2 dead, 6 wounded after shooting outside Salt Lake City funeral; no suspects in custody
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(SALT LAKE CITY) — Police in Salt Lake City said two people are dead and six others wounded after a shooting outside a funeral on Wednesday evening.
No suspects are in custody and an active manhunt is underway, Salt Lake City Police Department public information officer Glen Mills said.
Police received a call for the shooting shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel on Redwood Road.
Police said a funeral was taking place at the chapel when an altercation broke out in the parking lot and shots were fired.
Of the surviving victims, three are in critical condition and three are in unknown condition.
Police are still determining if there was one suspect or multiple suspects.
In a statement, Sam Penrod, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the church was aware of a “serious incident” outside the church meetinghouse while a memorial service was taking place.
“We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind,” the statement said.
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(AUSTIN, Texas) — The mysterious death of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera has been ruled a suicide, police said, noting a suicide note found on her phone and reported previous comments about self-harm.
The investigation began at 12:46 a.m. Saturday when officers responded to an Austin apartment complex and found Aguilera on the ground with trauma from an apparent fall from a high floor, Austin Police Detective Robert Marshall said.
Cameras showed Aguilera arriving at the apartment complex just after 11 p.m. Friday and going to an apartment on the 17th floor, Marshall said at a news conference on Thursday. The video showed “a large group of friends left that same apartment at 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, leaving just Brianna and three other girls in the apartment,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, Aguilera was at a tailgate for the Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football game, and she “became intoxicated to a point where she was asked to leave,” Marshall said.
Aguilera told her friends that she lost her phone, and when they arrived at the apartment Friday night, she borrowed a phone to call her boyfriend, he said.
Witnesses heard her argue on the phone with her boyfriend, Marshall said. That phone call took place from 12:43 a.m. to 12:44 am — two minutes before a 911 call, he said.
When police later found Aguilera’s lost phone, they recovered a “deleted digital suicide note dated Tuesday, Nov. 25 of this year, which was written to specific people in her life,” Marshall said.
“Brianna had made suicidal comments previously to friends, back in October of this year,” he said. “This continued through the evening of her death, with some self-harming actions early in the evening and a text message to another friend indicating the thought of suicide.”
No evidence in the investigation ever pointed to a crime, Marshall stressed, adding, “Every friend and witness during this investigation has been nothing but forthcoming and open.”
Aguilera’s family told local media earlier this week the beloved college student was not suicidal and was planning to pursue a career in law.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at the news conference, “I understand how grief and the need for answers can raise intense emotions and many questions. But sometimes the truth doesn’t provide the answers we are hoping for, and that is this case.”
Davis said her “heart aches” for Aguilera’s parents.
“I have three daughters and a son, and I cannot begin to imagine the pain,” Davis said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide — free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.
(WASHINGTON) — Facing a 30-day deadline to release the Epstein files, the Department of Justice has asked two judges in the Southern District of New York to authorize the release of grand jury transcripts and exhibits from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton – whom Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped to lead an investigation into prominent Democrats associated with Epstein – signed a motion asking the judges who oversaw the Epstein and Maxwell cases to approve the release of the grand jury materials, subject to the necessary redactions.
“In the light of the Act’s clear mandate, the Court should authorize the Department of Justice to release the grand jury transcripts and exhibits and modify any preexisting protective orders that would otherwise prevent public disclosure by the Government of materials the disclosure of which is required by the Act,” the motions said, referring to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, recently signed into law by President Trump.
While the motion noted that the law allows redactions to seal materials that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution,” the filings did not mention the recently initiated investigation into Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, and Reid Hoffman ordered by Trump.
Citing the 30-day deadline, the Department of Justice requested an expedited ruling on the motion and said it would “work with the relevant United States Attorney’s Offices to make appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information.”
The Department of Justice unsuccessfully sought approval to unseal the grand jury records in August, with both judges concluding that the government did not demonstrate a legal basis to release the materials. In one decision, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman sharply criticized the DOJ for asking the court to get involved when the government already had the relevant files in their possession.
“The instant grand jury motion appears to be a ‘diversion’ from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government’s possession. The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct,” he wrote.
“The Government’s complete information trove would better inform the public about the Epstein case,” he added.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The Justice Department said they are investigating am incident in which anti-ICE protesters disrupted a service on Sunday at a Minneapolis church where one of the pastors is an ICE official.
Video posted online by Black Lives Matter Minnesota shows protesters entering Cities Church in Minneapolis, where they said one of the pastors, David Easterwood, is the acting field director of the St. Paul ICE field office.
Easterwood was not at the church at the time of the protest, according to Black Lives Matter Minnesota. Jonathan Parnell is the church’s pastor and can be seen talking to the protestors in the video.
“Someone who claims to worship God, teaching people in this church about God, is out there overseeing ICE agents. Think about what we’ve experienced,” a protestor tells the congregation inside the church in the Black Lives Matter Minnesota video.
“I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted,” Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X Sunday. “Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.”
“If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails,” Bondi’s post continued.
Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon likewise said they are investigating the incident.
“This heinous act that occurred in Minnesota yesterday is receiving the highest level of attention from @TheJusticeDept,” Dhillon posted on X. “@AGPamBondi & I are working around the clock, because no right in our Constitution is more sacred than the freedom to assemble & pray to God.”
Dhillon also said that they were investigating the church protest as “potential violations of the federal FACE Act.” The Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 makes it a federal crime to intimidate or interfere with any person “seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship,” or attempting to obtain or provide reproductive health services. The legislation was prompted by violent crimes that were being committed against abortion providers and those seeking their services.
“At approximately 10:40 a.m. on Sun. Jan. 18, Saint Paul Police officers responded to Cities Church on the 1500 block of Summit Ave. following multiple calls reporting approximately 30 to 40 protesters who interrupted church services,” the St. Paul Police Department told ABC News in a statement.
“By the time officers arrived on scene, the group had moved outside the church and began to walk down the alley. Saint Paul Police continued to monitor the protest,” the statement concluded.
A St. Paul Police spokesperson later said in a statement that they are “actively investigating this incident as a disorderly conduct investigation” and had no additional public information at the time due to the investigation being open.
The Cities Church website lists Easterwood as one of their pastors. Easterwood also appeared with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during an Oct. 24 news conference in Minneapolis, where Noem identified him as an ICE acting field office director in the region who is with Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Easterwood also is one of several parties, including Noem, named in a class action lawsuit filed last week by the ACLU alleging “unlawful policies and practices” by ICE in Minnesota, including racial profiling and arrests without warrants or probable cause.
ICE blamed the disruption on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, saying on social media that they “are responsible for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant.”
“The Governor has repeatedly and unequivocally urged protesters to do so peacefully,” a spokesperson for Walz told ABC News in response to a request for comment. “While people have a right to speak out, he in no way supports interrupting a place of worship.”
Frey had not publicly addressed the church protest as of early Monday afternoon. He did post a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on X, to mark Monday’s federal holiday commemorating the late civil rights leader.
“’Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Dr. King said it best. On MLK Day, I’m thinking about his call to stand up for justice, love others, and speak out when power goes too far. As the federal gov moves the opposite way, we’ll keep standing with our neighbors,” Frey posted.
