Smoke rises from the area following an Israeli attack on former Social Development building on August 13, 2025 in Rafah, Gaza. Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday approved “the main framework for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip,” according to an IDF spokesperson.
“As part of the discussion, IDF operations to date were presented, including an attack in the Zeitoun area that began yesterday,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The central concept for the plan for the next stages in the Gaza Strip was presented and approved, in accordance with the directive of the political echelon,” the spokesperson added.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet approved plans for the IDF to seize and occupy Gaza City — the strip’s largest urban area — as part of an expanded military operation to “demilitarize” the strip and remove Hamas from power.
The operation would force the IDF to operate in areas where Israel believes Hamas is holding living hostages.
Netanyahu set out “five principles” for the end of the war.
“One, Hamas disarmed. Second, all hostages freed. Third, Gaza demilitarized. Fourth, Israel has overriding security control. And five, non-Israeli, peaceful civil administration — by that I mean a civilian administration that doesn’t educate its children for terror, that doesn’t pay terrorists and doesn’t launch terrorist attacks against Israel.”
Netanyahu’s plans to expand the war have been sharply criticized by the families of the hostages who call it a death sentence for their loved ones. Israel believes 20 hostages are still alive in Hamas captivity — the terror group is also holding the bodies of 30 killed hostages.
Hospitals across Gaza recorded 123 deaths and 437 injuries over the previous 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
Among the dead were 21 people killed while trying to collect humanitarian aid, the ministry said, while another 185 people were injured.
Eight deaths due to hunger were also recorded across Gaza, the ministry said on Wednesday.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Diaa Ostaz contributed to this report.
Ukraine’s then-Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is pictured in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 3, 2024./ Nurphoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Dmytro Kuleba, who served as Ukraine’s foreign minister from 2020 to 2024 and was the youngest-ever appointed to the post, has no plans to rush back into the fray. But he retains deep convictions about Ukraine’s ongoing struggle against Russia’s full-scale invasion — and about the man he considers the prime obstacle to peace in Europe.
“It is the saddest thing, I have to say, but I do not see the end to this war in sight,” Kuleba told ABC News in a video interview from Kyiv, just under a year after he left his role as part of a sweeping government reshuffle.
“A ceasefire is possible, but ending the war as a result of the ceasefire does not seem to be possible at this stage,” Kuleba said. Even if Russian President Vladimir Putin “agrees to a ceasefire in order to avoid mounting pressure from the United States — the threat of mounting pressure from the United States — it will only be a pause,” he said.
No longer encumbered by the demands put on the country’s top diplomat, Kuleba has been speaking frankly on Kyiv’s situation and outlook since departing his former role.
Kuleba’s country remains under existential threat, more than three-and-a-half years into a full-scale Russian invasion. As the war wears on and its toll rises unrelentingly, President Donald Trump’s efforts to force a ceasefire and peace appear to be stalled.
Friday’s planned summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin has suddenly raised hopes that a deal may be possible, according to observers. But Kuleba urged caution over any apparent breakthroughs — particularly if they offer strategic opportunities for the Kremlin.
“There is a famous saying that if you see the light in the end of the tunnel, make sure it is not an incoming train,” Kuleba said. “The light of ceasefire in the end of the tunnel of the Russia-Ukraine war is actually an incoming train.”
Ukraine has backed the previous U.S. demand for a full and immediate ceasefire, during which time a peace settlement can be reached. Putin has repeatedly dodged ceasefire proposals, suggesting that the “new territorial realities” of Russian occupation of swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine must be recognized as part of any settlement.
Putin has also dismissed Kyiv’s offers of a direct meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a leader he has repeatedly and incorrectly framed as illegitimate, although he is a democratically elected leader.
Putin, Kuleba said, has shown no sign of abandoning his maximalist war goals, with or without a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. A pause in the fighting may only prove an opportunity for Moscow to prepare its next offensive, he said.
“I think Putin has said enough over the last years and Russia has done enough over the last years to make the point that their strategic goal is subjugating Ukraine as a whole,” he said.
‘He cannot lose this war’
As Ukraine’s top diplomat, Kuleba was deeply involved in peace talks with Russia that sought to end the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. In March 2022, just weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Kuleba met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Turkey.
More than three years later, he said Putin’s fixation on a Russian historical narrative imbued with disinformation and chauvinism remains the main obstacle to a long-term resolution.
“The only thing President Putin really cares about is what will be written about him in history books,” he said. “He just cannot lose this war. He can pretend he’s winning it. But he can never drop the ambition, give up on the ambition, to subjugate Ukraine.”
Putin, Kuleba says, sees himself in the company of Russia’s great historic leaders like Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great. All expanded the Russian empire — and subjugated the people and areas that now form Ukraine.
