October 11, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Houston Fire Department via TwitterBY: BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC NEWS

(HOUSTON) — An alleged serial arsonist who authorities say may be responsible for setting dozen of blazes that have terrorized the city of Houston in recent weeks has been arrested.

The suspect, 28-year-old Joshua Rauch, was arrested on Saturday after arson investigators scouring surveillance video spotted Rauch’s car at the location of some of the fires, giving them enough probable cause to get approval from the Harris County District Attorney’s office to place an electronic tracking device on his vehicle to follow his movements, officials said at a news conference.

Rauch has been linked to at least seven fires that have occurred in the Houston area, including several set in the city’s popular Greater Heights neighborhood, but investigators said he allegedly confessed to setting other fires in the community.

“I can’t stress enough how proud I am of our folks and the work that they have done in getting this very dangerous individual off the street as quickly as they did,” Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said at the news conference on Saturday.

Assistant Fire Chief Alfredo Martinez and fire investigator Alison Stein alleged that Rauch has been setting fires all over the Houston, burning vehicles, sheds and trash containers. No one has been injured in the blazes, most having occurred under the cover of night.

Martinez said the investigation started in earnest on Tuesday following a fire near a Houston business and another that same day at the University of Houston in the downtown area.

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October 11, 2020 • No Comments • National News

M-A-U/iStockBY: JON HAWORTH, ABC NEWS

(NEW YORK) — An argument at a card game led to one man being killed and one man being shot on Saturday.

The incident occurred at approximately 2:59 a.m. on Oct. 10, when authorities from Robeson County Sheriff’s Office in Rowland, North Carolina, responded to a report of two men having been shot at a residence.

“The shootings are the result of an argument at a card game,” read a statement released by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.

When the police arrived they found 54-year-old Rodney Lewis of Rowland, North Carolina, suffering from a non-life threatening gunshot wound. Authorities did not release details on the extent of his injuries.

The first responders also found 24-year-old Jamel R. Hendrix of Lumberton, North Carolina, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Hendrix was immediately transported for treatment at Southeastern Health in Lumberton but died from the gunshot wound suffered at the card game prior to reaching the hospital.

No information was released about the relationships of the individuals who were attending the card game and who the suspect is, how many people witnessed the incident, or what the circumstances were that led to the argument and the subsequent shooting.

Authorities are now actively investigating the shootings and there has been no further information on if there would be any arrests.

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October 10, 2020 • No Comments • National News

kali9/iStockBy ABC News

(DENVER) — One man was killed and a male suspect is in custody following a shooting at a protest in Denver Saturday, authorities said.

The shooting occurred in the courtyard near the Denver Art Museum, officials said. Police initially said one victim was transported to the hospital and their condition was unknown. Denver police later said they were investigating the incident as a homicide.

The shooting occurred at 3:37 p.m. local time, police said. The shooting followed a “verbal altercation,” Division Chief Joe Montoya said at a press briefing Saturday evening. Two guns and a can of mace were recovered at the scene, he said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.

Two competing protests were scheduled Saturday afternoon at Denver’s Civic Center Park, where the museum is located. One event, called “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive,” was hosted by the Denver Communists and other groups, according to a Facebook event page. The other, dubbed a “Patriot Muster” rally, called on patriots to “stand up” and “show up” in promotional materials.

It is currently unclear if the victim and suspect were affiliated with either protest, Montoya said.

The protests drew a large police presence to the area Saturday.

“There was a large presence because we had two groups with opposing views, and we know that can always get very tense, and there’s always potential for violence,” Montoya said.

ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.

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October 10, 2020 • No Comments • National News

ABC NewsBY: REED MCDONOUGH AND EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC NEWS

(NEW ORLEANS) — Over half a million customers woke up without power in Louisiana after Hurricane Delta blew through Friday night.

“Delta has left hazards like flooded roads, downed power lines and displaced wildlife in our communities that no one should take lightly,” Gov. John Bel Edwards tweeted Saturday. “Everyone needs to remain vigilant, continue to listen to local officials and be safe.”

Crews are still conducting search and rescue efforts, Edwards told reporters Saturday. No fatalities have been reported, he added.

Delta made landfall Friday evening in Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, hitting land just 12 miles from where Hurricane Laura slammed into the state in August. Louisiana has attributed 30 deaths to Laura, according to the governor.

Wind gusts climbed to 97 mph in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and 89 mph in Cameron, Louisiana.

In Lake Charles, more than 15 inches of rain was recorded. The highest storm surge recorded was just over 9 feet along parts of the south-central Louisiana coast.

In hard-hit Lake Charles, where there are still blue tarps on house roofs from Laura, mayor Nic Hunter said some houses did get flooding from Delta.

Electricity is out across the city and Hunter is urging residents to not come back to their homes if possible on Saturday.

Delta has since weakened to a tropical storm, but the threat is not over.

Areas of heavy rain and gusty winds will continue from the lower Mississippi Valley up across much of Tennessee through Saturday afternoon. Rain and thunderstorms will extend down across Alabama.

A few brief spin-up tornadoes are possible on the eastern side of Delta’s center through Saturday, which means there is a slight risk of severe weather for parts of Alabama and Georgia.

Delta will then move up to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Monday morning.

Delta broke a record when it became the first time a 10th-named storm made landfall in the continental U.S. within one Atlantic hurricane season.

The other nine named storms that made landfall this season were: Tropical Storm Bertha (South Carolina); Tropical Storm Cristobal (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Fay (New Jersey); Hurricane Hanna (Texas); Hurricane Isaias (North Carolina); Hurricane Laura (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Marco (Louisiana), Hurricane Sally (Alabama); and Tropical Storm Beta (Texas).

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