Southwest
FBI uncovers new lead in murder of New Mexico musician 'taken' from motel, mom says
Federal investigators have uncovered a new lead in the cold case murder of a New Mexico musician who vanished from a motel recording session under suspicious circumstances, his mother says.
Zachariah Shorty was last seen alive on July 21, 2020, at the Journey Inn in Farmington, New Mexico, a close-knit town in the northwestern part of the state on the edge of the Navajo Nation.
He was a 23-year-old musician and had gone to the motel to record with a group of four other people.
The exact circumstances of how he left are unclear. His mother, Evangeline “Vangie” Randall-Shorty, received a phone call from one of his friends around 11 p.m. The caller told her that her son went outside to smoke a cigarette and never returned.
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Zachariah Shorty pictured in an undated photo provided by the FBI. The bureau is offering $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest following his July 2020 murder. (FBI)
But when Randall-Shorty called her son’s phone, the same friend answered.
“[She] answered it and said Zach left his phone,” she told Fox News Digital. “I asked if he was back. She said, ‘no.’ Zach never leaves his phone.”
Randall-Shorty had gone to the motel around 7 that night to drop off a pizza for her son.
One of the last things he told her was “I’m going to finish this track.”
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Zachariah Shorty was 23 years old when he was “taken” from a motel where he was recording music with four other individuals. Authorities found him dead with gunshot wounds 13 miles away, four days later. (FBI)
He was missing for four days before investigators found his remains in a field on the Navajo Reservation. He suffered gunshot wounds before his killer or killers left him there.
“I say ‘taken’ because he was found in Nenahnezad, in a field, on a dirt road,” his mother said.
That’s 13 miles from where he was last seen in Farmington, and you’d have to pass his home in Kirtland to get there.
Although later this month will mark four years since the slaying, Randall-Shorty said investigators have given her a new glimmer of hope for justice.
“I got a call from the FBI, that they had a new lead,” she told Fox News Digital. “I’m just hoping and praying that that is the lead that we need to solve Zach’s case.”
They asked her if she recognized a couple of names, she said. She did.
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Zachariah Shorty was said to have left the motel to smoke a cigarette by the same friend who later picked up his phone when his mother called it, she says. (FBI)
“After the update from them (the FBI), I did get another tip, and I passed the information to them as well,” she said. “The same names keep coming up.”
The FBI declined to comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation. But Randall-Shorty and her lawyer are hopeful that investigators will bring her son’s killer to justice.
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“In this case, there were witnesses in that hotel room that were with him prior to him going missing,” said Darlene Gomez, the attorney representing Shorty’s mother pro bono. “The family has provided many, many leads. There’s a body that was found. It’s a small community. These are generally the precursors for a case being solved.”
Gomez, who operates a nonprofit dedicated to solving missing and murder cases involving indigenous women and their relatives, MMIWR, said that businesses up and down the street had surveillance cameras, too.
But as the case dragged on, several witnesses died, she said.
The FBI has jurisdiction because Shorty’s remains were discovered on tribal land.
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There is a $10,000 reward offered for information that cracks the case and leads to a conviction.
Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 505-889-1300 or go to tips.fbi.gov.
Fox News’ Peter Petroff contributed to this report.
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Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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