(DAVIS, Calif.) — A former UC Davis student has been arrested in connection with three stabbings — two of which killed a college senior and a homeless man — in Davis, California, police announced Thursday.
The suspect, 21-year-old Carlos Dominguez, was arrested on Thursday for two counts of homicide and one count of attempted homicide, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said at a news conference.
He was a UC Davis student until last week, he said.
The suspect was identified on Wednesday afternoon when about 15 people called the authorities, reporting seeing someone near Sycamore Park who matched the suspect description, Pytel said.
When the suspect was stopped by patrol officers, he had “physical evidence” on him that “might be part of the investigation,” and he appeared to be wearing the same clothing described by witnesses at the third attack, Pytel said. Based on an interview, collected physical evidence and his clothing, he was initially arrested for possessing a large knife, Pytel said.
The “brazen” attacks, which all unfolded within one week, left the UC Davis campus and the surrounding college town on edge.
The first attack was on April 27, when David Breaux, a beloved homeless man who was a staple in Davis for over a decade, was stabbed multiple times and killed in the city’s Central Park, according to police. He was found on a park bench where he often slept, police said.
Two days later, UC Davis senior Karim Abou Najm, a 20-year-old computer science major, was stabbed to death at Davis’ Sycamore Park, according to the university and police.
Then, on Monday, a woman, Kimberlee Guillory, was stabbed multiple times through her tent at a transient camp, police said. She survived and was listed in critical but stable condition. Police said Thursday that she’s recovering.
There’s no information that Dominguez knew any of the victims, police said.
(NEW YORK) — Repairing the damage to writer E. Jean Carroll’s reputation caused by then-President Donald Trump’s Oct. 12, 2022, social media post that allegedly defamed her could cost up to $2.7 million, a marketing expert testified Thursday in Carroll’s defamation and battery case against the former president.
Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in his Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.
Northwestern University professor Ashlee Humphrey testified Thursday that Trump’s post, in which he called Carroll’s claim a “con job,” was viewed between 13 and 18 million times, and she estimated that about 5 million users believed its content.
Humphreys told the jury that although Trump posted his statement solely on his Truth Social platform, “it appeared widely” throughout the mass media.
Repairing Carroll’s reputation through a publicity campaign would cost between $368,000 and $2.7 million, Humphreys testified.
The testimony is the first that speaks to a potential damage award if the jury finds Trump liable for defamation or battery. The nine-member jury of six men and three women is weighing Carroll’s defamation and battery claims and deciding potential monetary damages.
On cross-examination, Humphreys agreed that Trump’s views of Carroll’s rape allegation were well-known by the time he made the post in October 2022.
“The horse was kind of out of the barn,” defense attorney Perry Brandt said.
Earlier in the day, the jury viewed clips from Trump’s videotaped deposition, including the moment when he was shown a photograph of Carroll from the 1980s and said, “That’s Marla,” momentarily confusing his rape accuser for his second wife, Marla Maples.
Carroll’s attorneys argued that belies Trump’s assertion that Carroll is not his type.
Asked during the deposition about the so-called “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump is heard bragging about how he grabs and kisses women without consent, Trump was seen dismissing the remarks as “locker room talk.”
Trump was also seen on the deposition video calling Carroll a “nut job.”
On Wednesday, defense attorney Joe Tacopina told Judge Lewis Kaplan that Trump would not be mounting a defense in the case. The case’s final witness was expected to be Roberta Myers, former editor of Elle magazine, where Carroll used to write her advice column.
Summations are expected Monday, with jury deliberations expected to start Tuesday.
Carroll’s lawsuit is her second against Trump related to her rape allegation.
She previously sued Trump in 2019 after the then-president denied her rape claim by telling The Hill that Carroll was “totally lying,” saying, “I’ll say it with great respect: No. 1, she’s not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” That defamation suit has been caught in a procedural back-and-forth over the question of whether Trump, as president, was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government when he made those remarks.
If Trump is determined to have been acting as a government employee, the U.S. government would substitute as the defendant in that suit — which means that case would go away, since the government cannot be sued for defamation.
