March 26, 2021 • No Comments • National News

ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, EMILY SHAPIRO and MELISSA GRIFFIN, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Six people are dead in the South after at least 23 tornadoes tore through Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia on Thursday.

One person died in Coweta County, Georgia, where the damage is “catastrophic,” Coweta County Fire Chief Pat Wilson said Friday.

Five people lost their lives in Calhoun County, Alabama, after the state was hit with 17 reported tornadoes.

Three people from one family were among the victims, according to the Calhoun County Medical Examiner’s Office. A 13-year-old girl survived but lost her mother and grandparents, according to Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade.

A long-track tornado may have been on the ground for roughly 100 miles Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

In the Eagle Point community near Birmingham, Larry and Mary Rose DeArman were riding out the twister in their home when the “house started shaking” and “everything caved in on us,” Mary Rose DeArman told ABC News.

Neighbors reached the couple quickly and dropped ladders in for them to climb out.

They went to the hospital before returning to take a look at their demolished home of 21 years.

The storm system that brought the tornado outbreak to the South is now moving across the Northeast, where scattered storms could bring powerful wind gusts.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect from Glen Falls, New York, to Burlington, Vermont, through 4 p.m. ET.

Wind alerts are in effect from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia to New York to Boston through the afternoon and evening. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph. This weekend, a new storm brings yet another severe weather threat for Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

An “enhanced risk” has already been issued for Saturday from Memphis to Nashville, where residents could see more tornadoes, damaging winds and hail.

The severe storm threat moves east on Sunday, stretching from Atlanta to Raleigh to Washington, D.C.

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March 26, 2021 • No Comments • National News

Michael Ciaglo/Getty ImagesBy MATT GUTMAN and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News

(BOULDER, Colo.) — A motive has not been determined in the mass shooting that killed 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said Friday.

It is also unclear why the specific King Soopers grocery store location was chosen, Herold added.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told reporters Friday, “I think the victims’ families and the community are desperate to know the motive. We want to know the motive and that’s going to be the focus of all our efforts going forward.”

The gun used in the Monday afternoon massacre was a semi-automatic Ruger AR-556 pistol that was bought legally in Colorado, Herold said. The suspect also had a 9mm handgun, which does not appear to be used in the shooting, he said.

The suspect, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, was taken into custody about 50 minutes after the shooting was reported. He spent one night in the hospital for a leg wound before being booked into jail on Tuesday.

The officer who exchanged gunfire with the suspect was put on administrative leave per standard protocol, Herold said. Dougherty did not say if Alissa’s leg wound was from police gunfire.

Alissa was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder as well as one count of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at a police officer who was not hurt. Dougherty said Friday that additional charges of attempted murder will be filed.

The district attorney commended the responding officers who he said saved lives by immediately charging into the store where they faced “a significant amount of gunfire.”

Alissa was first put on suicide watch when he was processed at the Boulder County Jail, which is protocol for high-profile suspects, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Carrie Haverfield told ABC News. But correctional officers there heard “rumblings” of threats against Alissa, so deputies took “proactive precautions” to ensure Alissa’s safety by moving him to an undisclosed facility outside the county, Haverfield said.

It’s unclear whether Alissa remains on suicide watch, but Haverfield said he is in “protective custody.”

Defense attorneys said in court Thursday that more time is needed to assess Alissa’s mental health. He was held without bail and the judge ordered a status conference to take place in about 60 to 90 days.

Dougherty said Friday that he hopes the trial will remain in Boulder.

One of the 10 people killed was Boulder police officer Eric Talley, who was the first member of law enforcement to arrive at the scene. Talley’s handcuffs were used to transport Alissa to jail, Boulder police said.

“Though this was a small gesture, we hope it is the start of the healing process that so many of us need at this time,” the police department tweeted.

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