A gay couple was attacked early Tuesday in SoHo and a man was beaten in the East Village, hours after thousands marched to protest the killing of a gay man and several other bias attacks that have shaken the community, officials said.

Mayor Bloomberg said at a news conference Tuesday that "New York City has zero tolerance for intolerance."

"We are a place that celebrates diversity ... hate crimes like these are an offense against all we stand for as a city, and we will do everything possible to stop them," Bloomberg added.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the two men in the SoHo attack were walking on Broadway between Prince and Houston streets at about 5 a.m. when two men started yelling anti-gay remarks in English and Spanish. The victims, 41 and 42, are Hispanic.

The men were both punched, and one suffered an eye injury, sources said.

Police said two suspects, 32 and 33, were arrested and face a charge of assault as a hate crime.

In the East Village beating, Kelly said two men who had known each other for about a month were out together in Manhattan on Monday. At some point they began fighting about the victim being gay.

The other man then became "enraged," Kelly said, and hurled anti-gay slurs before he beat him unconscious.

Dan Contarino, the victim, told NBC 4 New York he thought the recent spate of attacks have to do with "society changing quickly" as gay marriage becomes legal in more states, causing people with "repressed anger" to lash out. 

"I'm very lucky," said Contarino. "I could be six feet under right now."

The Empire State Pride Agenda said in a statement Tuesday that "enough is enough."

"No more violence. We won't stand for it as a community or as a city," said Nathan Schaefer, executive director.

On Monday evening, gay activists and supporters marched to condemn the death of 32-year-old Mark Carson in Greenwich Village, and several other attacks on gays in recent weeks.

Carson was killed Saturday as he walked with a companion through the Village. Police say a man charged with murder as a hate crime shot Carson in the head.

Officials said Monday that police would increase their presence there and in nearby neighborhoods through the end of June, Gay Pride Month.

Police say there has been a rise in anti-gay crimes overall so far this year, to 24 from 14 during the same period last year. 

Kelly said police believe bias crimes are actually underreported, but said there is one theory that the NYPD gets more reports of them after a high-profile case is in the news.

One of the most expensive homes to hit the market in the United States is now on sale—in Connecticut.

The $190 million Greenwich estate includes two islands in the Long Island Sound, nearly a mile of shore front property, and a rich history dating back to the late 19th Century.

The 12-bedroom home was built in 1898 and purchased just after the turn of the century by the daughter of George Lauder, a partner in Carnegie Steel. It was then purchased in the early 1980s by timber tycoon John Rudey, who has decided to sell the property, the Wall Street Journal reported.

An 1,800-foot driveway with cobblestone gutters leads up to the so-called Copper Beech Farm, which boasts a pool, a spa, a grass tennis court, a greenhouse, a stone carriage house and cottage on more than 50 acres of land.

Inside, the home has all the marks of old world luxury: a library with a fireplace, balconies, a staff wing, staff kitchen, dumb waiter, wine cellar, skylights and marble bathrooms.

It's unclear whether the home will actually sell for its asking price. The Journal points out that in 2009 Candy Spelling made headlines when she listed her Los Angeles mansion at $150 million—the home sold for $85 million.

The property is by far the most expensive currently listed on the site of David Ogilvy & Associates, an affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate. The next priciest available is another Greenwich estate selling for just $32 million.

Christie's shows several properties hovering around the $100 million-mark, but none that touch the Copper Beech Farm's $190 price tag. A Beverly Hills home that appeared in "The Godfather" and "The Bodyguard" is on sale for $115 million, as is a $95 million Fifth Avenue residence overlooking Central Park.

After two years of campaigning bolstered by record contributions, the mayoral race between City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel comes to a close Tuesday as voters take to the polls.

The winner of the run-off election to replace outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will give the city of Los Angeles either its first female or first Jewish mayor—a leader who will inherit a city still struggling to pull itself from an extended fiscal slump.

In their sprint to the finish line, both Democratic contenders with similar voting records tried to differentiate themselves from each other in down-to-the-wire pitches to undecided voters.

“If you want an independent mayor with proven results, somebody who’s delivered neighborhood turnaround, who’s balanced budgets, I’m your guy," said Garcetti, who was leading by 7 percentage points in the most recent USC Price/Los Angeles Time poll released Friday.

Greuel, who has racked up endorsements from high profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton and Magic Johnson, emphasized her experience as the city government's top critic for the last three years.

“My history has been one of stepping up to the plate and being that tough fiscal watchdog,” she said. “My history has been for standing up for the taxpayers of L.A. and that’s what I’m going to do as mayor.”

The contest to succeed Villaraigosa, who leaves office at the end of June with high marks from his constituents, broke spending records Saturday as outside contributions topped $33 million.

The candidates have received rival endorsements—Greuel from the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, the Daily News and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer; Garcetti from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the L.A. Times and Newark Mayor Cory Booker—but the money and attention the race has garnered is not expected to be matched by voter turnout.

When the two faced off in March for a primary contest, which failed to give either the majority needed for an outright victory, only 21 percent of the city’s registered voters cast a ballot in the race.

Leading up to Tuesday's runoff election, both candidates have made more aggressive attempts to woo Latinos, which represent nearly half of the city's population and roughly a third of eligible voters.

Garcetti, a Spanish-speaker who leads among the coveted demographic, according to recent polls, has talked about his paternal grandparents' emigration from Mexico. Greuel, who has endorsements from prominent Latino leaders, has stumped before Spanish-speaking crowds.

"The candidates are reaching out to the Latino community because they know, with ... a few hundred votes, they can change the entire makeup of the city," Elisa Sequeira, the head of civic engagement for California's National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials told NBC 4 LA.

Just 400,000 of the city's 1.8 million registered voters are expected to cast ballots in the election Tuesday. A smaller voter pool, however, does give some advantages to those who do participate.

“These smaller elections, when you vote for city council, mayor, you have more say. Your vote counts more and as an individual, it affects us more,” web designer Mary Jane Zorick told NBC 4 LA.

Voters will also select  a new city controller and city attorney Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. and results can be monitored here.

Nearly a year after his face was horribly maimed in a vicious attack on the MacArthur Causeway, Ronald Poppo spoke publicly for the first time in a video released by Jackson Memorial Hospital Tuesday.

Wearing a Miami Heat hat and sitting on a hospital bed, Poppo is seen strumming a guitar before giving thanks to his doctors and the community.

"Thanks for considering, helping out, people in my predicament need to be helped out and I'm sure there's other people also that have the same type of predicament," Poppo said in the brief video. "I thank the outpouring of people in the community, I will always be grateful for them."

Miami Face-Mauling Victim Recalls Attack

The video was released during a news conference at Jackson Medical Center, where the 66-year-old continues to recover from the injuries he suffered in the May 26, 2012 attack.

New photos from Poppo's birthday celebration at the hospital were also released.

Poppo remains completely blind following the attack and has undergone four surgeries since the attack but remains in good spirits, his doctors said.

Face Mauler Allegedly Met Victim Before Attack: Report

"He's had a long year but he's managed to cope quite well with what's happened to him," Dr. Wrood Kassira said. "I would say he's content with where he is right now."

Kassira, one of Jackson's plastic surgeons, said Poppo had skin grafting surgery and all his wounds have closed.

"He had extensive trauma to his face, it was bad," Kassira said.

Poppo has been told of his options for more surgeries or prosthetics for his eyes and nose, but he hasn't been interested in them. He has undergone four surgeries and is unwilling to have further reconstruction.

"There's still work that can be done, but he's more than happy with how he is now, he's quite grateful," Kassira said.

Poppo has gained more than 50 pounds since he was brought to Ryder Trauma Center, and continues to work with an occupational therapist who has taught him how to dress himself, feed himself, shower and shave.

Doctors gave Poppo a guitar to help with his therapy, and he practices with it every day. He played guitar 40 years ago when he was in a band and is trying to pick up chords but not being able to see makes it tough, they said.

The incident unfolded when a naked, 31-year-old Rudy Eugene attacked Poppo and stripped him of his clothes on the causeway last May, police said.

