California police dog fatally shot in the line of duty while searching for armed suspect: Officials
Spike, a police dog with the Burbank Police Department, gave the “ultimate sacrifice” after he was fatally shot while searching for an armed suspect who escaped from officials following a traffic stop, police said. Burbank Police Department
(BURBANK, Calif.) — A California police dog gave the “ultimate sacrifice” after an armed suspect fled from law enforcement and fatally shot the canine in the line of duty, according to the Burbank Police Department.
Spike, who officials described as an “intelligent and devoted partner,” was killed on Saturday after authorities conducted a traffic stop, which escalated into an officer-involved shooting, police said in a statement.
While police were conducting the traffic stop on Saturday evening, the passenger of the vehicle fled on foot, ran up the nearby freeway ramp and jumped over the embankment wall into a nearby residential neighborhood, officials said.
Officers remained with the driver of the vehicle and requested assistance to find the runaway suspect, police said. A “coordinated search” was initiated using a helicopter and a police canine, later identified as Spike, officials said.
During the search, Spike located the suspect, who was armed with a handgun, officials said.
The suspect, who has not been identified, then fired “multiple rounds, striking the canine, before fleeing on foot,” police said.
Spike, who was transported to a local emergency veterinarian, “succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased,” police said.
After a continued search with the help of an air support unit, police said they were able to locate the suspect.
While officials were negotiating with the armed individual, the suspect began “shooting at police officers, striking police vehicles.”
Police retuned fire, fatally striking the suspect, officials said.
The individual’s handgun was recovered at the scene, with officials saying the investigation remains ongoing.
The fallen canine, who was “known for his gentle nature off duty and his tenacity and dedication while serving” was honored with a procession on Sunday.
“Your mission is complete, hero,” police said in a statement on Sunday.
Burbank police Lt. Derek Green told ABC Los Angeles station KABC losing Spike is “no different than losing a police officer.”
“It’s a dog, but it’s part of our law enforcement family,” Green told KABC. “These police K-9s are essentially a partner to it’s handler.”
Officials told KABC they are in the process of planning a public memorial for Spike.
Spike is at least the 22nd police K-9 to die in the line of duty in the U.S. this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. He is the first from California to die in more than two years.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
(ELLSWORTH, Maine) — The Maine secretary of state’s office is investigating after 250 blank election ballots were found in a resident’s Amazon order last week, saying misconduct has not been ruled out, while maintaining the safety of the state’s election process.
The same day that an unnamed resident reported the bizarre delivery, the town of Ellsworth — 40 miles away — reported 250 missing absentee ballots, according to officials.
During a press conference this week, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is running for governor, said her office has partnered with the FBI, the U.S. Postal Service and other state agencies to lead the probe.
“This year, it seems that there may have been attempts to interrupt the distribution of ballots and ballot materials, but we are stronger and better than anyone who tries to do our elections harm. Time and time again, election officials and law enforcement rise to meet the challenges we face,” Bellows said.
“I have full confidence that law enforcement will determine who is responsible, and any bad actor will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers,” Bellows added.
Early in-person voting began in Maine on Monday for the Nov. 4 election, where constituents will decide on a referendum that could tighten restrictions on absentee voting in the state.
Bellows maintained the safety of this election at the press conference.
“Even if the most enterprising criminal were able to fabricate Maine ballots or Maine absentee ballot envelopes or if that chain of custody were broken, our elections would remain free, safe and secure because of the checks and balances in absentee voting itself,” Bellows said at the news conference.
Amazon told ABC News in a statement that the company is cooperating with relevant investigators on the situation.
“We’re cooperating with the law enforcement agencies investigating this incident. Based on our initial findings, it appears that this package was tampered with outside of our fulfillment and delivery network, and not by an Amazon employee or partner,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
Amazon’s initial findings match the description shared by the woman who received the blank ballots originally. She told officials that the package appeared to have been previously opened and retaped before she received it and handed it over to the Newburgh town office.
Bellows and Maine’s elections previously garnered national attention when she called for the removal of now-President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot in 2024, which was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, center, speaks during a news conference along with announcing the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, of Florida, a suspect in the Palisades fire after a nine-month investigation into the blaze that killed 12 people, at the United States Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Among the evidence that were collected from his digital devices were images he generated o
(LOS ANGELES) — Months after the Palisades Fire devastated parts of Los Angeles County and killed a dozen people, officials announced the arrest of a man they say “maliciously” lit a fire that grew into the monster blaze.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is accused of igniting a fire on Jan. 1 in the Pacific Palisades that ultimately erupted into the Palisades Fire, the Department of Justice said.
The New Year’s Day brush fire was suppressed by fire crews but continued to smolder underground before high winds caused it to surface and spread nearly a week later, “causing what became known as the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles city history,” acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a press conference on Wednesday.
What became known as the Lachman Fire was detected at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1 on a hilltop in the Pacific Palisades, according to the DOJ.
Rinderknecht, who the DOJ said was working as an Uber driver at the time and once lived in the Pacific Palisades — had dropped a customer off in the Pacific Palisades and then drove to a trail in the area of the fire, according to the complaint. Two of his passengers that night allegedly told law enforcement later that he appeared “agitated and angry,” the complaint stated.
The complaint alleges Rinderknecht caused the fire by lighting a combustible material, such as vegetation or paper, with an open flame, likely a lighter.
