(RICHFIELD, Minn) — Police released more details about the shooting outside a Minnesota school Tuesday that left a student dead and another critically injured.
Jay Henthorne, the chief of Richfield Police, told reporters Wednesday that the incident outside the South Education Center started as a fight among five students.
During the scuffle, a gun was produced and fired, according to Henthorne. An unidentified15-year-old was shot and killed and an unidentified 17-year-old was shot and was listed in critical condition.
A third victim, an unidentified 19-year-old, suffered minor injuries, the police said.
Henthorne said the two suspects, Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, 18, and Alfredo Rosario Solis, 19, allegedly fled the scene, but they were apprehended later in the day at two separate addresses. A gun was recovered from one of the locations, Henthorne said.
Valdez-Alvarez and Solis were arraigned Friday on several counts of second-degree murder, according to court documents.
The investigation is ongoing and the FBI and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting, according to police.
Henthorne said there are no other threats against the school.
A makeshift memorial for the slain students has been constructed outside the school.
“Their lives were just beginning,” Sandy Lewandowski, the superintendent for School District 278, said of the victims. “I am devastated. We are all devastated.”
(SALT LAKE CITY) — The Republican National Committee voted Friday to censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, in part for their roles on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Whereas, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it resolved, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference,” according to resolution text obtained by ABC News and passed by voice vote at the RNC’s annual winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. That’s why Republican National Committee members and myself overwhelmingly support this resolution,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement after the vote.
Her statement notably attempted to clarify the resolution’s “legitimate political discourse” language, adding the words, “that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.”
In response to the RNC resolution language about Jan. 6 and the “legitimate political discourse” it said took place, Cheney tweeted out a New York Times video depicting the violent reality of that day.
“This was January 6th. This is not “legitimate political discourse,” she tweeted, with the video attached.
“Cheney and Kinzinger have engaged in actions in their positions as members of the January 6th Select Committee not befitting Republican members of Congress,” and “seem intent on advancing a political agenda to buoy the Democrat Party’s bleak prospects in the upcoming midterm elections,” the resolution also reads.
Both Cheney and Kinzinger have been vocal in their refusal to embrace former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, and were among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach the former president for “incitement of an insurrection”– to the disdain of many others in the GOP, who have since been overtly critical of the two lawmakers.
Cheney faces an arduous primary challenge to maintain her Wyoming seat, while Kinzinger will not be running for reelection in Illinois.
“The Conference must not be sabotaged by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who have demonstrated, with actions and words, that they support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022,” the resolution reads.
The censure language that the 168-member body approved Friday is a diluted version of an original text pushed by Maryland committeeman David Bossie that initially called for the expulsion of the pair from the party.
The resolution is non-binding, given the RNC’s inability to forcibly remove a member from office, but is not without political consequence, and is patently illustrative of the ironclad grip Trump still has on the party, even without an address on Pennsylvania Avenue.
If the larger conference of Republicans decides to vote in favor of a censure, candidates are likely to be less vocal about their criticisms of the former president, and may even be willing to embrace unverified theories about election fraud to keep within Trump’s good graces and avoid consternation from the national party.
Both Cheney and Kinzinger struck back at the censure preemptively Thursday evening. Kinzinger tweeted, after the unanimous passage, that he is “now even more committed to fighting conspiracies and lies.”
“I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump,” Cheney said in a statement. “History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.”
On Friday morning, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not respond to reporter questions regarding the potential censure.
Yet, not all Republicans are on board with the RNC action.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, representing the winter meeting’s host state, tweeted his disappointment with the potential RNC decision Friday morning.
“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost,” Romney said.
(NEW YORK) — Southwest flight attendants are “outraged” after the airline announced on Thursday that it is planning to resume on-board alcohol sales in two weeks.
The airline had postponed the return of alcohol sales in late May citing the uptick in unruly passenger incidents.
The decision to pause alcohol sales came less than a week after a Southwest flight attendant got her two front teeth knocked out by an unruly passenger on a flight from Sacramento to San Diego.
“It tops the chart of the most egregious things I’ve ever heard of,” Lyn Montgomery, a spokesperson for the union that represents Southwest flight attendants, told ABC News at the time. “It’s unbelievable and really hard to understand the level of aggression that has been exhibited towards our flight crews.”
