Louisville shooting live updates: Five killed, six injured including officer

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(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Five people are dead and six others, including a police officer, are injured following a shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday morning, according to police.

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

Apr 10, 10:53 AM EDT
At least 15 mass shootings so far this month

There have been at least 15 mass shootings in the U.S. in the first 10 days of April, including Monday morning’s shooting in Louisville, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

So far this year, the nation has seen at least 146 mass shootings.

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as at least four people shot, not including the suspect.

“It feels like every day in this country we are totally consumed by yet another mass shooting. Nowhere else in the developed world do people wake up to this preventable horror every single morning,” Kris Brown, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement Monday. “Whether it’s a bank, a school, a supermarket, or a church, Americans no longer feel safe in their communities. And Americans are increasingly tired of living in fear of being a victim of a mass shooting.”

“It does not have to be this way,” Brown said. “But until the gun industry no longer has a vice grip on our elected officials, this will continue to be our daily reality.”

Apr 10, 10:32 AM EDT
Shooting unfolded in bank conference room

The gunman opened fire in the bank’s first-floor conference room at about 8:30 a.m. local time, according to officials.

Eyewitnesses said the shooter appeared to have been armed with a long gun.

“He just started shooting,” Troy Haste told ABC Louisville affiliate WHAS-TV. “Whoever was next to me got shot. Blood is on me from it.”

Police said the suspect is dead.

A responding police officer was shot in the head, sources told ABC News. The officer’s condition is unknown.

According to preliminary information, this shooting is not believed to have been terror-related, sources told ABC News.

Apr 10, 10:19 AM EDT
Suspected shooter neutralized

Louisville police tweeted that the “suspected shooter has been neutralized,” adding, “There is no longer an active aggressor threat.”

Apr 10, 10:05 AM EDT
Residents urged to avoid area

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg tweeted that residents should avoid the area around Slugger Field until further notice.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he is heading to the scene.

“Please pray for all of the families impacted and for the city of Louisville,” he tweeted.

FBI and ATF agents are assisting with the incident.

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Migrant boats with 1,200 aboard being rescued in Mediterranean

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(ROME) — A migrant boat adrift in the Mediterranean with about 400 people on board was in “huge danger” amid high waves on Monday, Sea-Watch International, a non-governmental rescue operation said.

Italian Coast Guard ships had been dispatched in a rescue operation, the organization said. Another vessel with about 800 people on board was also being rescued about 120 miles off the southern coast of Sicily on Monday, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency.

The adrift vessel had departed from Tobruk, Libya, with migrants heading to Europe, according to Alarm Phone, a migrant-aid group.

“The people on board are in panic and ask for immediate rescue,” Alarm Phone said on Twitter.

The vessel had been taking on water on Sunday as it drifted between Greece and Malta in high seas, both organizations said. Sea-Watch said it came across the vessel “in distress” on Sunday after the captain had apparently abandoned ship.

“Two merchant ships that are ordered not to rescue, instead one was asked by Malta to only supply the boat with fuel,” Sea-Watch said.

Alarm Phone said several people had jumped into the water when they saw nearby merchant ships. The ship that had supplied fuel didn’t rescue any of the passengers, Sea-Watch said.

“A woman reported the seriousness of the conditions on board. The captain left & there is nobody who can steer the boat,” Alarm Phone said. “Several people require medical attention, incl. a child, a pregnant woman & a person with a physical disability.”

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‘Bare Minimum Mondays’ work trend sheds light on self-care

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(NEW YORK) — As young professionals navigate the workforce with an emphasis on valuing self-care and work-life balance, behavioral trends like “quiet quitting” and pushes for a four-day workweek have emerged. Now, the latest career trend to take hold of the internet is “Bare Minimum Mondays.”

“I think what I’m seeing at least is a trend that started with quiet quitting. Now we’ve got Monday’s bare minimum Mondays and a big, a big push towards a four-day workweek. It clearly is an indication that people are burned out and trying to find ways to re-energize themselves while doing the things they have to do to get a paycheck,” Tessa White, a career expert, told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

The term “Bare Minimum Mondays” was coined by TikTok content creator Maris Mayes, who said the idea is to ease into the work week by prioritizing self-care over productivity on Mondays.

