Gunmen break into former Seahawks player Richard Sherman’s home with family inside
Quinn Harris/Getty Images
(KING COUNTY, Wa.) — Armed gunmen broke into former Seattle Seahawks player Richard Sherman’s home with his family inside at the time, according to video he shared on social media from his residential security cameras.
The King County Sheriff’s Office said the break-in occurred just after midnight on Sunday, which was Sherman’s 37th birthday.
“House being robbed at gun point with my family in it isn’t what anyone wants for a birthday gift,” Sherman said. “Scary situation that my wife handled masterfully and kept my kids safe. If anyone has any info that can help find these people please reach out.”
The video shows three individuals busting through a window in Sherman’s home.
Police said the robbery remains an open and active investigation.
It is not clear if anything was taken from Sherman’s home. Investigators have seen the security camera footage and will use that and any other evidence to build the case, police said.
There have been no arrests and there are no suspects at this time.
Sherman, a cornerback, was a fifth round pick out of Stanford in 2011 and became the lynchpin of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” defense. He spent seven seasons in Seattle, being named first-team All Pro three times and making the Pro Bowl five times.
Sherman won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks in 2014. He later played for the San Francisco 49ers for three seasons and finished his career with a brief stint in Tampa Bay. He currently works as a TV commentator for Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football.
The group allegedly stole jewelry, watches, cash and “other luxury merchandise” from the homes of two Kansas City Chiefs players — Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce — and burglarized the home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, federal prosecutors said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education initiated mass layoffs on Tuesday night, reducing its workforce by nearly 50%, sources told ABC News.
The “reduction in force” notices began to go out at about 6 p.m.
Some 1,315 employees were affected by the RIFs, leaving 2,183 employed by the department, according to senior officials at the DOE.
Impacted staff will be placed on administrative leave starting March 21, a statement from the Education Department said. They will receive full pay and benefits through June 9, senior officials added.
The statement also said that the DOE will “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking.”
“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon shortly after the notifications went out on Tuesday.
“I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department,” she said. “This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”
The downsizing impacts “every” sector of the department in some way, according to senior department of education officials.
“This is primarily a streamlining effort for internal facing roles and not external facing roles,” senior officials said.
Following the flurry of layoff notifications, those who remained employed by the DOE received their own email. ABC News obtained a copy, which said, in part: “As we move forward, our mission and responsibilities will remain, but there will need to be significant changes to the way that we work. What we choose to prioritize, and in turn, not prioritize, will be critical in this transition.”
“Please know that these decisions were not made lightly, and in no way reflect on the dedication and hard work of those who are leaving,” it said, before referring to this moment as the DOE’s “final mission” and suggesting: “Let’s continue to move forward as a team.”
In next steps, six communications offices are going to be consolidated, officials explained, and leases will end in major cities including San Francisco, New York, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago and Dallas.
The three DOE buildings in Washington, D.C., will also eventually be consolidated, according to the senior officials.
The announcement came shortly after DOE employees were told that their offices — including those in the National Capital Region, along with regional locations — would be closed for the day on Wednesday.
Citing “security reasons,” an email went out saying that the buildings would be inaccessible starting at 6 p.m., a source within the department told ABC News.
“You must vacate the building by that time,” a department email to employees reads in part, adding “All ED offices in the NCR and the regions will be closed to employees and contractor employees on Wednesday, March 12th.”
Senior officials later elaborated that the safety precautions were meant to protect the remaining employees who retained their positions with the DOE.
The email also instructed employees to take their laptops home with them after work on Tuesday.
“Please take your laptop with you when you depart on Tuesday. Employees will not be permitted in any ED facility on Wednesday March 12th for any reason. All offices will reopen on Thursday, March 13th, at which time in-person presence will resume,” the email said.
The email also said that employees with approved telework agreements may work from home; however, such telework agreements are largely no longer in place, an employee told ABC News. The DOE called for its total workforce to return to its offices late last month.
The closure notification comes as President Donald Trump weighs an executive order to shutter the agency and transfer education oversight to the states. The decision to sign that order was delayed due to concerns over questions the administration might get about vital programs that could potentially be gutted by it.
Inside the department, employees are bracing for uncertain futures.
“People are petrified to do their jobs,” an Education Department employee told ABC News recently. “People are worried about like, if I push back on something that somebody wants to do, right, and I say, that’s not really what the law says or is legal, am I going to get a bad performance and now they use a bad performance to kick me out?”
“Everyone here is holding their breath,” the DOE employee added.
National Education Association President Becky Pringle released a statement in response to the layoffs on Tuesday, saying: “Firing — without cause — nearly half of the Department of Education staff means they are getting rid of the dedicated public servants who help ensure our nation’s students have access to the programs and resources to keep class sizes down and expand learning opportunities for students so they can grow into their full brilliance. The Trump administration has abandoned students, parents, and educators across the nation.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is preparing for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to begin working with the agency to identify “cost-cutting” measures, with Attorney General Pam Bondi this week establishing an internal DOJ team to help facilitate the review of the nation’s top law enforcement divisions, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
In an email to DOJ division leaders on Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Lauria announced the formation of a “JUST DOGE” team, which will work with White House officials and “DOGE counterparts” to identify “savings and cost-cutting measures” within the department, according to a copy of the email reviewed by ABC News.
The “JUST DOGE” team, formed earlier this week by the attorney general, is solely made up of senior DOJ officials, including “co-leads” AAG Lauria, Associate Deputy Attorney General James McHenry, Counselor to the Attorney General Sean Day and Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General Vetan Kapoor.
According to the email, the new team will oversee the internal budget reviews and identify potential efficiencies at the Justice Department — efforts that Musk’s own DOGE personnel have spearheaded at other federal agencies.
“The JUST-DOGE team will lead directed reviews and identify cost savings and other potential efficiencies in DOJ’s budget,” the email read.
A Justice Department spokesperson told ABC News, “President Trump and Elon Musk are doing historic work to identify and eliminate wasteful spending on behalf of American taxpayers, and JUST DOGE will advance this mission at the DOJ in order to ensure the Department’s resources are best utilized to Make America Safe Again.”
Besides leadership, key roles on the “JUST DOGE” team include Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael J. Williams, who will oversee human resources; DAAG William N. Taylor II, who will be responsible for management and procurement; DAAG Christopher C. Alvarez, who will lead financial management and budgeting; and DAAG Meunda Rogers, who will head data and IT, according to the email.
The formation of the team has stirred unease among some DOJ officials who worry that Musk’s DOGE operatives could move aggressively to slash department personnel and programs, sources told ABC News. Meanwhile, others see the creation of the “JUST DOGE” team, which is composed entirely of current DOJ staff, as an attempt by department leadership to maintain control over the review process and create a buffer against Musk’s team, which has been granted broad access and power at other agencies.
Several of Musk’s DOGE representatives have been seen inside Justice Department offices in recent days, heightening concerns that the DOJ — the agency responsible for enforcing federal law — could become the next major target of Musk’s cost-cutting push.
Musk, who sources tell ABC News has been in direct contact with Bondi since joining the administration, previously joked in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan about Biondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files in February, when she ruffled feathers in the White House by trumpeting the release of a binder of materials that contained almost no new information. Musk, who at times in the interview defended Bondi, also called the move by the attorney general “disappointing.”
(HONOLULU) — A doctor is suspected of trying to kill his wife by hitting her with a rock and attempting to push her off a hiking trail in Hawaii, according to police.
Gerhardt Konig, 46, and his wife were at Pali Lookout on Oahu on Monday morning when Konig tried to push her off the trail and struck her in the head with a rock, the Honolulu Police Department said.
She was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.
Honolulu police issued a bulletin asking the public to help find Konig, identifying him as an attempted murder suspect.
On Monday evening, Konig was spotted near Pali Highway and arrested after a brief foot chase, police said.
Konig previously worked in Pittsburgh, where he was an attending anesthesiologist at a women’s hospital and an assistant professor of anesthesiology and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Engineering, according to his biography. Konig hasn’t worked for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in over two years, a spokesperson for the medical center said.
ABC News’ Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report.
