Hispanic, LGBTQ communities receive hateful emails after racist text surge

(RALEIGH, N.C.) — A North Carolina State student has been arrested for a string of apparently random shootings at cars on multiple highways in Raleigh.

Since Monday, police have received 12 reports of shots being fired at vehicles and buildings in the vicinity of Interstates 40 and 440, according to Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson. Among the incidents, eight vehicles were fired into, resulting in one person being injured, she said.

Andrew Thomas Graney, 23, has been charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and 11 counts of firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle or dwelling, police said. Graney is a senior at NC State, majoring in anthropology and has been enrolled since fall 2019, the school confirmed to Raleigh ABC station WTVD.

A second person was taken into custody alongside Graney, but was released without charges, police said.

“At this time, we do believe that the 12 incidents are related,” Patterson said at a press briefing Thursday. “I can also confirm that we have identified a person of interest, and this person has been detained. However, we will continue to pursue all leads.”

The investigation led authorities to a residence in Raleigh on Thursday, where they detained the person of interest, police said. A second person who was also in the residence at the time was additionally detained, police said.

Police have urged drivers in the Raleigh area to remain vigilant following reports of vehicles being fired into during the early morning hours on I-40.

In one incident, on Monday, a woman was shot in the leg, suffering a non-life-threatening injury, police said.

Patterson said it is unclear at this time if shots were being fired from a vehicle or on foot.

Police previously said they believe a handgun was used in the shootings.

The shootings remain under investigation. Patterson urged anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage to come forward.

A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible, she said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MASSACHUSETTS) — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced on Wednesday that students with family income below $200,000 can expect to attend the Cambridge institution tuition-free starting next fall.

The bulk of American households meet this income threshold, according to the university, which says the new policy will cover 80% of its incoming classes.

Additionally, students whose family income is below $100,000 will see their entire MIT experience paid for, including tuition, housing, dining, fees and an allowance for books and personal expenses.

“MIT’s distinctive model of education — intense, demanding, and rooted in science and engineering — has profound practical value to our students and to society,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a press release.

“The cost of college is a real concern for families across the board,” Kornbluth added, “and we’re determined to make this transformative educational experience available to the most talented students, whatever their financial circumstances. So, to every student out there who dreams of coming to MIT: Don’t let concerns about cost stand in your way.”

America’s top engineering university, which was also ranked as the third-most prestigious university in the nation by Forbes, comes at a steep annual price.

MIT tuition was $57,986 for the 2022-2023 school year, which is higher than the $39,400 average for four-year private institutions in the nation, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Stu Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions and student financial services, said the financial aid initiative allows for America’s most eligible students to gain a top-ranked education, regardless of their family’s income.

“We believe MIT should be the preeminent destination for the most talented students in the country interested in an education centered on science and technology, and accessible to the best students regardless of their financial circumstances,” Schmill said in the release.

Before the landmark financial aid announcement, MIT was already one of nine universities in the U.S. that does not consider applicants’ ability to pay as part of its admissions process.

Unlike most American colleges, MIT does not expect students on aid to take loans, and the institution does not provide “an admissions advantage” to the children of alumni or donors, according to the release.

“With the need-based financial aid we provide today, our education is much more affordable now than at any point in the past,” Schmill, who graduated from MIT in 1986, said in the release, while acknowledging that, of course, “the ‘sticker price’ of MIT is higher now than it was when I was an undergraduate.”

The tuition-free financial aid initiative is made possible by “generous gifts made by individual alumni and friends” of the university, according to MIT.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA) — The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday announced the transfer of two detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, bringing the total announced departures to three detainees in the last 24 hours.

Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who are both Malaysians, are being sent to their home country to serve the remainder of a five year sentence imposed in June, the Pentagon said in a press release. Officials had announced the transfer of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu to Kenya on Tuesday.

There are now 27 detainees at Guantanamo, 15 of whom are eligible for a transfer out of the detention facility.

The two detainees whose transfers were announced Wednesday had previously been brought before a Military Commission, where they pleaded guilty to multiple offenses, including murder in violation of the law of war, the Pentagon said.

Both had agreed prior to their trials to testify against Encep Nurjaman, who the U.S. described as the alleged mastermind behind al-Qaeda attacks in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002, and in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2003, the Pentagon said.

“On June 13, 2024, in accordance with the pretrial agreements, the Convening Authority approved sentences of confinement for approximately five years for each and recommended that both men be repatriated or transferred to a third-party sovereign nation to serve the remainder of the approved sentence,” the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

In announcing the transfer of Bajabu to Kenya on Tuesday, the Pentagon said that a review board had found that his detention was “no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States.”

He was released to the Kenyan government, the U.S. said.

“The United States appreciates the support to ongoing U.S. efforts toward a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the Pentagon said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.