Photo by NYPD News X Account / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Family, friends and members of the New York City Police Department will come together on Thursday for a funeral for the “hero” officer who was one of four people killed in the Midtown Manhattan mass shooting.
Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old NYPD officer, was off duty and working a security job when he was fatally shot by a gunman who opened fire at the 345 Park Avenue office building on Monday.
Islam, a Bangladeshi immigrant who joined the NYPD four years ago, is survived by his wife, who is eight months pregnant, and two young sons.
“He was doing the job that we asked him to do,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “He put himself in harm’s way. He made the ultimate sacrifice, shot in cold blood, wearing a uniform that stood for the promise that he made to this city. He died as he lived — a hero.”
“He was the best of who we are,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “When an NYPD officer is killed doing his duty, it is not just a tragedy — it is a rupture in the soul of our city.”
Islam was assigned to a precinct in the Bronx. He previously worked as a school safety officer, New York ABC station WABC reported.
His funeral will be held on Thursday at Parkchester Jame Masjid, a mosque in the Bronx, WABC said. There will be a series of viewings followed by a prayer service. His internment will be in New Jersey.
“Didarul Islam represented the very best of our department. He was protecting New Yorkers from danger when his life was tragically cut short,” the NYPD said. “We join in prayer during this time of incomprehensible pain. We will forever honor his legacy.”
The other three victims killed on Monday were: Aland Etienne, a security guard for the building; Wesley LePatner, a Blackstone executive who was a wife and mom; and Julia Hyman, a young employee at Rudin Management.
Schumer said Tuesday in a message to the families, “You are not alone. All of New York grieves with you. … The city will carry their memories forward.”
(NEW YORK) — The Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Washington, D.C., is bracing for dangerous flooding on Thursday.
Heavy storms could lead to rainfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour. Widespread rain totals are forecast to be 1 to 3 inches, but the heaviest storms could bring 5 to 8 inches of rain to isolated areas.
The worst flooding is forecast from D.C. to Baltimore to Philadelphia to northern New Jersey. Damaging winds and some hail are also possible.
The storms could begin as early as 1 p.m. Some of the heaviest rain may fall during the late afternoon rush hour, and the heavy rain could continue well into the evening.
New York City has issued a travel advisory for Thursday and Friday, with a flood watch beginning Thursday afternoon.
“We’re preparing for a serious storm,” Mayor Eric Adams warned on social media Wednesday night. “Avoid traveling tomorrow if you can. Roads may become flooded during the evening commute.”
“Anyone living in a basement at risk for flooding should move to higher ground early,” he said. “Don’t wait until flooding begins.”
And in the West, residents of Ruidoso, New Mexico have endured the fourth flash flood event of the month. The Ruidoso Downs Racetrack overflowed and the Rio Ruidoso river at Hollywood crested at 9.4 feet.
More downpours are possible in the area on Thursday night and Friday night.
Meanwhile, more than 50 million Americans across 11 states are under heat alerts as dangerously high temperatures hit the South.
An extreme heat warning remains in effect for the lower Mississippi River Valley on Thursday. Heat indices — what temperature it feels like with humidity — could reach 110 to 120 degrees in Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Over the weekend, the Southwest will feel the heat. In Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson are under extreme heat warnings as temperatures without humidity could reach 105 to 114 degrees.
Arkansas State Police said James Andrew McGann, 28, of Springdale, was arrested in connection with the double slaying of Clinton and Cristen Brink. Courtesy Arkansas State Police
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — A suspect has been arrested in connection with a double homicide at an Arkansas park, after a married couple was found dead on a walking trail over the weekend, authorities said.
James Andrew McGann, 28, of Springdale, Arkansas, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of capital murder in the killings of 43-year-old Clinton David Brink and his wife, 41-year-old Cristen Amanda Brink, Arkansas State Police announced Wednesday evening.
The Brinks were “fatally attacked” while out hiking with their two daughters at Devil’s Den State Park on July 26, police said. The children, ages 7 and 9, were not harmed in the incident.
McGann was arrested shortly before 5 p.m. local time at a business in Springdale, about 30 miles north of the park, state police said. At a news conference Wednesday night, an official said the business McGann was arrested at was a hair salon.
The official said McGann had recently moved to the area from Oklahoma and had been hired to work at a local school.
Asked about a motive, investigators declined to comment, saying the case is still active and that it would be premature to do so.
“Our entire state is grieving for the tragic loss and senseless and horrific crime that’s taken place,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, adding, “One of the worst experiences that certainly I’ve ever had was making a phone call to the Brink family earlier this week. Nothing like that should ever have taken place.”
