(JOQUICINGO, Mexico) — At least 19 people are dead and dozens more injured after a bus crash in central Mexico Friday.
The accident occurred on a highway in Joquicingo, a township in the State of Mexico that’s approximately 45 miles southwest of Mexico City.
A tour bus heading to a religious site in the State of Mexico crashed into a building after the brakes went out, the State of Mexico’s Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Officials said 19 people were reported dead and 32 injured following the crash.
Six people, including two minors, were flown to a hospital in Toluca, while others were transported to several hospitals in the region, officials said. Those injured included multiple women and children, with injuries ranging from broken bones to head trauma, according to the Ministry of Health.
Multiple agencies responded to the site of the crash, including the Red Cross and the Emergency Service of the State of Mexico.
Alfredo Del Mazo, the governor of the State of Mexico, said in a statement on Twitter that he has instructed the heads of the Civil Protection, Security, Rescue and Health agencies to support the impacted families.
Officials said the bus was with the tourism company Turismo Tejeda and was heading from the municipality of Sahuayo, Michoacán, and bound for the Santuario del Señor de Chalma, a place of worship that is a Christian pilgrimage site.
(LOS ANGELES) — Several mall shootings and flash mob robbery sprees cast a pall on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Three people were shot, including a 10-year-old, and another three suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the subsequent evacuation when gunfire broke out at Southpoint Mall in Durham, North Carolina, Friday afternoon, police said.
The child and another male shooting victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while a man was in critical condition due to gunshot wounds as of Saturday afternoon, police said.
One person was in custody, while others involved in the shooting fled the scene in what did not appear to be a random incident, according to the Durham Police Department. No charges had been filed as of Saturday afternoon.
People started running and screaming after hearing multiple gunshots after 3 p.m. local time, shoppers said.
“There were people being trampled, going up and down the escalator,” Aleaha Marr, who was shopping with a friend at the time of the shooting, told ABC Raleigh station WTVD.
One person suffered a gunshot wound after a shooting at Tacoma Mall in Washington Friday evening, authorities said.
The incident occurred shortly after 7 p.m. local time when a dispute near the food court escalated to gunfire, Tacoma Police Department spokesperson Gary Wurges told reporters.
The condition of the shooting victim was unknown at the time. Nobody was in custody, and there were no leads on suspects in the hours immediately after the shooting, police said.
Shoppers recounted the panic after gunfire broke out.
“We were about to get up and I hear about six shots or something,” Daisey Dockter, who was finishing a meal at the food court at the time of the shooting, told ABC Seattle affiliate KOMO. “We all just start running toward the door. It’s a huge mob of people. Everyone’s kind of pushing.”
The mall was evacuated and secured following the incident. Several stores started going on lockdown and served as places for people to hide, KOMO reported.
“Our doors were locked,” Peyton Comstock, who works at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, told the station. “Nobody could come in. We took in people obviously that were scared. There was a poor mom and daughter. She was so terrified. I felt so bad. [She was] hyperventilating.”
Several stores also reportedly saw “smash-and-grab” thefts on Black Friday.
The Los Angeles Police Department went on a city-wide tactical alert Friday night “due to increased robberies,” authorities said.
The alert followed a robbery at the Bottega Veneta store in the Melrose area, where an unknown amount of items were reportedly taken by a large group of people, according to ABC Los Angeles station KABC.
In Lakewood, a group of about eight people stole tools from a Home Depot just before 8 p.m. local time Friday, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. The items, which included hammers, sledgehammers and crowbars, amounted to around $400, authorities said.
The incidents follow reports of smash-and-grab thefts that occurred earlier this week at the Beverly Center and Topanga Mall.
The LAPD stepped up patrols in major shopping districts with the help of California Highway Patrol units in the wake of the robberies, Chief Michel Moore told KABC Wednesday.
“We know that when police officers are visible, when they’re in our neighborhoods, that we have safer neighborhoods, we have better interactions and we just overall are just a more safer city,” Moore told the station.
Another flash mob theft occurred in Minnesota Friday night, when a group of as many as 30 swarmed a Best Buy in south metro Minneapolis, authorities said.
The incident occurred after 8 p.m. local time, when the group allegedly stole electronics and fled before police arrived, the Burnsville Police Department said.
So far, no arrests have been made, and it’s unclear how much merchandise was stolen, police said.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Three people were killed and four injured in a shooting at an apartment in Nashville, Tennessee, Friday night, police said.
The incident happened around 9:45 p.m. local time and “claimed the lives of 3 young men,” the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said on Twitter.
Four other people inside the apartment sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting. They were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and were reported to be in stable condition, according to Nashville ABC affiliate WKRN.
Two guns were recovered from the scene, and there was no sign of forced entry, police said.
