3 dead, 2 police officers injured in grocery store shooting in Indiana
Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff
(ELKHART, IN) — Two people were shot and killed inside a grocery store in Indiana on Monday, officials told ABC News.
The incident took place at about 5:30 p.m. at Martin’s Super Market in Elkhart, Indiana, according to the Elkhart Police Department.
“Upon arrival, officers and first responders were directed to two shooting victims inside the store,” according to a statement issued late Monday by the EPD. “Both of these individuals were pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Police then engaged the shooting suspect outside the store, authorities said. An exchange of gunfire ensued, and the suspect was killed.
Two officers were shot and are in stable condition, the EPD confirmed. Both officers were brought to the local hospital, where one was discharged shortly after and the other remained in stable condition as of Monday night.
Elkhart Police Chief Dan Milanese issued a statement saying, “In this horrific situation, words cannot express the pain felt in our community when a tragic incident like this happens. This pain is especially felt by the victim’s families, the responding officers, the families of the wounded officers, and all the witnesses to this tragic incident.”
Thanking law enforcement partners, he added, “I ask for the community to continue to keep all those effected by this horrific event in your thoughts and prayers.”
“As details emerge about the shooting in Elkhart, we are in communication with state and local law enforcement,” said Indiana Governor Mike Braun in a post on X.
“Maureen and I are praying for the victims and their families,” he added.
The local homicide unit has taken over and started its investigation, according to a statement provided just before midnight on Monday.
“The Elkhart County Homicide Unit was activated, per protocol, and is handling the investigation,” the statement said. “There is believed to be no further danger to the public.”
It also said that the names of the victims, suspect, and involved officers were being withheld, pending family notifications.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A medical transport plane, carrying a child, her mother and four other people, crashed in Philadelphia Friday night near a busy mall, killing all aboard and resulting in an untold number of injuries on the ground.
The Learjet 55 crashed near the Roosevelt Mall in northeast Philadelphia around 6:30 p.m. after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, according to authorities.
The exact number of the injured is not yet available, officials said.
“Many people on the ground – in parking lots, on streets, in cars and homes in the area – were injured; the number of injured is yet to be released but the information shared at this time reports that a number of people were transported to Temple University Hospital, Jeans Campus in the Northeast,” the office of Mayor Cherelle Parker said Saturday.
“Right now, we’re just asking for prayers,” Parker told reporters Friday night. She urged residents to stay away from the scene.
In a statement, Shriner’s Hospital said the child had received care from the Philadelphia hospital and was being taken back to her home country of Mexico along with her mother on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened.
The company that operated the flight, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, said in a statement there were four crew members on board.
“At this time, we cannot confirm any survivors,” the company said in the statement. “No names are being released at this time until family members have been notified. Our immediate concern is for the patient’s family, our personnel, their families and other victims that may have been hurt on the ground.”
The air ambulance was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, according to Flight Radar24 data.
“I regret the death of six Mexicans in the plane crash in Philadelphia, United States,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a statement Saturday. “The consular authorities are in permanent contact with the families; I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support them in whatever way is required. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends.”
A large fire burned in the wake of the crash, prompting a significant response.
“We heard a loud explosion and then saw the aftermath of flames and smoke,” eyewitness Jimmy Weiss told local ABC station WPVI near the scene.
He added, “It felt like the ground shook .. it was a loud boom. It was startling.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
An NTSB investigator arrived at the scene Friday night with additional team members expected to arrive Saturday.
Temple University Hospital told ABC News it had received six patients hurt in the crash, although it was not clear if they were in the plane or people who were on the ground.
Three of those patients were treated and released and three remain hospitalized in fair condition, the hospital said.
Speaking at a follow-up press briefing Friday night, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said dozens of state troopers and other state personnel were on on hand to offer help and praised local responders and community members.
“We saw neighbor helping neighbor. We saw Pennsylvanians looking out for one another,” he said.
In a statement posted to social media platform Truth Social, President Donald Trump said: “So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job. More to follow. God Bless you all.”
Immediately after the crash, the FAA issued a ground stop at Northeast Philadelphia Airport due to “an aircraft incident.”
The FAA had initially reported there were two people on board the aircraft but later corrected that report.
ABC News’ Ayesha Ali and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — After the Trump administration offered two million federal employees buyouts on Tuesday, Elon Musk — the world’s richest man and the architect of Trump’s effort to reduce the size of the government — took to his own social media platform to boast and joke about the offer, leaving some federal employees who spoke to ABC News dismayed.
By replying to an email sent out Tuesday, all full-time federal employees — with the exception of military personnel and postal workers — have the option to get eight months’ salary if they agree to leave their jobs.
“The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work,” the email sent to employees said, offering them what it called a “deferred resignation” from their positions.
Commenting on X, Musk laughed at a specific aspect of the offer, writing, “Hit ‘Send,'” accompanied by a screenshot of the letter to employees describing how to submit their resignation via email.
Musk’s attitude as he works to enact sweeping changes across the federal government — potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of career employees who have spent their lives working behind the scenes — is not lost on some workers, who told ABC News that the Trump administration and Musk’s tone have been “cruel” and “demoralizing.”
“It feels like the new administration thinks we are dirt and do nothing for the country,” said one 20-year federal employee who asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution. “This is heartbreaking.”
According to a copy of the resignation letter posted by the Office of Personnel Management, federal employees have to acknowledge that the positions they vacate could be eliminated or consolidated, and their response to the buyout email may be used “to assist in federal workforce reorganization efforts.”
