In Syracuse, New York, a tense standoff unfolded on Saturday, resulting in two police officers being shot and a third injured. The confrontation with an armed suspect, who has been “actively firing at police” for over four hours, has led to the evacuation of local residents.

According to Syracuse.com, the officers who were shot, along with their injured colleague, are currently in stable condition. The situation remains intense as law enforcement works to resolve the crisis.

The Syracuse Police Department updated the public with a statement on X, emphasizing that the situation is “still very active” as of 2:40 p.m. local time.

Officials have warned that the suspect continues to fire at police, urging residents to “SHELTER IN PLACE” and avoid the area. They advised everyone to stay indoors, steer clear of windows, and not approach the scene.

The incident began around 6 a.m. when officers responded to reports of an individual attacking a dog with a machete in a neighborhood just south of downtown Syracuse, as reported by Syracuse.com.

FILE – New York State Police are reportedly responding to assist. (AP)

The neighborhood is mostly made up of public housing complexes and low-income apartment buildings.

While executing a search warrant, two officers were shot and another was injured.

FILE – At least three Syracuse police officers were injured in the incident. (Syracuse Police)

Nearby residents are being evacuated by bus, according to the outlet.

New York State Police, Syracuse SWAT, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, Syracuse Fire Department and Syracuse University campus police are responding, according to Syracuse.com.

The Syracuse Police Department and New York State Police did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from Fox News Digital.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

In what appears to be a contradiction within New York City’s public schools, student suspensions have decreased during the first half of the academic year, even as incidents of felony assaults have risen.

Recent figures from the Department of Education reveal that from July to December 2025, there were 9,193 suspensions, marking an 8.3% reduction compared to the same timeframe the previous year. However, serious assaults increased by 5%, with 109 cases reported, up from 103 in 2024.

The most stringent disciplinary measure, known as a superintendent’s suspension—which involves a removal from school for six days or more to a designated facility—saw an even steeper decline. In the last six months of 2025, there were 1,608 such suspensions, a 21.6% drop from the 2,052 recorded in the same period in 2024.

Education officials attribute this reduction in suspensions to the implementation of restorative justice practices.

“Schools across the city are increasingly adopting restorative practices, peer mediation, and in-school counseling, alongside referrals to external mental health services, to address student needs. This approach helps maintain student engagement in their education while ensuring safe school environments,” a Department of Education spokesperson explained.

But restorative justice is a controversial alternative to strict discipline that is geared towards mediation and conflict resolution. In some forms, violent and problem pupils sit in harm-reduction “circles” with teachers and their victims.

Critics say fewer suspensions and restorative justice programs is a woke band-aid that offers little long-term change in bad student behavior.

“Restorative justice is masking the broader behavioral issues because that’s discouraging consequences altogether,” Manhattan Institute education behavioral researcher Jennifer Weber said. “Restorative justice hasn’t been shown to be effective, it hasn’t shown to affect a student’s behavior.”

Brooklyn Citywide Council on High Schools member Linda Quarles was also troubled by the new system.

“If I say I don’t want to face my bully, I become the problem. Nothing happens.” she said. “They use this as a way of completely reframing of what’s suspendable.”

NYC has spent upwards of $100 million on restorative justice practices since 2015, according to a Manhattan Institute study authored by Weber.

Weber pointed out that Big Apple schools are facing an enrollment and chronic absenteeism crisis, and fewer students means fewer suspensions.

“The suspension measure is such a bad measure in looking at overall behavior, because suspensions have been discouraged, and the decision is ultimately made by school administrators,” Weber said.

Despire assaults being up, most crimes were down in city school, police data showed.

The seven major index crimes monitored by the NYPD — murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and auto theft — declined to 264 in school for the first half of the school year, down from 290 over the same period the year before, according to police data.

There were 707 fewer weapons recovered in schools in the first half of the school year compared to the same period the year before, with 3,487 recovered, police sources said.

Erika Kirk recently shared a poignant memory from her honeymoon while speaking to a large audience of graduates, just one day after commemorating her first wedding anniversary as a widow.

In her role as CEO of Turning Point USA, a position she assumed following her husband Charlie Kirk’s untimely death, Erika delivered a heartfelt commencement address at Hillsdale College in Michigan on Saturday.

