Army General Suspended of Command for Adultery Investigation
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Army has suspended the one-star commanding general at Fort Jackson, S.C., for alleged misconduct involving adultery and an unspecified physical altercation.
An Army official tells ABC News that the case does not involve sexual assault.
Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts was suspended Tuesday as Commanding General, U.S. Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, according to a statement from Army Training and Doctrine Command. The post, located in Columbia, S.C., is the largest of the five facilities the Army uses for basic training of new soldiers.
Roberts was suspended by the Commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Gen. Robert W. Cone, due to allegations of misconduct that “include adultery and a physical altercation,” which the statement said “are being thoroughly investigated.” Adultery is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“The information at this time does not indicate this is a matter of sexual assault,” an Army official told ABC News.
No details were provided about the alleged physical altercation for which Roberts is being investigated.
Brig. Gen. Peggy C. Combs will serve as the interim commander pending the results of the investigation. Coombs was previously the commandant of the Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the case and had gathered enough preliminary evidence for Cone to suspend Roberts from his command, Army Training and Doctrine Command spokesman Harvey Perritt said.
“[The] Army holds all soldiers regardless of rank or position accountable for their actions,” Perritt said.
Investigators are questioning witnesses and gathering evidence in the case, which could last several weeks or months, he said.
Roberts has been suspended from command pending the results of the investigation; he could be relieved of command of the post depending on what the investigation concludes. Roberts has been in command of the post since April 2012.
Another Army one-star general is currently on trial for adultery at Fort Bragg, N.C. Last year Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was serving in Afghanistan as a deputy commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division when he was accused of engaging in adultery and sexual assault. Sinclair faces life in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge.
Over the past two weeks, sexual assault in the military became a hot-button issue in Washington after two sexual assault prevention officers found themselves involved in incidents of sexual assault.
Two weeks ago the Air Force lieutenant colonel who ran the Air Force’s office of sexual assault and prevention was arrested for allegedly groping a woman, and last week an Army sergeant who served as a sexual assault prevention coordinator at Fort Hood, Texas, was removed from his post while he was investigated for alleged sexual assault.
The incidents led Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to order the retraining and rescreening of the 45,000 sexual assault prevention officers and military recruiters.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Florida Cheerleader Denies Felony Charge for Lesbian Relationship
A website created to support Florida high school teen Kaitlyn Hunt is shown in this May 21, 2013 photo. (Lawrence Lai/ABC News)(SEBASTIAN, Fla.) — A Florida high school senior was expelled from school and is facing felony charges for a sexual relationship she allegedly had with a fellow girls’ basketball teammate who is three years younger.
Kaitlyn Hunt, a cheerleader and basketball player at Sebastian River High School, is facing two counts of felony lewd and lascivious conduct on a child ages 12 to 14 for her alleged relationship with a freshman classmate.
She has denied the charges, which were filed earlier this year in Indian River County.
The girls were 18 and 14 when they became sexually involved, according to an arrest affidavit by the county Sheriff’s Department. The girls’ basketball coach at the high school found out about the relationship, told the younger girl’s mother, who also works as a coach, and kicked Hunt off the team, according to Hunt’s family.
The younger girl’s parents then contacted police, according to the Hunt family.
The police set up a phone sting operation in which the 14-year-old called Hunt and asked her details about their relationship, according to the affidavit. Police then arrested Hunt in February, based on the details the girls discussed on the phone, according to the document. She was charged and spent 24 hours in jail before posting bond.
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The Sheriff’s Department did not return calls for comment. The Florida State Attorney for the 19th Judicial District Office, which oversees Indian River County, has also not responded to a request for comment.
Hunt’s family says the 14-year-old student’s parents are angry that their daughter was in a same-sex relationship, and decided to go to police, according to Andrew Gay, Hunt’s uncle and the family spokesman.
“Our understanding from the other family is the reason they initially pursued this case is because they’re unhappy with their daughter being in a same-sex relationship,” he said. “It would appear to be the case if Kate were a male this wouldn’t be happening.”
The freshman’s parents also twice asked a judge to provide a court order banning Hunt from attending Sebastian River, but the petition was denied, Gay said. The school board then expelled Hunt from the school, and she has been attending an alternative high school, he added.
The Indian River School District declined to comment on the case except to say that it followed the district’s student code of conduct in dealing with the situation.
The case has sparked outrage in the Indian River community and online, where petitions and a “Free Kate” Facebook page have gained more than 20,000 followers, which has fueled the recent interest.
“Our family’s perspective on this is that Kaitlyn made a poor choice, but this is something that could have been dealt with between families,” Gay said. “But they refused to talk. They’ve been very aggressive. I understand feeling like you need to protect your child, but I don’t understand ruining another child’s life.”
He said the 14-year-old has told police she was in the relationship voluntarily, but the girl’s parents are pursuing the action. The younger student’s identity has not been released by police or the Hunt family.
Gay said the family understands that the significant age difference between the girls led to the legal problems, but said it points to a wider, national problem of seniors in high school facing jail time for becoming involved with freshmen.
“Just because you turn eighteen doesn’t mean you’re the wisest person on earth,” he said. “This happens all the time with males. It’s a national tragedy that seniors in high school are going to jail for dating freshmen. If they shouldn’t be intermingling with one another, then they shouldn’t be in the same school.”
Hunt has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but has been offered a plea deal by the prosecutor’s office that she must decide whether to accept by Friday, according to Gay.
The prosecutor’s office offered Hunt the chance to avoid jail time if she pleads guilty to felony child abuse, he said.
“She’s hanging in there, but it’s been rough,” Gay said. “She’s spent three years doing medical training in high school and had plans to start college and a nursing program.
“A felony convict can’t become a nurse, so that would ruin her plan for her entire life.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Oklahoma Town Devastated by Tornado Razed Before in 1999
Brett Deering/Getty Images(MOORE, Okla.) — For the residents of Moore, Okla., the damage wrought by Monday’s E-F5 tornado was all too familiar.
A storm, following a nearly identical path, struck the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 3, 1999, resulting in one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history, leveling nearly everything in its path and killing 36 people.
The 1999 storm, churning at more than 300 miles per hour, was an E-F5 monster, leaving a path of destruction 41 miles wide and some of the fastest wind speeds for a tornado ever recorded.
Damage was estimated at more than $1 billion.
Moore City officials estimated the likelihood of another tornado “as strong and violent” as the 1999 storm hitting their city at less than 1 percent, according to the town’s website.
Wind speeds reached 190 miles per hour on Monday, cutting a swath of destruction 17 miles long, according to the National Weather Service.
A recent tornado probability study, published by Weather Decision Technologies, predicted the odds of an E-F4 or stronger tornado hitting a house at one in 10,000.
That same study put the odds of that same house getting hit twice at one in 100 trillion.
But those statistics offer little consolation to a community that finds itself standing amid the rubble of homes it just finished rebuilding.
“You should not have to go through this twice in your lifetime,” one resident told ABC News amid the debris that had been her home.
Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis, who was also mayor during the 1999 twister, said the city had learned from that experience about how to rebuild:
“We’ve already started printing the street signs. It took 61 days to clean up after the 1999 tornado. We had a lot of help then. We’ve got a lot of help now.”
Twenty-four people, seven of whom were children, were killed in Monday’s twister, according to the Oklahoma medical examiner.
Authorities do not know how many people remain missing.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Jodi Arias Jury Begins Death Penalty Deliberations
ABC News(PHOENIX) — “Two wrongs do not make a right,” Jodi Arias’ defense attorney said Tuesday as she asked the jury to spare Arias the death penalty for killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.
“While what she did was absolutely horrible, you have convicted her of that,” attorney Jennifer Willmott said. “Jodi took Travis away. She took him away from his family and from this world. But two wrongs do not make a right. Jodi can still contribute to this world. Her life still has value and you have a choice.”
