Dept. of Defense shoots down Customs and Border Protection drone near El Paso: Officials
The new MQ-9 Predator B, an unmanned surveillance aircraft system, unveiled by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), October 30, 2006 (Photo by Gary Williams/Getty Images)
(EL PASO, Texas) — The Department of Defense mistakenly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone over El Paso, according to a statement from House representatives and a congressional aide.
Congress was briefed on the incident on Thursday, a source confirmed to ABC News.
The Federal Aviation Administration expanded its temporary flight restrictions over the Fort Hancock airspace in Texas, about 50 miles to the southeast of El Paso, which prohibits all flight operations there through June 24, due to “security” reasons.
The location of the airspace restriction does not impact commercial flights, according to the FAA.
The Pentagon, CBP and the FAA released a joint statement in response to the incident.
“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” the statement said.
“The engagement took place far away from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity,” the statement went on to say. “These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”
The statement didn’t include specifics about the nature of the drone that was shot down but said: “At President Trump’s direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.S.-Mexico Border.”
Congressional Democrats issued a statement criticizing the incident.
In the statement, ranking members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure said: “Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system.”
The statement, from Rick Larsen, D-Wash., André Carson, D-Ind. and Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., called out the White House directly.
“We said MONTHS ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA was a short-sighted idea. Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence,” the members said.
The incident comes after the FAA’s abrupt shutdown of airspace over El Paso earlier this month.
Sources with direct knowledge told ABC News at the time that it came days after a laser was used by the Department of Homeland Security to shoot down an object in the vicinity of Fort Bliss. One of the sources said the object was a balloon.
The FAA imposed a surprise 10-day shutdown of airspace within a 10-mile radius of El Paso, halting all arrivals and departures at its airport for what it initially described only as “special security reasons.”
Within hours, the FAA rescinded the order. The Trump administration said the closing of airspace was related to the military neutralizing cartel drones, not a balloon.
Two days after a deadly New Jersey shooting killed a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman, officials are urging for the suspects to turn themselves in. WABC
(NEWARK, N.J.) — Officials are urging the suspects involved in the deadly shooting of a 10-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman in New Jersey over the weekend to turn themselves in for committing the “heinous crime.”
“What you did was cowardly, heartless and unforgivable. You prove nothing but your own weakness,” Essex County Sheriff Amir Jones said during a press conference on Monday. “We are coming, there is no hiding, there is no running. There is no corner of this county that will keep you hidden. Turn yourselves in before we come knocking on your door.”
At approximately 7 p.m. on Saturday, police received reports of multiple shots fired in Newark’s South Ward, officials said. A total of five people were injured in the shooting, with two of them later pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.
The victims were identified as 10-year-old Jordan Garcia and 21-year-old Kia Mae Scott, according to New York ABC station WABC.
“To hear the yelling and the wailing of those mothers in the hospital is something that I will never forget,” Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said on Monday.
An 11-year-old boy, who is Garcia’s brother, was also injured in the shooting, but is in stable condition, officials said.
The two others injured in the shooting, a 60-year-old and a 19-year-old, remain in the hospital, with the 19-year-old in critical condition, officials said.
As of Monday morning, no suspects have been arrested in connection to the shooting, officials said.
“The best thing for them to do is turn themselves in immediately. The entire community is on alert. There is nothing that you can say or do that would justify a 10-year-old losing his life. The community is on alert and on lookout and we’ll make sure that justice is done in this community,” Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said on Monday.
A $10,000 reward is currently available for any information that leads to an arrest, Jones said, calling the shooting an “attack on everything this city and county stands for.”
Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said the shooting goes “against the trend of downward crime” in the county and the city of Newark, which makes the incident more “vexing” and “difficult.” Stephens said there has been more than a 50% decrease in homicides in Newark this year compared to 2021.
There were 49 murders in 2022 year-to-date, with the number dropping to 46 in 2023, 37 in 2024 and 21 so far this year, according to data from the Newark Department of Public Safety.
A motive for the shooting and whether there were multiple suspects involved was not revealed on Monday.
Officials said they have obtained video surveillance from the night of the shooting and are continuing to canvas the area to find “as much as possible.”
Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-877-TIPS-4EC.
The FBI released new images on Dec. 15, 2025, of an individual sought in connection with the mass shooting at Brown University. FBI
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump posted to social media early on Wednesday regarding the ongoing search for a gunman who killed two students at Brown University last weekend, criticizing the university for having so few security cameras on campus.
“Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras?” the president wrote. “There can be no excuse for that. In the modern age, it just doesn’t get worse!!!”
Students Ella Cook, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, were killed in the shooting, which occurred on Saturday afternoon. Nine other students were injured in the attack.
As the search for a person of interest in the shooting stretched into its fifth day on Wednesday, the Providence Police Department released images of an individual investigators said “was in proximity of the person of interest.” Police said only that they would like to speak to the individual.
During a news conference Tuesday night, Col. Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence Police Department, said the only videos investigators have released so far are from outside the building.
“That’s all we have. Not inside, just outside,” Perez said.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha added that investigators have found no security video of the gunman inside the school’s Barus & Holley engineering building, where the shooting unfolded in a lecture hall.
He said the shooting happened in an old section of the engineering complex.
