a story brody o'connell is following first in the alert center. >> brody: following minute-by-minute updates. there is this scene there could be multiple other scenes, police are investigating, full details coming up in the alert center. >> john: presidential candidate making the final push to voters in north carolina. three more candidates will visit the front runners, visiting the charlotte area for campaign events. good morning, welcome to wbtv news this morning on this monday, march 14th, good to have you with us at 6:00 a.m. i'm john carter. >> christine: i'm christine sperow. >> john: get started with charlotte's most experienced morning meteorologist, al >> al: visibility fluctuating, ten miles an hour ago, then down to three miles, now at five miles. outlying area visibility much, much lower. poor visibility lancaster, albermarle, up to hickory and morganton, zero visibility, one mile shelby, boone, statesville. use caution this morning north and west of town. dense fog advisory until 10:00. does not include charlotte-mecklenburg nonetheless pockets of fog in charlotte and so

get over to brody o'connell with new details. >> brody: john, they are not calling these missiles, they are calling them projectiles. there is a difference there. south korea n join chiefs of staff trying to make it clear to make it crystal clear for what type of threat there may be from north carolina. this is new from north korea, apparently showing the nation's leader viewing some of the military exercises that have been carried out over the past what is being reported right now from south korea is the north part of the peninsula fired four short range projectiles in range projectiles. they are monitoring the situation and maintaining full readiness in response to this postures, not clear how serious the threat may be. john and christine that is the latest, back to you. >> christine: interesting, thank you, brody. >>> 5:33, marine killed over in northern iraq was based here in north carolina. 27-year-old staff sergeant lewis cardin died saturday from wounds suffer when his unit was hit by rocket fire. it is under investigation, he wases from california but was lejeune. >> john: the l

it is 5:33, let's check back in with brody o'connell in the alert center. >> brody: a violent crime spree happened in new york city. this is disturbing what we're reading off cnn. apparently this is the suspect right here, 23-year-old patrick dylan went on a spree slashing a man, setting a homeless man on fire. it appears according to police what i'm reading the attacks were at random. late last night police caught up with him, he sprayed some sort of accelerant on new york city police officers and they were burned during this attempt to arrest him, finally the suspect was shot twice in the legs and they brought him in custody. but really a violent rampage. the attacks attacks and to be random. >> new this morning. >> i found her in the closet tape to a chair on the floor. someone threw her in there and close the door. >> that is a mother describing how she found her daughter after a reported home invasion in raleigh. the 17-year-old girl was taken to the hospital but is expected to be okay. back door of the house and tied her up, using duct tape. the teen's mother says her daughter facet

brody o'connell with more breaking news. >> brody: 13 people are killed new information in this hour. >> john: a special session to fight the charlotte non-discrimination ordinance. the action they plan to take. >>> welcome to wbtv news this morning at 6:00 a.m. i'm john carter. >> christine: i'm christine sperow. start with charlotte's most experienced morning meteorologist, here is al conklin. >> al: thanks, christine, big story how cold it is this morning. temperatures area-wide are at or bow low freezing for most of us. we have the freeze warning in effect until 9:00 this morning for much of the piedmont and foothills. east of charlotte, a frost advisory, chester, lancaster, stanley, cabarrus and union. as far as charlotte goes, as low as 34, now at 35 in the queen city. freezing mountain island lake, below freezing tega cay, arboretum and harrisburg. a very cold start. out there this morning it is dry, full moon is now setting, hour-and-a-half, once the sun comes up, we go up quickly, in the upper 60s, don't judge the day by what you see right now. 62 lunch time, 68 this afternoo

brody o'connell is in the alert center. >> brody: people pouring out memories and respect. panthers fans, bear with me, no denying it, peyton manning a legend. the carolina panthers tweeting out this picture of peyton manning with the hashtag, respect. expecting the big announcement, good picture there of cam newton and peyton manning embracing after the super bowl. >> another tweet from tom brady, one of greatest rivalries to watch on sunday. congratulations peyton on incredible career you changed the game forever, made everyone around you better. been an honor. >> also cool, this is an official twitter handle, vol photo, they will take a trip down memory lane, tweeting out great photos of peyton during his days as a volunteer. one last one, the indianapolis colts, the star running back, played with peyton no more apple paying respects to peyton manning. a lot of fun to watch. john and christine, back to you. >> christine: except when he beat the panthers in the super bowl. that was not fun. >> al: a little sour games. a great career -- >> john: he will receive nice gifts

those stories plus brody o'connell getting all the headlines in. >> brody: hope you had a good weekend. crews cleaning up after a train derailment and new images in in the alert center. >> john: a mild start to the morning. get started with charlotte's most experienced morning meteorologist, al conklin. >> al: thanks, john. here's what we're looking at patchy dense fog, visibilities below a mile shelby and morganton, in boone and statesville a mile. three miles in charlotte, we'll keep an eye on this situation after last evening's rain, skies fog. metro school camera right now, not too bad. we'll keep an eye on the visibility. 60 charlotte, rock hill, 62 albermarle, 58 in hickory and 46 so, we're done with the rain for now, you see that next system back to the west of us that is heading in our direction, potential for strong thunderstorms late this afternoon and this evening, talk about that in the seven day planner in a couple minutes. look for high temperature close to 80. you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. here is chris. >>