Only Marijuana Found in Face Chewer's System: Medical Examiner

An officer eventually shot and killed Eugene after he refused to stop the attack, police said. By that point Eugene had gnawed away more than half of Poppo's face, gauged out his left eye, and severely damaged his right one.

Authorities had initially speculated that bath salts may have been the cause of the attack, but the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner said tests showed only marijuana in Eugene's system.

Doctors, meanwhile, say Poppo is adjusting to his new life.

"I think he wants the world to know he's not traumatized by this," Dr. Urmen Desai said. "He's a simple guy and he's happy and grateful for being alive after such an incident."

Click Here to Watch the YouTube Video

Two agents with the FBI's elite hostage rescue team apparently fell to their deaths while on a counterterorrism training exercise off Virginia Beach Friday.

An FBI spokeswoman said Tuesday that the two were rappelling down a rope from a helicopter to a ship that was about 12 miles off the coast when the helicopter ran into some kind of trouble.

Agent Christopher Lorek, 41, and Special Agent Stephen Shaw, 40, fell a "significant distance," Special Agent Ann Todd said.

Both men were a part of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group and were on a weeklong training trip in Hampton Roads when they fell Friday. The agents were airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

More investigation into the incident continues. An official cause of death is not yet known, pending toxicology tests.

The accident happened on a Military Sealift Command ship the FBI leased from the Navy, reported WAVY-TV, citing a Navy spokesperson.

Navy personnel were not involved in the training, which the FBI spokeswoman described as a "maritime counterterrorism exercise."

Lorek and Shaw were based with the rest of the CIRG team in Quantico, Va.

"We mourn the loss of two brave and courageous men," FBI Director Robert Mueller said in the statement. "Like all who serve on the Hostage Rescue Team, they accept the highest risk each and every day, when training and on operational missions, to keep our nation safe. Our hearts are with their wives, children, and other loved ones who feel their loss most deeply. And they will always be part of the FBI family."

Lorek joined the FBI in 1996 and is survived by his wife and two daughters, ages 11 and 8. Shaw worked for the FBI for eight years. He is survived by his wife, 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

Lorek and family joined Three Chopt Church of Christ in suburban Richmond about six years ago, minister Bob Odle said. "They are as solid as they come,'' Odle said. "They were here every time the doors were open."

Church members knew he had a high-risk job and was often out of town, but they didn't know exactly what he did.

The FBI will be holding a private memorial service for the agents Tuesday.

The Hostage Rescue Team is part of the Critical Incident Response Group based at Quantico. The team is trained in military tactics and outfitted with combat-style gear and weapons.

The group was formed 30 years ago in preparation for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The team is deployed quickly to trouble spots and provides assistance to local FBI offices during hostage situations. It has participated in hostage situations more than 800 times in the U.S. and elsewhere since 1983.

Some of their preparation consists of scuba diving, dropping quickly out of helicopters and battling in close quarters.

"They're really the best of the best as far as civilians. Their only counterpart would be something like Navy SEAL Team 6 or U.S. Army Delta," said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI hostage negotiator who deployed with the rescue team. "There is no other police or FBI SWAT team that's their equal, because that's their full-time job. That's all they do is train for highly critical terrorist, hostage and criminal situations.''

The hostage rescue team is organized into tactical units made up of assaulters and snipers who are supported by helicopter and intelligence and communication teams, among others. Unlike FBI SWAT teams that train several days a month, the hostage team preps full time.

The team made headlines earlier this year when they successfully rescued a 5-year-old boy who was being held hostage in an underground bunker in Alabama. Agents killed the boy's captor, Jimmy Lee Dykes, who took the boy from a school bus.

• READ MORE: CIRG Helps Rescue Kidnapped Alabama Boy

In 2011, two team members helped apprehend a Somali man who prosecutors say is the highest-ranking pirate whom federal officials have ever captured. Mohammad Saaili Shibin was the chief negotiator for a group of pirates who took four Americans hostage aboard their yacht and later killed them. Unlike the other pirates in the case, Shibin was arrested in Somalia. In August, a federal judge sentenced Shibin to a dozen life sentences.

Team members also responded to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa and have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Domestically, their resume also includes rescuing nine hostages held at a federal prison in Talladega, Ala. in 1991 by Cuban inmates who were rioting to prevent their return to Cuba.

Stay with News4 and NBCWashington.com for the latest on this developing story.

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Metro-North is expected to resumed limited service on Tuesday afternoon between New York and New Haven.

The first train arrived in New Haven from Grand Central Terminal in New York around 5 p.m.

Regular service is expected to return to normal by Wednesday morning, five days after the train crash and derailment involving Metro-North Railroad trains near Bridgeport on Friday, May 17, Gov. Dannel Malloy said during a news conference on Monday afternoon.

"With one of the two damaged tracks rebuilt and returned to service, beginning with the 3:07 p.m. departure from Grand Central Terminal, Metro-North will operate about half of the regular eastbound PM peak service and regular hourly westbound service with the 4:23 PM train from New Haven," Metro-North said in a statement.

Speed will be reduced to 30 miles per hour, according to Metro-North, which is standard for all new track installations.

Amtrak is also  resumed service between New York and New Haven today.

Work has been going on around the clock since Saturday night, when the National Transportation Safety Board completed its initial investigation of the scene and allowed Metro-North to begin removing the two 8-car trains, according to the MTA.

Malloy conceded that traffic on Connecticut's highways was not as congested as had been predicted, but urged people to carpool or work from home on Tuesday to avoid major problems.

"We are confident that the reconstruction work, inspection and testing will be completed in time for a normal rush hour on Wednesday," said Howard Permut, president of Metro-North.  "We are grateful for the tireless work of all departments and employees engaged in this huge task."

About 100 workers have been on the job around the clock since Saturday removing the damaged trains and repairing the track, Permut said.  Crews are rebuilding about 2,000 feet of track, according to Permut.

The National Transportation Safety Board authorized the removal of rail cars from the crash site on Saturday night, allowing the investigation and clean-up process to proceed. All rail cars were removed by Sunday afternoon and taken to the Bridgeport railyard, according to the NTSB.

Investigators are looking into a broken part of the rail that underwent repairs last month, but have not determined whether it was a pre-existing fracture or if it occurred as a result of the accident, according to NTSB spokesperson Earl Weener, who spoke at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. The board said the FBI has ruled out foul play in the investigation.

The trains were traveling at approximately 70 mph at the time of the crash, which is the posted speed limit, according to the NTSB.

Malloy and other officials spoke at a news conference on Saturday morning where they described a grisly scene after a Metro-North commuter train heading east from New York City derailed and was hit by an oncoming train heading west from New Haven.

"The damage is absolutely staggering," Sen. Blumenthal said. "Ribbons on the sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of clothes."

The NTSB's investigation could take seven to 10 days but that does not mean that service shutdown will take that long, board spokesman Earl Weener said..

The eastbound Metro-North train derailed just after 6 p.m. and was hit between the Bridgeport and Fairfield stations, officials said.

According to Metro-North, around 750 people rode the shuttle trains and boarded buses at Bridgeport to Stamford, which is 20 percent of the 4,000 people who ordinarily board trains at New Haven, Milford and Stratford during the morning peak.

However, overall morning peak ridership on the entire New Haven Line was down just 20 percent, indicating that many people drove to other stations to catch a train.

Metro-North has set up a toll-free number for customers on the trains involved in Friday’s crash to provide assistance. Call at 1-800-638-7646 for information on referral/support services, lost & found items and assistance with any paperwork.

Service Plan

Limited train service resumes to New Haven at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, and for the remainder of the day.  Customers should expect delays.

To New Haven

• Regular train service from Grand Central Terminal (GCT) to South Norwalk station; with limited service to New Haven Station (representing 50 percent of regular service)
• The first train is the 3:07 PM train leaving GCT and arriving in New Haven at 5 p.m to Grand Central Terminal

Regular train service from New Haven Station to Grand Central Terminal

The first train is the 4:23 PM train leaving New Haven and arriving in Grand Central Terminal at 6:17 p.m.

