Oklahoma Tornado: At Least 51 Dead, 'Horrific' Damage

Brett Deering/Getty Images(OKLAHOMA CITY) -- A mammoth tornado carved a trail of destruction through the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, killing at least 51 people and ripping apart two elementary schools today, local authorities said.

David Barnes, the director of Oklahoma Emergency Management in Oklahoma County, told ABC News that a single twister tore through homes from Newcastle to Moore, a path of 12 miles. The damage was "widespread" and people's homes were completely destroyed, all the way to their foundations, he said.

At least 51 people have been confirmed dead in tornado's aftermath, according to the state's chief medical examiner's office.

"It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific," Oklahoma Lt. Gov Todd Lamb said. "We're going to have fatalities. ... We're going to have significant injuries. ... We just don't know what those numbers are. Schools have been hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses have been flattened, neighborhoods have been wiped away -- we don't have the numbers in yet but it is going to be significant and it is going to be horrific."

SEE LIVE UPDATES on the tornado from ABC News

The National Weather Service said the preliminary rating of the Newcastle-Moore Tornado was at least EF-4, meaning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.

Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., received a "direct hit" from the storm and was severely damaged. In anticipation of the severe weather this afternoon, schools in the Moore area did not release their students at the end of the school day, according to Oklahoma Emergency Management officials.

One sixth grade boy named Brady told ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and other students took cover in a bathroom.

"Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there," he said.

Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore was also in the monster twister's path. Local residents who lived near the school rushed to help pull kids and teachers out.

First responders on the scene tell ABC News all children at both schools have been accounted for, but they are still going door-to-door to search for people in homes.

Moore resident Melissa Newton said the hail from the tornado was "about the size of golfballs."

The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency for the Oklahoma City metropolitan area Monday afternoon, meaning that significant damage and fatalities were likely.

The Oklahoma University Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City had received seven patients as of early Monday evening but was expecting more, hospital spokesman Scott Coppenbarger said.

About the condition of the patients he would only say they had the kind of "injuries suffered in a tornado ... you can probably imagine."

US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos

First responders were reportedly having trouble reaching Moore, which has a population of about 56,300 people, because people were stuck in their cars on the highway.

"We've got so many people that are all on the interstate that we can not get our emergency responders to the scene because we've got so many people tied up in traffic on I-35," said Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol.

This twister was the latest in a group of violent storms that swept through the Midwest, starting Sunday, that has left at least two people dead and dozens more injured.

On Sunday, a tornado ripped through Shawnee, Okla., killing a 79-year-old man near a mobile home park that was reduced to rubble, according to Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth.

Twisters, hail and high winds also struck Iowa and Kansas as part of a devastating, northeastward-moving storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma were ravaged by 50 tornadoes this weekend.

The National Weather Service says that one of the tornadoes near Wichita, Kan., registered EF-1 winds up to 110 mph. It was on the ground for an estimated 4.5 miles.

Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. On May 3, 1999, an EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City area, killing 36 people.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Florida Town Awaits Powerball Winner

William Thomas Cain/Getty Images(ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla.) -- Residents of the small town of Zephyrhills, Fla., are buzzing with excitement that the lucky holder of a Powerball ticket worth $590.5 million could be a neighbor, after the announcement that the winning ticket was sold at a grocery store there.

"I think that's awesome.  I can't wait to see who it is.  I hope it's somebody I know.  I think it would be great," resident Martha Bennett said.

The central Florida town, with a population of 13,337, was best known as a skydiving destination before lottery officials revealed on Sunday that a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills had sold the winning ticket for the record Powerball jackpot.

The winning numbers in Saturday's drawing were 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and a Powerball of 11.

The lucky person or group holding the ticket has not yet come forward, according to lottery officials.  However, under Florida law, the winner's name, age and hometown will be made public.

Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, urged the person holding the ticket to sign it immediately.

"If it were me, I'd put that in an envelope and duct tape it to my chest.  I'd be known as the Powerball millionaire with a nasty rash," he said.

While the residents of Zephyrhills wait to find out if the winner is one of their own, whoever is holding the ticket will have a big decision to make after coming forward.

