CINCINNATI — Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche came to the Cincinnati area Wednesday, Oct. 21, to announce what they called the first nationwide crackdown on fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food aid once known as food stamps.
Since Sept. 1, the Justice Department’s new Fraud Division, 13 U.S. attorney’s offices and the Utah attorney general took actions against more than 40 defendants whose alleged or proven schemes caused nearly $45 million in intended losses to the government, the department said in a news release. Nearly $42 million of that involved SNAP benefits.
Vance said the money could have fed 220,000 Americans for the entire month of October, WKRC reported from the event in Blue Ash. “SNAP exists to help hungry children eat,” Vance said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
Ohio cases
$29.7 million, Southern District of Ohio: A federal grand jury indicted Jorag Yaseen and Rami Kanaan, who operated approved food stores in Chicago. Prosecutors allege that from about February 2024 to April 2025 they processed thousands of fake transactions using stolen Ohio and other states’ EBT account information, with no real sales. The indictment cites three transactions on March 4, 2024, involving a stolen card tied to a Greene County resident. They are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
$1 million, Northern District of Ohio: Six people were charged by criminal complaint Oct. 6 with SNAP benefits fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that for about two years they swapped Ohio SNAP benefits for cash, marijuana and other items not allowed under the program at a gas station convenience store in Euclid, near Cleveland.
The Ohio Investigative Unit and Euclid police were among the agencies that took part, the department said.
Other cases
Other cases in the release include a $4.4 million case in Georgia against a rapper and social media personality accused of accessing more than 350 SNAP accounts, a Michigan case involving more than 650 stolen identities, and an Oregon ring that bought infant formula with stolen benefits. The department said several cases involved people it described as being in the country illegally.
“These schemes siphoned millions from taxpayers and robbed struggling Americans of the benefits they depend on,” Blanche said in the release. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “Under the Trump Administration, food stamp fraud ends now.”
Wider SNAP changes
The announcement comes as federal changes under last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act shift more SNAP costs to states based on error rates. Ohio lawmakers agreed to cover part of the shortfall, but the Ohio Capital Journal reported the funding formula leaves multimillion-dollar gaps in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties.
SNAP recipients who think their benefits were stolen, and anyone who wants to report fraud, can find information on the USDA’s SNAP fraud page.
An indictment, information or complaint is only an allegation. All defendants who have not pleaded guilty or been convicted are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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WASHINGTON — With less than two weeks until the Nov. 3 midterm elections, President Donald Trump is still promising every adult U.S. citizen a $5,000 payment he calls the “Trump Dividend.” The money comes with a condition: Republicans have to keep control of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.
No such payment exists yet. No bill creating it has been introduced, and Congress would have to approve and fund it. Budget analysts put the cost at about $1.2 trillion.
What Trump said
Trump first made the pledge on Sept. 9, during his prime-time speech on the opening night of the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas. According to the official transcript published in the federal government’s Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, he said:
“And here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate–both of them–because of our economic–tremendous economic success… I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”
Trump compared the payment to “a cash distribution” that a successful company makes to its shareholders. He said the only condition was that the money “must be spent in the United States of America,” but he did not say how that would be enforced. “So, if the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” he said. “It will be called the Trump dividend.”
The next day the White House promoted the plan in a release titled “Trump Dividend: America Is Winning — and Americans Should Win With It.” It called the payment “a historic $5,000 cash payment to every adult American citizen.” The release did not name a funding source, an agency to send the money, or a payment date.
Trump has repeated the promise since then. In a Truth Social post this month he wrote: “If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 Midterm Elections, I’m going to give all Adult Citizens in the United States of America, $5,000.” He has also pitched it at campaign rallies, including one in Greenville, N.C., on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Who would qualify
Trump’s own wording has been “every adult citizen” or “all adult citizens.” The details beyond that are not settled:
On Oct. 2, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the dividend would go to “every U.S. Citizen,” wording that read literally would include children, Yahoo Finance’s Moneywise reported. In a video the next day he went back to “adult citizens.” The White House did not say which version stands.
After the convention speech, Vice President JD Vance suggested wealthy Americans might not qualify, TIME reported. That would mean income limits, but none have been announced.
There is no application, sign-up process or payment schedule for the proposed dividend.
Does Congress have to pass it?
Yes, according to Republican leaders in Congress. Trump told CBS News Texas he did not think Congress would need to authorize the payments, the AP reported. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Sept. 13: “I would assume, yes, he’d need Congress to act, and that’s a creative idea.” Johnson added that he would work to pass it. “He’s the big ideas president. We’re going to try to implement everything we can,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News he was open to the idea, but said it was a “good question” whether it could get enough support to pass. “We will cross that bridge when we come to it,” Thune said, according to TIME.
Republicans already hold both chambers. Asked on Fox News why the payment has to wait until after the election, Trump said, “Because the Democrats can’t do it.”
