New York Jets’ cornerback Kris Boyd back in the hospital while recovering from recent shooting
Ishika Samant/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — New York Jets player Kris Boyd is back in the hospital days after he was released for treatment of a gunshot wound.
Boyd, 29, had been released from the hospital after he was shot in Midtown Manhattan on Nov. 16 but returned on Wednesday due to “health issues,” he wrote in an Instagram story.
“Please bare [sic] with me, I haven’t been in communication much,” Boyd wrote. “I was released but had to return to the hospital due to my health issues.”
Boyd then thanked everyone who has prayed and reached out to him with well wishes.
The nature around his hospitalization was unclear.
Boyd was shot in the abdomen at 2 a.m. on Nov. 16 in front of the Sei Less restaurant on West 38th Street in Manhattan, the NYPD confirmed to ABC News. He then underwent multiple treatments at Bellevue Hospital for the bullet lodged in his lung.
The shooting appeared to have stemmed from an exchange of works between Boyd, who was with two other Jets players and a friend, and another group “chirping” about their clothes, police sources told ABC News.
On Nov. 19, three days after the shooting, Boyd posted a photo of himself to his Instagram story, saying he was beginning to breathe on his own.
“I’m coming along, starting to breathe on my own now,” Boyd wrote. “Sincerely appreciate everyone!”
Last week, NYPD detectives identified a possible suspect, but no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is seen during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for judicial nominees in Dirksen building, November 19, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — For several years, as U.S. authorities have struggled to stop online extremist networks like “764” from pushing teens to livestream acts of violence or self-harm, including their own suicide, the Justice Department has faced what authorities and victims both say is a vexing challenge: Such coercion is not a federal crime.
That could change if the Republican chairman and the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department, have their way.
Ahead of a committee hearing Tuesday on the evolving threat of online predators, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, introduced a first-of-its-kind piece of legislation that would explicitly criminalize the intentional coercing of minors to physically harm themselves or others, including animals.
Under their proposal, called the Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online Act, some perpetrators could face life in prison.
“When offenders are eventually caught by law enforcement, prosecutors charge them with the most appropriate charges,” Grassley said in the hearing. “However, there are no specific laws to address the terrible and shocking acts conducted by gore groups such as 764 and those engaged in sextortion.”
Grassley and Durbin’s proposed legislation comes in the wake of several recent reports from ABC News about the growing threat of 764, including an extended interview with the parents of Jay Taylor, a 13-year-old from outside Seattle who in 2022 took his own life — and aired it live on social media — after allegedly being manipulated by a member of 764 in Germany.
“It’s almost biblical in its definition of evil, what happened,” Jay’s father, Colby Taylor, said in the ABC News interview. “Ten minutes of murder.”
That’s why the U.S. needs “to have something in our actual laws that allows us to prosecute” cases as “digital homicides,” he said.
The FBI has described 764 as one of the greatest current threats to teens online, with members finding vulnerable victims on popular platforms, eliciting private information and intimate sexual images from them, and then using that sensitive material to blackmail victims into mutilating themselves or taking other violent action — all while streaming it on social media so others can watch and then disseminate recordings of it.
According to authorities, Jay Taylor is just one of many victims pushed to suicide.
German law explicitly criminalizes such coercion, so the young man allegedly behind Jay Taylor’s death — calling himself “White Tiger” online — has been charged in Germany with murder, along with 203 other offenses involving more than 30 other victims.
According to former FBI agent Pat McMonigle, who helped uncover “White Tiger” and what he allegedly did, making online coercion a federal crime in the United States “would be very helpful.”
“This is truly a bipartisan thing that … could effect some change,” he recently told ABC News.
According to Grassley’s office, the Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online Act — or “ECCHO Act” — would “specifically go after” networks like 764, creating a penalty of up to life in prison for those who intentionally coerce someone into even just attempting to die by suicide or who coerce someone into taking action that results in the death or killing of another person.
The bill would also create a 30-year maximum penalty for other harmful conduct that does not involve a death, Grassley’s office said.
“Because of modern technology, child predators from anywhere in the world can target American kids online,” Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate as the Democratic whip, said in a statement. “As technology has evolved, so have online child predators.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says it received more than 2,000 reports of abuse tied to 764 or similar networks in the first nine months of this year.
As ABC News has previously reported, the FBI is investigating more than 350 people across the United States with suspected ties to 764 or similar networks. And the Justice Department has already publicly charged at least 35 such people in recent years.