This month’s trial is taking place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 vote. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said last week she would decide whether to file criminal charges against Trump or his allies this summer.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration on Thursday adamantly denied U.S. involvement in an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin after a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of directing Ukraine in carrying it out.
While the United States may never “fully understand” what occurred in Russia on Wednesday, the U.S. “was not involved in this incident in any way,” according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
“One thing I can tell you for certain is that the United States was not involved in this incident in any way contrary to Mr. Peskov’s lies,” he continued, referring to Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. “And that’s what they are, just lies.”
Kirby, taking another shot at Peskov from the White House podium, called his accusations a “blatant, bold lie.”
Earlier Thursday, Russia accused the U.S. of helping Ukraine orchestrate what Moscow claimed was an assassination attempt against Putin.
“We understand well that the decision about such terror attacks are taken not in Kyiv, but in Washington. Often targets are determined not in Kyiv, but in Washington,” Peskov told reporters.
The Kremlin provided no evidence to back up its claims.
State media released videos Wednesday appearing to show two drones exploding above the Senate Palace — an alleged attack that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “allows Russia to try to justify its escalating terrorist tactics.” Putin was not in the building at the time, the Kremlin said.
Asked whether the U.S. had authenticated any of the videos of the alleged drone attack or confirmed such an attack took place, Kirby said no.
“We’re still trying to gather information about what happened and we just don’t have conclusive evidence one way or the other,” Kirby told reporters at Thursday’s daily briefing, adding he was “not going to speculate.”
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines similarly said U.S. intelligence agencies “don’t have information that would allow us to provide an independent assessment on this.”
Haines made the remark during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on worldwide threats on Thursday.
Kirby told reporters he didn’t know whether the alleged drone attack was a false flag operation, but he did say it fit Putin’s narrative that Russia is under existential threat from the West.
“Whether he’s going to use this as some sort of pretext is up to him,” Kirby said. “But just in the last 24 hours, he’s bombing shoppers at a supermarket. So, the violence continues one way or the other.”
During the same Senate hearing at which Haines testified, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, suggested amid questioning from GOP Sen. Tom Cotton that misinformation could be at play.
Cotton questioned the capabilities of the drones used, asking, “These videos I’ve seen, they do not appear to be the kind of the size of weapons that can do significant damage to the Kremlin. Is that correct?”
“That is correct,” Berrier replied.
Cotton also implied the drones would have had to be controlled by line of sight locally based on their appearance, which Berrier agreed with.
Haines confirmed that Putin does not spend much time at the Senate Palace, which Cotton noted is “not like the White House” in the sense that it is not the Russian leader’s primary residence.
Russia has suffered over 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 killed in action, since it stepped up its winter offensive in December, a representative for the NSC told ABC News. Ukraine has lost roughly the same number, according to Pentagon documents that were leaked last month.
-ABC News’ Nathan Luna, Justin Gomez and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
(RICHMOND, Va.) — One of the two inmates who escaped a Virginia jail has been arrested in Mexico following a dayslong manhunt, according to the FBI.
Alder Alfonso Marin-Sotelo, 26, was taken into custody by Mexican authorities in the state of Guerrero on Thursday afternoon, the FBI said.
“The investigation to determine his exact movements is ongoing,” the FBI said.
Marin-Sotelo, 26, and Bruce Callahan, 44, both federal detainees, escaped over the weekend from the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, which is about 70 miles west of Richmond, according to the Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Department.
“They somehow, we think, were potentially able to manipulate some locks, crawled through an opening that led them out into the rec-yard area,” U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Larry Moltzan, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. “From there, they scaled two fences to get away from the jail.”
Moltzan said one escapee left 20 hours before the other, but he believes they might’ve talked about their plans.
“I think it’s fair to reason that they may have talked about it, given that it was so similar,” Moltzan said. “But they did not escape at the same time and didn’t necessarily help each other in that way.”
Callahan is convicted of multiple federal drug charges and Marin-Sotelo is convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, the sheriff’s department said. Both are from North Carolina, the department said.
Marin-Sotelo is also a defendant in the murder of deputy Ned Byrd of the Wake County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina, Wake County officials said.
