A motive was under investigation on Monday into the fatal shooting of a Pennsylvania state trooper who was gunned down during a traffic stop Sunday night by an alleged erratic driver who died at the scene by suicide, authorities said.

The trooper was identified by authorities as Cpl. Timothy O’Connor Jr., a 15-year-veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police.

“I am profoundly saddened to announce that tonight the Pennsylvania State Police family lost a son, lost a hero and lost a dedicated public servant,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a Sunday night news conference.

The governor said the 40-year-old O’Connor, a married father of a young daughter, was killed “doing what he dedicated his life to and that is serving others, keeping our community safe, looking out for his fellow Pennsylvanians.”

O’Connor was shot during a traffic stop near West Caln Township in Chester County, Lt. Col. George Bivins of the Pennsylvania Police said at a news conference Sunday night.

Bivins said O’Connor was shot after he responded to a call around 8:16 p.m. near Honey Brook in Chester County. O’Connor located and stopped the vehicle around 8:24 p.m. near Route 10 in West Caln Township, Bivins said.

“He made a radio transmission indicating he was stopping the vehicle and that is the last we heard from Cpl. O’Connor,” Bivins said.

Bivins said a patrol officer was sent to check on O’Connor’s well-being “and found a very bad situation.”

A preliminary investigation found that “within seconds” of pulling the driver over, O’Connor was fatally shot, Bivins said.

The State Police identified the alleged gunman Monday afternoon as 32-year-old Jesse Nathan Elks of Honey Brook, Chester County.

“The driver opened fire from inside the vehicle, struck him just as he [O’Connor] approached the driver’s side of the vehicle,” Bivins said. “Cpl. O’Connor went down with a fatal wound immediately at the scene.”

Bivins said that after allegedly shooting O’Connor, the suspect got out of his car, walked a short distance and shot himself with a semiautomatic pistol. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Bivins said.

Detectives from the state police and the county are conducting a joint investigation into the shooting with the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

“In the coming days, we are going to be looking into his background and his motives,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said Sunday.

Shapiro said he was at Paoli Hospital on Sunday night with O’Connor’s wife, Casey, and his parents.

“My heart breaks for Tim and Casey’s young daughter and their entire family,” Shapiro said in a statement.

The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, according to a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies.

The alert, reviewed by ABC News, cites “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.

The intercepted transmission was encoded and appeared to be destined for “clandestine recipients” who possess the encryption key, the kind of message intended to impart instructions to “covert operatives or sleeper assets” without the use of the internet or cellular networks. 

It’s possible the transmissions could “be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country,” the alert said.

“While the exact contents of these transmissions cannot currently be determined, the sudden appearance of a new station with international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational awareness,” the alert said.

While the alert is careful to say there is “no operational threat tied to a specific location,” it does instruct law enforcement agencies to increase their monitoring of suspicious radio-frequency activity.

If the contents of the alert prove true, it would confirm the fears expressed by law enforcement officials after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran that sleeper cells deployed around the West could be used for retaliation.

The United States military announced on Sunday that it struck another boat suspected of carrying drugs in the Eastern Pacific, killing six men.

U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”

SOUTHCOM said that six “male narco-terrorists” were killed in the strike and that no U.S. military forces were harmed.

The U.S. has killed a total of 156 people in the strikes, which are being led by U.S. Southern Command Gen. Francis Donovan.

Rihanna’s mansion was struck by gunfire on Sunday afternoon while the singer and businesswoman was home, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and sources with knowledge of the investigation.

The suspect, a 30-year-old woman, has been arrested, the LAPD said. The motive was not immediately clear and the investigation is ongoing.

Sources told ABC News Rihanna was at home, but nobody was hurt.

Multiple shots were fired at the residence, but none penetrated the inside of her home, only the exterior, sources said.  Multiple rounds did hit the outside of the home, though, as well as a vehicle parked out front.

Sources said that the weapon allegedly used by the woman was an AR-style gun.

In dispatch audio, officials are heard saying the suspect’s Tesla was followed by an LAPD helicopter into a mall parking garage, where she was pulled over and detained by patrol units.

