(LOS ANGELES) — Two kindergarteners — a 5-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy — are in “critical but stable condition” on Thursday after they were shot a day earlier at their small Christian grammar school in Northern California, authorities said.
The suspected gunman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after entering the school and opening fire on the students Wednesday, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.
Butte County authorities responded to reports of an active shooter at the Feather River Adventist School near Oroville shortly after 1 p.m., Honea said. A California Highway Patrol trooper was the first to arrive on the scene and found the two wounded students and the suspect’s body with a handgun nearby.
The suspected shooter had met with a school administrator earlier in the day to discuss enrolling a student at the school, which teaches kindergarten to 8th grade and has a total of 35 students, according to Honea.
It’s unclear if the meeting was legitimate or a ruse for the suspected gunman to get inside, the sheriff said.
The meeting was described as “cordial” and did not set off any alarm bells with the school administrator, the sheriff said.
A few minutes after that meeting, the shots rang out, he said.
The suspect has been identified and authorities are working to find a motive, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff said that he may have targeted the school because of its affiliation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we sent an alert out to law enforcement agencies throughout the state of California, advising them of this shooting and advising them that the subject may have targeted this school because of its affiliation with that particular religious organization,” Honea said.
“Our request of those law enforcement agencies was to be vigilant and make sure that those schools are safe and the students are still safe,” he added.
The suspect was dropped off at the school by an Uber driver who has since been interviewed by police, authorities said.
“We’re working to essentially reconstruct this individual’s activities over the course of today as well as into the past to determine why … he did the things that he did,” Honea said.
The FBI is helping to process the scene and dig into the suspect’s background.
Butte County is located about 65 miles north of Sacramento.
(NEW YORK) — The father of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who died after being placed in a chokehold by subway rider Daniel Penny, filed a civil lawsuit against Penny on Wednesday for negligent contact, assault and battery that led to Neely’s death.
Penny, a 25-year-old former Marine, put Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, in a six-minute-long chokehold after Neely boarded a subway car acting erratically, according to police. Witnesses described Neely yelling and moving erratically, with Penny’s attorneys calling Neely “insanely threatening,” when Penny put Neely in a chokehold.
The city’s medical examiner concluded Penny’s chokehold killed Neely.
“The aforesaid incident, injuries, and death were caused by reason of defendant Daniel Penny’s negligence,” the lawsuit alleged.
Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, requested damages “in such sum as a jury may find reasonable, fair, and just.”
Penny is currently on trial for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s May 2023 death. Penny, 25, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The jury is currently deliberating the criminal trial.
Zachery is present in court this morning, seated alone in the courtroom gallery a few rows back from the jury box.
Penny’s attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
(NEW YORK) — An arctic front and snow squalls will impact the Northeast and Midwest on Thursday.
In Erie, Pennsylvania, a blizzard warning is in effect until 1 a.m. EST on Saturday.
Snow accumulations of 10 to 18 inches are expected north of Interstate 90 (I-90) and 12 to 20 inches south of I-90. In addition, wind gusts are up to 60 mph north of I-90 and 50 mph south of I-90.
According to the National Weather Service warning for the city of Erie and Erie County, whiteout conditions are expected which will make visibility difficult and travel potentially life- threatening. The hazardous conditions will impact commutes and lead to power outages and downed trees across the region.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission strongly encourage drivers to heed all travel restrictions and delay unnecessary travel.
Furthermore, the Erie School District announced on their website that school will be closed Thursday, Dec. 5 and Friday, Dec. 6, with no virtual instruction those days.
The arctic front and snow squalls have hit the Midwest and the Northeast this week. Snow squalls are quick and intense bursts of snow and wind, sometimes accompanied by lightning which last 30 minutes to an hour.
Along the I-95 corridor, strong winds are forecast in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, where winds could gust up to 50 mph. Winds like that could delay flights at major airports on Thursday.
Cold wind chills are expected to reach the East Coast by Friday morning, with single digits and teens for most, even coastal areas. The cold air is expected to reach just outside of New Orleans, where the wind chill could be as low as 27 degrees.
Heavy snow is also hitting the northern Plains and the Great Lakes with whiteout conditions from the Dakotas to Michigan. At least 18 states from Wisconsin down to the Carolinas and north to Maine are under wind and snow alerts.
On the West Coast, warm temperatures reached a record high in the San Francisco Bay area, when Oakland hit 70 degrees yesterday. Unseasonably warm weather will continue out west throughout the weekend with near 80 degrees from California to Arizona.
(NEW YORK) — The jury has requested to receive two readbacks and several pieces of footage as they continue to deliberate in the subway chokehold death trial of Daniel Penny.
Little more than an hour into deliberations on Tuesday, the jury asked for a readback of a portion of the judge’s instructions on the law. The jury is interested in the part about justified use of force.
They also asked for several pieces of video on Wednesday, including police body camera footage, Penny’s interrogation video, and a bystander’s video.
The jury also asked for a readback of the cross-examination of the city medical examiner who concluded that Penny’s chokehold killed Neely.
The medical examiner, the final witness for the prosecution, found that Neely died from compression to the neck and never wavered from her view under intense cross-examination.
The defense countered her conclusion, suggesting public sentiment about the case had influenced her findings and that Neely died of other factors.
The jury requested the definitions of criminal negligence and recklessness on Thursday. They also requested to see two bystander videos — one of which they had already seen — capturing the moments when Penny placed Neely in a chokehold. Wiley allowed the jury to access a laptop with the videos so they could watch the requested videos as many times as they’d like.
The jury — comprised of seven women and five men — is considering whether to convict Penny of manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, on a New York City subway train.
To convict, prosecutors have told the jury that Penny’s use of lethal force must be considered unjustifiable and that Penny acted recklessly and consciously disregarded the substantial risk of putting Neely in the chokehold for so long. Defense attorneys told the jury that Penny was only trying to protect subway passengers.
Defense attorneys also said that Penny never intended to kill Neely, while prosecutors said they do not have to prove Penny intended to kill Neely to have the jury hand down a guilty verdict.
Read the key takeaways presented to the jury during the weekslong trial here.
(NEW YORK) — The price of bitcoin topped $100,000 for the first time ever late Wednesday, and soared to a fresh high in early trading on Thursday.
The new gains extended a rally set off by the election of former President Donald Trump, who is viewed as friendly toward cryptocurrency.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump took credit for the gains: “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!!.”
Since Election Day, the price of bitcoin has climbed nearly 50%. That performance far outpaces the S&P 500, which has risen about 5% over the same period.
But the breakneck pace of bitcoin’s growth poses a quandary for investors: Is it too late to buy into the rally, or will the good times continue to roll?
Investment analysts who spoke with ABC News gave reason to be optimistic about further gains, citing expectations of a friendly regulatory environment under Trump and continued interest rate cuts at the Federal Reserve.
The surge of momentum alone may pull investors from the sidelines, propelling the price of bitcoin higher, they added.
Analysts, however, warned that bitcoin remains a highly volatile asset, making it all but impossible to predict where its price will go next.
“Bitcoin clearly has some things going in its favor,” said Mark Hamrick, Washington bureau chief and senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com.
“The problem with bitcoin is that it’s unclear what drives the underlying fundamentals of the asset,” Hamrick added. “If somebody were to ask me where bitcoin is going in the next week, month or year, I have no idea.”
At least for now, bitcoin is on a tear. The latest surge coincided with a piece of good news for the crypto industry: Trump’s nomination on Wednesday of Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Atkins, the CEO of consulting firm Patomak Partners, serves as co-chair of the Token Alliance, a cryptocurrency advocacy organization.
Once a crypto critic, Trump has vowed to bolster the cryptocurrency sector and ease regulations enforced by the Biden administration. Trump has also promised to establish the federal government’s first National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
The positive developments for crypto extend well beyond Trump. In recent months, the Fed has cut interest rates and forecasted additional rate cuts to come. In theory, lower rates could ease consumer borrowing costs and drive more investment in bitcoin.
Strong performance this year has also been driven by U.S. approval in January of bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. Bitcoin ETFs allow investors to buy into an asset that tracks the price movement of bitcoin, while avoiding the inconvenience and risk of purchasing the crypto coin itself.
Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro, said those favorable conditions for bitcoin are likely to persist.
“Those same catalysts have the longer-term picture still looking bright for bitcoin,” Kenwell told ABC News in a statement.
Still, experts offered up warnings about the volatility of bitcoin. Even amid its meteoric rise this year, bitcoin experienced a temporary downswing that slashed one-third of its value, Kenwell noted.
As recently as 2021, bitcoin suffered a downturn that cut its value in half. The same thing happened a year earlier, when the initial outset of the pandemic triggered a panic among investors.
Bitcoin has proven sensitive to negative developments for crypto and the wider market in part because it is difficult to peg the value of the asset, Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told ABC News.
Stock investors typically assess the value of a company’s shares by evaluating its service or product. Since bitcoin isn’t currently used as anything besides a store of value, the lack of a clear utility leaves little basis for assessing bitcoin’s value, which contributes to its volatile price movements, Sosnick added.
“Bitcoin isn’t really used in the real world,” Sosnick said, noting the asset could still move higher nevertheless.
“Right now, the public is very enamored with bitcoin,” Sosnick said. “It’s foolish to say that any number – whether it’s $75,000 or $100,000 or anything – is the end of the rise.”
(WASHINGTON) — Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said Thursday she isn’t ready to support Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary.
