National News

Severe weather map (ABC News) (NEW YORK) -- More than a dozen reported tornadoes tore through part of the Central U.S. on Thursday night, including a powerful storm in northwestern Oklahoma that spurred a tornado emergency from the National Weather Service.A tornado emergency is the highest alert level for tornadoes.The weather service said a "large and destructive tornado" was confirmed on the ground at 8:21 p.m. local time in the […]

(BALTIMORE, Md.) -- Dwight Rust Jr. this week appeared virtually for his first appearance in a Maryland court, a day after being arrested for the first-degree murder of his wife, Michelle Rust, 24 years ago. Baltimore County District Court Judge Krystin Richardson ruled in favor of prosecutors pushing to hold Rust, 48 without bail on Wednesday afternoon. He remains held at the Baltimore County Detention Center.  Rust first reported his wife missing on July 20, 2002, as the couple was preparing for their 3-year-old son's birthday […]

The seal of the US Department of Justice on a podium prior to a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (WASHINGTON) -- The Justice Department's internal watchdog announced Thursday it is launching an audit into the DOJ's compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act that mandated the release of the department's files on convicted sex […]

(SYOSSET, N.Y.) -- A New York father and son were arrested and charged after investigators discovered chemicals at their residence that had been combined to create explosive materials, according to police. Investigators discovered the chemicals while they were looking into a "bias incident" in which a swastika was drawn in a male bathroom at Syosset High School on Wednesday, according to the Nassau County Police Department. Investigators alleged the 15-year-old boy drew […]

(BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga.) -- At least 1,000 homes are being threatened by two major wildfires in Georgia that have burned more than 34,000 acres combined, according to officials.Dry conditions from a persistent drought and gusty winds continue to fuel the wildfires in Georgia, Florida and elsewhere across the Southeast.Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for 91 counties in South Georgia.The two major wildfires burning in Southeast Georgia are the […]

Los Angeles County District Attorney placard. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (LOS ANGELES) -- A man is charged with murder for allegedly beating an 84-year-old man with dementia and setting him on fire, Los Angeles prosecutors said.The victim, Bang Cho, had wandered away from a senior care home when he was attacked just before midnight on Sunday in downtown LA, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said.The […]

Christopher Gillum is seen in this undated police handout. (Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office) (DESTIN, Fla.) -- A former police officer who allegedly was traveling to Louisiana to conduct a mass shooting at a large festival was arrested Wednesday night in a Florida hotel where investigators found a gun and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.Christopher Gillum, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was wanted by the Louisiana Department of Public […]

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- Opening arguments in the re-trial of Jason Meade are set to begin in a Columbus, Ohio, courtroom on Thursday morning as the former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy faces charges of murder and reckless homicide in the fatal 2020 shooting of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr.A jury, made up of nine women and three men, was seated on Wednesday afternoon, according to ABC Columbus station WSYX.Meade's second trial comes […]

A 56-year-old man has been arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Louisiana with supplying the weapon allegedly used by the suspect to kill seven of his children and a nephew in Shreveport, Louisiana, April 19, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Louisiana U.S. Attorney's Office) (NEW YORK) -- A 56-year-old Louisiana man is facing federal charges for allegedly supplying an assault-style pistol that Shamar Elkins is suspected of using […]