Police previously said the suspect was seen leaving the area of the park in a black, four-door sedan, possibly a Mazda, with a license plate covered by tape, police said.
Arkansas State Police had released a composite sketch and photo from behind of a man who was seen in Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday, the day of the killings. Police asked for the public’s help in identifying the man, who they said was wanted for questioning in connection with the double homicide.
The FBI assisted Arkansas State Police with its investigation “by providing additional manpower and specialized resources.”
Police have not yet revealed how the Brinks were killed.
The Brinks had recently moved to Prairie Grove from another state, police said.
The children are safe and in the custody of relatives, according to police.
All trails at Devil’s Den State Park, which were closed following the killings, will remain closed for now, Arkansas Secretary of Parks Shay Lewis said.
(TEXAS) — New congressional maps were proposed by Republican state legislators in Texas on Wednesday, following a push by President Donald Trump for maps more favorable to Republicans to help the GOP keep the majority in the U.S. House in 2026.
The maps come as Texas lawmakers continue meeting for a special legislative session called for by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, who set an agenda that included considering congressional district redistricting “in light of Constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Trump has said he wants Republicans to pick up five new seats in Texas and others elsewhere; Democrats have decried the maneuver and said it risks hurting minority voters. Blue-state governors have said they’re considering mid-decade redistricting in response.
The state legislative bill that contains the maps, filed by Republican Texas state Rep. Todd Hunter on Wednesday morning, says it would supersede “all previous enactments or orders adopting congressional districts for the State of Texas” and would take effect first in the 2026 primary and general elections – meaning that if adopted successfully, it would impact the 2026 midterms.
The new map could net Republicans between three and five seats if enacted, analysts told ABC News.
David Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst for The Cook Political Report, told ABC News that three of the seats in the map, he said, have been fully redrawn to favor Republicans, while two in south Texas that are currently held by Democratic Representatives Henry Cuellar and Vincente Gonzalez may still be feasible for Democrats to hold onto.
More broadly, Wasserman pointed to how Republicans made inroads among Hispanic voters in 2024 and that the map reflects how they likely assume those changes will be durable. “Republicans have very little to lose here, because this map doesn’t really weaken any of their own incumbents,” he said.
Republicans won a narrow three-seat majority last November and currently hold 219 seats to Democrats’ 212. Currently, four are vacant.
The Texas congressional delegation currently has 25 Republican House members and 12 Democratic House members. (One seat, formerly held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, has been vacant since he died in March.)
While any details of the bill and map plan could change in committee meetings, state House floor debate, or after future litigation, the current proposal shows that multiple Democratic members could be made more vulnerable.
Some of those are among five sets of members from opposing parties being redistricted into the same district; and two Democrats – U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Rep. Lloyd Doggett – would be redistricted into the same district.
(These members could run in different districts, retire from the House, or run for a different office – there’s no guarantee they’ll face each other if the map goes through.)
There is no set timing for specifically when the bill needs to go through the motions in the legislature, but the special legislative session, which began July 21st, can only last 30 days and thus ends August 20. Gov. Greg Abbott could call for further special sessions.
Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the Texas legislature, as well as on both the House and Senate special session redistricting committees.
One major Republican voice appears to be giving support to the endeavor.
Vice President JD Vance, in a since-deleted tweet, criticized how most of the districts in Democratic-dominated California are not Republican even though four-tenths of voters in the state vote Republican. (Trump received almost 40% of the vote in California in 2024.) “Every GOP-controlled state should be following the Texas example,” he added.
In a subsequent tweet, Vance removed the reference to Texas and simply wrote after discussing the Republican vote in California, “How can this possibly be allowed?”
Legislative Democrats have said they’re keeping their options open as to how they might respond to any new maps. Multiple Texas state Democrats have said they would consider walking out of the special session or helping break quorum to delay or stymie efforts by legislative Republicans, but they would need 51 Democrats to break quorum and would accrue financial penalties.
Some of the members of Congress potentially affected by the new map slammed it as a power grab by Republicans.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, criticizing how the state’s 35th and 37th congressional districts effectively get merged in the new map, wrote, “By merging our Central Texas districts, Trump wants to commit yet another crime — this time, against Texas voters and against Martin Luther King’s Voting Rights Act of 1965. United, we will fight back with everything we’ve got.”
In a statement to ABC News, former Attorney General Eric Holder slammed efforts to redistrict in Texas, and says he doesn’t oppose Democratic efforts to fight back.