Montgomery said that many flight attendants felt “leery about beginning to sell alcohol onboard the aircraft again because alcohol always intensifies an event.”
The uinion says it still feels it is too soon to begin serving alcohol again eight months later.
“TWU Local 556 is outraged at Southwest Airlines’ resumption of alcohol sales, a move we consider to be both unsafe and irresponsible,” Montgomery said in a statement. “We have adamantly and unequivocally informed management that resuming sales of alcohol while the mask mandate is in place has the great potential to increase customer non-compliance and misconduct issues.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has seen a record spike in unruly behavior on board since the start of 2021. The agency’s investigations into the surge in aggressive behavior on-board has shown that alcohol is often a contributing factor.
In July, the FAA urged airport bars and restaurants to stop serving alcoholic drinks to go.
American Airlines is now the only major U.S. airline that is still holding out on resuming alcohol sales.
“We haven’t established a specific date for the return of onboard alcohol in the main cabin of our aircrafts,” an American spokesperson told ABC News. “We will continue to evaluate the situation and work closely with the union that represents our flight attendants, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, and medical experts on this process to determine when we will return to full service in the main cabin.”
In an effort to prevent more unruly passenger incidents, the FAA has established an information-sharing protocol with the Department of Justice.
A FAA spokesperson confirmed to ABC News in November that the agency had referred 37 of the “most egregious cases” to the FBI out of the 227 unruly passenger cases it had initiated enforcement action on.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian wants the U.S. government to go a step further and place convicted unruly passengers on a no-fly list that would bar them from flying on other airlines.
Bastian wrote a letter yesterday to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for his support.
“This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft,” he wrote.
(NEW YORK) — A month into his tenure, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Friday sought to clarify some of his prosecutorial policies that fueled criticism he is soft on crime.
Bragg’s letter to his staff, obtained by ABC News, came the same week the NYPD finished burying two police officers shot in the line of duty.
The widow of officer Jason Rivera, Dominique Luzuriaga, received a standing ovation during her husband’s funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral when she called out Bragg and his approach to law enforcement.
“The system continues to fail us” she said. “We’re not safe anymore. I know you were tired of these laws, especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now.”
Bragg’s “Day One” memorandum said the district attorney’s office would not prosecute fare beating, resisting arrest and other nonviolent crimes in an attempt to decriminalize poverty and mental illness and balance fairness and safety.
It also said prosecutors should treat armed robbery in commercial settings as misdemeanor petit larceny if there is no genuine risk of physical harm and disallowed bail conditions for pre-trial cases except for “very serious cases.” The policies, he wrote, “will make us safer.”
The memo prompted a scathing review from the city’s new police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, who feared Bragg’s policies “will invite violence against police officers and will have deleterious effects on our relationship with the communities we protect,” she said the day after the memo was issued.
Bragg conceded the “Day One” memo that outlined his approach “has been a source of confusion, rather than clarity,” according the letter to his staff sent Friday.
“Violence against police officers will not be tolerated. We will prosecute any person who harms or attempts to harm a police officer,” Bragg’s letter said.
Bragg backtracked on how the office will prosecute commercial robbery.
“A commercial robbery with a gun will be charged as a felony, whether or not the gun is operable, loaded, or a realistic imitation. A commercial robbery at knifepoint, or by other weapon that creates a risk of physical harm, will be charged as a felony,” the letter said. “In retail thefts that do not involve a risk of physical harm, the Office will continue to assess the charges based on all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented.”
Bragg also sought to reassure assistant district attorneys they retained discretion in the way they handle cases after his initial memo required them to “obtain the approval” of a supervisor to deviate from his policies.
“You were hired for your keen judgment, and I want you to use that judgment – and experience – in every case,” Bragg said.
In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson launched the celebration of Negro History Week, which evolved into Black History Month, now celebrated every February. Regina Hall paid tribute to the esteemed historian in an article forVariety.
“Woodson, known to many as the father of Black history, fervently believed that Black people should be proud of their heritage and that all Americans should recognize the largely disregarded achievements and contributions of Black people,” the Girls Trip star wrote.
“Woodson’s advocacy and devotion birthed Negro History Week. It was launched the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass,” the eight-time NAACP Image Award nominee continued.
