Ever wonder what to do with your old cooking oil? A local Chicago university has an eco-friendly idea they’re deploying.
Since 2010, Loyola University Chicago has been using recycled vegetable oil instead of fossil fuels to operate its shuttle buses, and they’re giving an inside look into that process.
The cleaner-burning biodiesel is produced at the Searle Biodiesel Lab. The facility’s biodiesel processor recycles waste oil from Chicago area restaurants, museums, and other sources, including Loyola’s dining halls. Some people also drop off donations, according to Zach Waickman. who runs the lab.
“As long as it is a liquid vegetable oil, we can take that and turn it into biodiesel which is sustainable which is a renewable direct replacement for petroleum diesel fuel,” said Waickman.
Zach gave NBC Chicago a crash course on the process to convert the oil. He also explained how a byproduct, glycerin, is also being used on campus.
“It takes about two weeks to take the oil and take it into biodiesel fuel,” he said. “So it goes through a refining process, chemical reaction, further refining afterwards. There’s lots of chemical quality control testing because we’re making a standardized commodity that’s going to go into a diesel engine and get burned out on our public roadways. So we want to be very careful to make sure that we are making a very high quality, standardized fuel that’s going to work in any engine. We turn all our byproduct, glycerin, into a foaming hand soap used in all the restrooms across Loyola University.”
Waikman said oil donations are always accepted, but donors are urged to make sure those donations are in a sealed container. Finally, ONLY vegetable oil can be accepted, and that has led to some confusion when donors provide other types of oil.
“We probably get close to 1,000 gallons a year of oil just dropped off at our door,” he said.
The House on Thursday approved a Senate-passed bill that would fund much of the Homeland Security Department, ending the record 75-day shutdown of the sprawling federal agency.
President Donald Trump had urged lawmakers to pass the bill and vowed to sign it into law. It passed “by voice,” with members shouting their approval without recording individual votes.
The bill will reopen DHS without providing new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Border Patrol, as Democrats demand changes to immigration enforcement. Republicans will attempt to fund those agencies separately.
The House’s action came right against a critical deadline. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had warned lawmakers that if they did not pass funding by Thursday, emergency funding would run out and thousands of workers would not be paid.
The successful vote came before House and Senate lawmakers depart for a weeklong recess at the end of Thursday. House and Senate lawmakers still need to make sure a foreign spying program doesn’t expire on Thursday.
Once Trump signs the funding bill, DHS agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service would be funded through the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.
Democrats had forced a DHS shutdown on Feb. 14, after Republicans rejected their demands to make reforms to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, such as mandating body cameras and limiting raids in sensitive locations like schools and hospitals.
In late March, the Senate unanimously approved the legislation to fund most of the DHS agencies, except for ICE and the Border Patrol. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rejected that plan as “a joke” at the time.
Johnson allowed a vote to move forward on the Senate-passed funding bill after seeing the party’s progress on funding ICE and Border Patrol.
“I think having passed our budget resolution yesterday was a very important step, and we have to absolutely make sure those two critical agencies of immigration enforcement and border are fully funded, and Republicans have to do that on our own,” Johnson told reporters Thursday.
He added: “I’m aware of the deadlines. I’ve been trying to press this as aggressively as anybody. … We’ll get the job done.”
On Wednesday, the House adopted the Senate-passed budget resolution that would create a pathway to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the duration of Trump’s term.
The budget measure instructs congressional committees to draft legislation and authorize $70 billion to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol for roughly the next three years.
Under the budget reconciliation process, Republicans would be able to bypass a Democratic filibuster and pass the legislation through the Senate with just 51 votes. They would not need to make any of the policy changes demanded by Democrats.
The House is still waiting for the Senate to send over a short-term extension of the spy program, known as FISA Section 702. Members of both parties said it would be devastating for national security if authorization for that program expired.
A suburban police officer has been “relieved of all duties” and charged amid allegation he sexually abused a woman during traffic stops, the department said.
The Park City Police Department said it received allegations in January that a part-time officer, identified as Officer Patrick Cacho, had “acted unprofessionally and possibly engaged in criminal conduct while on duty on more than one occasion.”
The allegations involved a women police said Cacho “had contact with during traffic stops.”
After learning of the allegations, the department said Cacho was “immediately relieved of all duties” and placed on unpaid administrative leave while Illinois State Police conducted an investigation.
