(NEW YORK) — On July 6 of this year, Detroit police officer Loren Courts responded to a call for a shooting on Marlowe Street. When police arrived, the 19-year-old suspect shot and killed Courts while he was arriving in his cruiser, according to police.

At his memorial service, Courts, whose father was a retired Detroit Police Department officer, was lauded for his work.

“He was the person others leaned on and sought for advice. He had a calming influence within the precinct and on the street. I do not ever recall seeing him rattled or not on point,” one of his fellow officers said, according to local reports. “He was a consummate professional who was the epitome of what a Detroit police officer should be.”

Courts was one of the 323 police officers shot in the line of duty this year, according to statistics released by the National Fraternal Order of Police, one of the largest police unions in the country, on Wednesday.

The numbers are up 7% from 2020 and 13% from 2019, according to the FOP. In total, 60 law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in 2022, the FOP reports. The numbers are down from 2021, however, which was a record-breaking year.

“Last year we saw more officers shot in the line of duty than any other since the National Fraternal Order of Police began recording this data in late 2015, and this year is not far behind,” FOP President Patrick Yoes said in a statement. “If these violent criminals are willing to commit brazen acts of violence against the men and women of law enforcement, we can’t begin to fathom what heinous acts they are willing to commit against law-abiding citizens. As crime rates continue to rise, more citizens in this country are justifiably living in fear, constantly wondering if they too will become a victim.”

Texas, followed by Arizona, Georgia and California, had the most officers shot in 2022.

“Every felonious attack on a law enforcement officer, especially by gunfire, is disturbing regardless of the circumstances,” the report said.

Of concern, the union said, 124 law enforcement officers were shot in “ambush” style attacks, which lead to more than half the deaths in 2022. The union said the year-end report will be released in mid-January.

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(SAN ANTONIO) — One year after Lina Sardar Khil’s disappearance, the San Antonio Police Department has released more surveillance footage of the day the now 4-year-old went missing.

The new video, captured on a resident’s security camera, shows Lina playing with her mother and brother on the Villas del Cabo apartment complex playground where she was last seen on Dec. 20, 2021 until she eventually walks out of frame.

Police say this is the last known sighting on video of her.

One year and hundreds of leads later, Lina’s whereabouts are still unknown, police said in a video posted Tuesday.

“There are suspicious circumstances based on the child’s age, the fact that we have not found any evidence to indicate where she’s at other than where she was last at,” Detective German Fuentes said in the video.

“We’ve received hundreds of leads that we have followed up on,” lead detective Jeremy Volz added. “We’ve partnered with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to follow up on all the leads. Unfortunately, none of the leads we have received have led us to finding Lina.”

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Lina Sardar Khil. This video highlights the investigative efforts, agencies and the communities help that have gone into this year-long investigation.

FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/6uvjw6rIMm pic.twitter.com/0m9lBHI84K

— San Antonio PD (@SATXPolice) December 20, 2022

Lina was last seen at a park on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio between 4:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m., according to police. The park is near the family’s home at the Villa Del Cabo apartment complex.

Lina has brown eyes and straight, brown hair, and was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes, according to police.

Lina’s family is part of an Afghan refugee community in San Antonio. They arrived in the United States in 2019 and speak Pashto.

As the San Antonio Police Department Special Victims Unit continues its investigation, community members continue searches of their own in hopes to get closer to finding the toddler as her fifth birthday on Feb. 20 approaches.

Crime Stoppers of San Antonio is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in Lina’s disappearance. The Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to Lina.

“Until she’s found, no person and no theory can be ruled out on what happened to her,” Volz said.

SAPD stated in a release that anyone with any information on Lina’s case can contact the department’s missing person’s unit at 210-207-7660 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — A Black Army veteran allegedly beaten by Colorado Springs police during an October traffic stop has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the three officers involved in the encounter.

The lawsuit alleges CSPD officers Colby Hickman, Matthew Anderson and Christopher Hummel violated Dalvin Gadson’s Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force. Each defendant also failed to intervene in preventing the other defendants in using excessive force against Gadson, according to the lawsuit.

At the time of the Oct. 9 encounter, Gadson, a 29-year-old Army veteran, was homeless, living out of his car as he ran a business selling electronics.

“I was taking all my money from DoorDash, literally, and putting it into my business,” Gadson told ABC Denver affiliate KMGH.

Gadson said it felt like “paradise” to be self-sufficient as he saved up his earnings to eventually afford an apartment.

But everything changed the night of Oct. 9 when a CSPD officer pulled Gadson over, telling him it was for a missing license plate, bodycamera footage released by the Colorado Springs Police Department shows.

