A manhunt is underway after 36-year-old Troy Dugas, an inmate at the Harris County Jail, seen here in this undated police photo, was accidentally released from prison on Aug. 17, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Harris County Sheriff’s Office
(HOUSTON) — A manhunt is underway after an inmate was accidentally released from a Texas jail on Sunday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Troy Dugas, a 36-year-old inmate at the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, was mistakenly released on Sunday at approximately 4:30 a.m., the sheriff’s office said in a press release on Monday.
Dugas had been previously sentenced to five years in state prison for assaulting a woman “with whom the defendant had a dating relationship” on Oct. 16, 2019, according to an indictment obtained by ABC News.
He was also serving a two-year sentence for evading arrest, officials said. He had been held at the Harris County Jail since Aug. 14 on additional local charges that were “subsequently dismissed,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officials said preliminary indications show that jail staff “did not properly document his state prison sentence in his file, leading to the mistaken assumption that Dugas was eligible for release once his Harris County charges were dismissed.”
An investigation will be conducted to determine the circumstances leading to Dugas’ “erroneous” release, officials said.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office replied to an ABC News request for comment with no additional information.
Dugas is approximately 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighs 215 pounds and has a tattoo on his neck, officials said.
Authorities said anyone who has any information regarding Dugas’ whereabouts should call 911.
This is not the first time the Harris County Jail has mistakenly released an inmate. On Feb. 20, 21-year-old Justin Tompkins, who had been in jail since December 2022 on a capital murder charge, was set free after staff mistook him for “another inmate with the same name,” officials said in a press release. Jail staff realized the mistake the next day and “immediately launched a search,” according to officials. Tompkins voluntarily returned to the jail to surrender that evening.
A sign for the Food And Drug Administration is seen outside of the headquarters on July 20, 2020 in White Oak, Maryland. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The Food and Drug Administration is warning the public not to eat, sell or serve certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart due to possible contamination with Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection alerted the FDA about possible Cesium-137, or Cs-137, detected in shipping containers at four U.S. ports, the FDA said Tuesday in a press release. Testing on frozen shrimp from the distributor, Indonesia’s BMS Foods, also tested positive, the FDA said.
However, no shrimp that has tested positive for Cesium-137 has entered the U.S. food supply, according to the FDA.
The FDA is still recommending a recall on all products from BMS Foods that were shipped after the company’s shipping containers tested positive for Cesium-137, even though the products themselves have not tested positive.
The following Great Value brand frozen shrimp products should not be eaten, sold or served:
Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005540-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005538-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp, lot code: 8005539-1, Best by Date: 3/15/2027
“If you have recently purchased raw frozen shrimp from Walmart that matches this description, throw it away,” the FDA said in its press release.
The FDA said it is working with distributors and retailers that received the shrimp from BMS Foods “to recommend that firms conduct a recall,” according to the press release.
The FDA said it determined the shrimp from BMS Foods violates the Federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act “in that it appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern.”
All products from the company are now banned from coming into the U.S. “until the firm has resolved the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violation,” the FDA said.
Cesium is a soft, flexible, silvery-white metal that becomes liquid near room temperature, but easily bonds with chlorides to create a crystalline powder, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
External exposure to large amounts of Cesium-137, according to the EPA, can cause burns, acute radiation sickness and even death.
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu attends a news conference at the conclusion of a House meeting on August 18, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A trio of Texas Democrats slept overnight in the state house instead of traveling home with a mandated law enforcement escort ordered by the Republican leadership as they continued their peaceful resistance against the state leadership and their controversial redistricting plan.
State Representatives Nicole Collier and Gene Wu posted a video on X on Tuesday chronicling how they and their colleague, state Rep. Vince Perez, slept in the chambers after Collier refused to sign a waiver mandated by State House Speaker Dustin Burrows.
Although the Democrats returned to the statehouse Monday, those who denied quorum were allowed to leave the Capitol only if they signed a form agreeing to be under the custody of Texas Department of Public Safety officers.
Texas Democrats fled the state in protest of the Republicans’ plan to redraw congressional maps. Some Democrats returned to the statehouse on Monday and allowed the legislature to reach a quorum, but they continued to speak out against the controversial redistricting.
It is likely that the redistricting plan will pass.
