Family of 62-year-old man beaten on CTA bus on West Side speaks out; 2 teens charged in attack

CNN Newsource on December 23, 2025

By Jeramie Bizzle, Jermont Terry

Click here for updates on this story

    CHICAGO (WBBM) — As the cta says it’s ramping up safety protocols on buses and trains, following a string of violent attacks, the family of a man brutally beaten on a bus is speaking out.

Larry Gilkey, 62, was badly hurt after being attacked by three teens on a bus on the West Side. Two of those teens were charged on Monday night.

Gilkey spent days in a medically induced coma with severe bleeding in his brain. Injuries from when three teens attacked and robbed him on the Chicago Transit Authority bus. His family said their loved one is in the hospital only after he tried helping one of the teens who targeted him.

For nearly a week, Gilkey could not speak as doctors tried to reduce internal bleeding in his head.

“He’s one of the people who taught me everything I know,” said Tavarris Harvey, nephew.

Harvey couldn’t believe the call he received to rush to the emergency room.

“My uncle Terry called me, which is Larry’s identical twin brother. He called me hysterically crying and could barely explain what was going on,” he said.

Harvey arrived to find one uncle standing at the bedside of his twin.

“I just see him connected to all types of machines,” he said.

Chicago police would later tell him three teenagers viciously attacked his loving uncle while on a CTA bus along Cicero and Flournoy in West Garfield Park.

One of three teens asked for money to get on the bus, and just as Gilkey pulled out his wallet to help out, the other two jumped the 62-year-old.

“I feel like it was a setup, just the bait and switch to see if a person actually has some money on them,” Harvey said.

The teen either stomped his uncle in the head or his head hit an object during the attack, resulting in Gilkey being taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in a coma for nearly a week.

Two of those teens in the attack were charged on Monday night.

A boy and a girl, both 15, were charged with felony counts of aggravated battery to a transit employee, aggravated battery to a person over 60, and aggravated battery with great bodily harm to a person over 60.

The girl was also charged with attempting to steal a vehicle on Dec. 21, in the 5600 block of West Bloomingdale Avenue, according to police.

Charges are still pending for a third person from the incident, police said.

“They should be held accountable. It shouldn’t be any break, they should be treated like adults,” Harvey said.

The family set up a GoFundMe to help with mounting medical bills just days before the holidays.

“He has a long way to go, and he’s gonna need extra care at home,” Harvey said.

Gilkey is out of that coma, and I’m told he gave thumbs up and a smile when told about the arrest.

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

Frozen shrimp sold at Illinois Jewel-Osco stores recalled for radioactive contamination

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Sara Tenenbaum

Click here for updates on this story

    ILLINOIS (WBBM) — Some brands of frozen shrimp sold at Illinois Jewel-Osco stores are being recalled because of possible exposure to a radioactive contaminant.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Direct Source Seafood LLC in Bellevue, Washington, issued the recall Friday for approximately 83,800 bags of frozen raw shrimp imported from Indonesia. The shrimp, which was sold under the Market 32 and Waterfront Bistro brands, may have been prepared, packed or held in unsanitary conditions in which they may have been contaminated by cesium-137.

Cesium-137, or Cs-137, is a manmade radioisotope of cesium. While its presence in trace amounts is widespread, it can also be present at higher levels in water or foods grown, raised or produced in areas that have environmental contamination, the FDA said. Over time, longer term repeated low-dose exposure to Cs-137 could increase the risk of cancer.

The shrimp sold in Illinois were sold under the Waterfront Bistro brand, at Jewel-Osco stores on or after June 30, 2025.

The FDA said no illnesses have yet been reported. If you have any of the recalled shrimp, you should dispose of it or return it to the store from which you purchased the shrimp for a refund. The FDA warns not to consume this product.

Earlier this year, Walmart recalled Great Value shrimp after warnings it too may have been contaminated with Cs-137.

