Category: National

(OCHOPEE, Fla.) — For a month, Rafael Collado couldn’t tell the night from the day.

Detained in the temporary detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” he spent his time confined in a chain-link cage with another man, stuck in what his fiancee Sonia Bichara described as a legal purgatory — unaware of why he was detained, where he might be sent, and how long he would be stuck in the controversial Florida facility.

“They don’t see the daylight. They don’t know what time it is. He’ll call me and say, ‘What time is it? What day is it?'” said Bichara, who said she speaks with Collado daily. “You don’t know if it rains, you don’t know if it’s sunny out there, you don’t know if it’s dark — it’s like you’re dead alive.”

Collado’s experience is far from unique, according to immigration attorneys and advocates who have raised concerns about what they say are inhumane conditions at the migrant detention center. While a federal judge last week blocked further construction at the facility, the state of Florida is still permitted to house thousands of detainees at the site, which is located on a sparsely used airstrip in the Everglades.

“I have never, ever heard of any conditions coming close to those that are presently in existence and Alligator Alcatraz,” said Eric Lee, an attorney who represents a former detainee at the facility. “It’s bordering on torture, based on what I’m hearing from people.”

According to Bichara, Collado told her he spends nearly every moment of his day locked in a chain-link cage inside a large white tent, which frequently floods when it rains. Mosquitoes and other insects swarm around, temperatures fluctuate from sweltering Florida heat to bone-shaking cold from industrial air conditioners, and access to medical attention is limited, according to Bichara.

Neither the Florida Division of Emergency Management nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to a request for comment regarding the allegations.

The facility, which is funded by the federal government and run by the state of Florida, was dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by federal officials because it’s surrounded by alligator-infested swampland.

During a visit of the facility last month, President Donald Trump said the center could be a new standard for migrant detention facilities in the U.S.

“I mean, you don’t always have land so beautiful and so secure,” Trump said. “They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don’t have to pay them so much but I wouldn’t want to run through the Everglades for long. It will keep people where they’re supposed to be. This is a very important thing.”

In a legal filing Wednesday, as part of a lawsuit filed last month against the Trump administration over detainees’ access to legal counsel, several attorneys with clients being held at the facility said they haven’t been able to have full access to their clients.

They claim the facility does not allow private calls between attorneys and clients, or have publicly available information about visitation hours, email contacts, and procedures for exchanging legal documents. Attorneys and family members told ABC News detainees are able to make some calls to family members from the detention center.

“These open and non-confidential visitation tents are very much unlike any other facility I have ever seen,” said attorney Vilerka Solange Bilbao, who submitted a declaration Wednesday as part of the lawsuit. “Typically, detention facilities provide enclosed confidential rooms for attorney-client visitation.”

In her declaration, Solange Bilbao said that her client claims that “several people were running fevers and showing COVID symptoms without being separated from the general population; that bathrooms were often out of order or overflowing; that rainwater regularly flooded the tents; and that medical requests were ignored.”

“He and others cannot tell whether it is day or night unless they ask because there is no natural light or clock,” Solange Bilbao said.

“These conditions are not only inhumane — the lack of basic care and communication access directly obstruct my ability to provide effective representation,” she said.

Several attorneys also claimed on Wednesday that people who were moved to “Alligator Alcatraz” were removed from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee locator system, which typically provides online information about detainees’ current location.

“I’ve never seen treatment so deliberately cruel and explicit, more or less explicitly aimed at disincentivizing people from immigrating to the United States based on how they’re treated,” Lee said.

“He says it is worse than prison,” said Bichara of her fiance.

Collado would know, she says. He served a 17-year prison sentence after being convicted of drug charges in the U.S. in the 1990s, and of assaulting a fellow inmate. He’s paid the price for his crimes, Bichara said, and they planned to spend the rest of their lives together in a retirement community in Miami Gardens, Florida.

“He said, ‘I’ve been good for eight years. I don’t even have a speeding ticket. I’ve been paying my debt. You know, I’ve been doing well,'” she said.

Those plans were thrown into uncertainty last month when Collado, who came to the U.S. from Cuba, reported to a federal facility in Miramar, Florida, to complete an annual check-in due to his I-94 status, which gives legal authorization to be in the U.S. to those who entered the country with a temporary visa.

