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Virginia woman Christy Bautista stabbed to death while visiting Washington, DC for concert: report

George sydnor, jr., facing first degree murder charge following attack at ivy city hotel in dc.

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A Virginia woman visiting Washington, D.C., for a concert has died after being stabbed to death by a stranger at a hotel, in an attack where she suffered "30 sharp force injuries," police and reports say. 

George Sydnor, Jr. is now facing a first-degree murder charge following the homicide of 31-year-old Christy Bautista of Harrisonburg at the Ivy City Hotel on Friday, March 31. 

"Our family is devastated by the loss of our beloved Christy," the victim’s aunt told Fox5 DC. "She brought joy to everybody who knew her and was a shining light in all of our lives. Please respect our privacy as we mourn her at this time." 

The Metropolitan Police Department says it was called to the 1600 block of New York Avenue on Friday night to investigate reported "trouble." 

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Christy Bautista was described by her aunt as someone who "brought joy to everybody who knew her." (WTTG)

"Upon arrival, officers located an adult female victim, inside a hotel room, unconscious and unresponsive," police said. "DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene and after finding no signs consistent with life, the victim remained on the scene until transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner." 

Police told Fox5 DC they believe Sydnor is homeless and has no relation to Bautista, who the station says came to the nation’s capital to attend a concert. 

An attorney representing the 43-year-old entered a not guilty plea Monday during an arraignment hearing. Sydnor is now being held without bond. 

Court documents released on Monday quoted the medical examiner as saying Bautista suffered "30 sharp force injuries" in the attack, Fox5 DC reports. 

RAND PAUL SPEAKS OUT FOLLOWING ATTACK OF STAFFER IN DC  

Police outside of the Ivy City Hotel in which the 31-year-old woman was killed in Washington, D.C. (WTTG)

The station, citing the documents, reported that Bautista checked in around 6 p.m. that night and about 45 minutes later, Sydnor showed up on a bicycle in front of her room, dismounted it, and appeared "to be listening at the door." 

"It does not seem that Sydnor ever knocks on the door or makes his presence known to the decedent," investigators reportedly said in the filings. 

Sydnor then entered the room and a 911 caller allegedly in the area observed a female in distress and yelling for help before being pulled back inside, Fox5 DC reported, citing the documents. 

Prosecutors said police that arrived and knocked on the door of the room were told by a man that everything was fine – but then an officer saw the suspect’s bloody hand through the partially drawn blinds, according to NBC Washington. 

George Sydnor, Jr. is believed to have no connection to Bautista, police told Fox5 DC. (WTTG)

Once inside the room, Sydnor was found with blood and cuts on his hand, while a kitchen knife was recovered from the scene, Fox5 DC reports. 

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The station also said at the time of the stabbing, Sydnor had two open bench warrants. 

One of the warrants appeared to be linked to an October 2022 incident in which a woman in southeast Washington, D.C. claimed Sydnor robbed her of her car keys and cell phone at gunpoint, while the other involved a larceny case in Maryland, according to Fox5 DC.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

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Shooting kills 2 men and a woman and wounds 2 others in Washington, DC, police chief says

WASHINGTON — A shooting on a street in the nation's capital left three people dead and two others hospitalized Saturday night, police said.

Officers responded to the sounds of gunshots around 8 p.m. in the 1600 block of Good Hope Road Southeast and found five victims who had been shot.

Two men and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene and two men were transported to area hospitals, Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department Acting Chief Pamela Smith said during a news conference at the scene.

The conditions of the hospitalized victims were not immediately known.

"This kind of gun violence is not acceptable in the District of Columbia. This is not a war zone. We want our residents to feel safe," Smith said.

Smith asked for help from the public in collecting information about what she called a disturbing fatal shooting.

"We realize that there may be others who may have been injured tonight. We are asking you to come forward," Smith said, adding that the community needs to be involved in stopping the city's violence. "It can't rest upon the metropolitan police department to determine what works and what doesn't work."

Washington experienced another mass shooting last month when  nine people were wounded  while celebrating Independence Day in a neighborhood about a 20-minute drive east of the White House.

