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(ST. CROIX COUNTY, Wis.) — A 52-year-old Minnesota man was ordered on Monday to be held on a $1 million cash bail after homicide charges were filed against him stemming from a weekend stabbing incident on a Wisconsin river that left a 17-year-old boy dead and four other people seriously injured.

The suspect, Nicolae Miu of Prior Lake, Minnesota, made his first court appearance Monday afternoon via Zoom from the St. Croix County, Wisconsin, jail. He was arraigned on one count of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

A prosecutor had asked Judge R. Michael Waterman to set Miu’s bail at $500,000 cash, but the judge doubled that, citing the serious nature of the crimes and concern for the safety of the community.

“Upon conviction, you face a sentence of life imprisonment,” Waterman told Miu, referring to the charge of first-degree intentional homicide.

Miu was represented at the hearing by a public defender, who told the judge the defendant did not financially qualify to be represented by his office. Assistant State Public Defender Jeremiah Harrelson informed Waterman that Miu is married, owns his own home and has a full-time job as a mechanical engineer who designs residential, commercial and automotive ventilation and cooling systems. He said Miu has no previous criminal record.

Harrelson said Miu didn’t know any of the alleged victims.

“This appears to have been a completely chance encounter on the river, a very unfortunate one,” Harrelson said in court.

The judge denied Harrelson’s request that Miu be granted $50,000 cash bail along with an order to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet.

Miu did not enter a plea to the charges and the judge informed him that he can hire his own attorney or request the court to appoint one to represent him.

He was ordered to return to court on Friday for a status conference to update the court on his legal representation. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12.

Miu was arrested on Saturday after fleeing the scene of the stabbing attack on the Apple River in Somerset, Wisconsin, according to the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office.

A motive for the attack remains under investigation.

“We’re still interviewing people. We have yet to interview one of the victims. So that’s all still a work in progress,” St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson told ABC News on Monday.

The five victims were stabbed while tubing on the winding Apple River in Somerset Saturday afternoon, the sheriff said.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, Miu, his wife and friends were floating down the river on inner tubes when one of his friends accidentally dropped a cellphone in the water and Miu went back to look for it. While using goggles and a snorkel to search the water, he encountered the alleged victims, who were also tubing on the river and accused him of bothering young girls.

“Witnesses described Nicolae as punching or slapping a female that was in the group confronting him. Nicolae was then punched by a male and fell into the river,” according to the complaint.

Witnesses told investigators that Miu then pulled out a knife and began stabbing people, according to the complaint.

But Miu’s wife told investigators she witnessed part of the fatal confrontation from a distance and saw several men take the knife away from Miu and attack him, according to the complaint.

Miu’s wife claimed her husband told her right after the encounter that at least one of the men “swung the knife at him and that he grabbed it and moved it away,” according to the complaint. She said the encounter lasted for about five minutes, according to the complaint.

Citing video taken of the incident, investigators said it appeared that several people converged on Miu and yelled at him several times to leave. But as the situation escalated, at least one person touched Miu on the shoulder, according to the complaint.

“From the video, it does appear to show people on three sides of Nicolae at different distances. The video and elapsed time shows opportunity for Nicolae to leave the confrontation,” the criminal complaint alleges.

As the confrontation grew more heated, Miu was allegedly seen in the video pulling out a folding knife and holding it at his side, according to the criminal complaint. As the confrontation grew physical, the video showed Miu falling backward into the water, getting back on his feet and allegedly stabbing a man in yellow swimming trunks who had pushed him in the back.

After allegedly stabbing five people, Miu was seen on the video climbing out of the water and running away, according to the complaint. He was later tracked down at a nearby campground, where he had parked his car, and was arrested, according to the complaint.

Investigators recovered the black-handled folding knife discarded on the river bank, according to the complaint.

A teenager slain in the episode is from Stillwater, Minnesota. Authorities are withholding his name pending an autopsy.