Regular train service continues on the branch lines.

The New Haven Line Service plan is posted on the MTA Web site.

Navy dolphins discovered an unusual torpedo off the coast of San Diego and handlers said it was obvious within minutes that the find was significant.

The dolphins were working off the coast of Coronado on mine-hunting training exercises in March when they recovered a 130-year-old Howell torpedo – one of the first self-propelled torpedoes developed and used by the U.S. Navy.

“There were only 50 Howell torpedoes made, and we discovered one of the two ever found,” said Braden Duryee, operations supervisor for the SSC Pacific Biosciences Division.

Within two weeks, two dolphins marked the object on the sea floor doing their regular daily training exercises.

The dolphins, named Ten and Spetz, followed procedure when an object of interest is discovered by surfacing and touching the side of a trailing boat in a certain manner.

Navy divers then went in and recovered it.

“It was puzzling and exciting,” said Chris Harris, Operations Supervisor for Navy Marine Mammals Program.

It’s so old, the divers actually Google'd information to identify it.

The rare torpedo was 11-feet long and propelled by a flywheel spun before launch.

“It’s almost Victorian in its design,” Harris said.

It could move at a speed of 25 knots and had a range of 400 yards SSC Pacific experts said.

The Naval Undersea Museum houses the only other known Howell torpedo in existence today.

The Howell torpedo recovered by SSC Pacific, is stamped “USN No. 24” and is said to be in pristine shape.

Duryee said it’s no surprise the dolphins found the item. What’s surprising to him is the torpedo's age.

As NBC 7 reported in November 2002, the dolphins train almost daily in the shadow of San Diego's skyline. Watch Video: Navy-Trained Dolphins Search for Bombs

In 1959, Navy scientists studied dolphins in an attempt to design a faster torpedo. That program quickly shifted focus to covert training. Several decades later, the program was declassified.

The dolphins are trained to find any types of items that are man-made. in the 50 years MMP has been around, dolphins have discovered and marked a number of unique items in the ocean.

In addition to dolphins, the Navy uses sea lions to recover objects like military hardware off the bottom of the ocean. 

A massive 200 mph tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City area on Monday afternoon and left a 20-mile path of destruction in its wake. At least 24 people were killed, the Oklahoma City medical examiner said, and rescue crews are searching frantically as night falls to find survivors in the wreckage.

“The whole city looks like a debris field,” said Mayor Glenn Lewis of the city of Moore, which appeared to be hardest hit.

Check out the videos, images and tweets from the ground:

For the next week, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy plans to live on the equivalent of a food stamp budget to understand what it means to live on a food budget of $4.80 per day.

Murphy said he is taking the Food Stamp Challenge to better understand how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program works on a personal level, according to a news release.

The challenge started on Monday.

“427,000 people in Connecticut rely on SNAP benefits to feed themselves and their families,” Murphy said in a statement. “Spending some time living on this budget gives policymakers a firsthand look at the realities of maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet on an extremely limited budget. It’s not easy, but it’s important for people in Washington to understand what our constituents who rely on SNAP face every day. Some lawmakers have proposed steep, damaging cuts to SNAP as part of the Farm Bill here in Congress, and we owe it our constituents  to face up to the reality of those cuts.”
 
As of January of 2013, 12 percent of the state’s population participates in the program. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Food Stamp Program, the average monthly benefit in Connecticut is $143.89 per family member, which is $4.80 per day or $1.60 per meal, according to Murphy’s office.
 
Murphy will keep track of his meals and post observations throughout the week via Twitter and Facebook.

In 2011, U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney took the challenge. He and his wife are on $32 per week and he blogged about the experience. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Congressman-Lives-on-Food-Stamp-Budget-for-a-Week-132787213.html
 

A woman is fighting for her life at a hospital after being set on fire Monday morning inside a North Texas convenience store.

Witnesses said a woman walked into the Buy and Save convenience store at the Texaco gas station on Long Ave. and Azle Ave. in Fort Worth and doused the victim with flammable liquid.

Witnesses said it "took one second" for the attacker to light the victim on fire after dousing her with the liquid. Witnesses said they couldn't tell how she ignited the fire. They added she didn't say anything to the victim before lighting her on fire.

The victim's friend, standing nearby, caught on fire as well.

The attacker got into a car that was waiting for her in the parking lot and they drove off.

Fort Worth police haven't identified the attacker, anyone else in the vehicle, or the kind of car. Detectives spent seven hours at the store collecting evidence and taking photographs.

The Buy and Save had surveillance cameras inside the store. Police are looking through those videos now trying to identify the attacker.

NBC5 spoke with Alex Hilo, the night shift worker at the Buy and Save.

"I was making the coffee and I see a bunch of fire going, I go and try to help her out. I threw some water on her, to put the fire out. But this thing happened too fast," Hilo said.

"All I saw was just fire. Somebody threw something and lit someone on fire. It was scary thing," he added. "All the top of her body [was burned]. Her hair, her face, everything was burned."

Hilo said the victim's screams for help sounded like a "nightmare."

Moments after the attack, Hilo rushed into action. He grabbed jugs of water from the store shelves and poured them on the victim. He also started grabbing at her clothes.

"I wanted to take her clothes, there was liquid on it, so I knew if I could get her clothes off, there'd be less fire," he said.

The victim was transported via helicopter to a Dallas hospital. Firefighters said she has life-threatening burns over her entire body. Her name has not been released because police haven't contacted her family.

"It appears to be a targeted attack. That's what it looks like right now. This women had some type of previous relationship prior to this incident occurring,” said Tim Hardeman, with the Fort Worth Fire Department.

The victim's friend was also rushed to the hospital with burns over her back.

Alex Hilo also suffered minor burns on his hands and forearms from trying to save the women's lives. He was treated on scene.

"There's no time to think. I had to act fast, fast fast," he said.

Hilo said the victims are regular customers during his shift, but he doesn't know their names. He also said the suspect is a regular customer, too, but he doesn't know her name either.

NBC 5's Greg Janda contributed to an earlier version of this story.

The body of a Dallas firefighter who radioed for help after becoming trapped in a burning condominium has been recovered.

The firefighter, Stanley Wilson, was among the 100 Dallas firefighters who responded to a six-alarm fire at the Hearthwood Condominiums at 12363 Abrams Road Monday morning.

According to Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Louie Bright III, Wilson was a 28-year-veteran of the fire department. Wilson was a native North Texan and a Lake Highlands graduate.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said of Wilson, "He's a hero. As I told his boys, they should be very proud."

Wilson is survived by a wife and two sons.

When firefighters arrived shortly before 3 a.m., smoke was seen billowing through the roof of the complex. Dallas Fire-Rescue's Jason Evans said firefighters initially started to attack the fire offensively, but moved to a defensive posture due to how fast the fire was growing.

At about 5 a.m., Wilson radioed that he was trapped inside the building and that he wasn't sure where he was. Evans said crews had not been able to reach Wilson by radio since that message.

At about 9:15 a.m., Wilson was found. He was removed from the rubble, covered in an American flag and carried to an ambulance as dozens of firefighters and onlookers flanked either side, removed their helmets and saluted the procession.

The DFR ambulance then left the scene with a police escort, but without lights or sirens.

Two other firefighters were injured battling the fire and were hospitalized.  Evans did not believe the injuries to those firefighters were life-threatening.

Even though the large fire made searching for the trapped firefighter, or any other residents, difficult, five residents were rescued from the fire. Some older residents were seen climbing down the ladder of a DFR fire engine to safety.

Two injured residents were treated at the scene for minor smoke inhalation. There are no reports of any other injured or missing residents. At this time, the only known fatality is the firefighter, Stanley Wilson.

Many other residents of the community were evacuated. 

Officials said at least 24 units were destroyed and that the roof of the building collapsed in some areas, leaving third-floor apartments exposed. Other damaged portions of the building may have collapsed as well.

Church leaders from Park Cities Baptist Church spent Monday night with Wilson's family.

