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Sunday July 19, 2026
UVALDE (AP) — More heavy rains in storm-weary Texas sent first responders rushing to people trapped in high waters Friday, widening the danger caused by floods that have killed at least two people and left hundreds more in need of rescue.
A relentless week of punishing downpours in Texas — dumping more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) in some areas — was expected to begin tapering off Friday. But another round of showers worsened already swollen rivers and flooded rural communities near the border with Mexico that had largely been spared major damage.
Near Ozona, a small town about 200 miles (322 kilometers) west of San Antonio, floodwaters spilled over Interstate 10. A section of a bridge also collapsed over the Nueces River in Uvalde County, where months worth of rain has fallen in a span of days.
Emergency personnel across a wide swath of southern and central Texas have rescued more than 200 people, including stranded drivers and people trapped in homes, Gov. Greg Abbott said. In the Texas Hill Country, residents were begin cleaning up after floodwaters again barrelled down the Guadalupe River and through communities still reeling from deadly floods a year ago.
“The water’s up to the top of the banks,” Sutton County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jon Gann said. “If we get any more, we’re going to be into homes.”
The Texas Department of Transportation said high waters closed a 50-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 57 and that parts of the roadway were not expected to reopen until Monday.
In all, the downpours put roughly 6 million residents across Texas under a flood watch at various points this week.
Residents in hard-hit Uvalde return to flooded homes
In Uvalde, one of the hardest-hit cities from flooding, waters were receding and officials said a major highway, Route 90, had reopened after floodwaters had overrun the city and cut off most outside routes.
Sandra Gomez was assessing the damage at her Uvalde home on Friday after having left it before the flooding. She said about 6 inches (15 centimeters) of water got inside and left mud throughout the house, where she’s lived since last year. She said she was luckier than other people she knows whose homes were under 5 or 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) of water.
“Well, really it’s very, very emotional,” she said. “Material things I can replace. It may take a while, but I can replace those but I cannot replace my family. So, my family’s safe and that’s all that really matters.”
One person who died was driving on a flooded road and was swept away near Uvalde, authorities said.
Another victim, 65-year-old John Mark Steward of Kerrville, died after his mobile home was swept into Goat Creek on the Guadalupe River, his wife said. The river is the same one wrecked by flash floods last year when two dozen children and counselors died at Camp Mystic. Authorities on Thursday said summer campers were safe.
Nearly 1 trillion gallons of rainfall
Authorities in Crockett County evacuated more than 50 people Friday morning from apartments and an RV park in the southern part of the county seat of Ozona, using seven rescue boat teams,. They were taken to the local civic center for shelter.
He said the area received 6 inches of rain after midnight, on top of nearly 10 inches of rain before that.
“We have more and more accidents on the interstate,” he said. “We have more and more water pouring into the neighborhoods where we’ve been pulling people out of.”
The scenes were similar to recues that have played out in Texas counties this week.
Nearly 1 trillion gallons of water fell on the three hardest-hit counties over three days — Uvalde County alone got more rain in that period than California has seen over the last month, according to Ryan Maue, former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
The Hill Country is especially prone to flash floods because the area’s signature limestone is covered by just a thin layer of soil. During heavy rains, water can quickly shoot downhill before filling the narrow river basins.
UVALDE (AP) — Catastrophic flash floods in Texas have killed two people and forced hundreds of rescues in areas still reeling from devastating floods a year ago, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
Rescuers aboard boats and helicopters have saved more than 200 people, including stranded drivers and people trapped in homes, Abbott said.
The governor said the hardest-hit areas are expecting more rain into Friday and are not out of danger yet, with some rivers expected to reach historic levels.
After days of pounding rain, the National Weather Service said a large wave on Thursday barreled down the same river wrecked by flash floods last summer when two dozen children and counselors died at Camp Mystic.
Much like last year, the floods came in the middle of the night. But this time some residents in the Texas Hill Country said they received more warnings.
Forecasters urgently warned, “Move to higher ground now!” as rivers rose hour by hour, turning them into fast-moving seas of white water. Some spots of the Guadalupe River rose by more than 30 feet (9 meters).
The governor said more than 2,000 first responders had been deployed and some evacuations began before the worst of the flooding.
“What happened last year was a warning to people on or near rivers,” Abbott said. “No one can be complacent.”
As much as 28 inches (74 centimeters) of rain fell over the past three days in Uvalde County, which was spared from the worst flooding a year ago, the weather service said Thursday. Other areas saw roughly a foot of rain.
Victims in Texas floods were swept away
The governor said one of the victims was driving on a flooded road and was swept away near Uvalde while the other died in Kerr County.
Jennie Steward said the body of her husband, 65-year-old John Mark Steward, of Kerrville, was found Thursday.
She was visiting her parents when a neighbor called overnight, saying her husband was missing after water had risen to the door of their mobile home, which stood off the ground.
The entire home was swept off the platform and floated down Goat Creek on the Guadalupe, she said.
“It’s really hard that I wasn’t there with him,” she said. The two last spoke by phone Wednesday to celebrate their third anniversary.
Hill Country residents say they were better prepared
The unfolding crisis brought back haunting memories of last summer’s unimaginable Hill Country floods that killed more than 100 people over the July Fourth holiday.
“It’s crazy happening two times in one year,” said Josiah Rodriguez, who awoke to the sound of heavy rain around 2 a.m. Thursday in Kerrville. He navigated flooded roads to help evacuate relatives.
“Last year there was no warning of it,” he said. “It just kind of happened overnight and it took everyone by surprise. This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place, a lot more safety measures.”
Residents said they were caught off guard a year ago and didn’t receive any warning when floods overtopped the Guadalupe. Some local leaders were criticized for not acting quickly.
The storms and flooding this time threatened multiple counties close to the Mexico border and in the Hill Country near San Antonio. Roughly 6 million residents across Texas were under a flood watch this week, and many were expected to remain in effect into Friday.
Several agencies sent rescue helicopters to the flood zone, including Travis County in the state capital of Austin.
At a wild animal rescue, Katie Buck evacuated several dozen animals to higher ground in the dark Thursday as the normally dry Lazy Creek overflowed. She had to quickly grab a porcupine despite having no gloves.
She got all of the animals to safety, but flooding destroyed several enclosures at the Buck Wild Animal Rescue and Wildlife Rehab near Ingram in Kerr County.
“We were just starting to get back on our feet again,” Buck said. “To have to go through this again is just devastating.”
Residents at an RV park in Comfort moved their trailers as sirens sounded, said manager Duke Earwood.
Water rose over the hoods of vehicles parked near the river at the Comfort RV Resort. Markers showed the flooding already matched last July’s big flood.
“Too familiar for sure, and too soon,” Earwood said.
Uvalde residents isolated by floodwaters
Floodwaters also overran the city of Uvalde overnight, cutting off most outside routes. The Leona River, normally dry most of the year, filled streets with water.
“People really can’t get anywhere,” said Carmen Rodriguez, who nervously watched water engulf her neighborhood as a helicopter roared overhead. “We have a place to go, but all the streets are closed.”
Rodriguez said authorities seemed to be well prepared, ordering mandatory evacuations and notifying people directly.
Texas Game Wardens rescued close to 150 people by the afternoon, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson. Video released by the agency showed crews hoisting children from a house surrounded with water into a helicopter.