At the Treasury Department, David Zervos, counselor to the Treasury secretary, said in an Oct. 12 interview with The National News Desk that there was “a little bit of we’ll cross that bridge when we get there” on funding. “There’s a variety of different ways you can look at skinning that cat and coming up with funding,” he said.
What it would cost
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan budget watchdog, estimated that paying the dividend in 2027 would cost more than $1.2 trillion. That is more than all three COVID-era stimulus payments combined, the group said. CRFB said a one-time payment would more than double next year’s projected $780 billion primary deficit to about $2 trillion and push total projected deficits to $3.1 trillion, or 9.4% of the economy. The group warned that the extra cash would likely add to inflation and push interest rates higher.
Estimates based on Census Bureau data put the number of adult U.S. citizens at roughly 240 million to 245 million. Trump has put the cost at “approximately $1 trillion,” and he points to tariff money and private investment pledges to pay for it. Vance has also named tariff revenue. TIME reported tariff revenue was about $154.5 billion in the first 10 months of fiscal 2026. CRFB says that money is already counted in federal deficit projections. No Congressional Budget Office score exists because there is no bill to score.
Reaction in Congress
Democrats called the offer an attempt to buy votes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Trump was “resorting to trying to bribe the American people for their votes.” The Democratic National Committee pointed to earlier payments Trump promised that never arrived, including a $2,000 “tariff dividend” floated in 2025 and “DOGE dividend” checks.
Some Republicans pushed back too. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Politico, “I would like to know how they would plan to pay for … back of envelope … well over $1 trillion.” Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., told Reuters he would “throw everything of my heart and soul to stop it, because it would actually do more damage to working people than would ever help them.”
Legal experts quoted by several outlets said the promise likely does not break vote-buying laws, because the payment would go to every adult citizen no matter how they voted.
The Ohio angle
Ohio lawmakers have been in the middle of the debate. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, was at the Dallas speech and was the first lawmaker to offer a bill. “I will get a bill ready so that we can get the Trump Dividend passed immediately after the November 3rd election,” Moreno posted on X. He told Fox News Digital he would pay for it with tariffs set up as a “market access fee” on foreign goods. As of mid-September, his office had not released any bill text, FOX19 reported.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who is running against former Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall, told News 5 Cleveland he wanted more details. “The principle is right in line with what the working family tax cut plan is about — giving people more of what they earn to spend on their priorities rather than sending it to Washington,” Husted said.
Trump repeated the promise in Ohio on Oct. 12 at a rally at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, where he campaigned for Husted and for Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor, Mahoning Matters reported.
What happens next
Voters decide control of Congress on Nov. 3. If Republicans hold both chambers, any dividend would still need a bill that sets who qualifies and how it is paid for, and that bill would have to pass the House and the Senate. If Democrats win either chamber, Trump’s condition would not be met.
Video: CBS News on Trump’s promise of $5,000 payments if Republicans win the midterms.
https://thefostoriafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/trump-5k-dividend-gopFostoria News.jpg6751200GRK BThttps://thefostoriafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-01-at-9.19.31 PM-1030x926.pngGRK BT2026-10-21 20:59:082026-10-21 20:59:08WASHINGTON | Trump Promises $5,000 ‘Dividend’ If Republicans Hold House and Senate; Congress Would Have to Approve It
WASHINGTON — Kayem Foods Inc. is recalling about 1,584,361 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, including hot dogs, bacon, deli meats and chicken sausage, because they may have been stored at unsafe temperatures, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Oct. 17.
The products were shipped to retail and foodservice locations nationwide and to Hong Kong, according to the FSIS recall notice. FSIS has not yet posted a state-by-state retail distribution list, so it isn’t known which Ohio stores carried the products. The agency says it will post retail lists at fsis.usda.gov/recalls when they become available. Because distribution was nationwide, shoppers in Fostoria and across Ohio should check their refrigerators and freezers.
What to look for
Products were produced from about March 31 to Oct. 7, 2026, according to FSIS.
Look for establishment numbers “EST. M/P 7839,” “EST. P 20935A” or “EST. M 9520” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
The recall covers dozens of items, including Kayem-brand frankfurters, hot dogs, bacon, bologna and corned beef and Al Fresco fully cooked chicken sausages. The full product and UPC list is linked from the FSIS notice and the company’s recall page.
How it was found
FSIS said the problem came to light after a retail customer complained about warm product temperatures at delivery on Oct. 1. Kayem investigated and found it had stored a range of ready-to-eat products in a warehouse cooler that had temperature deviations. In its own statement, the Chelsea, Mass., company blamed a cooling system malfunction at one of its warehouses.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are undertaking this voluntary recall,” Kayem President and CEO Matt Monkiewicz said in the company’s release. “Our management team takes full responsibility.”
What to do
There have been no confirmed reports of illness, according to FSIS. Consumers should not eat the recalled products. They should throw them away or return them to the store where they bought them. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.
Questions can go to Kayem Foods Customer Service at 800-426-6100, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday, or [email protected]. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is 888-674-6854.