He attempted to contact 911 several times to report the fire, before ultimately getting through once he had cell service, according to the complaint. He allegedly made a three-minute screen-recording of his iPhone while attempting to call 911 and asking ChatGPT, “Are you at fault if a fire is lift [sic] because of your cigarettes?” according to the complaint.
“Based on my training and experience and this investigation, this indicates that RINDERKNECHT wanted to preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire and he wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire,” a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit in the complaint.
Essayli said the suspect left in his car but then returned and filmed firefighters responding to the blaze.
There is no indication that anyone else was in the area at the time the fire started, Essayli said.
Investigators interviewed Rinderknecht on Jan. 24, during which he allegedly lied about where he was when he saw the Lachman Fire, according to the DOJ.
“He claimed he was near the bottom of a hiking trail when he first saw the fire and called 911, but geolocation data from his iPhone carrier showed that he was standing in a clearing 30 feet from the fire as it rapidly grew,” the DOJ said in a press release.
Essayli said he didn’t want to discuss motive, though he pointed to digital evidence included in the complaint of an image Rinderknecht allegedly generated in July 2024 using ChatGPT, showing in part “a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it.”
“You could see some of his thought process in the months leading up, where he was generating some really concerning images up on ChatGPT, which appears to show a dystopian city being burned down,” Essayli said.
Rinderknecht has been charged by criminal complaint with destruction of property by means of fire. He was arrested on Tuesday near his residence in Florida, officials said.
He was denied bail during a detention hearing in Orlando federal court on Thursday, with the judge concerned he is a flight risk, Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV reported.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Oct. 17 in Orlando. It is not yet clear when he will be extradited to California.
The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted, the DOJ said.
Essayli said the DOJ will make determinations on additional charges against Rinderknecht in the coming days.
The Palisades Fire erupted on Jan. 7, burning more than 23,000 acres over more than three weeks and destroying nearly 7,000 structures, decimating the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to California fire officials.
It ignited the same day as the Eaton Fire, which burned more than 14,000 acres in Los Angeles County, destroying more than 9,400 structures and killing 19 people, according to officials.
The fires started burning during strong Santa Ana winds, which, combined with dry conditions, helped their ability to spread quickly. This spread prompted mass evacuations.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell called the investigation into the Palisades Fire “extremely intensive and thorough.”
“I’m proud of the professionalism and dedication shown by our detectives and the team who work collaboratively with our federal, state and local partners,” he said during the press briefing. “That teamwork ultimately led to the arrest of the suspect responsible for this devastating crime.”
Over the past eight months, investigators pursued more than 200 leads, conducted hundreds of interviews and collected more than 13,000 pieces of evidence, including fire debris, digital data and DNA samples, as part of the probe, according to Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Los Angeles Field Division.
“We have a lot of different data that all concluded where this fire started, and the fire behavior from that origin, from that Lachman Fire, was clearly established in the Palisades Fire,” Cooper said at the press briefing.
Uber said it worked with the ATF to “help determine the driver’s whereabouts” the night of the fire.
“As soon as we learned of the driver’s suspected involvement we removed their access to the Uber platform and continued to work with the ATF on this nine-month investigation,” Uber said in a statement Wednesday.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the arrest a step toward “closure” and “justice” following the catastrophic fire.
Following the announcement of the arrest on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department released a 70-page report reviewing its response to the Palisades Fire. Among over 40 lessons and recommendations included in the report, the department said its daily fire weather forecast is “antiquated” by focusing on the entire city and should be updated to provide more localized information, it should immediately review its procedures for recalling firefighters during an emergency, and warning sirens should be considered to alert residents independent of cell service.
Some steps taken by the city in the wake of the fire are in line with the report’s recommendations, such as stronger recall protocols, the mayor’s office said.
“The Palisades Fire was one of the worst natural disasters in our city’s history. It is vital we learn from what was effective, like the relentless heroism of firefighters responding to the blaze, and the challenges we faced in order to build a stronger emergency response system to prepare for whatever may come our way,” Bass said in a statement on the report.
(NEW YORK) — New York City police are searching for a man on parole who allegedly broke into a Queens home, killed a couple and set their house on fire, authorities said.
Frank Olton, 76, was found on Monday tied to a pole in his basement suffering from multiple stab wounds, and his wife Maureen Olton, 77, was found on the house’s first floor, severely burned, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The Oltons’ son, a New York City Fire Department paramedic, was alerted to the fire by an alarm system and he responded to the house, police said.
There’s no known connection between the victims and the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Jamel McGriff, Tisch said.
Detectives believe the suspect spent five hours in the victims’ house, according to sources, likely searching for property to steal before setting it ablaze. Surveillance video showed the suspect leaving the home around 3 p.m., police said.
Witnesses reported a man knocking on a neighbor’s door on Monday morning, asking to charge his phone, Tisch said, and that neighbor turned the suspect away. Surveillance video showed the suspect going to the victims’ house and Frank Olton letting him in, according to the commissioner.
Tisch called the crime a “horrific double homicide, robbery and arson.”
She said police are asking for the public’s help to find McGriff, warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
McGriff, who is out on parole for first-degree robbery, “has a lengthy violent criminal history stretching back 30 years,” Tisch said. He failed to register as a sex offender in November 2024 “which should have violated his parole,” she said, and he is also wanted for two robberies in Manhattan this summer.
“This suspect’s MO is to go door-to-door asking for some kind of assistance until he can gain entry — so do not allow anyone you don’t know or who you are not expecting into your home,” she stressed.
