Town official allegedly shoots lost DoorDash driver looking for directions: Police
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(CHESTER, N.Y.) — A New York town official has been arrested for allegedly shooting a DoorDash driver who was lost and trying to get directions, police said.
The 24-year-old victim was attempting to deliver food to a house Friday night when he got lost in Chester, a town about 50 miles north of Manhattan, the New York State Police said.
He “approached several homes asking for directions before arriving at the residence of John Reilly III,” who is the Town of Chester highway superintendent, police said.
Reilly, 48, told the victim “to get off his property,” and then Reilly allegedly fired multiple shots at the driver while he was trying to leave in his car, police said.
The driver was shot once in the back and hospitalized with serious injuries, police said. He’s currently in stable condition, police said on Tuesday.
A DoorDash spokesperson said the company is “devastated by this senseless act of violence” and is wishing the driver “a full and speedy recovery.”
“No one should ever fear for their safety just for trying to make deliveries in their neighborhood,” the spokesperson said in the statement, adding, “We’ll continue to work closely with law enforcement as they investigate this tragic incident.”
Reilly — who is a federally licensed firearms dealer — was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, police said. He was arraigned at the Orange County Centralized Arraignment Part and his preliminary hearing is set for Friday, police said.
Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge said in a statement Sunday that the board is “deeply troubled by what has been reported so far,” adding, “We hope the person who was injured in the incident makes a full and healthy recovery.”
“The Town of Chester is not taking any position on any investigation or legal proceeding,” Holdrige said, and he noted that the Chester Police Department recused itself from the case.
(NEW YORK) — A United Airlines flight experienced an engine fire shortly after takeoff that was apparently caused by a rare rabbit strike.
United Flight 2325 had departed Denver International Airport en route to Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday when the incident occurred.
LiveATC audio documents the flight crew asking that the plane be inspected for an engine fire and being told that it was a rabbit that apparently got sucked into an engine.
“Rabbit through the number 2, that’ll do it,” the pilot responded.
The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 153 passengers and six crew members.
“There was a loud bang, and a significant vibration in the plane,” passenger Scott Wolff told “Good Morning America.”
The plane proceeded to climb, Wolff said.
“Every few moments there was a backfire coming from the engine, a giant fireball behind it,” he said. “Everyone in the plane then started to panic.”
Wyatt McCurry saw the flames from the ground at the Denver airport.
“My stomach dropped and I just thought, ‘I’m going to see a plane go down,'” he told “Good Morning America.”
The flight safely headed back to Denver.
“Our flight from Denver to Edmonton (UA2325) returned safely to Denver to address a possible wildlife strike,” United said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane returned around 8:05 p.m. local time on Sunday “after the crew reported striking an animal while departing.”
The passengers continued to Edmonton on a new aircraft, the airline said.
The FAA is investigating.
In general, wildlife strikes are fairly common, with the FAA reporting more than 20,000 in the United States last year.
Among those, there were only four rabbit strikes reported, including one at the Denver International Airport, according to the FAA. The vast majority are bird strikes.
(NEW YORK) — A federal grand jury in New York on Thursday returned a four-count indictment against alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione that charges him with two counts of stalking, firearms offense and murder through the use of a firearm, a charge that makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Mangione is charged with stalking United Healthcare chief Brian Thompson outside the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan and then shooting him to death on Dec. 4, 2024.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has already signaled her intention to pursue the death penalty, which his lawyers are actively trying to stop.
Thompson was heading to an investors’ conference when he was shot and killed. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days later and was initially charged in a federal complaint in connection with the murder.
Earlier this month, Bondi said in a press release that she ordered the death penalty for Mangione to “carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo argued in a motion filed last week that Bondi’s statement, issued before Mangione was indicted on federal charges, was improper and “prejudiced the grand jury process.” She asked the judge to preclude the government from seeking the death penalty, and she demanded the government turn over documents and notes that relate to the attorney general’s directive.
“The stakes could not be higher. The United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt,” the defense said.
Mangione also faces state charges in connection with the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration has reversed a pause on construction of a massive offshore wind project off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.
Work on Empire Wind, the wind farm being built 15 to 30 miles south of the coast of Long Island, can resume now that the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has lifted a stop-work order, according to Equinor, the Norweigian energy company developing the site.