Videos released by the Texas Department of Public Safety appear to cast doubt on the Department of Homeland Security’s account of a fatal agent-involved shooting of U.S. citizen that occurred in South Padre Island, Texas, in March 2025.

Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations agent on March 15, 2025. The incident was initially reported by local news outlets as an officer-involved shooting. DHS did not reveal the involvement of its agent until February when media outlets reported that the agents were involved.

In a statement given to San Antonio ABC affiliate, DHS said HSI agents were helping South Padre Island Police officers control traffic after an unrelated accident at the popular spring break destination when a driver “intentionally ran over” an agent “resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle.”

The statement went on to say: “Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”

DHS said an agent was taken to the hospital with a knee injury after the incident.

In a statement provided to ABC News, attorneys for Martinez’s mother said the video footage calls the DHS account of the shooting into question.

“These new videos confirm that Ruben’s car was barely moving when he was shot,” the statement from attorneys Charles M. Stam and Alex Stamm said. “That he was braking, not accelerating. That nobody was on the hood of his car. That nobody was in front of his car when he was shot. That he was shot at point-blank range through his side window by an ICE agent who was in no danger.”

The statement went on to say: “This batch of evidence shows no justification for Ruben’s killing.

In a statement, Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said: “We stand by the grand jury’s unanimous decision that found no criminality. This incident was investigated from every possible angle by an independent body, and it cleared our officer.”

Body camera video

Footage from the body-worn camera of a South Padre police officer appears to show Martinez’s blue Ford slowly approaching the intersection and moving forward when someone is heard saying, “Keep going.”

Martinez’s vehicle slows to a crawl or a possible stop as a group of pedestrians are seen crossing the street. Martinez moves forward after the pedestrians pass and officers appear to become concerned and yell, “Stop him” and “Get him out.” Three shots can be heard as the officer with the camera runs toward the vehicle.

Martinez’s brake lights appeared to be on when he is shot. Since the DPS footage does not include the perspective of the agent who shot Martinez, it does not show any possible impact between agents and the vehicle.

“Stop the f—— vehicle someone,” can be heard saying as the vehicle comes to a complete stop.

Agents are then seen pulling Martinez and his passenger, Joshua Orta, out of the car. Paramedics on scene begin to render aid roughly over a minute after he was pulled from the vehicle.

A toxicology report released shows Martinez has a blood alcohol level of 0.12% above the legal limit of 0.08%.

In his statement to ABC News, Lyons, the acting head of ICE, pointed to an investigative report done by the Texas Rangers which included analysis of multiple body cameras, and which showed Martinez holding a bottle of Crown Royal Whiskey and “rolling toward an officers location,” Lyons said in the statement.

Lyons’ statement continued: “Officers yell ‘where are you going’ and ‘stop him.’ At this point, an officer directing traffic ‘was directly in front of the Fusion’ and ‘only one-half a car length away.'”

Lyons said, “Martinez ‘rolled forward and made an immediate left turn.’ The agent then ‘appears to move as if he were on the vehicles hood.'”

The agent’s perspective

The agent who shot Martinez, identified in documents as Jack Stevens, said he approached the vehicle after an officer yelled to “get him out.” Stevens said that when he approached, he noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the driver’s side window, according to the documents.

“The driver’s eyes were open widely, fist clenched to the steering wheel, and he was looking past the officers on scene as he failed to comply with the loud and repeated verbal commands of multiple law enforcement officers. This is a behavior I have observed in my training and experience as a pre attack indicator and sign of noncompliance as the suspect is looking in the path of their intended movement and is not indicative of compliance,” he said.

“This path of movement, if left unmitigated, would, using the vehicle as a weapon, have resulted in numerous casualties,” he wrote.

Stevens said he was struck and knocked backwards by the driver’s-side front pillar and side mirror, according to the documents. He said he attempted to backpedal to avoid being run over and was “still in contact with the vehicle as the vehicle struck” another agent.

Stevens said recent incidents where vehicles had been used as a weapon, like the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans earlier in the year were “fresh on my mind,” according to the documents.