Video: “Kayem recalls more than 1.5 million pounds of food,” posted by CBS Boston on YouTube in October 2026.
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday, Oct. 20, announced a new program that pays members of the public for tips about fraud against the federal government. But what the president said in the Oval Office about how much tipsters can collect doesn’t match the program’s published rules, CBS News reported.
What the Justice Department says
According to the Justice Department’s announcement, the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, or WHIP, will pay awards of $10,000 to $30,000 for information that leads to criminal charges in certain areas. Those include federal health care offenses and fraud involving programs run by the departments of Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Veterans Affairs and War, and the Small Business Administration. For health care fraud, the program will prioritize hospice, home health care, day care and special services cases.
The department said awards will be made at its “sole discretion” after criminal charges are filed, and that tipsters can still qualify for other, larger rewards programs. The Treasury Department is committing $25 million to the program. Tips can be submitted at america.gov/fraud, and the terms are posted at justice.gov/fraud/whistleblower.
What the president said
In the Oval Office, Trump said whistleblowers would be eligible to receive 1% of the amount of fraud they report, even if the fraud totals $100 billion, CBS reported. When CBS News asked for clarification, Trump said there is no limit on compensation and that criminal charges aren’t necessary. That conflicts with the up-to-$30,000 cap and the criminal-charges requirement on the program’s website, CBS noted. The AP, citing the White House, described the trigger as a tip that leads to a fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action.
Trump also said he would personally decide who gets paid. “I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” he said, according to CBS. The Associated Press quoted him saying, “It’ll be a binding arbitration,” and reported that he said journalists could take part.
“That’s the answer. I quit while I’m ahead,” Vance joked after Trump’s answer, according to CBS. Vance chairs the administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
First recipient
Nick Shirley, a 24-year-old YouTuber whose video last year alleged fraud at Minnesota child care centers, stood with Trump at the event and was described by CBS as the program’s first beneficiary. The AP reported Trump was expected to present him a $10,000 check. The AP noted that inspectors had said the centers were operating as expected, though investigations, searches and arrests followed. The AP, citing the Justice Department, reported that a child care center operator the White House says was featured in Shirley’s video pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and conspiracy.
Reaction
Some whistleblowers can already collect up to 25% to 30% of money recovered under the federal False Claims Act, but its requirements are stringent, CBS noted. Vance said “99%” of the fraud the administration is finding isn’t covered by that law, CBS reported.
Naomi Seligman, president of the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, was skeptical. She said in a statement that the president “is more interested in hunting down whistleblowers,” and invited him to start by examining what she called violations by his own administration.
Video: “LIVE: Trump and Vance make announcement on fraud whistleblower program,” posted by NBC News on YouTube on Oct. 20, 2026.
GREENFIELD, Ind. — A Hancock County, Indiana, sheriff’s deputy is charged with 441 criminal counts after Indiana State Police said he used the Flock license-plate camera network to track people in his personal life, including his wife, a man who had known her and a former girlfriend’s family.
This is Hancock County, Indiana, east of Indianapolis, whose county seat is Greenfield. It is not Hancock County, Ohio, and the case does not involve the Hancock County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office in Findlay.
James Joseph Heneghan IV, 33, of Fortville, was arrested on a warrant Thursday, Sept. 24, and booked into the Hancock County Jail, according to Indiana State Police. Some social media posts have spelled his name “Henegan,” but state police and the Greenfield Daily Reporter spell it Heneghan. The charges are accusations only. Heneghan is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
Seven cases, 441 counts
Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton told the Daily Reporter there are seven cases against Heneghan with a combined 441 counts: 220 misdemeanor counts of fraud, 220 felony counts of official misconduct and one felony count of intimidation. “We believe each charge is independent — that’s why we charged it that way,” Eaton said. He said the counts do not cover every violation officials believe may have happened, but that the evidence supports each one that was filed.
Official misconduct is a Level 6 felony, Indiana’s lowest felony class, and the intimidation count was also filed as a felony. The fraud counts were filed as misdemeanors. The cases are expected to be heard in Hancock Superior Court 2 before Judge Dan Marshall, Eaton told the newspaper. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Aimee Herring also filed the cases.
“When you’re going to have a situation where you have to charge somebody with a crime that is a member of an agency with which you work, that can be difficult,” Eaton told WTHR.
How the case started
State police said the case began in April 2026 as an intimidation complaint over threatening text messages Heneghan is accused of sending to a family member. Sheriff Brad Burkhart referred the matter to the McCordsville Police Department, which passed it to state police. Heneghan was placed on leave when the allegations surfaced.
According to WTHR and IndyStar, the messages allegedly told the relative never to contact his family again and warned that the relative’s children would suffer. The family member also told investigators Heneghan had used police technology to follow and confront people, IndyStar reported.