The #BareMinimumMondays hashtag has racked up more than two million views.

Physical therapist Logan Lynch decided to take Mayes’ advice and said she no longer takes patients on Mondays.

“I’m very familiar with hustle culture and the grind and doing everything all the time. So to have a mindset, to have a system to kind of give yourself a break, I really resonated with that,” Lynch told Good Morning America.

Lynch said the new parameters actually increase her productivity.

“I have been trying to put into place boundaries around my work and knowing that it’s OK to take a little extra rest time,” Lynch said.

Mother and entrepreneur Juliana Walker said that the Bare Minimum Mondays strategy has helped her be more intentional with her time.

“I started getting migraines on Mondays and I was overworking myself and bringing myself up into the ground,” the mother of one told Good Morning America. “So that’s when I started scheduling doctors’ appointments, haircuts, getting my nails done.”

According to a Gallup poll from November, 68% of Gen Z and millennials reported feeling more stressed overall compared to their older counterparts and 54% of young workers reported they were also less engaged at work than their senior co-workers.

With the pandemic blurring the lines between work and home, younger workers are setting more boundaries between their professional and personal lives. White said whether you like it or not, younger workers “rebelling” against traditional career structures have already redefined employer relationships.

“They’re insisting on work-life balance and insisting that mental health is important as a result of where they’re at in this generation,” she said. “They don’t have a lot to lose by actually laying it out on the line and saying, ‘I really want to have a better experience at work.'”

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Federal judge bans abortion pill: What the ruling means for women across the country

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(NEW YORK) — Well before a federal judge in Texas issued his ruling on the abortion drug mifepristone, abortion providers across the country said they had been preparing for what they called a “worst-case scenario.”

In his April 7 decision, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas ruled in favor of Alliance Defending Freedom — a conservative Christian legal advocacy group — that asked him to reverse the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, an oral medication typically taken with misoprostol to end a pregnancy.

The advocacy group’s lawsuit said mifepristone is unsafe and that the FDA didn’t study it closely enough before approving its use. The FDA and mainstream medical doctors insist this isn’t true, and that there have been no safety concerns during the 23 years the drug has been on the market.

Now, Kacsmaryk’s issuing of a nationwide injunction on mifepristone — set to take effect by Friday — may impact as many as 64 million women of childbearing age in the U.S.

“This is something that can cause confusion. It’s something that can cause fear,” Dr. Gopika Krishna, a board-certified OB-GYN in New York, told ABC News of both the lawsuit and the judge’s decision. “And that affects our patients and our patients’ understanding of what’s available to them and what options are safe.”

Here are six questions answered by abortion providers and reproductive policy experts about how the judge’s decision may impact women:

1. If I live in a state where abortion is legal, does the Texas abortion pill ruling impact me?

Yes, the injunction on mifepristone is nationwide, affecting even states where abortion, including medication abortion, is legal.

That means drug manufacturers will have to halt production and distribution of mifepristone for the U.S. market.

Eventually, after supply of the drug dwindles, patients will not be able to access mifepristone from any provider, whether it’s via telehealth or inside a clinic.

In states where abortion is legal, providers would only be able to offer in-clinic surgical procedures or opt to provide medication abortions using only one other medication, misoprostol. Doctors say that method is safe and mostly effective but can also cause more side effects.

2. When does the ruling go into effect?

For now, mifepristone remains accessible because Kacsmaryk gave the federal government seven days to appeal his ruling.

On the same day Kacsmaryk’s decision was released, April 7, the Department of Justice and drugmaker Danco Laboratories, which produces the brand name version of the drug, appealed it to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“Today’s decision overturns the FDA’s expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Department will continue to defend the FDA’s decision.”

GenBioPro, the manufacturer of generic mifepristone, responded to Kacsmaryk’s ruling and said they were confident in the legality of the drug.

“Nothing in the court’s order changes the decades of science and evidence regarding mifepristone’s safety and efficacy. As we review the court’s order, we will continue to make our product available,” Evan Masingill, CEO of GenBioPro, said in a statement.

