(LINCOLN COUNTY, Miss.) — D’Monterrio Gibson, the 24-year-old Mississippi man who authorities say escaped a racially motivated attempted murder, said he’s “satisfied” that charges were upgraded against the two men suspected of ambushing him.

A Lincoln County grand jury indicted Gregory Case, 57, and Brandon Case, 35, who are father and son, on Monday for the attempted murder of Gibson. The two previously faced aggravated assault charges.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Johnny Hall told ABC News the men were arrested after a jury released the indictments for their arrests for attempted murder, conspiracy and shooting into a vehicle.

On Jan. 24 around 7 p.m. in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Gibson was attempting to deliver FedEx packages and was allegedly ambushed by Gregory Case as he was pulling out of a driveway, according to Gibson’s attorney Carlos Moore. Moore said Brandon Case shot at his client’s vehicle.

According to affidavits obtained by ABC News, Brandon Case attempted to cause bodily injury to Gibson after allegedly shooting at the FedEx rental he was driving. Gregory Case was previously charged with aggravated assault after allegedly chasing Gibson with his pickup truck and trying to block him from leaving a driveway.

“I’ll be more satisfied when we get to trial and see how everything plays out,” Gibson told ABC News on Tuesday.

Moore said he and Gibson were disappointed it took so long for the charges to be upgraded.

“Ten months, nearly 10 months from the date he was accosted, assaulted, almost killed, we finally have an indictment or indictments,” Moore said.

Moore said he’s asked the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI to investigate Gibson’s case as a hate crime.

“I can see no other reason than white supremacy racial animus towards Mr. Gibson that motivated the Cases to do what they did,” Moore said.

Attorneys for the Cases did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

The Cases will be arraigned in December, according to Moore, and a trial may begin as early as May 2023.

According to the Brookhaven municipal court, attorneys for the Cases entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.

Moore said FedEx sent Gibson back on the same route after the alleged incident took place and plans to sue the company for “racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Gibson said he’s currently in therapy to heal from the alleged incident.

“I’m still trying to cope with everything … really there’s been no progress as far as therapy,” he said.

“FedEx takes this situation very seriously, and we remain both saddened and outraged by what Mr. Gibson experienced,” A FedEx spokesperson said in a statement obtained by ABC News. “At FedEx, our workforce is as diverse as the world we serve, and the safety of our team members is our top priority. We remain focused on Mr. Gibson’s wellbeing and continue to support him, including pay under our benefits policy.”

ABC News’ Kendall Ross contributed to this report.

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(ORLANDO) — Florida officials are seeking to fine an amusement park operator at least $250,000 over the death of a 14-year-old boy who fell from a drop-tower ride earlier this year.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which inspects amusement rides in the state, filed an administrative complaint Tuesday against Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot LLC, the operator of the Orlando FreeFall ride, alleging multiple violations of state law.

Tyre Sampson, an eighth grader who visited ICON Park in Orlando with his football team on March 24, died from blunt force trauma after slipping out of his seat while on the ride.

The department’s investigation concluded that Tyre fell “due to the changes made” by the ride’s operator, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried said during a press briefing Tuesday.

Tyre was seated in one of two seats on the Orlando FreeFall ride where the harness proximity sensor was manually repositioned to allow for a larger restraint opening than the ride’s other seats, Fried said. The ride’s attendants were instructed to seat larger guests in those seats, according to the department’s complaint.

“Because his seat harness proximity sensor had been improperly adjusted, the ride was allowed to commence even though the ride was unsafe and led directly to his fall,” Fried said.

The investigation also found there was “minimal training” conducted on the 430-foot-tall ride and that neither the attendants nor the operator had read or seen the manufacturer’s manual, Fried said. The manual noted that the maximum weight for the drop-tower ride was 286 pounds; Tyre weighed approximately 383 pounds, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges the operator violated several state statutes and rules requiring that amusement park rides be operated safely and that employees are adequately trained.

“We are seeking an administrative fine exceeding $250,000, one of the largest administrative fines the department has ever sought, and a permanent revocation of the ride’s operating permit in the state of Florida,” Fried said.

Fried said she has also instructed her staff to forward their findings to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to consider criminal charges.

ABC News did not immediately receive a response seeking comment on the complaint’s allegations from Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot.

The attorneys for Tyre’s parents called the complaint “a significant step toward full accountability.”

“This week, Tyre’s family will experience their first holiday season without him,” personal injury attorneys Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law and Bob Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales said in a joint statement. “His family will always have an empty seat at the table — that anguish deserves accountability in the highest sense from the entities responsible for this tragedy.”

Sampson’s parents have filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit accusing ICON Park and other defendants, including the manufacturer and the operator of the FreeFall ride, of negligence.

In the wake of Tyre’s death, state Sen. Geraldine Thompson has proposed legislation to increase ride safety based on the department’s findings. The Tyre Sampson Law proposes an increase in inspections and required training, as well as expanded signage about patron requirements.

Thompson said during Tuesday’s press event that the “significant” fine “will put on notice” other amusement park ride operators “that there are consequences to not following the laws here in the state of Florida.”

The Orlando FreeFall ride has been closed since Tyre’s death. Now that the state’s investigation is complete, Thompson said she expects the ride to be removed.

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(PHILADELHPIA) — Philadelphia police are investigating a string of armed home invasions involving Temple University students at off-campus housing.

The most recent incident occurred Monday around 6:18 a.m., when police say two men dressed in all black entered a home on the 1900 block of North 18th Street, several blocks from the university. One of the suspects wore a mask and was armed with an Uzi-style weapon, police said.

The suspects made off with several iPhones, an iPad, Apple Watches, a MacBook Pro and a Glock 19 handgun before fleeing in a black 2022 Black Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross also stolen from the property, police said. No injuries were reported and the car was recovered, police said.

Four people, including two male Temple students, were inside the home at the time, according to ABC Philadelphia station WPVI.

“They woke them up and they just had guns pointed at them,” a third roommate who wasn’t home at the time told WPVI.

“My roommates kept calm and gave them what they wanted,” he said.

The home invasion was reported nearly two weeks after two similar incidents in the area also involving Temple students at off-campus housing.

On Nov. 9 at around 4:40 a.m., three masked men in dark clothing — two of whom were armed with guns — entered a home also located on the 1900 block of North 18th Street, police said. They “approached” three 19-year-old female victims and fled the scene with a laptop, backpack, car keys and identification, police said. No one was injured.

“I hear all this rummaging upstairs in the kitchen. It sounded like multiple people, so my heart started like beating. I was shaking in bed. I didn’t know what to do,” one of the victims, Kayla Barone, told WPVI.

Barone said she tried to call to warn her two roommates, but they were asleep. She then called 911. The men locked her two roommates in one room while forcing Barone to hand over her belongings, including her cellphone, she said. They fled when they realized she had called 911, she said.

Two days later, on Nov. 11, at around 6 a.m., nine women and two men between the ages of 20 and 22 were woken up, rounded up at gunpoint and locked in a basement after two masked men dressed in black entered their apartment on the 1300 block of North 15th Street, police said.

The suspects took each victim’s cellphones, debit cards and credit cards, as well as the keys to a 2015 silver Lincoln MKZ, before fleeing in the vehicle, police said. The car and two of the cellphones were ultimately recovered, police said. No one was injured.

The victims’ credit and debit cards were used shortly after the robbery, police said Tuesday while releasing surveillance footage of the two suspects.

The victims were also Temple students, school officials confirmed.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you, but when it does, it’s like a shock,” one student told WPVI.

No arrests have been made in any of the home invasion robberies.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the three incidents are connected, police said.

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(CHARLOTTE) — A meteorologist and a helicopter pilot for CBS Charlotte affiliate WBTV are dead after their helicopter crashed near a North Carolina interstate highway, the station confirmed.

WBTV meteorologist Jason Myers and pilot Chip Tayag were killed in the crash, which occurred midday Tuesday near Interstate 77, WBTV said.

“The WBTV family is grieving a terrible loss. Our news helicopter Sky3 crashed mid-day Tuesday with two of our colleagues on board,” the station said in a statement. “Meteorologist Jason Myers and pilot Chip Tayag lost their lives. We are working to comfort their families in this difficult time. We appreciate the outpouring of support for our staff and your continued prayers for their families.”

The two victims were pronounced dead at the scene, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief of Police Johnny Jennings said.

Jennings called the pilot a “hero,” as the helicopter crashed just off the interstate, missing traffic and preventing additional loss of life.

“It seems the pilot that was operating the aircraft made some diversionary moves to avoid traffic,” Jennings told reporters during a press briefing Tuesday. “That pilot is a hero in my eyes.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash of the Robinson R44 helicopter.

Myers, a North Carolina native, grew up in the Charlotte area watching WBTV, the station said.

He started his broadcast meteorology career at KRBC in Abilene, Texas, before going on to work at ABC Richmond, Virginia, affiliate WRIC.

He was most recently the chief meteorologist for ABC Lexington, Kentucky, affiliate WTVQ before returning to the Charlotte area.

“It comes with terrible sadness to hear the news of Jason Myers’ passing,” Chris Aldridge, a general manager for WTVQ, said in a statement. “Jason was a meteorologist for our WTVQ — ABC 36 News team for six years and we enjoyed every minute of our time together.”

“At this time of Thanksgiving, please wrap your prayers and thoughts around the Myers family as we remember a man gone too soon,” he said.

Myers leaves behind his wife, Jillian, and their four children.

Tayag started working for WBTV in 2017 and had been a pilot for more than 20 years, the station said.

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