“As the investigation progressed, detectives discovered evidence of improper use of automatic license plate reading cameras,” state police said. “Through an extensive audit, detectives found unauthorized searches in the license plate reading camera database. The searches were specific to people Heneghan was familiar with.”
What investigators say the searches show
Court records described by WTHR, FOX59 and IndyStar say Heneghan ran about 6,200 Flock searches between December 2024 and March 2026. Investigators said roughly 65 percent of them were run while he was off duty, according to FOX59. IndyStar reported that only about 40 of the searches were made while he was on duty.
Charging documents say his wife’s vehicle and a man’s license plate were each searched more than 900 times, FOX59 reported. The search reasons he entered included “invest” and “DUI traffic study,” according to WTHR, and IndyStar reported that he also used labels such as “OWI arrest” and “police investigation.” Investigators said they found no active cases involving the people whose vehicles were searched.
Vehicles linked to a former high school girlfriend and her family were searched more than 200 times, according to the reports. Investigators allege that one of those vehicles, driven by a young relative of the former girlfriend, had been searched on Flock nine times before Heneghan stopped it in a January traffic stop. That driver told police he tailgated her before pulling her over, FOX59 reported.
FFP is not naming any of the people whose vehicles were allegedly searched or the relative who received the texts.
Unpaid leave, termination sought
Burkhart told the Daily Reporter that his office opened an internal investigation after a McCordsville police report suggested Flock may have been used inappropriately, and then asked McCordsville to look at it “from a criminal angle.” Heneghan, a merit deputy since 2022, was first put on paid administrative leave and was moved to unpaid leave after the charges were filed.
The sheriff’s office has recommended that Heneghan be fired. Under Indiana law, the sheriff must take the case to the county’s merit board before a merit deputy can be dismissed. FFP found no report that the merit board has ruled as of Oct. 20.
“While this situation is undoubtedly a black eye for our agency, it should not be viewed as a reflection of the sheriff’s office as a whole or the many employees who honorably carry out their responsibilities,” Burkhart said.
Next court date
Online court records cited by WTHR showed Heneghan was being held in the Hancock County Jail on a $5,000 bond and was scheduled for a pretrial conference at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. FFP found no published report on whether he has posted bond, entered a plea or hired an attorney, and no defense statement has been reported. Indiana case records can be searched on the state’s MyCase public court portal.
New safeguards and calls for audits
Burkhart said the sheriff’s office had added safeguards a few months earlier, requiring anyone who runs a Flock search to enter a case number or a computer-aided dispatch report number. He said Flock has also added an internal audit feature that flags unusual activity, such as one plate being run too often.
The arrest came the same week Marion County prosecutors charged five Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers with misusing Flock cameras. The privacy group Eyes Off Indiana said the two cases show that audits need to be required by law. “Audits are great, but they’re only great if you decide to run one,” Walker Lasbury of Eyes Off Indiana told WTHR. “We need to codify into law and make it so that every agency must run an audit.”
The case was investigated by Indiana State Police. FFP will update this story after the Oct. 29 hearing or if the merit board acts.
Video: WTHR (Channel 13, Indianapolis) report on the charges against Hancock County, Indiana, deputy James Heneghan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man has been charged after a National Guard member was shot in the leg while troops tried to break up a fight near Eastern Market on Capitol Hill late Sunday night, Oct. 18, D.C. police said.
Police on Monday identified the man as Jerrell Jackson, 41, of Southeast D.C. He is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer and emergency personnel, carrying a pistol without a license, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, WTOP reported.
Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said Guard members were trying to break up a fight shortly after 11 p.m. when one of the people involved pulled out a gun and fired. “Members of the National Guard immediately gave commands to that individual to put down the gun,” Carroll said. “That individual then pointed the weapon towards the National Guard members, who returned fire to that individual.”
One Guard member was struck in the leg. A spokesperson for Joint Task Force-District of Columbia told WTOP the service member was treated at a hospital and released. Police said the suspect was also wounded. The task force, which oversees the Guard troops deployed in the city over the past year, said it is working with the Metropolitan Police Department, which is leading the investigation.
Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen said on X that the shooting happened outside Cafe 8, a restaurant and bar on 8th Street SE, and that the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration is also investigating. Allen called on regulators and police to use emergency powers to temporarily close the business, saying there has been a pattern of violence outside it on Barracks Row for a year and a half to two years. The business’s response was not included in the reports FFP reviewed.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was briefed overnight and again Monday morning, and referred most questions, including Allen’s call for a closure, to police. “There’s still guns on the street, and there’s still people willing to use them,” Bowser told reporters, while noting the city is on track for a historically low crime year.
The shooting was one of several in the District over the weekend, WTOP reported.
Video: NBC4 Washington via YouTube
The charges are accusations only. Jackson is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty in court.
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NEWARK — The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Americans can legally distill spirits at home, a fight a Newark, Ohio brewer has spent more than two years pushing through the federal courts.
