The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said talks between Iran and the U.S. are at a “crucial stage” and warned they have limited time to resolve their years-long standoff.
“There is a possibility of a good outcome but nothing is guaranteed,” Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in comments recorded during a visit to Tehran on Thursday and shared with Bloomberg. “We are multiplying our efforts to facilitate this process.”
Grossi’s visit comes days after the U.S. and Iran held their first talks aimed at striking an agreement over Tehran’s nuclear program. The stakes for global security and the oil market are high. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened military action against the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached in the coming weeks.
Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, made a rare high-profile visit to Iran on Thursday and met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Prince Khalid delivered a message from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addressed to Khamenei, IRNA said, without giving details on its contents. He is the highest-level Saudi royal to visit Iran in years, and his trip signals that Arab states are keen to avoid a new conflict in the region.
The IAEA’s Grossi said he has been in contact with the U.S.’s top Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to see how the watchdog can “serve as a bridge between Iran and the U.S. and help achieve a positive outcome,” according to the IRNA.
While the U.S. and Iran are set to meet for a second round of talks on Saturday in Rome, they’ve already hit a stumbling block over the Trump administration’s position on Tehran’s ability to enrich uranium.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier this week that U.S. has sent conflicting messages and these need to clarified when they meet again at the weekend.
Witkoff said on Tuesday that Iran had to eliminate its uranium-enrichment program altogether, rather than restrict it. He was backtracking on earlier comments that suggested Iran could still enrich to a low level for civilian uses.
Iran has said its ability to produce the fissile material is non-negotiable and says it’s allowed to enrich uranium under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The 2015 nuclear deal that Trump abandoned during his first term imposed strict limits on the extent to which Iran was allowed to enrich uranium, in terms of both purity and quantity.
Iran started to breach those caps after Trump exited the accord in 2018 and placed stricter sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
A five-person jury decided Walton Funeral Home should be compensated roughly $350,000 for a Dominion Energy permanent easement on its property for high voltage power lines.
The verdict came Thursday at the end of a four-day eminent domain trial in Virginia Beach Circuit Court with Judge Scott Flax presiding. The trial was held because the funeral home owner and the power company had been unable to reach an agreement on just compensation for three high voltage power lines that cross over the property.
“Dominion handled this terribly,” Frank Walton, who owns the land and operates the funeral home, said after the verdict came in. “This is a classic example of corporate greed and overreach.”
Representatives from Dominion Energy declined to speak with the media during and after the conclusion of the trial. It was unclear whether the utility would appeal.
Dominion Energy installed transmission lines for its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project across Walton Funeral Home’s property entrance and parking lot on Holland Road after a judge permitted the company early entry last summer. Dominion also installed large poles adjacent to the property.
As of last August, Walton’s was one of four properties Dominion was seeking to acquire for the project through the process of eminent domain. It’s unclear if the others have been resolved.
Walton Funeral Home has operated at the same location for more than 60 years. Frank Walton’s parents started the business.
Much of this week’s trial centered around testimony from each sides’ appraisers. Dominion’s appraiser Nancy Dove said she believed Walton’s compensation should be $25,700; while Walton’s appraiser Michael Ray said it should be $705,000.
“She deeply undervalued the land,” Walton, 56, said of the power company’s appraiser.
Walton’s attorney, Stephen Clarke, argued the transmission poles and lines diminished the tranquility of the business property where families come to grieve.
The power line construction also limits changes Walton can make to the property. Walton’s parking lot can remain under the high voltage lines, but any expansion of it would require Dominion’s approval. Dove said the triangular shaped area wouldn’t likely be developed anyway and that the loss of trees wouldn’t affect a future sale.
“Nobody’s going to build anything there,” she said.
But she did admit that Dominion’s equipment had an effect.
“There is no doubt the property has changed,” Dove said.
Clarke alleged Dove had a biased opinion based on information she included in her appraisal about potential positive aspects of the offshore wind project and her history of conducting appraisals for Dominion Energy.
Dominion’s attorney Michael Lacy tried to discredit Ray’s appraisal methods. An appraisal reviewer testified that he believed Ray inflated the value of Walton’s land based on the comparable commercial land sales he used, which were located in higher traffic areas of Virginia Beach.