Kristin Mumford, a spokesperson for the police department, told reporters at the scene that investigators were working to determine what happened prior to the gunfire.
“We are pursuing some leads and also interviewing and talking to people,” Mumford told WKRN. “Anyone who may have left the scene or anyone who has information about what happened inside the apartment, we very much want to talk to you.”
There have been 491 gunshot victims, including homicides and injuries, in Davidson County, where Nashville sits, this year as of Nov. 20, according to police data. The previous 11-year average was 332.
(NORTH CAROLINA) — A North Carolina mall was evacuated Friday afternoon after a shooting on the premises, police said.
Three people were shot at Southpoint Mall in Durham, police said. Their conditions are unknown.
Additionally, three people were injured while evacuating the mall, police said.
DPD is investigating a shooting incident at The Streets at Southpoint. The mall is being evacuated and will be closed while DPD investigates the incident. Motorists are advised to avoid the area. There is no further threat at the mall.
One person is in custody, while others involved in the shooting fled the scene, according to the Durham Police Department. Those involved in the incident knew each other, police said.
The shooting occurred on one of the busiest shopping days of the year: Black Friday.
The mall is now closed for the day. There is no active threat at this time, the police department said Friday evening, though authorities urged the public to avoid the area.
(NEW YORK) — A man was fatally stabbed near New York’s Penn Station on Thanksgiving, said police, who are now seeking two people in connection with the attack.
The incident occurred around 6 p.m. Thursday near the busy rail hub, hours after people packed the area for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Officers responding to a call of an assault found a 36-year-old man who had been stabbed in the chest, the New York Police Department said in a statement.
The victim, who appears to have been homeless, was transported to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He’s not yet been identified, pending family notification.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, police said.
On Thursday, the NYPD released surveillance photos of two men wanted in connection with the homicide. Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying them.
This is the second fatal stabbing in a week near Penn Station. Early Sunday, a 32-year-old man died after he was stabbed in the neck while aboard a 2 train near the station, police said. A suspect is still being sought in that homicide.
(COLORADO) — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) issued an apology on Friday for remarks she made that used anti-Muslim tropes to refer to Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative from Minnesota and one of only three Muslim members of Congress.
Later on Friday, Omar sent a tweet calling for House leadership to take “appropriate action.”
Omar added that “normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims.”
In an undated video that went viral on Thursday, Boebert said that she was getting into an elevator with one of her staffers when a Capitol police officer rushed over to the elevator with “fret [sic] all over his face,” trying to open the door as it was closing.
She then claimed that, upon seeing Omar to her left, she said: “Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine,” implying that Omar could have been carrying explosives in a backpack — an anti-Muslim trope.
Boebert also called Omar a part of a so-called “jihad squad” twice in the video.
“I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction,” Boebert tweeted on Friday.
I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.
Omar said on Thursday that Boebert made up the story, and said that anti-Muslim racism should not be allowed in Congress.
“Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up,” Omar tweeted on Thursday night. “Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”
Omar received support from some fellow representatives, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who called Boebert’s remarks “shameful, deeply offensive and dangerous.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), another Muslim member of Congress, wrote on Thursday night, “These pathetic racist lies will not only endanger the life of @IlhanMN, but will increase hate crimes towards Muslims. The continued silence & inaction towards this hate-filled colleague and others is enabling violence. It must stop.”
One representative across the aisle, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), retweeted the video with the comment, “Boebert is TRASH.” Republican congressional leaders have not commented yet on Boebert’s remarks.
Edward Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told CNN on Friday morning that Boebert’s comments were “beyond the pale.”
“You’ve gotta remember, Lauren Boebert is not some comedian at a club. She is a sitting member of Congress speaking to her constituents… I will say the more disturbing thing is that the audience applauded, and laughed, and that Republican leaders did not condemn this yet,” Mitchell said.
(MICHIGAN) — The death of a 21-year-old Michigan State University student has prompted the school to suspend a fraternity he recently joined as police investigate whether alcohol played a role in the tragedy that unfolded at an off-campus frat house, officials said.
The student, identified as Phat Nguyen by the Ingram County Medical Examiner’s Office, was found unresponsive around 2 a.m. on Saturday at a residence several blocks from the East Lansing school, according to police.
When police officers responded to a medical emergency call at the residence, they found four individuals passed out inside, including Nguyen, who was unresponsive and not breathing, according to a statement from the East Lansing Police Department.
Police officers and East Lansing firefighters performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Nguyen, but he never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the deceased is an MSU student and that alcohol consumption could play a factor in this case,” the police statement reads.
The three other individuals found passed out in the residence, listed as the Pi Alpha Phi fraternity house, were taken to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, where they were treated and released.
The cause of Nguyen’s death is pending the results of toxicology tests taken as part of an autopsy, police said.
