Jaden Pierre was approached by several teens on a basketball court at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens when a shot was fired, striking him in the chest at about 6:15 p.m. Thursday, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).

He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition, where he later died.

The shooting, which unfolded at a public park where teenagers had gathered to play basketball, comes as New York City continues to grapple with youth violence and incidents captured and shared widely on social media.

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One witness told CBS News, "I came over here, I heard a shot go off, so I came running over here to make sure everybody was okay, especially my friends, and I seen a kid lying dead. And I know him from coming over here to play basketball. Good basketball player, cool kid."

Videos circulating on X appear to show moments leading up to the shooting, with a crowd surrounding Pierre and another person as the teenager is repeatedly punched before the group quickly disperses.

As of Saturday, no arrests have been made, but the NYPD told Fox News Digital it released photos of a person wanted in connection with the shooting.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James reacted to the killing in a post on X, writing, "My heart is heavy tonight after we lost a 15-year-old to a senseless act of gun violence. I'm praying for his family, loved ones, and community. I will continue to work tirelessly every day to end gun violence in New York."

Pastor Cory Brooks, founder of Project H.O.O.D., said in a statement to Fox News Digital that his heart was "shattered" as he condemned the crowd for filming the attack instead of stepping in.

"A 15-year-old child was hunted down, beaten, and shot dead in cold blood," Brooks wrote. "In a playground. Where laughter belongs. Not execution."

His statement continued: "The crowd did not run for help. They pulled out phones, recorded every brutal second, and cheered as if it were entertainment. That video does not just document a murder — it exposes a generation whose conscience has been seared by moral darkness. These were our own children devouring our own children."

The NYPD is asking anyone with information about the shooter to call its Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish.

Tips can also be submitted online through the Crime Stoppers website or on X at @NYPDTIPS.

Jarrelle Augustine, 28, of Paramount, is accused of buying Lego sets from Target, removing valuable minifigures and pieces, then returning the boxes after filling them with dried pasta, Irvine police said.

Investigators linked him to roughly 70 thefts nationwide totaling about $34,000 in losses.

The Irving Police Department said detectives used surveillance to identify Augustine as the suspect. He was taken into custody and booked into the Orange County Jail on grand theft charges.

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Police shared details of the case in a social media post and added a humorous warning about the unusual method.

"If your master plan involves swapping LEGOs for linguine, we can promise your plan will be cooked al dente," Irvine police said in a Facebook post.

Video released by police appears to show the suspect taking Lego sets from a store shelf and walking out.

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The footage then shows officers placing him under arrest in body camera video.

The unusual case also drew reactions online, with some social media users leaning into the humor.

"This case had so many pastabilities. Good for IPD, using their noodle!" one commenter wrote.

"You mean to tell me he was an... impasta?! I’ll see myself out," another joked.

Others questioned the method, with one user writing, "Stealing Legos and Goya beans? WTF?"

Richard Russell spent his final moments alone, sick and disoriented, cracking jokes and apologizing as he flew a stolen plane he knew wasn’t coming back.

In August 2018, a Horizon Air ground service agent clocked in and took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in a Bombardier Q400. For over an hour, he spoke with air traffic controllers who urged him to land before he deliberately crashed on Ketron Island.

The 29-year-old, who went by "Beebo" on social media, is now the subject of a new documentary from ABC News Studios, "#SKYKING." It marks the first time many of Russell’s family members and friends have spoken out publicly. The film includes air traffic control audio from the flight and is based on available investigative records.

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"When I heard these recordings, they really struck a chord with me," director Patricia E. Gillespie told Fox News Digital. "[Beebo] just sounded like guys I knew back home, especially when he was talking about his work life, minimum wage and some of the frustrations he felt surrounding employment — and the fact that he couldn’t talk about the tough feelings he was having.

"It bewitched me," Gillespie shared. "I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I really couldn’t get it out of my head."

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As Russell flew over the Olympic Mountains, he made a confession in the recording that Gillespie said still haunts her and his loved ones.

"I got a lot of people that care about me, and it’s going to disappoint them to hear that I did this," he said. "I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. [I’m] just a broken guy. Got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it till now."

His last transmission indicated that his fuel reserves were dangerously low. Time had run out.

"Not for long," he said. "I feel like one of my engines is going out or something."

Moments later, the Q400 crashed into the woods, sparking a two-acre fire. The FBI said Russell died of "multiple traumatic injuries."

"There’s also a line where he says he wanted to just talk with these guys, but they’re all business," Gillespie explained. "Those are the things that stood out to me as well. 

