Search underway after 4 climbers fall on tallest mountain in North America
A view of the highest mountain peak in North America. (Lance King/Getty Images)
(DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, Ala.) — A search and rescue mission is underway after four people fell while climbing Mount McKinley at 18,200 feet, according to the National Park Service.
Mount McKinley — located in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve — is the tallest peak in North America, according to the NPS.
The climbers, part of a seven-member climbing team, fell in the vicinity of Denali Pass, according to the NPS.
The NPS received a report of the incident at around midnight Thursday after two other climbers were evacuated by helicopter from the mountain at around 11 p.m. Wednesday, as part of a separate incident, the NPS said.
Three members of the climbing team returned to High Camp at 17,000 feet after attending to their fallen partners, the NPS said.
The NPS said it is actively responding to the incident. Weather conditions on the mountain are improving and will soon enable helicopter operations, the NPS said.
The extent of the climbers’ injuries and their condition remains unknown, the NPS said.
Florida State University shooting victim Tiru Chabba. (Chabba family via Storm Law Firm)
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Attorneys representing the family of Florida State University shooting victim Tiru Chabba have filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and its artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT, alleging that the company could have done more to prevent the shooting.
The complaint, which was filed on Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, also names the shooting suspect, Phoenix Ikner, as a defendant.
According to ChatGPT logs released by law enforcement in Florida, Ikner allegedly consulted ChatGPT as he planned the attack and asked pointed questions about gun operations and media coverage. He even consulted the platform about the busiest time on the FSU campus, according to the logs.
Chabba’s family attorney, Bakari Sellers, said these messages date back about 18 months ago and include 16,000 different “disturbing chats.”
“This is the same person who asked, you know, how can he become infamous? He asked about the Columbine shooting. He asked about what time should he go to campus? What time are most people going to be there?” Sellers said, describing the alleged messages that Ikner sent to ChatGPT.
“He literally utilized open AI and Chat GPT as his co-conspirator, utilized it as a resource to carry out mass murder,” Sellers added. “There was nothing in place to prevent that from happening and so lives were lost. That’s the inherent danger, there has to be something in place to prevent that from happening.”
Drew Pusateri, an OpenAI spokesperson, told ABC News in a statement: “Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime. After learning of the incident, we identified an account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement. We continue to cooperate with authorities. In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity. ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.”
The lawsuit comes after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced last month that the Office of Statewide Prosecution launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT after prosecutors reviewed the chat logs.
“Florida is leading the way in cracking down on AI’s use in criminal behavior, and if ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said in a statement on April 21. “This criminal investigation will determine whether OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for ChatGPT’s actions in the shooting at Florida State University last year.”
OpenAI did not respond to ABC News’ request when asked about the probe by the attorney general.
The shooting, which took place on the FSU campus on April 17, 2025, injured six people and killed two people – Chabba and Robert Morales, both of whom worked for the university’s dining services.
Ikner, whose trial is set for October 2026, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
ABC News’ Luke Barr and Jeana Fermi contributed to this report.
Pro-Palestinian activists rally for Mohsen Mahdawi and protest against deportations outside of ICE Headquarters on April 15, 2025, in New York City. Mohsen Mahdawi, an organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year at Columbia University, was detained by the Department of Homeland Security during his naturalization interview in Vermont on Monday. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
The Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against pro-Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, according to a court filing from his attorneys.
In February, Judge Nina Froes dropped the deportation case against the Columbia University student, ruling in part that the Department of Homeland Security failed to authenticate a memo allegedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming Mahdawi posed a threat to United States foreign policy.
The Trump administration appealed that decision and the BIA, which skews conservative, overturned Froes’ decision.
he move reinstates deportation proceedings against Mahdawi, but it will be overseen by a different judge after Froes was terminated from her position. Her firing comes as critics of the Trump administration say it has sought to reshape immigration courts by replacing immigration judges in an attempt to ramp up deportations.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Mahdawi’s arrest is still being challenged in federal court, so the government can’t deport him for the moment, the ACLU said. He was detained in April 2025 when he arrived at his citizenship interview.
“The government continues to weaponize the immigration system to silence dissent,” Mahdawi said in a statement. “But it cannot erase the Constitution or the First Amendment, which protects free speech for all. The government is trying to punish and deport me, a stateless Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank, because it opposes my peaceful advocacy for human dignity and equal rights for Palestinians. But I remain unafraid and faithful that justice will prevail in America and in Palestine.”
Arguing for his detainment last spring, lawyers for the Trump administration pointed to a 2015 FBI investigation, in which a gun shop owner alleged that Mahdawi had claimed to have built machine guns in the West Bank to kill Jews.
However, the FBI closed that investigation and Mahdawi was never charged with any crime, a point a federal judge highlighted when he ordered Mahdawi’s release in May 2025.
Stock image of police lights. (Douglas Sacha/Getty Images)
(PHILADELPHIA) — One person is dead and another two remain unaccounted for after a seven-story parking garage under construction in Philadelphia partially collapsed, officials said.
A search and rescue operation is ongoing for the two individuals following Wednesday’s partial collapse, in what Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker called a “complex process” due to the instability of the structure.
“We will not rest until everyone is accounted for from this tragedy,” Parker said at a press briefing late Wednesday.
Three people were rescued from the scene, according to Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson. One was critically injured and died at a hospital, he said. The two others were treated and have since been released, he said.
The incident occurred around 2:17 p.m. Wednesday, according to Parker. A subcontractor was in the process of installing precast concrete floor decking and roof segments at the time, she said.
“After placement, a precast roof segment failed and fell to the level below, literally triggering a progressive collapse of connected sections across all seven levels,” Parker said.
Thompson said engineers and others are evaluating the building so that a safe search and rescue operation can occur.
“We will not stop until we have looked through every part of this affected structure to ensure that everyone is accounted for,” he said, noting that this process will “take time.”
“This building that has been impacted is unstable. It has to be secured,” he said. “We have to very carefully and methodically deconstruct this building for the safety of the people working on it, and ultimately, for the safety of the first responders who will continue the search.”
The owner of the parking garage is the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the contractor for the project is based in Exton, Pennsylvania, according to Parker.
“We are prioritizing the safety of the construction workers at this time and working closely with the City of Philadelphia and our construction partners,” the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said in a statement.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration offers those on the ground “our full support as they continue rescue efforts at the scene and support the families impacted.”
Eight permits required for the construction were properly issued, and all inspections were up to date, according to Parker.
“The city will investigate this garage collapse thoroughly and efficiently to learn all of the relevant facts of this terrible tragedy,” she said.