The winner will have to decide whether to take the annuity or a lump sum, which comes out to $370,896,780.54.

Earlier estimates had put the jackpot at $600 million, however the Powerball website reflected an adjusted total of $590.5 million -- still the largest jackpot in the game's history.

The previous record for a Powerball jackpot was $587.5 million on Nov. 28, 2012, and was split between two winning tickets.

The odds of winning the top jackpot was 1 in 175.2 million.

While there was only one grand prize winner, 31 tickets matched all five numbers, earning those lucky ticket holders a prize of $1 million each.  Two tickets sold in New York and South Carolina were Power Play winners worth $2 million each, according to Powerball officials.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Suspects Butt Dial 9-1-1 During Alleged Burglary

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(FRESNO, Calif.) -- Accidentally butt dialing someone is embarrassing or inconsequential to most, but for two Fresno, Calif., men, their cell phone mishap landed them in jail.

The call, which went to 911, started like any other call to the police dispatcher, with the operator asking, “What is your emergency?”

But when no one answered, the operator didn’t hang up, instead staying on the line and listening to the pair, who police identified as Nathan Teklemariam and Carson Rinehart, both 20, as they talked about wanting to do drugs. It wasn’t long before the conversation turned to breaking into a car.

“Get the bolt and give me the hammer just in case,” one of the two voices on the phone said.

Shortly after that statement, the dispatcher heard a window shatter and the people on the phone started yelling that they found prescription drugs.

As the two were driving away, police were already in the area searching for the men based on clues that the 911 dispatcher was feeding to them.

The police finally tracked the suspects down and pulled them over. The suspects acted confused and questioned what why they were being pulled over, police said.

“Oh, he’s following me, dog,” one of the suspects said in the recording. “Wow, what the [expletive] did I do?”

As they were being questioned, the suspects allegedly denied any wrongdoing, but after searching the car, police said they found items that allegedly were taken from the burglarized vehicle.
After being cuffed, the suspects were finally told how they were caught.

“This fool really called 911?” one of the suspects said. “Damn.”

“I have never heard of something like this,” Sgt. Jaime Rios of the Fresno Police Department told ABCNews.com. “There have been times where the dispatcher hears something like this, but never has a call come in before a crime being committed and staying on all the way to the end.”

Rios said the suspects are being charged with burglary, conspiracy and possession of stolen property.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

New York City Man Killed in Anti-Gay Hate Crime

Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- New York City police say a deadly shooting that took place in Greenwich Village Saturday was an anti-gay hate crime.

32-year-old Harlem resident Marc Carson and his companion were just blocks from the famous Stonewall Inn when a group approached them, making anti-gay slurs.

Police say that one member of the group, Elliot Morales, asked the two men if they were “gay wrestlers," and later asked “do you want to die here?"

Morales then pulled out a gun and shot Carson in the face, according to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. He died in the hospital soon afterwards.

An officer arrested Morales a few blocks away from where the shooting took place.

This is the latest in a series of bias attacks on gay men in the area, and police are investigating to see if there is any connection between this incident and earlier ones.

“It's a really sad affair,” said Sean Williams, a friend of Carson.

“I mean, come on. This is 2013. Who's killing people for being gay nowadays?”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Police Officer’s Bullet Killed Hofstra University Student

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.) -- The Hofstra University junior killed during and armed home invasion of her off-campus house on Friday was accidently fatally shot by the responding officer, forensic investigators have concluded.

Police say Dalton Smith, a wanted man with a lengthy criminal history, was masked when he entered 21-year-old Andrea Rebello's home Friday, demanding money and valuables from Rebello and her three roommates. When police arrived, Smith used Rebello as a human shield in an attempt to escape.

“He's still got the gun to our victim's head,” Nassau County Homicide Squad Police Lieutenant John Azzata explained. “Eventually menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer and at that point, the police officer fires several rounds.”

The officer, a 12 year decorated veteran of this department who served more than 7 years with the NYPD, fired eight shots. Seven of them hit Smith, but the eighth bullet hit Rebello in the head. Both were killed.

