High school graduation shooting kills 18-year-old, wounds 3, including 11-year-old
Graduaton cap (seng kui Lim/ 500px/Getty Images)
(FAIRFIELD, Calif.) — A teenager was killed and three people were wounded, including an 11-year-old, when gunfire erupted outside a high school graduation ceremony in Northern California, according to police.
The shooting took place at about 7:15 p.m. local time Wednesday in the parking lot of Fairfield High School after a ceremony ended there for Sem Yeto High School graduates, the Fairfield Police Department said.
Four victims were shot, police said. An 18-year-old died while an 11-year-old, a 20-year-old and a 25-year-old were injured, police said.
It’s not clear if the 18-year-old was a graduating student.
There is no ongoing threat to the community, police said.
Authorities did not immediately comment on the suspect or suspects involved.
The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District said in a statement, “Our thoughts are with the individuals affected and as soon as we have more details we will share that.”
ABC News’ Bennett Garcia contributed to this report.
(LONGVIEW, Wash.) — A chemical tank ruptured at a facility in Washington state, resulting in multiple critical injuries and an unknown number of fatalities, authorities said.
The “hazardous materials incident” was reported Tuesday morning at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a pulp and paper mill in Longview, fire authorities said.
A tank containing white liquor ruptured at approximately 7:15 a.m., according to a joint statement from local authorities and Nippon Dynawave Packaging.
Authorities initially referred to the incident as a chemical explosion and then an implosion, before referring to it as a rupture.
“The incident is stable, but is in the recovery phase,” Longview Fire Battalion Chief Mike Gorsuch said during a press briefing Tuesday, calling it “tragic.”
“Recovery efforts remain underway at the facility,” he said.
The number of fatalities is undetermined at this time, Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said during the press briefing.
A number of personnel are missing, Goldstein said, declining to confirm how many.
Nine people at the facility suffered injuries, including chemical burns, and were transported by ambulance to area hospitals, authorities said. The injuries ranged from critical to minor, according to Goldstein.
One firefighter was also injured in the incident and has since been treated and released from a nearby hospital, according to Gorsuch.
Patients with traumatic injuries are being treated at nearby medical facilities, while patients experiencing burns and exposure are being sent to other hospitals around the area, including in Portland, which are considered burn centers, Rick Graves, the spokesperson for Portland Fire and Rescue in Oregon, told ABC News.
PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview told ABC News it received nine patients from the incident — including one deceased. Six are in fair condition, and two other patients have been transferred, it said.
Legacy Health confirmed to ABC News it is treating patients in the incident, including at the Legacy Oregon Burn Center in Portland, though did not go into further detail.
Information on those killed and injured in the incident is being held pending next-of-kin notifications, authorities said.
The 80,000-gallon tank was about 60% full at the time of the rupture, according to Goldstein. White liquor is a chemical mixture of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide and disodium carbonate used in the paper-making process, he said.
The cause of the rupture is unknown at this time, Goldstein said.
“We’re dealing with life safety concerns and incident stabilization at this point,” he said. “That will come in the hours and days to come.”
There is no immediate threat to the public, authorities said.
“The scene remains in the recovery phase as emergency responders continue operations,” the joint statement said. “Responding agencies continue coordinating closely with facility personnel and partner agencies as the investigation and recovery efforts continue.”
Residents were urged to avoid the area amid the active emergency response.
The Nippon facility is located on the Washington-Oregon border near the Columbia River. The kraft pulp and paper mill and liquid packaging plant employs nearly 1,000 people, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.
ABC News’ Trevor Ault and Alyssa Pone contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Jes Staley, former chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, leaves for lunch as he attends closing submissions at the High Court Rolls Building on April 2, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee is set on Thursday to interview Jeffrey Epstein’s former private JPMorgan Chase investment banker, Jes Staley, whose career as a finance executive came crashing down after the convicted sex offender’s death in 2019.
Staley, 69, spent more than thirty years at JPMorgan Chase, including in senior roles in the private banking and investment divisions, where he managed relationships with ultra-wealthy clients, including Epstein.
After Staley left JPMorgan Chase, he became the CEO of the British multinational bank Barclays in 2015.
Staley agreed to a voluntary transcribed interview with the committee after its chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer, requested his appearance as part of the panel’s wide-ranging inquiry into the federal government’s handling of the criminal investigations of Epstein.
Staley’s interview, like others that have occurred in recent months, will not be recorded.
Following Epstein’s arrest and death in 2019, Staley came under scrutiny in a lawsuit brought by Epstein’s victims, who contended in court filings that JPMorgan Chase and Staley had allegedly ignored red flags that helped enable Epstein to traffic women and girls. JPMorgan Chase settled the case in 2023 for $290 million, without any admission of wrongdoing.
Barclay executives told U.K. financial regulators after Epstein’s death that Staley and Epstein did not have a close relationship and that Staley had cut off contact long before he joined the bank as its CEO. But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) subsequently determined — based partly on hundreds of emails and records that emerged from the victims’ lawsuit — that Staley had provided misleading information about the extent of the relationship and its timing.
