NASA astronaut who had ‘medical issue’ released from hospital
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(PENSACOLA, Fla.) — A NASA astronaut who experienced a “medical issue” following the successful Space X Crew-8 mission has been released from the hospital, NASA officials said Saturday.
“After an overnight stay at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida, the NASA astronaut was released and returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Saturday. The crew member is in good health and will resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members,” NASA said in a statement.
NASA has not publicly named the astronaut.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russian astronaut Alexander Grebenkin were in the SpaceX Dragon capsule when it splashed down on Earth on Friday, NASA said.
After a medical evaluation, three of the crew members departed from the facility and arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, NASA said.
One remaining astronaut remained in the hospital and is in stable condition and is under observation as a precautionary measure, NASA said.
Recovery of the crew and spacecraft went without incident, according to NASA.
An additional medical evaluation of the astronauts was requested out of an abundance of caution, NASA said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd shows the booking photo for Collin Griffith during a press briefing, Sept. 11, 2024. — Polk County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook
(AUBURNDALE, Fla.) — A Florida teenager has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of his mother, less than two years after he was arrested for fatally shooting his father but never charged, authorities said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a Wednesday press briefing that the teen had previously allegedly threatened to kill his mother before Sunday’s “cold-blooded murder.”
The stabbing occurred after the teen, 17-year-old Collin Griffith, and his mother, 39-year-old Catherine Griffith, were seen having an altercation outside a mobile home in Auburndale, according to Judd.
“There were witnesses outside the mobile home that actually saw Collin drag his mother into the house by the hair on her head,” the sheriff said.
Griffith called 911 Sunday evening to report that his mother “fell on a knife” and was bleeding from the neck, Judd said. The teen reportedly said his mother had lunged at him with the knife when she fell on it during a prolonged fight inside the home, according to Judd.
The home belongs to the teen’s grandmother, who was not there at the time of the incident, Judd said.
When deputies arrived, the teen met them outside and was “calm, cool, collected – not upset,” Judd said. Griffith reportedly told them, “I know my rights, I want an attorney,” according to Judd.
A bloody kitchen knife with an 8-inch blade was found inside the home, the sheriff said.
During an autopsy conducted on Monday, the medical examiner determined that Catherine Griffith died from a deep knife wound to the neck that was inconsistent with an accidental injury, according to Judd.
“The medical examiner said it is not reasonable or plausible that she died the way that [her son] said she did,” Judd said.
Collin Griffith is in custody and has been charged with first-degree murder, Judd said, adding that they have asked the state attorney’s office to prosecute the teen as an adult.
The State Attorney’s Office 10th Judicial Circuit, which includes Polk County, told ABC News on Thursday they have no comment on the case at this time.
It is unknown if Griffith has an attorney. ABC News’ attempts to reach his grandmother were unsuccessful.
Judd said as investigators started to “peel back the layer of this onion,” the teen’s family told investigators that he had previously been physically or verbally confrontational with his mother.
Sheriff’s office reports out of Charlotte County in Florida, where Collin Griffith and his mother lived, showed that he had allegedly threatened to kill her in statements purportedly made in September 2023 and, most recently, in February, according to the charging affidavit for his mother’s murder.
Collin Griffith was also arrested by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office for domestic violence battery against his mother in November 2023, according to Judd.
“She was disciplining him and took his video game privileges away, so he beat up his mother,” Judd said. “He pushed her to the ground and he stomped on her.”
Days before the stabbing, Collin Griffith and his mother had an argument about chores and he went to his grandmother’s home, Judd said. Catherine Griffith went to the grandmother’s home on Sunday to bring him back to hers, and she and her son were seen arguing outside of the grandmother’s home around 4:30 p.m., fewer than two hours before the teen called 911 to report the stabbing incident, Judd said.
While investigating the stabbing, the sheriff’s office learned that authorities in Oklahoma also had arrested the teen last year in connection with the fatal shooting of his father, Charles Griffith, at their home in Lincoln County.
Collin Griffith told authorities that he shot his father in self-defense on Feb. 14, 2023, during an argument that turned physical, according to Adam Panter, the district attorney for Oklahoma’s 23rd District, which includes Lincoln County.
During a 911 call, the teen said he grabbed a rifle and shot his father twice after his father chased him into a bedroom while armed with a knife, according to the district attorney.
“At the start of his police interview, he requested an attorney and the interview was terminated, so the only version of events that we were able to obtain was what Collin said on the 911 call, which was consistent with the evidence we found at the scene,” Panter said in a statement to ABC News.
State police investigated forensic and digital evidence and no charges were ever filed against the teen in the case, Panter said.
“Ultimately, after evaluating all of the evidence and possible theories, it was determined that we could not rule out self-defense and as a result, declined to file any formal charges,” Panter said.
Both Panter and Judd said any relevant information obtained in the investigation into the mother’s death will be considered in connection with the shooting of the teen’s father.
