Biden last had a PSA blood test in 2014, following medical guidelines
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(WASHINGTON) — A representative for former President Joe Biden said he last took a prostate-specific antigen blood test, commonly used to screen for prostate cancer, in 2014.
Although the exact date of the test wasn’t disclosed, Biden was around 72 years old at the time, which falls in line with current medical guidance and recommendations on who should take a test.
Current screening recommendations suggest men age 55 to 69 should discuss the benefits and harms of a PSA test with their doctor and make an individual decision when or if they need it. Men 70 and older should not receive PSA-based screening because of the risk of false positives, according to the United States Preventive Services Task Force.
“Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Biden announced Sunday that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
The older a person is, the more the risk of false positives and unnecessary biopsies increases. Conversely, some people with cancer might have good PSA scores. PSA screening is highly debated among doctors in terms of when it’s appropriate to use.
Biden’s representatives said the former president had a routine physical last week and doctors discovered a small nodule in his prostate.
Since his diagnosis was revealed two days ago, President Donald Trump questioned the timing of the announcement and claimed that “somebody is not telling the facts.”
“I’m surprised that it wasn’t, you know — the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine — that’s a long time,” Trump said Monday.
(FLORIDA) — The son of a local sheriff’s deputy allegedly opened fire near the Student Union at Florida State University in Tallahassee on Thursday, killing two people and injuring six others, authorities said.
The suspect — 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a current FSU student — was shot by responders and has been hospitalized, police said. He was taken into custody with non-life-threatening injuries, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Ikner is the son of a current Leon County sheriff’s deputy, according to Sheriff Walter McNeil. He had access to one of his mother’s personal weapons, which was one of the weapons found at the scene, the sheriff said. It appeared Ikner had a handgun and a shotgun with him, police said.
The suspect’s mother has been a deputy with the department for more than 18 years and “her service to this community has been exceptional,” McNeil said.
The suspect was also a “long-standing member” of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Advisory Council, McNeil said.
He was “engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” the sheriff said, adding, “Not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
The campus has been secured, police said.
Police have not identified the two people killed but said they were not students.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said it’s received six patients, all in fair condition.
In a statement to the Florida State University community, the institution’s president, Richard McCullough, called the shooting a “tragic and senseless act of violence at the heart of our campus.”
“Right now, our focus is on taking care of people. That means the victims and their families. It means students, faculty, and staff who were nearby and are now trying to make sense of what they experienced. And it means every person in our campus community who is feeling shaken or overwhelmed,” the president said.
The families of the victims in the shooting have been contacted, according to the latest update from the university’s FSU Alerts. Those who have been separated from their belongings during the shooting will have the opportunity to retrieve them at a later date.
Sophomore Paula Maldonado told ABC News she was in class near the Student Union when she heard what sounded like yelling outside.
“Right after, the active threat alarm went off,” she said. “Everyone in my class quickly turned off the lights, put desks to block off the door and hid by the front of the classroom.”
“We were quiet and some were whispering,” Maldonado said. “Some were also crying and helping each other. Like a student next to me told me to put my backpack in front of me to protect myself.”
“A cop came inside and I thought it was the shooter, so it was very scary. But after a couple of minutes another cop came back in and told us to go outside with our hands up, Maldonado said.
Student Daniella Streety told ABC News she was in the building across the street from the Student Union when alert sirens started blaring, and people who were standing outside ran into her building.
Students then fled from the Student Union as law enforcement flooded the scene, she said.
Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the Parkland high school shooting in South Florida in 2018, said some of Jaime’s classmates now attend FSU.
“Incredibly, some of them were just a part of their 2nd school shooting and some were in the student union today,” Guttenberg, who has become a gun reform supporter, wrote on social media. “As a father, all I ever wanted after the Parkland shooting was to help our children be safe. Sadly, because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today.”
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “My heart breaks for the students, their families, and faculty at Florida State University. There is no place in American society for violence. Our entire nation is praying for the victims and their families.”
FSU said classes are canceled through Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Olivia Osteen, Sony Salzman and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
(DEDHAM, Mass.) — With closing arguments now underway, the second sensational trial of Karen Read — accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in 2022 — is nearing a close.
Prosecutors allege Read hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her car outside the home of fellow police officer Brian Albert in January 2022 and then left him to die there during a major blizzard.
The defense has argued Read’s vehicle did not hit O’Keefe and instead said O’Keefe was attacked by a dog and beaten by other people who were in the house before he was thrown out in the snow to die.
Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial last July after the jury could not reach a verdict.
At least four jurors who served on her first trial last year have confirmed that she was found not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving a scene of personal injury and death, according to Read’s attorneys. However, the jury could not come to an agreement on a third charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, the attorneys said.
Her lawyers filed multiple appeals, all the way to the Supreme Court, claiming Read should not be retried on the counts the jury apparently agreed on, saying it would amount to double jeopardy. Each appeal was denied.
Read has pleaded not guilty to all three charges and maintains her innocence.