3. What is mifepristone and what role does it play in medication abortion?

A medication abortion involves the use of two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol, taken orally.

It is not a surgical procedure, and the FDA says both medications are safe enough to be mailed to a patient following a telehealth or in-person visit from a certified provider.

In most cases in a medication abortion, mifepristone is taken first to block the hormone progesterone. Then 24 to 48 hours later, a second pill, misoprostol, is taken to empty the uterus.

“Mifepristone is a medication that’s been on the market for decades. It has many, many scientific articles and research that have supported it’s safety, and it’s something that is used quite often for abortion care but in other situations as well,” said Krishna, also a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. “Misoprostol is a medication that, again, has been used for many, many years, has lots of good evidence and data supporting its safety, and it’s a medicine that we use not only in abortion care but in other aspects of OB-GYN care as well.”

In addition to its use in abortion care, mifepristone is also used currently for miscarriage care, according to Krishna. It remains unclear how the judge’s ruling will impact miscarriage care. The plaintiff had asked for the judge to only block the drug for purposes of abortion, but it’s possible availability will dry up since it’s primary purpose was to end a pregnancy.

The medication is also FDA-approved to treat patients with Cushing’s syndrome, a disorder in which the body makes too much of the hormone cortisol, according to the National Institutes of Health. That medication, however, is manufactured and provided to patients at a different dose. The judge’s ruling would still allow for the availability of that drug.

Guidelines from the FDA, which first approved medication abortions in 2000, advise that abortion-inducing pills are safe to use up to 70 days, or 10 weeks, of pregnancy, though evidence shows it can be safe even later in pregnancy, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

While the FDA has continued to approve mifepristone for abortion care, individual states can still set laws about dispensing mifepristone within their state.

Last week, Wyoming became the first state to ban medication abortions separate from a ban on all abortion services.

4. Does the Texas ruling mean medication abortion is no longer available?

The Texas judge’s ruling means that, for now, the FDA-approved method of medication abortion — using both mifepristone and misoprostol — is available. But that could change by Friday unless the higher court intervenes.

Abortion providers told ABC News though that they are prepared to offer misoprostol-only medication abortions in states where it is allowed.

“We are preparing a misoprostol-only regimen,” said Dr. Ashley Jeanlus, a board-certified OBGYN in California. “The misoprostol regimen is a bit longer and it utilizes more pills to complete it, so we’re just adjusting our clinic to be able to help patients that way.”

More than one dozen states currently restrict access to medication abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute .

5. What is misoprostol?

Misoprostol is a medication that the FDA currently approves for the use of treating gastric ulcers.

However, there are several off-label uses for obstetrical and gynecological purposes including treating postpartum hemorrhaging and softening and opening the cervix for patients ready to give birth vaginally, experts told ABC News.

When it comes to its use in pregnancy, misoprostol causes the uterus to contract and dilates the cervix, which will expel an embryo.

A misoprostol-only regimen for abortion not only takes longer to complete, but can also come with more side effects, including nausea and diarrhea, Dr. Laura Laursen, an OB-GYN at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, previously told ABC News.

Studies though show that while using misoprostol with mifepristone is more effective, using misoprostol-only is safe. One 2019 study found “misoprostol alone is effective and safe and is a reasonable option for women seeking abortion in the first trimester,” while a larger review of data published in 2020 also found it safe and effective in terminating a pregnancy.

Rachel Jones, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, said in many cases, it will not be a quick fix for abortion providers to pivot to using a misoprostol-only regimen.

“It’s not a regimen that has been used in clinical settings in the U.S. very often,” Jones said, adding, “And anytime a medical practice is changed, it takes it a while for everything to get in place and running smoothly.”

Krishna said she worries the judge’s ruling means providers like herself will not be able to offer patients comprehensive reproductive care.

“As clinicians, we really want to make sure that we are offering our patients all of these options and they can make a decision based on what they feel is best for them, not a decision that they have to make because of what’s limited to them by law,” she said. “So there are options for medication abortion with the removal of mifepristone, but it is still something that we’re really worried about because it’s the medically unnecessary removal of a medication that we know is safe.”

