Texas mall shooting updates: ‘I knew she was gone,’ shooting witness says

May 9, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(ALLEN, Texas) — Eight people were killed and seven others were injured when a gunman opened fire at an outdoor mall north of Dallas, Texas, on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

The alleged gunman died after a confrontation with police at the Allen Premium Outlets, police said.

Here’s how the news developed. All times Eastern:

May 08, 6:55 PM EDT
Texas DPS releases adult victims’ names

The Texas Department of Public Safety released the names of the adult victims killed in Saturday’s shooting.

They were identified as Kyu Song Cho, 37, of Dallas; Cindy Cho, 35, of Dallas; Christian LaCour, 20, of Nevada, Texas; Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32, of Dallas; and Aishwarya Thatikonda, 26, of McKinney, Texas.

Investigators said three unidentified minors, ages 3, 8 and 11, were also among those killed.

-ABC News’ Stephanie Wash and Jack Date

May 08, 6:55 PM EDT
What police found after search warrant issued

ABC affiliate WFAA has obtained a search warrant return listing what was found by investigators at the suspect’s home.

Among the items were three boxes of ammo and loose rounds, a knife in a holster, two holsters and silver-colored handcuffs, according to the search warrant listing obtained by ABC affiliate WFAA.

-ABC News’ Josh Margolin

May 08, 1:36 PM EDT
Suspect terminated from Army after 3 months

The mass shooting suspect, Mauricio Garcia, joined the U.S. Army in June 2008 and was terminated three months later, according to an Army spokesperson.

“He was separated under the 2005 edition of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 5–17, Other designated physical or mental conditions,” an Army official said.

-ABC News’ Matt Seyler

May 08, 1:32 PM EDT
6 victims remain in hospital

Medical City Healthcare said its hospitals are still treating six patients from the mass shooting.

Three are in critical condition, two are in fair condition and one patient — who is at Medical City Children’s Hospital — is in good condition, officials said.

May 08, 12:47 PM EDT
Schumer calls special meeting for Senate Democrats

In the wake of a spate of mass shootings, including in Allen, Texas, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called a special caucus meeting for Senate Democrats to discuss gun violence and the path forward on gun safety legislation, according to a Schumer spokesperson.

The meeting is set for Thursday, May 11 at 12:45 p.m. ET.

-ABC News’ Trish Turner

May 08, 12:05 PM EDT
Memorial grows outside Allen Premium Outlets, therapy dogs arrive

A memorial outside the Allen Premium Outlets continues to grow.

Dallas native Roberto Marquez has made it his life’s work to create memorials at the scene of tragedies. He told ABC News that this memorial in Allen is his 11th.

Marquez said Home Depot donated the lumber he used to build the crosses.

Volunteers from Lutheran Church Charities have also arrived at the scene with therapy dogs. The group has over 140 dogs in at least 25 states.

The same dogs in Allen on Monday were on the scene in Uvalde last year when 19 students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary school.

A vigil for the Allen victims is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m., according to community leaders.

-ABC News’ Ike Ejiochi and Abigal Shalawylo

May 08, 6:54 AM EDT
‘I knew she was gone’: Witness describes aftermath

After a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets, Joshua W. Barnwell, an eyewitness with military experience, rushed to help the wounded.

A woman who was conscious asked him to help her daughter, he said.

“This woman had massive trauma, five to six gunshot wounds,” Barnwell told Good Morning America on Monday.

He went to the daughter to start chest compressions, he said.

“When I saw the massive amount of blood come out from her when I gave her chest compressions to her back,” Barnwell said. “I knew she was gone.”

May 07, 8:13 PM EDT
VP Harris on mall shooting: ‘All Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence’

Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement Sunday about the shooting, also urging Congress to act.

“Doug and I mourn for the eight adults and children who lost their lives, pray for those wounded, and send our gratitude to the first responders who ran toward danger,” she said in a statement.

“All Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence. But they are not,” Harris continued. “Not because we do not know the solutions. Not because the American people are divided on this issue — even a majority of gun owners support sensible reforms.”

Harris urged Congress to send a bill to President Joe Biden that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and would introduce universal background checks.

“We need action,” Harris added.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

May 07, 7:47 PM EDT
FBI alerts public on how to get vehicles left at Allen Premium Outlets

The FBI has provided details to the public on how they can retrieve their vehicles from the outlet mall.

Those with vehicles that were left at the mall can meet at the Allen Senior Recreation Center beginning at 5:45 p.m. local time Sunday, where they will be sent to the outlet mall, the FBI said Sunday in a press release.

The senior center will be managing the retrievals until 9:30 p.m. local time, the FBI said.

“Please drop off only one individual for vehicle retrieval,” the FBI said. “Be sure to have your car keys with you.”

Officials have urged the public not to go directly to Allen Premium Outlets.

May 07, 7:17 PM EDT
Suspect had history of mental health problems: Sources

Preliminary information developed during the investigation indicates the suspect was in the U.S. Army in 2008 and was “removed due to mental health concerns,” law enforcement sources briefed on the probe tell ABC News.

In addition to the insignia on the shooter’s equipment that suggested a right-wing extremist ideology, investigators have found social media accounts connected to the suspect that reveal hundreds of postings and images, including writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi material and material espousing the supremacy of the white race, the sources said.

None of the subject’s postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users nor were there any public comments, according to the sources. The suspect’s account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible, the sources said.

Investigators have determined the suspect had no criminal history and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, according to the sources. The shooter was equipped with a ballistic vest, numerous magazines and additional handguns, the sources said.

-ABC News’ Josh Margolin

May 07, 5:54 PM EDT
20-year-old security guard identified as victim in mall shooting

Christian LaCour, 20, is the first victim of the shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets to be identified.

LaCour died while working as a security guard at the outlet mall, his sister said.

“He was a really sweet kid,” Brianna Smith told ABC News over the phone. “I’m sad that he’s gone.”

Christian’s mother, Tracye LaCour, asked for privacy, telling ABC News that they are praying for the families of the other victims.

-ABC News’ Miles Cohen

May 07, 3:33 PM EDT
Alleged shooter ID’d in deadly Texas mall rampage

The suspect in the Allen, Texas, mall mass shooting was identified Sunday as Mauricio Garcia, according to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.

The 33-year-old Garcia was fatally shot by a police officer who rushed to the gunfire and confronted him at the outlet mall on Saturday afternoon, police said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the investigation, was searching Mauricio’s home and vehicle on Sunday. The agency declined to comment further on Garcia and said the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

President Joe Biden said the assailant was dressed in tactical gear and armed with an AR-15-style assault weapon he used to gun down eight people and injure at least nine others.

