Category: National

(UVALDE, Texas) — Editor’s note: Some of the testimony described below is extremely graphic.

The families of some of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting victims passed around tissues before graphic photos were shown in court on Friday at the trial of former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales.

Gonzales — who was one of nearly 400 law enforcement officers to respond to Robb — is charged with child endangerment for allegedly ignoring his training during the botched police response. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed, and investigations have faulted the police response and suggested that a 77-minute delay in police mounting a counterassault could have contributed to the carnage.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his legal team says he did all he could to help students.

Judge Sid Harle issued a warning to the gallery before the jury entered on Friday. 

“I want to forewarn you, these photographs are going to be shocking and gruesome, and if anybody wants to step out, you are welcome to step out, but we cannot have any displays in front of the jury,” Harle said. “I’m forewarning you — these are not going to be pleasant to look at, and I’m sorry you’re going to have to look at them just like I had to.” 

Former Texas Ranger Juan Torrez took the stand and described in detail the crime scene photos he took inside Room 111 at Robb, where all 11 students were killed on May 24, 2022. The teacher was the sole survivor.

“There was a lot of shell casings,” said Torrez, who spent three days photographing the room. “There’s a lot of blood, a lot of blood swipes, and the weapon was in the closet.”

Using a pointer to highlight parts of the photos, Torrez testified about the location of the classroom, damage to the door and areas of the room where students didn’t attempt to hide. Defense lawyers had objected to showing the more graphic images, but Harle allowed the bulk of them into evidence due to their relevance to the prosecution’s case. 

“Does the scene change?” prosector Bill Turner asked Torrez about some of the photos. 

“As far as the presence of blood, it changes dramatically,” Torrez said. “A lot of bullet holes, a lot of shell casings covered in blood, a lot of bullet defects, perforations, penetrations, and just a lot of blood.” 

Over the next hour, the courtroom fell almost entirely silent, other than the testimony and occasional ruffling of tissues and sniffling. Some of the jurors craned their necks to see the photos, while others covered their mouths or lifted tissues to wipe their eyes. The families of the victims sat quietly and no one left the courtroom during the testimony. 

The photos did not show the bodies of students, which were removed prior to the photos being taken. But jurors did see photos showing large pools of blood and the drag marks made when the bodies were removed. Photos also showed dried bloodstains on desks, textbooks and office supplies. 

Torrez testified that investigators placed rods in the cavities left by the bullets to demonstrate the direction of the gunshots. The pink and yellow rods showed that the shooter likely fired downward — through the desks — toward the sheltering students, Torrez said.

Torrez offered his testimony with little context other than his experience as a crime-scene photographer that day. Prosecutors did not explain how the images relate to Gonzales, other than suggesting that his alleged inaction contributed to the loss of life that day. 

Defense attorneys say Gonzales is being scapegoated for a broader failure by law enforcement. In its opening statement this week, the defense alleged that prosecutors were playing on jurors’ emotions and that convicting Gonzales would be an injustice piled on top of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. 

ABC News’ Juan Renteria contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione could stand trial by the end of the year, the judge in his federal case said Friday at a hearing in a Manhattan courtroom that was filled with Mangione’s supporters.

Mangione was back in federal court, where the defense presented arguments seeking to dismiss the death penalty counts against him if he is convicted of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in 2024.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett did not rule on the death penalty question at the conclusion of the hearing, but suggested that if the death penalty remains on the table, jury selection would begin in early September, and the trial would commence sometime in December or January.

If the death penalty is excluded, the judge suggested the trial could start in September.

She set a date for the next hearing on Jan. 30.

Judge Garnett also ruled Friday that Mangione’s backpack was lawfully seized by police when Mangione was apprehended in a Pennsylvania McDonalds’s five days after the shooting.

Two women who flew in from Sicily and came straight from the airport were among those in the courtroom gallery, which was filled with Mangione’s supporters, mostly young women. Many of them were wearing green, the color that has come to represent advocacy for Mangione.