Their victims have been as young as nine years old, according to authorities.
FBI Director Kash Patel recently called 764 “modern-day terrorism in America.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Tuesday will include testimony from an executive director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a former federal prosecutor who retired from the Justice Department earlier this year, and the mother of a teenage son who was victimized by sextortion and then took his own life, unrelated to 764.
Some states have enacted laws aimed at helping to protect children online. And in May, President Donald Trump signed into law the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which prohibits the nonconsensual publication of sexually-explicit images and pushes online platforms to remove violative material.
Several lawmakers — from both sides of the aisle — have introduced additional pieces of legislation in both the House and Senate that could help fight online predators.
But those laws and proposals don’t specifically address the coerced self-harm that is emblematic of 764 and similar online networks.
On Tuesday, Grassley and Durbin are expected to introduce two other pieces of legislation to help protect children online, including the Stop Sextortion Act, which would amend existing laws to address offenders who use threats to distribute sexually-explicit material to extort and coerce minors, according to Grassley’s office.
“I’m proud to introduce these bills to protect children from online abuse, hold dangerous criminals accountable and secure much needed justice for victims and their families,” Grassley said in his statement.
Durbin similarly said he was “proud to join” Grassley’s effort.
At least one other top Democrat in the Senate, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Virginia, has previously expressed support for such legislation, recently telling ABC News that online coercion is “a total crime,” even if “it’s through a digital connection.”
Still, it’s unclear how successful Grassley and Durbin’s effort will be.
One high-profile piece of legislation aimed at protecting children online, the Kids Online Safety Act, passed overwhelmingly in the Senate last year — by a vote of 93 to 1 — only to languish in the House, largely due to First Amendment concerns.
“This is a problem that is going to continue to morph, and if we don’t do something, potentially could get worse,” Sen. Warner told ABC News.
Luigi Mangione appears at a hearing for the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson at Manhattan Criminal Court, Feb. 21, 2025, in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — For the first time, prosecutors played the 911 call that led to the arrest of Luigi Mangione, as the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is in court in New York City on Monday for a multi-day hearing that could determine the balance of evidence in his state murder trial.
Mangione, 27, was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the fatal shooting of Thompson in midtown Manhattan last year.
“I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looks like the CEO shooter from New York,” an unnamed McDonald’s manager told a Blair County emergency dispatcher, according to a recording of the 911 call played in open court in Manhattan.
The recording was played during the testimony of Emily States, the 911 Coordinator for Blair County Emergency Services. She authenticated the video before prosecutors played it for the judge.
According to the manager, an older female customer was “really upset” and “frantic” after seeing Mangione eating breakfast in the rear of the McDonald’s. She noted that the customer was trying to be “non-discreet” while she scoped out the suspected killer.
“I can’t approach him,” the female manager told the dispatcher, identifying Mangione by his black jacket, surgical mask and tan beanie.
“He shot the CEO. I got you,” the dispatcher responds at one point.
The manager tried to identify Mangione by his size — “mid height” and “mid weight” — but appeared to struggle to list any identifiable characteristics beyond his clothing, according to the recording.
“The only thing you can see are his eyebrows,” the manager said. “I don’t know what to do here, guys.”
The recording itself is occasionally muffled and interrupted by the sounds of a bustling McDonald’s in the background, including breakfast orders being placed. Toward the end of the recording, the dispatcher confirms that an officer is en route to the McDonald’s.
“I do have an officer on the way for you. Just keep an eye on him. If he leaves, let us know,” the dispatcher said.
Mangione, sitting in the courtroom, leaned forward in his chair while the audio played, occasionally writing down notes of the call.
The judge has not yet ruled on whether to allow the audio into the trial.
Mangione’s attorneys are trying to limit prosecutors from using key evidence — including a 3D-printed gun and purported journal writings — police say they obtained when they arrested him in Pennsylvania last year.
Earlier during Monday’s hearing, Mangione leaned on his left hand and stared at a large screen at the front of the courtroom, gazing at images police in New York City disseminated following the murder of Thompson.
The images allegedly depict Mangione at a Starbucks, on a bicycle, at a hostel, in the back of a taxi and with a gun taking aim at Thompson as the United Healthcare chief executive strolled toward the Hilton in Midtown.
The NYPD posted the images to social media following the killing as it asked the public for help identifying the suspect wanted for a “premeditated targeted attack” and announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrest.