. >> john: brody o'connell live in the alert center. >> brody: we'll talk about how nancy reagan is being remembered. a hostage situation in australia, getting new details, a developing situation right now, we'll keep you updated throughout the morning. stick around we'll have more news in a few minutes. >> john: we're about to go to break, before we do, a quick check of first alert weather and traffic here we have 42 degrees in charlotte right now, 30 in boone, below freezing, 28 morganton, 37 chester, 34 rock hill, here is a live look at the brookshire freeway here, john traffic is light this morning. remember, you're never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic on wbtv news this morning. it is eight minutes after 5:00. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan (elephant noise) (donkey noise) closed captioning on wbtvnews is sponsored by subarusouth boulevard and subaruconcord. >> john: now

find out more, brody o'connell is live in the alert center. >> brody: boy, has this been a talker over the past 12 hours. i wonder how many of you at home found out during the selection show or how many of you saw it on the leaked bracket? maybe you didn't hear about it there was a bracket that leaked before the selection show was finished. espn has a great article talking about not only the controversy and talked about south carolina head coach frank martin, mentioned he was sitting in his team's locker room watching the show like so many people when his phone rings and he finds out guess what? you didn't make to it march madness you're not dancing. he was unhappy about that, obviously, he voiced displeasure on twitter finding out in the manner and scrolling through the article you can find on espn.com, it mentions cbs spokesperson not commenting on the leaked bracket. comment. now the ncaa you should know this, they were investigating the situation, they want t know howto knowhow all this happened. i'm sure you have your favorite, i don't know maybe you saw that happening yesterday.

brody o'connell has been following this story all morning. in the alert center with the very latest. >> brody: tragedy in brussels. officials calling this a coordinated terrorist attack. 13 people reported dead right now, dozens of others injured. these are live pictures from the airport, which was the main target of the attack. there was a second location also that was attacked, that was a train station, a metro station, where a blast went off. we have video also we got from cbs right now we can show you, give you a better understanding of what the chaos was like in the moments after this blast that happened around 8:00 a.m. local time in brussels. speed, three total explosions,ing two different scenes, terror level has been boosted to the maximum level in the wake of the attack here for belgium. all flights cancelled at in the airport. i got word the president of france is calling an emergency meeting, eu personnel is apparently eu offices near the train station where there was a bomb that went off. those office also have been shut down, wo

brody o'connell getting the headlines. >> brody: hope you had a good weekend, getting word police on scene at kangaroo gas station of a robbery. new details in a couple minutes from the alert center. >> christine: a one-school delay to report so far this morning, two-hour delay. if any other school districts call in we'll let you know right here and wbtv.com/closings. >> john: we have a cool start, will it warm up? here is charlotte's most experienced morning meteorologist, al conklin. >> al: after a chilly day yesterday, in the 40s, we will rebound in the 50s this afternoon. first things first, as john mentioned, a school delay, alleghany county in the mountains, we will keep an eye on the other county school districts, there is a little bit of ice after a little bit of snow fell last evening, temperatures below freezing. we're in the 30s in charlotte, clear skies, after last evening's rain, that moved out. 30 in boone, 38 morganton, hickory, statesville and charlotte. 40 gastonia, 39 in monroe, 37 in chester. chilly start to the day, will be below average, improvement over yesterda

o'connell with new details. >> brody: busy morning in charlotte and across the state. we got word from wncn, apparently an officer was shot in the durham area. very limited details at this time. apparently this officer suffered minor injuries, it's not clear what led up to the shooting. news source, our cbs affiliate in the raleigh-durham area. the officer suffered minor injuries. no details that led up to the shooting, we don't know if anyone was in custody. from what i'm reading it appears the officer is expected to survive this close call here. john and christine the story that will be developing throughout the morning, updates right here in the alert center. back to you. >> john: new this morning, a retired pennsylvania state trooper is dead after authorities say he killed a turnpike toll collector and guard in a hold-up attempt. police say clarence briggs killed the toll collector and ronald heist then fled in collection vehicle, he was killed in a stand off with troopers. >> christine: police in new york city are looking for a man suspected of slashing three peop