“We are heartbroken by this loss to our Spartan community and our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family and friends,” Dan Olsen, a spokesperson for the university, told the Lansing State Journal.
Olsen told the newspaper that university officials suspended the Pi Alpha Phi chapter pending further investigation, meaning the Greek organization must cease from recruiting new members and is barred from hosting campus-related events.
Pi Alpha Phi’s national board confirmed to the State Journal in an email that its “Michigan State University chapter has been placed under interim suspension pending investigation upon the death of a student member last weekend.”
Nguyen’s death appears to have come a day after the MSU Pi Alpha Phi chapter listed him on its Facebook page as one of four students who had just joined the fraternity.
(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 900 points on Friday over concerns about the spread of the new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa.
Anxiety among investors grew as countries ramped up responses to the variant, called B.1.1.529, first detected in Botswana. The United Kingdom and European Union quickly moved to propose travel restrictions to southern Africa, while new cases of the variant were found as far away as Hong Kong, Belgium and Israel.
The Dow fell 2.53%, to 34,899, while the Nasdaq fell 2.23%, to 15,492, and the S&P tumbled 2.27% to 4,595.
Trading ends early on Black Friday, often the slowest day of the year. Fewer trades can mean increased volatility, and at one point the Dow had fallen more than 1,000 points.
Global health authorities have now confirmed 87 cases — 77 in South Africa, six in Botswana, two in Hong Kong and one each in Israel and Belgium — and said they’re expecting hundreds more diagnoses.
Over the summer, markets tumbled as the delta variant spread throughout the U.S.
“Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known,” Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, a foreign trading company, wrote in a report, according to The Associated Press.
Investors are worried that supply chains already stretched thin may suffer further as the new variant spreads, potentially threatening more labor shortages, according to the AP. The variant also is putting pressure on central banks, which are contemplating whether to raise interest rates to stave off rising inflation.
(NEW YORK) — Global health authorities said they’re monitoring a new COVID-19 variant first identified in Botswana, with the World Health Organization saying Friday the new strain, dubbed omicron, is a variant of concern.
Previously referred to as B.1.1.529, the WHO urged countries to step up monitoring and surveillance, citing the high number of mutations and early indications that the virus was spreading in South Africa. The global health agency said it’s still not clear whether the variant is more transmissible or causes more serious illness, or if it affects vaccines. And that such studies will take time.
Scientists have now confirmed 87 cases of the new variant — 77 in South Africa, six in Botswana, two in Hong Kong, and one each in Israel and Belgium, though hundreds more diagnoses are expected.
“We don’t know very much about this yet,” said WHO COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, speaking at an “Ask WHO” briefing Thursday. But concern about this variant stems from its “large number of mutations,” Kerkhove said, which could “have an impact on how the virus behaves.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday that scientists from the United States and South Africa will discuss the new variant on Friday, as early indications suggest it could be spreading in South Africa.
“Literally,” Fauci added, “it’s something that, in real time, we’re learning more and more about.”
Concerns about this variant already have prompted the U.K., EU and India to propose travel restrictions from South Africa. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, is urging calm, saying it’s premature to close borders.
There are thousands of COVID-19 variants, with new ones emerging all the time. Usually new variants disappear quickly because they’re overrun by a more dominant strain.
The now-dominant delta variant is so highly transmissible that most of the new variants that have cropped up in recent months have been unable to gain a foothold. In the United States, the delta variant comprises an estimated 99.9% of all cases.
“There’s obviously this tension between crying wolf and exacerbating concerns about the variants, but also being caught flat-footed and not responding swiftly enough,” said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation office at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News Contributor. “This is where we have to cautiously respond without inciting panic, because this could easily turn out to be a variant similar to others that have never really panned out to be global concerns.”
Scientists across the globe constantly monitor all newly emerged variants to see if they’re spreading in a meaningful way, and global health authorities have said they’re monitoring this new variant closely.
Pfizer and partner BioNTech said they will conduct experiments to see if the new variant can chip away at vaccine efficacy. Vaccine experts said current COVID-19 vaccines, which rely on genetic technology, could be easily updated to better combat emerging variants — though so far, that hasn’t been necessary.
Eight variants are currently being monitored by the WHO, which designates particularly worrisome strains as variants of “interest” or “concern.” When they no longer pose a significant public health threat, the variants are reclassified — so far during the pandemic, 13 have been removed from the WHO’s list.
But public health experts said the emergence of variants underscores the urgent need to vaccinate everyone on the planet.
“It gives us a lens into why as epidemiologists we’ve been so concerned about global vaccine equity,” Brownstein added. “It’s a recognition that with not enough people around the globe immunized, it creates more opportunities for variants to emerge, and this is a very good example of that.”
