National Headlines
Search underway for suspect in fatal shooting of Texas deputy: ‘Brutal murder’
By Bill Hutchinson A search was on Sunday for a man who gunned down a Texas constable deputy with what investigators described as an "assault-type weapon" during a traffic stop near Houston. Cpl. Charles Galloway, 47, of the Harris County Constable Precinct 5 office was shot multiple times while still seated in his patrol car and reportedly had no time to defend himself when the motorist he stopped got out of his car and opened fire without warning, authorities said. "He was brutally murdered," Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said during a news conference early Sunday outside the Houston Hospital where Galloway was pronounced dead. The shooting started about 12:45 a.m. Sunday when Galloway, a training officer, pulled over a ... Read More
Youth’s overdose death renews pleas for Narcan in schools
By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. -- The death of a 13-year-old student who apparently overdosed on fentanyl at his Connecticut school has drawn renewed pleas for schools to stock the opioid antidote naloxone, as well as for training of both staffers and children on how to recognize and respond to overdoses. The seventh grader was hospitalized Jan. 13 after falling ill at a Hartford school that did not have naloxone on hand. City officials vowed Wednesday to put the antidote in all city schools, as part of a wider drug use and overdose prevention strategy. “Naloxone should be available in all schools, and there should be education on signs and symptoms of overdose and how to use this,” ... Read More
US detains smuggling ship, UK seizes drugs in Mideast waters
By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized a boat in the Gulf of Oman carrying fertilizer used to make explosives that was caught last year smuggling weapons to Yemen. The British royal navy said it confiscated 1,041 kilograms (2,295 pounds) of illegal drugs in the same waters. The interdictions were just the latest in the volatile waters of the Persian Gulf as American and British authorities step up seizures of contraband during the grinding conflict in Yemen and ongoing drug trafficking in the region. The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet said its guided-missile destroyer USS Cole and patrol ships halted and searched the sailboat, a stateless fishing dhow, that was ... Read More
‘Multiple’ dogs may have been sickened by rat-transmitted illness, NYC official says
WABC-TV(NEW YORK) -- New York City dog owners are being warned after several pets may have been sickened by leptospirosis, a disease commonly associated with rats. A city council member said this week his office had received "reports of multiple dog fatalities" in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg. "The reports to our office indicate that dogs played at McCarren [Park] Dog Run before becoming sick," council member Lincoln Restler said in a social media post Wednesday, which advised dog owners about the potentially deadly bacterial disease that is spread through the urine of infected animals. In an update Friday, Restler said his office had received a report about potential cases of leptospirosis "allegedly causing the death of four dogs" that ... Read More
Hazardous weather conditions after winter storm hits southeastern US with snow, ice
GETTY/Andrew Bret Wallis(NEW YORK) -- The southeastern United States is weathering snow and ice yet again a week after the region was slammed with hazardous winter conditions. Two to 4.5 inches of snow have been reported from South Carolina to east Virginia, as winter weather alerts were in effect Saturday morning from Georgia to Maryland as the storm moved out of the region. Cold temperatures throughout the weekend will continue to make for hazardous road conditions. In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper urged people to stay at home due to dangerous road conditions and widespread power outages. The governor had issued a state of emergency ahead of the winter storm. North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers had responded to more than 1,500 ... Read More
NYPD officer killed, 2nd officer and suspect in critical condition after shooting
GETTY/Alan Schein Photography(NEW YORK) -- A rookie New York City officer is dead and another officer was in critical condition after they were shot responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem Friday night, police said. Three officers responded to the scene of the call, West 135 Street, around 6:30 p.m., where a mother and her adult son, Lashawn McNeil, were fighting in a first-floor apartment, according to police. The mother met police in the front of the apartment and when they went to a rear room to talk to McNeil, shots suddenly rang out, police said. Officer Jason Rivera, 22, a rookie entered a hallway and was struck first, police officials with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News. Rivera, ... Read More
Worker shortages, flight delays contributing to slow delivery of rapid tests
bunhill/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Rebeca Andrade had been waiting days for a shipment of COVID-19 rapid tests to help keep her school open. The superintendent of a school in Salinas, California, Andrade said she wanted to be testing kids once a week to slow the spread of the omicron variant and protect the community. But even as rapid testing to keep schools open was being pushed at the highest levels of government, Andrade was coming up short. That's because 350 miles away, some 17 million tests -- including some earmarked by the California Department of Public Health for schools like Andrade's, plus nursing homes, homeless shelters and childcare centers -- sat backlogged on giant pallets for days. Like so many ... Read More
Stray bullet kills English astrophysicist visiting Atlanta