The jury visited the funeral home site on Monday.
“We’ve lost every semblance of what we had in terms of privacy and serenity,” Walton said as he testified Wednesday. “We essentially look like an industrial zone.”
He also cited the disruptions his business faced when Dominion cleared trees from his property and installed poles and transmission lines. At one point, Walton cried as he talked about his parents’ legacy and his own.
Before the jury deliberated, Clarke urged them to consider the impact of their decision.
“You are the voice in the community on this issue,” Clarke said. “You can speak very loudly to Dominion about how Virginia Beach citizens react when Dominion takes a small business owner’s property for a $10 billion project and doesn’t want to pay what’s fair.”
The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm is being built 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach and will include 176 wind turbines. The $9.8 billion project will generate energy to power up to 660,000 homes, according to Dominion. Offshore construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Undersea cables will deliver the wind turbine-generated energy onshore at State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach. The cables will continue underground to Naval Air Station Oceana. From there, above-ground concrete monopoles and power lines will continue toward Dam Neck Road, connecting with an existing transmission right-of-way near the Castleton neighborhood, according to the city.
The proposed route continues west, overlapping the former Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt roadway project until just past Princess Anne Road. It then moves southwest, crossing Salem Road and the Intracoastal Waterway in Chesapeake. The route turns south toward Battlefield Golf Course before heading west to Dominion’s existing Fentress Substation in Chesapeake.
Walton Funeral Home, located along a section of Holland Road between Dam Neck Road and Nimmo Parkway, sits in the crux of the onshore transmission route.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed on Tuesday that Russian warplanes were “detected and tracked” off the coast of Alaska on Monday.
In a Tuesday press release, U.S. officials said, “The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on April 14, 2025.”
“The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command added. “This Russian activity in Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command did not identify what type of Russian aircraft was detected or how many Russian warplanes were detected near Alaska on Monday in Tuesday’s press release.
READ MORE: Putin drafts 160,000 men for Russian military as Ukraine war continues
North American Aerospace Defense Command officials noted that an Air Defense Identification Zone “begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.”
“NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions,” U.S. officials added in Tuesday’s press release. “NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command’s latest tracking of Russian warplanes off the coast of Alaska comes just months after “multiple Russian military aircraft” were tracked in the Arctic by U.S. and Canadian air patrol fighters.
At the time, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said, “The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter Alaskan or Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones or sovereign airspace. This activity is not seen as a threat.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started digging this week for military junk from World War II that is buried beneath the yards of hundreds of homes in South Patrick Shores, Florida, amid concerns that the military junk could be linked to an alleged cancer cluster in the community.
According to The Independent, residents of South Patrick Shores have claimed for multiple decades that health conditions, including various forms of cancer, are potentially linked to an old military landfill in the area. The outlet noted that prior to residential homes being built in the area in the 1950s, South Patrick Shores hosted a military landfill located near the Banana River Naval Air Station, which is now the location of Patrick Space Force Base.
The Independent reported that hazardous waste, such as old ammunition, unexploded artillery, fuel, and a variety of chemicals, are believed to be buried in South Patrick Shores.
According to The Independent, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers previously scanned a section of South Patrick Shores with ground-penetrating radar in a $5.8 million search for military waste. The outlet noted that over 300 houses are located on the 52-acre section that was previously scanned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
READ MORE: US Navy vet defeats cancer with experimental treatment, faith
According to News 6, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started digging for the military junk in the area this week following a county commission meeting regarding the issue last week. Brad Tompa, the leader of the project, told Brevard County commissioners, “If there is problematic soil or contaminants, then yes, it would have to be addressed.”
Tompa explained to the county commissioners that South Patrick Shores was an “uncontrolled dump” during World War II. During last week’s meeting, Brevard County Commissioner Katie Delaney asked Tompa, “Are you aware that there are residents who have dug in their own yards and that they have had massive side effects from the things that they have dug up in their yards?”
News 6 reported that Sandra Sullivan, a resident of South Patrick Shores, discovered bullets, lead, and a partial barrel of oil in her yard in 2018. “I know it’s made me sick,” Sullivan told News 6. “Every time I dug up something, between eight days and seven weeks, I would have symptoms.”
According to The Independent, a Florida Department of Health report from 2019 documented higher rates of bladder cancer and leukemia in the South Patrick Shores community than in other regions throughout the country. However, the department did not confirm the cause of the increased cancer rate.
The United States’ escalating trade war with China could hit Boeing’s future orders and deliveries, according to new reports Tuesday.
China has reportedly ordered its airlines not to take future deliveries of Boeing planes or purchase aircraft-related equipment and parts from U.S. companies, according to a Bloomberg article Tuesday, citing anonymous sources.
The Chinese government also reportedly told Chinese airlines not to place new orders for Boeing jets and is requiring carriers to seek approval before taking delivery of aircraft they have already ordered, according to a Wall Street Journal article also published Tuesday.
President Donald Trump weighed in, writing on the social media platform Truth Social that China “just reneged on the big Boeing deal” and “will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft.” Trump’s post was mainly about a separate deal between the U.S. and China related to farmers.
Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal said China made the directives in response to tariffs imposed by Trump that went into effect last week. Those tariffs would reach 145% on goods imported from China.
In return, China imposed its own 125% tariff on goods from the United States.
Boeing and the aerospace industry, like many other economic sectors, have been bracing for some fallout from the new tariffs. In the worst-case scenario, the levies could increase the cost of airplane parts and the finished product, disrupt the industry’s extensive supply chain and lower demand if the U.S. dips into a recession.
Boeing, which declined to comment on Tuesday, previously said it will have some cushion to soften the immediate blow of the tariffs.
Boeing has a large inventory of airplane parts and a large backlog of airplane orders, giving its suppliers and customers room to adapt if needed, Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at a Bank of America conference last month.
“If a customer needed some flexibility because of some decisions that they were making, we can move around in a big backlog and try to accommodate best we can,” West said. “So, we think we’ve got enough room to breathe.”
China is a key market for Boeing but the country scaled back its orders after Trump imposed tariffs during his first administration and two deadly 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. Still, a long-term decision to halt Boeing deliveries to China’s airlines could impact dozens of unfilled orders.
China has 130 unfilled orders on Boeing’s books, according to a list on the airplane manufacturer’s website. But analysts suspect that number is higher because a chunk of the 762 unfilled orders listed for unidentified customers are also likely headed to China.
Of the 130 planes Boeing delivered to customers so far this year, 18 went to China, according to Boeing’s website.
Boeing’s stock dropped 2.3% on Tuesday following the news reports.
Also on Tuesday, China Southern, one of the country’s main airlines, suspended the sale of 10 used Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, according to a separate Bloomberg report. That decision, also prompted by the tariffs, indicated a rippling effect of the trade war beyond just the purchase of new goods, Bloomberg reported.
Three congressmen from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce are raising concerns over data privacy weeks after the genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy, putting millions of customers’ personal information up for sale.
The Republican representatives — Brett Guthrie from Kentucky, Gus Bilirakis from Florida and Gary Palmer from Alaska — sent a letter to 23andMe interim Chief Executive Joe Selsavage on Thursday requesting answers to several questions by May 1.
The questions revolve around the fate of 23andMe’s genetic database, which includes DNA information from more than 15 million people. The congressmen asked the company how it would protect the data in an event of a sale and how it would vet potential buyers.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
23andMe declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March and received authorization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to sell substantially all its assets. The company, founded in 2006 and once valued at $6 billion, popularized at-home DNA test kits and spurred a trend of ancestry hunting and amateur criminal investigations.
But the venture failed to establish a sustainable business model, and as it struggles to stay afloat, experts, customers and government officials are worried genetic information could fall into the wrong hands.
“Given the lack of HIPAA protections, the patchwork of state laws covering genetic privacy, and the uncertainty surrounding what happens to customer information should a sale of the company or customer data and information transpire, we are concerned that this trove of sensitive information is at risk of being compromised,” the Energy and Commerce letter said.
