(UVALDE, Texas) — The parents of victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting and other members of the community called for the resignation of embattled school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo at an emotional meeting of the Uvalde, Texas, school board Monday night.
The board’s monthly meeting came nearly a month after the attack that took the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
“Having Pete still employed, knowing he is incapable of decision-making that saves lives is terrifying,” said Brett Cross, the uncle of student Uziyah Garcia, who died in the shooting. “Innocence doesn’t hide, innocence doesn’t change its story, but innocence did die on May 24.”
Scores of law enforcement officers responded to the shooting on May 24, with 19 of them waiting 77 minutes in the hallway outside the classroom containing the gunman, after Arredondo, the incident commander, wrongly believed that the situation had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, law enforcement has said.
“At one point or another you’re going to have to draw a line in the sand to decide if you hold one of your own accountable,” said Jesus Rizo Jr. “Pete, Mr. Arredondo, is also my friend. I’m sure we all got along with him. At one point or another, we’re going to have to decide if we hold them accountable. And I pray that you make the right decision.”
“Not a single responding officer ever hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk to save the children,” Arredondo told The Texas Tribune on June 9. “We responded to the information that we had and had to adjust to whatever we faced. Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat.”
Uvalde school board meetings typically allow up to fifteen minutes total for public comment, but board members expanded the timetable for Monday’s meeting.
A number of attendees held “Fire Pete Arredondo” signs as they stood at the side of the auditorium.
Among those at the meeting was Lyliana Garcia, 16, who lost both her parents as a result of the attack. Her mother was Irma Garcia, one of the teachers who died during the shooting, and her father was Joe Garcia, who died of a heart attack two days later.
“The horrifying manner in which my mother was murdered and taken from us completely shattered our hearts, but made my dad’s stop,” Garcia said. “There shouldn’t have been a reason my mom didn’t come home that day.”
Garcia said she’s now trying to fill the shoes of both parents — a burden no one her age should have.
“The table we once sat at with absolute joy and laughter is now quiet and has two empty seats,” she said.
Uvalde School District officials have not responded to multiple questions from ABC News regarding Arredondo’s employment status.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 21, 7:42 am
American killed in Ukraine, officials say
U.S. citizen Stephen Zabielski has died in Ukraine, the State Department confirmed to ABC News Tuesday morning.
“We can confirm the death of U.S. citizen Stephen Zabielski in Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We have been in touch with the family and have provided all possible consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have nothing further.”
Zabielski’s death was first reported by Rolling Stone.
US officials again cautioned Americans against traveling to Ukraine, saying “that U.S. citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options.”
-ABC News’ Matthew Seyler
Jun 21, 5:39 am
Russia intensifies threats, announces retaliatory strikes
Following Ukraine’s attack on three oil drilling platforms in the Black Sea off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea on Monday, Russian officials announced plans to strike critical Ukrainian targets in retaliation.
“The attack on the Chernomorneftegaz towers unleashes Russia’s hands,” Mikhail Sheremet, a Russian member of parliament, said on Monday as quoted by Russian media. “Retaliatory strikes on decision-making centers will be carried out in the near future,” Sheremet added.
Seven people remain missing after Ukraine’s strike on the drilling platforms, a source in the emergency services of Crimea said on Tuesday.
The fire on one of the oil rigs is still continuing, Russian Federation Council member from Crimea Olga Kovitidi told Interfax.
“With regards to the blaze, it is not abating on the oil rig. The fire approached the well overnight,” Kovitidi said.
On a day filled with intimidation tactics, Russia extended its threats to Lithuania on Monday, calling the Baltic country’s decision to suspend the transit of EU-sanctioned goods to the Russian Kaliningrad region “unprecedented” and “illegal.”
On June 18, Lithuania notified the Kaliningrad Railway of suspending the transit of EU-sanctioned goods through its territory. Up to half of ready-to-import goods, including building materials and metals, are subject to the ban, Kaliningrad region Governor Anton Alikhanov said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Lithuanian Chargé d’Affaires on Monday and warned the Baltic diplomat of repercussions if freight transit to the Kaliningrad region is not restored in full in the near future.
