Off-duty corrections officer killed in ‘targeted’ attack: Police
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(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — An off-duty corrections officer in Florida was shot and killed in a “targeted attack,” according to police.
The incident occurred at 7:32 p.m. when deputies from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office in Florida were dispatched to reports of gunfire in the 1400 block of NW Avenue D, in Belle Glade, according to a statement from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday
“The victim is an off-duty PBSO Corrections Deputy, who was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, but unfortunately was pronounced dead shortly after arriving,” authorities said. “Further investigation determined that this incident was targeted.”
Officials have not yet named the deputy but did confirm that the officer killed was 39-years-old and had been with the agency for three years, police said.
Authorities also did not release any information on their investigation or why they were able to conclude that the attack was targeted at the officer involved.
A ceremonial escort took place on Tuesday evening in honor of the slain offifer from St. Mary’s Hospital to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We are distraught to say the least,” said the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said that additional information will be provided as it becomes available.
(Taylorsville, N.C.) — Two local duck hunters in North Carolina ended up discovering human remains during an outing earlier this week, police said.
The incident occurred on Monday afternoon at approximately 5:49 p.m. when two duck hunters were scouting an area in Taylorsville, North Carolina — about 60 miles north of Charlotte — when they came across human remains in a wooded area around the 1600 block of Highway 16 North, according to a statement from the Alexander County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday.
“On January 14th, 2025 the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation processed the scene,” authorities said.
The identity of the human remains is currently unknown and police did not disclose how long they estimated the remains had been there for.
No other details about the case have been released and the person’s death is currently under investigation.
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(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Thursday pulled the expected signing of the executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, multiple sources tell ABC News.
A draft of the executive order called on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to facilitate a department closure by taking all necessary steps “permitted by law,” sources had earlier told ABC News.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted a news report saying it was “fake news” that Trump was expected to sign the order on Thursday. She said he is not signing it.
Behind the scenes, there was concern among top administration officials about the blowback the order would receive and the lack of messaging in place ahead of the rollout.
Specially, how the administration would answer questions about how the executive order would impact the school lunch program along with other programs that could no longer exist.
The education community is celebrating this apparent reversal as a win.
“This is a tremendous victory for those of us who are standing up and holding the line and pushing back against the endless chaos that we are seeing from the Trump administration,” an education leader told ABC News.
The education leader, who represents parents and families across the country, stressed that Americans are not going to stand by as the Trump administration prepares to dismantle the agency that impacts millions of students.
“These EOs are not dictates from a king and we are going to challenge him using every resource we can, including the courts,” the education leader said.
The education leader said that the blowback has Trump “shook.” And, hundreds of parents and even some school districts across the country are preparing to trigger a massive legal fight if the expected executive order is signed, according to the education leader.
“This constant state of chaos that he has American families in is unacceptable and we are going to continue to fight him every step of the way,” the education leader said.
An order to dismantle the Department of Education would require congressional approval; any proposed legislation would likely fail without 60 Senate votes.
McMahon has previously acknowledged she would need Congress to carry out the president’s vision to close the department she has been tapped to lead.
“We’d like to do this right,” she said during her confirmation hearing last month, adding: “That certainly does require congressional action.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Marissa Kay Carmichael is pictured in an undated photo provided by the Greensboro Police Department. Greensboro Police Department
(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — Police in Greensboro, North Carolina, are urging the community to share any information related to the case of Marissa Carmichael, a Black mother of five who vanished one year ago on Jan. 14, 2024, from an Exxon gas station shortly after making a distressed call to 911.
“We appreciate your interest in the Marissa Carmichael case and for keeping it in front of your viewers and our community,” a spokesperson for the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) told ABC News on Tuesday evening. “While there is no public update at this time, this remains an active investigation and we encourage anyone with information to please contact Crime Stoppers to share tips anonymously.”
Carmichael’s mother, Sara Carmichael, told ABC News in an interview on Tuesday that the family, including Marissa’s five children, are distraught as they await updates from detectives working the case.
“Every day I wake up and it’s like, here, you know, it’s just the day where I might find out some news,” Sara Carmichael said. “Is this the day where, you know, there may be some answers for me, for her kids? It just sometimes – this does not seem real. It still just doesn’t seem real.”
Sara Carmichael, who spoke with ABC News in February 2024, along with Marissa’s sister Emma Villegas, as the search for her daughter hit the one-month mark, said that Tuesday was a “hard day” for the family since it marked one year since anyone had seen or talked with Marissa.
“It’s just been a real rough day and I’m just hoping things will come to the light soon with the new detectives they have working on the case,” Sara Carmichael said, adding that she has suffered from anxiety, depression, insomnia and experienced frequent panic attacks since her daughter’s disappearance.
“It’s like a constant state of panic, of worry, of, you know, not sleeping, always wondering what, what could she be going through? You know, is she still alive?” she said.
According to police, Carmichael was last seen at 3:46 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14, at the Exxon gas station on 809 East Market St. in Greensboro and made a distressed call to 911 just before she vanished.
In the 911 call – the audio of which was obtained by ABC News — Carmichael appeared distressed and was asking for help finding a ride home. According to an incident report obtained by ABC News, when police arrived at the gas station, Carmichael wasn’t there.
During the 2-minute call, Carmichael, whose name is bleeped out when she identifies herself, tells the 911 dispatcher that a man had asked her to pick up some things at the gas station but drove off while she was inside and that she has no way of getting home. Police have confirmed that the call is from Marissa.
“I don’t know where I am in Greensboro … he took off with my phone. I have no clue where I’m at. I have no numbers,” Carmichael tells the dispatcher.
Sara Carmichael said that the family last saw Marissa on Saturday, Jan. 13, and were with her all day, but since Jan. 14, her daughter – an avid social media user – has not been active on her accounts and her phone has been turned off, going straight to voicemail.
According to Carmichael, on the night before her disappearance, Marissa told her sister Emma that she was going to the club and asked her not to tell her mother because she didn’t want her to worry.
Sara Carmichael said after talking to her daughter’s friends, she learned that Marissa went to One17 SofaBar & Lounge, and then later went to an Airbnb for an after party, then was dropped off at the Exxon station.
“When I woke up around lunchtime, Sunday [Jan. 14], and she wasn’t home, and then I found out she didn’t go to work, and that’s just not like her at all,” she said when asked what prompted her to report her daughter missing. “She’s always in touch with me. So, I had a feeling.”
Later that day, Sara Carmichael filed a missing person’s report – a copy of which was obtained by ABC News.
Police told ABC News in February 2024 that they are “increasingly concerned” for Marissa Carmichael’s “welfare” and over the past year have shared multiple advisories asking the community to come forward with any tips about her whereabouts.
The mother of five, who was 25 years old as the time of her disappearance, is described by police as a 5 feet, 4 inches tall, biracial female weighing approximately 260 pounds, with long black and blonde braids.
She also has a heart tattoo on her face and a butterfly near her eye and was wearing a white Tweety Bird T-shirt, blue jeans, and yellow sneakers when she was last seen, police said, sharing a surveillance photo with ABC News of Carmichael at the Exxon gas station on the night she was last seen.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding Marissa Carmichael’s whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.