Three confirmed dead after small plane crashes into residential neighborhood in Oregon: Officials
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A small, twin-engine plane crashed into a residential neighborhood Saturday in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, killing two people aboard the aircraft and one on the ground, authorities said Sunday.
The Cessna 421C plane slammed into a row of townhouses near Heartwood Circle in Fairview after experiencing mechanical issues, according to a statement from the Gresham Fire Department.
Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis confirmed Sunday that the pilot of the aircraft and a single passenger were killed, as well as a resident of one of the townhouses the plane crashed into.
The names of those killed were not released.
The plane crashed near Troutdale Airport around 10:20 a.m. local time, hitting a power pole or tower, which caused a brush fire. The aircraft then crashed into a building of connected townhomes, igniting a fire in two structures, before spreading to a fourth, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference Saturday.
At least five families have been displaced, with a sixth condo currently being evaluated, according to Lewis.
Two transmission lines from Portland General Electric remained down Saturday afternoon, according to officials.
Fairview is about 15 miles northeast of Portland.
Debris from the crash is scattered across multiple areas, and the sheriff’s office is securing the scene to assist the FAA investigation.
Photos show thick smoke and a burning home after the plane crashed.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.
(NEW YORK) — The FBI conducted searches at the homes of two of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ closest aides on Thursday, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
The Hamilton Heights home of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, who is engaged to Schools Chancellor David Banks, and the Hollis, Queens, home of Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, were searched as part of an ongoing investigation, the sources said.
“Investigators have not indicated to us the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation,” the mayor’s chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, said in a statement. “As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has repeatedly made clear that all members of the team need to follow the law.”
The FBI declined to comment. A spokesman for the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York also declined to comment.
The FBI seized evidence, including electronics, as part of the searches, according to sources. No charges have been filed.
In addition to the searches at the homes of Wright and Banks, which sources said began Wednesday morning, federal investigators have subpoenaed cell phones belonging to New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban and Tim Pearson, a close adviser to Adams, the sources said.
“The Department is aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York involving members of service. The Department is fully cooperating in the investigation,” an NYPD spokesman said, referring additional questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which declined to comment.
Four high-ranking NYPD officials, including Caban, received subpoenas for their cell phones. Three others in the NYPD received similar subpoenas. All complied and turned over their phones, according to sources.
The subpoenas are part of the same investigation that sent the FBI to search homes belonging to Wright and Banks, the sources said.
Wright and Banks are the highest-ranking Adams administration officials who have had their homes searched by federal investigators.
In 2014, Banks was investigated by federal authorities as part of a separate investigation into NYPD corruption. He was named an unindicted coconspirator in that probe but was never charged. He resigned as chief of department, the highest ranking uniformed position.
Federal officials have previously searched the homes of Brianna Suggs, the mayor’s top campaign fundraiser; Rana Abbasova, his international affairs aide; and Winnie Greco, a special adviser to the mayor and director of Asian affairs.
A source familiar with the matter said Thursday’s searches do not appear to be related to the investigation into whether Adams accepted donations from Turkey in exchange for official favors.
(SPRINGFIELD, Ohio) — A bomb threat has prompted a major police response in Springfield, Ohio, on Thursday morning, according to the city commission office.
The threat was sent via email “to multiple agencies and media outlets,” the office said.
“Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and residents. We are working to address this situation as swiftly as possible,” the office said. “We ask the community to avoid the area surrounding City Hall vicinity while the investigation is ongoing and to report any suspicious activity to the Springfield Police Division.”
Though it is not yet known if they are connected, the threat comes after baseless rumors spread online in the wake of viral social media posts claiming Haitian migrants were abducting people’s pets in Springfield order to eat them. The rumors were amplified by right-wing politicians, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said at Tuesday night’s presidential debate. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield told ABC News these claims are false, and that there have been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes,” the spokesperson said. “Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”
Springfield estimates there are around 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the county; migrants have been drawn to the region because of low cost of living and work opportunities, according to the city. The rapid rise in population has strained housing, health care and school resources, according to the city. But city officials also said the migrants are in the country legally and that many are recipients of Temporary Protected Status.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance condemned the “baseless and inflammatory” claims about Haitian migrants, arguing they “not only perpetuate harmful stereotypes but also contribute to the dangerous stigmatization of immigrant communities, particularly Black immigrants from the Republic of Haiti.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who dispelled the rumors this week, said the state would send more resources to Springfield.
(GASTONIA, N.C.) — A North Carolina man accused of fatally poisoning his wife with eyedrops is now being accused of attempting to poison their 11-year-old daughter with the same substance, resulting in her hospitalization, according to court documents.
Joshua Lee Hunsucker’s was booked on Tuesday and his bond was revoked amid concerns he is abusing and neglecting one of his children, neglecting another child and intimidating witnesses in his murder case. Prosecutors argued that he has become “increasingly aggressive” and that his “dangerous actions will continue to escalate,” according to court documents.
Hunsucker, 40, is accused of poisoning his then-10-year-old daughter with eyedrops over a year after he allegedly killed his wife with the same substance. He put the eye drops into his child’s beverage and the substance was found in their urine sample, according to court documents.
A drug commonly prescribed for depression and not approved for children was also found in her blood. Investigators had found the drug in Hunsucker’s truck, according to court documents.
The 10-year-old was suffering from low blood pressure, low heart rate, extreme exhaustion and sleepiness and constricted blood vessels leading to her hospitalization, court documents show.
Prosecutors accused Hunsucker poisoned his daughter in an attempt to implicate John and Susie Robinson, who are witnesses in his wife’s murder case. Hunsucker was indicted on Monday on four counts of intimidation and four counts of obstruction of justice, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged that while his daughter was receiving treatment, Hunsucker told medical professionals that it appeared she had been given eyedrops which prosecutors said “does not appear to be a reasonable conclusion based on the symptoms” she was exhibiting.
Hunsucker is accused of poisoning his wife Stacy Robinson Hunsucker with tetrahydrozoline — eyedrops — and submitting false information to an insurance company, claiming his wife died “due to myocardial infarction when, in fact, it was due to homicide by poisoning,” according to court documents.
Joshua Hunsucker then cremated her before filing for her $250,000 life insurance policy two days after she died. He received an insurance payout of over $200,000, according to court documents.
Because Stacy Hunsucker was an organ donor, a vial of her blood was preserved after she died. When her husband raised suspicion, an investigation into her death was opened and the blood sample was tested, revealing a high presence of eyedrops, according to court documents.
Joshua Hunsucker is accused of putting eyedrops in her drinks over a period of time, leading to her death. Before her death, Joshua Hunsucker had told two coworkers that if he killed someone he would do so using eyedrops, according to court documents.
He was arrested in December 2019 and released after he paid a $1.5 million bond and has been wearing an ankle monitor and maintained a curfew.
Joshua Hunsucker is also accused of threatening or attempting to intimidate the Robinsons by sending a package to their residence, filming and following them in public places, routinely driving by their house and making vulgar gestures towards them in the parking lot of the church they attend, demanding that they drop the charges against them, according to court documents.
Joshua Hunsucker also falsely accused John Robinson of assaulting and kidnapping him, according to court docs.
He is accused of staging his own kidnapping, falsely reporting that he stopped to change a flat tire and a pistol-whipped him in the head multiple times before his hands were zip-tied and injected with an unknown substance. Hunsucker then accused him of attacking him to “shift responsibility from the defendant to the Robinsons for his wife’s death,” according to court documents.