June 5th, 2013
02:51 PM ET

Sources: Woman killed in Philly building collapse

  • Four-story building that was being demolished apparently fell onto Salvation Army store in central Philadelphia at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, city Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers says
  • 14 helped from rubble, 13 taken to hospitals, officials say; firefighters determining whether others trapped
  • Witness Jordan McLaughlin tells CNN affiliate KYW that a building "collapsed the wrong way and landed on a thrift shop" that had people inside.
  • OSHA: This was accident at demolition site (2140 Market St.)
  • Check back here for updates; full story here; Are you there? Send to iReport

[Posted at 2:51 p.m.] A woman has died as a result of Wednesday's building collapse in Philadelphia, two sources close to the investigation told CNN's Don Lemon.

No death was mentioned at the news conference that wrapped up near the site minutes ago.

[Posted at 2:43 p.m.] Fourteen people have been rescued from the site, 13 of whom have been hospitalized, officials told reporters moments ago.

Mayor Michael Nutter said that a search-and-rescue operation continues.

"Keep in mind we did not know, and we do not know, how many people were actually in the thrift store this morning when the wall collapsed this morning," and that's why the search continues, Nutter said.

[Posted at 2:16 p.m.] A Salvation Army official had this to say about the collapse that damaged the Salvation Army store:

"At this time, we are gathering information about the details of the building collapse at 22nd and Market Street in Philadelphia today. Our No. 1 concern is for the safety of our customers and the employees who were involved," Donald Lance, divisional Leader of the Salvation Army's Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division, told CNN's Natalie Apsell.

"We are coordinating with the police and fire Department, the Office of Emergency Management and local authorities," Lance continued. "Also, we have sent our own disaster response team to the site to serve survivors and first responders. We ask for the public to pray for those involved."

[Posted at 2:13 p.m.] Mike Adam, who lives across the street from the site, says he took this picture from his apartment:

Adam told CNN's Brooke Baldwin that he and his fiancee were in their apartment when they heard sirens. He looked out a window and saw people running. Looking out a different window, he saw smoke and rubble.

"A block over, there's a fire department, so they were on the scene almost immediately," Adam said.

[Posted at 2:01 p.m.] While firefighters have been digging through the rubble, people from a nearby market have "graciously supplied (them) and officers with fresh apples and bananas," CNN iReporter Josh Rozell says.

[Posted at 1:30 p.m.] Philadelphia firefighters have just made another rescue, the city's mayor said.

A person who was buried in the rubble "for about two hours" was rescued by city fire personnel, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told CNN's Don Lemon minutes ago.

That person has been taken to a hospital with minor injuries, and it bring to 13 the number of people taken to hospitals, Nutter said.

Nutter said he didn't know how many other people might be trapped, noting that officials don't yet know how many people were inside the store.

[Posted at 1:21 p.m.] To give you an idea of where this happened: The site is in a heavily traveled area of downtown Philadelphia near the Mutter Museum, a popular tourist destination that houses medical oddities.

The museum was closed Wednesday due to the collapse, it said on Twitter.

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Indiana school vouchers upheld
Indiana's controversial school voucher program was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court.
March 27th, 2013
01:40 AM ET

Indiana school vouchers upheld

In a ruling that could reverberate nationwide, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the state's voucher program, which gives poor and middle class families public funds to help pay for private school tuition, including religious schools.

Indiana has the broadest school voucher program available to a range of incomes, critics say, and could set a precedent as other states seek ways to expand such programs.

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Filed under: Courts • Education • Indiana
February 7th, 2013
07:36 PM ET

Witness literally cries his eye out; mistrial declared

A court hearing in Philadelphia took an unforeseen turn when a witness, testifying about the consequences of losing his left eye in an alleged assault, began crying and his prosthetic eyeball popped out of its socket and into his hand, unsettling the jury and resulting in a mistrial, according to attorneys involved.

"I've been a prosecutor for 26 years and I've never seen anything like that happen. It was unusual; it was shocking," said Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Mark Gilson, who is prosecuting Mathew Brunelli, 23, charged with aggravated assault, for allegedly stabbing John Huttick in the eye during a bar fight in August 2011.

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Filed under: Courts • Crime • Justice • Pennsylvania
Teen brothers arrested in death of 12-year-old New Jersey girl
October 23rd, 2012
06:57 PM ET

Teen brothers arrested in death of 12-year-old New Jersey girl

[Updated at 6:57 p.m. ET] Two teenage brothers who were arrested and charged with first degree murder in the death of a 12-year-old New Jersey girl are accused of killing her at the boys' home, possibly for her BMX bike, prosecutors say.

Autumn Pasquale was found dead Monday in a recycling container in Clayton, New Jersey. Two boys - ages 15 and 17 - were arrested Tuesday in connection with her death.

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Ex-Rutgers student convicted of bullying roommate is released
Dharun Ravi is seen at his trial on May 21.
June 19th, 2012
09:24 AM ET

Ex-Rutgers student convicted of bullying roommate is released

[Updated at 9:36 a.m.] A former Rutgers University student convicted of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate - who later committed suicide - was released from jail Tuesday morning after serving a 30-day sentence, according to the warden of the Middlesex County Office of Adult Corrections.

Ravi was found guilty in May on all counts including invasion of privacy, witness tampering, hindering apprehension and bias intimidation.

His former roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, killed himself by jumping off New York's George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River in 2010 after learning Ravi had secretly recorded Clementi's intimate encounter with another man.

While Ravi could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison, New Jersey Superior Judge Glenn Berman instead gave him a 30-day jail sentence, three years of probation and must complete 300 hours of community service aimed at assisting victims of bias crimes.

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Filed under: Courts • Crime • Justice • New Jersey
January 12th, 2012
01:46 AM ET

Parents of missing Virginia student head to New York to aid in search

The parents of a missing Virginia college student plan to travel to New York on Thursday to assist in his search.

Ian Hunter Burnet, a 22-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student, went missing days after arriving in New York City to celebrate New Year's Eve, authorities said.

Burnet left Richmond on a bus bound for New York on December 26, according to his father, Mark.

He planned to stay with a fellow college student and her friend in an apartment in Harlem, his father said.

"He went up just to have a post-Christmas tourist visit to New York City and celebrate New Year's Eve. He was intending to have a short time there and then return back to Virginia," the father said.

According to Burnet's father, Burnet and a friend had made plans to hang out together back in Virginia on January 2, but Burnet never made it back. The last communication he had with his son was December 28.

"I received a routine type of text talking about touring in New York," he said.

Some other news outlets have reported that Burnet told friends he was not having a good time in New York, but his father said that was something he had not heard.

"I wish I knew more," he said, "If I did, I might be able to understand what happened."

What investigators do know is that the friends with whom Burnet was staying say they last heard from him on December 30.

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Filed under: U.S.
November 6th, 2011
05:35 PM ET

3rd person dies due to New York helicopter crash

A 60-year-old woman on Sunday became the third person to die as a result of a helicopter crash last month in New York's East River, said a spokeswoman for the city's medical examiner's office.

Harriet Nicholson was pronounced dead at approximately 3:22 a.m. Sunday at Bellevue Hospital, said Ellen Borakove from the office of the chief medical examiner.

After an autopsy, officials determined that she died due to "respiratory complications of near-drowning," according to Borakove.

Nicholson was among those on board a Bell 206 Jet Ranger that plunged into the water on October 4, moments after pilot Paul Dudley had radioed that his aircraft was experiencing problems, National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind said last month.

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Filed under: Aviation • New York