“Russia reserves the right to take action to protect its national interests,” the Russian ministry told the Lithuanian official as reported by local media.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet on Monday that “Russia has no right to threaten Lithuania.” According to Kuleba, “Moscow has only itself to blame for the consequences of its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
Yet on the same day, Russian officials announced military drills of the Baltic Fleet in the Kaliningrad region.
Several hundred firings of multiple rocket launcher systems, large-caliber guns and other artillery will be carried out during the exercises, the Baltic Fleet stated on Monday.
Maneuvers in the Kaliningrad region on Monday involved about 1,000 servicemen and more than 100 combat units, including special artillery equipment and missile units, according to Russian media.
Andriy Yermak, who heads the Ukrainian Presidential office, said Russia’s attempts to threaten Lithuania “are a challenge for the European Union and NATO.”
“Now it is important to maintain a stable position and not make concessions to Russia on sanctions and restrictions on the transit of goods from Russia to Kaliningrad,” Yermak said on Monday.
Any concession will be perceived by Russia as a weakness, the Ukrainian official added.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Tatiana Rymarenko and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told MSNBC that Americans Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh and Alexander Drueke, who were captured while fighting in Ukraine, “committed crimes,” and that they were not part of the Ukrainian armed forces and therefore not subject to the Geneva Conventions.
“They were involved in firing and shelling our military personnel, they were endangering their life and they should be responsible. They should be held responsible … for those crimes that they have committed,” he said.
The Geneva Conventions outline the humanitarian rights given to prisoners of war, however, mercenaries are not given the same protections.
Regarding WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February, Peskov said she’s not a hostage.
He said Russia has strict drug laws and she was caught carrying banned substances.
Griner was taken into custody at an airport near Moscow after officials allegedly found vape cartridges with hashish oil in her bag. Hasish oil is illegal to possess in Russia. The U.S. government has classified her case as “wrongfully detained,” which means that the U.S. would work to negotiate her release.
Jun 20, 4:09 pm
Ben Stiller, a goodwill ambassador with UNHCR, visits Ukraine
Actor Ben Stiller, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the last five years, is visiting Ukraine to highlight the refugee crisis.
“I’m here meeting people forced to flee their homes due to the war in Ukraine. People have shared stories about how the war has changed their lives — how they’ve lost everything and are deeply worried about their future,” Stiller said Monday from Ukraine.
“Protecting people forced to flee is a collective global responsibility,” he said. “We have to remember this could happen to anyone, anywhere.”
Stiller was seen meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday. Stiller told the actor-turned-president, “What you’ve done and the way that you’ve rallied the country and for the world, it’s really inspiring.”
Stiller also met with displaced people in Poland.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jun 20, 2:10 pm
Russians launching large-scale offensive in Luhansk region
Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Regional Military Administration in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, said the situation along the entire Luhansk front is “extremely” difficult with Russian forces “launching a large-scale offensive in our region.”
“They have accumulated a sufficient number of reserves and today all the free settlements of the region are on fire,” Haidai said.
The city of Lysychansk in the Luhansk Oblast has been coming under “massive” Russian fire all day, he said, with the number of victims unknown. He said Russian forces are advancing along the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway and nearby settlements are under constant fire.
Haidai added that Ukrainian troops are only in control of the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — It was a dark night when Oleksandr, a 51-year-old pilot, was set to fly to Mariupol.
“I have more than 30 years of experience. But this was the most difficult flight in my career,” he said of the mission he flew on April 4, more than a month into the Russian siege of Mariupol.
The Azovstal steel plant was at the time the city’s last stronghold for the Ukrainian troops, including many who were severely wounded, as well as hundreds of civilians who were sheltering there. While the Ukrainian authorities tried to negotiate with the Russian side to evacuate the plant, Ukraine’s military intelligence secretly organized aid deliveries.
The mission was offered to several pilots.
