According to CPD, I-526 eastbound was closed shortly after 10:00 p.m.

One lane of I-526 west was also closed as officers investigated.

CPD did not say when the bridge is expected to reopen.

One fatality was confirmed as of Monday evening. The CPD Major Accident Investigation Team is investigating.

Editor's note: This story is breaking and will be updated.

The main focus at Mosquito Beach is to restore the history, starting with the Pine Tree Hotel which was destroyed by a fire in 2019. Project Manager Kyle Taylor said they're hoping to finish the hotel by September, but they need the community's help to reach their goal.

"We’re on board to complete the building and have the budget for it, however, there is a strong need for funds," said Taylor.

The initial funding for the renovation project came in 2019 from the National Park Service African American Civil Rights Grant Program. Since then, developers have been working to restore the hotel, but the property manager for the Historic Charleston Foundation, Justin Schwebler said they have run into many unforeseen costs.

“Stormwater plans, the fire, a sprinkler system we have to install in the hotel, those were unaccounted-for costs when the grant was originally written,” said Schwebler

The group has started a GoFundMe to help supplement the grant money.

Despite the financial setbacks, Michael Riffert, the owner of Construction Consultants, said progress is being made.

"So to this point, we’ve got plumbing electric heating, and air in, we are waiting on our custom-built wood windows," said Riffert.

The owner of the Pine Tree Hotel, Bill "Cubby" Wilder, said he is confident the project will move forward and this is just the beginning for mosquito beach.

"Now Mosquito Beach is here, and Mosquito Beach is here to stay," said Wilder.

It was just one of several stops the former South Carolina governor is making across the state as she campaigns for the GOP nomination.

Haley answered questions from the CEOs of Berkeley Electric, Santee Cooper, and the Central Electric Cooperative during the afternoon event.

The CEO of Santee Cooper told Haley they hope to increase more green energy options, but noted that if not done correctly, it could mean higher electric bills for consumers.

“The problem is there’s a disconnect from DC to what’s happening here on the ground,” said Haley. “They want to talk about clean energy – we all want clean energy. We all want a good environment. We all want clean air, clean water. That’s not debatable. The problem is, what the Biden Administration is doing -- and I had to sue the EPA under the Obama Administration -- is they are picking winners and losers. They’re picking what kind of energy they think is the best for Americans.”

Haley also touted a recent trip to the U.S. southern border where she said border patrol officers claimed they were not being allowed to do their job.

She said that she would change that and discussed how China steals hundreds of billions of dollars in intellectual property from the United States each year, and that the Chinese military would have access to Americans’ data through tech companies that operate in China.

"Hands to Heritage" features basket weavers from Charleston and Rwanda. The film aims to recognize the weavers for their talents and showcase the reconciliation efforts by the City of Charleston.

The "interwoven history" of the Gullah community and the City of Charleston dates back centuries, when Africans were brought over to the colonies as part of the slave trade.

People from all parts of Africa converged in Charleston, bringing bits and pieces of their cultures with them. The medley of African cultures ultimately influenced a new culture, Gullah Geechie, which lives on in the Lowcountry.

In the documentary, basket weavers from Charleston and Rwanda come together to share stories, techniques, and experiences passed down through generations.

Click here to watch the full documentary.

Officials with the Dorchester County Coroner’s Office said it happened on Father’s Day at the Pine Forest Country Club in Summerville.

The coroner’s office said an autopsy has not yet been scheduled.

Details about the drowning are limited. Count on 2 for updates.

According to Kimmie Stewart Casting, scammers are claiming they work for the company or the show and messaging people who want to be extras. The scammers use email addresses almost identical to the legitimate email address and request money or to meet in person.

Other scam websites copy and paste legitimate casting calls and tell people that they must sign up and pay for access to those sites in order to submit.

The company said that they will never charge for submissions and they will never require subscription to a website.

The only legitimate way to sign up to be an extra is to email stewartcastingbg@gmail.com.

Anyone that comes across a scam is asked to reach out to the company immediately.

It's all fun and games on the beach, until you get a ticket.

"Our goal is to be safe," IOP's Police Department Lt. Robert Forsythe said.

A ticket could range from $128 dollars to over $1,000 if you have alcohol.

"There's no glass or alcohol allowed on the beach at all," Lt. Forsythe said.

The same price tag is on a ticket for not following rules pertaining to dogs.

"Right now, it's April 1st through September 14th, 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., that's dogs off leash hours. Then you must also pick up excrement, that's an additional fine or citation as well," Lt. Forsythe said.

With tourist season in full swing, visitors like Justin Kuhn say they shouldn't be punished for not knowing the rules.

Kuhn said, "We did not know about any alcohol rules coming into this vacation."

He says vacations are expensive to begin with, and being ticketed for a rule he didn't know he was breaking puts a damper on his trip.

"It costs a lot of money to come down here and spend their money in the Carolinas and to not know about the alcohol rule and get a ticket," Kuhn said.

Other visitors, like Joseph Mosnan who brought his pup along, say it's up to the tourists to make themselves aware of the rules before visiting.

"It's pretty clear that there's certain hours they have to be on the leash and certain hours they can't." Mosnan said.

IOP police say they expect residents and visitors alike to read the signs and be informed, but say depending on the situation, they also give a lot grace.

"We give way more warnings than we do citations, especially at the beginning of the season, getting people acclimated to it, but it's very important," Lt. Forsythe said.

Click here to see the full list of IOP's beach rules.

Smith’s death was ruled a hit-and-run after his body was found in the middle of a road in 2015, but the case is now being reinvestigated.

The investigation into Smith’s death was reopened in 2021, and it was ruled a homicide in March 2023. Investigators did not reveal the news about reopening Smith's case until after the conclusion of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial. There is no known evidence linking any Murdaugh family members to Smith’s death.

Eric Bland, the attorney for the family of Smith, also said that officials hint that grand jury is empaneled.

"I think the fact that they've convened the grand jury is very promising," said criminal defense attorney Ken Belkin, who discussed the case Tuesday on NewsNation's "Banfield." "It means that someone in the prosecutor's office has been presented with evidence that they think there's probable cause to charge someone with a crime."

