10 men at large after escape from New Orleans jail, considered armed and dangerous: Sheriff’s office
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
(NEW ORLEANS) — Eleven adult men escaped from a New Orleans jail on Friday and should be considered armed and dangerous, officials with the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office warned.
One of the inmates has been apprehended; 10 remain at large, the sheriff’s office said.
The men were unaccounted for during a routine headcount at the Orleans Justice Center at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson told reporters.
Hutson asked the public to remain alert, adding the sheriff’s department is working with local, state and federal law enforcement on a “full-scale search operation.”
The sheriff called the escape “very serious and unacceptable.”
“We are launching a full investigation to determine how this escape occurred, including reviewing facility protocols, staff performance and physical security measures,” she said.
Anyone who helped the inmates escape will be held accountable, the sheriff vowed.
The Orleans Justice Center is less than 3 miles from the French Quarter, a tourist hot spot.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The number of measles cases associated with an outbreak in western Texas has grown to 400, with 73 cases reported over the last three days, according to new data released Friday.
Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). At least 41 people have been hospitalized so far.
Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases at 164, followed by children ages 4 and under comprising 131 cases, according to the data.
It comes as the CDC has so far confirmed 483 measles cases this year in at least 19 states: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington
This is likely an undercount due to delays in states reporting cases to the federal health agency.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that some unvaccinated children hospitalized with measles in Texas are showing signs of vitamin A toxicity.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other vaccine skeptics have promoted vitamin A amid the measles outbreak. During an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity earlier this month, Kennedy said that HHS was currently providing vitamin A to measles patients for treatment, claiming vitamin A can “dramatically” reduce measles deaths.
Vitamin A can be used as part of supportive treatment for those who are already sick, with the World Health Organization recommending two doses of vitamin A in children and adults with measles to restore low vitamin A levels, which can help prevent eye damage and blindness.
However, vitamin A does not prevent measles infections, experts previously told ABC News, nor does it directly fight the virus when used as a treatment.
Covenant Children’s Hospital, which has treated dozens of measles patients in Texas amid the outbreak, told ABC News in a statement that some parents appear to have given their unvaccinated children vitamin A for “treatment and prevention.” Some of those children now show signs of vitamin A toxicity.
Fewer than 10 children have come in with abnormal liver function in routine lab tests, indicating possible vitamin A toxicity, according to Covenant Children’s.
Vitamin A toxicity occurs when someone consumes too much vitamin A, and can result in severe complications iincluding liver and kidney damage.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective, the CDC says. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.
State health data shows that Gaines County, which is the epicenter of the Texas outbreak, has seen its number of vaccine exemptions grow dramatically in the last dozen years.
In 2013, roughly 7.5% of kindergartners in the county had parents or guardians who filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine. Ten years later, that number rose to more than 17.5% — one of the highest in all of Texas, according to state health data.
Among the nationally confirmed cases by the CDC, about 95%, are in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, the agency said.
Of those cases, 3% are among those who received just one dose of the MMR inoculation and 2% are among those who received the required two doses, according to the CDC.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
Police officers are seen on the University of Washington campus during an occupation of a building by protesters, in this screengrab from a video supplied by Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return UW on March 5, 2025. (Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return UW)
(SEATTLE) — More than 25 people were arrested after a group occupied an academic building at the University of Washington, demanding the school sever ties with Boeing as the war in Gaza continues, according to the university and a spokesperson for the group.
A group called Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return claimed it was behind the takeover, with a spokesperson telling ABC News that all of the people who entered the building were arrested.
”They were all arrested and legal and political support is ongoing for them,” the spokesperson, Oliver Marchant, said in a text, adding, “All arrested except one were inside the building — some of those arrested were also injured during arrest and need medical attention.”
About 30 people were arrested on charges that included trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, Victor Balta, a university spokesperson and assistant vice president for communications, said in a statement. Some of those arrested were charged with conspiracy to commit all three of those charges, Balta said, adding that they would be referred to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
“Any students identified as being involved will also be referred to the Student Conduct Office,” Balta said.