Marin-Sotelo fled the jail in a 2003 red or burgundy Ford Mustang, which remains missing, the FBI said. Authorities are asking for help finding the car, which has a 30-day North Carolina temporary tag.
His sister, Adriana Marin-Sotelo, has been arrested for allegedly helping her brother escape, Raleigh ABC station WTVD reported.
(WASHINGTON) — Sudan is on the brink of collapse as forces loyal to two rival generals are battling for control of the resource-rich North African nation.
The ongoing conflict has left hundreds of people dead, thousands more wounded and hundreds of thousands displaced, according to figures from the United Nations. It has also prompted a number of countries, including the United States, to evacuate personnel from Sudan and shutter diplomatic missions there indefinitely.
While an unsteady ceasefire is in place for now, President Joe Biden on Thursday issued an executive order he said would expand the U.S. ability to respond to the violence with “sanctions that hold individuals responsible for threatening the peace, security, and stability of Sudan; undermining Sudan’s democratic transition; using violence against civilians; or committing serious human rights abuses.”
Here’s what we know about the situation and how it unfolded.
Who is fighting and why?
Fighting erupted in Khartoum on April 15 in a culmination of weeks of tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful Sudanese paramilitary group. The two men were once allies who had jointly orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that dissolved Sudan’s power-sharing government and derailed its short-lived transition to democracy, following the ousting of a long-time dictator in 2019.
Officially formed in 2013, the RSF evolved out of the notorious Janjaweed militias used by the Sudanese government to crush an armed rebellion in the Darfur region in the 2000s. Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed were accused of committing war crimes in Darfur. Ultimately, the International Criminal Court charged Sudan’s former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir al-Bashir with genocide.
After overthrowing al-Bashir and carrying out a coup, Burhan became Sudan’s de facto ruler with Hemedti as his right-hand man. In recent months, military and civilian leaders have been engaged in negotiations to reach a power-sharing deal that would return Sudan to the democratic transition and end the political crisis. But long-simmering tensions between the two generals boiled over amid demands that the RSF be disbanded and integrated into the army.
“Hemedti started to believe he had been deceived by Burhan and that the overthrow of the [transitional] government was primarily aimed at serving old-regime figures given the intertwined interests they share,” Mohamed Abdel Aziz, a Sudan-based writer and political analyst, told ABC News. “The final straw was disagreement over the security and military reform dossier,” which Aziz said is a key aspect of making the transitional period work.
Burhan wants the planned integration of the RSF to take place in two years, while Hemedti insists it should be stretched out over a decade. Now, they are in a vicious power struggle and neither have shown any real indication of backing down.
“The situation now is the worst-case scenario,” Jon Temin, vice president of policy and programs at the Truman Center for National Policy in Washington, D.C., told ABC News. “The two generals seem pretty set on fighting it out and seeing who wins, and an incredible number of people are going to suffer along the way.”
What’s at stake?
The international community has repeatedly called on Sudan’s warring parties to immediately lay down their arms and engage in dialogue. But proposed cease-fires have barely held, if at all.
If fighting persists, it could evolve into another civil war that might drag on for years, spelling disaster for a nation that sits at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East, bordering the Red Sea. A number of countries in the region are connected through open borders.
“There are two equally unpleasant courses of action: if any of the two sides wins, this will not achieve democracy in Sudan and will be seen as a bad scenario for civil forces,” Aziz said. “If the conflict continues and division deepens and extends wider, it will turn into a civil war that will have ramifications beyond Sudan.”
“Millions of people will flee to Europe through the Mediterranean.” he added. “Neighboring countries already grappling with economic woes will face more pressure when new people are added to their population.”
Why is the US concerned?
The clashes have spread outside Khartoum, though “the heaviest concentration of fighting” remains centered in the densely populated capital, according to the WHO. Although Sudan is no stranger to conflict, warfare in Khartoum is unprecedented.
The U.S. is concerned that Sudan’s conflict could spread further and has been in contact with the rival sides “every single day … trying to get them to put down their arms, to abide by the cease-fires that they themselves say they want and to return to some sort of civilian authority,” according to John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House.