“We have a full house here today,” Judge Garnett said at the outset of the hearing. “It is very important that decorum be maintained.”

The appearance of Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, follows a three-week hearing in state court during which Mangione sought to convince the judge in his state case to exclude some of the critical evidence police said they found in his backpack, including writings and the alleged murder weapon.  The judge has yet to issue a ruling.

Judge Garnett, in issuing her ruling on the legality of the backpack’s seizure, said, “I don’t think it’s really disputed that if you’re arrested in a public place, the police are supposed to safeguard your personal property.”

Garnett said she does not need to schedule a hearing to determine whether to exclude evidence taken from the backpack, but that she reserves the right to reconsider that decision. She has yet to rule on what, if anything, should be suppressed.

“The Government searched the contents of the defendant’s notebook pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack,” prosecutor Sean Buckley argued in an earlier court filing.

“To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant — an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers — that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause,” wrote Buckley.

Paresh Patel, a lawyer from Maryland who recently joined Mangione’s defense team, argued stalking “fails to qualify as a crime of violence” and therefore cannot be the predicate to make Mangione eligible for the death penalty.

Mangione entered the courtroom with his ankles shackled but his hands free.  Unlike his recent appearance in state court, when he wore slacks and blazer, Mangione was dressed in a beige smock and pants and a white long-sleeve T-shirt as he took a seat at the defense table between defense attorneys Karen and Mark Agnifilo.

Earlier this week, prosecutors disputed a defense claim that Mangione should not face the death penalty because of a purported conflict of interest by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The defense said Bondi is continuing to benefit from a 401k established while she worked at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which represents UnitedHealthcare.

Prosecutors said Ballard has made no contributions to her retirement plan since her Senate confirmation as attorney general, and argued that she stands to gain nothing from a “capital outcome” in the Mangione case.

“There is simply no factual basis for the assertion that outside corporate interests influenced the Attorney General’s charging decision in any fashion. The defendant’s insinuations otherwise rest on an inaccurate financial narrative,” Buckley wrote in a court filing.

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(MINNEAPOLIS) — Renee Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mom fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday in an alleged vehicle-ramming incident, “sparkled” and “was made of sunshine,” her wife said in an emotional statement to Minnesota Public Radio.

Becca Good told MPR Friday that on Jan. 7., she and her wife “stopped to support our neighbors” before the incident, which was caught on video and has sparked outrage and protests, occurred.

“We had whistles. They had guns,” she said, according to the statement.

Videos of the incident where Good is seen in her maroon Honda SUV as ICE agents confronted her have gone viral and sparked outcry from people around the country who say that Good was unnecessarily killed.

According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, Good was allegedly “attempting to run over our law enforcement officers” with her car when an ICE officer fatally shot her.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have disputed the federal government’s claims surrounding what led up to the shooting, saying video of the incident shows the agent’s actions were not self-defense.

Messages of sympathy for Renee Good have been pouring out since the shooting.

“Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow,” Becca Good said in her statement.

“Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole,” she added.

Renee Good was a 2020 graduate from Old Dominion University in Virginia, according to the school’s president, Brian Hemphill, who said it is “with great sadness that Old Dominion University mourns the loss of one of our own.”

She graduated from the College of Arts and Letters with a degree in English, according to Hemphill.

“May Renee’s life be a reminder of what unites us: freedom, love, and peace,” he said in a statement. “My hope is for compassion, healing, and reflection at a time that is becoming one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in our nation’s history.”

Walz said that Good is survived by a 6-year-old child. During a news conference Thursday the governor offered his “deepest sympathies” to her family “on an unimaginable tragedy.”

Renee Good was also the mother of two other children, according to her wife. The 6-year-old’s father died, according to Becca Good.

“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him. That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way,” she told MPR.

Becca Good told MPR she and her wife moved to Minnesota “to make a better life for ourselves.”