“We could refuse, but my crew didn’t,” said Oleksandr, who spoke to ABC News wearing a mask. “We knew there are our people in Mariupol and we have to help them.”
The task was to deliver around 2 tons of aid from Dnipro, about 150 miles north of Mariupol, and evacuate the wounded from the plant.
Having the latest intelligence, the crew designed a route to the besieged city to bypass the Russian air-defense system. It was a just another landing-and-cargo operation, Volodymyr, a 27-year-old navigator joked, although they knew that a previous mission had failed and their colleagues had died. (The navigator also spoke to ABC News while wearing a mask. Volodymyr is a family name, used here to obscure his identity.)
Two helicopters flew at around 130 miles per hour at a super-low altitude of three to five meters to stay invisible to the enemy, the pilot and navigator said.
“We had to fly over the power lines sometimes, and that was a risky maneuver given the speed,” the pilot said.
The road to the plant was rather calm, he said. Then the helicopter landed at the plant.
“We stayed in our places, while the cargo was taken and the wounded were loaded. It lasted only 20 minutes but felt like two hours. It was so scary,” Oleksandr said.
They heard and saw explosions all around them, they said. The helicopter was shaking.
“When we took off I noticed a Russian ship in the sea and understood that they could now hit us. But my hands did the job before my brain realized how dangerous it was,” the pilot said.
The helicopter continued the daring ride and safely landed in Dnipro at dawn.
“I turned around to the guys we evacuated. And I saw so much gratitude in their eyes,” he said. “We had only 15 minutes to talk, I found out that some of them were married, one soldier’s wife was pregnant and he said he was so much looking forward to seeing her… Unforgettable moment.”
According to the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, there were seven such missions to Azovstal during the Russian siege. Some pilots never returned, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later told the media. One of Oleksandr’s friends was among those who went missing.
“We were on our way back from Mariupol,” he said. “And I heard the pilot of the second crew saying they are seven kilometers from the contact line and have only 250 liters of fuel left. That’s three times less than we had, so I presumed that their helicopter was damaged. That was the last phrase I heard from my friend.”
They later found the crashed helicopter, but there were no bodies in or around it, he said.
“That’s why we still hope they are alive,” Oleksandr said.
The remaining Ukrainian soldiers in the Azovstal surrendered in mid-May. Ukrainian officials said the order was given to save the lives of the troops, who are now supposed to be exchanged.
Both the pilot and navigator who spoke to ABC News declined to make any judgements about the surrender. It probably had to be done, they said. But if they were again asked to carry that risky mission, they would probably do it, Volodymyr, the navigator, said.
“That flight changed me, I now appreciate life more,” he said. “But If I were told that I’m the only one who can do that I would accept the challenge.”
(NEW YORK) — Weighted swaddles and blankets are popular among parents trying to get their infants to sleep, but they should not be used on sleeping babies, according to new recommendations released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The AAP on Tuesday released updates to its safe sleep guidelines for the first time in five years.
The updated guidelines are based on the study of nearly 160 scientific articles since 2015 that cover risk factors and statistical trends for sleep-related infant death.
Among the new AAP’s new safe sleep recommendations are that weighted blankets, weighted sleepers and weighted swaddles should not be placed “on or near” a sleeping infant and infants should not wear hats indoors except in the first hours of life or in the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU).
The AAP also recommends, as it has in the past, that caregivers always place infants to sleep on their backs on a firm, flat surface and should never add “blankets, pillows, padded crib bumpers, or other items to an infant’s sleeping environment.”
In addition, caregivers should not use infant sleep products with inclined seat backs of more than 10 degrees and should not use infant car seats, bouncers and other inclined products for sleep, according to the guidelines.
Around 3,400 babies in the U.S. die each year while sleeping in sudden and unexpected deaths, according to the AAP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In May, President Joe Biden signed into law legislation that bans the manufacturing and sales of crib bumper pads and inclined sleepers with an inclined sleep surface of greater than 10 degrees.