“We’re doing everything we can to get this fighting stopped,” Kirby told ABC News. “This is a centrally located, very important, very large African country. We are concerned that other partners, other nations will be affected by this — not just in the region, but beyond — so that’s why we’re working so hard to get this violence stopped.”
But it’s questionable how much influence the U.S. or the larger international community has on Sudan’s warring sides.
“We are looking at a civil war with no end line, with no end game — and that’s why you saw all these countries, including the United States, pull out their diplomats and their citizens out of Sudan,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C., told ABC News. “I don’t think any one of these countries has enough leverage to push any one of the fighting parties to step back or to compromise.”
There’s also a risk that the conflict could create a security vacuum, which Aziz said “will invite militant groups to take Sudan as a haven or a pathway to target other countries in the region and weapons will infiltrate through the borders.”
In 1993, the U.S. designated Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism for supporting international terrorist groups. Sudan notoriously hosted al Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and other militants in the mid-1990s. The U.S. removed Sudan from its state sponsors of terrorism list after Khartoum agreed to forge ties with Israel in 2020.
“With nations politically, economically and security fragile like Sudan, the importance of national institutions comes to the forefront,” Mohamed Fayez Farhat, director of al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, told ABC News. “Sudan now is seeing the absence of those institutions. The army is a pillar for stability.”
(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against omicron infection fell to less than 20% after six months, according to a new analysis published Wednesday.
Researchers from Italy and the United States looked at some of the most common vaccines used around the world, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
The researchers, however, did not look at the updated bivalent vaccines that target the original strain of the virus as well as BA.4 and BA.5, which are subvariants of omicron.
For the analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, the team examined 40 studies — a combination of articles and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals and preprints.
After receiving a primary series, protection against symptomatic disease decreased from 52.8% at one month after the last dose to 14.3% at six months to 8.9% at nine months.
When it came to vaccine effectiveness against overall infection, protection fell from 44.4% at one month to 20.7% at six months to 13.4% at nine months.
There were some differences in vaccine products from Pfizer and Moderna; they had higher effectiveness than the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital who was not involved in the study, said the results are not surprising because researchers have known about waning effectiveness for quite some time.
“However this study provides important insights into the specific effectiveness of the original monovalent vaccines against omicron and highlights the importance of the updated bivalent booster in providing additional protection,” said Brownstein, an ABC News contributor.
Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection show that the updated bivalent boosters enhance levels of protection.
One study found the bivalent booster slashed the risk of visiting an emergency department, urgent care facility or hospital due to COVID-19 by at least half for U.S. adults.
Another showed the bivalent booster provided additional protection against symptomatic infection with the two variants of omicron currently circulating, XBB and XBB.1.5, for at least three months in those who received two to four doses of the original vaccine.
“While effectiveness against infection is an important metric, effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalization and death are crucial metrics when evaluating the overall effectiveness of COVID vaccines, as these outcomes have the most significant impact on public health,” Brownstein said.
The analysis also looked at protection when receiving the original booster dose. Levels of protectiveness increased but eventually waned as well.
Against infection, booster effectiveness fell from 55.4% at one month to 28.9% at nine months. Against symptomatic disease, effectiveness declined from 60.4% at one month to 13.3% at nine months.
Brownstein said it’s important to reiterate that vaccination is still very important — to protect both ourselves and those who are at risk of severe disease — and to not interpret the study to mean vaccines aren’t effective.
As of March 19, the latest date for which CDC data is available, COVID-19 cases were 81.11 per 100,000 among unvaccinated people compared to 26.66 per 100,000 for those vaccinated without the updated booster and 25.81 per 100,000 for those vaccinated with the updated booster.
Death rates as of Feb. 26, similarly, had a large gap with 1.07 per 100,000 deaths for those unvaccinated, 0.21 per 100,000 for those vaccinated without the updated booster and 0.19 per 100,000 for those vaccinated with the updated booster.
“The findings from this study shouldn’t detract from the importance of vaccination,” Brownstien said. “While the effectiveness of vaccines against omicron infection may wane over time, vaccines still provide significant protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death.”
