(TUSCON, Ariz.) — One Drug Enforcement Administration agent was killed and two other officers were injured in a shooting on an Amtrak train that was stopped in Tucson, Arizona, authorities said.
Officers boarded the train Monday morning to perform a routine check for illegal guns, money and drugs and encountered two people on the second level of the double-decker Amtrak car, Tucson police said.
One individual was detained, but a second person revealed a handgun and opened fire, police said.
One DEA agent was killed and another DEA agent is in critical condition, police said.
A Tucson police officer who was on the platform heard the gunfire and ran onto the train, at which point he was shot, police said. That officer is in stable condition, police said.
After exchanging rounds with police, the suspected gunman barricaded himself in a lower-level bathroom, authorities said. It was later determined that the suspected gunman died, though it is not clear how he died, police said.
There were no reports of injuries to the 137 passengers or 11 crew members, Amtrak said.
The train was en route from Los Angeles to New Orleans and arrived in Tucson at 7:40 a.m. local time, Amtrak said.
ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
This Friday, Justin Bieber: Our World, a documentary about the making of Justin’s New Year’s Eve concert in December 2020, will hit Amazon Prime Video. Speaking to People, Justin said the hardest part of the show, which took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in front of a small group of invited guests, was simply putting it together in the middle of a pandemic.
“It was difficult…all of the checks and balances that went along with putting together this show, from the COVID tests, to some people actually getting COVID during the process and having to wait in quarantine for 15 days or however long it took for it to pass,” Justin explains.
In the documentary, you’ll definitely see the panic that ensues when one key member of Justin’s creative team gets COVID-19. “There was just hurdles, and it’s already hard enough to put on a show of this level,” Justin adds. “But to do it during a pandemic…”
Of course, the fact that it was Justin’s first concert in three years also didn’t make it any easier.
“I definitely felt the nerves leading up to it,” Justin tells People. But as he points out, “I think sometimes nerves are coming from a good place, because you care.”
Justin also admits that “there’s a lot of moments that I messed up” during the show — but you can’t really tell from watching the doc, which features the star performing all his biggest hits, including “Intentions,” “Baby,” “Love Yourself,” “Lonely,” and “Holy.”
However, Justin allows, “You want to get better at something, you gotta be willing to make mistakes. I heard this saying like, ‘You miss all the shots you don’t take.’ So you take the shot. If you miss, you miss, but at least you tried.”
Dylan Scott is living his best life, as he’s set to embark on the Livin’ My Best Life Tour early next year.
The headlining tour takes the “My Girl” hit maker across the country, beginning on February 24 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and with stops at the famous Joe’s Live in Illinois, the Tabernacle in Atlanta, and at the House of Blues in Boston, Anaheim and Cleveland. The tour concludes on April 29 at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The singer, whose other hits include “Hooked” and “Nobody,” recently wrapped up a stint as an opening act on Luke Bryan‘s Farm Tour, and continues out on the road with the American Idol judge’s Proud to Be Right Here Tour.
“I’m excited to finally headline in front of my fans. Hopefully we’ve gained a lot of new ones over the past few months while being on tour with Luke,” Dylan shares in a statement, adding that newcomer Dylan Marlowe will serve as the opening act. “Ready to live my best life on the ‘Livin’ My Best Life Tour.'”
Dave Grohl will be an upcoming guest onBedtime Stories, a kids TV program on the BBC’s CBeebies pre-school channel.
On the first of two episodes, premiering October 8, the Foo Fighters frontman will read from Octopus’s Garden, a children’s book written by Ringo Starr based on the1969 Beatles song of the same name.
“As a proud father of three, I’ve always enjoyed reading stories to my children,” Grohl says. “It was a pleasure to read these stories for CBeebies.”
If you’re looking for more Dave Grohl stories, look no further than The Storyteller, the iconic musician’s first ever memoir. The book will be released tomorrow, October 5.
Grohl is currently on a book tour in support of The Storyteller, which continues Tuesday in New York City.
It appears that hip hop heavyweights Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One will battle in the next Verzuz.
Their silhouettes appear in a Verzuz Instagram post that reads, “WANNA PLAY? We got a new VERZUZ on the way Sunday, October 17th, brought to you by the killer new series, #Chucky. Who do y’all think it is!? Drop your guesses in the comments below and we’ll pick an entry at random to get a pair of tix!”
