(WASHINGTON) — In the wake of a series of strikes by Israel on Iran’s nuclear sites, potentially pushing the Middle East to the brink of an all-out conflict, President Donald Trump told ABC News he thought the attacks had been “excellent” and suggested there was “more to come.”
On Thursday, Israel hit dozens of sites inside Iran, saying the country had enriched enough fissile material for several nuclear bombs. Israel also targeted Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said could carry a nuclear payload.
“I think it’s been excellent,” Trump told ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl. “We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come. a lot more.”
Trump declined to comment on whether the U.S. participated in the attack in any way. On Thursday night, the White House released a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which he said “Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”
Trump has been focused on securing a nuclear agreement with Iran and talks were set to take place in Oman on Sunday. Earlier Thursday, Trump said he believed the U.S. was “fairly close” to a deal and didn’t want Israel “going in” fearing that strikes could “blow it.”
(BOCA GRANDE, Fla.) — A 9-year-old girl was attacked by a shark while snorkeling off the Florida Gulf Coast, with the animal nearly biting her entire hand off, her family said.
At approximately 12 p.m. on Wednesday, 9-year-old Leah Lendel was swimming in Boca Grande, Florida, near the shore, with her mother and two younger siblings about 4 feet away from her, Leah’s family said in a statement provided to ABC News.
Leah then went underwater to snorkel, but as she came up, “she screamed,” the family said.
Her mother, Nadia Lendel, looked over and saw her daughter’s right hand “up to the wrist all in blood and mostly torn off,” the family said.
As the mother screamed for help, she attempted to get Leah and her other children out to shore, with her husband — who was snorkeling “some distance away” — swimming “as fast as possible to shore,” the family said.
Once Leah made it to the shore, nearby construction workers who were on their lunch break assisted the family by calling for paramedics and putting a towel “to make a tourniquet and stop the blood loss,” the family said.
One of the construction workers, Alfonso Tello, told ABC Southwest Florida affiliate WZVN the shark that attacked Leah was about 8 feet long.
“Everybody was in shock,” Tello told WZVN.
After paramedics arrived on scene, they decided to airlift Leah to Tampa General Hospital for treatment, the Boca Grande Fire Department told ABC News in a statement.
Leah underwent a “long surgery” once at the hospital, the family said.
“We ask for mostly prayers and privacy at this time so we can process the situation,” the family said in a statement.
The status of Leah’s condition as of Thursday remains unclear.
(WASHINGTON) — Democrats expressed outrage after Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference on Thursday in Los Angeles, taken to the ground and handcuffed by law enforcement officers.
Noem was speaking to the media about the federal response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the area when Padilla entered the room and approached Noem’s podium. As he approached, police officers in the room grabbed the senator, rushed him out of the room into a hallway, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Video shows Padilla, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, identifying himself and saying he wanted to ask a question as law enforcement forced him out of the room.
Padilla was later seen without handcuffs speaking to Noem in a conference room. Noem said later that the two spoke for 10 to 15 minutes and exchanged phone numbers. Noem said she didn’t expect him to be charged.
Noem said law enforcement reacted because he took steps toward her without identifying himself. She told Fox News that no one knew who he was and that he was “lunging forward.”
Video of the incident captures Padilla identifying himself as he is pushed out of the room; it’s not clear if he did before the incident or as he approached the podium.
Padilla later told reporters that he attended the news conference because Homeland Security had not been answering his questions about the administration’s deportation and immigration policies.
“And so I came to the press conference to hear what she had to say, to see if I could learn any new additional information,” the senator said, emphasizing that he was there peacefully.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin alleged Padilla did not identify himself before approaching the podium.
“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” she said in a post on X. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
Noem told Fox News that she would have preferred to have talked with Padilla, “but coming into a press conference like this is political theater.”
“We sat down and had a conversation and we probably disagree on 90% of the topics but we agreed and exchanged phone numbers and we will continue to talk and share information and that is the way it should be in this country. I wish he would’ve acted that way in the beginning is that of creating a scene like this
Padilla’s Democratic colleagues were critical of the way he was treated.
“I just saw something that sickened my stomach — the manhandling of a United States senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Padilla “one of the most decent people I know.”
“This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful,” Newsom wrote on X. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, “What just happened to @SenAlexPadilla is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous.”