During her speech to the students of this conservative Christian institution, she opened up about a personal moment from her honeymoon. The memory, she admitted, was both “painful” and uplifting, offering her a sense of joy amidst the sorrow.

She recounted how she had been reflecting on this memory as she faced her anniversary without Charlie, who tragically lost his life to an assassin’s bullet during a campus event in Utah several months ago.

Erika warmly reminisced about how Charlie had broken their honeymoon’s “no-phone” rule to indulge in Hillsdale lectures, using this anecdote to inspire the graduates to pursue lifelong learning and curiosity.

Her address also marks her first high profile public appearance since she announced she was taking a step back from the spotlight in the wake of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.  

She was among the hundreds of guests who were escorted out of the Washington Hilton after a gunman opened fire and was seen in floods of tears as she was raced to safety.

Just yesterday, the widow commemorated her milestone with Charlie in a touching post on X, featuring a montage of wedding clips, family time spent with their children and candid, everyday moments as a couple.

Erika Kirk gave the commencement speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan on Saturday

Just a day earlier, she marked her wedding anniversary with her late husband, who was killed by an assassin’s bullet during a campus event in Utah months earlier

‘Even though our kids won’t see our love “grow old together” from an earthly stand point, they’ll see it from a Heavenly one,’ the widow wrote.

‘And I’ll tell them of our love story any moment I can,’ she added. ‘Happy Anniversary to the love of my life.’

Ahead of Saturday’s speech, the TPUSA chief said she felt ‘honored’ to deliver the keynote address at the school where her husband took dozens of classes, though he never formally earned a college degree. 

‘Charlie loved Hillsdale deeply and was often a grateful student of its online courses, learning from Dr Larry Arnn and the remarkable faculty, who are so committed to truth and the pursuit of wisdom,’ she said.

‘Hillsdale represents something rare in our time – a steadfast devotion to faith, learning, and the principles that sustain a free nation. I am sincerely grateful for the invitation and look forward to being there with all of you.’ 

A college dropout himself, Charlie frequently criticized higher education as a waste – a stance he outlined in his 2022 book The College Scam.

Still, he carved out an exception for the Michigan campus, saying during a February 2025 speech: ‘There is no place like Hillsdale College. The students are different. They’re focused on the right things.’

Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, who praised Charlie during his memorial service last year, revealed that he had completed more than 30 online courses through the institution.

In a post on X with over five million views, Erika shared several clips of her wedding and time she and Charlie spent together as a family

The widow told the graduating class that the way her husband lived his far-too-short life is a ‘fantastic blueprint’ for them to follow

The widow shared a montage of everyday, candid moments with Charlie

He said he would award honorary degrees to Erika and her late husband at the school’s 2026 graduation and was ‘pleased’ to name her as the commencement speaker. 

‘Charlie Kirk became a national and international sensation, and he built something amazing,’ Arnn said.

‘At his memorial service were the great, the near-great, and tens of millions watching. But that isn’t why we loved him,’ he added. ‘We loved him because he was, at heart, a student who worked hard to get it right.’

‘Erika Kirk, brave and widowed, intends to carry on. And we will help her.’

During Saturday’s commencement, the widow told graduates that the way her husband lived his far-too-short life is a ‘fantastic blueprint’ for them to follow. 

She said that each student in the audience is meant for a life that lifts them upward, and warning that if they are instead seeking ‘ugly, conspiracy, and pain,’ they will find it. 

‘As you start day one as a graduate, build carefully, choose wisely and aim not at what is easy or immediate, but what is beautiful and true,’ Erika said.

Meanwhile, outside the closed ceremony, a group of protesters gathered in a demonstration organized by Hope In Action, according to a Facebook post.

The group listed several reasons for its presence, including a claim that Turning Point USA ‘is a national right-wing political machine organizing young people into MAGA politics, anti-trans rhetoric, anti-DEI backlash, and culture-war extremism.’

‘This is about protecting our communities. TPUSA’s politics have fueled attacks on LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, educators, racial justice work, reproductive freedom, and anyone resisting authoritarianism,’ the post read.

‘We are protesting the normalization of extremism. Giving honorary degrees and commencement platforms to figures tied to this movement tells students and the public that hate, disinformation, and authoritarian politics deserve celebration,’ it added.

‘We are protesting because silence is permission. When institutions uplift people and organizations that harm our neighbors, we show up, get loud, and make it clear: hate has no place here.’

A young mother from Virginia, aged 21, was taken into custody on Thursday following allegations that she drowned her twin sons, who were just 17 months old, in a bathtub this past April.

Amaya Dixon faces serious charges, including two counts of felony murder along with two counts of child neglect, as detailed in a report from WRIC, a local news outlet.

The incident prompted officers from the Richmond Police Department to respond to an emergency call regarding two injured children at an apartment located on the city’s south side shortly before 8:40 p.m. on April 17.

Upon their arrival, law enforcement discovered the young boys with signs of what was described by investigators as “apparent drowning injuries,” according to the report.

FILE – The Richmond Police Department continues its investigation into what is suspected to be a double homicide. (Jay Paul/Getty Images)

The toddlers were taken to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment, according to WRIC. One boy was pronounced dead that same night, while his brother died days later.

Court documents obtained by the outlet show Dixon was facing criminal charges in neighboring Chesterfield County when her sons were killed.

FILE – The twin boys were found by the Richmond Police Department after a 911 call reported injuries. (Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

The eight unrelated charges, stemming from December 2025, include two counts of grand larceny, credit card fraud, possession of stolen property with the intent to sell, and the financial exploitation of vulnerable adults.

It is unclear what led to the drowning, or whether anyone else was in the home during the incident.

FILE- It is unclear what led to the incident, officials said. (Hilary Powell/AP)

The Richmond Police Department did not immediately respond to additional inquiries from Fox News Digital.

Police are urging anyone with information relevant to the case to contact Major Crimes Detective J. Pittman at 804-646-3869 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.

A recent shift in government policy may significantly impact the lives of millions of Americans without established credit, potentially leading to a surge in new mortgage approvals worth hundreds of billions.

Last month, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage entities, introduced a change allowing them to accept mortgages evaluated using a credit score model that includes timely rental payments.

According to VantageScore, the developer of this credit scoring method, incorporating rental histories could elevate the credit scores of roughly 7.7 million individuals above 620. This increase may open the door for them to qualify for standard mortgage offerings.

The company also suggests that this model enhances the accuracy of risk assessment, potentially identifying up to 11% more defaults among high-risk scores, which could help decrease future default rates.

“This development is likely to benefit a small yet expanding segment of borrowers, such as freelancers, self-employed individuals, gig workers, young adults, and immigrants who have dependable cash flows but limited credit histories,” explains Jake Krimmel, a senior economist at Realtor.com®. “Although they are generally creditworthy, the current inflexible and outdated system doesn’t reflect that on paper.”

Here’s what has changed

Fannie and Freddie buy whole loans from mortgage lenders to package as securities for investors, and the rules they set for eligible “conforming” loans have major influence on the market.

U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who also oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced April 22 that they were expanding a pilot to allow mortgage lenders to use VantageScore ratings to assess borrower creditworthiness, in addition to or instead of traditional FICO scores.

VantageScore is a scoring model developed by the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They operate it through a joint venture called VantageScore Solutions LLC. Its “trended data” takes into account rental and utility payment history reported to the bureaus.

Montana-based credit scoring mainstay FICO now also considers positive and negative rental payment history reported to the agencies in its FICO 10T.

In the announcement, Pulte framed the change as a modernization of consumer credit. Late rent and utilities payments can negatively impact credit scores, so the lack of a positive impact from payment history was “nonsense,” Pulte said.

The National Association of Realtors® and the Mortgage Bankers Association applauded the move as a modernization of credit reporting.

Tipping the scale for the ‘credit invisible’

Last year, only about 13% of renters benefited from positive rental payment history in their credit reports. California, Colorado, and New York have already enacted programs for rent reporting. Nine other states have considered legislation.

VantageScore Solutions believes almost 7.7 million Americans would see a boost to their credit if the model went nationwide. And it also believes that data helps better predict who will default and who won’t.

Young consumers’ average credit scores rise by 67 points. But some boosted by as much as 100 points, said VantageScore Chief Economist Rikard Bandebo.

The model “allows borrowers to demonstrate responsible financial behavior that legacy credit scoring models currently overlook,” Bandebo said.