Here are top takeaways from the trial as the jury is about to receive the case:
Former state police officer not called to testify in 2nd trial
The lead investigator in the case, former Massachusetts State Police officer Michael Proctor — who was a key witness in Read’s first trial — was not called to the stand in her retrial.
Damning testimony in her first trial led to the suspension and later firing of Proctor last July. Two other state troopers were also subject to internal affairs investigations after her first trial.
It was revealed that Proctor was communicating with Canton police officer Kevin Albert — the brother of the man who hosted the gathering where O’Keefe was found dead — during the investigation ahead of Read’s first trial.
Proctor also sent text messages that described Read in lewd and defamatory manner, as revealed during the first trial.
At one point during the first trial, attorneys for Read questioned Proctor about searching for nude photos on Read’s phone.
Judge denied 1st motion for mistrial
Read’s attorneys made motions for a mistrial twice during her second criminal trial, both of which were denied by the judge.
The first motion came after prosecutors questioned a defense expert witness about whether there was evidence of dog DNA on O’Keefe’s sweater from the night of the murder. The defense’s witness had argued marks on O’Keefe’s arm were evidence of a dog attack.
The sweatshirt had — up to this point in trial — not been presented to this jury. The jury was removed from the room as attorneys made arguments to the judge.
Defense attorneys for Read argued that prosecutors could not mention DNA in this trial since it had not been mentioned so far. Prosecutors said they had always planned to introduce DNA evidence on rebuttal.
The defense also questioned the credibility of the report that determined there was no dog DNA and questioned why there was no swabbing of the wounds on O’Keefe’s arm for DNA. They also had a series of concerns about the chain of custody of the sweater.
Prosecutors admit to making a mistake over O’Keefe sweater, mistrial motion denied
In an explosive moment during the trial, defense attorney Robert Alessi claimed prosecutor Hank Brennan pulled a “stunt” in his cross-examination of Dr. Daniel Wolfe. Brennan had shown Wolfe the back of O’Keefe’s sweatshirt, and asked him if the holes in the back of the sweatshirt could be related to the alleged killing.
Alessi said the holes had been made by the prosecutor’s witness, criminologist Maureen Hartnett.
Alessi said the defense had “no idea” that Brennan was going to do this, claiming it was an intentional “stunt” to mislead the jury into believing the holes were caused by Read allegedly hitting O’Keefe with her car.
Brennan addressed the court and admitted he had made a mistake by presenting the hoodie as he did.
However, Judge Beverly Cannone denied the motion for mistrial. but did instruct the jury to disregard Brennan’s line of questioning, and will allow the exhibits presented by Alessi into evidence.
Karen Read does not take the stand
Like her first trial, Read did not take the stand in her own defense.
Read’s defense rested after its last witness on Wednesday and prosecutors did not call any rebuttal witnesses.
“I am not testifying. The case is — it’s our last witness. [The jury] has heard my interview clips. They’ve heard my voice,” Read said to reporters outside the courthouse last week, according to Boson ABC affiliate WCVB. “They’ve heard a lot of me.”
(COLCHESTER, Vt.) — A federal judge in Vermont set a hearing for next Wednesday to decide whether to release Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia student who was arrested last week, while his case proceeds.
Mahdawi, who was arrested last Monday during his citizenship interview, was present during the hearing.
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford kicked off Wednesday’s hearing by asking Mahdawi if he was being treated well in the deletion facility in Vermont.
“I’m grateful for the kindness of the state, your honor,” Mahdawi said.
Before briefly discussing the motion from Mahdawi’s attorneys to release him, Judge Crawford extended the temporary restraining order that was issued by a separate judge last week to keep Mahdawi in Vermont.
“I don’t want Mr. Mahdawi to be whisked away to another state,” Judge Crawford said.
Mahdawi, who co-founded a university organization called Palestinian Student Union with detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, is a permanent resident of the U.S. and was taking his last step in the process for him to become a U.S. citizen before his arrest, his attorneys said.
In a court filing on Monday, Mahdawi’s attorneys said that he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
Mahdawi’s attorneys said his release is necessary to avoid “what is a devastating punitive consequence of Mahdawi’s continued detention, namely, the disruption of his education.”
During the hearing Wednesday, attorneys for Mahdawi argued that the federal judge in Vermont should preserve the court’s jurisdiction in the case and said that an immigration court “does not have the authority to address the egregious violation of his First Amendment.”
The judge seemed to agree with Mahdawi’s attorneys and pointed out that Mahdawi is a Vermont resident and that he was arrested in the state.
“If he’s moved to another state, it creates a second tier of issues,” Judge Crawford said. “He’s a Vermont resident, he was arrested in Vermont.”
The judge said that he will give the government until Monday to reply to Mahdawi’s attorneys’ motion for release.
During the hearing, Michael Drescher, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Vermont, said he was not authorized to “justify” the extension of the TRO to keep Mahdawi in Vermont. Drescher also requested an opportunity to respond to Mahdawi’s attorney’s motion from Tuesday requesting his release.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment.