“If any new evidence is obtained that is both relevant and credible to our investigation into the death of Collin Griffith’s father, we will certainly re-evaluate the case and make a new determination if necessary,” Panter told ABC News.
Following the Oklahoma shooting of his father, Collin Griffith came to Charlotte County in Florida in March 2023 to live with his mother, Judd said.
He was “being intensely watched” by the county’s sheriff’s office prior to the stabbing, Judd said. Griffith had been placed on active juvenile probation following his arrest in November 2023 for battery domestic violence in connection to his physical attack on his mother, according to an affidavit.
A spokesperson for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News that its juvenile unit had been working with the teen and his family “in various ways to include connecting them with available resources.”
“I cannot expand any further on that as I am not privy to those interactions, and because he is a minor,” the spokesperson said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) had also been in contact with the family, including after the teen ran away from home in February following an argument with his mother, according to Judd.
A spokesperson for DCF, which investigates allegations of abuse, neglect or abandonment, said information regarding its investigations is confidential, per state law.
Judd said they are looking into Collin Griffith’s history and interactions with other agencies in Florida and Oklahoma as they investigate the case.
“My question is, was there anything else that could have been done?” he said
He noted that the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office did a “remarkable job keeping up” with Collin Griffith.
In addition to murder, Collin Griffith has been charged with kidnapping and violation of a no-contact order, the sheriff’s office said. The charges stem from his juvenile probation in Charlotte County for battery domestic violence, with conditions including that he have no contact with his mother, according to the affidavit.
(HOUSTON, TX) — A couple has been arrested and charged for attempting to kidnap and kill a man the wife was having an affair with in Texas.
The victim, who told an ABC News’ Houston affiliate he would not like to be named due to fears over his safety, was shot twice and is now recovering.
Hana Ahmad Alolaimi, 35, and Omar Mahmoud Bishtawi, 48, were charged with aggravated assault and aggravated attempted kidnapping on Sunday, according to court records.
Alolaimi and the victim, who were both married to other people, were in a relationship. When the victim’s wife found out about the relationship he broke it off, according to court documents.
Alolaimi and Bishtawi then conspired to kidnap and kill the victim, according to court documents.
When the victim went into a Chick-fil-A, Alolaimi allegedly parked her vehicle next to his. When the victim came out, she gestured for him to come over, according to court documents.
Once he was in the car, Alolaimi tried to drive off with the victim, although he had told her he could not leave with her. Bishtawi then jumped out from under a curtain in the back seat of the car and put the victim in a chokehold, pressing a firearm against his head, according to court documents.
When the victim tried to get away Bishtawi shot him twice, including once in the thigh, according to court documents. The victim could have died from the thigh wound if he was not transported to the hospital in time, according to court documents.
Alolaimi and Bishtawi provided investigators with conflicting statements and investigators believe there are concerns for the future safety of the victim, according to court documents.
The victim said he ended the relationship three months ago because it turned toxic. But, Alolaimi wouldn’t leave him alone, even showing up at his new apartment, he told KHOU in an interview.
The victim said after he was kidnapped, Bishtawi told him he had to die because he’d dishonored his wife.
EA 18-G Growler Navy Jet Fighter. Via Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The fate of two U.S. Navy pilots remained a mystery Wednesday, a day after their fighter jet crashed during a routine training flight and search-and-rescue crews reported finding no sign of them in the rugged landscape of northeast Washington.
Wreckage of the EA-18G Growler jet was located Wednesday afternoon but the search continues for the two-person crew, military officials said in an update on Wednesday. The crash site is a mountainside east of Mount Rainier, officials said.
“Responders are facing mountainous terrain, cloudy weather, and low visibility as the search is ongoing,” Navy officials said in an earlier statement Wednesday afternoon.
The jet, from Electronic Attack Squadron 130, crashed at about 3:23 p.m. on Tuesday about 30 miles west of Yakima on the eastern side of Mount Rainier, according to the Navy.
The jet crashed after launching a training flight from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, officials said.
An MH-60S helicopter crew was immediately launched to search for the missing airmen and wreckage, officials said. Additional rescue units from the U.S. Navy Fleet Reconnaissance Squadron One, Patrol Squadron, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Search and Rescue and the U.S. Army 4-6 Air Calvary Squadron from Joint Base Luis-McChord in Washington were also involved in the search, officials said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, according to the statement.
The Growler aircraft, which according to the Navy is worth about $67 million, is “the most advanced technology in airborne Electronic Attack and stands as the Navy’s first line of defense in hostile environments.”
The 130 squadron adopted the nickname “Zappers” when it was commissioned as the Carrier Early Warning Squadron 13 in 1959, the military said.
The squadron was most recently deployed to the Southern Red Sea, where it carried out seven pre-planned strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, according to a statement.
The Zappers also carried out some 700 combat missions ” to degrade the Houthi capability to threaten innocent shipping,” according to a press release announcing the squadron’s return to Washington in July.
