Woman killed by alligator during couple canoe trip, husband tried to save her
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
(POLK COUNTY, Fla.) — A Florida woman was killed by an alligator during a canoeing trip with her husband, who tried to save her during the surprise attack, officials said.
The husband and wife were canoeing in about 2 1/2 feet of water at the mouth of Tiger Creek near Lake Kissimmee in Polk County on Tuesday afternoon when the boat drifted over a large alligator, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The gator thrashed and tipped the canoe over, throwing both the husband and wife into the water, fish and wildlife officials said.
The victim, 61-year-old Polk County resident Cynthia Diekema, ended up on top of the alligator in the water, the officials said.
She was bitten and her husband tried to save her, officials said. Her body has since been recovered.
An investigation is underway, the agency said. An 11-foot-4-inch alligator matching the description of the gator involved was recovered Tuesday night; a second gator, about 10 to 11 feet long, was recovered Wednesday morning, the officials said.
Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, called Diekema’s death a “devastating loss.”
Deadly alligator attacks are “extremely rare,” but the “tragedy serves as a somber reminder” of the power of local wildlife, Young said at a news conference Wednesday.
To cut down on the risk of gator attacks, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission urges the public to keep their pets away from the water and to only swim in designated areas during the day.
A vegetation fire in California rapidly spread to 1,000 acres on Sunday, prompting evacuations of parts of Inyo and Mono counties. (Cal Fire)
(BISHOP, CA) — A vegetation fire in California rapidly spread to 1,250 acres on Sunday, prompting evacuations of parts of Inyo and Mono counties.
The fire was first reported just after 2 p.m. PT near Highway 6 and Silver Canyon Road north of Bishop, California, a city east of Fresno, according to Cal Fire.
Officials named the fast-moving blaze the Silver Fire.
It remained at 0% containment as of 9 a.m. Monday.
Cal Fire said Sunday evening that the blaze crossed Highway 6, threatening multiple structures and power lines.
There are no known injuries associated with the fire, officials said.
Fighting the blaze was impacted by strong winds, with gusts reaching up to 35 mph at Bishop Airport, according to Cal Fire, which noted extreme turbulence grounded some firefighting aircraft.
The National Weather Service forecasts continued windy conditions for the region, with a High Wind Warning in effect through Monday evening.
ABC News’ Timmy Truong and Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Facebook / Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department
(MOUNT PLEASANT, WI) — I scream, you scream, a 4-year-old boy has called the cops after his mother ate his ice cream, police have said.
The incident occurred last Tuesday in the town of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin — located seven miles west of Racine — when police were contacted by a 4-year-old boy who said his “mom being bad,” according to a statement released by the Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department last week.
“Officer Gardinier and Officer Ostergaard were dispatched for a 911 hangup,” authorities said. “A little boy called 911 saying his mom was being bad and needed to go to jail.”
When officers arrived at their home, the young boy said, “his mom ate his ice cream and needed to go to jail for it.”
He also told police that “he no longer wanted her to go to jail and just wanted some ice cream.”
The good-spirted officers subsequently left the home once they verified that this was indeed the reason why they had been called out but they returned back the next day, this time to surprise the boy with some ice cream “after he decided he didn’t want mom in trouble anymore,” police said.
The responding officers weren’t the only ones to find humor in the situation either.
“I’m not saying he’s right. All I am saying is I understand,” said one person responding to the Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department’s post about the incident on social media.
“At least he knows how to call for help,” said another response. “It could save someone’s life one day!”
The officers involved even took a picture with the 4-year-old after the whole incident was over and were able to find humor in the situation.
“I love hearing about our amazing officers creating positive relationships with kids,” another social media user said. “Keep the good news coming!”
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — Opening arguments in the trial of Christopher Schurr, the former Grand Rapids police officer who is charged with second degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya, began in a Michigan courtroom on Monday morning. The trial began three years after the Black motorist’s death.
Schurr was charged with second-degree murder in June 2022 and his appeal was denied by the Michigan Supreme Court in December 2024. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors argued in Monday’s opening statements that Schurr committed a crime.