“Our whole extended road trip here, we held hands in the car while our son drew all over the windows to pass the time and the miles,” she said.

Becca Good talked about the “vibrant and welcoming community,” the two met once they arrived.

“Here, I had finally found peace and safe harbor. That has been taken from me forever,” she said.

“We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine,” Becca Good added.

DHS, along with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has called the agent’s actions “self-defense” and said he followed ICE training.

Noem said during a press conference on Wednesday that Good was using her car as a “deadly weapon” and said it was an “act of domestic terrorism.”

Minneapolis police said preliminary information indicates that she was in her car and blocking the road.

“At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off,” police said. “At least two shots were fired … the vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”

“There is nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity,” police added.

Becca Good told MPR that on Jan. 7. she and her wife “stopped to support our neighbors.”

“We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.

Renee Good suffered gunshot wounds to the head and was transported to an area hospital, where she died, according to city officials.

Following the shooting, a large crowd gathered in the area, which is less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.

Gov. Walz said he has issued a “warning order” to prepare the Minnesota National Guard, saying there are soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed “if necessary,” while urging “peaceful resistance.”

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(NEW YORK) — The judge in Luigi Mangione’s federal case ruled Friday that the accused CEO killer’s backpack was lawfully seized by police when Mangione was apprehended in a Pennsylvania McDonalds’s five days after the shooting.

Mangione returned to Manhattan federal court Friday, where prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty if he’s convicted of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in 2024. 

Two women who flew in from Sicily and came straight from the airport were among those in the courtroom gallery, which was filled with Mangione’s supporters, mostly young women. Many of them were wearing green, the color that has come to represent advocacy for Mangione.

“We have a full house here today,” U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said at the outset of the hearing. “It is very important that decorum be maintained.”

The appearance of Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, follows a three-week hearing in state court during which Mangione sought to convince the judge in his state case to exclude some of the critical evidence police said they found in his backpack, including writings and the alleged murder weapon.  The judge has yet to issue a ruling.

Judge Garnett, in issuing her ruling on the legality of the backpack’s seizure, said, “I don’t think it’s really disputed that if you’re arrested in a public place, the police are supposed to safeguard your personal property.”

The judge she does not need to schedule a hearing to determine whether to exclude evidence taken from the backpack, but has yet to rule on what, if anything, should be suppressed.

“The Government searched the contents of the defendant’s notebook pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack,” prosecutor Sean Buckley argued in an earlier court filing.

“To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant — an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers — that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause,” wrote Buckley.

The remainder of Friday’s hearing was expected to focus on oral arguments over a defense motion to dismiss the charges that make Mangione eligible for the death penalty. 

Paresh Patel, a lawyer from Maryland who recently joined Mangione’s defense team, argued stalking “fails to qualify as a crime of violence” and therefore cannot be the predicate to make Mangione eligible for the death penalty.

Mangione entered the courtroom with his ankles shackled but his hands free.  Unlike his recent appearance in state court, when he wore slacks and blazer, Mangione was dressed in a beige smock and pants and a white long-sleeve T-shirt as he took a seat at the defense table between defense attorneys Karen and Mark Agnifilo. 

Earlier this week, prosecutors disputed a defense claim that Mangione should not face the death penalty because of a purported conflict of interest by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The defense said Bondi is continuing to benefit from a 401k established while she worked at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which represents UnitedHealthcare.

Prosecutors said Ballard has made no contributions to her retirement plan since her Senate confirmation as attorney general, and argued that she stands to gain nothing from a “capital outcome” in the Mangione case.

“There is simply no factual basis for the assertion that outside corporate interests influenced the Attorney General’s charging decision in any fashion. The defendant’s insinuations otherwise rest on an inaccurate financial narrative,” Buckley wrote in a court filing.

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A Customs and Border Protection Agent shot and injured two people in Portland, Oregon, Thursday, who federal authorities said “weaponized” their vehicle against law enforcement.