those stories plus brody o'connell getting all the headlines in. >> brody: hope you had a good weekend. crews cleaning up after a train derailment and new images in in the alert center. >> john: a mild start to the morning. get started with charlotte's most experienced morning meteorologist, al conklin. >> al: thanks, john. here's what we're looking at patchy dense fog, visibilities below a mile shelby and morganton, in boone and statesville a mile. three miles in charlotte, we'll keep an eye on this situation after last evening's rain, skies fog. metro school camera right now, not too bad. we'll keep an eye on the visibility. 60 charlotte, rock hill, 62 albermarle, 58 in hickory and 46

wbtv's brody o'connell joins us live from caldwell county. and brody, how are the children and their mother doing this afternoon? >> jamie good news to report on that front. i'm told the woman stabbed is in stable condition expected to survive. but the real concern overnight now, he is just two-year-old old his name is henry and he suffered stab wounds as a result of this father's attack. and good news from the family they told me his condition improved and he is in stable condition and is expected to survive. his brother an infant suffered minor injuries in this attack. >> brody, i know you have been working the story hard. have you learned anything about the suspect's background? >> yes, jamie, we have been looking deep in his background. henry pits has a long -- william henry pits a lengthy criminal background on charges but not convictions. eight different cases of assault on a female over a nine-year dismissed. we will look more into that at 5:00. plus hear from this two daughters who are 20055 their message to their father after are tel

wbtv's brody o'connell has their reago new on "primetime. >> reporter: union school leaders are keeping tight lipped and they told wbtv said all questions about the alleged assault on a student should be directed to the monroe police department. but parents want to know more filed against monroe middle school psychologist. >> i discipline my kids and they know there is only one reason to go to school and that's to learn. >> reporter: police city an arrest warrant was issued for the simple assault on a student after an investigation by multiple agencies. what is particularly troubling was that russ was a psychologist. >> >> a psychologist should be there trying to help figure out what is wrong with this child. something should be done about the situation. >> reporter: he learned there were charges pending and he turned himself in. he is currently suspended >> you need to call me and i'll take care of the rest. >> reporter: brody o'connell, wbtv on your side. >> maureen: an apparent watch on pressing the school for more information. wbtv will continue to follow the story and bring you upd

right now live at cmpd headquarters, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> good point. chaotic few hours in the city of charlotte. thank you. >> a south carolina house is set to [inaudible] the senate passed the bill yesterday tonight allows exceptions if the mother's life is in jeopardy or if the baby cannot survive outside the womb. there are no except shops for rape or incest. >> charlotte-mecklenburg school leaders wants to keep you up-to-date on the 7 for a superintendent. the district is launching a website and it will be updated. to check out the site we have placed a link in the web extras section of wbtv.com. >> turning to campaign 2016. off again tonight when they appear in another democratic debate this up with in the key state of florida. bernie sanders is hoping floridians will do what voters in michigan did and pull off an upset. hillary clinton beat sanders in mississippi and won more delegates overall and more than halfway to the number needed to clinch the nomination. north carolina's primary is tuesday. and candidates have been rallying in the state. t

brody o'connells ha the story first at 4:00. >> whoa. trouble! trouble. >> the nascar sprint cup series was in las vegas sunday. hendrick motor sports walked away empty handed but the frustrations did not end there. during an overnight home to charlotte a plane carrying several team members had to make an emergency landing in memphis. a spokesman tells wbtv there was a presence of smoke inside the cabin. no injuries were reported. and no drivers were onboard. the aircraft it's now being evaluated. we're told there was no immediate indication of what caused the cabin to begin filling with smoke. as for the passengers onboard, well they are ok and returned home on a different plane. call it a turbulent ending to an eventful weekend out west. in charlotte, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> all right thank you. >> live to johnson c. smith university right now former president clinton at the podium for his campaign stop here in charlotte. let's listen in. >> thank you very much. let me first of all thank president carter for welcoming me here. tha

brody o'connell was in the courtroom and joins us live and brody, cannon was a well connected city leader. how did he seem in court today? >> maureen it was a confident patrick cannon that entered the courtroom. he had a smile on his face and that smile faded away once the hearing began. cannon pleaded guilty to a class one misdemeanor charge of attempted voter fraud. that carries with it a maximum penalty of 120 days in prison. cannon got that one day tacked on that will be served simultaneously with the 44 months he is serving in federal prison. after the hearing we did speak he shed light on what it's been like for patrick cannon. he said cannon used this time to reflect and think about the crimes that he committed. >> health wise he seems to be doing fine. he looks good. but that doesn't mean that none of this has an effect on him. i say today that no matter what your sentence is when you go through a criminal proceeding today it is a life sentence because of the consequences never go away. >> and i'm told that patrick cannon will be taken back to morgantown, west virginia. and in the