On April 16, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on the wind project. In a post to X, Burgum claimed that further review was needed and that the Biden administration “rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”
Construction was about 30% complete, and the project was fully permitted at the time the stop order was issued, according to the energy company.
The stop-work order was lifted “following dialogue with regulators and federal, state, and city officials,” according to Equinor.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Monday that it took “countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials” to emphasize the importance of the project, while Burgum posted to X that he was “encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity,” although Hochul did not mention natural gas in her statement.
“New York’s economic future is going to be powered by abundant, clean energy that helps our homes and businesses thrive. I fought to save clean energy jobs in New York — and we got it done,” Hochul said.
The continuation of the project will allow Equinor to deliver energy while supporting local economies and creating jobs, Anders Opeda, president and CEO of Equinor ASA, said in a statement.
“I would like to thank President Trump for finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S.,” Opeda said. “I am grateful to Governor Hochul for her constructive collaboration with the Trump Administration, without which we would not have been able to advance this project and secure energy for 500,000 homes in New York.”
Wind is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S., accounting for about 10% of electricity generated in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
What to know about Empire Wind
Norwegian energy company Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits to build Empire Wind, a project slated to power more than 500,000 homes in New York by 2026.
The site will encompass 80,000 acres with up to 130 or more wind turbines, according to the company.
The federal lease for Empire Wind was finalized during Trump’s first term, in March 2017, AP reported. In February 2024, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Equinor’s operations and construction plan, and construction began later in the year.
The project is expected to deliver “abundant, reliable and affordable” domestic power to the Northeast as it capitalizes on billions of dollars invested and years of preparation to date and load continues to grow, Eric Hines, director of Tufts University’s Offshore Wind Graduate Program, told ABC News.
“Moving forward on Empire Wind, New York and the United States are setting the stage for a new era of American manufacturing,” Hines said.
The decision to resume construction on Empire Wind “is incredibly important for New York State,” especially since energy needs in the state are expected to double within the next 15 years, Lara Skinner, executive director of the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School, told ABC News.
“Offshore wind is particularly well-suited to New York because most of NY’s electricity is consumed in NYC and it’s difficult to get power into the city from upstate,” Skinner said. “There is not sufficient transmission infrastructure. Offshore wind helps alleviate the problem by generating power near the point of consumption.”
The project has already created 1,500 jobs at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and was on track to provide another 1,000 good union jobs in the construction of the project, Skinner said.
“Offshore wind is responsible for creating thousands of jobs across the U.S., powering homes with clean energy, and bolstering our nation’s energy independence,” Nancy Pyne, senior advisor for offshore wind at the Sierra Club, and environmental nonprofit, said in a statement.
A rapid buildout of renewable energy sources, “especially offshore wind,” will be required to achieve the greenhouse gas reductions required by New York’s climate law, Rachel Spector, deputy managing attorney at environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, told ABC News.
“The Empire Wind project will allow retirement of fossil fuel power plants that pollute the air, and in partnership with labor and community leaders it is supporting development of a staging and port facility that will further support the wind industry and create thousands of local jobs,” Spector said.
Trump’s past criticism of wind turbines
The reversal contradicts the critical stance Trump has been taking on wind power since his first term.
In May 2024, Trump claimed during a rally in New Jersey that wind turbines “kill” whales, vowing to write an executive order on “Day 1” to end offshore wind projects.
Trump kept that promise on Inauguration Day, when he signed an executive order that effectively paused the development of new offshore wind projects in the Outer Continental Shelf, withdrawing areas in the region from consideration for new and renewed leases.
The White House cited “alleged legal deficiencies” in the leasing and permitting of onshore and offshore wind projects that could lead to “grave harm” such as negative impacts on navigational safety interests, transportation interests, national security interests, commercial interests and marine mammals.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has refuted claims that the noise from offshore wind turbines causes whale deaths.
Earlier this month, attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration over an executive order signed on Inauguration Day that halted permits for wind projects.
“This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, lead of the coalition, said in a statement.
In the lawsuit, the coalition of states argued that the blockade on all wind energy projects was unlawful and sought a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the administration from enforcing the freeze.
“The attorneys general argue this unilateral halt on wind energy development is harming states’ ability to provide reliable, affordable electricity to their residents,” the statement read.
In a statement to AP, the White House accused Democrats of “using lawfare to stop the president’s popular energy agenda.
