Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
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(MIAMI) — A tree trimmer died after getting caught in a wood chipper while trimming trees at a town hall near Miami, officials said.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning when the Ocean Ridge Police Department responded to Ocean Ridge Town Hall — some 60 miles north of Miami — for “an accident involving one employee from a contracted tree trimming vendor,” according to a statement from the town of Ocean Ridge on social media.
“Upon arrival, Ocean Ridge officers found one person had died from injuries sustained in the accident,” officials said. No other individuals on scene sustained injuries.
Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were immediately notified and were en route to the scene, according to the town of Ocean Ridge.
The identity of the victim has not yet been disclosed by authorities.
The investigation is currently ongoing at this time and Boynton Beach Fire Rescue is providing grief counseling to town employees and vendor staff, officials said.
(WASHINGTON) — Dozens of people are presumed dead after an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia on Wednesday night.
The Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter both crashed into the icy Potomac River after colliding in midair, launching a desperate overnight search and rescue mission. No survivors are expected, officials said.
Sixty-four people were on the plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three Army soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight at the time, officials said.
Here’s a look at how the tragedy unfolded, as the cause of the collision remains under investigation.
Wednesday, Jan. 29
5:38 p.m. CT: American Airlines Flight 5342 departs from Wichita, Kansas, headed to the D.C.-area airport, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. The flight is scheduled to land in D.C. at 9:03 p.m. ET.
8:47 p.m. ET: A DCA air traffic controller asks the Black Hawk pilot if they have the CRJ in sight and to pass behind the plane. The pilot confirms to the DCA tower a few seconds later that they have the plane in sight and they will maintain visual separation, according to the ATC audio recording released by LiveATC.net.
8:47:58 p.m. ET: The time of the Black Hawk’s last transmission.
8:48:01 p.m. ET: The time of the jet’s last transmission.
Around that time, D.C. Fire and EMS receive an alert that an aircraft crashed while on approach to Reagan International Airport into the Potomac River, initiating a large local, state and federal response.
EarthCam footage from the Kennedy Center Cam captures an explosion in the air.
8:51 p.m. ET: Departures to DCA are grounded due to the aircraft emergency.
8:55 p.m. ET: DCA closes.
Around this time, Coast Guard Sector Maryland – National Capital Region command center watchstanders receive a report of the collision, with boat crews deployed to conduct searches.
8:58 p.m. ET: First responders arrive on the scene, with hundreds eventually responding from multiple agencies as they search into the night for any survivors.
Thursday, Jan. 30
At an early morning press briefing, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly says no survivors are expected from the plane crash and that crews are switching to a recovery operation.
Twenty-eight bodies have been recovered, including 27 from the plane and one from the Black Hawk helicopter, Donnelly says.
11 a.m. ET: DCA reopens, with planes now arriving and departing.
(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — Four University of Rochester students were arrested and another is under investigation for allegedly being involved with the antisemitic “Wanted” posters found on campus.
The posters were discovered last week in classrooms and other buildings and targeted Jewish members of the community, according to university officials.
The four unidentified suspects, who were arrested Tuesday, will be charged with felony criminal mischief, according to University of Rochester Police Chief Quchee Collins.
“I am incredibly satisfied that through a thorough investigation, we were able to identify those who are allegedly responsible and hold them accountable for the deliberate and deplorable actions targeted toward members of our University community, including members of our Jewish population,” he said in a statement.
Collins said the incident currently doesn’t “meet the legal threshold for being a hate crime,” but stressed that could change, especially at the state and federal levels. The investigation is ongoing.
“From the very start of our investigation, DPS investigators collected all of the necessary evidence and made all of the needed inquiries to prompt a proper evaluation of this incident as a hate crime,” he said.
University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf denounced the posters last week.
“This goes against everything we stand for, and we have an obligation to reject it,” she said in a statement.