The incident came after an ICE officer on Wednesday allegedly shot and killed a woman in her car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparking outrage and backlash against the presence of federal agents there. Similarly, the mayor of Portland called for immigration enforcement operations to halt while the investigation is ongoing.

In the Minneapolis case as well, federal officials alleged the motorists tried to ram agents, who fired defensive shots.

The Department of Homeland Security alleged the shooting in Portland occurred while Border Patrol agents were conducting a “targeted” stop on a vehicle carrying two people allegedly affiliated with the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang. The passenger, who was identified Friday as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, was the target of the investigation, DHS said.

The agents on the stop were part of a CBP operation dubbed “Operation Oregon,” according to multiple law enforcement sources.

“When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents,” DHS said in a statement.

The driver, who was identified by DHS as Luis David Nico Moncada, was not the target of the operation, according to sources. He was stopped driving a red Toyota, before he and Zambrano-Contreras attempted to flee, according to sources.

The agent, as DHS said in their statement, feared for their safety and fired at the vehicle.

Homeland Security alleged Friday that both victims were believed to have been undocumented Venezuelan nationals with ties to TdA.

Sources stressed the investigation is in the preliminary stages and the information could change.

The two people who were shot Thursday were treated at a hospital for their injuries and their conditions are unknown, according to law enforcement sources.

During the press conference Thursday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said local officials “do not know the facts of this case,” but an investigation is ongoing.

Asked whether the passenger, Zambrano-Contreras, is linked to a previous shooting, the police chief said, “I can’t comment on whether or not that’s the case. We don’t know who these individuals are.”

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson told reporters, “We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”

“We are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place,” he said. “Our community deserves answers.”

Later Thursday evening, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said he was opening an investigation into the shooting.

In a social media post, Rayfield said the Oregon Department of Justice investigation will examine whether any federal officers acted outside the scope of their lawful authority during the encounter. The post said the investigation would include witness interviews and video evidence.

The shooting incident occurred around 2:18 p.m. local time on Thursday, officials said. Portland police said officers responded to the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street near Adventist Health, a medical office, for the report of a shooting.

Several minutes later, Portland police officers responding to a call for help at an apartment complex some three miles away from the shooting scene found a man and woman with “apparent gunshot wounds,” according to the police department.

The victims then drove themselves to an apartment complex in the area of Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside Street, where the man who had been shot called for help, according to police.

“Officers confirmed that federal agents had been involved in a shooting,” the Portland Police Department said in an earlier statement, adding, “Portland Police were not involved in the incident.”

Police Chief Day urged calm amid “heightened emotion” following the deadly ICE officer-involved shooting in Minneapolis.

“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Day said in a statement. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”

During the press conference, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek called for transparency from the federal government in the investigation.

“The priority right now is a full, completed investigation, not more detentions. My message to the federal government is this: We demand transparency. We demand your cooperation with Portland Police and the Multnomah County DA, because we need to investigate this incident efficiently and effectively so we can rebuild trust with our nation’s government,” Kotek said.

Earlier, Mayor Wilson called the incident “deeply troubling” while also calling on residents to “show up with calm and purpose during this difficult time.”

“Portland does not respond to violence with violence,” he said in a statement. “We respond with clarity, unity, and a commitment to justice. We must stand together to protect Portland.”

Early Friday, Portland police confirmed that at least six people were arrested during protests as crowds gathered outside an ICE facility.

“At about 9 p.m., officers requested that people move to the sidewalk, as traffic remained open in the area. An officer in the PPB Sound Truck, a loudspeaker-equipped police vehicle, broadcast that request repeatedly to the group,” the Portland Police bureau said in their statement. “PPB moved in and made targeted arrests resulting in five custodies,” while another arrest was made later on.

Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told reporters at the scene of the shooting that he is “very concerned.”

“We are here from this attorney’s office to monitor, to assist and to make sure that there’s a thorough and complete investigation, that evidence is fully preserved, and that we’re certainly hoping that we can get all of the facts about what transpired,” he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A day after ruling that Trump-appointed U.S. attorney John Sarcone is not lawfully serving in his position, a federal judge has denied Sarcone’s application to release tax information for an investigation his office is conducting.

U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield on Thursday disqualified Sarcone from serving as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, and quashed subpoenas he had issued as part of an investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James.

On Friday, Schofield ruled that Sarcone lacks the authority to request a court order directing the Internal Revenue Service to disclose tax return information for a criminal probe.

“The Application is denied because Mr. Sarcone was not lawfully serving as Acting United States Attorney and therefore lacked authority to authorize the Application,” Schofield wrote. “Because Mr. Sarcone was not lawfully serving as Acting U.S. Attorney for NDNY, the Application fails to satisfy statutory requirements and provides no basis to permit disclosure of federal tax return information.”

In disqualifying Sarcone, Schofield joined several other judges across the country who have similarly disqualified federal prosecutors after maneuvers by the Trump administration to bypass the usual way they’re installed into office.

Last month The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court judge’s ruling disqualifying President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba from serving as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and in November a federal judge in Virginia dismissed criminal cases against James and former FBI Director James Comey after concluding the prosecutor who brought them, former White House aide Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.

Neither Sarcone, Habba or Halligan were either confirmed by the U.S. Senate or appointed by the federal judiciary.   

It is not clear whose tax return information Sarcone was seeking in his application to the court, only that it is “a limited liability company.”

The October application claimed there was reasonable cause to believe that certain criminal acts have been committed, that the tax return information may be relevant to those crimes, and that the information cannot reasonably be obtained from any other source.

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The Columbus, Ohio, police chief is speaking out for the first time since the mysterious murders of dentist Spencer Tepe and his wife, Monique Tepe.

The couple was found shot to death in their home on Dec. 30, Columbus police said. Their two young children were found safe inside.

“This case is definitely disturbing,” Chief Elaine Bryant told Columbus ABC affiliate WSYX.

Authorities said they believe the couple was killed between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on their home’s second floor.

Earlier this week, police released video of a person of interest. Police said the video showed an individual walking in an alley near the victims’ house during that 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. timeframe.

A motive hasn’t been identified, the chief said.

“I know it’s frustrating for people, I know they want answers,” Bryant said. “As soon as we’re able to provide more information, we will absolutely be coming back to talk about that. … But right now it’s premature for us to be able to say what the motive is, or, we don’t have a suspect identified at this point.”

She added, “We want to bring some justice to the family.”

The Tepes’ brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, said they spent Christmas together days before the murders.

“We did Christmas night together, and then the following day we just did a, kind of, post-Christmas lounging and watching movies and had dinner. And the next morning they left,” he told ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” “How would I ever know that would be the last time I would’ve hung out with Spence like that?”

“We were totally blindsided by what happened,” he said.

The Tepes’ family and friends will come together on Sunday for a celebration of life service.

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(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione returns on Friday to Manhattan federal court, where prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty if he’s convicted of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in 2024. 

The appearance follows a three-week hearing in state court during which Mangione tried to convince the judge to exclude some of the critical evidence police said they found in his backpack, including writings and the alleged murder weapon. 

Prosecutors said in a letter Thursday no such hearing is necessary in the federal case.

“The Government searched the contents of the defendant’s notebook pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack,” prosecutor Sean Buckley wrote.

“To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant — an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers — that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause,” wrote Buckley.

Earlier this week, prosecutors disputed a defense claim that Mangione should not face the death penalty because of a purported conflict of interest by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The defense said Bondi is continuing to benefit from a 401k established while she worked at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which represents UnitedHealthcare.

Prosecutors said Ballard has made no contributions to her retirement plan since her Senate confirmation as attorney general, and argued that she stands to gain nothing from a “capital outcome” in the Mangione case.

