Utah college student dies after falling from balcony: Officials
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(ST. GEORGE, Utah) — A college student in Utah has died after falling off a balcony just days after the academic year began, according to the university and fire officials.
At approximately 5:45 p.m. local time on Sunday, fire officials and paramedics responded to reports of a “fall from a balcony” at Utah Tech University’s Campus View Student Housing, St. George Fire Chief Robert Stoker said in a statement to ABC News.
The student — who has not been identified — was transported to St. George Regional Hospital where they died “due to the injuries sustained in the fall,” Stoker said.
The university said in a statement to ABC News that the community is “devastated by the loss of a member of our Utah Tech family” and that the student will be “deeply missed on campus.”
“We are thinking of the family and friends and will continue to support one another as we grieve together during this difficult time,” the university said.
Mental health professionals are available for students, faculty and staff “needing assistance processing this tragedy,” the university said.
Classes for the new academic year at Utah Tech began on Aug. 20, according to the school’s calendar.
The Utah Tech University Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Courtesy Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
(TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.) — Authorities were searching for the 42-year-old suspect in Saturday’s Michigan Walmart stabbing rampage less than 24 hours before the incident, the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office said in a release on Monday.
The sheriff’s office on Friday received a court order from the State of Michigan 7th Probate Court of Emmet County instructing that Bradford James Gille be taken into custody, according to the release.
Sheriff’s deputies spent Friday and Saturday patrolling and actively searching for Gille, whom the order identified as homeless. The sheriff’s office did not say why the court order was issued.
“Regrettably, less than 24 hours after receiving this order, a tragic series of events occurred in Traverse City,” the sheriff’s office said in the release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this devastating situation.”
Gille, whom authorities said was from Cheboygan County, Michigan, facing charges of terrorism and assault with intent to murder after he allegedly stabbed 11 people at a Walmart store in Michigan and was apprehended by a group of citizens, including one armed with a gun, authorities said on Sunday.
The suspect allegedly entered the Walmart store in Traverse City, about 150 miles north of Grand Rapids, around 4:10 p.m. on Saturday and began attacking people with a folding knife, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
“It appears that these were all random acts,” said Shea, adding that the attacks began near the checkout area.
Shea said investigators are combing through security video that recorded nearly all of the attack.
Witnesses helped law enforcement officers stop the attack and take the suspect in custody, Shea said.
Bystander video that surfaced online and was confirmed as authentic by the sheriff showed a group of citizens, including one who drew a handgun on the suspect, forcing him to drop his knife.
“What they did was amazing,” said Shea, adding that the citizens likely saved others from being attacked.
Shea said a sheriff’s deputy who was near the Walmart at the time of the attack responded to the scene in less than a minute and placed the suspect under arrest.
A motive for the attack remains under investigation, Shea said.
Shea said the suspect attacked the victims without any warning and without making any verbal threats. He said one person was stabbed just outside the store, another was stabbed in the vestibule of the store and the remaining nine victims were attacked inside the store.
The victims, six men and four women, ranged in ages from 29 to 84, Shea said, with three of the victims in their 80s and one in his 70s.
The victims were taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, with six of them initially listed in critical condition and the remaining five in serious condition, authorities said Saturday.
“Over the past 12 hours, we’ve seen encouraging signs of recovery from our patients,” Munson Healthcare said in an updated statement on Sunday morning, which noted that seven of the stabbing victims were in fair condition and four were in serious condition. Officials said during the Sunday afternoon press conference that five of the stabbing victims were now in fair condition, four were in serious condition and one had been released from the hospital.
Shea said no other suspects are being sought in the attack: “We believe he acted alone at this time.”
Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Moeggenberg said during Sunday’s press conference that Gille is expected to be arraigned on Monday. Moeggenberg said he’s charged with terrorism because he allegedly attempted to strike fear in the community.
“Thankfully no one else was injured,” the sheriff said, adding, “Eleven is 11 too many but thank God it wasn’t more.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement on X that she was monitoring the situation.
“I’m in touch with law enforcement about the horrible news out of Traverse City. Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence,” she said.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement on social media that FBI personnel responded to the scene, “to provide any necessary support to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of the attacks at the Walmart.”
In a statement, a Walmart spokesperson said “Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we’re thankful for the swift action of first responders. We’ll continue working closely with law enforcement during their investigation.”
(PLAINFIELD, N.J.) — A huge line of severe weather passed through on Thursday night, killing at least three people in New Jersey and complicating travel for millions on the move for the Fourth of July weekend.
A deadly storm with winds topping 60 mph tore through central New Jersey, forcing one town to cancel its Fourth of July celebrations.
Thursday night’s severe thunderstorm killed at least three people: one in North Plainfield and two in Plainfield, about 30 miles west of New York, ABC New York station WABC reported.
The Plainfield fatalities were 79-year-old Rocco Sansone and 25-year-old Brian Ernesto Valladares, who died when a tree fell on their car, according to the city.
“Our hearts are heavy,” Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. “We mourn with the families and stand ready to support them in every way possible.”
Plainfield is under a state of emergency, with the mayor saying the “devastating storm” left “deep scars.”
Homes and cars have been damaged and some houses are structurally compromised from fallen trees, city officials said. Over 80 trees were knocked down, including many that are blocking roads or are entangled with power lines, officials said.
“In light of this tragedy, we cannot, in good conscience, proceed with our Fourth of July parade, concert, or fireworks,” the mayor said in a statement overnight. “This is not a time for celebration. It is a time to regroup and focus all our energy on recovery.”
“There will be a time to celebrate again, to raise our flags and enjoy the joys of community,” the mayor said. “But right now, we must come together to clean up, to support one another, and to begin the work of rebuilding.”
(NEW YORK) — Pedro Hernandez, the man convicted of kidnapping and murdering Etan Patz in 1979, should be retried or released, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based its decision on a flawed jury instruction given by a New York state judge about Hernandez’s purported confessions.
Hernandez, 64, is currently in state prison serving a sentence of 25 years to life after he was convicted in 2017 of kidnapping and murdering Patz, the 6-year-old boy whose face was the first placed on a milk carton to seek public help finding missing children.
A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “We are reviewing the decision.”
Because of the lack of physical evidence, the trial — Hernandez’s second, after the first jury hung — hinged entirely on Hernandez’s purported confessions to luring Etan into a basement as he walked to his school bus stop alone in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.
Hernandez, who has a documented history of mental illnesses and a low IQ, initially confessed after seven hours of questioning by three police officers. Immediately after Hernandez confessed, the police administered Miranda warnings, began a video recording and had Hernandez repeat his confession on tape. He did so again, several hours later, to an assistant district attorney.
When deliberating, the jury sent the judge three different notes about Hernandez’s confessions. One of them asked the judge to explain whether, if the jury found that Hernandez’s confession before he was read his rights “was not voluntary,” it “must disregard” the later confessions. The judge responded, without further explanation, “the answer is, no.”
The federal appeals court concluded “the state trial court’s instruction was clearly wrong” and “that the error was manifestly prejudicial.” The court said Hernandez must be released or retried within a reasonable amount of time.
Hernandez, a stock boy at a local convenience store, was accused of luring Patz to the basement with a bottle of soda. Patz vanished on the first day he was allowed to walk to the school bus stop alone on May 25, 1979.