"At one point in the recording, he says, ‘If you ask me why I did it, blame it on not making minimum wage. We’ll chalk it up to that. Maybe that’ll grease the gears for the higher-ups.' I have heard that at dinner. Not just from my male friends."

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"He says some more controversial things in that call," said Gillespie. "Particularly, he made this statement where he says, ‘Do you think Alaska [Airlines] will give me a job as a pilot if I land this plane?’ They say, ‘Oh, they’ll give you a job doing anything.’ 

"And he says, ‘Yeah, right, I’m a White guy.’ That became sort of a bellwether that got extremely controversial online. Really unsavory characters, like actual White supremacists, are saying he’s their poster boy, which was completely inaccurate.

"People who are very far to the other end of the spectrum were saying he’s a domestic terrorist hell-bent on destruction, which turned out not to be accurate," she continued. "But when I heard those words, and I saw how they were being taken in context, I had a sense that there was information missing. I didn’t know what that information was going to be, but I knew that I felt really compelled to look into it."

During Gillespie’s sit-downs with loved ones, she learned that Russell, born in the Florida Keys and raised in Wasilla, Alaska, was goofy and deeply religious. He later met Hannah, his future wife, at a Christian youth program. They got married in 2012 and moved to Washington. Together, they opened a bakery.

In a YouTube video posted to his blog, Russell shared photos of his travels and spoke of his job as an airport worker.

"I lift a lot of bags," he said. "Like a lot of bags. So many bags."

But the gig was far from a dream job. While Russell appeared reliable and positive at work, internally, he was feeling unfulfilled in life. His social media posts offered no hint he was quietly suffering.

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"He was not making a statement about feeling oppressed as a White guy," Gillespie emphasized. "It sounds like a statement about things that had been said to him at work. And it’s scary to me that that story rarely got uncovered because the internet machine was so quick to politicize it instead of acting with curiosity and asking how these words ended up coming out of this person.

"I think Beebo’s aunt says it really well when she says something to the effect of, ‘This idea of an American dream — you can provide for your wife, you can have two cars in the driveway, a house, a white picket fence — you can do this on one income. And that’s just not the reality we're living in anymore.’

"There’s a generation — Beebo’s generation — that can feel like failure when they can’t attain that," Gillespie reflected. "The reality is they’re not failing. The economy is failing in this way, and they have to figure it out. And we don’t talk about these things, frankly. People don’t have an awareness of these social pressures or, in Beebo’s case, the pressure to be a man or a provider. The pressure to be a success."

People who knew Russell told FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel they had no information indicating they knew of Russell’s plans to steal or crash an airplane, The Associated Press reported.

"Contacts with Russell’s employer determined there were no personnel issues," according to records cited by the outlet. "Russell was known as a quiet guy who read a lot. Russell had a few unexcused absences, but nothing considered significant."

Other witnesses told FBI agents Russell "failed to go to work Aug. 3 and had expressed feeling as if he was not living up to what others expected of him," the records show. The witnesses said he went to work Aug. 4 to try to pick up a shift, but the next day he "seemed strange." Loved ones attempted an intervention, The Associated Press reported.

"Russell seemed fine to family members after the intervention, though he was drinking more," the outlet reported based on records. "The week of Aug. 6, Russell seemed fine to family/friends."

Four days later, Russell entered the plane and took off without authorization. The FBI found evidence he had searched flight simulators before the incident.

During Russell’s conversation with air traffic control, he said he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He intentionally kept the plane away from populated areas. However, reports noted that Russell could have inflicted vastly more damage had he chosen to do so. Potential targets included tens of thousands of fans assembling at Safeco Field for a sold-out Pearl Jam concert.

Officials also stressed that the incident posed a serious risk to public safety and exposed vulnerabilities in airport security. Many wondered how, nearly 17 years after the 9/11 attack, someone could simply take a passenger plane from a major U.S. airport without authorization.

Before the plane plunged into the thick forest, Russell performed an acrobatic stunt.

"I think I’m going to try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good, I’ll go nose down and call it a night," Russell is heard saying from the cockpit.

"The line that broke my heart when I was doing these interviews was when his brother Phil was asked about it," said Gillespie. "He said, ‘He could have been anything he wanted to be.’ This idea that if he’d just believed in himself, if he just believed he was living in an America where guys like him could win, he could have been anything he wanted to be. He could have been a pilot."

The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Russell's death a suicide. Authorities concluded Russell acted alone in deliberately taking the aircraft, an act that could have resulted in significant loss of life.

