Category: CNN Regional

By Jennifer Bisram

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A teenage basketball player is trying to stay hopeful as he recovers from a stray bullet shooting that happened at a Brooklyn bus stop over the weekend.

His injury is so severe, he is unsure if he will ever be able to walk again.

Nana Donkor, a 16-year-old junior at Far Rockaway High School in Queens, said he was waiting for a bus near East 16th Street and Avenue J in Midwood just before 5 p.m. Sunday when another teenager approached him.

“Some kid that looked very familiar to me came up to me, tapped me, and says, ‘Oh, what’s up, man? How are you doing?'” Donkor said. “I said, ‘Oh, what’s up?’ Gave him a dap.”

Then, Donkor says three teenagers in masks suddenly came out of nowhere.

“They let out their gun, and I heard the cock-back sound of the gun,” he said. “And I tried to take off, and I guess I was hit with a stray bullet.”

Donkor now has a bullet lodged in his spine.

“Hurts so much,” he told CBS News New York’s Jennifer Bisram on Wednesday.

Police said Donkor was not the intended target. No arrests have been made at this time, and police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to give them a call.

Donkor remains at Maimonides Medical Center with loved ones by his bedside.

“Praying a lot,” mother Daniella Boakye said. “And I have prayer warriors that has been supporting, the whole church, the family, all of them are supporting with prayers, so I know everything will be better. It’s just a matter of time.”

Donkor said he’s even praying for the person who pulled the trigger.

“I would just want him to apologize to me for what he did,” he said, “and you know, he’s a kid just like me, and I pray he lives his future and has a good life ahead of him, too.”

Donkor said he’s unsure if he will be able to walk, let alone play basketball again.

“If it doesn’t get better, then most likely I may not be able to play again,” he said. “That’s going to hurt.”

Still, he isn’t giving up.

“God is great, and I will be back on the court [sometime] soon,” he said.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Christina Fan, Dick Brennan, Doug Williams

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A New York University student was attacked while walking to class in Manhattan earlier this week, and police say the man in custody is a repeat offender with a history of assaulting women.

In an emotional video posted on social media, 20-year-old Amelia Lewis recounted the assault and demanded something be done to prevent the suspect from targeting others.

Surveillance video shows Lewis walking to class on Monday morning in Greenwich Village, when a man runs up behind her near Broadway and Waverly and appears to slap her on the backside and then shove her to the ground, knocking off her headphones.

Bystanders are seen frozen in shock before running to her aid.

“Just be aware when you’re walking anywhere right now in New York. I never thought this was going to happen to me, because I’ve seen the stories and I was like, oh that’s so scary. But having it actually happen now, it’s like oh my God,” Lewis said on her social media video.

Lewis then did her first interview, speaking on the “Megyn Kelly Show” on Sirius XM on Wednesday.

“I wanted to report this and after I did tell the cops, I let NYU security know to let students know that this man is going around doing this to other women,” Lewis said. “They also told me they were already aware of the man in the blue towel around his neck running around the city.

“It’s really sad. This is something that happens all the time in New York, and I really want to make sure I use my voice and keep others protected and also help other girls that have maybe gone through the same experience as I,” she added.

Police arrested 45-year-old James Rizzo in the attack and charged him with persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching and assault. According to the New York State Department of Corrections, Rizzo, who police sources say is homeless and has 16 prior arrests, was out on parole after serving time for sex abuse.

Police said Rizzo is also facing charges stemming from a string of four residential burglaries in Manhattan in the early morning hours on Tuesday, as well as two additional and unrelated attacks on women, including the random punching of a 59-year-old woman on Mercer Street in December 2023.

The other attack involved 68-year-old Dianne Brazell, of Houston, who was in New York last week for Thanksgiving. She said she was walking with her family on Fifth Avenue in Midtown when, out of nowhere, a man started screaming obscenities in her face.

“And then he seemed to step back for a moment. I thought he was going to leave, and the next thing I knew, I was slammed into a plate glass,” Brazell said.

She was dazed and bruised as people scrambled to help her.

“I have a laceration in my forehead that required six stitches. I have a bruise on my left leg from my knee to my ankle,” she said. “I have a bruise on my left shoulder. I bit my tongue.”

Despite the attack, Brazell said she has no problem returning to New York. In fact, she was overwhelmed by all the support she got.

“It just renewed my faith that even though there are some very bad people among us, there are many more wonderful people,” she said.

Rizzo was expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday night.

On NYU’s campus on Tuesday and Wednesday, nearly every young woman had seen the disturbing video.

“My dad sent it to me. He was like, ‘You’ve got to stop walking around with your noise-canceling headphones on, because it could be you in another world,'” student Jules Fang said.

“It was really disgusting to see that happen, because she was literally just like minding her business,” Victoria Valenzuela said.

“I think it’s kind of scary in New York City to be a woman,” Ella Filler said. “I’m actually hoping my parents never see the video because they would freak out.”

“Something happens like that and you just get on your toes a little bit more because you never know what’s gonna happen,” Bela Ahn added.

An NYU spokesperson responded to the incident, saying the school takes it seriously and is continuing to offer support to Lewis.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

WCBS

By Christina Fan, Dick Brennan, Doug Williams

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK (WCBS) — A New York University student was attacked while walking to class in Manhattan earlier this week, and police say the man in custody is a repeat offender with a history of assaulting women.

In an emotional video posted on social media, 20-year-old Amelia Lewis recounted the assault and demanded something be done to prevent the suspect from targeting others.

Surveillance video shows Lewis walking to class on Monday morning in Greenwich Village, when a man runs up behind her near Broadway and Waverly and appears to slap her on the backside and then shove her to the ground, knocking off her headphones.

Bystanders are seen frozen in shock before running to her aid.

“Just be aware when you’re walking anywhere right now in New York. I never thought this was going to happen to me, because I’ve seen the stories and I was like, oh that’s so scary. But having it actually happen now, it’s like oh my God,” Lewis said on her social media video.

Lewis then did her first interview, speaking on the “Megyn Kelly Show” on Sirius XM on Wednesday.

“I wanted to report this and after I did tell the cops, I let NYU security know to let students know that this man is going around doing this to other women,” Lewis said. “They also told me they were already aware of the man in the blue towel around his neck running around the city.

“It’s really sad. This is something that happens all the time in New York, and I really want to make sure I use my voice and keep others protected and also help other girls that have maybe gone through the same experience as I,” she added.

Police arrested 45-year-old James Rizzo in the attack and charged him with persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching and assault. According to the New York State Department of Corrections, Rizzo, who police sources say is homeless and has 16 prior arrests, was out on parole after serving time for sex abuse.

Police said Rizzo is also facing charges stemming from a string of four residential burglaries in Manhattan in the early morning hours on Tuesday, as well as two additional and unrelated attacks on women, including the random punching of a 59-year-old woman on Mercer Street in December 2023.

The other attack involved 68-year-old Dianne Brazell, of Houston, who was in New York last week for Thanksgiving. She said she was walking with her family on Fifth Avenue in Midtown when, out of nowhere, a man started screaming obscenities in her face.

“And then he seemed to step back for a moment. I thought he was going to leave, and the next thing I knew, I was slammed into a plate glass,” Brazell said.

She was dazed and bruised as people scrambled to help her.

“I have a laceration in my forehead that required six stitches. I have a bruise on my left leg from my knee to my ankle,” she said. “I have a bruise on my left shoulder. I bit my tongue.”

Despite the attack, Brazell said she has no problem returning to New York. In fact, she was overwhelmed by all the support she got.

“It just renewed my faith that even though there are some very bad people among us, there are many more wonderful people,” she said.

Rizzo was expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday night.

On NYU’s campus on Tuesday and Wednesday, nearly every young woman had seen the disturbing video.

“My dad sent it to me. He was like, ‘You’ve got to stop walking around with your noise-canceling headphones on, because it could be you in another world,'” student Jules Fang said.

“It was really disgusting to see that happen, because she was literally just like minding her business,” Victoria Valenzuela said.