“Upon observing the vehicle strike SA [Hector] Sosa causing him to fall onto the hood of the vehicle and driving through the scene, with SA Sosa clinging to the vehicle’s hood, I discharged my service issued handgun firing through the open driver’s side window striking the driver multiple times. This action stopped the threat and gained compliance from the driver who stopped the vehicle and placed it into park,” he wrote.

A grand jury decided not to issue an indictment in the case, south Texas ABC affiliate KRGV reported.

Passenger speaks with investigators

In a recording of an interview that was also released, the passenger, Joshua Orta, told investigators that when they approached the scene of the accident, an officer spotted a container of alcohol in the vehicle but told him to keep going forward and turn to the left, but Martinez continued straight toward the other officers, Orta said.

“That’s when he, you know, panicked and turned the wheel, and he didn’t floor the gas but he kind of went a little bit and I guess they thought he was like trying to run the cop over or something,” Orta said in the interview.

“I saw the officer, kind of get on the hood. Like he didn’t hit him, but like he … caught his feet,” he said.

Orta said Martinez did not intend to run over the agents.

“He didn’t know what to do … he definitely didn’t want to go to jail. But as far as, like, running over an officer … he wouldn’t do that,” he said.

Orta died in a car crash in February, KRGV reported.

President Donald Trump joined leaders from over a dozen other countries Saturday morning at a “Shield of the Americas” summit in Doral, Florida, where he boasted of the United States’ military actions and issued warnings against Latin American adversaries.

The White House claimed the coalition is committed to cooperating with the U.S. in taking on the cartels and securing the American border following the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Among the invited attendees were: Argentinian President Javier Milei, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Kast and Honduran President Tito Asfura.

Trump began his remarks talking about the latest developments in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, telling the grouping of Western Hemisphere leaders that “tremendous progress” has been made. 

“It’s been a pretty wild time, but it’s going very well,” Trump said about the military action in Iran.

The summit also comes as the conflict has resulted in major movements in the U.S. energy markets.

“We’re doing something. I built the military and rebuilt it and made it really strong. And my first administration, along with a lot of other things we did, we had a great first term, and now we’re using it, unfortunately, we have to, but you’re seeing how great it is,” the president said.

Trump repeatedly touted the U.S. military’s actions during his second term highlighting the military operation to capture Maduro, and warning of imminent action in Cuba.

“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Trump said. “Cuba’s at the end of the line. They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time.”

He added, “But Cuba’s in its last moments of life as it was. It’ll have a great new life, but it’s in its last moments of life the way it is.”

Trump’s relationships with some Latin American leaders have turned tense at times and his policies have drawn criticism. Some leaders criticized the U.S. raid that captured Maduro as an attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty.

Trump has also been critical of Mexico’s efforts to fight drug cartels and traded barbs with the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. However, following the Jan. 3 Venezuela raid, the two leaders appeared to have patched up their differences.

Trump invited Petro to the White House and the two issued complimentary statements.

The president signed a proclamation to formally launch “Americas Counter Cartel Coalition” and vowed to go after drug traffickers.

“The heart of our agreement is a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks once and for all. We’ll get rid of them. We need your help,” Trump said.

The summit also comes after Trump announced he was removing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from her post and shifting her to a new role as a special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas.”

Noem emailed DHS staff overnight on Thursday, informing them that her official final day at the department will be March 31 and writing, “In my new role, I will be able to build on the new partnerships and national security expertise I forged over my time as Secretary of Homeland Security.”

The president said in his announcement that he would provide more details about Noem’s role at the summit, but he gave no details during the meeting.

Noem was at the meeting along with secretaries Marco Rubio, Howard Lutnick and Pete Hegseth, however she was not mentioned by the president when he personally name checked and thanked the Cabinet members in attendance.

“We want your personality for war,” Trump said of Hegseth. “You’re just perfect.”

LOS ANGELES — Just three months after declaring “I’m not quitting,” California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa announced Friday he is retiring instead of facing a difficult reelection campaign in a redrawn district.

“It’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges,” Issa said in a statement.

“Serving in Congress has been the honor of my life.”

Issa, a car alarm magnate considered one of the wealthiest members of Congress, had been a chief antagonist for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while he served as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, from 2011 to early 2015.