Federal officials detained him during the check-in and sent him to the recently constructed detention facility in the Everglades, according to his fiancee.

Bichara alleges that officials failed to provide Collado with his antidepressant medication during the first two weeks of his detention. He only got his medication, she said, after he unsuccessfully tried to take his own life.

Lee raised similar concerns about the medical conditions at the facility. He said his client Luis Manuel Rivas Velasquez fell sick last week and collapsed, but detention center officials allegedly ignored his pleas for medical attention.

“His cellmates had to drag him down a hallway where guards didn’t even know how to take his pulse to check whether he was still alive,” Lee said.

Both Collado and Rivas Velasquez have since been transferred out of “Alligator Alcatraz” to facilities in Texas, where their families have struggled to contact them, advocates said.

Bichara says she doesn’t know how to help her fiance at this point. Three different lawyers have advised her that challenging Collado’s detention would be costly and unlikely to succeed.

For now, she’s getting legal assistance from a nonprofit, but she worries that she might not see her partner again.

“Emotionally, I don’t know how to explain myself, because I don’t know what to say,” she said. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to do.”

At a press conference on Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that since the opening of “Alligator Alcatraz,” the state has seen an increase in the number of migrants voluntarily leaving the country. DeSantis said the state will be opening a new immigration detention facility, dubbed “‘Deportation Depot,” that “will have the same services that you have at Alligator Alcatraz.”

“We’ve been securing the border, enforcing immigration laws and removing illegal aliens who are in our society now, sending them back to their home country,” DeSantis said. “We have done more on this than any other state by a country mile.”

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(SANDERSON, Fla.) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that his administration is opening a new immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot.”

The announcement of the new facility in north Florida comes one month after the state opened a detention center in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“We are authorizing and will be soon opening this new illegal immigration detention, processing and deportation facility here in North Florida,” DeSantis said at a press conference.

The new immigration detention center will be located at the Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, Florida. The governor said the facility, which is near Lake City Airport, will not house people indefinitely.

“We’ve been securing the border, enforcing immigration laws and removing illegal aliens who are in our society now, sending them back to their home country,” DeSantis said. “We have done more on this than any other state by a country mile.”

DeSantis said the new facility will be able to hold more than 1,300 detainees.

A federal judge last week temporarily halted any further construction on the Alligator Alcatraz facility to prevent possible harm to the sensitive Everglades ecosystem.

The state of Florida and President Donald Trump’s administration can continue to use the facility and house detainees there, but any further construction must be halted for 14 days, the order said.

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(NEW YORK) —Tropical Storm Erin is forecast to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season by Saturday morning and then become a major Category 3 hurricane by Sunday morning as it passes north of Puerto Rico.

But as of now, Erin is not expected to pose a direct threat to the U.S.

Puerto Rico can expect 1 or 2 inches of rain from Erin’s outer bands, as well as dangerously rough surf and a high risk of rip currents this weekend and into early next week.

After moving north of Puerto Rico, Erin is forecast to turn north.

The vast majority of meteorological modeling has Erin remaining over the ocean between Bermuda and the East Coast, passing by Bermuda around Wednesday.

While a landfall in the U.S. isn’t expected, there is a chance Erin could bring a few light rain showers to parts of the East Coast. And for those heading to the beach on the East Coast, Erin will bring a high risk of rip currents from Aug. 21 to Aug. 27.

Because Erin is still many days away, meteorologists in Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast will be watching the storm closely, as any deviation east or west could lead to significant impacts.

The National Hurricane Center predicted an above-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic.

August, September and October are the most active months of the Atlantic hurricane season, which ends on Nov. 30.

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(WASHINGTON) — A New York man was charged with allegedly cyberstalking a family member of the slain former UnitedHealthcare CEO, according to a complaint filed by the Justice Department on Wednesday.

Shane Daley, 40, of Galway, New York, allegedly left four voicemails over the course of multiple days for an unnamed member of Brian Thompson’s family.

Luigi Mangione was charged in the brazen shooting of Thompson in December 2024 that unfolded in the middle of New York City and captured the nation’s attention. Prosecutors say Mangione allegedly targeted Thompson for his role at the healthcare company.