After the investigation was completed, Cacho was formally charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, aggravated battery, official misconduct and criminal sexual abuse. He was taken into custody on Tuesday and the Park City department said it reported the events to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
“While all individuals in the criminal justice system are presumed innocent until proven guilty, these allegations are deeply concerning and run counter to the ethical standards upheld by the Park City Police Department,” Park City Chief of Police Kenneth Stoves said in a statement.
Illinois State Police confirmed they arrested Cacho, 29, who lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the Lake County
State’s Attorney’s office approved 10 felony charges against him.
The Justice Department and Trump allies contend those numbers amounted to a threat against the 47th president.
The indictment is the second against Comey over the past year. The first one, on unrelated false-statement and obstruction charges, was tossed out by a judge last year. Comey, who was fired from his post in the first year of Trump’s first term, has been a longtime adversary of the president.
Legal experts say the threats case over a seemingly innocuous pair of numbers presents significant hurdles for the prosecution and will likely be a challenge for the Justice Department to win.
What does ’86’ mean?
According to Merriam-Webster, the term “86” dates back to the 1930s and referred to an item at a soda counter being sold out. Over the years, the term broadened beyond the soda counter and is used commonly across the hospitality industry when an item is sold out or to refuse service to someone who is too drunk. It’s also informally used to mean “cancel” or “get rid of.”
Merriam-Webster has added a disclaimer: “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ‘to kill.’ We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”
The ’86 47′ connection to Trump
While at his beach house in North Carolina last year, Comey shared a photo on his Instagram account of what he described as a “cool shell formation” on the sand that formed the numbers “8647.”
The May post was quickly condemned by administration officials and Trump allies who claimed it blatantly targeted Trump, the 47th president of the United States.
Comey deleted the photo shortly after it was made, writing: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
The Justice Department has accused James Comey of threatening President Donald Trump in this Instagram post. @comey via Instagram
In an interview with MSNBC, Comey said he assumed the numbers reflected a political message in reference to Trump because of the number “47,” but not a call to violence against the Republican president. He called the allegations “crazy.”
“In the Trump era, I’ve been investigated a lot, audited a lot, and so it’s not my first rodeo. I’m, in some strange way, the relationship he can’t get over,” Comey told Nicolle Wallace on “Deadline White House.”
Still, the image sparked an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service.
What does the indictment against Comey say?
The two-count indictment alleges that a reasonable person would interpret the image of the shells as “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”
It accuses Comey of acting “knowingly and willfully,” but its sparse language offers no support for that assertion. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to elaborate at a news conference on what evidence of intent the government has. But broad First Amendment protections for free speech, Supreme Court precedent and Comey’s public statements indicating that he did not intend to convey a threat will likely impose a tall burden for the government.
“Here, ‘86’ is ambiguous — it doesn’t necessarily threaten violence and the fact that it was the FBI Director posting this openly and notoriously on a public social media site suggests that he didn’t intend to convey a threat of violence,” John Keller, a former senior Justice Department official who led a task force to prosecute violent threats against election workers, wrote in a text message.
John Fishwick, a former U.S. attorney in the Western District of Virginia, notes Comey was voluntarily interviewed by the Secret Service last year, and the fact that the indictment doesn’t charge him with making a false statement suggests that prosecutors do not have evidence that he lied to agents.
What is Comey’s response?
Comey responded to the indictment in a video posted to his Substack account, saying he was “still innocent” and “still unafraid.”
“And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” Comey said.
A tech banker is looking to dive into artificial intelligence by selling his sprawling estate in Mill Valley, California, in exchange for shares of AI company Anthropic.
Storm Duncan, founder of the tech investment bank Ignatious, lives primarily in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He listed the property, which features sweeping views of San Francisco, on LinkedIn as part of an effort to reach his targeted buyer: Anthropic employees.
“The Anthropic employee probably has a significant amount of liquid net worth in Anthropic,” Duncan said. “It’s not diversified and they probably don’t have a home that corresponds to their new net worth. I’m in the exact opposite scenario where I have a home, but I don’t have exposure to Anthropic, which I would like to have.”
The luxury home up for sale is located at 114 Inez Place in Mill Valley’s Strawberry neighborhood.
