2 killed, 2 hurt including a 2-year-old girl in mass shooting in DC
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(WASHINGTON) — Two people were killed and two others — including a toddler — were injured in a mass shooting in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., authorities said.
At about 11:22 a.m. Thursday, three people got out of a car with what authorities believe were rifles and “shot up the block,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.
Three men who were in the intersection at the time were shot, Smith said. Two of the men were killed and the third was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.
A 2-year-old girl was also shot and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Smith said.
When the gunfire broke out, the 2-year-old was exiting a day care with a group for their morning walk, Smith said. No other children were hurt, she said.
“This is another example of gun violence that we cannot have in our communities,” Smith said, appearing exasperated. “We’re sick and tired of this.”
The suspects are at large, Smith said.
Police are searching for a blue Dodge Charger with heavy tinted windows, Smith said. It appears the suspects ditched one car and then jumped into the blue Charger after the shooting, Smith said.
“We urge anyone, anyone with information that can help our detectives, to call us right away at 202-727-9099,” Smith said.
Middletown High School released this photo of Delilah Van Ness, a sophomore, and Paul Pelletier, an Aerospace and Manufacturing teacher, Middletown. Vt., Sep. 9, 2024. (Middletown High School)
(NEW YORK) — Four people are dead after a small plane crashed in Vermont on Sunday, police said.
Vermont State Police identified the deceased as Paul Pelletier, 55; Frank Rodriguez, 88; Susan Van Ness, 51; and Delilah Van Ness, 15.
Pelletier was an aerospace and manufacturing teacher at Middletown Public Schools in Connecticut, the school said in a statement. Delilah Van Ness, a sophomore, was one of his students, and Susan Van Ness was her mother.
“This unimaginable loss has left a void in our hearts and our community,” said the district’s superintendent, Alberto Vázquez Matos. “Paul, Delilah, and Susan were special individuals whose absence is already being felt throughout our district and city.”
Officials did not provide information on Rodriguez’s connection to the others in the crash.
According to Connecticut ABC affiliate WTNH-TV, Delilah Van Ness had been taking flight lessons with Pelletier.
Police said the four departed Sunday morning in a privately owned four-seat aircraft from Windham Airport in Connecticut and flew about two hours to Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. Upon reaching their destination, the occupants had brunch, then left the restaurant shortly after noon to fly back to Connecticut.
A witness said they saw the airplane on the runway at about 12:15 p.m. local time, state police said.
State police said they did not receive any reports of a plane crash or an aircraft in distress, but after the plane did not return to Connecticut, relatives contacted police.
Just after midnight on Monday, investigators found the crashed aircraft in a wooded area east of the airport in Vermont.
All four occupants were found dead.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
Middletown High School will be closed Tuesday, and crisis teams will be made available for members of the school community in need of counseling or other support, the school said.
“As the community grieves, Middletown Public Schools calls for unity and mutual support,” the school said in a statement. “The district aims to honor the memory of Paul, Delilah, and Susan by upholding their legacies of compassion, dedication, and kindness.”
A Firefighter works in a evacuated home in flames at El Cariso Village as the Airport Fire burns on September 10, 2024 in Lake Elsinore, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department arrested a man Tuesday in connection with the Line Fire ravaging areas east of Los Angeles since Sept. 5.
Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a 34-year-old man from Norco, was identified “as the suspect who started a fire in the area of Baseline Road and Alpin Street in the city of Highland, also known as the Line Fire,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a press release.
Halstenberg was being held on suspicion of arson with his bail set at $80,000, officials said.
The Line Fire — one of three large wildfires tearing through southern California — burned 32,905 acres and was at 14% containment as of Sunday night, with around 65,600 structures threatened, according to the latest update by Cal Fire.
Authorities issued evacuation orders for 13,300 structures with another 52,300 under evacuation warnings.
No structures are confirmed damaged or destroyed. Three firefighters have been injured in the effort to contain the blaze, fire officials said.
“The Line Fire continues to grow in steep terrain with difficult access, especially in the Big Bear area,” Cal Fire said. “Near-vertical slopes make putting in control lines challenging.”
Stronger winds were expected through Tuesday night, “which could lead to drops in relative humidity and greater fire spread,” Cal Fire said. “Towards the end of the week, cooler weather may moderate fire activity.”
California authorities are grappling with two other growing wildfires — the Bridge Fire in Angeles National Forest and the Airport Fire straddling Orange and Riverside counties.
Gov. Gavin Newsom requested Federal Emergency Management Agency aid Tuesday evening to “secure vital resources to suppress the Bridge and Airport fires.”
The Bridge Fire — burning since Sept. 8 — was at 34,240 acres and 0% containment on Tuesday night, Cal Fire said, having seen substantial growth throughout the day.
“High winds and low humidity are aiding the spread of the fire,” Cal Fire’s update said.
The Airport Fire — which began on Sept. 9 — was at 19,028 acres and 0% containment. The blaze is threatening 10,500 structures and has so far injured five firefighters and two civilians, Cal Fire said.
Newsom said in a Tuesday press release that the response effort across southern California includes “thousands of boots on the ground, including firefighters, soldiers, law enforcement and first responders, as well as air assets including 51 helicopters and nine fixed-wing aircraft.”
This week, the governor called in National Guard troops and aircraft to aid the fire containment efforts.
(NEW YORK) — A Pakistani national with purported ties to Iran was arrested last month on charges he plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump and multiple other public officials, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court.
While the criminal complaint does not mention Trump by name, multiple sources familiar with the case told ABC News one of the intended targets of the alleged plot was Trump. Other possible targets included government officials from both sides of the aisle, the sources said.
After spending time in Iran, Asif Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hitmen to carry out the alleged plot, according to a detention memo. The person he contacted was a confidential informant working with the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.
Merchant, 46, is charged with murder for hire.
Asif was arrested July 12, one day prior Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot in the ear.
“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens, and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”
Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, added, “Working on behalf of others overseas, Merchant planned the murder of U.S. government officials on American soil.”
In April, Merchant arrived from Iran and contacted someone to help with his plot, according to officials. The person ended up being a confidential source who reported the information to law enforcement, according to the Justice Department. Merchant allegedly again met up with the source in early June and explained the assassination plot and said it was “not a one-time opportunity,” officials said.
“Specifically, Merchant requested men who could do the killing, approximately 25 people who could perform a protest as a distraction after the murder occurred, and a woman to do ‘reconnaissance,'” the complaint said.
By mid-June, he met up with the people he thought would carry out the hits — but who were actually undercover law enforcement officials, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Merchant even paid the apparent hitmen $5,000 as an advance on the assassinations before making plans to leave the country when the killings took place, officials said. Instead, he was arrested on July 12, the date he planned to leave the U.S.
“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI Agents,” acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office said in a statement. “This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston, and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats.”
A final target had not been selected by the time Merchant made arrangements to fly out of the U.S., according to officials.
Investigators have said they’ve found no link between foreign operatives and Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old shot and killed after he tried to assassinate Trump from a rooftop near the stage, but the arrest may help explain some last-minute adjustments to rally security.
“We were initially told that there was no Secret Service snipers coming but that was shifted either Thursday or Friday to indicate that there were,” Pat Young, head of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, told ABC News. “We had been told that this is the first time that a non-sitting president had been allocated Secret Service snipers. So that threw up some alarm bells for some of our guys that — why the sudden shift — from one stance to the other?”
