LOUISVILLE, Mississippi: A dangerous storm system that spawned a chain of deadly tornadoes over three days flattened homes and businesses, forced frightened residents in more than half a dozen states to take cover and left tens of thousands in the dark Tuesday morning.
As the storm hopscotched across a large swath of the US, the overall death toll was at least 29, with 11 killed Monday and 17 Sunday in a band stretching from Oklahoma in the central heartland to Alabama in the Southeast. Forecasts showed the storm continuing to move east early Tuesday, with Georgia and Alabama residents waking to sirens, howling wind and pounding rain.
Others found their loved ones missing and their homes pulverized early Tuesday. In Louisville, Mississippi, firefighters picked through the remains of mobile homes, searching for three people unaccounted for after a tornado tore through. Twenty firefighters linked hands and waded through an area where woodframe homes had also been heavily damaged. Rescue workers stepped gingerly over downed power lines and trees that were snapped in half and stripped of branches.
The storm system is the latest onslaught of severe weather a day after a half-mile-wide tornado carved an 80-mile path of destruction through the suburbs of Little Rock, Arkansas, killing at least 15. Tornadoes or severe storms also killed one person each in Oklahoma and Iowa on Sunday. The Mississippi tornado caused water damage and carved holes in the roof of a medical center, where an emergency room was being evacuated.
Mississippi emergency officials said seven people had been killed statewide. State Director of Health Protection Jim Craig said officials were working with coroners to confirm the total.
Six people died in the Louisville area. One of the six was a woman who died in the day care center she owned in Louisville, county Coroner Scott Gregory told The Associated Press late Monday. It was unclear if any children were in the day care center at the time, said William McCully, acting spokesman for the Winston County Emergency Management Agency.
In Tupelo, a community of about 35,000 in northeastern Mississippi known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley, every building in a two-block area sustained damage, officials told a reporter on the scene. Some buildings had their roofs sheared off, while power lines had been knocked down completely or bent at 45-degree angles. Road crews were using heavy machinery to clear off other streets.
The Northeast Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo had received 30 patients as of Monday night, four of whom were being admitted with non-life-threatening injuries, said center spokeswoman Deborah Pugh.
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Severe US weather claims more lives
Severe US weather claims more lives
Armed man shot and killed after entering secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says
WASHINGTON: An armed man drove into the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, before being shot and killed early Sunday morning, according to a spokesman for the US Secret Service.
Although Trump often spends weekends at his resort, he was at the White House when the breach occurred around 1:30 a.m.
The man had a gas can and a shotgun, authorities said. Investigators identified him as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina, according to the FBI, and authorities said his family had recently reported him missing.
He’s believed to have purchased his shotgun while driving south, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, and a box for the weapon was later discovered in the man’s vehicle.
Investigators have not identified a motive. However, Trump has faced threats to his life before, including two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign.
The investigation is ongoing
The man entered the north gate of the property as another vehicle was exiting and was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him. At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said at a brief press conference. The two agents and the deputy “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
The Moore County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina said a relative of Martin’s reported him missing early Sunday morning.
Investigators are working to compile a psychological profile. Asked whether the man was previously known to law enforcement, Bradshaw said “not right now.”
The FBI encouraged residents who live near Mar-a-Lago to check any security cameras they may have for footage that could help investigators.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.
Martin was described by family as quiet and averse to guns
On Sunday afternoon, vehicles blocked the entrance to a property listed in public records as an address for Martin at the end of a private road in Cameron, North Carolina.
Braeden Fields, Martin’s cousin, reacted with disbelief. He described Martin as quiet, afraid of guns and from a family of avid Trump supporters.
“He’s a good kid,” Fields, 19, said. He said they grew up together. “I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said.
He said Martin worked at a local golf course and would send money from each paycheck to charity.
“He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun,” Fields said.
He said his cousin didn’t discuss politics.
“We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody,” Fields said, but his cousin was “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”
Trump faced two assassination attempts during his last campaign
Sunday’s incursion at Mar-a-Lago took place a few miles from Trump’s West Palm Beach club where a man tried to assassinate him while he played golf during the 2024 campaign.