“There was a major addition put onto that building within the last five years or so. That is a modern building attached to a much older one in the back,” Neronha explained. “The shooting occurs in the old part, towards the back, towards Hope Street. In that older part of the building, there are fewer, if any, cameras in that location. I imagine because it’s an older building.”
Neronha said there are cameras in the newer section of the complex, saying they captured “things like the chaos after the shooting.”
“But what they don’t show is this person of interest,” Neronha said. “So, that’s why we haven’t released those videos. What you do have are videos from a camera outside the Brown building and other cameras from around the neighborhood that the good men and women of law enforcement located and put together in this montage.”
Just after the shooting, which the FBI said occurred at 4:03 p.m. local time, a security video captured the individual emerging onto Hope Street from what investigators described as “lot 42” on the Brown campus, near the Barus & Holley building.
As the individual crossed Hope Street, a police cruiser with its emergency lights flashing was seen less than a block away from him, pulling up and stopping on Hope Street near the scene of the shooting.
Neronha said the Barus & Holley building is on the east edge of the campus, abutting a residential neighborhood.
“It’s not in the heartland of the campus, it’s not the green, and there are several greens. It’s not any of them,” Neronha said. “So, it’s right on the edge of the campus, and where the shooting took place is at the very edge of that building on the edge of the campus.”
Neronha added, “As those of you who know Providence know, you are very quickly into a residential neighborhood, which is why the video footage you are seeing of this person of interest’s movements pre-and post-shooting are in that neighborhood.”
In a statement released late Tuesday night, a Brown University spokesperson said there are more than 1,200 security cameras installed across the campus, specifically in high-traffic areas.
“Brown’s security cameras do not extend to every hallway, classroom, laboratory and office across the 250+ buildings on campus,” the spokesperson said. “For security reasons, it is not prudent to share where cameras are and are not relative to individual buildings and locations.”
The spokesperson added that access to most buildings on campus during the daytime “are open and accessible, while after hours, ID card swipes are required for entry.”
Brown has considerably increased security on campus since the shooting, and the school spokesperson said, “We will do a large-scale, systematic security review of the entire campus.”
On Wednesday, the Providence Police Department said investigators are trying to identify an individual they would like to speak to who “was in proximity of the person of interest.” The police department released three images of the person and asked for the public’s help.
In an update on the conditions of victims who are still being treated at Rhode Island Hospital, officials said one patient remains in critical but stable condition, six others are in stable condition and two victims have been discharged.
Police also released enhanced surveillance images and video of a person of interest and asked the public for help identifying the individual based on movement patterns, posture and body language.
Authorities said they believe the person of interest was in the area from around 10 a.m. on Saturday, hours before the attack. The individual may have been surveying the neighborhood in advance, investigators said.
“We believe that he was actually casing out the area,” Col. Perez said of the person of interest, adding, “We strongly believe that he is a suspect in the incident.”
Police said the gunman fled the campus after the shooting. A person of interest was detained and then released by police on Sunday. No charges have been filed and police have not commented on a possible motive.
The FBI described the person of interest as “a male, approximately 5’8″ with a stocky build.”
Police said reviewing the large volume of video data is time-consuming and that public assistance could help identify key moments.
Officials reported they have received hundreds of tips so far, with nearly 200 considered actionable and still under investigation.
Authorities reiterated that there is no credible or specific ongoing threat related to the shooting, but said increased security measures will remain in place as a precaution while the investigation continues.
ABC News’ Alex Ederson contributed to this report.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced on Sunday that a woman missing in Arizona is the mother of “Today Show” host Savannah Guthrie. (Pima County Sheriff’s Department)
(NEW YORK) — Investigations are continuing on Tuesday after the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie disappeared over the weekend in what authorities believe was a possible abduction from her Arizona home, police said.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen in the Catalina Foothills area on Saturday night, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Her family reported her missing on Sunday around noon local time, authorities said.
Investigators do not believe Nancy Guthrie left her home willingly and that she was abducted in her sleep early Sunday morning, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department told ABC News.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators processed Nancy Guthrie’s home on Sunday and “saw some things at the home that were concerning to us,” and that it is considered a crime scene.
“She did not leave on her own, we know that,” Nanos said during a press briefing on Monday.
DNA samples collected from Nancy Guthrie’s home have been confirmed to belong to her, though authorities have not yet confirmed if they were blood, the sheriff’s department said Tuesday.
The sheriff is planning to hold a briefing on the case at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Nancy Guthrie is described as having some physical ailments and limited mobility, but does not have cognitive issues, her family said, according to the sheriff.
She takes medication that if she doesn’t have in 24 hours, “it could be fatal,” Nanos said Monday.
Authorities said they are reviewing the home’s security cameras and have Nancy Guthrie’s cell phone.
Sources briefed on the probe told ABC News that investigators are focusing on Nancy Guthrie’s electronic devices to see if there is data that could point to an assailant or a specific time when the abduction would have occurred.
Investigators are also paying attention to the condition of the home and whether things were moved or left out of place, which could suggest that someone with greater strength or agility was in the home and when, sources said.
“Right now, we don’t see this as a search mission, as much as we do a crime scene,” Nanos said.
In an Instagram post on Monday night, Savannah Guthrie asked her followers for prayers amid the investigation.
“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment,” the talk show host wrote, alongside a prayer.
