(NEW YORK) — At least nine people are dead and seven others are wounded after a shooting at a school in Serbia’s capital on Wednesday, authorities said.
The suspect, who has been arrested, is a 14-year-old boy who allegedly took his father’s gun to school in Belgrade and opened fire, police said.
A security guard and eight students — all children — were among those killed, police said. Six other students and a teacher were injured and taken to a local hospital, according to police.
Some question whether or not artists speaking out in support of various causes or issues really does help raise awareness or make a difference. Well, Ellie Goulding has actual proof that her work as an environmental activist has inspired fans to take action themselves.
Ellie’s finishing up a U.K. tour in support of her new album Higher than Heaven, and in between dates, she’s been holding record-signing events. A few days ago, she posted photos of one of these events, with the caption, “So very lucky to have you all.” But her fans are pretty lucky to have her, too, based on what they tell her when they meet her.
“Some people say, ‘We had your song at our wedding,'” Ellie tells ABC Audio about her fan encounters. “Some people say I got them through college. Some people say that I got them through the worst time of their life. And it’s things like that that make me just grateful that I can put my music out there.”
“It makes me genuinely feel happy when I know that I’ve helped people,” she notes.
But what really makes her happy, she says, is when fans tell her that her environmental activism has gotten them interested in the subject.
“They also say — which is always nice to hear — ‘Thanks for teaching me things about the environment I didn’t know or didn’t think of,’ and ‘I’ve been talking about it in my school’ or ‘I’ve spoken to my local representatives,'” she shares.
“That makes me feel like… it’s been productive and useful,” she explains.
But not all her fan encounters are so serious.
“There’ll be other [fans] that are just like ‘Aggghhh!’ and go crazy and [are] just silly,” she laughs. “And I love that too!”
Russell Dickerson‘s “God Gave Me A Girl” is his life story encapsulated in a song.
Penned by Russell, Ashley Gorley, Chase McGill and Zach Crowell, the uptempo love song chronicles the highs and lows Russell experienced before realizing the gift he had all along — the love of his life, wife Kailey.
“We broke up back in college. We had just graduated, actually. And I was out on the road. I was playing show after show just like, ‘I’m going to live this rock star dream until the wheels fall off,'” Russell recalls in an interview with ABC Audio. “And it literally took about a month to where I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ And that was kind of that a-ha moment of, like in the first verse, it’s talking about [pouring] my heart out to empty bars [that left] me with a broken heart. And then the chorus is like, ‘No, God gave me a girl.'”
It’s hard for Russell to imagine life and a music career without Kailey. On top of being his muse, Kailey’s also been a tremendous help to him on the road during his early touring days.
“That girl helped me,” says Russell. “Oh, I mean, she inspired ‘Yours,’ obviously. All of my songs. She came on the road, she helped out, she drove the van, she sold the merch, and it was just that without her, we wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“God Gave Me A Girl” is Russell’s latest single off his self-titled third album.
Kevin Costner and his wife, Christine Baumgartner are getting a divorce.
In a statement obtained by People, Costner’s publicist Arnold Robinson said that “circumstances beyond his control” led to the end of their relationship.
“It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action,” Robinson said. “We ask that his, Christine’s, and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time.”
Costner, 68, and Baumgartner, 49, who met in 1998 and wed in 2004, have three kids together, sons Cayden, 15, and Hayes, 14, plus daughter Grace, 12. The Yellowstone star also has four older children from previous relationships, daughters Annie and Lily and sons Joe and Liam.
(CLEVELAND, Texas) — Francisco Oropesa, the man accused of gunning down five people in an “execution-style” mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas, has been taken into custody after a multi-day manhunt, officials said.
Oropesa, 38, was taken into custody in Montgomery County, about 20 miles from where the shooting took place, uninjured and without incident Tuesday evening, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said.
The suspect was “caught hiding in a closet underneath some laundry,” Capers said Tuesday night during a press conference. The suspect will be taken from Montgomery County to the San Jacinto County Jail in Coldspring, Capers said, where he will face charges. He’s expected to be held on a $5 million bond.
The tip for the suspect’s location came in through the FBI tip line, FBI assistant special agent in charge Jimmy Paul said.