"Stan is just a selfless man, led his boys to be selfless leaders," said Dr. Jeff Warren of Park Cities Baptist Church.

"He was always looking out for everybody else," said David Ochoa, Boy Scouts of America Troop 890 Scout Master.

Church leaders will meet tomorrow with members of Wilson's family to prepare for his funeral, which will include both Dallas firefighters and members of Troop 890.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

NBC 5's Kevin Cokely contributed to this report.

A 14-year-old girl riding a city bus in Queens, New York, Saturday on her way home from a sweet-16 party was shot in the head and killed by a stray bullet from gunfire on the street, police said.

Police identified the victim Sunday as Daja Robinson of South Jamaica.

Robinson was sitting about three rows from the back of the Q6 bus at about 8:45 p.m. near Sutphin and Rockaway boulevards in South Jamaica when the shot came through the bus and killed her.

The shots were fired toward the bus while it was moving, according to police. Investigators recovered nine bullet shell casings.

Robinson was with two friends returning from the party at Onyx Lounge on Rockaway Boulevard, according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

Kelly said police didn't believe Robinson was the intended target, and they are looking into possible gang involvement in the shooting. 

No arrests have been made. 

The MTA says that the clean-up process has begun at the Metro-North Railroad crash site after Friday's rush hour derailment in Connecticut that injured 72 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board authorized the removal of rail cars from the crash site on Saturday night, allowing the investigation and clean-up process to proceed. All rail cars were removed by Sunday afternoon and taken to the Bridgeport railyard, according to the NTSB.

"Our crews will essentially be rebuilding two thousand feet of damaged track, and overhead wires and signal system," said Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut.

Crews will work around-the-clock over multiple days to rebuild, which means disruption to the New Haven line will persist in the coming week, Permut said.

Investigators are looking into a broken part of the rail that underwent repairs last month, but have not determined whether it was a pre-existing fracture or if it occurred as a result of the accident, according to NTSB spokesperson Earl Weener, who spoke at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. The board said the FBI has ruled out foul play in the investigation.

The trains were traveling at approximately 70 mph at the time of the crash, which is the posted speed limit, according to the NTSB.

Officials arrived on the scene on Saturday morning to begin investigating the cause of the train crash, injuries sustained by the commuters and operator performance.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and other officials spoke at a news conference on Saturday morning where they described a grisly scene after a Metro-North commuter train heading east from New York City derailed and was hit by an oncoming train heading west from New Haven.

"The damage is absolutely staggering," Sen. Blumenthal said. "Ribbons on the sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of clothes."

The NTSB's investigation could take seven to 10 days but that does not mean that service shutdown will take that long, board spokesman Earl Weener said..

The eastbound Metro-North train derailed just after 6:00 p.m. and was hit between the Bridgeport and Fairfield stations, officials said.

"We came to a sudden halt. We were jerked. There was smoke," Alex Cohen, a Canadian passenger on the westbound train en route to New York, told NBC Connecticut.

"People were screaming; people were really nervous. We were pretty shaken up. They had to smash a window to get us out," he said.

St. Vincent Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn. said on Saturday that it saw a total of 46 patients, six of whom were admitted for treatment.  As of Saturday night, all patients remained in the hospital and were reportedly in stable condition.

Bridgeport Hospital saw 26 patients and admitted three. Two of those patients were in critical condition a day after the accident, and one was in stable condition.

An Amtrak train traveling from New Orleans to Chicago derailed Sunday with at least 197 passengers on board, according to officials.

The City of New Orleans train No. 58 was scheduled to arrive in Chicago, but derailed at 9:30 a.m. CDT just outside Chicago’s Union Station on 16th Street, officials said.

Shuttle buses transported passengers to Union Station and no injuries have been reported, authorities said.

Amtrak officials said the wheels of the train "lost contact with the tracks," but no further details were immediately available Sunday morning.

Trains on Metra's Rock Island District line are blocked from entering or exiting the LaSalle Street station. Commuters on delayed Metra trains are being routed to CTA buses, which will take them around the blockage, according to Metra's website.

CTA is honoring Metra passes for commuters between LaSalle Street station and their 35th Street station on the Green Line. Commuters can then board metra trains from the Lou Jones station, Metra said.

Metra trains No. 214 and 209 will not operate Sunday due the obstruction, according to Metra.

Amtrak train No. 391 is also delayed up to three hours, Amtrak officials said.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery officials said Sunday.

The single winner was sold at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla., according to Florida Lottery executive Cindy O'Connell. She told The Associated Press by telephone that more details would be released later.

"This would be the sixth Florida Powerball winner and right now, it's the sole winner of the largest ever Powerball jackpot," O'Connell told AP. "We're delighted right now that we have the sole winner."

She said Florida has had more Powerball winners than any other state.

The winner was not immediately identified publicly and O'Connell did not give any indication just hours after Saturday's drawing whether anyone had already stepped forward with that winning ticket.

With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said earlier that someone was almost certain to win the game's highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars — and that's after taxes.

Saturday night's winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball's online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, initially confirmed that one Florida winning ticket had been sold. He told AP that following the Florida winner, the Powerball grand prize was being reset at an estimated jackpot of $40 million, or about $25.1 million cash value.

The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That's how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimated that about 80 percent of those possible combinations had been purchased recently.

While the odds are low for any one individual or individuals, O'Connell said, the chance that one hits paydirt is what makes Powerball an "exciting game to play."

"There is just the chance that you will have the opportunity and Florida is a huge Powerball state. We have had more winners than any other state that participates in Powerball."

Such longshot odds didn't deter people across Powerball-playing states — 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands — from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday for their chance at striking it filthy rich.

Calls by AP to the Publix supermarket outlet in Florida where the winning ticket was sold were not answered Sunday.

Elsewhere, Rich said, lottery officials reported 33 winning tickets for a $1,000,000 prize each were sold around 17 states, led by six tickets in New York. He said lotteries reported 2 winning tickets each for the $2,000,000 PowerPlay, one in New York and the other in South Carolina.

Before the drawing, there was a rush for tickets around the country.

At a mini market in the heart of Los Angeles' Chinatown, employees broke the steady stream of customers into two lines: One for Powerball ticket buyers and one for everybody else. Some people appeared to be looking for a little karma.

"We've had two winners over $10 million here over the years, so people in the neighborhood think this is the lucky store," employee Gordon Chan said as he replenished a stack of lottery tickets on a counter.

The world's largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012. If $600 million, the jackpot would currently include a $376.9 million cash option.

Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot — people are interested in the easy investment.

"Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small," he said. "Two dollars gets you a chance."

That may be why Ed McCuen has a Powerball habit that's as regular as clockwork. The 57-year-old electrical contractor from Savannah, Ga., buys one ticket a week, regardless of the possible loot. It's a habit he didn't alter Saturday.

"You've got one shot in a gazillion or whatever," McCuen said, tucking his ticket in his pocket as he left a local convenience store. "You can't win unless you buy a ticket. But whether you buy one or 10 or 20, it's insignificant."

Seema Sharma doesn't seem to think so. The newsstand employee in Manhattan's Penn Station purchased $80 worth of tickets for herself. She also was selling tickets all morning at a steady pace, instructing buyers where to stand if they wanted machine-picked tickets or to choose their own numbers.

"I work very hard — too hard — and I want to get the money so I can finally relax," she said. "You never know."

A deaf 11-year-old mini Yorkie apparently taken by dognappers demanding $1,000 from his owners was dropped off by someone in a white car near his owner's home on Saturday, the dog's owner told NBC4 News.

Someone speeding by in a white car with tinted windows dropped off the dog named Walter. A woman walking her dog in the neighborhood noticed the Yorkie, checked his dog tag and called the owner, Tricia O’Kelley.

Walter, who weighs about 5 pounds, hadn't been seen since Thursday afternoon in the family’s fenced-in backyard along Los Feliz Boulevard in the Griffith Park area. 

A blocked number called O’Kelley’s cellphone, which is listed on Walter’s tags, about 10:15 p.m. Thursday.