After taking Gadson’s driver’s license, the officers can be heard in the video discussing a knife they noticed in Gadson’s cupholder. They also described smelling cannabis coming from his vehicle.

When they return to Gadson’s car, telling him he’s under arrest for a DUI, Gadson responds saying, “no I’m not” and backs into his car. From there, the situation escalates with the officers grabbing Gadson to pull him outside of the vehicle and throwing punches at him.

“It turned into the worst nightmare I could ever imagine,” Gadson said.

CSPD said in a statement that its Internal Affairs division opened an ongoing investigation into the arrest but noted that a separate administrative review found that the officers’ use of force was in line with department policy.

“Mr. Gadson refused to exit the vehicle,” the statement says. “When officers attempted to pull Mr. Gadson from the vehicle he physically fought with officers and on more than one instance re-entered the vehicle in the area of the knife.”

Anderson, one of the officers named in the lawsuit, was previously named in a federal civil rights complaint in 2020 for allegedly wrongfully arresting and using excessive force against a man by wrenching his arm after the man made an obscene gesture. The case was dismissed in 2021.

The officers named in the lawsuit could not immediately be reached for comment. The police department declined ABC News’ request for comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.

Gadson was originally charged with two counts of second-degree assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, driving under the influence, and driving without license plates. Both assault charges were dropped, and the DUI charge was dismissed in a DMV hearing, his attorneys said.

“If you look at the video, Dalvin is laying on that cupholder. He’s lying on that panel with the knife,” Harry Daniels, Gadson’s attorney, said in an interview with KMGH. “If somebody is beating the hell out of you, I would hope you try to stop them beating the hell out of you. And I mean, try and stop and cover up. That’s not resistant, that’s what we call survival.”

Gadson suffered eye injuries, a ruptured eardrum, and PTSD after the incident, Daniels said. At one point in the video, Gadson is seen lying on the pavement in a pool of blood. Additional photos of Gadson at the hospital also show visible lacerations and contusions on his body as well as his swollen face.

“If you’ve ever been punched in the eye multiple times, it literally sends you unconscious. You can’t see. You can’t hear for some reason,” Gadson said. “I’m looking at my blood on the asphalt and I felt the punches in my face.”

“Sometimes, I just cry watching [the body camera video],” Gadson added. “I have to watch it alone with nobody watching me because it is heartbreaking to even know that that was me that went through this.”

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(NEW YORK) — Alleged New York City subway shooter Frank James wants to plead guilty to federal terrorism charges, his attorneys said Wednesday in a letter to the court.

James, who was charged last week in a superseding indictment with 10 counts of committing a terror attack on a mass transit system, was accused of opening fire on a Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn on April 12.

Ten people were hurt in a shooting that prosecutors said terrorized the city. James was caught after initially escaping in the chaotic aftermath of the train pulling into the 36th Street station in Sunset Park.

“Mr. James has advised undersigned counsel that he wishes to schedule a guilty plea to the superseding indictment. If the Court is available, we wish to proceed during the first week of January 2023,” the defense letter said.

The court has scheduled a change of plea hearing for Jan. 3.

The superseding indictment charges James with 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and vehicle carrying passengers and employees — one count for each injured passenger. He was also charged with a count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

James had previously been charged with a single terrorism offense to which he pleaded not guilty.

James “terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way this City hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik said when James first appeared in court. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated; it was carefully planned; and it caused terror among the victims and our entire City.”

The shooting, which took place during a Tuesday morning commute, set off a 24-hour search for the gunman. The following day, several callers to the New York Police Department tipline said a man matching the description of the shooter was wandering around the Lower East Side and East Village. James himself also called the tip line to turn himself in.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear, but authorities have said James posted a number of “race-based grievances and conspiracy theory narratives” on social media.

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(NEW YORK) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and the co-founder of FTX have each pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with prosecutors, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Wednesday.

Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s privately-controlled hedge fund, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty earlier this week, according to newly unsealed court documents.

Ellison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research and wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the court documents.

Together, the seven counts carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

Wang pleaded guilty to four counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, the court documents stated. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

Wang’s attorney, Ilan Graff, who is a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, said in a statement: “Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness.”

Word of the guilty pleas and cooperation agreements came after Bankman-Fried took off from the Bahamas aboard a U.S. government plane flying to New York, where he is expected to be arraigned Thursday on an eight-count indictment that charges him with orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.

Williams made the announcement in a videotaped message shared with ABC News.

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