“We just want to thank the person who had the courage and bravery to call in the suspect’s location,” he said.
Reward money will be given to the person who called in the tip, officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear how much the person would receive. The total reward increased to $100,000 earlier Tuesday, after the U.S. Marshals announced a contribution of $20,000 on top of $25,000 from the FBI, $50,000 from the state and $5,000 from Multi-County Crime Stoppers.
Oropesa was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals, Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Border Patrol.
A Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC, apprehended the suspect, and air and marine operations assisted with surveillance, Troy Miller, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said in a statement.
“In small towns and communities like Cleveland, Texas, the men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection — in particular, the U.S. Border Patrol — provide integral law enforcement support to local authorities, protecting and serving the communities they live in,” he said. “Tonight’s actions clearly demonstrate that our agents and officers bring incredible capabilities to bear every day as they work to keep our communities safe.”
The massacre unfolded Friday night after neighbors asked Oropesa, 38, to stop shooting his AR-15 in his yard because a newborn was trying to sleep, authorities said.
Oropesa then allegedly stormed the neighbors’ home, killing five of the 10 people inside, including a young boy, authorities said. Two of the women killed were found in a bedroom lying on top of two surviving children, authorities said.
The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 11:31 p.m. Friday detailing harassment, Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters on Sunday. When deputies arrived at the home, they found five victims at the property, Capers said.
Three minors were found uninjured but covered in blood, authorities said. Two of the female victims were discovered in the bedroom lying on top of two surviving children, authorities told ABC News.
The victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, 9. Five other people who were in the home were not harmed.
Oropesa is a Mexican national who was previously deported four times, a source familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Oropesa was deported on March 17, 2009, after an immigration judge ordered his removal, the source said. He unlawfully returned to the U.S., and he was then apprehended and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in September 2009, January 2012 and July 2016, the source said.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — A man was arrested and charged with battery following an alleged incident on a United Airlines flight Sunday, law enforcement officials told ABC News Tuesday.
San Francisco Police said 47-year-old Cody Benjamin Lovins of Montgomery, Texas, was arrested following an alleged “physical altercation” on a plane.
United Airlines said in a statement that a passenger became “disruptive” during boarding on the Houston bound flight. The airline said the passenger allegedly assaulted a crew member.
Naya Jimenez, another passenger on the flight, told ABC affiliate KTRK-TV that the traveler became disruptive after a crew member told him he and his wife were in the wrong seats.
“They had to bring in a gate attendant to try to talk to both of them,” Jimenez said in an interview with KTRK.
Police said Lovins was subsequently “cited and released for battery.”
Video posted to social media showed footage of the incident, during which the passenger allegedly began hitting a crew member.
United called the passenger’s behavior “unacceptable” and said they were banned from future flights with the airline. United said it is working with local law enforcement in their investigation.
So far this year there have been 586 reported unruly passenger incidents, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration. During the same time period in 2022, there were 1,306 reported incidents.
San Francisco International Airport did not immediately respond to request for comment.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed three times, twice in the chest and once in the hip, according to autopsy documents released Tuesday.
Lee, 43, an executive at cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin, was killed last month in the San Francisco neighborhood of Rincon Hill, the San Francisco Police Department said.
Doctors at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital performed surgeries on him for hours but could not keep him alive — his death wasn’t called until 6:49 a.m. in the operation room, four hours after the 911 call for help, the autopsy documents show.
His cause of death is listed as multiple stab wounds. One of the strikes, in his left chest, penetrated his heart, the documents show. The deepest wound, in his left upper chest, was approximately 5 inches, according to the records.
When he initially arrived at the hospital, Lee was identified through his driver’s license, though was officially listed as a John Doe until his identity was confirmed through fingerprint comparison, according to the documents.
In his body, the medical examiner found alcohol, cocaine, ketamine and allergy medications, according to the autopsy documents. The records do not specify what could have been from hospital intervention when he was undergoing surgery.
A fellow tech executive has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with Lee’s death. The suspect, 38-year-old Nima Momeni, is the owner of an Emeryville, California-based company called Expand IT.
Momeni’s arraignment, which had been rescheduled to Tuesday, has been again moved to May 18.