“As we celebrate a people and a history tinged with tragedy and triumph, we should also pause to pay homage to the brilliance and perseverance of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who a century ago recognized the need for this scholarly intervention,” concluded Hall.
In other news, Zendaya will make her Super Bowl commercial debut on February 13 promoting the website-building company Squarespace. The commercial preview, titled “Everything to Shell… Sell Anything,” opens with a close-up of a blue seashell, then spirals out to reveal the Emmy winner spinning in a matching blue halter dress adorned with pearls, shells and starfish.
Finally, Robin Givens will appear in the February 8 episode of ABC’s Queens, starring Brandy, Eve, Naturi Naughton and Nadine Velazquez. In an Instagram clip from the set, the Boomerang star addressed fans of the series, saying, “I am so excited to be guest starring on Queens, your favorite show.” She also commented, “Sooooo Much fun getting to play with these fabulous women!!!”
Givens will portray of ex-wife of Eric Jones, the manager of the girls hip-hop group Nasty B*****s.
“Kickoff” and “comeback” are a couple of football terms associated with Super Bowl Sunday, and for Lindsay Lohan, they will take on a fun new meaning during the big game.
Lindsay has been in the spotlight nearly her entire life, and to help put her past to bed and own the mistakes that made headlines along the way, she’s making fun of it for millions to see.
The actress teamed up with Planet Fitness for an ad that will air during Super Bowl LVI, narrated by William Shatner and with cameos from Dennis Rodman and Danny Trejo, that will embrace the missteps and help her move on, with some humor. A preview of the commercial debuted Friday on Good Morning America.
“I was really involved in the concept,” Lohan told GMA about the creative process. “You have to poke fun at things, bring light to the situation, especially because I’m in such a good place to talk about it. This is the final, the final, last time we will go backwards and bring up the past.”
Lohan noted, “Not filming for so long and not, you know, making movies for a long time, especially during the pandemic, that really made me appreciate it more and miss it so much more that I knew I was ready to come back.”
Now, with a new movie, her own podcast, and a wedding to plan, the actress says she’s feeling “really lucky and blessed,” and excited for the future.
Lohan announced her engagement on Instagram last November. She said of her idea wedding, “I want to keep it small and intimate and just, you know, family focused and just really beautiful.”
Lindsay added with a laugh, “I’m a very lucky girl and he’s a very lucky man.”
(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched a new dashboard Friday that tracks COVID-19 in wastewater samples across the country.
The data comes from the federal agency’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, which connects more than 400 sites across 28 states and the District of Columbia.
More than 34,000 samples have been collected representing 53 million Americans, Dr. Ann Kirby, program lead for the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, said during a media briefing.
Over the last 15 days, the dashboard shows that 98% of treatment facilities have detected the virus in all of their samples.
However, 70% of all facilities say the amount of virus found in samples has decreased compared to two weeks ago — a sign that COVID-19 cases are on the decline.
Between 40% and 80% of COVID-19 patients shed genetic material from the virus, or viral RNA, in their feces.
When stool is flushed down the toilet, it flows through a drainage system into a treatment facility, where it becomes part of wastewater.
The same tests that are used to determine if someone is positive — what are known as PCR tests — can also detect the virus in wastewater samples.
During the media briefing, Kirby said wastewater surveillance provides public health officials with “a better understanding of COVID-19 trends in communities.”
Because people shed the virus when they are in the early stages of infection, increases in levels of viral RNA in wastewater are often seen before the number of cases rise.
This makes wastewater an early warning system of sorts and helps predict where COVID-19 outbreaks are going to occur.
“These can inform important public health decisions such as where to allocate mobile testing and vaccination sites,” Kirby said. “Public health agencies have also used wastewater data to forecast changes in hospital utilization, providing additional time to mobilize resources in preparation for increasing cases.”
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said wastewater samples helped predict the omicron wave before it even hit.
“Well ahead of when we knew this omicron wave was creating this massive increase in cases, we saw the signal in the wastewater, and the sort of scale of amount of virus that was detected in wastewater was far greater than any other point in the pandemic,” said Brownstein, who is a member on the board of advisors of wastewater analytics company Biobot.
This is not the first time that wastewater surveillance has been used to track public health concerns.
Several countries overseas have used the tool to monitor polio outbreaks. In many European cities, public health officials have used wastewater surveillance to track opioid use.