In orders released Monday, Oct. 19, the justices granted review in Department of Justice v. McNutt, a Texas case over an 1868 federal law that bans stills in homes and in any shed, yard or enclosure connected to a home. Violations can bring fines of up to $10,000, up to five years in prison, or both, SCOTUSblog reported.
The court took the case to settle a split between two federal appeals courts. In McNutt, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the ban. It ruled that while Congress has the power to tax distilled spirits, banning home distilling goes beyond that power because the ban does not raise revenue and actually stops production that could be taxed.
In April, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Ohio, reached the opposite result in a case brought by John Ream. In a 2-1 decision, that court held the ban is a valid “necessary and proper” way for Congress to protect collection of the liquor tax. The majority opinion traced the law to the post-Civil War era, when a congressional committee found widespread fraud in liquor tax collection.
Ream is a former aerospace engineer who, after years of homebrewing, opened a brewpub near his home in Newark, according to his petition to the Supreme Court. He wants to distill his own spirits. His lawyers, including attorneys with the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute, asked the justices in July to hear his case. The federal government agreed the issue needed to be decided, but asked the court to take McNutt instead, which it did. Ream’s own petition was not the one granted.
The government argues the ban is a reasonable tool to prevent tax evasion, because a still hidden in a home is easier to conceal from inspectors. The challengers in McNutt, including the Hobby Distillers Association, say the case raises basic questions about the limits of federal power.
The justices will likely hear arguments early next year, with a decision expected by late June or early July, according to SCOTUSblog.
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WICHITA, Kan. — A child and an adult were killed and several other people were hurt Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, when a pickup truck drove through a soccer game at the Stryker Sports Complex in northeast Wichita, Kansas, police said.
The driver is in custody, and there is “no additional ongoing threat to the public from that driver,” Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses, the department’s executive officer, told reporters at an early-evening briefing.
“This is a tragedy,” Moses said.
What police have confirmed
Sedgwick County 911 began receiving multiple calls at about 3:25 p.m. Central time (4:25 p.m. Eastern) reporting that a vehicle had driven through a soccer game at the complex, 2999 N. Greenwich Road near 29th Street North and Greenwich, Moses said. Calls in the county are handled by Sedgwick County Emergency Communications.
Two people, a child and an adult, were pronounced dead at the scene, the Wichita Police Department said in an update posted to its official X account. “Multiple other casualties have been transported to area hospitals,” the department said. Police have not released how many people were hurt or their conditions.
“We have one child who is dead at the scene and one adult,” Moses said, according to KSN. “I’m not going to release the specific ages at this time as we continue to work with notifying family members.” The victims have not been identified.
Moses said the vehicle, a black truck, remained at the scene, and that two juveniles were inside it at the time. He did not say whether they were hurt. He said he did not know how fast the truck was going or how it got onto the field, and that those details remain under investigation. Police have not said what led up to the crash or whether it was intentional.
The driver has not been publicly identified, and no charges have been announced. Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Video: “Wichita mass casualty event,” FOX54 News Huntsville on YouTube.
Response and cancellations
Wichita police, the Wichita Fire Department, Sedgwick County EMS and other local law enforcement agencies responded, KWCH reported. The Independent reported that the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Highway Patrol were also at the scene. Police asked drivers to stay away from the area of 29th and Greenwich while the investigation continues.
The City of Wichita said all events at the Stryker Sports Complex are canceled until further notice. “We ask that you keep all individuals and families affected in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” the city said.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association suspended its state flag football third-place and championship games, which were being played on an adjacent field. “Games will not resume this weekend, but a later announcement will be made with updated game times,” KSHSAA said, adding that details will be announced Monday.
Police ask for video
Wichita police are asking anyone who recorded video of the incident to upload it through the department’s evidence submission portal. “Regardless of how significant you believe your footage may be, we encourage you to submit it. Even the smallest detail could assist investigators,” the department said.
Officials react
“I’m heartbroken by reports of a tragic incident at Stryker Sports Complex. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected, especially the children and families involved,” Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said on social media.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she is monitoring the situation and is in touch with Wu, ABC News reported. “My condolences go out to the families of the victims, the survivors, and all those impacted by this event,” Kelly said.
The Stryker Soccer Complex said in a statement, “Our hearts are heavy as we process the tragic events at Stryker today,” and that it is holding “the injured, their families, and all those who witnessed this heartbreaking event close in our thoughts and prayers.”
Wichita police said they expected to hold another news briefing between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Central time Saturday, streamed on the department’s Facebook page.
This is a developing story. The Fostoria Free Press will update it as officials release more information.
