Authorities in North Carolina apprehended a man outside a church who was allegedly equipped with crossbows, two flamethrowers, and an ample supply of 500 rounds of ammunition.

According to a press release from the High Point Police Department, a 911 call was made on Sunday reporting an “armed individual seated in the parking lot” of Wesley Memorial Church located in High Point, North Carolina.

The individual who called identified the suspect as 44-year-old William S. Milliken III, noting that he was armed and dressed in camouflage.

An off-duty police officer present at the church quickly recognized the suspect, and with the prompt assistance of officers arriving shortly thereafter, the man was successfully detained.

After Milliken was arrested, officers searched his truck and found two flamethrowers, two crossbows, over 500 rounds of ammunition, rolls of black duct tape, three knives, oxycodone pills and a carbon dioxide-powered launcher designed to resemble a handgun, police said.

According to WFMY, court documents also allege that the suspect had a notebook with addresses of churches, schools and public buildings, GPS coordinates, body armor, radios with police scanners, handcuff keys as well as an enlarged map of North Carolina.

He was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, impersonating a law enforcement officer and possession of a Schedule II controlled substance.

Milliken III is being held at the Guilford County Jail, and his bond was set at $250,000.

High Point Police Chief Curtis Cheeks III said he is thankful the suspect was stopped before anyone was hurt.

“Thanks to the quick action of our officers, a man armed with weapons was taken into custody before anyone was hurt,” Cheeks said. “The officers prevented a potentially dangerous situation from escalating and helped ensure everyone attending church services could return home safely.

Stunning new video has surfaced capturing a police officer’s desperate sprint through a wooded area to reach a young woman who, tragically, would soon succumb to a horrific alligator attack.

The victim, 31-year-old Brittany Clark, was hiking through Florida’s Little Big Econ State Forest with her boyfriend and a friend. The group decided to cool off with a swim in the river shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

It was then that an alligator suddenly approached and launched a brutal attack on Clark, viciously tearing off both of her arms.

The dramatic scene, captured by body camera footage, follows an officer dashing down a trail through the forest. He is ultimately led to a small beach area where Clark is shielded by a blue pop-up beach tent.

Beneath the shelter, her boyfriend, Chance Allison, can also be seen. An off-camera voice captures the gravity of the situation, uttering: ‘It’s bad.’

The deputy then drops to his knees and pulls out a Velcro tourniquet before the redacted clip ends.

Clark, from Orlando, had been swimming in ‘shoulder-deep water’ in the Econlockhatchee River near a popular hiking trail.

Allison tried to pull her from the animal’s jaws and rang 911 at around 1.30pm.

A caller could be heard telling the operator: ‘Somebody got bit by a gator.

‘Bad. Real bad. Please, hurry.

‘One of them is hanging on by a thread, and the other one’s off.’

Clark was rushed to hospital but died from her injuries.

Trappers later killed a 4-metre (13-foot) alligator at the scene and a 3.8-metre (12.5-foot) alligator half a mile away, with DNA samples sent to an FWC laboratory in Gainesville.

FWC spokesman Chad Weber said the reptiles’ mating season was ending, a time when they can be ‘very territorial.’

Allison paid tribute to Clark in a text to a US broadcaster: ‘With this being such a traumatic event I do not think that I will be able to hold myself together to talk about her on Zoom or any other video platform.

‘But what I can tell you is Brittany was such an amazing and caring person and didn’t deserve to go out in such a way.

‘She was the strongest and most outgoing person I’ve ever met in my 30 years of life.

‘She loved her job where she operated a bulldozer running a dirt crew.

‘And loved going out on the water every chance she could.

‘Never in a million years would we have seen this nightmare come about.’

A medical examiner’s report obtained by the Daily Mail gave details about Clark’s final moments, including how her boyfriend heroically fought the gator even as it dragged them both underwater into a ‘death roll’.  

A ‘death roll’ is a technique alligators use to subdue prey by violently twisting onto their backs before attempting to pull the victim underwater to drown them.  

The report describes how Chance Allison risked his life and eventually managed to pry his girlfriend from the gator’s jaws – but it was too late to save her. 

It also reveals officials later tracked down the 12-foot apex predator in the aftermath and ‘put it down’, before decapitating it and keeping its head as ‘evidence’.  

Describing how the attack unfolded, the report states: ‘While they were swimming an alligator grabbed [Clark] by her arm and began the ‘death roll’.

‘Her boyfriend Chance grabbed the alligator trying to get it to release her when it took them both underwater’. 