Staley stepped down from Barclays in 2021 and was subsequently banned by the FCA from working in Britain’s financial sector.
Staley lost his appeal of the regulatory body’s findings. During the appeal proceedings last year, Staley acknowledged that he had what he described as a consensual sexual encounter with one of Epstein’s adult assistants at an apartment building in New York City, owned by Epstein’s brother, where Epstein housed some of his employees.
“We had one encounter,” Staley testified, according to an account in The Guardian. “Much to my embarrassment today.”
Staley has also acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands, though not while Epstein was there. He also claimed to have no specific recollection of a series of emails in which Staley and Epstein refer to women using names of Disney characters.
“That was fun. Say hi to Snow White,” Staley emailed to Epstein in 2010, according to documents made public in the victims’ litigation.
“Which character would you like next,” Epstein asked.
“Beauty and the Beast,” Staley answered.
“Well, one side is available,” Epstein responded, according to the documents.
A lawyer believed to be representing Staley for his interview on Capitol Hill did not respond to a request for comment in advance of Staley’s appearance.
Staley, who has not been charged, has denied all wrongdoing and has said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
An attorney representing Staley in the victims’ civil lawsuit said claims that Staley aided and abetted Epstein were “baseless.”
“The allegations against him are slanderous, and the potential damages are astronomical,” attorney Brendan Sullivan wrote in a 2023 court filing.
Records released by the Justice Department earlier this year in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act include unproven allegations of wrongdoing by Staley. The allegations, raised by an alleged Epstein victim, were detailed in an 86-page internal prosecution memo from December 2019.
It’s unclear if federal prosecutors pursued those allegations. The Department of Justice has said repeatedly since the disclosure of the Epstein files that there are no credible allegations or evidence that would lead to new federal criminal investigations.
Luigi Mangione attends a pretrial appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court on Aug. 11, 2026, in New York City. (David Dee Delgado-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione admitted to shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he pleaded guilty Friday to two federal stalking counts.
Mangione, wearing tan prison clothes, addressed the court himself, saying, “After years of enduring severe pain from a broken back … I learned UnitedHealth would be holding an investor conference in New York City.”
“I then researched the event online. I observed the annual conference of America’s largest healthcare organization with the stated mission to make the healthcare system better for everyone,” he said.
“I traveled to New York and emailed UnitedHealthcare with the intent to kill Brian Thompson … I shot Mr. Thompson in the back,” he said, adding, “I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
Earlier in the hearing, defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo told the court, “Mr. Mangione is prepared to plead guilty to the indictment at this time,” and Mangione himself then affirmed he was prepared to plead guilty.
Members of Thompson’s family, including his wife and mother, are sitting in the front row of the courtroom, marking the first time they’re appearing in court. Thompson’s wife appeared to be crying as the hearing began. Executives from UnitedHealthcare are also in attendance.
When asked for his full name, Mangione replied, “Luigi Nicolas Mangione,” and he affirmed his age, 28, and schooling at the University of Pennsylvania.
He told the judge he took a sleep medication two days ago but said it did not cloud his judgment.
The judge asked Mangione if he understood that he’d give up his right to a trial if he pleaded guilty, and Mangione responded yes.
Federal prosecutor Dominic Gentile explained that Mangione stalked Thompson with the intent to kill him and his conduct resulted in Thompson’s death.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett told Mangione a guilty plea would expose him to a possible life sentence.
“Do you understand that?” the judge asked, and Mangione replied, “yes.”
The judge confirmed there is no plea deal.
A guilty plea could complicate Mangione’s murder prosecution in state court, where trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 8. His federal trial was set for Jan. 5.
Defense attorneys have already tried to dismiss the murder charges on double jeopardy grounds. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is prepared to move forward, arguing stalking and murder address different harms.
About three dozen members of the public — including at least one person who camped out in a tent overnight — lined up outside the courthouse Friday morning to try to secure a seat in the courtroom.
Mangione’s supporters are often outspoken during his hearings, but there were little-to-no demonstrators on Friday morning. And with the federal court limiting what members of the public can wear, Mangione’s supporters were not donning their normal shirts proclaiming his innocence.
Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, in Midtown Manhattan, and he was captured in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that Mangione was indicted on first-degree murder charges on Dec. 17, 2024, and federal prosecutors announced separate charges of stalking and murder on Dec. 19, 2024.
Mangione pleaded not guilty in the separate state and federal cases.
The charges in both cases have narrowed over the last year. In the federal case, Garnett in January threw out the murder and firearm charges, leaving two counts: stalking – travel in interstate commerce and stalking – use of interstate facilities.
In the state case, Judge Gregory Carro last September dismissed the first-degree murder and terrorism charges. In the state case, Mangione is still charged with murder in the second-degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second-degree, and multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, third-degree and fourth-degree.