May 07, 2:43 PM EDT
3 people wounded in attack remain in critical condition: Police

At least three people wounded in a mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall remained in critical condition on Sunday, according to police.

Four victims were taken to Medical City McKinney, a trauma center in McKinney, Texas, about seven miles from Allen. Three of the patients were in critical condition and one was listed in fair condition, according to a statement Sunday from the Allen Police Department.

Eight victims were killed in the attack and a total of nine people were injured, police said. The shooter, whose name has not been released by police, was confronted and fatally shot by a police officer.

Among the injured, one patient was transferred from Medical City McKinney to Medical City Plano and was in fair condition. Another patient was transferred to Medical City Children’s Hospital in fair condition, police said.

“We are a strong and caring community and we want all of the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you, and we are here for you,” Allen Mayor Kenneth M. Fulk said in a statement released Sunday. “The City of Allen pledges to offer our complete support. We know you are grieving, we are grieving. Rest assured, the nation and the world are also grieving.”

May 07, 2:40 PM EDT
Biden calls on Congress to pass assault weapons ban

President Joe Biden is renewing his call for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban following Saturday’s mass shooting at a Texas outlet mall.

“Yesterday, an assailant in tactical gear armed with an AR-15 style assault weapon gunned down innocent people in a shopping mall, and not for the first time. Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday.

“And yet, American communities have suffered roughly 200 mass shootings already this year, according to leading counts. More than 14,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives, credible estimates show. The leading cause of death for American kids is gun violence,” Biden said.

Biden argued that “some progress” has been made as a result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and his various executive actions, but blasted GOP lawmakers, saying, they “cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.”

“Once again, I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”

May 07, 12:03 PM EDT
Abbott says mall shooting underscores need to address mental health issues

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to visit Allen, Texas, on Sunday afternoon as he argued in a TV interview that the mass shooting at an outlet mall there underscores the need to focus on addressing mental health issues.

“Texans are hurting today. And the people who are hurting the most obviously are the families of the victims, the families of lost loved ones, families who have a loved one who is injured and our main priority right now is to help and support those families in the Allen community,” Abbott said on Fox News Sunday.

He said he is going to Allen on Sunday “to begin the process of providing hope and healing.”

“But I can tell you there are questions that are lingering that the families want answers to. And that is why this happened? Why did that gunman do this? How did this happen? And I know that those families need answers as quickly as possible,” said Abbott, who praised the quick response of police in confronting the shooter and killing him.

Abbott was asked about new polling that shows strong support for background checks for gun purchases, increasing the legal age to buy a gun to 21 and requiring mental health checks for purchases. The governor said his state is also looking at legislation to address “easy solutions” to get guns out of the hands of criminals.

But overall, Abbott argued, the focus should be on the “long term solution” of addressing mental health.

May 07, 11:23 AM EDT
Domestic terrorism probed in Texas outlet mall massacre

As authorities work to determine a motive for the outlet mall shooting in Allen, Texas, one avenue investigators are exploring is whether this was an act of domestic terrorism, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The shooter wore patches or stickers on his clothing that raised suspicion he may have gravitated toward right-wing extremism, the sources said, though they added no motive has yet been established.

Federal agents were seen at a home in the Dallas area believed to be associated with the shooter, ABC Dallas affiliate station WFAA reported.

Federal investigators are already going through the suspect’s electronic devices and social media as they work to understand what led to the killing rampage, the sources said.

In addition to a rifle used in the shooting, sources said investigators recovered additional firearms in a vehicle associated with the shooter.

The Texas Rangers are the lead agency on the case with assistance from the FBI, ATF and Allen police.

May 07, 11:08 AM EDT
‘I got him down’: officer who apparently killed Texas shooter says in radio transmission

Police radio dispatches from the Allen, Texas, mall shooting Saturday captured the chaotic moments as the massacre unfolded, including an officer who apparently confronted the killer, calling for backup before reporting, “I got him down.”

“We got shots fired at the Allen Mall,” an officer is heard saying in the radio dispatches, according to the Broadcastify, which records emergency transmissions.

A police officer was at the Allen Premium Outlets when the shooting erupted around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, raced to the gunfire and fatally shot the suspect, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said at a news conference on Saturday.

“We got people running,” the officer on the scene radioed to a police dispatcher. “I need everybody I got.”

A short time later, the officer radioed, “I got him down,” referring to the gunman, who police have yet to identify.

May 06, 11:46 PM EDT
Shopper says she ‘hunkered down’ amid shooting

A woman was shopping when she says the shooting began and described how people began to flee for safety.

Elaine Penicaro said in an interview that she was finishing up her shopping when she heard “popping” noises and began to realize how dire the situation was.

“We saw sparks flying like it was right in front of us. So we just ran into the Converse store. They locked the door. We all hunkered down in the back. And that’s where we stayed,” she said.

Penicaro said she heard the police arrive within five to 10 minutes.

May 06, 11:13 PM EDT
Vigil planned for Sunday

A vigil will be held Sunday afternoon in the aftermath of the deadly shooting.

State Rep. Jeff Leach said that a vigil was planned for 5 p.m. at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church. He made the announcement during a briefing Saturday evening.

“This community is home for us and our hearts are devastated and broken tonight no law enforcement official no elected official Ever imagines or plans to or hopes to speak in front of a press conference like this,” Leach said.

May 06, 11:01 PM EDT
Mayor calls shooting a ‘tragic day’

Ken Fulk, the mayor of Allen, called the shooting a tragic day for the community and extended his sympathies. Fulk, who was elected in 2020, also pledged his support.

“Today is a tragic day for the city of Allen, our citizens, our friends and visitors who were at the Allen Premium Outlets today. We are a strong and caring community and we all want the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you. And we are here for you,” he said.

May 06, 10:47 PM EDT
Shooter killed at the scene

The shooter was killed at the scene, police said.

Allen Police Department Chief Brian Harvey said at a press briefing that an officer was at Allen Premium Outlets on an unrelated call when he heard gunshots and located the shooter who was then “neutralized.”

“We are asking for the public’s help if you are a witness,” Harvey said.

Blinken facing contempt of Congress threat over cable tied to Afghanistan withdrawal

May 9, 2023 by WDNY Radio

State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain

(WASHINGTON) — The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is threatening to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt if he doesn’t turn over subpoenaed documents tied to the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, marking a significant escalation in the months-long standoff between the Biden administration and Republicans investigating the chaotic withdrawal.