Prosecutors allege that Momeni drove Lee to a dark, secluded area on April 4 and stabbed him with a kitchen knife, according to a motion filed last month. Police later found a roughly 4-inch blade at the scene that appeared to have blood on it, the document said.
During the previous afternoon, Lee spent time with Momeni’s sister and a witness, who identified themself as a close friend of Lee, prosecutors said.
Lee reassured Momeni that nothing inappropriate had taken place, the witness said to police.
Early the following morning, at about 2 a.m., camera footage showed Lee and Momeni leaving Lee’s hotel and getting into Momeni’s car, a BMW Z4, prosecutors said.
Video shows the BMW drive to a secluded and dark area where the two men got out of the car. Momeni “moved toward” Lee, and the BMW drove away from the scene at high speed, according to the court document.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believes California Sen. Dianne Feinstein may return to Capitol Hill as soon as next week after a monthslong absence while recovering from shingles.
Schumer spoke with Feinstein on Monday, according to prepared notes captured in a photograph taken by Politico during a Tuesday news conference.
“We’re both hopeful she can return next week,” the notes sheet reads.
Schumer didn’t comment on Feinstein during the news conference. A spokesperson confirmed the contents of what was pictured in the notes but didn’t comment further to ABC News.
The 89-year-old Feinstein — the oldest sitting senator — was hospitalized after being diagnosed in February with a case of shingles. She was released in early March and has been continuing her recovery at home.
“We don’t have a timeline yet for her return to Washington which is dependent on her medical team saying it is safe to travel,” a Feinstein spokesperson said in a statement.
Her absence has impacted Democrats’ ability to approve President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations because of the seat she holds on the Senate Judiciary Committee, prompting party leadership to seek to temporarily replace her.
Republicans blocked that in mid-April, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling Feinstein a “titanic figure” and stating he wouldn’t be part of sidelining her indefinitely.
Calls for Feinstein to step down have grown among some on the left as the party’s critical judicial nominees face continued limbo. Many Democrats, however, have rallied to her defense — suggesting she is being unfairly singled out.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a fellow California Democrat, was the first to publicly call on Feinstein to retire.
“It has become painfully obvious to many of us in California that she is no longer able to fulfill her duties as she doesn’t have a clear return date,” Khanna said on CNN. “We haven’t been able to confirm judges at a time where women’s rights and voting rights are under assault.”
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive in the House, has now also said it is time for Feinstein to leave the Senate. “Her refusal to either retire or show up is causing great harm to the judiciary,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media.
But former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another member of the California congressional delegation, said Feinstein deserves the respect to get well and be back on duty.
“I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way,” Pelosi said in April. “I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.”
And Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow told The New Yorker: “My antenna goes up when it appears that a woman is being treated differently, when it’s unfair. I’m not saying that Sen. Feinstein doesn’t have health challenges, as do male colleagues.”
Feinstein is the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history and has represented California in the chamber since 1992.
Questions about her age and cognitive faculties have mounted in recent years amid reports that claimed she could be forgetful and confused. She repeatedly pushed back against such assertions, telling The Los Angeles Times in 2020, “I don’t feel my cognitive abilities have diminished.”
She announced in February she would not be seeking reelection after her term is up in early 2025, stating she intends to “accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year.”
Elaborating more on her decision, she told reporters: “The time has come.”
“There are times for all things under the sun, and I think that will be the right time,” Feinstein said at the time.
Foo Fighters have announced a new show in Brazil, and they’re taking some friends along with them.
Dave Grohl and company will headline Estádio Couto Pereira in Curitiba on September 7, with Garbage and Wet Leg also on the bill.
Tickets go on sale Thursday, May 4, at 10 a.m. local time. Visit FooFighters.com for more info.
Garbage drummer Butch Vig previously worked with Grohl when he produced Nirvana‘s Nevermind. As for Wet Leg, Grohl just made a surprise appearance during the “Chaise Longue” duo’s weekend two Coachella set.
The Brazil show is part of Foo Fighters’ live comeback following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. The group’s first show back is scheduled for May 24 in Gilford, New Hampshire.
Foo Fighters are also putting out a new album called But Here We Are, featuring the single “Rescued,” on June 2. It hasn’t yet been announced who’s playing drums on the album or during the tour.
