Three people were injured after being struck by lightning in a popular summer beach getaway town on Saturday night. 

Two of the victims of the strike in St. Augustine Pier in Florida were transported to the hospital, one in critical condition and one with minor injuries, according to WJXT. A third person refused to be taken to the hospital. 

The pier was closed down while fire crews attended to the injured, and it was inspected for damage. It is expected to reopen on Monday. 

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"Please avoid the pier while emergency operations are underway — and remember, when thunder roars, go indoors," St. John's County Fire Rescue said in a Facebook post. "Stay safe and weather aware."

St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell echoed that sentiment, warning residents to seek shelter if they hear thunder. 

"There’s a big storm and lightning can hit at any time," he reportedly said. 

According to the report, the lightning strike left beachgoers, swimmers and surfers in a panic, and many ran for their cars in the immediate aftermath. 

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"I got scared, everybody was scared," said one witness. 

According to the National Weather Service, there have been six lightning strike fatalities in the United Sates in 2025, all in different states. North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Florida and Oklahoma have all seen fatal strikes. 

The 10-year average annual fatality rate from lightning strikes is 20 people per year. 

To reduce the risk of being struck by lightning, the National Weather Service instructs people to immediately move away from high ground, including hills, mountain ridges or peaks.

The organization says never to lie down to avoid lightning, never to hide under an isolated tree, never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter and to immediately move away from bodies of water and anything that conducts electricity. 

As infamous killer brothers Erik and Lyle Mendendez wait for their August parole hearing, they have scored a legal victory on another front, this time in the form of new evidence they say could have led to their acquittal. 

The pair, who admitted to killing their parents, Mary "Kitty" and Jose Menendez, in a bloody 1989 shotgun massacre inside their Beverly Hills home, claimed for years that their actions were self-defense stemming from a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse.

A July 8 court order obtained by Fox News Digital will force the state to explain why evidence to that effect was barred from their trial. 

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About eight months before the double-homicide, Erik allegedly wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, claiming that Jose had sexually abused him and Lyle. 

Further, an affidavit from Roy Rossello, a member of a boy band called Menudo, claimed Jose, a record executive, raped him when he was a 14-year-old boy in 1983 or 1984. Rossello made the claim almost 40 years after the alleged rape. 

In March 2023, the brothers filed a habeas petition claiming that if they had been allowed to use the Cano letter as evidence, and if Rossello's claim had been made before and presented at their second trial, a jury would not have convicted them. 

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In an informal response to that petition, filed by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman's office in February of this year, prosecutors denied that the letter and the affidavit constituted new evidence. They said that the Cano letter was "untimely." They also said the Rossello affidavit was "inadmissible, immaterial, and lacks credibility." 

But the July 8 order, handed down by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan, said that the letter and the affidavit constitute a prima facie showing that the brothers are entitled to habeas relief. 

The district attorney's office is now subject to a "show cause" response in the next 30 days. In their response, Hochman's office must explain why the brothers' habeas relief should not be granted. 

The brothers sought a new trial in 2023, but have since shifted their focus to their own resentencing, which they were granted in May. Judge Michael Jesic resentenced the brothers to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole. They were previously serving life without parole. 

Since, the brothers have been eagerly awaiting that parole hearing. After it was initially scheduled for June 13, it was postponed until August 21 and 22. 

They have spent 35 years behind bars. 

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