(NEW YORK) — CVS Health announced on Monday it has reached a deal to acquire home healthcare provider Signify Health for approximately $8 billion.
Per the terms of the agreement, CVS will pay $30.50 per share in cash for Signify.
“Signify Health will play a critical role in advancing our health care services strategy and gives us a platform to accelerate our growth in value-based care,” CVS Health President and CEO Karen S. Lynch said in a statement. “This acquisition will enhance our connection to consumers in the home and enables providers to better address patient needs as we execute our vision to redefine the health care experience. In addition, this combination will strengthen our ability to expand and develop new product offerings in a multi-payor approach.”
The transaction, which was approved by both companies’ board of directors, is expected to close in the first half of 2023. It is still subject to “approval by a majority of Signify Health’s stockholders, receipt of regulatory approval and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions,” CVS said.
Once the deal is finalized, CVS said Signify Health CEO Kyle Armbrester will stay on to lead Signify as part of CVS Health.
“Signify Health’s mission is to build trusted relationships to make people healthier by using actionable intelligence to understand what’s really impacting outcomes and cost today,” Armbrester said in a statement. “As we carefully considered our long-term strategic options, we determined that CVS Health is the ideal partner, given its focus on expanding access to health services and helping consumers navigate to the best sites of care. We are both building an integrated experience that supports a more proactive, preventive and holistic approach to patient care, and I look forward to executing on our shared vision for the future of care delivery.”
Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images
Britney Spears has a message for her son Jayden Federline.
In a since-deleted voice note shared to Instagram on Monday, the pop star called out her 15-year-old son, who she shares with ex Kevin Federline. The note comes after a recent interview Kevin and Jayden did with 60 Minutes Australiaaired.
“I can totally understand why my family would have a problem with me doing my own thing. Maybe because I never have,” Britney began. “So Jayden, as you undermine my behavior just like my whole family always has with ‘I hope she gets better. I will pray for her.’ Pray for what?”
“I keep working so I can pay off mom’s legal fees and her house? Do you guys want me to get better so I can continue to give your dad $40 grand a month?” she continued. “Or is the reason behind you guys deciding to be hateful because it’s actually over in two years, and you don’t get anything?”
Britney went on to express that she believes that, like the rest of her family, Jayden “secretly loved looking at me as if something was wrong with me.”
“I didn’t need a family hiding s*** in houses and whispering s*** behind my back. Feeling subconsciously guilty because I paid for every f***ing thing in both homes,” she said. “I needed unconditional love and support.”
The “Circus” singer continued, “God would not allow that to happen to me if a God existed. I don’t believe in god anymore because of the way my children and my family have treated me. There is nothing to believe in anymore. I’m an atheist y’all.”
“It saddens me not one of you have valued me as a person,” Britney concluded.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — The suspect in what police described as a violent abduction of a 34-year-old Memphis, Tennessee woman during her early morning jog is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday as a massive search for the victim continues.
The suspect, 38-year-old Cleotha Abston, has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence in connection with Eliza Fletcher’s disappearance. On Monday, additional charges of identity theft, theft of property valued at $1,000 or less and fraudulent use of a credit card were filed against Abston, according to online jail records.
Abston is being held at the Shelby County Jail in Memphis on $500,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Shelby County Circuit Court in Memphis at 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
Fletcher, a kindergarten teacher and married mother of two, was last seen jogging in the area of Central Avenue and Zach Curlin Street in midtown Memphis, near the University of Memphis campus in southwest Tennessee, on Friday morning at approximately 4:20 a.m. local time, according to the Memphis Police Department. She was approached by a man and forced into a dark-colored GMC Terrain, which then took off, traveling westbound on Central Avenue, police said.
Fletcher’s husband, Richard Fletcher, reported her missing about three hours later, telling investigators that she never returned home from her regular 4 a.m. run, according to an affidavit of the complaint made public Sunday by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the affidavit, police believe Fletcher suffered “serious injury” during the abduction, which was captured on surveillance video.
The video showed a black GMC Terrain initially driving by Fletcher as she jogged, then stopping in a parking lot ahead of her and waiting for her to come by, according to the affidavit.
“A male exited the black GMC Terrain, ran aggressively toward the victim, and then forced the victim Eliza Fletcher into the passenger’s side of the vehicle. During this abduction, there appeared to be a struggle,” the affidavit states.
