3 teens try to stab mom for turning off Wi-Fi: Sheriff
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(HOUSTON) — Three teenagers allegedly attacked their mom and tried to stab her with kitchen knives because she turned off the Wi-Fi, according to authorities in Texas.
The three siblings — ages 14, 15 and 16 — “allegedly coordinated a plan to try and kill” their mother, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
Because the mom turned off the Wi-Fi, the teens allegedly grabbed kitchen knives Sunday night and chased their mother through their Houston home and into the street, according to the sheriff.
The mom was also hit with a brick, Gonzalez said, and their grandmother was knocked over while attempting to protect the mom.
The mother and grandmother were not seriously hurt, the sheriff’s office said.
The three siblings were arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and were booked in the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, according to the sheriff’s office.
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has removed a career Justice Department official from his role as the acting head of the DOJ’s National Security Division after the longtime prosecutor served in the position for less than a month, sources told ABC News.
Devin DeBacker, who in that role was an acting assistant attorney general, served for only a few weeks in the position, which helps oversee the Justice Department’s efforts to fight global terrorism, root out domestic extremism, stop foreign espionage operations, enforce U.S. sanctions, and investigate leaks of classified information.
In the first few days of the new Trump administration, as previously reported by ABC News, DeBacker tried to ease concerns within the department’s National Security Division after two of its most experienced prosecutors were removed.
But on Monday, Justice Department leadership told DeBacker that he would no longer be leading the division, according to sources familiar with the matter. It’s unclear why DeBacker was removed, and a Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment about the matter.
Under the first Trump administration, DeBacker served in the White House counsel’s office and then the Justice Department. He left at the start of the Biden administration, but rejoined the Justice Department a year later, becoming chief of the National Security Division’s foreign investment review section.
Sources said he is expected to continue in that role.
On his LinkedIn page, DeBacker describes himself as “a strategic counselor and senior government executive with deep experience in national security, complex litigation and investigations, and crisis and risk management.”
(AUSTIN, Texas) — An American Airlines flight was delayed last week after the crew alerted authorities about suspicious activity on the plane “regarding the name of a WiFi hotspot involving the word ‘bomb.'”
American Airlines Flight 2863 was scheduled to travel from Austin, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, with a planned departure time of 1:42 p.m.
Bruce Steen, 63 years old, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was one of the passengers aboard the flight amid the incident at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Steen told ABC News that he was traveling home from a meeting in Austin on Feb. 7 when the incident occurred.
He said that he was seated toward the front of the plane and saw a young man walking up to a flight attendant with a tablet to show her something. The flight attendant immediately called the cockpit, Steen said, and soon the pilot announced that the flight would be returning to the gate due to an “administrative issue.”
In the meantime, the crew had reported the incident to the Austin Police Department and the Department of Aviation.
Steen said that after a few minutes, the pilot came back on and announced that “somebody renamed their hotspot.” Steen said the crew said the hotspot was called: “There is a bomb on the flight.”
A lieutenant from Austin PD then came onboard and told passengers the renaming was not funny, Steen told ABC News, recalling that the official said: “If this is a joke, please raise your hand now, because we can deal with the practical joke differently than if this, if we have to do a full blown investigation of what’s going on here.”
Steen said no one raised their hands — and everyone was escorted off the plane in groups by the Austin PD.
At one point, every passenger had to show their hotspot to police officers, Steen said.
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement to ABC News that the agency and its partners in the transportation sector “take bomb threats very seriously.”
“All passengers and their checked baggage were rescreened,” the TSA confirmed.
A dog sniffed all the luggage and the police checked the baggage compartment on the plane, Steen told ABC News.
After the aircraft and luggage were swept for explosives, the aircraft was cleared by the Austin PD.
The flight departed around 6:15 p.m. local time, according to airport officials.
Austin Airport said there were no significant impacts to airport or airline operations, other than the delayed flight that was involved in the incident.
The Austin Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — In the moments before a tornado destroyed her family’s Arkansas home, Misty Drope noticed the silence.
“There’s a silence that happens before a strong storm hits you,” Drope told “Good Morning America” in an interview on Monday. “And I said, out loud, ‘Oh no, this is not good.'”
She and her family — Bruce and Keely — were standing outside what was left of their home in Paragould. The tornado that tore through the town over the weekend was the second to touch their neighborhood in less than a year.
“You’re so thankful you’re alive,” Bruce said.
At least 40 other people were killed amid more than 970 severe storm reports across more than two dozen states over the weekend. A 3-day tornado outbreak tore through at least nine states. Twelve people were killed in tornadoes in Missouri.
An EF-2 tornado that tore through Tylertown, Mississippi, with wind speeds up to 111 miles per hour killed at least three people, officials said.
Many of the cabins at that town’s Paradise Ranch RV Resort were reduced to rubble as the tornado tore through the camp, leaving behind a mangled mess of tree branches and building materials.
But the manager told “GMA” that there were no deaths reported there, in part because most of the cabins were empty.
Next week, about 250 campers were expected to show up, the manager said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
