ROCHESTER, Ind. (WISH) — An 18-month-old boy died after he was found in a residential pond Monday afternoon, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The boy’s name was not released. A preliminary investigation found the drowning to be accidental. An autopsy will be done Tuesday morning.
Emergency medical crews were sent to a report of a toddler in a pond about 4:25 p.m. Monday at a home on Lakeview Bend. That’s less than a mile west of Rochester, and northeast of the intersection of U.S. 31 and State Road 14.
A neighbor, who was not identified, went into the pond to save the toddler, the release said. The emergency medical crews arrived to find “life saving measures” being done on the child, who died at Woodlawn Hospital.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) – Rochester-based Acument Global Technologies says it will permanently close its facility in the Fulton County city. In a notice to the state, the company says the move will result in the layoffs of nearly 60 employees.
The company, which manufactures screws, bolts, nuts and other components, says all affected employees have been notified. The company says the layoffs will begin October 23 and continue in phases through March of next year.
Positions being affected by the layoffs include assistant buyer, quality manager, and plant manager, among others.
Acument says the Rochester facility is not represented by a union, and there are no bumping rights.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (WISH) — Two Rochester teenagers who were formerly students in the Rochester Community school system have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and intimidation after an investigation into their alleged involvement in a threat against a school in July.
According to Rochester Police Department Police Chief Andrew Shotts, John Lawrence Schultz IV, 18, and Donald Victor Robin Jr., 17, both of Rochester, were arrested after they allegedly made threats to a school.
Police say officers learned of the threat against a school on July 13 and an investigation was launched. Through the investigation, officers obtained search and arrest warrants for Schultz and Robin.
The teens were arrested on Friday. Police reported their arrest on Wednesday.
Both Schultz and Robin have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and intimidation. They are being held without bond.
Schultz is being held at the Fulton County Jail. Robin is being held at a juvenile holding center. Police say he was automatically waived into an adult court due to the severity of the charges against him.
Police say the investigation is ongoing.
Facebook conversations between Schultz and Robin were shared in court documents obtained by News 8. The two spoke online several times about their fascination with the Columbine High School massacre and how they were planning to conduct a school shooting. Those conversations took place at various times in April and June, according to court documents.
Schultz and Robin also made comments to other unidentified Facebook users about their plans to kill others.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (WISH) – The 11-year-old who was hurt boarding a school bus during a fatal crash in October will be returning home soon, his mother said Wednesday in a Facebook post.
The post said Maverik Lowe will return home Friday, a month after the fatal crash. In the crash, he was hit and thrown over 30 feet, according to a GoFundMe page set up for him.
A southbound Toyota pickup truck struck and killed three siblings on the morning of Oct. 30 on State Road 25: two twin 6-year-old boys, Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl. The three siblings all attended Mentone Elementary School.
The Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus they were to board had stopped and lowered its stop arm.
Lowe, who had broken bones and internal injuries, had been airlifted to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne.
Lowe’s mother, Jocelynne Lowe, said in the Facebook post that Maverik cannot walk or get out of bed by himself. She also asked for privacy for the family.
The driver of vehicle, 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd, remained on scene after the crash, but was later arrested at her workplace. She faces three charges of reckless homicide and one charge of passing a school bus causing injury. A pretrial conference is set for Feb. 5 in Fulton Superior Court in Rochester.
A GoFundMe page set up for Maverik had raised more the $65,000 by Wednesday night.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana woman accused of striking and killing three children with a pickup truck as they crossed a highway to board a school bus entered a preliminary not guilty plea Thursday.
Alyssa Shepherd, 24, appeared before a Fulton County judge on three counts of reckless homicide. The Rochester, Indiana, woman also faces one misdemeanor count of passing a school bus when an arm signal device is extended, causing bodily injury.
Shepherd was driving a pickup truck before dawn Oct. 30 when she struck four children who were crossing a two-lane road to board a Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus near Rochester, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis.
Six-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl, were killed. An 11-year-old boy who was severely injured in the crash remains hospitalized in Fort Wayne.
A message seeking comment was left Thursday for Shepherd’s attorney.
Shepherd told authorities she didn’t realize that she was approaching a stopped school bus, despite the activated stop arm and flashing lights. Court documents show Shepherd told police she saw the lights but didn’t recognize the vehicle as a school bus until the children were right in front of her.
Alivia’s father, Michael Stahl, attended Thursday’s hearing and said afterward that he prays for Shepherd’s family. He asked that those who have made threats against her family to stop.
“It’s not helping the situation. It doesn’t help the prosecutors. It doesn’t help the justice system. It doesn’t help us. And it doesn’t do my daughter justice or the other people who are affected by this,” he told WSBT-TV.
Stahl said his focus is now his other daughter, who is 11 and was at a doctor’s appointment on the day of the crash. He said she is struggling with emotions that no child should have to face.
“A child that age shouldn’t have to grow up that fast,” he told the South Bend Tribune.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana woman charged in a school bus stop crash that killed three children is due in court for her first hearing in the case.
Twenty-four-year-old Alyssa Shepherd of Rochester was scheduled to appear Thursday before a Fulton County judge. She’s charged with three counts of reckless homicide resulting in death.