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

100 animals rescued from Georgia home in suspected hoarding case, officials say

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Dan Raby

Click here for updates on this story

    HALL COUNTY, Georgia (WUPA) — A call about a possible animal hoarding case in Hall County led officials to discover 100 animals living at a Gainesville home, authorities said.

Officials with the Hall County Government said that Animal Control officers responded to the call at the home on Honeysuckle Road on Friday morning.

Animal control rescued 82 dogs, seven cats, eight rabbits, one horse, one bird, and a fish.

“While not currently available for rescue, all animals are in the care of the Hall County Animal Shelter, receiving appropriate veterinary evaluation and care,” a statement from the county reads.

The case remains under investigation by Hall County Animal Control.

Officials have not shared any additional details about the case or whether anyone will face any charges. The condition of the animals has also not been released.

Anyone interested in supporting the animals in the care of the Hall County Animal Shelter can make donations to the Friends of Hall County Animal Services Fund.

The shelter is open for adoptions and fosters from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. More information is available online at Hall County’s website.

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

California woman crashes into burglar’s car after they tried to steal from her home

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Laurie Perez, Dean Fioresi

Click here for updates on this story

    SHERMAN OAKS, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Intense security camera video shows the moments that a Sherman Oaks woman slams into an alleged burglar’s car after they tried to steal from her home in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon.

A man, only wishing to be identified as David, says that his wife had left to get coffee a little before noon and was on the phone with her mother, who was still at home with their three young children.

“All of a sudden, her mom started screaming, ‘Help, help, help,'” David said. “They jumped the front gate, they came to the back to probably broke the sliding door to go in and they faced my mother-in-law, and they run away.”

Before they could get off the property, David said his wife was already on her way back home. The dramatic video shows her Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon speeding down their street and slamming into the alleged suspect’s white sedan before coming to a stop in the front yard.

“At that time those two guys was trying to run away and then she’s just, she was in panic. She lost control and ‘boom’ she hit them from the side,” David said.

After the crash, the video shows three different suspects running from the area on foot.

David says that his wife was worried someone would kill her mom or children.

“She doesn’t even care what’s gonna happen with the car, or whoever, you know,” he said.

Though the crash wasn’t intentional, it may have been helpful, David believes. He said that when Los Angeles police arrived and searched the car, they found a wallet with a driver’s license inside. They also discovered burglary tools like a red crowbar and a walkie-talkie that was tuned to the LAPD’s radio scanner.

David and his family are hopeful that their scare will help motivate police to find the would-be burglars and stop them before they can try the same thing at another house. He believes that they were professional criminals, stating that they not only cut the WiFi to the house and their Ring camera, but that there were multiple license plates inside the car as well.

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

Officer’s radio saves them from a bullet during shooting involving Albuquerque police

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Amari Saxton & Julian Paras

Click here for updates on this story

    ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — Albuquerque Police say an officer was shot, but not hurt thanks to something every officer carries on them.

“This shot struck the officer in the chest” said Chief Harold Medina. “His radio saved his life. The bullet is lodged in the radio.”

APD says on Sunday afternoon officers were looking for a repeat auto theft offender, with two outstanding felony warrants.

Officers found the man in the area of Coors Boulevard and Iliff Road.

As they tried to arrest him, there was a struggle, and police say the man shot the officer.

A second officer fired back hitting the man.

That man is in critical condition.

Police have not identified him.

They do say the suspect has a criminal history, dating back 15 years.

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

Possible shark encounter reported as woman remains missing off Lovers Point

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Jacquelyn Quinones

Click here for updates on this story

    PACIFIC GROVE, California (KSBW) — A search-and-rescue operation is underway in Pacific Grove after a 55-year-old woman went missing during a weekly open-water swim near Lovers Point on Sunday afternoon.

Pacific Grove police say the woman was swimming with a regular group that meets in the area every Sunday.

Investigators say the group entered the water as usual, but around noon, a witness on the shoreline reported seeing a “large splash.”

Police say the sight prompted the other swimmers to head back to shore out of concern it may have been a shark attack. Everyone in the group returned safely except the missing swimmer.

Two witnesses said the swimmer may have encountered a shark while swimming offshore near Lovers Point.

“She’s a 55-year-old blonde woman with blue eyes who is currently missing and who we’re searching for,” said Commander Brian Anderson with the Pacific Grove Police Department.

Law enforcement officials say shark sightings are rare along the Central Coast but do occur, and they believe this incident may be consistent with a shark attack based on the witness account.

Multiple agencies joined the response, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Monterey Fire Department, Seaside Fire, and CAL FIRE. Authorities say crews have been using rescue boats, drones, and helicopters as they search the water and surrounding area.

The woman was not found by 8 p.m., so rescue crews suspended their search until Monday morning. The search will continue with the Pacific Grove Police Department, Monterey Fire Department, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Officials say the swimmer’s family has been notified.

Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove, and McAbee and San Carlos beaches in Monterey, will stay closed through Tuesday. A beach advisory will remain in place for Asilomar State Beach, Monterey Municipal Beach, Del Monte Beach, and Monterey State Beach through Tuesday as well.

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

Person taken to hospital after overnight house fire in Oklahoma

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Jonathan Greco

Click here for updates on this story

    JONES, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Authorities say a person was taken to a hospital after a fire started early Monday at a home in Jones.

The fire started shortly before 3 a.m. near Britton Road and Post Road. Firefighters told KOCO 5 that they were originally sent the wrong address, so they showed up late.

When they arrived, firefighters found an Oklahoma City police officer at the scene helping the homeowner put out the fire with a garden hose.

“There was an officer here, a staff sergeant, who arrived pretty early before any fire rigs got here,” Oklahoma City Fire Department Battalion Chief Lance Burnett said. “He grabbed a water hose and was pretty much able to knock down the majority of the fire with a water hose before we got here.”

Firefighters said one person was taken to a hospital for breathing in too much smoke. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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

Iowa lottery ticket worth $1 million after missing massive Powerball prize by 1 number

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By KCCI staff

Click here for updates on this story

    VINTON, Iowa (KCCI) — The massive Powerball jackpot keeps on growing.

Monday’s game is now worth an eye-popping $1.6 billion after nobody matched Saturday’s numbers: 4, 5, 28, 52, 69 and the Powerball was 20.

One Iowa ticket won a nice share of the huge jackpot. According to lottery officials, a ticket purchased at a Kwik Star store in Vinton is worth $1 million after matching all five white balls but missing the Powerball.

The winning player has until June 18, 2026, to claim the prize.

Nationwide, seven other tickets matched all five white balls. The winning Match 5 tickets were sold in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan (2), New Hampshire and Ohio.

Powerball’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.

Powerball tickets cost $2 and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The winning ticket from Saturday’s drawing is one of two worth at least $1 million currently unclaimed in Iowa. A ticket purchased at a Norwalk Kwik Star won $3 million in the Nov. 11 Mega Millions drawing. The winning player has until May 11, 2026, to claim the prize.

Lottery players in Iowa have claimed nearly 200 prizes of at least $1 million since 1985. Bill Watson, of Council Bluffs, is shown claiming his $4 million prize from November 1985.Iowa’s millionaires: List of every lottery jackpot winner since 1985

Iowa’s biggest lottery jackpot winners:

2018: Lerynne West of Redfield, $343.9 million Powerball

2012: The Shipping 20 (co-workers at Cedar Rapids Quaker Oats plant), $241 million Powerball

2012: Brian and Mary Lohse of Bondurant, $202.1 million Powerball

2006: Tim and Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge, $200.8 million Powerball

2006: Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines, $113.2 million Powerball

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

‘I was dying’: Hilton Head Island woman seeks answers after chemical attack

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Grace Rodriguez

Click here for updates on this story

    HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (WJCL) — A Hilton Head Island woman is speaking out exactly one year after two people attacked her and poured chemicals on her arm, chest and leg during a robbery on Dec. 20, 2024. The attack took place as she was heading home from a bank along Whooping Crane Way.

WJCL 22 News sat down with Maria Hernandez, where she recalled the incident in Spanish.

“I told the robbers, ‘Take my car, take my things, but leave me alone,'” Hernandez said. “That’s when they poured the chemicals on me. I was wearing two jackets that night, and they burned right through them. If I hadn’t put my hand up in defense, they would’ve burnt my face, too.”

Moments after the attack, she called her daughter.

“I told my daughter that I am dying. She screamed at her siblings: ‘Listen to what Mom says. I don’t know if she’s joking,'” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said she continues to face months of treatment and that she’s still searching for answers.

“Today marks one year that I was attacked by two people, and regrettably, no one has come forward and taken responsibility.”

She said the attack not only left her on medication for her wounds, but for depression and to help her sleep. She says it’s completely changed her lifestyle. Once a woman who loved to wear sleeveless dresses, it now pains her to look at them in her closet because of the scars on her arm.

“I feel embarrassed when people look at me, and I see they stare at me,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez says her injuries don’t compare to those suffered by Ashley Wasilewski, a woman attacked with chemicals near Forsyth Park in Savannah on Dec. 10.

“I can’t imagine what she is suffering through, especially since she was burnt more than me. I am angry more than anything else at the people who did this,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said she can’t celebrate the holidays with her family. All she wants this holiday season is for someone to come forward.

“I ask for justice. I asked the police to reopen my case again, that they investigate further. They told me they would look into satellite cell phone records, to see if there were anyone nearby that could have done this, but I don’t know what happened,” Hernandez said.

We reached out to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office for an update on Hernandez’s case and are waiting for a response.

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

‘I’m ready for this movie to be over’: New Hampshire mom speaks after plane crashed into her home

CNN Newsource on December 22, 2025

By Maria Wilson

Click here for updates on this story

    NASHUA, New Hampshire (WMUR) — A Nashua woman and her 16-year-old son were displaced Wednesday afternoon after a small plane crashed into their home.

Wendy Carlstrom said she was working remotely when she heard what she described as the loudest noise she had ever heard.

“I thought maybe a bomb went off. I had no idea what to think,” she told News 9 in an exclusive interview.

Carlstrom said the impact felt like she had fallen about six inches, similar to the sensation of an elevator dropping unexpectedly.

“I’m expecting to see a truck sticking out of my garage. I thought maybe somebody backed into my house somehow,” she said. “Instead, I look out the window, and I see the airplane upside down and on top of the car next to mine.”

Shortly after 2 p.m., a Velocity V-Twin plane that had taken off from Nashua Airport clipped the roof of her son’s bedroom, landing upside down near a parking lot.

She called 911 and frantically ran out of her house around the same time bystanders helped the pilot, who was the only person on board, get out of the plane. He was taken to the hospital.

Carlstrom said she is grateful that she and her son were not physically hurt, but the two are still trying to process how quickly their lives changed.

“It just seems unreal,” Carlstrom said. “It’s even that day, it felt like I was watching a movie of somebody else’s life. I actually said that more than once. I said, ‘I’m ready for this movie to be over. I’m ready to turn it off.’ It didn’t feel like I was living my life.”

Aside from the holes in the roof, the house has cracks and structural damage extending from the third floor down into the basement.

Carlstrom and her son are now staying with family because the home is too severely damaged to occupy.

“It’s really difficult. He lost his home. He lost all of his belongings. He, you know, his place to sleep, his place to hang out,” she told News 9.

The Nashua mother credits her time in the military for being able to remain calm under pressure.

“I’m an Army veteran, so I’ve been through some stuff myself before this,” she said. “I’m going to help my son. He needs me to be strong as much as anything else. So, I put one foot in front of the other, and drink water and drive on. We said that all the time. That’s it’s a military thing.”

Carlstrom said she was told it could take six months to a year before they are able to return.

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