Former Uvalde school police chief in court to compel federal agents’ testimony in his criminal trial
A memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered on May 24,2022 during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is seen on January 05, 2026 in Uvalde, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(UVALDE, Texas) — Former Uvalde, Texas, school police chief Pete Arredondo is due in federal court Tuesday as part of his push to compel federal agents to testify at his trial for allegedly endangering students during the response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.
Arredondo is charged with 10 counts of endangering students for allegedly failing to quickly respond to the May 24, 2022, shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed.
Arredondo filed a civil lawsuit this year to compel 19 U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees to testify during his criminal trial, which is set to begin on Feb. 22, 2027.
Arredondo’s attorneys have argued the testimony is vital for him to have a fair trial.
“The testimony will not only be material to determining whether he alone is responsible for the delay, it will also be helpful to show that Mr. Arredondo is not personally responsible for many shortcomings or any delay of CBP agents as part of the law enforcement response,” defense attorney Paul Looney wrote in a court filing.
This year, Looney filed a formal request to make the agents available to testify at trial, arguing that the accounts of the agents who stormed the classroom where the shooter was barricaded is necessary to prove Arredondo was not responsible for the botched response. Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell has sued to compel similar testimony, but CBP declined the requests to facilitate the testimony.
CBP Chief Counsel Andrew Block said in court filings that the testimony is not necessary for Arredondo’s defense, could be sought through other means, could impact CBP operations, and may result in the disclosure of “confidential law enforcement techniques and procedures.”
“You seek testimony from 19 CBP employees, which would require CBP to make all 19 officers available before and during the trial, pulling them off duty, incurring travel costs, and lost work hours, which negatively impacts CBP operations and national security,” Block wrote.
(NEW YORK) — As residents of the Great Plains brace for more severe weather stretching into the weekend, summer-like temperatures are heating up the Northeast.
From New York City to Raleigh, North Carolina, temperatures are expected to be in the 90s on Friday and Saturday before a cold front arrives on Sunday.
The temperature in Raleigh is expected to hit 100 this weekend. Washington, D.C., is also forecast to see 90-degree temperatures through Saturday.
Humidity is not expected to be much of a factor in the Northeast as dew points remain low, meaning the “feels-like” temperatures will be nearly identical to the actual temperatures.
Some areas of the West are expected to see triple-digit temperatures. Phoenix, Arizona, could reach 110 degrees on Thursday.
Damaging winds and hail expected in the Great Plains
Severe weather is expected to continue in the Great Plains through the end of the week, with damaging winds and large hail forecast to be the main threats.
An isolated tornado or two and some instances of flash flooding are also possible on Thursday across the Great Plains, including South Dakota, southeast Montana, northeast Wyoming and northern Nebraska.
On Friday, severe weather, including damaging winds and large hail, is expected from Nebraska to Iowa and into southern Minnesota, including the cities of Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Rochester, Minnesota; and Des Moines, Iowa.
On Saturday, severe weather is expected to move into the Great Lakes region and bring rain to parts of the Northeast on Sunday.
The foul weather in the Great Plains comes after the region was hit by severe thunderstorms and damaging winds on Wednesday. Thunderstorms and wind gusts of more than 80 mph were reported in Frederick, South Dakota, on Wednesday, leaving buildings damaged, a radio tower and power lines toppled, and trees uprooted.
An ABC News graphic shows the forecast on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — More than 125 million Americans are on alert for sweltering heat from coast-to-coast, as heat alerts are in place from Southern California to the intermountain West and northern Plains, upper Midwest and across to the Northeast.
Daily record highs may be broken in Rapid City, Fargo, Grand Forks in the northern Plains on Tuesday.
In the Northeast, record daily highs could be broken at Plattsburgh and Syracuse, New York. Other parts of New England may get with a degree or two of a daily record today.
Those daily record highs would follow several broken on Monday, including in Bismarck, North Dakota, with 105 degrees F; International Falls, Minnesota, at 97; and Hibbing, Minnesota, at 93. Rapid City, South Dakota, and Dickinson, North Dakota, tied records with 102 and 103, respectively.
On Wednesday, daily record highs are possible around Grand Rapids, MI and Wilmington, Delaware. An extreme heat warning is in place through Thursday for Minneapolis, Minneapolis, with daily high heat index up to 100 possible.
Other extreme heat warnings are in place from Utah to the upper peninsula of Michigan.
