5-year-old killed in hyperbaric chamber explosion in Michigan
A hyperbaric chamber; BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images
(TROY, Mich.) — A 5-year-old boy was killed and his mother was injured Friday after a hyperbaric chamber exploded at a medical facility in Troy, Michigan.
The chamber contained 100% oxygen, making it extremely flammable, according to Lt. Keith Young of the Detroit Fire Department.
Officers and firefighters responded to the explosion shortly before 8 a.m.
“Upon arrival, the first responding units unfortunately discovered a 5-year-old boy deceased on the scene,” Lt. Ben Hancock of the Troy Police Department said at a press conference.
The boy’s mother was standing next to the chamber when it exploded and suffered injuries to her arms, officials said. A few medical staff members were also present but were not seriously hurt.
It’s not clear what kind of treatment the boy was receiving at the time.
The explosion was contained to the chamber and firefighters quickly brought the fire under control, they said.
“I’ve been with the department for 10 years, and we’ve never responded to anything like this,” Young said.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, and multiple state agencies are involved in examining safety regulations at the facility. In the meantime, the medical center remains closed.
(NEW YORK) — A guilty plea is expected Wednesday in the case of a secret Chinese police station operating in lower Manhattan.
The suspects in the case, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, were accused by prosecutors last year of working on behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security in violation of the Espionage Act.
Chen is expected to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government. Lu is due in court next in February.
At the time the case was charged in April 2023, the FBI called it in an example of China’s “audacious activities” on U.S. soil.
The location in Chinatown claimed to be a nonprofit organization helping Chinese-Americans but federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who brought the case, said it “appears to have had a more sinister use.”
Prosecutors said the secret police station was set up by Chinese counterintelligence operatives to harass and intimidate dissidents living in the United States.
(WASHINGTON) — A former NFL linebacker who played for the Detroit Lions faces charges for allegedly engaging in a series of assaults on law enforcement during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, court records show.
Leander Antwione Williams, 31, was arrested Thursday in what appears to be the first newly filed Capitol breach case brought by federal prosecutors since Election Day.
His charges include assaulting officers, civil disorder and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, according to a criminal complaint filed last week.
Williams was a fifth-round draft pick for the Detroit Lions in 2016 and also played linebacker for the XFL’s DC Defenders, according to public reports.
In the charging document, which was unsealed Thursday following his arrest in Savannah, Georgia, prosecutors detailed how Williams allegedly joined the pro-Trump mob in engaging in several violent skirmishes with officers attempting to protect the Capitol.
In one instance, Williams was captured on police body camera footage pulling bike racks away from a police line and then striking an officer on the head, according to the complaint. Another video showed Williams grabbing and pulling against two officers who appeared to be trying to push him away, according to the complaint.
Williams was ultimately identified by the FBI following a series of tips submitted dating back to December of 2022, according to the complaint. Agents ultimately confirmed his identity in photos with the help of a signature key fob that he was seen wearing on his belt loop during the riot that they cross-referenced with other pictures from his social media profiles, according to the complaint.
Williams has not entered a plea to the felony charges he currently faces and did not have an attorney listed representing him as of Thursday afternoon.
His arrest is further evidence that the Justice Department plans to continue its prosecution of individuals found to have carried out assaults during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol despite the election of former President Donald Trump, who has stated his intention to issue pardons or commute the sentences for his followers who joined in the attack once he takes office in January.
Prosecutors from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office have spent the past week arguing against a wave of filings from Jan. 6 defendants seeking to delay their cases in the hopes they’ll be pardoned once Trump enters office. In most, but not all instances, those requests have fallen flat with judges overseeing their cases.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will make their way to Landover, Maryland, on Saturday to attend the Army-Navy football game and will be joined by Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran recently acquitted in the subway chokehold case in New York City.
Vance posted on X that he invited Penny, who was just acquitted in the death of Jordan Neely, to join him in Trump’s suite.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance posted. “I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”
In the wake of his acquittal, Vance posted that “justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