The jury began deliberating Tuesday evening whether Arias should be sentenced to death after Willmott made the closing statement for Arias in the death penalty phase of her murder trial.
Earlier this month, Arias, 32, was convicted of murdering Alexander in June 2008.
During the penalty phase, the burden was on the defense to prove mitigating factors, or aspects of Arias’ life that proved she should be sentenced with leniency.
Prosecutor Juan Martinez has argued that the murder was especially cruel and warranted the death penalty, noting that Arias stabbed Alexander, slashed his throat and shot him in the head.
On Tuesday, Willmott asked the jury to keep in mind that Arias had no prior criminal record, was only 27 when she killed Alexander and, in all other areas of her life, was a good person.
She had stable relationship with ex-boyfriends with whom she remained friends after breakups, she was a good friend, a talented artist and had every intention to spend her life behind bars trying to contribute to society if she were given the chance, Willmott said.
“People are far better than their worst deed, and Jodi Arias is a far better person than her very worst deed,” Willmott said. “There is so much mitigation in this case. There are so many reasons that you can find to be merciful, that you on your own can find to call for life in prison instead of execution.”
Martinez, in his closing argument, dismissed Willmott’s claims about Arias’s alleged mitigating factors. He said that the facts mentioned by the defense — that Arias had artistic talent, was young and had a clean criminal background — were not enough to mitigate the way she killed Alexander in 2008.
“Being an artist is a mitigating factor? What does that have to do with the crime?” he asked incredulously. “It shows [the defense's arguments] are not worth considering when you look at the horrific nature of the crime. Nothing they have presented is a mitigating circumstance. Are any of them sufficiently substantial to call for leniency when you take a look at what this individual did?”
“The only thing you can do, based on the mitigating circumstances, is to return a verdict of death,” Martinez said.
In her rebuttal, Willmott again went through her arguments and told the jury that it must decide the answer to a single question.
“The simple question before you is: Do you kill her? That’s the question,” Willmott said. “She has done something very bad. She has. You have convicted her of that. You have told her she is guilty of first degree murder for that. But the question is now: Do you kill her?”
Before closing arguments began, Arias was also given her last opportunity to speak directly to the jury.
Arias clicked through a photo slideshow, quoted Dickens and used props as she begged them to spare her life for her family’s sake.
Dressed in all black and wearing glasses, Arias told the jury that, though she previously told reporters and others that she would prefer the death penalty, she no longer felt that way.
“I have made statements that I would prefer death, but I lacked perspective,” Arias told the jurors.
“To me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome I could think of,” she said. “I thought I’d rather die.”
“But as I stand here now, I can’t ask you to sentence me to death because of them,” she added, pointing in the direction of her family.
“Either way, I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison,” she said. “It will either be shortened or not. If it is shortened, the people that will be hurt the most will be my family. Please don’t do that to them. I’ve already hurt them so much, and I want everyone’s pain to stop.”
She also referred to the family members of Alexander, who spoke last week to the jury during victim impact statements.
“I never meant to cause them so much pain,” she said, pointing to Alexander’s family.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Police: Susan Powell’s Husband, Brother-in-Law ‘Directly Involved in Her Disappearance’
Lui Kit Wong-Pool/Getty Images(SALT LAKE CITY) — Questions still surround the 2009 disappearance of Utah mother Susan Powell ever since the suicides of her husband, Josh Powell, and brother-in-law, Michael Powell, who authorities believe were “directly involved in her disappearance.”
Although the brothers were considered persons of interest in her disappearance, there was never enough evidence to charge either one of them, said West Valley City Deputy Police Chief Mike Powell. The evidence against them was “circumstantial,” he told ABC News.
Despite the scarcity of information to go on — no crime scene, no body — police said they were still working leads to find out what happened to Susan Powell.
“It’s paramount that people understand that it’s not a closed case,” the deputy police chief told ABC News. “This is still an open investigation, and we will continue to pursue any information provided to us actively and with just as much vigor.”
Some hope lies in Steven Powell, Susan Powell’s father-in-law, who police believe might know something about her disappearance. Convicted on charges of voyeurism and child pornography, Steven Powell is currently in custody at Monroe Corrections Center in Monroe, Wash.
While Steven Powell was not directly involved in Susan’s disappearance, the deputy police chief said, “we firmly believe that Steven knows something.”
“Susan is still missing,” he said. “If Steven Powell has any information or indication that he knows where or what may have happened, that would be important for us to have.”
“Whether or not we’re able to obtain that, therein lies the difficulty,” he told ABC News.
Susan Powell, 28, was last seen in December 2009 at the Utah home she shared with her husband and their two young sons. Her husband told authorities that he had taken an impromptu midnight camping trip with the boys — in the midst of a winter storm — the night his wife vanished.
Josh Powell, 36, said that he returned home to find his wife gone and continued to state that his wife had left on her own.
Susan Powell’s disappearance triggered a massive investigation that focused on her husband, who killed himself and his two sons in a fiery explosion at his home in Graham, Wash., in February 2012.
Authorities then turned their attention to her husband’s brother, Michael Powell, 30, when they learned he had been made the heir to his brother’s estate, which included the life insurance policies on Josh, his sons, and Susan that Josh had taken out.
Deputy Police Chief Powell said that while authorities looked at Michael Powell when Susan Powell was first reported missing, “there wasn’t anything that jumped out initially” about him.
It wasn’t until the summer of 2011, nearly two and a half years after Susan Powell had disappeared, that police learned that Michael Powell had a car in a salvage yard in Pendleton, Ore. He had allegedly driven from Utah to Oregon in July, but the car broke down outside the city, where it was towed and left in the yard.
“We began to look at Michael Powell much more closely at that point,” the deputy police chief said.
Police brought cadaver dogs to the place where Michael Powell’s car had been impounded. While the car had not been crushed, according to the deputy police chief, only the frame and the structure of the vehicle remained.
“The dogs did indicate the odor of human decomposition [in the car],” said Deputy Police Chief Powell. “We were able to extract a minimal amount of DNA from the trunk of that vehicle.”
While investigators could not obtain “a full profile” from the sample, they concluded the DNA did not match the profile of Susan Powell. Still, it made authorities interested in her husband’s brother.
As the investigation progressed, Powell said police found a significant amount of communication between Josh and Michael Powell that had been encrypted via the Internet.
In February, a year after his brother killed himself and his sons, Michael Powell committed suicide by jumping from a Minneapolis parking garage.
“We looked into him as completely and thoroughly as we possibly could,” Deputy Police Chief Powell said. “I can tell you that he was involved in some capacity in the disappearance of Susan. There is a high probability that he had a direct involvement.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Jodi Arias to Donate Hair, Recycle If Allowed to Live
ABC News(PHOENIX) — In her final words to jurors Tuesday before they decide her punishment for murder, Jodi Arias clicked through a photo slideshow, quoted Dickens and used props as she begged them to spare her life for her family’s sake.
Arias, 32, was convicted earlier this month of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008. The prosecution has argued that the murder was particularly cruel and warrants the death penalty, noting that Arias stabbed Alexander, slashed his throat, and shot him in the head.
Arias’ attorneys presented no witnesses to testify on her behalf this week in the “mitigating phase” of the trial, in which they asked the jury to sentence her with leniency.
The jury will begin deliberating Tuesday whether to sentence Arias to life in prison or the death penalty.
Dressed in all black and wearing glasses, Arias told the jury that, though she previously said to reporters and others that she would prefer the death penalty, she no longer felt that way.
“I have made statements that I would prefer death, but I lacked perspective,” Arias told the jurors.
“To me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome I could think of,” she said. “I thought I’d rather die.
“But as I stand here now, I can’t ask you to sentence me to death because of them,” she added, pointing in the direction of her family.
