(NEW YORK) — Three police officers have been injured in a possible explosion after being dispatched to a vacant home.
The incident happened just after 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, when Patrol South officers from the Wichita Police Department in Kansas received a call and were subsequently dispatched to check on a vacant home in the McAdams neighborhood of the city, according to the Wichita Police Department (WPD).
Authorities have not yet issued a formal statement on why they were called to the home, who may have made the call or what had been reported to the police but, according to the Wichita Eagle, Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay told local media that the homeowners asked authorities to check the vacant home after they saw the several windows were open leading them to think that somebody could be inside and that officers were given a key to the home so they could access it.
“After making entry into the residence, three officers sustained injuries from a possible explosion from an unknown device,” authorities said in a statement on social media.
The Wichita Police Department said that the three officers were immediately transported to a local area hospital for treatment while the WPD SWAT team and bomb squad conducted investigations.
A tweet from the Wichita Police Department said that “negotiators are still on scene and attempting negotiations” but it is unclear who they were negotiating with or why negotiators were needed in the first place.
“One officer has since been released, while the other two remain [in hospital] – one with minor injuries and one in serious but stable condition,” the WPD said on social media.
Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said that he visited the two officers remaining in hospital and that they were in good spirits after the incident.
Authorities concluded by saying the situation is contained and that they would provide the public with more information as it becomes available.
(NEW YORK) — Vanessa Bryant, the widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, is seeking to publicly name the Los Angeles County deputies who allegedly shared the photos of the helicopter crash site that killed her husband, daughter and seven others.
In September, Vanessa Bryant sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over the sharing of the “unauthorized” photos, seeking damages for negligence, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Vanessa Bryant’s lawyers filed an amended complaint on Wednesday that added the deputies and the Los Angeles County Fire Department as defendants in the lawsuit.
The new court documents detailed an internal affairs report by the sheriff’s department that states one deputy took up to 100 photos at the scene, several of which were then quickly shared by text and other phone messaging apps over the next two days by deputies.
The names of the deputies were blacked out in the complaint. The court will decide whether the complaint should be sealed.
“These specific deputies need to be held accountable for their actions just like everyone else,” Vanessa Bryant wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday.
Lawyers for Los Angeles County have argued to keep the deputies’ names sealed because releasing them would make personal information, such as home addresses, public as well, increasing the likelihood that they should be targeted by hackers who may try to gain access to their personal devices and publish the photos, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The county’s lawyers also argued that if the defendants were to remain anonymous, the “public will still be able to review the relevant allegations,” according to the Times.
The lawsuit also alleged that Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva personally assured Vanessa Bryant shortly after the crash that deputies were securing the scene to protect her privacy. The complaint alleged that Villanueva later told Bryant that when he found out deputies took and shared photos he ordered them to be destroyed to prevent them from becoming public, calling the deputies’ conduct “disgusting” and “wildly inappropriate.”
After the initial lawsuit was filed in September, Villanueva said that the actions the department took “were the correct ones in extraordinary circumstances.” Villanueva has also noted repeatedly that the photos did not circulate wider because of his actions, the Times reported.
Several deputies and county firefighters shared images from the crash site from the personal phone, the complaint alleged. One deputy trainee who was guarding a trail that lead to the crash site allegedly shared multiple photos he received of Kobe Bryant’s remains to members of the public, including a woman and bartender at a bar later that night, according to the lawsuit. A bar security camera allegedly showed the trainee zooming into the photos as he shows them, and the bartender loudly boasted to patrons and other employees that he had seen Kobe Bryant’s body, the complaint states.
Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, and seven others — two teammates of Gianna’s, their parents and the helicopter pilot, were killed on Jan. 26, 2020, when the Sikorsky S-76B crashed onto a hillside in Calabasas, California.
Days after the crash, Vanessa Bryant released a statement saying she was “devastated” over a report by the Los Angeles Times that deputies who responded to the scene shared photos of the wreckage and victims’ remains.