Flooding hasn’t reached last year’s deadly high
So far, the heavily swollen Guadalupe has remained below the record levels reached in 2025. Gauges showed it rose by more than 30 feet (9 meters) in some spots over just a few hours.
Close to Camp Mystic, which hasn’t reopened since last year’s tragedy, the Guadalupe near Hunt reached about 20.5 feet (6.3 meters), which is enough to cause flooding, according to U.S. Geological Survey and National Water Prediction Service data.
In Kerr County, where summer camps dot the river’s shores, the sheriff’s office said all campers were safe. Several camps said the children were staying inside, with one camp reporting normal flooding.
Towns still rebuilding are hit by new floods
While the water didn’t rise as high as a year ago in Ingram, Mayor Claud Jordan believes this round of flooding was more widespread in his city. “The rural part of Ingram, all the roads are just trashed,” he said.
“There are a bunch of businesses that haven’t reopened from last year,” Jordan said. “This doesn’t help.”
The Hill Country is especially prone to flash floods because the area’s signature limestone is covered by just a thin layer of soil. During heavy rains, water can quickly shoot downhill before filling the narrow river basins.
UVALDE (AP) — Rescuers saved dozens of stranded drivers and people trapped in homes from catastrophic flooding in Texas while many more fled to higher ground Thursday across a region still recovering from devastating floods just a year ago.
So far, at least one person has died, said Gov. Greg Abbott, who added that it appeared that many of summer camps hit hard last year were not facing any danger. “Our number one focus is saving lives,” he said.
After days of pounding rain, the National Weather Service said a “large and deadly flood wave” was barreling down the same river wrecked by flash floods last summer when two dozen children and counselors were killed at Camp Mystic.
Forecasters urgently warned “Move to higher ground now!” as rivers rose hour by hour, turning them into fast-moving seas of white water. Several tornado warnings were also issued.
The Texas Hill Country floods over the July Fourth holiday last year killed more than 100 people.
The governor said there was “one loss of life” so far but did not specify where or when. More than 1,300 personnel were responding and have rescued well over 70 people, he said Thursday.
The unfolding crisis brought back haunting memories of last summer’s unimaginable floods for many.
“It’s crazy happening two times in one year,” said Josiah Rodriguez, who woke to the sound of heavy rain around 2 a.m. Thursday in Kerrville. He navigated flooded roads to help evacuate relatives.
“Last year there was no warning of it,” he said. “It just kind of happened overnight and it took everyone by surprise. This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place, a lot more safety measures.”
Residents said they were caught off guard a year ago and didn’t receive any warning when floods overtopped the Guadalupe River. Some local leaders were criticized for not acting quickly.
The storms and flooding this time threatened multiple counties close to the border with Mexico and in the Texas Hill Country near San Antonio. City officials in Kerrville urged people to shelter at the highest levels of their homes.
Images along a creek in Kerr County showed propane tanks that had been pushed onto a bridge and a mess of tangled trees.
Uvalde residents isolated by floodwaters
Floodwaters overran the city of Uvalde overnight, cutting off outside access. The Leona River, normally dry most of the year, filled streets with water.
“People really can’t get anywhere” said Carmen Rodriguez, who was nervously watching water engulf her neighborhood Thursday morning as a helicopter roared overhead. “We have a place to go, but all the streets are closed.”
Phones buzzed with warnings throughout the night warning of flash floods in the morning. Rodriguez said it seemed that authorities were well prepared. By Wednesday, Uvalde police had ordered some mandatory evacuations, with first responders notifying people directly.
Uvalde officials sent out rescue boats and found multiple people trapped in vehicles overnight, said Juli Alvarado, a spokesperson for Uvalde police.
“There’s no way into the city at this point,” she said.
Texas Game Wardens rescued more than 40 people and evacuated about a dozen others, mostly in the Uvalde County area, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson.
Flooding could reach last year’s deadly high
The floodwaters were expected to reach a crest similar to last year’s flood, the weather service said.
Gauges in some spots along the Guadalupe River showed it rose by more than 30 feet (9 meters) in just hours overnight. One gauge outside Kerrville showed the river had risen 32 feet (9.7 meters) in four hours.
Close to Camp Mystic, which remains shut, the Guadalupe River near Hunt reached about 20.5 feet (6.3 meters), according to a U.S. Geological Survey gauge, which is just under the level expected to inundate structures and roads.
Flooding hits towns still rebuilding
Volunteer firefighters spent the night helping people evacuate their homes and answering calls about rising water in Ingram, just up river from Hunt, where summer camps dot the shores of the Guadalupe, Ingram Mayor Claud Jordan said Thursday morning.
While the water didn’t rise as high as a year ago, he believes this round of flooding was more widespread and “worse” in his city. “The rural part of Ingram, all the roads are just trashed,” he said.
“There are a bunch of businesses that haven’t reopened from last year. They’re still trying to rebuild from the July 4 floods,” Jordan said. “This doesn’t help.”
A rush to higher ground
Residents at an RV park in Comfort, Texas, near the Guadalupe River moved their trailers as local fire department sirens sounded, manager Duke Earwood said Thursday.
Water rose over the hoods of vehicles parked closest to the river.
While the water started to recede, another surge was expected, Earwood said at the Comfort RV Resort, which has about 200 residents. “People need to know to just kind of stay put for now,” he said.
Markers showed the flooding already matched the level from the big flood last July.
“Too familiar for sure, and too soon,” Earwood said.
Another test for Texas Hill Country after the Camp Mystic disaster
The Texas Hill Country is especially prone to flash floods because the area’s signature limestone is covered by just a thin layer of soil. During heavy rains, water can quickly shoot downhill before quickly filling the narrow river basins.
The weather service said 10 to 20 inches of rain (25 to 50 centimeters) had fallen in the past two days, with 8 inches (20 centimeters) in just two hours early Thursday.
The deluge dumped nearly a foot of rain in some counties and put people in multiple counties under flood watches, with some were expected to remain in effect through Friday evening.
The governor issued disaster declarations for dozens of counties. As of late Wednesday, six million residents in 57 counties were under a National Weather Service flood watch.
UVALDE (AP) — Dangerous flooding in Texas has intensified after days of pounding rain, sending emergency crews scrambling to rescue people from high water before sunrise Thursday and setting off urgent warnings from forecasters: “Move to higher ground now!”
The National Weather Service in San Antonio said a “large and deadly flood wave” was barreling down the same river devastated by floods a year ago when two dozen children and counselors were killed at Camp Mystic.
The storms threatened multiple counties close to the border with Mexico and in the Texas Hill Country, where city officials in Kerrville urged people to shelter at the highest levels of their homes.
The Uvalde County Office of Emergency Management issued its own shelter-in-place message. “All major highways and many city streets are closed due to flooding and water over the roadway,” it said.
There was no immediate word of any deaths or injuries from the flooding. Several tornado warnings were also issued.
Texas Game Wardens have participated in rescues of more than 40 people so far from the flooding, mostly in the Uvalde County area, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson.
The weather service said 10 to 20 inches of rain (25 to 50 centimeters) had fallen in the past two days, with 8 inches (20 centimeters) in just two hours early Thursday.
One gauge less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Kerrville showed the river had risen 32 feet (9.7 meters) in four hours. It was expected to reach a crest similar to the July 4, 2025, catastrophic river flood, the weather service said.