By The Associated Press BROOKHAVEN, Ga. -- A stray bullet struck and killed an English astrophysicist while he was inside an Atlanta-area apartment, authorities say. Matthew Willson, 31, of Chertsey, Surrey, England, was visiting his girlfriend in the United States when he was hit by a bullet that pierced the wall of the apartment. The shooting happened early Sunday morning, only three days into his visit. “He was supposed to be here for three months because we’ve been long distance for a while,” Katherine Shepard, his girlfriend of three years, told WSB-TV. “I picked him up from the airport, took him to his favorite eating location, and the next day, he’s gone.” Shepard, whose apartment is in the Atlanta suburb ... Read More
Wildfire near California’s Big Sur forces evacuations
By The Associated Press BIG SUR, Calif. -- Residents in the Big Sur area of California were told to evacuate from their homes due to a wildfire that began late Friday, officials said. Monterey County officials ordered the evacuations after the wildfire started in the Palo Colorado canyon and grew to more than 250 acres (101 hectares), news outlets reported. The wildfire was being called the Colorado Fire. Officials shut down Highway 1 in both directions from Andrew Molera State Park to Carmel-By-The-Sea, according to local reports. The American Red Cross was setting up a shelter at a middle school. A wind advisory had been issued in the Bay Area for Friday night through Saturday morning, though meteorologists said strong ... Read More
‘Critical missing’ 11-year-old boy found safe, police say
By Meredith Deliso Dallas police said an 11-year-old boy who was missing for two nights and last seen wearing only shorts and socks during frigid temperatures has been found safe. Traveon Michael Allen Griffin left his home in southwest Dallas early Thursday, around midnight, according to police. "He may be confused and in need of assistance," police said. Police upgraded the missing person's case Thursday to "critical" due to the "victim's clothing attire and current below-freezing temperatures." Friday afternoon, police said in an update on social media that Traveon had been "located and he is safe." "Today is a good day," Dallas Police spokesperson Sgt. Warren Mitchell told reporters during a press briefing. Mitchell said around 2 p.m. local time ... Read More
Body found in search for missing college student Brendan Santo
iStock/ijoe(NEW YORK) -- After a search of more than 80 days, authorities have recovered a body believed to be that of missing Grand Valley State University student Brendan Santo. The body was recovered from the Red Cedar River at 12:30 p.m. Friday, approximately 1 1/2 miles downriver from where Santo was last seen. Identification is still pending, according to Michigan State University police. The 18-year-old college student vanished Oct. 29, 2021, while visiting friends in East Lansing, Michigan, the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State football game. Multiple agencies, along with family and a growing number of volunteer civilians, have been searching for the teen ever since, with a reward growing to over $30,000. "Thank you so much for all your ... Read More
Hostage incident at Texas synagogue a terrorist act and hate crime: FBI
iStock/ChiccoDodiFC(NEW YORK) -- The FBI said on Friday that it's treating the recent hostage situation at a Texas synagogue as a terrorist act and hate crime. An international federal investigation is ongoing after a rabbi and three members of his Dallas-Fort Worth-area congregation were taken hostage Saturday by an allegedly armed man who authorities said was demanding the release of a convicted terrorist. The incident "underscores the continued threat violent extremists pose to religious institutions, particularly Jewish institutions and other Jewish targets," Matthew DeSarno, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Dallas field office, said during a press briefing. "The FBI is and has been treating Saturday's events as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community," DeSarno continued. ... Read More
LA community gathers at vigil for 24-year-old slain at furniture store
iStock/PeopleImages(LOS ANGELES) -- Los Angeles community members gathered for a vigil outside the furniture store where a 24-year-old employee was killed in the middle of the afternoon. Brianna Kupfer was attacked with a knife while she worked alone at the store on Jan. 13. Kupfer had texted a friend that afternoon saying someone in the store was giving her a "bad vibe," Los Angeles Police Department Lt. John Radke said at a Tuesday news conference. Community members brought flowers, candles and posters to a Thursday vigil for the slain 24-year-old, who, when not working at the Croft House furniture store, was taking design courses through UCLA Extension, a continuing education program. "I'm the parent of a girl two years younger ... Read More
Brian Laundrie claims responsibility for killing Gabby Petito in notebook: FBI
iStock/MattGush(NEW YORK) -- The FBI on Friday released new details in the investigation of Gabby Petito's death, saying that that Brian Laundrie wrote in a notebook that he killed her. The FBI's Denver office had sent out a timeline of the investigation, saying that before discovering Laundrie's remains in a Florida wetland in October, agents had discovered a backpack, a gun and a notebook that all belonged to him. "A review of the notebook revealed written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito's death," the FBI said in a statement. The agency said Petito's family met with agents as the case into the 22-year-old's disappearance and death soon will be closed. "All logical investigative steps have been concluded ... Read More
‘Critical missing’ 11-year-old boy found safe, police say
iStock/ijoe84(DALLAS) -- Dallas police said an 11-year-old boy who was missing for two nights and last seen wearing only shorts and socks during frigid temperatures has been found safe. Traveon Michael Allen Griffin left his home in southwest Dallas early Thursday, around midnight, according to police. "He may be confused and in need of assistance," police said. Police upgraded the missing person's case Thursday to "critical" due to the "victim's clothing attire and current below-freezing temperatures." Friday afternoon, police said in an update on social media that Traveon had been "located and he is safe." No further details were provided. Since he was reported missing, police had been going door-to-door looking for Traveon, and were focused on a playground and ... Read More