He added, “Additionally, booster doses can help maintain protection against the virus especially when they are more closely matched to circulating variants.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Florida mayors across the state are speaking out in support of LGBTQ rights in light of several bills targeting the community that have been passed by the state legislature and are heading to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
At least eight mayors from Orlando, Miami Beach, Tampa, Tallahassee and more have signed the pledge in support of the LGBTQ advocacy organization GLSEN and its Rise Up campaign, according to the group.
Several local leaders issued city proclamations, which promised “safe learning environments that include and affirm all children, including LGBTQ+ students,” one proclamation read.
“I was elected to be mayor for every resident of Gainesville, and it is important to me that all our neighbors, particularly the youngest and most vulnerable, feel welcome and safe in our community,” Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward told ABC News in a statement.
He continued, “I support the well-being and healthy development of every person in our community through the guarantee of basic human rights.”
The Rise Up campaign also advocates for LGBTQ affirming books, resources and curriculum, as well as advocacy against anti-LGBTQ bills and rhetoric.
“In Fort Lauderdale, you can be who you are without fear of reproach,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis in a statement. “The city boasts a stalwart human rights ordinance that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations.”
Trantalis continued, “Discrimination of any kind, particularly towards our LGBTQ+ children, has no place in any part of our society. Greater Fort Lauderdale boasts one of highest concentrations of same-sex households in the nation, and we welcome in an average of over 1.3 million LGBTQ+ visitors each year.”
Florida has been been leading the recent wave of legislation and policies targeting the LGBTQ community.
The bills passed by the Florida legislature Wednesday include a bathroom bill that bars transgender people from using restrooms or changing facilities that do not align with their gender assigned at birth.
Another bill expands the Parental Rights in Education law, which has been dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics. This bill would restrict classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation from prekindergarten through grade 12. However, the Florida Board of Education had already voted to expand the restriction from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The bill says school employees and students “may not be required” to refer to “another person using that person’s preferred personal title or pronouns” if they “do not correspond to that person’s sex” as assigned at birth, and would bar school employees from using pronouns or names that “do not correspond to his or her sex,” according to the bill.
Teachers would also not be allowed to ask students for their preferred pronouns or name.
The bill encourages education on “abstinence from sexual activity” and “the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage.”
The legislation also states that parents may object to school or library books, which must then “be removed within 5 school days of receipt of the objection and remain unavailable to students of that school until the objection is resolved.”
Critics slammed the legislation, saying that the bill not only removes and silences LGBTQ identities from classrooms and school programs, but also that the restrictions are a form of censorship against certain perspectives.
“Why can’t we teach our kids that these things exist in the world? What are you protecting them from?” said state Sen. Tina Polsky on the Senate floor. “If you’re in public school, you need to be with all the public. And this is a fact of life and you can’t change it by telling people what pronouns they can use.”
Those in support of the legislation say it gives some parents more of a say in what children learn at school and claim children will have more space to figure out “who they are,” Republican state Sen. Erin Grall says.
“We are depriving children of the ability to figure out who they are when we push an agenda … down onto children,” Grall said on the Senate floor.
Florida’s largest LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida has issued a travel advisory for the state, backed by the Florida chapters of the NAACP and the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
A spokesperson for DeSantis’ office called the move a “stunt” at the time.
“We aren’t going to waste our time worrying about political stunts. We will continue doing what is right for Floridians,” the statement read.
(WASHINGTON) — After a trial lasting several months, a jury in Washington on Thursday handed the Justice Department a major victory, reaching a partial verdict in the Proud Boys Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Three of the far-right group’s lieutenants also were found guilty of conspiring to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election and prevent Joe Biden from becoming president of the United States.
Tarrio and Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zachary Rehl were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election, actual obstruction of the certification, conspiracy to prevent officers from performing their duties, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting in destruction of government property.
The Proud Boys leaders were acquitted charges they assaulted, impeded or resisted officers.
Deliberations continued for the seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding charges for Dominic Pezzola.
Tarrio was not present in Washington on Jan. 6 after his arrest on separate charges just days before. Prosecutors argued he directed his troops remotely with messages about revolution and telling them “don’t f—ing leave” after the building was breached that afternoon.