Fellow California Sen. Adam Schiff called the actions against Padilla an “assault” on democracy.
“This is an administration that has no respect for our democracy, for our institutions, for the separation of powers, for a co-equal branch of government,” he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters the way Padilla was handled was a “complete and total disgrace.”
“[Senator Padilla] was at that press conference doing his job, asking questions about what is taking place in California, the state that he represents and on behalf of the American people, and he was recklessly and aggressively manhandled. That was unacceptable. It was unconscionable. It was unpatriotic. It’s un-American, and every single person who was involved in manhandling Senator Padilla should be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” he told reporters.
Jeffries said Democrats would “push back aggressively in every way possible” to hold this administration accountable.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also demanded an investigation into the incident.
“This is unacceptable, full stop,” the CHC posted on X. “@SenAlexPadilla attended an open press conference to engage in debate, to represent his state, to do his job. We demand a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris called the incident “a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”
On the Senate floor, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said, “It is unacceptable that a United States senator, in his elected home state, elected by millions of people, went to ask a question for his constituents to get an answer, and brutally thrown to the ground and handcuffed. That is wrong.
“What happens when that voice was stifled? What happens when that voice is thrown to the ground and handcuffed? That voice is lost,” she said.
Members of the Hispanic Caucus later barged into the offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Democrats from the California congressional delegation rushed to the House steps to condemn the incident.
“This assault on Senator Padilla today was an assault on freedom of speech in our country,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, chair of the California congressional delegation, called the incident an “outrage,” and suggested it was akin to “what it felt like to be in Germany in 1930.”
California Rep. Jimmy Gomez called for Noem to testify before Congress.
“A senior senator who was shouting at the top of his lungs, ‘I am Senator Alex Padilla,'” Gomez said. “And what we want to know — we’re going to ask for and demand that Kristi Noem come before Congress and testify about what occurred today.”
A statement from Padilla’s office said he was in the building to receive a briefing from NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot and was listening to Noem’s news conference.
“He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information,” the statement said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson admonished Padilla, calling the senator’s behavior “wildly inappropriate,” adding, “You don’t charge a sitting Cabinet secretary.”
“I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we’re going to do. That’s not how we’re going to act,” he said during a news conference on an unrelated matter that was interrupted by Democratic members shouting “You lie!” as they marched to Thune’s office to protest the incident.
ABC News’ Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.
(LONDON and DELHI) — An Air India airliner carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members en route to the United Kingdom crashed into a building shortly after takeoff on Thursday, leaving 246 dead and at least one surviving passenger, local officials and the airline said.
“The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 13:38 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft,” the airline said in a statement posted on social media. “Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals.”
The victims include 241 passengers and crew members as well as five medical students who were inside the medical college and hospital the aircraft crashed into, according to hospital officials. Many others inside the building were injured — some seriously — and are receiving treatment, hospital officials said.
The Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad confirmed to ABC News that Vishwaskumar Ramesh, one of the passengers on the downed Air India flight, is alive and hospitalized there.
Vishwaskumar’s brother, Nayankumar Ramesh, said it is a “miracle” his brother survived, but is “worried” about his other brother who was also on board.
“He said, ‘Our plane’s crashed, I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive, how I exited the plane,” Nayankumar Ramesh told ABC News about his brother’s escape from the plane. “Just hearing about the crash, I’m scared to fly now, to even stay on a plane now.”
Officials earlier said no survivors had been expected in the crash. The process of retrieving the bodies of victims is almost complete and DNA profiling of the family members of victims will be done very soon, according to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah.
There were around 125,000 liters of fuel inside the aircraft, with temperatures so high that there was no opportunity to rescue the passengers, Shah said.
The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport, in India’s Gujarat state, the city’s Police Commissioner G.S. Malik said Thursday. Boeing’s Dreamliner planes had not previously been involved in an incident where passenger fatalities were reported. This plane had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, which is considered average for this aircraft, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad. I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,” Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a statement.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the plane “fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter” immediately after it departed from the airport. Video from the site appeared to show the jet disappear below the tree line, which was followed seconds later by a ball of fire and a thick plume of gray smoke.
“Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site,” the Directorate General said in the statement.
The captain had 8,200 hours of experience and the copilot had 1,100 hours of flying experience, India’s Directorate General added.