“I think it’s kind of scary in New York City to be a woman,” Ella Filler said. “I’m actually hoping my parents never see the video because they would freak out.”

“Something happens like that and you just get on your toes a little bit more because you never know what’s gonna happen,” Bela Ahn added.

An NYU spokesperson responded to the incident, saying the school takes it seriously and is continuing to offer support to Lewis.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Chris Reed

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    CEDAR CITY, Utah (KSTU) — A Southern Utah University student has launched an online search to find the mystery person who restored his faith in humanity after going far out of their way to do the right thing.

Freshman Karson Thomas had left class and was headed to his car Monday when he came home and realized his wallet was left behind in the parking lot.

“I didn’t even realize it was gone until my sister had called me and told me that someone had returned my wallet. So I didn’t even know it was gone until it was returned,” Thomas said Wednesday.

Door cameras are keen to catch porch pirates in the act of stealing people’s packages, but this time, a camera at Thomas’ parents’ St. George home caught a porch provider.

Thomas estimated he had been without his wallet for about an hour, and since St. George was a 50-minute drive from school, he believes the Good Samaritan must have decided right away to return the wallet.

In the video, the unidentified person can be seen nervously approaching the door with Thomas’ wallet.

“It really put in perspective that even though they might not have felt comfortable
returning it and driving all the way down, they still knew it was the right thing to do and they still did it anyway,” said Thomas.

Almost immediately, Thomas posted the video to social media as he sought to learn the identity of the mystery person. But it didn’t take long for someone to comment that the story of someone doing the right thing couldn’t be true in this day and age.

“Someone was saying … I think this is AI. And that actually surprised me so bad because I was like,
this is not AI. I downloaded this off my Ring camera. This is a real-life thing!” Thomas said.

Thomas and his band of online detectives have leads on who this Good Samaritan is, even coming up with a name. They’re pretty sure that, like Thomas, the person is also a student at Southern Utah University.

“I have a picture of my girlfriend in [the wallet], and it is very important to me,” Thomas shared. “She gave it to me on our first date … if I lost that, I don’t know what I would do.

“Usually, you don’t see people doing that, and it really restored my faith in humanity and the people around me.”

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Leondra Head

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — For many young Black ballerinas, something as simple as finding ballet shoes that match their skin tone can feel like an uphill battle, one that affects their confidence, sense of belonging, and visibility in an art form long shaped by Eurocentric standards.

An Atlanta entrepreneur is trying to change that.

In her Eagle’s Landing dance studio, 17-year-old Amira Lewis dips a makeup brush into a compact, brushing foundation across her pale ballet slippers — a ritual she’s repeated for years.

“When I was younger, I remember going into a dance store and I could not find my color,” she said. “They didn’t have the color that was closest to my skin tone.”

Ballet tradition calls for shoes that match a dancer’s legs, creating a seamless line that gives the illusion of dancing barefoot. But for dancers like Amira, that meant extra labor.

“I would always have to paint my jazz shoes, ballet shoes with makeup so they would match my tights and skin tone,” she said. “I would paint them every competition because the makeup would rub off on stage.”

The constant blending, matching, repainting was frustrating.

“It was disappointing,” she said. “It made me feel like I didn’t belong.”

That feeling is exactly what Atlanta-based entrepreneur and former dancer Jamia Ramsey set out to address.

Ramsey launched Blendz in 2018 after growing up in studios where dancers still wore “pink and tan tights that mostly matched fair skin tones.”

“Not having the right dancewear makes you feel like you don’t belong,” Ramsey said. “I wanted to make sure the next generation had shoes and tights that matched their skin tone.”

Blendz now offers four inclusive shades — Tan, Brazen Brown, Mahogany, and CoCo — designed specifically with young dancers of color in mind.

For Amira, that changed everything.

“When I got my ballet shoes, my confidence grew,” she said.

Dance instructors have long struggled to find products that reflect the diversity of their students.