Crib bumpers are defined by the law as “padded materials inserted around the inside of a crib and intended to prevent the crib occupant from becoming trapped in any part of the crib’s openings.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned consumers to not let their children sleep in child rockers after at least 14 deaths were linked to certain Fisher-Price and Kids2 rockers.
“Parents and caregivers should never use inclined products, such as rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings, for infant sleep and should not leave infants in these products unsupervised, unrestrained, or with bedding material, due to the risk of suffocation,” CPSC said.
The AAP offers these additional sleep safety recommendations for babies:
1. Until their first birthday, babies should sleep on their backs for all sleep times. “We know babies who sleep on their backs are much less likely to die of SIDS than babies who sleep on their stomachs or sides. The problem with the side position is that the baby can roll more easily onto the stomach. Some parents worry that babies will choke when on their backs, but the baby’s airway anatomy and the gag reflex will keep that from happening. Even babies with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) should sleep on their backs.”
2. Use a firm sleep surface. “A crib, bassinet, portable crib, or play yard that meets the safety standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is recommended along with a tight-fitting, firm mattress and fitted sheet designed for that particular product. Nothing else should be in the crib except for the baby. A firm surface is a hard surface; it should not indent when the baby is lying on it. Bedside sleepers that meet CPSC safety standards may be an option, but there are no published studies that have examined the safety of these products. In addition, some crib mattresses and sleep surfaces are advertised to reduce the risk of SIDS. There is no evidence that this is true, but parents can use these products if they meet CPSC safety standards.”
3. Keep baby’s sleep area in the same room where you sleep for the first six months or, ideally, for the first year. “Place your baby’s crib, bassinet, portable crib, or play yard in your bedroom, close to your bed. The AAP recommends room sharing because it can decrease the risk of SIDS by as much as 50% and is much safer than bed sharing. In addition, room sharing will make it easier for you to feed, comfort, and watch your baby.”
4. Only bring your baby into your bed to feed or comfort. “Place your baby back in his or her own sleep space when you are ready to go to sleep. If there is any possibility that you might fall asleep, make sure there are no pillows, sheets, blankets, or any other items that could cover your baby’s face, head, and neck, or overheat your baby. As soon as you wake up, be sure to move the baby to his or her own bed … Bed-sharing is not recommended for any babies.”
5. Never place your baby to sleep on a couch, sofa, or armchair. “This is an extremely dangerous place for your baby to sleep.”
6. Keep soft objects, loose bedding and other items out of the baby’s sleep area. “These include pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, blankets, toys, bumper pads or similar products that attach to crib slats or sides. If you are worried about your baby getting cold, you can use infant sleep clothing, such as a wearable blanket. In general, your baby should be dressed with only one layer more than you are wearing.”
7. Swaddle your baby safely. “Make sure that the baby is always on his or her back when swaddled. The swaddle should not be too tight or make it hard for the baby to breathe or move his or her hips. When your baby looks like he or she is trying to roll over, you should stop swaddling.”
8. Try giving a pacifier at nap time and bedtime. “This helps reduce the risk of SIDS, even if it falls out after the baby is asleep. If you are breastfeeding, wait until breastfeeding is going well before offering a pacifier. This usually takes 2-3 weeks. If you are not breastfeeding your baby, you can start the pacifier whenever you like. It’s OK if your baby doesn’t want a pacifier. You can try offering again later, but some babies simply don’t like them. If the pacifier falls out after your baby falls asleep, you don’t have to put it back.”
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Hollywood actor and director Ben Stiller heaped praise on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday to mark World Refugee Day as Russia’s ongoing invasion there forces millions to flee.
Stiller, who was visiting Ukraine and Poland as a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) gave a rushed walk and extended his hands to meet Zelenskyy, an actor and stand-up comedian before he was elected president in 2019.
Both men said they were honored to meet each other.
“You’re my hero,” Stiller told Zelenskyy inside the presidential palace. “You’re amazing. You quit a great acting career for this.”
“Not so great as yours,” Zelenskyy said back with a smile.