A Zillow search shows the 4,400-square-foot home features four bedrooms and five bathrooms on a hill with acres of land. The home also has panoramic views and an infinity pool.
“I think one of the primary amenities of the home is that it’s 13 acres surrounded buy a lot of wildlife and land,” Duncan said.
Anthropic, an AI research and safety company, could be worth up to $800 billion, according to recent reported valuations. Duncan is hoping to lure the equity holder with key benefits like keeping the upside in shares and tax advantages.
“Some people think we’re in a bubble and Anthropic is overvalued,” Duncan said. “And I happen to think that we’re at the very beginning of the most transformations thing we’ll ever see in our lifetime. I realize fully that their stock could go up or down.”
Lisa Smith, a realtor in the Mill Valley area, said she has never heard of anyone offering up property in exchange for company shares, but noted we are moving into a world where people are offering Bitcoin for homes.
“I appreciate the seller’s creativity,” Smith said. “It’s a pretty awesome thought.”
Smith said if she was advising the buyer, she would do a deep dive into the trade.
“It may or may not see the same type of growth and excitement that possibly the Anthropic share is going to see when it goes public,” Smith said, adding it would be much easier if the company was trading publicly today for an “apples-to-apples comparison.”
Duncan said he has had early conversation about a possible trade, but an Anthropic employee has yet to sign off on a deal.
“If it doesn’t happen on the dotted line today, but you know has a possibility in the future, you know I’ll keep the dots open,” Duncan said.
Human remains were found in a popular northwest suburban forest preserve over the weekend, according to police.
The Forest Preserve District of Kane County said a death investigation is underway after an apparent human skull was found Saturday in Raceway Woods in Carpentersville.
A resident reported finding a skull in a remote and wooded area of the forest preserve, sparking a response from numerous departments and the Kane County Coroner’s office.
“The preserve was immediately closed and an area was cordoned off for an investigation. In addition to the skull, more bones were found in the area that appear to be human,” Forest Preserve District of Kane County Director of Public Safety Paul Burger. “Evidence collected at the scene by Fox Valley Major Crimes Task Force evidence technicians and the Kane County Coroner’s office was transported for processing and possible identification.”
The forest preserve was reopened to the public Sunday but further details on the findings have not been released.
Anyone with information related to the remains is being asked to call Forest Preserve District Director of Public Safety Paul Burger at (630) 232-3415.
Dylan Carter, a country singer who gained national attention on “The Voice” Season 24, has died at age 24.
The musician was involved in a car crash on Saturday, April 25, in Colleton County at approximately 11:22 p.m. local time, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Authorities said the vehicle was traveling south when it left the roadway, striking a curb, a utility pole and a fence before overturning.
Carter, who was the only person in the vehicle, was transported to a local hospital, where he “later succumbed to their injuries.” The incident remains under investigation.
His death was first announced on Sunday by The Local Voice, a women’s breast cancer nonprofit he co‑founded in 2024.
“With heavy hearts we share the passing of Dylan Carter, co-founder of The Local Voice, talented musician, and someone who meant so much to our community,” the organization said. “Dylan was the heart of what we do. He believed every voice matters and lived that every day. Through his music, his kindness, and his smile, he brought people together and made everyone feel seen.”
Thomas Hamilton Jr., mayor of Carter’s hometown Moncks Corner, honored the “gifted singer” in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“Our family is heartbroken to hear about the passing of Dylan Carter in a car accident,” Hamilton Jr. wrote. “As a gifted singer, he frequently entertained our community with his performances at Town events,” he continued.
“His kindness and charm earned him immense respect, and his absence will be deeply felt. To the loved ones and acquaintances of Dylan, we offer our sincerest condolences during this difficult period.”
Carter impressed all four coaches during his 2023 blind audition on “The Voice” with a rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Look to You,” securing turns from Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Niall Horan. The then‑20‑year‑old was later eliminated during the Battle Rounds.
McEntire, who coached Carter during the competition, paid tribute on Monday after news of his death was announced.
“We will miss Dylan so much. He was a brilliant, kind and talented young man who brought a huge ray of sunshine to The Voice,” the country singer wrote on her Instagram story April 27. “Rest in peace, my dear friend.”
In addition to his music career, Carter worked as a realtor and was the co-owner of Sunny Days RV & Campground in South Carolina.