It's unclear what that crime is because grand jury proceedings are held in secrecy.

"Grand jury investigations needs to occur in secrecy, because they can get compromised. You've got five people that might have diverging interests. They might want to point the blame at each other," Belkin explained.

"According to Chief Keel, they (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) have some individuals in mind who have some knowledge and responsibility, and they are issuing subpoenas and warrants," Bland recently told The Hampton County Guardian, according to a Greenville News report.

Attorneys predict a public update on Smith's case by Labor Day, according to Bland.

"I really do feel like by Labor Day, we should see some sign of movement and know some things publicly," Bland added.

Moore, who currently serves the 15^th district in the South Carolina House of Representatives, announced Monday his intent to serve Senate District 42.

It comes after State Senator Marlon Kimpson announced in March that he will resign from that seat to take a job on President Joe Biden’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

“I am running for state Senate because the people of Senate District 42 deserve a fighter who will put them first — someone from the community who will never give up,” said Rep. Moore in his announcement.

Rep. Moore, a Lowcountry native, has served the SC House as a Democrat since being elected back in 2018, championing affordable housing, gun reform, and crime reduction not only in his district but across the state.

According to his campaign, Moore's legislative priorities focus on improving social justice, growing the district’s infrastructure development, making progress on key educational reforms, access to affordable housing, supporting veterans, and expanding small businesses.

Moore’s campaign will bolster his commitment to the state by “boosting the prosperity of every South Carolinian and fighting for changes in our society to ensure no one is left behind.”

“Together, we'll build a brighter future for the Palmetto State,” Moore added.

State Reps. Deon Tedder and Wendell Gilliard have also declared runs for Senate District 42. Kimpson is expected to resign from the seat this month before joining the Biden Admin.

The state GOP executive committee voted unanimously to approve the measure on Saturday, party executive director Hope Walker told The Associated Press. The selection still needs approval from the Republican National Committee to be official, and Walker said that a formal submission will be sent ahead of an October deadline.

The move comes as both major parties make moves to solidify their voting calendars ahead of the 2024 nominating process.

The RNC voted last year to maintain its voting order, with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada going ahead of other states. By setting South Carolina’s vote on Feb. 24, Walker told AP that candidates would have more time after Nevada votes on Feb. 6 to focus their attention on the state, where support is pivotal for Republicans competing for their party's nomination.

“This is a great opportunity for South Carolina Republicans and for our candidates and the voters in South Carolina to get to interact one on one, not just in large masses," Walker said.

Democrats continue to struggle with President Joe Biden’s plan to overhaul his party’s 2024 presidential primary schedule. On Friday, a Democratic National Committee rules panel gave New Hampshire until Sept. 1 to comply with new rules that leaders there fiercely oppose. But the committee opted not to immediately offer such an extension to another battleground state, Georgia, which hasn’t set its date for next year’s primary.

At issue is Biden’s plan to strip Iowa’s caucus of its traditional post leading off primary voting and replace it with South Carolina, which would vote on Feb. 3, 2024. New Hampshire has long held the nation’s first primary after Iowa’s caucus. But under the new calendar, it would vote next, together with Nevada, on Feb. 6 — a change New Hampshire officials have decried.

Republican candidates must file with the South Carolina GOP by Oct. 31 under the approved measure. The Republican party’s first debate is scheduled for Aug. 23.

The executive committee also set candidate filing fees for the presidential primary at $50,000, a figure Walker said tracks with inflation increases since 2016, when the party charged candidates $40,000. State law requires parties to pay $20,000 per candidate to the South Carolina Election Commission, which runs the state's primaries.

In 2015, then-South Carolina GOP Chairman Matt Moore released a study showing that the 2012 primary had boosted South Carolina's economy by nearly $20 million. Of that, campaigns and super PACs had spent more than $11 million in ads alone, on top of overall expenditures for staffing, supplies, hotel rooms and food.

“South Carolina voters are an important part of this process, and it will also help not just with the process but with the economic boom it’ll bring to our state," Walker said.

During Saturday's meeting, South Carolina GOP members also approved the selection of former President Donald Trump as the speaker at the Aug. 5 Silver Elephant Gala, the party’s signature fundraiser.

Drew McKissick, South Carolina's GOP chairman, was recently reelected to a fourth term in office. He also currently serves as national co-chairman of the RNC.

Attorneys for Charleston Advancement Academy High School (CAA) have filed a motion with the South Carolina Administrative Law for a stay of the revocation decision, which is set to go into effect on June 30.

According to the school's website, CAA is "helping young adults overcome real-life challenges to earn their South Carolina state-issued high school diploma."

In a summary of the motion, attorneys claim the decision to revoke CAA's charter "was underpinned and motivated by likey unethical and illegal financial ties between SCPCSD officials and a for-profit, Chicago-based private sector company that provides school management services for a fee, Acceleration Academies (AA)."

AA was brought in as the school's education management organization when the school opened in 2018.

According to the summary of the motion filed by CAA attorneys, "When the CAA board voted to terminate AA in late 2019, that action triggered conspiratorial activities between SCPCSD and AA officials intended to undermine and eventually destroy CAA."

Before the revocation decision was made, CAA requested to transfer oversight from SCPCSD to a different charter school association. That decision was denied by SCPCSD board members, and in a letter to CAA notifying them of that decision, it was also written that the district board voted to provide a notice of revocation.

The letter to the CAA Board Chair explains the grounds for revocation are "CAA committed a material violation of the conditions, standards, performance expectations or procedures provided for in the charter school application or charter school contract; or both." And that "CAA failed to meet the academic performance standards and expectations as defined in the charter school application or charter school contract, or both."

CAA attorneys claim that SCPCSD board member's decision to revoke CAA's charter was "a process that was defective and violated multiple laws."

"There was no recommendation by district staff that it be revoked; there was no remediation that's kind of what is required -- none of that took place," explained Edward Pritchard, an attorney for CAA. "And it's our position that the charter revocation was illegal in that it didn't follow the necessary requirements in the Freedom of Information Act and the Charter Schools Act."