Citing the video, investigators said the SUV sat in a parking lot with the victim inside for about four minutes before it drove off, according to the affidavit.
The video also captured the same SUV in the area of the kidnapping about 24 minutes prior to the abduction, the affidavit alleges.
Police arrested Abston on Saturday after learning that the registered owner of the GMC Terrain lived at the same residence as Abston, according to the affidavit. As the U.S. Marshals Service moved in to make the arrests, Abston allegedly tried to flee in the SUV but was quickly taken into custody.
During questioning, Abston, who works at a dry cleaners, refused to tell investigators anything about Fletcher’s whereabouts, according to the affidavit.
Abston previously pleaded guilty in 2001 of especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery in Shelby County, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction.
He served 20 years in prison for kidnapping a prominent Memphis attorney at gunpoint, according to a report by The Commercial Appeal, a Memphis newspaper. Abston, who was 16 at the time, forced the attorney into the trunk of a car and made him withdraw cash from an ATM, the newspaper reported.
The attorney managed to escape when he yelled for help and drew the attention of a Memphis Housing Authority guard, according to the newspaper.
Fletcher is the granddaughter of Joseph “Joe” Orgill III, a prominent Tennessee businessman who died in 2018. Her family is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to her safe return. They pleaded for people to come forward in a video statement released by the Memphis Police Department on Saturday.
“More than anything, we want to see Liza returned home safely,” Fletcher’s uncle, Mike Keeney, said in the video. “We believe someone knows what happened and can help.”
Anyone with information on Fletcher’s whereabouts can call the Memphis Police Department at either (901) 528-2274 or (901) 545-2677, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND, or dial 911.
(LOS ANGELES) — It’s been a long time in the making — 27 years to be exact — but the girls’ softball team at James A. Garfield Senior High School in East Los Angeles brought home a championship trophy and plaque for the first time since 1995 earlier this summer.
If you were following the team this past spring, you would probably have never guessed that the Lady Bulldogs would come out on top. The victory was unexpected and a long shot because after all, they were on a losing streak and had lost all of their preseason games.
But Karla Bernal, the head softball coach and a physical education teacher at Garfield, never lost faith in her young players.
“It did start pretty rocky and it was really discouraging for our players because we did play a tough preseason game. We were playing top schools and schools that compete at a high level and unfortunately, we didn’t get any wins in our preseason and we went 0 and 7,” the 26-year-old coach told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Bernal, who’s also a Garfield alumna herself, said she knew the team had talent and the potential to win. They just needed to put things into perspective and not get discouraged by their past record.
She recounted telling the high schoolers before the playoffs, “‘You know what? They seeded us 20 [out of 22]. No one expected us to actually make the playoffs so we have nothing to lose.'”
“‘We just need to go in there, keep doing what we’ve been doing, that’s believing that we belong and believing that we can compete at this level, not letting our failures define who we are, and always putting our teammates first because when we do that, we are going to get the results out,'” she continued.
The Lady Bulldogs had a lot of challenges to overcome during their season, which ran from January to June. They had player injuries and morale issues to work through and then their big disadvantage was that they had no home field to play on as their field was under reconstruction.
“Some schools, they have their own field and you’re on your field, you’re in your batting cages if they have batting cages throughout the fall … from August to December. We didn’t have that. We were actually practicing in our football field, on our outdoor basketball courts, on our tennis courts,” Bernal explained.
“This team never had to face anything like that. And also, coming back from COVID, we [were] still transitioning from those obstacles and those struggles that they had to go through as a person. So it was hard for my team knowing that we couldn’t get field time,” she added.
Arnie Carrillo, whose two daughters were on the Garfield team this past season, put it simply.
“It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” he said.
Despite it all, the Lady Bulldogs kept practicing and squeezed in field time at nearby East Los Angeles College, which loaned their softball field to the teen players.
Their turning point came at their play-in game, which the Lady Bulldogs had to win in order to qualify for playoffs.
“We came into a play-in game and it seemed like everything that went wrong started to go right and so we went on a run where we upset the no. 5 team, the no. 3 team, the no. 1 team, and then we ended up in in the championship game, and what a beautiful day, what a beautiful moment,” Carrillo recalled.