A Secret Service agent spotted that man, Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire and caused Routh to drop his weapon.
Routh was found guilty last year and sentenced this month to life in prison.
Trump also survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter sniper. One rally attendee was killed by the gunman.
White House brings in shutdown politics
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that “the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump’s home.”
Leavitt used her post to blame Democratic lawmakers in Congress for the partial government shutdown affecting the Homeland Security Department, which began Feb. 14 after Democrats demanded changes to the president’s deportation campaign.
The Secret Service is among the agencies where the vast majority of employees are continuing their work but missing a paycheck.
“Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans,” Leavitt said. “It’s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department.”
The White House referred all questions to the Secret Service and FBI. Both Trump and his wife posted statements on social media after the incident, but they were unrelated to the shooting.
Numerous recent acts of politically motivated violence
In the past year, there was the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk; the assassination of the Democratic leader in the Minnesota state House and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife; and an arson attack at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Five days ago, a Georgia man armed with a shotgun was arrested as he sprinted toward the west side of the US Capitol. Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address there on Tuesday night.
Although Trump often spends weekends at his resort, he was at the White House when the breach occurred around 1:30 a.m.
The man had a gas can and a shotgun, authorities said. Investigators identified him as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina, according to the FBI, and authorities said his family had recently reported him missing.
He’s believed to have purchased his shotgun while driving south, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, and a box for the weapon was later discovered in the man’s vehicle.
Investigators have not identified a motive. However, Trump has faced threats to his life before, including two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign.
The investigation is ongoing
The man entered the north gate of the property as another vehicle was exiting and was confronted by two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
“He was ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with him. At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said at a brief press conference. The two agents and the deputy “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
The Moore County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina said a relative of Martin’s reported him missing early Sunday morning.
Investigators are working to compile a psychological profile. Asked whether the man was previously known to law enforcement, Bradshaw said “not right now.”
The FBI encouraged residents who live near Mar-a-Lago to check any security cameras they may have for footage that could help investigators.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.
Martin was described by family as quiet and averse to guns
On Sunday afternoon, vehicles blocked the entrance to a property listed in public records as an address for Martin at the end of a private road in Cameron, North Carolina.
Braeden Fields, Martin’s cousin, reacted with disbelief. He described Martin as quiet, afraid of guns and from a family of avid Trump supporters.
“He’s a good kid,” Fields, 19, said. He said they grew up together. “I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said.
He said Martin worked at a local golf course and would send money from each paycheck to charity.
“He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun,” Fields said.
He said his cousin didn’t discuss politics.
“We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody,” Fields said, but his cousin was “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”
Trump faced two assassination attempts during his last campaign
Sunday’s incursion at Mar-a-Lago took place a few miles from Trump’s West Palm Beach club where a man tried to assassinate him while he played golf during the 2024 campaign.
A Secret Service agent spotted that man, Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire and caused Routh to drop his weapon.
Routh was found guilty last year and sentenced this month to life in prison.
Trump also survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter sniper. One rally attendee was killed by the gunman.
White House brings in shutdown politics
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that “the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person, armed with a gun and a gas canister, who intruded President Trump’s home.”
Leavitt used her post to blame Democratic lawmakers in Congress for the partial government shutdown affecting the Homeland Security Department, which began Feb. 14 after Democrats demanded changes to the president’s deportation campaign.
The Secret Service is among the agencies where the vast majority of employees are continuing their work but missing a paycheck.
“Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans,” Leavitt said. “It’s shameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department.”
The White House referred all questions to the Secret Service and FBI. Both Trump and his wife posted statements on social media after the incident, but they were unrelated to the shooting.
Numerous recent acts of politically motivated violence
In the past year, there was the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk; the assassination of the Democratic leader in the Minnesota state House and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife; and an arson attack at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Five days ago, a Georgia man armed with a shotgun was arrested as he sprinted toward the west side of the US Capitol. Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address there on Tuesday night.
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