In a study VantageScore conducted on 600,000 people last year, it found that about 10% of the 77 million credit-relevant renters in the country would benefit from updating the credit score. For these Americans, adding rental payment history would result in a score of at least 620, making them mortgage‐eligible under current government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) guidelines.

In fact, a fraction of these renters are “credit invisible,” meaning outside of rent history, they have no credit at all under traditional metrics. VantageScore used this data to estimate that there’s a market opportunity of 2.1 million households and $777 billion in new mortgage volume.

At the same time, positive rental payment scores could identify 11% more defaults and a 3.7% predictive lift. As Pulte said, rental payment history is indicative of mortgage payment history, giving banks a better idea of a person’s risk.

Mortgage lenders embrace the change

Pennsylvania-based mortgage lender Newrez, which originated the first $10 million in loans using this data, found the process could run very similar to its normal lending process, said Bob Johnson, head of originations at the company.

That “validated” the idea that a new credit score model can be applied using the same processes. Paired with “strong controls and underwriting discipline,” the new model provides a more holistic view of a person’s credit, Johnson said.

And it proved that Newrez’s initial experiment, or “limited engagement,” is scalable.

“For consumers, the takeaway is straightforward: Consistent on-time payment behavior across a wider range of obligations can now show up in a credit score in ways it often did not under the legacy models,” Johnson said. “That is particularly meaningful for thin-file and previously unscoreable borrowers.”

In an April 29 call, Fannie Mae acting CEO Peter Akwaboah said the move would “support affordability and access through industry innovation and competition.” Fannie Mae provided $116 billion in liquidity to 385,000 households in the first quarter. It didn’t share further details of how it would incorporate VantageScores.

An increasing number of mortgage companies have joined in. Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage announced April 29 it would begin accepting FICO and VantageScore, for instance. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said it would follow with VantageScore usage “soon.”

Assessing potential risks

The economist Krimmel says that modernizing the credit scoring criteria in this way will help people with steady income but who may have a thinner credit history.

“There is some risk, though,” he says. “FHA delinquencies have increased, though that could partly reflect the fact that these ‘right’ marginal borrowers are being shut out while the wrong ones slip through.”

Still, the change happens at a time when young people are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the housing market. They blame a variety of factors, including a lack of housing supply driving up prices. Given economic uncertainty and high interest rates, the credit formula is just one factor in the larger housing puzzle.

“Most importantly though for downside risks, the economic backdrop is somewhere between uncertain and unstable,” Krimmel said. “Policies expanding the credit pool are only as sound as the labor market supporting it.”

Tragedy struck in Joliet, Illinois, on a Friday afternoon when a heated argument turned deadly outside a suburban home. According to police, a man lost his life in the altercation, which has now led to criminal charges against a suspect.

The confrontation involved two local men who were reportedly familiar with each other—60-year-old Lyndon B. Hunt and 58-year-old Willis Ellis. The disagreement began on the front porch of a residence located in the 200-block of Nicholson Street. As the argument escalated, Hunt moved from the porch into the front yard, which is when the situation took a fatal turn.

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Authorities allege that at this point, Ellis discharged a firearm, striking Hunt. In a subsequent call to 911, Ellis reported the shooting himself. Police arrived swiftly, around 4:30 p.m., to find Hunt suffering from a gunshot wound to his stomach. He was rushed to St. Joseph Medical Center but, despite medical efforts, succumbed to his injuries later that evening.

In the aftermath, investigators recovered a handgun from the scene and detained Ellis for further questioning at the Joliet Police Department. As of now, Ellis faces charges of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm. The investigation continues as the community grapples with the violence that unfolded in their neighborhood.

Investigators recovered a handgun from the scene and took Ellis to the Joliet Police Department for questioning. He is now charged with Aggravated Battery with a Firearm.

Police said Ellis was also transported to Silver Cross Hospital for treatment for a preexisting medical condition. He remains hospitalized under police guard.

The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office continues to review the case, police said.

Investigators asked anyone with video footage or information to contact the Joliet Police Department Investigations Division at 815-724-3020. Those wishing to remain anonymous may contact Will County Crime Stoppers at 800-323-6734 or submit a tip online at crimestoppersofwillcounty.org.