“Should the Department fail to comply with its legal obligation, the Committee is prepared to take the necessary steps to enforce its subpoena, including holding you in contempt of Congress and/or initiating a civil enforcement proceeding,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Blinken on Friday, setting a deadline of this Thursday, May 11 at 6 p.m.

The document McCaul is demanding is what’s known within the State Department as a dissent cable — a memo sent through a classified channel for employees to flag their concerns to top levels of leadership — as well as the department’s official response to the cable.

According to a source familiar with the dissent cable in question, U.S. diplomats warned Blinken that the Afghan government was teetering on the brink of collapse and urged the administration to speed up its evacuation of Afghan allies over a month before the Taliban retook Kabul and the last American troops left the country.

Despite McCaul’s efforts, the State Department signaled on Monday that Blinken would not comply.

“It’s unfortunate that despite having received a classified briefing on the dissent channel cable as well as a written summary that the House Foreign Affairs Committee continues to pursue this unnecessary and unproductive action,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.

McCaul has maintained that the documents are vital to the panel’s probe into the final, chaotic days of America’s occupation of Afghanistan. After the committee’s initial request for the material went unfulfilled, he issued a subpoena — his first as chairman — in late March.

Blinken and other administration officials have argued that handing over the documents would jeopardize the integrity of the channel and State Department employees’ ability to privately voice their perspectives on critical matters.

The State Department has offered committee members other means of insight into the dissent cable through a closed-door briefing and summaries.

“Our viewpoint is that the materials and briefings that we’ve offered and provided have sufficiently met the mark when it comes to the committee’s legitimate oversight request,” Patel said during a briefing on Monday.

But McCaul disagrees.

In his letter to Blinken, the chairman blasted the briefers from the department, claiming they were either “unwilling or unable” to answer basic questions and made inaccurate statements. He also complained about the brevity of the department’s one-page summary of the four-page dissent cable.

Beyond the original, unaltered documents, McCaul said his committee would settle for either the cable and the department’s response with “all names and other identifying marks redacted,” an opportunity to privately review the unredacted material with an agreement that it will not publicly disclose the names of any signatories without their permission, or a chance to privately review the material with only the names of the names of the signatories redacted.

When asked whether the department would consider one of the alternative options, Patel balked, saying the administration felt the information it has already provided “sufficiently met the mark.”

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Four injured in Kyiv from drone debris in Russian strike

May 9, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces are readying a spring counteroffensive, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

May 09, 12:05 AM EDT
Air raid sirens go off across Ukraine, air defense activated in Kyiv

Air raid sirens went off across Ukraine around 5 a.m. local time Tuesday.

Air defense systems were activated in the Kyiv region.

The Russian airstrike on Kyiv was the “fifth air attack” on the capital since the beginning of May, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.

About 15 Russian missiles were launched at Kyiv and intercepted by the Ukrainian air defenses around Kyiv with “no casualties and major damage,” the city military administration added.

May 08, 1:45 AM EDT
4 injured in Kyiv from drone debris in Russian strike

Four people were injured from falling debris after a Russian drone was shot down above Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Three of the people injured were at the site of the explosion in Solomyanskyi district of Kyiv, and one was in the Svyatoshynskyi district of Kyiv, where wreckage fell on a residential building, the mayor added.

Debris also fell on runway at the Zhulyany airport in the Solomyansky district of Kyiv, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration Serhiy Popko said on Telegram.

In Odesa, Russian troops launched a missile attack from strategic aircraft, Ukrainian Operational Command South said on Facebook. The X-22-type rockets used by the Russians were “aimed at one of the food companies and recreational zones on the Black Sea coast,” the Operational Command South said.

Rescue services are working to put fires out, and no information about the number of people injured was immediately available, they added.

-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Kushni

May 08, 1:45 AM EDT
4 injured in Kyiv from drone debris in Russian strike

Four people were injured from falling debris after a Russian drone was shot down above Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Debris also fell on runway at the Zhulyany airport in the Solomyansky district of Kyiv, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration Serhiy Popko said on Telegram.

Rescue services are working to put fires out, and no information about the number of people injured was immediately available, they added.

-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Natalia Kushniir

May 07, 5:21 PM EDT
Russia launches widespread air attack on Ukraine

Air alert sirens went off in several regions of Ukraine late Sunday evening as Russian forces launched a widespread airstrike on the country.

Air alert sirens went off in central and southeastern Ukraine, including in the Odesa, Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions of Ukraine.

Kh-22 missiles were launched toward Odesa, unofficial Telegram channels reported. The air defense systems were activated in response to the attack and repeated explosions were heard in the area, unofficial channels reported.

-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Anastasia Bagaeva

May 07, 9:45 AM EDT
Leader of Russian mercenary group appears to back down from threats of mutiny

The leader of of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appeared on Sunday to ditch plans to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine after receiving promises overnight that they would get all the arms needed to capture the devastated city.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a new audio message that the Kremlin has promised to resupply his Wagner Private Military Company with as much ammunition and weapons as they need.

Prigozhin said that for the first time he received a response to the situation regarding the shortage of ammunition. He said on Saturday night that the relevant companies promised to deliver everything necessary to continue the offensive in Bakhmut.

“Overnight we received a combat order, for the first time in all this time,” Prigozhin said. “We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that everything needed to prevent the enemy from cutting us off (from supplies) will be deployed on the flank,” he added.

In addition, Russian Army Gen. Sergei Surovikin will personally deal with issues of interaction between the Wagner PMC and the Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin said. “This is the only man with the star of an army general who knows how to fight,” Prigozhin said of the Russian Defense Ministry assigning Surovikin to work alongside Wagner.

Surovikin commanded Russia’s Ukraine campaign for several months before the chief of the General Staff, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, was given overall operational command above him.

May 05, 12:03 PM EDT
Russian official warns it is ‘on the edge’ of a conflict with US

Russia is ready to use all means at its disposal to prevent anyone from encroaching on the security of the country in response to the recent drone attacks targeting the Kremlin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview on Russia’s Channel One Thursday.

Ryabkov said Washington is using its “puppets” in Kyiv to stage more and more dangerous provocations.

“I think that any reasonable person in any country will understand that the United States continues its escalatory policies and uses its subordinates in Kyiv, their puppets, to stage and carry out more and more audacious, more and more dangerous, acts of provocation,” he said.

He went on to say that U.S. officials may deny any responsibility and involvement in the attacks but nobody will believe them.

“We are working to prevent relations with the U.S. from plunging into the abyss of an open armed conflict. We are already standing on the edge, on the edge of this precipice,” he said.