“Either way, I’m going to spend rest of my life in prison,” she said. “It will either be shortened or not. If it is shortened, the people that will be hurt the most will be my family. Please don’t do that to them. I’ve already hurt them so much, and I want everyone’s pain to stop.”
Arias used most of her allocution statement to try to show the jury details of her life before the murder, clicking through a slideshow of photos from her childhood, family life and relationships with ex-boyfriends.
“When I was little, my mom took a lot of pictures of me. I was the first child,” she said.
“Here I am with Bobby, in our dirty little house,” she added. “We didn’t have power or heat. In the winter we could see our breath. My parents didn’t support this relationship. I’m reminded of that Charles Dickens quote, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’”
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Arias attempted to convince the jury to send her to prison so she would have an opportunity to contribute to society. She said that since she has been under arrest, she has come up with ways to be useful in jail, such as donating her hair to Locks of Love and coming up with a plan for recycling at the local jail.
“If I’m allowed to live in prison, I will continue to donate for the rest of my life,” Arias said, noting that she has donated her hair three times to the charity.
“If I get permission, I could start a recycling program for the huge loads of waste taken to the landfill,” she added. “It could create new jobs and have a far-reaching impact on the planet.”
Arias showed the jury her artwork, including paintings of Elvis and her niece, as part of her slideshow, and held up a t-shirt with the word “survivor” on it that she designed and is selling, noting that profits of the sale of the t-shirt are going to domestic violence victims.
“I’m supporting this cause because it’s very, very important to me. Some people do not believe I’m a victim of domestic abuse but that’s OK,” she said. “I’ve never been to prison but I think I could find other ways to contribute there.”
Arias said that if she were sentenced to life in prison, she hoped to start a book club and help teach fellow inmates how to read.
“You’ve heard before I’m an artist. I’ll never create another oil painting, but these are some of my paintings,” she said.
Clicking through to the next slide, she added, “My family and I have a lot of memories. We won’t be creating any more of these together.”
She also referred to the family members of Alexander, who spoke last week to the jury during victim impact statements.
“I never meant to cause them so much pain,” she said, pointing to Alexander’s family.
The same jury that convicted Arias will decide her punishment.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Oklahoma Tornado Deaths Revised Down to 24, Including 9 Children
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOORE, Okla.) — First responders are in a race against time in the search for any survivors of a devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., while the medical examiner’s office has revised the death toll from 51 to 24, including nine children.
Oklahoma medical examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliot said Tuesday morning that she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm. The original death toll included 20 children.
Two elementary schools were in the path of Monday’s tornado, which the National Weather Service gave a preliminary rating of at least EF-4, meaning churning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
Oklahoma City police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said seven of the young victims were from Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis and National Guard members told ABC News the search-and-rescue operation at the school is now a body-recovery effort.
“The walls were just pancaked, absolutely flattened and the students were just grouped together,” Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted late Monday night that she visited with search crews at the elementary school. “Appreciate their hard work and tireless dedication,” she tweeted.
Fallin has also deployed 80 National Guard members to help with search-and-rescue efforts throughout the city.
Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.
A total of 242 patients, including 58 children, were treated at hospitals. Many patients have been treated and discharged while others have been transferred among hospitals.
Kelly Wells, spokeswoman for Norman Regional Health System, which oversees three hospitals in Oklahoma, said lacerations, broken bones, head and neck injuries were the most common.
Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all its patients to other hospitals.
Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol asked people not involved in search-and-rescue operations to stay off the roads so first responders can do their job.
President Obama signed a disaster declaration in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes.
The first tornado warning went out around 2:40 p.m. local time and just 16 minutes later a tornado tore a 12-mile gash in Oklahoma from Newcastle to Oklahoma City. Frantic groups of rescuers could be seen digging through debris within minutes after the tornado blew by.
Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped off their foundations and cars tossed like toys on top of nearby buildings. Block after block lay in ruins, reduced to smoking piles of wood and brick.
The weather service estimated that the tornado was at least a half-mile wide and says it could have been on the ground for as long as 40 minutes.
As Moore continues to sift through rubble for survivors, millions across the Midwest are once again under the threat of tornadoes. People in northeast Texas all the way to southwest Arkansas have a 10 percent chance of seeing a twister later Tuesday.
Millions of people from San Antonio, Texas, all the way to Michigan could see damaging hail and even a chance of isolated tornadoes.
More than 50 tornadoes ravaged the Midwest this weekend, killing a 79-year-old man in Shawnee, Okla.
Monday’s devastation in Oklahoma came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.
Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. An EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City-area May 3, 1999, killing 42 people.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Oklahoma Hero Teacher Covered Students with Her Body
ABC News/Stockphoto/Thinkstock(MOORE, Okla.) — The students at Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., were just preparing to go home for the day Monday when the tornado that killed at least 24 people in their town made what authorities call a “direct hit” on their school.
“We had already prepared our backpacks and they had their bear binders and homework folders in their backpacks,” first-grade teacher Sheri Bittle said Tuesday on ABC’s Good Morning America. “I had them take their backpacks and put them over their heads.”
In another first-grade classroom at the school, which had its roof and walls blown off in the storm, teacher Cindy Lowe laid her body on top of her students to protect them.
“I actually saw the tornado coming and knew how serious it was,” Lowe said on GMA. “[I was] just laying my body on top of as many kids as I could to help out.”
Both Lowe and Bittle said a main focus of their heroic actions as the tornado blew over was to calm their students, who, living in a tornado zone, had been through countless tornado drills before.
“We practiced tornado drills and things like this and I had to tell them this is not a drill and we need to be safe,” said Lowe. “I was just trying to calm the children down.”
Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped away and businesses left in ruins after the tornado whipped through with wind speeds of up to 200 mph. The medical examiner’s office’s current death toll of 24 includes seven children, some of whom were from Plaza Towers Elementary School, the other elementary school directly in the tornado’s path.
Bittle said the trauma for Briarwood’s students and their parents alike continued long after the tornado had passed as frantic parents, blocked by debris and recovery efforts, tried to reach their children.
“I had a student that stayed with me until 8 p.m. last night because his parents could not get to the location there by the school where we were at,” she said. “Parents walked for miles just to get to their children. They were out of breath and crying but so happy to see them and just know that they were safe.”
“It was just heartbreaking to see the tears of joy, how happy they were that their child was safe and that they could finally get to them,” Bittle said of the reunions.
Moore resident Andrew Wheeler credits a Briarwood teacher with keeping his son safe as the tornado wreaked havoc on the building as students were preparing for their final days in school before summer vacation.
“The teacher held their heads, and bricks and everything were falling all over the kids. She got her arm injured. One of the other boys on her other side got a big gash in his head, but he’s OK,” Wheeler said.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Officials Expect Death Toll to Rise After Oklahoma Tornado
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOORE, Okla.) — First responders are in a race against time in the search for any survivors of a devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., killing at least 51 people and destroying homes and businesses in a 12-mile path, officials said.
Spokeswoman Amy Elliott of the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner’s office said she believes at least 91 people are dead. Elliott said an additional 40 bodies are being moved to the medical examiner’s office, but she was unable to say how many of those bodies were children.
Two elementary schools were in the path of Monday’s tornado, which the National Weather Service gave a preliminary rating of at least EF-4, meaning churning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
The Oklahoma chief medical examiner said at least 20 children were confirmed dead. Oklahoma City police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said at least seven of them were from Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis and National Guard members told ABC News the search-and-rescue operation at the school is now a recovery effort.
“The walls were just pancaked, absolutely flattened and the students were just grouped together,” Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted late Monday night that she visited with search crews at the elementary school.
“Appreciate their hard work and tireless dedication,” she tweeted.
Fallin has also deployed 80 National Guard members to help with search-and-rescue efforts throughout the city.
Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.
A total of 242 patients, including 58 children, were treated at hospitals. Many patients have been treated and discharged while others have been transferred among hospitals.
