The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building on May 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Justice Department has announced the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for allies of U.S. President Donald Trump who allege they were unfairly targeted by the federal government under the previous administration. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Tuesday issued an addendum to its sweeping settlement to end President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS that would bar the government from conducting audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family and their companies.
The filing, signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and posted to the Justice Department’s website Tuesday, states that the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from “prosecuting or pursuing” examinations or reviews of Trump or “related or affiliated individuals” and businesses.
The addendum expands the unprecedented settlement agreement announced by the DOJ Monday that establishes a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration, in exchange for Trump dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Gavel on wooden desk with books as background (sean zheng lim/Getty)
(VIRGINIA) — A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school is standing trial on criminal charges more than three years after a then-6-year-old student shot his first grade teacher in their classroom.
Ebony Parker has been charged with eight counts of felony child abuse with disregard for life in connection with the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News — one count for each bullet that was unspent in the gun, according to the Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. She has pleaded not guilty.
The criminal trial comes months after a separate jury in a civil trial found that Parker acted with gross negligence in the shooting and awarded the injured teacher, Abby Zwerner, $10 million in damages.
Prosecutors in the ongoing criminal trial allege that Parker failed to respond after several staffers raised concerns that the student, identified in the trial as JT, had a gun.
“For over an hour, multiple people went to Dr. Parker and told her there was an armed child at an elementary school,” Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Josh Jenkins said during opening statements on Tuesday. “Multiple warnings brought directly to her.”
Jenkins said the evidence will show that Parker did not say to search the child, did not call police and did not remove the child from the classroom.
“She didn’t even get up from her desk,” he said. “Warning after warning after warning — nothing.”
Jenkins said there were 19 children in the classroom at the time of the shooting who are the alleged victims in this case.
“A slight movement of the gun could have hit a child instead of Miss Zwerner,” he said. “All of them, you’ll learn, watched as their teacher clutched her chest and bled before these children, screaming in horror, ran across the hallway to another classroom.”
Jenkins claimed that Parker was the only person in the building at the time who had the authority and knowledge to respond to the crisis.
Defense attorney Curtis Rogers pushed back against that claim, arguing in his opening statement that other school staffers, including Zwerner, could have acted.
“The Commonwealth talks about, a lot, this ongoing crisis and that Dr. Parker was the only person that had knowledge of the crisis and the authority to act. I will submit that that’s not accurate. It’s not true,” Rogers said.
“Think about it — who was the one person that was there from the beginning to the end? And that was the teacher, Miss Zwerner,” he said.
Zwerner, the first witness in the trial, testified that she had told Parker prior to the shooting that JT “seemed to be off” that day and “in a violent mood.” She said another staffer, reading specialist Amy Kovac, alerted her that JT told other students he had brought a gun to school, and that Kovac reported that to the administration.
Zwerner said that in hindsight she could have separated JT from the other students and confirmed that she was responsible for the safety of her students. Though she said her understanding that a crisis or emergency needed to be brought to the attention of the administration, and that she trusted her colleagues.
Kovac testified that she told Parker that two students reported to her that JT had a gun in his bag, and that Parker nodded in acknowledgment when she said she would search the bag at recess. Kovac said she did not find a gun when she searched the bag and then told Parker that she believed the gun was in his jacket pocket.
Pressed by the defense on why she didn’t do more, such as by separating students from JT, Kovac said, “I did not know what his next actions would have been at that moment.”
“A weapon had been reported and no administrator did actions,” she said.
The criminal trial is scheduled to run through at least Thursday.
Zwerner also testified about the shooting during the civil trial, saying she “thought I had died.”
The bullet went through Zwerner’s left hand, which she had lifted, and then into her chest. She was initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Parker did not testify during the civil trial.
Zwerner and Parker both resigned following the shooting.
The student brought the gun from home, police said. His mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to child neglect in connection with the shooting. She also pleaded guilty to using marijuana while in possession of a firearm and making a false statement about her drug use during the purchase of the firearm used in the shooting and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
She was released from state custody on May 13 and transitioned to community supervision, according to online Virginia Department of Corrections records.
Law enforcement officers surround the Islamic Center of San Diego after reports of a shooting on May 18, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
(SAN DIEGO) — Three men, one of whom was a security guard, were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, authorities said, with investigators saying they are currently considering the incident as a hate crime.
Two suspects, aged 17 and 18, were reported dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said.
Authorities are investigating two teenagers, Cain Clark and Caleb Vazquez, as the suspected attackers in the shooting, a number of sources told ABC News.
The shooting was reported shortly before noon Monday, police said.
Police are investigating a potential motive but said the shooting is currently being considered as a hate crime.
“There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said during a Monday press briefing.
Anti-Islamic writings were found in the vehicle with the two teens, sources told ABC News.
About two hours before the shooting at the mosque, San Diego police received a call involving one of the suspects, about a runaway juvenile, according to Wahl. The teen’s mother reported that “several of her weapons” and her vehicle were missing, he said. The mother also found a note, Wahl said, the contents of which the police chief did not share.
The mother told police that her son was with another individual and that they were both “dressed in camo,” Wahl said.
Officers were attempting to track down the vehicle and dispatched police to a mall and to a school with which one of the teens was associated, when the shooting at the mosque was reported, he said.
The Islamic Center of San Diego says it is the largest mosque in San Diego County.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” Taha Hassan, Imam and Director of Islamic Center of San Diego, said of the center at a news conference.
Hassan said he’s sending “prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here, and also the other mosques, and all the places of worship in our beautiful city.”
“It is extremely outrageous to target a place of worship. Our Islamic center is a place of worship. People come to the Islamic center to pray, to celebrate, to learn, not only Muslims, but we have people from all walks of life,” Hassan added.
“The religious intolerance and the hate, unfortunately, that exists in our nation is unprecedented,” Hassan said.
“We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence,” Tazheen Nizam, the executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this attack. No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told ABC News that “we immediately have increased patrols around religious sites, both our Muslim, Jewish and other faith communities across the city. And I imagine we’ll maintain that posture for some time.”
“[I] believe that once the investigation is complete that that security guard will be credited with a tremendous saving of many, many lives, including many children, an absolute hero who sadly lost his life, but for whom we’re all grateful,” Gloria said.
“Hate has no home in San Diego. Islamophobia has no home in San Diego,” the mayor said during a press conference.
ABC News’ Meg Christie, Luke Barr, Mike Levine and Alex Stone contributed to this report.
Town cars and taxis are viewed in the Financial District in the early hours of the morning on June 4, 2015 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A 56-year-old Westchester County woman plunged to her death after stepping out of her car into an open manhole in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, sources told ABC News.
The woman, identified as Donike Gocaj of Briarcliff Manor, New York, parked her car at West 52 Street and Fifth Avenue just before 11:20 p.m. Monday, the sources said.
She stepped out of her Mercedes-Benz SUV and into an uncovered manhole, falling about 10 feet, sources said.
The woman was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, sources said.
No construction was ongoing, and the manhole cover was discovered about 15 feet away from the opening, according to sources.
Con Edison said it is “actively investigating” the incident.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole. We are actively investigating how this occurred. Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, and safety remains our top priority,” Con Edison said in a statement Tuesday.
The Islamic Center of San Diego is seen after a shooting on May 18, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
(SAN DIEGO) — Amin Abdullah, the security guard who was killed along with two others in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, is being hailed as a hero as police say “his actions were heroic and undoubtedly saved lives.”
The shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in San Diego County, was reported shortly before noon local time, police said.
While officers were responding to the mosque, the police department “began to receive calls from just a couple blocks away that we had more active gunfire,” officials said at a news conference Monday.
The security guard appeared to play a “pivotal role” in keeping the shooting from “being much worse,” police said, noting that the victims were all found in front of the Islamic Center.
“His actions were heroic and undoubtedly saved lives today,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said of Abdullah.
“We do believe the security guard was able to help at least minimize the situation to the front area of the mosque,” Wahl continued.
Sam Hamideh, whose son attends the school next to the Islamic Center, told ABC News’ San Diego affiliate KGTV that Abdullah would have done anything to help the people inside.
“Even when the day was going wrong you could just smile … he just had that kind of heart and he always really cared,” Hamideh said.
Both suspects, ages 17 and 18, are dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said.
Authorities are investigating a potential motive but said the shooting is currently being considered a hate crime.
“There was definitely hate rhetoric that was involved,” Wahl said.
Anti-Islamic writings were found in the vehicle with the two teens, sources told ABC News.
“We have never experienced a tragedy like this before,” Taha Hassan, director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, said at a news conference.
Hassan said he’s sending “prayers and standing in solidarity with all the families in our community here, and also the other mosques, and all the places of worship in our beautiful city.”
Tazheen Nizam, the executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement, “We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this attack. No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
-ABC News’ Emily Shapiro and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
Police cordon off an area close to the Islamic Center of San Diego after reports of an active shooter on Monday, May 18, 2026. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
(SAN DIEGO) — Three adult men, one of whom was a security guard, were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, authorities said.
The security guard appeared to play a “pivotal role” in keeping the shooting from being worse, police said at a news conference.
Both suspects, who are teenagers, are dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said.
All children are safe, police said.
Photos show children being evacuated from the area.
Police said the shooting is currently being considered a hate crime since it took place at a mosque.
The Islamic Center of San Diego says it is the largest mosque in San Diego County.
“We strongly condemn this horrifying act of violence,” Tazheen Nizam, the executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this attack. No one should ever fear for their safety while attending prayers or studying at an elementary school.”
In New York City, the NYPD said there’s “no known nexus to NYC or specific threats to NYC houses of worship,” but the department said it is increasing officer deployments to mosques “out of an abundance of caution.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. (Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)
(HARTFORD, Conn.) — Former Hartford police officer Joseph Magnano was charged with first-degree manslaughter in connection to the February 27, 2026 fatal shooting of Steven “Stevie” Jones.