The four other victims, three men and a woman, were taken to area hospitals with injuries ranging from serious to critical, according to the sheriff’s office. Two were released from hospitals on Monday, Knudson told ABC News.

The wounded victims, whose names were not released, ranged in age from 20 to 24, the sheriff’s office said.

All of the victims suffered stab wounds to the chest and torso, according to the sheriff’s office.

Two of the male victims, a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old, are from Luck, Wisconsin. The other two victims are a 24-year-old woman from Burnsville, Minnesota, and a 22-year-old man from Elk River, Minnesota, the sheriff’s office said.

The attack unfolded just before 4 p.m. Saturday on a part of the river in Somerset on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border about 35 miles east of Minneapolis.

Sheriff’s deputies responding to reports of people being stabbed arrived at the scene to find good Samaritans, who had also been tubing, providing medical aid to those injured, according to the sheriff’s office.

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The death toll from the devastating flooding that hit eastern Kentucky continues to rise as more rain hits the region, according to officials.

A total of 35 people have been confirmed dead, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday afternoon.

Among those killed are four siblings — ages 8, 6, 4 and 2 — who were swept away in the water, according to family members.

Beshear said Monday morning that “there are hundreds of unaccounted for people, minimum.”

More rain fell Monday as search and rescue teams continued to look for those who are unaccounted for, and a new round of heavy rain is expected early Tuesday.

A new flash flood watch has been issued for eastern Kentucky for Monday evening through Tuesday morning. Rainfall rates could reach 1 to 2 inches per hour.

Severe storms packing damaging winds are also possible in Louisville and Lexington.

The additional precipitation could cause water levels to rise again in the same area that experienced the catastrophic flooding that began with heavy rains last Wednesday.

Beshear described “widespread damage” that displaced thousands of people, including power outages for thousands of people as well as washed-out roads, destroyed homes and flooded schools.

More than 600 people have been rescued by aircraft and boat since the flooding began, Beshear said.

President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration.

The destruction in Kentucky is the latest extreme flooding event to take place in the U.S. in less than a week.

Heavy downpours caused flash flooding in Las Vegas on Friday, with rising waters seen on roadways and parking garages in busy parts of Sin City.

The megadrought has caused the soil in the region to become so dry that it could not absorb the heavy rains, which helped to contribute to the flooding.

Earlier in the week, a flash flooding emergency occurred near St. Louis, which had a record-breaking 8.56 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. One person was found dead in a car on Tuesday after the water began to recede, officials said.

ABC News’ Matt Foster, Kenton Gewecke and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The death toll from the devastating flooding that hit eastern Kentucky continues to rise as more rain hits the region, according to officials.

A total of 37 people have been confirmed dead, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday evening.

Among those killed are four siblings — ages 8, 6, 4 and 2 — who were swept away in the water, according to family members.

Beshear said Monday morning that “there are hundreds of unaccounted for people, minimum.”

“With so many more still missing. Let us pray for these families and come together to wrap our arms around our fellow Kentuckians,” Beshear said in a statement Monday evening.

More rain fell Monday as search and rescue teams continued to look for those who are unaccounted for, and a new round of heavy rain is expected early Tuesday.

A new flash flood watch has been issued for eastern Kentucky for Monday evening through Tuesday morning. Rainfall rates could reach 1 to 2 inches per hour.

Severe storms packing damaging winds are also possible in Louisville and Lexington.

The additional precipitation could cause water levels to rise again in the same area that experienced the catastrophic flooding that began with heavy rains last Wednesday.

Beshear described “widespread damage” that displaced thousands of people, including power outages for thousands of people as well as washed-out roads, destroyed homes and flooded schools.

More than 600 people have been rescued by aircraft and boat since the flooding began, Beshear said.

President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration.

The destruction in Kentucky is the latest extreme flooding event to take place in the U.S. in less than a week.

Heavy downpours caused flash flooding in Las Vegas on Friday, with rising waters seen on roadways and parking garages in busy parts of Sin City.