Tarrio was accused of orchestrating a fighting force with a group they called the “Ministry of Self Defense” comprised of dedicated Proud Boys and top leaders.
Tarrio’s conviction follows the case of Stewart Rhodes, leader of another far-right group called Oath Keepers, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the events of Jan. 6.
Video of the two ringleaders meeting in a Washington parking garage on the eve of Jan. 6 was part of the volumes of footage obtained by the Justice Department in the case.
Membership in the Proud Boys surged after then-President Donald Trump told the group to “stand back and stand by” during a 2020 presidential debate. Tarrio’s attorneys blamed Trump for encouraging and revving up the crowd that ultimately broke into the Capitol.
Thursday was the seventh day of deliberations during which jurors asked multiple questions.
With dozens of witnesses and mountains of video and social media evidence, the Proud Boys trial has been the longest to date in the Justice Department’s pursuit of Capitol rioters.
Since jury selection began in December, the case has dragged on with bitter arguments, frequent objections and mistrial motions. At times, Judge Timothy Kelly lost his temper and admonished the lawyers for interrupting or seeming to ignore his directions.
The Proud Boys insisted there were no plans to attack the Capitol and sought to cast themselves as nothing more than a hard-charging social club in which partying, drinking and exchanging crude jokes went along with attending political protests.
The group also describes themselves as “Western chauvinists,” an unapologetic brand of fervent nationalism.
Prosecutors emphasized to the jury that the Proud Boys did not need to have detailed — or successful — plans to be found guilty. The conspiracy allegations hinged on their mutual understanding to oppose the government by force.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ATLANTA) — A gunman killed one and wounded four others in a mass shooting in an Atlanta medical center waiting room on Wednesday, police said.
The suspect, identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, was apprehended following an hourslong manhunt, police said Wednesday night.
Here’s how the news developed. All times Eastern:
May 04, 12:15 PM EDT
Hospital gives updates on injured victims
Three of the four women who were shot and injured remain in the intensive care unit, Dr. Robert Jansen, the chief medical officer at Grady Health, said at a news conference Thursday.
Two of those three women are “critical” and will return to the operating room for additional procedures, he said. The third patient in intensive care is stable and hopefully can move out of the ICU later in the day, he said.
The fourth woman who was shot is in stable condition, he said.
“As of right now everybody is as stable as they can be given the nature of their injuries,” Jansen said.
Jansen said he’s spoken with two of the injured victims.
“They have been traumatized,” he said.
“They are very grateful for the support and care they’ve received,” he said, however, “the fact that they were in a health care facility just makes it worse.”
Jansen noted that “the impact” of this shooting “on the staff is something you can’t imagine.”
“Unfortunately, in this day and age, seeing shooting victims is almost a daily occurrence here,” he said.
“But when they come in like this, particularly because it happened in a health care setting, it resonates more,” he said, adding that the hospital staff is being offered support.
May 04, 11:44 AM EDT
Suspect charged with murder, aggravated assault
The suspected gunman, 24-year-old Deion Patterson, has been charged with one count of murder and four counts of aggravated assault.
He waived his Thursday court appearance, according to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB.
May 04, 10:37 AM EDT
Suspect had semi-automatic handgun
The suspected gunman, 24-year-old Deion Patterson, was armed with a semi-automatic handgun when he allegedly shot five people in a medical center waiting room, according to court documents.
The documents identify the surviving victims as Georgette Whitlow, Lisa Glynn, Jazzmin Daniel and Alesha Hollinger. All four of them remain hospitalized.
Hollinger was shot in the face, according to the documents, while Daniel was shot multiple times in the abdomen. Whitlow was shot in the arm and Glynn was shot in the abdomen.
Amy St. Pierre, 39, an employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was killed in Wednesday’s shooting.
May 04, 10:27 AM EDT
Atlanta mayor: ‘It’s the guns’
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens released an impassioned letter addressed to city residents on Thursday pleading for change in the wake of Wednesday’s mass shooting in a medical center waiting room.
“This suspect was arrested and will stand trial for his crimes,” the mayor said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that one woman died, and four others were seriously injured. It doesn’t change the fact that our city experienced a collective trauma. Families are grieving today, and our community is on edge.”
