76-year-old man stabbed, 77-year-old wife severely burned in ‘horrific double homicide’ in NYC: Police
WABC
(NEW YORK) — New York City police are searching for a man on parole who allegedly broke into a Queens home, killed a couple and set their house on fire, authorities said.
Frank Olton, 76, was found on Monday tied to a pole in his basement suffering from multiple stab wounds, and his wife Maureen Olton, 77, was found on the house’s first floor, severely burned, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The Oltons’ son, a New York City Fire Department paramedic, was alerted to the fire by an alarm system and he responded to the house, police said.
There’s no known connection between the victims and the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Jamel McGriff, Tisch said.
Detectives believe the suspect spent five hours in the victims’ house, according to sources, likely searching for property to steal before setting it ablaze. Surveillance video showed the suspect leaving the home around 3 p.m., police said.
Witnesses reported a man knocking on a neighbor’s door on Monday morning, asking to charge his phone, Tisch said, and that neighbor turned the suspect away. Surveillance video showed the suspect going to the victims’ house and Frank Olton letting him in, according to the commissioner.
Tisch called the crime a “horrific double homicide, robbery and arson.”
She said police are asking for the public’s help to find McGriff, warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
McGriff, who is out on parole for first-degree robbery, “has a lengthy violent criminal history stretching back 30 years,” Tisch said. He failed to register as a sex offender in November 2024 “which should have violated his parole,” she said, and he is also wanted for two robberies in Manhattan this summer.
“This suspect’s MO is to go door-to-door asking for some kind of assistance until he can gain entry — so do not allow anyone you don’t know or who you are not expecting into your home,” she stressed.
(NEW YORK) — Three officers were shot and injured while responding to domestic disturbance call at a residence in Utah, law enforcement said.
A suspect was taken into custody following the shooting, Detective Crystal Beck, of the Brigham City Police Department, told reporters in a press conference.
The officers’ conditions were unknown, Beck said.
When they arrived at the residence in Tremonton they were immediately shot at by the suspect, she said. Those initial officers called for additional units and stopped responding to radio calls, she added.
Additional officers arrived and were able to take the suspect into custody, Beck said.
No civilians were injured and there is no current threat to the public, although the shelter in place remains, she added.
(NEW YORK) — Ward Sakeik — a stateless Palestinian woman who was detained on her way back from her honeymoon — has been released from ICE detention nearly five months after her arrest, her husband confirmed to ABC News.
Sakeik, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested at the St. Thomas Airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands in February.
“The Trump administration’s brazenly unconstitutional attempt to deport this young woman in violation of a federal court order should shock the conscience of every American. Had we not intervened, she may very well be in a foreign country right now, separated from her family like so many others illegally deported to third countries,” Eric Lee, Sakeik’s attorney, said in a statement Wednesday.
The government had attempted to deport Sakeik twice — the first of which was to Israel just hours before it launched its attack on Iran in June. The second attempt to deport her was made despite a federal judge ordering that she remain in the northern district of Texas and not be removed from the U.S.
Sakeik’s family is from Gaza, but she is legally stateless and has lived in the U.S. since she was 8 years old. Her family had traveled to the U.S. on a tourist visa and applied for asylum, according to Shaikh.
Sakeik was issued a deportation order more than a decade ago after her asylum case was denied, but she was permitted to stay in the U.S. under what’s known as an “order of supervision,” in which she was given a work permit and regularly checks in with federal immigration authorities, according to her attorney and her husband.
The first stage of her Green Card application was approved last week, according to her husband, Taahir Shaikh.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Courtesy Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
(TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.) — Authorities were searching for the 42-year-old suspect in Saturday’s Michigan Walmart stabbing rampage less than 24 hours before the incident, the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office said in a release on Monday.
The sheriff’s office on Friday received a court order from the State of Michigan 7th Probate Court of Emmet County instructing that Bradford James Gille be taken into custody, according to the release.
Sheriff’s deputies spent Friday and Saturday patrolling and actively searching for Gille, whom the order identified as homeless. The sheriff’s office did not say why the court order was issued.
“Regrettably, less than 24 hours after receiving this order, a tragic series of events occurred in Traverse City,” the sheriff’s office said in the release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this devastating situation.”
Gille, whom authorities said was from Cheboygan County, Michigan, facing charges of terrorism and assault with intent to murder after he allegedly stabbed 11 people at a Walmart store in Michigan and was apprehended by a group of citizens, including one armed with a gun, authorities said on Sunday.
The suspect allegedly entered the Walmart store in Traverse City, about 150 miles north of Grand Rapids, around 4:10 p.m. on Saturday and began attacking people with a folding knife, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
“It appears that these were all random acts,” said Shea, adding that the attacks began near the checkout area.
Shea said investigators are combing through security video that recorded nearly all of the attack.
Witnesses helped law enforcement officers stop the attack and take the suspect in custody, Shea said.
Bystander video that surfaced online and was confirmed as authentic by the sheriff showed a group of citizens, including one who drew a handgun on the suspect, forcing him to drop his knife.
“What they did was amazing,” said Shea, adding that the citizens likely saved others from being attacked.
Shea said a sheriff’s deputy who was near the Walmart at the time of the attack responded to the scene in less than a minute and placed the suspect under arrest.
A motive for the attack remains under investigation, Shea said.
Shea said the suspect attacked the victims without any warning and without making any verbal threats. He said one person was stabbed just outside the store, another was stabbed in the vestibule of the store and the remaining nine victims were attacked inside the store.
The victims, six men and four women, ranged in ages from 29 to 84, Shea said, with three of the victims in their 80s and one in his 70s.
The victims were taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, with six of them initially listed in critical condition and the remaining five in serious condition, authorities said Saturday.
“Over the past 12 hours, we’ve seen encouraging signs of recovery from our patients,” Munson Healthcare said in an updated statement on Sunday morning, which noted that seven of the stabbing victims were in fair condition and four were in serious condition. Officials said during the Sunday afternoon press conference that five of the stabbing victims were now in fair condition, four were in serious condition and one had been released from the hospital.
Shea said no other suspects are being sought in the attack: “We believe he acted alone at this time.”
Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Moeggenberg said during Sunday’s press conference that Gille is expected to be arraigned on Monday. Moeggenberg said he’s charged with terrorism because he allegedly attempted to strike fear in the community.
“Thankfully no one else was injured,” the sheriff said, adding, “Eleven is 11 too many but thank God it wasn’t more.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement on X that she was monitoring the situation.
“I’m in touch with law enforcement about the horrible news out of Traverse City. Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence,” she said.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement on social media that FBI personnel responded to the scene, “to provide any necessary support to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of the attacks at the Walmart.”
In a statement, a Walmart spokesperson said “Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we’re thankful for the swift action of first responders. We’ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their investigation.”