Forecasters had warned that already dangerous conditions were likely to worsen in some hard-hit communities. The deluge dumped nearly a foot of rain in some counties and put people in multiple counties under flood watches. That included parts of the Texas Hill Country where last summer’s devastating floods killed more than 100 people.
Some of the flood watches were expected to remain in effect through Friday evening.
By Wednesday, Uvalde police had ordered mandatory evacuations for some parts, with first responders notifying people affected directly, the department said on Facebook. Others were asked to stay vigilant in case more evacuations are needed.
Some people walked out of their homes into the street to see the water growing closer every hour, their faces worried. People living along the Leona River scrambled to pack up their cars and head out, although many did not yet know where they should go. One man threw two kayaks into his truck bed, just in case.
Lightning flashed as clouds darkened the landscape, and brown water created large rapids in the typically calm river, which was pushing up against the town’s high bridge and into neighborhoods by Wednesday afternoon.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued disaster declarations for dozens of counties.
As of Wednesday evening, just over six million Texas residents in 57 counties were under a National Weather Service flood watch that was scheduled to continue through early Thursday night. Watches for 34 of those counties were scheduled to expire Friday evening.
Some of the highest rainfall totals so far have been in Uvalde County, where officials conducted dozens of rescues and said more people needed help as river levels rose. Highways and roads were closed across the region because of high water.
The county normally gets about 23 inches (58 centimeters) of rain a year, according to the Uvalde County Extension Office.
HOUSTON – Two people were in critical condition after shots were fired inside a Kroger supermarket outside Houston, Texas on Wednesday afternoon, the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office said.
The incident took place at the Cypresswood Drive location in the Cypress around 2:50 p.m. CT., Capt. Juan Flores of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office told reporters.
Law enforcement on the scene of a shooting at a Kroger store in Cypress, Texas, July 15, 2026.
Officers discovered two men shot at the scene, Flores said. Investigators are looking into reports that one of the victims was the shooter, according to the constable’s office.
One of the people shot walked out of the store with injuries and was transported to the hospital, according to Flores.
The other person was found inside the store with multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to the hospital, Flores said.
Both were listed in critical condition Wednesday evening.
No other bystanders were hurt during the incident, Flores said.
The scene was closed off as investigators searched searched the area.
In a statement, Kroger said it was “deeply saddened,” by the incident and the store would remain closed while the police investigation continues.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
NACOGDOCHES — Beach volleyball players from Stephen F. Austin State University filed a lawsuit against the head coach and the university, claiming they faced retaliation for their support of a Title IX lawsuit against the institution, according to our news partner, KETK.
The suit was filed Monday by Ryann Allison, one of the two plaintiffs, among seven female student athletes, who have filed a Title IX sex discrimination class action lawsuit against the university. The action was prompted by the decision to cut three women’s athletics programs, including beach volleyball. The case is currently still in litigation.
At the end of the 2025-2026 school year, Allison was the only athlete to remain at SFA with plans to continue her senior season. In response to the initial lawsuit, the school reinstated all three programs into the athletic department.
Throughout the initial case, Allison and the second plaintiff, fellow teammate Brynn Dowd, were outspoken in their support for the lawsuit. Dowd expressed that she was proud of what the Title XI plaintiffs were doing and that she would also like to help rebuild the previously cut program, documents said.
Shortly after the end of the season on April 28, Allison had an end-of-year meeting with head beach volleyball coach Gretchen Hand that resulted in Allison being removed from the team for the next season. Dowd reported experiencing the same thing.
The lawsuit states that the defendants had no legitimate reason to remove the players from the team, and when asked why, Hand allegedly told the plaintiffs separately, “You don’t need to understand why.” In addition to her first given reason, Hand reportedly told Dowd that her decision “wasn’t about ability.”
Documents said that both plaintiffs demand a trial by jury. A spokesperson from SFA said the investigation is ongoing and that the university will not be commenting at this time.
Where Myers vs. Stephen F. Austin State University stands now
Filed in 2025, the case first began when the university axed three women’s programs (beach volleyball, golf and bowling) due to alleged budget cuts. The lawsuit against the institution claimed that the university discriminated against its female student-athletes by eliminating the teams.
In September 2025, the university filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on three grounds, as they had already reinstated beach volleyball and golf and claimed that the plaintiffs’ allegations were insufficient to show noncompliance with Title IX.
According to court documents obtained by KETK News, U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Truncale ruled that the motion to dismiss is “granted in part and denied in part.” Despite the procedural ruling that SFA “won” the first ground, the case can still go “forward, full steam ahead,” Arthur Bryant, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said.
The next steps for the plaintiffs are a motion for their class certification and a motion to preserve the claims of all the women athletes, he said, for the trial set in mid-December.
(HOUSTON, Texas) — Deputies responded to reports of multiple people shot inside a Kroger outside Houston, Texas on Wednesday afternoon, the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office said.
The incident took place at the Cypresswood Drive location in the Houston area around 3:00 p.m. CT.
A possible suspect was detained, according to law enforcement.
The scene was closed off as investigators searched searched the area. It was not immediately clear how many victims were involved.
CROCKETT – Police said law enforcement responded to a vehicle burglary on Tuesday at the J.H. Wotters Crockett Library. The caller said someone was going through her vehicle before leaving the scene, according to our news partner, KETK.
When officers arrived, they began a search of the area and deployed a drone to use thermal imaging. They then located the suspect attempting to hide between a bush and a nearby church. As the drone moved overhead, police said the suspect attempted to flee again, but was surrounded by law enforcement and taken into custody.
Police were able to recover the victim’s stolen wallet from the suspect’s pocket. The suspect, identified as Trent Omar Shedd, of Crockett, was taken to Houston County Jail and charged with burglary of vehicles and evading arrest.
ANGELINA COUNTY (KETK) — Over a decade of backlogged cases have piled up in the Angelina County district attorney’s office, leaving thousands of cases pending. District Attorney, Amy Wren, says she’s now taking up the burden left to her to combat the delay in justice.
Wren was first appointed as district attorney in August 2025, and at the time, the number of cases totaled about 6,000, with some dating back more than a decade. After less than a year, the number has dwindled down to about 2,000 as of Tuesday.
“I tried in April a case that was reported and indicted originally in 2015,” Wren said. “So to have a case pending that long, about 11 years by the time it was tried, that’s too long. That’s unusual.”
Several issues could have contributed to the build up throughout the courts and judicial offices, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing issues.
Currently, the district attorney’s office has five prosecutors working the nearly two-thousand cases, including a recent hire. To continue combating the pending cases, the district attorney’s office said they’re looking to hire two more prosecutors.
Hudson (KETK)– Houston-based company Hyper Data Grid has begun construction on Highway 103 in the city of Hudson as it prepares to build a second data center near Angelina County.
Angelina County Judge Keith Wright says the tech company has purchased the former ‘Northern Chip Mill’ property and is currently constructing what they say will be a ‘small data center.’
“There’s some existing water wells on site that they will obtain their water from, and my understanding is that they have an agreement with Oncor for their power, using previous infrastructure on the sight,” Wright said.
As Angelina County residents continue to fight back against the second data center in their neighborhood, the commissioners court said there’s not much that can be done.
“We don’t have any permit authority or way to control land use.” Wright offers one solution: “They are located on a county road, so all we can do is a Road Use Agreement. That will protect the county from damages and force some fees to be paid.”
The court is also working with state lawmakers to find permanent solutions.
TRINIDAD (KETK) — Over the past several months, residents of this East Texas city have been advocating for clean drinking water. Their concerns were confirmed by a recent report from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which identified three violations in the local water supply.
According to TCEQ, the state received multiple complaints regarding poor water quality in April. An investigation was launched shortly after, which evaluated and tested the water system for compliance.
Three of the alleged violations were found to need corrective action with a compliance plan by Aug. 3.
In the investigation, it was found that the system had issues between its filter and controller and failed to conduct chloramine effectiveness, which is used as an alternative disinfectant. It was also found that some streets that reported discoloration problems could not mitigate excessive water age, which is not meeting compliance.
The report reads that the discolored water did not originate from Trinidad’s surface water treatment plant. The operator of the water system told TCEQ that the city is looking to upgrade the water mains through several projects.
“He believed significant portions of the distribution system are old, iron-based water mains (an inventory of the water main composition was not available for review),” the report reads.
Other alleged violations were investigated, but were found to be resolved before the completed report, the TCEQ said.
Additionally, DPS has confirmed to KETK News on Tuesday that the Texas Rangers are now investigating the city. Officials were unable to disclose the nature of the investigation; however, it remains ongoing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency should continue vehicle stops after recent fatal shootings, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, seeming to oppose a new suspension of the practice used as part of his immigration crackdown.
ICE is “doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
The Republican president said that to remove criminals he claims were let into the country under the previous Democratic administration “we must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump said, “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
Trump administration officials have told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.
The suspension was ordered after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after another officer shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.
In Florida on Tuesday, a third man in roughly a week died during an encounter with immigration officers. This time, a 28-year-old man was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.
It’s a narrative that has been repeated again and again since the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown began, with federal officers confronting drivers and then saying they opened fire when the drivers’ vehicles became a danger. That’s despite decades of warnings from policing experts that shooting into moving cars presents a danger of its own and should almost always be avoided.
There have been at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched his deportation campaign. At least four of those deaths involved people in vehicles, including the one last week in Houston, a trend so troubling that U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Tuesday that she had urged Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”
John Sandweg, who was acting director at ICE, which is part of DHS, during President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration, estimated recently that there have been roughly 18 traffic stop shootings during the Trump immigration crackdown.
The office of Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, was told by DHS that ICE was suspending traffic stops, office spokesperson Matthew Felling said.
ICE, which has been under pressure to beef up arrest and deportation numbers, often says people it’s trying to arrest are increasingly resistant to leaving their homes. ICE officers blame immigration advocates who advise immigrants to stay in their homes unless ICE produces a warrant signed by an independent judge instead of the administrative warrants the agency generally uses that are signed by another ICE officer. So, ICE officers say, they’re forced to find other areas in which to make arrests.
Shooting angers Maine
Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national. Advocacy groups said Guerrero, who had a wife and a young daughter, was authorized to work in the United States.
DHS said Monday that an officer, “fearing for public safety,” shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and facing a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the person attempted to flee in the vehicle and the officer fired.
That was a shift from how King earlier described the encounter, when he said Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant but not for the man who was shot.
In a scathing post on X, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”
Petro, who has openly quarreled with Trump, urged Trump to provide an explanation and accused ICE officers of treating Durán Guerrero as “an inferior being without rights.”
In Wednesday’s social media post, Trump told ICE to be “judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”
Maine’s congressional delegation on Tuesday demanded a “comprehensive, transparent, and expedited investigation.”
Questions surround the shooting
Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield, but the officers involved in the shooting didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions. Among them are how close the officer was to the vehicle when shooting, whether officers told Durán Guerrero to stop and why ICE believes he had put the public in danger.
Border czar Tom Homan told reporters Tuesday that the investigation needs to play out and that officers will be held accountable if they are found to have acted inappropriately or illegally.
Maine’s attorney general’s office, which said it is working with federal agencies to investigate, said initial statements suggest the driver was trying to flee in the direction of the officer, whose name hasn’t been released and who was placed on leave.
Collins said Mullin told her the DHS inspector general is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.
Democrats seeking to unseat Collins in November have sought to connect her with ICE’s methods, which have drawn public scrutiny and derision. Collins later said in a statement that although ICE needs to improve, eliminating the agency would make the nation less safe.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat who is vying for Collins’ seat, called the ICE officers at the shooting “thugs” during a vigil Tuesday in Lewiston.
UVALDE (AP) — Slow-moving storms with heavy rain were drenching a large swath of South Texas on Wednesday, spawning a tornado in San Antonio a day after downpours washed out roads and farmland and led to dozens of high-water rescues in the region.
The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down in the northwestern part of San Antonio near Interstate 10. Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be a small twister. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Warnings of potentially dangerous flash flooding, meanwhile, were posted in some areas as the deluge was expected to continue through Thursday evening. The weather service said 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain was possible in some areas by the time the storms move out.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries from the flooding.
Flash flood warnings were posted Wednesday morning for several counties near the Mexico border including parts of Kerr County, where catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River last year killed more than 100 people. Kerr County officials said they have been in contact with summer camps and retreat centers where river flooding could happen.
The highest rainfall totals so far have been in Uvalde County — up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) in some areas, the weather service said.
“This is called a typical mid-summer tropical weather pattern that happens in Texas,” said Monte Oaks, a meteorologist with the weather service. “About once every five years, we’ll get socked in with a daily recurrence of heavy rain chances that’s generally produced by a stagnant kind of a pattern with a low-pressure center that’s just not moving very fast.”
Oaks said the rain is being fueled with tropical moisture, mostly from the Gulf of Mexico and some from the Pacific Ocean.
The highest level of concern for potentially dangerous flooding Wednesday was for areas west of San Antonio and north of Route 90, he said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued disaster declarations for dozens of counties.
Authorities posted videos on Tuesday showing a rescue crew in a boat navigating flooded streets and a vehicle being swept away by fast-moving waters. Five people were rescued by the Texas Game Warden Search and Rescue Team and four were rescued by a local game warden, said Maggie Berger, a Texas Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman.
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The weather service said the city of Uvalde has been hardest hit. Officials there said there had been at least two dozen water rescues, and a local event center was open for anyone displaced by flooding. In Sabinal, officials were also making plans for a shelter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of people held at a sprawling Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas say they were either beaten by guards or witnessed others being beaten, according to a new report issued by legal and human rights advocates.
The 84-page report issued jointly Wednesday by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union also says men and women held at Camp East Montana, located at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso, recounted being denied necessary medical care, forced to live in filthy conditions and fed inedible meals. Detainees also said they were prevented from contacting their lawyers or family members.
Of the 71 detainees contacted over a five month period, 64 — about 90% of those interviewed — said they had either personally been assaulted by the staff or had seen others physically abused, according to the report.
“ICE’s Camp East Montana is a human rights disaster,” said Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who was a lead researcher for the report. “The U.S. government should shut it down, conduct independent investigations into all abuses and deaths in custody, and put an end to mass deportations and mandatory immigration detention.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new accounts of violence and substandard living conditions inside Camp East Montana are consistent with earlier reports by The Associated Press and others. At least three detainees held at the facility since it opened in August have died, including a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who was handcuffed and stopped breathing earlier this year after being held down by guards.
A local medical examiner later ruled that death a homicide and a federal report issued last month said evidence in the case was “missing or destroyed.” That report by the Government Accountability Office found mismanagement by the Department of Homeland Security had created unsafe conditions that contributed to detainee deaths and suffering even as millions of wasted tax dollars enriched contractors.
In March, ICE replaced Acquisition Logistics, LLC, the prime contractor that had been awarded a deal last year worth up to $1.3 billion to build and manage the camp. The Virginia company had no prior experience running an ICE detention facility, had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million and lacked a functioning website.
The change came as an internal ICE review documented 49 deficiencies, which it defines as violations of detention standards or policies, in areas including the use of force and restraints, security and medical care.
Despite the change in contractors, interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU as recently as last month found serious problems at the camp have persisted.
Detainees recounted degrading and inhumane living conditions that included bathrooms covered in feces, flooded housing units and no access to soap or other basic hygiene supplies, according to the report. They also reported being held indoors for weeks without meaningful access to recreation, sunlight or fresh air.
People also described receiving spoiled food and inconsistent meal schedules, with delays of up to 12 hours between meals.
The report recounts detainees saying that guards beat detainees in response to hunger strikes, requests for medical attention and complaints regarding detention conditions. Several people said that guards imposed collective punishment, striking or assaulting multiple people after accusing one detainee of violating rules, according to the report.
Researchers found that staff pressured and coerced those held there into abandoning immigration claims and accepting removal to third countries if they could not be sent back to their own country. The detainees said they were threatened with violence, criminal prosecution, and indefinite detention if they refused deportation.
In some cases, the report concluded, the circumstances of ICE detention could amount to enforced disappearances, a potential violation of international human rights law.
Human Rights Watch and the ACLU called on the Trump administration to close Camp East Montana and to allow independent investigations into deaths in custody, excessive force, medical neglect and enforced disappearances.
“The abuses documented at Fort Bliss are the predictable outcome of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, its brutal expansion of immigration detention, and the erosion of federal oversight mechanisms,” said César, the lead researcher. “People at Camp East Montana are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and protected from harm.”
HOUSTON (AP) — Janice S. McNair, who alongside her late husband Robert “Bob” McNair brought the NFL back to Houston after the Oilers left for Tennessee by founding the Texans, has died. She was 89.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce Houston Texans co-founder and senior chair Janice S. McNair passed away peacefully in Houston this afternoon with her family by her side,” the Texans said in a statement on Tuesday.
After her husband Bob died in 2018 following a battle with both leukemia and squamous cell carcinoma, Janice took over the Texans organization as owner. McNair’s son, Cal, was approved as primary owner of the team in 2024.
“Mom was exceptional. She exuded kindness, radiated joy, had an endless amount of hope and love, and lived an incredible life centered around faith, family, philanthropy and football,” Cal said in a statement.
“I remain honored to lead this franchise and build on the foundation my parents set when they brought football back to Houston. Mom leaves an indelible mark on our family, our team and our community, and her giving spirit will always be embedded in the fabric of our organization. While I’m heartbroken, I take great comfort in knowing she is now reunited with my dad, her favorite teammate.”
Janice McNair grew up in South Carolina, and moved to Houston with Bob in 1960. Bob McNair made his fortune as the founder of Cogen Technologies, an energy company which was sold to Enron in 1999 for $1.5 billion.
The couple was committed to charity in the city, including causes such as The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, The Robert and Janice McNair Educational Foundation in Forest City, North Carolina, and the Houston Texans Foundation.
Janice is survived by four children, 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, according to the team.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
UVALDE (AP) — Slow-moving storms with heavy rain were drenching a large swath of South Texas on Wednesday, a day after downpours washed out roads and farmland and led to dozens of high-water rescues.
Warnings of potentially dangerous flash flooding were posted in some areas as the deluge was expected to continue through Thursday evening. The National Weather Service said 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain was possible in some areas by the time the storms move out.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries.
Flash flood warnings were posted Wednesday morning for several counties near the Mexico border including parts of Kerr County, where catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River last year killed more than 100 people. Kerr County officials said they have been in contact with summer camps and retreat centers where river flooding could happen.
The highest rainfall totals so far have been in Uvalde County — up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) in some areas, the weather service said.
“This is called a typical mid-summer tropical weather pattern that happens in Texas,” said Monte Oaks, a meteorologist with the weather service. “About once every five years, we’ll get socked in with a daily recurrence of heavy rain chances that’s generally produced by a stagnant kind of a pattern with a low-pressure center that’s just not moving very fast.”
Oaks said the rain is being fueled with tropical moisture, mostly from the Gulf of Mexico and some from the Pacific Ocean.
The highest level of concern for potentially dangerous flooding Wednesday was for areas west of San Antonio and north of Route 90, he said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued disaster declarations for dozens of counties.
Authorities posted videos on Tuesday showing a rescue crew in a boat navigating flooded streets and a vehicle being swept away by fast-moving waters. Five people were rescued by the Texas Game Warden Search and Rescue Team and four were rescued by a local game warden, said Maggie Berger, a Texas Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman.
The weather service said the city of Uvalde has been hardest hit. Officials there said there had been at least two dozen water rescues, and a local event center was open for anyone displaced by flooding. In Sabinal, officials were also making plans for a shelter.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge has awarded $314 million in damages to three Americans who were jailed and allegedly tortured by what he called a “criminal enterprise” led by former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro before the men were freed in a swap for a close Maduro ally imprisoned in the U.S.
Maduro’s government in 2023 freed Jerrel Kenemore, Jason Saad and Edgar Marval after months in prison as part of an exchange secretly negotiated with the Biden administration for Alex Saab, a businessman long described by U.S. officials as Maduro’s bag man and who had been awaiting trial in the U.S. on money laundering charges.
Last year, the three Americans sued several top Venezuelan officials, including now acting President Delcy Rodríguez, claiming they were subjected to physical and psychological torture — electrocution, stress positions and beatings — that continues to inflict anguish and trauma on them and their families today. Similar allegations of abuse are also being investigated by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.
Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Miami issued a default judgment Tuesday against Maduro, Saab and five other individual defendants as well as the “Cartel of the Suns,” a purported drug-smuggling ring involving top military officials, for failing to respond to the lawsuit. Rodríguez was not included in the ruling after lawyers for her entered an appearance in April seeking to dismiss the complaint, arguing that as the duly recognized head of state she is immune from civil action in the U.S., a contention plaintiffs dispute.
The case is the largest judgment to date amid a slew of lawsuits filed for Americans imprisoned in Venezuela. All sought damages under a little-used federal law, the Anti-Terrorism Act, that allows American victims of foreign terror groups to seize the assets of their victimizers.
“The kidnappings,” Judge Gayles wrote in his 19-page ruling, were just one of many crimes “committed in order to support Maduro’s dictatorial rule over Venezuela, which in turn allowed the Maduro Criminal Conspiracy to earn ill-gotten gains.”
A lawyer for Saab, who is once again in U.S. custody facing new charges after Rodríguez handed him over to U.S. authorities in May, declined to comment. Lawyers for Rodríguez didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Each of the plaintiffs arrived in Venezuela unsuspecting they would be accused of spying and used as bargaining chips in Venezuela’s negotiations with the U.S.
Kenemore, who spent 643 days in jail, was a computer professional from Fort Worth, Texas, who had been living in neighboring Colombia with a Venezuelan woman he met online when both were getting over divorces. In 2022, he was abducted by armed gunmen near the border and later handed over to Venezuelan authorities and immediately imprisoned, according to the complaint.
Saad, a native of Alabama, had been living in Venezuela working in construction for several years at the time of his arrest, according to the complaint. Together with Marval, who owned a company in Florida and did business Venezuela, all were held by Venezuela’s feared military intelligence police.
The Trump administration labeled the “ Cartel of the Suns” a foreign terrorist organization ahead of a massive military deployment in the Caribbean that resulted in Maduro’s capture in January to face drug trafficking charges in New York.
The former president has denied any wrongdoing and some observers doubt that corruption that has long festered inside Venezuela’s barracks has led to the creation of a cohesive drug smuggling group that functions like other Latin American cartels.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico formally requested that U.S. state attorneys general criminally investigate cases of migrants who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody or during raids, the Mexican government said Tuesday.
The request follows the death of Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston. Since the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement, 14 in ICE custody and three in agency operations.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry had previously said it would make the request, which was formalized on Tuesday, according to the ministry. It said a similar request will be also sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The United States is not legally obliged to act on the requests.
Also, the Mexican government said it has started sending letters to U.S. detention centers where Mexican migrants have died, demanding they “immediately cease the actions or omissions that resulted in these deaths, such as preventing access to prompt and expedited medical care, as well as the application of policies incompatible with medical and penitentiary standards.”
The first center to receive the letter was Adelanto, in California, where four Mexican migrants died.
The letters are a first step toward “the eventual filing of civil lawsuits” against the companies that operate the detention centers to stop human rights violations, according to the ministry.
Last week, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said his country would go directly to U.S. authorities to request criminal investigations in cases of Mexicans killed in ICE custody or enforcement operations.
Salgado Araujo, who had no criminal record and had lived in the U.S. for 35 years, was shot last Tuesday while driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston. His death sparked protests in Houston and demands for an independent investigation from Democrats and Salgado Araujo’s family.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 52-year-old Araujo had rammed an ICE vehicle, and that a federal agent fired a weapon in self-defense.
Velasco also sent a letter to Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, requesting that U.S. authorities gather information on the deaths of the Mexican migrants in ICE custody and analyze the “compatibility of these events with international human rights obligations.”
The foreign minister also asked Türk to seek the opinion of the Human Rights Council, a U.N. intergovernmental body that promotes human rights, on the cases and offer recommendations.
The developments mark an escalation in Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s response to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Sheinbaum earlier this year ordered Mexico’s diplomatic missions across the U.S. to regularly check in with ICE detainees, and her government even lodged a complaint with Türk.
AUSTIN (AP) – Heavy downpours in South Texas washed out highways and stranded motorists Tuesday as forecasters warned that a threat of more severe weather could bring dangerous flooding to already drenched counties near the border with Mexico.
Storms dumped up to a foot of rain in some rural areas of Texas, leading to dozens of high-water rescues across the region and officials shutting down portions of a busy highway for hours near Uvalde, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of San Antonio. A flood watch also included Kerr County, where catastrophic flooding last year along the Guadalupe River killed more than 100 people.
No deaths or injuries Tuesday were immediately reported.
The National Weather Service warned that storms overnight could dump more than a foot of additional rain to some places into Wednesday, creating potentially catastrophic impacts from flash flooding in areas west of San Antonio. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for dozens of counties.
“Intense rain rates and compounding effects from multiple rounds of storms will result in a dangerous flash flooding threat through Thursday,” the National Weather Service said.
Authorities on Tuesday posted videos of a rescue crew in a boat down flooded streets and one vehicle being swept away by fast-moving waters. Five people were rescued by members of the Texas Game Warden Search and Rescue Team and four were rescued by a local game warden, said Maggie Berger, a spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
In Uvalde, officials said there had been at least two dozen water rescues. They opened a local event center for anyone displaced by flooding. In Sabinal, officials were also making plans for a shelter.
BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.
The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.
In Florida on Tuesday, a third man in roughly a week died during an encounter with immigration officers. This time, a 28-year-old man was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.
The suspension of vehicle stops allows room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator’s office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending stops.
Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national.
DHS said Monday that an officer, “fearing for public safety,” shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and facing a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the person attempted to flee in the vehicle and the officer fired.
That was a shift from how King earlier described the encounter, when he said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the man who was shot.
DHS, which oversees ICE, didn’t respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.
In a scathing post on X, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”
Petro, who has openly quarreled with U.S. President Donald Trump, urged Trump to provide an explanation and accused ICE officers of treating Durán Guerrero as “an inferior being without rights.”
The shooting also sparked outrage in Maine, where hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday outside an ICE detention center in Scarborough, just up the coast between Biddeford and Portland.
“These people are killers and they must leave our state now,” organizer Todd Chretien told the crowd.
Maine’s congressional delegation on Tuesday demanded a “comprehensive, transparent, and expedited investigation.”
Durán Guerrero’s shooting marked at least the ninth time ICE has used deadly force since Trump began his immigration crackdown.
Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield, but the officers involved in the shooting didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions. Among them are how close the officer was to the vehicle when they fired, whether officers told Durán Guerrero to stop, and why ICE believes he had put the public in danger.
“We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters Tuesday that the investigation needs to play out.
“If officers acted inappropriately or illegally, they’ll be held accountable,” he said.
Maine’s attorney general’s office, which noted that it’s working with federal agencies to investigate, said initial statements suggest the driver was trying to flee in the direction of the officer, whose name hasn’t been released and who was placed on leave.
The state’s other senator, Republican Susan Collins, said Mullin told her that DHS’ Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.
Democrats seeking to unseat Collins in November sought Tuesday to connect her with ICE’s methods, which have drawn public scrutiny and derision. Collins later said in a statement that although ICE needs to improve, eliminating the agency would make the nation less safe.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is vying for Collins’ seat, called the ICE officers at the shooting “thugs” during a vigil Tuesday evening in Lewiston.
“That agency is broken and we need to go back to a time where the rule of law united all of us regardless of the politics,” she told the crowd.
According to neighbors and public records, Guerrero lived in an apartment about 150 feet (46 meters) from where his car came to a rest outside an apartment building across the street from a pawnshop and laundromat.
Video from a nearby business’ security camera obtained by the AP shows a white car slowly approaching an intersection before making several circles. A law enforcement SUV blocks its path and two officers open the driver’s door and drag out a limp body.
It isn’t clear from the video when the shots were fired.
Daniel Boucher said he heard a “pop, pop, pop” and ran to the intersection.
“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.’”
Boucher said the officer who shot Durán Guerrero walked close to him.
“He looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”
Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S.
Neighbors say Durán Guerrero was a friendly and familiar face even though they rarely chatted because he didn’t appear to speak English.
Claudia Morton, who often waved to Durán Guerrero, was distraught.
“The whole world should be crying,” she said.
Dozens of Durán Guerrero’s relatives and neighbors gathered in Bucaramanga, his hometown in northeastern Colombia, to remember him on Tuesday. They stood outside his parents’ home, holding candles around a table where a photograph of him rested beside a statue of the Virgin Mary.
PLANO – A Dallas convicted felon has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for a firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs. Antonio Detravion Woodard, Jr., 24, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison on July 13, 2026.
According to information presented in court, on January 10, 2025, Woodard called for a Lyft and upon arrival, pulled out a gun and told the driver, “this is a robbery.” Woodard asked the driver for access to his Cash App and Wallet. Upon inspection, Woodard discovered that the driver had no cash. Woodard was upset and demanded the victim to “not tell the police what happened.” The driver was able to hit the safety feature in his Lyft app and local law enforcement responded.
Further investigation revealed Woodard was a convicted felon and prohibited by federal law from owning or possessing firearms. This case is part of a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to stop illegal immigration, and eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations. The effort protects communities from violent criminals. This case was investigated by the Plano Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.
OTTAWA (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) – Canada has suspended several animal exports from Texas due to concerns about the New World screwworm, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is immediately suspending the export of horses, pigs, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, deer, elk, moose, llamas and more. Imports from other states are permitted, provided the animals have not resided in or passed through Texas during the 21 days immediately prior to their arrival in Canada.
The USDA stated in a news release on Tuesday that its accredited veterinarians must include information on whether the animal resided in or was transported through a state affected by New World Screwworm, and that exporters/shippers have been advised that this is required; otherwise, the shipment will be refused entry into Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced in a news release that it will continue to work closely with its United States counterparts to assess developments and adjust measures as needed.
“While our colder climate is not hospitable for the long-term establishment of the fly in Canada, they can survive shorter periods of time in the summer months,” the CFIA stated in the news release. “Taking this action now is an appropriate risk mitigation measure to prevent its introduction and protect animal health.”
The decision comes after an infestation of flesh-eating flies was confirmed in South Texas in June, setting off alarm bells for the state’s cattle industry.
Since then, the New World screwworm has continued to infiltrate livestock and other animals in Texas, with 34 confirmed cases as of July 10.
The Texas Animal Health Commission identified a potential cause last month: small wildlife and rodents, such as armadillos, opossums, and rabbits.
Until then, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has pointed to multiple causes, including border policies under President Joe Biden and the illicit movement of cattle at the hands of drug cartels.
However, the source of the first case of New World Screwworm remains under investigation, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Other health experts say it’s still undetermined what allowed the invasive pest to finally breach the Texas-Mexico border.
The USDA closed all southern ports of entry to livestock imports from Mexico in May 2025 and has kept them closed since then, preventing cattle from legally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
Experts project that 500 million sterile flies are needed weekly to eradicate the pest, and at the moment, the U.S. government is producing about 100 million every seven days out of a facility in Panama.
That capacity is set to expand, but not enough to reach the 500 million threshold. And other technologies officials hope to pair with fly sterilization are not yet ready for deployment or are the subject of disagreement, leaving the Trump administration and Texas officials without a speedy path to eradicate the threat.
The original copy of this article is post at The Texas Tribune.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK) — Nacogdoches ISD is entering a new era of leadership, as four skilled and familiar faces take on principal roles to continue strengthening and supporting the education of the students.
In July, the Nacogdoches school district announced that four campuses, including the high school, will be under the leadership of new principals this upcoming school year.
At Nacogdoches High School, the home of the dragons, longtime educator Shawn Lucena will be taking over as the next principal, with a focus on preparing students for success after graduating with the CTE program.
“The focus is student learning,” Lucena said. “Everything that we do – extra-curriculars, certifications – will be gauged by that.”
Lucena has been directly involved in the Career and Technical Education Department for the past two years as the director, working to make student achievement in the classroom a cornerstone at the school. He’s been involved with the district for almost 20 years in many roles, including as a teacher and assistant principal.
In the elementary campuses, Melinda Wiebold was named the Emeline Carpenter school and Tammy Pankratz is back at Mike Moses.
Wiebald has shown a streak of success in Nacogdoches in her previous role as the principal of Fredonia Elementary. In six years, she raised the campus from a low-performing score to a B rating from the Texas Education Agency.
“I’m thrilled to be back on campus and look forward to a great year at Carpenter,” Wiebold said. “We’ve got a great facility, great staff and students who can do exceptional work, and I’m grateful to be a part of that for the new year.”
Over at Mike Moses, Pankratz returns as principal, bringing experience as an administrator and executive director. She’s familiar with the campus as an alum and her extensive career with the school in many different roles.
“Tammy Pankratz has an extensive background in school and district administration, and I’m excited for her to be back at Mike Moses Elementary,” Nacogdoches ISD Superintendent Grey Burton said. “Her expertise and knowledge as an educator will be a benefit to the students and staff at Mike Moses Elementary.”
Margie Chumbley Academy for Success will be led by Tena Hill, who is transitioning from her assistant principal role after former principal James Adams was named assistant superintendent of the district.
Hill has decades of experience in education, with the last 16 years working with the school district. From teacher to principal, Hill is a great fit for the campus, the district said.
“She’s been there supporting the students and staff at the school,” Burton said. “Ms. Hill has a love and appreciation for the students at Margie Chumbley and will continue the progress already being made there.”
BIDDEFORD, Me. (AP) – The term weaponized vehicle has become commonplace at news conferences and in statements released by federal officials during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Federal authorities initially used that language Monday when talking to state officials about the actions of a Maine driver who was fatally shot by immigration officers. In public statements, Department of Homeland Security officials shifted their description to say officers fired into the vehicle “fearing for public safety.”
It was the second time in a week that federal immigration authorities shot and killed someone behind the wheel of a car, initially accusing the driver of attempting to ram into immigration officers.
But while the weaponization of a car is often used to justify the use of deadly force against a driver, the legal definition is a lot less clear cut.
Courts agree cars can be considered weapons
In numerous state and federal courts, judges have agreed that vehicles can be considered weapons when they are used to inflict harm. But many of those cases have been considerations of whether enhanced charges such as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon can be levied against a person after an injury or death was already caused by a vehicle.
Many state laws that address assault with a vehicle are designed to enhance manslaughter or other charges against people violating traffic laws or driving requirements. Judicial opinions have largely focused on crimes of negligence, road rage or driving while intoxicated, and in rare instances, cases where someone purposefully drove their car into a crowd of people.
They rarely deal with the question faced by police or federal law enforcement officials of when a moving vehicle should be considered a dangerous weapon, and when that allows for the use of deadly force.
Training often says to move rather than shoot
Many law enforcement departments and agencies weigh the potential for unintended harm heavily when instructing officers or agents on when it’s acceptable to fire a weapon at a moving vehicle.
Many department policies tell officers to move out of the way of a vehicle rather than shoot because of the potential harm to bystanders who could be struck by unintended gunfire or by a careening vehicle if the driver is incapacitated.
Policies often say a suspect fleeing is not enough justification for using deadly force. Some require another weapon such as a firearm being used as a threat from the person in the vehicle to establish a clear threat to public or officer safety.
Experts say many factors determine when a car is weaponized
Exceptions exist in many use-of-force policies for what became a familiar scene abroad and at times in the U.S. — a person driving a vehicle into crowded public streets to inflict as much damage as possible.
But, experts say those exceptions have been used as a defense in situations where a person was not posing the same level of threat.
They say officers and juries should consider factors such as the speed of the vehicle, whether there are large gatherings of people on the sidewalks or nearby, and the reason for the initial police interaction. For example, a person fleeing an armed robbery at a bank might pose a higher danger than someone fleeing a traffic stop.
Update: Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo was due to appear in federal court Tuesday, but the hearing was abruptly postponed due to heavy rain and flooding in parts of Texas, and a new date has not yet been scheduled, according to ABC News.
UVALDE ABC) — Former Uvalde, Texas, school police chief Pete Arredondo is due in federal court Tuesday as part of his push to compel federal agents to testify at his trial for allegedly endangering students during the response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.
Arredondo is charged with 10 counts of endangering students for allegedly failing to quickly respond to the May 24, 2022, shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed.
Arredondo filed a civil lawsuit this year to compel 19 U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees to testify during his criminal trial, which is set to begin on Feb. 22, 2027.
Arredondo’s attorneys have argued the testimony is vital for him to have a fair trial.
“The testimony will not only be material to determining whether he alone is responsible for the delay, it will also be helpful to show that Mr. Arredondo is not personally responsible for many shortcomings or any delay of CBP agents as part of the law enforcement response,” defense attorney Paul Looney wrote in a court filing.
This year, Looney filed a formal request to make the agents available to testify at trial, arguing that the accounts of the agents who stormed the classroom where the shooter was barricaded is necessary to prove Arredondo was not responsible for the botched response. Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell has sued to compel similar testimony, but CBP declined the requests to facilitate the testimony.
CBP Chief Counsel Andrew Block said in court filings that the testimony is not necessary for Arredondo’s defense, could be sought through other means, could impact CBP operations, and may result in the disclosure of “confidential law enforcement techniques and procedures.”
“You seek testimony from 19 CBP employees, which would require CBP to make all 19 officers available before and during the trial, pulling them off duty, incurring travel costs, and lost work hours, which negatively impacts CBP operations and national security,” Block wrote.
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ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– A Lufkin city attorney was appointed on Monday by Gov. Greg Abbott as the new judge of the 217th Judicial District Court in Angelina County
Kristi Skillern will be entering the position, replacing Judge Robert Inselmann, who recently announced his retirement after serving as the 17th District Court judge since 2015.
Skillern enters the position after winning the Republican Primary runoff this past May against Stephen Walker and will begin her tenure once Inselmann’s officially concludes at the end of 2026.
Family still searching for missing Gilmer man after 20 years
Prior to becoming a city attorney, Skillern served as in-house counsel for State Farm Insurance and as defense counsel for Stradley & Wright and Smith and Knott PC. Skillern also holds a law degree from St. Mary’s School of Law and is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association.
Outside of her judicial career, Skillern is an active member of the Lufkin community, serving as a volunteer for the Salvation Army and the First Baptist Church of Lufkin.
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — The Texas Department of Public Safety is seeking any victims of a person who allegedly impersonated law enforcement and conducted traffic stops in Deep East Texas.
DPS is actively investigating reports they’ve received of a police impersonator in the area. The person allegedly conducted traffic stops while driving an unmarked black 2022 Jeep Gladiator on U.S. Highway 190 in Walker, San Jacinto and Polk counties.
DPS told KETK News that they are still working to identify the suspect.
Anyone who believes they have been pulled over by a person driving the 2022 Jeep is asked to contact the Conroe DPS Criminal Investigations Division by phone at 346-260-9824 or by email luke.williams@dps.texas.gov.
HOUSTON COUNTY (KETK) — A Houston County driver was arrested on Sunday after law enforcement allegedly found synthetic urine and cocaine in his vehicle.
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to Highway 19 South near Lovelady after receiving reports of a reckless driver and a suspicious person. When they arrived, a deputy detained the driver, who was showing signs of being in medical distress.
Before towing, the vehicle was checked, where they found a Tylenol bottle containing suspected cocaine residue and a bottle that appears to have a bottle of synthetic urine, the sheriff’s office said.
Witnesses said the driver crossed into oncoming traffic, forcing another driver to leave the roadway to avoid a head-on collision. The suspect then allegedly exited his vehicle and attempted to open the doors of other vehicles and would run into oncoming traffic while saying people were trying to kill him.
Once arrested, the suspect was identified as Sergio Ortiz, who was first taken to a medical center before being taken into the Houston County Jail.
Ortiz has been charged with: Possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving and possession of a substance designed to falsify drug test results
“We encourage anyone who observes reckless or suspicious activity to immediately contact the Houston County Sheriff’s Office so deputies can respond and help keep our community safe,” the Houston County Sheriff’s Office said.
BEAUMONT – A Houston man has pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking violations following a Homeland Security Task Force investigation in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced. Indolfo Hernandez, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn on July 10, 2026.
According to information presented in court, in January 2024, law enforcement began investigating a drug trafficking organization that was distributing large amounts of methamphetamine throughout Texas and neighboring regions. The organization, based in Houston and operating within the Eastern District of Texas, was led by Hernandez. During the investigation, law enforcement seized more than 16 kilograms of methamphetamine that had been distributed by Hernandez and his co-conspirators.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic inter-agency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders.
In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. Hernandez faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of an investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A proposed legal settlement with the U.S. government would require the Keystone Pipeline system’s operator to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty over a major oil spill in Kansas in December 2022 and spend about $40 million more to prevent future accidents.
The agreement would resolve allegations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kansas that South Bow, based in Canada, violated U.S. and state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.
The accident was the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years and surpassed all 22 previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The total amount of oil spilled would have nearly filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposed decree after a 30-day public comment period.
“The oil spill blanketed land and water, rendering the waterway lifeless and useless and requiring extensive cleanup and remediation,” Jeffrey Hall, the EPA’s assistant administrator for its enforcement office, said in a statement. “The substantial penalty reflects the seriousness of the environmental harm.”
South Bow spokesperson Sara Hunter said in an emailed statement Sunday that the company “proactively” launched its response to the spill before receiving formal directives from government officials, including “comprehensive environmental remediation” completed in February 2024. She also said that since the spill, the company has done more than 12,000 miles (19,312 kilometers) of pipeline inspections and 400 excavations to examine pipe and make repairs where necessary.
“This work reflects our ongoing commitment to the safe, reliable operation of our pipeline system and to continuously strengthening pipeline integrity,” she said.
The company that built the pipeline, TC Energy, spun off South Bow as a separate firm in 2024, after the Kansas cleanup was done.
No pipeline workers or area residents were injured in the spill, and officials said public water supplies weren’t affected. However, a complaint filed Friday by the U.S. government along with the proposed settlement said more than 2,700 animals were harmed or killed. The area is home to an endangered species, the long-eared bat.
In a May 2023 report for the U.S. government, an engineering consulting firm said that a bend in the Keystone system where the spill occurred had been “overstressed” since its installation in December 2010 — likely because construction activity itself altered the land around the pipe. The complaint filed Friday in court said soil under the pipe had been “improperly compacted” and that while the company re-excavated the site in 2013, it did not replace that section of pipe.
The 2,689-mile (4,327-kilometer) Keystone system carries thick, Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas.
In April, President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for South Bow and another company to build a second pipeline from Canada to Wyoming, a smaller version of a massive $8 billion pipeline project known as Keystone XL blocked by former President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 over environmental concerns.