Brownstein said wastewater has even been used to track the flu and can continue to be useful when COVID becomes a more seasonal, endemic disease.
“It can be absolutely used to look at early signals of any viral disease,” he said. “I think wastewater can be part of the public health fabric for just general surveillance. While COVID may become more sort of an endemic, seasonal virus, having a window into when we may see surges — especially with new variants — will be super critical.”
However, wastewater surveillance has some limitations. About one-fifth of U.S. households are not connected to a public sewer and use septic systems instead, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
This means wastewater testing would not be able to detect viral spread in 20% of American homes.
Additionally, Kirby said the testing cannot determine if a community is free from infection, so it’s best if it’s used in conjunction with other tools such as case-based surveillance.
But, if Americans do start to see rates of viral RNA in wastewater increase, they can implement the same measures they would use if cases were rising, just earlier.
“You want to take all the same actions: masking, distancing, getting vaccinated if you’re not, testing if you’re feeling sick,” Kirby said. “But with wastewater, you can start doing those a few days earlier and those extra days can really make a difference in the ultimate trajectory of that surge in your community.”
(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) — To address the lack of diversity in law enforcement, Lincoln University, in Jefferson City, Missouri, has opened the first police academy at a historically Black college or university (HBCU).
Today, 71.5% of U.S. police officers are white and police departments are struggling to recruit new officers and retain veterans, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Retirements nationwide are up 45% in policing, resignations have risen 18% and recruitment is down 5%, according to the Police Executive Research Forum.
For law enforcement to better reflect America’s diversity, Lincoln University started the new policing program in January of 2021, graduating its first group of recruits six months later.
“Law enforcement agencies across the nation have been pulling their hair out trying to figure out a way to recruit more minorities. And this has never been tried,” Gary Hill, the co-founder and principal instructor of the program, told ABC News. “I would love to see where we can go from here.”
The majority of Lincoln’s first class are college students. The nine recruits spent 32 hours a week in firearm training and physical conditioning courses. The recruits consist of two Black women, four Black men and three white men.
Hill hopes the success of this academy could change the fate of policing and inspire other HBCUs to follow suit.
College sophomore Ti Aja Fairlee, 21, is the youngest in the class and told “Nightline” she never saw Black women represented among the ranks in law enforcement as a child.
Black women are among the most underrepresented groups in police, making up just 2.7% of the force nationally, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
“I am kind of proud of myself actually that I can be the face and the voice for girls like me,” Fairlee said. “Yes, you can do this. Don’t let the race thing stop you from anything. The race thing already pushed us back enough. We’ve just got to push forward and do what we want to do, like, don’t let nobody stop us.”
Fairlee, however, said there’s a lot of pressure in being one of a few.
“That’s where a lot of my doubts came from because I’m like, ‘Can I be a good police officer? I don’t know nobody to look up to,'” she said. “I’ve got to be my own role model, really.”
Tyrese Davis, 22, said the message was clear in Baltimore where he grew up: Don’t become a cop if you’re Black or a person of color.
He’s the first in his family to go to college and pays for tuition and the police academy by working the night shift at a local book factory.
Investing in recruits like Fairlee and Davis is central to Hill’s mission.
“What you all have to do is be the change that you want to see,” Hill said. “You have to be.”
Hill, a 26-year veteran in of law enforcement, also heads up Lincoln University’s police department, where he oversees 22 officers while still taking time to patrol the campus himself.
But close to the chief’s heart is the belief that higher education in police leadership makes for competent and diverse leaders. Hill holds a master’s in administration of criminal justice agencies and is currently working toward a doctorate in criminal justice with an emphasis on homeland security.
“I’m able to see things from different perspectives because of my education,” he said, “and so a lot of us chiefs and sheriffs, and other administrators, see the value in that.”
Hill said he’s inspired by African American Civil War soldiers who pooled their money to help create HBCUs in the 1800s.
“I look back and I say, ‘you know, if they could do it back in 1866, we can do it now,'” Hill said. “Lincoln University is probably one of the most diverse schools in the country. Our population is half Black and half white. And what better place to have an academy or to start one but here?”
Eight members of the inaugural class now work in law enforcement. Lincoln University’s program has also broadened its reach, opening a second training site in St. Louis, Missouri, with 25 recruits currently enrolled.
