Father of toddler killed in Pennsylvania shooting says gunman seemed normal

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A man whose toddler was among eight people killed in a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, said Sunday that the gunman was a grandfather who never seemed distressed or out of the ordinary.

“I think that was a front for him,” Julius Windham said as he stood at a memorial to victims of Friday’s shooting, including his 1-year-old daughter Amarianna, her pregnant mother and the woman’s 5-year-old son and unborn baby.

“Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think of nothing like that would happen,” Windham said.

The 45-year-old gunman took his own life. Authorities have not released his name, but Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said he was related to seven of the victims. The eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman, he said. Police have not made their names public, either.

Those killed include 2 women outside the home

Mourners on Sunday placed candles, flowers and stuffed animals outside the home where the man opened fire shortly before 5 p.m. Friday. Windham wore a T-shirt with pictures of the women and children and the words, “Forever In My Heart.”

“Words can’t even explain what I’m going through right now,” Windham said. “But I gotta be strong for my community, you know what I'm saying? My family, my daughters, my sons, everybody.”

Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before two “distressed” women arrived and began pounding on the door, Lorah said. The gunman then came out and shot them as they ran toward him, before returning inside.

Responding officers found the two women dead outside. After deploying a drone and robot, they went inside and found the bodies of the 5-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl on the first floor; two more women and two young men in a stairwell; and the shooter on the second floor.

“Out of respect for the victims and the families, I will not discuss the details of what our officers encountered inside that home,” the chief said at a news conference.

“But I want our community to understand the gravity of what happened and the profound impact this tragedy has had on those involved and on our community as a whole,” he said.

Police decline to discuss motive as investigation continues

Erie is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) north of Pittsburgh.

Lorah declined to discuss motive but suggested mental health could be a factor. He said investigators would talk to relatives and examine the cellphones of the women who were killed outside the home.

“They knew something was going on at that house,” Lorah said. “We have to figure out what that is.”

Nicole and Debra Eller, whose best friend was among the victims, said they've known the family for more than 30 years. Nicole Eller said the shooter “was a good guy, and then he started going downhill with everything.”

“They were a lovely family. Who would have thought this would ever happen?” Debra Eller said. “Oh my gosh, this is so upsetting. This should have never happened to her or the kids or anybody. His grandchildren, his kids, how can you do that?”

The Erie shooting was reminiscent of a 1982 massacre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in which a man killed 13 people, including five of his own children.

At a news conference on Saturday, Erie Mayor Daria Devlin addressed a portion of her remarks directly to the victims’ families.

“I am so deeply sorry,” Devlin said. “What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier. ... Our entire community is with you, we’re grieving with you. And we are here to support you.”

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Tiger that mauled British man to death won't be euthanized, zoo says

A tiger is shown at the Saint Louis Zoo in St. Louis on Dec. 3, 2012. Officials at a wildlife park in Britain said Sunday a tiger that mauled a man to death after he entered its enclosure would not be euthanized. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A British zoo where a man was mauled to death by a tiger over the weekend said Sunday it will not euthanize the animal.

The tiger, named Altai, will not be put to death after the incident in which police said the man was killed after entering the big cat's enclosure at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, England.

"We would like to thank everyone who has expressed their concern following yesterday's tragic incident," the zoo said in a social media statement issued Sunday. "Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies remain with the family and loved ones of the man who sadly lost his life."

Park officials said the facility would remain closed to give its staff time to recover from the incident.

"Many, many people have contacted us about Altai, the tiger," they added. "We can reassure everyone that he is safe and well and will not be euthanized as a result of this incident."

South Yorkshire Police said they received reports of a man entering Altai's enclosure at 1:35 p.m. local time on Saturday.

"The tiger subsequently attacked the man, resulting in serious injury," they said in a statement. "Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene."

Altai was uninjured and remained in the enclosure following the incident, posing no wider risk to the public, police said.

"I'm deeply saddened to hear of the incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park," said Ed Miliband, the British foreign secretary and member of Parliament for the Doncaster area.

"I send my thoughts and deepest condolences to the family of the individual who died. I am very grateful to the emergency services and staff of the park who responded," he said in a Facebook post.

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Trump's deal to buy Russian diesel draws rare bipartisan rebuke

A bipartisan group of senators is calling on President Donald Trump to “immediately reverse course” on his decision to allow Russian diesel imports, accusing the administration of violating federal law and handing Moscow a financial lifeline as it wages war against Ukraine.

“President Trump’s decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law,” the senators said in a statement released Sunday, citing Congress’ 2022 ban on Russian energy imports. “The Administration has also failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute.”