The voicemails allegedly left by Daley, according to the DOJ, are “threatening” and left the member of Thompson’s family scared for her life.

“Your [family member] got lit the f— up cause he’s a f—— asshole,” Daley allegedly said in a voicemail left on Dec. 4, 2024, the same day of Thompson’s killing, according to the complaint.

“Profiting off the f——, off the backs of poor Americans. This s— is gonna keep happening to you f—— pricks. F— you.”

In another voicemail, Daley allegedly shared a hostile message that Thompson’s family member should tell his children.

“Their dad died cause he was a f—— capitalist. $10.2 million a year, f—— insider trading b—-. Making a f—— off of the backs of poor Americans. You all deserve to f—— die and burn and hell. F— you. F— your f—— kids.”

“Brian Thompson was gunned down in midtown Manhattan,” Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III released a statement along with the DOJ complaint, saying, Daley, “…Gleefully welcomed this tragedy and did all that he could to increase the Thompson family’s pain and suffering.”

“My office and its partners will now do all that we can to hold him accountable for this vicious and outrageous conduct,” Sarcone said.

Mangione has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of stalking Thompson outside the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan and then shooting him to death on Dec. 4, 2024.

Thompson was heading to an investors’ conference when he was shot and killed. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days later.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to the four-count federal indictment in April. He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting trial.

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(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — A young woman was struck and killed by gunfire while walking a child to a bus stop in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday morning, and authorities are now searching for the shooter.

The child who was with the woman wasn’t physically hurt, Louisville Metro Police Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters.

A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody earlier in the day in connection with the shooting, but authorities determined he was not a suspect and he’s been released, police said.

Authorities then released images of a person of interest and said they’re asking for the public’s help to identify him.

“We do have a description of a young black male dressed in a red hoodie and black sweatpants,” Humphrey said.

The shooting was in front of “very small children,” Humphrey said.

The children who witnessed the gunfire “are forever impacted by this,” Humphrey said, noting that counselors are being provided.

This marks the second shooting at a Louisville bus stop within one week. On Aug. 7 — Jefferson County’s first day of school — multiple shots were fired at a bus stop, police said. No one was hurt and a suspect was arrested, police said.

Officers had been positioned at the site of Wednesday’s shooting each morning since Aug. 7, Humphrey said, but “today happened to be the first morning that we did not have officers at this bus stop.”

“Kids should be able to go to school, go to the bus stop in the morning without any fear of gun violence, of having to run for their life in the morning,” Humphrey said. “It’s absolutely unacceptable that these types of incidents have happened now twice in the last week.”

ABC News’ Michael Pappano contributed to this report.

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(JUNEAU, Alaska) — One of Alaska’s most populated cities is bracing for potentially catastrophic flooding as a basin dammed within the Mendenhall Glacier has started to release rainwater and snowmelt downstream, according to officials.

Suicide Basin, a side basin within the Mendenhall Glacier that sits above the city of Juneau, regularly releases glacier lake outburst floods, according to the National Weather Service. But recent measurements of water within the basement suggest the basin could release enough water to overwhelm the Mendenhall River and Mendenhall Lake, according to officials.

By 7 a.m. local time, the Mendenhall River had reached a major flood stage at 16.51 feet and was continuing to rise — surpassing the record flood stage set in 2024 of 15.99 feet, according to the NWS. Flood warnings have been issued for the lake and river due to the release.

Residents along the flood zones have been urged to evacuate the area, with the peak flooding expected Wednesday around 8 a.m. local time.

“Don’t Wait. Evacuate TONIGHT,” the City of Juneau wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday night.

City officials were warning residents early Wednesday to avoid driving on roads within the flood zone already inundated by water.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted to X on Wednesday, warning of how dire the situation could become.

“This is likely to become a life-threatening situation,” Murkowski said. “If you are told to evacuate, stop what you are doing and immediately go to an emergency shelter or another safe location.”

Floodwaters are expected to fall below the flood stage through Thursday, according to the NWS.