“We have tried every brand you can imagine for different skin tones,” said Vanessa Gibson, owner of Eagle’s Landing Dance Center. “Blendz is the only one out of the many we’ve tried that comes closest to all of the girls’ skin tones.”

Ramsey personally fits dancers, including helping parents and kids find the right shade.

“To be here and have a brand that supports our skin tone gives us hope,” one mother told CBS News Atlanta.

When asked what shade he’d wear if he were a dancer, Ramsey told CBS News Atlanta: “Our Brazen Brown. It matches [my] skin tone.”

Amira has big dreams: becoming a professional ballerina.

And while shoes won’t determine the outcome, representation matters, especially in a discipline where so many young Black girls still struggle to see themselves.

With the right shade, the right support, and a stage that finally reflects her, Amira says she feels one step closer.

“The right shoes,” she said, “help me shine.”

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

WBZ

By Brandon Truitt

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    BILLERICA, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Police in Billerica, Massachusetts delivered more than a dozen Amazon packages that have been found on the road. It happened on two occasions in just as many weeks.

It started the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Billerica Police Officer Sam Hawkes was making his rounds near the Market Basket on Boston Road when he drove up on eight Amazon packages laying in the middle of the road.

Instead of moving them off the street or throwing them away, Officer Hawkes called in back up. He and his fellow officers filled the back of two cruisers and hand delivered the packages themselves.

“They were in the middle of the road, so I got out thinking they were trash and [thought about] just pushing them closer to the dumpsters there. But then I found out they were full packages with orders inside,” said Hawkes. “I didn’t want to just leave them. There was nobody around. No cameras to help see what happened back there. That was the first thing we were looking for.”

One of those packages belonged to John Thomas’s wife. He was watching a football game on TV last week when he got a knock at the door. To his surprise, Billerica police officers were on the other side. “I walked out to get it, and I was like oh boy what happened now,” Thomas joked. “[My wife] came down and I said the police are here for you. I made a joke of it, and she said, yeah that’s my package.”

Cut to this week when officers found another eight Amazon packages laying on the side of Salem Road on the other side of town. The officer who found those packages provided the same courtesy and hand delivered the packages to their rightful owners.

Amazon said they were working with the Billerica Police Department on this but would not comment further.

Officer Tom Cranson helped pick up some of the packages off the road. “We all have to help each other out,” said Officer Cranson. “It is obviously stressful during the holidays so just to get people’s packages back was a huge stress reliever for everybody.”

Their efforts go above and beyond for the people whose deliveries were saved. “They have a lot of other things to do besides delivering packages, and I was very appreciative,” said Thomas.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Brandon Truitt

Click here for updates on this story

    BILLERICA, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Police in Billerica, Massachusetts delivered more than a dozen Amazon packages that have been found on the road. It happened on two occasions in just as many weeks.

It started the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Billerica Police Officer Sam Hawkes was making his rounds near the Market Basket on Boston Road when he drove up on eight Amazon packages laying in the middle of the road.

Instead of moving them off the street or throwing them away, Officer Hawkes called in back up. He and his fellow officers filled the back of two cruisers and hand delivered the packages themselves.

“They were in the middle of the road, so I got out thinking they were trash and [thought about] just pushing them closer to the dumpsters there. But then I found out they were full packages with orders inside,” said Hawkes. “I didn’t want to just leave them. There was nobody around. No cameras to help see what happened back there. That was the first thing we were looking for.”

One of those packages belonged to John Thomas’s wife. He was watching a football game on TV last week when he got a knock at the door. To his surprise, Billerica police officers were on the other side. “I walked out to get it, and I was like oh boy what happened now,” Thomas joked. “[My wife] came down and I said the police are here for you. I made a joke of it, and she said, yeah that’s my package.”

Cut to this week when officers found another eight Amazon packages laying on the side of Salem Road on the other side of town. The officer who found those packages provided the same courtesy and hand delivered the packages to their rightful owners.

Amazon said they were working with the Billerica Police Department on this but would not comment further.

Officer Tom Cranson helped pick up some of the packages off the road. “We all have to help each other out,” said Officer Cranson. “It is obviously stressful during the holidays so just to get people’s packages back was a huge stress reliever for everybody.”