In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsome signed a bill into law making it illegal for first responders to take unauthorized photos of dead people at the scene of a crime or accident.
The NTSB investigation into the crash, released earlier this month, found that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, became disoriented while flying in thick fog. Zobayan also did not follow training and violated visual flight rules, the investigation found.
New Haven Police Department By MORGAN WINSOR and MARLENE LENTHANG, ABC News
(NEW HAVEN, Conn.) — Police have secured an arrest warrant charging Qinxuan Pan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student, with murder for the death of a Yale graduate student earlier this month.
On Feb. 6. 26-year-old Kevin Jiang was shot dead on a street in New Haven, Connecticut, according to an application for an arrest warrant filed earlier this month by an officer with the Mansfield Police Department.
The New Haven Police Department confirmed to ABC News Saturday that they obtained an arrest warrant for Pan, 29, and he remains at large.
U.S. Marshal Matthew Duffy said the murder warrant was secured with a $5 million bond.
“According to the family his last known whereabouts are in Georgia,” Duffy told ABC News.
Before the warrant, Pan was named as a person of interest in the case. He allegedly stole a car and swapped the plates on the day of the murder.
Pan allegedly swiped a blue 2015 GMC Terrain from a car dealership in Mansfield, Massachusetts, about 35 miles southwest of Boston, on Feb. 6, just hours before Jiang was shot.
The officer stated in the warrant application that he was dispatched to the dealership on Feb. 6 at approximately 5:30 p.m. because a salesman had reported a stolen vehicle. The salesman told the officer that Pan had walked into the dealership that morning, asking if he could test drive the 2015 GMC Terrain and bring it to his mechanic to have the SUV inspected before he considered purchasing it. The salesman said he attached a Massachusetts dealer number plate to the car before Pan drove off with it at around 11 a.m., according to the warrant application.
The salesman said he texted Pan at approximately 3:30 p.m. to inquire when he was returning the SUV, and Pan responded asking if he could bring it back after-hours due to a family emergency. The salesman said he told Pan that the car needed to be returned before the dealership closes, but Pan did not respond. The salesman said he attempted to call Pan several times but he did not answer. The salesman noted that Pan “seemed like a very squared away person” and said he didn’t believe that Pan was trying to steal the vehicle, according to the warrant application.
The officer stated in the warrant application that he also attempted to contact Pan but was only able to leave a voicemail. He asked the Malden Police Department to check if the vehicle was at Pan’s residence, and the officers later reported that they spoke to Pan’s mother who told them her son had changed his cellphone number and wouldn’t say where he was. She told the officers that Pan would return the car. The officers noted that they have been dispatched to the residence in Malden “many times for mental illness issues,” according to the warrant application.
The responding officer stated in the warrant application that he decided to hold off on entering the SUV as stolen and give Pan a chance to contact him or return the vehicle. But when the car hadn’t been returned by 10:30 p.m. that night and Pan still hadn’t contacted the dealership nor police, the officer said he requested the Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Emergency Communications Center to enter the vehicle as stolen and put out an all-points bulletin for the Malden area, according to the warrant application.
A few minutes later, the officer said he was notified that the SUV had been towed in New Haven, Connecticut, after Pan had allegedly driven the car into a scrap yard where it got stuck on some railroad tracks. Pan had allegedly removed the dealer number plate from the vehicle and attached a Connecticut commercial plate, which was reported to be lost or missing. When officers with the New Haven Police Department went to the location Pan was supposed to be staying to question him, he had already fled, according to the warrant application.
The officer stated in the application that he was requesting a warrant for Pan’s arrest on a larceny charge due to the steps he allegedly took to “conceal the vehicle.”
During a press conference earlier this month, New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said dispatchers received numerous 911 calls on Feb. 6 at around 8:30 p.m. before responding officers found Jiang dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the East Rock neighborhood, near Yale University’s campus. Reyes told reporters that Jiang was operating a vehicle at the time of the shooting but declined to say if the victim was inside or outside his car when he was killed. Police are investigating whether Jiang was targeted and whether the shooting followed a road rage incident.
Jiang, a former member of the Army National Guard, had recently gotten engaged and was a graduate student at the Yale School of Environment, according to the university’s president.
In June 2014, Pan received undergraduate degrees in computer science and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. He has been enrolled as a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science since September 2014, according to the school.
The United States Marshals Service has joined the search for Pan and is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his location and arrest. The federal law enforcement agency issued a press release last week describing Pan as 6-feet tall, weighing about 170 pounds and having a medium complexion.
Pan could possibly be staying with friends or family in the Duluth or Brookhaven areas of Georgia, the agency said. He was last seen in the early morning hours on Feb. 11 driving with family members in Brookhaven or Duluth. Relatives told investigators that Pan was carrying a black backpack and acting strange.
“Pan should be considered armed and dangerous,” the U.S. Marshals Service said in the press release. “Individuals should not attempt to apprehend him themselves.”
Anyone with information on Pan’s whereabouts is urged to contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-877-Wanted-2 (1-877-926-8332). Any information shared will be considered confidential, the agency said.
VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesBy MARLENE LENTHANG, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Basketball star Jeremy Lin said he was called “coronavirus” on the court in a social media post in which he denounced racism against Asian Americans.
“Being an Asian American doesn’t mean we don’t experience poverty and racism,” Lin shared on social media late Thursday. “Being a 9-year NBA veteran doesn’t protect me from being called ‘coronavirus’ on the court.”
Lin didn’t state when the incident took place. The G League is now investigating Lin’s claim, ESPN reported.
Racist attacks have soared against the Asian community amid the pandemic as COVID-19 first emerged on the global radar in Wuhan, China.
Between March and December last year, the organization Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate recorded nearly 3,000 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents nationwide.
The 34-year-old athlete, who formerly played point guard for the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, now plays for the NBA’s G League team the Santa Cruz Warriors, an affiliate of the Golden State Warriors.
Lin encouraged the public to speak up against racist behavior in his post.
“We are tired of Asian American kids growing up and being asked where they’re REALLY from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or being told we’re inherently unattractive,” he wrote.
“We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren’t as real,” he added.
Santa Cruz Warriors officials did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday he wants the NBA to investigate Lin’s claim.
“Really powerful. I applaud Jeremy for his words and echo his sentiments regarding racism against the Asian American community,” Kerr said per ESPN.
Lin, who was born in California to Taiwanese parents, was the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship in 2019 when the Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors.
Gainesville Police DepartmentBy ROSA SANCHEZ, ABC News
(GAINESVILLE, Ga.) — A small plane crashed in Gainesville, Georgia Friday afternoon, killing three.
Gainesville fire division chief Keith Smith told reporters the fire department responded to a 911 call made shortly after 6 p.m. from a passerby who noticed debris from the plane on the side of the road.
The victims were identified as Dan Delnoce, 44, of Gainesville, Courtney Flanders, 45, of Gainesville, and Matthew Delnoce, 39, of Ohio, Hall County Sheriff’s Office said.
The bodies have been transported to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for autopsy.
The plane was reportedly heading to Daytona Beach, Florida, when it crashed into a wooded area near several homes in Gainesville.
“Memorial Park Road closed at Cross Street for a single engine plane crash. Please use alternate routes,” the Gainesville Police Department wrote on Facebook Friday evening.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the cause of the accident, Smith said.
He added that there were no injuries on the ground, but there was some property damage.
Part of the wing from the plane, he said, was found inside a bedroom in a mobile home in the area. The family who owns the home was having dinner in another room when the plane crashed. The residents were not injured.
Also, four adults and a child were evacuated from a nearby home after fuel fell in the area, ABC-affiliate WSB-TV reported.
Personnel are now working to recover the bodies from the plane, Smith said, adding that the Sheriff’s Office will be handling the investigation.
iStock/z1bBY: JON HAWORTH, ABC News