Two years after COVID first hit the US, hundreds of thousands of Americans are still falling ill
Joe Raedle/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- At the beginning of 2020, as the nation celebrated the start of a new year, many Americans were still unaware of the "mysterious pneumonia" that had sickened dozens of workers at a live animal market in Wuhan, China. The illness, later identified as the "novel coronavirus", began spreading rapidly across the globe. Several studies have suggested that the virus had already been spreading in the United States, potentially as early as December 2019. However, it was not until mid-January of 2020, when the virus would officially be recognized as present on U.S. soil. Two years ago, on Jan. 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first domestic case of coronavirus. ... Read More
COVID-19 live updates: Breakthrough cases grew fourfold during omicron
PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 863,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering. About 63.3% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Latest headlines: -California lawmaker proposes letting kids 12 and older get vaccines without parental consent -LA County sees highest death toll since March 2021 -In 1 month US records more than one-quarter of its total cases for the pandemic -Breakthrough cases grew fourfold during omicron emergence: CDC Here's how the ... Read More
4 people, including infant, freeze to death being smuggled across US-Canada border
Royal Canadian Mounted Police(MANITOBA, Canada) -- Four people, including two adults, a teen and an infant, have been found frozen to death about 40 feet from the U.S.-Canada border while being smuggled into North Dakota, according to U.S. and Canadian authorities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and law enforcement officers with the Department of Homeland Security performed a traffic stop Jan. 19 on a 15-passenger van about 1 mile from the border when they found two undocumented Indian nationals from Canada inside, according to the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Less than a quarter mile away from the border, law enforcement encountered and apprehended five additional undocumented Indian nationals that walked across the U.S. border from Manitoba, Canada, according ... Read More
Jury seated in federal trial of 3 former cops accused in George Floyd’s death
Mario Tama/Getty Images(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) -- Opening statements in the joint federal trial of three former police officers accused of civil rights violations in the death of George Floyd are expected to begin next week after a jury was seated on Thursday. Fired Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, 28, Thomas Lane, 38, and Tou Thao, 35, are set to fight charges stemming from their alleged roles in the 2020 death of the 46-year-old Black man who their one-time senior officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murdering. All three are charged with using the "color of the law," or their positions as police officers, to deprive Floyd of his civil rights on May 25, 2020, by allegedly showing deliberate indifference to ... Read More
International flight turns around after passenger refuses to wear mask: Officials
Alicia Llop/Getty Images(MIAMI) -- A first-class passenger who allegedly refused to wear a mask disrupted a London-bound American Airlines flight Wednesday night and prompted the pilot to turn back to Miami so the customer could be booted off the aircraft, police and airline officials said. American Airlines Flight 38, with 129 passengers and 14 crew members aboard, was over the Atlantic Ocean when the passenger allegedly refused to obey instructions to wear a mask and became disruptive, a spokesperson for the airline said. The flight departed Miami International Airport at about 7:40 p.m. local time. About an hour into the flight, the pilot decided to turn the Boeing 777 aircraft around and head back to Miami, according to the airline. ... Read More
SCOTUS blocking of vaccine mandate ‘a setback for public health’: Vivek Murthy
Oliver Contreras/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court's decision to block the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test requirement for large private businesses is a "setback for public health," United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday. "The news about the workplace requirement being blocked was very disappointing, Martha. It was a setback for public health. Because what these requirements ultimately are helpful for is not just protecting the community at large but making our workplaces safer for workers as well as for customers," Murthy said. Raddatz reminded Murthy that before the omicron surge, he had said on This Week that the mandate "was necessary and appropriate." "So, what is plan B?" Raddatz pressed. Murthy did ... Read More
New trial set for man charged with killing 18 in Dallas area
By The Associated Press DALLAS -- A man charged with killing 18 older women in the Dallas area over a two-year span is set to be retried in April after the first jury to hear a murder case against him deadlocked. The retrial of Billy Chemirmir, 49, in the death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris is scheduled to begin on April 25, according to court records. His capital murder trial in Harris' killing ended in a mistrial in November after jurors said they were deadlocked 11-1. It was not clear what verdict the majority of jurors supported. Following the mistrial, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said he was committed to retrying the case and bringing another one against Chemirmir. ... Read More
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