The megadrought has caused the soil in the region to become so dry that it could not absorb the heavy rains, which helped to contribute to the flooding.

Earlier in the week, a flash flooding emergency occurred near St. Louis, which had a record-breaking 8.56 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. One person was found dead in a car on Tuesday after the water began to recede, officials said.

ABC News’ Matt Foster, Kenton Gewecke and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PARKLAND, Fla.) — Families of the Parkland mass shooting victims are addressing the jury during the penalty phase of confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz’s trial.

The penalty phase of the trial is to determine if Cruz will be sentenced to death for gunning down 14 students and three staff members at his former South Florida school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, on Feb. 14, 2018.

Joaquin Oliver

Patricia Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin Oliver, was killed, called her slain son “the missing link of our family.”

“During the whole pregnancy we enjoyed every moment of it, including the doctors’ visits,” she said in court Monday. “Aug. 4, the best day of our family’s life, our beautiful, dear little boy, big eyes, has arrived. Joaquin.”

“We miss him more than words can say,” she said.

“I must let the listeners feel how painful it is to live with this deep hole in my heart,” she continued.

Joaquin was a planner, his mother said, planning everything from his high school graduation outfit to his college plans. He should have graduated college this year with a degree in business, Patricia Oliver said.

“I keep talking to him in my mind. I have to imagine the moments we were supposed to live and share with him,” she said.

“All the future ahead of him was taken from us. Getting his first professional job. Moving on his own. Cooking, doing laundry, everything he was supposed to learn from me,” she said.

Joaquin Oliver’s partner, Victoria Gonzalez, also gave a statement, explaining, “I was not labeled the girlfriend until the day he died … The label that we gave each other was always soulmate — that was my partner.”

Overcome with emotion, she said out loud, “I’m gonna do it,” as she began to read her statement.

“Joaquin loved to make people smile. He loved to dance down the hallways at school … He loved to sit in my passenger seat and sing his heart out,” Gonzalez said.

“He worked so hard in class — all he wanted was to graduate and make his family proud. He wanted to travel and run away with me to Paris,” she said.

On Valentine’s Day 2018 — the day Joaquin was killed — they had a movie date planned.

“I remember wondering if, amongst the chaos later that day, we would still have a quiet night together at the theater. I lost myself that day,” she said, crying. “I lost my soulmate in the flesh.”

“I lost the friend who understood me most. I lost the excitement to watch him grow up,” she said. “I lost innocence, I lost purity. I lost the love letters he was writing for me in that fourth-period creative writing class — I never actually received them. They were pinned to his shirt. I miss my best friend and the way he made me feel at home.”

Patricia Oliver wept as Gonzalez spoke.

Alaina Petty

Kelly Petty, whose youngest child, Alaina Petty, was killed at age 14, said Alaina was a “momma’s girl” who loved church and the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.

“On Feb. 14, 2018, my heart stopped beating,” Kelly Petty said.

“I am heartbroken that I won’t be able to watch her become the amazing young woman she was turning into,” she said through tears.

Alaina’s older sister by five years, Meghan Petty, described Alaina as smart, confident and someone who “shined with integrity.”

“I try my hardest, but her loss makes me feel empty and like truly loving anyone ever again is impossible,” Meghan Petty said.

“She never got a chance to even truly live. She never got her braces off. She never had her first kiss. It causes me pain to know she never went on a first date … never got to fall in love, never got to experience heartbreak and come out stronger and wiser. … She’ll never go get her driver’s license, she’ll never feel the satisfaction of getting her first paycheck. She didn’t get to pick what college she wanted to attend or feel the anticipation of waiting for that acceptance or rejection letter,” Meghan Petty said. “She’ll never be able to get married or have kids of her own — and she probably hadn’t even begun to think about those things because she was supposed to have a lifetime to figure that out.”