The man on the other end of the line told O’Kelley he wants $1,000 for the dog’s safe return. O’Kelley said she heard another man laughing in the background.

Her husband took over negotiations. The dognapper said he’d call back and hung up.

Within minutes, the blocked number called back and this time, O’Kelley’s husband, Adam Rosenblatt, put the call on speaker so the police on a second phone could hear.

The dognapper laid out his demands.

He wanted the family to create phony fliers offering a $1,000 reward for Walter’s return and listed streets on which he wanted them posted. Then, he would bring one of those posters to a Chevron station on Western and Franklin avenues where he would exchange the dog for the cash.

Police suggested they make the fliers and meet the men at the gas station with a plain-clothed officer.

O’Kelley’s husband was in the process of hanging up the fliers when the man called back, saying he’d been lied to and that police were at the gas station.

“He said, ‘Don’t lie to me. I’m keeping your dog,’” O’Kelley said.

That last phone call at 11:15 p.m. Thursday came from a 7-Eleven payphone in North Hollywood, O’Kelley said. And that was the last time she heard from whoever has Walter.

Walter has a condition that causes his trachea to collapse, which is common for his breed.

Walter was outfitted with tags and has a microchip.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney holds the daily briefing.

History will have to wait at least one more year.

Orb, the Kentucky Derby champion who many hoped would become the first Triple Crown winner in 35 years, finished fourth in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, as 15-1 longshot Oxbow pulled off a surprise wire-to-wire win at Pimlico.

"It's so special," said Oxbow jockey Gary Stevens, who came out of retirement this year at age 50. "We were kind of flying under the radar after the Derby. Didn't get a lot of respect."

Oxbow trainer D. Wayne Lukas seemed to take pleasure from dashing Orb's Triple Crown hopes.

"I get paid to spoil dreams," Lukas said.

Orb's fate may have been sealed days before the race, when he drew the No. 1 post position along the rail -- only two horses have won the Preakness from that position over the last 63 years. Sure enough, Orb got boxed in against the rail by a pack of horses early in the race, and could never find room to break free.

Meanwhile, Oxbow pulled ahead of the pack and never relinquished the lead.

"When I hit the half-mile pole, I just said, 'Are you kidding me, is this happening?'" said Stevens, who worked for NBC as a racing analyst during his seven-year retirement.

Oxbow finished the 1 3/16th-mile race in 1:57.54. Itsmyluckyday finished second, Mylute finished third and Orb, the 3-5 favorite, finished fourth.

But nobody ever gave Oxbow a serious threat.

It's a landmark win for Lukas: Oxbow's Preakness victory marks the trainer's 14th Triple Crown win, the most ever. He's won the Preakness six times, and the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont four times each. He passed James Fitzsimmons, who has won 13 Triple Crown races.

Jockey Gary Stevens has now notched three wins apiece at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont over his career.

Oxbow's win means the Triple Crown drought continues.

In the lead-up to the Preakness, Orb seemed like a prime candidate to end that drought, and bettors made him a heavy favorite. His breathtaking late push in the Kentucky Derby had people believing: He emerged from the back of the pack down the stretch, blew past a large group of horses and pulled away from the pack for a dominant win. Combined with a pedigree to make race fans drool -- his blood lines includes two Triple Crown winners, Seattle Slew (1977) and Secretariat (1973) -- many thought the three-year-old colt would take a place among the horse-racing elite.

Instead, he'll become another in a long line of almosts and what-ifs. Only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown, and none since Affirmed in 1978.

Orb wasn't the only one trying to make history on Saturday who came up short in Baltimore.

Rosie Napravnik, the jockey riding Mylute, hoped to become the first female jockey to win the race. Instead Mylute finished in third place.

Kevin Krigger, the jockey riding Goldencents, hoped to become the first African-American jockey to win the race since 1898. He too came up short as Goldencents finished in fifth place.

Chicago's Navy Pier went into the record books this weekend for longest ride on a Ferris wheel.

Beginning Friday, pier operations manager Clinton Shepherd attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the longest ride on Chicago's iconic attraction. Shepherd hopped on at 2:30 p.m. with plans to stay on for a full 48 hours.

The previous record was 30 hours and 35 seconds. Shepherd broke that record and Navy Pier lit up the sky with fireworks after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, but he didn't stop there.

He remained on the wheel for another 18 hours to reach his 48-hour goal, setting a new record of 48 hours, 8 minutes and 25 seconds on the Ferris wheel with no sleep.

Throughout the process, fan could follow Shepherd on Twitter and ask him questions via #FWRecord. Or ride along with him to be a part of history.

Navy Pier also offered free rides on all Pier Park attractions to all active military men and women and their families ahead of Armed Forces Day on Saturday. 

“This achievement highlights Navy Pier as the number one tourist attraction in the Midwest and serves as a great attraction as the City of Chicago honors the men and women of the Armed Forces,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

“Navy Pier is excited to host Clinton’s world record attempt,” Navy Pier, Inc CEO Marilynn Gardner said. “We support his commitment to bringing the world record to the city of Chicago where the first Ferris wheel was built in 1893 and we are proud to partner with him to dedicate his ride to the men and women of the armed forces.” 
 

New York City authorities are investigating the deadly overnight shooting of a 32-year-old man in Greenwich Village as a hate crime after detectives learned the suspect taken into custody at the scene may have made anti-gay remarks to the victim before pulling the trigger, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials say Marc Carson, who lived on West 131st Street, and a friend were near a 99 Cent Pizza shop on Sixth Avenue around midnight when the suspect, who was with two other men, hurled anti-gay slurs at them, Carson's friend told detectives.

Carson made some remarks in response to the suspect's taunts and walked away, law enforcement sources said. 

A short time later, the suspect, who was by himself, confronted Carson and his friend again near a building on West Eighth Street, and words were exchanged for a second time, law enforcement officials said. Then the suspect allegedly pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and shot Carson in the face, killing him.

The suspect ran off and police responding to the shooting put out a description of him. An officer on foot patrol saw a man who fit the description of the suspect near McDougal and West Third Streets and tried to question him, but the suspect fled. The officer chased him down and took him into custody. A silver revolver was found in his possession and charges are pending against him, authorities said.

Detectives are looking to question the two men who were with the suspect during the initial confrontation near the pizza shop, but they do not believe they were with the suspect during the shooting. 

Law enforcement officials say the suspect has refused to identify himself to officers questioning him at the precinct, and he appears to have a fake ID in his possession.

Police are reviewing surveillance video from the area.

Before the shooting, police say the suspect had a separate confrontation with a manager and bouncer at the West Village restaurant Annisa on Barrow Street. Both men told detectives the suspect made anti-gay comments and threatened them. 

State and local officials blasted the slaying Saturday, citing a spike in alleged anti-gay crimes in Manhattan over the last several months.

On May 10, police said a gay couple was attacked on West 32nd Street and beaten so severely that one of the men needed eye surgery. Days earlier, another gay couple was assaulted by a group of men in the same area near Madison Square Garden.

The FBI has ruled out foul play in their investigation into Friday night's rush hour train crash in Connecticut that injured 72 people.

National Transportation Safety Board officials are looking into a broken part of the rail that underwent repairs last month, but have not determined whether it was a pre-existing fracture or if it occurred as a result of the accident, according to NTSB spokesperson Earl Weener, who provided an update at a news conference on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, one man with serious head injuries is awake and talking, said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who spoke to patients at St. Vincent Hospital. The train conductor, who helped several riders off the train before being transported, remains hospitalized with a lower back injury.

NTSB officials arrived on the scene on Saturday morning to begin investigating the cause of the train crash, injuries sustained by the commuters and operator performance.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and other officials spoke at a news conference on Saturday morning where they described a grisly scene after a Metro-North commuter train heading east from New York City derailed and was hit by an oncoming train heading west from New Haven.

"The damage is absolutely staggering," Sen. Blumenthal said. "Ribbons on the sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of clothes."

The NTSB's investigation could take seven to 10 days but that does not mean that service shutdown will take that long, board spokesman Earl Weener said..