let's go to brody o'connell in the alert center getting details of cbs' early morning news. a big deal. >> brody: another tragedy being carried out. it appears at the hands of attackers targeting innocent people at an airport in brussels, belgium. here is an image, this is being widely circulated for multiple agencies, this one from the daily uk mail. here is what's we know so far, what we can responsibly report at this hour. the associated press and cnn both reporting that one person has been killed and a dozen i will tell you there are news agencies overseas reporting a higher death toll, we'll hold off and wait to the see if the the associated press can get it confirmed. this is as dire situation, allow me to show you an image inside to give you an idead what this bomb blast must have done here. you can see the damage, debris on the ground. reports of two explosions in the airport. then within the last five minutes or so, we got word cbs news reported that now there is a report of a third blast at at train station in brussels. as you can imagine, we are working very hard

our brody o'connell is there right now following a stories you'll want to know about. he's there the entire morning show getting news that is just in we'll check in with him in a few minutes. >>> celebrating young black leaders in the community. hundreds came out to the duke energy building of the young black male leadership for black history month, they celebrated 29 leaders in the community each day. the second year for the ceremony. >> generally speaking, we recognize black males from schools, so for the opportunity to see them in an environment the community, being successful in different ways, that what is this is about. an opportunity to highlight success and show role models in the community. >> the ybm leadership line says the leading college prep and leadership development programle for young black men in the community. >>> still ahead on wbtv news this morning, leaders in the carolinas react to the death of nancy reagan. their words on her passing, just ahead. >>> 17 minutes before 5:00.closed captioning on wbtvnews is sponsored by subarusouth boulevard and s

wbtv's brody o'connell has their reaction. >> still to this day i am scared of my dad. a grown woman and i feel sick to my stomach when i see him. >> reporter: they say last night's violent attack should have never happened. the 25-year-old women tell wbtv their father, william henry pitts, has a long hits stree of abuse. >> my mom protected us a lot. she took most of the we dealt with it all our life until we were 13 or 14. my mom finally left and we quit talking to him. we see him every now and then. >> reporter: wbtv investigated and we found between september of 99 and november of 2008 pitts was charged eight times for assault on a female, but the charges were dismissed. it is not clear why they were dismissed. however, sonia and samantha say his abusive behavior was known outside the criminal system. this year the sisters say they reached out to the caldwell county dss to warn them about their father who they say was a threat to his girlfriend and two sons. >> called the department of social services a little over a month ago and they did two visits and didn't do a

live in lenoir, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> thank you. we have new information on the number of mumps cases here in north carolina. the north carolina department of health says there are six con confirmed cases in the state. and some of the patients have already recovered. >> right now, another heated exchange of words in the race for the white house. donald trump's plan to win the g.o.p. nomination just got hit by an incoming attack from mitt romney. >> romney threw himself back into the discussion not to back another candidate but to try to take donald trump out. attacking his policies and personality. as expected trump fired back at a rally in maine. this is a far cry from 2012 when romney sought trump's blessing while he was running for president. >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud he is playing the american public for suckers. he gets a free ride to the white house. >> mitt is a failed candidate. he failed. he failed horribly. we cannot take another loss and mitt is, indeed, a choke artist. >> we are sure to hear more from trump ton

. >> christine: brody o'connell is giving us details. how do we know, do we know, if this is terrorism-related. >> brody: i'm seeing reports in the last few minutes there's may be a suicide bomber responsible for the airport attacks. we'll work on getting that confirmed, but several wales agenciesagenciesoverseas reporting that. this is the outside of the airport in brussels. we have a live picture to show you also from our cbs affiliate. here is what we know so far, there is a lot to cover, get you caught up to speed on the situation. two blasts reported at brussels airport after 8:00 a.m. their cnn is reporting ten people dead, dozens have been injured. now, also, we also learned in the last 25 minutes or so there was a third explosion reported at a brussels train station, we're looking into this to see how many injuries may be a associatedded with this. a couple other updates, we've been watching closely terror level goes to the maximum level in the wake of the airport explosion. also know that all flights cancelled, and all flights a

if you like to comment, sign up by calling. >>> get over to brody o'connell. >> brody: there is a boat load of plutonium heading our way. this is a ship in japan, this is a british ship that will be carrying 730 pounds of plutonium to a u.s. government facility in south carolina. that is according to cnn and associated press. the picture courtesy of yahoo news. the two ships arrived today, they will load up the plutonium and brought our way. apparently dozens of atomic bombs and this was worked out in in bilateral agreement. all of of this part of an agreement. something you don't hear every day, an interesting headlines that caught my eye in the alert center. back to you. >> christine: thanks, brody. >>>al quick look at top stories across the nation and around the world. >> john: president obama meets with cuban president raul castro. the president touched down in havana sunday along with the first lady and their daughters. he's the first u.s. precedents to visitpresident tovisit cuba in 88 years. ted cruz and john kasich in the winner take all state take all state of arizona. bernie