With Sgt. Christopher McLaughlin on the witness stand, prosecutor Joel Seidemann played a video of the shooting allegedly depicting Mangione firing more than once, Thompson buckling against the building facade, and Mangione calmly walking by the victim.
Prosecutors seem intent on firmly establishing Mangione as the definitive suspect as the defense raises questions about officers approaching him five days later at the McDonald’s in Altoona.
Bernard Pyles, who works for the company that installed security cameras at the McDonald’s, testified Monday that he was asked to retrieve footage for the police.
“We were told there was an arrest made and they need footage,” Pyles said. “We were looking for a certain individual on the footage in order to cut out the pieces they needed.”
On Dec. 9, McDonalds cameras allegedly captured Mangione ordering from a kiosk, waiting at the counter and picking up his order. Mangione is allegedly seen on a different camera carrying his food, taking a seat in a back corner table and wiping it down.
The individual that police identified as Mangione remained at the table 25 minutes before camera showed police officers arriving and confronting him.
Defense attorneys have argued Altoona police officers questioned Mangione for 20 minutes before reading him his rights, and also searched his backpack without a warrant.
Nearly two dozen Mangione supporters seated in the back row of the courtroom craned their necks to get a look at the accused killer as he entered the courtroom at the start of Monday’s hearing. Some were dressed in T-shirts displaying slogans about the case, including one saying “Justice is not a spectacle.”
Though no trial date has been set for either Mangione’s state or federal criminal cases, the outcome of this week’s hearing will determine the shape of the case Mangione and his lawyers will face at trial. If they succeed in limiting key evidence, prosecutors could lose the ability to use Mangione’s writings — which prosecutors say paint a clear motive for the crime — and the alleged murder weapon.
“I finally feel confident about what I will do,” Mangione allegedly wrote in a notebook seized from his backpack, later included in court filings. “The target is insurance. It checks every box.”
This week’s hearing in New York’s State Supreme Court — where Mangione is charged with second-degree murder — follows a legal victory for Mangione’s defense when the judge in September tossed two murder charges related to an act of terrorism. He is still charged with second-degree murder and other offenses, as well as a separate criminal case in federal court. If convicted in state court, Mangione faces a potential life sentence, and he could face the death penalty in his federal case.
Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson — a father of two who spent two decades working for UnitedHealthcare before being named its CEO — last December outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel before allegedly fleeing the city. He was arrested on Dec. 9 at the McDonald’s in Altoona after someone reported seeing a “suspicious male that looked like the shooter from New York City.”
Defense lawyers are trying to bar prosecutors from using any of the evidence recovered from the backpack — including electronic devices, a 3D-printed gun, silencer, and a journal — as well as referencing any statements Mangione made to police. Lawyers with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have defended the lawfulness of the arrest and search and are expected to argue that the evidence would have inevitably been recovered during the discovery process ahead of trial.
“Despite the gravest of consequences for Mr. Mangione, law enforcement has methodically and purposefully trampled his constitutional rights,” Mangione’s attorney argued in their motion.
Defense lawyers argue the constitutional issues began almost immediately after officers approached Mangione, who was seated in the McDonald’s to have breakfast. After Mangione allegedly provided officers with a fake driver’s license, they immediately began questioning Mangione about whether he was recently in New York and why he lied about his identity, defense lawyers say. As he was questioned, defense lawyers say officers filled the restaurant to form an “armed human wall trapping Mr. Mangione at the back of the restaurant.”
Citing time-stamped police body camera footage, Mangione’s attorneys allege police waited 20 minutes to read his Miranda Rights and extensively questioned him without informing him he was under investigation or that he had the right to remain silent. They have asked New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro to prohibit prosecutors from introducing any evidence or testimony related to what they say was an illegal interrogation at the McDonald’s.
Defense lawyers also contend that an officer illegally searched Mangione’s bag while he was being interrogated, eventually discovering a loaded magazine and handgun. Despite another officer commenting, “at this point we probably need a search warrant” for the bag, Mangione’s attorneys argue that the officer continued searching the bag and claimed she was trying to make sure there “wasn’t a bomb or anything” in the bag.
“[The officer] did not search the bag because she reasonably thought there might be a bomb, but rather this was an excuse designed to cover up an illegal warrantless search of the backpack,” they argue. “This made-up bomb claim further shows that even she believed at the time that there were constitutional issues with her search, forcing her to attempt to salvage this debacle by making this spurious claim.”