“There is simply no factual basis for the assertion that outside corporate interests influenced the Attorney General’s charging decision in any fashion. The defendant’s insinuations otherwise rest on an inaccurate financial narrative,” Buckley wrote.

Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, is also trying to fight the possibility of the death penalty by challenging one of the aggravating factors that makes him eligible.

Paresh Patel, an expert on the federal stalking statute who Mangione has added to his legal team, is expected to argue that stalking is not a crime of violence and, therefore, an improper predicate to making the case death penalty eligible.

Prosecutors say the defense is wrong.

“Volitional conduct by the defendant that simultaneously places the victim in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury and that proximately causes the victim’s death necessarily involves the ‘use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another,’ thereby making the offenses charged in Counts Three and Four crimes of violence,” Buckley argued.

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Two people were injured in a shooting involving a federal agent in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, according to authorities.

The incident came a short time after an ICE officer allegedly shot and killed a woman in her car in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparking outrage and backlash against the presence of federal agents there. Similarly, the mayor of Portland called for immigration enforcement operations to halt while the investigation is ongoing.

In both cases, federal officials said the motorists tried to ram agents, who fired defensive shots.

The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting in Portland occurred while Border Patrol agents were conducting a “targeted” stop on a vehicle carrying two people allegedly affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang. The passenger was the target, DHS said.

The agents on the stop were part of a Customs and Border Protection operation dubbed “Operation Oregon,” according to multiple law enforcement sources.

“When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents,” DHS said in a statement.

The driver, who was not the target of the operation, was stopped driving a red Toyota, before they attempted to flee. The agent, as DHS said in their statement, feared for their safety and fired at the vehicle.

Sources stressed the information and investigation are in its preliminary stages and the information could change.

The two that were shot, were treated at a hospital for their injuries and their conditions are unknown, according to law enforcement sources. Both are believed to be connected to the Tren de Aragua gang, according to DHS.

During the press conference, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said local officials “do not know the facts of this case,” but an investigation is ongoing.

Asked whether the passenger is linked to a previous shooting, the police chief said, “I can’t comment on whether or not that’s the case. We don’t know who these individuals are.”

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson told reporters, “We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”

“We are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place,” he said. “Our community deserves answers.”

Later Thursday evening, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said he was opening an investigation into the shooting.

In a social media post, Rayfield said the Oregon Department of Justice investigation will examine whether any federal officers acted outside the scope of their lawful authority during the encounter. The post said the investigation would include witness interviews and video evidence.

The shooting incident occurred around 2:18 p.m. local time on Thursday, officials said. Portland police officers responding to a call for help found a man and woman with “apparent gunshot wounds,” according to the police department.

“Officers confirmed that federal agents had been involved in a shooting,” the Portland Police Department said in an earlier statement, adding, “Portland Police were not involved in the incident.”

The shooting occurred some 3 miles away from where the victims were found, on the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street near Adventist Health, a medical office, according to Portland police. The victims then drove themselves to an apartment complex in the area of Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside Street, where the man who had been shot called for help, according to police.

The FBI was seen in video responding to the scene of the shooting. Portland police are assisting, a department spokesperson said.

Police Chief Day urged calm amid “heightened emotion” following a deadly ICE officer-involved shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Day said in a statement. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”

During the press conference, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek called for transparency from the federal government in the investigation.

“The priority right now is a full, completed investigation, not more detentions. My message to the federal government is this: We demand transparency. We demand your cooperation with Portland Police and the Multnomah County DA, because we need to investigate this incident efficiently and effectively so we can rebuild trust with our nation’s government,” Kotek said.

Earlier, Mayor Wilson called the incident “deeply troubling” while also calling on residents to “show up with calm and purpose during this difficult time.”

“Portland does not respond to violence with violence,” he said in a statement. “We respond with clarity, unity, and a commitment to justice. We must stand together to protect Portland.”

Early Friday, Portland police confirmed that at least six people were arrested during protests as crowds gathered outside an ICE facility.

“At about 9 p.m., officers requested that people move to the sidewalk, as traffic remained open in the area. An officer in the PPB Sound Truck, a loudspeaker-equipped police vehicle, broadcast that request repeatedly to the group,” the Portland Police bureau said in their statement. “PPB moved in and made targeted arrests resulting in five custodies,” while another arrest was made later on.

Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told reporters at the scene of the shooting that he is “very concerned.”

“We are here from this attorney’s office to monitor, to assist and to make sure that there’s a thorough and complete investigation, that evidence is fully preserved, and that we’re certainly hoping that we can get all of the facts about what transpired,” he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CALIFORNIA) — A year ago, the deadly wildfires in Southern California left behind a trail of destruction and forced desperate families to flee for their lives.

Charred vehicles filled the streets in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where the flames reduced houses to ash-covered shells.

The embers are gone and the dust has settled a year later, but most of those houses are still vacant lots and families remain stuck in limbo.

“World News Tonight” anchor David Muir returned to the neighborhood to mark the anniversary of the disaster and reunited with some of the residents he met in January 2025. Many said they are still struggling to pick up the pieces and some are making the tough decision to leave their the neighborhood they once called home.

Nearly 24,000 acres burned in the Palisades fire alone, with nearly 7,000 structures — most of them homes — going up in smoke. The blaze erupted on Jan. 7, 2025, along with the Eaton fire that destroyed more than 9,000 buildings. Together, the fires claimed the lives of at least 31 people.

A year ago in Pacific Palisades, Alessandro Vigilante raced to his two boys’ school to pick them and flee the fires, while his wife stayed behind to grab their most important documents before their house burned down.

Hours later, Muir met the father of two as he returned to see what was left of his home for the first time. Vigilante and his family lost everything, but were thankful to still have each other.

“We’ll figure out the rest,” he told Muir last year.

Today, the site of Vigilante’s home is an empty grass-covered lot surrounded by a white picket fence — the only thing that remains of his old home. Speaking with Muir again, he said getting insurance money was not an easy process.

“Literally, we had the last check, like, two weeks ago,” he told Muir, nearly a year after the fires.

Pointing to the lot, Vigilante reflected on that process.

“You don’t expect to have to discuss anything. It’s a total loss,” he said. “Basically looking at every single detail that they can think of from the handles that you had on the doors to the type of countertops. And again, that was mind-blowing, because I’m like, well, when we signed the policy, that’s the moment you should have decided whether my house was worth that much or not. Now it’s too late.”

Vigilante decided to sell the lot rather than rebuild, he noted, even though he said the land is now half the value it was when he moved in four years before.

“It’s OK. It was a chapter of our life,” he said, with a sigh.

Down the street from Vigilante, Liz Jones showed Muir the empty lot where she now plans to rebuild her family’s home from the ground up.

Last year, she saw the charred remains of her daughter’s car in one of Muir’s reports. That’s when she knew her home was gone.

“Is that when reality set in?” Muir asked her last year.

“One hundred percent,” Jones said.

Jones said she and her husband were determined to rebuild, and they are among the lucky few who were able to get some insurance money. Jones continued to carry her pride for the community around her neck, with a necklace that spelled out “Palisades.”

Preston and Kelsey Hayes had just broken ground on their new home when Muir met them at the site.

A year ago, the couple, who have two children, donned protective gear and masks to survey the damage and wondered if they would ever come back.

“Were you concerned at all about the soil and what might be contaminated from the fires?” Muir asked the couple at the construction site.

“Yeah for sure,” Preston Hayes said.

“And you felt reassured by the tests?” Muir asked.

“Yes,” Kelsey Hayes said.

As they looked out across their neighborhood a year after the fires, they knew that their neighbors would not all be as fortunate.

“We want the community to be the same. I don’t think it will be, unfortunately,” Preston Hayes said.

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