A flood of misinformation, conspiracy theories and false claims about the shooting at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner spread online at a notable and concerningly speedy rate, mostly about the baseless theory that the incident had been staged.
The speculation on social media began to swirl within minutes of the first reports of shots fired, picking up steam throughout Sunday despite journalists — the vast majority of the gala’s attendees — and authorities quickly releasing verified and evidence-backed information about the suspected shooter.
There is no evidence that Saturday night’s incident was staged. Authorities have released ample evidence that Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, rushed the event while armed and was stopped by law enforcement. A senior administration official said Allen’s brother told authorities that Cole Allen had sent him and other family members writings displaying anti-Trump sentiment prior to incident.
Even the president, long known for distributing conspiracy theories online, took note of the speed.
“Usually it takes a little bit longer,” President Trump said in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday. “Usually they wait about two or three months to start saying that.”
This time, it was less than two or three hours. The response highlights how conspiracy theories and a knee-jerk skepticism of current events have become the default response for a growing number of Americans, deepened by the loss of trust in institutions and supercharged by starkly partisan politics.
“I would have been surprised if they hadn’t developed because we’re in a society that is absolutely saturated with conspiracism,” Michael Barkun, professor emeritus in the political science department at Syracuse University, said of the theories.
On Reddit, many of the platform’s most popular posts about the incident — including many in communities not dedicated to politics — either directly or indirectly poked at the idea that it had been staged, while comment sections were rife with the sensibility that believing anything else was naive. On Instagram, many posts from people arguing or theorizing that Trump or the White House had something to do with the situation drew thousands of engagements. On X, the word “staged” trended Saturday night and much of Sunday alongside “Butler,” a reference to the assassination attempt on Trump in that Pennsylvania city that has been the subject of similar conspiracy theories.
It did not appear that many high-profile Democratic politicians had engaged with the theories, while some on the right and left criticized the wild speculation.
The speed with which conspiracy theories flowed from Saturday’s event underscore just how common some of these claims have become. While staged or “false flag” attacks do have some historical precedent, they are exceedingly rare. That has not stopped the idea from becoming one of the most common conspiracy theory tropes. In recent years, some on the political right have labeled everything from the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot as a false flag.
“It comes in waves in the U.S.,” said Mark Fenster, the Marshall M. Criser Eminent Scholar chair in electronic communications and administrative law at the University of Florida, who has studied conspiracy theories and government transparency. “We have had periods in which there has been both political violence and this sort of fear of conspiracy. And there are times when it goes up and times when it goes down, when it’s quieter. One thing that’s different for today is the fact that it’s so observable … These things can circulate more broadly and more quickly.”
Beyond the claims of a staged incident, plenty of other false or misleading information surfaced online, adding to what is now the usual haze of infotainment that is particularly potent on algorithmically driven social media platforms. Fake images of Allen spread online, as did AI-enhanced security video of his sprint through a security checkpoint. One post on X theorizing that time travel was involved had accrued more than 1.2 million views as of Monday morning. What appeared to be an AI-generated video of Tucker Carlson floating the “staged” conspiracy theory also circulated.
A pro-Iran AI propaganda video also seized on the moment with a new clip poking at the theory.
Others online grasped at statements from Trump supporters before and after the attack as evidence of a conspiracy, including a red carpet interview with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt preceding the shooting in which she said, “shots will be fired,” referencing the contents of the president’s speech. Online, users clipped the interview in videos suggesting Leavitt’s comments as evidence of a staged incident.
Some posited that the attack was covertly orchestrated by the Trump administration for political gain and to support the building of a $400 million ballroom on the East Wing of the White House. As evidence, some pointed to the quick reaction of Trump and many of his most prominent supporters calling for the ballroom to be built.
Ashley St. Clair, a former right-wing social media influencer who has recently been critical of Trump, did not entertain the idea that the WHCD incident was staged but did say in a video on TikTok that she believed the ballroom messaging had been coordinated in the immediate aftermath, noting that she had been in group chats with other influencers for such purposes.
“I told you guys that all of MAGA is paid, and they coordinate their messaging in lockstep via group chats,” St. Clair said. “And what do you know? All of these people came to the conclusion that, after they saw what happened at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, their first thought was all independently, ‘Trump needs his ballroom.’”