“I think the fact that the odds were against us, once playoffs started, it just lit something up for my team,” Bernal said. “I think they just started believing in their capability and their preparation and they just took off and represented our school really well.”
Garfield’s Bulldogs would go on to win 5-3 against the Panthers of Gardena High School, who at the time were the defending champions in the division.
One of Carrillo’s daughters, pitcher Nadia Carrillo, helped secure the Bulldogs’ victory by driving home the double runs that clinched their title.
For Carrillo, who like Bernal, is a Garfield alumnus, watching his two daughters thrive in softball has been especially meaningful. Back in 1995, he was in the stands watching Garfield win their championship and softball has become an important bond for the family.
“It comes back full circle with me being there in ’95. And then, in 2022, almost 30 years later,” Carrillo said. “My daughters are part of something beautiful as far as winning a championship for your community.”
Carrillo is now hosting an online fundraiser to get the Lady Bulldogs their well-deserved championship rings.
“It wasn’t an easy feat and so now, that puts us into trying to commemorate them with the rings, to have something that said, ‘You know what? I was a part of this program at this certain time of Garfield’s existence,'” he said.
(SASKATCHEWAN, Canada) — A suspect in the Canada stabbing massacre that left 10 people dead and 18 injured has been found dead, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Saskatchewan forensic officials said at a news conference on Monday.
Damien Sanderson’s body was discovered in a heavily grassed area near a house that officials were examining.
Officials haven’t confirmed his cause of death, but his injuries don’t appear to be self-inflicted, Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, the commanding officer of Saskatchewan RCMP, said.
Miles Sanderson, Damien Sanderson’s brother, may be injured and may seek medical attention but is still on the run, according to RCMP officials. He is still considered armed and dangerous.
A massive search for the suspects was underway on Monday, as they remained on the run for a second day. They were accused of carrying out the attack in an Indigenous community in Saskatchewan, authorities said.
On Sunday, RCMP Saskatchewan identified Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson as the two suspects in the massacre. They were believed to be driving a black Nissan Rogue with SK license plate 119 MPI, according to police.
“Let me be clear, we are still looking for the two suspects. We are asking residents across Saskatchewan and our neighboring provinces to be vigilant. At this stage in our investigation, we believe some of the victims have been targeted by the suspects and others have been attacked randomly,” Blackmore said in a statement issued late Sunday night.
The Sandersons, whose relationship to each other was not immediately disclosed, are considered armed and dangerous, and Blackmore advised anyone who spots them to call police immediately and refrain from approaching them.
Chief Evan Bray of the Regina Police Service, in Saskatchewan, issued a video statement on Twitter Monday morning, saying that “despite ongoing, relentless efforts through the night,” the suspects remained at large.
“We’ve got a fresh set of investigators and shifts coming in today that will take over this investigation,” Bray said.
He asked that anyone with information on the whereabouts of the suspects contact police immediately.
“We are confident that someone out there knows the whereabouts of these two and has information that would be valuable to the police, and I urge you to get in touch with your local police service to let us know,” Bray said. “There’s a lot of grief, there’s a lot of anxiety in our province and in our communities this morning and all day yesterday, and really I think an important step for families and communities working through this will be to bring these two safely into custody.”
The stabbings occurred between James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon, located northeast of Saskatoon, police said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Saskatchewan said in a statement Monday that both suspects have been charged in the episode and that arrest warrants have been issued. Myles Sanderson is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count count of breaking and entering into a residence, officials said. Damien Sanderson is charged with one count of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of breaking and entering into a residence.
More charges are expected to be filed against the suspects, the agency said.
The number of injured victims increased from 15 to 18, Blackmore said in a statement Monday.
Blackmore said investigators believe the suspects are still in the Regina area, but did not elaborate.
“To the people of Saskatchewan and beyond — please be assured that we are using every human, investigational and technological resource we have available to locate and arrest the persons responsible for this tragedy and to ensure your safety,” Blackmore said in a statement Monday. “Hundreds of Saskatchewan RCMP staff are dedicated to this investigation — this includes operators taking 911 calls and tips, to frontline officers patrolling our streets to the on-scene specialized forensic and Major Crime Unit teams who continue to follow up on all information and evidence gathered.”
Blackmore said the massacre started around 5:40 a.m. Sunday when the Saskatchewan RCMP Divisional Operational Communications Center received the first call reporting a stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation. Blackmore said numerous calls began coming into the center from multiple locations.
“At this point in our investigation, we have located 10 deceased individuals and are investigating 13 locations in the communities of the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon in Saskatchewan,” Blackmore said.
A motive for the attacks remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, the Saskatoon, Canada, police confirmed to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that they’ve been searching for Myles Sanderson since May, when he violated parole by failing to meet with his parole officer. He was classified as “unlawfully at large,” Saskatoon police told CBC.
Myles Sanderson was placed on parole after serving a nearly five-year federal sentence for assault, robbery, mischief and uttering threats, police told CBC.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement Sunday, saying, “I am shocked and devastated by the horrific attacks today in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan, that claimed the lives of 10 people and injured many more.”
“As Canadians, we mourn with everyone affected by this tragic violence, and with the people of Saskatchewan. We also wish a full and quick recovery to those injured,” he said.
(CAMAS, Wash.) — A woman made a daring escape from a moving car after being abducted by a man with a knife who she stopped to help and give water to in the early hours of the morning, police say.
The incident occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning in the 24000 block of NE 28th street in Camas, Washington — about 20 miles east of Portland, Oregon, — when authorities from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an in-progress trespass, according to a statement published by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
“The caller stated that a female was banging on the door saying that she had just jumped from a moving vehicle after being kidnapped,” the statement read. “Deputies arrived on scene and contacted a female in the front yard who appeared in distress.”
The unidentified female told authorities on scene that while she was near Mill Plain Boulevard and Grand Boulevard — about 12 miles west of where she was eventually found by police — a man approached her vehicle and asked her if she had any water, police say.
“She helped the male out by providing him some water and then allowed the male to get into her vehicle,” said Clark County Sheriff’s Office. “Once in the vehicle, the male produced a knife and used the threat of violence to take control of the car and then drove with the female victim to the area of NE 28th Street.”
The female victim told police that when the vehicle began to slow down while traveling along a dirt road near Fern Prairie, Washington, she jumped out of her vehicle and ran toward a residential area where she began knocking on people’s doors and yelling for help.
Officers from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office subsequently launched a search for the woman’s vehicle which they were able to locate a short time later. However, after stopping briefly for authorities once they made contact with the driver, the suspect made an attempt to elude authorities by driving off.
During that brief contact, police were able to observe that the suspect matched the description that was given to them by the female victim and then began to pursue the runaway driver.
“Deputies initiated a pursuit of vehicle,” said Clark County Sheriff’s Office. “The pursuit began at approximately 05:14 am in the area of NE 28th Street/ NE 222nd Avenue and concluded at approximately 05:25 am near NE 2nd Street/ NE 115th Avenue when deputies, with the assistance of officers from the Vancouver Police Department, were able to pin the vehicle when it came to a stop.”
The unidentified driver was eventually arrested and taken into custody. He refused to identify himself when he was apprehended and was booked into the Clark County Jail on first degree charges of robbery and kidnapping, as well as attempt to elude and reckless driving charges.
Police are still working to confirm the identity of the suspect in custody and, due to the nature of this case, Clark County Sheriff’s Office says that the female victim involved in the incident will not be identified at this time.
(WASHINGTON) — When Democrats left Washington in August, they did so on the wings of a series of policy wins, leaving town after pushing through many of President Joe Biden’s key climate and health care proposals on party-line votes.
But now, with midterms in November looming, the 50-50 Senate returns to Washington Tuesday with must-pass legislation on its plate, requiring bipartisan cooperation just as political tensions hit their peak.
It’s been over a month since lawmakers were last in the nation’s capital. Much awaits them.
Campaign on the brain
Lawmakers may be returning to the Capitol in person, but their minds will likely be far away on their home states and election battleground states.
This month marks the last work period for the House before the midterm election on Nov. 8. The Senate is scheduled to return for two weeks in October, but lawmakers in both chambers will no doubt use their remaining days in Washington seeking political wins to tout on the trail.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are expected to spend the weeks leading up to the election traveling the country, holding official events with incumbent lawmakers while also rallying supporters and fundraising for key races and candidates.
Clock is ticking on government funding
Chief among the priorities for Congress this month will be funding the government to avert a shutdown when current funds runs out on Sept. 30. With bipartisan agreement on an omnibus spending bill still seemingly far off, lawmakers are expected to spend September focused on passing a stopgap funding bill that will likely kick the concerns about long-term funding to the end of the year.
Passing the bill is required to keep the government open, but don’t mistake necessity with ease.
The Biden White House and Senate Democrats will try to use the short term funding bill to secure resources for a few outstanding priorities, knowing full well it could be their last opportunity before the election potentially shifts control of either chamber of Congress.
Administration officials are requesting about $47 billion in emergency aid to be tacked on to the funding bill to pay for additional Ukraine aid, COVID aid, and monkeypox and disaster relief. Expect many of those items to get Republican pushback.
The administration wants Congress to approve, as part of the stopgap funding bill, $22 billion for COVID relief. That thinking is in line with key Democratic appropriators who introduced a similar $21 billion supplemental to address COVID and other health concerns in late July.
But this is just the latest in a string of failed attempts by Democrats to approve COVID funding that they say is necessary to continue research and development of new vaccines and to provide free tests and vaccines.
Republicans have resisted the funding, arguing that some previously approved COVID funding has yet to be spent, and calling on Democrats to find ways to pay for the additional COVID relief. Attaching the aid to the larger stopgap bill could prove perilous for the entire bill.
Demands from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., that his party included in the stopgap funding bill permitting reform legislation to expedite development of some energy projects, could also complicate matters.
Manchin, whose vote in favor for the Democrat’s Inflation Reduction Act was the lynchpin in the bill’s final passage last month, conditioned his support on a promise that his permitting reform proposals would make it onto the stopgap funding bill. The deal, brokered largely between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has sent progressives reeling, urging leadership not to attach legislation that could expedite oil and gas projects onto the funding bill.
“I am not going to be steamrolled into a bunch of fossil fuel give aways just because Manchin cut a deal in a closed room with Chuck Schumer,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said in a statement. “He doesn’t get to run the show on something like this, and many of us will have a say on what that deal looks like if it even happens.”
Republicans are also threatening to withhold support for a funding bill that includes Manchin’s proposed measures.
“I will not vote for a continuing resolution that is part of a political payback scheme,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last month.
Trump and Jan. 6 back in focus
By the time FBI agents executed their Aug. 8 search on former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, lawmakers were already far from Washington D.C. Many, including leaders of both parties, have chosen to keep quiet as the early stages of the legal battle surrounding the FBI’s actions unfold. But when they return this week, members on both sides of the aisle will be peppered with questions, and some of key committees will likely ramp up already growing calls for additional information to be provided to Congress.
Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to National Intelligence Director Avril Hanes and Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a damage assessment of any national security threat posed by the mishandling of information. And Sen. Rob Portman, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has also called on the FBI and Justice Department to provide Senators with a classified briefing on the raid.
“It’s unprecedented to have a raid like this on a former president’s residence, and that’s why I think the transparency should be unprecedented also,” Portman said on MSNBC on Thursday. “Obviously, we need to be careful that sources and methods are not being revealed through classified documents. They should never be taken from the White House in the first place, but we just don’t know the details yet. So yeah, I think it’s important we have that briefing.”
Meanwhile, the Jan. 6 select committee is expected to continue its work after a quiet August. The committee hasn’t held a public hearing since mid-July, but it’s expected to host additional hearings in September and to issue an interim report.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves on the panel, lost her primary race handedly during the August recess. Her defeat, paired with GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s retirement, means both Republicans on the committee will leave Washington come January. The committee is expected to issue its final report before they do.
Separately, the House Oversight Committee said it could release some of the former president’s highly-sought after financial records as early as this month after striking a deal with the administration.
Seeking consensus while highlighting differences
With the Inflation Reduction Act now signed, any remaining legislative objectives will have to pass muster of at least 10 Republicans at a time when the GOP will be more reluctant than ever to hand Democrats a victory.
Still, there may be a few bipartisan victories to eke out before the 117th Congress ends.
After Democrats fell short on their efforts to enact major election reform earlier this year, a bipartisan coalition formed to consider narrow changes to the Electoral Count Act. The group announced an agreement to clarify the ceremonial role of the vice president in certifying the results of a presidential election in late July. A vote on the reform could come before the year is out.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins is also leading efforts to find 10 Republicans to support a bill that would codify the right to same sex marriage into law. She’s been optimistic she can find support within her conference.
