Talk of the Town
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Tuesday quashed a DOJ subpoena seeking the names and personal information of Fulton County’s 2020 election workers as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing election probe.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(PHILADELPHIA) — Officials at Penn State University said they’re “heartbroken” after a student was shot and killed about one block from his home in Philadelphia.
William Schmidt, 22, was shot at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and officers found him lying in the road with a gunshot wound to his chest, according to Philadelphia police.
Schmidt was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m., police said.
Authorities have not announced any arrests or any motive.
Schmidt was studying digital journalism and media at Penn State World Campus, the university said.
“We are heartbroken over the tragic death of William Schmidt, and we share our deepest condolences with his family and friends,” a Penn State spokesperson said in a statement.
Police urge anyone with information to call the homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip at 215-686-TIPS.
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(NEW YORK) — Gulf Coast states already dealing with massive floods are bracing for even more extreme weather as the first tropical storm of the season could form as early as Tuesday night.
Tropical Storm watch issued for 2 states
The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch on Tuesday for the Gulf Coast from southeast Texas –including the cities of Brazosport, Galveston and Port Arthur– to parts of southwestern Louisiana.
Potential Tropical Cyclone One, the name of the low-pressure system developing, is forecast to become a tropical storm later Tuesday or early Wednesday along the Gulf Coast.
If it becomes a tropical storm, it will be named Arthur, the first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.
A hurricane is not expected to form, according to the latest forecast.
Very heavy rain is forecast for New Orleans as early as Wednesday evening or as late as Thursday morning, depending on how quickly the storm develops. New Orleans is under a flood watch.
Winds will gust over 40 mph at times along the coast and coastal flooding may also become an issue, according to the forecast.
Deadly flash flood threat continues in the South
A woman in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio, Texas, called 911 on Monday morning, saying her car was being swept away into a creek by floodwaters, the county’s sheriff’s office said on social media.
Within moments, the call dropped, the office said, and hours later the woman was found dead in the vehicle “several miles downstream” of its initial entry point, the sheriff’s office said. The woman was not immediately identified.
In San Antonio, Houston and Waco there were stalled vehicles due to high waters on roads. In Shreveport, Louisiana, there were water rescues and water entering buildings.
In St. Martin, Mississippi, ramps to I-10 and I-110 were closed due to high waters. South of there, at Kessler Air Force Base, several roads became impassible.
More than 17 million Americans remain on Tuesday under a flood watch from Texas to Mississippi.
Heavy rainfall may lead to localized significant flash flooding from Corpus Christi to Houston to Lafayette and Alexandria, Louisiana, and McComb, Mississippi. A level 3 of 4 threat for flash flooding is in place there.
The greatest risk is likely along a frontal boundary laid over central Louisiana and into southeast Mississippi — rainfall may be heavy for a few hours in this area on Tuesday and could lead to significant flooding.
Rains closer to the coast are going to be more difficult to sustain but there is certainly enough ingredients there that if they get going, localized instances of significant flash flooding are possible.
Tomorrow, the level 3 of 4 flood threat is for Houston, Beaumont, Lake Charles, and Lafayette.
On Thursday, the level 3 of 4 flood threat moves to Baton Rouge through Jackson, MS, Montgomery, AL and Birmingham, AL.
This heavier rain for Wednesday and Thursday will come from a developing tropical low over the western Gulf.
The National Hurricane Center gives it a 60% chance of forming into a tropical storm later on Tuesday or on Wednesday. If it becomes a tropical storm, it will be named Arthur, the first of the season.
Severe weather outbreak in the Midwest on Wednesday
About 40 million Americans are in the storm zone where a severe weather outbreak is expected on Wednesday
The greatest likelihood for a destructive outbreak is in Illinois and Indiana, and possible for parts of Missouri, Iowa and Ohio, too.
A level 4 of 5 moderate risk for destructive storms is in place for central Illinois and northern Indiana on Wednesday. This includes Springfield, Peoria, Decatur, Champaign and Bloomington, Illinois, along with Rensselaer, Indiana.
Large and long-lived tornadoes are possible, along with destructive wind gusts up to 80 mph, and hail up to the size of baseballs.
The level 3 of 4 risk includes Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Fort Wayne.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
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(UVALDE, Texas) — Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is set to return to a Texas courtroom on Friday, as the judge overseeing his criminal trial weighs moving the case out of Uvalde and whether the whole thing might have to wait because US Customs and Border Protection has refused to cooperate.
Arredondo in 2024 was charged with 10 counts of endangering students by failing to quickly respond to the 2022 mass shooting. The criminal case has stalled due to two ongoing civil lawsuits that seek to force agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit — involved in taking down the gunman — to testify in the case.
Nineteen students and two of their teachers were killed when Robb Elementary School was attacked by a former student on the last day of school, May 24, 2022.
Arredondo led the response to the 2022 shooting rampage, and prosecutors allege that he ignored his training by waiting some 77 minutes before agents stormed a classroom and killed the gunman. Earlier this year, a jury acquitted former school police officer Adrian Gonzales on similar charges after a three-week trial.
Families of the victims responded to that verdict with outrage and some are looking to Arredondo’s trial as another opportunity for justice.
“We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough,” Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died in the shooting, said after Gonzales’ acquittal in January. “Again, we are failed. I don’t even know what to say.”
Arredondo has pleaded not guilty, arguing he followed his training and saying he did not consider himself as the incident commander that day, though investigators said he was just that. Arredondo’s attorney Paul Looney told ABC News that he believes the case against Arredondo is weaker than the failed prosecution of Gonzales.
“They tried the one they thought that they had the best shot at, but now they’re going to put everything they’ve got into doing this one, because they do want to win at least something,” Looney said.
Friday’s status conference comes as Judge Sid Harle weighs the future of the case. The judge has said he wants to determine how the trial against Arredondo can proceed amid the ongoing litigation with CBP and whether — as in the case of Gonzales — the trial ought to be moved out of Uvalde.
Both Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell and Arredondo filed federal lawsuits to compel the federal agents to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify at trial.
“The three border patrol agents whose cooperation is now being sought by District Attorney Mitchell — two of whom participated in the actual killing of the gunman and the third who was present in the hallway during most of the incident — are essential to the pending Texas criminal prosecution,” Mitchell wrote in her lawsuit.
CBP attorneys have argued that the request for testimony is unreasonable, unnecessary and “negatively impacts CBP operations and national security” by taking up resources and potentially disclosing sensitive information.
Attorneys have argued that CBP revealed enough information through the investigative summaries prepared by the Texas Rangers and a report released by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
“It is unclear from your request how testimony from the identified CBP employees is genuinely necessary to the proceedings,” an attorney for CBP said in a court filing.
Earlier this year, a new judge was assigned to the lawsuit filed by Mitchell, and this week she filed a motion to schedule a status conference in that case. Looney, who filed a separate lawsuit largely mirroring the District Attorney’s, said he anticipates the litigation will take another eight months to a year.
Friday’s hearing will be held in Uvalde, though the trial of Gonzales was held in Corpus Christi to find an impartial jury, due to the widespread impact of the shooting on the Uvalde community.
Arredondo’s lawyer said he expects Harle to grant his motion for a venue change, though he claimed there is “no sense of urgency” to resolve the venue issue while the case remains stalled by the ongoing civil litigation.
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