Category: National

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — As soon as Wednesday afternoon, a Texas jury will begin deliberating whether a law enforcement officer should be held criminally responsible for failing to act in the face of one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

After nine days of testimony, prosecutors and defense lawyers in the trial of former Uvalde schools police officer Adrian Gonzales delivered their closing arguments on Wednesday.

At issue is whether Gonzales — one of the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 — ignored his training and endangered dozens of students when he responded to the shooting.

Nineteen students and two teachers died, with police officers waiting 77 minutes to confront the gunman. While the shooting response has been the subject of hearings and investigations, the case against Gonzales marks the first criminal trial related to the shooting and the delayed police response.

Prosecution’s closing argument

The jury has an opportunity to “set the bar” for how officers should respond to school shootings, prosecutor Bill Turner said on Wednesday.

“If it’s appropriate to stand outside hearing [hundreds of] shots while children are being slaughtered, that is your decision to tell the state of Texas,” Turner said.

While teachers and students were sheltering in their classrooms — doing exactly what their training taught them to do in an active shooter scenario — the police officer trained to help them failed to act, Turner said. Turner argued that each gunshot fired at Robb Elementary was “notice to Adrian Gonzalez to advance toward the gunfire,” but he failed to follow his training and act in the crucial first minutes of the shooting. 

“If you have a duty to act, you can’t stand by while the child is in imminent danger,” Turner said.

Turner pointed jurors to the testimony of teaching aide Melodye Flores, a key prosecution witness who said she pleaded with Gonzales to intervene. Turner argued that the warning from Flores and the clear sound of gunfire should have triggered Gonzales to act.

“The training is, you hear shots, you go to the gunfire. He heard shots, and Melodye Flores was pointing where to go to the gunfire. There’s nothing complicated about that,” Turner said. 

Defense’s closing argument

Convicting Gonzales will send a clear message to officers who respond to this country’s next mass shooting, defense attorney Jason Goss said.

“What you tell police officers is, ‘Don’t go in. Don’t react. Don’t respond,'” Goss warned jurors. “We cannot have law enforcement feel that way.”

Goss argued that prosecutors tried to “massage the facts” of the case and
“twist them all into a pretzel” to argue Gonzales failed to act. According to Goss, Gonzales did the best he could with the information he had when he arrived at Robb Elementary. While other officers arrived within the same timeframe, only Gonzales is being penalized for attempting to take action that day, he argued. 

Goss attempted to empathize with the jurors and the families of victims, arguing he understood the desire for criminal accountability. But he reminded jurors, “The monster who hurt those kids is dead.”

But convicting Gonzales, Goss argued, would do “an injustice” for the victims of the shooting. 

“You do not honor their memory by doing an injustice in their name,” he said.

What is he charged with?

Gonzales was charged with 29 felony counts of abandoning/endangering children — one count for each of the 19 students who died in the shooting and the 10 children who survived in classroom 112.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and Gonzales could spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted. While juries in Texas sometimes determine criminal sentences, Gonzales has opted to be sentenced by Judge Sid Harle if he is convicted.

What happened to the police chief’s case?

Along with Gonzales, prosecutors also charged former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was the scene commander during the Robb shooting. His case has been indefinitely delayed due to a pending civil lawsuit involving the tactical unit that ultimately breached the classroom and killed the shooter.

Are there any comparable cases?

According to Phil Stinson — a professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio who maintains a database of police officers who have been arrested — the case against Gonzales is uncommon but not unprecedented.

Prosecutors in Florida attempted to similarly charge a law enforcement officer for his response to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen were killed when a gunman opened fire that day, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland.

A jury in 2023 acquitted Scot Peterson, the former Broward County sheriff’s deputy, after he was charged with child neglect and culpable negligence for his alleged inaction following the shooting.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in New York on Wednesday declined to appoint a special master to oversee the Justice Department’s production of the remaining Epstein files, despite “legitimate concerns” about whether the DOJ is faithfully complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The Dec. 19 deadline the law imposed for the release of all files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has come and gone, and at least two members of Congress say the Justice Department is still in possession of as many as two million potentially relevant documents. 

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said last week they’re still reviewing and redacting material from the investigations into Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell to comply with court orders about protecting victims.

Several Epstein victims wrote letters supporting legislators’ push for a neutral monitor.

In his opinion released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said the “questions raised by the Representatives and the victims are undeniably important and timely” and raise “raise legitimate concerns about whether DOJ is faithfully complying with federal law.” 

However, the judge concluded he lacks jurisdiction to supervise the Justice Department’s compliance with the Epstein Act.

“The Representatives have not articulated how the criminal statutes under which Maxwell was charged would empower the Court to enforce the EFTA,” Engelmayer wrote.

The opinion also said the members of Congress — Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — have no role in the matter.

“The Representatives do not seek to opine on any live issue before the Court,” Engelmayer wrote.  “And the appointment of a neutral to supervise DOJ’s compliance with the EFTA is far afield from any matter pending before the Court.”

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, following blowback the Trump administration received seeking the release of materials related to their probe of Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019. President Donald Trump signed the act into law on Nov. 19.

Materials released to date include a trove of photographs and court records, including a complaint to the FBI about Epstein that was filed years before he was first investigated for child sex abuse, and documents containing previously unknown details about plans for Epstein’s 2019 arrest.

The files released so far, however, have yet to show evidence of wrongdoing on the part of famous, powerful men, against the expectations of many of those who have been pushing for the files’ release.

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(NEW YORK) — The South is bracing for a potentially major winter storm this weekend, impacting Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

The storm is still several days away, so exact timing and locations are not yet clear. But as of now, more than 30 million people are under a winter storm watch, from Dallas to Little Rock, Arkansas, to Huntsville, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee.

Snow is expected to develop over the Plains on Friday and a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain is forecast to the south. The storm will become more widespread Saturday morning.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Tuesday he was activating state emergency response resources ahead of the storm, saying the freezing rain, sleet and snow “could create hazardous travel conditions into the weekend and cause impacts to infrastructure.”

The system will reach the East Coast by Sunday and impacts could linger there into Monday. But the specific timing and what to expect is still unclear.

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(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — As soon as Wednesday afternoon, a Texas jury will begin deliberating whether a law enforcement officer should be held criminally responsible for failing to act in the face of one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

After nine days of testimony, prosecutors and defense lawyers in the trial of former Uvalde schools police officer Adrian Gonzales are scheduled to deliver their closing arguments in a Corpus Christi courtroom on Wednesday morning. Deliberations could begin as early as Wednesday afternoon.

At issue is whether Gonzales — one of the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 — ignored his training and endangered dozens of students when he responded to the shooting.

Prosecutors allege he “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly and with criminal negligence” put children in danger by failing to “engage, distract, and delay the shooter” in the critical first minutes of the shooting. If convicted on all 29 counts, Gonzales could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Nineteen students and two teachers died in the shooting nearly four years ago, with police officers waiting 77 minutes to confront the gunman as he was holed up inside a double classroom with students and teachers. While the shooting response has been the subject of hearings and investigations, the case against Gonzales marks the first criminal trial related to the shooting and the delayed police response.

What is he charged with?
Gonzales was charged with 29 felony counts of abandoning/endangering children – one count for each of the 19 students who died in the shooting and the 10 children who survived in classroom 112.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and Gonzales could spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted. While juries in Texas sometimes determine criminal sentences, Gonzales has opted to be sentenced by Judge Sid Harle if he is convicted.

What happened to the police chief’s case?
Along with Gonzales, prosecutors also charged former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was the scene commander during the Robb shooting. His case has been indefinitely delayed due to a pending civil lawsuit involving the tactical unit that ultimately breached the classroom and killed the shooter.

Why is the trial in Corpus Christi?
Judge Sid Harle began overseeing the case after a local judge in Uvalde recused themselves from the matter.

Taking place 200 miles from Uvalde, the trial is being held in a Corpus Christi courtroom after Gonzales’ attorneys successfully argued he would be unable to have a fair trial in the county where the shooting took place.

Who is in the jury?
While emotions flared during jury selection — with some now-disqualified jurors vocally criticizing the police response to cheers from other jurors — Harle was able to seat a jury in less than a day.

The jury and alternates included 11 women and five men, though one of the male jurors was excused last week due to a family emergency.

Are there any comparable cases?
According to Phil Stinson — a professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio who maintains a database of police officers who have been arrested — the case against Gonzales is uncommon but not unprecedented.

Prosecutors in Florida attempted to similarly charge a law enforcement officer for his response to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen were killed when a gunman opened fire that day, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland.

A jury in 2023 acquitted Scot Peterson, a former Broward County sheriff’s deputy, after he was charged with child neglect and culpable negligence for his alleged inaction following the shooting.

How did prosecutors approach the case?
Prosecutors called three dozen witnesses — including investigators, teachers, and the families of victims — over nine days of testimony to argue that Gonzales missed a critical opportunity to stop the shooter before he entered Robb Elementary. They allege he was one of the first to respond to the shooter, was explicitly told the location of the gunman before he entered the school but failed to act.

“I told him that he needed to get stopped before he went into the fourth-grade building. We needed to stop him,” teaching aide Melodye Flores testified.

“And what did he say?” prosecutor Bill Turner asked.

“He, just, nothing,” Flores said.

According to a Texas Ranger who testified for prosecutors, Gonzales had more than a minute to stop the shooter before he entered the school, and the gunman was able to fire more than a hundred rounds during a two-minute period while Gonzales was standing outside Robb Elementary.

How did defense lawyers approach the case?
Defense lawyers spent less than three hours on Tuesday calling two witnesses before resting their case. Gonzales declined to testify in his own defense.

His lawyers have argued that Gonzales not only followed his training that day but also highlighted that other officers had similar — if not better — opportunities to stop the shooter.

They accused prosecutors of “Monday-morning quarterbacking” Gonzales’ actions that day and argued he acted appropriately based on the limited information he had in the moment. They also highlighted that Gonzales attempted to enter the building with other officers but was directed by his commanding officer to retreat to call in for SWAT support.

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(PITTSBURGH) — The Carnegie Museum of Natural History has made the behind-the-scenes inventory of rare fossils and other ancient artifacts available for public viewing for the first time.

The exhibition, dubbed “The Stories We Keep,” features items from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, museum’s inventory that are typically not displayed, chosen by the researchers and curators who work to preserve them.

Museum curators were inspired to create the exhibition in an effort to display items that wouldn’t otherwise be seen, Sarah Crawford, director of museum experience at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, told ABC News.

Museum staff cares for more than 22 million objects and specimens, less than 1% of which are on view at any given time, similar to other natural history museums around the country, Crawford said. The exhibition was designed in part by asking collection managers to choose objects and specimens to highlight.

“Every fossil, every animal and every object has a story that it can tell about our planet and the universe and our place in it,” Crawford said.

One of the most unique aspects of the exhibition is its Visible Collections display, which features a care lab in which visitors can watch as conservation staff work with fossils and other items in real time.

Guests even have the opportunity to speak with the scientists as they preserve and maintain the items, Crawford said.

When visitors walk in, the first thing they see behind the window is a 40-foot Egyptian funerary boat — the planks of which were all taken apart and individually restored, Crawford said.

Also within the Visible Collections are a cuneiform cylinder from King Nebuchadnezzar II that was made over 2,500 years ago, a fossilized bird feather that was found in Utah from about 48.5 million years ago and the lower jaw of a pygmy hippopotamus.

Currently on display within the Minerals and Earth Science Collection are toxic, radioactive specimens that could potentially kill people, as well as a meteorite that fell in Pennsylvania several years ago.

And a display named “Collecting So Many Bugs” features many of the museum’s 13 million invertebrate specimens, many of which are rare or from habitats that were previously lost.

Museums often do not have the space to display all of their items, or they are still in the process of being prepared and conserved, Crawford said.

The exhibition was unveiled in November and has since struck the curiosity and awe of new and repeat visitors alike.

“Because we have that visible lab, it means that the exhibition could be new every time you come,” Crawford said.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered that Lindsey Halligan, President Donald Trump’s appointee as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, must stop using that title before the court or face disciplinary action.

“Ms. Halligan’s continued identification of herself as the United States Attorney for this District ignores a binding court order and may not continue,” the order from U.S. District Judge David Novak stated.  

Judge Novak earlier this month ordered Halligan to explain to the court why she was using the title of U.S. attorney after a judge in that district found that her appointment was improper and violated the Constitution.  

The Justice Department’s fiery reply to that order, which included Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as signatories, drew Judge Novak’s ire. 

“Ms. Halligan’s response, in which she was joined by both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice,” Novak wrote Tuesday.

Halligan, who was a White House aide before being appointed interim U.S. attorney by President Trump, secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, only to have them thrown out when U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie determined in November that she had been unlawfully appointed without being either Senate confirmed or appointed by the federal judiciary.   

“The Court finds it inconceivable that the Department of Justice, which holds a duty to faithfully execute the laws of the United States even those with which it may have disagreement would repeatedly ignore court orders, while simultaneously prosecuting citizens for breaking the law,” Judge Novak wrote in Tuesday’s order. “If the Court were to allow Ms. Halligan and the Department of Justice to pick and choose which orders that they will follow, the same would have to be true for other litigants and our system of justice would crumble.”

The judge warned that if Halligan continues to use the U.S. attorney title, she will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.

“Ms. Halligan and anyone who joins her on a pleading containing the improper moniker subjects themselves to potential disciplinary action in this Court pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules,” Tuesday’s order said.

The Eastern District of Virginia also issued a job posting to fill the vacancy left by Halligan’s improper appointment.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment when contacted by ABC News. 

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(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — Former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales could have suffered from “inattentive blindness” and “tunnel vision” when he responded to the Robb Elementary School shooting, a former officer testified for the defense on Tuesday.

Former San Antonio police officer Willie Cantu said the jurors are unlikely to “understand just how bad” the tunnel vision could be during an emergency response.

To describe “inattentive blindness,” Cantu compared the experience to struggling to find your car keys when you are running late for work.

“It’s like when you get stressed. I’m late for work and I need to find my keys to my car. I can’t find my keys, and you have them in your hand,” he said.

Cantu attempted to defend Gonzales’ actions on May 24, 2022 — citing the real-time challenges he faced as one of the first officers to respond — as defense lawyers pushed back on the prosecution’s allegation that Gonzales “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly and with criminal negligence” endangered students.

Cantu also tried to cast doubt on the reliability of teaching aide Melodye Flores, who testified for the prosecution that she tried to warn Gonzales about the location of the shooter.

“No disrespect to Flores at all, she was definitely there, experienced all the trauma that was going on, but people process that type of stuff differently,” Cantu said.

Cantu also attempted to highlight the inaction of other officers, including one who monitored the perimeter of the school when he arrived.

“It really surprised me that he was right there and just pretty much taken, I’d say a tertiary role,” he remarked.

The only other defense witness was Claudia Rodriguez, a secretary at the funeral home that neighbored Robb.

Rodriguez told jurors that she witnessed gunman Salvador Ramos exit his car with a rifle after crashing into a ditch, and she said Ramos ducked behind a nearby parked car when Gonzales drove by him. That move, defense lawyers allege, prevented Gonzales from being able to clearly spot the gunman when he first arrived at the school.

“And at the time you see the white car [driven by Gonzales], you see the figure, kind of ducking down between the cars. Is that how you remember seeing it?” defense attorney Jason Goss asked.

“Yes sir,” Rodriguez replied.

Rodriguez also testified that she tried to warn other arriving officers that the shooter entered the school, but they did not run in to stop him.

“Gilbert [Limones, another funeral home employee,] and I are yelling at them upon their arrival and after they exited their car that he’s already inside,” she said.

“Did those officers then go immediately to where you told them and run inside the building?” Goss asked.

“No. I believe, if I remember correctly, they got back into the car and went around the school towards the front of Robb,” she said.

Defense lawyers rested their case on Tuesday after testimony from Cantu and Rodriguez. Closing statements are set for Wednesday.

Prosecutors allege Gonzales, who is charged with 29 counts of child endangerment, did not follow his training and endangered the 19 students who died and an additional 10 surviving students.

Flores, the teaching aide, testified that she repeatedly urged Gonzales to intervene in the shooting, but said he did “nothing” in those crucial moments.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers argue he is being unfairly blamed for a broader law enforcement failure that day. He could face the rest of his life in prison if convicted of all counts.

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(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — The Robb Elementary School gunman ducked behind a parked car when former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales initially drove by him, an eyewitness told jurors on Tuesday.

That move, defense lawyers allege, prevented Gonzales from being able to clearly spot the gunman when he first arrived at the school on May 24, 2022.

Claudia Rodriguez, a secretary at the funeral home that neighbored Robb, was the first witness called by the defense, and she told jurors that she witnessed gunman Salvador Ramos exit his car with a rifle after crashing into a ditch. 

Rodriguez said Ramos ducked behind a nearby parked car when Gonzales drove by him. 

“And at the time you see the white car [driven by Gonzales], you see the figure, kind of ducking down between the cars. Is that how you remember seeing it?” defense attorney Jason Goss asked. 

“Yes sir,” Rodriguez replied.

Rodriguez also testified that she tried to warn other arriving officers that the shooter entered the school, but they did not run in to stop him. 

“Gilbert [Limones, another funeral home employee,] and I are yelling at them upon their arrival and after they exited their car that he’s already inside,” she said.

“Did those officers then go immediately to where you told them and run inside the building?” Goss asked. 

“No. I believe, if I remember correctly, they got back into the car and went around the school towards the front of Robb,” she said. 

Prosecutors allege Gonzales, who is charged with child endangerment, did not follow his training and endangered the 19 students who died and an additional 10 surviving students.

Defense attorneys have sought to highlight that other officers arrived within the same timeframe as Gonzales but failed to act.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers argue he is being unfairly blamed for a broader law enforcement failure that day.

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(EL PASO, Texas) — An undocumented immigrant died while in custody at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas, federal authorities said.

Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, of Nicaragua, died of a “presumed suicide” on Jan. 14 at Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent complex at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss base in El Paso, ICE said Sunday. The official cause of death remains under investigation, the agency said.

ICE said Diaz illegally entered the U.S. in March 2024 and an immigration judge ordered him removed in absentia in August 2025. 

Diaz had been in federal custody since Jan. 6, when ICE said its officers “encountered” him in Minneapolis amid the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota. He was arrested for an immigration violation and ICE processed him as a final order of removal on Jan. 12, the agency said.

Two days later, security staff found Diaz unconscious and unresponsive in his room, ICE said. He was pronounced dead following life-saving measures by on-site medical staff and El Paso emergency medical services personnel, according to ICE.

“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” ICE said in a press release.

Diaz’s death is the second reported by ICE at the Camp East Montana detention facility this month.

On Jan. 3, Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, of Cuba, was pronounced dead “after experiencing medical distress,” ICE said. His cause of death is under investigation, ICE said in a Jan. 9 press release.

The El Paso County medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that it does not have any record of Diaz, and the case and manner of death are pending for Lunas Campos.

If you are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises, or are worried about a friend or loved one, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

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(NEW YORK) — A major arctic blast is stretching from the Midwest to the Northeast, bringing dangerously cold weather to 43 million people.

On Monday morning, the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — plunged to minus 30 degrees in Minneapolis; minus 27 degrees in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; minus 22 degrees in Chicago; and minus 22 degrees in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The brutal Midwest wind chill continued on Tuesday morning, hitting minus 13 degrees in Chicago; minus 23 in Green Bay; and minus 12 in Cleveland.

The freeze hit the Northeast on Tuesday morning, with the wind chill dropping to minus 11 degrees in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 7 degrees in Washington, D.C.; and 5 degrees in New York City.

The Arctic blast is also bringing heavy lake effect snow to the Midwest and Northeast. The heaviest lake effect snow is expected in western Michigan and western and upstate New York where, 6 to 12 inches of snow is forecast.

Click here for what you need to know to stay safe in the cold.

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