“No, but pretty great,” Stiller joked, putting his hand over his heart at times. “But what you’ve done and the way that you’ve rallied the country and for the world, it’s really inspiring.”
Zelenskyy gushed at the compliment, saying, “It’s too much for me.”
Stiller traveled to Ukraine “to see the scale of destruction and hear firsthand from people who have directly experienced the impact of the war,” the UNHCR said in a release, adding, “These personal stories will enable Mr. Stiller to communicate the need for continued and increased support to the humanitarian response in Ukraine.”
Ahead of his meeting with Zelenskyy and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Stiller visited occupied settlements around Kyiv and stopped earlier Monday in Irpin — a town next to the capital that witnessed intense fighting early during the invasion. He and Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative in Ukraine, met with survivors of that occupation, according to a press release from Zelenskyy’s office.
“It’s one thing to see this destruction on TV or on social networks. Another thing is to see it all with your own eyes. That’s a lot more shocking,” Stiller told Zelenskyy.
“What you saw in Irpin is definitely dreadful,” the Ukrainian president replied. “But it is even worse to just imagine what is happening in the settlements that are still under temporary occupation in the east.”
In Irpin, the bodies of 290 victims, with a disproportionate number of women, were recovered after Russian forces inflicted a month of terror, the BBC reported.
And in the east, Russian forces have used long-range artillery to assail cities in the Donbas region, which Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to control.
Since Putin launched his invasion in late February, between 8 and 12 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine, according to data from the UNHCR. Roughly half have fled to neighboring Poland, which Stiller visited Sunday, seeking to spread awareness of the needs of the refugee crisis.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A family barbecue, a park gathering and a nightclub were among the settings for at least nine mass shootings that broke out across the country between Friday and early Monday, marking the fourth consecutive weekend U.S. law enforcement officers have responded to multiple incidents, each involving four or more victims shot.
The shootings this weekend have left at least six people dead and 42 injured in nine cities, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a site that tracks shootings across the country. The website defines a mass shooting as a single incident involving four or more victims, which differs from the FBI’s definition as a single incident in which four or more people, not including the suspect, are killed.
The string of consecutive weekend mass-casualty incidents began over the Memorial Day holiday, when at least 17 shootings left a total of 13 dead and 79 injured in cities across the country. The three-day holiday was followed by a weekend that saw at least 11 mass-casualty shootings that left 17 dead and 62 injured across the nation.
Last weekend, at least 10 mass-casualty shootings nationwide killed 10 people and injured 42.
The string of deadly weekends comes in the wake of a May 14 mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that left 10 people dead and three wounded and the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
As of Monday, there have been 277 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.
1 killed, 8 injured in East Harlem, New York
Gunfire erupted early Monday at a park in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, where police said a group of people were having a barbecue when multiple shooters opened fire.
A 21-year-old man — identified as Darius Lee, a former New York high school basketball standout and college player — was fatally shot, according to ABC New York station WABC. The New York Police Department said six additional men and two women suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the barrage of gunfire that broke out along the city’s East River at about 12:35 a.m.
Authorities believe multiple guns were used in the shooting based on the shell casings homicide detectives found at the scene. Police said one handgun was also recovered from the scene.
No arrests were immediately announced and a motive remains under investigation, although authorities said they suspect the shooting was gang-related.
Lee was a member of the Houston Baptist University basketball team.
“The loss of anyone in the HBU family is a cause for grief, but it’s especially painful when we see the death of a student, particularly when so much promise is cut off in such a violent, senseless way. We offer our prayers for Darius’s family and closest friends,” HBU President Robert B. Sloan wrote in a post on Twitter.
Teenager killed, 3 people injured in nation’s capital
A 15-year-old boy was fatally shot and three adults, including a police officer, were injured in a shooting in Washington, D.C., Sunday night, officials said.
The shooting unfolded in the Cardozo neighborhood of downtown Washington, D.C. — a popular area filled with stores, restaurants and bars.
Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said at a news conference the shooting erupted after police officers responded to the area to break up a fight and disperse a crowd of several hundred people gathered at what he said was an “unpermitted” Juneteenth event and music festival called “Moechella.” He said prior to the shooting, a panicked crowd began to scatter and several people were trampled.
The subsequent shooting left two adult victims and the police officer with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, police said.
The name of the teenager who was killed was not immediately released.
No arrests were announced. Police said one handgun was recovered at the scene.
South Carolina nightclub shooting leaves 2 dead, 2 injured
Two men were killed and two other people were injured when a shooting occurred early Sunday at a nightclub in Walterboro, South Carolina, police said.
The shooting broke out about 2:40 a.m. at the High Time Night Club, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.
“Arriving deputies secured the scene and began rendering aid to the two male victims suffering from critical gunshot wounds,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The mortally wounded men were taken to Colleton Medical Center in Walterboro, where they were both pronounced dead, according to the sheriff’s office.
Two other victims who suffered non-life-threatening injuries arrived at the hospital in private vehicles, authorities said.
The names of the men killed were not immediately released.
A motive for the shooting is under investigation and no arrests have been announced.
Freeway shooting in Miami injures 5
Five people were shot and wounded early Sunday when the car they were riding in on a highway in Miami was fired on at by occupants of another vehicle, according to the Miami Police Department.
Police said six people were traveling on U.S. Route 1 at about 2:30 a.m. in a four-door Nissan Altima when a vehicle pulled up alongside them and gunfire rang out, police said.
Five of the six people in the Nissan suffered gunshot wounds, police said. The victims, two males and four females, ranged in age from 16 and 22, police said.
Police said a motive for the shooting remains under investigation and no arrests have been announced.
5 shot at intersection in Grand Rapids, Michigan
At least five people were injured early Sunday when a shooting erupted at an intersection in Grand Rapids, Michigan, police said.
The shooting happened around 2:45 a.m. and police found multiple shell casings in the area and several cars struck by bullets, Jennifer Kalczuk, a spokesperson for the Grand Rapids Police Department, told ABC News on Monday.
Kalczuk said officers responded to a report of shots fired and found one of the victims suffering from a gunshot wound. She said four other victims, three suffering from gunshot wounds and one believed to have been hit by flying glass, were taken to a hospital in private vehicles. She said all the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
No suspects have been arrested and a motive is under investigation.
7 shot, 2 fatally, at family barbecue in San Antonio, Texas
Two men were killed and five other people were wounded Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas, when a car drove by and at least one occupant opened fire on a group of people gathered outside a home for a family barbecue, police said.
The drive-by shooting unfolded at about 10 p.m.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said at a news conference that 20 to 30 shots were fired in the attack.
He said the injured victims, including two women, ranged in age from 20 to mid-40s.
“A family was barbecuing out front of the house. People drove by and unloaded on them,” McManus said.
McManus said at the time of the shooting, six children were inside of the house and avoided injury.
“Fortunately, they weren’t out front,” McManus said.
He said police had responded to the same home in May when another drive-by shooting occurred there.
No arrests have been announced and a motive remains under investigation.
4 people, including a woman driving by, shot in Baltimore
Four people were injured Saturday night when a gunman walked up to them on a street and opened fire, police said.
The shooting happened around 11 p.m. in the Harlem Park neighborhood of West Baltimore, according to police.
One of the shooting victims was a 21-year-old woman who was driving by when gunfire erupted, police said.
The victims, who range in age from 21 to 50, were all treated at hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
No arrests have been announced.
Shooting at Pensacola, Florida, bar leaves 5 injured
Five people were injured when a shooting occurred at a downtown Pensacola, Florida, bar early Saturday.
The shooting erupted around 12:30 a.m. at The Pelican’s Nest bar.
“It is believed the shooting was a targeted incident, and there is no safety concerns toward the public,” the Pensacola Police Department said in a statement.
Officers responded to the bar and found three people suffering from gunshot wounds in the parking lot, police said. Two other shooting victims, a man and a woman, later showed up at the hospital in private vehicles.