“No amount of strength can prepare you for hours of waiting and worrying only to see your parents come home with one of your siblings but not another one,” she continued. “The initial pain of finding out she was dead has been nothing compared to the pain of living without her. I keep waiting for her to walk through the door.”

Meghan Petty said Alaina’s death “looms” in the back of her mind at all times.

“Her absence screams at me, even when I’m focused on other things,” she said.

“I try to just shut it out,” she said, because she “cannot emotionally comprehend” that her sister is gone.

Cruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder. Cruz said in court last year he believes the victims’ families should be the ones to decide whether he gets the death penalty.

The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.

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(SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif.) — A fire burning out of control in a Northern California national forest and threatening a town of nearly 8,000 people has quickly become the largest wildfire in the state this year, officials said.

The McKinney Fire in the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, near the Oregon border, had burned 55,493 acres and was 0% contained as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire.

The blaze grew by nearly 3,000 acres overnight as gusty winds helped fan its spread through a drought-dry tinderbox of high grass, brush and timber, according to Cal Fire.

Two people were found dead in their car in a driveway in the town of Klamath River, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue told ABC News. Firefighters said they suspected that the two were caught in the fast-moving fire as they tried to flee, according to the sheriff. More rescue teams were expected to search the area on Monday.

The fire started around 2:15 p.m. Friday in the Klamath National Forest and has caused the closure of Highway 98 in the area and the evacuation communities, including the partial evacuation of Yreka, California, officials said.

The blaze is burning through drought-dry tinderbox of high grass, brush and timber and its rapid spread has been fanned by gusty winds and numerous dry-lightning strikes, according to Cal Fire.

There was concern that lightning storms over the fire area could have sparked additional fires, officials said. But that same storm system also carried a significant amount of moisture, slowing the fire’s spread significantly over the past 24 hours, the sheriff said on Monday.

“We’re feeling pretty good” about protecting Yreka, whose western fringes were threatened by the fire, he told ABC News.

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News Sunday afternoon that more than 100 structures have been destroyed, including the homes of several deputies who are continuing to work despite personally being under evacuation orders.

Many of the lost structures are along the Klamath River, with runs parallel to Highway 96, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. The Klamath River Community Hall in Klamath River was also among the structures destroyed, officials said.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said search crews rescued about 60 hikers from a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, a popular backpacking trail that runs from Canada to Mexico.

Sgt. Shawn Richards of Jackson County Search & Rescue told reporters the hikers were not in immediate danger. He said that because of the rapidly spreading fire, unpredictable winds and smoke reducing visibility to roughly 20 feet, the decision was made to rescue the hikers before conditions worsened.

Red flag fire danger warnings were issued in the area Sunday as temperatures, according to the National Weather Service, are forecast to reach 90 to 100 degrees. In addition, there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms moving in Sunday afternoon, according to the weather service.

“Strong gusty outflow winds will continue to be the drivers for the extreme fire behavior,” Cal Fire said in its latest incident report on the fire.

At least 568 firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground and from the air with helicopters and air tankers.

“Really erratic winds from the start of the incident all the way up until now,” Kelsey Lofdah, a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service, told ABC San Francisco station KGO-TV of challenging firefighting conditions. “Pretty extreme fire behavior throughout the entire shift.”

The Yreka Police Department issued evacuation orders for a neighborhood in the western part of the town “due to its proximity to the fire” about 12 miles away.

“Please leave IMMEDIATELY,” the police department wrote in the evacuation order.

The police department also issued evacuation warnings to residents in all areas of the community west of Interstate 5.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and emergency management officials are assessing the damage.

Californian Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency on Saturday for Siskiyou County due to the effects of the McKinney Fire. A state of emergency frees up more state resources to be used in battling the blaze, including dispatching more firefighters and equipment to the scene.

The McKinney Fire surpassed the Oak Fire in Mariposa County near Yosemite as the largest wildfire in the state this year, according to Cal Fire. The Oak Fire, which started on July 22, was 64% contained on Sunday after burning 19,244 acres and destroying 182 structures, including more than 100 homes, officials said.

