(SANFORD, Fla.) — Passengers traveling on an Amtrak Auto Train from a Washington, D.C., suburb Monday evening expected to arrive in the Orlando area by Tuesday morning. But their planned 17-hour journey experienced significant delays caused by a freight derailment.

The train rolled into the station in Sanford, Florida, on Wednesday morning, ending the 37-hour trip. The 563 passengers and 333 vehicles onboard had been delayed by almost 20 hours.

The southbound Amtrak Auto Train was detoured off its normal route due to the derailment of a CSX freight Monday night and was stopped in Denmark, South Carolina, while waiting for a new crew to arrive, Amtrak said.

“The train was detoured off its normal route in order to continue operating south,” Amtrak told ABC News late Tuesday, confirming that the train was moving again.

“We have been providing regular updates to customers, along with meals, snack packs and beverages,” it said. “The onboard staff is working with pet owners to provide bathroom breaks.”

The Amtrak Auto Train train, which departed Lorton, Virginia, at 5 p.m. Monday, was initially scheduled to arrive in Sanford, Florida, by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Only a few certified crews are able to operate the Auto Train, which carries passengers and their vehicles daily between the two destinations.

The CSX freight train collided with an unoccupied vehicle on the tracks in Lake City, South Carolina, shortly before 11 p.m. Monday, CSX said in a statement. No injuries were reported.

Auto Train service on Tuesday was canceled, while Silver Meteor and Silver Star trains that departed on Monday are operating on a detour and missing stops due to the derailment, Amtrak said.

Passengers were apparently calling 911 from the train when it was stuck, according to several videos obtained by ABC News in which a conductor can be heard asking people to stop calling police.

“For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage,” a conductor can be heard over the loudspeaker. “We are giving you all the information in which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience.”

The conductor can also be heard telling people not to open their windows to smoke on the train.

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(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Illinois on Tuesday became the latest U.S. state to ban the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons.

Just hours after the legislation’s passage in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the “Protect Illinois Communities Act” into law during a ceremony at the State Capitol in Springfield. Supporters, some of whom were gun violence survivors, erupted with applause and cheers as the governor presented the signed document.

“For a long time now, I and many other leaders in the Illinois General Assembly have prioritized getting the most dangerous weapons off our state’s streets,” Pritzker said in a statement Tuesday. “Today, honoring the commitment we made, we passed one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the nation, one I will be proud to sign.”

Nine U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., now prohibit the sale or possession of military-style weapons, driven largely by deadly mass shootings in their communities.

For Illinois, the ban came six months after a gunman wielding a semiautomatic rifle shot and killed seven people at a 4th of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

“No Illinoisan, no matter their zip code, should have to go through life fearing their loved one could be the next in an ever-growing list of victims of mass shootings,” the governor said. “However, for too long people have lived in fear of being gunned down in schools, while worshipping, at celebrations or in their own front yards. This legislation will stop the spread of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches and make our state a safer place for all.”

Pritzker, the Democratic incumbent who defeated Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey in November to win a second term, had campaigned for reelection on the promise of stricter gun laws.

According to the Illinois State Rifle Association, the ban affects nearly 2.5 million legal firearm owners in the state.

“Challenge accepted,” ISRA executive director Richard A Pearson said in a statement Tuesday, in response to the ban. “The Illinois State Rifle Association will see the State of Illinois in court.”

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(NEW YORK) — A man has been arrested after multiple dogs were found dead in a dumpster during a period of several weeks at the end of last year.

The series of deaths began on Nov. 15 when animal control officers in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were alerted to the discovery of three dead pit bulls — one adult dog and two puppies — that were found in a dumpster inside a plastic tub that was covered in feces and urine.

“The adult female dog was starved and had a broken foot,” Myrtle Beach Police Department said in a statement released to the media. “The two six to eight-week-old puppies were drowned.”

The case went unsolved for nearly six weeks until another incident occurred on Dec. 26 when animal control officers were again called to the same dumpster. This time following the discovery of a dead 10 to 12-week-old pit bull puppy that was found in a plastic tub discarded next to the same dumpster the other three dogs were found in on Nov. 15. Authorities say the puppy had died of “illness and drowning.”

An investigation by the Myrtle Beach Police Department eventually led authorities to arrest and charge 33-year-old Raahkeem Orlando Young of Myrtle Beach following an investigation into the deaths of the animals.

“Young was connected to the case after officers located a receipt discarded with a puppy on the 26th that led officers back to Young using cameras from the store and the city traffic and street cameras,” Myrtle Beach Police Department said in a statement announcing his arrest.

Young has now been charged with four counts of felony animal cruelty and four counts of failure to properly bury animals after being taken into custody on Jan. 7.

Young was subsequently released on a personal recognizance bond later that day. A trial date has not yet been set.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department said that this is still an active investigation and ask that anybody with information pertaining to the case contact the Myrtle Beach Animal Control Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — The teenager accused of attacking New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers with a knife on New Year’s Eve now faces federal charges, the Department of Justice said.