Their efforts go above and beyond for the people whose deliveries were saved. “They have a lot of other things to do besides delivering packages, and I was very appreciative,” said Thomas.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Alyssa Gomez

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    NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) — With Border Patrol agents expected to begin sweeps in New Orleans this week, some Hispanic businesses are temporarily closing their doors in fear of being targeted.

Walking into Las Carnitas Restaurant 2 around brunch, there is just one lone customer. It’s a sight owner, Juan Torres, is not surprised to see.

“You see the streets, no cars, no people, no nothing, ” said Torres.

While one of his restaurants is open, the other is closed. With immigration sweeps happening any day now, he says people are fearful and simply staying home.

“You have a limited amount of foot traffic coming into those small businesses and then on the back end of that, you also have a large population of Latinos who are also working in those businesses,” said Lindsay Navarro, Founder and CEO of El Centro.

El Centro works with Hispanic entrepreneurs in the New Orleans area to help establish their businesses. Navarro says her customers are concerned they’ll be racially profiled, regardless of their status.

“There is a culture that’s been created in this city, a welcoming culture that celebrates individuality, that celebrates other countries, and so for us to lose even a piece of that is pokes a hole in the fabric that we’ve worked so hard to create,” said Navarro.

According to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, it is not solely Hispanic businesses that will suffer, but rather the state’s economy as a whole.

“Those businesses also need suppliers for their good and services products that they sell, but if they’re not selling, they’re not producing, then they don’t need that, so it’s a revolving door, and at the end of the day, it impacts everyone,” Chamber President Mayra Pineda said.

Pineda says the Chamber is offering resources online for businesses to best prepare ahead of the immigration sweep.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

WBZ

By Aaron Parseghian

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    IPSWICH, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A woman was severely injured after she was thrown off her horse on a trail in Ipswich, Massachusetts. She said a man on a mountain bike spooked the horse, which later died.

“It’s unfortunate that I’m so incapacitated right now,” Rosie Kennedy said from her bed at a rehab facility in Beverly Wednesday.

Back on November 21, she was riding her 8-year-old horse “Pops” on a trail in Ipswich, when she said a man on a mountain bike zipped past some railroad tracks and turned onto the trail.

“Pops just lost his mind, he was just terrified. He reared and he spun, and he started to gallop,” Kennedy said. She was thrown to the ground and dragged about 10 feet.

“The last thing I remember is hearing Pops galloping away at warp speed, and I never saw him again,” she said through tears. While injured on the ground, Kennedy said she asked the cyclist to identify himself.

“I was probably not polite at that time, I said ‘What are you doing riding along railroad tracks?’ I said it three times and he just left,” she recalled.

Kennedy managed to take a photo of him. She then crawled for a half hour to get back to the barn, where an ambulance picked her up. Pops was found on a farm nearby with life-threatening injuries. A veterinarian determined it was more humane to put him down.

Kennedy ended up with a shattered left ankle and a severely damaged right knee. She said the physical injuries pale in comparison to the loss of her horse.

“Sometimes you can’t control the situation and then a terrible tragedy occurs,” Kennedy said. “It just breaks my heart to think that he ran off running for his life with basically a fatal injury,” she said. “That’s hard to deal with.”

Kennedy chose to speak publicly about the incident to raise awareness about trail safety.

“There have been a lot of bicyclists who’ve moved in the past five or 10 years and have enjoyed our trails,” Kennedy said. “But not every trail is meant for a bicyclist to zoom around corners. Horses have the right of way no matter where they are.”

She added that approaching a horse quickly, whether on a bike or on foot, can be dangerous.

“Under no circumstances should any bicyclist or any pedestrian ever come up fast behind a horse. That is terrifying to them. And it was terrifying to Pops,” Kennedy said. “I think this accident has caused people to think about it very clearly and perhaps make some changes in the way that trails are opened, traversed at home.”

Ipswich police said they are looking into the incident, but no charges have been filed at this point in the investigation.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.