"Eight years later, his family’s hearts are still very broken," said Gillespie. "You can never get over something like this. Suicide doesn’t end pain. It passes on to your loved ones. But I also think the family wants his story to be a force for good in helping people like him get the help they need so that other families don’t have to go through what they’ve been through."

The troops from the 11th Airborne Division were hurt Thursday while participating in a "land navigation training event" at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's Arctic Valley training area in Anchorage, Lt. Col. Jo Nederhoed, a spokesperson for the division, told the Anchorage Daily News. 

"The safety and well-being of our personnel is our highest priority," Nederhoed added. "The incident is under investigation, and we are coordinating with local wildlife authorities to ensure the safety of all personnel in the area." 

The soldiers, whose identities were being withheld pending notification of their families, were "receiving appropriate medical care" as of Friday morning, Nederhoed added. 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the 11th Airborne Division for further comment. 

Wildlife officials from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told the Anchorage Daily News the incident appeared to have been a defensive attack after the bear recently emerged from its den, and both soldiers were carrying bear spray and used it. 

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"We hope both individuals have a full and quick recovery, and our thoughts are with them during this time," Fish and Game Regional Supervisor Cyndi Wardlow told the newspaper. 

"In this case, having bear spray with them in the field may have saved their lives," she said.

 The 11th Airborne Division is nicknamed the "Arctic Angels." 

"The 11th Airborne Division executes expeditionary operations worldwide, conducts Multi-Domain Operations in the Indo-Pacific theater and the Arctic, and on order decisively defeats any adversary in extreme cold weather, mountainous and high-latitude environments through large scale combat operations," its website says.

"THE BIGGEST HBCU BEACH BASH IS BACK! Official Dates April 17TH -19TH Tybee Island," a post on the Orange Crush Instagram page states. "Concerts + Greeks + Parties + Car & Bike Show + Live Celebrities. Over 50k people expected."

Known as Crush Reloaded this year, the main event is scheduled for Saturday with a music festival at the Tybee Island beach pier and pavilion.

In 2025, Georgia police made 22 arrests over the weekend as Tybee Island welcomed partiers to Orange Crush, a controversial college spring break bash that has previously brought violence and piles of trash to the quiet vacation town. There were 54 arrests during Orange Crush in 2024 and 26 in 2023.

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The Tybee Island Police Department said in a statement that, for this year's festival, it is heightening enforcement amid an uptick of teen takeovers plaguing the region.

"Rest assured that we have heard you and that public safety will always be our top priority," Tybee Island Police Department Capt. Emory Randolph said in a statement to Fox News Digital when asked about residents' concerns over the upcoming weekend's festivities.

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"In recent months, stories of so-called 'teen takeovers' have popped up across the country," Tybee Island police said in a Facebook post Tuesday. "This phenomenon hit home just over a week ago, when an unpermitted event on the beach was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Now, as we approach the return of Crush Reloaded, members of our local and online communities have expressed concerns."

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Beginning Thursday, the police department said, residents and guests would see an "abundance of law enforcement officers from various state and local agencies converging on the island."

To maintain order, police are also launching a road safety checkpoint on Highway 80, carving out emergency lanes on main roads and shuttering the 14th and 16th Street parking lots.

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"TIPD is committed to using every available resource to help ensure the safety of our community," Capt. Randolph said. 

"Residents and guests can do their part by being kind to one another, obeying the law and following the instructions of all emergency personnel. Working together, we can continue to make the island an even safer place to live, work and play."

WATCH: Teen takeover in Georgia caught on camera

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The move came as nationwide teen takeover events are spreading. Last week, a mass of teens participating in a takeover on Tybee Island was interrupted in panic after police say gunfire broke out along the pier.

According to the Tybee Island Police Department, authorities responded around 6:30 p.m. April 4, when hundreds of people gathered near the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion area, a popular spot in the laid-back beach community.

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During the course of the "unpermitted, pop-up event," officers said they heard a single gunshot ring out, and the crowd began to scatter.

Video shared by the department captured hoards of teens running away.

In the early 1990s, Orange Crush had a reputation for being a wild, crime-filled weekend, and Savannah State University disassociated with the event in 1991 because of the high number of arrests and reports of violence.

Three years ago, the event moved to Jacksonville, Florida, "due to lack of resources, limited parking, civil rights violations and political injustices," according to a June 2021 story on Jacksonville.com, which cited the event's website. The website has since been taken down.

The event returned to Tybee Island in 2023 for the first time since 2020.

"If a scientist disappears, it's a matter of some concern. But if 10 scientists suddenly die or vanish, who all have advanced security clearance with access to sensitive research, this is cause for national concern," Dr. Michio Kaku told Fox News Digital.

"This is unheard of," he said. "This has never happened before. The next step is to determine if there is a single, common thread to their research that ties them to a specific aspect of national security."

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Kaku is also a well known television personality. He has appeared on cable news, late night and talk shows, along with several episodes of the History Channel's "Universe" and "Ancient Aliens" series. In 2009, he began hosting a weekly television series for the Science Channel "Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible."

The most recent and prominent example of this trend is the mysterious disappearance of Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland (Ret.). He went missing from his New Mexico home on Feb. 27, bringing only a handgun and a pair of boots with him. He left his phone, keys and glasses behind,

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McCasland, 68, was the former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and reportedly possessed top secret information on UFOs.

He had ties to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the state. The lab famously developed nuclear weapons during the WWII-era Manhattan Project. It is a Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility and prides itself on breakthroughs in the nuclear technology space.

Two other former employees of the lab have also gone missing.

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Anthony Chavez, 79, worked there until he retired in 2017, according to the Daily Mail. He was last seen leaving his house in Los Alamos on foot on May 8, 2025, with his car locked in his driveway. He did not bring his phone, wallet or keys on his walk.

So, too, did missing woman Melissa Casias, who disappeared less than a month after Chavez.

On the day she disappeared, she dropped off lunch for her daughter and was never seen again.

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The NNSA told Fox News Digital it is investigating the deaths and disappearances. 

"NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants and sites and is looking into the matter," a statement from the department said. 

Scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have also conspicuously vanished or died.

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Monica Reza, an aerospace engineer, reportedly overseeing the lab's Materials Processing Group, which "focuses on developing new materials and advanced manufacturing technologies for spacecraft, specializing in bulk metallic glass alloys and metal additive manufacturing," disappeared last year while on a hike in the Angeles National Forest in California.

Michael David Hicks died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59.

He worked at the lab from 1998 to 2022, on the space program's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project, which focused on understanding the physical properties of asteroids and comets and whether they could be re-directed in outer space.

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His cause of death has not been released.

The next year, Frank Maiwald of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory also died. He was only 61, and his cause of death is unknown.

He designed a critical instrument for a project called Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) – Visible to Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR), a future NASA mission to launch a satellite into space and map the "living color" of the Earth in far greater detail than can be observed by the human eye, according to his obituary.

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Just over a year before he died, he was working on a program to help astronauts on space missions identify signs of life on other planets, including Jupiter's moon, Europa, Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, or the dwarf planet Ceres.

Carl Grillmair, also linked to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was shot and killed outside of his home in February. He was 47. A man named Freddy Snyder, 29, has been charged with his murder.

Grillmair was an astrophysicist and renowned research scientist at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, which partners with NASA's lab to provide "science operations, user support, archives and data services, and scientific vision to maximize discovery with observatories both in space and on the ground."

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Steven Garcia was a contractor at the Kansas City National Security Campus, which develops most of the nonnuclear components that go into building nuclear weapons. He had a top secret security clearance. Garcia went missing last August.

He was only 48.

Amy Eskridge, a Huntsville, Alabama–based researcher, co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science. She said her work focused on experimental propulsion concepts, including what she referred to as "antigravity" research.

She died on June 11, 2022 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 34. Further details are scant.

She was apparently spooked before her death.

"We discovered antigravity, and our lives went to (expletive) and people started sabotaging us," she said in a 2020 interview with YouTuber Jeremy Rys. "It’s harassment, threats. It’s awful.

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"If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off," she continued. "If you stick your neck out in private, they will bury you. They will burn down your house while you’re sleeping in your bed, and it won’t even make the news."

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News of the pattern of disappearances has made its way to the White House, which addressed it on Friday.

"In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Friday X post.

"No stone will be unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates when we have them."

On Thursday, President Donald Trump said he had a meeting regarding the strange occurrences, and described the situation as "pretty serious."

So far, there is no official link among any of the deaths or disappearances.

The 24-hour-a-day exercise places nearly 4,000 cadets in a mock war setting, where upperclassmen lead complex missions and younger students follow orders. This year, it runs April 15 through April 18. 

The Air Force Academy is 18,500 acres, nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but on Thursday, the culminating exercise scenario transformed USAFA into Hokkaido, a Japanese island under attack by enemy forces.

"We've pretty much taken over the entirety of USAFA, to allow all 4,000 of our cadets to have space to operate throughout the exercise," said CULEX director Col. Jennifer Hall.