St. Clair added in a follow-up video that there was a certain irony in Trump and his supporters being upset about conspiracy theories.
“It’s not so funny now that it’s happening to you boys now, is it?” she said.
Some on the left also sought to pin the blame for the conspiracy theories on Trump. Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist, pointed to statements Trump made on “60 Minutes” related to the incident. Trump appeared to fall as Secret Service agents escorted him off the stage. Trump said in the interview that he was told to get lower.
“Lying about stupid s— like whether you fell down during a very chaotic situation is why half the internet believes the whole thing was staged,” Nellis wrote on X.
Barkun, of Syracuse University, echoed that idea.
“We’ve got a situation in which there are increasing numbers of people of very high visibility who proclaim themselves to be conspiracy believers and therefore legitimize it,” he said. “Notably, President Trump.”
Fenster and Barkun separately noted that the rise of conspiratorial thinking across the political spectrum comes with inherent dangers for U.S. society.
“The danger, obviously, is that it further stymies our political system, that our political system depends upon parties and branches of government that can get along well enough to enact laws and to enforce laws in a way that is even handed and legitimate,” Fenster said. “And to the extent that government actors and political parties and popular politics are based upon this sort of deeply ingrained suspicion, such that you simply cannot trust the other side to engage in good faith in politics and political bargaining and compromise and things like that, it really makes it that much more difficult to run a country.”
Even as the events were unfolding, some had already anticipated the reaction.
“You know right-wing media is filled with all kinds of conspiracy theories lately about how President Trump’s first assassination attempt was phony and fake?” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told NBC News as he left the dinner. “This is going to fuel all of that stuff, I’m sure.”
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, is the armed suspect federal authorities subdued near the packed ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump and other White House officials gathered with journalists, a federal official familiar with the case told NBC News.
Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives when he rushed a security checkpoint and ran toward the ballroom where the black-tie dinner was being held, authorities said. He exchanged gunfire with law enforcement and was tackled to the ground.
The suspect’s writings
Before the attack, Allen sent family members a note apologizing to his parents, colleagues, students, bystanders and others for what he was about to do, according to a transcript of some of Allen’s writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official.
A photograph shared on President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account of the suspect who was apprehended during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington on Saturday.
“I don’t expect forgiveness,” Allen wrote. “Again, my sincere apologies.”
In the note, Allen criticized Trump without mentioning him by name. He wrote about lax security at the hotel, saying he had expected more.
He also described his “expected rules of engagement,” writing: “Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” He appears to be referring to FBI Director Kash Patel.
Later, he added: “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”
The senior administration official said that Allen’s brother contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut when he received the note.
The New London Police Department confirmed being contacted at around 10:49 p.m. Saturday, just over two hours after the shooting, “by an individual who expressed concern about the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner earlier in the evening.” Police contacted federal law enforcement and the caller was interviewed by authorities.
Allen’s sister told the Secret Service and Montgomery County Police after the shooting that her brother had a tendency to make radical statements and he had referred to a plan to do “something” to fix the issues with today’s world, the senior administration official said.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News earlier on Sunday that law enforcement authorities believe he took a train from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.
Blanche said on “Meet the Press” that authorities believe “the suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then Chicago to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel where the correspondents’ dinner was at in the last day or two.”
Described as a ‘genius’ and recently won ‘teacher of the month’
The suspect, who was not shot but was taken to a local hospital, is expected to be charged in federal court on Monday. In a press conference shortly after the attack, Trump called the suspected shooter a “whack job” and a “lone wolf.”
Public records and interviews show that Allen was a trained engineer who once interned for NASA, and participated in the Nerf club and Christian fellowship at his prestigious California university, before more recently developing video games and working as a part-time teacher.
Allen attended Pacific Lutheran High School in Gardena, California, where he was known for his inquisitiveness and intellect, a former volleyball teammate told NBC News. While he had not seen Allen recently, he remembered Allen as a “borderline genius” and “super stable.”
“Other people study hard,” said the ex-teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear it could affect his career. “He didn’t have to study. It would just come to him. He was really, really smart.”
The former teammate said Allen was interested in coding and computers, but he was also a very good writer and seemed to be well-versed in several subjects.
“Across the board, he was really knowledgeable, really curious,” the ex-teammate said.
