What we know about the victims of the New Orleans attack
WGNO
(NEW ORLEANS, LA) — Family members and friends have begun identifying the 15 people who died in the truck-ramming attack early Wednesday morning on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was allegedly “hell-bent” on killing as many people as possible when he steered a pickup truck around barricades and plowed into a crowd of people ringing in the New Year, according to New Orleans Superintendent of Police Anne Kirkpatrick.
Here’s what we know about the victims so far:
Nicole Perez, 27 has been confirmed as one of the victims by Kimberly Usher-Fall, her employer and family spokesperson.
Perez leaves behind a 4-year-old son, Melo.
“It is with sadness that I write this GoFundMe. My friend and my manager of our store, Nicole, was killed this morning in the attack on New Orleans Bourbon Street,” Usher-Fall wrote.
“She was so beautiful and full of life. Her son Melo is now without his momma, and we are without our friend and dedicated employee. I’m hoping to get some help for her burial expenses and to help her son with expenses he will need to transition into a new living situation.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LOS ANGELES) — When fast-moving fires plagued neighboring communities in Los Angeles County years ago, a school in Pacific Palisades served as an evacuation center. After this week’s disastrous fires on the Westside, that will no longer be an option.
On Tuesday, flames tore through Palisades Charter High School, which reports show was previously used to offer shelter to people escaping Southern California wildfires like the 1977 Topanga fire and the 2018 Woolsey fire.
The school itself and the neighborhood as a whole have long sat within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone of Los Angeles, prompting longtime fears of what could happen in a crisis like the Palisades fire.
“There are only two main routes of ingress and egress to and from the Palisades as a whole” to the Pacific Coast Highway, the Pacific Palisades Community Council wrote in a 2020 letter to city officials in Los Angeles.
The letter said that some of the neighborhood’s streets were “substandard,” adding, “We have experienced serious problems with congestion during wildfire evacuations (most recently during the serious Palisades & Getty fires in fall 2019).”
The Pacific Palisades Community Council had already been planning to talk during their regularly scheduled meeting Thursday about finding time to schedule a fire safety fair in the neighborhood and how community input could be submitted to the upcoming Los Angeles Community Wildfire Protection Plan from MySafe:LA, a nonprofit group.
The wildfire protection plan in question was not expected to be finished until later this year. In a phone interview with ABC News Wednesday evening, Cpt. Chris Nevil of MySafe:LA described the plan as an evolving “living document” and said that because so many people are involved in its creation, it has taken longer than expected to complete.
An executive summary of the plan that was previously released mentioned Pacific Palisades by name, noting that “strong winds, notably the Santa Ana winds, can swiftly spread flames, posing threats to nearby communities like Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Woodland Hills.”
This week’s fires in Los Angeles County also come amid continued concerns over homeowners insurance in coastal and mountainous communities throughout California.
Between 2020 and 2022, over half a million fire insurance policies were not renewed in Los Angeles County, according to an analysis of California Department of Insurance records by the ABC Owned Television Stations data journalism team.
In Pacific Palisades, 732 fire insurance policies were not renewed in 2022 alone, accounting for 11 percent of such policies in the neighborhood.
A 2021 report by nonprofit Climate Resolve found that after the Woolsey Fire, “we learned that homes were chronically underinsured, having been assessed at the time of purchase—perhaps decades ago—and not realistically reappraised since,” adding that “insurance is crucially important and little understood by homeowners.”
J.P. Morgan Insurance issued an alert Wednesday that estimated preliminarily that “insured losses from this fire could approach $10 billion.”
ABC Owned Television Stations’ Ryann Jones and Jill Castellano contributed to this report.
In this screen grab from a video released by the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station, a tortoise was sucessfully rescued after the owner’s home was destroyed by fire. Via San Dimas Sheriff’s Station/Instagram
(LOS ANGELES) — A beloved pet tortoise has been found safe in the wake of California wildfires.
The rescue occurred after the family’s Altadena home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, according to the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station.
In a video the station shared Saturday to Instagram, a deputy was seen bringing the 100-pound tortoise, Rocky, to safety.
Rocky was found in a hole in the family’s backyard, the sheriff’s office said.
The family can be heard cheering and celebrating as a deputy carried Rocky over to them.
“Yay! Rocky’s home!” a woman can be heard saying in the video.
ABC News has reached out to Rocky’s family for comment.
Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the former chief adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, surrendered Thursday morning at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on bribery and money laundering charges.
Lewis-Martin reported to the courthouse in lower Manhattan early Thursday with her son, Glenn Martin II, who faces the same charges.
Two real estate investors, Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi, also face bribery charges in the case.
The group is accused of engaging in a $100,000 bribery scheme while Lewis-Martin was in office, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Lewis-Martin resigned from her position on Sunday.
Vaid and Dwivedi are accused of paying Glenn Martin II $100,000 months after Lewis-Martin allegedly performed favors for the two men, including helping them with issues relating to construction permits and a family member’s visa, according to the indictment.
Glenn Martin II allegedly used the money to buy a Porsche, prosecutors said.
“When City officials monetize their office for personal gain, they undermine fundamental principles of integrity in government, diminish trust in public officials, and unfairly tarnish the reputations of the countless City employees who use their office solely to serve the public good,” New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said in a press release after charges against Lewis-Martin were announced.
The case is separate from federal charges against Adams, sources told ABC News. Adams, who has denied any wrongdoing, is facing corruption charges over allegedly accepting years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, persuading the fire department to approve the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan despite the lingering safety concerns of inspectors.
Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, said Monday that he expected her to be indicted in connection to allegedly improper gifts, according to WABC.
“Pieces of puzzles are going to be put together to make it look as horrible as possible,” Aidala, sitting alongside Lewis-Martin, told reporters Monday. “But we know the truth, and the truth is Ingrid Lewis-Martin never broke the law.”
“I am being falsely accused of something,” Lewis-Martin told reporters Monday. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that I was told that it is something that is illegal, and I have never done anything that is illegal in my capacity in government.”
Lewis-Martin had her cellphone seized in September when she returned from a trip to Japan and also had her home in Brooklyn searched.
Lewis-Martin has long been one of Adams’ top confidantes as he climbed the political ladder. She served as a senior adviser to Adams for five years when he was a state senator and then as his chief of staff for another seven years. She also served as deputy Brooklyn borough president while Adams was the borough president. He announced Lewis-Martin would become his chief adviser in January 2022.