Washington DC lightning strike that killed three offers climate warning

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Reporting by Gloria Dickie in London; Additional reporting by Frank McGurty in New York and Chris Gallagher in Washington; Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark Porter & Shri Navaratnam

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Gloria Dickie reports on climate and environmental issues for Reuters. She is based in London. Her interests include biodiversity loss, Arctic science, the cryosphere, international climate diplomacy, climate change and public health, and human-wildlife conflict. She previously worked as a freelance environmental journalist for 7 years, writing for publications such as the New York Times, the Guardian, Scientific American, and Wired magazine. Dickie was a 2022 finalist for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the international reporting category for her climate reporting from Svalbard. She is also an author at W.W. Norton.

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Civil Rights Activist From Virginia Killed in Turks and Caicos Shooting

Kent Carter, a leader with the N.A.A.C.P. in Arlington, Va., was killed when shots were fired at a vehicle transporting tourists and employees. He was visiting for his birthday.

By Johnny Diaz

An American tourist who was a civil rights activist in Arlington, Va., was among three people who were killed in a string of possibly gang-related shootings in the Turks and Caicos Islands over the weekend, the authorities said.

At 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday “armed criminals” fired indiscriminately into a vehicle that was transporting tourists and employees to their hotel from an excursion, said Trevor Botting, the British territory’s police commissioner, at a news conference on Monday.

“As a result of this attack, two persons were murdered, one from the local business and the other being a tourist from the United States,” Commissioner Botting said. He said three other people, including another visitor to the islands, were also injured in the incident.

It was one of four shootings that also injured five people. Another man was believed to have been shot by police officers during gunfire, the commissioner said.

The authorities did not name the victims, but the American tourist was identified as Kent Carter, of Virginia, according to the N.A.A.C.P. in Arlington, Va., where Mr. Carter was the branch’s first vice president.

“Kent was an activist and philanthropist well known for his dedication to, and uplifting of, our community,’’ the N.A.A.C.P. said in a statement that offered condolences to his family .

Julius D. Spain Sr., the organization’s president in Arlington, said that Mr. Kent had been involved with the group for nearly 10 years and was that branch’s vice president for four years.

“He is what you would call a gentle giant, one who was very passionate about social justice and civil rights,” Mr. Spain said on Thursday.

The group added that “his civic work and volunteerism also extended throughout the broader Arlington community.”

Mr. Carter, a real estate agent, was vacationing in the Turks and Caicos Islands with his girlfriend and had arrived there on Saturday to celebrate his 40th birthday, Mr. Spain said. The British overseas territory is a popular tourist spot southeast of the Bahamas.

Commissioner Botting said in a statement earlier this week that he believed “the original attack was targeted and carried out by armed gang members who act without conscience, who have no regard for life and who are hell-bent on causing indiscriminate harm and misery across” the islands.

He added, “This violence is linked to drugs supply and is fueled by revenge, turf wars and retribution.”

A spokeswoman for the police force said the investigation is ongoing. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that it offered “our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. We are providing all appropriate consular assistance.”

More than 1 million people, including Americans, visited the territory in 2019, according to one report by the tourism board of Turks and Caicos.

The government of the islands said in a statement on Tuesday that the incident “is one that is rare and does not reflect who we are as a people.”

The government added that “we extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the victim.”

Johnny Diaz is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news. He previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boston Globe. More about Johnny Diaz

18-year-old killed at Friendship Heights hotel in DC's 1st homicide of 2024

About 10 people were attending a party in a hotel room when a shooter opened fire, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation, by sophia barnes and paul wagner, news4 reporter • published january 1, 2024 • updated on january 2, 2024 at 12:47 pm.

An 18-year-old woman was shot and killed at a hotel in Friendship Heights, in Washington, D.C.’s first reported homicide of 2024. The search for the shooter is underway.

The new year wasn’t even two hours old when D.C. paramedics were sent to the Embassy Suites Hotel on Military Road NW for the report of a shooting on the seventh floor. They were told on arrival that the victim was in cardiac arrest.

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Ashalei Hinds, of Clinton, Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said.

Hinds was a freshman at Louisiana State University, the school confirmed on Tuesday.

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A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said about 10 people were attending a party inside a hotel room when a shooter opened fire.

Several guests at the Embassy Suites said they heard two gunshots and then screaming at about 1:15 a.m. Each room at the hotel has a picture window next to the door. In the room where the shooting took place, that window was shattered. It's unclear whether it was shattered by gunfire or something else.

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It's not clear if Hinds was the killer's intended target. Police said they were looking for a male who fled the scene wearing black clothing and a black ski mask.

In an update Tuesday, police distributed a photo of the suspect in the crime. He was captured by surveillance cameras, police said.