But Democrats are also only guaranteed a few more months in the majority. Expect them to use that time to highlight party priorities.
Schumer has vowed that Democrats will force Republicans to take another vote on lowering the cost of insulin, a provision ruled out of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Democrats have also vowed to make abortion rights a key issue on the campaign, and will likely force additional show votes on protecting abortion access on the floor, encouraged by Kansas voters’ decision to uphold the state’s constitutional right to an abortion in early August.
(WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash.) — A search for nine people presumed dead after a floatplane crashed in Washington’s Puget Sound was suspended on Monday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard called off the search around noon local time after conducting 26 search sorties it said covered about 2,100 square nautical miles.
“It is always difficult when it comes time to make a decision to stop searching,” said Capt. Daniel Broadhurst, the incident management branch chief for the 13th Coast Guard District. “The hearts of all the first responders go out to those who lost a family member, a loved one or a friend in the crash.”
The de Havilland DHC-3 Otter float plane crashed in Mutiny Bay off Whidbey Island around 3:10 p.m. local time Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
There were 10 people onboard, nine adults and one child, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard recovered the body of one person, the branch’s Pacific Northwest division wrote on Twitter Sunday evening. The Coast Guard said Monday that search-and-rescue crews found no signs of the others.
At the time it was suspended, rescue crews were focusing on Mutiny Bay, west of Whidbey Island, according to the Coast Guard.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the FAA said. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”
The NTSB said on Twitter Monday that it is sending a seven-member team to investigate the crash.
The plane was traveling from Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to Renton Municipal Airport near Seattle when it crashed, the USCG said, with the cause of the crash unknown at this time. The Coast Guard had initially said the plane was traveling from Friday Harbor to Seattle Tacoma International Airport, which it later corrected.
The Coast Guard responded to a report of the crash that was initially said to have eight adults and one child onboard, according to USCG Pacific Northwest. The USCG later corrected its statement, saying there were 10 people unaccounted for in the crash.
South Whidbey Fire/EMS said that its crew was at the scene near the west side of Whidbey Island.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck, Teddy Grant and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(NORFOLK, Va.) — A shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday has left two people dead and five others injured, law enforcement officials said.
The Norfolk Police Department said the incident happened around midnight Saturday into early Sunday morning at a party in the 5000 block of Killam Avenue.
Four women and three men were wounded in the shooting and sent to area hospitals, with two people later succumbing to their injuries, according to Norfolk police.
Several of the victims were students at Norfolk State University, the school said. The university is offering counseling services to students impacted by the shooting.
Zabre Miller, 25, and Angelia McKnight, 19, died at the hospital as a result of their injuries, Norfolk PD said.
McKnight was a second-year student at the school studying nursing, university President Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston said in a statement.
“Angelia’s life was important and every Spartan is a key member of our campus,” Adams-Gaston said. “With our strength, we will continue to work together.”
Authorities said that a fight broke out at the party, where a suspect took out a gun and started shooting. There were reportedly multiple firearms used in the incident, police said.
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander called for crime to end in the city.
“Let me be clear to anyone in our community committing crimes and engaging in acts of lawlessness, we will hold you accountable for your actions. The violence must end now,” Alexander said at a press conference on Sunday.
Shania Twain’s lengthy Las Vegas residency is coming to an end this month, as the singer closes out her final run of shows on September 10.
As her residency winds down, the country legend says she’s grateful to the city where she’s spent so much time as a performer in recent years. Vegas, Shania explains to Billboard, is a hotbed of creative inspiration.
“The whole attitude of the city as far as entertainment goes is: ‘What can we do better? How can we get better all the time?’ That attitude, for me, that’s growth,” the singer says. “That’s a healthy, positive way to look at entertainment. There’s nothing stagnant about it.”
When it came time to plan her Vegas residency, Shania says the creative energy of the city helped her “push the limits” of her stage production, and the glitz and glamour of her show.
“You’re not gonna shine any better than you shine in Las Vegas, and they set it up that way!” she says. “Everyone wants to win, everyone wants success for every show. I feel like it’s a community in that sense.”