Kelly Wells, spokeswoman for Norman Regional Health System, which oversees three hospitals in Oklahoma, said lacerations, broken bones, head and neck injuries were the most common.
Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all its patients to other hospitals.
Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol asked people not involved in search-and-rescue operations to stay off the roads so first responders can do their job.
“We do still have rescue, search-and-rescue crews throughout this city. Some of the heavily hit areas, they are still searching for people. We still have people that are trapped,” she said.
President Obama signed a disaster declaration in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes.
The first tornado warning went out around 2:40 p.m. local time and just 16 minutes later, a tornado tore a 12-mile gash in Oklahoma from Newcastle to Oklahoma City. Frantic groups of rescuers could be seen digging through debris within minutes after the tornado blew by.
Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped off their foundations and cars tossed like toys on top of nearby buildings. Block after block lay in ruins, reduced to smoking piles of wood and brick.
The weather service estimated that the tornado was at least a half-mile wide and says it could have been on the ground for as long as 40 minutes.
As Moore continues to sift through rubble for survivors, millions across the Midwest are once again under the threat of tornadoes. People in northeast Texas all the way to southwest Arkansas have a 10 percent chance of seeing a twister later Tuesday.
Millions of people from San Antonio, Texas, all the way to Michigan, meanwhile, could see damaging hail and even a chance of isolated tornadoes.
Monday’s devastation in Oklahoma came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.
Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said his community remembers the assistance it received in 2011 and believes it has an obligation to lend a hand in Moore.
Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history previously. An EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City-area on May 3, 1999, killing 42 people.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Oklahoma Tornado Deaths Revised Down to 24, Including 7 Children
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOORE, Okla.) — First responders are in a race against time in the search for any survivors of a devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., while the medical examiner’s office has revised the death toll from 51 to 24, including seven children.
Two elementary schools were in the path of Monday’s tornado, which the National Weather Service gave a preliminary rating of at least EF-4, meaning churning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
Oklahoma City police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said some of the victims were from Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis and National Guard members told ABC News the search-and-rescue operation at the school is now a body-recovery effort.
“The walls were just pancaked, absolutely flattened and the students were just grouped together,” Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted late Monday night that she visited with search crews at the elementary school.
“Appreciate their hard work and tireless dedication,” she tweeted.
Fallin has also deployed 80 National Guard members to help with search-and-rescue efforts throughout the city.
Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.
A total of 242 patients, including 58 children, were treated at hospitals. Many patients have been treated and discharged while others have been transferred among hospitals.
Kelly Wells, spokeswoman for Norman Regional Health System, which oversees three hospitals in Oklahoma, said lacerations, broken bones, head and neck injuries were the most common.
Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all its patients to other hospitals.
Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol asked people not involved in search-and-rescue operations to stay off the roads so first responders can do their job.
“We do still have rescue, search-and-rescue crews throughout this city. Some of the heavily hit areas, they are still searching for people. We still have people that are trapped,” she said.
President Obama signed a disaster declaration in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes.
The first tornado warning went out around 2:40 p.m. local time and just 16 minutes later, a tornado tore a 12-mile gash in Oklahoma from Newcastle to Oklahoma City. Frantic groups of rescuers could be seen digging through debris within minutes after the tornado blew by.
Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped off their foundations and cars tossed like toys on top of nearby buildings. Block after block lay in ruins, reduced to smoking piles of wood and brick.
The weather service estimated that the tornado was at least a half-mile wide and says it could have been on the ground for as long as 40 minutes.
As Moore continues to sift through rubble for survivors, millions across the Midwest are once again under the threat of tornadoes. People in northeast Texas all the way to southwest Arkansas have a 10 percent chance of seeing a twister later Tuesday.
Millions of people from San Antonio, Texas, all the way to Michigan, meanwhile, could see damaging hail and even a chance of isolated tornadoes.
Monday’s devastation in Oklahoma came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.
Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said his community remembers the assistance it received in 2011 and believes it has an obligation to lend a hand in Moore.
Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history previously. An EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City-area on May 3, 1999, killing 42 people.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
‘Very Graphic’ Devastation at Oklahoma Elementary School
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOORE, Okla.) — At least seven of the 20 children killed in the devastating tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., were from Plaza Towers Elementary School, officials said.
The school was destroyed by Monday’s tornado, which tore a 12-mile path of destruction that left at least 51 people dead.
The deadly twister touched down just as students were about to be released for their last week of school before summer vacation. Many of the students hunkered down in closets, classrooms and bathrooms, clinging to their classmates and teachers.
Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan confirmed to ABC News affiliate KOCO-TV on Tuesday that a number of children at Plaza Towers Elementary School remain unaccounted for.
“It’s just a very graphic situation for even those of us who’ve come obviously well after the storm has passed,” he said.
The walls of Plaza Towers Elementary School were “pancaked,” Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.
Moore officials and National Guard members told ABC News the search-and-rescue operation at the school is now a body-recovery effort.
“I know there’s a number of dead children from that school,” Oklahoma City Police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said. “I know the number is around seven.”
Briarwood Elementary School, also in Moore, received a “direct hit” from the twister and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.
One sixth-grade boy from Briarwood named Brady said he and other students took cover in a bathroom.
“I was in my classroom building and we were told to get in our tornado precaution system. Then they moved us to the boys and girls bathroom,” he said. “Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there.”
Josiah Parker, 8, escaped Briarwood unharmed but couldn’t find his parents in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.
“If our school is crushed, my house is like directly behind the pond and so I think it might be crushed, too. If my mom and dad are still alive, they’re probably going to take us to a hotel,” Josiah said.
Josiah’s parents survived and the family was able to reunite.
Students remained at Briarwood despite the tornado warnings because there were safe areas where they could be protected.
Moore resident Andrew Wheeler credits a Briarwood teacher with keeping his son safe as the tornado wrecked havoc on the building.
“The teacher held their heads, and bricks and everything were falling all over the kids,” he said. “She got her arm injured. One of the other boys on her other side got a big gash in his head, but he’s OK.”
Wheeler’s son, Gabriel, says his teacher stood with the class the entire time and told them to act as they did in practice drills.
“The roof came off and then I felt something and it was just raining clay on me and all that,” Gabriel said.
Monday’s twister was the latest in a group of violent storms that swept through the Midwest, starting on Sunday, leaving dozens of people dead.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Florida Man Bags Record Python
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MIAMI) — After a fierce battle near the Everglades, a Florida man bagged a record 18-foot, 8-inch python, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC).
Jason Leon, an amateur python collector, said he was driving in the northwestern part of Miami-Dade County — where the invasive species are known to seek the warm asphalt of the Everglades’ levies at night — when he came upon a three-foot section of snake. He began to tug, he told the FFWCC.
“Jason Leon’s nighttime sighting and capture of a Burmese python of more than 18 feet in length is a notable accomplishment that set a Florida record. The [commission] is grateful to him both for safely removing such a large Burmese python and for reporting its capture,” said Kristen Sommers, exotic species coordination section leader for the FFWCC.
But it wasn’t easy. As soon as Leon seized the animal near its head, it began coiling itself around him, he said. He then knew it was huge, according to the commission, longer than a Chevy Suburban SUV.
Leon said that as the animal began constricting, he had to use a knife to slice the python’s 7-inch-long head off.
The previous record python caught was more than 17 feet long, but weighed 164 pounds and was found with eggs inside, according to the FFWC, which measured the snake.
It is estimated that between 10,000 and 100,000 pythons infest the Everglades. Many of them were said to have been let loose during Hurricane Andrew in 1991, when the storm flattened a python hatchery, apparently flinging pythons like Frisbees into the Everglades. It is also believed many pet pythons were released.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Children Among at Least 51 Dead, ‘Horrific’ Damage in Okla. Tornado
Oklahoma County Sheriff(OKLAHOMA CITY) — First responders began the grim task of digging people — including children at two elementary schools — out of piles of rubble Monday evening after a monster tornado roared through the Oklahoma city metropolitan area, leaving at least 51 people dead.