The rebuke includes four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and John Curtis (Utah) — along with Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.). Shaheen is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Trump announced Friday that Russia would supply hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel “to the American and Global Marketplace” following a discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Treasury Department subsequently issued a general license allowing Russian diesel imports into the U.S. through April 2027.

The move comes as Trump scrambles to try to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterms, with the Iran war — now in its seventh month — contributing to the surge in costs. In September, the average price of diesel hit a record $6.53 per gallon, according to AAA.

“The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,” the senators wrote. “The Administration must immediately reverse course.”

Tillis, a Republican who frequently splits with the Trump administration, had already questioned the deal’s legality Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” pointing to the 2022 law’s conditions for lifting the import ban, including a full Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.

“I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law,” Tillis said. “We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor. Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory they occupied.”

The White House, responding to Tillis’ earlier criticism, pointed POLITICO to a Trump Truth Social post declaring “an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine.” The president provided no details or evidence that Moscow had agreed.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the senators’ joint statement.

The diesel agreement also overshadowed talks between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators in Miami on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that easing sanctions without a lasting de-escalation agreement would signal weakness.

Cheyanne Daniels contributed to this reporting.

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U.S. measles cases top 4,000, but experts fear the real number is much higher

Measles cases in the United States have surpassed 4,000 this year, according to data updated Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A total of 4,080 cases have been confirmed, with most reported by 45 states and Washington, D.C. Eighteen of this year's total have been among international visitors to the U.S., according to the CDC.

Five measles-associated deaths have been confirmed so far in 2026, all of them in Pennsylvania, according to health officials in the state.

Health officials report 74 new measles cases in Pennsylvania

The CDC has only recognized two deaths so far this year, with the agency saying that "number is subject to change."

The majority of measles cases in 2026 have been confirmed among children and teenagers aged 19 and younger, according to the CDC. About one in 10 children under age 5 have been hospitalized, CDC data shows.

Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images - PHOTO: Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas.

About 95% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, according to agency data.

Meanwhile, 2% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 2% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.

"It's very telling," Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist and associate dean for regional campuses at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News of the breakdown in cases by vaccination status. "It's not a surprise, but it's chilling in many ways."

According to Chin-Hong, the official total of confirmed cases likely does not reflect the full picture of measles in the U.S. He said it's probable that there are many families with measles cases who never got tested.

"The story's not been fully told yet," he said. "In other words, the official numbers are only part of the picture and the reason why I think so is because the number of deaths and hospitalizations suggests that there are many more people who are infected but unaccounted."

How hospitals, clinics in Pennsylvania are responding to the measles outbreak

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.

However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2025-26 school year, 92.4% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 95.2% seen in the 2019-20 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Unlike many of the healthcare issues or diseases that affect so much of the population ... we have the tool," John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said. "It's a vaccine that is incredibly effective and the goal is to close vaccination gaps."

He noted that authorities have a responsibility to offer straightforward advice to the public.

"We need federal leadership that is really clear on the need for vaccination. We need local communities that are providing clear guidance and education and support to make decisions," Brownstein said. "I think we need to have a very aligned view on ... the impact of measles when communities are under-vaccinated."

Brandon Bell/Getty Images - PHOTO: Instructions for a Measles vaccination is seen outside of the Lubbock Public Health facility on April 09, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas.

Some public health specialists previously told ABC News they believe the U.S. is on track to lose the elimination status it earned in 2000.

The specialists said there are several reasons for the U.S. breaking measles case records for the second year in a row, including declining vaccination rates, people not fearing the measles virus, a loss of trust in public health institutions and a perceived lack of clear guidance and communication from the nation's top public health officials.

"I think there's a very strong chance that we would lose our elimination status because we're seeing the signs that measles is becoming continuously established here in the U.S." Brownstein said. "For a country with resources and an ability to provide protection, it's really unfortunate that we're seeing these tides turn on this very preventable disease."

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American citizen among at least 12 people killed in blast at Saudi Arabia airport

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on September 19, 2026. - AFP/Getty Images

At least 12 people were killed and hundreds wounded on Saturday when Yemen’s Houthi militants struck an airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital, as the Iran-backed group escalated its campaign against the kingdom.

It was the third strike on the international hub this week, and the deadliest attack against the major US ally in more than a decade.

The attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi residents, and one resident each from the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, and Sudan, the kingdom’s civil aviation body said Sunday, adding that 309 people were wounded.

One traveler told Reuters news agency they saw something fly across the sky outside before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.

Another recalled hearing an explosion before seeing several people lying wounded on the ground.