Though any buyer of 23andMe must agree to comply with the company’s privacy policy, that policy can be unilaterally changed at any time, according to Sara Geoghegan, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
“I would be very concerned if I had given a swab to 23andMe,” Geoghegan said. “There is little we can do to control what happens to it.”
The bankruptcy filing prompted California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to issue a consumer alert urging customers to delete the data they had provided to the company.
“Given 23andMe’s reported financial distress, I remind Californians to consider invoking their rights and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company,” Bonta wrote.
The 23andMe website crashed following the warning as customers rushed to log in, the Wall Street Journal reported. Thursday’s letter raised the issue, noting that “customers are experiencing issues accessing and deleting their data.”
Guthrie, Bilirakis and Palmer are the latest government officials to voice concern over the situation. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Federal Trade Commission have also sent letters to 23andMe recently inquiring about data protection.
23andMe issued an open letter to customers in late March assuring them that their data would remain protected in the event of a sale.
Colin Gray, the father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect, won’t face a jury from Barrow County, where the shooting took place, a judge ruled on Thursday.
Gray, through his attorneys, had made a request to have the trial moved almost a month ago, citing Barrow County as a community where a feeling is “strongly set against him.”
Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm agreed there may be bias, but said he needs time to reach out to other judicial circuits to see if they can accommodate a three-week trial expected to start in September. “Venue will be changed, it will not be a Barrow County jury,” Primm said.
The judge said that the case may be moved to another locale, or else a jury from elsewhere could be shipped in for the trial.
In a hearing on Thursday, Gray’s attorney Jim Berry cited extensive publicity as one of the reasons the case should be moved to a different jurisdiction. He also cited multiple fundraisers and community events that showed support for the victims of the Sept. 4 shooting.
District Attorney Brad Smith agreed with changing the venue of the case, but not because of pre-trial publicity, noting that multiple news stations throughout the state and southeast had coverage relating to the school shooting.
“The reason the state is agreeing to change of venue from Barrow County is because all of Barrow County was a victim in this case,” Smith said.
Smith warned that moving the case to some smaller or far away counties could present its own issues, including witnesses being forced to travel long distances, potential costs, security concerns and lack of hotel spaces resulting in witnesses, defense attorneys and media staying in close proximity.
Smith suggested the case be moved to Walton County, which is located to the south of Barrow County, saying the demographics were similar to Barrow County. But he argued that only jury selection should be done there, and then the jury should be brought to the trial in Barrow.
Berry argued that the priority should be a location where an impartial jury can be seated, not the cheapest and more convenient option for attorneys and witnesses to the case.
“What we need to do is find a place where we can get an impartial and fair jury, I don’t think anywhere, within this epicenter, are we going to be able to find that,” Berry said, suggesting counties in South Georgia.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith testified that moving the trial out of his county would make it harder for his department to cover shifts because officers there and in neighboring counties may be witnesses in the case.
Smith said they did reach out to some of the counties Berry suggested, including Bryan County, and they were told that they would not be able to hold a trial of this magnitude.
Primm said he was concerned with the close proximity of Walton County, given that many people that live in that county could have friends or family that live in Barrow County.
“The closer we are to that epicenter, the more likely we are to have jurors who have been affected or experienced some of the pain of what happened,” Primm said.
Colin Gray remains in jail even though he was granted a $500,000 bond by Primm in February. He ordered Gray to be paid in cash and no contact with witnesses.
Gray has been held at the Barrow County Adult Detention Center since September. Prosecutors had asked for a bond of more than $1 million.
If he makes bond, Gray is expected to live with his sister in Cherokee County. During his bond hearing, Primm said he has seen no evidence about Gray potentially fleeing, being a danger to the community, committing a felony or intimidating witnesses.
The courtroom was once again packed with family and friends of the school shooting victims.
Gray is facing 29 charges, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, five counts of reckless conduct and 20 counts of child cruelty after prosecutors say he knowingly allowed his 14-year-old son, Colt Gray, to possess a gun. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
The teenager is charged in the Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School that left two students —Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall — dead. Nine others were injured.
Colt Gray was indicted on 55 charges including felony murder, malice murder, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree and aggravated assault. He pleaded not guilty, waived arraignment and did not appear in court in November.
