he targeted anyone else.

“I will tell you that it’s a 19-year-old and we don’t see any criminal history at this time, and we have some indication that there is mental illness,” White said.

The random shootings all occurred on the west side of Detroit in the span of 2 hours and 25 minutes Sunday morning.

The sole survivor of the rampage, an 80-year-old man, described being shot while out walking his dog.

An all-hands-on-deck search involving multiple law enforcement agencies — including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of Homeland Security — took place Sunday afternoon after police determined the same gun was used in all four shootings, authorities said. While ATF did not respond physically to the scene, ABC News was told the agency is assisting with an urgent trace on the weapons and working on analyzing the shell casings.

White said a 9mm handgun was recovered from a residence where the assailant was arrested. He said ballistic tests done immediately on the firearm confirmed suspicions from shell casings collected at each crime scene that it was used in all of the shootings.

When asked whether detectives have determined a motive for the rampage, White said, “Obviously, there is nothing that should motivate you to do something this tragic.”

Commander Michael McGinnis of the Detroit Police Department laid out a timeline of the shootings, saying the first occurred at 4:45 a.m. when a 28-year-old man was approached by the suspect and shot.

McGinnis said the shooting was unprovoked and that the suspect walked away briefly before returning and shooting the victim several more times, killing him.

McGinnis noted that no one called 911 to report the first shooting, a detail both White and Duggan said they found troubling.

“I know from the time I spent with the officers yesterday, they’re going to be haunted for a long time. They very likely could have prevented two and probably three tragedies had they had an immediate notice,” Duggan said.

Detroit does not have a ShotSpotter gunfire detection system like many large cities, which immediately notifies police of the location of gunshots, Duggan and White said.

White added, “What we don’t want to happen is gunshots to become commonplace in our community. We don’t want to become desensitized to someone shooting in our community. There should never be a condition ever that someone uses a gun in our community that’s unaccounted for.”

McGinnis said the second shooting happened 30 minutes after the first shooting. In that episode, a 911 caller reported that a woman in her 40s was lying on a sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. He said the victim was found three blocks from the first shooting.

The victim, who died at the scene, has yet to be identified, McGinnis said.

McGinnis said that as officers were investigating the second shooting, they responded to the sound of gunshots nearby and found another woman fatally shot. He said the woman had been waiting for a bus when the suspect walked by her, returned and shot her without provocation.

He said the suspect walked away, but returned and shot the woman again.

At 7:10 a.m., an 80-year-old man out walking his dog was confronted by the suspect, who allegedly shot him and his dog in yet another unprovoked attack. The victim suffered a bullet wound to the leg, and neighbors who heard the gunshots likely saved the man’s life by coming to his aid and putting a tourniquet on his leg and getting him to a hospital immediately, McGinnis said.

The names of the victims were not immediately released.

White said the suspect did not rob or attempt to rob any of the victims.

White said technology played a key role in cracking the case, explaining that it allowed investigators to quickly analyze shell casings from each of the crime scenes and determine that the same gun was used in all four shootings.

“If someone uses a weapon in our community, we’re going to use every resource we have to lock you up and we make no apologies about that,” White said. “Enough is enough. This is unacceptable and it needs to stop.”

ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Almost 400 teaching positions remain open as students return to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina on Monday.

In addition to the 390 teaching positions that remain unfilled, there are an additional 38 vacancies for bus drivers, according to a spokesperson for the district.

The shortage affects the second-largest school district in the state, with over 140,000 enrolled students from kindergarten to 12th grade, according to the district.

To make up for the shortage, 427 “guest teachers” will step in starting Monday across the district’s 181 campuses, a CMS spokesperson told ABC News.

While all guest teachers need to be licensed, they are not required to have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, CMS officials said.

Guest teachers will make between $150 and $180 per day, depending on their certification level, according to Christine Pejot, director of human resources at the district.

According to Pejot, guest teachers differ from substitute teachers because they are assigned to a specific school and are on a full-time contract with benefits included.

Guest teachers do not need to have teaching certification, Pejot said. Instead, the role requires a licensure that is granted by the state through passing certain tests to become licensed in that area of teaching.

Pejot said COVID-19 relief funds issued to the district are funding the new positions and that funding is available until 2024.

Not one school in particular has been affected by the teacher shortage, Pejot said, as all campuses are experiencing vacancies. However, Pejot said the district is experiencing the most vacancies for special education teachers and teachers in elementary grades K-6.

Pejot told ABC News the changes in available teachers this year has been alarming. While the district was already experiencing a shortage, an additional 77 teachers resigned when they returned to the district in mid-August, Pejot said.

According to Pejot, there are fewer college students pursuing education as a major, and more existing teachers are choosing a different career and leaving the field. The combination of these factors is significant, Pejot said.

It is unclear how long into the school year the district will rely on the guest teachers.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(JACKSON, Miss.) — Flood waters in central Mississippi have peaked and will soon recede, officials said on Monday.

Officials projected on Saturday that water levels would reach 36 feet on Monday, but were measured at a peak of 35.37 as of Monday morning, a spokesperson from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency told ABC News.

Only one home had water actually breach the structure and no injuries or deaths have been reported due to the floods, Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said at a press conference on Monday.

Officials at the Ross R Barnett Reservoir, connected to Pearl River, said they increased the discharge of water from 55,000 cubic feet of water per second to 60,000. This continued for Sunday and Monday morning, ABC News Jackson affiliate WAPT said.

Officials said at Monday’s press conference that they were able to reduce the flows out of the reservoir by another 10,000 cubic feet per second and are working to reduce even more.

Marty Pope, service hydrologist at the National Weather Service, said it will take several days for the water to continue falling downstream. However, Pope predicts the water level will crest at 33 feet on Wednesday and could be as low as 28 feet on Thursday.

Pope said at a press conference Monday that while there will be scattered rains throughout the rest of the week, the lowering levels are a “very positive thing.”

Officials said residents should wait to get clearance in their areas before moving back into their homes. Once they return, residents should report any damage.

Two shelters remain open in the area, one in Jackson and one in Madison. According to officials, one person stayed in each of the shelters on Sunday night.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a State of Emergency for parts of central Mississippi on Saturday, to “allow our state agencies to better assist in our response efforts and carry out their emergency responsibilities.”

According to Reeves, the state has deployed 126,000 sandbags to help residents block water from entering their homes. Reeves also reported that search and rescue teams are on standby and prepared to respond to local authorities’ needs.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency had drones in the air to assess water levels along the Pearl River, Reeves said.

Last week, evacuations drew residents from their homes in the area, including dozens of elderly people evacuated from a senior living facility.

The Pearl River area experienced severe flooding in 2020, when water levels crested at 36.67 feet.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — NASA kicked off Monday its plan to send an unmanned space capsule into the moon’s orbit, marking the initial launch in an ambitious plan to establish a long term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development.

The space capsule, called Artemis 1, will travel for roughly 40 days — reaching as close as 60 miles from the moon, and then 40,000 miles above the moon when orbiting over its dark side — before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

After the launch was scrubbed, the next attempt will occur Sept. 2.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Aug 29, 10:20 AM EDT
VP Harris praises NASA team behind Artemis launch

Vice President Kamala Harris praised the NASA team behind the Artemis I mission after the launch had to be scrubbed Monday due to an engine problem.

Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff had been visiting the Kennedy Space Center before the launch was postponed.

The scrubbed launch was “about showing the great work that happens here,” Harris told reporters.

“These exceptional public servants, these exceptional skilled professionals who have the ability to see what is possible and what has never been done before. How exciting is that?” she said.

According to a White House official, Harris and Emhoff will continue with their visit under a revised itinerary.

“She met with astronauts at NASA Operations Support Building II and will proceed to a tour of Artemis II and Artemis III hardware as planned. The Vice President will gaggle following the tour and then depart,” the official said.

Aug 29, 9:40 AM EDT
‘We don’t launch until it’s right,’ says NASA administrator

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson defended the scrubbing of the Artemis I launch, saying the launch shouldn’t take place until the team is sure it’s ready.

“We don’t launch until it’s right,” he said during an interview on NASA TV Monday morning.

“There are certain guidelines. And I think it’s just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” he said.

Nelson said the engineers will continue to “stress” and “test” the rocket to make sure it’s ready by the next attempt, which is Sept. 2.

Earlier in the day, Nelson had welcomed several Biden administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, to the Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch.

He said the vice president has been briefed and the White House will continue to receive regular updates.

Aug 29, 8:48 AM EDT
NASA scrubs Artemis I launch

NASA announced a few minutes after Artemis I was initially scheduled to lift off that the launch has been scrubbed.

Engineers said the problem came from a liquid hydrogen line that was not chilled enough inside one of the rocket’s four core-stage engines, which needs to occur before they can be ignited.

The next attempt will occur on Sept. 2.

Aug 29, 8:31 AM EDT
Artemis launch delayed due to storms, rocket troubleshooting

Artemis I will likely not be launching at 8:33 a.m. ET as originally planned after NASA ran into several delays in its preparation to send it into space.