All flights were diverted from the city, home to roughly 8 million people, and airport operations were temporarily halted, Reuters said, citing the Saudi civil aviation authority.

Around 580 flights were cancelled on Sunday so far, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

An eyewitness video released by Reuters showed large boards and debris strewn across the terminal floor, with people moving through a dust-filled hall.

The US, UK, Spain and Canada are among countries warning their citizens against using the airport.

Saturday’s incident has exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom’s defense capabilities as it wages an air campaign in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is fighting the Houthis on the ground.

After the blast, the head of the Houthi media office said the group had “shut down” the airport in a post on X, Reuters said.

The group also warned airliners against using Saudi airspace, declaring it a zone of military operations after Yemen launched an offensive against the group on Monday, Reuters added.

Saudi Arabia’s Coalition Joint Forces Command confirmed the Houthis were behind the attack, which struck the airport’s passenger terminal and killed both passengers and staff.

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US President Donald Trump said Saturday he plans to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following the attack.

“They’re able to defend. The Saudis are good fighters. But I think the attack was a terrible thing,” Trump said when asked whether Saudi Arabia could defend itself against the Houthis.

Asked outside the White House whether Washington planned to join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, a militia aligned with US foe Iran, Trump told reporters: “We may. We’re going to look at it.

“We just found out about the recent attack, so we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed a US citizen was among those killed and condemned the attacks as showing “a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life,” in a post on X.

Wounded people, including some in critical condition, were rushed to hospitals Saturday by ambulance and helicopter, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Two previous attacks at the airport this week killed four people and caused heavy damage to a Saudi commercial plane, Reuters said.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the latest strike and said “attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are a violation of international law,” in a post on X.

Cars drive past the gates of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on September 19, 2026. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) / - AFP/Getty Images/File

The civil war in Yemen flared up once again this summer and significantly intensified last month, after years of relative calm.

Saudi Arabia has for 11 years tried to contain the conflict on its southern border through military force and diplomacy – first waging war with the Houthis, then pursuing peace talks with them and restoring diplomatic talks with their backer, Tehran.

Despite the efforts, a series of miscalculations has left Riyadh exposed to further conflict in Yemen, experts say.

Saudi Arabia ended its longstanding partnership with the UAE late last year over its backing of a rival force in Yemen, misjudged Trump’s willingness to back it if it needed support, and struggled to organize disintegrated armed factions fighting the Houthis.

Now, Riyadh is trying to regain its footing by supporting its Yemeni partners in yet another campaign against the Houthis, an operation named “Yemen’s Dawn.”

CNN’s Michael Williams and Mostafa Salem contributed reporting.

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Bracing for the midterms, Trump says he will be blamed if Republicans lose

Midterm elections often punish the sitting president’s party, and Trump’s popularity isn’t helping the GOP’s cause. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Even as he makes a case that Republicans should win the midterm congressional elections, President Donald Trump is bracing for the fallout should they lose.

Someone is bound to get blamed, and Trump said at a rally in Tennessee on Saturday that he expects it will be him.

“If we don’t win the midterms, they’re going to blame me,” Trump said. “You know that. And if we do win them, I will get no credit whatsoever. It’s true. I won’t get any.”

“But I’m working my ass off,” he added. “You better get out there and vote.”

Trump is in “grind it out mode” ahead of the midterms, a person familiar with the matter said, and is prepared for the worst-case election outcome.

Midterm elections often punish the sitting president’s party, and Trump’s popularity isn’t helping the GOP’s cause. Only 38% approve of his performance in office, compared with 59% who disapprove, according to an NBC News average of polls.

Trump is looking to defy historical trends by motivating core supporters who might be inclined to sit out the elections, and by offering voters an unusual sweetener if they preserve the Republican majority in the House and Senate.

He closed his hour-and-a-half-long speech with a reminder that “with your vote on November 3rd, you’ll get $5,000.”

That’s the size of the check he’s promising to send adults if Republicans win the midterms. The total price tag is estimated at $1.3 trillion.

Trump is indeed pushing himself as the elections approach, keeping up a frenetic schedule. Tennessee was the seventh different state he has visited since the start of October. He had planned to fly to an eighth, Alabama, later in the day to attend the Georgia-Alabama football game, but canceled the trip with Hurricane Isaias bearing down.

Trump used part of the rally to debunk the idea that his popularity has dropped. In a social media post Saturday, he wrote that the notion that he’s in disfavor is a “false narrative.” On stage, he played a CNN clip showing that his support among his MAGA supporters is nearly unanimous and has shown no slippage since the 2024 elections. (CNN was one of three news outlets that the Trump administration last month banned from White House grounds).