The charge and evidence supporting it was laid out in the Connecticut state inspector general’s report, which was released on Monday, and comes after Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam announced in March that he had terminated Magnano amid a probe into the incident after viewing the police body camera footage. The body camera footage has not been released publicly.
ABC News has reached out to the Hartford Police Department and Magnano’s attorney for comment.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Alex Murdaugh is found guilty on all counts for the murder of his wife and son at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, March 2, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Alex Murdaugh is suing the former court clerk who served during his double murder trial in South Carolina, alleging she denied him a fair trial before an impartial jury, his attorneys announced days after the state’s top court overturned his murder convictions.
Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate in 2021.
Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering them following a six-week trial, with jurors deliberating for nearly three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.
Last week, the five-member South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Murdaugh must have a new trial, citing the “breathtaking and disgraceful effort” of former Colleton County clerk Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill to “undermine the jury process.”
“With the South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling, it has been adjudged as a matter of state law that she deprived Alex of his constitutional rights, deprived him of a right to a fair trial, and as a result we’ve got to do it all over again, which nobody wants to do,” Murdaugh’s attorney, Jim Griffin, said during a press briefing on Monday announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is seeking at least $600,000, Griffin said. The civil complaint notes that Murdaugh spent $600,000 on his trial defense, according to the filing.
“The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that Ms. Hill’s actions — motivated by her own desire to profit from the trial — caused these funds to be lost,” the filing stated.
Griffin said they are seeking “accountability” with the lawsuit.
“Now, let me be clear. Alex Murdaugh owes a lot of people a lot of money. None of this money that is recovered will go to him personally,” he said. “The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold Becky Hill accountable for what she did.”
ABC News has reached out to Hill’s attorney for comment.
In its opinion filed last Wednesday, the state supreme court stated that Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice, which the State was unable to rebut.”
“As noted at the outset, Hill’s shocking jury interference was accomplished outside the presence and knowledge of the outstanding trial judge and superbly competent and professional counsel for the State and the defense,” it continued.
In the murder trial, prosecutors made the case that Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the Lowcountry region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings, while the defense argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them.
Murdaugh’s defense claimed that Hill influenced the verdict through remarks heard by some jurors during the trial, including in one instance to watch Murdaugh’s body language during his testimony, according to court filings.
Murdaugh has continued to deny having anything to do with the deaths of his wife and son.
Following the decision, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office will “aggressively” seek to retry Murdaugh for the murders “as soon as possible” — possibly by the end of this year.
Hill resigned as the Colleton County clerk of court in March 2024, amid the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation into allegations she may have abused her government position for financial gain.
Her book, “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” was ultimately pulled from publication over accusations of plagiarism.
She pleaded guilty in December 2025 to obstruction of justice, perjury and misconduct in office for showing photographs that were sealed court evidence to a reporter during the trial and then later lying about doing so on the stand during a hearing related to Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial. She was sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
The charges did not allege any jury tampering, and she denied any tampering with the jury during her testimony.
Murdaugh was also convicted on several financial crimes following the murder trial and is serving a 27-year sentence on state charges and a 40-year sentence on federal charges related to those crimes.
In its opinion, the state supreme court found that the trial court acted within its discretion in admitting some evidence of the financial crimes, which supported the state’s theory of motive, though it noted that the evidence could have been presented in a “fraction” of the time. If admitted on retrial, the evidence must be presented “efficiently,” the opinion stated.
The badge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen at the immigration court at the Ted Weiss Federal Building, May 12, 2026 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Minnesota prosecutors on Monday announced charges against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year.
The federal agent, Christian Castro, was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, according to the Hennepin County attorney.
“Mr. Castro fired his service weapon at the front door of the home, knowing there were people who had just run inside that presented absolutely no threat to him or anyone else,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a news conference Monday.
According to Moriarty, the bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg, passed through a closet and lodged in the wall of a child’s bedroom. She added that Castro was not under any physical threat when he opened fire and that claims from government officials that he had been struck with a shovel or broom were false.
“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal officers who commit crimes in this state or any other,” Moriarty said. “A violent crime did occur that night, but it was Mr. Castro who committed it.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to the criminal complaint, the confrontation began when Castro and other ICE agents chased a man who was delivering food for DoorDash back to his house.
The complaint states that security footage shows that Castro tackled the driver after he jumped out of his car and was running toward his home, which he shared with Sosa-Celis. Another resident then separated the two men and was able to get inside the house with the driver.
According to the complaint, video evidence shows Castro then fired a single gunshot through the closed front door and hit Sosa-Celis in the right leg.
Four adults and two children were inside the home at the time of the gunfire, the complaint states. Following the shooting, ICE agents deployed tear gas, breached the residence, and took the occupants into custody.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Minnesota prosecutors on Monday announced charges against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year.
The federal agent, Christian Castro, was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, according to the Hennepin County attorney.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