Snoop Dogg, who was announced as one of the Super Bowl halftime performers on Friday, quickly figured out the answer.
“Big Daddy Kane. V. K. R. S1,” The Doggfather wrote.
DJ Premier from Gang Starr commented, “I can tell by the silhouette.”
Kane is celebrating 35 years in hip hop after launching his career in 1986 as a member of The Juice Crew. His many classics include “Ain’t No Half Steppin'” from 1986. Big Daddy performs a tribute to his late friend, BizMarkie, on the BET Hip Hop Awards, airing Tuesday night.
KRS-One also began his career in the ‘80s in New York City. He was a member of Boogie Down Productions, and began the Stop the Violence movement after his partner, Scott La Rock, was shot and killed in 1987. Tupac and Eminem are among the many rappers who praised him as one of their strongest influences.
Fat Joe and Ja Rule starred in the previous Verzuz held on September 14 at Madison Square Garden in NYC, where Nelly, Ashanti and Remy Ma were among the featured performers,
Today the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the showbiz union representing tens of thousands of behind-the-scenes workers, has voted to authorize a nationwide strike — the first time in IATSE’s 128-year history that members have done so.
The vote was nearly unanimous: with 90% of the eligible union voters casting ballots, 98% voted in support of a strike authorization.
Union members say they’re seeking adequate compensation and safe working conditions in an industry that pushes work days far longer than most realize. The boon in production from streaming services has compounded the overwork problem, union members say.
“The members have spoken loud and clear,” said IATSE International President Matthew Loeb in a statement. “This vote is about the quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry. Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage.”
Loeb continued, “I hope that the studios will see and understand the resolve of our members. The ball is in their court. If they want to avoid a strike, they will return to the bargaining table and make us a reasonable offer.”
For its part, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the entertainment industry’s official collective bargaining representatives, responded by saying in part, “We deeply value our IATSE crew members and are committed to working with them to avoid shutting down the industry…particularly since the industry is still recovering from the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
(MILWAUKEE) — The grandmother of an 11-year-old Milwaukee girl killed in a weekend drive-by shooting that also left her 5-year-old sister injured said on Monday that the children were coming home from a birthday party with their mother when a gunman opened fire on their car.
The death of Ta’Niyla Parker has sparked widespread outrage in Milwaukee and community activists have taken to the streets holding signs reading, “Stop killing our children.”
“She was very smart, outgoing. She was a loving big sister to her little sister,” Ta’Niyla’s grandmother, Janice Little, told ABC News on Monday.
Little said she was Ta’Niyla’s legal guardian and that the child has lived with her since she was born.
“I hope they get caught and get arrested,” Little said of her granddaughter’s killer.
The shooting unfolded about 9 p.m. on Saturday in the Sherman Park neighborhood in northwest Milwaukee, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. A vehicle pulled up alongside the family’s car and gunfire erupted, police said.
Sherman Park resident Kristofer Koneazny told ABC affiliate station WISN in Milwaukee that he called 911 after hearing around 15 gunshots in rapid succession.
No arrests have been made in the homicide and police are still working to identify the person or persons responsible for the shooting, authorities said.
Police said a relative was driving the car and took the wounded children to the District 7 police precinct several blocks away, where officers performed first aid and called Milwaukee Fire Department paramedics.
The sisters were taken to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, where the older child died early Sunday morning, police said.
Little said her daughter, Talea Hairston, was driving the girls to her home when the shooting occurred.
She said Hairston had taken her daughters to a friend’s birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese in Milwaukee.
“She called about 9 o’clock. I’m thinking she’s calling to say, ‘Come open up the door because I’m fixing to drop the kids off,'” Little said. “But she just called and started hollering and screaming and said, ‘The babies were shot.'”
She said her younger grandchild suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
“She’s doing better. She’s walking now and they said that she would probably be able to come home today,” Little said.
She said Ta’Niyla was a sixth-grader and loved drawing cartoons on her cellphone.
“She loved her anime,” Little said, referring to a Japanese style of cartoons. “She was doing all of that on her phone. She loved to do that.”
Community activists in the Sherman Park neighborhood took to the streets Sunday afternoon to draw attention to the tragedy.
“I’m a father myself and seeing what happened … the senseless act of violence where a little kid has to die, I think enough is enough,” Walter Garron of the Brown Berets community social justice group, told WISN.