Issa’s abrupt reversal injects more uncertainty in the race for Southern California’s 48th District, which was drastically reshaped in November after voters approved a new U.S. House map for California to favor Democrats.

With an incumbent out of the running, it may be harder for Republicans to hold the seat and, by extension, the party’s fragile majority in the House.

After redistricting, Issa flirted with the idea of leaving California to run for Congress in Texas. But at the time he decided to stay put in his home state.

“I can hold this seat. I’m not quitting on California and neither should anyone else,” Issa, who represents a district anchored in San Diego County, said in a statement at the time.

California’s new congressional map, which was spearheaded by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is intended to tip as many as five Republican-held seats to Democrats this year to offset President Donald Trump’s push in Texas to gain five seats for his party there.

A national battle to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage is still raging in some states ahead of the November midterm elections.

Voters in Texas and North Carolina already have cast ballots in primary elections for U.S. House districts redrawn at Trump’s urging. But the final boundaries for voting districts remain uncertain in Missouri, even though candidates already are filing for office. They also are unclear in Virginia, where new congressional districts could hinge both on a voter referendum and court rulings.

In his statement, Issa said he was endorsing San Diego County Supervisor James Desmond to succeed him.

The FDA’s vaccine chief is set to leave the agency by the end of April, a spokesperson with the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to ABC News.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), had made decisions in recent weeks that prompted concern in the pharmaceutical industry. Last month his department had opted not to review an application for a new mRNA flu vaccine from pharmaceutical company Moderna. Moderna later re-submitted the application under different age parameters.

Last year, Prasad announced he was stepping down after criticism from right-wing influencer Laura Loomer. He was later invited back to his position by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a post on X on Friday evening, Makary wished Prasad well and said he would return to an academic role at the University of California San Francisco, from which he had taken a one-year sabbatical.

“I want to thank him for his service and personal sacrifice to take time away from his family,” Makary said in the post.

The move comes after recent staff turnover at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well. Last month, the agency lost its acting director and is now being headed by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya alongside his current duties leading the National Institutes of Health.

NEW YORK — The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is closing more department stores as it focuses on its most profitable businesses and trims debt during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.

Saks Global Inc. said Friday it will close 12 more Saks Fifth Avenue stores and three more Neiman Marcus stores. The shuttered Saks stores include sites in Chevy, Chase, Maryland, Chicago and San Antonio, Texas. The stores will remain open until the end of May, a company spokesperson said.

The closures come on top of the eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one Neiman Marcus store it said it would close last month. The stores targeted for the first round of closing are expected to remain open until the end of April.

With plans to close a total of 24 department stores by spring, that would leave the parent company with 13 Saks Fifth Avenue stores — including its flagship store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue — as well as 32 Neiman Marcus locations and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.

Saks also said 500 brands have resumed shipping, releasing close to $1.3 billion in retail receipts. That accounts for more than 80% of the inventory the company expects to receive from February through April, with momentum expected to continue, the company said.

The parent company is also in talks or has reached repayment agreements with about 175 suppliers.

Saks Global has been shrinking its business since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Last month, it said it will wind down 14 standalone Fifth Avenue Club personal styling suites, keeping three.

It also shuttered home goods retailer Horchow.com, a business that Neiman Marcus acquired in the late 1980s. As of Feb. 19, shoppers have been redirected to the home category on NeimanMarcus.com.

It’s also closing down all but 12 of its Saks Off Fifth locations The remaining outlets will serve primarily as a selling channel for residual inventory from Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

Sherrone Moore, the former University of Michigan coach who was arrested in December on home invasion charges, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts — malicious use of a telecommunications device and trespass — on Friday.

His sentencing will be April 14. Moore will remain subject to GPS monitoring for the time being, according to the judge.

Moore, 40, was charged with home invasion, stalking in a domestic relationship and breaking and entering in a domestic relationship after he was arrested on Dec. 10 at the apartment of a woman with whom he reportedly had an affair.

The university fired Moore after his arrest.

As part of the plea deal, the three initial charges against Moore were dropped. The prosecution said it does not believe there is evidence to prove domestic violence in this case.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.