Pritchard said that board members never mentioned the potential for revocation leading up to the decision on January 19, 2023, and that SCPCSD did not evaluate the charter school's performance as required by law.

The motion includes several other claims including that the SCPCSD board "did not include revocation on its meeting agenda" and "did not issue any sanctions against CAA or require corrective action in the SCPCSD Superintendent's most recent annual evaluation of CAA."

Attorneys for CAA and the SCPCSD board are expected to appear for a hearing in South Carolina Administrative Court this week.

SCPCSD officials said they are unable to comment on the matter because the case is currently in litigation. They added that their response would be filed in court this week.

Alonza Marable Jr. was found guilty of murder and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature last week following a jury trial.

The charges stem from an April 18, 2020 shooting at the Ferndale Mobile Home Park.

According to the Solicitor's Office, Marable and his then-15-year-old accomplice drove around the park waiting for their victim to return home.

The two shot and killed 16-year-old Lanelle Reed Jr. outside of his home.

The juvenile, armed with a handgun, was likely the one that fired the shot that killed Reed. Marable was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and fired 12 rounds, one of which struck a bystander sleeping in a nearby home.

The bystander survived.

Assistant Solicitor Daniel Cooper, who was on the team that prosecuted the case, said that "Marable was the architect of this entire incident: he drove the car as they stalked and hunted the victim; he provided the weapons and ammunition used in the shooting, and, as he was three years older than his juvenile co-defendant, Marable clearly influenced the younger codefendant."

Marable was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the minimum sentence for murder.

Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS, commemorated Juneteenth by blessing a new memorial at St. John Cemetery, the final resting place of at least 1,000 Black Catholics.

"The cemetery fell into disrepair, and for more than 20 years the site was vacant and unmarked," officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston said.

Very few grave markers remain.

For decades, the property remained vacant and was often used as a dog park. It wasn't until recently that the area was fenced and recognized as a cemetery.

The Diocese of Charleston removed utility poles from the property in 2022 and prepared it for landscape lighting.

Carolina Catholic Professionals, Dominion Energy, and Southland Landscape Management placed a memorial marker at the cemetery during the ceremony.

Officers with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Region 3 responded to the accident Monday morning in Orangeburg County.

While one person was taken to a hospital, officials say others were treated at the scene for minor injuries. SCDNR did not say how many people were injured.

The accident is under investigation.

The Anderson County Sheriff's Office arrested Heather Capri Thompson and her son Owen Michael Morrison Sunday night for the murder of Paul Michael Owen, of Belton.

Deputies said the investigation began on Father's Day when investigators were responding to an unrelated call regarding vandalism on Henry Thomas Road.

While responding to the area, authorities located Owen's body outside the neighboring home.

Deputies said they had previously responded to the scene in reference to a domestic call involving Owen and Thompson.

Investigators discovered that Owen was beaten to death with an object by Morrison.

Deputies located Thompson and her son less than 24 hours after the incident inside a church on McDuffie Street.

Detectives said both individuals confessed to the homicide and were taken into custody.

Thompson and Morrison remain in custody in the Anderson County Detention Center.

Owen's death remains under investigation by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office and the Anderson County Coroner's Office.

According to the coroner, the incident happened at Devils Fork State Park at Lake Jocassee near Salem. The coroner said that the child died on the scene around 2:20 p.m. The child was from Asheville, North Carolina.

According to the coroner, the family told them that the child was walking with them towards the parking lot to their car when the child ran off in front of them between two cars and was hit. The coroner said that the initial 911 call came in around 1:49 p.m.

Troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol said that a 2011 Jeep Wrangler was traveling northbound on private property. The child was running westbound on private property when he was hit by the Jeep Wrangler.

The driver and the occupants of the Jeep Wrangler were not injured during the incident.

The Oconee County Coroner identified the child as 19-month-old Benny Esquivel.

This incident is being investigated by the South Carolina Highway Patrol and Oconee County Coroner’s Office.

Stay connected with 7NEWS for additional information.

"The Silver Elephant Gala is the premier annual fundraising event for South Carolina Republicans and we're thrilled to welcome President Trump to the Palmetto State and have him come and support our Party," an announcement stated.

Trump carried South Carolina in the two previous presidential elections, defeating President Joe Biden by seven percentage points in the 2020 election.

Despite mounting legal troubles -- including a recent indictment in the classified documents case --, Trump has remained the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

A May 2023 poll conducted by National Public Affairs found that Trump leads by 38% among likely South Carolina voters, which is 15 points ahead of the next closest challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. South Carolina's own former Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott polled at 15% and 10%, respectively.

Trump's appearance at the gala will come about a month after he holds an Independence Day rally in Pickens, S.C. Nearly 75 percent of Pickens County voters voted for Trump in the 2020 election, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.

The Silver Elephant Gala, the state's longest-standing GOP event, began in 1967 with future President Ronald Reagan as the inaugural speaker. In the past five decades, the gala has welcomed presidents, senators, governors, and other politicians within the Republican party.

The 56th annual Silver Elephant Gala will be held on August 5.

The animal was later euthanized after DNR officers shot it with a tranquilizer gun, DNR Lt., Ben Byers said.

The incident unfolded Friday morning after Dillon County deputies got a call about a black bear walking around a residential neighborhood in the Newtown community, Chief Deputy Jamie Hamilton said.

Authorities have not said what prompted the resident to shoot the bear. The wounded animal climbed about 25 to 30 feet up a tree after being shot, Byers said.

It fell out of the tree after DNR officers shot it again with a tranquilizer gun. It was then euthanized because of its injuries.

Byers said an investigation is ongoing and information will be presented to the solicitor's office to determine whether the shooting was lawful.

Count on News13 for updates.

“I was very, very floored that they're coming here," Angie Hickey said. "It's just great."

Nearly 75 percent of Pickens County's voters voted for Trump in the 2020 election, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.

The city of Pickens has been planning its Independence Day Spectacular for eight months. According to Bryan Owens, the city's marketing director, the city received a call from Senator Lindsey Graham's office a few weeks ago asking if Trump could speak at the event.

"The reason they chose Pickens is because it's quaint, historic and beautiful," Owens said. "We want to be able to showcase that to the world. Just like anybody else, we welcome anybody who wants to come to Pickens and see the beauty we have to offer."

The city said it is in communication with Trump's campaign team about the event's logistics.

Pickens Police Chief Randal Beach is coordinating security plans with the Secret Service, Pickens County Sheriff's Office and county's Clerk of Court.

"We've already been in discussions since 8 o'clock this morning about how to begin our component, which involves safety and security of the protectee as well as hopefully thousands of citizens who will come to this great city and see what we have here," Beach said.

Beach said he expects the event to bring one of the biggest crowds Pickens has ever seen.

"It could be 20,000," he said. "It could be 30,000. It's really hard to tell."

Beach said residents should expect road closures ahead of and on the day of the event. He asked for patience and kindness from residents and all who attend.

Rally tickets and details

The rally will be held on Saturday, July 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event is free. To reserve tickets, click here.

Pickens' Independence Day Spectacular

Trump's rally is part of a full day of events meant to celebrate the 4th of July holiday.

Other events planned for the day include a 5k run/walk, live music and a fireworks show after dark. There will also be games as well as food trucks and vendors.

The full schedule for the Pickens Independence Day Spectacular is:

8:00 a.m. - Pickens Historic Hampton House 5K Run/Walk
9:00 a.m. - Gates Will Open for Donald J. Trump Campaign Event on Main Street
11:30 a.m. - Special Guest Speakers Deliver Remarks
1:00 p.m. - 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump Delivers Remarks
3:00 p.m. - Independence Day Spectacular Kicks Off in front of the Pickens Amphitheater
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Carolina Highway Band
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - Boggs Brothers Band
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Splitshot
Dusk - Fireworks - From Bruce Field

The Emanuel 9 commemorative events began Wednesday evening with a special bible study.

Thursday, the Susie Jackson and Ethel Lance Senior Citizens’ Virtual Luncheon was held. Jackson and Lance were both integral parts of Mother Emanuel’s Senior Ministry.

The church encouraged everyone to perform a kind act as part of Friday’s Random Acts of Kindness Day, then use #E9LOVE to show off their act of kindness via social media.

Church leaders say sharing love and kindness embodies the spirit of each of the nine members they lost 8 years ago.

Emanuel AME’s Senior Pastor Eric Manning provided details about several commemorative events happening this Saturday and Sunday.

“The Cynthia Hurd Foundation will be doing an activity on June 17^th,” Manning said, “as well as the dedication for the Susie Jackson Memorial Garden. Then, of course, Sunday which is Father’s Day, we have the service of commemoration, but it’s also Father’s Day, so we have a guest preacher who will be coming in.”

Mother Emanuel will have a youth commemorative activity next Tuesday before hosting the Emanuel 9 Humanitarian Awards next Friday.

Manning says each of these events are important as their congregation continues the healing process.

“Regardless of how dark the night is,” he said, “regardless of how long the storm is, regardless of how deep the valley is, regardless of how long the wilderness seems to be, you must always have a hope that says, ‘We will continue to fight the good fight.’”

News 2 will have coverage of this weekend’s commemorative events.

On Sunday, community members and fellow firefighters are invited to attend a memorial at the park to honor the 9 lives lost.

The Charleston Fire Department's current Deputy Chief of Operations, Forrest Cockroft, said that night changed everything.

“That night as many will tell you was probably one of the worst nights of their careers… but out of it has been born such a lot of great things," said Cockroft.

Today, the community is still mourning the lives of the fathers, sons, brothers, and friends that were lost in that fire. This year's anniversary holds a special significance, as it falls on Father's Day. Assistant Chief of Administration David Griffin said that brings new battles.

“We have one of our firefighters, Hunter Benke, who's on the job here, and it's Father's Day, and his dad lost his life on June 18th, 2007. For me to watch that young man be in our department and work so hard and strive to be such a good firefighter that’s an honor for me.”

Sunday's ceremony will be held at the memorial park, built where the Sofa Superstore once stood.

Improvements to the park are being made not only to honor the 9 firefighters, but to inform the public about what happened roughly 16 years ago.

For example, brick pillars are placed around the park to outline the layout of the store. Cockroft said they want to take their time creating the park and make sure they get it right.

“We’re hopeful of getting it done soon, but more importantly we’re focused on getting it done right because they deserve that. However long it takes we will continue to work through and make sure that it gets done the way it needs to get done,” he said.

Firefighters like Griffin and Cockroft say they hope the space will continue to be a place for the public to remember the nine brave firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty

The memorial is set to begin at 7:00 PM.

The U.S. Coast Guard is leading the search for the small craft, named Titan, in the North Atlantic Ocean. The remote area is where the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew.

This was OceanGate Expeditions' third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic since 2021. The sunken ship is about 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers) below the surface.

The undersea exploration company has been chronicling the ship's decay as well as the underwater ecosystem that has sprung up around it over the last century.

What we know so far:

WHEN AND WHERE DID THE TITAN GO MISSING?

The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the Coast Guard.

The vessel was reported overdue about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Titan was being launched from an icebreaker that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The ship ferried dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan makes multiple dives.

David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, told The Associated Press on Monday that the submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply. He said officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the site as soon as possible.

WHO WAS ON BOARD?

The Coast Guard said there was one pilot and four “mission specialists” aboard. “Mission specialists” are people who pay to come along on OceanGate’s expeditions. They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible.

An initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to go on the trip. OceanGate’s website described the “mission support fee” for the 2023 expedition as $250,000 a person.

British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman.

Harding is an adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, members of one of Pakistan's most prominent families, were also on board, according to a family statement sent to the AP. Their eponymous firm invests in agriculture, industries and the health sector. Shahzada Dawood also is on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence.

WHAT KIND OF DEEP-SEA VESSEL WAS IT?

Titan is capable of diving four kilometers (2.4 miles) “with a comfortable safety margin,” according to documents filed by the company in April with a U.S. District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters.

In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an “unparalleled safety feature” that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said.

During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing.

WHAT WAS THE TITAN'S MISSION?

The goal of OceanGate's expeditions has been chronicling the Titanic's deterioration as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks often spawn.

What's left of the Titanic is slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria that consumes hundreds of pounds of iron a day. Holes pervade the wreckage, while the crow’s nest is already gone. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate.

The company outfitted the Titan with high-definition cameras and multi-beam sonar equipment. Charting the wreck's decomposition can help scientists predict the fate of other deep-sea wrecks, including those that sank during the world wars. Another focus is the sea life: Hundreds of species have only been seen at the wreck.

"The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions, told the AP in 2021.

The vessel was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometres) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lt. Cmdr. Len Hickey said a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and military aircraft were assisting the search effort, which was being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston.

Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard, said additional resources would arrive in the coming days.

“It is a remote area — and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area," he said. "But we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board.”

According to the Coast Guard, the craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later.

The Polar Prince will continue to do surface searches throughout the evening and Canadian P8 Poseidon aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search in the morning, the Coast Guard said on Twitter.

The submersible was operated by OceanGate Expeditions.

David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, said the submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply starting at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday. In an email to The Associated Press, Concannon said he was supposed to be on the dive but could not go due to another client matter. He said officials were working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) to the site as soon as possible.

OceanGate’s expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also brings people who pay to come along, known as “mission specialists.” They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible. The Coast Guard said Monday that there was one pilot and four “mission specialists” aboard.

OceanGate said its focus was on those aboard and their families.

“We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible,” it said in a statement.

U.K. businessman Hamish Harding was one of the mission specialists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman. The company’s managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday.

“There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event,” Butler said. “We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”

Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

Harding was “looking forward to conducting research” at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of The Explorers Club, a group to which Harding belonged.

"We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible," he said in a statement.

The expedition was OceanGate’s third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew. Since the wreckage’s discovery in 1985, it has been slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate.

The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000 to $150,000 apiece to go on the trip.

Unlike submarines that leave and return to port under their own power, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover them. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. The submersible would make multiple dives in one expedition.

The expedition was scheduled to depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland, in early May and finish up at the end of June, according to documents filed by the company in April with a U.S. District Court in Virginia that oversees Titanic matters.

CBS journalist David Pogue, who went on the trip last year, noted his vessel got turned around looking for the Titanic.

“There’s no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the sub to the shipwreck by sending text messages,” Pogue said in a segment aired on CBS Sunday Morning. “But on this dive, communications somehow broke down. The sub never found the wreck.”

The submersible, named Titan, is capable of diving 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) “with a comfortable safety margin,” OceanGate said in its court filing.

It weighs 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) in the air, but is ballasted to be neutrally buoyant once it reaches the seafloor, the company said.

The Titan is made of “titanium and filament wound carbon fiber” and has proven to “withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean,” OceanGate stated. OceanGate told the court that Titan’s viewport is “the largest of any deep diving submersible” and that its technology provides an “unrivaled view” of the deep ocean.

In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an “unparalleled safety feature” that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive.

At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, in deep waters off the Bahamas and in a pressure chamber, the company said.

During its expedition in 2022, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive, and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing.

“In the high sea state, the submersible sustained modest damage to its external components and OceanGate decided to cancel the second mission for repairs and operational enhancements,” the filing stated.

More missions, however, followed. The company reported that 28 people visited the wreck site last year.

Experts said Monday that rescuers face steep challenges.

Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, said submersibles typically have a drop weight, which is “a mass they can release in the case of an emergency to bring them up to the surface using buoyancy.”

“If there was a power failure and/or communication failure, this might have happened, and the submersible would then be bobbing about on the surface waiting to be found,” Greig said.

Another scenario is a leak in the pressure hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, he said.

“If it has gone down to the seabed and can’t get back up under its own power, options are very limited," Greig said. “While the submersible might still be intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers.”

Even if they could go that deep, he doubts they could attach to the hatch of OceanGate's submersible.

___

AP reporters Danica Kirka, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui in London, Robert Gillies in Toronto, Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Bret had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) at 11 p.m. Monday as it moved west across the Atlantic at 18 mph (30 kph). Forecasters expect it to strengthen over the next two days, reaching Category 1 hurricane strength of 74 mph (120 kph) by Wednesday night as it nears the Lesser Antilles. Because of wind shear, the storm is not expected to strengthen into a Category 2 storm.

Bret is forecast to move across the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane on Thursday and Friday and unleash flooding, heavy rainfall and dangerous storm surge and waves, the center said. It is then expected to weaken slowly while still in the eastern Caribbean region, although the center warned that its forecast “remains a low confidence prediction.”

"Everyone in the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands should closely monitor updates to the forecast for this system and have their hurricane plan in place,” the center said.

The National Hurricane Center said there’s a possibility Bret could turn north or continue west into the Caribbean and threaten the Dominican Republic, Haiti and other islands.

“There continues to be larger than usual uncertainty,” the center said of the storm’s forecasted path.

Almost a century has gone by since a storm last strengthened into a hurricane in the tropical Atlantic in June, according to Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University. The last such storm recorded was Trinidad in 1933, he tweeted.

Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the 2023 season, formed earlier this month. It petered out after two days, never threatening landfall. Previously, a subtropical storm formed in the Atlantic Basin in January.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast 12 to 17 named storms for this year's hurricane season. It said between five and nine of those storms could become hurricanes, including up to four major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.

A tropical disturbance that is trailing Bret has a 50% chance of formation, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Breaking weeks of public silence since her husband was impeached in May, Angela Paxton did not address the accusations in a statement released by her office.

Whether Paxton will cast a vote with her husband's job on the line has raised ethical questions ahead of the looming trial in the Senate, which is set to begin no later than August. State law compels all senators to attend, but is silent on whether she must participate.

“As a member of the Senate, I hold these obligations sacred and I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it,” Paxton said.

A spokesperson did not immediately respond Monday night when asked whether she intends to vote.

The statement was released on the eve of when rules surrounding the trial are expected to be finalized Tuesday by the Texas Senate. There are 31 senators in the chamber, which is led by Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has declined to comment on Sen. Paxton's potential participation in the trial.

Ken Paxton is temporarily suspended from office pending the outcome of the trial.

Police said the man began the attack at about 9 p.m. Monday in the north Auckland suburb of Albany.

Police arrested a 24-year-old suspect at the scene and charged him with wounding, with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm. The man, a Chinese national, made a brief court appearance Tuesday. Police did not immediately offer a motive for the attack but said they had no evidence it was racially motivated.

Auckland City Hospital said Tuesday one patient from the attack remained there in stable condition. North Shore Hospital said it had one patient with moderate injuries and a second with minor injuries, both of whom were in stable condition, and had earlier discharged a third patient.

A diner told the New Zealand Herald newspaper he was eating dinner with a friend when the man walked in and started attacking his friend, who was seriously injured.

“I was in shock. When I realized what was happening, he tried to target me," the man, who asked not to be named, told the Herald. “I blocked his axe with my hand. He was also trying to target my head, so I blocked the axe with my hand.”

The diner said the man with the axe chased them out of the restaurant and then turned around and walked into another restaurant.

The Herald posted an image of what appeared to be a wood-splitter-style axe lying on the sidewalk.

Surveillance footage posted by the news website Stuff showed people fleeing from one of the restaurants, including one person who ran out backward holding a chair as a barricade followed closely by another person holding a weapon.

Police said they expect to file more charges against the man, who they believe acted alone. Police increased their presence in the area around the restaurants Tuesday.

"We acknowledge how frightening this incident was for those involved, and for the wider community, and we are ensuring there is support in place for both the victims and their friends and family," Inspector Stefan Sagar said in a statement.

During his court appearance, the defendant was helped by a Chinese-language interpreter. He was not required to enter a plea. He was granted temporary name suppression, a common outcome in New Zealand's legal system.

The restaurants the man entered were Yues Dumpling Kitchen, Zhangliang Malatang and Maya Hotpot. They are among a cluster of restaurants on the street that aim to give diners low-cost options reminiscent of Chinese street food offerings.

Dustin Harker, a father of 13, was rafting on the Arkansas River near Cañon City, Colorado with his family in early June when the raft capsized in some rapids.

Harker, a neurologist, was able to rescue three of his children who were thrown into turbulent waters, working to get them out from under the raft and back into the vessel.

"He was underwater for fifteen minutes," said Sharon Neu Young, Harker's sister-in-law. "They did CPR on him for 30 to 45 minutes, but they weren't able to bring him back."

After he was pulled from the water, Harker was brought onto the nearby Royal Gorge Route Railroad. The conductor had stopped the train asking passengers if there were any medics, according to Yvette Ramos, a first responder who was onboard the train during the incident.

Ramos told Nexstar's KXRM all she wanted was to bring Harker back to his family.

"I kept looking at his ring and I kept thinking, this is somebody's husband, this is somebody's father, this is somebody's uncle and grandfather," stated Ramos. "I broke down and started crying because I felt like I didn't do enough... like I needed to do more."

Young said authorities told her family Harker had suffered cerebral hematomas from the accident.

"They are right now suspecting he had crashed into some rocks… and maybe he was conscious and able to do things for a few minutes, but the effects of that head trauma took his life," Young said.

Harker had used what remaining strength he had to give his life for those he loved.

"Thirteen kids losing their dad, it just magnifies the grief," stated Young. "It was like a meteor hit. I knew the second [Harker's wife] said the words that the moment before was one part of life, and this was a different reality."

Despite the sudden loss, the family is finding comfort in the words of strangers after Young made a Facebook and GoFundMe page for people to post memories and pictures of Harker. They wouldn't realize how many lives Harker had connected with until people across multiple communities began donating and interacting with posts.

"It's been amazing to just observe all of the comments and reaching out from his patients of how much they appreciated how he cared for them, which isn't really something that I've had an insight to before," said Young. "It's been such a treasure to be able to have them gather with us and share the bits of him that we didn't have the opportunity to know as well."

It was this very Facebook and GoFund Me page Ramos would find after days of searching for his family. She wanted to tell the family, she and other first responders did everything they could to save Harker.

"I've been looking every day to see if I could see a story about him, to see if it was published on the news... I [decided] to reach out for peace of mind and so that they have peace themselves," said Ramos. "So they knew we tried, that we really tried for their husband."

Harker's family continues to remember their loved one as someone who was a "creator of many good laughs," loved outdoor adventures and was incredibly compassionate, according to Young.

"Being a brother or sister was definitely, I think, embedded in his philosophy of how he connected with people and how he treated them all," stated Young. "He was very thoughtful in the things that he did and careful in how he did them to make sure they align with his values."

The shootings happened in cities and rural areas alike, following a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. Officers responded to mass shootings in Washington state, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Southern California, Milwaukee and Baltimore.

“There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.”

Researchers disagree over the cause. Theories include the possibility that violence is driven by the prevalence of guns in America, or by less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses, Nagin said.

Only the Idaho killings fit the definition of a mass killing in which four or more people die, not including the shooter. However, the number of injured in most of the weekend cases matches the widely accepted definition for mass shootings.

Here's a look at some of the shootings this weekend:

CHICAGO

Five people were shot, two fatally on the city's South Side on Sunday evening when someone opened fire from a car that pulled up to a gathering, according to police.

Another four men were shot, one fatally, during an altercation in a garage in the West Side neighborhood of Austin around 3 a.m. Sunday, police said. Five others including a teenage girl were shot early Saturday near Lincoln Park Zoo, and two dozen more were shot in other incidents since Friday evening, city data shows.

Meanwhile in the suburbs, at least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday in a parking lot where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said.

The White House issued a statement calling the violence a tragedy and saying the president was thinking of those killed and injured. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that he was monitoring the investigation.

KELLOGG, IDAHO

Police in Idaho arrested a suspect in a shooting that killed four people on Sunday at an apartment complex behind a church.

Responding officers found four people, all dead from gunshot wounds, at a residence in Kellogg that's behind the Mountain View Congregational Church, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office and news reports. Idaho State Police said a 31-year-old man was detained, KXLY-TV reported.

ST. LOUIS

An early Sunday shooting in a downtown St. Louis office building killed a 17-year-old and wounded 11 other teenagers, the city’s police commissioner said.

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Robert Tracy identified the victim who was killed as 17-year-old Makao Moore. A spokesman said a minor who had a handgun was in police custody as a person of interest.

Teenagers were having a party in an office space when the shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday.

The victims ranged from 15 to 19 years old. A 17-year-old girl was trampled as she fled, seriously injuring her spine, Tracy said.

WASHINGTON STATE

Two people were killed and two others were injured when a shooter began firing “randomly” into a crowd at a Washington state campground where many people were staying to attend a nearby music festival on Saturday night, police said.

The suspect was shot in a confrontation with law enforcement officers and taken into custody, several hundred yards from the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival.

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

One state trooper was killed and a second critically wounded just hours apart in central Pennsylvania on Saturday after a gunman attacked a state police barracks.

The suspect drove his truck into the parking lot of the Lewistown barracks about 11 a.m. Saturday and opened fire with a large-caliber rifle on marked patrol cars before fleeing, authorities said Sunday.

Lt. James Wagner, 45, was critically wounded when he was shot after encountering the suspect several miles away in Mifflintown. Later, Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was ambushed and killed by a gunshot through the windshield of his patrol car as he drove down a road in nearby Walker Township, authorities said.

The suspect was shot and killed after a fierce gunbattle, said Lt. Col. George Bivens.

“What I witnessed ... was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed,” Bivens said, lauding troopers for launching an aggressive search despite facing a weapon that “would defeat any of the body armor that they had available to them.”

A motive was not immediately known.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

A shooting at a pool party at a Southern California home left eight people wounded, authorities said Saturday.

Authorities were dispatched shortly after midnight in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported.

The victims range in age from 16 to 24, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

BALTIMORE

Six people were injured in a Friday night shooting in Baltimore. All were expected to survive.

Officers heard gunshots in the north of the city just before 9 p.m. and found three men with numerous gunshot wounds. Medics took them to area hospitals for treatment.

Police later learned of three additional victims who walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The wounded ranged in age from 17 to 26.

SAN FRANCISCO

Six people were injured after a “car-to-car” shooting in the streets of San Francisco on Sunday evening, police said.

Two victims sustained gunshot wounds, one with life-threatening injuries, in the moving shootout beginning shortly before 7 p.m., San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said at a news conference Sunday.

Suspects in two cars, a black SUV and a white sedan, “drove very recklessly and chased each other while engaged in gunfire” near the northern waterfront, Scott said. The area includes Fisherman’s Wharf, one of the city’s busiest tourist areas.

Three victims were injured by glass shards caused by “errant gunfire,” Scott said, with none of the injuries considered to be life-threatening.

Two girls, ages 10 and 16, were struck by one of the two vehicles while walking their bicycles across the street. The younger girl was injured and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the older girl was not injured.

PHILADELPHIA

A 4-year-old boy was among five victims of a shooting in south Philadelphia Saturday night.

Police responded to the block shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday and found a 58-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to the legs, a 54-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to her wrist and leg, and the boy, who was brought to Presbyterian Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

A 30-year-old man also arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the wrist and a 40-year-old man was brought in with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The last victim was listed in critical condition; all others were said to be in stable condition.

MILWAUKEE

At least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon around where Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration had just wrapped up.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said among the wounded was a 17-year-old who may have been a gunman himself and is in custody. Police were still seeking additional suspects who hadn’t yet been identified.

Police said the victims, four girls and two boys, ranged in age from 14-19.

Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from a fight among a number of girls and young women, but he didn’t know what sparked the dispute. The injuries of those wounded varied but did not appear life-threatening, the chief said.

—

Brown contributed from Billings, Mont. Savage is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

While many have treated the long holiday weekend as a reason for a party, others urged quiet reflection on America's often violent and oppressive treatment of its Black citizens. Still others have remarked at the strangeness of celebrating a federal holiday marking the end of slavery in the nation while many Americans are trying to stop parts of that history from being taught in public schools.

“Is #Juneteenth the only federal holiday that some states have banned the teaching of its history and significance?” author Michelle Duster asked on Twitter, referring to measures in Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama prohibiting an Advancement Placement African American studies course or the teaching of certain concepts of race and racism.

The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued during the bloody Civil War. For generations, Black Americans have recognized Juneteenth, but it only became a federal holiday two years ago.

In Fort Worth, Texas, the woman known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth," Opal Lee, led her annual Walk for Freedom. The 96-year-old former teacher and activist is largely credited for rallying others behind a campaign to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. This year, Lee became only the second Black person to have her portrait hung in the Senate chamber of the Texas Capitol.

Vice President Kamala Harris said in brief remarks on a CNN special that also featured musical guests, including Miguel and Charlie Wilson, that the holiday honors Black excellence and celebrates freedom, one of the country's founding principles.

“America is a promise, a promise of freedom, liberty, and justice,” Harris said. “The story of Juneteenth, as we celebrate it, is the story of our ongoing fight to realize America’s promise, not for some, but for all.”

At a Sunday Mass in Detroit, one Roman Catholic church devoted its service to urging parishioners to take a deeper look at the lessons from the holiday.

“In order to have justice we must work for peace. And in order to have peace we must work for justice,” John Thorne, executive director of the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, said to the congregation at Gesu Catholic Church while standing before paintings of a Black Jesus and Mary.

It was important to speak about Juneteenth during the service, the Rev. Lorn Snow told a reporter.

“The struggle’s still not over with. There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Most Black Americans agree, according to a recent poll. A full 70% of Black adults queried in a AP-NORC poll said “a lot” needs to be done to achieve equal treatment for African Americans in policing. And Black Americans suffer from significantly worse health outcomes than their white peers across a variety of measures, including rates of maternal mortality, asthma, high blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease.

Ryan Jones, the associate curator at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, said Juneteenth should be celebrated in the U.S. with the same emphasis that July 4 receives as Independence Day.

“It is the independence of a people that were forced to endure oppression and discrimination based on the color of their skin,” Jones said.

The museum is located at the site of the old Lorraine Motel, the former Black-owned hotel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in 1968. It offered free admission on the holiday. At the museum, visitors can hear recorded speeches from civil rights leaders including King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers and others.

Jones said the Juneteenth holiday is a time to reflect on the past.

“It acknowledges the sacrifices of those early civil rights veterans between World War I and World War II, and of course in the modern society, the protests, the demonstrations, the non-violence, the marches,” Jones said.

The Tennessee Legislature passed a bill this year making Juneteenth a state holiday.

In New York, a hybrid event in Central Park on Monday celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, with an emphasis on the local Black’s community’s impact on the genre. The event capped off a packed weekend of festivities that saw a growing number of collaborators working together to spread awareness of the holiday, according to Athenia Rodney, the founder of the nonprofit group Juneteenth NYC.

Rodney said she planned to spend Monday at home, reflecting on the historical roots of the holiday and how much has changed.

“Juneteenth isn’t just about a party or a festival, it’s about how we bring the community together under the umbrella of unity,” Rodney said.

As Americans gathered to mark the holiday, at least one event was marked by violence. In the Chicago suburb of Willowbrook, Illinois, on Saturday night, one person was killed and 22 were injured in a shooting where hundreds had gathered for a Juneteenth celebration.

And in Milwaukee, at least six teenagers were shot Monday afternoon around where the city's Juneteenth celebration had just wrapped up.

___

Associated Press writers Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas, and Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this report.

The shooting happened about 4:20 p.m. outside Greater Philadelphia Church of God in Christ, according to witnesses and a Facebook Live video taken by a bystander in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, according to local media outlets.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said six teens were shot, including a 17-year-old who may have been a gunman himself and is in custody. Police were still seeking additional suspects who hadn’t yet been identified.

Police said the victims, four girls and two boys, ranged in age from 14-19.

Norman said the shooting may have stemmed from a fight among a number of girls and young women, but he didn’t know what sparked the dispute. The injuries of those wounded varied but did not appear life-threatening, the chief said.

“Milwaukee, what’s going on with our children?” Norman wondered aloud at a news conference. He noted that he has taken part in the city’s Juneteenth celebrations for eight years without any such bloody aftermath.

“Parents, guardians, elders, we need to engage in ensuring that this violence that our children are bringing these streets ceases. No handgun, no weapons of destruction, should be in the hands of our young ones.”

“This is a story that plays out too often, and it’s getting really old. Really old,” Norman said.

The violence followed a bloody weekend of shootings across the United States.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson stressed that Monday's Juneteenth observance itself was a safe and growing event, calling the subsequent violence “totally, totally unacceptable.”

“We had thousands and thousands of people here celebrating and bringing themselves together and having a sense of community. That’s a powerful thing. That’s the true story about what this day is,” said Johnson, a Democrat.

A man who identified himself as T. Jenkins told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a fight between two women preceded the shooting. A young man pulled out a gun and everyone scattered, Jenkins said. The man did some of the shooting, he said.

Jenkins provided aid to a young woman with a neck wound. There was blood coming out of the left side of her neck, he said. “I applied pressure to her neck,” he said. “I tried to keep everyone calm around me.”

A Facebook Live video taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting shows at least two young people with gunshot wounds being treated by paramedics on the pavement.

The person who filmed the Facebook Live said in the video that a teenage girl or young woman had suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. The Facebook user tried to comfort her sobbing friend, who was trying to contact her mother. Only about 20 minutes after the festival had officially ended, hundreds of people were still walking along the street.

Thousands of people packed King Drive for the festival, which ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors selling food and wares lined the street along with community organizations offering resources, snacks and free giveaways.

Music thumped from booths and food trucks offering refreshing treats in the heat drew long lines. Youth dance groups, marching bands and drill teams entertained crowds in a parade along King Drive earlier in the day. Police officers were stationed in several places along the route.

Keith Caldwell, another vendor, described the scene this way: “I just heard commotion, gunshots, people screaming.”

On security at the event, Caldwell talked of the need for gun control.

“Right now, it’s like an uncontrollable situation,” he said.

Sands - best known for starring roles in “The Killing Fields,” “Warlock,” “A Room with a View,” and “Arachnophobia" - disappeared while hiking in the area of Mount Baldy, a 10,000-foot peak northeast of Los Angeles.

The 65-year-old was reported missing in mid-January. At the time, Sands was believed to be somewhere along the Baldy Bowl Trail, a popular hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. Despite search and rescue efforts at the time, which were hampered by severe weather and "alpine conditions," Sands was never located.

Efforts to find Sands have continued, with over 80 search and rescue volunteers, deputies, and staff searching for him over the weekend, with the help of two helicopters and drone crews.

Aviation resources conducted aerial search and assessment efforts over remote areas across Mount Baldy, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said Saturday, adding drone crews searched areas that were inaccessible to ground crews.

“Despite the recent warmer weather, portions of the mountain remain inaccessible due to extreme alpine conditions,” SBSD said in a statement. “Multiple areas include steep terrain and ravines, which still have 10 [or more] feet of ice and snow.” 

During an initial search for Sands, authorities were able to track a delayed ping through his iPhone to a trail leading to Mount Baldy's summit. His phone last pinged just a few days after he was reported missing.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has conducted eight ground and air searches specific to Sands since his January disappearance. 

Sands remains an active missing person, and efforts to find him "will continue in a limited capacity."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective B. Meelker at the Fontana Station at 909-356-6710. 

Eight other unrelated search and rescue operations have also been conducted in the Mount Baldy area during that time, authorities said.