6. Could the Texas judge’s abortion pill ruling be overturned?

Yes, the ruling can go through an appeals process, meaning it would move to higher courts for other judges to decide.

Jones said that for abortion rights advocates, there is “not a lot of hope” for the appeals process given previous rulings by courts that would see the case.

Ultimately, the case could go as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, the same court that last year overturned Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right to abortion that had been the law in the U.S. for almost 50 years.

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Fate of eight Ohio cops in question as grand jury probes Jayland Walker shooting

Walker Family

(AKRON, Ohio) — A special grand jury will be seated Monday to decide whether to indict any of the eight Akron, Ohio, police officers involved in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot more than 40 times following a 2022 attempted traffic stop, an episode that sparked riots in the city last summer.

Bracing for the Summit County grand jury’s decision, businesses in downtown Akron began boarding up windows over the weekend and the city has erected a fence and barricades around the courthouse where the special grand jury will be empaneled specifically to hear evidence in the Walker case.

“The city of Akron has been preparing for the grand jury results since last summer,” Stephanie Marsh, a spokesperson for the city, said at a news conference Friday. “The most important part of our preparation has been building relationships with our community members and establishing better lines of communication.”

Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of what occurred last summer when police used tear gas to disperse angry demonstrators gathered outside police headquarters and arrested about 50 protesters on charges of rioting, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and misconduct at an emergency. The charges against most of those arrested were later dropped.

Anticipating “strong reactions to the impending grand jury decisions,” city officials have created a demonstration zone near the courthouse “to allow for residents to safely demonstrate, protest and exercise their first amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” reads a statement issued on the city’s recently relaunched critical information website.

Prosecutor explains grand jury process

Craig Morgan, the city of Akron’s chief prosecutor, took the unusual step on Friday of holding a livestream seminar to explain to the community the basics of the grand jury process.

“A grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence,” Morgan said. “The purpose of the grand jury is to determine whether sufficient probable cause exists to charge a person or persons with a particular offense or offenses.”

Morgan said the state Attorney General, which is prosecuting the case, is presenting evidence to the special grand jury because in Ohio, most “felony matters flow through the grand jury at the beginning of the process.”

“This is done often in situations involving extremely lengthy investigations, investigations that involve a high volume of evidence and complex legal issues,” Morgan said.

Nine Summit County registered voters will be empaneled as primary grand jurors and three to five people will be picked to serve as alternates, Morgan said. At least seven jurors are required to vote yes in order to issue an indictment, also referred to as a true bill.

Morgan warned that any protesters who resort to violence will be arrested and prosecuted.

“The types of things that will cause a protest to transition into people being arrested is when windows are being smashed and fires are being set, people are being subjected to physical harm,” Morgan said.

He said it is expected to take a week for prosecutors to present the case to the grand jury.

“The variable, the unknown, that we don’t have is we don’t know how long it will take jurors to deliberate,” Morgan said.

Shot 46 times

The fatal shooting involving Walker unfolded just after midnight on June 27, 2022, when two police officers attempted to stop Walker for a minor vehicle equipment violation, police said. Walker led officers on a brief car chase before exiting out the passenger side door while his vehicle was still moving and attempted to run, authorities alleged.

Walker was unarmed when he was fatally shot while running away from eight officers, who opened fire on him, body camera footage released by the city showed.

An autopsy determined Walker suffered 46 gunshot wounds, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office. Walker had injuries to his face, heart, both lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, pelvis, iliac artery and several bones in his legs, according to the medical examiner.

About a week after Walker’s death, officials released police body camera footage from the incident. During a news conference, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett freeze-framed a section of the footage capturing a flash of light coming from Walker’s car and said it appeared to be the muzzle flash of a gun fired from the driver’s side of the vehicle and aimed at pursuing officers.

In a second body camera video, officers are heard radioing that a shot was fired from Walker’s car. The footage shows an officer following Walker’s Buick off Route 8 and continuing the pursuit on side streets.

Mylett said as Walker jumped from his vehicle and ran, he appeared to reach for his waistband, turn toward the officers and move an arm forward, prompting the officers to open fire.