India’s Central Industrial Security Force released photos from the site of the crash, which appeared to include civilians and emergency personnel working to put out flaming wreckage. One photo appeared to show the damaged tail of the airplane resting partially inside a hole in a building.
The Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he had “directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action” to respond to the crash.
“Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site,” the minister added.
GE Aerospace, the aircraft engine manufacturer, said in a statement they have also activated their emergency response team and are “prepared to support our customer and the investigation.”
The local governor, Bhupendra Patel, spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the crash to coordinate their emergency response, officials said. Patel said he ordered a so-called “green corridor” for emergency vehicles to travel between the crash site and local hospitals.
Modi in a statement confirmed that he’d been in touch with local officials.
“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” he said in a statement on social media. “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”
The airline initially announced the crash in a statement on social media, saying the flight had been “involved in an incident,” adding that it was “ascertaining the details” of the incident. The airline updated its social media profiles to display all-black profile pictures.
Air India also announced it will organize two relief flights, one each from Delhi and Mumbai, to Ahmedabad for the next of kin passengers and Air India staff.
Tata Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate of companies that owns Air India, said they will provide families of each person who has lost their life in the crash with ₹1 crore (about $116,000) and will also cover the medical expenses of those injured.
The flight was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad airport, which is officially Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, to London’s Gatwick Airport.
It had been scheduled to depart at 9:50 a.m. local time, with a planned arrival time in London at 18:25 p.m. local time. Gatwick in a statement confirmed the scheduled arrival time.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the situation in Ahmedabad, adding that his “thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”
“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer said in a statement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement he is “heartbroken to hear the news of the tragic plan crash” and will “stand with the emergency responders working to help those impacted.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also responded to the incident, saying he extends condolences “to the families of the victims grieving this immense loss.”
President Donald Trump told reporters that he has spoken with Modi following the crash and offered support to him during this time.
“The plane crash is terrible, I have told them, anything we can do, it is a big, strong country, they’ll handle it. I let them know anything we can do, we’ll be over there immediately,” Trump said during an event at the White House on Thursday. “Horrific crash, looks like most are gone, they actually maybe have a couple survivors, just heard. Nobody has any idea what it might be. I gave them a couple of pointers, maybe look at this or that. Saw the plane, looked like it was flying well, did not look like an explosion, looked like the engines lost power. Terrible crash, one of the worst in aviation history.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will be leading a team of U.S. investigators traveling to India to assist in the investigation of the crash.
All information regarding the investigation will be provided by the Indian government.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Ellie Kaufman, Clara McMichael, Sam Sweeney and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Army is reviewing how pro-President Donald Trump merchandise wound up being sold on one of its bases this week at a service-sponsored event orchestrated by the White House and the president’s supporters.
Earlier this week, Trump spoke at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday. At the event, vendors were spotted selling Trump merchandise — including “Make America Great Again” hats and other “America First” swag. The practice is likely at odds with long-standing Defense Department policy, which prohibits troops from wearing political garb such as hats or flags or expressing their political opinion while in uniform.
The policy is intended to preserve America’s tradition of apolitical military forces, serving at the behest of a democratically elected president regardless of party.
When asked about pictures of troops in uniform buying Trump merch on a military base, a spokesperson for the base said the matter was under review.
“The Army remains committed to its core values and apolitical service to the nation,” said Col. Mary Ricks, a spokesperson for the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg.
“The Army does not endorse political merchandise or the views it represents,” Ricks added. “The vendor’s presence is under review to determine how it was permitted and to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
The public event at Fort Bragg, which is home to the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, was orchestrated much like a Trump campaign rally.
Trump spoke for nearly an hour, repeating false claims of a “rigged and stolen election” and bashing his political rivals. He referred to Los Angeles as a “trash heap” in the grip of “transnational gangs and criminals” — a reference to the ongoing protests in the city. He said immigration protestors were part of a “foreign invasion,” an assessment at odds with his top military adviser, Gen. Dan Caine, who publicly contradicted that statement in testimony.
Sources say organizers of the event placed soldiers who volunteered to attend directly behind the president as he aired his political grievances. Some of the troops nodded and cheered at Trump’s suggestion of putting people in jail for burning the American flag and some jeered when he mentioned the “fake press.”
Several of the soldiers booed at Trump’s references to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
“In Los Angeles, the governor of California, the mayor of Los Angeles, they’re incompetent and they paid troublemakers, agitators and insurrectionists,” he said of the protests in Los Angeles. “They’re engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders.”