MPD Searching for Suspect in Shooting Death of 18-Year-Old Woman Read more: https://t.co/bGDuNFHR1I pic.twitter.com/b7CML1YMPd — DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) January 2, 2024

Investigators also are still looking for as many as six people who were in the room but left before police arrived.

Video shows police vehicles near an entrance to the Embassy Suites less than a block from the Friendship Heights Metro station on the D.C.-Maryland line. Hotel management said they were cooperating with police in the investigation.

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Hinds was killed just after D.C. ended the previous year with 274 homicides. According to preliminary figures released Monday, homicides in 2023 were the highest in more than two decades — since 1997, when there were 302. Homicides were up about 35% from 2022, according to MPD data.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she is working to reverse this trend with new legislation that has yet to be passed.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.

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DC shooting leaves 3 dead, 3 wounded, suspects on the run

"It speaks of the overall sickness that we're seeing in our community."

Three people were killed and three others were wounded in Washington, D.C., in what police suspect was a "targeted" shooting by gunmen who jumped out of a car and opened fire on a group standing near a street corner, authorities said.

The triple-homicide unfolded about 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday in the Brightwood Park neighborhood in the northern part of the nation's capital, Chief Robert Contee of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said at a news conference.

Contee said police officers were in the area when they heard multiple gunshots and raced to the intersection of Seventh and Longfellow streets, where they found six people shot.

He said the wounded individuals were taken to hospitals, where three of them, two men and a woman, were pronounced dead. He said the others suffered non-life-threatening wounds.

On Sunday morning, police identified those killed as 31-year-old Donnetta Dyson, 24-year-old Keenan Braxton and 37-year-old Johnny Joyner, all of Washington, D.C.

Contee released a still image taken near the scene by a police surveillance camera of a dark-colored, four-door Honda Accord the suspected shooters fled the scene in.

MORE: Police offering $60K reward after 6-year-old girl killed in Washington, DC, shooting

"We believe the suspects in this vehicle exited, fired shots into a crowd of individuals that were in the 600 block of Longfellow Street," Contee said.

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He said a reward of $75,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspects and added, "I'm pleading for the community's help" in solving the crime.

Contee said investigators suspect multiple shooters opened fire. He said a firearm was recovered at the scene of the shooting.

MORE: Vehicle of interest wanted in triple shooting outside Washington Nationals game

"The motive still being investigated," Contee said. "It appears there were individuals who were hanging out on the block and these individuals for whatever reason were targeted."

Like in other major cities across the county, shootings and homicides have been on the rise in the District of Columbia. Homicides are up 14% compared to the same period as 2020, and 597 people have been assaulted with guns this year, a 5% increase over last year.

"We know that this issue is not unique to Washington D.C.," Contee said, "but I think it speaks to the overall sickness that we're seeing in our community and that sickness is gun violence."

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3 killed, 3 others hospitalized in Northwest DC shooting

Juan Herrera | [email protected]

September 4, 2021, 10:15 PM

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Three people were killed in a shooting in Northwest D.C. on Saturday night.

Three others have been hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, according to D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee.

Contee said that the six people were shot near the corner of 7th Street and Longfellow Street in Brightwood Park just before 8 p.m. Saturday night.

Authorities are searching for a dark colored Honda Accord with tinted windows and chrome colored rims that was spotted at the scene of the shooting. Contee said that it appears people exited the suspected vehicle and fired shots down the block.

Police identified the three deceased victims as 31-year-old Donnetta Dyson, of NE, 24-year-old Keenan Braxton, of NW, and 37-year-old Johnny Joyner, of NE.

Contee said that police believe there was more than one person firing a gun, but could not confirm if it was multiple shooters from the suspected vehicle or if gunfire was being traded back and forth.

“It’s very frustrating. And we’ve been talking about gun violence for a long time,” Contee said.

“We know that this issue is not unique to Washington, DC, but I think it speaks to the overall sickness that we’re seeing in our community and that sickness being gun violence…there are people in our communities who are committing these acts.”

Contee announced that the reward for anyone with information on the shooting is $75,000.

Below is the area where the shooting took place:

WTOP’s Matthew Delaney contributed to this report.

Juan Herrera is an associate producer for WTOP News. He joined the radio news team in 2021 after previously working for WMAL News as a news assistant. He is a graduate of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

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One killed, one injured in DC shooting Saturday

T wo men were shot Saturday in northeast D.C., both were taken to local hospitals where one later died from his injuries,  according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The shooting happened just after 1 p.m. in the 3600 block of Hayes Street, Northeast. 