ABC News’ Jennifer Watts and Izzy Alvarez contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The death toll in the devastating flooding that hit eastern Kentucky continues to rise as more rain hits the region, according to officials.

A total of 30 people, including children, have been confirmed dead, and more fatalities are expected, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday morning.

Beshear described “widespread damage” that displaced thousands of people, including power outages for thousands of people as well as washed-out roads, destroyed homes and flooded schools.

More rain was falling Monday as search and rescue teams continue to look for those who are unaccounted for. The additional precipitation could potentially cause water levels to rise again in the same area that experienced the catastrophic flooding that began with heavy rains on Wednesday.

More than 600 people have been rescued by aircraft and boat since the flooding began, Beshear said.

The destruction in Kentucky is the latest extreme flooding event to take place in the U.S. in less than a week.

Heavy downpours caused flash flooding in Las Vegas on Friday, with rising waters seen on roadways and parking garages in busy parts of Sin City.

The megadrought has caused the soil in the region to become so dry that it could not absorb the heavy rains, which helped to contribute to the flooding.

Earlier in the week, a flash flooding emergency occurred near St. Louis, which had a record-breaking 8.56 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. One person was found dead in a car on Tuesday after the water began to recede, officials said.

Kentucky is working to establish shelters, Beshear said, asking those who want to help to donate cleaning supplies or water. Last week, President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration.

“Let us wrap our arms around eastern Kentucky and pray for those impacted,” Beshear said.

ABC News’ Matt Foster, Kenton Gewecke and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A man arrested with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle outside the Brooklyn, New York home of an outspoken Iranian writer is due in federal court Monday amid questions about his intent.

Khalid Mehdiyev was charged with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number after he was seen lurking outside the home of Masih Alinejad, who was targeted last year in a kidnapping plot allegedly organized by Iranian nationals, according to the Department of Justice.

Over two days last week, Mehdiyev was seen in a gray Subaru Forester with an Illinois license plate in front of Alinejad’s home for several hours, according to the criminal complaint. In those hours, the complaint said, Mehdiyev “behaved suspiciously” by approaching the residence, attempting to look inside the windows of the residence and attempting to open the front door.

Police later pulled him over for failing to stop at a stop sign. He was arrested for driving with a suspended license, according to the complaint.

In the rear seat of the Subaru, police found a suitcase containing a Norinco AK-47-style assault rifle loaded with a round in the chamber and a magazine attached, according to the complaint. He also had $1,100 in cash and two other license plates issued from other states besides Illinois.

Mehdiyev initially told police he was in the area of the Brooklyn home because he was looking for a place to rent and was going to knock on the woman’s door asking to rent a room. He also claimed he did not know there was an assault rifle in the suitcase, according to the complaint. He later changed his story and admitted the gun belonged to him and he was “looking for someone.” He then asked for a lawyer and stopped talking, according to the complaint.

The complaint did not identify Alinejad but she posted video of the suspect outside her house on Twitter.

“My crime is giving voice to voiceless people,” she wrote. “The US administration must be tough on terror.”

Last July, a federal court unsealed an indictment charging four Iranian nationals with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad for “mobilizing public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the regime’s laws and practices.”

Federal prosecutors said the suspects were directed by the government of Iran to conduct surveillance on Alinejad and lure her to a third country to be captured and brought back to Iran.

“You go to my beautiful country, you will be beaten up because you’re unveiled. … I launched a campaign against compulsory hijab, and that is why, actually, I’m receiving death threats,” Alinejad told ABC News Live last year after the kidnapping plot was revealed. “Of course, it is a scary [thing] that they were going to kidnap me, but that shows that they [are] scared [of] me and millions of other Iranian women, Iranian men, who got united this time loudly sending videos to me saying ‘no’ to Islamic Republic. That’s why they sent someone here in New York to kidnap me.”

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