In hindsight, one Army official said, uniformed officials on the ground probably should have pushed back more on the political nature of the event. Two weeks prior, the president had turned a commencement ceremony at West Point into a politically charged speech in which he also advised cadets to avoid “trophy wives.”
“But what can you do? To you, he’s the president. To us, he’s the commander-in-chief,” the official said, a reference to the president’s democratically appointed role in commanding the nation’s fighting forces.
Sources say civilians from the federal commission America 250 — many of them with close ties to the White House — were given “full creative control” of the Fort Bragg event. America 250 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When asked about the Army review and concern that DOD policy might have been violated to accommodate the event, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said “it’s bizarre that ABC is taking issue with President Trump’s moving, unifying speech at Fort Bragg, which honored 250 years of U.S. Army history and recognized military heroes and Gold Star families.”
According to two people familiar with the planning effort, the organizers told Army officials on base ahead of the rally that they wanted a certain number of soldiers eager to stand behind the president. These troops would have to undergo a criminal background check for security reasons. Also required, according to sources, — the troops would need to look fit, not fat, in keeping with the new administration’s focus on fitness standards, warrior ethos and lethality.
The troops would have to agree to behave professionally and respectfully, sources said. No eyerolling, for example, or reacting negatively during Trump’s speech.
Army officials from the base worked diligently with America 250 organizers to find troops that would fit the bill.
“We’re soldiers,” one person said. “We do what we’re told.”
As it turned out, finding troops on base willing to be respectful of Trump wasn’t hard, sources said. Trump tends to be popular at Fort Bragg among many of the rank-and-file there. And because the event was voluntary, the spectacle attracted his most ardent supporters.
In the end, footage of troops booing and cheering a political speech while being offered MAGA merch was regrettable, said the Army official.
“We wish it hadn’t happened,” the official said. “The Army would like to focus on the history and the celebration of its 250th anniversary and its commitment to defend the nation.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A New York judge has declared a mistrial on the third-degree rape count in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial on Thursday, after the jury foreman refused to return to deliberate.
The foreman had told Judge Curtis Farber on Wednesday that he was afraid to be in the same room with fellow jurors after he claimed they yelled at him to try and change his mind.
Asked if he would be willing to go back to the deliberation room Thursday, the foreman said, “No, I’m sorry.” Farber then dismissed the remaining jurors.
The former movie mogul was accused of sexually assaulting three women over a decade ago in New York City.
The mistrial comes a day after the jury convicted Weinstein on one count of criminal sex act involving Mimi Haley and acquitted him of another count of criminal sex act involving Kaja Sokola.
The third count related to an alleged assault on aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
All three women have publicly come forward and testified during the trial.
Farber said he spoke to the remaining jurors who told him they were “disappointed” they did not get to render a verdict on the third count.
“I will say they were extremely disappointed that deliberations ended before they reached a verdict,” Farber said.
The judge also said the remaining jurors did not describe anything like the discord and threats recounted by the foreman.
“They all thought they were involved in a normal discourse, and they don’t understand why the foreperson bowed out,” Farber said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case, said they “immediately” informed the court Thursday that they are ready to try Weinstein again on the rape count after conferring with Mann.
“Harvey Weinstein is going to be held accountable for his conduct as to Miss Haley, and he’s facing a very significant term of imprisonment for that,” Bragg said during a press briefing Thursday. “But the jury was not able to reach a conclusion as to Miss Mann, and she deserves that.”
Bragg thanked the three women for their “immense sacrifices,” saying they “spent days on the witness stand sharing the most traumatic moments of their lives in a room full of strangers.”
“Their credibility and character were attacked during lengthy cross-examinations. They were accused of being money-hungry. They were called liars. They were even told that they in fact were the abusers,” he said. “But they stood their ground, and for that, I am extraordinarily grateful.”
An attorney for Weinstein, Arthur Aidala, said they plan to appeal the conviction in the retrial.
“We have very powerful evidence that there was gross juror misconduct at this trial,” Aidala told reporters outside the courthouse. “None of us have ever heard of that where a jury is so intimidated a grown man who was in good physical shape in his late 30s saying, I’m afraid to go back into the deliberating room.”
“If that doesn’t cast doubt on the verdicts here, I don’t know what would. This is not over,” he said.