While employees are not expected to work during their deferred resignation period, resigning workers need to commit to a “smooth transition” out of their roles.
Bolstered by an executive order that would make it easier to fire career government employees, administration officials said they expect the reduction of the government workforce from the buyout and other executive actions to be “significant.”
Unprecedented in its scope and nature, the buyout appears to be one part of Trump’s sweeping approach to reducing the size of the government — using an approach that mirrors tactics used by Musk in the past. When Musk took over Twitter in November 2022, he similarly sent a company-wide email that gave workers an ultimatum: work harder or leave with severance. Yesterday’s email shared the same subject line — “A fork in the road” — that Musk used in his email.
As federal employees were digesting the terms of the buyout Wednesday, it was unclear exactly who was eligible for it and whether there would really be severance payments, which could be delayed by litigation.
Max Alonzo, national secretary-treasurer for the National Federation of Federal Employees, expressed skepticism about the terms of the resignations.
“Absolutely do not resign. There is nothing that says that the day that you resign, that they can’t just let you go. They don’t have to pay you — there’s nothing that says they have to pay you till September 30,” he said. “This is nothing that has been done before. This is not in our regulations. There’s no regs about it. We’re not even sure if it’s actually legal. This is about trying to cut the federal workforce down, really kind of just breaking down these pillars of democracy.”
Foreign service officers within the State Department received the “fork in the road” email, but so far, State Department officials have been unable to provide their 16,000-person workforce a clear answer on whether they’re eligible to take it, according to an official familiar with the matter. Even if staffers are deemed eligible for the buyouts, there’s concern that — if enough of them take the federal government up on its offer — it will have an impact on national security because of the sudden, drastic downsizing.
“The implications could be really scary,” said the official, who also asked not to be identified. “This could really do some damage.”
The sweeping approach appears to be one of the first monumental steps to reshape the government by Musk, who supported Trump’s election with $250 million in contributions and became one of Trump’s closest advisers.
When Trump first announced his plans to establish the “Department of Government Efficiency” in November, he framed it as an outside group that would advise the White House on how to make government more efficient. Two months later, when Trump actually established DOGE through an executive order, he took a different approach, giving Musk control of what used to be known as the United States Digital Service, a unit within the Executive Office of the President tasked with improving government websites.
In an executive order signed the same day, Trump also tasked the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to work with DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management to “submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.”
In addition to helming DOGE, Musk has extended his influence in the federal government by having his former employees and DOGE loyalists take on critical roles in other parts of government. Scott Kupor — Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Personnel Management. — thanked the president for the “opportunity to serve” the country by helping Musk, and OMP’s chief of staff Amanda Scales worked for Musk’s AI company as recently as this month.
To run the Office of Management and Budget, Trump tapped Project 2025 architect Russell Vought, who shares Musk’s desire for historic spending cuts and workforce reductions. Vought was a central figure in Trump’s attempt to categorize thousands of civil servants as political appointments, making it easier to fire employees without the protections given to civil servants. As one of his first acts in office, Trump signed an executive order to strip thousands of government workers of their employment protections.
The new hirings and executive orders represent the first steps in Musk’s plan for “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy,” as he wrote in the Wall Street Journal in November.
“DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions,” wrote Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently departed DOGE to run for public office.
(PHILADELPHIA) — An 18-year-old man who was celebrating the Philadelphia Eagles victory over the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game on Sunday has died after he fell from a light pole during the celebrations, officials said.
Temple University announced the death of first-year student Tyler Sabapathy, 18, who sustained critical injuries over the weekend and died on Tuesday.
The tragedy happened Sunday night at 15th and Market streets in Center City Philadelphia where video shows the teen above on the street pole before he fell onto the concrete sidewalk flat on his back, hitting his head, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI.
He was taken to Jefferson Hospital with a brain injury and pronounced dead two days later.
Sabapathy was a Toronto native and accomplished gymnast with over 120 medals, was majoring in exercise and sport science at Temple’s College of Public Health, school administrators said. He was also a dedicated member of the university’s club gymnastics team.
“It is with deep sadness that we write to share news of the death of first-year student Tyler Sabapathy. Over the weekend, Tyler sustained critical injuries and ultimately passed away this afternoon,” said John Fry, Temple’s president, and Jodi Bailey, vice president for student affairs, in a statement obtained by ABC News.
“The loss of a promising 18-year-old man like Tyler is both tragic and traumatic. There are no words that can make sense of it, and the entire Temple community mourns his passing. Our hearts go out to Tyler’s family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved him,” the statement continued.
“He no doubt had a bright future ahead of him, and it is so tragic that we will not be able to see how he would have made his mark on the world,” school administrators said. “As a member of the university’s club gymnastics team, Tyler displayed exceptional self-discipline and work ethic, spending countless hours a week training and honing his craft. He was loved by his teammates, friends and coaches here in Philadelphia.”
Philadelphia police had an internal briefing on Tuesday to review Sunday’s response and discuss what strategies they will use during the next possible celebration, which could be in just two weeks, according to WPVI.
City officials did not say if they greased the poles on Sunday, adding that they don’t want to release public safety tactics, WPVI said.
Meanwhile, Temple University said grief counselors will be available for students and staff.
“We extend our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to those closest to Tyler, especially his parents and siblings,” school officials said. “He will be deeply missed.”