“We will learn more in the coming days about the circumstances of this shooting. But one thing we already know is that an incident like this is tragically too common in America,” Dickens said. “We need national action to change the way we treat mental health. And we need action that keeps guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.”
“We cannot accept mass shootings as normal in our country,” he continued. “Other nations have challenges with mental health, but they don’t have this level of gun violence that we do.”
“It’s the guns,” the mayor stressed. “While we respect the rights conveyed by the 2nd Amendment, we also need more actions to protect the rights of our citizens to go about their lives — to go to a doctor’s office, a supermarket, a gas station, their school — without the threat of being gunned down.”
May 04, 8:50 AM EDT
Suspect charged with murder, aggravated assault
The suspected gunman, 24-year-old Deion Patterson, has been charged with one count of murder and four counts of aggravated assault.
He’s due in court at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
May 03, 11:00 PM EDT
Victim identified as CDC employee
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the 39-year-old victim who was killed in Wednesday’s shooting as Amy St. Pierre.
“CDC is deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of a colleague killed today in the Midtown Atlanta shooting,” it said in a statement. “Our hearts are with her family, friends and colleagues as they remember her and grieve this tragic loss.”
May 03, 9:34 PM EDT
Suspect taken into custody without incident, technology ‘played a huge role’: Police
The suspect was taken into custody without incident, police said Wednesday during a press conference.
The suspect entered the medical facility shortly before noon and allegedly shot the first victim shortly after, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton said. The suspect spent two minutes in the building before exiting and going to a Shell gas station, where he commandeered a pickup truck, according to Hampton.
Officers were able to place the license plate number into the reader system, Hampton said, and received an alert at approximately 12:30 that the suspect was in Cobb County.
Technology “played a huge role,” Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said, “but technology doesn’t work without the dedicated people behind it.”
Police had checked and cleared an unoccupied building they knew the suspect had gone into, VanHoozer said, adding that a “real-time operator” took a 911 call and had an instinct that it was legitimate, and they prioritized that call.
An undercover officer made the first contact with the suspect and had backup from uniformed officers, the chief said.
May 03, 8:00 PM EDT
Suspect has been captured, police say
The suspect, Deion Patterson, has been apprehended following an hourslong manhunt, Atlanta police said.
May 03, 6:49 PM EDT
Suspect seen in Cobb County shortly after shooting, police say
Police in Cobb County said Deion Patterson was seen on video in the county around 12:30 p.m. ET, roughly 20 minutes after the shooting, though it’s unclear if he’s still in the area.
Cobb County Police Sgt. Wayne Delk said during a press briefing that after learning Patterson might be in the area, his team checked flock cameras and “did discover that the vehicle had entered Cobb County,” located northwest of Midtown Atlanta, where the shooting occurred.
“Around 12:30 p.m., we did spot what appeared to be a suspect in this area, which is why we have such a heavy presence,” Delk said.
Police did not discover the video footage until around 2:30 p.m., and Delk acknowledged it’s unclear if Patterson is still in the county.
“He might still be in the area,” he said.
The vehicle Patterson was believed to be driving was recovered by Atlanta police in a parking garage, Delk said.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
May 03, 5:24 PM EDT
3 patients remain ‘critically ill’
Of the four women who were shot and injured in the medical facility waiting room, three of them are considered “critically ill” and are in the intensive care unit, according to Dr. Robert Jansen, the chief medical officer at Grady Health.
The most seriously injured patient remains in the operating room, Jansen said, while a second victim has completed an operation.
Another victim underwent an interventional radiology procedure, which is used to repair vascular injuries, and will need more procedures in the future, he said.
The fourth patient is considered stable, he said.
-ABC News’ Darren Reynolds
May 03, 4:51 PM EDT
Sen. Warnock, in grief for his home state, begs Congress to take action
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., gave a passionate speech on the Senate floor in the wake of the latest mass shooting to strike the nation, this one unfolding in his “own backyard.”
“I rise today in shock and sorrow and in grief for my home state,” Warnock said.
Police officers work the scene of a shooting near a medical facility, May 3, 2023, in Atlanta.