Mangione’s attorneys argue that any of the items recovered from the backpack, including his alleged writings and weapon, should be limited as “fruit” of an illegal search.
Ahead of the hearing, Mangione’s attorneys have previewed plans to call at least two witnesses from the Altoona Police Department. During an unrelated court hearing last week, one of Mangione’s attorneys claimed that the hearing could include more than two dozen witnesses and hours of body camera footage.
Judge Carro has set aside several days beginning Monday to hear arguments about whether the testimony and evidence can be suppressed.
Security video of Morgan Geyser. (Madison Police Department)
(NEW YORK) — Morgan Geyser, who in 2014 stabbed a friend 19 times to appease the fictional character “Slender Man,” was located Sunday night after she allegedly cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left a Wisconsin group home where she had been a resident, authorities said.
Geyser was taken into custody in Posen, Illinois, police confirmed to ABC News.
Before being located, Geyser was last seen in Madison around 8 p.m. on Saturday with an adult acquaintance, police said in a statement posted on social media, which included a recent surveillance image of Geyser.
Geyser was found Sunday night at a Thornton’s truck stop with another person, according to Posen Police, who said the pair took a bus to Posen, and were both taken into custody.
Police later said the person traveling with Geyser was a 42-year-old man, who was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification. He was released, but remained at the police station, Posen police said. Authorities said they would not provide the man’s name, booking photo or details of his involvement.
“Geyser will be held until transfer to Cook County for an extradition hearing at 26th and California,” the department said, referring by address to the Criminal Court Administration Building in Chicago. It was not immediately clear when that hearing would take place.
Posen is about 25 minutes south of Chicago.
The police department said it was notified of the 22-year-old Geyser’s disappearance on Sunday morning.
Geyser’s mother, Angie Geyser, said in a statement to ABC News earlier on Sunday, “If you see Morgan, please call the police. Morgan, if you can see this, we love you and just want to know you are safe.”
In March, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren ordered that Geyser be released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute and sent to a group home after three psychologists testified she was prepared for supervised release.
As part of her release, Geyser was ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet.
Geyser, according to police, cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left the group home sometime Saturday night.
Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, released a statement on Sunday asking Geyser to turn herself in, saying it was “in her best interest” to do so.
Geyser and another girl, Anissa Weier, were charged as adults and pleaded guilty to stabbing a classmate, Payton Leutner, 19 times in 2014, when they and the victim were 12 years old. Both Geyser’s and Weier’s guilty pleas were later vacated when they were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Both of them were subsequently sent to psychiatric institutions.
“Payton Leutner and her family are aware of the most recent situation regarding Morgan Geyser,” a spokesperson for the Leutner family said in a statement to ABC News. “Payton and her family are safe and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure their continued safety.”
“The family would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved in the efforts to apprehend Morgan,” the statement continued. “The Leutner family also wish to thank the outpouring of support from family, friends, and well-wishers who have contacted them during this difficult time.”
In January, Judge Bohren ordered the state Department of Health Services to come up with a plan for Geyser’s supervised release.
Geyser was transferred in March from the Winnebago Mental Health facility to a group home despite concerns raised by prosecutors, who alleged she had “violent” communication with a man outside the facility and had read a book in the facility with “themes of sexual sadism and murder.”
In 2014, Geyser and Weier lured their friend, Payton Leutner, then 12, to the woods in Waukesha, Wis., where Geyser stabbed Leutner while Weier watched.
Geyser and Weier left Leutner alone in the woods. Injured and bleeding, Leutner pulled herself to safety and was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Leutner survived the attack that captured headlines worldwide after Geyser and Weier claimed that the stabbing was intended to please “Slender Man,” a faceless, fictional internet-based character that garnered a cult-like following.
Geyser pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted intentional homicide and was sent to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in 2018. Geyser was later found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and was sentenced to up to 40 years in a psychiatric institution.
Weier was also found not guilty by mental disease or defect after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. She was sentenced to up to 25 years in a psychiatric institution. In 2021, at the age of 19, Weier was granted supervised release.
In an interview with ABC’s “20/20” in October 2019, Leutner said she had worked hard to heal from the attack and rebuild a normal life. She told ABC News that she was ready to reclaim her story.
“I’ve come to accept all of the scars that I have,” Leutner said in the exclusive interview with ABC’s David Muir. “It’s just a part of me. I don’t think much of them. They will probably go away and fade eventually.”