in charlotte, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> and stay with wbtv at 5:00 p.m. for continuing coverage of the terrorist attacks on brussels. >> first at 4:00, a deal to buy a cellphone turned into a shooting investigation at a north carolina mcdonald's. four people have been arrested after several were injured in fayetteville. officers say one of the individuals pulled out a gun and started firing shots. an employee recalls the kai otic scene. >> i heard two loud pops and my coworkers were running and talking about the shooting. >> an elderly woman was knocked to the ground when the suspects >> north carolina's environmental agency will host a meeting on the proposed risk classifications for coal ash ponds at allen steam station in gaston county. that meeting is 6:00 p.m. at gaston college's dallas campus auditorium. officials want to hear what the neighbors think about listing the ponds as low risk sites. >>> the towfn mooresville rejected a plan to bring costco to the area. the commissioners voted against the plan 5-1. it means costco cannot build the store of

brody o'connell has the latest on cannon's legal troubles. >> tomorrow patrick cannon could find out more about the punishment he will face for voter fraud. he has spent more than a year behind bars and it's been a steep fall from grace from a man who fell in march of 2014. as patrick cannon prepares to face a judge for voter fraud, wbtv learned that the former mayor could get up to 15 months for the crime. although legal experts tell our partners at the "charlotte observer" that cannon would likely receive probation. after the crime occurred back in 2014, cannon was apologetic and offered an explanation. >> i was going in and not thinking about what i was doing at that particular time and as a result here we are. >> his explanation did not sit well with the court. judge referred to cannon as a quote sophisticated voter. and said that if anyone should have known, he should have known. >> while cannon's attorney was not available for comment today he has previously spoken to wbtv on the matter. >> patrick cannon gave to the federal judge a full account of what took place. he apologize

. >> brody o'connell is live with the details. tell us what you know about this? >> good evening, paul. i have been here at the gaston county police department for a couple hours and talked to a captain. and the details of the crime scene absolutely chilling. victims found in the nude all of them shot to death. >> she said she put the woman's body in a wheel barrel and wheeled her out. >> details about the triple homicide spreading throughout gaston county. and today police gave us a police understanding of what happened monday inside the gambino's home. according to police, giovanni, jeffrey gill land and stephanie sanchez were all naked and shot to death. >> we believe all three were shot inside the house in a bedroom and one of the victims the female was moved outside. >> they are now trying to figure out how the victims knew each other. right now they believe giovanni met the two on-line. >> this is something we will take our time with. i say weeks, computers can be tricky to get into and figure out what is going on. >> one thing police did make clear they are

brody o'connell on your side investigating from monroe. let's start with the school district what are they saying about this? >> good afternoon. the school keeping tight-lipped on this one. they did talk to me but referred all questions to the monroe police department. the agency i'm told that is handling this investigation. but here is what we know. we know that russ has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of this investigation. what are parents saying? >> well, as you can imagine, you are a parent it's one of the situations where you do not want to hear this is happening in your school. and i talked to parents here in monroe, and they are upset about this happening. but what really seemed to bother them the fact this is a school psychologist somebody that may have been dealing with vulnerable students. so i spoke to parents and you can hear what they had to say on primetime on wbtv at 7:00 p.m. live in monroe, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> more details that will come out. thank you. >> south carolina has run oft of the dr

i'm brody o'connell. >> and i'm lindsey tap pass sit -- tapases. >> how is the weekend going? >> it's kind of cool sometimes. >> but the sun piqued out. >> did you -- did you watch the forecast? >> -- no. >> we had showers overnight so 30s to low 40s is where we're at at the 5:00 a.m. hour. a lot of spots are at 40s or above. we have 30s north of the city. so today actually will have a little bit more sun than yesterday but it should feel warmer. we hit 60 yesterday. today we'll hit 61. nice day ahead and then a big warm up to talk about this week. so we'll have details coming up in a few. >> right now let's look at your top headlines. let's start with a robbery. we brought it to you as breaking news. there was a foot chase possibly drugs involved here. still very few details. we're going to stay on top of the story for you. >> police in salisbury searching for the person who shot two brothers killing one of them. officers were called in response to a fight at a party early now when officers arrived they found 29 year old and 24-year-old brothers both were flown to the hospita