Warnock noted that his two children were under lockdown at school on Wednesday amid the ongoing hunt for the Atlanta gunman.
“We behave as if this is normal — it is not normal. It is not right for us to live in a nation where nobody is safe, no matter where they are. We’re not safe in our schools. We’re not safe in our workplaces. We’re not safe at the grocery store. We’re not safe at movie theaters. We’re not safe at spas. We’re not safe in our houses of worship. There is no sanctuary in the sanctuary. We’re not safe at concerts. We’re not safe at banks. We’re not safe at parades. We’re not safe in our own yards and in our own homes,” he said. “And now, today, we can add medical facilities to that list.”
He warned, “It’s only a matter of time that this kind of tragedy comes knocking on your door.”
As a pastor, Warnock said, “I’m praying for those who are affected by this tragedy,” but he stressed, “It is a contradiction to say that you are thinking and praying and do nothing. … We pray by taking action.”
Warnock said he’s “pleading” with his colleagues in Congress to pass stricter gun reforms to “do everything we can to protect all of us and certainly all of our children.”
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
May 03, 3:50 PM EDT
39-year-old woman killed, 4 women injured
The manhunt is ongoing for the mass shooting suspect, 24-year-old Deion Patterson, Atlanta police said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Police said the gun has not been recovered.
The shooting, which unfolded in a medical center waiting room, killed a 39-year-old woman, police said.
The four injured victims, who are all women, are “fighting for their lives,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said. They are ages 71, 56, 39 and 25, police said.
“As soon as possible I’ll be in touch with the families of the victims,” he said.
Patterson’s family is cooperating with the investigation, police said.
May 03, 3:17 PM EDT
Doctor recounts performing surgery as shooting unfolded 1 floor below
Dr. Timothy Simons was performing surgery one floor above the scene where the shooting unfolded.
He told ABC News he completed the surgery and then sheltered in place.
When police came to clear the building floor by floor, Simons said he was told to put his hands up to verify that he was not the shooter.
“Then they escorted us all down the stairs,” he said.
-ABC News’ Janice McDonald
May 03, 2:58 PM EDT
Carjacking may be connected to shooting
As Atlanta police search for the suspected gunman, 24-year-old Deion Patterson, they say a car was stolen “not long after the shooting” and remains missing.
“We are working to locate the carjacked vehicle and to determine whether it is connected to the shooting,” police said.
May 03, 2:31 PM EDT
Doctor saw officers swarm his building
Dr. Ahmed Ali, a radiation oncologist at the building, told ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB that he was returning from his lunch break when he saw armed officers swam the scene.
“I was worried what was happening,” he said. “Building security … they told me gunshots were coming from the 11th floor. They said there was a pool of blood in the elevator shafts when the doors opened.”
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira
May 03, 2:30 PM EDT
3 critically injured, 1 remains in ER
Of the four people who were shot and injured, three are in critical condition and one is in the emergency department, according to hospital officials.
All four are adults, officials said.
May 03, 2:02 PM EDT
1 dead, 4 injured
One person was killed and four were injured in the shooting at Laureate Medical Center in Atlanta, according to police.
“Officers are actively searching for the suspect and any other victims,” police said.
Northside Hospital tweeted that it’s “cooperating with law enforcement following the shooting at our midtown #Atlanta location earlier this afternoon. We urge people in the area to shelter in place and follow instructions from law enforcement on the scene.”
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump will try to move the criminal case brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into federal court, his attorneys said Thursday.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche informed the judge of the impending motion at the conclusion of a hearing about a protective order in the case.
Judge Juan Merchan said he would impose an order to prevent Trump from attacking individuals associated with the case or speaking about specific evidence obtained through discovery, but said he would not stop Trump from speaking generally about the case.
“I’m straining to give him every opportunity to make his candidacy,” Merchan said. “This is not a gag order.”
Merchan asked both sides to agree to a trial date in either February or March 2024, meaning the criminal trial could occur in the heart of campaign season.
Once the date is set, the judge said no one associated with the case, including Trump, should schedule anything to interfere.
“He cannot agree to any speaking engagements, appearances,” Merchan said.