Among the dead were children from one of the devastated elementary schools in Moore, Okla., local officials said.
Desperate parents stood around what was left of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, many of them sobbing, as rescuers worked to help pull out school children and faculty.
“I know there’s a number of dead children from that school,” Oklahoma City Police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said. “I know the number is around seven.”
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Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.
Children were still in school because in anticipation of the severe weather Monday afternoon, schools in the Moore area did not release their students at the end of the day, according to Oklahoma Emergency Management officials.
Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out, cars were tossed around like toys and were found on top of buildings.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said at a news conference Monday night that downed powerlines and massive traffic jams have made emergency responses difficult, and cautioned those not involved in search and rescue operations to stay away from disaster areas.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with Oklahoma families hit hard,” Fallin said at a news conference on Monday. “Our hearts are just broken for the parents wondering about the state of their children.”
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One sixth grade boy named Brady, who goes to Briarwood, told ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and other students took cover in a bathroom.
“Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there,” he said.
David Barnes, the director of Oklahoma Emergency Management in Oklahoma County, told ABC News that a single twister tore through homes from Newcastle to Moore, a path of 12 miles. The damage was “widespread” and people’s homes were completely destroyed, all the way to their foundations, he said.
LIVE UPDATES: Tornado Damage in Oklahoma
The National Weather Service said the preliminary rating of the Newcastle-Moore tornado was at least EF-4, meaning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
“It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific,” Oklahoma Lt. Gov Todd Lamb said. “We’re going to have fatalities. … We’re going to have significant injuries. … We just don’t know what those numbers are. Schools have been hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses have been flattened, neighborhoods have been wiped away — we don’t have the numbers in yet but it is going to be significant and it is going to be horrific.”
Moore resident Melissa Newton said the hail from the tornado was “about the size of golfballs.”
The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency for the Oklahoma City metropolitan area at 3:01 p.m., warning that significant damage and fatalities were likely.
At least 105 people have been admitted to area hospitals as more people emerged from the rubble. Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all of its patients to other hospitals.
The Oklahoma University Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City had received 85 patients, 65 of which were children. Integris Southwest Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City, said it received 33 patients, including three children.
First responders were reportedly having trouble reaching Moore, which has a population of about 56,300 people, because people were stuck in their cars on the highway.
“We’ve got so many people that are all on the interstate that we can not get our emergency responders to the scene because we’ve got so many people tied up in traffic on I-35,” said Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol.
This twister was the latest in a group of violent storms that swept through the Midwest, starting Sunday, that has now left dozens of people dead.
On Sunday, a tornado ripped through Shawnee, Okla., killing a 79-year-old man near a mobile home park that was reduced to rubble, according to Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth.
Twisters, hail and high winds also struck Iowa and Kansas as part of a devastating, northeastward-moving storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma were ravaged by 50 tornadoes this weekend.
Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. On May 3, 1999, an EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City area, killing 42 people.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Oklahoma Tornado: At Least 37 Dead, ‘Horrific’ Damage
Brett Deering/Getty Images(OKLAHOMA CITY) — A mammoth tornado carved a trail of destruction through the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, killing at least 37 people and ripping apart two elementary schools today, local authorities said.
David Barnes, the director of Oklahoma Emergency Management in Oklahoma County, told ABC News that a single twister tore through homes from Newcastle to Moore, a path of 12 miles. The damage was “widespread” and people’s homes were completely destroyed, all the way to their foundations, he said.
At least 37 people have been confirmed dead in tornado’s aftermath, according to the state’s chief medical examiner’s office.
“It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific,” Oklahoma Lt. Gov Todd Lamb said. “We’re going to have fatalities. … We’re going to have significant injuries. … We just don’t know what those numbers are. Schools have been hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses have been flattened, neighborhoods have been wiped away — we don’t have the numbers in yet but it is going to be significant and it is going to be horrific.”
SEE LIVE UPDATES on the tornado from ABC News
The National Weather Service said the preliminary rating of the Newcastle-Moore Tornado was at least EF-4, meaning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
uthorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., received a “direct hit” from the storm and was severely damaged. In anticipation of the severe weather this afternoon, schools in the Moore area did not release their students at the end of the school day, according to Oklahoma Emergency Management officials.
One sixth grade boy named Brady told ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and other students took cover in a bathroom.
“Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there,” he said.
Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore was also in the monster twister’s path. Local residents who lived near the school rushed to help pull kids and teachers out.
First responders on the scene tell ABC News all children at both schools have been accounted for, but they are still going door-to-door to search for people in homes.
Moore resident Melissa Newton said the hail from the tornado was “about the size of golfballs.”
The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency for the Oklahoma City metropolitan area Monday afternoon, meaning that significant damage and fatalities were likely.
The Oklahoma University Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City had received seven patients as of early Monday evening but was expecting more, hospital spokesman Scott Coppenbarger said.
About the condition of the patients he would only say they had the kind of “injuries suffered in a tornado … you can probably imagine.”
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First responders were reportedly having trouble reaching Moore, which has a population of about 56,300 people, because people were stuck in their cars on the highway.
“We’ve got so many people that are all on the interstate that we can not get our emergency responders to the scene because we’ve got so many people tied up in traffic on I-35,” said Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol.
This twister was the latest in a group of violent storms that swept through the Midwest, starting Sunday, that has left at least two people dead and dozens more injured.
On Sunday, a tornado ripped through Shawnee, Okla., killing a 79-year-old man near a mobile home park that was reduced to rubble, according to Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth.
Twisters, hail and high winds also struck Iowa and Kansas as part of a devastating, northeastward-moving storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma were ravaged by 50 tornadoes this weekend.
The National Weather Service says that one of the tornadoes near Wichita, Kan., registered EF-1 winds up to 110 mph. It was on the ground for an estimated 4.5 miles.
Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. On May 3, 1999, an EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City area, killing 36 people.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Former Philadelphia Cop Faces Rape Charge, $60M Bail
Hemera/Thinkstock(PHILADELPHIA) — A former Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and invited by the vice president to attend a presidential address to Congress now faces 16 charges, including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and making terroristic threats.
Bail for Richard DeCoatsworth, 27, has been set at $60 million after he allegedly sexually assaulted two women at gunpoint.
Authorities alleged DeCoatsworth, of Philadelphia, left a party with two women at approximately 2 a.m. Thursday and brought them to another location. He then, “produced a handgun and allegedly forced the two females to engage in the use of narcotics and sexual acts,” Philadelphia Police Department spokeswoman Officer Tanya Little said.
The women contacted police once DeCoatsworth left the undisclosed site, Little said.
DeCoatsworth was arrested at his home Saturday morning and was booked at the Philadelphia County Jail. His preliminary arraignment was held on Saturday night, according to court documents.
Philadelphia Prisons System spokeswoman Sean Hawes told ABC News that DeCoatsworth was being represented by a public defender, but she did not know his attorney’s name.
ABC News’ calls to the Defender Association of Philadelphia were not immediately returned.
DeCoatsworth came into public view after he chased a gunman who shot him in the face in West Philadelphia in 2007, Philadelphia ABC News affiliate WPVI-TV reported. He caught his attacker, who later was sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.
According to WPVI, Vice President Joe Biden subsequently invited DeCoatsworth to attend President Obama’s televised address to Congress in February 2009, and he sat beside first lady Michelle Obama.
DeCoatsworth retired from the police department on disability in December 2011, WPVI reported.
“I think that since he got shot, he’s not the same person,” one neighbor told WPVI.
Authorities declined to release the locations of DeCoatsworth’s alleged assaults or the names of the alleged victims, citing a desire to protect the victims and the integrity of the investigation.