The teammate said they lost touch with Allen once he went off to California Institute of Technology, a private research university in Pasadena, California, but expressed surprise that he would be the suspect in Saturday’s attack.
“He was probably the most gentle person on the team, which makes it even more shocking that he did this,” the ex-teammate said.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology, commonly known as Caltech, in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. The school confirmed it had a record of a student named Cole Allen who graduated in 2017.
Months later, Allen was featured in a local news report for developing a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs.
“The wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels, but don’t lock the chair to the ground. But with this device, that will prevent the chair from skidding at all,” Allen told ABC7 in 2017.
Outside the classroom, according to his LinkedIn, Allen participated in the Caltech Christian Fellowship and Nerf Club.
The LinkedIn profile indicates he obtained his master’s of science degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in May 2025.
After graduating from Caltech, Allen worked for a year as a mechanical engineer before becoming an independent video game developer and later also a part-time teacher at C2 Education, a company dedicated to helping high schoolers get into college, according to the LinkedIn profile.
That same year, Allen donated $25 to ActBlue with the memo “Earmarked for Harris for President,” according to Federal Election Commission filings. In the donation, he listed his occupation as teacher for C2 Education.
Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, told NBC News that Allen tutored one student who volunteers at his Torrance-based nonprofit, as well as the sibling of another.
“They described him as someone who was very intelligent,” Wakayama said. “They never would have expected this.”
The student who received tutoring from Allen told Wakayama that she had met with him as recently as April 14 and there were no signs that anything was amiss.
“It’s been that recent,” she texted Wakayama Saturday night, according to him. “Bio, math, English, Science, literally everything.”
“He’s so smart,” she added in the text, according to Wakayama.
Reporters in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, Calif., on Sunday.
According to LinkedIn, Allen began working as a “self-employed” indie game developer in September 2018, and appears to have released an “atomic fighting game” called Bohrdom on Steam that year. In a trailer for the game, according to WIRED, it is described as a “non-violent, skill-based, asymmetrical fighting game loosely based on a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality.”
Paul Thompson, one of Allen’s neighbors, said Allen lived with his parents and rode a blue moped around the area. He said Allen was “not necessarily friendly,” but he hadn’t noticed anything off about him. He added that Allen’s “parents are nice, friendly people,” and the “father especially knows everybody.”
Records show that Allen purchased a Maverick 12 gauge shotgun in August 2025 and an Armscor Precision .38 semi-automatic pistol in October 2023.
A senior law enforcement official tells NBC News those were the two weapons they recovered from Allen on Saturday night.
In the interview with law enforcement, Allen’s sister confirmed he purchased two handguns and a shotgun from CAP Tactical Firearms and kept them stored at their parents’ home, according to a senior administration official. She added that their parents were unaware that Allen was keeping the firearms in the home.
Allen regularly went to a shooting range to train with his firearms and was a part of a group called “The Wide Awakes,” the sister said in the interview, according to the official. His sister said he attended a “No Kings” anti-Trump protest in California at some point.
Allen displayed his firearm knowledge in the note to his family, writing about the type of ammunition he would use in “order to minimize casualties.”
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., said the suspect would be charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and a second crime of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She added that “many more charges” were expected to be filed.
Late Saturday night local time, the FBI and Secret Service were at a home believed to be associated with Allen in Torrance, a city of around 140,000 residents in California’s South Bay, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The FBI executed a search warrant related to the incident, said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
Saturday’s shooting rocked attendees of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an annual event attended by the Washington press corps, presidential administration staffers and celebrities.
Trump had attended the dinner before he first became president but skipped it throughout his first term. Saturday was the first time he attended as president, and he was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump.
They and others were seated at the front of the ballroom when video captured what sounded like at least five loud bangs before armed officers rushed in and hauled the president, first lady, Vice President JD Vance and others away while other attendees ducked down under tables.
“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray. I thought it was a tray going down,” Trump said from the White House briefing room Saturday night after the shooting.
“Melania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened,” the president said. “I think she knew immediately what happened. She was saying, ‘That’s a bad noise.’”
A Chicago officer who was fatally shot by a man receiving treatment at a hospital while in police custody has been identified as 38-year-old John Bartholomew
At least five individuals were shot during a gathering following the ‘Little 500’ cycling race in Bloomington, Indiana Sunday morning.
According to Bloomington police, a fight broke out between two women near a fast food restaurant on Kirkwood Avenue just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Police monitoring a large crowd that had gathered following the cycling race earlier Saturday then heard gunfire, which sent people scrambling in all directions, according to authorities.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that he believes the suspected gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was targeting administration officials, noting “we’re still looking into” whether President Donald Trump was specifically targeted.
Blanche stressed that the investigation was “quite preliminary” and said that law enforcement was looking into further information about the suspect including “some writings” and speaking with people who knew him. The suspect is not cooperating with investigators, he added.
“I kept it a little general because we do believe it was administration officials,” Blanche told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.”Obviously, President Trump is a member of the administration, the head of it, but, but as far as exacting threats that may have been communicated beforehand, we’re still actively investigating that evidence.”
Blanche declined to detail the writings, noting that the investigation was only about 12 hours old.
The suspect, identified by a federal official familiar with the case as Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, purchased his guns legally, according to a senior law enforcement official and law enforcement documents reviewed by NBC News. Law enforcement said late Saturday night that the suspect was armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives.
Trump said during a Saturday night press conference at the White House that he “fought like hell to stay” at the dinner after the incident, adding that the dinner would be rescheduled.
“We’re not going to let anybody take over our society,” he said on Saturday. “We’re not going to cancel things out, because we can’t do that.”
The acting attorney general said that law enforcement believe that the suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and finally to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel where the event took place “in the last day or two.” Blanche also said that law enforcement believes the suspect bought the two firearms he had at the hotel “within the past couple of years.”
The correspondents’ dinner is usually attended by the president and top administration officials, though Saturday’s program was the first time Trump attended while in office.
Asked whether it was safe for Trump, Vice President JD Vance and administration officials to be in the same room at the same time, Blanche said “of course,” adding, “We’re not going to stop living.”
“The system worked,” he said, noting that the suspect only breached the perimeter by a few feet. “We were safe. President Trump was safe. His secret service agents kept him safe. All of us were safe.”
Blanche said that law enforcement did not currently believe that other people were involved beyond the detained suspect. Asked whether the suspect was cooperating with investigators, Blanche said he did not think so.
“At this point, we do not have somebody who is cooperating,” Blanche said. “I expect he will be charged formally tomorrow morning in federal court in Washington, DC, and I expect that we’ll go forward from there.”
Blanche said he anticipated two charges to be filed against the suspect.
“Not atypically, in a case like this, there will be an assault of a federal officer charge,” Blanche said. “There will be a charge about him discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, and then there are potentially charges beyond that that come from reviewing of the evidence and if we understand his motivations and as we continue to gather.”
Tom Winter, Julia Ainsley and Marlene Lenthang contributed.
Northern Illinois may be affected by strong to severe thunderstorms Monday afternoon and evening, bringing the possibility of all hazards, though meteorologists emphasize the tornado risk is highest elsewhere.
The region sits on the northern edge of the severe weather risk, while evolving supercells capable of producing strong tornadoes are possible in central and southern Illinois and southeastern Iowa, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center.
According to the SPC, most of the Chicago area is under an “enhanced” risk of severe weather on Monday, which ranks as level three of five. Other portions of the region, including parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties, along with areas of northwest Indiana, are at a “slight” risk, which is level two of five.
For the Chicago area specifically, one forecast model suggests morning storms could continue into the early afternoon, potentially limiting the development of strong storms and shifting the severe risk farther south and east.
If those morning storms exit quickly, northern Illinois could become warmer and destabilize, increasing the potential for stronger storms later in the day.
The greatest risks are damaging straight-line winds, large hail and potential tornado activity.
Heavy rain and localized flooding are also possible, as rounds of storms could lead to “swaths of rainfall,” according to the NWS. Meteorologists are particularly concerned about rainfall along the Illinois/Wisconsin state line, which could cause levels of the Rock, Fox and Des Plaines rivers to rise again.
While the greatest risk-zone for tornadoes is further south, meteorologists will be keeping a close eye on conditions in the Chicago area, as the severe risk will be shaped largely by events earlier in the day.
The National Weather Service, in a post on X, stated “now is the time to prepare,” though noted the location of the highest threat is uncertain, as the storm severity depends on how conditions evolve.
After Monday, relief arrives.