A handgun was found by police inside the bar, but it was unclear if it was used in the shooting.
Police suspect one gunman was involved but no arrests have been made and a motive is under investigation.
5 shot in Chicago Parking lot
Five people were injured in a shooting that occurred in a parking lot in Chicago, police said.
It was the fourth straight weekend that Chicago police have responded to a mass-casualty shooting involving four or more victims.
The episode occurred around 11:45 p.m. in the Lake Meadows neighborhood on Chicago’s Southside. The victims ranged in age from 18 to 27 and all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including one man who was shot in the chin, police said.
No arrests have been announced.
The mass-casualty shooting came amid a violent weekend in Chicago. The Chicago Police Department reported that a total of 39 people were shot in the city over the weekend, four fatally, according to ABC Chicago station WLS-TV.
(SAN DIEGO) — The FBI is looking for a man wanted in the disappearance of a woman whose remains were found in her vehicle in Tijuana last month.
The Bureau’s San Diego office asked for the public’s help on Sunday in finding 50-year-old Tyler Adams in connection to Racquel Sabean’s death.
Following an Amber Alert for Sabean’s missing 7-month-old daughter, local Mexican police detained and questioned Adams on Wednesday, but he was “uncooperative,” the FBI said in a press release.
Texas parents grateful daughter is alive after she vanished at NBA game
Sabean’s daughter was found safe and is in protective custody in Mexico. According to ABC affiliate KHON2, Adams and Sabean were in a relationship.
Adams is said to have entered the U.S. on Thursday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry under the alias “Aaron Bain.” The FBI said Adams has over a dozen aliases, including Paul Wilson Phipps, David Smith and Dominic Braun.
Immigration officials in Mexico reportedly handed Adams over to Customer and Border Protection officers at the border, according to the Baja California attorney general.
No information was provided as to how Adams escaped CBP, but the FBI was not present when the handoff between authorities happened, FBI San Diego’s Public Affairs Officer William McNamara said, according to ABC affiliate KGTV.
According to the FBI, Adams is also a fugitive out of Hawaii for escape in the second degree. The FBI describes Adams as white, 5 feet, 9 inches and weighs around 175 pounds, and has brown hair and possible swelling under his eyes.
“He should be considered dangerous; he has an extensive criminal history as it relates to fraud, multiple identities, multiple fake and stolen identities,” McNamara said.
(NEW YORK) — The summer season is in full swing as sweltering temperatures are expected to continue for millions around the country over the next several days.
On the heels of a record-breaking heat wave that brought dangerous temperatures to more than 100 million Americans, another round of scorching weather will also affect a large swath of the country this week.
The brunt of the heat will be affecting the central U.S. Monday afternoon, especially the upper Midwest, where an excessive heat warning is in effect for cities like Minneapolis and Fargo, North Dakota, and a heat advisory is in effect for regions surrounding Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Omaha, Nebraska, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Highs Monday afternoon will reach 100 degrees as far north as Minnesota, with widespread temperatures soaring into the 90s across the central U.S. Several daily record highs will be challenged in the upper Midwest, forecasts show.
On Tuesday, the solstice will mark the official start of the summer, and it will feel like it in many places throughout the country. The heat will shift farther east, with widespread highs in the 90s are expected from the South into the Midwest and some cities hitting triple digits.
Humidity is not expected to be as intense as last week’s heat wave, but heat index values will still be a few degrees higher than the air temperature, hitting the triple digits in many Midwest and Southern cities Tuesday afternoon.
After Tuesday, the heat will continue to move toward the eastern seaboard. Temperatures from Memphis to Atlanta will be near 100 degrees from the middle to end of the week.
And the blistering temperatures are likely here to stay. Forecasts indicate that above-average temperatures are favored across the southern U.S. through the end of June, meaning more heat waves are likely on the way.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff made a surprise visit to schoolchildren at the National Museum of African American History and Culture to talk about the meaning of Juneteenth as the nation observed the new federal holiday on Monday.
