Early season snowstorm pounding New Mexico, Colorado
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(SANTA FE, NM) — A major storm system is bringing a historic early season snowstorm to New Mexico and Colorado.
Some areas could see up to 3 to 4 feet of snow, as the storm system moves out of the Southwest and into the western Plains.
A blizzard warning has been issued for parts of northern New Mexico, where a combination of strong winds and snow could reduce visibility to near zero.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued two statewide emergency declarations this week in response to the storm.
“This declaration gives the state more resources to continue supporting local responders as this major snowstorm persists,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement on Thursday. “I thank every single responder who has been out in the cold since Wednesday clearing roads, escorting people to safety, and doing what needs to be done to support New Mexicans challenged by this storm.”
Since Wednesday, New Mexico State Police officers have responded to “multiple calls” to assist stranded motorists, the governor’s office said.
The state’s Department of Transportation and New Mexico National Guard have been working to clear roads.
In Colorado, several locations, from Pueblo to Colorado Springs, have already gotten 12 to 18 inches of snow as of the late morning Friday, as snow continues to fall.
A winter storm warning is in effect Friday for Denver, which could see 8 to 16 inches of snow.
Schools were canceled Friday in Denver due to the storm.
“Major” weather impacts are expected in eastern Colorado starting Friday, the Colorado Department of Transportation said.
“Conditions will worsen through the day and evening as heavy snow spreads northwest across the area,” the National Weather Service in Boulder said on social media. “Impossible travel east and southeast of Denver!”
The same storm system is also expected to bring heavy rain to parts of Texas and Oklahoma, where there is a flash flood threat Friday. Locally, at least 5 inches of rain is possible.
As the storm system moves north and east on Saturday, the heavy rain threat will move into the Mississippi River Valley, from Tennessee to Louisiana.
ABC News’ Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
Destroyed houses and buildings along the Broad River in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Oct. 1, 2024 in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — At least 6,300 National Guard troops are racing to get aid to those in need — along with an army of volunteers — in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene as the death toll jumped to more than 160 across six states on Wednesday morning, with hundreds of people still reported missing.
New images from storm-ravaged areas are continuing to emerge on Wednesday in places like Erwin, Tennessee, where ambulances could be seen being towed away near where dozens of people were rescued from a roof of a hospital with dump trucks filled with trees and debris located nearby.
Elsewhere, in North Carolina, dramatic dashcam footage captured the moment a couple narrowly missed being swept up in a landslide in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with those landslides and flooding washing roads and bridges away and making it all but impossible to get access to some of the hardest hit areas.
“We have one suitcase, really,” North Carolina resident and Hurricane Helene survivor, Aaron Smith, told ABC News. “And so trying to figure out four people and a dog out of one suitcase, it’s the most, it’s just surreal.”
Another family in Hendersonville, North Carolina, became completely surrounded by floodwater, waiting for help in chest-high water and unable to get to dry land.
The Mirandas have been forced to use creek water to wash their clothes and have even had to find ice to keep insulin cold in coolers.
Jessica Meidinger said that she knows a witness who saw a neighbor’s house floating away down a river with them still inside — Rod Ashby was rescued Tuesday night but his wife, Kim, is still missing.
“Losing your most loved one when you had her in your arms and now you don’t there’s I don’t imagine there’s much that can compare to that,” Meidinger said. “She’s strong, she’s a breast cancer survivor. It’s hard not to hold on to that hope.”
(GEORGIA) — When 14-year-old Colt Gray rode the bus to his Georgia high school on the morning of Sept. 4, he had a long gun hidden in a poster board that looked like a school project, surveillance video showed, a state agent said in court Wednesday.
Colt Gray is accused of killing two students and two teachers, and injuring several others, at Apalachee High School that day.
A George Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agent who had viewed surveillance footage from the bus and the school appeared in a Barrow County courtroom on Wednesday to describe what the videos captured during a probable cause hearing in the case against Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray.
On the morning of the shooting, Colt Gray left a notebook on his desk in math class, went to the bathroom with his backpack and came out of the bathroom with gloves on and the poster board in front of him, appearing to hide the AR-15-style rifle, the GBI agent said.
Colt Gray knocked on the door of his math class to go back in, and a classmate went to open the door, the agent said. But the classmate saw Colt Gray through the door window, backed up, put her hand over her mouth and told the teacher, the agent said. The teacher went to the door window, told students to get into the corner and initiated a lockdown, the agent said.
The 14-year-old suspect allegedly entered another classroom and started shooting, the agent said. About six or seven people were shot during the approximately seven seconds the gunman was inside the room.
Colt Gray then ran back toward the bathrooms, and at 10:22 a.m. he allegedly aimed his rifle at a teacher and fired multiple shots, the agent said. The teen then turned toward another hallway and shot two coaches, the agent said. A student then came out of a bathroom and was shot and killed.
Two school resource officers entered the hallway and ordered the 14-year-old to put his rifle down and surrender, the agent said.
The notebook Colt Gray allegedly left on his desk contained a plan on how to execute the shooting, an estimated possible casualty count and sketches of his classroom, according to the agent.
Colt Gray was arrested on murder charges while Colin Gray is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colin Gray is accused of knowingly allowing his son to possess the weapon used in the shooting, according to the GBI.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered closing arguments on Wednesday in the case of the three former Memphis police officers who were charged in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols.
The jury is set to receive instructions from the judge on Thursday morning ahead of deliberations after the prosecution and the attorneys for the three former officers concluded their closing arguments on Wednesday evening.
The jury pool in the federal trial is made up of seven men and seven women, including white, Black and Asian jurors.
Federal prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert said during her closing arguments that the officers laughed and bragged about beating Nichols and did not call medics to the scene because they wanted to get away with what they did and protect themselves.
Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“They wanted it to be a beatdown,” Gilbert told the jury of the three former officers.
“You are what stands between them and getting away with it,” she added.
Haley, Smith and Bean were among five former officers who were charged in this case.
John Perry, Bean’s attorney, argued during his closing remarks that the force his client used during the interaction with Nichols was “not excessive.”
Both Perry and Haley’s attorney, Stephen Leffler, argued during closing arguments that their clients did not violate the policies of the Memphis Police Department.
Leffler admitted that Haley said “beat that man” and delivered a kick to Nichols, but he said “beat that man” was just a verbal command and not a physical encounter.
Smith’s lawyer, Martin Zummach, said during his closing remarks that Smith did not see Martin and Haley kick Nichols because he was blinded by pepper spray and was scared. Zummach argued that Smith did not cover up “excessive force” and said that Smith reported the kicks to his supervisor.
“He is not perfect but imperfection is not a crime,” Zummach said.
All of the five officers charged in this case were fired from MPD for violating policies.
Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., the two other officers who were also charged, pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records.
Mills testified during the federal trial of the three officers and got emotional when he took the stand.
“I wish I would’ve stopped the punches. It hurts to watch. It hurts inside so much,” said Mills, who cried during his testimony, according to ABC affiliate in Memphis, WATN-TV. “It felt bad every time the picture is on the screen to know I’m a part of that. I made his child fatherless. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know ‘sorry’ won’t bring him back, but I pray his child has everything he needs growing up.”
Martin also testified in the officer’s federal trial and took the stand on Sept. 17.
“They were assaulting [Tyre Nichols],” Martin said of his former partners, according to WATN. “I was already angry that he ran. I kicked him … They [his former partners] were holding him up. He was helpless.”
Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over on Jan. 7, 2023, for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.
Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition.
Nichols, 29, died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2023. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
The prosecution told ABC News earlier this month that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death.