Collier and Wu talked about how they had to make do with their surroundings as they slept in the chambers.
“We had two chairs that we put together. [Wu] slept in two chairs. I slept in two chairs. Our other colleague, Vince Perez, he slept in a couple of chairs,” Collier said in the X video.
Wu, who did sign the waiver, said in his post that he joined Perez and Collier in support of “#goodtrouble”, referencing the late Rep. John Lewis.
“We know this is a #riggedredistricting process. Democrats are not giving up!” he posted.
Collier echoed that statement.
“I think they need to find their resistance,” she said of her supporters. ” Finding your voice and your resistance — that will make a change in America.”
It was not immediately known if Perez signed the waiver.
Burrows responded to Collier’s actions on Tuesday in a statement, “Rep. Collier’s choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules.”
“I am choosing to spend my time focused on moving the important legislation on the call to overhaul camp safety, provide property tax reform and eliminate the STAAR test — the results Texans care about,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Texas House Democratic Caucus told ABC News that Collier is effectively stuck until Wednesday in the state House at the earliest if she doesn’t sign the form, because that is the earliest the House could do a rules change.
Collier told ABC News on Monday that she was taking a stand for herself and her constituents.
“Look, I’m not a criminal. I’ve exercised my right, and I am tired of the government controlling our movement, and so this is nothing more than the government exercising its control over people who exercise their constitutional rights to resist,” she said.
Collier said she had no issue with the DPS officers themselves since they were ordered by the state Republican leadership to escort the selected Democrats; however, she was angry that the directive was made in the first place.
“I’m tired of being pushed around and told what to do when I disagree with the actions of our government,” she said.
“You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to dig in deeper into the harm that you’re doing. You are going to get what you want,” Collier said of the Republican leadership. “This is just petty and unnecessary, and I don’t think that it is fair. It’s demeaning to me as a person and to my community, and I just won’t take it.”
Emergency responders gather at Times Square in Manhattan after a suspicious package was discovered on August 18, 2025 in New York City. Police evacuated a part of the popular tourist destination for over an hour as they examined the package, which turned out not to be a threat. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A suspect faces multiple charges after allegedly leaving a suspicious package in Times Square on Monday, according to the New York Police Department.
On Monday at approximately 10:32 a.m., police responded to a call of a “suspicious package” in the vicinity of West 43 Street and Seventh Avenue, officials said in a statement to ABC News.
Once on the scene, officials said they located the package “in front of the New York Police Department facility.”
Police requested the NYPD Emergency Service Unit and Bomb Squad to respond to the scene, with officials also releasing an advisory urging the public to avoid the area.
An hour after the initial advisory was released, officials said the object was determined to not be a threat and the area was reopened “to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”
The suspect, 26-year-old Desean Maryat, was taken into custody on Monday at approximately 2:11 p.m., police said. Maryat, who is from the Bronx, was charged with reckless endangerment, placing a false bomb or hazardous substance, making terroristic threats, making a threat of mass harm and disorderly conduct, police said.
Maryat was taken to a hospital for a psych evaluation before being charged, according to New York ABC station WABC.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing.
Maryat has been previously charged with criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree menacing and second-degree harassment, according to court records.
It is unclear whether Maryat has an attorney who can speak on his behalf or when his next court appearance is scheduled.
(MADBURY, N.H.) — Four members of a family, including two children, were found dead in a New Hampshire home and police are investigating the incident as a possible murder-suicide, authorities said.
A toddler was found alive and uninjured in the home in Madbury, a small town in the state’s Seacoast region northwest of Portsmouth, according to a statement from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
Police officers discovered the bodies of two adults and two children around 8:21 p.m. on Monday after a 911 caller reported that several people were deceased inside the home, according to the statement.
“Each of the deceased family members appears to have suffered gunshot wounds, and were pronounced dead at the scene,” according to the statement from authorities.
The names of the deceased family members are being withheld by law enforcement pending autopsies scheduled for Wednesday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and notification of next of kin, officials said.
Investigators said there is no known threat to the public.
“I think investigators still have probably more questions than they have answers,” Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati told ABC affiliate station WMUR in Manchester, New Hampshire. “One of the biggest questions they have right now is motive. Why? And I think that’s probably one of the more difficult things that they are trying to grasp, to understand how this came to be and to be able to be more definitive and to understand what the sequence of events was like inside that house.”
The temporary detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” was built on a rarely used airstrip in the Florida Everglades. Peter Charalambous/ABC News
(MIAMI) — A federal judge in Miami has dismissed part of a lawsuit from immigrant advocates after finding that many of the detained plaintiffs at the migrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” have received access to legal counsel.
The judge also transferred the case to a different jurisdiction after agreeing with the Trump administration and state attorneys for Florida that the venue where the case was filed is improper.
The order came hours after a hearing on Monday in which lawyers for the detainees sought a ruling from the judge, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, that would require authorities to expand legal access at the facility,
“Several developments have occurred since Plaintiffs filed this case,” Judge Ruiz, a Trump nominee, said in his order overnight.
“First, many of the Detained Plaintiffs have been transferred out of Alligator Alcatraz,” Ruis said. “Second, many of the Detained Plaintiffs (including those who have since been transferred out of Alligator Alcatraz) have received access to counsel, and all the Attorney Plaintiffs have received access to Alligator Alcatraz detainees.”
The plaintiffs had also argued that the defendants hadn’t made clear which immigration court had jurisdiction over the detention facility, preventing detainees from filing court petitions.
But after the defendants filed a notice with the court designating the immigration court at Krome Detention Center in Miami as the court with jurisdiction over Alligator Alcatraz, the judge ruled the plaintiffs claim is moot.
Ruiz also agreed with the defendants that the Southern District of Florida is the wrong venue since the facility is located in the state’s Middle District of Florida.
: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump is hosting President Zelensky at the White House for a bilateral meeting and later an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded positive as they met at the White House on Monday as Trump pushes for an end to Russia’s war on Kyiv.
Zelenskyy was joined in Washington by a remarkable delegation of European leaders who rushed to the U.S. in support of the Ukrainian leader in the wake of Friday’s talks between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The last time Zelenskyy was in the Oval Office was February, when he received a verbal lashing from President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who accused him of not being grateful enough for U.S. military assistance.
Monday’s meeting was a much more cordial affair, with Trump and Zelenskyy sharing smiles and Zelenskyy thanking the president for his personal efforts to bring this conflict to a close.
Afterward, they sat down with European leaders, who before news cameras pressed Trump publicly on the need for security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any deal — after Trump made a new commitment on that point. Some also said a ceasefire would be necessary before further negotiations or any trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin.
Here are some key takeaways from the high-stakes meetings.
Trump says US will give Ukraine ‘very good protection’
President Trump on Monday said the United States will be involved in security assistance for Ukraine but did not elaborate on what exactly that would look like or give any specifics.
“We’re going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security,” Trump said.
The president later confirmed that Putin said Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump didn’t go quite as far as special envoy Steve Witkoff, who told CNN that Russia agreed to “Article 5-like” protections. Article 5 is the agreement of collective defense among NATO nations stating an attack against one member is considered an attack against them all.
Trump said Europe would need to shoulder much of the burden when it comes to security guarantees, but that the U.S. will play a role.
“They are first line of defense because they’re there,” Trump said before adding, “But we’re going to help them. And also we’ll be involved.”
Trump walks back ceasefire demand
After previously pushing for a ceasefire and threatening severe consequences for Russia if Putin did not stop the war, President Trump appeared to back off that demand.
“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” he said in the Oval Office. “I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically, like, well, you know, one country or the other wouldn’t want it.”
He continued that he likes “the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, because you’d stop killing people immediately.”
Trump pushes for a trilateral meeting, Zelenskyy says Ukraine ‘ready’
Trump continued to push for a trilateral meeting between himself, Zelenskyy and Putin — something he had hoped to set up immediately following his summit with Putin on Friday but was unsuccessful.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready” for a trilateral discussion.
“I think it’s going to be when,” Trump said, “not if.”
Later Monday, Trump posted on social media that he began planning for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, after which he said a trilateral meeting could take place.
“I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote in the post. “After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.”
European leaders back up Zelenskyy on security guarantees, ceasefire
Trump and Zelenskyy sat down with a host of European leaders in the East Room following their bilateral talks in the Oval Office.
At the table were NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finland President Alexander Stubb.
