(HARRISON COUNTY, Ind.) — Three people were found dead in a murder-suicide after the shooter expressed suicidal thoughts to a family member, according to authorities.
Harrison County deputies responded to a welfare check on Wednesday at a residence in southern Indiana after a Mississippi man reported that his brother expressed suicidal thoughts to him in a phone call earlier in the day, according to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies found a dead man on the front porch, identified as 36-year-old Brett Dixon, the sheriff’s department said.
Inside the residence, two additional people were found dead, Melissa Cochran Dixon, 54, and Paul Dixon, 61, according to the sheriff’s office.
Brett Dixon was shot twice — in the chest and head — Melissa Cochran Dixon suffered a single gunshot wound to the head and Paul Dixon sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said it believes Paul Dixon is responsible for the shootings and said there is no threat to the community and no suspect at large.
“This incident is a tragic loss, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family, extended family, and friends of those involved,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the proposed East Wing of the White House while speaking to members of the media onboard Air Force One on March 29, 2026, while en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, from West Palm Beach Florida. President Trump returned to Washington D.C. on Sunday following a weekend trip to Florida. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The federal judge presiding over the White House ballroom case on Thursday clarified his ruling to say that security-related work can go on, particularly below ground, but that work on the ballroom itself still cannot proceed without authorization from lawmakers.
Judge Richard Leon ruled on March 31 that President Donald Trump can’t build the planned ballroom without authorization from Congress.
In addition to issuing Thursday’s clarification, Judge Leon stayed his ruling by another seven days to allow the White House to pursue further appeals.
The revised decision came at the direction of a D.C. Circuit appeals court panel, which ruled 2 to 1 last Saturday that Leon’s initial ruling needed to be clarified.
But in elaborating on the exceptions in his order, Leon also warned the Trump administration that security concerns are not a “blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity,” saying that it is “neither a reasonable nor a correct reading” of his order for the White House to claim that the ballroom is itself part of a security upgrade, as it did in a recent court filing.
“It is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception!” Leon wrote.
Leon said his revised order would allow for “below-ground construction of national security facilities, work necessary to provide for presidential security, and construction necessary to protect and secure the White House and the construction site itself.”
Trump officials argued that items such as bulletproof windows, missile-resistant columns and drone-proof roofs — features of the planned ballroom — were necessary to enhance security of the executive mansion.
“While these features may well be beneficial, Defendants have not provided any national security justification for why these features must be installed immediately such that they should be excluded from the scope of the injunction,” Leon said, noting the appeals court panel’s own presumption that it would likely take months, if not years, for those upgrades to be completed.
Leon concluded his opinion by saying he has “no desire or intention to be dragooned into the role of construction manager,” and trusts that Trump and his aides will implement his ruling “in good faith and with the benefit of this clarification.”
Pointing to his latest stay, which is now set to expire next Thursday, Leon warned in a footnote that “any above-ground construction over the next seven days that is not in compliance with my Amended Order is at risk of being taken down pending the resolution of this case.”
The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit court following the judge’s revised order Thursday.
Trump also blasted Leon’s clarification in a social media post Thursday afternoon.
“This highly political Judge, and his illegal overreach, is out of control, and costing our Nation greatly,” Trump wrote.
Saying that the ballroom project will include “Bomb Shelters, a State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Installations, Structures, and Equipment, Protective Missile Resistant Steel, Columns, Roofs, and Beams, Drone Proof Ceilings and Roofs, Military Grade Venting, and Bullet, Ballistic, and Blast Proof Glass,” Trump claimed that Judge Leon’s ruling means that “no future President, living in the White House without this Ballroom, can ever be Safe and Secure at Events, Future Inaugurations, or Global Summits.”
The White House announced the construction of a 90,000-square foot ballroom in late July, and demolition began suddenly on the East Wing in late October when workers were spotted tearing down the wing of the White House.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit in December seeking to stop the ballroom construction until the project completes the standard federal review process and the administration seeks public comment on the proposed changes to the White House.
Jake Rosmarin, one of the American passengers who was on the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship, is speaking out while quarantining. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — An American cruise ship passenger who has been quarantining at a Nebraska facility after being exposed to hantavirus said he plans to remain there for the full 42 days.
Jake Rosmarin, who is from Boston, has been at Nebraska’s National Quarantine Unit since May 11. He said staying the full six weeks is the best way to keep his loved ones safe.
“I have been traumatized by this whole experience. I’m afraid to leave this room until I know that the chance of me getting sick is 0%,” he told ABC News. “I want to know when I leave that the chances of me risking other people, my family, friends, the general public, I want know that my risk isn’t minimal. I want that also to be 0%.”
Not all of the 18 Americans who were sent to the facility are staying the full 42 days, which was recommended by health officials.
The incubation period — or the time that passes between exposure and when the first symptoms appear — for the Andes strain of hantavirus, which is believed to be behind the cruise ship cluster, is 42 days.
After the mandatory 21-day quarantine period, many have returned home to self-quarantine for the next 21 days, Rosmarin said. It’s unclear how many left and how many are staying.
On Friday, the New York State Department of Health said two New Yorkers who were quarantining in Nebraska are returning to the state this week.
The two people will be transported via non-commercial flights and complete the remainder of their 42-day monitoring period in residences located out of New York City.
The health department said the individuals have agreed to remain at home and avoid contact with other people. Plans are in place in the event the two people develop symptoms, health officials said.
Rosmarin — who had been traveling by himself — said he wanted to stay in Nebraska because those quarantining at the facility have quick access to medical care and testing, the latter of which is twice a week.
“Once you go home, you’re not gonna be able to be tested,” he said. “So, if you start getting sick, like you may not find out right away and you might not be able to get that care as quickly as possible.”
Rosmarin said he has tried to establish a routine during his time in quarantine, which includes getting up between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. and exercising on a stationary bike.
He said he passes the time by completing puzzles, putting together Lego sets and crocheting.
“I have a calendar where I cross off the days going down,” Rosmarin said. “I watch new TV shows, new movies. I started a book and, honestly, the days have been flying by. The fact that it’s already been 21 days is kind of crazy to me.”
As of May 27, the World Health Organization said the total number of hantavirus cases remains at 13 and all linked back to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Additionally, the number of deaths remains at three, including a married Dutch couple and a female German national.
“Given the long incubation period of up to six weeks, it is not unexpected that cases continue to be reported until the end of the six weeks since last exposure,” the WHO wrote in a bulletin last week.
(KISSIMMEE, Fla.) — A 4-year-old boy shot and killed a 2-year-old boy with a gun that was left unsecured in a car, according to authorities in Florida.
Officers responded Sunday afternoon to a home in Kissimmee where they found a 2-year-old boy with a gunshot wound, Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon said at a news conference. The little boy was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the sheriff said.
The two children were alone in the car when the 4-year-old found an unsecured gun and discharged it, striking the 2-year-old, the sheriff said.
The gun was “literally in the open,” Blackmon said.
“I would think if it’s in a holster, maybe make it harder for the child to manipulate, as well, but it’s literally laying out by itself. So it’s easy to grab, and you pull the trigger. And you can’t recall that, it’s not a video game,” Blackmon said.
The sheriff described the two boys as relatives but not siblings.
“The family had just arrived and was visiting here from Georgia” for vacation, Blackmon said.
The investigation is ongoing, the sheriff said, noting that charges are likely. Prosecutors said on Wednesday, “Because this is an active and ongoing investigation, we have no information to release at this time.”
ABC News’ Aidan Gellert contributed to this report.
