5 killed, 34 hurt in massive crash between bus, 6 vehicles on I-95 in Virginia: Police
A Virginia State Police car. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
(STAFFORD COUNTY, Va.) — Five people were killed and 34 were injured in a massive crash between a bus and six vehicles on Interstate 95 in Virginia early Friday morning, according to state authorities.
The accident unfolded at about 2:35 a.m. on I-95 south in Stafford County, about 45 miles south of Washington, D.C., the Virginia State Police said.
As traffic slowed for a work zone, a bus did not slow down and struck six vehicles, killing five people in the cars, police said.
Thirty-four people were taken to hospitals, including three with critical injuries, police said.
The crash initially closed all lanes of I-95, Virginia’s Department of Transportation said, causing massive delays for the Friday commute. Northbound lanes have since reopened.
Charges are pending, police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Alex Murdaugh listens to testimony during his double-murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 10, 2023, in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Alex Murdaugh is back in court on Monday for the first time since the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his double murder conviction over “shocking jury interference.”
Newly assigned Judge Debra McCaslin is set to hold a status conference to determine a schedule for a new trial as well as resolve some evidentiary issues.
The status conference comes more than three years after a South Carolina jury found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his son and wife in a gruesome crime that captured global headlines.
The South Carolina Supreme Court threw out that conviction last month after concluding that a court clerk tainted the jury’s verdict by making comments to the jurors that “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense.”
“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter. However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the ruling said.
Murdaugh has remained in prison since the ruling, as he is also serving out concurrent sentences for state and federal financial crimes, to which he pleaded guilty. While Murdaugh has acknowledged he lied and stole from his former clients, he has consistently maintained his innocence related to the 2021 double murder.
“Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son. We look forward to a new trial conducted consistent with the Constitution and the guidance this Court has provided,” Murdaugh’s lawyers said after the May ruling. His lawyers recently filed a civil lawsuit against Hill for allegedly violating his right to a fair trial.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson — who recently won the Republican primary for governor — has vowed to “aggressively” retry the murder case “as soon as possible.” Monday’s conference is likely to provide the first indications of how quickly the case might be retried.
Ahead of the conference, Murdaugh’s lawyers filed a series of motions to change the venue of the trial and access evidence in the case. They have argued that Murdaugh cannot have a fair trial in the countries where his family name has been “synonymous with the local legal system for nearly a century.”
“The basis for this motion is that this is among the most heavily publicized criminal prosecutions in the history of this State. For years Defendant, his family, and the law firm with which his family was associated for generations have been the subject of saturating, sensational, and continuous media coverage,” the motion said.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also filed motions to request access to DNA evidence in the case for independent lab testing, as well as enable Murdaugh to access a computer to review evidence from prison.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their response to those motions.
The Islamic Center of San Diego is seen after a shooting on May 18, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
(SAN DIEGO) — Amin Abdullah, the security guard who was killed along with two others in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, is being hailed as a hero as police say “his actions were heroic and undoubtedly saved lives.”
The shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in San Diego County, was reported shortly before noon local time, police said.
While officers were responding to the mosque, the police department “began to receive calls from just a couple blocks away that we had more active gunfire,” officials said at a news conference Monday.
The security guard appeared to play a “pivotal role” in keeping the shooting from “being much worse,” police said, noting that the victims were all found in front of the Islamic Center.
“His actions were heroic and undoubtedly saved lives today,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said of Abdullah.
“We do believe the security guard was able to help at least minimize the situation to the front area of the mosque,” Wahl continued.
Sam Hamideh, whose son attends the school next to the Islamic Center, told ABC News’ San Diego affiliate KGTV that Abdullah would have done anything to help the people inside.
“Even when the day was going wrong you could just smile … he just had that kind of heart and he always really cared,” Hamideh said.
Both suspects, ages 17 and 18, are dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said.
Authorities are investigating a potential motive but said the shooting is currently being considered a hate crime.
“There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved,” Wahl said.
Anti-Islamic writings were found in the vehicle with the two teens, sources told ABC News.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” Taha Hassan, director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, said at a news conference.
Hassan said he’s sending “prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here, and also the other mosques, and all the places of worship in our beautiful city.”
Tazheen Nizam, the executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement, “We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this attack. No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
-ABC News’ Emily Shapiro and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
Federal authorities are seen outside an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, June 10, 2026. (KABC)
(ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.) — Federal authorities are executing a search warrant at a Southern California facility where fears of a catastrophic explosion over a failing chemical tank led to tens of thousands of people being ordered to evacuate last month, according to federal officials.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency are on site Wednesday executing a federal search warrant signed by a judge as part of a federal investigation into the tank incident at GKN Aerospace that prompted a state of emergency in Orange County.
“Obviously, we want to know exactly what happened and determine whether any federal laws were violated, and that’s the purpose of the search today,” Essayli told reporters at the scene of the facility in Garden Grove, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
Essayli said chemists and scientists from the EPA have been brought from across the country to collect evidence as part of the probe, including taking soil samples.
“We’re here to get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” he said, declining to discuss the case further due to the active investigation.
Federal authorities are expected to be at the site for most of Wednesday, Essayli said.
The situation began unfolding on May 21 at GKN Aerospace, a manufacturing company that builds engines and landing gear for both commercial and military aircraft. A chemical tank filled with toxic chemicals was showing signs of overheating, which could cause it to overheat or spill, officials said.
The 34,000-gallon tank contained methyl methacrylate, an industrial chemical used in plastic manufacturing, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. The chemical is primarily a respiratory irritant. Short-term exposure can cause skin and eye irritation, as well as breathing problems, according to the EPA.
During the height of the crisis, when officials thought they faced only two options — an explosion or chemical spill — about 50,000 people in the city of Garden Grove and several surrounding communities were under evacuation orders.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency in Orange County in response to the incident.
Following a dayslong effort to cool the contents of the tank and stabilize it, officials determined there was no longer a threat of an explosion, fire or chemical leak and no risk to the public, and all remaining evacuation orders were lifted on May 26.
During a Garden Grove City Council meeting on Tuesday, GKN Aerospace Senior Vice President Steve Carlin apologized for the disruptive and “unsettling” incident.
“On behalf of GKN and the Garden Grove plant, I want to say I’m sorry that this event, this incident occurred,” he said.
He said the company is in the early stages of investigating and reviewing what happened on May 21, “so it’d be too early for us to draw any conclusions one way or the other.”
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer launched a criminal probe into the incident last month, ordering the company not to destroy or manipulate any records, his office said.
The probe seeks to determine how a major military and commercial aircraft gear manufacturer could have allowed such a toxic failure to occur, according to the district attorney.
GKN previously declined to comment specifically on the district attorney’s investigation.