Nearly all the leaders stressed the need for security guarantees for Ukraine, with several saying it should look similar to Article 5 obligations. Ukraine is not a part of NATO but the nation has pushed for membership, something Russia is strongly opposed to.
“The fact that you have said that I’m willing to participate in the security guarantees is a it’s a big step. It’s really a breakthrough,” NATO’s Rutte told Trump. “And, it makes all the difference. So also, thank you for that.”
France’s Macron and Germany’s Merz challenged Trump on a ceasefire, insisting it’s a necessity for moving forward.
“The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones now … To be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire,” Germany’s Merz said. Merz said he cannot imagine a trilateral meeting would be able to occur without a ceasefire in place.
Trump spoke with with Putin after meetings
Trump said he would call Putin after his meetings Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House.
“He’s expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting,” Trump said while he sat with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
During a “Fox & Friends” interview on Tuesday morning, Trump said he stepped away from his meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders to speak with Putin. Trump said it was 1 a.m. in Russia when he and Putin spoke.
“I told them that we’re going to set up a meeting with President Zelenskyy, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out okay, I’ll meet and we’ll wrap it up,” he said.
“If I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons,” Trump said on the potential ending of the war.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
Hurricane Erin – The Fifth Named Storm Map/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Erin, now a Category 2 hurricane, has prompted a tropical storm watch for North Carolina’s Outer Banks and is expected to bring dangerous waves and rip currents to beaches along the East Coast.
Here’s the latest forecast:
The Outer Banks
While the storm won’t make landfall on the East Coast, it has prompted mandatory evacuations for some Outer Banks residents and visitors.
The Outer Banks is forecast to get heavy rain Wednesday night into Thursday and winds over 40 mph.
A storm surge watch and a high surf advisory have been issued, with destructive, large breaking waves up to 20 feet in the forecast. Coastal damage is likely from large waves destroying protective dunes. The flooding will also extend inland, likely impacting roads.
Tracking Erin
Dangerous rip currents and large waves are forecast for the East Coast through Friday.
The popular beach towns of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Wildwood, New Jersey, banned swimming on Monday due to the rough surf.
More than 50 people were rescued from the ocean at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on Monday local officials said, and no swimming is recommended at Wrightsville Beach from Tuesday though Friday.
On Tuesday, waves will pick up along the East Coast, with Florida to the Outer Banks facing the worst conditions.
By Wednesday, the waves will increase along the Carolinas as Erin makes its closest pass to the Outer Banks Wednesday night into Thursday.
On Thursday, the high surf will arrive to beaches in the Mid-Atlantic and New England. A high surf advisory is also posted for portions of New Jersey, Long Island and Massachusetts.
(ATLANTA) — The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said on Tuesday that children ages 6 months to 23 months should receive a COVID-19 vaccine, in contrast with federal health officials.
The recommendations are part of the AAP’s annual childhood immunization schedule, which includes guidance for COVID, flu and RSV vaccines for those aged 18 and younger.
The AAP has been releasing its own recommendations since the 1930s, but in a rare occurrence, the recommendations differ from those put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The group also recommended Americans age 18 and under receive a COVID vaccine if they are at high risk of severe COVID, live in a long-term care facility or congregate setting, if they have never been vaccinated against COVID or if they live with someone at high risk for severe COVID.
It comes after Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in late May that the CDC would no longer recommend the COVID vaccine for healthy children.
The CDC, which is under Kennedy’s purview, later updated the guidance to a “shared clinical decision making” model — leaving the decision to vaccinate children to parents alongside advice from a doctor.
The prior recommendations were that everyone aged 6 months and older get vaccinated against COVID with the most up-to-date shot.
The contrasting vaccine recommendations highlight the growing rift between federal health officials and medical organizations on vaccine policy.
“The academy has been making pediatric immunization recommendations since the 1930s, that has not changed,” Dr. Susan J. Kressly, president of the AAP, told ABC News. “But what has changed is that this year, we’re doing it in the environment of misinformation, which makes it more important than ever that we provide clear and confident guidance, because the majority of American families really depend on us for this guidance.”
Children between 6 months old and 23 months old are at the highest risk of severe COVID-19, and the vaccine can protect against serious illness, according to the AAP.