DeCoatsworth’s next court date was scheduled for June 17, according to court documents.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
WATCH: Devastation Following Massive Tornado in Oklahoma
File photo. Hemera/Thinkstock(OKLAHOMA CITY) — A large tornado touched down Monday south of Oklahoma City, causing widespread damage.
Here is live video, courtesy of ABC News:
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Boeing 787 Returns to US Skies
Duncan Chard/Bloomberg via Getty Images(CHICAGO) — United Airlines flight #1 from Houston to Chicago arrived in the Windy City on Monday with a new battery and an effort by Boeing to repair its image.
The Dreamliner became a nightmare 114 days ago, when the entire fleet was grounded after two separate incidents in which lithium-ion batteries failed in a smokey mess that left engineers puzzled.
Boeing re-built the battery, encased it in stainless steel, and got the Federal Aviation Administration to sign off on the fix for the 50 aircraft in operation.
On Monday, United Airlines, the only U.S. carrier with 787s, returned the Dreamliner to flight with the Boeing and airline’s CEOs on board. “It’s absolutely safe,” Boeing CEO James McNerney told ABC News on the flight.
United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek says he is excited to get the aircraft back in service, but kidded his Boeing colleague. “It’s an expensive piece of art to keep on the ground,” Smisek said.
Boeing had expected to deliver 60 Dreamliners this year. So far only two have been handed over to airlines. The airlines are asking Boeing to reimburse them for some of the cost of keeping the jets on the ground while the battery issue was fixed.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Investigators Question Terror Suspects’ Attraction to Boston Suburb
Darren McCollester/Getty Images(BOSTON) — Among the many unanswered questions about the two Tsarnaev brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombing is why, days after the attack, they were heading to the suburb of Watertown and its manicured lawns and tulips when police picked up their trail and began a chase.
Investigators want to know what drew the accused bombers to the cluster of side streets in the blue-collar suburb, far from any major thoroughfare, especially if the brothers were on the run after their images had been shown on television by the FBI and after they had allegedly murdered MIT Police Officer Sean Collier.
“It’s clear the suspects have connections to Watertown,” said Joseph Curatone, the mayor in the neighboring city of Somerville told ABC News. “And it’s abundantly clear that investigators are exploring every aspect of those connections as they should.”
Some answers may be found in an obscure town parking ticket and a police report from the adjoining suburb of Arlington about a minor case involving open containers of alcohol, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
The parking ticket, obtained by ABC News, was written on a car registered to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at 2:10 a.m. on February 18, 2011 on the 200 block of Boylston Street.
When the ticket was found in police records during the hunt for the wounded bomber, it sparked an immediate FBI raid on the Boylston street address, which is the home of a friend, Maximilian Freddura, part of a prominent Boston restaurateur family.
Freddura’s apartment, where police officials say Dzhokhar was a frequent guest, is a block away from the corner of Laurel and Dexter Streets where police caught up with the Tsarnaev brothers five days after the marathon bombing.
After a chaotic exchange of gunfire that night that included the detonation of several explosives, the older Tsarnaev, Tamerlan, was killed, while his brother Dzkhokhar managed to escape, though injured. Dzkhokhar was captured hours later, hiding in a covered boat.
“Was he headed here? I don’t know,” Freddura told ABC News last week, referring to Dzhokhar. Freddura attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin, the same high school attended by both Tsarnaevs. “He certainly would not have been welcomed.”
During the hunt for the younger Tsarnaev, police raided another residence in neighboring Arlington where the accused bomber had a run-in with police on July 4, 2012, ABC News has learned.
According to the police report obtained by ABC News, Dzhokhar and two other men were seen drinking in another car registered to Dzhokhar, the 1999 Green Honda Civic that investigators believe Dzhokhar drove during the police chase into Watertown.
“In the driver seat was Dzhokar Tsarnaev,” the report states.
Dzhokhar was issued a ticket for parking in a restricted area and was released. Another occupant of the car said he was the one drinking and received a $500 fine for having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
Based on that police report, investigators searched the Arlington block during the manhunt, which is roughly two miles away from the scene of the shootout.
“It was within walking distance, so we hit the house,” said a law enforcement official involved in the hunt. Arlington Police maintained a presence in the area throughout the time of the manhunt.
It was the second time in three years that the blue-collar suburb appeared to have links to a terror attack.
In 2010, Watertown was the scene of FBI raids after agents learned that Faisal Shahzad, convicted of trying to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, came to the suburb to pick up $5,000 cash from a Pakistani citizen living there, according to federal court records.
The Pakistani, Aftab Ali, was identified by authorities as part of a militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, and was deported.
Authorities said they know of no link between the Times Square bomber and the two accused Marathon bombers, other than the coincidental connections to Watertown.
Now, just more than a month after the bombings, windows in the Watertown area where hundreds of bullets were fired and four bombs were lobbed at police remain webbed with bullet holes and marked with FBI tape.
An ATF evidence cone marked “58″ rests in a tulip bed. The vinyl siding of several homes is ripped with ricochet rounds.
The street is stained black from a pressure-cooker bomb.
Blood left behind after Tamerlan Tsarnaev was run over by his fleeing brother is still visible on the corner where the chaos was at its height.
Later, residents incorporated the bloodstain in a chalk drawing with the initials “USA” written underneath.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Jodi Arias’ Attorneys Say They Cannot Proceed in Death Penalty Phase
ABC News(PHOENIX) — The death penalty phase of the Jodi Arias trial was cut short Monday after Arias’ defense attorneys erupted in confrontational arguments with the judge and prosecutor and said they could not continue defending her.
The jury was expecting to hear character testimony from Arias’ friends Monday as part the defense’s bid to present mitigating factors to the jury and convince it to sentence her with leniency. But before that could happen, lead defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked for a mistrial and for permission to withdraw from the case, citing prosecutorial misconduct.
Arias was convicted on May 8 of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. She now faces the death penalty.
On Monday, Nurmi told the court that the defense could not go on because one of their mitigating witnesses, Arias’ childhood friend Patricia Womack, had been intimidated into not testifying by prosecutor Juan Martinez.
“Miss Womack feels her life is being threatened to an extent she cannot come forward and testify. This is unacceptable,” Nurmi said.
“This cannot be a modern-day version of stoning or witch trials,” he added, becoming more animated. “When you have a prosecutor that this court allows to personally attack witnesses and counsel, it breeds this sort of environment where intimidating can take place. And this has been happening throughout trial.”
Nurmi has previously asked for two mistrials based on alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Both times, Judge Sherry Stephens denied his motions.
Martinez said that he had merely interviewed Womack about her testimony last week, on May 15, and asked her pointed questions about her drug use and unreported income that could subject her to criminal prosecution. Womack decided to invoke her Fifth Amendment right in response to his questions, Martinez said.
Womack did not appear in court Monday.
Stephens denied the defense’s request for a mistrial, causing Nurmi immediately to move to withdraw from the case. It is the third time he and co-counsel Jennifer Willmott have asked to withdraw.
“Ms. Willmott and I move to withdraw again,” Nurmi said Monday. “We cannot present a full picture [of Arias' life] as incumbent upon us. We cannot fulfill our duties.”
When Stephens also denied that request and asked Nurmi to call his first witness for the day, Nurmi said if the court would not rule in the defense’s favor on the mistrial or withdrawal motions, there would be no witnesses, leaving only Arias’ own statement to the jury before closing arguments.
Nurmi originally told jurors they would hear about Arias’ life, her clean criminal record, her quest to better herself and her artwork before they would be asked to rule on her sentence. Without any witnesses or testimony, however, the case wound quickly to its close Monday.