“He put all of his bets on this — this is his major legacy issue,” Kuleba said. “He throws everything into the fire of his legacy — his people, his country, his future, its future — because he doesn’t care about them.”
Asked if the Russia-Ukraine war can end while Putin is still alive, Kuleba responded, “No.”
“We can have a war of a much lower intensity with Russia,” he added. “But I cannot imagine eternal peace between Russia and Ukraine achieved during President Putin’s lifetime.”
“The West should not be afraid of who comes next,” Kuleba said when asked whether the next Russian president could be equally problematic. “Nothing helps Putin more to stay in power than the fear entrenched in Western intellectual circles that someone even worse than him can move in,” he said.
“This is a flawed strategy,” he said. “Ukrainians are paying the highest price for it. Europe will be paying a very high price for it if it continues like this.”
In Kyiv, Zelenskyy and his officials are sticking to their key demands. Ukraine’s intended accession to NATO and the EU is enshrined in the national constitution. Zelenskyy has also repeatedly dismissed any suggestion of surrendering Ukrainian territory in any peace deal. “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” he said last week.
Will Trump ‘walk the walk?’
Ukraine’s Western partners still have not done enough to help Kyiv succeed, Kuleba said, though he stressed that all Ukrainians are “immensely grateful and we will always remember it.”
European nations have collectively given some $182 billion in aid of all kinds to Ukraine as of April 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy — a research group based in Germany that tracks support from foreign governments toward Ukraine. The U.S. has contributed around $133.5 billion, the institute said.
“I’ve been asked many times over the last three years — has the West supported Ukraine enough?” Kuleba said. “If the war is still raging, it means that the answer is no, not enough.”
Trump’s return to office posed the danger of a total U.S. withdrawal from the conflict. Recent months, though, have seen growing White House frustration at Putin’s apparent obstinance in continuing his war.
Kuleba sees a clear “evolution” in Trump’s approach. “He spent the first months of his presidency giving all sticks to Ukraine and offering all carrots to Russia as a negotiating strategy. It failed. So, now what we see today is his attempt to rebalance sticks and carrots among belligerent parties.”
Ukraine hears Trump’s threats, but is yet to see action, Kuleba said. “Putin understands only force,” he added. Without it, “he will come to the same conclusion he made about previous administrations and European governments — they talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk.”
Trump, unlike Putin, is constrained by time, Kuleba said. “Putin will not be in a rush to accommodate Trump.”
The two salient options, Kuleba said, are “arming Ukraine and stripping Russia of its oil revenues. That’s it. Everything else may sound good, will be helpful, but it has zero chance to change the tide. A combination of these two factors is crucial to make Putin seriously think about revising his goals in this war.”
Meanwhile, Kuleba said Europeans should be bracing for the war to come to them.
Putin, Kuleba said, only needs one day of hesitation at NATO and European Union headquarters in Brussels to press an attack. “As it looks today, Putin will have his day of hesitation,” he said.
“Both headquarters realize that and they work tirelessly to mitigate this risk, to create a more holistic, coherent space. But I’m afraid there is still a long way to go to achieve that.”
Ukrainian policy still reflects Kuleba’s outlook, though he is no longer involved in its creation. His replacement, current Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, has continued Kuleba’s work in pressing Western partners to provide more aid and to do so faster.
Along with Zelenskyy’s office, Sybiha has repeatedly warned that without intense Western pressure, Putin and his government cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith or to abide by any ceasefire or peace deal.
Ukraine’s ‘red lines’
Kuleba offered a sober assessment of Ukraine’s military situation, as Russian forces continue their grinding advance in the east of the country and expand their long-range drone and missile bombardments of cities across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s size, its industrial capabilities and Western support bolster its war effort, he said. “Remove one of these elements in the equation and then everything collapses,” he added.
And for all the talk of expanded American and European military aid, Kuleba cautioned against investing too much hope in any silver bullets.
“We should forget once and forever the idea of a magic weapon that will change the game,” he said. “This tune has been played so many times over three years and none of it worked,” Kuleba continued, recalling drawn-out debates and sensationalism over the supply of weapons systems like the ATACMS, Western tanks and F-16 fighter jets.
“What is required is the systemic effort to provide Ukraine with the weapons — all types of weapons — and intelligence information that it requires, in sufficient quantities and in good time that it requires to stabilize the front line.”
“The moment Putin has no news to deliver to his people that he’s making progress on the front line will also be an important factor in making him rethink or revise his goals in this war,” he said.
Ukraine has its own red lines in negotiations, he said. He said the government will not have public backing to agree to legally recognize Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory, limit the size and sophistication of Ukraine’s armed forces or abandon Kyiv’s NATO ambitions — a goal enshrined in the national constitution.
The government will not be able to agree to legally recognize Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory — which the nati — or limit the size and sophistication of Ukraine’s armed forces or abandon Kyiv’s NATO ambitions, Kuleba said.
“It would be a political suicide to do that,” he warned — a sentiment broadly shared by Ukrainian political analysts, though such thorny concessions will no doubt be under discussion within the president’s office.
Recent polling suggests Kuleba is correct. A survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in July and August, for example, found that 76% of Ukrainians rejected Russia’s proposed peace plan, which would include Ukraine abandoning NATO accession, limiting its army and surrendering several southern and eastern regions.
Recent weeks have shown the potency of Ukrainian people power. Street protests erupted around the country last month after Zelenskyy’s government and the Ukrainian parliament approved a new law curtailing the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies.
The president was forced into a quick reversal as Ukrainian civil society and Western leaders expressed their concern over the bill. The brief crisis “was a very healthy thing for Ukrainian democracy,” Kuleba said. “I think that we came out of this crisis stronger than we were before that.”
Ukrainians, he added, are keenly focused on their political future despite the ongoing war. Last month’s anti-corruption groundswell only sharpened such sentiment, he said. The turmoil also revitalized talk of the post-war elections — currently delayed due to martial law — that will shape the country’s path, he added.
As for Kuleba, the former minister said he is in no hurry to return to public office. “It makes me very happy to spend more time at home,” he said.
“A diplomat’s life is when you know foreign countries better than your own country. So, I’m now correcting this professional mistake,” he added.
When the war does end, Kuleba said, Ukraine could face a political reckoning.
“When the war suppresses the politics for three years, the politics do not go away,” he explained. “The moment there is no war, the moment there is an open, full-fledged democratic political process, all of this energy is going to burst out. And there is a huge, big risk in that.”
Millions of veterans will form a potent voting bloc, he added. “I do not believe that there is a threat of a military takeover in Ukraine — no, this is not going to happen,” Kuleba said. “But people with combat experience will have a different sense of justice. And they will be demanding a higher role in politics.”
The good news, Kuleba said, is that the war is forging a “clear vision” of Ukraine’s Western — not Eastern — future.
“We will be far more politically consolidated in the sense that independence of Ukraine, its Western orientation, will not be questioned,” he said. “But we will be divided along the lines of populism and understanding of the sense of justice in the post-war era.”
Flood waters left debris including vehicles and equipment scattered in Louise Hays Park on July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Eric Vryn/Getty Images
(KERRVILLE, Texas) — As the Guadalupe River overflowed in Kerr County on the Fourth of July, officials with a local agency charged with “managing water quality and water quantity” in the Texas Hill Country appeared perplexed by the extent of the unfolding crisis and their role in addressing it, according to emails and text messages obtained by ABC News.
“Wow!! It’s a beautiful thing!” an official initially wrote to an Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA) group chat at 7:09 a.m. — including a screenshot of a graph showing a massive increase in streamflow levels along the river in Kerrville — following drought conditions that Kerr County had faced prior to the flooding.
As others in the group chat shared the increasingly concerning reports they were hearing, it quickly became clear that there was cause for alarm.
“So I know I said it’s a beautiful thing earlier,” the official wrote at 7:38 a.m. “I had just woken up and hadn’t looked at the gages yet. It’s terrible.”
By that time, parts of Kerr County had already been inundated with floodwaters for several hours, flood alerts had been issued, and the Kerrville Police Department had received calls for multiple water rescues.
“When it all settles back down, it will be a totally different river,” an individual identified as maintenance technician Kevin Molenaar wrote.
‘Any word on Camp Mystic?’
The staggering toll of the flooding would not become apparent for days. More than 130 deaths were ultimately reported across the region, with many of the fatalities occurring at Camp Mystic.
On July 4, one official texted Dick Eastland, the camp’s president, “You are in my prayers.”
There was no response.
Eastland, who also served as the treasurer for the UGRA’s Board of Directors, died during the storm alongside multiple young campers and counselors.
“The poor children at the camps and their parents,” an official wrote in a group chat. “And so many people here in RVs for the 4th.”
The communications were released in response to a request filed by ABC News under Texas law.
They paint a picture of confusion and concern throughout Independence Day, with some text messages stating that water gages in Hunt and Kerrville had stopped reading. In other messages, UGRA representatives posted what they had learned from news outlets or on social media.
“There are missing people and possibly missing kids from mystic but that is not confirmed,” an official posted at 9:47 a.m.
Less than two hours later, the official typed, “They are saying now all camp mystic accounted for. Praise the lord.”
An individual identified as natural resources manager Shelby Taber responded, “Glad to hear camp mystic is all safe!”
But by mid-afternoon, the UGRA’s senior leadership appeared to realize the situation at Camp Mystic was more dire — though they did not know specific details.
“Any word on Camp Mystic?” UGRA board president William Rector emailed general manager Tara Bushnoe at 2:41 p.m. “I bet we may find some financial assistance for establishing our Floor Warning System!”
Bushnoe responded at 3:12 p.m. that she only knew what she had seen on a local news website indicating “there are some girls missing” and that the camp had issued a statement that aired on a local newscast.
“I don’t know if a flood warning system would have made enough difference,” Bushnoe wrote. “I think it would have made some, but this happened so quickly. We will have to be careful with our messaging to be respectful of the devastation.”
“Very true.” Rector wrote back. “I think working behind the scenes is going to be the most appropriate action at this time. We, however, need to be concerned that the county does not try to sieze [sic] control.”
Contacted by ABC News regarding the messages, officials with the UGRA did not respond to a request for comment.
‘Vulnerable to flash floods’
ABC News previously asked the UGRA for any flood after-action reports it may have created over the last 25 years following other storms along the Guadalupe River, but a law firm representing the authority said that they “have no responsive information.”
Documents released over the last month show that concerns over the risks posed by the Guadalupe River in Kerr County were widely known ahead of the Fourth of July floods, with the UGRA being particularly cognizant.
As ABC News previously reported, the authority submitted an application last year to state officials seeking a $1 million grant from the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund for a project called the “Kerr County Flood Warning System” that would have included “high water detection systems at 10 low water crossings.”
“Since 1932, approximately 35 lives have been lost in floods in Kerr County. Many of those lost were in vehicles attempting to cross flooded roads,” the application noted alongside a timeline of deaths between 1987 and 2016.
However, in October 2024 the UGRA declined to continue applying for funding from the Infrastructure Fund, with Bushnoe writing in a letter at the time that although Kerr County was “vulnerable to flash foods,” the project would have been “only eligible for a 5% grant.”
“We will continue to explore options to implement a Kerr County flood warning system and financial assistance opportunities,” Bushnoe’s letter said.
The letter did not note who decided that the project would have only been eligible for a 5% grant.
The UGRA later reached an agreement with a company called Kisters to develop a different flood warning system that would have consisted of a “centralized dashboard to support local flood monitoring and emergency response.”
The agreement, which was signed exactly one month before the July 4 floods, indicated that the project was expected to cost more than $70,000.
A kick-off meeting was scheduled for mid-July, but the plans were put on hold after the floods. It remains unclear what happened to the plan crafted in 2024 for the $1 million flood warning system.
Kisters did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment following the floods.
‘We’ll be getting lots of calls’ July 4 was supposed to be a day of celebration in Kerr County, with a major Independence Day fireworks event called “Fourth on the River” scheduled to take place just a stone’s throw from the Guadalupe River.
Instead, it became one of the most tragic days in Central Texas history, with scores of people unaccounted for after sunset.
At the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, some staff members discussed the significance of the catastrophe among each other.
“I am hopeful they find more survivors tonight, but I assume the worst for the missing,” natural resources specialist Travis Linscomb texted another staffer at 11:48 p.m.
“Hopefully this will push the early flood warning topic to the forefront and we get more done this time around,” Linscomb added. “Unfortunately it seems like it takes major loss of life to get the ball really rolling on it like Blanco 2015 did,” an apparent reference to another flood a decade ago.
As the calendar turned to July 5, the UGRA team grappled with how to explain their role as inquiries came in, according to the communications.
“I have a feeling we’ll be getting lots of calls from very angry people asking why we let this happen because they want someone to blame and I’m going to have no idea what to tell them,” one official wrote at 7:21 a.m.
The lack of an effective flood warning system in Kerr County would become top of mind in the hours, days and weeks after the banks of the Guadalupe overflowed. A committee of Texas legislators is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the July 4th floods.
“Some of the comments I’m seeing are saying things along the lines of ‘how is there now [sic] flood warning system in 2025?'” an employee wrote to Linscomb early in the morning on July 5. “I want so badly to tell them that there is soooooo much more to it than just snapping your fingers and making it happen. Red tape, money, equipment that may not even survive a flood (like we saw today), etc.”
“I can’t imagine just being asleep then waking up to your rv floating away with you and your family in it and there is absolutely nothing you can do,” the employee said. “The fear and helplessness people must have felt is gutwrenching.”
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will take part in a virtual meeting on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russia is showing signs it may want to end the war after Zelenskyy spoke by phone with Trump, White House adviser Steve Witkoff and European leaders last week.
“During the call, there was a signal from Mr. Witkoff, who was also on the call, that Russia is ready to end the war, or at least to make a first step toward a ceasefire, and that this was the first such signal from them,” Zelenskyy said of the call, which took place Friday. “Everyone on the call felt positive about this — that there was some kind of shift.”
Zelenskyy emphasized there were no demands or concrete proposals from the U.S., just discussions, and it’s still unclear to him what exactly Russian President Vladimir Putin told Witkoff.
The Ukrainian president also said he was told that since a meeting with him and Trump already took place, one between Putin and Trump logically followed. “And then a trilateral meeting — the U.S., Ukraine and Russia – should take place,” Zelenskyy said.
The White House officially announced the summit between Trump and Putin will take place in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
Zelenskyy said Putin was preparing for “new offensive operations” despite Friday’s looming peace summit in Alaska — and as Russian forces appear to have scored significant front-line success in eastern Ukraine.
Fierce front-line combat and long-range drone and missile strikes are ongoing as the U.S. and Russia prepare for Friday’s meeting. Ukrainian representatives are not expected to attend, though a source in Zelenskyy’s office told ABC News on Monday that “everything is very fluid.”
Zelenskyy and his officials have gone on a diplomatic offensive ahead of the meeting, seeking to shore up foreign support behind Ukraine’s key demands in any peace deal.
On Monday, Zelenskyy suggested that Putin is not ready to end the fighting, despite Friday’s meeting in Alaska.
The president’s warning came as Russian troops broke through an area of the front north of the important defensive city of Pokrovsk — in the east of the country — advancing at least six miles toward the town of Dobropillia.
The breach could give Russian forces an opportunity to drive a wedge between two Ukraine’s key eastern defensive hubs — Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka — and imperil other cities in the region.
Citing a report from his intelligence and military commands, Zelenskyy said in a statement that Putin “is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war. Putin is determined only to present a meeting with America as his personal victory and then continue acting exactly as before, applying the same pressure on Ukraine as before.”
Zelenskyy said on Telegram on Monday, “So far, there is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation. On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations.”
“If someone is preparing for peace, this is not what he does,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy has said Kyiv will not cede any territory to Russia, will not abandon its NATO ambitions and will not allow any limitations on its armed forces.
Among Moscow’s demands are that Ukraine cede several regions — not all of which are controlled by Russian troops — in the south and east of the country, accept curbs on the size and sophistication of its military and be permanently excluded from NATO. Putin also wants all international sanctions on Russia to be lifted in the event of a peace deal.
Russia’s demands, Zelenskyy has said, constitute an attempt to “partition Ukraine.”
Trump on Monday described the coming summit as a “feel-out meeting,” telling reporters, “I’m going in to speak to Vladimir, and I’m going to be telling him, ‘You got to end this war. You got to end it.'”
“And at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” Trump said.
When asked how he would know if a deal is possible, the president replied, “Because that’s what I do. I make deals.”
ABC News’ Yulia Drozd, Ellie Kaufman, Oleksiy Pshemyskyi, Kelsey Walsh and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Zelenskyy spoke about the call with Trump on Tuesday, but the call took place last week.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A 4-year-old girl, her grandfather and a Target employee have been identified as the victims killed in a shooting outside of a Target store in Austin, Texas, according to police.
The suspect, 32-year-old Ethan Nieneker, allegedly first shot Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca, a Target employee, as he was collecting carts in the parking lot on Monday afternoon, Austin Police Sgt. Nathan Sexton said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Nieneker then allegedly approached a family’s car, fatally shot the little girl and her grandfather, Adam Chow, and minorly wounded Adam Chow’s wife and stole their car, Sexton said.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis called it an “unprovoked and deliberate attack” on “innocent lives,” adding that it was “in broad daylight.”
Asked if the suspect gave a motive, Sexton said, “He said that he was Jesus and there was really no reason whatsoever given. It was a completely random choosing of the victims.”
After the shooting, Nieneker allegedly fled the scene in the stolen car and carried out other crimes, including “causing multiple crashes,” “assaulting another female driver and stealing her Volkswagen,” trying to break into a Waymo vehicle and vandalizing the home of an acquaintance from bible study, Sexton said.
Officers found Nieneker naked; they subdued him with a Taser and took him into custody, police said.
Nieneker, who worked at a restaurant and lived alone, has a history with the Austin Police Department, including assault, driving while intoxicated and mental health reports, Davis said.
Davis did not elaborate on the mental health issues but said, “This man had some serious issues,” adding, “There were some serious failures here.”
Nieneker faces charges including two counts of capital murder and one count of first-degree felony murder, Sexton said.
The suspect’s gun “was acquired through family,” Sexton said.
A Target spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, “We are devastated by the violence that occurred today.”
“Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, our team in Austin and all those impacted by this tragedy,” the statement said. “We are working with law enforcement as they conduct their investigation and are grateful to the first responders who acted quickly at the scene. In the days ahead, we will continue partnering with law enforcement and will be providing support resources, including grief counseling, to our team.”
Austin-Travis County EMS had initially reported four victims, but that number was later corrected.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Two months before a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the school district’s then-police chief was required to attend a training about how to respond to an active shooter, which instructed in no uncertain terms that an “officer’s first priority is to move in and confront the attacker.”
When Pete Arredondo, the police chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District at the time of the May 2022 shooting, was confronted with precisely the situation his training should have prepared him for, he did the opposite of what the training instructed would have saved lives, according to a newly released trove of documents from the Uvalde school district.
“Time is the number one enemy during active shooter response,” a lesson plan for the training said. “The best hope that innocent victims have is that officers immediately move into action to isolate, distract, or neutralize the threat, even if that means one officer acting alone.”
More than three years after the shooting and the training designed to prevent it, Arredondo continues to fight a criminal case that alleges that he was responsible for putting students in danger by waiting 77 minutes to confront the gunman, who had holed up in adjoining fourth-grade classrooms.
Arredondo has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of child endangerment and abandonment on behalf of the injured and surviving children. His trial date is set for October 2025.
“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it wasn’t the right decision. It was the wrong decision, period,” then-Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw told reporters days after the shooting.
The records of the active shooter training were included in a trove of documents released by the Uvalde School District on Monday, following a years-long effort to withhold the documents about the school district’s response, security, and police training. After years of requests from the families of victims, the public, and media organizations, including ABC News, the records were released on the eve of the new school year, as prosecutors prepare to bring two former school district police leaders, including Arredondo, to trial.
Paul Looney, an attorney for Arredondo, said in a statement to ABC News, “There is very little that will shed any constructive light on what to do next time or who did or didn’t do anything this last time. Much is being made of trying to keep information private and secret so that they can try to prosecute two officers. Those prosecutions are flawed. They are not going to be successful, but the hiding of information is hiding a gold mine that we need to be learning from so that we can handle it more constructively next time. I’ve seen all this stuff in discovery for quite a while now. The hiding of this is pointless and serves nobody any constructive purpose.”
“I’m not sure if my battle for transparency will ever truly be over,” said Gloria Cazares, the mother of 9-year-old Jackie Cazares, who was killed in the massacre. “I need to know everything that led up to my daughter’s death and what happened after. Every detail matters. If we can’t get justice, then the very least we deserve is every piece of evidence, every record, every truth that has been kept from us.”
Among the hundreds of pages released, the records suggest that the flawed response was not because of a lack of training, but in spite of it. The Texas state legislature passed a law in 2019 that required school resource officers and police to participate in an approved active shooting training within 180 days of their employment. One such training in Uvalde took place on March 21, 2022, two months before the deadly shooting.
“First responders to the active shooter scene will usually be required to place themselves in harm’s way and display uncommon acts of courage to save the innocent,” the training said. “A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field.”
The training also includes material about the flaws in the emergency response to the February 2018 deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where officers faced criticism for staging outside the building while the shooting took place. According to the materials, the training in Texas was mandated to prevent a similar tragedy from taking place, where a delayed law enforcement response could potentially contribute to additional casualties.
The newly released documents also shed light on the academic and disciplinary history of the deceased gunman, Salvador Ramos. The 18-year-old student was disciplined for inappropriate behavior at least 18 times between 2015 and 2018, including bullying other classmates, using inappropriate and sexual language, and fighting his peers, the documents say.
Ramos’ incidents show a clear and documented pattern of low-grade but increasing and recurrent behavioral issues in school, according to the documents. His acting out was written up multiple times, but there was no clear follow-up documented to address his needs and help him. His parents were often absent from the process, the documents show.
His mother Adriana Reyes told law enforcement prior to the shooting that she was “scared” of her son. Speaking to ABC News after the shooting, Reyes said her son could be “aggressive” but he was not a “monster.”
“We all have a rage, that some people have it more than others,” Reyes said
In November of 2015, a disciplinary write-up noted Ramos wrote “I’m gay” on the back of another student’s artwork planning sheet, according to the documents. Though he denied it, the student whose paper it was identified Ramos as the culprit. When the teacher called Ramos’ mom, “it said this person is unavailable. I also tried calling grandfather’s phone, and it said voicemail is full,” the documents show.
In March 2018, Ramos was written up for truancy and got suspended, according to the documents. Also that March, he was written up for “‘using sexual language’ after repeatedly [being] told to stop.” When told to do his work by a teacher, the documents say he flashed the “L” loser sign and was placed under in-school suspension.
Ramos was written up for drawing an “inappropriate picture” on an assignment in May 2018 and received in-school suspension, according to the records. The same month, a handwritten note in pink pen said he was sent to the office because “he refused to do his work. I told him to put his head down for the whole class or go to the office. He decided to go to the office.”
Also in May 2018, Ramos “went up to a student and hit him in the arm. Another student reacted by kicking him,” according to the documents. Under parent contact, the documents show the disciplinary record said, “no answer.”
Bullet holes are seen in windows at the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) Global Headquarters following a shooting that left two dead, on August 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
(ATLANTA) — The gunman who attacked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s campus on Friday may have fired several hundred rounds, law enforcement said on Tuesday.
During a news conference, Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), said almost 500 shell casings were recovered. Of those rounds, about 200 struck facilities on the CDC campus.
It’s unclear how many came from the gunman and how many came from law enforcement exchanging gunfire.
Hosey said that the suspect, 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, had a long gun that belonged to his father during the attack.
Hosey added that White’s parents are “fully cooperating” with the investigation, which is ongoing.
White had no criminal history, Hosey said. White had “recently verbalized thoughts of suicide” and law enforcement had been contacted several weeks prior to the shooting, according to Hosey.
Hosey also confirmed that a search warrant of White’s home had found “written documentation” expressing his discontent with the COVID-19 vaccine. GBI is examining the documentation, which is being shared with the FBI Atlanta field office.
There were no direct threats made in the written document but allegedly White wanted to make the public aware of his discontent with and distrust of the vaccine, Hosey said.
Law enforcement sources and sources close to the suspect previously told ABC News that White had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him sick and depressed.
People who knew the 30-year-old suspected shooter told ABC News they had heard White express similar angry and conspiracy-minded sentiments.
One neighbor, who asked not to be named, told ABC News that White had sat on her porch and complained that he lost weight, developed problems swallowing and experienced gastrointestinal issues after he got the COVID-19 vaccine.
Serious health events after receiving the COVID-19 vaccines are rare, according to the CDC.
White died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A total of five firearms were recovered from the scene, according to Hosey.
Electronic devices seized during the investigation are currently undergoing digital forensic examination and GBI agents are continuing to conduct numerous interviews.
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was fatally shot after responding to the reported gunfire. Hosey said preliminary information from the from the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office indicates Rose’s injuries were caused by one of the gunman’s weapons.
“He served with honor, courage and unwavering dedication,” Hosey said during the news conference. “His sacrifice will never be forgotten and his commitment to protecting others is a profound testament to the very best of the law enforcement profession.”
In an agency-wide meeting on Tuesday, new CDC director Susan Monarez said that she knows the campus will feel “unsettling, in many ways, for some time to come.”
“We will make sure that you have the resources, the protection, the support you need to keep doing the work that you do. Protecting health and saving lives. Please take care of yourself. Check-in on your colleagues,” Monarez said in an audio recording of the meeting obtained by ABC News. “And know this, we will face the challenge together. United in purpose, grounded in truth, and committed to protecting one another.”
CDC employees told ABC News that the meeting was cut short by technical difficulties, lasting just about 10 minutes instead of the planned hour.
Editor’s note: The story has been updated to clarify that some of the 500 rounds may not have been fired by the gunman, according to law enforcement.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is showing signs it may want to end the war after Zelenskyy spoke by phone with President Donald Trump, White House adviser Steve Witkoff and European leaders on Tuesday.
“During the call, there was a signal from Mr. Witkoff, who was also on the call, that Russia is ready to end the war, or at least to make a first step toward a ceasefire, and that this was the first such signal from them,” Zelenskyy said. “Everyone on the call felt positive about this — that there was some kind of shift.”
Zelenskyy emphasized there were no demands or concrete proposals from the U.S., just discussions, and it’s still unclear to him what exactly Russian President Vladimir Putin told Witkoff.
The Ukrainian president also said he was told that since a meeting with him and Trump already took place, one between Putin and Trump logically followed. “And then a trilateral meeting — the U.S., Ukraine and Russia – should take place,” Zelenskyy said.
The White House officially announced the summit between Trump and Putin will take place in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
Prior to the call, Zelenskyy took a more pessimistic tone, saying Putin is preparing for “new offensive operations” despite Friday’s looming peace summit in Alaska — and as Russian forces appear to have scored significant front-line success in eastern Ukraine.
Fierce front-line combat and long-range drone and missile strikes are ongoing as the U.S. and Russia prepare for Friday’s meeting. Ukrainian representatives are not expected to attend, though a source in Zelenskyy’s office told ABC News on Monday that “everything is very fluid.”
Zelenskyy and his officials have gone on a diplomatic offensive ahead of the meeting, seeking to shore up foreign support behind Ukraine’s key demands in any peace deal.
On Monday, Zelenskyy suggested that Putin is not ready to end the fighting, despite Friday’s meeting in Alaska.
The president’s warning came as Russian troops broke through an area of the front north of the important defensive city of Pokrovsk — in the east of the country — advancing at least six miles toward the town of Dobropillia.
The breach could give Russian forces an opportunity to drive a wedge between two Ukraine’s key eastern defensive hubs — Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka — and imperil other cities in the region.
Citing a report from his intelligence and military commands, Zelenskyy said in a statement that Putin “is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war. Putin is determined only to present a meeting with America as his personal victory and then continue acting exactly as before, applying the same pressure on Ukraine as before.”
Zelenskyy said on Telegram on Monday, “So far, there is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation. On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations.”
“If someone is preparing for peace, this is not what he does,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy has said Kyiv will not cede any territory to Russia, will not abandon its NATO ambitions and will not allow any limitations on its armed forces.
Among Moscow’s demands are that Ukraine cede several regions — not all of which are controlled by Russian troops — in the south and east of the country, accept curbs on the size and sophistication of its military and be permanently excluded from NATO. Putin also wants all international sanctions on Russia to be lifted in the event of a peace deal.
Russia’s demands, Zelenskyy has said, constitute an attempt to “partition Ukraine.”
Trump on Monday described the coming summit as a “feel-out meeting,” telling reporters, “I’m going in to speak to Vladimir, and I’m going to be telling him, ‘You got to end this war. You got to end it.'”
“And at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” Trump said.
When asked how he would know if a deal is possible, the president replied, “Because that’s what I do. I make deals.”
ABC News’ Yulia Drozd, Ellie Kaufman, Oleksiy Pshemyskyi, Kelsey Walsh and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
The Nevada State Police Highway Patrol and Investigations Divisions, in coordination with the Henderson Police Department, responded to reports of individuals dropping or throwing large rocks from a pedestrian overpass onto northbound US-95 in Henderson, Nevada, Aug. 10, 2025. Nevada State Police
(LAS VEGAS) — Two drivers were seriously injured and were taken to a hospital after suspects threw or dropped large rocks from a pedestrian overpass onto an interstate highway in Las Vegas, according to police.
Four vehicles experienced moderate to severe damage in the incident, according to Nevada State Police.
Police responded to reports of individuals dropping or throwing large rocks from a pedestrian overpass onto US-95/IR-11 just before 9 p.m. local time on Sunday.
The rocks were thrown just north of the Railroad Pass Casino in Henderson, Nevada, according to police.
When officers arrived on the scene, the suspects had already fled. Police are now searching for anyone who may have information about individuals.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or may have information is asked to call the Nevada State Police Investigations Division at 702-668-3261.
(WASHINGTON) — Consumer prices rose 2.7% in July compared to a year ago, clocking in lower than economists expected and holding steady from the previous month. The reading defied fears of further price increases as result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The inflation report is the first major data release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) since Trump fired the agency’s commissioner earlier this month, just hours after the release of a weak jobs report.
The reading snaps two consecutive months of increased inflation. Price hikes stand below a 3% rate recorded in January, the month Trump took office.
In recent months, tariffs modestly contributed to the uptick in overall inflation, analysts previously told ABC News.
Core inflation — a closely watched measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices — increased 3.1% over the year ending in July, ticking higher than the previous month, data showed. Housing costs made up the primary driver of inflation last month, the BLS said.
Eggs — a symbol of price increases over recent years — saw prices drop 3.4% from June to July. Still, egg prices stand more than 16% higher than where they stood a year ago.
On Aug. 1, Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, an appointee of former President Joe Biden who was confirmed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate in 2024.
In a social media post, Trump leveled strident criticism and baseless accusations at McEntarfer, claiming without evidence that the data had been “manipulated.” The jobs report featured revisions of previous months’ data, which is a routine practice.
The president touted his economic performance in a social media post: “The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates.”
BLS Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski is serving as acting commissioner while the Trump administration selects a replacement.
The inflation report arrived at a wobbly moment for the U.S. economy. The weak Aug. 1 jobs report raised alarm among some analysts that the U.S. may be slipping toward a recession. Employers are hiring at their slowest pace since 2020, the jobs data showed.
That came two days after GDP data indicated average annualized growth of 1.2% over the first half of 2025, well below the 2.8% growth in the same period last year.
The combination of elevated prices and sluggish hiring could hurtle the U.S. toward an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation,” in which the economy slows while prices rise.
Potential stagflation poses difficulty for the Federal Reserve. If the Fed raises interest rates as a means of protecting against tariff-induced inflation under such a scenario, it risks stifling borrowing and slowing the economy further. On the other hand, if the Fed lowers rates to stimulate the economy in the face of a potential slowdown, it threatens to boost spending and worsen inflation.
The Fed will hold its next rate-setting meeting in September. Investors peg the chances of an interest rate cut at 86%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