“He shot him in the back of the head … When you put a gun in somebody’s back of the head, there’s an intent to kill there,” Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker told the jury.
“So what this boils down to is it was unjustified and unreasonable. It was a crime,” he added. “We’re going to ask that you return a verdict of guilty.”
On the defense side, Schurr’s attorney Kayla Hamilton argued that that he was acting in self-defense.
“You’re not here to judge what officer should have or could have done,” Hamilton told the jury. “You’re here to judge what he did in that split second moment based on what he knew, based on what he felt, based on his training and his experiences. Now, a man died, and that’s a tragedy, but not every tragedy is a crime, and not every death means someone has to be penalized, and self-defense is not a crime.”
A jury was sworn in on Wednesday, with jurors and alternates consisting of four men and 10 women, with 10 white jurors, one Black and three Hispanic, according to ABC affiliate in Grand Rapids, WZZM.
Schurr fought the charge in court, arguing that he should not have to stand trial because he was acting within his rights as a police officer. His final appeal was denied by the Michigan Supreme Court in December 2024.
Video appears to show Lyoya, a 26-year-old immigrant who came to the U.S. to escape violence in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, being shot in the head by Schurr after the officer pulled him over for an unregistered license plate on April 4, 2022.
Body camera video, which was released nine days after the shooting, showed Schurr pulling Lyoya over for a license plate violation. When Lyoya began walking away from Schurr, the video shows the officer shouting at Lyoya to “get back in the car.” Then a struggle ensued between the two men during which the video appears to show Lyoya reaching for Schurr’s stun gun.
The body camera was deactivated during the struggle, according to police, and does not show the moment Shurr shot Lyoya. But the fatal shot is seen on cell phone video captured by the passenger of the vehicle.
The video appears to show Schurr telling Lyoya to let go of the stun gun several times, and while Lyoya is on the ground with his face down and Schurr on top of him, the officer appears to shoot Lyoya in the back of his head. The Kent County medical examiner confirmed Lyoya died from a gunshot to the back of his head.
Schurr was fired on June 15, 2022 amid an investigation into the incident.
The stun gun was at the center of opening arguments on Monday.
Becker, the prosecutor, told the jury they are expected to hear testimony from an expert from the Taser and body-camera maker Axon Enterprise during the trial. He said that person is going to testify that stun guns are designed not to cause death or serious bodily injury when deployed.
“It’s not a gun,” Becker said. “I think, in the Grand Rapids policies and procedures, it’s something that’s called the electronic control device. That’s how it’s defined … even in the Taser training manual, it says it’s an option that doesn’t replace lethal force.”
“It was unreasonable. Patrick never had an intent to do any harm to the defendant. He never intended to kill him,” Becker added.
Defense attorney Hamilton said that Schurr gave Lyoya 29 lawful commands during the incident and that the two men struggled over the stun gun for over a minute.
“The biggest risk to police officers is that once someone has your Taser, if they use it against you, you will be left defenseless,” she said.
Hamilton said a stun gun could leave an individual “incapacitated.”
“Throughout this trial, the evidence will show that the Taser is a dangerous weapon that can cause serious bodily injury or death period,” she said. “The law doesn’t ask an officer to wait until they’re injured, incapacitated or shot, to act.”
Lyoya’s family filed a $100 million civil lawsuit against Schurr and the city of Grand Rapids in December 2022. Schurr denied wrongdoing in a response to the complaint, and in August 2023 a federal judge dismissed Grand Rapids from the lawsuit.
ABC News reached out to Shurr’s attorneys and the family of Lyoya ahead of the trial for further comment.
Before the trial, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Schurr’s legal team’s request to hear an appeal in the lawsuit filed by Lyoya’s family against the former officer.
Schurr’s defense team asked the court to decide whether the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong in determining it could not consider qualified immunity for Schurr at the time of the killing, WZZM reported.
Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that protects government officials and police officers from being found individually liable in civil lawsuits.