While the video confirmed Walker was unarmed when he was shot, Mylett said the body camera footage also captured a handgun with a separate loaded magazine and what appeared to be a gold wedding band left on the driver’s seat of Walker’s car.

While the eight officers who fatally shot Walker were initially placed on administrative leave, they were all reinstated to active duty in November. The officers were assigned to administrative duties due to a staffing “crisis,” according to Mylett said.

‘How do you need that many bullets for one person?’

Walker’s family is hoping justice will prevail and the officers are all indicted.

“That was too much. Too much. How do you need that many bullets for one person?” Walker’s mother, Pamela Walker, told ABC News in last July. “And he was a slight-build guy. He was 6 (foot) 2, but he only weighed probably 160 pounds. And I’m sure probably two of their bullets would have killed him anyway. And you needed eight people to be shooting at him like that? I can’t even fathom how you can stand there and just empty out your gun on someone who’s running away from you, who was running away whether he had a gun or not.”

None of the officers involved in the Walker shooting or their attorneys have spoken publicly about the case.

Akron’s Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 7, the union that represents the officers, released a statement early in the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s independent probe of the shooting defending the actions of the officers.

“The decision to deploy lethal force as well as the number of shots fired is consistent with use of force protocols and officers’ training,” the union said.

According to the union, the officers “reasonably believed that Mr. Walker presented an immediate threat of serious physical harm or death and lawfully, based on their training as well as state and federal law, discharged their weapons.”

The union’s statement added, “We believe the independent investigation will justify the officers’ actions, including the number of shots fired.”

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Temporary shelter-in-place issued after fishing vessel carrying freon catches fire in Tacoma, Washington

Washington Department of Ecology

(TACOMA, Wash.) — The Tacoma Fire Department has issued a temporary shelter-in-place for some areas near Tacoma, Washington, as authorities continue to respond to a fishing vessel that has been on fire since Saturday and is carrying diesel and freon.

Since the Kodiak Enterprise caught fire Saturday morning while moored in the Hylebos Waterway of Tacoma, the fire has since progressed, and is now about 100 feet from the boat’s freon tanks, the Coast Guard said in their latest release Sunday.

Freon can be toxic if inhaled “in large quantities or in a confined space,” the Coast Guard said, but the release of freon in the atmosphere does not pose any risks to the general health and safety of the public at this time.

The temporary shelter in place is in effect for residents living in northeast Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods. The city asked those living in these areas to remain indoors and limit exposure to smoke.

“Residents concerned about smoky conditions can provide additional protections by keeping doors closed and shutting outside air vents,” Jim Ferrell, mayor of neighboring city, Federal Way, told residents living in the Twin Lakes and Green Gables neighborhoods on Twitter. “Residents may also want to avoid any strenuous activity or exercise outdoors.”

The Tacoma Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology are responding at this time. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Five-year-old girl shot and killed on California freeway, police say

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(SANTA CRUZ, Calif.) — A 5-year-old girl was shot and killed on a Bay Area freeway Saturday night just before 7 p.m., the California Highway Patrol said.

The shooting on Interstate 880 near Dixon Landing Road was one of two reported in the area, Santa Cruz Police said.

Three suspects were arrested in Santa Cruz County, officials said. Santa Cruz Police said they initiated a car stop after locating a vehicle at about 9:30 p.m. that they suspected of being involved with the shootings.

“The vehicle did not yield, and a pursuit was initiated,” police said in a statement. “During the pursuit on Hwy 17, officers observed the vehicle’s occupants discarding a firearm from the car. The suspect driver stopped a short distance later.”

Police later recovered the firearm thrown from the vehicle, they said.

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A steep rise in temperatures will kick off the spring thaw across the Northeast this week

ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A storm, for once, isn’t going to move cross-country this week, however, near-record-breaking temperatures will.

A major warming trend is expected to move across much of the country in the next few days, with temperatures coming in close to normal for the first half of the week but forecast to soar to summertime levels by Thursday and Friday.

Phoenix is expected to hit the high 90s this week, with Tuesday reaching 99 degrees and Las Vegas will reach 90 degrees on Monday.

Temperatures in Denver will hit the mid-80s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Billings, Montana, will reach 82 degrees on Tuesday, before an expected nearly 30-degree drop the following day, where the temperature is forecast to reach 55 degrees.