Holder runs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“In this moment steps must be taken to respond to the authoritarian measures being considered in certain states and now so brazenly taken in Texas,” said Holder.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats on Wednesday said they are attempting to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files through a little-known, decades-old law.
All seven Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee invoked a law that requires federal agencies provide information about “any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee” if at least five members request it.
“This letter demands that the Justice Department produce documents that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have publicly already confirmed they have in their possession,” Sen. Gary Peters, the panel’s top Democrat, said at a press conference.
“We all know in fact that the attorney general said, quote, she said they’re sitting on her desk. It should be pretty easy to turn over documents that are sitting on the attorney general’s desk,” Peters added.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Peters was joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Richard Blumenthal at the press conference, during which they touted their move as a turning point in their quest for transparency over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein matter.
“Today’s letter matters. It’s not a stunt, it’s not symbolic, it’s a formal exercise of congressional power under federal law, and we expect an answer from DOJ by August the 15, that’s what accountability looks like,” Schumer said. “This is what oversight looks like, and this is what keeping your promises to the American people look like.”
Blumenthal agreed that this measure was invoked as a powerful oversight tool.
“This letter has some force of law,” Blumenthal said. “This letter invokes a statute that has been little used because it has been unnecessary in the past to enforce transparency. It’s necessary now because this administration is stonewalling and stalling and concealing, and the American people are rightly asking where they have to hide. What’s at stake here is not just the president’s promises.”
The Democrats, who said their urging of a release of the Epstein files was also done as a way of seeking justice for Epstein’s victims, were asked at the news conference whether Democratic senators would be comfortable with redactions in their release.
Schumer said lawmakers “wouldn’t force any agreements that have been broken,” but added that he believes “almost everything can come out.”
Schumer also said that they’ve been “talking” to their Republican colleagues to get these files public but would eventually seek “recourse in the courts” if cooperation isn’t achieved.
“We have talked to some of our lawyers, and we will — this can be challenged in the courts, yes,” Schumer said.
Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — At least 37 people were killed and 270 were injured while seeking aid in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to the director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have been reported. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, seven people died of hunger over a 24-hour period on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths from famine to 154 since Oct. 7, 2023, including 89 children.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — A top aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is berating independent auditors at the Pentagon for their ongoing review into the secretary’s use of the Signal messaging app, calling the assessment “a political witch hunt” and a “sham.”
The statement by Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s chief spokesman, suggests the defense secretary is preparing to challenge the upcoming findings by the Defense Department Office of the Inspector General, which is expected to be released in coming weeks.
Parnell’s use of the term “sham” to describe the IG’s work also raises questions about the fate of the independent watchdog office under President Donald Trump.
During his first week in office, Trump fired the Pentagon’s inspector general at the time, Robert Storch, along with more than a dozen other agency IGs. With Storch fired by Trump, the review is being led by acting Inspector General Steve Stebbins, who spent much of his career in the Army before becoming a career civil servant.
Mollie Halpern, a spokesperson for the IG office, declined to comment.
“Consistent with the long-standing policy of the DoD OIG, we do not comment on ongoing oversight project,” Halpern wrote in an emailed statement.
In his statement provided to reporters late Tuesday, Parnell said the IG evaluation “is clearly a political witch hunt” by “Biden administration holdovers.”
“The Secretary has provided a statement to the IG — which points out why this entire exercise is a sham, conducted in bad faith and with extreme bias,” he added.
Parnell initially released his statement to the The New York Times, which first reported Tuesday that Hegseth now requires general officers nominated for a fourth star to meet with Trump in advance of their nominations being finalized. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the new process is in place.
Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said Trump “wants to ensure our military is the greatest and most lethal fighting force in history, which is why he meets with four-star-general nominees directly to ensure they are war fighters first — not bureaucrats.”
Under consideration by the IG is whether Hegseth violated Pentagon policies last March when the secretary used the commercial messaging app Signal to relay details about a military strike in Yemen.
According to texts released by The Atlantic, which the White House confirmed as authentic, Hegseth detailed in an unclassified chat group with other officials how a strike would unfold and when, including the use of F-18 fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles.
“THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP,” Hegseth wrote at one point referencing Yemen and noting the military time of 1415 (2:15 p.m.) ahead of the March 15 strike.
Hegseth also shared details about the imminent attack in a second group chat that included his wife, his brother and his personal lawyer, two sources familiar with the contents of the chat told ABC News. Sources say the details on the strike originated from a classified document and that among the questions being asked by the IG is whether Hegseth personally wrote the texts or if another staffer typed out the details.
Hegseth has insisted repeatedly that the information was never classified in the first place. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, also testified that the chat did not include classified information.