Trevor Bickford was charged with four counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the U.S. government and persons assisting them, according to a federal complaint, which alleges the 19-year-old was on a “jihadist mission” when he attacked the officers.

Bickford allegedly told investigators the attack was unsuccessful because none of the officers died and because he did not achieve martyrdom, according to the complaint, which was filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, for an aggregate potential sentence of 80 years in prison if convicted, according to federal prosecutors.

Bickford, who is currently in state custody, will face the latest charges in federal court “at a later date,” prosecutors said.

“We are deeply grateful for the bravery of the officers who were injured in this horrible attack and who put their lives on the line every day to serve their communities,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. “Together with our law enforcement partners at every level of government, the Justice Department will continue to work to disrupt, investigate, and prosecute those who target and attack law enforcement and endanger the American people.”

Bickford also faces more than a dozen state charges in connection with the New Year’s eve attack.

A grand jury in New York returned an indictment Friday against Bickford, charging him with 18 criminal counts — including three counts of attempted murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism, and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer as a crime of terrorism.

Bickford was shot and arrested by officers on Dec. 31, not too far from Times Square, after he allegedly attacked three NYPD officers with an 18-inch kukri knife near West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue, outside the secure area that had been set up for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“All eyes are on Times Square on New Year’s Eve and these charges reflect the seriousness of this alleged threat to the safety of our city and our officers,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

The suspect will be formally arraigned on Feb. 1, according to the district attorney’s office.

Bickford of Wells, Maine, carried out what a senior police official told ABC News was a terror attack likely motivated by Islamic extremism.

“I wanted to kill an officer in uniform,” Bickford allegedly told police, according to the criminal complaint. “I saw the officer and waited until he was alone. I said ‘Allahu Akbar.’ I walked up and hit him over the head with a kukri. I charged another officer but dropped the knife and I tried to get the police officer’s gun but couldn’t.”

Bickford’s attorneys didn’t immediately comment about the indictment. He is currently being held without bail.

Federal investigators allegedly had Bickford under their radar before the attack, according to investigators.

Thomas Galati, NYPD Chief of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, told ABC News the FBI interviewed Bickford last month in Maine after his mother reported her concern that her son was possibly becoming radicalized. The FBI determined Bickford wanted to fight in Afghanistan and placed him on a federal watch list to prevent him from traveling overseas.

Bickford was able to acquire a large amount of cash, and ride an Amtrak train to New York City on Dec. 29, according to investigators.

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(NEW YORK) — Those who make their living out on the open ocean now have the opportunity to partake in a side hustle that simultaneously tidies up the environment.

Commercial fishermen have been offered a “bounty” to collect derelict fishing gear, often the culprit of the death of marine animals, and bring the debris back to shore.

Hawaii Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research has launched a project to pay eligible commercial fishers to remove fishing gear at sea before it strikes Hawaii’s coral reefs or wildlife, according to a press release from the university.

The fishermen will be paid a bounty of between $1 and $3 per dry pound of derelict fishing gear found at sea and brought back to Oahu, the research center said.

The research center first tested the program between 2020 and 2021, when researchers trying to determine where the fishing gear was coming from paid fishermen who were already fishing near the northwest Hawaiian islands, the main Hawaiian islands and the North Pacific gyre a bounty to collect the debris and bring it back, Raquel Corniuk, research manager for Hawaii Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research, told ABC News.

“So it’s incentivizing them when they’re already coming across this stuff, and then they can get paid to bring it back,” Corniuk said.

The research center recognized a “vessel of opportunity” once they began receiving positive feedback from fishermen who participated, Corniuk said.

Now, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, the Hawaii Longline Association and Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, the program has enough funding to pay to remove 100 metric tons, or 220,462 pounds, of derelict fishing gear over the next two years.

Fishing gear accounts for an “alarming” amount of plastic in the ocean, according to The Nature Conservancy. More than 100 million pounds of plastic pollution from lost or abandoned industrial fishing gear enters the ocean each year, according to a 2021 report.

The pollution is one of the most harmful forms of marine debris to marine animals and habitats.

The fishing gear entangles and drowns animals, such as sea turtles, whales and sharks, and smothers and kills the coral reefs surrounding the shores, according to the research center.

The majority of the pollution that washes onto the beaches of Hawaii is derelict fishing gear, Corniuk said.

“When I first saw the damage caused by these large ghost nets on corals in Kane’ohe Bay, I was motivated to prevent it from happening,” Corniuk said, describing the new program as a “win-win” for fishermen and marine environments, especially considering the fishing gear can be a navigational hazard and often gets caught in vessels.

The debris will be repurposed by artists, educators and recycling researchers, according to the research center. Any remaining debris will be converted to electricity for the city and county of Honolulu.

The university is conducting another study to determine where the derelict fishing gear is originating from, likely not Hawaii-based fisheries, according to the research center.

“Derelict fishing gear and ghost nets continue to be a persistent economic and ecological threat to Hawaii,” the coordinator for NOAA’s Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Islands Region, Mark Manuel, said in a statement. “Our ultimate goal is to have a sea free of debris.”

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