3 women dead in Philadelphia double murder-suicide
(PHILADELPHIA) — Three women are dead in a double murder-suicide in a South Philadelphia home, police said.
Janice Picano, 67, is believed to have shot Angelina Picano, 18, and Denise Grottini, 55, before turning the gun on herself on Monday, according to a preliminary investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department.
Officers responded to a report of a person with a gun at around 5:30 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived on the scene, they found three women shot, police said.
All three women were pronounced dead shortly after 5:30 p.m., police said.
The investigation into the incident remains active and ongoing.
Created by CDC microbiologist Frederick A Murphy, this transmission electron micrograph (TEM) revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus virion. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
(NEW YORK) — The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced new arrival restrictions for flights carrying people who were recently in Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan amid the Ebola outbreak in the region.
All flights — excluding those operated by the Pentagon — departing after 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday carrying passengers that were in the named nations within 21 days of attempted entry into the U.S. will be ordered to land at Washington-Dulles Airport in Virginia, the notice said, where “enhanced public health measures are being implemented.”
The Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC had caused 139 suspected deaths with nearly 600 suspected cases as of Wednesday, according to an update from World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Tedros said cases of Ebola have been reported in several urban areas of the eastern DRC amid the ongoing outbreak, including the major cities of Goma and Bunia, and that at least two cases and one death have been recorded in neighboring Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Cases have also been reported among health workers, according to Ghebreyesus.
At least 51 cases have so far been confirmed in the ongoing outbreak.
The DHS flight restriction notice said that while South Sudan has not reported any confirmed cases in the current outbreak, “It is considered at high risk because of its close border with affected areas in eastern DRC and Uganda, limited healthcare infrastructure and cross-border population movement.”
The outbreak was first detected in the DRC’s northeastern province of Ituri, with cases officially confirmed by the health ministry on May 15. It marked the 17th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the DRC, which is Africa’s second-largest country and its fourth-most populous nation.
The WHO convened an emergency committee on Tuesday night, following Tedros’ declaration of a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday — one level below a pandemic in the United Nations agency’s alert system.
It was the first time a WHO chief had declared such an emergency before convening the emergency committee. After the meeting, the committee agreed that the outbreak did not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, which was applied to the global COVID-19 outbreak.
Anais Legand, the WHO’s technical officer for viral hemorrhagic fevers, said on Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak may have started a couple of months ago and that investigations are ongoing.
“Our priority is really to cut the transmission chain by implementing contact tracing, isolating and caring for all suspects and confirmed cases,” she said.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics and which requires different diagnostics than other variants. Case fatality rates for previous Bundibugyo outbreaks have ranged from 30% to 50%, according to the WHO.
Among the confirmed cases is an American, Dr. Peter Stafford, who contracted the disease while working in the DRC. Stafford was flown out of the DRC and is now hospitalized in Berlin’s Charité University Hospital.
Matt Allison — the executive director of Serge, the Christian missionary group Stafford works for — told ABC News on Wednesday that the doctor has been receiving monoclonal antibodies during his hospitalization and is “responding quickly.”
Dr. Satish K. Pillai, incident manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Ebola response, confirmed at a CDC press conference on Tuesday that genetic testing from this outbreak shows it is similar to the “genetic fingerprints” from outbreaks in 2007 and 2012, meaning there are diagnostic tools available that can detect this strain of Ebola.
Pillai said on Monday that the agency had activated its Emergency Operations Center through its country offices in the DRC and in Uganda, and is deploying technical experts that have been requested from Atlanta headquarters.
The risk to the U.S. general public remains low, Pillai said.
Also on Monday, the CDC introduced entry restrictions on non-U.S. passport holders that had been in Uganda, the DRC or South Sudan in the previous 21 days before attempted entry into the U.S.
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss, Mary Kekatos and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
Chemicals are removed from a home in Syosset, New York. (WABC)
(SYOSSET, N.Y.) — A New York father and son were arrested and charged after investigators discovered chemicals at their residence that had been combined to create explosive materials, according to police.
Investigators discovered the chemicals while they were looking into a “bias incident” in which a swastika was drawn in a male bathroom at Syosset High School on Wednesday, according to the Nassau County Police Department.
Investigators alleged the 15-year-old boy drew the swastika, police said.
Francisco Sanles, 48, has been charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of criminal facilitation, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.
The unnamed teen has been charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief, aggravated harassment and making graffiti, police said.
When the chemicals were found, officers evacuated the home and began evacuating the residents of neighboring homes.
“The Nassau County Fire Marshal, Arson Bomb Squad, Nassau County Police Emergency Service Unit (ESU) were all notified and responded to the scene. The Nassau County Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) Response Team also responded and carefully removed the hazardous material from the home,” police said in a statement Thursday.
Further investigation revealed Sanles paid for the various chemicals on several occasions. He was then arrested, according to police.
Students and staff at Syosset High School were notified of the bias graffiti and ongoing investigation in an email from the school district on Wednesday night, according to a copy obtained by WABC.
“I am writing to inform you that the District found swastikas and racial epithets above urinals at Syosset High School. The District immediately commenced an investigation and notified the Nassau County Police Department. Our investigation identified the person responsible and this is now a criminal matter with an active police investigation,” the school district wrote.
“We are cooperating fully with our partners in law enforcement and remain in constant contact with them as their investigation continues. This student will also face serious consequences pursuant to the District’s Code of Conduct,” the district said.
Sanles will be arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead, police said. The unnamed teen will be arraigned in Nassau County Family Court, police said.
No attorney information for Sanles and his son is listed in court records.
(LAKE MARION, S.C.) — A woman died after being struck by a patio umbrella during strong winds at a lakeside South Carolina restaurant over Memorial Day weekend, officials said.
The incident occurred Saturday evening at a restaurant along Lake Marion in Summerton, authorities said.
The woman and her husband were dining on the restaurant’s patio “when a sudden strong wind blew an umbrella from a table,” striking the woman in the head and neck area, the Clarendon County Coroner’s Office said in a statement.
First responders found the woman unresponsive with lacerations to her head and neck area, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the coroner’s office.
The victim is a woman from Huger, South Carolina, the coroner’s office said. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
The restaurant, Driftwood Grill Home of the Lazy Gator, confirmed the incident occurred at its restaurant during a “sudden severe weather event at Lake Marion.”
“This has deeply affected many people in our community, including guests, staff, first responders, and everyone involved,” the restaurant said in a statement Sunday on social media. “Out of respect for the family and those impacted, we ask for continued prayers, compassion, and privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”
The restaurant said it held a support session on Monday with authorities, chaplains and others for those impacted by the “tragic” incident.
“This has impacted many people — including staff members, guests, first responders, families, and community members — and we are grateful for the continued support, prayers, understanding, and encouragement being shown throughout the area,” the statement said.
ABC News’ Jason Volack contributed to this report.