May 05, 9:06 AM EDT
Wagner announces retreat from Bakhmut; blames Russian Defense Ministry

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said it will retreat from Bakhmut because of severe shortages in ammunition, according to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group’s leader. He said his forces would withdraw on May 10, blaming Russia’s defense ministry for the retreat.

Wagner has played a crucial role for months in the fighting for Bakhmut, sustaining huge casualties. The announcement and the suggestion of bitter infighting within Russia’s military forces signals division and disorganization just as Russia is bracing for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Prigozhin said he was taking the decision in retaliation against Russia’s military leadership, which he accused of deliberately starving his troops of ammunition because they are jealous of Wagner’s success.

Prigozhin and Russia’s defense ministry have been in a one-sided public feud for months. Prigozhin claims it’s now reached a breaking point, delivering a blistering attack on Russia’s senior military command in the video announcing the withdrawal. He accused them of being “cowards” and of denying Russians a victory in Bakhmut because of their “petty envy.”

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

May 04, 12:15 PM EDT
Zelenskyy makes unannounced visit to The Hague

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a war crimes tribunal in a surprise visit to The Hague on Thursday.

“There must be accountability for this crime. And this can only be achieved through the tribunal. … We must transform the experience of the Nuremberg trials into new operational rules. And that is why we advocate the creation of such a tribunal. We want to continue the tradition of mandatory punishment for such crimes as a guarantee of non-repetition of such aggression,” Zelenskyy said.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

May 04, 8:21 AM EDT
US calls Kremlin drone accusation ‘ludicrous’

Responding to Russia’s accusation that the U.S. was behind Wednesday’s drone attack on the Kremlin, White House spokesperson John Kirby said it was a “ludicrous claim.”

“There’s a word that comes to mind that I’m obviously not — not appropriate to using on national TV,” Kirby said on CNN on Thursday.

“I will just tell you Mr. Peskov is lying, and I mean, that’s obviously, it’s a ludicrous claim,” he added. “The United States had nothing to do with this. We don’t even know exactly what happened here, Kaitlin. But I can assure you, the United States had no role in it whatsoever.”

Kirby said the U.S. does not have any information on who is behind the strike but are “trying to learn more about this as best we can.”

May 04, 6:44 AM EDT
Kremlin blames US for drone attack in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman accused the United States of being involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin on Wednesday.

“We understand well that the decision about such terror attacks are taken not in Kyiv, but in Washington,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing. “Often targets are determined not in Kyiv but in Washington. They don’t Kyiv the right everytime in choosing the means. In Washington they also clearly understand that we know that.”

He added, “Without question. Such decisions — the determining of targets and means — are all dictated to Kyiv from Washington.”

Peskov said it was important that Washington understand the “danger” of such involvement in an attack.

May 04, 12:08 AM EDT
Russia attacks Kyiv with drones and missiles; no casualties or injuries reported

Russian forces launched a “complex air strike” with “drones and missiles” on Kyiv early Thursday morning, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.

The air raid siren went off in Kyiv for three and a half hours during the attack, the Kyiv City Military Administration said.

There were no casualties or injuries from the strikes.

“According to preliminary information, all the missiles and UAVs were destroyed,” the Kyiv City Military Administration added.

This was the third attack on the capitol in four days, the administration said.

May 03, 5:11 PM EDT
US Embassy in Ukraine warns of ‘ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks’

The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine sent an alert to Americans on Wednesday warning of an “ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks,” including in Kyiv.

“In light of the recent uptick in strikes across Ukraine and inflammatory rhetoric from Moscow, the Department of State cautions U.S. citizens of an ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks, including in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast,” the alert stated.

The U.S. Embassy urged U.S. citizens to follow guidance from local authorities and to observe air alarms and shelter appropriately.

May 03, 2:43 PM EDT
At least 21 killed in Kherson region shelling: Ukrainian officials

At least 21 people were killed and 48 injured by shelling in the Kherson region on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, as the death toll continues to rise.

A railway station and market in the city of Kherson were hit in strikes, which occurred across the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, officials said.

“A railway station and a crossing, a house, a hardware store, a grocery supermarket, a gas station — do you know what unites these places? The bloody trail that [Russia] leaves with its shells, killing civilians in Kherson and Kherson region,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter.

All the victims were civilians, Zelenskyy said.

An ambulance was also damaged in the strikes, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.

“No military objects here. Just civilians, including children,” Kostin said on Twitter.

At least one person was killed and three injured in the strike on the railway station, officials previously said.

May 03, 2:00 PM EDT
White House announces $300M military aid package for Ukraine

The Biden administration has announced a new $300 million military aid package for Ukraine.

The package includes additional ammunition for U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, as well as “additional howitzers, artillery and mortar rounds, and anti-armor capabilities that Ukraine is using to push back against Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression,” the Department of Defense said in a statement.

This marks the Biden administration’s 37th drawdown of equipment from Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.

May 03, 11:50 AM EDT
At least 12 killed in Kherson shelling: Ukrainian officials

At least 12 people were killed and 22 injured by shelling in Kherson on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said.

A market and railway station were hit in the strikes in the southern Ukrainian city, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. An ambulance was also damaged, he said.

“No military objects here. Just civilians, including children,” Kostin said on Twitter.

At least one person was killed and three injured in the strike on the railway station, officials said.

Four additional fatalities were reported from shelling throughout the Kherson region Wednesday, officials said.

May 03, 9:48 AM EDT
Zelenskyy denies involvement in Kremlin attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Russia’s claim that his country was involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin early Wednesday.

Zelenskyy, who is currently in Finland, said the claim was the prelude to a “large-scale terrorist attack” from Russia.

“First of all, Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “What for? This does not solve any military issue. But it gives RF grounds to justify its attacks on civilians.”

Zelenskyy went on to say that various attacks in Russia could be the result of “guerrilla activities of local resistance forces.”

May 03, 8:31 AM EDT
Russia says Ukraine tried to kill Putin in Kremlin with two drones

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has accused Ukraine of trying to strike Putin’s residence in the Kremlin with two drones overnight, but said they were brought down before they could reach their target.

No injuries were reported, Kremlin officials said. Putin was not at the residence at the time, they said.

Videos released on official social media channels appeared to show a drone strike the roof of the Senate Palace at the Kremlin.

The Kremlin said “the Russian side reserves the right to retaliate whenever and wherever it deems necessary.”

May 03, 1:30 AM EDT
Ukrainian drone hits Russian port, causing fire

A Ukrainian drone hit a Tamanneftegaz fuel tank in the Port of Taman, Russia, at about 2:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, Kirill Fedorov, a pro-Russian blogger, said on his Telegram channel. The Port of Taman is in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait.

The fire could be seen in a video circulating online.

Local authorities confirmed the fire, which “has been assigned the highest rank,” the governor of the region said. A tank with petroleum products was hit by the drone and is burning, the governor said. No injuries were reported and there was no threat to residents, he added on his Telegram channel.

May 02, 11:45 PM EDT
All drones targeting Kyiv shot down; third attack on capital in six days

All drones that were used by Russians to attack Kyiv early Wednesday morning local time were shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.

There were no reported injuries or casualties, the military administration said.

This was the third attack on Kyiv in six days, the administration added.

May 02, 6:58 PM EDT
Explosions reported in Kyiv

Explosions were reported in Kyiv around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, according to Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster.

The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces were activated in response, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported.

S-300 missiles belonging to Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit in Zaporizhzhia, the spokesman of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, said on Telegram.

Reports of damage, and number of people injured or killed were not immediately available.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Max Uzol

May 02, 6:12 PM EDT
Explosions reported in Kyiv

Explosions were reported in Kyiv around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, according to Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster.

The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces were activated in response, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported.

Reports of damage, and number of people injured or killed were not immediately available.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Max Uzol

May 02, 12:38 PM EDT
Marine veteran killed while evacuating civilians in Ukraine

A 26-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran was killed in a mortar strike last month in Ukraine while working to evacuate civilians, his family confirmed to ABC News this week.

Cooper Andrews died on April 19 in the Bakhmut area, his cousin Willow Pastard, who is speaking on his family’s behalf, told ABC News.

The State Department announced Monday that an American citizen died in Ukraine, though did not provide more details or an identity “out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

“We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.

At least nine deaths of U.S. citizens who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine have been officially reported since the war began last year, according to the State Department.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

May 01, 3:54 PM EDT
2 dead, 40 wounded in latest Russian strikes

Two men were killed and at least 40 people, including children, were injured after Russian missiles struck Pavlograd, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials said.

Serhii Lysak, the head of the military administration of the Dnipropetrovsk, said 19 high-rise buildings, 25 private houses, six schools and preschool education institutions and five shops were hit by the missiles.

Five children were among the wounded officials said. The youngest victim is 8 years old, according to officials.

-ABC News’ Wil Gretsky

May 01, 3:07 PM EDT
Russia suffered 100K casualties in Bakhmut since December: White House

The U.S. estimates that Russia has suffered over 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 killed in action, from the battles in Bakhmut since December, White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday

Half of the 20,000 killed in action were members of the Russian-backed private military Wagner Group, according to Kirby. The majority of Wagner fighters killed were allegedly ex-convicts, according to Kirby.

Kirby said that the data came from “some downgraded intelligence,” that the U.S. has been able to collect. He was unable to provide data on deaths of Ukrainian fighters.

Kirby emphasized that the U.S. thinks Bakhmut holds “very little strategic value for Russia” and if captured by Russia it “would absolutely not alter the course of the war in Russia’s favor.”

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

May 01, 1:41 PM EDT
State Department confirms US citizen dies in Ukraine

The State Department announced Monday that an American citizen died in Ukraine.

“We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.

The State Department declined to provide more details or an identity “out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time.” It is not immediately clear when the death took place.

At least 10 U.S. citizen deaths in Ukraine have been officially confirmed by the State Department since the war began last year. The majority of those deaths were of Americans who volunteered to fight alongside Ukrainians, according to officials.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Man allegedly hid secret camera in Royal Caribbean cruise ship bathroom: DOJ

May 9, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Justice Department recently unsealed charges against a man who allegedly put a camera inside a bathroom onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and filmed 150 people, including 40 minors.

Jeremy Froias boarded a Royal Caribbean ship bound for St. Maarten, San Juan and the Bahamas, in Miami on April 29, according to a complaint unsealed last week in federal court in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“On or about April 30, 2023, when the Harmony was navigating in international waters, Froias installed a hidden Wi-Fi camera in a public bathroom on the aft of the Harmony’s top deck, between the ‘Flow Rider’ surfing simulator and a bar,” an FBI special agent said in a criminal complaint.

That bathroom was a unisex bathroom, according to court documents.

When a passenger reported there was a hidden camera in the bathroom, security found it and reviewed the micro SD card that was inserted into the camera, which allegedly showed Froias adjusting the camera and connecting it to his phone.

“The initial videos depict Froias hiding the camera and adjusting the angle of the camera, so it focuses on the area of the toilet,” the complaint says. “Froias is also seen taking his Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max out of his pocket and appears to have connected the phone to the hidden camera using Wi-Fi. Froias then exits the bathroom.”

More than 150 individuals, including 40 minors, were seen naked or partially naked on camera, the Justice Department alleged, some as young as 4 or 5 years old.

“Individuals are seen coming into the bathroom to either use the toilet or to change into or out of swimsuits,” court documents say. “Froias’ camera captured these individuals in various stages of undress, including capturing videos of their naked genitals, buttocks and female breasts.”

Cruise ship security interviewed Froias, and he allegedly admitted to placing the camera in the bathroom and knew it had been found because he was not able to find it when he went to go get it a day later, court documents state.

Froias is charged with video voyeurism and attempted possession of child exploitation material. He was released on a $25,000 bond by a judge Monday pending trial. He didn’t enter a plea.

The FBI set up a website for anyone who might’ve been a victim to report it to the agency.

“The FBI believes he primarily targeted cruise ship passengers between the timeframe of April 30 and May 1, 2023, who may have used the public bathroom on the aft of the Harmony’s top deck between the ‘Flow Rider’ surfing simulator and a bar,” the form says. “Passengers using this bathroom may have been video recorded by Froias.”

A lawyer for Froias has not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

8-year-old missing for two days found safe under a log in a Michigan state park

May 8, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An 8-year-old boy survived for two full days in a Michigan state park after he disappeared while collecting firewood Saturday on a family camping trip.

Search party volunteers found 8-year-old Nante Niemi at 1:30 p.m. local time on Monday, and the boy has since been reunited with his family, according to the Michigan State Police.

Niemi likely got lost while gathering firewood near his family’s campsite in Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, according to a press release from the Michigan State Police. Last seen around 1 p.m. on Saturday, Niemi was rescued roughly two miles from his campsite after 48 hours on Monday.

“He had braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found,” the press release noted.