Attorneys for Colt Gray also filed a motion to move the case out of Barrow County. In the motion, attorneys said they are seeking the venue change arguing it is necessary “to ensure Gray receives a fair trail before an impartial jury.”
Colt Gray’s attorneys also argue that the case had received extensive news coverage, which could impact the possibility of an impartial jury. A hearing has been scheduled for May 6 to deal with Colt Gray’s motion.
The prosecution of Colin Gray is believed to be the first of its kind in Georgia and only the second nationally, after the parents of a Michigan school shooter were convicted of involuntary manslaughter. In both cases, the parents were accused of ignoring warning signs that their children could be capable of violence and allowing the children access to guns.
According to the indictment, Colin Gray allowed his son, Colt Gray, “access to a firearm and ammunition after receiving sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger the bodily safety of another” and caused “with criminal negligence” the death of the four victims.
An American citizen was shot and killed by a passenger Thursday during his attempt to hijack a plane in Belize.
The incident occurred aboard a Tropic Air Belize flight with 13 other passengers onboard when Akinyela Sawa Taylor tried to take over the aircraft at knifepoint after it took off from Corozal toward Belize City.
He demanded more fuel for the plane and to be taken out of the country, according to police. Taylor had previously been refused entry to Belize and it remains under investigation how he boarded the plane.
As the flight circled while depleting fuel, a Belizean passenger carrying a licensed gun shot Taylor in the chest, local police said, according to ABC News. That person remains in critical condition after being stabbed in the back and lungs.
Two others also suffered knife wounds in the chaos, though their current conditions are unclear.
The plane landed safely nearly two hours later at an airport just outside Belize City, and was moments from running out of fuel, officials said.
“Earlier today, a Tropic Air flight faced a serious and unprecedented in-flight emergency,” Tropic Air CEO Maximillian Greif said in a statement. “In the face of incomprehensible pressure, our pilot acted with extraordinary courage and calm, guiding the aircraft to a safe landing. His actions were nothing short of heroic.”
Belize Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told local journalists the plane was followed by a helicopter in case a quick rescue operation needed to be mounted in the event of a crash.
The U.S. Embassy in Belize said it was working with local officials in their investigation.
The son of a Leon County Sheriff’s deputy killed two people at Florida State University and wounded six others on Thursday after gaining access to his mother’s handgun and going on a campus rampage, police said.
The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, was shot by officers and taken into custody before being transported to the hospital, according to police. He is believed to be an FSU student. His mother was assigned by the sheriff’s office to protect a local public school.
Police did not immediately release the names of the victims, six of whom were being treated in the hospital for their wounds. Authorities said during a Thursday afternoon press conference that the two people killed did not attend the school as students.
Florida State University students and faculty members wait in a grassy area near the student union, where the active shooting was reported. (Ana Ceballos/Miami Herald/TNS)
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell did not give a motive for the shooting. But Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil said the sheriff’s office knew the shooter well, as he was a member of the agency’s Youth Advisory Council.
“He has been steep in the Leon County Sheriff’s family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have … so it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” McNeil said.
The attack, which rattled students and sent police scrambling to the university’s Tallahassee campus, took place around noon. Police swarmed the university’s Tallahassee campus with guns drawn, responding to reports of gunfire near the student union. Students hid in classrooms and in the library.
A video recorded from behind bushes and shared with the Miami Herald by an FSU student showed an armed person striding calmly on the sidewalk, squaring up and taking at least three shots as people ran and screamed.
Near the shooting location, laptops, towels, backpacks and bottles of water were scattered in a grassy area, abandoned in a moment of panic.
“Everyone was running,” said 19-year-old freshman Raiden Paniagua, who was eating Chick-fil-A on a campus lawn when the mayhem began. “I was so scared.”
By 3:17 p.m., Tallahassee Police said they’d secured the campus, but were continuing to treat the student union and surrounding area as a crime scene. A Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare spokeswoman said six people were being treated in the hospital, one in critical condition.
News of the shooting reverberated in the Florida Capitol, which was briefly put on lockdown, and reached all the way to Washington.
“It’s horrible that things like this take place,” said President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters Thursday from the Oval Office.