Aidala further alleged jury misconduct, saying they found out that jurors were considering evidence not admitted at trial.
The foreperson told the judge on Monday that jurors were discussing Harvey Weinstein’s past, according to a transcript of the closed encounter in the judge’s chambers. When the judge summoned the entire jury that day, he reminded them to discuss only the evidence presented at trial and to be cordial.
Asked if he would be looking into the alleged jury malfeasance, Bragg said, “Vigorous and robust exchange of ideas within the jury room is a hallmark, an important hallmark, of our system. And so from what we’ve seen within the record, the jury notes and our observation, this is consistent with the administration of justice.”
Weinstein was being retried for sexually assaulting Haley and Mann after his earlier conviction was overturned on appeal. He was also charged with sexually assaulting Sokola, who was not part of the first trial.
Prosecutors said Weinstein “preyed” on the three women as “he held unfettered power for over 30 years” in Hollywood, while the defense countered the producer did not coerce the women and claimed they were using him for his connections.
Weinstein, 73, pleaded not guilty and has said his sexual encounters were consensual. He did not testify during the trial.
The split verdict and mistrial on the third count came after some discord in the jury room during deliberations.
Early Wednesday, the jury foreperson sent a note telling Farber he “cannot go back inside with those people.” That followed a closed-door conversation during which the foreperson complained to the judge that the jurors were “attacking” one another and fighting — adding, “I don’t like it” — according to a transcript.
Without the jury present, Weinstein addressed the judge on Wednesday and complained the jury behavior is depriving him of a fair trial.
“We’ve heard threats, we’ve heard fights, we’ve heard intimidation,” Weinstein said. “This is not right for me, the person on trial here.”
Farber had proposed a cooling-off period, then the jury came back in saying they had a verdict on the two criminal sex act counts.
They resumed deliberations on the rape count on Thursday, wtih Farber reminding the jurors to be respectful to one another.
Mann said in a statement Wednesday that she “laid bare my trauma” and “stood up and told the truth. Again and again.”
“I would never lie about rape or use something so traumatic to hurt someone,” she said.
New York’s highest court overturned Weinstein’s initial 2020 conviction on appeal last year, finding the trial judge “erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.”
Weinstein has also appealed his 2022 conviction on sex offenses in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison there.
Aidala said Thursday they are “very confident that that appeal will be successful.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Md.) — A Maryland mother has been charged with the murder of her 3-year-old daughter after falsely reporting to police that the child was kidnapped at gunpoint, according to Maryland State Police.
Darrian Randle, 31, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse resulting in the death of a minor under 13 and “other related criminal charges,” police announced on Wednesday. She was also charged with filing a false police report in Delaware, according to Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.
Randle previously reported to police on Tuesday that her daughter, 3-year-old Nola Dinkins, had been kidnapped at gunpoint, which led to the issuing of an Amber Alert in Newark, Delaware, police said. Information “gleaned throughout the investigation revealed the initial report provided by Randle was false” and the Amber Alert was subsequently canceled, police said in a press release.
Through their search efforts, officials located human remains that are “consistent with that of a child” in a vacant lot in North East, Maryland, on Wednesday afternoon, police said. The identification of the remains — and whether or not they are Dinkins’ — is pending autopsy results by the medical examiner, police said.
Randle previously stated she and Dinkins had left her apartment complex and arrived at a dead-end road, with the child beginning to “cry for an unknown reason,” according to the arrest warrant.
While Randle was trying to figure out why her daughter was crying, she said an unknown black SUV with “either rust or dirt on its sides” pulled up behind Randle’s vehicle, with a male voice asking if she was OK, according to the warrant.
Randle replied that she was OK and then “directed her attention back to looking in her car” to her crying child, the warrant said.
While she was looking inside her vehicle, she said an “unknown white male, approximately 40 years of age,” wearing a black hoodie and gray shorts, exited the SUV and approached Randle’s vehicle, she told police.
The male once again asked if Randle was OK and then removed a “black handgun from his shorts” and pointed it at the mother and the child, according to the warrant. She told police the male said he was “not going to hurt them,” but then grabbed the child, “picked her up, placing her underneath his arm” and retreated to the SUV, which was driven by a white female.
At the time of the report, police issued an Amber Alert and an intensive search began overnight. The Amber Alert was canceled after police determined the mother lied to police, with the case then being investigated as a homicide, New Castle County Police said.