Mendenhall is a popular tourist attraction in Alaska, but the retreating glacier — which acts as a dam for Suicide Basin — has caused flooding in the region every summer in recent years after it refills with water from rain and melting snow in the spring.

In 2023, a glacier lake outburst at Mendenhall’s Suicide Basin destroyed several structures along the Mendenhall River as the water rushed downstream. The record flooding prompted city officials in Juneau to issue an emergency declaration.

The outburst, which caused a decade’s worth of erosion in one weekend, would not have happened without climate change, NOAA said in 2023. Alaska has warmed twice as fast as any U.S. state over the last several decades, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Suicide Basin has been releasing glacier lake outburst floods since 2011, so the National Weather Service in Juneau’s monitoring program has a camera pointed directly at the basin to see how much water levels are rising and falling.

Glaciers in Alaska have been experiencing a steep decline since the late 1980s, according to the state’s Department of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

Globally, glaciers are at risk of significant ice loss due to climate change, scientists say.

Glaciers around the world lost an estimated 7,211 billion tons of ice between 2000 and 2023, equating to an average annual loss of 301 billion tons, according to a Nature study published in February. The rate of ice loss has increased by about 36% in the past two decades, the researchers found.

Even if warming were to stabilize at current levels, the world’s glaciers would still likely lose at least 39% of mass, according to the World Economic Forum.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s ruling, clearing the way for the Trump administration to cut billions in foreign aid funding this year.

In a 2-1 decision Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overruled a lower court’s decision that prohibited the Trump administration from making drastic cuts to USAID funding that had already approved by Congress.

The court sidestepped the substantive question of whether the cuts were constitutional, instead deciding that the nonprofits that sued the Trump administration lacked the standing to bring a case.

Judges Karen Henderson and Gregory Katsas — appointed by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump, respectively — determined that only the head of the Government Accountability Office has the authority to sue under the Impoundment Control Act.

“The district court erred in granting that relief because the grantees lack a cause of action to press their claims,” the majority wrote.

The lawsuit over USAID funding had been one of the first major legal successes for nonprofits challenging the Trump administration, which ordered the suspension of grants that didn’t comply with the president’s priorities.

After U.S. District Judge Amir Ali issued a temporary restraining order in February blocking Trump’s executive order from taking effect, both the D.C. circuit court and the United States Supreme Court sided with the nonprofits, denying a request from the Trump administration to block an order enforcing the TRO.

In a dissenting opinion issued with Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, criticized her colleagues for ignoring the concern that the funding cuts were unconstitutional and thus harmed “the rule of law and the very structure of our government.”

“At bottom, the court’s acquiescence in and facilitation of the Executive’s unlawful behavior derails the ‘carefully crafted system of checked and balanced power’ that serves as the ‘greatest security against tyranny — the accumulation of excessive authority in a single Branch,” she wrote.

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(ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo.) — Rocky Mountain Park Rangers are searching for a 23-year-old Nebraska man who went missing in the Colorado park after he was dropped off there by a ride share service last week, the National Park Service (NPS) said.

Blake Kieckhafer was reported missing to park rangers on Monday, according to NPS.

He was last seen in the Upper Beaver Meadows area of the park last Thursday at around 5:20 p.m. when he was dropped off, the park service said.

Upper Beaver Meadows Road is about a mile west of Beaver Meadows Entrance, on the east side of the park near U.S. Highway 36, according to NPS.

He was wearing a dark T-shirt, dark pants and a dark baseball cap with no logo, officials said. He was also carrying a small maroon daypack, they noted.

Kieckhafer is 5 foot 11 inches, weighs about 180 pounds, has buzzed, short blonde hair, a mustache and blue-green eyes, NPS said.

“If you have information that could help investigators or if you have seen Blake Kieckhafer, please contact us. You don’t have to tell us who you are, but please tell us what you know,” NPS said in a statement Wednesday.

The service noted that anyone with information can call or text the National Park Service Investigative Services Bureau Tip Line at 888-653-0009, fill in their online form or email them.

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(KERRVILLE, Texas) — As the Guadalupe River overflowed in Kerr County on the Fourth of July, officials with a local agency charged with “managing water quality and water quantity” in the Texas Hill Country appeared perplexed by the extent of the unfolding crisis and their role in addressing it, according to emails and text messages obtained by ABC News.