The eastbound Metro-North train derailed just after 6:00 p.m. and was hit between the Bridgeport and Fairfield stations, officials said.

"We came to a sudden halt. We were jerked. There was smoke," Alex Cohen, a Canadian passenger on the westbound train en route to New York, told NBC Connecticut.

"People were screaming; people were really nervous. We were pretty shaken up. They had to smash a window to get us out," he said.

St. Vincent Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn. said on Saturday that it saw a total of 46 patients, six of whom were admitted for treatment. All patients remained in the hospital and were reportedly in stable condition.

Bridgeport Hospital saw 26 patients and admitted three. Two of those patients were in critical condition a day after the accident, and one was in stable condition, according to The Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the derailment.

"I have no reason to believe this is anything other than an accident," Gov. Malloy said Friday night.

Chaos Along the New Haven Line

Malloy warned Friday that the crash had caused extensive track damage along one of the nation's busiest corridors, and commuters throughout the Northeast could face difficult travel in the days ahead.

Eastbound Metro-North service is disrupted at South Norwalk, while westbound service is suspended past Bridgeport.

On Friday, the collision roiled the weekend commute for a wave of workers heading home from New York — not just the hundreds of passengers on each of the trains that collided, but hundreds more on the trains behind them.

The small South Norwalk station was a chaotic scene in the minutes just after the crash, as hundreds of passengers scrambled — many of them in vain — to hail cabs to complete their trips home.

Service Disruptions Could Last Days

Amtrak service between New York and New Haven will be suspended through Sunday, according to a press release, and there is no estimate on what time service will be restored. There is limited Northeast Regional service available between Boston and New Haven.

That was largely, officials said, because two of the four tracks in the segment of the rail line were already out of service for long-term improvement projects.

Normal service was not expected to resume until a full investigation was made, the track fully assessed and repairs made. That could take some time, since the train cars can't be removed until after an investigation, and since they must be removed by crane, the MTA said in a statement.

Stay with NBC Connecticut for more updates on this developing story.

Former Philadelphia police officer Richard DeCoatsworth, once honored by President Barack Obama for his heroism, remains in jail on $60 million bail for allegedly raping two women -- forcing one into prostitution.

Now, NBC10 has learned the City of Philadelphia is spending more than $1.5 million defending itself against DeCoatsworth's checkered past on the force.

Law enforcement sources say DeCoatsworth had nine citizen complaints against him over his nearly five year stint with the department. The complains, sources say, included allegations of assault, abuse and misconduct.

Issues with the 27-year-old began to arise in 2005 when he was in the Philadelphia Police Academy. DeCoatsworth allegedly injured a Girard Avenue business owner during a fight. However, he was allowed to remain a recruit despite the allegations.

In 2007 as a rookie officer, DeCoatsworth was severely injured after being shot in the face. After being shot, he managed to chase down the suspect for several blocks before collapsing. He called in enough information by radio that police were able to track down and arrest the suspect later the same day.

His actions earned him an invitation from Vice President Joe Biden to attend President Obama’s first congressional address at the U.S. Capital in February 2009. The officer sat in the gallery with First Lady Michelle Obama during the speech. He was also honored by his peers as a 2008 Top Cop.

Soon after, though, he was involved in two more dramatic incidents.

In April 2009, police say DeCoatsworth was jumped and attacked by a man when he tried to disperse a crowd at the Logan section of the city. During the struggle, sources say DeCoatsworth’s gun went off and hit the suspect who took off running. Another officer responding to the scene shot the suspect dead, according to sources.

In September 2009, DeCoatsworth and another officer stopped a man on a motorcycle in the Kensington section of the city. While they were questioning him, a second man allegedly jumped on the motorcycle and drove at the officers. Police say DeCoatsworth shot at the suspect, who sped off. The suspect was found later at the hospital where his mother had taken him to be treated for a shotgun wound.

During the incident, local witnesses claimed the two suspects did nothing wrong and that DeCoatsworth and the other officer acted recklessly -- shooting while children were nearby.

In November 2011, Internal Affairs investigated an alleged scuffle between DeCoatsworth and another officer, according to Philly.com.

DeCoatsworth retired from the police force on disability back in December 2011.

In February of 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for DeCoatsworth after he allegedly threatened a woman in Port Richmond.

The most recent incident began two weeks ago after DeCoatsworth allegedly met a woman at a bar on North Front Street. Police say the former officer forced the woman into prostitution at a Days Inn hotel along Roosevelt Boulevard in the Lawncrest section of the city.

Then, between 2 a.m. Thursday and Friday evening, DeCoatsworth went to the woman’s home along North Howard Street in the Fishtown-Kensington area, according to a law enforcement source close to the investigation.

Once he arrived, DeCoatsworth allegedly forced that woman and a second woman, both in their 20s, to use drugs and perform oral sex on him at gunpoint. The alleged victims reported the assault Friday only after DeCoatsworth went home, according to police.

Police raided DeCoatsworth’s house on the 2700 block of Salmon Street in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday.

He was arraigned and charged with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats and other related offenses. Police also confiscated drugs and guns from the home, according to a source. No word yet on what kind of drugs were removed from the home.

According to court documents, bail was set at $25 million for each of the alleged victims. Another $10 million bail was set in a separate domestic violence case DeCoatsworth is now being charged with, according to investigators.

Police say he assaulted his live-in girlfriend on May 9. The $60 million bail is reportedly one of the highest set in Philadelphia history.

DeCoatsworth faces more than 32 crimes in all three cases. He is scheduled for another court appearance on June 17.

• Criminal Court Docket - Alleged Victim 1
• Criminal Court Docket  - Alleged Victim 2
• Criminal Court Docket - Alleged Domestic Violence Assault

One of DeCoatsworth’s neighbors said she was relieved to hear about his arrest.

“I am scared to be saying this now but I hope he stays where he is at, he has been a thorn in the side of this neighborhood for so long,” said the woman who did not want to be identified.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter's Office says of the nine complaints lodged against DeCoatsworth -- one resulted in a lawsuit. The suit alleged DeCoatsworth used aggressive behavior while on the job.

The city settled that suit for $1.5 million. However, officials say Philadelphia has accrued other legal costs related to DeCoatsworth.

Last year, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told police he believed he failed DeCoatsworth by letting him go back to work with a stressful unit too soon after he was shot in the face.

"I think I screwed up on that," Ramsey told the Daily News. "I think I should have given him more time. He didn't want more time but I should have done that."

In light of his most recent arrest however, Ramsey had much harsher words for DeCoatsworth on Monday.

"He has to be held accountable," Ramsey said. "Just like anybody else. There should be no special consideration given simply because he once served as a police officer."

DeCoatsworth is being held on $60 million bail. A figure that is rarely seen in the U.S. criminal justice system.

Philadelphia District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson said prosecution did not request a high bail amount, rather that DeCoatsworth be held without bail.

“Being held without bail is the highest bail situation you could face as a defendant in Philadelphia," Jamerson said, “At DeCoatsworth's arraignment on Saturday, we requested that he be held without bail, but the judge instead chose to impose bail at $60 million.”

Other high-profile cases, including federal trials held in Pennsylvania, have included large sums, but none are near what the 27-year-old is held on.

While many with similarly egregious crimes are held without bail, some are held on bonds that reach into the millions of dollars.

Christina Regusters, the 20-year old woman charged with abducting and raping a 5-year old girl in Cobbs Creek, is currently held on $4 million bond.

Ariel Castro, the Ohio man who is facing four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape for holding three women captive in his home for a decade, is held on only $8 million.

While DeCoatsworth is listed as being represented by a public defender, family members are currently helping him acquire an attorney.

NBC10's Emad Kahlil contributed to this report.

Five people were fatally shot in weekend violence that wounded at least 18 others across Chicago, according to police.

The most recent fatality occurred at 2:10 a.m. Sunday in the 300 block of South Cicero where a 53-year-old man was shot in the neck.

The previous night, shots were fired into a group of people in the 6800 block of South Lowe Avenue, striking a 30-year-old woman in the head, police said.