“We know that this age group, that’s the highest risk for severe disease,” Kressly said. “And so we want to make sure that those children who are at highest risk and did not live through the pandemic — they were not exposed to COVID viruses during the pandemic — we want to make sure that they are protected as best as possible.”
Although medical organizations may differ in their vaccine recommendations, insurers often rely on the CDC’s vaccine panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), recommendations to determine what they will and won’t cover.
If certain vaccines aren’t recommended by the ACIP, it may lead to parents or guardians facing out-of-pocket costs if their children receive the shot. It could also mean the shots aren’t covered by the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, a federally funded program that provides no-cost vaccines to eligible children.
“We need to work with our like-minded policy makers who understand the importance of keeping VFC vaccines available in every community for those children who depend on them,” Kressly said. “At the same time, there are children in this country whose vaccines are paid for through commercial insurance, and we are having continuing conversations with major payers to make sure that those can be vaccines are available as well. Vaccination is part of high-quality preventive care, and we are confident that we can work with the payers to make sure that translated into policy.”
Graham Platner, a military veteran and oysterman from a small town near Maine’s Acadia National Park, will run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat, he announced on Tuesday, in an effort to oust Republican Susan Collins, the five-term senator who is expected to run for reelection next year.
A campaign launch video shows Platner, bearded and broad-shouldered with a gruff voice, harvesting oysters and chopping wood as he describes how Maine has become “essentially unlivable for working-class people.”
In an interview Monday with ABC News, Platner said he was driven to run by the growing wealth gap in the U.S., which he said has crippled working-class people in his home state.
“We are moving in a position where regular, working-class people can’t even afford to live in the towns that they were born in,” said Platner, who after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army and Marine Corps, moved to the coastal community of Sullivan where he grew up.
Platner might draw comparisons to Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman or Dan Osborn, the union leader running as an independent for the Senate in Nebraska after a failed attempt last year. Both men campaigned for the Senate as champions, and representatives, of the white working class, a demographic with whom Democrats have lost ground in recent cycles.
Platner has hired Fight Agency, a Democratic consulting firm whose members have worked for Fetterman and Osborn’s campaigns, as well as that of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for New York mayor.
“I drink coffee every morning with the guys that I work next to, who are friends of mine, who all voted for Donald Trump. And they voted for Donald Trump because they wanted something new, they wanted change,” Platner told ABC News, arguing that his understanding of these voters could help steer the Democratic Party, which he described as “quite confused,” back to a winning track.
“The Democratic Party needs to return to an age where it is the party of labor unions, it is the party of community organizers, it is the party of fighting for big structural change to benefit working class people,” he said.
Asked who he believes is the face of the Democratic Party, Platner said there isn’t one, but he indicated an affinity for some of the most progressive members of the Senate.
He said he admires the former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and respects Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Platner described “Medicare for All” as an urgent priority and called the war in Gaza a “genocide,” saying he follows the lead of “Israeli scholars on genocide.”
On the hot-button cultural issue of transgender women’s participation in sports, he said the topic is a “distraction from the things that impact Americans materially every single day.”
“I am dedicated to equality and justice for all in this country,” Platner said. “And I think that this specific topic has become such a touchstone of the media discussion because it pulls us away from the conversation that needs to be happening, which is getting every American affordable health care.”
Maine briefly became the center of the debate over transgender youth in sports in February, after a public spat between President Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills over the Trump’s administration’s threat to withhold funding over a Maine anti-discrimination law that lets transgender women participate in girls’ and women’s sports.
Shortly afterward, at a demonstration protesting the Trump administration, Platner, who leads a Democratic grassroots group in Hancock County, said Mills “displayed great courage when she defended Maine’s laws to Donald Trump’s face,” according to a transcript of the remarks posted online by a local Democratic group.
Mills, a Democrat, has not ruled out entering the race and has reportedly been urged to run by national Democrats who believe she would offer the best chance at flipping Collins’ seat.
Asked about a potential primary challenge from Mills, Platner told ABC News that Democrats “really need to stop running the same kind of playbook over and over and over again.
“I think we really need to start thinking outside of the box on the type of candidates that we’re sending into these races,” he said.
Asked if he has spoken with national Democrats about backing his campaign, Platner said no.
“Nobody has called me, and I’m not really in a position to call anybody because I’m the harbormaster of Sullivan, Maine,” he said.