Stephens adjourned court noting that Arias would give her allocution statement on Tuesday, at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The defense and prosecution both are expected to rest their cases at that time, before the jury goes into deliberations to decide whether to sentence Arias to death or life in prison.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
University of Rhode Island Student Disappears
Pennsylvania State Police(PHILADELPHIA) — Matthew Royer, 21, a University of Rhode Island student, has disappeared on his way home from the school for summer vacation.
Authorities have said they believe he made it within 30 miles of his Pennsylvania home before falling off the grid.
Royer was last seen on Thursday, May 16 on the University of Rhode Island campus. The college junior had moved out of his apartment and returned the keys, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI. The last known communication was with his mother, Janet Royer, at around 6 p.m. that day to say that he had overslept and was “about to leave.”
From there, surveillance footage, debit card use and cell phone tower pings show Royer stopping at a gas station in Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m., and near Allentown, Pa., at 2 a.m. on Friday then stopping at a gas station about 35 miles from his home a short time later, according to his family and authorities.
“He bought water at the station, he opened it in the car and headed southbound on 100. He looked fine, not distraught,” his mother told WPVI.
“We’ve narrowed it down to 30-40 miles from our house, and we can’t find him,” Janet Royer said. “You couldn’t ask for a better son. It’s not like him. If he wasn’t coming home, he would’ve told me he wasn’t coming home, unless he couldn’t.”
Royer is white, 6-feet-1, and weighs 160 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to call Pennsylvania State Police Skippack at 610-584-1250 and give the reference number K03-1918501.
Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwest, More Expected
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(SHAWNEE, Okla.) — At least one person is dead after a series of tornadoes ripped across the Midwest on Sunday, injuring dozens while leaving a path of devastation in a region that is expected to see more severe weather later on Monday.
More than 50 tornadoes struck six central states — Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma — over the weekend. The hardest hit were Kansas, with 32 tornadoes, and Oklahoma, with seven.
The National Weather Service says that one of the tornadoes near Wichita, Kan., registered EF-1 winds up to 110 mph. It was on the ground for an estimated 4.5 miles.
In Shawnee, Okla., where the death was reported, it’s believed that at least four twisters touched down. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency in 16 counties on Sunday, triggering a request for federal assistance.
On Monday, Shawnee and other areas hit by tornadoes over the weekend could see more severe weather. Areas just north of Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Okla., and Springfield, Mo., are at a moderate risk for tornadoes.
Large cities like St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Detroit, Green Bay, Wis., and Milwaukee could also see damaging hail and a chance for isolated tornadoes.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Florida Town Awaits Powerball Winner
William Thomas Cain/Getty Images(ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla.) — Residents of the small town of Zephyrhills, Fla., are buzzing with excitement that the lucky holder of a Powerball ticket worth $590.5 million could be a neighbor, after the announcement that the winning ticket was sold at a grocery store there.
“I think that’s awesome. I can’t wait to see who it is. I hope it’s somebody I know. I think it would be great,” resident Martha Bennett said.
The central Florida town, with a population of 13,337, was best known as a skydiving destination before lottery officials revealed on Sunday that a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills had sold the winning ticket for the record Powerball jackpot.
The winning numbers in Saturday’s drawing were 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and a Powerball of 11.
The lucky person or group holding the ticket has not yet come forward, according to lottery officials. However, under Florida law, the winner’s name, age and hometown will be made public.
Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, urged the person holding the ticket to sign it immediately.
“If it were me, I’d put that in an envelope and duct tape it to my chest. I’d be known as the Powerball millionaire with a nasty rash,” he said.
While the residents of Zephyrhills wait to find out if the winner is one of their own, whoever is holding the ticket will have a big decision to make after coming forward.
The winner will have to decide whether to take the annuity or a lump sum, which comes out to $370,896,780.54.
Earlier estimates had put the jackpot at $600 million, however the Powerball website reflected an adjusted total of $590.5 million — still the largest jackpot in the game’s history.
The previous record for a Powerball jackpot was $587.5 million on Nov. 28, 2012, and was split between two winning tickets.
The odds of winning the top jackpot was 1 in 175.2 million.
While there was only one grand prize winner, 31 tickets matched all five numbers, earning those lucky ticket holders a prize of $1 million each. Two tickets sold in New York and South Carolina were Power Play winners worth $2 million each, according to Powerball officials.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Suspects Butt Dial 9-1-1 During Alleged Burglary
Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(FRESNO, Calif.) — Accidentally butt dialing someone is embarrassing or inconsequential to most, but for two Fresno, Calif., men, their cell phone mishap landed them in jail.
The call, which went to 911, started like any other call to the police dispatcher, with the operator asking, “What is your emergency?”
But when no one answered, the operator didn’t hang up, instead staying on the line and listening to the pair, who police identified as Nathan Teklemariam and Carson Rinehart, both 20, as they talked about wanting to do drugs. It wasn’t long before the conversation turned to breaking into a car.
“Get the bolt and give me the hammer just in case,” one of the two voices on the phone said.
Shortly after that statement, the dispatcher heard a window shatter and the people on the phone started yelling that they found prescription drugs.
As the two were driving away, police were already in the area searching for the men based on clues that the 911 dispatcher was feeding to them.
The police finally tracked the suspects down and pulled them over. The suspects acted confused and questioned what why they were being pulled over, police said.
“Oh, he’s following me, dog,” one of the suspects said in the recording. “Wow, what the [expletive] did I do?”
As they were being questioned, the suspects allegedly denied any wrongdoing, but after searching the car, police said they found items that allegedly were taken from the burglarized vehicle.
After being cuffed, the suspects were finally told how they were caught.
“This fool really called 911?” one of the suspects said. “Damn.”
“I have never heard of something like this,” Sgt. Jaime Rios of the Fresno Police Department told ABCNews.com. “There have been times where the dispatcher hears something like this, but never has a call come in before a crime being committed and staying on all the way to the end.”
Rios said the suspects are being charged with burglary, conspiracy and possession of stolen property.
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Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
New York City Man Killed in Anti-Gay Hate Crime
Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — New York City police say a deadly shooting that took place in Greenwich Village Saturday was an anti-gay hate crime.
32-year-old Harlem resident Marc Carson and his companion were just blocks from the famous Stonewall Inn when a group approached them, making anti-gay slurs.
Police say that one member of the group, Elliot Morales, asked the two men if they were “gay wrestlers,” and later asked “do you want to die here?”
Morales then pulled out a gun and shot Carson in the face, according to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. He died in the hospital soon afterwards.
An officer arrested Morales a few blocks away from where the shooting took place.
This is the latest in a series of bias attacks on gay men in the area, and police are investigating to see if there is any connection between this incident and earlier ones.
“It’s a really sad affair,” said Sean Williams, a friend of Carson.
“I mean, come on. This is 2013. Who’s killing people for being gay nowadays?”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Police Officer’s Bullet Killed Hofstra University Student
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.) — The Hofstra University junior killed during and armed home invasion of her off-campus house on Friday was accidently fatally shot by the responding officer, forensic investigators have concluded.
Police say Dalton Smith, a wanted man with a lengthy criminal history, was masked when he entered 21-year-old Andrea Rebello’s home Friday, demanding money and valuables from Rebello and her three roommates. When police arrived, Smith used Rebello as a human shield in an attempt to escape.
“He’s still got the gun to our victim’s head,” Nassau County Homicide Squad Police Lieutenant John Azzata explained. “Eventually menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer and at that point, the police officer fires several rounds.”
The officer, a 12 year decorated veteran of this department who served more than 7 years with the NYPD, fired eight shots. Seven of them hit Smith, but the eighth bullet hit Rebello in the head. Both were killed.
The officer is currently on sick leave.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale drove to the Tarrytown, New York, home of the students’ parents to tell them how she died.
“I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed,” said Dale.
Now, instead of celebrating Sunday’s graduation festivities at Hofstra University, friends and classmates held a memorial for Rebello.