Meanwhile, a series of storms moving onshore in the Pacific Northwest will be dropping more rainfall.

As that storm moves eastward, the rainfall combined with above-normal temperatures will be melting much of the thick snowpack, which could contribute to flooding issues from Montana to Nevada throughout the week, with many rivers west of the continental divide likely seeing an abundance of water due to snow melt in the coming weeks.

Dozens of record-high temperatures may break across the East Coast, with cities like Philadelphia, New York and Boston heading into the 70s and 80s.

Philadelphia will reach 80 and 84 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

New York City is expected to reach 75 degrees on Wednesday, 77 on Thursday and 79 degrees on Friday.

Syracuse, New York, is forecast to hit a high of 84 degrees on Friday, while temperatures in Manchester, New Hampshire, will reach 81 degrees.

Last month, much of upstate New York and New Hampshire received heavy snow, with more than 2 feet of snow falling in several regions along the East Coast because of a nor’easter in March.

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Bodies of father and son who disappeared on kayaking trip have been recovered, sheriff’s office says

Jennifer Thompson

(NEW YORK) — The bodies of a father and son who went missing while on a kayaking trip in Arkansas last month have been recovered, authorities said Sunday.

The bodies of Chuck Morris, 46, and Charley Morris, 20, were recovered after 24 days of efforts, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said in an announcement, adding: “Our heart goes out to the family of Chuck and Charley Morris, and we are thankful today that we can help bring closure.”

Jennifer Thompson had told ABC News last month that she believed her husband and son likely drowned after one fell into the cold Beaver Lake in Arkansas from a kayak and the other tried to rescue him. Lt. Shannon Jenkins of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office had confirmed at the time that the two were presumed dead.

“What saved me from the beginning of this is that they died together; they were together,” Thompson said.

Her son Charley was a sophomore at Ohio Wesleyan University where he played violin and guitar, competed as a three-season runner, led the orchestra, and aspired to be a lawyer. Her husband Chuck was a father to Charley and a 12-year-old daughter, as well as an acclaimed percussionist with the electronic-jam band Lotus.

According to Chuck’s bandmate Jesse Miller, Lotus had just finished a 25-city tour. Charley was home for vacation, and the family decided to travel from Kansas City to Beaver Lake, Arkansas to unwind.

“We thought it would be a great idea for Chuck and Charley to be able to get on the kayaks before a storm hit,” Thompson said.

While she and her daughter went into town, “the boys” went out on the kayaks on March 16, despite the cold water, strong currents and three-foot waves.

When Thompson returned, Chuck and Charley were nowhere to be found, which was not initially a cause for alarm.

“We got home, and they weren’t back yet. My husband being the adventurer that he is, we’re like, ‘oh, they must be having a great time,'” she said.

According to Thompson, “crisis mode” set in as time passed. They drove around the lake twice, scanning the water for the father-and-son kayakers. After failing to find them, Thompson called the police later that afternoon.

Rescue teams searched the area for days using helicopters, drones, sonar and dogs. Neighbors also used their boats to aid in the rescue.

On the first night, they recovered a kayak, and the next day another, Thompson said. They later found Chuck’s hat and his coat, but other than those traces, the two men disappeared.

“I guess the first couple of days I really just wanted to hold out some hope,” Miller recalled. “You know, as that dwindled, and the reality became more real, I guess the grief started to set in a little bit more.”

Looking back, Thompson said the cold and choppy conditions on the lake were “for all intents and purposes a perfect storm for drowning.”

As the rescue continued, friends of the family and fans of Lotus began an outpouring of support online, including a GoFundMe to support the family’s expenses. With the grief came memories of the father and son — musical dynamos who Thompson described as “beautifully gentle, loving men.”

“Chuck was fun and creative and funny, and Charley was pensive and serious and very much believed in the responsibility of people to be good,” she said.

Miller, who spoke to ABC on behalf of the band Lotus, said that while the group is grieving their late band member, they remember Chuck as a great musician, father and friend.

“When he was on stage, and he was playing that music, he embodied just beauty and spirit and love,” Thompson added.

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