Randle later admitted to police she was lying about the kidnapping and the suspects involved, saying she made up the report to “divert attention from her then boyfriend,” who was identified as 44-year-old Cedrick Antoine Britten, police said.
Britten was also arrested and charged with accessory to first- and second-degree murder, failure to report the death of the child and “other related criminal charges,” police said.
Randle is currently being held at the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution in Delaware, with her preliminary court hearing scheduled for June 23, according to jail records. Britten remains in police custody in Maryland awaiting transport to the Cecil County District Court for an initial appearance, police said.
Additional details on what led to the murder charges have not been revealed by officials.
It was not immediately clear whether Randle or Britten have attorneys who can speak on their behalf.
(BOSTON) — A JetBlue flight rolled into a grass area off the runway after landing at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, officials said.
No one was hurt, Massachusetts Port Authority said.
Passengers were seen exiting the Airbus A220 by the stairs.
“The runway is closed at this time as the aircraft is assessed and passengers are bussed to the terminal,” Massachusetts Port Authority said in a statement.
JetBlue Flight 312 was arriving in Boston from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — The Orlando, Florida, community on Thursday evening is set to honor the 49 victims who were gunned down at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time, though it was surpassed by the Las Vegas attack the following year.
The ninth anniversary of the attack comes as groups of victims and survivors this week visit Pulse — once a popular gay nightclub — for the last time before the building is razed so that the city can build a permanent memorial in its place. All of the furniture and the dance floor inside the building have been moved and the walls were painted black.
City of Orlando Outreach and Engagement Coordinator Donna Wyche told ABC affiliate in Orlando, WFTV, that the families of victims and survivors expressed that they wanted to visit the building before it is demolished.
“They’ve said very clearly we want to see it for one last time before it’s gone. We want to be in that sacred place one more time where our loved ones take their last breath,” Wyche said. “It’s part of the journey of grief.”
Pulse nightclub shooting survivor Joshua Hernandez told WFTV on Wednesday that he needs to go inside the nightclub so he can heal.
“It’s going to feel horrible because I was in the restroom for three hours. So when I go to the restroom, it’s going to be very, very sad for me,” Hernandez, who was held hostage in the bathroom during the shooting, said.
“I’m not ready yet. It’s hard. It’s hurt me. I’m gonna be — come out stronger. I’m gonna be stronger to do this, it’s time to close the chapter of my life,” he added.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who has been in office since 2003, also did a walk through of the building on Wednesday and reflected on the 2016 massacre.
“It took me back nine years and reflecting on being in the command center on Orange Avenue as all the things are transpiring then,” Dyer told WFTV. “The realization of just how many people were impacted. I came out the second time and told everybody, it’s not 20, it’s 49 victims.”
Family and friends of the victims, as well as survivors and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community, are set to gather at First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando at 5:30 p.m. local time for a remembrance ceremony. Rick Scott, who was Florida’s governor in 2016, declared June 12 Pulse Remembrance Day in Florida in 2018.
The City of Orlando purchased the Pulse nightclub site in October 2023 and committed to building a permanent memorial. Now, the city said plans are moving forward.
In March, the city of Orlando issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit a design-build firm for the permanent PulseMemorial, following the advancement of a conceptual design in February.
Proposals were submitted by May 29 — the conceptual design includes a survivor’s tribute wall, a reflection pool, a hearing garden and a private gathering space for reflection, according to the city. The memorial is slated to be complete by 2027, it noted.
(NEW YORK) — A New York judge has declared a mistrial on the third-degree rape count in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial on Thursday, after the jury foreman refused to return to deliberate.
The foreman had told Judge Curtis Farber on Wednesday that he was afraid to be in the same room with fellow jurors after he claimed they yelled at him to try and change his mind.
Asked if he would be willing to go back to the deliberation room Thursday, the foreman said, “No, I’m sorry.”
Farber will now dismiss the remaining jurors.
The former movie mogul was accused of sexually assaulting three women over a decade ago in New York City.
The mistrial comes a day after the jury convicted Weinstein on one count of criminal sex act involving Mimi Haley and acquitted him of another count of criminal sex act involving Kaja Sokola.
The third count related to an alleged assault on aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
All three women have publicly come forward and testified during the trial.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