“It’s really sad. She’s a very sweet girl, she doesn’t deserve this,” one student told ABC’s Linzie Janis. “I really have no words for this. It is so unbelievable. I didn’t think it was real.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Colorado Sheriffs Suing Over Gun Control Laws
iStockphoto(DENVER) — Colorado’s recently approved gun control laws, passed in response to the Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., massacres, are being challenged by a delegation of sheriffs who say the laws are unconstitutional.
In March, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed off on some of the toughest gun control legislation in the country, including a law mandating universal background checks for the purchase of firearms and another restricting the size of high-capacity magazines.
A lawsuit was filed on Friday in Colorado’s U.S. District Court on behalf of 54 of the state’s sheriffs in an effort to block the laws from taking effect.
“This lawsuit is for your rights and for your safety,” Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said at a news conference on Friday.
“These bills do absolutely nothing to make Colorado a safer place to live, to work, to play or to raise a family. Instead these misguided, unconstitutional bills will have the opposite effect because they greatly restrict the right of decent, law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, their families and their homes,” he said.
All but 10 of the state’s 64 sheriffs, who are elected officials, signed their names to the lawsuit.
Tom Sullivan, who lost his son Alex Sullivan in the Aurora movie theater massacre, told ABC News’ Denver affiliate he didn’t understand the backlash to the laws.
“I do not understand why these politicians are picking guns over people,” he said, “and why they want to make it easier for criminals to get guns and for other families to go through what we did.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Tennessee Man, 77, Shoots Third Hole-in-One in One Month
Polka Dot/Thinkstock(SMYRNA, Tenn.) — Bob Robertson is 77 years old and a faithful golfer in more ways than one.
The Tennessean plays golf four days a week and says he asked God to let him score a hole-in-one for a good cause. Robertson not only got a hole-in-one last month, he shot a hole-in-one three times in 29 days on the same hole.
He’s an Air Force veteran who had a stroke six years ago, which left him blind in one eye.
Robertson says the improbable golf shot wasn’t by chance. He planned it.
“I told God if he let me that win that money, that I’d donate that money to mission work and he let me win it,” Robertson said. “I know it might be hard to believe, but it’s true.”
Robertson’s granddaughter is studying to be a missionary and is leaving Saturday for a mission trip to Indonesia.
Robertson plays in a senior golf league at the Smyrna Golf Course every Tuesday. Two of his hole-in-one shots were during league play, making him the winner of a $500 pot to which 75 seniors contributed.
“After I got the hole in one for the prize money, one of my friends got awfully close to a hole in one, so I decided if they were going to slice up the prize money I wanted a second slice of it,” Robertson said.
He says even after a stroke and five heart-bypass surgeries, he wants to improve his golf game.
“What I’ve been trying to do is smooth out my golf swing. I was reading an article just now about how to get it right and yesterday I broke 80 for the first time since last summer,” Robertson said.
For all of the people who look to him for inspiration, “I tell them that I didn’t do it alone. Faith did it.”
The director of the Smyrna Golf Course, Hal Loflin, told ABC News that he can’t believe Robertson’s accomplishments.
“I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been a PGA pro for 23 years,” Loflin said. “I’m jealous and envious because I’ve playing since 13 and never made one.”
Loflin said Robertson is a celebrity on the golf course. The hole where Robertson has hit his multiple hole-in-one shots is a par 3 and roughly 109 yards. Robertson plays off the tee designed for older golfers.
As for another hole-in-one, Robertson says just wait and see.
“I’ve got some more coming,” he said.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
California Key to Massive Powerball Jackpot
Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — As the countdown ticks on to Saturday night’s record Powerball drawing, the jackpot has swollen to over $600 million, largely due to California’s participation in the game, lottery officials said.
In the one month since California joined the list of 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands in playing, Powerball fever has swept across the Golden State.
California, the country’s most populous state, has skyrocketed to the top three states in terms of ticket sales, alongside Florida and New York, according to lottery officials.
“Once California joined the Powerball family, we helped change the dynamics to this game because of the mere size of the state and the number of players that we have,” a California lottery spokesperson told ABC News.
The size of the jackpot has created a frenzy that has also driven ticket sales, according to lottery officials. The previous record for a Powerball jackpot was $587.5 million on Nov. 28, 2012.
Tickets sold at a rate of 600,000 per hour in New York on Friday, New York lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman told ABC News.
It’s expected that tickets will continue to sell at a rapid rate until the 10 p.m. ET cut-off time Saturday night. The winning numbers will be drawn at 10:50 p.m. ET, perhaps minting a few new millionaires.
However, if no one matches all five numbers plus the Powerball, the jackpot will continue to balloon.
Kelly Cripe, media director for the Texas Lottery, which is one of the states in the Powerball lottery, said the next drawing would be May 22 and estimated the pot would be at least an astonishing $925 million. The frenzy of such a massive jackpot would likely push it even closer to $1 billion.
The odds of winning the grand prize are one in 175,223,510, according to the Powerball website.
While Saturday’s jackpot is a Powerball record, it’s not the biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. That honor belongs to the Mega Millions, which paid out a record $656 million on March 30, 2012.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Plane Makes Belly Landing at Newark Airport
ABC News(NEWARK, N.J.) — A U.S. Airways official confirmed that a turboprop plane carrying 31 passengers and three crew members was forced to make a belly landing in Newark, N.J., early Saturday morning due to a problem with the jet’s landing gear.
The jet, operated by Piedmont Airlines, left Philadelphia before 11 p.m. on Friday.
According to U.S. Airways Spokesman Davian Anderson, tower operators attempted to help the pilot troubleshoot after the plane’s landing gear remained retracted. After multiple attempts, they decided to execute a belly landing.
When the pilot attempted to land the plane without the use of landing gear, sparks flew, but he managed to keep the plane steady and on the runway.
All 34 people on board were taken off the plane and bused to the terminal.
U.S. Airways believes the issue was an isolated mechanical problem. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Investigation Begins in Connecticut Commuter Train Crash
Comstock/Thinkstock(FAIRFIELD, Conn.) — Federal transportation officials began their investigation Saturday to determine what caused two commuter trains to crash head-on in Connecticut during the Friday rush hour.
At least 70 people were injured Friday when a Metro-North train derailed and barreled straight into the path of another train headed in its direction just outside Bridgeport, Conn.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene Saturday morning to begin surveying the twisted rail cars that remained on the tracks.
“We’ll be looking at how the crew behaved and how the crew operated the train,” NTSB member Earl Weener said.
During the investigation, which is expected to last seven to 10 days, officials will also examine the braking performance of the trains and the conditions of the wheels, cars and track to see if they played a role in the crash, Weener said.
Gov. Dannel Malloy said three people remained in critical condition on Saturday, while six others also remained hospitalized for their injuries. Many of the injured suffered bruises, cuts and minor fractures and were able to be treated and released, according to officials at two area hospitals.
A Metro-North train was traveling east from New York City’s Grand Central Station to New Haven, Conn., when it derailed at 6:10 p.m., Weener said.
The jolt of the impact was so strong, passengers said it caused bodies to be flung around the cars.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was among the elected officials who surveyed the damage and called the scene “absolutely staggering.”
He said the injuries could have been much worse and lauded the investment in infrastructure for saving lives.
“Investment in quality of transportation is probably one of the lessons we will learn from this accident,” he said.
While the wreckage remains on the tracks, transportation in the Northeast Corridor is expected to be crippled.
Two of the tracks on the line were already out of service for a project, and the remaining two tracks were damaged in the collision, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the Metro-North Railroad.
Amtrak’s service between New York City and Boston, which operates on the tracks where the accident occurred, was also suspended indefinitely.
Commuting could be a challenge on Monday for those around Bridgeport who rely on Metro-North to get to and from work in New York City.
Malloy said a system was being set up to move people from Bridgeport to nearby train stations.
“This is going to be with us for a number of days,” he said.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio