(NEW YORK) — Five people, including a 1-year-old girl, were killed in a near-head-on collision on a Florida highway Sunday night, authorities said.
A 2015 Ford Explorer traveling north crossed the center line of the highway and collided nearly head-on with a 2021 Nissan Frontier, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a press release.
The 20-year-old female driver of the SUV and three of the vehicle’s six passengers, including 1-year-old and 12-year-old girls, suffered fatal injuries, the FHP said. A 56-year-old woman was also killed. The other three passengers, girls and women ages 5, 22 and 31, were in serious condition, according to the FHP.
It’s unclear why the SUV crossed over the highway, the FHP said. The incident happened at 9:22 p.m. on SR-39 in Hillsborough County, north of Plant City and about 25 miles northeast of Tampa. The driver and all passengers were wearing seatbelts or in child restraints, according to the FHP.
After the initial accident took place, a tractor-trailer collided with the pickup truck, which was in the southbound lane with no lights illuminating it following the crash, according to the press release.
The pickup truck driver, a 53-year-old man, suffered fatal injuries at the scene, the FHP said. The 1-year-old died at an area hospital, the highway patrol said.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 60-year-old man, suffered no injuries, according to the FHP.
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — Two South Carolina sheriffs are pushing back against claims that officers targeted a bus full of students from a historically Black university earlier this month.
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright and Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller said at a joint press conference Monday that Shaw University President Paulette Dillard’s version of events of a traffic stop were wrong.
Eighteen students and two staff advisers from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, were on their way to the Center for Financial Advancement Conference in Atlanta on Oct. 5 when their bus was stopped by police over a minor traffic violation in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Dillard told ABC News Raleigh-Durham station WTVD-TV.
Dillard claimed Spartanburg County Sheriff police dogs searched through the students’ bags.
“President Dillard said they were searched by blood-thirsty dogs. There was one dog; he was on a leash. Students were never even close to that dog,” Wright said at the news conference. “None of the students were even asked off the bus.”
Dillard said the traffic stop was reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s when segregation was still practiced widely in the South.
“This behavior of targeting Black students is unacceptable and will not be ignored nor tolerated,” Dillard told WTVD. “Had the students been white, I doubt this detention and search would have occurred.”
She went on, “I wish racism would die the ugly, cruel death it deserves. And if anything we are ever doing is racist, I want to know it, I want to fix it and I want to never let it happen again, but this case right here has nothing to do with racism.”
In body camera footage from the South Carolina Sheriff’s Office, which was obtained by ABC News, officers can be seen approaching the bus, checking out the bus driver’s license and speaking to the driver while a police dog sniffed luggage located underneath the vehicle.
The video also shows an officer searching the driver for weapons after he placed his hand in his pockets. The driver pulls out candy from his pockets while engaging in conversation with the officer, according to the video.
Law enforcement officials issued the bus driver a written warning, the video shows.
Wright said he’s reached out to Dillard but hasn’t been able to speak to her.
Neither Shaw University nor Cherokee County Sheriff offices immediately responded to ABC News’ request for comment. The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s office referred ABC News to its Facebook page, where it posted the press conference and bodycam footage.
Shortly after the alleged incident, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper expressed “deep concern” over what school officials say transpired during the traffic stop.
“The Governor shares the deep concern of Shaw University leaders about the treatment and safety of their students and has asked North Carolina Public Safety officials to discuss this matter with South Carolina law enforcement officials and express that concern,” according to a statement from Cooper’s office.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, little more than a week away from Election Day, presented something of an ultimatum to gas and oil companies: ramp up production or pay a higher tax rate.
“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities to this country, give the American people a break and still do very well,” Biden said as he spoke from the White House on Monday afternoon alongside Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Biden threatened imposing a higher tax on excess profits and other restrictions if companies don’t increase production and refining capacity to drive down prices at the pump.
“My team will work with Congress to look at these options that are available to us and others,” he said.