“Well, I did have a very long, lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday, and I do appreciate his service to the nation. I also am a combat veteran. So, we talked about a number of those issues, and we will continue with the vetting process. I think that is incredibly important,” Ernst told Fox News. “So, again, all I’m saying is we had a very frank and productive discussion, and I know that we will continue to have conversations for months.”
Pressed by host Bill Hemmer that it “doesn’t sound in your answer that you got to a yes,” Ernst replied, “I think you are right.”
Hegseth continues to make the rounds on Capitol Hill to try to convince senators that he’s up to the job amid allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of finances. He denies the allegations.
He met Wednesday with Ernst, a key Republican member of the Armed Services committee and herself a survivor of sexual assault.
Upon leaving the meeting, Hegseth told reporters that he and Ernst had an “engaging and instructive conversation.”
Ernst later posted, “I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s service to our country, something we both share. Today, as part of the confirmation process, we had a frank and thorough conversation.”
ABC News has previously reported Ernst to be on a growing list of candidates emerging to possibly replace Hegseth as Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense.
When asked Wednesday if there was any chance she was being considered to replace Hegseth, she merely responded, “Mr. Hegseth is the nominee.” She was tight-lipped over whether their meeting alleviated any concerns she might have.
Ernst is the first female combat veteran in the Senate. She also has a long record of supporting legislation aimed at addressing sexual assault and harassment in the military, and has been outspoken about her own experiences with sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence.
Notably, Hegseth has said that women should not serve in combat roles in the military, and he continues to face his own allegations of sexual misconduct and impropriety.
Hegseth has denied the sexual assault allegations. On Wednesday, he told the Megyn Kelly show “absolutely not” in regards to rape accusations, and he denied many of the claims that he mistreated women.
All eyes will be on Ernst as Hegseth’s confirmation process plays out. Last month, Ernst told ABC News that an FBI background check into Hegseth would be “helpful.”
In an interview with Bloomberg News in 2019, Ernst first disclosed the details of her rape as a college student at Iowa State University, in which she tearfully retold being in a “physically and sexually abusive” relationship with someone who raped her.
During her college years, she volunteered at a safe house for battered and abused women and children.
While speaking to Bloomberg, Ernst also alleged that her ex-husband, Gail Ernst, had physically abused her in an incident in which he “grabbed [her] by the throat” before he “threw [her]” on the ground and “pounded [her] head.” Gail Ernst declined to comment on the allegations at the time.
Ernst also claimed to have endured sexual harassment in the military, which she described to Time Magazine in 2014.
“I had comments, passes, things like that,” Ernst said. “These were some things where I was able to say stop and it simply stopped but there are other circumstances both for women and for men where they don’t stop and they may be afraid to report it.”
“Sexual assault has no place in our military — or anywhere else — and it’s far past time we take more steps toward preventing and reducing these heart-wrenching crimes,” Ernst said in a statement after introducing a bipartisan bill in 2021 to prevent military sexual assault.
Ernst was a member of Iowa State University’s ROTC program at 20 years old before joining the U.S. Army Reserve. She later served as a company commander of an Iowa National Guard transportation unit in Kuwait.
She spent 23 years in the National Guard and Army Reserve and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Ernst has been vocal about her support for Trump, despite him also having been accused of sexual assault by multiple women — which he has repeatedly denied. Ernst was even a contender to be his running mate in the 2016 election.
“I would encourage women to stand up and say, ‘You know what, I’m not going to put up with his nonsense, but I do agree with him on this policy,'” Ernst said in a 2016 interview with WHO. “Sometimes we have to look beyond certain aspects of a person and figure out do we agree.”
She also told Bloomberg that it was “outrageous to suggest that anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault should therefore be a Hillary Clinton supporter.”
Ernst became the first woman to represent Iowa in either house of Congress when she was elected to the Senate in 2014.
Ronald Rowe, acting director of the United States Secret Service; Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and Republican Texas Congressman Pat Fallon got into a screaming match Thursday at a House panel investigating the assassination attempt against President-elect Donald Trump.
Fallon yelled about Rowe’s attendance at the 9/11 memorial. He accused Rowe of putting the President’s Secret Service detail out of position so he could sit behind him during the 9/11 remembrance ceremony.
“Congressman, what you’re not seeing is the [lack] of the detail off out of the picture’s view. And that is the day where we remember more than 3000 people that have died on 911,” Rowe said Thursday. “I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills..”
Fallon yelled at Rowe, asking if he was the special agent in charge.
“I was there to show respect for members that died on 9/11,” Rowe yelled back his finger pointing at Fallon. “Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes,” Rowe shouted.
“Oh I am not,” Fallon responded.
“You are sir,” Rowe yelled back. “And you are out of line!”
“I am an elected member of Congress, and I’m asking you a serious question,” Fallon said.
“I am a public servant who has served,” Rowe yelled back.