The officer is currently on sick leave.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale drove to the Tarrytown, New York, home of the students' parents to tell them how she died.

"I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed," said Dale.

Now, instead of celebrating Sunday’s graduation festivities at Hofstra University, friends and classmates held a memorial for Rebello.

“It's really sad. She's a very sweet girl, she doesn't deserve this,” one student told ABC's Linzie Janis. “I really have no words for this. It is so unbelievable. I didn't think it was real.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Colorado Sheriffs Suing Over Gun Control Laws

iStockphoto(DENVER) -- Colorado’s recently approved gun control laws, passed in response to the Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., massacres, are being challenged by a delegation of sheriffs who say the laws are unconstitutional.

In March, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed off on some of the toughest gun control legislation in the country, including a law mandating universal background checks for the purchase of firearms and another restricting the size of high-capacity magazines.

A lawsuit was filed on Friday in Colorado’s U.S. District Court on behalf of 54 of the state’s sheriffs in an effort to block the laws from taking effect.

“This lawsuit is for your rights and for your safety,” Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said at a news conference on Friday.

“These bills do absolutely nothing to make Colorado a safer place to live, to work, to play or to raise a family. Instead these misguided, unconstitutional bills will have the opposite effect because they greatly restrict the right of decent, law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, their families and their homes,” he said.

All but 10 of the state’s 64 sheriffs, who are elected officials, signed their names to the lawsuit.

Tom Sullivan, who lost his son Alex Sullivan in the Aurora movie theater massacre, told ABC News’ Denver affiliate he didn’t understand the backlash to the laws.

“I do not understand why these politicians are picking guns over people,” he said, “and why they want to make it easier for criminals to get guns and for other families to go through what we did.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Tennessee Man, 77, Shoots Third Hole-in-One in One Month

Polka Dot/Thinkstock(SMYRNA, Tenn.) -- Bob Robertson is 77 years old and a faithful golfer in more ways than one.

The Tennessean plays golf four days a week and says he asked God to let him score a hole-in-one for a good cause. Robertson not only got a hole-in-one last month, he shot a hole-in-one three times in 29 days on the same hole.

He’s an Air Force veteran who had a stroke six years ago, which left him blind in one eye.

Robertson says the improbable golf shot wasn’t by chance. He planned it.

“I told God if he let me that win that money, that I’d donate that money to mission work and he let me win it,” Robertson said. “I know it might be hard to believe, but it’s true.”

Robertson’s granddaughter is studying to be a missionary and is leaving Saturday for a mission trip to Indonesia.

Robertson plays in a senior golf league at the Smyrna Golf Course every Tuesday. Two of his hole-in-one shots were during league play, making him the winner of a $500 pot to which 75 seniors contributed.

“After I got the hole in one for the prize money, one of my friends got awfully close to a hole in one, so I decided if they were going to slice up the prize money I wanted a second slice of it,” Robertson said.

He says even after a stroke and five heart-bypass surgeries, he wants to improve his golf game.

“What I’ve been trying to do is smooth out my golf swing. I was reading an article just now about how to get it right and yesterday I broke 80 for the first time since last summer,” Robertson said.

For all of the people who look to him for inspiration, “I tell them that I didn’t do it alone. Faith did it.”

The director of the Smyrna Golf Course, Hal Loflin, told ABC News that he can’t believe Robertson’s accomplishments.

“I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been a PGA pro for 23 years,” Loflin said. “I’m jealous and envious because I’ve playing since 13 and never made one.”

Loflin said Robertson is a celebrity on the golf course. The hole where Robertson has hit his multiple hole-in-one shots is a par 3 and roughly 109 yards. Robertson plays off the tee designed for older golfers.

As for another hole-in-one, Robertson says just wait and see.

“I’ve got some more coming,” he said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

California Key to Massive Powerball Jackpot

Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- As the countdown ticks on to Saturday night's record Powerball drawing, the jackpot has swollen to over $600 million, largely due to California's participation in the game, lottery officials said.

In the one month since California joined the list of 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands in playing, Powerball fever has swept across the Golden State.

