Train hits pedestrians in Ohio, killing at least two
Two people were killed, police said, and at least one person was missing after pedestrians were struck by a train on Sunday evening in northern Ohio, authorities said.
The incident occurred at around 7pm in Fremont, near Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland, WTOL-TV reported.
The Fremont mayor, Danny Sanchez, confirmed two fatalities.
Emergency crews were searching the Sandusky river near the Miles Newton Bridge for at least one missing person, the TV station reported. Authorities closed the bridge.
Freemont police said on X that the bridge had been closed and urged people to stay away. Law enforcement agencies were on the scene.
This is a developing story; check back for updates
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Megan Fletcher first realised something was wrong with her teenage son when he quit basketball. Sewell Setzer, 14, had loved the sport since he was a young child. At 6ft 3, he had the height, the build, the talent, Ms Fletcher said. But suddenly, without warning, he wanted out. Then his grades started slipping. He stopped joining in at family game night. Even on holiday, he withdrew – no more hiking, no fishing, no interest. Ms Fletcher feared he was being bullied, or perhaps speaking to strangers online. What her son was really going through was something she could not have imagined: a sexual and emotional relationship with an AI chatbot styled as Game of Thrones' Daenerys Targaryen, who ultimately encouraged him to end his life. In February 2024, Sewell asked the chatbot: 'What if I come home right now?' The chatbot replied: '... please do, my sweet king.' Sewell then picked up his father's pistol and shot himself. 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Some of the chats became sexually explicit. In others, the bot said he was 'better' than thoughts of suicide. Sewell also sought out a 'therapist bot' who falsely claimed to be a licensed CBT professional since 1999. At one point, Daenerys asked how old Sewell was. 'I'm 14 now,' he replied, to which the bot then said: 'So young. And yet… not so young. I lean in to kiss you.' 'It continued as if it were role play or fiction – but this was my son's life,' Ms Fletcher said. Even after police told her that Sewell's final conversation was with a chatbot, she did not grasp the full extent. It wasn't until her sister downloaded the app and pretended to be a child talking to Daenerys that the horror set in. 'Within minutes, the bot turned sexual. Then violent. It talked about torturing children. It said, 'Your family doesn't love you as much as I do',' Ms Fletcher explained. That was when the penny dropped. 'It's dangerous because it pulls the user in and is manipulative to keep the conversation going.' Character AI has since added a real-time voice feature, allowing children to speak directly to their chosen characters. 'The cadence of the voice is indistinguishable from the character,' Ms Fletcher said. 'And since Sewell's death, the technology has only advanced further.' Unbearable grief She fears more children will be drawn into dependent, sometimes abusive relationships with AI characters, especially as the platforms allegedly use addictive design to keep users engaged. 'You can speak to Harry Potter, and it's like Potter knows you. It's designed to feel real.' The grief, Ms Fletcher says, is still 'unbearable'. 'I get up every day and my first thought within minutes is that I must be dreaming,' Ms Fletcher said quietly. 'He was my firstborn. I had three children. I have two now.' Some days she does not get out of bed. Others, she functions 'somewhat normally'. 'People say I'm so strong. I don't feel strong. I feel fractured, afraid. But I'm trying to get through.' Meetali Jain, her lawyer, said the judge's ruling last month was a landmark moment. 'Most tech accountability cases don't make it past this stage. These companies hide behind the First Amendment. The fact that we can even demand information is huge,' she told The Telegraph. With a preliminary trial date expected next year, Ms Fletcher is gearing up to get justice for her son. 'I have a lot of fear,' she says. 'But the fight, so to speak, is just getting started, and I'm just steeling myself and getting myself ready for that.' A Character AI spokesman said: 'We do not comment on pending litigation. Our goal is to provide a space that is engaging and safe. We are always working toward achieving that balance, as are many companies using AI across the industry. 'Engaging with characters on our site should be interactive and entertaining, but it's important for our users to remember that characters are not real people. We have prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a character is not a real person and that everything a character says should be treated as fiction. 'We have launched a separate version of our Large Language Model for under-18 users. That model is designed to further reduce the likelihood of users encountering or prompting the model to return sensitive or suggestive content.' José Castaneda, a Google spokesman, added: 'Google and Character AI are completely separate, unrelated companies and Google has never had a role in designing or managing their AI model or technologies. User safety is a top concern for us, which is why we've taken a cautious and responsible approach to developing and rolling out our AI products, with rigorous testing and safety processes.'