Congress is currently in recess as lawmakers return home to campaign and stump for their preferred candidates ahead of the Nov. 8 elections.
Oil companies have made staggering profits while Americans are paying higher energy prices.
ExxonMobil said last week it had its highest earnings ever for the third quarter, with a net income of $19.7 billion. Chevron reported making $11 billion in profits, while Shell made $9.5 billion in profits.
“What I mean is profits so high it’s hard to believe,” Biden said, accusing companies of passing the profits back to shareholders and buying back their stock.
“Give me a break, enough is enough,” Biden added.
As of Monday, the national average for a gallon of gas was $3.76, according to the American Automobile Association. That’s 30 cents higher than the price of gas a year ago.
If oil companies passed on their excess profits to consumers, Biden said the price of gas would go down by 50 cents.
Higher energy prices also impact manufacturers, and those costs are often passed down to consumers by raising prices on food, clothing, furniture and more. Inflation is at a level not seen in decades, with the consumer price index rising 0.4% in September and consumer prices overall rising 8.2% in the last 12 months.
Nearly half of Americans say either the economy (26%) or inflation (23%) is the most important issue this midterm cycle, according to a new poll conducted by ABC News and Ipsos.
Republicans have seized on high prices in their midterm messaging, blaming inflation on Democratic policies and spending packages. The ABC News/Ipsos poll found nearly three out of four Republicans point to the two economic concerns as a priority.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to block the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his tax returns.
The committee has requested six years’ worth of Trump’s returns as part of an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Trump accused the committee of seeking his taxes under false pretenses.
“The Committee’s purpose in requesting President Trump’s tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with releasing the President’s tax information to the public,” the petition said.
A federal appeals court ruled in August that tax returns should be handed over to the House committee. The committee first sought the returns in 2019.
Trump most recently failed to block the request on Thursday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals shot down his request to reconsider a unanimous opinion from one of its three-judge panels approving the committee’s access to the documents.
While Trump’s team claims the panel’s bid to obtain the tax returns is purely political, the committee insists the documents are valuable to assess how the Internal Revenue Service performs presidential audits.
“The law has always been on our side,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said in a statement after Thursday’s ruling. “Former President Trump has tried to delay the inevitable, but once again, the Court has affirmed the strength of our position. We’ve waited long enough—we must begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program as soon as possible.”
At the heart of the dispute is a federal tax law mandating that the Treasury Department “shall furnish” tax information requested by the Ways and Means Committee, a law Trump’s lawyers suggest is unconstitutional.
Democrats have been clamoring to get a glimpse of Trump’s tax returns since 2015 when he launched his bid for president and broke decades of precedent by not releasing the documents.
Besides having his personal tax returns sought after, Trump is also facing pressure by criminal probes into his personal business, possession of government documents after leaving office and efforts to block the certification of the 2020 election results.
(NEW YORK) — One version of amoxicillin, a common antibiotic used to treat issues like ear infections in kids, is in short supply, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The shortage of amoxicillin means that parents and other caregivers may need to visit multiple pharmacies in order to fill a prescription for liquid amoxicillin or may need to ask their doctor for an alternative medication. Some pharmacies may also be able to adjust the strength of the supply on hand to meet demand.
The FDA lists the oral solution of amoxicillin in its drug shortage database, describing it as “currently in shortage.”
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists also lists amoxicillin in its drug shortages database, noting that multiple different manufacturers of the drug are experiencing shortages.
Amoxicillin is an antibiotic that can be prescribed for bacterial infections.
In addition to ear infections, amoxicillin is commonly prescribed to children for strep, whooping cough and some urinary tract infections.
One manufacturer of the drug, Sandoz, a division of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, told ABC News that what it described as a “supply situation” is the result of a “significant uptake” in demand for amoxicillin.
The increased demand combined with several other factors, including supply chain issues, is leading to the short supply, according to the company.