Wichita Police Department on X: Update on Stryker Soccer Field Investigation (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://x.com/WichitaPolice/status/2111589454817218728
Wichita Police Department on X: News briefing planned for 7 to 7:30 p.m. (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://x.com/WichitaPolice/status/2111603829141836277
Wichita Police Department: Stryker video submission portal – https://wichitapd.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/stryker
Sedgwick County Emergency Communications – https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/emergency-communications/
ABC News: At least 2 dead after vehicle drives through soccer game in Wichita, Kansas (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://abcnews.com/US/2-dead-after-truck-drives-soccer-game-wichita/story?id=137352588
CBS News: At least 2 killed after vehicle drives onto soccer field during game in Wichita, Kansas (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.cbsnews.com/news/driver-soccer-field-wichita-kansas/
KWCH 12: 1 child, 1 adult killed in mass casualty incident at Stryker Sports Complex (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.kwch.com/2026/10/17/breaking-news-injury-accident-stryker-sports-complex/
KWCH 12: All events canceled at Stryker Sports Complex following deadly crash (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.kwch.com/2026/10/17/all-events-canceled-stryker-sports-complex-following-deadly-crash/
KWCH 12: KSHSAA suspends flag football championship after deadly crash (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.kwch.com/2026/10/17/kshsaa-suspends-flag-football-championship-after-deadly-crash-stryker-sports-complex/
KAKE: Child and adult dead, multiple injured after truck drives through soccer game in Wichita (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.kake.com/home/child-and-adult-dead-multiple-injured-after-truck-drives-through-soccer-game-in-wichita/article_d606fc10-07a2-44a0-b4f6-efa3fe755187.html
KSN via FOX4: Police: Mass casualty incident at Wichita sports complex (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://fox4kc.com/news/police-mass-casualty-incident-at-wichita-sports-complex/
CNN via KOCO: 2 killed, multiple injured after vehicle drives onto field during soccer game (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.koco.com/article/mass-casualty-field-soccer-game-wichita-sports-complex/74168327
The Independent: Two dead including child after vehicle drives onto Wichita soccer field (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wichita-kansas-two-dead-soccer-field-man-arrested-b3068667.html
YouTube, FOX54 News Huntsville: Wichita mass casualty event – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6PFW3JL1Ro
https://thefostoriafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wichita-kansas-stryker-soccer-field-vehicle-crash-two-killed-featured.jpg7201280GRK BThttps://thefostoriafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-01-at-9.19.31 PM-1030x926.pngGRK BT2026-10-17 20:09:192026-10-17 20:09:19WICHITA, KAN. | Child and Adult Killed After Truck Drives Through Youth Soccer Game at Stryker Sports Complex; Driver in Custody
BEND, Ore. — Police in Bend, Oregon, have identified the gunman in Thursday’s deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former student of the school, and say he was shot and killed by a father who followed him inside.
Three children, boys ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher were killed in the attack on Thursday, Oct. 15, the Bend Police Department said. A 7-year-old girl and a 54-year-old teacher were wounded. All of the victims were shot in the same classroom, police said. The teen suspect also died at the scene, bringing the death toll to five.
Bend police released the suspect’s name, Griffin J. John II, in an update on the investigation. Because he died at the scene, no one has been charged in the case.
What police say happened
According to an update from the Bend Police Department released Friday, Oct. 16, the first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m. Pacific time (3:59 p.m. Eastern) from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone with a long gun. Dispatchers then received dozens of calls reporting that a shooter had entered the school on SE Stone Creek Lane in southeast Bend. Officers ordered the school into lockdown at 1:01 p.m., and the first officers arrived at 1:02 p.m.
Police said that at about 12:58 p.m., the suspect approached the fenced rear of the school, threw his weapon over the fence and climbed onto school property. The driver of a pickup truck saw him and confronted him verbally, police said, and the teen fired at the truck, hitting it at least three times. That driver continued down the street and made the first 911 call.
A second driver, a 36-year-old man whose children attend the school, also saw the shooting and pulled into the school parking lot, police said. The suspect then fired through the glass of an exterior set of double doors to force his way inside and went directly into the classroom immediately to the left of the entrance. Police said he fired as many as 15 rounds in all, using 12-gauge birdshot, buckshot and slugs.
The 36-year-old father took a .40-caliber pistol that police said was legally secured in his vehicle, entered through the forced-open doors, saw a teacher in a physical struggle with the suspect and fired, striking him multiple times. The Associated Press identified the father as Kaylub Giamanco.
Police also credited a teacher in the classroom who threw her cellphone at the suspect, then tackled him and fought to take the gun away. She was not injured. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called her actions “heroic” at a Friday news conference, the AP reported.
Officers found a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and a backpack near the suspect, police said. He had about 44 more rounds of ammunition on him or in the backpack.
Video: “Teenage suspect identified in deadly Bend school shooting,” KIRO 7 News on YouTube.
The victims
Police identified the teacher who was killed as Megan Lambert, 25, of Bend. Her family said in a statement released through police that Silver Rail was her first teaching job and “her dream job,” and that she “always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.” The family also thanked the bystander who intervened, saying, “we are grateful and we think he is a hero.”
The families of two of the children who were killed have asked that their children not be identified. The Fostoria Free Press is not publishing the names of any of the child victims.