Stebbins, as acting IG, agreed to conduct an “evaluation” of the Pentagon’s Signal use at the request from Congress, which included Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the panel, also requested the review.
“The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified,” Wicker said following the report by The Atlantic.
In a statement to reporters, Reed said it was wrong for Parnell to criticize the IG office.
“The civilian leadership of the Department of Defense is not above the law,” Reed said. “To suggest that the nonpartisan Inspector General is doing anything other than their impartial duties is simply wrong. Taxpayers and military personnel deserve to know the truth, and the Inspector General’s office has a responsibility to follow all evidence and report its independent findings.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for California governor in 2026, after months of considering the prospect of being the chief executive of her home state.
“In recent months, I have given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their Governor. I love this state, its people, and its promise. It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for Governor in this election,” she said in a statement released Wednesday.
The decision could give Harris greater leeway for a presidential run in 2028, an option she has yet to rule out. Harris said she would share “more details in the months ahead” about her plans.
“I have extraordinary admiration and respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service—service to their communities and to our nation. At the same time, we must recognize that our politics, our government, and our institutions have too often failed the American people, culminating in this moment of crisis,” Harris said. “As we look ahead, we must be willing to pursue change through new methods and fresh thinking — committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook.”
Harris announced this decision after months of reflecting how to best contribute to the Democratic Party after her presidential election loss, she said.
“I am a devout public servant, and from the earliest days of my career, I have believed that the best way I could make a difference in people’s lives and fight for a better future was to improve the system from within. And it has been a profound honor to do that work and serve the people of California and our nation — as a prosecutor, Attorney General, United States Senator, and Vice President,” said Harris.
Over the past several months Harris has waded back into politics, appearing virtually at a young voters summit earlier this month and an abortion rights advocacy group in June. Her joint fundraising committee with the Democratic National Committee, the Harris Victory Fund, has begun fundraising on behalf of former North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s new Senate bid as well.
Harris said despite not running for governor, she was finding other ways to “remain in that fight” for “freedom, opportunity, fairness, and the dignity of all.”
“I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans,” Harris said.
(NEW YORK ) — A father accused of killing his 9-year-old daughter in upstate New York and then falsely claiming she was kidnapped pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.
Luciano Frattolin, of Montreal, was arraigned in Essex County on an indictment charging him with second-degree murder and the concealment of a human corpse.
A judge ordered him held without bail. His next court appearance has been scheduled for Aug. 19, with a jury trial set to begin in January 2026.
Frattolin is accused of killing his daughter, Melina Galanis Frattolin, during a vacation to the U.S., concealing her body and fabricating a story that she was abducted.
Melina was found dead in a shallow pond in a remote area near Ticonderoga on July 20, a day after he reported that she was abducted when he pulled over to go into the woods to go to the bathroom, police said.
Melina died by homicide and from “asphyxia due to drowning,” according to preliminary autopsy results, New York State Police said.
Investigators believe she was killed on July 19, just hours after she called her mother to say that she and her father were on their way back to Montreal, police said.
The indictment alleges Frattolin drowned his daughter then concealed her body “by placing it in a wooded area in water, near a fallen tree with a rock on top of the corpse.”
ABC News has reached out to his public defender for comment but has not yet received a response.
Melina lived with her mother full time in Montreal and was on a 10-day vacation to New York City and Connecticut with her father at the time, according to Capt. Robert McConnell of the New York State Police.
According to McConnell, Frattolin and his daughter’s mother have been estranged since 2019. He said the mother knew Frattolin had taken Melina on a vacation and told police she had no prior concerns about them traveling to the U.S. together.
Frattolin’s kidnapping report led the New York State Police to issue an Amber Alert early on July 20. A massive search was launched before her body was discovered later that day by New York State Police Forest Rangers, authorities said.
“He fabricated the initial report of the abduction,” McConnell alleged during a July 20 news conference.
Police began to focus on the father as a suspect after finding inconsistencies in his account of events and the timeline he provided, McConnell said.
(DANVILLE, Va.) — A Virginia councilman was set on fire in an apparent personal attack at his office on Wednesday, authorities said.
The suspect, Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, allegedly confronted Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler, 38, at his office and doused him with a flammable liquid, the Danville Police Department said. Both went outside where Hayes allegedly set Vogler on fire, police said.
Hayes, 29, of Danville, is in custody, police said.
Vogler has been taken to a hospital in unknown condition, police said.
It appears Vogler and Hayes know each other “and the attack stems from a personal matter not related to the victim’s position on Danville City Council or any other political affiliation,” police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
