Category: CNN Regional

By Trish Hartman and WPVI Digital Staff

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    GALLOWAY TWP., New Jersey (WPVI) — An actor has been charged in a road rage shooting that led to a lockdown at Stockton University on Thursday.

Ernest Wesley Heinz, 46, of Port Republic, has been arrested and charged with attempted homicide, according to police.

According to his profile on IMDB, he has had several minor roles in movies and TV shows, along with the video game series Resident Evil.

Police released one of Heinz’s social media profile photos while announcing his arrest on Friday.

Galloway Township police responded to a 911 call for a shooting on W. Jimmie Leeds Road near the area of Redwood Avenue around 12:52 p.m.

It happened while two cars were at a red light.

“As they approached the light, the male yelled at her, reached his hand out the window and fired a single shot,” said Capt. Mark D’Esposito of the Galloway Twp. Police Dept.

According to court documents, the woman told police she had her turn signal on and was trying to merge when the suspect vehicle cut her off.

When she arrived at the light, she said the suspect cursed at her and threatened to kill her when he pulled out a gun and fired.

When officers arrived, they found the victim with a wound to her upper nose.

“Fortunately, it didn’t look like it caught anything major and she was able to maintain consciousness and speak to our officers. We’re very grateful she’s okay,” said D’Esposito.

She told police the alleged gunman fled north on Vera King Ferris Drive, which is on the campus of Stockton University.

The victim was able to describe her attacker to police, as well as his vehicle, which she said was a white Honda SUV.

Detectives said the investigation led them to Heinz, who was taken into custody later Thursday at a residence in the Blue Herron Pines Development.

Police said they also executed search warrants on three Port Republic residences, another in Galloway Township, as well as two vehicles.

A shelter-in-place order was in effect during that time for the campus as police spent hours searching the area. It was lifted roughly three hours later.

Stockton University President Joe Bertolino put out a statement saying the shelter in place was out of an abundance of caution.

“I recognize how unsettling it can be to receive an alert like that, and I want to commend you for your patience, understanding, and commitment to following the guidance provided,” he wrote.

Heinz is being held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility. We attempted to contact his family or an attorney but so far we haven’t heard back.

Heinz is due to appear in court for a detention hearing this week.

The university resumed normal operations on Friday.

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By Corey Davis

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    PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia police are searching for a man who shot a store clerk in the face Sunday night. They are also questioning two men accused of picking up money that the robber left behind, instead of helping the victim.

Action News was there the moment officers were patting down the men outside the Bridge Market and Wireless Store.

The store is located at the corner of Bridge St. and Torresdale Ave. in the city’s Frankford section.

The men are not accused of shooting the store employee, but police say officers saw them on surveillance video.

“Several minutes later after that store employee was shot, several other individuals entered the rear of that establishment and began to pick up proceeds from that robbery,” said Capt. Tyrell McCoy, with the Philadelphia Police Department.

Police said this all started when a man entered the store around 11 p.m. Sunday, as the employee was counting money behind bullet proof glass.

Investigators said the suspect was able to put the gun through an opening in the glass and shot the employee in the face.

Officers said the suspect was facing away from the surveillance camera, but they’re working on getting additional angles.

“We just know there was male dressed in all black clothing, pulled out that fire arm, shot one time and then after he was able to pick up as much money as he could he actually fled,” McCoy said.

Investigators said the 27-year-old victim survived and that officers rushed him to the hospital.

Northeast detectives are not sure yet if the others who picked up the cash off the floor were involved in planning any of the robbery or whether they just tried to take advantage of the situation.

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By Allison Petro

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    Florida (WESH) — A Florida woman jumped into action after an alligator dragged her puppy during a walk.

Danie Wright said she took her 4-month-old puppy for a walk along a creek behind her home when a 5-foot alligator bit her dog’s collar and then dragged it underwater.

Wright said she continuously punched the gator’s eye.

“I just punched and punched and punched, and I punched him in the eye enough that he kind of let go, like, he unclamped a little,” Wright said. “But his teeth were like here and just dragged down my arm.”

The gator was able to camouflage itself in floating water moss, which resembled turf. Wright said this was the first time she had seen an alligator in the area.

Trappers and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came and caught the alligator.

Wildlife officials said it’s common for alligators to target dogs.

Wright is now encouraging dog owners to be more alert, especially when walking near water.