The victim who was killed has been identified as Ellal Glover, 40, of  D.C.

RELATED:  Man dead, 5 others, including 2 young boys, injured after Northeast DC shooting

Police are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call them at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Department's TEXT TIP LINE at 50411

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An American is arrested over the death of a U.S. tourist at a German castle

The Associated Press

Authorities say a tourist has died after a man attacked her and a companion near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany. The incident near the popular tourist attraction close to the Austrian border happened Wednesday afternoon. Frank Rumpenhorst/AP hide caption

Authorities say a tourist has died after a man attacked her and a companion near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany. The incident near the popular tourist attraction close to the Austrian border happened Wednesday afternoon.

BERLIN — Police in southern Germany are appealing for photos and videos taken by witnesses of an attack near Neuschwanstein castle in which an American man allegedly pushed two women down a steep slope, killing one of them. A suspect was arrested following the attack.

German news agency dpa quoted police as saying Friday that they have so far received about a dozen submissions on a specially created website , but assume many more images were taken by tourists present at the site.

"We are looking for photographs which, by chance, show two young women and a man (approx. 30 years old) who were staying east of the Marienbruecke," Kempten police said on their website. "These persons may have been walking together or separately."

In this image taken from video, a suspect is taken away by two police officers near Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau, southern Germany on Thursday. An American man has been arrested after allegedly assaulting two U.S. tourists near the castle and then pushing them down a steep slope. Eric Abneri/AP hide caption

In this image taken from video, a suspect is taken away by two police officers near Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau, southern Germany on Thursday. An American man has been arrested after allegedly assaulting two U.S. tourists near the castle and then pushing them down a steep slope.

The Marienbruecke, or Mary's Bridge, is a popular vantage point for photos of Neuschwanstein, the most famous of the castles built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 19th century.

According to the initial police investigation, the suspect met the two female tourists, Americans aged 21 and 22, on a hiking path and lured them onto a trail that leads to a viewpoint.

"The younger of the two women was attacked by the suspect," police spokesman Holger Stabik said. "The older one tried to rush to her aid, was then choked by the suspect and subsequently pushed down a slope."

The assailant then appears to have attempted to sexually assault the 21-year-old before pushing her down the slope as well, prosecutors said. She fell nearly 50 meters (165 feet), ending up close to her friend.

Both women were recovered by mountain rescuers. The 21-year-old was flown to a hospital with serious injuries and later died. The 22-year-old remains hospitalized, but is "responsive," police said.

Authorities haven't named either of the victims or given any further details.

People watch the Neuschwanstein castle, in Schwangau, Germany, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Frank Rumpenhorst/AP hide caption

People watch the Neuschwanstein castle, in Schwangau, Germany, Thursday, June 15, 2023.

The suspect, who likewise was not identified, remains in custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, prosecutors said, adding it wasn't clear how long he had been in the country.

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin said it was aware of the incident and the consulate in Munich was in contact with authorities.

"Due to privacy considerations, we are unable to comment further at this time," the embassy said in a statement.

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Motorist dies after crashing into White House gate

Authorities characterized the wreck as ‘only … a traffic crash’ rather than an intentional, politically motivated act

For the second time since January, a motorist crashed into the gates of the White House on Saturday.

The driver in Saturday’s case was pronounced dead at the scene after smashing a speeding car into an outer gate of the US president ’s home and workplace. Authorities characterized the wreck as “only … a traffic crash” rather than an intentional or politically motivated act.

In a statement posted on X , Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said there was “no threat to the White House” and “no threat or public safety implications”.

The presidential and treasury security agency said the crash had occurred shortly before 10.30pm and that unspecified “security protocols were implemented”.

“Security protocols were implemented as officers cleared the vehicle and attempted to render aid to the driver who was discovered deceased,” the Secret Service said.

Officers tried to render aid to the driver, identified by Washington DC police as a male adult. He has not been publicly identified, and the crash is being investigated “only as a traffic crash”.

The crash appears to have occurred about 1,000ft (305 meters) from the White House at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and the south-east corner of the complex, near the Treasury, the Ellipse and the South Lawn.

In January, authorities arrested a driver who crashed a car into an exterior gate of the White House.