Eli Talsma, an 18-year-old who aided in the rescue, told ABC News that Niemi survived for two days without eating or drinking anything.

Talsma said Niemi gathered branches and leaves to cover himself at night. When he saw a helicopter buzzing overhead at one point, Niemi attempted to signal to it, but the pilot appeared not to see him, according to Talsma.

Talsma said Niemi avoided drinking the water in the forest, fearing getting sick. However, he “ate” a few handfuls of snow – his only sustenance over the two-day period, said Talsma.

“If you didn’t know he was in the woods for two days, you wouldn’t know,” Talsma said about the moment rescuers found Niemi under a log.

“I mean, he was just normal. Nante was just walking around. He was talking. He was asking questions. He said he wasn’t hungry,” Talsma said. “He was perfectly fine, but we did give him a Cliff Bar and a banana and some water.”

Michelle Robinson, a Michigan State Police spokeswoman, said she did not know how the boy survived alone, but said Niemi was “in good health and reunited with his family.”

Over 150 search and rescue personnel participated in the search for Niemi, which covered 40 square miles of a remote and hilly portion of Michigan’s upper peninsula. Volunteers from Michigan and Wisconsin also aided in the successful search.

Steve Lombardo, the elementary school principal of the Hurley School District in Wisconsin, said the announcement about Niemi’s safe rescue prompted cheers through the K-12 school building, which had been on edge since the second-grader’s disappearance.

“We announced it to the entire school, and as my colleague said, it was like being at a big football game with our winning touchdown being scored,” Lombardo told ABC News. “The entire school lit up in cheers, and everybody was just relieved and thankful.”

Mom recounts terrifying moments hiding during Texas mall massacre: ‘I can’t die like this’

May 8, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(ALLEN, Texas) — A mom of two is recounting the harrowing moments she and other shoppers huddled for safety as a mass shooting unfolded at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.

Racquel Lee told ABC News she was shopping alone when a “spraying” of gunfire rang out.

“I see a woman running in the parking lot, or trying to get to the parking lot. And she’s by our window — and I see her get gunned down,” Lee said.

“All of us were just paralyzed,” she said. “I just remember crouching down. … There was nowhere to run in the store.”

Lee said a store associate then led her and 11 other shoppers to an employee area to hide as the sound of the shots moved closer.

“We’re huddled in this bathroom closet. And one of the men in the bathroom closet was trying to open the door [to get the employee, who hadn’t joined them in the safe area], and we kept begging him not to,” Lee said. “Shots are still going on. So in my mind, we’re next. He’s coming in here, and we’re trying to tell him, ‘Close the door.’ And he said, ‘I have to go get her.’ I didn’t realize [the employee] wasn’t with us.”

“Everyone’s trying to call 911,” Lee said. “No one could dial out and so I connect to WiFi from a store nearby, and I FaceTimed my husband at like 3:40 [p.m.] and I tried to text my family. And I said ‘Please, I love you. I hope you get this.'”

She said the group spent at least 90 minutes in that break room, not knowing if the shooting had ended.

“You’re thinking, ‘Oh God, we’re going to be next,'” she said. “I started praying. I was rocking on my knees and praying.”

“Everybody was just kind of having their own moment trying to reach loved ones,” she said. “I’m trying to text my family for what I thought was my last moments.”

Lee said she texted her husband: “Please tell everyone I love them. I can’t die like this.”

Lee said the group of 12 strangers came together to support each other.

“Every shot, you’re just, like, twitching. And I start crying, and someone’s petting my back. Then they start crying, I’m petting their back,” she said. “It didn’t matter what nationality, race, religion, color person you were. It was just everyone … everyone just collectively being in this moment together.”

Law enforcement eventually opened the door and told them to put their hands up and come out, Lee said.

“You just see bodies, bags, blood, bullets,” Lee said. “It felt like a war zone. … I can’t unsee it.”

Eight victims were killed by the alleged gunman, who died after a confrontation with police.

“That’s the hardest — that you survive, that you made it out. But you relive it and you think of faces,” she explained.

Lee said she’s desperate to find the store employee who ushered Lee and 11 other shoppers to the staff room to hide.

“I’m really trying to find the store associate’s family. I’m thinking about how she saved — that’s the part that really upsets me, that I don’t know if she’s alive,” she said.

Abbott blames Texas mall shooting on mental health, but what has been done to address it?

May 8, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(ALLEN, Texas) — Just one day after the most recent mass shooting in the United States — this time at an outdoor mall in Allen, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blamed the incident on mental health issues as he’s done with previous mass shootings in the state.

Abbott, a Republican, said addressing mental health — not tightening gun laws — can prevent shootings such as the one on Saturday, in which eight people were killed and seven injured before the suspect was fatally shot by police, Abbott said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Law enforcement sources told ABC News the alleged gunman was in the U.S. Army in 2008 but was “removed due to mental health concerns.” Investigators have found he also may have gravitated toward right-wing extremist ideology, including neo-Nazi sympathies, the sources told ABC News.

“What we’ve seen across the United States over the past year or two … is an increased number of shootings in both red states and blue states,” Abbott said on Sunday. “We’ve seen an increased number of shootings in states with easy gun laws as well as states with very strict gun laws.”

This is not the first time Abbot has blamed a growing prevalence of people with mental health issues on mass shootings. In May 2022, he also said it was behind the Uvalde elementary school shooting that left 21 people dead.

Here’s what Texas has — and hasn’t — done when it comes to addressing mental health in the state.

Texas ranks last in the U.S. when it comes to access to mental health care, including a lack of mental health services, a high number of those uninsured, and being unable to see a mental health professional due to costs, according to a recent report from nonprofit Mental Health America.

It’s not just adults suffering, but adolescents as well. The report found 60% of youth with major depression did not receive mental health treatment.

Additionally, last year, Abbott announced nearly $500 million would be moved from state agencies to support the deployment of the National Guard to the southern border as well as to support border operations.

Of that amount, $210.7 million was from Texas Health & Human Services, which oversees public mental health programs. It’s unclear if funding was cut from mental health programs:

That’s not to say nothing has been done in Texas to address mental health. In June 2022, in response to the Uvalde shooting, Abbott ordered that $5.8 million be allocated to expand the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine statewide and that $4.7 million be allocated to the Health and Human Services Commission to increase multisystemic therapy, a program for juveniles with serious criminal offenses, across the state.

However, the National Mental Health Alliance of Texas is working to get Republican offices to support HB 4713, providing insurance coverage for coordinated specialty care for people under age 26 experiencing a first episode of psychosis, meaning delusions and hallucinations.

Recently an amendment was introduced by state Rep. Jeff Leach, whose district includes Allen — where the shooting took place — that makes it optional for insurance companies to cover this care.

Greg Hansch, executive director of NMHA of Texas, expressed his disappointment at the amendment passing in a statement to ABC News.

Not voting “to ensure that insurance pays for the gold standard in treatment for young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis, they are leaving significant mental health legislation on the table that could help in preventing further tragedies,” he said. “This all happened today, two days after the shooting.”

Abbott’s office did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.

Parkland mom bringing new school shooting book to lawmakers: ‘This time, maybe they can understand’

May 8, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Paul Morigi/Getty Images for March For Our Lives

(WASHINGTON) — The parents of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver are bringing their new “children’s book” to Washington, D.C., to try to shine a light on gun control in a fresh and provocative way.

Patricia Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the 17 students and staff killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, stressed that this new book, “Joaquin’s First School Shooting,” is not for kids — it’s for lawmakers.

“We felt this is a new way, a unique way, to make politicians understand,” she told ABC News. “What better example than our own son?”

The short book is written in the simple language a young child could read, with pages including: “He took aim and fired — again, and again, and again. One life at a time, my friends met their end. He came up the stairs, hunting for more. That’s when we all panicked, and ran for the door.”

The book also has “bullet hole” cutouts to mimic finger holes often seen in children’s books.

“This is presented like a children’s book because we believe that politicians need to understand in … any possible way the issue can be presented to them,” she explained. “This time, maybe they can understand better, because it’s like we’re talking to their own kids, but we’re talking to them. To see if they understand the pain — and the importance.”

Patricia Oliver and her husband, Manuel Oliver, have become outspoken advocates for gun control in the wake of their son’s murder. They’re currently pushing for an assault weapons ban.

This week, Patricia Oliver will head to D.C. to present — and possibly read — her new book to lawmakers to “see their reaction.”

“We, hopefully, will be touching their hearts” and inspiring them to take action, she said.

Patricia Oliver picked this week for the trip because it’s just days before Mother’s Day, and she thinks the book could especially help the members of Congress who are parents feel her pain.

“The language that we use [in the book] is the way Joaquin was feeling in his last moments,” she said.

“You open the book and see the illustrations, you will be very impacted,” she added. “And me as a mom [presenting it], I think that we’re gonna get a different reaction.”

Patricia Oliver added that she thinks the book can be used as a tool for lawmakers in any corner of the nation, and even any adult who wants to make a difference with gun reform.

“We need adults to be a part of the solution,” she said.

Survivors say Buffalo’s history of segregation and racial tensions linked to Tops shooting

May 8, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Dr. Eva Doyle describes herself as one of the “regular Saturday shoppers” at the Tops supermarket on Buffalo’s predominantly Black east side.

But on May 14, 2022, the retired public school teacher broke from her weekend routine and went to pick up her dry cleaning — a twist of fate that likely saved her life.

While waiting for her garments, her cellphone rang with loved ones worried she had been in the grocery store when a horrific racially motivated mass shooting unfolded. A teenage white supremacist drove hours from Conklin, New York, to Buffalo intent on killing as many Black people as possible.

“He took the best of us,” Doyle, 77, told ABC News of the 10 victims who died, among them church mothers, a church deacon, a community activist and a father picking up a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son.

Advocates for the east side say Buffalo’s history of racial tensions and pronounced segregation provided the killer a roadmap to carry out the massacre, further wounding a community that has been reeling from decades of neglect and exposing underlying inequalities.

“I think it was very clear it was going to happen,” said Charley Fisher III, an at-large member of the Buffalo Common Council from 1999 to 2003, who links the Tops killings to those racial tensions.

A 2019 University of California, Berkeley, study ranked Buffalo the 17th most segregated city in America. About 85% of its Black population live on the east side, according to a 2018 study by the Partnership for the Public Good, a Buffalo think tank. And the Tops shooting came amid a nationwide rise in concerns about white supremacy.

In the aftermath of the rampage a year ago this week, the killer, Payton Gendron, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He confessed to plotting the onslaught for months, studying the city’s Black community, pinpointing the neighborhood where the majority of them lived and finding the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, the east side’s only supermarket, packed with Black shoppers on the Saturday afternoon he executed his plan.

Fears of whitewashing

Doyle said she’s concerned the Tops massacre will be forgotten or whitewashed, pointing to the trend of African American history books being pulled from library shelves and African American studies banned from classrooms.

While Buffalo is known widely as a major stop on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves in the early-to-mid-19th century, Doyle said her fears were justified when she learned decades ago that much of the city’s other Black history had gone undocumented.

“I wanted to have a book to read to my students about Buffalo’s Black community. I went to our school’s library and there was no book. I went to some surrounding libraries, there was no book,” said Doyle, who taught in the Buffalo public schools for 30 years and in 1982 penned the first of the dozen history books she has now written.

The Great Migration

During the so-called Great Migration, an estimated 7 million Black people in search of work moved from the South to Northern and Western states between 1915 and 1970.

“When we talk about industrial Buffalo, the focal point was Buffalo’s east side. And where people lived was dictated by where they worked,” said Dr. Henry Louis Taylor, director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo.

Many Black Buffalo newcomers found jobs at companies like Bethlehem Steel, the Republic Steel Corp. and the Ford Motor Company.

Fisher said his father moved to Buffalo in 1939 from Louisiana and got a job, “sweeping a broom” at the Westinghouse factory in nearby Cheektowaga.

“They weren’t the best of jobs, and he was a college-educated man,” Fisher said. “But he took the job in hopes of an opportunity, and he got it.”

As thousands of African Americans moved into the east side, thousands of their white neighbors began rushing to the suburbs, Taylor said.

Due to “redlining” — a practice once used by mortgage companies to keep people of color out of desirable neighborhoods — most Black residents were limited to buying homes on the east side that had been vacated by whites, Taylor said.

Humboldt Parkway and War Memorial Stadium

One of the neighborhoods where Black residents were able to buy homes was around Humboldt Parkway — a 56-acre green space designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for designing Central Park in New York City. The parkway featured more than a million trees and was the pride of the east side community.

But in 1957, the famous urban planner, Robert Moses, designed Route 33, also known as the Kensington Expressway. The partially below grade freeway was completed by 1964, replacing much of Humboldt Parkway, uprooting most of its trees, displacing hundreds of households and cutting the east side in half. It greatly devalued homes in the area, Taylor said.

Nevertheless, through the late 1950s and early 1960s, Buffalo’s east side remained a bustling community, full of grocery stores and businesses, many owned by Black merchants, Doyle recalled.

“We had a Black-owned grocery store. We had a furniture store. We had movie theaters, one was called The Apollo, where you could go on Saturday nights to see movies. We had an ice cream store,” Doyle recalled.

The centerpiece of the east side was the War Memorial Stadium. Nicknamed the “The Rockpile,” it was where the Buffalo Bills played and won back-to-back American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965.

In 1967, however, conditions on the east side began to take a drastic slide, Doyle said.

“Something happened in 1967,” she said. “We had a race riot.”

1967 race riot

During the summer of 1967, race riots broke out in more than 150 cities across the nation as frustration over abusive policing and deteriorating economic conditions in African American neighborhoods boiled over. In June 1967, hundreds of residents took to the streets of the east side protesting the police abuse of two Black teens.

“Cars were turned over, fires started, bricks were thrown at businesses,” Doyle recalled.

The riots lasted for six days.

Then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller sent Black baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who was serving as the governor’s special assistant for urban affairs, to Buffalo to try to quell tensions. And in November 1967, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Buffalo’s Kleinhans Music Hall, telling a crowd, “We are moving toward the day when we will judge a man by his character and ability instead of by the color of his skin.”

In the aftermath of the 1967 riots, some of the damaged businesses never reopened and many of the neighborhood’s few remaining white residents threw in the towel and moved out, Taylor said.

In 1972, the east side was dealt another major setback when the Buffalo Bills also moved to the suburbs, landing at Orchard Park.

‘A real sense of despair’

Conditions on the east side continued to rapidly deteriorate in the early 1980s, when the Republic Steel and Bethlehem Steel plants shuttered.

Fisher, president of the community activist group B.U.I.L.D. of Buffalo, said that in the 1970s and mid-1980s, Buffalo’s population plummeted from 500,000 to around 250,000.

“In 1980, I felt a real sense of despair of blighted buildings, buildings closed, no job opportunities,” said Fisher, adding the same conditions exist today as much of the country emerges from the COVID pandemic and the worst inflation in 40 years.

During the downturn of the 1980s, Buffalo’s Black community was terrorized by a racist serial murderer dubbed the “.22-Caliber Killer,” a 24-year-old white Buffalo resident who prosecutors suspect killed 12 Black people in Buffalo and throughout New York.

“The tensions leading up to the Tops shooting are the same tensions that led up to the .22-caliber killings,” Fisher said. “It’s an undercurrent, a counterculture of hate. We never learned the lesson of being too busy to hate.”

GMA honors teacher who went from lead custodian to substitute teacher

May 8, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(PLYMOUTH, Minn.) — In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week , “GMA” is honoring educators, including educators like Mike Peterson, a custodian-turned-substitute at Plymouth Middle School in Plymouth, Minnesota.

Before becoming the school’s favorite teacher, Peterson was a custodian for nearly three decades. He eventually became the director of the custodian program at the school and earned a bachelor’s degree in his spare time.

“I started in the district 29 years ago, working as a night person. While I was doing nights, I was going to school,” Peterson told “Good Morning America.”

When Peterson decided to retire in 2021, he came right back to the school as a substitute teacher for math, his favorite subject.

“I wanted to be a teacher and [the school gave] me a part-time job because I keep busy,” said Peterson.

Barb Wurdeman, a social studies and science teacher, said she was glad to see Peterson again in the hallways.

“Initially, I thought he came back as a custodian when I saw him in the hall. But then, [when I realized] he had a class and he came back as a substitute teacher, I was just so impressed,” said Wurdeman.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , close to 600,000 substitute teachers cover over 30 million teacher absences in K-12 schools and 20% of requests for substitutes go unfilled.

Paula Engel, a Spanish teacher, said Peterson became a hero.

“When we were coming out of the pandemic, we needed substitute teachers. We were desperate. I mean, it was a big problem. And Mike solved that problem,” said Engel.

Other colleagues said Peterson inspired them.

“He was one of the reasons why I decided to go back to school and finish up getting my degree,” said John Davis, a special education teaching assistant. “It just made me think about, ‘You know what? If Mr. Peterson can go back to school and do what he did to get his degrees, why can’t I do it?’”

After decades of working in the district, Peterson was able to transition into the substitute teacher role seamlessly.

“You can’t replace that knowledge from all those years. How can you replace somebody who knows things from 29 years of working there now?” said wife Sheri Peterson. “That’s his family.”

Freedom Trotter, a school climate and culture specialist at the school, said Peterson has always been a teacher — long before his new role.

“I would say he was a teacher before he actually became a licensed teacher. And so, it started with building those relationships with students and it carried on into the classroom,” said Trotter.

Most importantly, the students are happy to have Peterson back in the school and say he is always in a good mood and treats students like family.

“He connects more with the kids. He’s more willing to talk to us and not just like sit there and be like, ‘Oh, I have to babysit these kids.’ No, he’s interacting with us and making us laugh and we’re just all having a good time,” said Virginia Smit, a student.

Peterson said he sees it as just being there for the people who are always there for him.

“Why not help your friends?” he said. “You know, it’s my family.”

Students, teachers, friends and family gathered Monday morning to surprise Peterson in person.

“GMA” surprised Peterson with a donation in his name through The Minneapolis Foundation to the Seven Dreams Foundation to bring teachers from diverse backgrounds and experiences into classrooms.

After the check surprise, Peterson shared an encouraging message. “You can succeed. Never stop. Go into it. I’m here for you to help you succeed and all the teachers that I’ve worked with, they’re there for you,” he said.

“That’s what I’d like to introduce for the kids that are having some issues. When I was a kid I had some issues but I’ve learned to go and did I stumble? Yes. But I kept going and going and going and tell you the truth, through that, I’ve been successful. I think I have the best building. I enjoy working. It’s one of those things, coming in here, it is an adventure every day in the classroom,” Peterson added.

“GMA” also teamed up with Ace Hardware to surprise Peterson with a new toolset to support Peterson’s side projects both at school and at home.

“I feel that all this is helping not only the kids that I love working with and for teachers and they’d be going so that people that want to sub, come on in. You know, the water is sometimes warm, sometimes cold but it’s a new adventure and I think everybody needs a new adventure,” Peterson said.

“And these kids need help. And I love if they can’t figure out stuff that I can sit down and help them. If I can play help just one or like I wrote in my Facebook, it’s like Batman going into the Flash. Save one, then save another. So if I can sit down and work with them, that’s what I’m here for.”

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