“I learned to be more alert,” Wright said. “Leave your phone at home, you know, pay attention.”

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By Allison Petro, Bob Hazen

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    DELTONA, Florida (WESH) — Two boys were arrested after an elementary school in Deltona was vandalized over the weekend, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a fire alarm at Friendship Elementary School, where they discovered a shattered glass door and the media center ransacked.

Surveillance cameras captured two boys believed to be responsible for the vandalism.

Deputies said a 13-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy were later turned in by their mothers.

The boys were accused of breaking into the school during the day and later returning at night to cause more damage.

The body camera footage showed the aftermath of the incident, including overturned tables, scattered books, graffiti on the walls and a shattered glass door.

Deputies stated that the two boys confessed to the incident, which resulted in at least $50,000 in damage to the school’s media center.

They are each charged with two counts of burglary, two counts of trespassing on school grounds, criminal mischief and theft, according to the VSO.

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By Ted Wayman, Imani Clement

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    MILFORD, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Dozens of people gathered at a rally Sunday in Milford after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents briefly detained a 16-year-old student.

Video from traffic surveillance cameras showed Gustavo Oliveira, 16, traveling as a passenger in a white car before he was stopped by two ICE agents in downtown Milford.

Oliveira’s friends said he was detained by the agents and later released.

The traffic stop drew the attention of a large crowd as ICE agents questioned the teenager.

Oliveira’s friends said Gustavo is a student at Milford High School and is originally from Brazil.

Supporters on Sunday said they wanted to offer immigrant families their support.

“This week, another young man was detained by ICE. Gustavo was soon released, but this is the second time a young man on the cusp of adulthood has had to act with courage and grace, as we have to ask ourselves who we are as a community,” one attendee said.

Tina Ryan was among the 75 supporters who showed up at the rally.

“We’ve been delivering food to families who cannot leave home and don’t have transportation,” Ryan said. “We’re here today because we’re saddened and disgusted that ICE keeps destroying families.”

Oliveira’s friends said he is OK but was shaken up by what happened.

“They should not have gotten him because he is under 18, and he started really crying in the car,” one friend said.

In May, another Milford High School student, Marcelo Gomes da Silva, was detained for his undocumented status following a traffic stop while he was on his way to volleyball practice.

Gomes da Silva was released from ICE custody after nearly a week, his story igniting a firestorm surrounding immigration policy in Massachusetts.

On Sunday morning, ICE agents detained another man who was traveling in a minivan while on Concord Street in Sudbury.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, was eventually taken away by ICE agents, while the female passenger he was with was left behind in their van.

WCVB reached out to ICE for comment on the Milford and Sudbury arrests, but has not heard back.

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By Alexis Crandall

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    ESSEX JUNCTION, Vermont (WPTZ) — Fall is right around the corner and that means you might be thinking about Halloween. But your search for the perfect pumpkin for a jack-o’-lantern may be harder this year.

The pumpkin farming season goes back to May and June when the seeds are planted. For some farms, including Paul Mazza’s in Essex Junction, wet soil made it harder.

“The spring made it actually really hard to get a lot of planting done because most fields were so wet you couldn’t get your tractor into them,” said farm stand manager, Kaity Mazza. “So, pumpkins went in a little bit later than we had preferred. But they still seem to be arriving on time and in good quality. Thankfully, it came around.”

They were worried about the drought, but while their crops recovered, other farms across the state weren’t as lucky.

“People don’t have a crop of pumpkins or squash because of things that happened in May or June and then we went into a drought, so compounding effects of that,” said Heather Darby, an agronomist with University of Vermont Extension. “Then other people I’ve talked to have a bumper crop of good quality pumpkins.”

At Whitcomb Farm’s new location in Essex Junction, they’re having a great year. They attribute the abundance to their land, which used to be a field of grass.

“It’s one of the best crops we’ve had in the 23 years. We thought the drought there might have hurt us, but they say once pumpkin plants are established and they’ve pollinated, we’ve got some what they call virgin pumpkin land here,” said Mary Whitcomb.

Whitcomb says their new farm is less flood-prone, which was one of the reasons for their move. It opens to the public next Saturday, Sept. 20.

At Paul Mazza’s, they have a new pumpkin house for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

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By Sarah Horbacewicz

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    EVERGREEN, Colorado (KCNC) — Just outside Evergreen, Colorado, high school senior Judah Cox finds his voice through music.