“The combination in rapid succession of the pandemic impact and consequent demand swings, manufacturing capacity constraints, scarcity of raw materials, and the current energy crisis means we currently face a uniquely difficult situation,” Sandoz said in a statement. “We are working with key stakeholders including governments to find ways to manage this critical situation.”
Amoxicillin is not used to treat COVID-19, RSV or the flu, but the drug’s limited supply comes at a time when many pediatric hospitals across the country say they are reaching capacity due to an early rise in respiratory illnesses.
Last week, pediatric bed occupancy in the U.S. was the highest it’s been in two years with 75% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled with patients, according to an ABC News analysis.
Walgreens told ABC News on Friday the pharmacy chain is “not seeing any constraints around availability of amoxicillin at this time.”
CVS told ABC News it has seen “isolated” shortages of the drug.
“We’ve seen isolated supplier product shortages of certain doses of the medication,” the company said in a statement. “We’re working with manufacturers to replenish supply as quickly as possible.”
ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Eric Strauss, Alicia Zellmer and Emma Egan contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Powerball jackpot ahead of Monday night’s drawing is an estimated $1 billion, only the second time in the game’s 30-year- history that the main prize has hit that milestone.
The cash value is estimated at $497.3 million, according to Powerball.
No one matched the winning numbers on Saturday night, where the jackpot was $825 million. Saturday’s numbers were 40, 19, 57, 31, 46 and the Powerball was 23. The powerplay number was 3.
Powerball said players won over $38 million in non-jackpot prizes on Saturday. Six tickets in California, Maryland, Michigan and Texas were valued at $1 million and a ticket holder in Florida won $2 million.
The jackpot is Powerball’s largest prize so far this year, the second-largest Powerball jackpot ever and the fifth-largest in U.S. lottery history, according to a press release from Powerball.
The largest prize in Powerball history was $1.586 billion sold in January 2016 and shared by three winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
What are your odds of winning the lottery
The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to a statement from Powerball.
How late can you buy Powerball tickets
According to Powerball, “sales cut-off times vary by selling jurisdiction. Please check with your local lottery for more information.”
What time is the Powerball drawing
The Powerball drawings happen Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Latest headlines:
-Russia launches waves of missiles at energy targets
-Blinken accuses Russia of ‘weaponizing food’
-Russia’s partial mobilization is complete
-‘We are seeing casualties mount up,’ Ukrainian politician tells ABC News
-Russia threatens to target US satellites
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 31, 7:07 PM EDT
Russia’s withdrawal from grain deal ‘collective punishment’ for world: State Department
State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday lambasted Russia’s recent decision to withdraw from the U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be exported through the Black Sea — likely to be a chief focus of this week’s G-7 ministerial meeting and potentially the G-20 Leaders’ Summit next month.
“We deeply regret Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is having immediate, harmful impacts on global food security,” Price said during a press briefing. “Russia should return to full participation in the initiative, and we urge all parties to swiftly agree to sustain this crucial program through the months to come.”
“Any disruption to the initiative risks spiking food prices, lowering the confidence of insurers and commercial shippers who have returned to Black Sea routes, and further imposing hardships on low-income countries already reeling from dire humanitarian crises and global food insecurity,” he added.
Price said Russia’s reneging had already caused future contracts for foodstuff to rise, even though some ships appear to have been allowed to pass through the water routes with their cargo following Moscow’s announcement.
“We’ve seen Russia engage in what appears to be collective punishment for the people of Ukraine,” he said. “But Moscow’s suspension of the initiative would be tantamount to collective punishment for the rest of the world — but especially lower- and middle-income countries that so desperately needed this grain.”
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Oct 31, 3:32 PM EDT
Ukraine energy company warns about attacks on energy infrastructure
Following a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine this Monday morning, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK says it’s running out of equipment and spare parts needed for repairs of the damaged infrastructure facilities.
“Unfortunately, we have already used up the stock of equipment that we had in our warehouses after the first two waves of attacks that have been taking place since Oct. 10,” said DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk. “We were able to purchase some equipment. But unfortunately, the cost of the equipment is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Most parts have been already used for repairs following previous Russian strikes, he added.