“Wow!! It’s a beautiful thing!” an official initially wrote to an Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA) group chat at 7:09 a.m. — including a screenshot of a graph showing a massive increase in streamflow levels along the river in Kerrville — following drought conditions that Kerr County had faced prior to the flooding.

As others in the group chat shared the increasingly concerning reports they were hearing, it quickly became clear that there was cause for alarm.

“So I know I said it’s a beautiful thing earlier,” the official wrote at 7:38 a.m. “I had just woken up and hadn’t looked at the gages yet. It’s terrible.”

By that time, parts of Kerr County had already been inundated with floodwaters for several hours, flood alerts had been issued, and the Kerrville Police Department had received calls for multiple water rescues.

“When it all settles back down, it will be a totally different river,” an individual identified as maintenance technician Kevin Molenaar wrote.

‘Any word on Camp Mystic?’

The staggering toll of the flooding would not become apparent for days. More than 130 deaths were ultimately reported across the region, with many of the fatalities occurring at Camp Mystic.

On July 4, one official texted Dick Eastland, the camp’s president, “You are in my prayers.”

There was no response.

Eastland, who also served as the treasurer for the UGRA’s Board of Directors, died during the storm alongside multiple young campers and counselors.

“The poor children at the camps and their parents,” an official wrote in a group chat. “And so many people here in RVs for the 4th.”

The communications were released in response to a request filed by ABC News under Texas law.

They paint a picture of confusion and concern throughout Independence Day, with some text messages stating that water gages in Hunt and Kerrville had stopped reading. In other messages, UGRA representatives posted what they had learned from news outlets or on social media.

“There are missing people and possibly missing kids from mystic but that is not confirmed,” an official posted at 9:47 a.m.

Less than two hours later, the official typed, “They are saying now all camp mystic accounted for. Praise the lord.”

An individual identified as natural resources manager Shelby Taber responded, “Glad to hear camp mystic is all safe!”

But by mid-afternoon, the UGRA’s senior leadership appeared to realize the situation at Camp Mystic was more dire — though they did not know specific details.

“Any word on Camp Mystic?” UGRA board president William Rector emailed general manager Tara Bushnoe at 2:41 p.m. “I bet we may find some financial assistance for establishing our Floor Warning System!”

Bushnoe responded at 3:12 p.m. that she only knew what she had seen on a local news website indicating “there are some girls missing” and that the camp had issued a statement that aired on a local newscast.

“I don’t know if a flood warning system would have made enough difference,” Bushnoe wrote. “I think it would have made some, but this happened so quickly. We will have to be careful with our messaging to be respectful of the devastation.”

“Very true.” Rector wrote back. “I think working behind the scenes is going to be the most appropriate action at this time. We, however, need to be concerned that the county does not try to sieze [sic] control.”

Contacted by ABC News regarding the messages, officials with the UGRA did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Vulnerable to flash floods’

ABC News previously asked the UGRA for any flood after-action reports it may have created over the last 25 years following other storms along the Guadalupe River, but a law firm representing the authority said that they “have no responsive information.”

Documents released over the last month show that concerns over the risks posed by the Guadalupe River in Kerr County were widely known ahead of the Fourth of July floods, with the UGRA being particularly cognizant.

As ABC News previously reported, the authority submitted an application last year to state officials seeking a $1 million grant from the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund for a project called the “Kerr County Flood Warning System” that would have included “high water detection systems at 10 low water crossings.”

“Since 1932, approximately 35 lives have been lost in floods in Kerr County. Many of those lost were in vehicles attempting to cross flooded roads,” the application noted alongside a timeline of deaths between 1987 and 2016.

However, in October 2024 the UGRA declined to continue applying for funding from the Infrastructure Fund, with Bushnoe writing in a letter at the time that although Kerr County was “vulnerable to flash foods,” the project would have been “only eligible for a 5% grant.”

“We will continue to explore options to implement a Kerr County flood warning system and financial assistance opportunities,” Bushnoe’s letter said.

The letter did not note who decided that the project would have only been eligible for a 5% grant.