live in albemarle, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> thank you. east charlotte at an apartment complex there was not a random crime. one person is dead tonight. two others in the hospital. police responded to a shooting called just after noon on park land circle. they found two victims. a third man was dropped off at presbyterian hospital with serious injuries. neighbors heard the gunfire. >> my mom almost got hit coming in from one of the guys i'm not sure. but i heard music. and my sister she heard the gunshots. >> police are talking to neighbors and looking for witnesses. they have not named any suspects. >> this system has stalled over the gulf states and it has potential to bring rain to charlotte. this is new video from louisiana. fire officials are rescuing people in their flooded homes. this storm is blamed for three deaths in louisiana. chief meterologist, eric thomas in the first alert weather center. eric you were pointing out that issue here but earlier some of it may just fretter away by the time it gets here? >> that is t we are not

brody o'connell spoke with neighbors who are concerned for their safety and joins us live with more. >> maureen spending time in the communities i have to tell you it's sad. you have the victims dealing with their injuries trying to recover and the rest of the neighborhood living in fear just praying that the violence will come to an end. barrington drive was lit up with flashing lights tuesday night. police arrived on scene after sierra ferguson found her boyfriend harry brown shot and bleeding on a sidewalk. we spoke with ferguson byhone she was in the hospital where brown is now recovering. >> they told me the surgery went great and put a rod in his leg. full recovery but with a gunman on the loose ferguson fears there could be another attack. >> i'm praying and hoping that with everything going on because the police did say some people could retaliate again and try and get him again. but i'm going to stay low key for now and out of the way over there. >> and ferguson is not the only one living in fear. sharon caldwell returned home to brook tree drive in northwest charlotte last

a meet something happening right now in gaston county and brody o'connell is there live. any resolution in sight for the homeowners? >> paul it appears not. in fact talking to people in gaston county where we were about a year ago they are living off of bottled water their wells contaminated and no one wants to take responsibility for it. tonight the department of environmental quality meeting gave families and activists a platform to have their voices heard. >> there will be no closure. >> debra graham and amy brown live near coal ash basins but the state says their well water is not safe to drink. >> we live on bottled water and we use bottled water for everything from making coffee to cooking macaroni. this is a serious matter and toxic waste trash that the state allowed them to dump in pits for many, many years and when you know better you should do better. >> graham lives in rowan county. brown lives near allen steam station in gaston county. despite their problem and proximity to coal ash duke energy says it's innocent of wrongdoing. >> what we have learned over mon

brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> thank you. gambino's next court appearance is march 21. but the district attorney's office believes the grand jury will indict her. >> look at the beautiful sunshine on our hd towercam and warm as yesterday. >> not as nice as yesterday but a storm system could dump rain on your neighborhood. >> that front that came through and dropped the rain last night it moved through and it busted the door open. look at the cold air pouring in. high pressure building in from the west. and that is going to drive our temperatures below freezing tonight. if you have the plants sitting around the house think about bringing them inside and protecting them. but we are running 19-21 colder than at this time yesterday and 30 colder right now around boone and blowing rock than they were at this time yesterday. the hd towercam, the sun did not help much today as we stayed in the low 50s and still have a brisk wind and gusts 20-25-miles-per-hour over the last few hours. if you are heading out be aware it's breezey and that wind-chill temperatures in the 440s nort

brody o'connell is in albemarle talking with investigators who are searching hern's home. what they found coming up new at 6:00. >> an ms13 gang member pleads guilty in the killing of a map in charlotte. christian pena interred a guilty plead in murder and the aid of rackateering. he admitted killing hernandez. he is one of 37 people federal agents picked up in may of 2015. pena facing life in prison. >>> congresswoman alma adams is so committed to representing north carolina's 12th district she is moving here to charlotte. she lives in greensboro was in charlotte to make that announcement. while she was here she made time to talk to a family fighting the deportation of a cms student. dedrick russell is live at the government center. how did the meeting go? >> well, family members say it went well. they are still praying for a miracle and admit it's going to be tough to keep that teenager with the family here in but they are hoping congresswoman alma adams can make a different. earlier this year, 19-year-old jeffrey was picked up by immigration officials in front of his ho

brody o'connell is live in albemarle where police believe the murder took place. any idea what the detectives >> good evening so far no list of items that were removed. but if you look you can see beck actives are -- detectives are on scene and they have been here for hours and they did find significant evidence that will be of use in the investigation. investigators spent hours this afternoon going through the home where they believe tony hearne may have killed his uncle robert hearne, jr. known as tico. as investigators work the crime scene tico's friends stopped by to pay their respects. >> i heard about it yesterday and i went to church and cried. and just sad. >> tony hearne has a long history with the law. we caught up with him in 1997 when he was convicted of dog fighting charges. records show he then moved on to drugs, he served hard time. and now today investigators were searching hearne's home for evidence, linked to a much more serious crime.