In Utah, Salt Lake City is expected to reach near 100 on Tuesday. Fargo is under an extreme heat warnings for a heat index as high as 105.
The heat index for places like Calumet, Michigan, and Duluth, Minnesota, could reach near 100.
Detroit, Michigan, is under a heat advisory for a heat index near 105.
The rest of the week will remain hot and humid across the upper Midwest with highs in the 90s and heat indices feeling even warmer.
In the Northeast, a heat wave begins today, with 3 or more days of temperatures at or above 90 degrees for New York City, Philadelphia and D.C. Those high temperatures could last five days, through Saturday.
A heat advisory is in place for at least Tuesday and Wednesday across much of the Northeast due to heat indices around 100 expected. The upper Northeast will be hottest today with a heat index of 100 to 104 from Rochester and Albany, New York, to Boston, Massachusetts.
The area between New York City and D.C. will likely be the hottest on Wednesday, with heat indices near 100 in NYC and near 105 in D.C.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, New Jersey, are under an extreme heat warning for heat indices up to 107 on Wednesday.
Out West, southern California is under heat alerts through Thursday.
Temps will reach 85 to 90 across the coastal valleys and up to 105 for the interior valleys through Tuesday.
A heat advisory stretches up to San Jose, California, where temps will reach the mid to upper 90s on Tuesday.
Wednesday and Thursday will be hotter, with temps in downtown Los Angeles reaching the middle to upper 90s and interior valleys reaching up to 110.
Next week, temperatures look less extreme across America.
Significant flood threat in Texas
For the next three days, there is a level 3 of 4 flood threat in place in South-Central Texas.
That warning came amid a very rare and dangerous setup. Everyone in the region should be on alert, especially those near rivers and low water crossings. But even areas that don’t normally flood must be alert.
The greatest threat will lie across the Edwards Plateau into Hill Country and along the Rio Grande Valley between the Big Bend down toward Eagle Pass.
Rainfall rates each day could exceed 2″ per hour.
Each day on Tuesday through Thursday could see 3″ to more than 7″ of rainfall over this area.
Three-day totals over that region could top 15″ in some places.
Severe weather threat in northern New England
Fueled by the extreme heat and humidity and a sinking cold front from Canada, severe storms capable of destructive winds of more than 70 mph, large hail large than ping pong balls, and a strong tornado or two will move over northern New England today.
A level 3 of 5 risk is in place from northeast New York through northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire, and northern Maine on Tuesday afternoon and evening. It includes Burlington, Vermont; Plattsburgh, New York; Caribou, Maine; Colchester, Vermont; and Massena, New York.
Storms are most likely after 4 p.m. ET and continuing into the night as the cold front sinks south.
Three individuals were arrested in New York on May 7, 2026, for their roles in a January 2026 armed hijacking of a truck making a delivery at the Apple store in the Americana shopping center in Manhasset. (Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York)
(NEW YORK) — Three people were arrested Thursday in the January armed hijacking of a truck making a delivery at the Apple store in the Americana shopping center in Manhasset, New York City.
The delivery truck was filled with Apple merchandise valued at more than $1 million. The stolen goods included hundreds of devices and other accessories, including MacBooks, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, federal prosecutors said.
Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer, Michael Mejia-Nunez and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla are accused of hijacking the truck and forcing the delivery workers to drive to a secluded location where they made off with more than $1.2 million worth of Apple products.
Victims were preparing to unload the merchandise when a black Honda Accord pulled up to the delivery truck. Three masked men, armed with handguns, got out of the car and approached the victims, according to court records.
They forced victim-1 into the back of the truck and zip-tied his hands. Victim-2 was ordered at gunpoint, into the driver’s seat to drive the truck. He was directed to a secluded parking area behind an office building less than a half mile away and then ordered into the back of the delivery truck with Victim-1, where his hands were also zip-tied, according to prosecutors.
The Accord and the delivery truck were followed to the location by a Home Depot box truck, authorities said. As captured by surveillance cameras, the Home Depot truck backed up to the rear of the delivery truck, so the cargo sections were aligned, according to prosecutors.
The Apple merchandise was then moved from the delivery truck to the Home Depot truck. Once they finished, they closed the cargo door to the delivery truck with the victims inside and left the location. One of the victims was able to free himself and call 911, according to prosecutors.
The defendants are expected to appear in federal court later Thursday, when federal prosecutors will seek their detention.
