Georgia high school shooting suspect set to face judge for his arraignment
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(WINDER, Ga.) — Colt Gray, the 14-year-old suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting, is set to face a judge Friday for his arraignment.
This will mark the first court appearance for the teenager, who authorities allege killed four people, including two teachers and two students, at his high school and injured nine others. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations previously said he will be tried as an adult.
He has been charged with four counts of felony murder, with additional charges expected, the GBI said. Gray surrendered at the scene to the school resource officers, according to the GBI.
He was taken into custody on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET, seven minutes after the initial service call went out, according to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, which employs the school resource officers.
On Thursday night, Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the deadly shooting, the GBI said.
Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said.
At a news conference on Thursday evening, Chris Hosey, director of the GBI said that the father was arrested for “knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon.”
It is currently unclear when Colin Gray is expected to appear in court or whether he has obtained legal counsel following his arrest.
(OHIO) — Jurors heard contrasting theories during opening statements in the murder trial of former Columbus, Ohio, police officer Adam Coy who is accused of killing Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, in December 2020.
While a prosecutor on Thursday painted the defendant’s actions as “reckless” and “unreasonable,” a defense attorney contended Coy was “justified in using deadly force.”
Coy, who is white, is facing charges of causing Hill’s death, felonious assault and reckless homicide stemming from the Dec. 22, 2020, shooting. Prosecutors said the 47-year-old Hill was holding a cell phone in one hand and a set of keys in the other when he was shot dead in the garage of a home belonging to a friend.
In her opening statement, Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Renee Amlin said Hill was complying with Coy’s orders to step out of the garage when he was shot four times.
“The state of Ohio expects that at the end of this case, it will have proven to you beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant Adam Coy is guilty of all three of those crimes,” Amlin told the jury seated in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
Amlin said that among the prosecution witnesses slated to testify is Columbus police Officer Amy Detweiler, who was with Coy when the shooting erupted around 1:30 a.m. Both officers responded to a neighbor’s 911 call complaining about a suspicious SUV parked on the street with its engine running.
She said that before the shooting, Coy approached Hill who was seated in the running SUV and that Hill explained he was waiting for a friend to come out of her home. She said Hill showed Coy a text message on his phone from his friend, reading, “I’ll be right out.”
Amlin said that when Coy went back to his patrol car, Hill exited the SUV and entered the open garage of his friend’s home. She said that when Ditweiler arrived separately at the scene, the two officers approached Hill and instructed him to step out of the garage and that Hill was shot when he complied with Coy’s orders.
The jury, according to Amlin, will also be shown Coy’s body-worn camera video that captured the shooting.
Amlin told the jurors that the state would prove beyond reasonable doubt that Coy was “reckless” and that his use of deadly force was not justified.
“The evidence will show that Andre Hill was not armed. He did not have a firearm,” the prosecutor said.
But defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens told the jury that Coy was following police training when he perceived Hill as a threat.
“You are going to hear from the state’s own witnesses that actual possession of a weapon is irrelevant, that police officers are allowed to be mistaken,” Stephens said.
She told the jury that Coy believed a “mass of keys” Hill had in his right hand was a revolver and that the officer was forced to make a split-second decision to open fire in self-defense.
“You are going to hear that on Dec. 22, 2020, my client believed he was going to get shot. He yells ‘gun, gun,’ steps off the line, draws his weapons and fires at what he honestly believed was a revolver being leveled at his direction,” Stephens told the panel. “You are going to hear that he was mistaken, that it was not a revolver, but instead that glint of steel turned out to be a metal mass of keys.”
Stephens said the defense plans to call two Ohio veteran officers to testify as experts on police training and to counter the testimony of the state’s police training expert.
“You are going to hear that officers do not have to wait until they see the glint of steel, that what matters is how the hand was being presented because an action is faster than a reaction,” Stephens said.
Stephens added, “The evidence will show that our client was not reckless. He did what he was trained to do, and what he was trained to do was shoot to stop the threat.”
Coy was fired from the Columbus Police Department about a week after the shooting.
About a month after the shooting, Coy was arrested and indicted in the killing of Hill. Coy has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has not made any public comments on the case.
If convicted, Coy, who is free on $1 million bail, could face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Neither Coy nor Detweiler turned their body-worn cameras on until after the shooting, but Coy’s camera had a “look-back” function that automatically activated and recorded 60 seconds of the episode without sound, including capturing the shooting.
The body camera footage also showed that as Hill lay dying on the floor of the garage, none of the officers who responded to the incident appeared to immediately provide first aid, officials said.
National civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Hill’s family, alleged that the officers waited up to 15 minutes before before they started giving Hill first aid, citing his review of the body camera footage.
After officers on the scene turned their body cameras on, a woman came out of the house and told officers that Hill was a guest and said, according to body camera footage released in the case, “He was bringing me Christmas money. He didn’t do anything.”
In May 2021, the City of Columbus agreed to a $10 million wrongful death settlement with Hill’s family, the highest amount ever paid by the city.
The indictment of Coy came just days after the Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which was named after Hill and requires Columbus police officers to turn on their body cameras when responding to calls and to immediately render first aid after a use-of-force incident.
ABC News’ Olivia Osteen contributed to this report.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — As Danny Pownall looked through the piles of debris on the street in front of one of his rental properties in Redington Shores, Florida, he pointed out suitcases, beds and even a workout ball.
“Their lives just got flipped upside down, literally, and dumped on the street,” he said of residents still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 30 and then cut a path of destruction and death up through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Pownall told ABC News that Helene destroyed his home as well as some of his rental properties. As a line of dump trucks waited to pick up the piles of debris left by Helene, Pownall and other residents in the Tampa metropolitan area are bracing for Hurricane Milton, which the police chief of Tampa described as “the storm of the century.”
“We don’t know what this storm is going to do,” said Pownall, surveying the sagging second-floor terrace of one of his properties still standing. “That could be a one-two punch to take out this property.”
As of Tuesday, Milton was a Category 4 hurricane swirling in the Gulf of Mexico about 500 miles south-by-southwest of Tampa. It is expected to make landfall around 11 p.m. Wednesday between St. Petersburg and Sarasota, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane, officials said.
From Treasure Island near St. Petersburg to Sanibel Island near Fort Miles, officials are preparing for an emergency on top of the emergency left by Helene and issuing mandatory evacuations.
Florida officials warn that Milton is stacking up to be a monster, forecasting a 10-to-15-foot storm surge, nearly twice as high as what transpired in the area during Helene.
“I know that our residents, our staff, everyone is absolutely, purely exhausted from the recovery effort for Hurricane Helene, but we do need to start preparing for another potential serious hit from another hurricane,” Treasure Island Mayor Tyler Payne said in a video message to his community on Monday. “And you’re still trying to recover from that, and now we have to go through it all over again. But it is absolutely critical that you obey the evacuation orders when they are issued and really protect yourself at this point.”
Sarah Steslicki told ABC News on Tuesday that she has endured more than two decades of hurricanes since building her house in Belleair Beach near Tampa, but said she will decide at the last minute whether to evacuate to higher ground.
“We are still staying put. The storm has been delayed. It’s slowed down a bit. We want to make sure we know the path of the storm. Is it safer to stay at home or are we going to leave?” said Steslicki, adding that she lives on high ground and that her garage got about 2 inches of water during the 8-foot storm surge caused by Helene.
The last time multiple hurricanes hit Florida in such a short period was in 2004, when hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pummeled the state in just six weeks.
“It was chaotic. They were spread out like a week apart,” Steslicki said of surviving the quadruple hit in 2004. “As soon as we’d put our patio furniture out, we’d have to bring it all back in.”
Milton is lining up for a direct hit on the Tampa metro area, which would be the first since 1921. In the time that has passed, the population of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties has grown 20 times over, now home to 2.5 million people.
“We built our house new about 20 years ago. So we know the construction. It’s concrete block,” Steslicki said. “We’d rather be in a safe environment and maybe be out of power and water than to be in jeopardy in a structure that’s not sound.”
Making matters worse, Steslicki said she and her family plan to travel to California on Saturday for her daughter’s wedding.
“It’s especially stressful for us. If there’s any kind of damage, we’re not going to cancel our daughter’s wedding,” Steslicki said.
Kevin Doyle, the co-owner of the Celtic Public House in Punta Gorda, near Fort Myers, said he was taking no chances after staying put during Hurricane Helene. He told ABC News on Tuesday and that he is evacuating south to Coral Gables on the east coast of southern Florida near Miami.
Doyle also survived the 2004 barrage of hurricanes. He said his pub and much of his town were destroyed by Hurricane Charley, which caused $16 billion in damage and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killed 18 people. Doyle spent seven years rebuilding his business only to see it damaged again by Hurricane Helene.
“It was treacherous; the worst thing to happen,” Doyle said of riding out Helene at home.
Doyle said Helene flooded his pub with up to 42 inches of water and damaged the inside of the business. He said his two cars were also destroyed by the flooding.
Doyle said he finished installing new drywall in his business “in record time” as officials began issuing warnings of Milton. He said he’s erected a 4-foot-high wall of sandbags around his pub hoping it will protect it.
“I’m just hoping it’s not as high as Helene,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Francine made landfall early Wednesday evening in Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans, as a Category 2 storm, before weakening to a Category 1 hurricane.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Heavy rains, ‘severe thunderstorms’ forecast as Francine weakens
The National Weather Service forecast heavy rains and thunderstorms across the southeast through Thursday as Tropical Storm Francine moves north from Louisiana into southern Mississippi.
The National Hurricane Center said Francine was around 20 miles northwest of New Orleans early Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. The tropical storm was moving northeast toward Mississippi at 14 mph.
Francine is expected to bring between 4 and 8 inches of storm rainfall to areas across southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, far southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through Thursday, the NHC said.
“This rainfall could lead to considerable flash, urban and river flooding,” it added.
The NWS warned of “heavy rain and chances for severe thunderstorms” across the affected areas, as well as tornadoes “potentially impacting parts of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle along a slow-moving warm front.”
“The greatest threat for considerable flash flooding exists across parts of northern and central Alabama,” it added, noting the possibility of up to 10 inches of rain.
The NHC also warned of dangerous storm surges. Water could rise by 4 to 6 feet between the mouth of the Pearl River in Louisiana to Ocean Springs in Mississippi, as well as at Lake Pontchartrain.
Three- to 5-foot surges may occur from Ocean Springs, Mississippi to the state border with Alabama, between Morgan City and the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana and at Lake Maurepas, the NHC said.
419,000 without power after Francine landfall
At least 419,942 people were without power early Thursday following the passage of Tropical Storm Francine, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday.
PowerOutage.us reported 392,440 people without power in Louisiana and 27,502 in Mississippi as of the early hours of Thursday morning.
Among those affected were 301,000 customers of the Entergy energy company, the firm said on its website. The most pronounced outages were in Louisiana, with the largest impact in coastal areas around New Orleans where Francine made landfall Wednesday.
Jefferson County (68,189), Orleans County (49,975), Lafourche County (36,701), Ascension County (27,038) and Terrebonne County (25,611) were the worst affected in Louisiana, Entergy said.
Francine weakens to tropical storm
After making landfall as a hurricane, Francine weakened to a tropical storm late Wednesday night.
All Hurricane Watches and Warnings have been canceled, but Tropical Storm Warnings continue for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The Flash Flood Warning remains in effect in metro New Orleans while heavy rains remain.
By Thursday morning, Francine will be over central Mississippi with heavy rain, gusty winds, and tornado risk extending into Alabama to the Florida panhandle.
The storm is moving northeast at 16 mph while sustaining maximum winds of 65 mph.
Flash Flood Warning issued for New Orleans
Thunderstorms across Louisiana are producing heavy rain across the state, according to the National Weather Service.
Flash Flood Warnings are in effect for “Northwestern Jefferson Parish, Southwestern Orleans, Northern St. Charles Parish and Southwestern St. John The Baptist Parish” until 11:45 PM local time, the NWS said Wednesday evening.
Between 5 to 7 inches of rain has already fallen in the areas, with an additional 2 to 3 inches expected, according to NWS.
Other areas in Louisiana that may experience flash flooding include Hahnville, Metairie, Avondale, Laplace, Marrero, Reserve, Harvey, Timberlane, Jefferson, Gretna, Harahan, Westwego, St. Rose, Destrehan, Ama, New Sarpy, Norco, Luling and Waggaman.
AT&T and T-Mobile report resolution of 911 outage in New Orleans
AT&T and T-Mobile say the issues customers in New Orleans had reported in reaching 911 services in some storm-impacted areas have been resolved.
Those customers who needed emergency services were told to call the 10-digit number instead — 504 671-3600 — according to the NOLA Ready Emergency Alert System.
Francine continues to bring ‘life-threatening’ storm surge
Francine continues to bring life-threatening storm surges and hurricane conditions to southern Louisiana. Heavy rain and gusty winds will stick around while the Category 1 storm is expected to weaken Wednesday evening.
It’s currently moving southeast of Morgan City with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.
Metro New Orleans is under a Flash Flood Warning and power went out in Slidell, Louisiana.
Causeway Bridge closes to traffic
The famed Causeway Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana has been closed to traffic due to “thunderstorms, high winds, crosswinds [and] poor visibility,” Causeway Police said.
Francine weakens to Category 1 storm
Francine has weakened to a Category 1 hurricane post-landfall, but continues to bring life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions to southern Louisiana.
A peak gust of 97 mph was reported at a weather station in Dulac.
FEMA on storm dangers
As residents in Louisiana hunker down due to Francine, Keith Turi, the associate administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Association, warned of potential hazards in the wake of the storm.
“What many people don’t know is that some of the most dangerous times are those hours right after the storm passes, when you’ve got high floodwaters or power lines down or even operating a generator, making sure you’re doing that safely and keeping it away from your home,” Turi told ABC News Live’s Kyra Phillips.
Turi said the agency has been coordinating with state and local officials for several days as Francine approached and will be prepared to conduct damage assessments on Thursday.
Francine makes landfall as Category 2 storm
Francine has made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane in southern Louisiana with 100 mph winds.
Landfall was about 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, in Terrebonne Parish.
Francine strengthens to Category 2
Francine has strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds as its eye approaches the Louisiana coast.
Life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions are moving onto shore.
Hurricane Francine’s eyewall is nearing the Louisiana coast, bringing hurricane-force winds close to shore.
Francine is now located 115 miles southwest of New Orleans and is moving northeast at 17 mph.
Some voluntary evacuations were issued in Terrebonne Parish, along the Louisiana coastline southwest of New Orleans, Parish President Jason Bergeron told ABC News.
“We’re starting to get some of the first bands coming through. And so we’re just getting everybody hunkered down and getting people to get to safety,” he said. “We opened our shelter last night and then we issued the curfew at 8 a.m. this morning, going to 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.”
Latest forecast
Tropical storm conditions have reached the Louisiana coastline, and life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds are expected to begin in the next few hours leading up to Hurricane Francine’s landfall.
130PM: These bands will continue through the evening hours and into the overnight. Locally heavy rainfall and tornadoes will be possible inside these bands along with the damaging winds from the hurricane. pic.twitter.com/o8hu1Zng5A
A hurricane watch is in effect in New Orleans, where the worst impacts will be Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday night.
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, including New Orleans.
Storm surge will worsen throughout the day. Up to 10 feet of storm surge is possible in parts of Louisiana; up to 5 feet is possible in the New Orleans area.
Flash flooding is a major threat for Louisiana and Mississippi.
Conditions across Louisiana will start to improve overnight as Francine weakens and moves north into Mississippi.
Francine will rapidly weaken after landfall and become a tropical storm by Thursday, but it’ll still bring heavy rain to the South.
Flash flooding will remain a threat through the end of the week as Francine moves north into Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.
The threat for isolated tornadoes will continue through Thursday morning, especially in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
-ABC News’ Melissa Griffin
Conditions deteriorating in southern Louisiana
Conditions are deteriorating in southern Louisiana as Hurricane Francine gets closer to landfall.
The storm, located 120 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, is moving northeast at 13 mph.
Rain bands are moving on shore and the dangerous winds are closing in.
-ABC News’ Melissa Griffin
‘The time to evacuate has now passed’
With hours to go until Hurricane Francine makes landfall in Louisiana, “the time to evacuate has now passed,” Jacques Thibodeau, the director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said at a news conference.
“It is now time to go down and hunker down,” he said. “We are no longer in the, ‘Prepare for a hurricane’ — we are now in the, ‘Respond to a hurricane.'”
The White House has approved an emergency declaration for the state. The Louisiana National Guard expects to have 2,400 guardsmen ready for the storm, along with 58 boats, 101 high water vehicles and 61 aircrafts, officials said.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he’s been in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, and said he’s fully confident in all state and federal agencies working together before, during and after the hurricane.
Landry also encouraged residents to “take advantage of the power that you have currently and make sure that you charge all of your devices.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Faul
New Orleans residents should start sheltering in place
Residents in New Orleans should stay off the roads beginning at noon ET and remain sheltered in place until Thursday morning, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.
“Conditions will worsen throughout the day—stay safe!” she tweeted.
Hurricane Francine is expected to make landfall along the Louisiana coast this evening as a Category 1 storm.
By 11 AM, everyone in New Orleans should stay off the roads and shelter in place until tomorrow morning.
Francine is churning north as a Category 1 hurricane with 90 mph winds.
Landfall is forecast Wednesday afternoon or early evening as a Category 1 hurricane near Houma, Louisiana.
Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and hurricane-force winds are bearing down on Louisiana.
The storm surge could reach 10 feet along the Louisiana coast and wind gusts could hit 70 mph in New Orleans.
“Ensure you are in a safe location before the onset of strong winds or possible flooding,” the National Hurricane Center warned.
By Thursday morning, Francine will be bringing rain and gusty winds to Mississippi, and potential tornadoes to Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Throughout the day Thursday, the heavy rain and tornado threat will move into northern Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Flash flooding is possible near Memphis and Nashville.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Weather warnings for Gulf Coast states
A raft of warnings was issued for cities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama ahead of Hurricane Francine’s expected landfall on Wednesday afternoon.
A hurricane watch was issued for New Orleans, with hurricane warnings for Morgan City and Houma on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.
Tropical storm warnings are in place further east, covering cities including Biloxi, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama.
Storm surge warnings were announced for both Biloxi — where water may rise up to 5 feet — and Mobile, where water levels may rise by up to 4 feet.
Francine is expected to make landfall as either a high-end Category 1 or low-end Category 2 hurricane, with winds between 90 and 100 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The Category 2 classification begins with winds of 96 mph.
Landfall may bring tornadoes in areas around New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile and Pensacola, Florida.
Heavy rain may cause flash flooding from New Orleans all the way up to Jackson, Mississippi through to Wednesday night. As the storm moves into Mississippi on Thursday, it is forecast to produce flash flooding and gusty winds.
Francine is expected to stall through Thursday night into Friday morning, bringing heavy rain to Memphis, Nashville and Paducah, Kentucky.
Francine 295 miles from Louisiana coast
Hurricane Francine is expected to make landfall southwest of New Orleans as a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon.
As of early Wednesday, Francine was 295 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, heading northeast at 10 mph.
Data collected by Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that the storm strengthened in the early hours of Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds close to 85 mph — up from 75 mph on Tuesday night.
New Orleans under Hurricane Watch
Emergency officials in New Orleans, Louisiana, warned residents on Tuesday that they should be prepared to shelter in place as Hurricane Francine approached landfall.
A Tropical Storm Warning and Hurricane Watch were issued for areas along the southern Louisiana coast, including New Orleans. A Flood Watch was also issued in Orleans Parish through Thursday morning, the city said.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell signed an emergency proclamation.
“The storm track has shifted more towards the east, which has the potential to worsen impacts for the city, but the storm remains disorganized,” the city said in a statement.