brody o'connell live outside the courthouse with more on this. why just one day for cannon? >> well, from what i heard in court and what the assistant district attorney said after the hearing, i think the judge believes patrick cannon that he vertically. he will have the one day to he is serving. >> within minutes patrick cannon entered his guilty plea to a class one misdemeanor charge of attempted voter fraud. cannon used the opportunity to address the court. >> i want to thank you for the opportunity i hate to come here under these circumstances. but i want to apologize to the court for doing and thank the court for indulging mement. >> the judge ordered cannon to serve one day in jail which will time. after the ruling the assistant district attorney felt the punishment was just. >> we felt like it was circumstances. he was very forthright. he admitted what he did. he faced consequences. and his vote did not count. >> the attorney made a brief statement. ferguson said this case shines a light on a bigger issue in the disenfranchisement of felons. >> we are a country now th

wbtv's brody o'connell is on your side with information to help you stay safe and travel smart. >> charlotte douglas international airport is a busy airport and saw 45 million travelers last year alone. now with the busy spring season upon us coupled with the terrorist attacks in brussels, airport officials say security

brody o'connell live outside the courthouse with more on this. why just one day for cannon? >> well, from what i heard in court and what the assistant district attorney said after the hearing, i think the judge believes patrick cannon that he vertically. he will have the one day to

live in charlotte, brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> thank you. and it's been almost two years since cannon resigned office in march of 2014. he was indicted after a federal investigation. cannon accepted cash from an undercover agent. began a a 44-month long prison sentence. his promised release date is january of next year. >> on top of breaking news. a shooting in the heart of uptown charlotte. crime scene tape in a parking lot across from the transit center and close to time warner cable arena where the hornets play tonight. one person was hurt and another person is in police custody. and coleen harry is live in uptown. police still on the scene there? >> yes, except for one police cruiser. most officers cleared the scene. the officers and the detectives converged on this area. the call came in at 3:30 for a shooting on brevard street and police found a young man lying in a parking lot he had been shot several times. medic transported him to the hospital and an hour-and-a-half ago we were told he was life-threatening. condition. police found t

tonight at 5:00 brody o'connell finds the connection between all of the people involved. >> moving out of the first alert forecast important stuff to talk about here as well. we are tracking the potential for heavy rain and snow in the mountains. i'm here with meteorologist leigh brock. >> that is what march is about. we are in the transition period we could be warm one day and cold one day. it looks beautiful today. here is your camera, you can see as far as the eye can see. blue skies it is gorgeous outside but it's cooler today than it was yesterday. we have the breeze blowing most areas 5-15-mile-per-hour winds right now. temperatures are cool. and especially compared to-yesterday when we were in the 70s. we are at 53 in charlotte. 48 in statesville. 51 in shelby and 55 in lancaster and just how much cooler it is now than 24 hours ago. places close to 20 cooler. almost 3 0 cooler in boone that is what a cold front can do. those cool temperatures they are here to stay for a little bit. clear skies and clouds in the highest elevations. here is for the evening hours, 52 that is your 5

. >> that was brody o'connell reporting. go to wbtv.com to read more about the investigation into the shootings. you'll also find our interview with a mother of five who was shot in the hand. the bullet still lodged in her hand tonight. why the woman says she lives in fear. >>> new on prime time, an accused m.s.13 member pleaded guilty in court today. danielle navarro was one of 16 men rounded up by cmpd officers, fbi and investigators with homeland security last may. their charges range from re-entering the country after being deported after a conviction and others include navarro faces seven counts and a maximum of life in prison if found guilty. when navarro last june, he said he was inspect. another accused gang member caesar perez entered a plea deal. both men's pleas will now have to be approved by the district judge. >>> tonight a very troubling case of a teenager allegedly lured into a group beating. even worse it was caught on camera. police say other teens pulled out their phones and recorded it. snowflake -- some

live at cmpd headquarters brody o'connell wbtv on your side. >> and thank you. police are asking witnesses to come forward if they can help in these investigations. if you know anything maybe you saw something call crimestoppers... >> new information at 5:00 on a about. this woman candace helms was killed yesterday in a crash on highway 50 in lincoln county. her two children were hurt in the crash. today we talked to the family's pastor and he told us the two boys are out of the hospital and expected to be ok. the family's van david boyd was served with misdemeanor death by vehicle. >> right now a woman charged with sex crimes against a child is facing charges for intimidating a witness. detectives say 43-year-old amanda collins offered to pay a witness a large sum of money to retract her statement. collins was charged with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child. >> and donald trump appears well on his way to the republican nomination for president. and hillary clinton is moving ahead on the democratic side despite a loss to bernie sanders in michiga