Authorities say Shepherd was driving a pickup truck near Rochester, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Indianapolis, on Oct. 30 when she struck four children crossing the highway to board a Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus. She told authorities she didn’t realize the bus headed in the opposite direction was stopped.
Six-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl, were killed. An unrelated 11-year-old boy was severely injured in the crash.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (WISH) – Three children were struck and killed by a vehicle Tuesday morning near Rochester and a driver has been arrested, according to the Indiana State Police.
State police said the fatal incident happened about 7:15 a.m. at a bus stop in the 4800 block of South State Road 25 near Rochester.
The driver of the vehicle, 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd, remained on scene and was later arrested at her workplace just after 4 p.m.
News 8’s Brittany Lewis caught up with members of the children’s family Wednesday morning.
People who identified themselves as a cousin and an aunt of 6-year-old Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and 9-year-old, Alivia Stahl discussed how this deadly incident has devastated their family.
“This has just torn our family apart,” said Jackie Rubio.
Blaine Conley, superintendent of Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, said in a Facebook post late Wednesday afternoon that bus stop will be moved into Meiser Park. The district also will form a transportation safety review committee.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (WISH) – Three children were struck and killed by a vehicle Tuesday morning near Rochester and a driver has been arrested, according to the Indiana State Police.
State police said the fatal incident happened about 7:15 a.m. at a bus stop in the 4800 block of South State Road 25 near Rochester.
A southbound Toyota pickup truck struck and killed the three siblings: two twin 6-year-old boys, Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl. The three siblings all attended Mentone Elementary School.
One other child, 11-year-old Maverik Lowe, who was seriously injured, was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital. State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said Maverik as undergoing surgery at the hospital.
The driver of vehicle, 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd, remained on scene and was later arrested at her workplace just after 4 p.m. She faces three charges of reckless homicide and one charge of passing a school bus causing injury.
The Associated Press had reported Shepherd was being held on a $15,000 surety bond, but News 8 learned she had bonded out of jail.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it’s sending a team of investigators to the scene. The NTSB said in a tweet that the “Go-Team” should arrive Wednesday in Rochester.
Following the fatal incident, the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. released this statement:
“Our school corporation has suffered a tragedy this morning. We have learned of three student families and one student seriously injured and airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital as they were hit be a vehicle while boarding their bus.
We have deployed all school counselors to meet the emotional needs of our staff, students and parents.
We are awaiting to learn more confirmed details but wish to ask the community to come together to pray for the families, our students and our staff.”
After the deadly accident, Gov. Eric Holcomb released this statement:
“Words cannot express the depth of sorrow Janet and I feel, which only pales in comparison to what family, friends, teachers, classmates and community are feeling right now. Today, and for many more to come, we mourn their loss. I ask Hoosiers around the state to join us by sending your deepest prayers for the strength needed to endure such a time.”
Shepherd was released from the Fulton County Jail on a $15,000 bond.
MIAMI COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — While conducting a narcotics operation along U.S. 31, authorities in central Indiana confiscated a range of illegal drugs, including orange ecstasy pills that bear the likeness of President Donald Trump and read “GREAT AGAIN.”
Authorities made 129 arrests on 272 drug-related charges over six days of patrols on U.S. 31, working across nine agencies in Operation Blue Anvil.
From June 19-21 and 26-28, officers with Indiana State Police, the Miami County Sheriff’s Office, the Logansport Police Department, the Peru Police Department, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and the Rochester Police Department conducted patrols to catch people using the road to transport and distribute illegal narcotics there, state police said in a release.
Officers located cocaine, heroin, LSD, meth, marijuana and marijuana edibles, psilocybin mushrooms, ecstasy and prescription medications. Of the 272 drug-related charges, 48 were felonies. They also issued 193 traffic citations and made three arrests for driving while impaired.
If you have any information about the possession, distribution or selling of illegal narcotics, state police ask you to call your local law enforcement or report anonymously by calling the Indiana State Police Drug and Gang Hotline at 1-800-453-4756.
In 2017, police in Germany seized around 5,000 similar pills.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Gov. Eric Holcomb on Saturday evening declared a disaster emergency for 11 Indiana counties following flooding and damage caused by sustained heavy rainfall.
The order applies to Carroll, Dearborn, Elkhart, Fulton, Lake, Marshall, Perry, St. Joseph, Starke, Switzerland and White counties, with the possibility to expand its reach as rain is expected to pummel southern Indiana.
In a release, Holcomb’s office said the declaration gave the Indiana Department of Homeland Security the ability to provide expanded emergency services and is a necessary step should the state request assistance from the federal government.
“This is an important step in helping Hoosiers around our state who’ve been hurt by this flooding,” Gov. Holcomb said. “Our state agencies will continue to work hand-in-hand with local emergency management teams to help families weather the tragedies they are facing. I’m amazed by their resiliency. Looking ahead, we won’t hesitate to seek federal assistance if it proves necessary.”
Holcomb visited Elkhart and St. Joseph counties on Friday to observe flood damage and local emergency response efforts.
He is expected to return from the National Governor’s Association meeting in Washington on Sunday.