Oct 31, 4:54 AM EDT
Russia launches waves of missiles at energy targets
Russia on Monday morning again launched a series of coordinated strikes across Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure, including in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 44 cruise missiles as the Russians launched “several waves of missile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities” across the country.
About five distant booms could be heard in central Kyiv at about 8 a.m. local time.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that a power plant has been hit, meaning mid-morning around 350,000 homes in the capital were left without power. Kyiv’s water supply has also been compromised, according to a water company.
A local official said “critical infrastructure” had also been hit in the Chernivtsi region in southwestern Ukraine.
Critical infrastructure has also been hit and damaged in Zaporizhzhia in the south, according to another local official.
Other regions of Ukraine appear to have been targeted, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Poltava and Lviv.
There are currently no reports of significant casualties.
ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge
Oct 30, 10:02 AM EDT
Blinken accuses Russia of ‘weaponizing food’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a statement from the Kremlin that “people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry.”
Russia announced it is withdrawing from the U.N.-brokered grain deal in response to a drone attack Saturday in the waters of the Sevastopol Bay, in the Black Sea near Crimea.
Russia’s decision, Blinken said, is jeopardizing grain shipments he described as “life-saving.”
“In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices, and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity,” Blinken said in a statement released Saturday night.
He said 9 million metric tons of food has been shipped under the agreement, which was signed and launched in July. He said the shipments have reduced food prices around the world.
“We urge the Government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s statement echoed what President Joe Biden said earlier Saturday, calling Russia’s withdrawal from the initiative, “purely outrageous.”
“It’s going to increase starvation. There’s no reason for them to do that, but they’re always looking for some rationale to be able to say the reason they’re doing something outrageous is because the West made them do it. And it’s just not,” Biden said. “There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The UN negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”
(CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.) — Two people are dead after a shooting erupted at a post office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sunday night and ended when the suspect died crashing into a strip mall business while attempting to flee, police said.
The shooting unfolded about 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Police officers responded to a report of shots fired at a post office in a neighborhood southeast of downtown Chattanooga, police Chief Celeste Murphy said at a news conference early Monday.
“Right now, all we know is that we have two people who are shot and the investigation is ongoing,” Murphy told reporters.
Murphy confirmed the post office shooting and a vehicle crash six miles away were connected to the same incident.
“The situation is contained. There is no further threat to the public,” Murphy said.
She said a motive for the shooting is under investigation. The names of the two people killed were not immediately released.
It was not immediately clear if the two people killed were employees of the post office. The postal facility was closed to the public at the time of the shooting.
The suspect, who was also shot in the incident, fled in a pickup truck, police said. The suspect drove about six miles before losing control of the vehicle and crashing into a business at the Northgate Mall.
The truck plowed through the front door of the Apple Nail Bar and continued through a wall into an adjacent FedEx office.
Alex Nguyen, who owns the Apple Nail Bar, told ABC affiliate station WTVC-TV in Chattanooga that he was scheduled to take over the business on Tuesday.
“I don’t know where to start to clean up because there’s so much work to do,” Nguyen said.
Murphy said the incident was contained to the post office and the mall where the crash occurred.
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — A Grand Rapids police officer charged with second-degree murder of Patrick Lyoya will go to trial.
Christopher Schurr, a seven-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Police Department, has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Nicholas Ayoub reviewed evidence presented in Schurr’s preliminary hearing last week.
Lyoya, a 26-year-old native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was shot in the head on April 4 after Schurr pulled him over for a faulty license plate. His death prompted protests throughout Grand Rapids.
Body camera video showed Schurr shouting at Lyoya to “get in the car.” The footage was released nine days after the shooting.
Schurr can be heard asking Lyoya if he spoke English and then demanding that Lyoya show his driver’s license. Lyoya turned to a passenger in the car, closed the door and started to walk away from Schurr, according to the video.