The process of tanking, which includes filling the rocket’s core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, was delayed due to some passing storms and lightning in the area, NASA said.

Moreover, a leak was discovered in the hydrogen fuel line, which NASA quickly resolved. The leak concentration was “at an acceptable level,” NASA said.

Engineers also discovered a potential crack in the inner stage flange, which connects two of the rocket’s cylinders.

The countdown clock is currently paused at T-40 and the launch can go as late as 10:33 a.m. ET If that window passes, the next attempt at launch will be Sept. 2.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BEND, Ore.) — At least three people are dead following a shooting inside a Safeway supermarket in Oregon on Sunday evening, police said.

The incident was reported just after 7 p.m. local time at The Forum Shopping Center in Bend, a small city on the Deschutes River, some 130 miles southeast of Oregon’s capital, Salem. The suspected shooter is among the dead, the Bend Police Department told ABC News.

Police believe the armed suspect entered from the back of the shopping center and initially fired into a Costco parking lot and a Big Lots store. There were no injuries reported at either of those locations, according to police.

Police believe the suspect then entered the Safeway and shot at least one person near the west entrance. That individual was transported to a local hospital and confirmed dead, police said.

The suspect continued inside the supermarket, shooting and killing at least one additional person, according to police.

Officers responding to the shooting entered the Safeway and found another individual, believed to be the shooter, dead inside the store. The officers fired no shots, police said.

At a press conference late Sunday, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told reporters that the suspect was carrying an AR-15 style rifle and a shotgun. The identities of the suspect and the victims were not released.

Krantz noted the size of the crime scene, saying it will take time to collect and process all evidence.

The deadly shooting remains under investigation.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DETROIT) — The city of Detroit was on edge after police said a single gunman randomly shot four victims, three fatally, in 2 hours and 25 minutes Sunday morning.

The sole survivor of the killing rampage, an 80-year-old man, described being shot after spotting the suspect looking into cars and confronting him, police said.

Detroit police said Sunday night that the suspect is now in custody, and an investigation is in the early stages.

An all-hands-on-deck search involving multiple law enforcement agencies — including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of Homeland Security — took place Sunday afternoon after police determined the same gun was used in all four shootings, authorities said.

During a news conference Sunday afternoon, Detroit Police Chief James White had described the suspect as a Black man in his mid-20s to early 30s, wearing all black, including a black Carhartt jacket with a hood.

“Evidence suggests a single suspect,” White said. “At this time, we believe this to be a random act. There does not appear to be any relation between any of the crimes.”

He said one of the victims was shot while waiting for a bus and another was shot while out walking a dog. Three of the four victims were fatally shot, police told Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV.

The shooting began at 4:45 a.m. when a 40-year-old woman was discovered shot multiple times in a neighborhood on the west side of Detroit, the chief said. Police said the woman died from her injuries.

While officers were investigating the shooting, a witness walked up and informed them of another victim nearby, White said. Police found a 28-year-old man who had also been shot multiple times, the chief said. He also died from his injuries.

At 6:50 a.m., the third victim, a woman in her 40s, was found shot multiple times, also on the west side of the city, and died, White said.

And at 7:10 a.m., the fourth victim, an 80-year-old man, was shot after he spotted the suspect peering into the windows of vehicles and confronted him, White said.

“When he told him to get away from the vehicles, he turned and fired at him, striking him once,” said White, adding that the victim was shot in the arm.

The octogenarian victim was in stable condition at a hospital Sunday night, police said.

The names of the victims were not immediately released.

White said the suspect did not rob or attempt to rob any of the victims.

Using technology, investigators were able to quickly analyze shell casings from each of the crime scenes and determine that the same gun was used in all four shootings, White said.

“We have mobilized all of our technology, our personnel, our intelligence and our community assets to investigate these incidents. We are currently searching to apprehend the suspect,” White said, adding that law enforcement helicopters were also scouring the city.

“To the families and friends of these victims, we will continue to work to get this suspect into custody,” White said.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan pleaded for the public’s help in catching the suspect. He asked people to study the surveillance photo released of the armed-and-dangerous perpetrator and to contact police if they see him. He said anyone who comes in contact with the suspect should not attempt to approach him.

He said the most important thing that can happen is that someone who knows the suspect or has a relationship with him comes forward to law enforcement immediately before he surfaces and strikes again.

“Nobody in this department wants a violent confrontation with this individual,” Duggan said. “It’s not safe for our officers, it’s not safe for the perpetrator, it’s not safe for civilians in the area.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.