. >> reporter: brody owe come has -- brody o'connell has more details in this case on "primetime." >> she put the woman's body in a wheel bear row and wheeled her out to a burn pile. >> reporter: details about the triple homicide is spreading. tonight we have a better understanding of what happened according to policegiovani and stephanie were found shot to death. >> we believe they were shot inside the house in a bedroom and then one of the victims, the female was moved downstairs. >> reporter: police are trying to figure out how the victims knew each other. they say they met on-line. >> this is something we will take our time with. i would say weeks. computers can be tricky to get into the pass words. >> they are confident they have the right person in custody. crystalgambino made her first appearance. details of the triple homicide are hard to take for this community of. >> couldn't believe it. you hear all kind of rumors and finally figured out what happened. it is a bad situation.

wbtv's brody o'connell has their reago new on "primetime. >> reporter: union school leaders are keeping tight lipped and they told wbtv said all questions about the alleged assault on a student should be directed to the monroe police department. but parents want to know more

i'm brody o'connell. >> good morning i'm lyndsay tapases. >> here we are it is the first day of spring. >> and cooler did you notice? >> definitely noticed that. >> noticeably cooler than the last several mornings. >> i was happy to stop running the a.c. and i shut the a.c. off. >> i know a lot of people have tried to wait but it was this the 80s. so we're cooling things back off now. this morning we're starting out in the 40s and tonight we'll be down into the 30s for the first time in quite some time so it is cool. we have rain that moved through yesterday and although by the looks of it all the rain is off to the east this morning. don't let that fool you because there are going to be showers so we're going to have a scattered water chance cloudy but cooler will be the big factor. we did manage to get into the 60s yesterday. our highs will be in the 50s. >> definitely cold about the details. >> happy sunday. all right let's take a look at top headlines this morning. we start with a crime alert. police in charlotte are searching for the people who shot and killed two men in the last

i'm brody o'connell. >> good morning i'm lyndsay tapases. >> it's 6:00 a.m. and field like 5:00 a.m.. >> i'm so grateful to change the time -- i didn't see who did it. >> jeremy takes care of us. >> way to go. because that's the worst when you're looking up there. >> my phone clock go there the outside of the phone has changed like my internal clock when i open it up hasn't changed. >> but your alarm was fine? >> i couldn't sleep because i was afraid of screwing that up. >> i'm more wide awake than i usually am because i never fell enough about us. sunrise will be seven 36 and sunset at 7:30 -- so we finally got that extra hour in the evening which is great but we're not going to see the sun today so we're going to have a cloudy and wet close to the weekend. we'll show you the radar and what you can expect for the second half of the weekend forecast in a few. >> sound good. let's get to your top headlines in campaign 16. four candidates will be here in and around charlotte area head of tuesday primary day. later this afternoon ted cruz is set to hold a rally

i'm brody o'connell. >> good morning i'm lindsey tapases. >> for those of you watching it's palm sunday. -- last audio. >> i think yesterday we're not going to have a lot of sun today. and it's going to be shower are. >> you made the point earlier it's ironic this is the start of spring because it's cold this morning and it's going to be colder tomorrow morning. >> usually by spring you're coming out of winter and you're itching for it to be spring and not been the case for us because it's been so warm this month and today is going to be the coolest day that we've seen since again about the fourth or fifth of this month so over two weeks time and that's going to put us in the low 50s for highs. we're in the low 40s. cooler this morning and afternoon. the shower coverage will be 40 percent. it looks like the showers will be scattered this afternoon and perhaps light rain moving through there. on tonight morning hours will be the driest time period of the day but we actually have freeze warning and freeze watch in some areas tonight. we'll be down in 30s and show you that and talk about t

i'm brody o'connell. >> good morning i'm lyndsay tapases. >> it is a cool start to this sunday morning but it sounds like if you liked yesterday today is not going to be too bad. >> if you liked yesterday today will be better. >> today will be better. >> at least. low 60s. >> we did 60 but it clouded over and it started to feel cooler but today it will be in the low 60s. so it should feel a little warmer today. we're starting out this morning in the 40s. we're going to be 44 around 8:00 o'clock through the early morning hours. by noon up to 61 and even if you do wake up to cloudiness to start things off this morning west of charlotte you may that's going clear out pretty quickly. so we've got the afternoon through the early evening full on sun. so it's going to feel really nice and then we get warmer from here. so we've got 60s and 70s for most of this week. we'll talk about that in just a few. >> right now let's get to headlines. we start with a crime alert. we're working to learn more about a robbery in charlotte. there was a foot chase possibly drugs involved at the scene we'll stay