20-year-old mother, infant killed in drive-by shooting in Connecticut
Hartford Police Department
(HARTFORD, Conn.) — Police are searching for a man accused of fatally shooting a 20-year-old mother and her 4-month-old son while they were sitting in their car in Hartford, Connecticut, on Tuesday, in what appears to be a drive-by shooting, according to police.
A warrant has been issued for 23-year-old Lance “Macho” Morales, according to Hartford police.
While not in custody, Morales has been charged with two counts of murder, murder with special circumstances, criminal possession of a firearm, assault in the first degree and criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree. Morales’ bond is set at $3 million.
“There are ongoing attempts to apprehend Morales with the assistance of multiple law enforcement agencies,” Hartford police said in a statement Wednesday.
Police were dispatched to Hartford Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after it was reported that a vehicle arrived carrying multiple people who had been shot, police said.
Jessiah Mercado and her son Messiah Diaz were pronounced dead at the hospital. Another victim in his 20s suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, police said. The driver of the car was not injured.
Investigators determined the shooting had occurred moments before when the suspect vehicle pulled alongside the victims’ car and opened fire, according to police.
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing and police are asking anyone with information regarding the case to contact Hartford police.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is ordering the Justice Department to respond to arguments made by President-elect Donald Trump’s former co-defendants in his classified documents case by 10 a.m. Sunday.
Cannon wants the government to address whether anything in the first volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report, which deals with Smith’s Jan 6 investigation, bears on any aspect of Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case.
The judge’s order immediately followed a filing from DOJ that repeatedly argued she had no further jurisdiction to continue to weigh in on the release of the first volume of Smith’s final report after the department successfully appealed her initial injunction overnight to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The other motions — including Trump’s co-defendants’ motion to extend Cannon’s halt of the report’s public release — have not yet been ruled upon.
Attorneys for co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira on Friday asked Cannon, who earlier this week temporarily blocked the report’s release while the matter was considered by the Eleventh Circuit, to extend her three-day restraining order prohibiting the report’s release.
The attorneys are seeking a hearing on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s proposed plan to release the portion of the report covering Smith’s classified documents investigation to the ranking members and chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary committees.
If successful, the move could result in a further delay of the report’s release, potentially past Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. He later pleaded not guilty to separate charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
Both cases were dismissed following Trump’s reelection in November due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
(MORRIS COUNTY, N.J.) — The mayors of 21 towns in New Jersey are demanding action in a letter sent to Gov. Phil Murphy over the mysterious drones that have been spotted flying overhead in recent weeks.
Since mid-November, large drones of uncertain origin have been repeatedly spotted in the sky at night over central and northern New Jersey.
The drones, which are larger than the type typically used by hobbyists, have raised concerns due to their proximity to both a military installation and President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course.
In the letter, the mayors in Morris County called for a full investigation into the drones “to determine the origin, purpose and compliance with applicable regulations.”
They also demanded the “implementation of measures to prevent unauthorized or unsafe drone operations” in Morris County going forward, and “clear communication to local officials, law enforcement and residents regarding the findings of this investigation.”
“While the benefits of drone technology are widely recognized when used responsibly and transparently, the lack of information and clarity regarding these operations has caused fear and frustration among our constituents,” the mayors wrote. “Despite inquiries made to relevant authorities, we have yet to receive satisfactory answers about the purpose, operators, or safety protocols governing these flights.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed drone flight restrictions while authorities investigate.
Local police previously said there is no known threat to public safety.
“Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon would like to inform everyone that the recent drone activity observed by many in our communities is being actively investigated. There is no advisable immediate danger to the public at this time,” the Morris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Last week, multiple Morris and Somerset county officials said in a joint statement they would continue to monitor the drone activity.
“County and local law enforcement agencies are aware of the recurring reports of drone activity around Morris and Somerset counties, and acknowledge the public’s concern about these repeated sightings,” they said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Family and friends reacted with shock and disbelief after Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, was identified as the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania on Monday following a dayslong manhunt after an individual at the establishment thought he bore a resemblance to the suspect being sought in the fatal shooting of Thompson last week outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. He has since been charged in New York with second-degree murder in what police have said is a targeted, premeditated attack.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
“We are devastated by this news,” the statement added.
The Gilman School, a private school in Baltimore from which Mangione graduated as valedictorian in 2016, said his “suspected involvement in this case is deeply distressing news on top of an already awful situation.”
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected. Here on campus, our focus will remain on caring for and educating our students,” the statement continued.
A classmate who graduated from Gilman with Mangione told ABC News that Mangione “is the last person I expected to be involved in something like this.”
“He always came off as a really good kid, very nice, very humble, open to talk to anyone,” the classmate said. “Really not a problematic kid in high school. He never really got in trouble, wasn’t attention-seeking or anything like that. Just a bright kid with a bright future, is kind of what I thought.”
Mangione went on to study computer science at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering. It was “expected that he would go down like a typical path,” the classmate said.
“So when we heard about all of this, it came as a huge shock to us, and honestly, like our whole community,” the classmate said.
About six months ago, the classmate said he heard from other classmates that Mangione’s family was “inquiring about his whereabouts.”
“I heard that he got back surgery so we were all a little worried and many people reached out to him. No response,” the classmate said. “I didn’t hear anything about him until today when all the news dropped.”
“Huge shock, definitely,” they added.
Mangione’s last known address was in Honolulu, police said. R.J. Martin, the founder of a co-living space for remote workers in Honolulu who said he was Mangione’s roommate there, said he was “beyond shocked” by the news.
“It’s unimaginable,” Martin told Honolulu ABC affiliate KITV.
“Never once talked about guns, never once talked about violence,” Martin told the station. “He was absolutely a not violent person, as far as I could tell.”
Martin also recalled that Mangione had a back injury after a surf lesson and needed surgery.
He said they would talk about issues like health care, housing and food systems but “it wasn’t anything specific.”
“It wasn’t like he had an ax to grind,” he said.
When Mangione was arrested on Monday he had “written admissions about the crime” with him, according to the New York arrest warrant.
The suspect had several handwritten pages on him that appeared to express a “disdain for corporate America” and to indicate “he’s frustrated with the health care system in the United States,” NYPD Chief of Detective Joe Kenny told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.
Mangione considered the killing of Thompson to be a “symbolic takedown” of UnitedHealthcare over perceived corruption, according to a confidential assessment of the crime by the NYPD intelligence bureau described to ABC News. The assessment is based in part on the suspect’s writings.
It is unknown if Mangione has a personal connection to UnitedHealthcare, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
In addition to murder, Mangione was charged in New York with possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of a weapon.
He was also charged with carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing “instruments of crime” in Pennsylvania, where he remains in custody.
There is no information on counsel of record for him, a Pennsylvania court spokesperson said.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Peter Charalambous and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.