“I will measure success in three years to see how many of those recruits are still in law enforcement, and the things that they’ve experienced, and how they feel about law enforcement after those three years,” said Hill.
Watch the full story on “Nightline” TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET on ABC.
(WASHINGTON) — After the White House braced for a disappointing January jobs report officials predicted would be skewed by the omicron variant, President Joe Biden took a triumphant tone at the White House Friday to tout the unexpected economic win.
“I want to speak to you this morning about an extraordinary resilience and grit of the American people and American capitalism. Our country is taking everything that COVID’s thrown at us. We’ve come back stronger,” Biden said. “I’m pleased to report this morning, many of you already know, that America’s job machine is going stronger than ever.”
The January jobs report released Friday shows a strong American economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 467,000 jobs were added in January — much higher than economists’ expectations that 150,000 jobs would be added. The unemployment rate was little changed at 4%.
In a rare, positive revision, the report also showed that 709,000 more jobs were added in the previous two months than previously reported as data collection has been impacted in the pandemic.
“America is back to work,” Biden said, highlighting the numbers.
As the administration continues to battle rising inflation and growing doubt in Biden’s handling of the economy, White House officials had offered prebuttals ahead of Friday’s report, saying those who were out on unpaid sick leave the week data was gathered will count erroneously as unemployed.
“We just wanted to kind of prepare, you know, people to understand how the data is taken, what they’re looking at, and what it is an assessment of. And as a result, the month’s jobs report may show job losses in large part because workers were out sick from Omicron at the point when it was peaking during the period when — the week where the data was taken,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
With the positive report, the Federal Reserve will likely stick to its plan of pulling back stimulus measures and raising rates — potentially even moving faster than previously planned.
Biden noted how Friday’s report caps off his first year as president, and over that period, the U.S. economy created 6.6 million jobs — a figure unmatched by recent presidents.
“If you can’t remember another year when so many people went to work in this country, there’s a reason. It never happened,” Biden said. “Take a look at the chart. You can look at the last, all the way back to President Reagan.”
He also took the chance to tout how the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year is already taking effect and to push for congressional action on other items stalled on his domestic agenda including signature items in his Build Back Better agenda, like subsidized childcare and lowering prescription drug prices.
“Look, the bottom line is this: The United States is once again in a position to not only compete with the rest of the world — but out-compete the rest of the world once again,” Biden said. “Let’s keep building a better America.”
But even with the strong jobs growth, the latest report still showed significant pandemic impacts.
The number of people unable to work at some point in the previous month because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic doubled in January to 6 million. Teleworking increased, to more than one in seven employed people. And among the unemployed, 1.8 million were prevented from looking for work because of the pandemic, up from 1.1 million in December.
It comes as Biden faces significant skepticism from the American public, with his job approval rating lagging across a range of major issues, including new lows for his handling of the economic recovery, an ABC/Ipsos poll from December found.
More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation (only 28% approve) while more than half (57%) disapprove of his handling of the economic recovery. Partisan splits for inflation show expected negativity in Republican views (94% disapproving), but the survey also revealed weaknesses from Biden’s own party with only a slim majority of Democrats (54%) approving. Biden’s orbit is also hemorrhaging independent voters, with 71% disapproving of his handling of inflation.
“I know it hasn’t been easy. I know that January was a very hard month for many Americans,” Biden said Friday. “I know that after almost two years, the physical and emotional weight of the pandemic has been incredibly difficult to bear for so many people.”
But now, Biden added, “We’re seeing the difference our efforts have made.”
ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki and Gary Langer contributed to this report.
(HOUSTON) — An 11-year-old boy was shot on Thursday in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Harris County, Texas, while walking to get something from his mother’s car, according to police.
Deputies and EMS found the boy with at least one gunshot wound to the chest and aid being administered by his family. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead there, according to Harris County police.
Harris County deputies responded to an apartment complex just before 7 p.m. after receiving reports of a shooting. Multiple shots were fired, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide and Crime Scene Units are conducting an investigation, police said.
Early stages of the investigation indicated that gunshots were heard shortly after the boy walked to the parking lot to retrieve something from his mother’s car, according to police.
Witnesses said they saw a teenage black male fleeing the scene on foot. He ran through the complex and jumped over a wooden fence to exit the complex, police said.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