The man taken into custody after the crash was believed to have been experiencing mental health issues, according to news reports.

That came a couple of weeks after a Delaware man accidentally crashed his vehicle into president Joe Biden’s motorcade. He was later charged with drunk-driving.

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In late May last year, a man driving a U-Haul truck crashed into security barriers around Lafayette Square across the street from the White House. Investigators found the driver had a Nazi flag with him and identified him as Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, of Chesterfield, Missouri.

Kandula was charged with one federal count of depredation of US property in excess of $1,000.

In 2019, during Donald Trump’s presidency, a driver tried to get into the complex by following an authorized car through a gate. The Secret Service subsequently increased the height of the protective ringfence around the White House from 6ft (1.8m) to 13ft (4m).

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Strangers huddled together under a tree. Then lightning struck.

The blast killed a retired couple from Wisconsin and a bank official from California. A woman raising money for refugees was badly wounded but survived.

All day long, the tall, leafy tree had been a source of shade and comfort for Amber Escudero-Kontostathis.

Amid 90-some degree heat, she’d spent hours canvassing tourists in front of the White House for donations to help refugees in Ukraine, her family said. As she finished her shift on Thursday last week, a storm gathered overhead, thickening with clouds, rain and thunder.

That Thursday happened to be her 28th birthday, her family said. So while Amber waited for her husband to pick her up for a celebratory dinner, she sought shelter once again from the same tree, huddling with three others under its outstretched branches, according to her family and authorities.

Three people dead after lightning strike Thursday near White House

One was Brooks Lambertson, a young and rising bank vice president from Los Angeles. There was Donna Mueller, 75, a retired teacher, and her husband James Mueller, 76, who came from Wisconsin to Washington to celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. And there was Amber, a young woman from California whose travels in the Middle East teaching English had kindled a desire to help those stricken by war and poverty in that region.

They were strangers brought to that precise spot on the east side of Lafayette Square, at that precise moment for different reasons — business, vacation, a passion to help.

Just before 7 p.m., it was at that spot — under a leafy tree about 100 feet from a statue of President Andrew Jackson — that lightning struck.

Experts recorded a lightning flash in the area as six individual surges of electricity that hit the same point in the space of half a second. If the electricity struck the tree first, experts said, it would have sent hundreds of millions of volts coursing through it before passing into and over the bodies of those gathered beneath it.

“It shook the whole area,” an eyewitness later recounted. “Literally like a bomb went off, that’s how it sounded.”

The strike left all four grievously wounded. Secret Service and U.S. Park Police — who keep the park in front of the White House under constant patrol — ran to help.

On Friday morning, police announced the elderly couple from Wisconsin had died. Later that night, the banker from Los Angeles also passed away, police said.

Amber would be the sole survivor.

What happens when lightning strikes — and how to stay safe

The lightning strike stopped Amber’s heart, said her brother Robert F. Escudero. Two nurses, who happened to be visiting the White House on vacation and saw the Secret Service running to help, immediately started giving her CPR and managed to restore her pulse, he said.

The lightning caused severe burns along the left side of her body and arm, her family said. That’s the side her bag was on, carrying the iPad she used to sign people up for refugee donations.

Her parents rushed to Washington from California, and her mother has documented her fight to recover on Facebook. The lightning strike left Amber struggling at first to breathe, wrote her mother, Julie Escudero. But by Friday, nurses were able to take her off the ventilator.

The lightning also damaged her short-term memory. She was scared and confused about what happened to her. “We definitely don’t want her to remember the incident right now,” her mother wrote on Facebook. But every time she wakes up, her mother wrote, she asks what happened to her, is she going to die, and will she be able to walk? Her family said one thing she has been particularly worried about is her work fundraising for refugees.

She had majored in international studies in college and traveled to Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, according to her brother and her work profile. She spent a year teaching English in Jordan and soon after began fundraising for nonprofits. She started working in Washington last year for a group called Threshold Giving and focused especially on fundraising for the International Rescue Committee, a global relief agency.

“The first thing she told me when we FaceTimed is, ‘I need to get back to work on Saturday,’” Robert Escudero said. “She’s worried about raising money for the refugee kids. She asked me, ‘Who’s going to get the money for them if I’m not out there?’”

A friend started a GoFundMe page to raise money for her medical bills. So her brother said he promised Amber he’d work with Threshold Giving in the coming days to also create a way for people who learn about her survival story to donate to refugees.