Police said the wounded 7-year-old girl is at OHSU in Portland in serious but stable condition. The wounded teacher, identified with her family’s permission as Becky Drury of Bend, is at St. Charles Bend with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
The suspect
Krantz said John previously attended Silver Rail Elementary and was not currently enrolled in Bend-La Pine Schools. Superintendent Steven Cook told reporters the teen had been a special needs student at the school and that all of the victims were in a special needs classroom, NBC News reported. Police believe he walked to the school, though the route is still under investigation.
Krantz said a motive has not been determined, ABC News reported. How the suspect obtained the shotgun and ammunition “remains part of the active criminal investigation,” police said. Investigators have executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home, and interviews are ongoing.
The investigation
The Tri-County Major Incident Team is leading the investigation, with roughly 150 law enforcement and first-responder personnel involved, including the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Redmond Police, Oregon State Police, the FBI and the ATF, police said. Investigators expect to hold the school as a crime scene until at least Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Police are asking anyone with home or vehicle video recorded between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Pacific time on Oct. 15, in the area between Third Street and Brosterhous Road or near the school, to check it for a teenage male about 6 feet tall and 140 pounds wearing black pants, a black T-shirt and a black backpack. The FBI has set up a tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI and an online tip page at FBI.gov/silverrailschool.
Schools and state response
Bend-La Pine Schools said all of its schools will stay closed to students Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 20, with students returning Wednesday, Oct. 21, on the early-release schedule. Silver Rail Elementary will remain closed until further notice, and counselors and a heightened law enforcement presence will be in place, the district said on its Silver Rail community information page.
“We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy,” Cook said in a statement Thursday. “No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Thursday that the Oregon Department of Emergency Management is coordinating state agencies to support the community. “My heart is absolutely broken,” Kotek said. She also thanked the community member who intervened, saying, “your actions carry a heavy emotional burden.”
Thousands of people gathered Thursday night at a vigil in Bend’s Drake Park, Krantz said. “That is what community looks like,” he said.
This is a developing story. The Fostoria Free Press will update it as officials release more information.
Bend Police Department via FlashAlert: UPDATE: Active shooter incident at Silver Rail Elementary School (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://flashalert.net/id/bendpolice
FBI: Silver Rail Elementary School tip page – https://www.fbi.gov/silverrailschool
Bend-La Pine Schools: Silver Rail Community Information Hub – https://www.blschools.org/news/silver-rail-community-information-hub
Office of Gov. Tina Kotek statement, via Central Oregon Daily News (Oct. 15, 2026) – https://www.centraloregondaily.com/news/local/kotek-statement-on-tragedy-at-silver-rail-elementary-in-bend/article_30802166-3ac0-488e-8ccf-60609d04d49a.html
Associated Press: Teacher threw phone, tackled gunman before father shot him at Oregon elementary school (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://apnews.com/article/oregon-school-shooting-silver-rail-elementary-989180ae6e9aa2ed6a4239c8e3423085
NBC News: Oregon school shooter was 16-year-old former student (updated Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-school-shooter-identified-16-year-old-john-griffin-ii-whose-mot-rcna603908
ABC News: What we know about teen gunman who police say opened fire at Bend, Oregon school (Oct. 16, 2026) – https://abcnews.com/US/teen-gunman-police-opened-fire-bend-oregon-school/story?id=137326656
NPR: Suspect in deadly Oregon elementary school shooting was a former student (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.npr.org/2026/10/17/nx-s1-6006236/suspect-in-deadly-oregon-elementary-school-shooting-was-a-former-student
OPB: New details emerge in Bend school shooting (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/17/bend-school-shooting-day2-opb-first-look/
KPTV FOX 12: 2 victims still hospitalized after Bend school shooting (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.kptv.com/2026/10/17/2-victims-still-hospitalized-after-bend-school-shooting/
The Source Weekly: Bend-La Pine Schools closed through Tuesday (Oct. 17, 2026) – https://www.bendsource.com/news/localnews/bend-la-pine-schools-closed-through-tuesday-as-community-grieves-shooting-deaths/
YouTube, KIRO 7 News: Teenage suspect identified in deadly Bend school shooting – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x865uMKx_Y
https://thefostoriafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bend-school-shooting-policeFostoria News.jpg9861744GRK BThttps://thefostoriafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-01-at-9.19.31 PM-1030x926.pngGRK BT2026-10-17 19:44:452026-10-17 19:55:02BREAKING | 16-Year-Old Former Student Identified as Gunman Who Killed 3 Children and a Teacher at Bend Elementary School
WASHINGTON — Home growers who order cannabis seeds online have less than two months before a federal law change reaches the seed packet.
There is no new law aimed specifically at online seed shopping. Instead, the change comes from a rewrite of the federal definition of hemp that Congress tucked into the funding law that ended the fall 2025 government shutdown. That law, Public Law 119-37, was enacted Nov. 12, 2025. Once its new definition takes effect, viable seeds from cannabis plants that test above 0.3% total THC will no longer count as hemp. Under the Controlled Substances Act, they would be treated as marijuana.