In the same shooting, a 27-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to the wrist and a 37-year-old man was shot in the back. Both were taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center where their conditions were stabilized, according to the Chicago police news affairs Officer Sullivan.

The weekend's first fatality took place at 7:24 p.m. Friday in the 7800 block of South Langely Avenue when a 17-year-old man was shot in the chest, according to news affairs officer Jose Estrada.

The man, identified as Clifton Barney, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Barney was reportedly on the street when an offender shot him once in the chest and jumped into a light-colored vehicle, Estrada said. No one was in custody as of Saturday morning.

Less than an hour later, a 40-year-old man was shot in the head in the 200 block of North Mayfield Avenue, police said.

The shooter ran up to the man firing several times before hitting him in the back of the head and fleeing on foot, Estrada said.

The man, Ramar Bonner, was taken to Loyola University Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the medical examiner's office.

The third fatality of the weekend took place around 3:50 a.m. Saturday in the 4800 block of West Iowa Street where a man was found dead with a gunshot wound.

The 27-year-old man was reportedly involved in a verbal altercation with an unknown offender prior to the shooting, Estrada said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier, a 16-year-old was shot in the leg around 9:58 p.m. Friday in the 5400 block of West Wrightwood Avenue, according to police.

The teen was walking with several others when the group was approached by a male who began firing shots. The teen was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right leg in stable condition. No others were injured in the shooting.

The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. Friday near the 4800 block of Golf Road in Skokie, where officers discovered a male juvenile shot in the abdomen, according to police.

The victim was taken to an area hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said.

Shortly after, two 18-year-old men were shot around 10:20 p.m. in the 5800 block of South Laflin Street, Estrada said.

The two teens were in separate groups when a verbal altercation erupted and shots were fired, police said. One teen was shot in the left calf and the other was shot in the hip. Both men were taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in stable condition.

Around 10:50 p.m., a 34-year-old man was shot in the back and abdomen during a drive-by shooting in the 120 block of South Perry Avenue, Estrada said.

The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition.

Three others were shot in the Lawndale neighborhood around 11:25 p.m. on the 1200 block of South Kolin Avenue, police said.

The victims were in a group with several others when unknown offenders approached on foot and fired shots from a nearby alley, Estrada said.

A 38-year-old man was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the back. A 38-year-old woman was shot in the arm and taken in serious condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. The third victim, a 27-year-old woman was shot in the neck and was reported to be in “grave” condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police.

Police recovered three guns from the alley and discovered the shooters’ emptied vehicle in the 1200 block of South Kostner Avenue.

Around 3:35 a.m. Saturday, a 20-year-old man walked into Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, police said.

The man claimed to be riding in a vehicle when another car pulled up with occupants flashing gang signs and shouting gang slogans before firing at the victim.

No shots were reported in the area, however, and the shooting is still under investigation.

The weekend's most recent shooting occurred around 3 p.m. Saturday when a 12-year-old boy was shot  in the 2300 block of West 23rd Street, according to a tweet from Chicago Fire Media. 

Two boys were reportedly playing with a gun when it accidentally went off. 

The boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound in his arm in stable condition, according to police news affairs. 

A third boy is being charged in the shooting for bringing the gun into the home, police said. Details of the charges were not immediately available.
 

President Obama speaks to the class of 2013 at Morehouse College.

 

A deaf 11-year-old mini Yorkie was snatched from a yard in Hollywood and his dognappers are demanding $1,000 from his owners, who are pleading with the public to help bring their dog home.

“I’m scared for him because he’s used to being inside and cozy and cuddled with,” owner Tricia O’Kelley said, her voice quavering. “He slept with me every night for the last 11 years.”

Walter, who weighs about 5 pounds, was last seen Thursday afternoon in the family’s fenced-in backyard.

A blocked number called O’Kelley’s cellphone, which is listed on Walter’s tags, about 10:15 p.m. Thursday.

“From the second I answered the call, I knew this guy was bad news,” she said.

The man on the other end of the line told O’Kelley he wants $1,000 for the dog’s safe return. O’Kelley said she heard another man laughing in the background.

Her husband took over negotiations. The dognapper said he’d call back and hung up.

Within minutes, the blocked number called back and this time, O’Kelley’s husband, Adam Rosenblatt, put the call on speaker so the police on a second phone could hear.

The dognapper laid out his demands.

He wanted the family to create phony fliers offering a $1,000 reward for Walter’s return and listed streets on which he wanted them posted. Then, he would bring one of those posters to a Chevron station where he would exchange the dog for the cash.

Police suggested they make the fliers and meet the men at the gas station with a plain-clothed officer.

O’Kelley’s husband was in the process of hanging up the fliers when the man called back, saying he’d been lied to and that police were at the gas station.

“He said, ‘Don’t lie to me. I’m keeping your dog,’” O’Kelley said.

That last phone call at 11:15 p.m. Thursday came from a 7-Eleven payphone in North Hollywood, O’Kelley said. And that was the last time she heard from whoever has Walter.

Walter has a condition that causes his trachea to collapse, which is common for his breed.

“He’s not just some puppy,” O’Kelley said. “He needs special care.”

The family’s two young daughters – ages 2 and 4 – ate breakfast outside Friday morning in the hopes that Walter would smell the food and come home, O’Kelley said.

“It’s unbearably terrifying and heartbreaking,” she said. “The whole thing about pets and kids, they trust you to take care of them and keep them safe.”

Walter is outfitted with tags and a microchip. O’Kelley said she’s willing to pay the extortion if the men would return her dog, which she’s had since he was a puppy.

NBC4 obtained an incident report number in the case. Calls to LAPD to confirm the report had not been returned as of 8 p.m.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD Hollywood Division, which is handling the case.

A Philadelphia mom was arrested inside her daughter's school after police say she assaulted an 11-year-old student.

Attifa Brown says she was upset her daughter was being bullied at school, but denies ever hitting the child.

"I don't beat my own child, let alone somebody else's," said Brown.

Police say there is a videotape of the incident that happened yesterday around 10:00 a.m. inside A.B. Anderson Elementary School in Cobbs Creek.

"The problem here is that we have a 26-year-old mother who has no reason to approach an 11-year-old child, so her credibility as far as I'm concerned is shot," said Lt. John Walker, Philadelphia Police.

Investigators say Brown went to the school with her daughter to confront the 11-year-old girl, accused of bullying her child.

"The tape showed this lady over my daughter for minutes, poking her in the face, pulling her hair and beating her," said Bobby Webster, mother of the 11-year-old victim.

Webster says her daughter is not a bully.

"I thought I taught her to actually defend herself and take care of herself," said Brown, who added that at the end of the day, "I'm human."

School officials are investigating how Brown was able to walk into the school without signing in or without being questioned.

Brown is facing a long list of charges, including terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and defiant trespass.

A 1-year-old child died after being left alone in a vehicle in an elementary school parking lot, Dallas police say.

The child's mother, Vibha Marks, has been arrested on a charge of abandoning a child with serious bodily injury.

Police said someone spotted the child unattended in a car parked in the faculty parking lot at Frank Guzick Elementary School at 5000 Berridge Lane at about 1:20 p.m.

The passer-by broke the window on the vehicle, removed the child and began performing CPR, police said.

Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed that it was called to the school at about 1:30 p.m. When responders arrived, the child was unresponsive. Emergency workers continued CPR and transported the child to Baylor Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Marks, a teacher at the elementary school, was interviewed by the Dallas Police Department on Friday afternoon.

Officials with the Dallas Independent School District said Marks has been placed on administrative leave and that a letter was sent home to parents about the police presence at the school.

At 1 p.m., the temperature at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was 84 degrees. Studies of temperatures in enclosed cars shows that temperatures can rise by as much as 43 degrees in a one-hour period.

Authorities say the internet celebrity known as "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" was turned in to Philadelphia police by a coffee barista who recognized him as being a man wanted for murder in New Jersey.

Union County Prosecutor Ted Romankow told NBC 4 New York on Friday that Caleb Lawrence McGillvary was buying coffee in a Philadelphia Starbucks Thursday evening when a worker recognized him and notified her supervisor.