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In the war scenario, Japan has asked the U.S. to come in as a defensive force. 

"In this scenario, we have four established airfields," Hall said. "And so that's what's established, the four joint operating areas that we have them in."

Each joint operation area, or JOA, has around 800 cadets, defending an airfield, two high-value assets and a downed airman. Cadets also face real-world issues such as injured officers and invasions by enemy targets deemed the "Red Force."

"We pulled out one squadron to play Red Force," said Hall. "So our cadets are actually playing Red Force, and they're out there in the field right now harassing our cadets. They're doing an amazing job. They're super excited."

Hall explained, "What we're trying to do is have the cadets prioritize through decision-making. And you'll see all across that Red Force is trying to complicate that to the best of their ability."

While the situation may not be real, it definitely looks and feels like it.

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"You'll see about 15 tents laid down as an austere, expeditionary environment, two of which are tactical operations centers and a medical tent and warming tent," Hall explained. "And then we have sleeping tents for the cadets, because we will be remaining overnight for the first time."

Some cadets fly airplanes while others deploy parachutes in the sky. On the ground, hundreds of cadets equipped with air soft guns defend their camps, taking radio traffic from troops under attack. Meanwhile, students in mission control use drones and mapping technology to solve real-world problems.

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"The only way to prepare for the fight that we're in, or the future fight, is to develop the training necessary where they can experience it real time, in the woods, in the field," said Hall.

Now in its second year, the CULEX focuses on building confidence, teamwork and leadership skills rather than testing cadets with a pass-or-fail system. It's a multi-domain tactical exercise designed to replicate the environments future Space Force and Air Force officers may encounter.

"For our seniors, in 44 days, they're going to graduate, and they're going to go off, and they're going to be officers in our Space Force and Air Force — how much more equipped they're going to be to lead, to face complicated problems, to know that they can do what's difficult," said Hall. 

Two young men hiking in a wooded area on Sunday discovered skeletal remains and clothing in Rose Valley and notified authorities, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.

A photo of the bones was sent to a forensic anthropologist who identified them as human.

The following day, the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office coordinated with the sheriff’s office and multiple search and rescue teams to conduct an organized search of the area for additional remains.

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One of the men who had found the bones led the search party to the area, and nearly complete skeletal remains were found as well as multiple items of clothing and personal belongings, according to the sheriff's office.

The location was in the middle of an area that a detective had identified through investigation and interviews as an area of interest in the disappearance of Hailey E. Athay, 33, of Cowlitz County, who was last seen by her family in Kelso, Washington, in November 2024.

She was reported missing in January 2025, according to the sheriff's office.

A friend of Athay said she was going mushroom picking with a man before her disappearance, local affiliate FOX 13 Seattle reported.

Prior searches had been conducted near the area, but the sheriff's office said no evidence had been recovered.

On Tuesday, a forensic odontologist examined the recovered skull and compared the teeth to dental records for Athay, confirming a match.

Officials said Athay's cause and manner of death remain under investigation pending an analysis by a forensic anthropologist.

It is unclear if any suspects have been identified in Athay's disappearance or if foul play is suspected.

Athay’s mother, Nicole Brooks, told local outlet KPTV Athay was a mother of three daughters.

Eri Otoniel Roblero Perez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, allegedly veered off a road and hit Dereon James Robinson, 12, and Mikhail-Lee Smith, 9, who were riding their bikes on a sidewalk, FOX Carolina reported.

Both died at a hospital.

Perez was charged with two counts of felony DUI resulting in death, driving with an open container and driving without a license.

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Dereon's mother, Megan, said during a court hearing she was walking behind the children when the crash happened and was "almost hit" herself, WYFF reported.

"I ran to my son while he bled to death," Megan told the judge.

One of Dereon's brothers added, "Now I have to bury my own brother who looked up to me on his own birthday."

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DHS confirmed Perez entered the country illegally at an unknown date and time.

"This criminal illegal alien from Mexico had no business being in our country, and now two boys are dead because he decided to drive under the influence," said DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

"Dereon Robinson and Mikhail-Lee Smith should still be with us today," she continued. "Our prayers are with Dereon Robinson’s and Mikhail-Lee Smith’s families."

Perez is being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center and has been denied bond.

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TWISTED RESPONSE: Firefighter accused of killing cheerleading coach he called second mom, torching home

TRAIL GONE COLD: Realtor's murder suspect alleges major evidence blunder by investigators

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COURTROOM GRIEF: Athena Strand's mother reveals final words with slain child as jury weighs death penalty for FedEx driver

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