9 injured after NYC subway station fills with smoke: FDNY
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Nine people suffered minor injuries after a New York City subway station filled with smoke Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
The incident occurred at the 191st Street station in Manhattan.
The 1 train hit “some kind of piece of equipment” as it entered the station, FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Mike Woods told reporters at the scene. That object then made contact with the third rail, creating sparks and a “smoke condition,” he said.
Emergency responders assessed nine people, who all suffered from “minor smoke inhalation-type related injuries,” Woods said. Some patients were transported to local hospitals, while others declined medical treatment, he said.
Despite the heavy smoke, Woods said there was “no active fire in the train” and that the situation was “under control.”
There was some damage to the tracks, he said. The rail at the station had to be replaced, the MTA said.
Woods called the investigation “complex” due to the depth of the subway station.
The FDNY has turned the scene over to transit personnel for further investigation and repairs.
Authorities do not believe anyone was responsible for leaving the object on the tracks, but transit officials will continue their investigation.
Delays were reported along parts of the 1 line following the incident, the MTA said.
Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The Washington Commanders may be one step closer to returning to their old stadium in Washington, D.C. after congressional leaders included a provision in the short-term government funding bill released Tuesday to transfer the jurisdiction of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site from the federal government to local District of Columbia authorities.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser celebrated the provision, calling it a “giant step forward” and that she is “looking to the future of a field of possibilities.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Tenn.) said in a statement Tuesday the legislation “will unlock the district’s full potential, generate meaningful new jobs, and add millions in additional city revenue for the nation’s capital.”
He added, “Now is the time to get the federal government out of the way and empower local officials to clean up the RFK site, invest and create new economic opportunities.”
This provision would allow the Commanders to negotiate the construction of a new stadium where the RFK site is located.
The measure comes after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris met with leaders on Capitol Hill regarding the stadium proposal earlier this month.
The Washington football team played at the RFK site in D.C. for decades before moving to nearby Landover, Maryland, in a newly built stadium in the late 1990s. Since then, RFK Stadium has fallen into disrepair.
While a potential move for the Commanders would be a big loss for Maryland, the government funding bill included major wins for the state including the transfer of fighter jets — the D.C. Air National Guard squadron — and full federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Both chambers of Congress are expected to vote on the funding bill this week to avert a government shutdown.
(HOUSTON) — A man aboard a Frontier Airlines flight en route to Houston had to be restrained by fellow passengers on Wednesday after he began kicking seats and hitting a window, eventually breaking the plexiglass, police said.
The flight, F9 4856, departed from Denver and was in the air for about 20 to 30 minutes, when a woman asked the man behind her to switch seats, according to passenger Victoria Clark. This man quickly became enraged, profusely kicking the woman’s seat and trying to break the window, Clark said.
“I started having a panic attack,” Clark told ABC News. “[I thought] it could be a terrorist attack.”
The man continued to hit the window and was eventually able to break the plexiglass, passengers said. Without an air marshal on board, flight attendants asked if there was any law enforcement to help, passengers recounted. That’s when Tanner Phillips, a former member of the military, said he stepped in.
“This guy was just going crazy,” Phillips told ABC News. “He was screaming in multiple languages, punching out the window and laying back and trying to kick it out. I wanted to help as much as I could.”
Phillips said he and several others grabbed hold of the man, using zip ties and boot laces to restrain him and put him back in his seat. Instead of making an emergency landing, the flight continued toward its destination of Houston — forcing the group of good Samaritans to ensure the man did not escape for about two hours.
The man’s blood was everywhere around the window and the ceiling of the aircraft, since the plexiglass cut up his hands, Phillips said.
“You never know what someone is capable of,” Phillips said. “I’m really grateful that we were able to handle the situation and no one got harmed.”
Once the plane landed safely in Houston at around 10:20 p.m. local time, Clark said everyone felt an immense sigh of relief.
“People were clapping,” Clark said. “Everyone was saying thank you to all the gentlemen that helped make sure that we got there safely.”
The Houston Police Department said they received a report that there had been a “combative passenger on board,” and were already on the scene by the time the plane had landed.
Frontier Airlines declined to press charges at the scene, and police are reaching out to airport officials to see what happened to the man. Since the man is not currently facing charges, his name was not released, according to police.
Several passengers, including Jessica Brown and her daughter Chloe Starks, hope this incident shows the need for increased security aboard aircrafts, so that something like this does not happen again.
“It’s just insanity. I don’t wish this on my worst enemy,” Brown told ABC News. “I wish in 2025 we would not have situations like this.”
-ABC News’ Lindsey Krill and Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is almost certain to waive extradition from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested a week ago, sources told ABC News.
He could waive extradition to New York as early as Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Friday.
Mangione remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun. In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
Mangione has hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former member of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as his lawyer in New York.
Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 after nearly one week on the run. He’s accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the CEO headed to an investors conference.
Sources said writings police seized from Mangione suggest he was fixated on UnitedHealthcare for months and gradually developed a plan to kill the CEO.
Among the writings recovered from Mangione was a passage that allegedly said, “What do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” according to law enforcement officials.
Mangione nor his parents received insurance through UnitedHealthcare, the company said.
FBI agents and NYPD detectives spoke to Mangione’s mother the day before his Dec. 9 arrest after San Francisco police informed them she had filed a missing persons report and Mangione’s photo seemed to match the suspect photo, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Mangione’s mother told the New York investigators that the person in the widely shared surveillance images could be her 26-year-old son, sources said.