The supervisor called police, and officers arrived and found McGillvary, who is accused of killing Joseph Galfy, a lawyer from Clark, N.J. 

"He wasn't lying low," said Romankow. "He was out there."

Galfy was found in his home on Monday, dead of blunt force trauma. Prosecutors say Galfy met McGillvary in Times Square Saturday night, and brought him back to his house to spend the night.

They say they believe the two men had a sexual encounter.

Authorities said McGillvary, who has appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," pondered on his Facebook page Tuesday the idea of waking up in a stranger's house with a groggy head and injuries, and the realization of being drugged and raped. "What would you do?" he wrote, according to officials.

McGillvary gained internet notoriety earlier this year when he was hitchhiking with a man who allegedly attempted to run over a utility worker in California.

According to the Fresno Bee, McGillvary pulled a hatchet out of his backpack and struck the driver in the head after the dispute, and others held the man until police arrived. Video from a profanity-laced interview McGillvary gave to a local TV station recounting his role went viral.

Authorities said he will be processed in Philadelphia and returned to New Jersey in the coming days.

--Pat Battle contributed to this report

The attorney who represented OJ Simpson in a trial stemming from a bizarre 2007 Las Vegas hotel room raid testified Friday that he advised Simpson to call police after the former NFL Hall of Fame player mentioned plans to retrieve sports memorabilia.

Attorney Yale Galanter added that Simpson confided to him that he knew two individuals in the group involved in the raid -- intended to retrieve sports memorabilia from a dealer -- had guns.

Galanter's advice to Simpson -- who was sentenced to prison after the 2008 trial -- and the steakhouse meeting before the raid have been key parts of this week's hearing in Las Vegas. The ex-USC Trojan wants a judge to throw out the robbery-kidnapping convictions on the claim that Galanter failed to disclose that he knew about the hotel room raid in advance, told Simpson it was legal and provided bad advice at trial.

Galanter, who previously won an acquittal in a Simpson road rage case, was asked Friday by attorneys for the state about a steakhouse dinner with Simpson the night before the raid. Simpson was in Las Vegas for a wedding, Galanter was working on a case, so the two decided to meet, Galanter said.

"In the middle of him explaining the rehearsal dinner, he said that he and some of his boys may be doing a sting in the morning," said Galanter. "When he first mentioned it, it went over my head. It was social, and about a minute later I leaned over and said, 'What are you talking about? What sting? What are you doing?'"

Simpson told him "some of his boys had an opportunity to get some of his property back," Galanter testified.

"He said he finally had a lead on some personal items of his that had been stolen from his house in California," Galanter added. "He wanted to know what I thought about it. I told him to call the police."

In testimony that contradicts Simpson's repeated assertion that he was not aware two members of the group involved in the confrontation were carrying guns, Galanter claimed Simpson told him he asked his companions to bring guns.

Simpson testified Wednesday that guns were "never a subject" in conversations leading up to the hotel raid.

Galanter's testimony is an opportunity to defend his role in the case Friday during what is expected to be the final day of testimony. It is not clear when the judge will issue a ruling, but the outcome is part of a process that will determine whether the 65-year-old Simpson spends the rest of his life in prison.

He has already served four years in prison, but must serve nine of the maximum 33-year sentence before he is eligible for parole.

During Thursday's proceedings, prosecutors told the judge they want to call a surprise witness. Simpsons' attorneys objected, claiming it was too late to add a witness.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Leon Simon told the Simpson attorneys a woman contacted the DA's office after Simpson testified Wednesday, according to Simpson's defense.  Outside the courtroom, Simon had no comment.

The judge is expected to rule Friday on the prosecution's request.

Simpson did not testify during the criminal trial -- a decision a member of his trial legal team said was a mistake during testimony earlier this week -- but he was on the stand for about six hours Wednesday. Simpson provided his version of events leading up to a confrontation at the Palace Station hotel during which the former Heisman trophy winner and an impromptu posse retrieved sports memorabilia and other items.

Simpson said the items disappeared after his 1995 "trial of the century" acquittal in the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

After going over witness statements, Galanter said he decided against putting Simpson on the stand.

"It was my opinion that him taking the witness stand would be problematic," said Galanter. "I just seriously thought we'd get crucified. I felt the evidence was overwhelming. I just thought it would be suicide."

Simpson testified he did not want anyone in his group to bring guns. One of the dealers, Bruce Fromong, testified during the original trial that a gun was pointed at him and he was told he would be shot if he did not cooperate.

It's not clear what facets of Simpson's testimony the potential witness would contradict. Simon was to meet with her late Thursday.

On Thursday, Simpson's position was bolstered by Malcolm LaVergne, who joined Simpson's legal team after the conviction to work on the appeal.  LaVergne suggested it might have been appropriate for Galanter to testify for Simpson, describing the advice he gave, rather than representing him.

LaVergne was asked if, in his opinion, Galanter's decisions were affected by a conflict of interest.

"From what I now know, absolutely," LaVergne testified.

As for the items Simpson wanted, a judge eventually ruled that the items should be delivered to Simpson's civil case attorney.

Ray Josephs’ bond with his brother, Danny Burroughs, went beyond just any normal sibling relationship.

“As close as two brothers/best friends could ever hope to be,” said Josephs. “That’s what my brother and I shared.”

It was that bond that amplified the pain Josephs felt six years ago when Burroughs went missing. His brother was last seen on his riding lawnmower on August 14, 2007, at the home he shared with his then-wife Lorette Burroughs, in Hamilton Township.

Friday morning however, Danny Burroughs’ remains were found in two containers in Loretta’s home in Ventnor, New Jersey, according to a source close to the investigation. Loretta was charged with his murder.

“Trying to cope with this horrific outcome,” said Josephs. “Within myself I am indeed fighting my best fight.”

Burroughs, 61, wept quietly Friday afternoon as she was formally charged with her ex-husband's murder. Investigators say she stabbed her husband to death in 2007. Autopsy results are pending.

Loretta divorced Danny shortly after he disappeared. She then sold the couple's home. Loretta moved, more than once, according to the Burroughs family, and was living at the home on Hampshire Drive in Ventnor where the body parts were found.

Crime scene investigators went to the home Friday morning around 6 or 7 a.m., according to neighbors. It turns out however that police were actually looking for documents connected to an embezzlement case and stumbled on Burroughs' remains.

"From what I understand, they were there to look for some bank records for embezzlement," said Danny's daughter, Caroline Burroughs. "They weren't there looking for my father. They just stumbled upon him."

Investigators are not clear if Burroughs' remains were put into containers due to decomposition, or if the body was mutilated. They do believe that the body was moved several times. And detectives say Loretta Burroughs was in the process of selling her Ventnor home and relocating to another home in Villas, Cape May County.

Danny Burroughs' family convinced investigators to re-open the case in February, after the county put together a Cold Case Unit. The family launched a Find Danny Burroughs Facebook page in 2010, and used the page to raise questions about Danny's disappearance. In the "about" section of the page, Josephs wrote:

Out of nowhere his (now) x-wife told everybody he "ran off with another woman", he left without ANY of his belongings-NOTHING! I say BS to her story and MANY-MANY lies! She, never even called to tell me (my brother) Dan supposedly "up and left." I found out several days later when I called my brothers home to see how he was feeling >for me, this is when the nightmare began.

"We knew for years that she knew something and we just couldn't get the help from anybody to find him," said Robert Valiante, Jr., a family friend.

Burroughs' family kept pushing police to go past Loretta Burrough's claim that Dan had run off to Florida with another woman.

"That's why they could never question her or prosecute her because there was no body," Valiante said. "There were no remains. Well, I guess not because she had 'em! Without a body he would have been lost forever."

With both sadness and a new sense of closure, Josephs thanked everyone who supported his family on his Facebook page.

“Even though my face always seems wet from tears, all of your support has indeed helped, and to me been a blessing,” he said. “I thank you all, those that knew my brother or, just wanted to show support…you people really are amazing.”