Children and their families greeted Harris, the first Black woman to serve as the nation’s second-highest executive, with cheers as she entered the room.
“Happy Juneteenth, young leaders,” a smiling Harris told the children.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were the last to learn President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, freeing them from slavery. The date achieved federal holiday status last June, when President Joe Biden signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.
“Today is a day to celebrate the principle of freedom,” Harris told the children ages 4 to 10, “and think about it in terms of the context of history, knowing that Black people in America were not free for 400 years of slavery, but then at the end of slavery — right? … when the Emancipation Proclamation happened, that America had to really think about defining freedom …”
“I would argue, it is our God-given right to have freedom,” she added. “It is your birthright to have freedom, and then during slavery freedom was taken. And so we’re not going to celebrate being given back what God gave us anyway” as the group voiced agreement, one person saying, “Amen.”
She continued, “let this be a day that is a day to celebrate the principle of freedom, but to speak about it honestly and accurately, both in the context of history, and current application. That’s what I’m thinking about today.”
The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in 2016, when it became “the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution,” according to the museum’s website.
After their remarks, the second couple talked with children as they worked on coloring books.
The surprise appearance on Monday follows Harris and Emhoff hosting the first-ever Juneteenth celebration at the vice president’s residence, she tweeted on Sunday.
“I can think of no better way to celebrate Juneteenth than by spending time with the community,” Harris said, sharing a photo of R&B duo sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey, who spoke at the event.
Biden released a statement on Sunday afternoon calling Juneteenth “a day of profound weight and power that reminds us of our extraordinary capacity to heal, hope, and emerge from our most painful moments into a better version of ourselves.”
He added, “This is a day to celebrate, to educate, and to act.”
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to recognize Juneteenth as a paid state holiday.
(NEW YORK) — More than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19, but recent data shows that deaths and severe disease are not increasing with the same vigor despite a surge in infections.
The U.S. has reported more than 700,000 new cases in the last week, but experts say totals are likely significantly undercounted as states shutter public testing sites and more Americans use at-home COVID-19 tests.
The number of virus-positive patients currently receiving care in hospitals across the country remains around 30,000 Americans, and on average, more than 4,200 virus-positive Americans are entering the hospital each day.
Although the number of people requiring hospitalization has doubled in the last two months, the total has plateaued in recent weeks, rather than surging significantly as they did in early January, when there were more than 160,000 patients receiving care.
Thus, even with infection rates surging, hospitalization and death rates have not seen a substantial increase, which experts say is likely the result of COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots blunting the impact of severe disease.
“What has been remarkable in the latest increase in infections we’re seeing is how steady serious illness and particularly deaths are eight weeks into this,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told The Associated Press late last month. “COVID-19 is no longer the killer that it was even a year ago.”
Approximately 300 COVID-19-related deaths are currently reported each day, and about 1,800 Americans have been reported lost to the virus in the last week.
In the Northeast, which experienced a significant viral surge throughout the spring, there has yet to be a subsequent increase in COVID-19 deaths.
Even with undercounting, death rates are currently nowhere near where they stood at their peak in January 2021, when there were more than 3,400 deaths reported each day, or during the omicron peak in February, when the U.S. was reporting about 2,700 deaths every day.
Although an ABC News analysis of federal data shows that there has been an increase in breakthrough infections and deaths, the unvaccinated still remain at higher risk for severe disease compared to the vaccinated and boosted.
In April, unvaccinated adults were six times more likely to die of COVID-19 compared to vaccinated individuals and, in May, two times more likely to test positive, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Similarly, among Americans over the age of 50, the unvaccinated had a risk of dying that was 42 times higher than people who had been fully vaccinated and double boosted.
Even with encouraging news, health experts stressed that every death is still a tragedy, and Americans must continue to consider ways to protect themselves and the most vulnerable as they learn to live with the virus.
“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to these numbers,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week. “There is no acceptable level of deaths from COVID-19 when we have the tools to prevent, detect and treat this disease.”