California, the country's most populous state, has skyrocketed to the top three states in terms of ticket sales, alongside Florida and New York, according to lottery officials.

"Once California joined the Powerball family, we helped change the dynamics to this game because of the mere size of the state and the number of players that we have," a California lottery spokesperson told ABC News.

The size of the jackpot has created a frenzy that has also driven ticket sales, according to lottery officials. The previous record for a Powerball jackpot was $587.5 million on Nov. 28, 2012.

Tickets sold at a rate of 600,000 per hour in New York on Friday, New York lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman told ABC News.

It's expected that tickets will continue to sell at a rapid rate until the 10 p.m. ET cut-off time Saturday night. The winning numbers will be drawn at 10:50 p.m. ET, perhaps minting a few new millionaires.

However, if no one matches all five numbers plus the Powerball, the jackpot will continue to balloon.

Kelly Cripe, media director for the Texas Lottery, which is one of the states in the Powerball lottery, said the next drawing would be May 22 and estimated the pot would be at least an astonishing $925 million. The frenzy of such a massive jackpot would likely push it even closer to $1 billion.

The odds of winning the grand prize are one in 175,223,510, according to the Powerball website.

While Saturday's jackpot is a Powerball record, it's not the biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. That honor belongs to the Mega Millions, which paid out a record $656 million on March 30, 2012.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Plane Makes Belly Landing at Newark Airport

ABC News(NEWARK, N.J.) -- A U.S. Airways official confirmed that a turboprop plane carrying 31 passengers and three crew members was forced to make a belly landing in Newark, N.J., early Saturday morning due to a problem with the jet's landing gear.

The jet, operated by Piedmont Airlines, left Philadelphia before 11 p.m. on Friday.

According to U.S. Airways Spokesman Davian Anderson, tower operators attempted to help the pilot troubleshoot after the plane's landing gear remained retracted. After multiple attempts, they decided to execute a belly landing.

When the pilot attempted to land the plane without the use of landing gear, sparks flew, but he managed to keep the plane steady and on the runway.

All 34 people on board were taken off the plane and bused to the terminal.

U.S. Airways believes the issue was an isolated mechanical problem. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Investigation Begins in Connecticut Commuter Train Crash

Comstock/Thinkstock(FAIRFIELD, Conn.) -- Federal transportation officials began their investigation Saturday to determine what caused two commuter trains to crash head-on in Connecticut during the Friday rush hour.

At least 70 people were injured Friday when a Metro-North train derailed and barreled straight into the path of another train headed in its direction just outside Bridgeport, Conn.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene Saturday morning to begin surveying the twisted rail cars that remained on the tracks.

"We'll be looking at how the crew behaved and how the crew operated the train," NTSB member Earl Weener said.

During the investigation, which is expected to last seven to 10 days, officials will also examine the braking performance of the trains and the conditions of the wheels, cars and track to see if they played a role in the crash, Weener said.

Gov. Dannel Malloy said three people remained in critical condition on Saturday, while six others also remained hospitalized for their injuries. Many of the injured suffered bruises, cuts and minor fractures and were able to be treated and released, according to officials at two area hospitals.

A Metro-North train was traveling east from New York City's Grand Central Station to New Haven, Conn., when it derailed at 6:10 p.m., Weener said.

The jolt of the impact was so strong, passengers said it caused bodies to be flung around the cars.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was among the elected officials who surveyed the damage and called the scene "absolutely staggering."

He said the injuries could have been much worse and lauded the investment in infrastructure for saving lives.

"Investment in quality of transportation is probably one of the lessons we will learn from this accident," he said.

While the wreckage remains on the tracks, transportation in the Northeast Corridor is expected to be crippled.

Two of the tracks on the line were already out of service for a project, and the remaining two tracks were damaged in the collision, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the Metro-North Railroad.

Amtrak's service between New York City and Boston, which operates on the tracks where the accident occurred, was also suspended indefinitely.

Commuting could be a challenge on Monday for those around Bridgeport who rely on Metro-North to get to and from work in New York City.

Malloy said a system was being set up to move people from Bridgeport to nearby train stations.

"This is going to be with us for a number of days," he said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio