July 3, 2023 4:55 am
LIGONIER TOWNSHIP, Pa. – (WPXI) – Officials have identified the man shot and killed in an officer-involved shooting in Ligonier Township. Robbie Thomas Saunders, 59, was armed with a machete when he aggressively approached officers from the front door of a home on Gravel Hill Road Sunday, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. Saunders was shot once and died after being transported to Conemaugh Memorial Hospital in Johnstown. Ligonier Valley Police were initially called to the address for the report of a domestic disturbance at around 3:50 p.m. Authorities say no officers were injured. The officers involved are on administrative leave until the investigation wraps up. State police and Westmoreland County detectives are investigating and the DA will review the evidence and will determine if the use of deadly force was justified.
July 2, 2023 7:18 am
No one matched all five numbers and the Powerball number on Saturday night. Monday’s jackpot drawing will be worth an estimated $522 million. If someone should match all of the numbers then, the lump sum payout will be $269.6 million before applicable taxes. The winning numbers in Saturday’s drawing were 04-17-35-49-61 with a red Powerball number of 08. The Power Play multiplier was 2X. The odds of a single ticket winning the Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292 million.vThe Powerball jackpot was last hit in the April 19, 2023, drawing, lottery officials said in a news release. That was when a ticket in Ohio matched all five white balls and the red Powerball to win a grand prize worth $252.6 million. Since then, there have been 30 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The Powerball jackpot has been won two other times during 2023. A player in Washington won a $754.6 million jackpot in the Feb. 6, 2023, drawing, and a player in Virginia won a $162.6 million jackpot in the March 4, 2023 drawing.
July 2, 2023 7:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Overturning Roe v. Wade and affirmative action in higher education had been leading goals of the conservative legal movement for decades. Over a span of 370 days, a Supreme Court reshaped by three justices nominated by President Donald Trump made both of those goals a reality. Last June, the court ended nationwide protections for abortion rights. On Thursday, the court’s conservative majority decided that race-conscious admissions programs at the oldest private and public colleges in the county are unlawful. Precedents that had stood since the 1970s were overturned. The court just ended a term in which ethical questions swirled around the justices and public trust dipped. There were other expected conservative decisions, but also some notable surprises.
July 2, 2023 7:14 am
BALTIMORE (AP) — Police in Baltimore say two people were killed and 28 victims were wounded in a mass shooting, including three who are in critical condition. Baltimore Police Department Acting Commissioner Richard Worley says there were a total of 30 victims in the shooting he says took place at a block party just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the Brooklyn Homes area in the 800 block of Gretna Avenue. Worley says All of the victims were adults. Nine victims were transported by ambulance and 20 victims walked into area hospitals with injuries from the shooting. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has asked anyone with information about the shooting to assist investigators.
July 2, 2023 7:13 am
PARIS (AP) — Young rioters clashed with police and targeted a mayor’s home with a burning car as France saw a fifth night of unrest sparked by the police killing of a teenager. Overall violence overnight Saturday appeared to lessen compared to previous nights. Police made 719 arrests nationwide by early Sunday after a mass security deployment aimed at quelling France’s worst social upheaval in years. The crisis is posing a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership. It is also exposing deep-seated discontent in low-income neighborhoods over discrimination and lack of opportunity. The 17-year-old whose death Tuesday spawned the anger was buried Saturday in a Muslim ceremony.
July 2, 2023 7:13 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk has limited the number of tweets that most Twitter users can view each day. He described the restrictions as an attempt to prevent unauthorized scraping of potentially valuable data from the social media platform. The site is now requiring people to log on to view tweets and profiles. That’s a change in its longtime practice to allow everyone to peruse the chatter. The restrictions could result in users being locked out of Twitter for the day after scrolling through several hundred tweets. Thousands of users complained Saturday of not being able to access the site. Musk said after facing backlash that he would raise the thresholds on how many tweets accounts can read per day.
July 2, 2023 7:11 am
DONORA, Pa. — Multiple fire crews were dispatched to a residential structure fire in Donora early Saturday morning. According to reports, Donora, Carroll Township and Bentleyville fire departments arrived on scene along Castner Avenue just after 2:00 a.m. The fire reportedly involved two homes. Crews worked on controlling the fire for about three hours. No injuries were reported. Donora Police and Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services were also assisting on-site. (Photo: Donora Fire Company Facebook Page)
July 2, 2023 7:02 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (WPXI) — A man is dead and a woman is critically injured after a shooting in Uniontown on Saturday. According to investigators, first responders were called to the scene along Pershing Court at 2:16 p.m. Police say the shooting stemmed from an apparent home invasion. Christina Craggette is grateful her niece is alive after she was shot in the leg inside the apartment. Police said the teen was flown to a nearby hospital. Craggette said her niece underwent surgery after the bullet shattered her bones. Uniontown Police said three people forced their way into the apartment Saturday afternoon and an unknown number of people started firing. Craggette was visiting her mom just up the road when the gunshots rang out. Police said a teenage girl and a man were inside the home at the time. They are not releasing their names for their protection. Detectives said one of the suspects, who forcibly made his way into the home, was 19-year-old Elijah Fitzgerald. He was shot and killed. The other two suspects got away on foot, according to police. he investigation is ongoing. Police are working to collect surveillance video from homes, businesses and traffic cameras, and are also talking to witnesses.
July 2, 2023 3:12 am
(WPXI) The Peters Township School District is notifying people about a data breach. According to information we received from the Maine Attorney General’s Office, nearly 13,000 people are affected, including a resident of Maine. The district said its computer system was accessible to an unknown user from Feb. 11 to April 5 in 2022. The names and social security numbers of the victims may have been compromised. The district is offering credit monitoring through Equifax at no cost to those affected.
July 2, 2023 3:07 am
(WPXI) The Tots Spot Daycare in South Fayette Township is closed indefinitely, their summer camp abruptly shut down as well, after two employees were charged with felony aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. The charges come after a grandparent brought audio evidence of abuse to the township police department. Police charged The Tots Spot Director, Kelli Verdu, and employee, Heather Habovick, saying they were caught on audio targeting a girl who is under four years old. The girl’s grandmother told police she became concerned after finding pinch marks on the child’s arm, and the girl said they referred to her as “big fat baby”. The grandparent hid an audio recording device in the child’s bookbag, which the grandparent told police captured eight hours of evidence. Police released some of those details in the criminal complaint .The audio reportedly captured Heather telling the girl twice she was going to strangle her and after the little girl is heard screaming and crying. Habovick also reportedly said to take the girl outside alone and then telling her if she lets go she will fall backward. There’s a thud and the girl cries out. Verdu was arraigned Friday morning and released on bond. Habovick has not yet been arraigned.