Garron was one of several community activists holding signs reading “Stop killing our children.”
“We’re trying to bring awareness make sure people know there are other people here watching,” Garron said, “and we are caring about their families and the community and we want this stopped.”
It’s not clear if she’s going to be watching it, but Britney Spears is “aware” that all the contestants on tonight’s episode of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars will be hitting the the dance floor to her music, a source tells Page Six.
The 14 remaining celebs and their pro partners will not only be dancing to Britney’s music, they’ll also be wearing costumes and doing choreography inspired by her.
For example, pro Gleb Savchenko and his partner, Spice Girl Mel C, will be doing the tango to “Toxic.” He told Page Six, “It’s like the best song ever, especially for tango. It’s going to be really cool. The costumes and the whole concept, the number, it’s really dope. We’ll definitely do some ’Toxic’ sexy moves.”
Savchenko added, “We [support] #FreeBritney. she’s amazing … and everything’s happening for her. I’m so happy.”
Other performances on tonight’s show include singer/reality star JoJo Siwa dancing the Argentine tango to “…Baby One More Time,” Real Housewife Kenya Moore dancing the tango to “Womanizer,” Olympic gymnast Suni Lee dancing the foxtrot to “I’m a Slave 4 U,” and actor Brian Austin Green dancing the tango to “Till the World Ends.”
Tune in at 8 p.m. ET on ABC to see how Britney’s songs go over with the judges.
This may be the closest you’ll come to seeing someone performing the iconic choreography to Britney’s greatest hits onstage, since TMZ is now claiming that even if her conservatorship is terminated, Britney still has no plans to return to touring. Sources claim she simply has no desire to work, even though she knows fans want to see her.
(NEW YORK) — Northwell Health, the largest hospital system in New York state, announced Monday that all of its employees have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The move comes just one week after the state issued a vaccine mandate for all health workers.
Northwell Health representatives said in a statement that all of the company’s 76,000 employees, from 23 hospitals and more than 830 outpatient facilities, have received their shots.
“Northwell believes that having a fully vaccinated workforce is an important measure in our duty to protect the health and safety of our staff, our patients and the communities we serve,” the company said in a statement.
A spokesman for the hospital system told ABC News that 1,400 employees were laid off because they did not comply with the mandate.
“Northwell regrets losing any employee under such circumstances, but as health care professionals and members of the largest health care provider in the state, we understand our unique responsibility to protect the health of our patients and each other,” the hospital said. “We owe it to our staff, our patients and the communities we serve to be 100% vaccinated against COVID-19.”
As the deadline for the mandate approached, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that thousands of unvaccinated health care workers got their doses. No hospital in the state was forced to close its doors following the termination of employees who didn’t comply with the mandate.
New York hospitals were the epicenter of the pandemic during the spring of 2020, with bed space scarce in several locations in New York City. Hospital admissions peaked 18,825 on April 12, 2020, according to the New York State Health Department.
Hospitalization rates in the state have seen a jump since the summer, when they hit a low of 349 on July 13, state health data showed. As of Oct. 2, 2,151 people are hospitalized throughout the state, most of whom are unvaccinated patients, according to state health officials.
As of Oct. 4, 71.9% of all New York residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sure, it’s old hat for the starship Enterprise‘s Captain James Tiberius Kirk, but it will be a whole new experience for his alter-ego, 90-year-old William Shatner.
The actor will be among the next group of passengers on Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos‘ New Shepard spacecraft from his Blue Origin company. The trip is slated for October 12.
“So now I can say something. Yes, it’s true; I’m going to be a “rocket man!” Shatner confirmed via Twitter on Monday, perhaps referring to his infamous cover of the Elton John hit.
Shatner’s news was met with tons of support from fans and celebs, including Vincent D’Onofrio, who replied “Wow! That’s amazing dude,” and English actor and writer Stephen Fry, who said the news is “EVERYTHING.”
Cheekily, Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter,replied to Shatner, “Congrats, @WilliamShatner! If you really [get] to go to space, I hope I can really figure out how to get an invisible plane.”
Similarly, Jason Alexander referenced his own famous alter-ego, Seinfeld‘s George Costanza, by saying, “@WilliamShatner is going to space? My man! I guess this means I have to become a marine biologist.”