The school said in an earlier press statement that “a few dozen individuals” had entered the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building just prior to its 5 p.m. closing. Campus police were called to the scene, the university said in a statement to ABC News.
Campus police, which were working with several other agencies, began clearing the area outside the building at about 10:30 p.m., Balta said. Protesters had worked to block the doors and also lit two dumpsters on fire in the street, he said. By 11 p.m., police had entered and began clearing the building.
Prior to the arrests, the school said the “trespassers are mostly covering their faces and stacking building furniture near entryways.”
“To the best of our knowledge, everyone connected to the UW who does not want to be inside the building has left,” the university said in a statement. “Individuals remaining in the building are trespassing and will face legal and student conduct actions.”
The group, which goes by SUPER UW and which identified itself as Pro-Palestinian, issued a series of demands for school administrators, including taking “Boeing out of the IEB,” as the building they’ve occupied is known.
The group asked for the building to be renamed.
Boeing, an airplane manufacturer and one of the largest defense companies in the United States, has a long history with the University of Washington.
The company, which previously was headquartered in Seattle, supplied about $10 million as a donation to aid in the construction of that $90 million engineering building, the school said in 2022, prior to construction. A press release from that time noted that “Boeing’s relationship with the UW dates back more than a century.”
The group that’s occupying the building sought, more broadly, to stop all donations from Boeing to the school.
“Return any existing donations, financial investments, and eliminate all other material ties to Boeing,” the group said. “Prohibit Boeing executives and employees from teaching classes or having any influence over curriculum.”
Balta in a statement said the school was “committed to maintaining a secure learning and research environment, and strongly condemns this illegal building occupation.” The school also condemned the strong language in the protesters’ press release, with Balta saying it “will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior.”
ABC News’ Tristan Maglunog and Erica Morris contributed to this report.
A high-profile case against prominent real estate moguls took a new turn this week as federal prosecutors filed new charges against Oren and Tal Alexander, as well as their brother Alon, on May 8.
Filed as part of a superseding indictment, which overrides the first indictment, the charges against the Alexander brothers include additional counts of alleged sex trafficking — one of which involves a minor.
Brothers Oren and Tal Alexander gained notoriety in New York’s luxury real estate market through their company, Alexander Group, and have been under federal investigation alongside Oren’s twin, Alon, since late 2024.
They have been accused of luring women to nightclubs and parties, then drugging and sexually assaulting them.
All three previously pleaded not guilty to the first set of sex trafficking charges.
They face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the federal charges.
In addition to new charges, the superseding indictment included more alleged victims. Six alleged victims now form the basis for the criminal charges.
An individual identified as Minor Victim-3 was trafficked, even though Alon and Tal Alexander would have had a “reasonable opportunity” to observe she was not yet 18, the new indictment alleged.
“The superseding indictment changes nothing,” the attorneys for Tal Alexander, Milton Williams and Deanna Paul told ABC News last week, calling it “a reheated version of the same case.”
Richard Klugh, an attorney for Oren Alexander, shared similar sentiments, saying that the new charges are misguided and lack merit.
“We will fight any new spin offered in these charges and establish our client’s innocence as he has shown his willingness to do in passing a rigorous polygraph examination,” Klugh said.
Alon Alexander’s attorney, Howard Srebnick, also referred to his client’s willingness to take a polygraph, stating, “Alon passed a lie detector test, administered by a former, senior FBI polygraph examiner, establishing his innocence to the accusations in the earlier version of the indictment.”
“To our knowledge, not a single alleged accuser, including those in the new version of the indictment, has passed an FBI lie detector test,” he continued.
Federal prosecutors did not respond to the defense lawyer’s assertion of a misguided prosecution, except to call it an ongoing investigation.
The case has sent shockwaves through New York’s real estate community, where the Alexander Group was known for brokering multimillion-dollar deals for celebrity clients.
An arraignment on the new charges was not immediately set. The brothers are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn awaiting trial, which is currently scheduled for January.