Lyoya started to run. Schurr grabbed Lyoya and struggled with him before eventually forcing him to the ground, shouting “Stop resisting,” “Let go” and “Drop the Taser,” according to the video. The body camera was deactivated during the struggle, according to police.
Police said Lyoya grabbed at Schurr’s stun gun during the altercation. Schurr then shot Lyoya while he was on the ground, according to cellphone footage of the incident.
Cellphone footage from Lyoya’s friend Aime Tuiishme showed the moment Schurr shot Lyoya in the back of the head. The fatal shot was confirmed by both an independent autopsy report as well as the Kent County medical examiner.
Neighborhood resident Wayne Butler spoke to the court on Thursday, describing the altercation as “wrestling” and noted that Lyoya was not “on the offensive.”
Schurr was fired from the Grand Rapids Police Department in June after waiving his right to a discharge hearing.
(DELPHI, Ind.) — A Delphi, Indiana, man, Richard Allen, has been arrested for the 2017 murders of eighth graders Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter announced at a news conference Monday.
Best friends Libby and Abby were on a hiking trail in rural Delphi when they were killed in the middle of the day on Feb. 13, 2017.
The shocking slayings cast fear across the small Indiana town and garnered national intrigue.
This marks the first time a suspect has been named in the mysterious double murder. Police have still not released how the girls were killed.
Latest headlines:
-‘Right here among us’
-Suspect enters not guilty plea
-Police ask for more tips
-Man arrested in Delphi murders
Here’s how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Oct 31, 12:55 PM EDT
‘Right here among us’
Libby German’s grandmother and guardian, Becky Patty, was surprised to learn the man arrested for the murders of Libby and Abby Williams was a Delphi resident.
“It’s a small community,” she told ABC News hours after Richard Allen’s arrest was announced. “For it to be one of us, it’s hard.”
“How can somebody do that and then just go on living life like nothing happened?” Libby’s grandfather, Mike Patty, added.
Libby’s sister, Kelsi German, said she always felt the girls’ killer must be someone familiar with the Delphi area, but she said she didn’t want to believe the suspect “was right here among us.”
Mike Patty commended the police officers who he said were diligent and “sacrificed their own family time” to work on his granddaughter’s case.
“They never let up,” he said.
“There’s a lot of questions we have that are unanswered,” he added, “but all in due time that will come.”
For Libby’s sister, the arrest brings “new obstacles and emotions that we have to learn how to deal with.”
German said she visited her sister’s grave on Sunday to talk to her about the updates in the case.
Oct 31, 12:36 PM EDT
More than 70,000 tips submitted
More than 70,000 tips have been submitted since the murders in 2017, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter told ABC News.
“The eyes of America were on this” case, Carter said, because Delphi — a “wonderful community” — is like so many other American towns.
“We committed a long time ago this day would come,” he said of the arrest.
“Evil never wins,” he added.
As for the girls’ families, Carter said, “I wish I could take their hurt away, but I can’t.”
Carter would not talk about the suspect, Richard Allen, or what led police to him.
Oct 31, 10:25 AM EDT
Suspect enters not guilty plea
The man charged with the girls’ murders, Richard Allen, had his initial hearing and entered a not guilty plea, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said.
Allen was taken into custody on Oct. 26 and is being held at the White County Jail, officials said.
He’s being held without bond and is set to return to court in January, McLeland said.
“Per the court order, we cannot talk about the evidence that’s in the probable cause” affidavit, McLeland said.
The prosecutor would not say when Allen became a suspect or if he knew Abby or Libby.
McLeland said it’s “concerning” to him that Allen is a local Delphi resident. He called the arrest a “step in the right direction.”
Oct 31, 10:13 AM EDT
Police ask for more tips
In the wake of the arrest, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said, “Peace came over me — and I didn’t expect that to happen.”
He said in a message to the families that he hopes they “have found some peace in this complicated world.”
Carter urged the public to “please continue offering tips,” as the investigation is ongoing.