Fallon accused the acting director of putting the life of the vice president in jeopardy to audition for the job.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Ronald Rowe Jr., acting director of the U.S. Secret Service/Photo Credit: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)=
(WASHINGTON) — Accountability for the members of the Secret Service who were at fault for the July 13 assassination attempt against President-elect Donald Trump is “occurring,” acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe told a House task force investigating the incident on Thursday.
“All disciplinary measures are imposed to promote the efficiency of the Secret Service and to encourage behaviors and principles that ensure the success of the agency’s mission,” he testified.
“Employees receiving proposals of discipline will be provided due process under agency policy as well as any applicable laws and regulations. But, let me be clear, there will be accountability, and that accountability is occurring. Consistent with applicable laws and regulations, I cannot comment further on specific disciplinary actions underway or being considered.”
At the same time, he said, the agency should not be defined by one failure.
Suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting Trump in the ear, killing one spectator and wounding two others.
A Secret Service Mission Assurance report was released earlier in the year, along with a Department of Homeland Security independent review and a Senate report.
Rowe testified that since becoming director he has focused on preventing another July 13 shooting from happening again.
In his memo, he said the Secret Service increased its staffing levels on the president-elect’s detail, expanding the use of drones at venues, expanding counter-drone technology at venues, addressing the faulty radio issue by working with the Defense Department, using other federal law enforcement agencies to help with protective visits and expanding the ballistic countermeasures at Secret Service protected events.
At the president-elect’s residences, the Secret Service has worked with state and local partners to bolster security and use cutting-edge technology to do so.
“My goal is to improve our mission effectiveness and rebuild public trust,” Rowe said. “One of the key systemic changes was the directive to mandate a unified command in a singular location for all protective sites, something that was not done on July 13th in Butler. This co-location enhances our communications and intelligence-sharing mechanisms with state, local and federal partners to better anticipate threats and respond to them more swiftly.”
Rowe testified that he has also prioritized the mental health of agents, adding a chief wellness officer just this week.
“While I cannot undo the harm that has been done, I am committed to doing everything in my power to ensure that the Secret Service never has a failure like this again.”
(WASHINGTON) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, was back on Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with Republican lawmakers as misconduct allegations continued to cloud his selection to lead the Pentagon.
But behind the scenes, Trump’s political team is focused on figuring out where female Republican senators stand on Hegseth, according to two people involved in the conversations. Trump’s advisers are fully aware that with such a thin GOP majority, Hegseth’s fate could all come down to the women in the conference.
ABC News was also told Trump has expressed to those close to him that Hegseth should have been more honest and forthcoming about the challenges he could face getting through the confirmation process given his history.
Trump, who is considering other options for the role, has not been working the phones for Hegseth — as he did for Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz was Trump’s original pick for attorney general but said he withdrew his name from consideration as he faced his own allegations of sexual misconduct. Trump has since tapped former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to head up the Justice Department, pending Senate confirmation.
Hegseth has told senators his mother has been making calls to senators on his behalf, according to sources familiar with the matter. He has also told senators he is open to a background check, according to multiple sources.
During Wednesday’s meetings with GOP senators, Hegseth promised some he would not drink alcohol if confirmed.
“The allegation was made about him being intoxicated at several times and so the questions that every member will be asking him led to his statement,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, current ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and expected to take over the chairmanship in January — presiding over Hegseth’s confirmation hearings.
Hegseth on Thursday was expected to meet with Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Jim Banks of Indiana, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and his senior aides are discussing possible preemptive pardons for people who might be targeted by the incoming Trump administration, according to a source close to the president.
Possible names include current and former officials such as retired Gen. Mark Milley, former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen.-elect Adam Schiff and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Politico was first to report the news.
The consideration comes after Biden issued a full pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, on Dec. 1. The move sparked backlash from Republicans and criticism from many Democrats.
The White House said Biden did so, despite his past pledges not to pardon his son, because “it didn’t seem his political opponents would let go of it.”
Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to exact “retribution” on his political enemies.
Milley, who retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year, has long been a target of Republican attacks over the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
He also stoked Trump’s ire over a report that Milley secretly called his Chinese counterpart before and after the 2020 election to dispel China’s fears Trump was not planning an attack. Trump accused Milley of “treason” after the report.
Cheney and Schiff have also long been criticized by Trump over their investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. The two were part of the House Jan. 6 committee’s yearlong probe, which concluded with the recommendation of criminal charges against Trump. Schiff also was the lead House prosecutor in Trump’s first Senate impeachment trial.
Cheney lost her reelection bid in 2022 to a Trump-backed Republican challenger. Cheney endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump, and appeared with Harris several times on the campaign trail.
Schiff is now the senator-elect from California after winning the seat held by late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November.
Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, faced intense scrutiny over the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s been called to Capitol Hill to testify on school shutdowns, the virus’ origins and more by House Republicans since retiring in 2022.