Allison managed to get the gator to release her arm ‘for a moment’ – but it seized its jaws on her other arm instead.

‘Chance attempted to bring them both to shore when the alligator finally let go and CPR was started on shore by her boyfriend, and 911 was called,’ the report states. 

The report did not state whether Allison grappled with the alligator before or after making the emergency call, but audio of the call suggests he dialed 911 while still fighting the predator.  

Screaming and crying could be heard in the harrowing recording, as Allison told call handlers he was ‘still trying to get her arms away from the alligator’s mouth’. 

Moments later, he told the operator that ‘both her arms, both her arms are off’, while her friend told them that one arm was ‘hanging by a thread’. 

When the dispatcher asked where the other arm was, the woman replied: ‘Gone.’ 

Allison described the situation as ‘bad, real bad’ while urging responders to ‘please hurry… she’s losing a lot of…’ before his voice trailed off. 

The gator eventually ‘went away’, Allison told the operator, before describing his girlfriend’s injuries as ‘horrible’.  

Allison said he had stepped in to help, and he dragged Clark out of the water with the help of her friend. 

‘We’re far off the trail, we’re off of a little launch area by the river… We need help now!’ he told the operator. 

‘You may see a helicopter. If you see it, just try and flag it down if you can,’ the operator responded.

Barr Street Trailhead, the popular hiking route where the horror unfolded, is now closed until further notice.

Clark’s Facebook page shows she was a big fan of the outdoors – pictured frequently on hikes and swimming in nature.  

The horrific incident marks the third alligator attack in central Florida over the last week.

Seven days before, a gator attack was reported at Rainbow River in Marion County, and a child was injured in another incident in the same county on Saturday. 

Attacks on humans are rare in the US, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission, but alligators are more territorial during mating season, which lasts from April until the end of June.

New Yorkers should brace for flight cancellations and delays during the celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

As Independence Day 2026 festivities bring food, fireworks, and fun, frequent travelers in and around New York City might find their travel plans disrupted. According to recent data, Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and JFK Airport have been ranked as the top three “worst airports for Fourth of July cancellations.” This could mean grounded or postponed flights for many.

“Newark travelers face the highest risk of flight cancellations among all major U.S. airports,” researchers with Rightway Parking, a virtual airport parking reservation service, reported in their study.

This study found that over the past five Fourth of July travel seasons, an average of 24.7% of flights experienced delays, and 2% ended up canceled across the country.

However, travelers in the tristate area have felt the most significant impact.

“Newark Liberty has the highest Fourth of July cancellation rate in the country, with 3.7% of flights canceled,” continued the insiders, ranking LaGuardia in second place with a 3.3% cancellation rate and JFK in third with a 2.7%. 

Investigators analyzed flight on-time performance data from the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), tracking the flight records from top airports — those with more than 10,000 combined departures and arrivals — on each July 4 from 2021 through 2025. 

For all 389 reporting airports and 20 airlines, the experts counted the departures and arrivals that were delayed and canceled. 

“As BTS defines it, a flight is delayed if it leaves the gate or arrives 15 or more minutes behind schedule,” noted the authors. “Rates were calculated across the full 5-year period (total delayed flights divided by total flights) rather than as an average of yearly percentages — so busier years carry proportional weight.”

The busyness of the boroughs, as well as its surrounding neighborhoods, is likely to be on high this holiday weekend. 

The heightened buzz will be, in part, due to the highly anticipated, two-day wedding of pop icon Taylor Swift and a NFL champion Travis Kelce. The A-list lovers are expected to tie the knot at Madison Square Garden, where 1,000 of their closest loved ones are expected to fly into town for the fête.

Beyond the celebrity-studded shindig, city officials are amping up security measures for Saturday, July 4, as hundreds of thousands of revelers are expected to touch down in NYC, painting the town Red, White and Blue for the nation’s anniversary — with temperatures forecast to be in the mid-90s.

Soccer junkies will, too, be landing locally as the FIFA World Cup match between Brazil vs. Norway is slated for Sunday at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. 

Party animals with big plans had better pray against delays. 

The analysts named Newark in their roundup of the top 10 worst airports for delays. The plane station secured the No. 9 spot with a 28.7% delay rate.

Orlando International earned top billing on the unappealing list with a 34.1% rate, with San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International (32.9%) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (31.8%) rounding out the top three. 

JFK and LaGuardia, according to the findings, boast 28.1% and 24.3% delay rates, respectively.