Visitor dies after becoming unresponsive on roller coaster at Universal’s Epic Universe
Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — A visitor at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park in Florida became unresponsive in the middle of a roller coaster ride and later died at the hospital, park officials said.
The incident took place on Wednesday night when the person, whose name hasn’t been released, was riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster at the Universal Orlando Resorts park and became unresponsive in the middle of the ride, according to a statement from Universal Orlando Resorts.
The person was taken to the hospital when the ride stopped and was later declared dead, park officials said.
“We are devastated by this event and extend our sincerest sympathies to the guest’s loved ones,” said Universal Orlando Resorts. “We are fully committed to cooperating with this ongoing investigation.”
As a precaution, Stardust Racers will remain closed while the investigation, which is being conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, is underway, park officials said.
The sheriff’s office has not commented on the investigation.
Hurricane Erin – The Fifth Named Storm Map/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Erin, now a Category 2 hurricane, has prompted a state of emergency in North Carolina and is expected to bring dangerous waves and rip currents to beaches along the East Coast.
“To folks on the coast, now is the time to prepare,” North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warned on Tuesday.
Here’s the latest forecast:
The Outer Banks
While the storm won’t make landfall on the East Coast, it has triggered a tropical storm warning for North Carolina’s Outer Banks and mandatory evacuations for some Outer Banks residents and visitors.
The Outer Banks is expected to get heavy rain, winds over 40 mph and a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet this week.
A high surf advisory has also been issued, with destructive, large breaking waves up to 20 feet in the forecast.
Coastal damage is likely from large waves destroying protective dunes. The flooding will also extend inland, likely impacting roads.
Tracking Erin
Dangerous rip currents and waves are forecast for the East Coast through Friday, with high surf advisories stretching from Florida to Massachusetts.
More than 50 people were rescued from the ocean at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on Monday, local officials said, and no swimming is recommended at Wrightsville Beach from Tuesday through Friday.
The popular beach towns of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Wildwood, New Jersey, banned swimming on Monday due to the rough surf, while New York City is closing its beaches for swimming on Wednesday and Thursday.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday urged all beachgoers in the state to avoid going in the ocean this week, and added, “We need to anticipate what could be meaningful flooding on the back end of this.”
On Tuesday, waves are picking up from Florida to the Outer Banks, and then they’ll span from Florida to New Jersey on Wednesday.
Wednesday night into Thursday, waves could rise up to 20 feet in the Carolinas as Erin makes its closest pass to the Outer Banks.
On Thursday, massive waves will hit beaches in the Northeast, including the Jersey Shore and Long Island. These waves will be destructive along the Northeast coastline, especially in vulnerable areas, from the Jersey Shore to Rhode Island.
Erin will make its closest pass to the Outer Banks on Thursday, bringing the heavy rain and strong winds. Erin will then head out to sea.
ABC News’ Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — An off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot and wounded just before midnight on Sunday in a New York City park under the George Washington Bridge and police said one person in custody is being investigated for the crime, authorities said.
The shooting unfolded at 11:51 p.m. Saturday in Fort Washington Park in the Washington Heights neighborhood of upper Manhattan, according to the New York Police Department.
A 42-year-old victim, who police sources told ABC New York affiliate station WABC is a federal Border Patrol agent, was shot in the face and arm during the incident.
The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was recovering from his injuries on Sunday and is expected to survive, police said.
One person was taken into custody and police said they are investigating whether the person was involved in the shooting, authorities said.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation. Investigators are probing whether the shooting stemmed from an apparent robbery.
The shooting occurred near the Little Red Lighthouse in Fort Washington Park, which is directly beneath the George Washington Bridge, police said.
The New York shooting comes roughly two weeks after a gunman opened fire at the entrance to the Border Patrol sector annex in McAllen, Texas.
The suspect in the July 7 shooting, identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda, fired “many rounds” at the federal building that houses the U.S. Border Patrol office at the McAllen International Airport, according to McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.
The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda, fired at the entrance to the federal building that houses the U.S. Border Patrol offices at the McAllen International Airport, Rodriguez said at a news conference.
The suspect was confronted and killed by Border Patrol agents and local police, according to McAllen police and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Two police officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured in the attack, according to the DHS.
The motive for the McAllen shooting remains under investigation.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Wednesday fired Maurene Comey from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she most recently led the prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs, multiple sources told ABC News.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a call for comment
Comey was a highly regarded assistant U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, the former associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and multiple gang members before the split verdict earlier this month in the trial of Combs, who was convicted of a prostitution-related charge but acquitted of more serious charges.
Comey was also involved in the office’s case against Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 at New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center while he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Comey is the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, who President Donald Trump fired during his first term in office because he initiated the Russia investigation.
According to sources, Trump privately vented about having a Comey work in his administration.
This marks the latest shake-up for the nation’s most prominent federal prosecutor’s office.
In April, the office’s top prosecutor, Matthew Podolsky, agreed to step aside, clearing the way for Trump to install Jay Clayton, his nominee for interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York,
Podolsky had taken over for Danielle Sassoon, who in February resigned in protest of the Justice Department’s order to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Sassoon had been named interim U.S. attorney by Trump when the president fired Edward Kim, who assumed the role during the change in administrations.