The one thing her family has not yet broached with her is the fate of the others who were with her that night under the tree.

“She is starting to realize there were others and she wants to know how they are doing and what she did wrong,” her mother said in a Facebook post on Sunday. “She cares so much for others, it will be hard for her.”

On Sunday, many signs of the fatal lightning strike were still visible at Lafayette Square.

A tree bore streaks of charred bark, cracks and a large gash in the main trunk where the wood remained warped like a bruise. Folks passing through Lafayette Square paused at the tree to stare at the scars.

One of them was Cal Vargas, a childhood friend of Lambertson, who died. He brought a wreath and bouquet of white flowers to lay at the base of the tree. Vargas and Lambertson had been friends since kindergarten and grew up together in Folsom, Calif., where they shared a passion for sports and the Sacramento Kings.

“He was an amazing individual,” Vargas said quietly. “Always had a smile on his face, always looked at the bright side of things.”

Earlier on the day the lightning struck, Lambertson , 29, had arrived in Washington on a business trip from Los Angeles. He was passing time before a dinner reservation when he got caught in the storm, Vargas said.

In a phone interview, Lambertson’s father, whom The Washington Post is not identifying by name to protect his privacy, said his son was “probably the best human being that I know.” He said his son’s kindness, generosity and humility “showed up in everything he did, in all his interactions with people.”

He worked at City National Bank as a vice president managing sponsorships for the company. He had done marketing for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, and graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, according to a statement from the bank .

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The elderly Wisconsin couple who also died that day were celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary, family members said.

Donna Mueller, 75, and her husband, James Mueller, 76, had been high school sweethearts before marrying. James had owned a drywall business for decades while his wife worked as a teacher, according to one of their daughters-in-law, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy.

The couple lived in Janesville, Wis., about 70 miles west of Milwaukee, and had five grown children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. “Both would do anything for their family and friends,” relatives said in a statement.

The odds of someone being killed by lightning are extremely rare. In the past decade, only an average of 23 people in the United States have died each year.

Multiple fatalities are even more rare. Before last week’s strike, the last time three people died in a single incident was more than 18 years ago on June 27, 2004, when three people in Georgia were struck under trees at Buford Dam Park, said John Jensenius, a specialist at the National Lightning Safety Council.

Because lightning tends to strike tall objects, experts warn that taking shelter under a tree during a thunderstorm is highly dangerous. When a tree is hit by the electrical charge, moisture and sap in the tree easily conduct the electricity, carrying it to the ground around the tree, experts say .

“When lightning strikes a tree, the charge doesn’t penetrate deep into the ground, but rather spreads out along the ground surface,” Jensenius said. “That makes the entire area around a tree dangerous, and anyone standing under or near a tree is vulnerable.”

For that and other reasons, Amber’s survival has felt miraculous, her family said. If it hadn’t happened in right in front of the White House where Secret Service agents are stationed. If the two nurses who revived her hadn’t been on vacation and seen what happened.

On Saturday night, Amber was finally able to take a few steps on her own, her family said. She was supposed to start a master’s program in international relations this fall at Johns Hopkins University — the latest step in her work trying to help refugees and those suffering abroad.

“She’s an amazing, strong-willed person. And she has such a heart for others,” her brother said. “So the goal now is to get her walking again by the time classes start in a few weeks.”

Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.

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Parkersburg CVB updates officials on tourism

Wood county officials visited the parkersburg welcome center during monday’s county commission meeting for an update on tourism in the area..

PARKERSBURG, W.Va . (WTAP) - Wood County officials visited the Parkersburg Welcome Center during Monday’s county commission meeting for an update on tourism in the area.

Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau President Mark Lewis shared recent updates about the CVB, including placing community garden beds behind the Visitors Center and adding a new part time position to help deal with an increase of visitors over the summer. Lewis also mentioned the West Virginia Legislature’s Interim Committee Meetings, which are set to take place in Parkersburg this September.

Lewis said those interim committee meetings will be a valuable way to show state officials what the Mid-Ohio Valley has to offer. “One of the great things about it is, they’ll be able to see Blennerhassett Island firsthand,” he said. “We’re going to do an event out there. Blennerhassett Island is one of the gems, absolute gems, of our state park system. So getting them out there to see it firsthand is fantastic.”

Lewis also discussed the CVB’s new marketing initiatives, like placing marketing booklets in Columbus and Pittsburgh newspapers and a digital marketing campaign.

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