It appears the stormy pattern will break for the last few days of April, with cooler and drier weather expected to close out the month.
There’s nothing worse than shelling out top dollar for your weekly groceries only to toss some of the items a few days later because they’ve already started to spoil.
Luckily, some simple food storage tricks can help extend the shelf life of your groceries and save you money along the way.
NBC News’ Vicky Nguyen spoke with Consumer Reports Deputy Home Editor Paul Hope to learn more about the food storage methods we should all be following. Below, we’re outlining some of his top tips.
Why is proper food storage so important?
Grocery prices have been consistently rising for quite some time, with no real relief in sight. That makes it even more painful to hear this staggering statistic from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: The average household throws away more than 100 pounds of spoiled food every year, amounting to nearly $3,000 dollars in groceries.
With this in mind, proper food storage becomes even more important since it can maximize the value of your groceries and help prevent dreaded food waste.
How to store food properly in the fridge
Want to avoid food waste? Hope has one simple trick.
“One of the easiest things you can do is just use your refrigerator the right way,” he told Nguyen.
Knowing which shelves to use for different foods can help ensure that your groceries don’t spoil quickly.
Bottom shelf
Hope said the bottom shelf tends to have the coldest temperatures, which makes it ideal for the following items:
Milk
Eggs
Fresh meat
Poultry
“They can withstand really low fridge temps. And it’ll actually help them stay fresh longer,” Hope said.
Middle shelf
Since the middle shelf has medium temperatures, it’s best for extending the life of items like fruit.
Top shelf
The top shelf and door pockets are the warmest spots in the fridge, making them ideal for the following stable foods:
Butter
Condiments
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Yogurt
If the last item surprises you, you’re not alone. But Hope explained that yogurt is totally safe in warmer environments.
“Yogurt is fermented. So it’s actually safer at a slightly warmer temperature than things like eggs or milk,” he said.
Deli bin
Hope noted that the deli bin is great for the following items since it’s a bit cooler:
Sandwich meat
Bacon
Cheese
Crisper bin
The crisper bin can be set to high humidity to prolong the freshness of produce like leafy greens.
How to keep your fruits and vegetables fresh
Fruits and veggies can be particularly expensive, especially when they’re out of season. To make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, Hope shared the following tips.
Make sure to separate fruits and vegetables
If you’re currently tossing your fruits and veggies into the same bin in your fridge, you’ll want to find separate spots for them.
“Fruits and veggies should typically be stored separately from one another. A lot of fruits produce ethylene gas, which can actually make leafy greens in particular go bad faster,” Hope explained.
For instance, potatoes should be kept in a dark drawer outside of the fridge and shouldn’t be stored with garlic or onions.
“If you’ve ever gotten those green shoots growing out of your onions or those little eyes that grow out of potatoes, they’re going bad prematurely, in many cases, because they’re being stored too close to one another,” Hope said.
Don’t rinse produce before storing it
Resist the temptation to clean your produce before putting it in the fridge.
“When you store them wet, they’re gonna have that moisture trapped against them. That causes them to go bad prematurely. It can also cause them to freeze, because you’re adding that excess water,” Hope said.
Not all fruits and veggies are created equally
If you think you can store all fruits the same way, think again. Strawberries, for instance, tend to last longer if you remove the stems and store them in a towel-lined, sealed container.
Meanwhile, bananas and tomatoes stay fresher out of the fridge.
Don’t put your bread and coffee in the fridge
Bread is best stored out of the fridge.
Despite myths that state otherwise, coffee is also better off in more temperate environments.
“Inside the fridge, it’s gonna be able to absorb all those odors and flavors from everything else that’s stored in the fridge too. It’s not something you want when you actually go to brew it,” Hope said.
How to navigate sell by and use by dates
If you always toss an item when it’s past its Sell By or Use By date, you might be inadvertently wasting money.
“You wanna try to have things within a few days of the Sell By date, typically, but there’s no hard and fast rule. Go ahead and smell it. There’s actually some validity to the smell test. Many foods will stay fresh or good long after a Sell By date, or in some cases, even a Use By date,” Hope said.
To extend the freshness of risky foods like ground beef, cook it first.
“If you cook ground beef or other foods like that, you’ll buy yourself another few days after the Use By date, once you’ve cooked it,” Hope said.