“I’m very popular, I really am,” Trump told the crowd.

For Trump, traveling to a deep-red congressional district in a deep-red state like Tennessee might seem like time wasted in the few weeks left before the midterms. Republicans are expected to sweep the state’s House and Senate races.

Trump’s rally took place in an indoor arena in a northern Tennessee county that he won by 18 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race.

Trump himself suggested the state’s congressional candidates are already on a glide path to victory, with or without him.

“These guys are all going to win,” he said. “These congressmen are phenomenal. So, I’m saying, ‘What the hell am I doing in Tennessee?’”

Answering his own question, he said he wanted to “reward the places that have automatically treated you well.”

Trump won Tennessee in all three of his presidential campaigns.

Other Republicans said Trump is hewing to a sensible strategy: mobilizing up his supporters and making sure they vote on Nov. 3 even though he’s not on the ballot.

“It rallies the base,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said in an interview before Trump took the stage. “And that’s really what we’ve got to see in a midterm election. That’s what you’ve got to have: the base.”

Much of Trump’s address was a recitation of what he considers his chief accomplishments. He cited a rise in the median household income in his first year in office and a drop in the nation’s poverty rate.

Never shy about rebranding American landmarks, he also mused about renaming the Atlantic or Pacific oceans in ways that would ensure he’s not forgotten.

Presumably in jest, he said, “We call it, ‘Trump Ocean.’ Or, ‘Ocean of the Americas,’ something like that. No, we have to. We should have before I get out, I think we should have an ocean and we need a great river.”

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Trump says Nobel panel not awarding him peace prize leaves 'indelible stain' on Norway

President Donald Trump lamented the Norwegian Nobel Committee choosing not to award him with its annual peace prize on Friday, telling rallygoers the decision leaves “an indelible stain on the country of Norway.”

Speaking at a rally to boost New York Republicans in Syracuse, Trump listed off all of the accomplishments in office he believes have earned him the right to win the Nobel Peace Prize, including efforts to end or prevent conflicts in Africa and Asia and for having “saved more lives than anyone in history.”

Earlier Friday, the committee awarded the prize to Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old South African legal pioneer who led a U.N. panel that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“I’ve never heard of the person,” Trump said. “I know a lot of people. I never heard of this particular person, but congratulations, anyway. … The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t.”

South African lawyer Navanethem "Navi" Pillay at the Nuremberg Forum following the announcement of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. (Daniel Karmann / Picture alliance via Getty)

“And this is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision,” Trump continued. “The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are antidemocracy and really enemies of civilization, and we will not forget Norway. That you didn’t give this prize with the greatest record in history.”

The president added that he should have received eight Nobel Peace Prizes for his efforts because he claimed to have ended eight ongoing conflicts. The president did not make mention of the war in Ukraine, which has raged on through his presidency as his administration has failed to bring the conflict to an end. And in the Middle East, the president earlier this year launched a war with Iran that is ongoing.

U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage to speak during an election rally at the Oncenter on October 09, 2026 in Syracuse, N.Y. (Alex Wong / Getty)

Trump said the committee’s choice to award the prize to Pillay “is just another sign of how Norway and all these others are ripping off our country.”

Throughout his second term, the president has made clear his ambition to secure a Nobel Peace Prize, and his allies have said he deserves it for efforts to end the war in Gaza in addition to other conflicts. Earlier this year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 winner, offered to share her prize with him as she sought his support for her efforts in Venezuela after the Trump administration removed former President Nicolás Maduro from power.

After learning of her award at a law gathering in Germany on Friday, Pillay joked to the crowd: “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.”

The president was in Syracuse to boost the candidacy of GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman and state Republicans. He shouted out Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican nominee for state attorney general too, before attacking sitting state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat he has often clashed with.

“And on Election Day, New Yorkers should tell both [Gov. Kathy] Hochul and that disgusting Letitia dog — she’s a dog — you’re fired. Get the hell out of here.”

Letitia James, New York's attorney general. (John Lamparski / Bloomberg via Getty)

The Trump administration has so far failed multiple times in its efforts to prosecute James, who spearheaded an investigation into his business dealings that led to a state judge ruling he had conspired to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a fine of more than $350 million. The fine was later thrown out on appeal by a state court.

“Donald Trump is in Syracuse supporting the only attorney general candidate who clerked for Brett Kavanaugh, the man who ended Roe v. Wade,” a James campaign spokesperson said in response to the president’s comments. “The contrast is crystal clear and we welcome it.”

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