“This is how I process a lot of things. I’ll just play music. So this was just my backbone,” Judah Cox said, “Every day I at least, I kind of sit down and write a song or two.”

Before heading to Evergreen High School each day, he spends his mornings in a live music class down the road, where he was on Wednesday when he got a call from his mom.

Mom Vivian Cox said, “It hit me that Judah wasn’t there yet, and so I’m calling him and telling him to stay where he was, but I just kept screaming to my younger son, ‘Don’t hang up. Don’t you. Hang up on me!'”

At 12:24 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, there was a shooting at Evergreen High School. The student shooter killed himself and shot and injured two classmates. Both Judah and his brother got home safely – but shaken.

“I almost lost my children. And that’s not what any parent ever wants to think about. Is their child running for his life? That’s just not. That’s your worst nightmare come true,” Vivian Cox said.

Judah Cox added, “You hear about it all the time on the news, and it’s just horrible. But then you’re like, well, it’s not going to be my school, and then it is, and you can’t do anything about it.”

So he did the only thing he knew to share his feelings, the only way he knew how, back at his keyboard.

“But as soon as I started writing the lyrics, that’s when I really knew that this song was different. And I was just bawling at the piano as I wrote this,” Judah Cox.

The song begins saying, “When it happens in your hometown on the streets of groom up on it’s too close, when I get the call from my mama telling me my brother is still in that place.”

Judah decided to share the song on social media, and it struck a chord, one line in the song, “I don’t believe it’s about inclusion. Lord, I pray it’s about reunion with you someday.”

In just days, the song has now been heard around the world and played more than two million times.

Vivian Cox explains, “To see the impact on 2.5 million people to have that many people say, hey, me too. Like this, this in so many people that have even said, like, I don’t even believe in God, but this song made me cry.”

“It made a lot of my friends cry, which is hard to hear, but like, also, I think we all needed that,” Judah Cox said.

And as schools stay closed in Evergreen, Judah Cox plans to keep writing and help a healing community find its voice.

“I don’t understand why all this has to happen all the time. Like, this isn’t how high school is supposed to be,” Judah Cox said, “Now that I know that that song has been seen by that many people, it really brings me hope.”

“He’s taken some of the… I hope are the darkest moments of his life… and turned them all around and just reminded us that there is good and there is hope,” Vivian Cox said.

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By Spencer Wilson

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    DENVER, Colorado (KCNC) — After yet another Colorado school shooting, Nicole Hockley of Sandy Hook Promise’s message carries both grief and urgency. Her youngest son was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre more than a decade ago. Within weeks, she co-founded non-profit Sandy Hook Promise with one mission: to stop other families from enduring what she lives with every day.

“This is exhausting,” Hockley said in an interview with CBS Colorado following the Evergreen High School shooting. “I think one of the most exhausting things about this is that these acts are preventable. We have the solutions that we know work, and sometimes we just don’t have the will to make them happen.”

Since its founding, Sandy Hook Promise has trained millions of students and educators nationwide to recognize warning signs of violence. Hockley says those efforts have prevented more than 1,000 youth suicides and stopped at least 18 planned school shootings.

For her, the work is proof that prevention is possible; if people choose to act.

“We should be feeling this and saying, ‘This is unacceptable,'” Hockley said. “This is not the way America should be. There is a way to prevent these tragedies, and we need to move past normalizing this or being desensitized. None of us wants this to happen in our community, so why do we accept it when it happens to someone else?”

Hockley said the conversation should not pit mental health against gun safety. The organization says that you cannot stop these attacks without both focuses.

“There is an escalating pathway to violence that often starts with isolation or rejection,” Hockley explained. “But then you couple that with access to a weapon, and that’s when you have the tragedy. This is about the combination.”

Colorado, she noted, is on the right track with its anonymous reporting system, which allows students to safely speak up when they see warning signs. It’s the kind of tool Sandy Hook Promise advocates for: practical, bipartisan and designed to save lives.

For Hockley, the fight is as personal as it gets. She admits the rage and grief of Sandy Hook never leave her, but she channels them into a single mission, keeping children safe.

“Our kids don’t have the politics. They just want to be safe in their schools, homes and communities,” she said. “We adults have a duty to respond to that.”

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