The date moved to Dec. 11
The new hemp definition was originally set to take effect Nov. 12, 2026. A stopgap spending law signed in early September, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, pushed most of it — including the seed provision — to Dec. 11, 2026, according to the Congressional Research Service. Only one narrower piece still takes effect Nov. 12: the exclusion of hemp products made with cannabinoids that cannot be naturally produced by a cannabis plant, such as certain synthetic compounds.
Unless Congress acts again, Dec. 11 is the operative date. The House-passed fiscal 2027 agriculture spending bill does not include another delay, CRS reported. Other bills would push the change back two more years (H.R. 7024, H.R. 7010 and S. 3686) or repeal it (H.R. 6209), but none has passed.
What the seed rule covers
Under the 2018 farm bill, hemp was any cannabis with no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, and the definition expressly included seeds. Because seeds themselves contain little or no THC, many seed companies have sold seeds from high-THC strains online as hemp and shipped them across state lines.
The new definition changes two things that matter for seeds, according to CRS:
The 0.3% limit becomes a total THC standard that counts THCA, not just delta-9 THC. Most marijuana strains far exceed it.
The definition now excludes viable seeds from a cannabis plant that exceeds 0.3% total THC, including THCA, on a dry-weight basis. In other words, the test is the plant the seed came from, not the seed.
That covers the feminized and autoflowering seeds from high-THC strains that home growers typically buy. It does not cover seeds from compliant low-THC hemp, and the law specifically includes “industrial hemp,” such as hemp grown for grain, seed oil, cake, hulls and fiber. Hemp seed foods are not the target.
The same Dec. 11 change also caps finished hemp-derived cannabinoid products at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, a change the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management has told businesses effectively bans hemp products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per package.
What it means for buying seeds online
After Dec. 11, a seed from a high-THC plant would be marijuana under federal law. Shipping or selling it across state lines would mean moving a federally controlled substance, the same as shipping cannabis flower. That is why seed sellers and advocacy groups have warned that the national online seed market will be upended. MedicateOH, an Ohio patient advocacy publication, wrote in January that after the change “interstate shipping of most cannabis seeds will become federally illegal.”
Most marijuana remains in Schedule I. Since April 28, 2026, only FDA-approved marijuana drugs and marijuana covered by a state medical marijuana license have been in the less-restricted Schedule III, under a final rule published in the Federal Register. A separate proceeding to move all marijuana to Schedule III has been stayed while a Drug Enforcement Administration judge considers new filings, Cannabis Business Times reported.
FFP found no separate new DEA or U.S. Postal Service rule targeting seed sales. The change flows from the hemp definition itself. The law also does not spell out how anyone would verify the THC content of the plant a given seed came from, and FFP found no USDA or DEA guidance yet on how the seed provision will be enforced.
The Ohio angle
Ohio law still lets adults 21 and older grow up to six plants each, with a cap of 12 per household, at their primary residence under Ohio Revised Code 3796.04. Ohio’s 2.5-ounce possession limit expressly excludes seeds, live plants and clones being lawfully grown, under ORC 3796.221. The federal change does not alter those state rules, but it could make it much harder for Ohioans to legally obtain seeds from out-of-state sellers.
MedicateOH reported that Ohio law allows licensed dispensaries to sell seeds and clones, but that no Ohio dispensary currently does. Ohio law also bars anyone other than a license holder from giving, selling or transferring marijuana outside the narrow no-money transfers the law allows between adults.
GovInfo: Public Law 119-37, Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 – https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ37
Congressional Research Service: Changes to the Statutory Definition of Hemp and Implications for Agricultural Policy (IF13136, updated Sept. 28, 2026) – https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13136
Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management: Preparing for upcoming federal hemp changes (updated date) – https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNOCM/bulletins/42840fb
Vicente LLP: Federal Hemp Update, Definition Change Delayed to December 11 – https://vicentellp.com/insights/federal-hemp-definition-change-delay/
Federal Register: Rescheduling of FDA-approved products containing marijuana and state medical marijuana to Schedule III (April 28, 2026) – https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/28/2026-08176/schedules-of-controlled-substances-rescheduling-of-food-and-drug-administration-approved-products
Cannabis Business Times: Cannabis rescheduling process remains sidelined, DEA judge orders new replies (October 2026) – https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/cannabis-rescheduling/news/15837517/cannabis-rescheduling-process-remains-sidelined-dea-judge-orders-new-replies
MedicateOH: January 2026 Ohio and federal cannabis policy guide – https://medicateoh.com/featured/medicateoh-guide-january-2026-ohio-federal-cannabis-policy-and-the-road-ahead/
Ohio Revised Code 3796.04: Home grow – https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3796.04
Ohio Revised Code 3796.221: Rights of adult-use users – https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3796.221
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service: Hemp Production – https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/hemp
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