The UGRA later reached an agreement with a company called Kisters to develop a different flood warning system that would have consisted of a “centralized dashboard to support local flood monitoring and emergency response.”

The agreement, which was signed exactly one month before the July 4 floods, indicated that the project was expected to cost more than $70,000.

A kick-off meeting was scheduled for mid-July, but the plans were put on hold after the floods. It remains unclear what happened to the plan crafted in 2024 for the $1 million flood warning system.

Kisters did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment following the floods.

‘We’ll be getting lots of calls’
July 4 was supposed to be a day of celebration in Kerr County, with a major Independence Day fireworks event called “Fourth on the River” scheduled to take place just a stone’s throw from the Guadalupe River.

Instead, it became one of the most tragic days in Central Texas history, with scores of people unaccounted for after sunset.

At the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, some staff members discussed the significance of the catastrophe among each other.

“I am hopeful they find more survivors tonight, but I assume the worst for the missing,” natural resources specialist Travis Linscomb texted another staffer at 11:48 p.m.

“Hopefully this will push the early flood warning topic to the forefront and we get more done this time around,” Linscomb added. “Unfortunately it seems like it takes major loss of life to get the ball really rolling on it like Blanco 2015 did,” an apparent reference to another flood a decade ago.

As the calendar turned to July 5, the UGRA team grappled with how to explain their role as inquiries came in, according to the communications.

“I have a feeling we’ll be getting lots of calls from very angry people asking why we let this happen because they want someone to blame and I’m going to have no idea what to tell them,” one official wrote at 7:21 a.m.

The lack of an effective flood warning system in Kerr County would become top of mind in the hours, days and weeks after the banks of the Guadalupe overflowed. A committee of Texas legislators is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the July 4th floods.

“Some of the comments I’m seeing are saying things along the lines of ‘how is there now [sic] flood warning system in 2025?'” an employee wrote to Linscomb early in the morning on July 5. “I want so badly to tell them that there is soooooo much more to it than just snapping your fingers and making it happen. Red tape, money, equipment that may not even survive a flood (like we saw today), etc.”

“I can’t imagine just being asleep then waking up to your rv floating away with you and your family in it and there is absolutely nothing you can do,” the employee said. “The fear and helplessness people must have felt is gutwrenching.”

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — A 4-year-old girl, her grandfather and a Target employee have been identified as the victims killed in a shooting outside of a Target store in Austin, Texas, according to police.

The suspect, 32-year-old Ethan Nieneker, allegedly first shot Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca, a Target employee, as he was collecting carts in the parking lot on Monday afternoon, Austin Police Sgt. Nathan Sexton said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Nieneker then allegedly approached a family’s car, fatally shot the little girl and her grandfather, Adam Chow, and minorly wounded Adam Chow’s wife and stole their car, Sexton said.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis called it an “unprovoked and deliberate attack” on “innocent lives,” adding that it was “in broad daylight.”

Asked if the suspect gave a motive, Sexton said, “He said that he was Jesus and there was really no reason whatsoever given. It was a completely random choosing of the victims.”

After the shooting, Nieneker allegedly fled the scene in the stolen car and carried out other crimes, including “causing multiple crashes,” “assaulting another female driver and stealing her Volkswagen,” trying to break into a Waymo vehicle and vandalizing the home of an acquaintance from bible study, Sexton said.

Officers found Nieneker naked; they subdued him with a Taser and took him into custody, police said.

Nieneker, who worked at a restaurant and lived alone, has a history with the Austin Police Department, including assault, driving while intoxicated and mental health reports, Davis said.

Davis did not elaborate on the mental health issues but said, “This man had some serious issues,” adding, “There were some serious failures here.”

Nieneker faces charges including two counts of capital murder and one count of first-degree felony murder, Sexton said.

The suspect’s gun “was acquired through family,” Sexton said.

A Target spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, “We are devastated by the violence that occurred today.”

“Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, our team in Austin and all those impacted by this tragedy,” the statement said. “We are working with law enforcement as they conduct their investigation and are grateful to the first responders who acted quickly at the scene. In the days ahead, we will continue partnering with law enforcement and will be providing support resources, including grief counseling, to our team.”

Austin-Travis County EMS had initially reported four victims, but that number was later corrected.

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