vmargineanu/iStocBy IVAN PEREIRA and BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC News
(DETROIT) — A man suspected of gunning down four people, including his ex-girlfriend, in a Michigan home has surrendered to authorities, according to police.
Sumpter Township police officials announced in a Facebook post that Raymond Lee Bailey, 37, was in custody after he went to the Bay County, Michigan, Sheriff’s Office around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday and turned himself in.
Bailey had been the subject of a massive statewide manhunt launched after two men and two women were found dead from gunshot wounds on Saturday in a house in Sumpter Township, a Wayne County suburb of Detroit.
Police officers went to a house on Sunday after getting to a call about a possible homicide, officials said in a statement. The officers entered the home and discovered a grisly crime scene with four victims, all in their 30s, shot dead, according to the statement.
Detectives said Bailey, 37, of Sumpter Township, was an ex-boyfriend of one of the female victims and was identified as a suspect in the quadruple homicide.
Bailey, according to police, allegedly contacted several people and confessed to committing the slayings.
“Detectives were made aware that he had allegedly confessed to the killings to several people via telephone and texts,” police said in a statement.
Bailey allegedly fled north and police initially believed he was heading to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula region, where he once lived.
Police issued as a statewide bulletin for law enforcement agencies and the public to be on the lookout for Bailey.
Bailey’s vehicle was found abandoned on Saturday near Bay City, Michigan, roughly 120 miles north of Sumpter Township and near where he surrendered on Sunday night.
Authorities are expected to transfer Bailey as soon as Monday back to Wayne County, where murder charges against him are pending.
Police have not released the names of the victims. But relatives identified them as two sisters and two brothers in a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $14,000 pay for their funerals.
Police have yet to comment on a possible motive for the slayings. But a message on the GoFundMe page reads, “if you are the victim of domestic abuse, know you are not alone. Find support in this generous community of friends and family, or contact the National Domestic Abuse Hotline 24/7.”
(NEW YORK) — The owner of a popular Jersey Shore bar has been charged with violating Gov. Phil Murphy’s coronavirus social distancing laws after police officers allegedly found patrons crowded into the business’ rooftop patio, officials said.
Joseph Mahoney Jr., 34, owner of the Flip Flopz Bar & Grill in North Wildwood, New Jersey, was charged by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office with a disorderly persons offense for allegedly being in violation of Murphy’s executive order, “specifically related to failure to adhere to social distancing regulations,” according to a statement released by the North Wildwood Police Department.
“This is not a game,” Murphy said last week, referring to bar and restaurants flouting his executive order intended to blunt the spread of COVID-19. “Standing around maskless in a crowd outside a bar is just as big a knucklehead move as standing around maskless inside one.”
Mahoney’s bar was busted a day before Murphy made his statement.
North Wildwood police said officers went to the bar around 12:34 a.m. on Aug. 9 after receiving a complaint that the establishment was not following Murphy’s executive order No. 150, which requires employees to wear face masks and ensure patrons stay at least 6 feet apart.
“Officers on scene witnessed large amounts of patrons crowded around the upstairs, outside patio bar at the Flip Flopz known as the ‘Tiki Topz’ with social distancing regulations not being enforced by staff at the location,” the police statement reads. “The police department received complaints for repeated violations of the Governor’s Executive order on prior occasions before this incident and had warned Flip Flopz management of the same.”
Mahoney has been issued a summons for the alleged violation, police said.
Mahoney did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
It was not immediately clear what punishment Mahoney faces if he is found guilty of violating the rules.
“[There are] numerous examples of bars that may have been trying to do the right thing once patrons got in, but whose lines were filled with people, particularly young people, who were neither being kept socially distanced or wearing masks,” Murphy said.
Indeed, Mahoney’s bar isn’t the only business accused of violating social distancing laws.
The two owners of the Atilis Gym in the Camden County town of Bellmawr, New Jersey, were fined multiple times and eventually arrested last month for allegedly continuing to operate their business in defiance of Murphy’s COVID-19 order for indoor workout facilities to remain closed. The Bellmawr Borough Council voted 5-1 last week to revoke the mercantile license of the gym co-owners Ian Smith, 33, and Frank Trumbetti, 51.
(NEW YORK) — Several daily high temperature records were broken from Washington State to Texas on Saturday like in Shreveport, Louisiana, which hit its first 100-degree day of the year.
Today, we expect more of the same across the western third of the country and parts of Texas with temperatures in the triple digits.
In total, 54 million Americans are forecast to experience 100-degree heat this week and more than 100 daily high temperature records could be set through Wednesday.
Elsewhere, a Red Flag warning is in effect today across the West as abundant lightning is expected along with gusty winds as isolated thunderstorms pop up this afternoon and evening.
These conditions increase the likelihood of new fires starting and also spreading existing fires as wind gusts could reach 55 mph within thunderstorm outflow boundaries.
A flash flood watch is in effect for parts of the mid-Atlantic through this morning as the heaviest rain pushes through northern Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
The heaviest rain will continue to work its way to the coast this morning and by the afternoon things will start to wind down inland. By around 7:00 p.m. we will see drier conditions for most folks along the coastal mid-Atlantic.
New rainfall amounts today could be between 2 and 3 inches on already saturated ground. Flash Flooding is a threat from eastern Virginia through Maryland where the heaviest rain is expected to fall.
Tropical Storm Kyle was the earliest 11th Atlantic named storm on record. The previous record was Katrina in August 2005. Kyle is now a post tropical cyclone while Josephine remains a Tropical Storm. Both storms will be making their way to the East and away from the U.S. coastline. However, it looks like we have more activity brimming off the west coast of Africa and in the central Atlantic.
A tropical wave is moving toward the windward islands with a 30% chance of development over the next five days.
A second tropical wave is moving off of Africa’s west coast with a 20% chance of development in the next five days. We will be watching both waves as they move through central tropical Atlantic, by the middle to latter part of the week, where there is a more favorable environment for development.
(NEW YORK) — The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 768,000 people worldwide.
More than 21.3 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
The United States is the worst-affected country in the world, with more than 5.3 million diagnosed cases and at least 169,423 deaths. Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.
10:45 a.m.: 7 million tests conducted in New York state
New York state has conducted 7 million diagnostic tests for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a press release Sunday.
For the ninth straight day the percentage of positive cases in the state was below 1%. The state saw an additional 607 coronavirus cases and now has a total of 425,508 cases statewide.
Cuomo praised the “hard work of New Yorkers” for the decline in new cases.
“For more than a week, we’ve seen our positivity rate stay below 1 percent, and to date New York has done 7 million tests—these are remarkable accomplishments that New Yorkers should be proud of,” Cuomo said. “But, we must not become complacent and risk slipping backwards — everyone must remember to wear their masks, socially distance, wash their hands regularly, and stay New York Tough.”
Six deaths were recorded in the state on Saturday, increasing the New York death total to 25,250, the release stated.
3:52 a.m.: Rate of COVID cases in children ‘steadily increasing’
The CDC has issued guidance to inform pediatric healthcare providers and said that while it is unclear whether children are as susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2 compared with adults and whether they can transmit the virus as effectively as adults, recent evidence suggests that children likely have the same or higher viral loads compared with adults and that children can spread the virus effectively in households and camp settings.
“The number and rate of cases in children in the United States have been steadily increasing from March to July 2020,” the CDC’s updated guidelines read. “The true incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children is not known due to lack of widespread testing and the prioritization of testing for adults and those with severe illness. Hospitalization rates in children are significantly lower than hospitalization rates in adults with COVID-19, suggesting that children may have less severe illness from COVID-19 compared to adults.”
“While children infected with SARS-CoV-2 are less likely to develop severe illness compared with adults, children are still at risk of developing severe illness and complications from COVID-19,” the statement continued. “Recent COVID-19 hospitalization surveillance data shows that the rate of hospitalization among children is low (8.0 per 100,000 population) compared with that in adults (164.5 per 100,000 population), but hospitalization rates in children are increasing.
The CDC also said that while children do have lower rates of mechanical ventilation and death than adults, on in three children who are hospitalized with COVID-19 complications in the United States were admitted to the intensive care unit — the same rate for adults.
3:04 a.m.: Off-campus sorority house quarantined after 23 test positive for COVID-19, OSU says
Oklahoma State University officials announced Saturday that 23 people in an off-campus sorority house have tested positive for COVID-19.
According to a news release, Oklahoma State University officials learned Friday night of 23 positive coronavirus cases at the university’s Pi Beta Phi chapter, an off-campus sorority house. The release states rapid antigen testing was performed at an off-campus health care facility.
“Due to the nature of this situation, the entire chapter house is in isolation or quarantine and will be prohibited from leaving the facility,” the news release states. “One member of the sorority who lives elsewhere is among those who tested positive and will also remain in isolation.”
Everyone involved is being monitored by Oklahoma State University and Payne County Health Department officials, and the release states contact tracing is being conducted to further protect the campus community.
University officials said the services of a third-party contractor have been enlisted to disinfect the facility and will do so again after the two-week isolation and quarantine period. 12:11 a.m.: Georgia governor issues new order to let some cities impose mask mandates
Georgia governor Brian Kemp issued a new order which renews existing restrictions for gatherings, sheltering in place, and businesses.
He said that local education leaders will continue to have full authority on how best to educate students and keep them safe in school.
“In late July, I asked Georgians to do ‘Four Things for Four Weeks’ to stop COVID-19,” Kemp said in a statement issued on Saturday. Without a mandate, our citizens answered the call, and we are making progress. In Georgia, our statewide case numbers have dropped 22% over the last two weeks, and daily hospitalizations have decreased by 7% in the last seven days. We are on average testing over 31,000 Georgians daily at 180 SPOCs while maintaining a low rate of transmission. The positivity rate is on the decline, and the mortality rate continues to fall.”
Kemp continued: “While encouraged by the data, we cannot grow complacent. This Executive Order extends the shelter in place order for the medically fragile, continues the ban on large gatherings, and maintains health and safety protocols for Georgia businesses. This order also protects Georgia businesses from government overreach by restricting the application and enforcement of local masking requirements to public property. While I support local control, it must be properly balanced with property rights and personal freedoms. As always, we encourage citizens to wear masks, watch their distance, wash hands, and continue to follow the guidance provided in the Executive Order. Together, we will protect the lives, livelihoods, and personal freedoms of all Georgians.”
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — In mid-July, seven weeks before the start of its school year, the Philadelphia school district announced it planned to reopen in a hybrid model, with both in-person and online learning. The decision came, the school board said, after months of collaboration between city leaders and public health experts, as well as feedback from more than 35,000 survey respondents.
Then, nearly two weeks later, it scrapped its hybrid proposal and planned to reopen fully remotely to start, following pushback from parents and faculty at an 8-hour school board meeting that ended after midnight.
Though just one of more than 13,000 school districts across the country, Philadelphia demonstrates the challenges and questions remaining in reopening schools as fall approaches. A nearly identical scenario played out in Chicago last week, where the school district reversed course on its plan for in-person learning a month before the start of the school year. New York City, the largest school district in the country, is facing pushback from teachers and union heads over its plan to reopen partially in person next month.
Some parts of the country, particularly in the South, have already opened their doors to a new school year. But days in, their openings have been marred by reports of outbreaks and quarantining over positive cases of COVID-19 among students and staff.
It’s been six months since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic and schools abruptly closed, and as a new school year approaches, little has been clarified about how it will look. Rather than work out set, manageable plans guided by science, schools have spent the past half year caught between a lack of guidance, the politicization of reopenings and what seems to be a growing national complacency. ‘Extremely high stakes’
As schools and families consider sending students back in-person, the virus is raging in hot spots across the country, vaccines are likely months away and there’s still much to learn about transmission, especially in children.
By a slight majority (55%), most Americans are against public schools in their community reopening with in-school instruction in the fall, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found. Parents willing to send their kids to school have waned since June, from 54% in early June to 44% in late July.
School leaders are weighing the risks of keeping children in or out of the classroom, from the safety of its community to lost learning time and widening opportunity gaps.
“There’s both a lot of uncertainty about what to do and there are extremely high stakes to the decision,” Jon Valant, a senior fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News.
And logistically, schools need to train teachers for virtual instruction and/or obtain masks and hand sanitizer, create lunch and bathroom protocols, rearrange seating, plan for potential teacher shortages and more.
“There’s a lot of planning that has to happen for in-person, there’s a lot of planning that has to happen for virtual,” Valant said. “And then there are a million different contingencies that everyone has to think through.”
Reopenings politicized What school leaders need to help navigate these circumstances, Valant said, are “generous resources” to support reopening online learning as well as good research, but also “deference” from state and federal leaders.
“They would understand that what is the right decision in one place might not be the right decision in another place,” he said.
Instead, President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are “taking a really hard line that schools should reopen,” he said.
For months, Trump has voiced on social media, in interviews and at press briefings that schools should open in-person. That message may be influencing local school decision-making, according to a recent Brookings Institution study Valant conducted.
In it, he analyzed school district reopening plans, representing some 13 million students in 256 districts, as of July 27 using an Education Week database. He found no relationship between local rates of new COVID-19 cases and school reopening plans. The main difference in school plans, the study found, came down to support for Trump. Districts in counties that supported Trump in the 2016 election were more likely to have announced plans to open in person, the survey found.
Amy Westmoreland, a school nurse in Georgia’s Paulding County, resigned in mid-July when she learned her elementary school would be reopening in-person. She said she was not included in the reopening discussions.
“It’s just very, very politically motivated there,” Westmoreland told ABC News. “It’s very unfortunate because I don’t believe that the children, the teachers, anybody was really given the opportunity to voice their concerns.” Lack of clarity
As president of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, Kristi Wilson has been hearing from superintendents across the country — and what she’s hearing is a lot of anxiety.
“I don’t think there’s any question that superintendents across the United States want students back, want our teachers back, but we’ve got to do that safely,” Wilson told ABC News. But, she said, “there’s been a lot of missing guidance” from state and local leaders.
School leaders, she said, can prepare for new protocols like cleaning and sanitizing, but many still have questions about how long testing would take, how to perform contact tracing and how and when to close down parts of their facilities.
“The teachers and the educators are really good at teaching and building relationships. What we’re not very good at, and shouldn’t be good at — it’s not our lane — is what happens when you have an outbreak,” she said. “We want the county health departments and the medical field to tell us, ‘This is when it’s safe to open and this is when it’s not safe to open.'”
Otherwise, she said, school leaders may be left on their own to interpret metrics.
Complacency and denial
Testifying before Congress in May, as many states were considering reopening their economies, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security’s Caitlin Rivers, PhD, said “we risk complacency” in the fight against COVID-19.
“We risk complacency in accepting the preventable deaths of 2,000 Americans each day. We risk complacency in accepting that our healthcare workers do not have what they need to do their jobs safely. And we risk complacency in recognizing that without continued vigilance in slowing transmission, we will again create the conditions that led to us being the worst-affected country in the world,” she said.
Testifying again last week at a congressional hearing on the challenges in safely reopening K-12 schools, Rivers said the “complacency I warned of has come to pass.”
“Our case counts are worse now than they were in early May,” she said, noting that the U.S. registered almost 2 million new cases in July and hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise in many states.
Meanwhile, “we still don’t have sufficient testing capacity right now to enable the isolation, contact tracing and quarantine that will help us to get ahead of our outbreak,” she said.
According to one former high school teacher in Georgia, the state has been in “great denial” about the risks of COVID-19, as attention in the beginning of the pandemic was focused on areas like New York City, which was hit hardest first.
“I think it’s overconfidence mixed with denial,” the teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was concerned about future job prospects, told ABC News. “They didn’t plan for the worst-case scenario.”
Georgia was one of the first states to reopen its economy. Gov. Brian Kemp, who is Republican, has called for students to be in school in person. Last week, Georgia, which doesn’t have a statewide mask mandate, became the fifth state to record 200,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
The teacher recently quit ahead of her second year in the classroom because she didn’t feel enough measures were being taken to limit class sizes. She was also concerned that masks were not required.
She said teachers were given a voluntary survey about a month ago asking if they’d be willing to come back or if they had an underlying medical condition and could not. “People definitely made a stink about that. There are a lot of different options in between that.”
Teachers were not given an option to teach virtually, she said.
Westmoreland, the former school nurse, was also concerned that her school was not requiring masks and didn’t feel that social distancing was being prioritized. She quit, she said, because she didn’t want to be “complicit with their reopening plans,” based on what she knows as a nurse. Going remote first
Like Philadelphia and Chicago, an increasing number of school districts are starting the school year off remote to buy themselves more time to prepare for an in-person return. In some cases, that gives them time for preparations they could do themselves, like facilities upgrades, and in others, it’s time to see if their region can bring testing positivity rates down, like in Los Angeles.
Virtual learning should be better organized than it was in the spring, when schools were “caught flat-footed” by the virus, Valant said. But there are still concerns about opportunity gaps expanding even further.
“When you start adding in issues related to things like home laptop and WiFi access, and whether students have a quiet dedicated workspace at home, and the differences in community vulnerability to COVID, I think there’s a lot of reason to worry that some of the inequities that we’ve seen are getting a lot worse right now,” he said.
According to a June AASA survey of superintendents, 60% of respondents said they “lack adequate internet access at home” when asked to identify barriers that would prohibit their districts from transitioning to fully virtual learning.
Jeff Gregorich, a superintendent in Winkelman, Arizona, told ABC News one of the biggest challenges in starting the school year has been providing students with iPads and WiFi hotspots to support virtual learning. Ahead of the school start next month, he has been working on deals with internet providers.
“It is costly. You need to sign a year contract with them,” he said. “But we know that we need to provide that for our students.”
Whether starting in-person now or planning to later, schools have another challenge on the horizon. Fall marks the start of flu season, and public health experts are worried about having both viruses at the same time — further demonstrating the need for strong guidance and measured reopenings in the coming weeks and months.
vmargineanu/iStocBy IVAN PEREIRA and BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC News