‘Everyone’s angry’
Reports of a shooting on campus first emerged at 12:02 p.m. over the school’s emergency alert system.
“Continue to seek shelter and await further instructions,” the university told students. “Lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures.”
On campus, FSU student Victor Alonso, 19, was in his government class inside the HCB Classroom Building next to the student union when his phone lit up with alerts.
He read the message: an active shooter was on campus. “There’s no way,” he thought.
Moments later, panic broke out in his classroom. Alonso and other students scrambled to barricade the doors. He heard gunshots, followed by helicopters circling overhead.
Officers soon arrived at the door, shouting commands. “They made us go down the hall with our hands up,” Alonso told the Herald in an interview from his dorm room.
He said law enforcement kept relocating them across campus.
“They ended up evacuating us like four or five times to different buildings,” he said.
At one point, he sheltered in what he described as an AC repair unit, later huddling in a courtyard. He was finally allowed to return to his dorm about two hours after the initial alert.
“Everyone’s angry,” Alonso said. “I just don’t know how this can happen — it’s disgusting.”
Raeleen McDaniel, 26, was in a classroom watching a video about Korean history when she heard the gunshots.
“At first we thought it was the video, but then we realized it was real shots,” McDaniel said in an interview with the Herald.
McDaniel recalled seeing students running in the hallway and dropping down to the floor. Her classroom was located near the student union.
“People go there to study,” she said, visibly distraught as a friend comforted her. About two hours had passed since the shooting had been reported, and what had occurred was still sinking in.
“I knew that a shooting was something that was possible because it is so common, but I never thought it would happen to us,” she said.
Local and state police rushed to the scene, as well as agents from the FBI’s Jacksonville office.
Videos posted to social media shortly after the shooting was first reported showed students walking with their hands raised, and officers running with guns drawn. Later, videos showed police calmly directing students about where they could and couldn’t go on campus.
In the wake of the shooting, officers searched the campus, clearing rooms, using the word “Seminole” to let students know that it was safe to come out from hiding. Tallahassee Police told students to contact their families. They were offered rides to the The Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, which was set up as a family reunification center.
Classes for the rest of the week were canceled.
Details released by police
The handgun used during the shooting was the former service weapon of his mother, who was allowed to buy the weapon for her personal use, police said. The 20-year-old was also in possession of a shotgun, police confirmed.
“We have not confirmed anyone was shot with a shotgun but that could change,” FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said. At this point in the investigation, Trumbower said he did not believe the shotgun had been used.
McNeil said the sheriff’s deputy has not been suspended but added that there would be a thorough investigation into the matter.
A 22-year-old from Riverside and a 28-year-old from Fresno were identified Thursday, April 17, as the two Marines killed earlier this week when their vehicle rolled over on a road in New Mexico during a convoy movement to El Paso, Texas.
Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera, of Riverside, and Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino of Fresno, both combat engineers, died in the morning crash on Tuesday, April 15. They were among Camp Pendleton Marines deployed as part of the Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the command overseeing the troop deployment at the U.S. border with Mexico following an order by President Donald Trump in January.
Their loss “is deeply felt by all of us,” U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Tyrone Barrion, commanding officer for 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and Task Force Sapper, said in a statement. “I extend my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families of our fallen brothers. Our top priority right now is to ensure that their families, and the Marines affected by their passing, are fully supported during this difficult time.”
Aguilera enlisted in March 2023 and was promoted to lance corporal in May 2024, Marine officials said Thursday.
Gamino enlisted in May 2022 and was also promoted to lance corporal in August 2024. Both served with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division.
Gamino’s decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. He also deployed in 2024 to Darwin, Australia, with a Marine Rotational Force.
Another Marine with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion remains in critical condition and is being treated for their injuries, Marine officials said.
The three Marines were transported to University Medical Hospital in El Paso, where Aguilar and Gamino were pronounced dead, Marines said.
The Marines were part of Task Force Sapper, which is a military unit supporting the southern border mission, a Marine spokesman said earlier this week. The unit is responsible for reinforcing existing border barriers and fortifications, such as concertina wire and other physical barriers, to deter illegal crossings and enhance security.