In this screen grab from a video released by the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station, a tortoise was sucessfully rescued after the owner’s home was destroyed by fire. Via San Dimas Sheriff’s Station/Instagram
(LOS ANGELES) — A beloved pet tortoise has been found safe in the wake of California wildfires.
The rescue occurred after the family’s Altadena home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, according to the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station.
In a video the station shared Saturday to Instagram, a deputy was seen bringing the 100-pound tortoise, Rocky, to safety.
Rocky was found in a hole in the family’s backyard, the sheriff’s office said.
The family can be heard cheering and celebrating as a deputy carried Rocky over to them.
“Yay! Rocky’s home!” a woman can be heard saying in the video.
ABC News has reached out to Rocky’s family for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — One day after moving to dismiss both his cases against President-elect Donald Trump, special counsel Jack Smith is continuing to defend the validity of his own appointment as he appeals the dismissal of the classified documents case against Trump’s co-defendants.
In a filing Tuesday, Smith urged a federal appeals court to reverse U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to toss the classified documents case based on the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment as special counsel.
Smith moved to drop Trump from the case Monday due to a long-standing Justice Department policy that bars the prosecution of a sitting president, as he continues his appeal of the case’s dismissal with Trump’s two co-defendants, his longtime valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
Trump, along with Nauta and De Oliveira, also pleaded not guilty to allegedly attempting to delete related surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Judge Cannon dismissed the case against all three defendants this past July on the grounds that Smith’s appointment as special counsel overseeing the case was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.
Smith, in Tuesday’s filing, urged the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reverse Cannon’s “flawed” conclusion so he can continue the case against Nauta and De Oliveira.
“The Supreme Court held more than 50 years ago that Congress vested the Attorney General with the power to appoint special prosecutors like the Special Counsel, and the text, context, and history of the four statutes the Supreme Court identified, as well as the long history of special-counsel appointments, confirm that Nixon was correct,” the filing said.
In a statement Monday, John Irving, a lawyer for De Oliveira, said, ““The Special Counsel’s decision to proceed in this case even after dismissing it against President Trump is an unsurprising tribute to the poor judgment that led to the indictment against Mr. De Oliveira in the first place. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. If they prefer a slow acquittal, that’s fine with us.”
This is likely to be Smith’s last filing against Trump as a defendant, though Trump’s inclusion in the brief is a technicality. While Smith moved on Monday to drop Trump from the case, the court hasn’t yet dismissed the appeal for the president-elect.
“The government has moved to dismiss this appeal as to Donald Trump. If granted, defendant Trump will not appear in the caption in future filings in this case,” Smith wrote in a footnote of Tuesday’s filing.
Smith’s other case against Trump, involving the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, was dismissed Monday at Smith’s request, due to the Justice Department’s presidential immunity policy.
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson wasn’t a member of the insurer, a company spokesperson said.
“Brian Thompson’s killer was not a member of UnitedHealthcare,” the company told ABC News.
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure an indictment against Mangione for the killing of Thompson, sources told ABC News.
The DA’s office declined to comment due to the secrecy surrounding grand jury matters.
An indictment could strengthen the case for extradition, which Mangione is fighting.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday. His next court date in Pennsylvania is Dec. 30.
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities are still looking to access a phone recovered by police in an alley following the shooting that is believed to be linked to the suspect, sources said Thursday. Police have obtained a search warrant for the phone, sources said.
At least two other search warrants have been issued so far in the New York case. They include to search the hostel where the suspect stayed in New York City, as well as the backpack containing Monopoly money and a jacket that was found in Central Park and is believed to belong to him, sources said.
Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after nearly one week on the run following the Dec. 4 slaying.
Three shell casings recovered outside the Midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson was fatally shot match the gun allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested, police announced Wednesday.
Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
(MADISON, Wis.) Officials are trying to figure out why a 15-year-old girl allegedly opened fire at the Christian school she attended, killing a fellow student and teacher in a heinous crime that shocked the community of Madison, Wisconsin.
The suspect, Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before officers reached Abundant Life Christian School on Monday morning, police said. Officers did not fire their weapons.
Two students were hospitalized in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said, while another three students and a teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police have not yet suggested any motive for the attack nor said whether they believe the victims were specifically targeted.
The suspect’s parents are cooperating with the investigation, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told ABC News on Tuesday.
“They were cooperative. Despite this tragedy, they still lost a child. They still lost a member of their family,” Barnes said. “It is certain that they have probably more questions than anyone because they knew her. They lived with her and so we wanted to get an account from them of what kind of child she was.”
Her father is being questioned by investigators, Barnes said. He said he didn’t know whether the mother had been questioned, noting that she’s been out of town.
Students in Kindergarten through 12th Grade attend the Christian school. Police said the shooting was contained to “a classroom in a study hall full of students from multiple grade levels.”
“I was in the hallway, and I was changing from my shoes to my boots to go to lunch because I have recess after, but then I heard the shooting and screams,” a girl in second-grade told ABC Chicago station WLS.
A second-grader also made the 911 call, Barnes said.
“Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes added. “A second-grade student called 911 at 10:57 a.m. to report a shooting at school.”
President Joe Biden called the shooting “shocking and unconscionable” and called on Congress to act immediately.
Biden urged Congress to pass “commonsense” gun safety laws, including universal background checks, a national red flag law, and a ban on both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence,” Biden said in a statement, adding, “We cannot continue to accept it as normal.”
Biden also mentioned his administration’s efforts to combat the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., including the implementation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, while stating that more needed to be done.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement, “There are no words to describe the devastation and heartbreak we feel,” calling the shooting a “gut-wrenching tragedy.”
Evers said he and his wife are “praying for the families and loved ones of those whose lives were so senselessly taken and for the educators, staff, and the entire Abundant Life school community.”
“It is unthinkable that a kid or an educator might wake up and go to school one morning and never come home,” he said. “This should never happen, and I will never accept this as a foregone reality or stop working to change it.”
ABC News’ Briana Stewart contributed to this report.