University officials said facilities workers had to “painstakingly” remove the posters from campus because the strong adhesive used to put up them up caused damage to walls, floors, chalkboards and other surfaces.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(BOULDER, CO) — As the new Netflix docuseries “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?” reinvigorates public interest in the 1996 case, JonBenet Ramsey’s father said he’s more encouraged now than he’s been in a long time that the person who killed his 6-year-old daughter will be found.
“I’ve been trying for years to break the roadblock in the [Boulder, Colorado] police department, which has been there almost from day one. And we’ve made some, I think, significant progress,” John Ramsey told “Nightline” on Tuesday.
“They’ve done some changes internally. New police chief, they got rid of some of their not-performing detectives. And we have an open, pretty open communication line with the chief of police.”
“The media attention and pressure, I think, has shaken them up,” he added.
On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey woke up to find their daughter, beauty queen JonBenet, missing from their Boulder home and a handwritten ransom note left on the stairs. Hours later, John Ramsey discovered her dead in their basement.
JonBenet’s autopsy determined she was sexually assaulted and strangled, and her skull was fractured. Unknown DNA was found under her fingernails and in her underwear.
John Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey and their son were cleared as suspects in 2008.
Ramsey hopes new DNA technology using genealogy research could help police solve the case — and he wants the Boulder Police Department to share with him what they’re doing.
“When I talked to the chief of police a couple of months ago — maybe it’s been a little longer — he said, ‘Well, we don’t think DNA technology is there yet to do additional testing, and we’re doing some things, but I can’t tell you about it,'” Ramsey said.
“I firmly disagree with the fact that technology is not there yet. It is there. I’ve met with the founders of one of the premier labs. … They told me what they can do. They’d like to participate, they’d like to help.”
Joe Berlinger, who directed the new Netflix docuseries, told “Nightline” that the Ramseys were “brutalized by an unfair process that [police] largely contributed to — the idea that [the family members] were actually the killers. And in response to that, just good karma dictates that [the police] need to treat this family with the care that they deserve, and they should accept all outside help.”
The Boulder Police Department released in a statement about the JonBenet Ramsey case last week.
“We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved,” it said. “This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department. The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing — to include DNA testing — is completely false.”
The department suggested that anyone with any information to contact detectives at BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov or by calling its tipline at 303-441-1974.
Sources told ABC News this week that progress is being made in the investigation.
In the last years, a multi-disciplinary team of experts has been assembled to go through the remaining evidence and apply the most modern scientific and cold case techniques to try to solve the crime, sources said. The team has consulted with top experts in their fields, according to the sources.
According to a law enforcement official briefed on the case, tips have come in as recently as the last month and are being followed up on. The renewed investigative efforts of the Boulder police and partner agencies also stand in contrast to years of limited detective work to get to the bottom of the case.
John Ramsey is following up on leads himself.
He noted that he received a letter this week from a woman who wrote, “I think my husband is a killer” and asked him to call her.
“I will call her,” Ramsey said. “That isn’t the first time we’ve gotten that kind of lead. We always follow up.”
“I’m always looking for that silver bullet — that somebody knows something that wasn’t in the media,” he said.
Since the Netflix docuseries premiered on Nov. 25, Berlinger said he’s been getting tips as well.
Ramsey was interviewed for the docuseries, but noted that he hasn’t watched it because of the emotion the case stirs up.
“I’d like to watch it someday. But for now, it’s just difficult to go back and relive the history,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the case was presented accurately.
“Years ago, I said, ‘Why doesn’t God reveal the killer?’ Somebody said, ‘Well, maybe you’re not ready for that yet. And I thought, well, that may be right. Because initially you put me in the room with this creature, we won’t need a trial. The rage was so intense and I would have had no remorse,” Ramsey told “Nightline.”
“But obviously, that’s not the right thing to do. But that’s how I felt. Now, I want this chapter closed for my family benefit. And I think we’re making good progress in terms of publicly questioning what’s going on. … With pressure, they’ll pay close attention to it, I’m hoping.”
