like a pinata. just kind of flew out after this takedown at a target store, the sacramento district attorney charged ningning sun with attempted grand theft. investigators accused sun of quietly taking thousands of gift cards off store shelves, then putting them back. but only after someone tampered with them to steal the money. a shopper would later load on the cards. the way that this is done is very sophisticated. the cards are taken without any sort of value on them. they're tampered with in a way that is not detectable, and then they're reshelved. sun's case seemed unusual even to the deputies who arrested him. we weren't sure initially what he was doing when we were watching him on camera. but since then, police told me they seized almost 1900 cards from the two suspects. our teams combed through dozens of news reports. they located the suspect vehicle and found four huge bags full of gift cards and police reports coast to coast deputies in the low country say

they found nearly 7000 gift cards. we found at least two dozen other recent cases where cops have arrested people with a huge number of gift cards, believed to be compromised from 800 cards seized in ventura county just a week ago to a whopping 6900 gift card haul in south carolina in march. in all, we've found more than 30 arrests plus more than 45,000 cards collectively confiscated in at least 12 cities and states, including plano, texas. it's not just a plano situation. it is a worldwide situation. just like us, detectives are connecting a growing number of dots. our phones blew up. we were getting calls from all over the united states, sacramento detective andy carter says. and we have confirmed that a federal investigation is now underway under the name operation red hook. homeland security is

working with local law enforcement to connect gift card cases. carter says this unusual theft that first appeared on our radar with ningning sun in sacramento could total billions. there's no one person doing it. it's clearly a group of people who are fairly well organized and have some financial backing to be able to operate a large scale operation. despite so many arrests, carter believes thieves are still targeting gift card racks, and they're all using the same playbook. the stores that are being targeted are similar. the types of cards that are being targeted are similar. the method of tampering with the cards is similar. ningning sun remains in jail. he has not entered a plea and his attorney has not responded to us. sun is due back in court in three weeks and we plan to be there to protect yourself. detectives suggest you buy gift cards

online or from stores that lock them up. lock them up. you can take some other steps to protect your balance. we made a video showing you how it is on our website and our youtube page. most important, raj and jess is to simply spend the balance as soon as possible before the thieves steal it from. we all have those cards sitting in that drawer in the kitchen somewhere. we got to spend those things exactly because there might be nothing on it. now yeah, i have like ten jamba juice cards i've got to get. i've got to get slurping. yeah, exactly. thanks, chris. okay, let's move on now. possible hate crime in san francisco, targeting a black family. investigators are looking for evidence from a house fire near alamo square. this is the same home that someone has been sending racist packages to. detectives have not figured out if the racist mail and this fire are connected and don't know if the fire was intentionally set, but a police bomb squad is on the case. the three unit. the three story home caught fire just before noon today and quickly was engulfed in flames. two people were rescued and were rushed to a

local hospital, one of them in serious condition. tonight, both of those people are the parents of terry williams. this don't feel good right now, you know, because i'm like, i'm his only son. so i feel like i should have been here, you know, i could have stopped, prevented anything. you know, that's terry right there. he was at city hall when this fire started to watch supervisors vote on a resolution denouncing the racist mail that he's been getting. williams is a well-known dog walker. the neighborhood recently put together a rally to support him and his family because of those racist packages and mail. let's take it to the east bay now. he may be the san leandro's youngest murder suspect ever. tonight, a 13 year old boy has been charged with the stabbing death of another teenager. this all began with an interaction at a safeway there in san leandro. here's nbc's jodi hernandez, an alameda county middle schooler is in custody here at juvenile hall accused of stabbing to death another teenager at the grocery store. police say it all

started over a dispute with the teenager he didn't even know. you have to learn to be able to take a breath, take a deep breath, take a step back from things that are just not worth going down a path of escalation, and then you end up with something that you can't take back. but police say a teenager took the wrong approach to a confrontation that will impact two families forever. they arrested a 13 year old boy at his middle school last week for the fatal stabbing death of 18 year-old zion gooden inside this san leandro safeway store on april 2nd. surveillance footage was very helpful. it showed almost everything that happened and we were able to get still images and provide ultimately, that that led to the identification of our suspect. police say it all began with a dispute between the teens over an interaction between the 13 year old and gooden's female friend, and escalated into violence. it's frustrating to see that someone i mean, on both sides. you have an 18 year old

that lost her life and you have a 13 year old now with a life altering crime, 13 years old. that's horrific. shoppers who frequent the san leandro store are horrified and heartbroken that such a young kid could allegedly resort to that level of aggression. when you think of 13, you think of them playing ball and at the park and with family and that's the last thing you think about. a 13 year old being a part of and wanting to be a part of. extremely sad. it's so tragic to hear that youths are spending their time hurting one another, instead of loving and appreciating each other and appreciating life. period. police say the boy was arraigned yesterday on one count of murder. meanwhile the case has left folks in san leandro rattled some say it's a sign bay area youth need more support and guidance. and i just hope and pray one day that this all this stops because it's very hurtful to see, very senseless to see

families go through these, tragedy or violent crimes amongst each other in san leandro. jodi hernandez nbc bay area news san jose police, meanwhile, are looking for the victims. in this case, it's an assault that happened at an ice cream shop back in april 26th at the baskin-robbins at aborn square off capital expressway. watch this video. the victim is a man, a child. they walk into the shop, they sit down, and then a man punches the outside window behind him, breaking the window. shattered glass falls all over the child. police say that pam, a safari, was the one who punched the window. he was arrested last week and booked on charges of child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. but the man and the boy, the victims in this case left the store before the assault was even reported. so now police are hoping to track them down. two farms at the center of the half moon bay mass shooting are now being ordered to pay for workplace violations that shooting happened last year and

it stunned the community authorities say that chung lee zhao opened fire at two different mushroom farms, killing seven people. after the shooting. still, the department of labor began investigating both of those farms. they now say they discovered workers living in horrible conditions on the farm. they say they also learned that the owners illegally took out housing costs from wages. now, the department says it's reached a settlement with both farms. the owners are ordered to pay 62 workers, nearly half $1 million. a victory for grassroots efforts in redwood city faith action bay area. that's an organization says it has enough signatures to put a rent control measure on the november ballot. today, the group gathered at city hall to hand deliver more than 6000 signatures to the san mateo county clerk. the signatures still need to be verified, but if the measure makes it on the ballot and voters pass it, it would limit annual rent increases, increases and limit evictions. and we need to do something to keep our community diverse, have all the beauty that we have in a diverse

population, and we want to support people so they can stay here. we reached out to the county for comment, but not have not yet heard back. well, it's been fixed. an intersection in newark that didn't appear on google maps can now finally be seen. the road where newark boulevard and jarvis avenue meet recently just disappeared. some businesses in the area say it was hurting their bottom line because people couldn't find them. we checked google maps this afternoon and now it is visible. as for why it disappeared in the first place, google says it was a glitch and that it sometimes happens. a deadly international flight today, singapore airlines is offering condolences and an apology after one of its flights got caught in severe turbulence. here's what we know. flight 321 hit sudden, severe turbulence about ten hours into that journey from london to singapore, dozens of passengers were injured and one had an apparent heart attack as that plane fell close to 6000ft

within minutes. at 29,000ft tall, you have the maximum level of winds flowing around the tops. of those mountains, and that air is rising and falling and twisting. and if you're downwind from those mountains, you're going to get turbulence. airline analysts say they're seeing more severe turbulence during flights these days. some say it's due to climate change. all of them say, though, you should keep your seatbelt on during the entire flight. now coming up at 630, we have more details from the singapore airlines plane. nbc's tom costello continues our coverage of this rare occurrence with reaction from passengers who witnessed it all. that's coming up on nightly news in about 20 minutes. up next, indigenous women in some tribal communities facing murder rates ten times the national average. the rallying cry in the south bay to bring an end to this crisis. also, he's fed the east bay for years and even served the warriors. now the community is

uniting to support the head chef and owner of oakland's la perla as he battles liver cancer. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri . we do have some fog returning for tomorrow morning. we'll take you through what to expect and the colder changes on the way. and what's happening with rainfall in about nine minutes this evening. we're covering allegations of fraud over a reported unpaid debt as elvis's graceland suddenly appears to be up for sale. also, the hollywood star finding her voice where she least expected it on an ai chat box with scarlett johansson, is sayi

a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet.

we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today! today, the indian health center of santa clara valley held a news conference in front of city hall. it started with what you see there, the traditional dance and prayer. california has the fifth highest rate of missing and murdered indigenous people

in the united states, the center says. that includes two local women murdered in the past year, a 2016 report by the national crime information center found more than 5700 indigenous women reported to be missing in the united states. advocates say those numbers are often underreported or flat out ignored by law enforcement. murder is a third leading cause of death for american indian and alaska native women and girls ages 10 to 24. the number may be higher, but we don't know because data is not collected or it's not collected correctly. it's a big problem, city council member peter ortiz says 70% of all indigenous people live in urban areas across the u.s, including san jose. the oakland community stepping up to support a popular chef who fed the warriors during the 2019 nba finals and he's helped lead conversations on safety for businesses. that's chef is now

undergoing cancer treatment. nbc bay area's velena jones shows us what people throughout the town are doing to raise the spirits and keep his business afloat. will myint mofongo, la perla puerto rican cuisine in oakland, california jose ortiz, affectionately known as chef chico, is the heart and soul of la perla, puerto rican cuisine in oakland. what we have for you, papa loca. he's taking a break from the kitchen after being diagnosed with liver cancer. doctors found two inoperable tumors. the diagnosis comes after years of living with constant stomach pain. i feel, much better now that i know what i have and i've been dealing with this problem for the past two and a half years. go through many, many doctors and nobody, nobody could have figured out what was wrong with me. this month. ucsf doctors performed an aggressive form of radiation on

the chef in an effort to kill the cancer cells. he's now in a two week quarantine, but is already planning on when he'll be back cooking. i feel very ultimate that i can't be coming in strong. i got to get out this. family members say less foot traffic due to fears from crime, combined with the worry and expenses of jose's treatment, are taking a toll. you hear the news around oakland. things are hard right now and you know with everything going on, it's, it's a lot. we're just trying to, put ourselves out there so we can get the support, get my dad through this. a gofundme set up to help with medical bills, specialized care and any other needs has already received thousands in donations. gofundme is just a little bit. but, i mean, i think the most important is to have my father see the support that he has, a support fueling jose's determination to get back in the kitchen. as long that you're breathing and you'll

be able to move, don't give up, and continued to help lift up his community, they tell me that i'm not done yet and that motivate me to get out this house and keep running toward my goal. they finished this project and get back to the community in oakland. velena jones nbc, bay area news. well, we wish him well for sure. all right, let's take you outside now. give you a downtown look of san jose. downtown san jose looks sunny, looks nice. it's like that's like barbecue weather right now. i'll be outside. it's you know, if it was only saturday right now, that would that would make it really good. we are looking at some nice weather even into tomorrow, but those temperatures will continue to drop here as we roll through the next couple of days. let me show you more details on that microclimate forecast, and we'll show you where the rainfall is headed to. and as we get a look at the weather pattern, we have this area of high pressure still going to keep us on the warm side. sunshine here through

tomorrow, but the other thing that we're looking at at the same time here is this system dropping down over washington and oregon. so with that getting closer, it will help numbers to cool off a few degrees for tomorrow. also, bring back some morning fog. but i think overall it's going to be a lot more comfortable. today might have been just a little bit too hot for you, tomorrow is really going to be perfect out here. so as we started off, we'll see some fog near the coastline peninsula a little bit for the east bay and down there towards gilroy as well as we head into the afternoon sunshine here for most of us, except around half moon bay, some of our beaches still looking at some fog lingering now as you roll through tomorrow morning's forecast, we're going to start it off here with plenty of low 50s throughout the bay area. not too many changes here. so if you're driving from one location to another, it's going to feel just about the same here through the morning. you'll see in san francisco, we're going to start off with 52 and over to the east bay 53 temperatures as we head through tomorrow with that system just off to the north, we'll begin to cool off by about 4 to 8 degrees. so as i mentioned, i think it's really

just going to put us into that much better range here for tomorrow. 78 in san jose 79, los gatos, 77 in gilroy for the east bay. we're cooling it off to 72. in oakland, up to vallejo, 77 and antioch. that will be one of the warmest still at 84. we have a chilly 59 in half moon bay. daly city, 63, and then out here to redwood city, 71, san francisco, 69, in the mission, then up towards the marina. that cold ocean breeze will put us to 58 and for the north bay 80 here in napa, 80 in ukiah and 82 in santa rosa. so we're still, you know, on the warm side, a little bit above average for tomorrow. but all of that is going to change by saturday. we get this cold front dropping down and it looks good enough for about a 20 degree drop for a lot of the bay area look at this trend here on thursday. san jose's at 77. by saturday 65 degrees. but the best part about this it's a one day event here for us. we'll warm it up to 72 sunday and by memorial day on monday up to 77. and we should stay with the

trend of 70 in san jose through next week. now, when it comes to those colder temperatures on saturday, i did want to show you we are tracking some rainfall here in the west right now. everything shows it staying up towards washington and oregon. we'd see about another quarter to a half inch of rainfall for them. we'll keep an eye on it, but right now we do not have any chances of rain coming our way this weekend, speaking of rainfall, i wanted to show you, if you're doing any traveling. another round of severe weather from dallas to oklahoma city, little rock, saint louis, louisville, right up towards columbus, and even down towards nashville. tomorrow we could see more tornadoes and certainly some strong thunderstorms on our 7-day forecast. we'll cool it off to some 50s here this weekend in san francisco, 58 on saturday. and for the inland valleys, we're at 67 on saturday. and then we get that rebound to 70 sunday and monday. so here we go. a little bit of a wild ride, but it looks comfortable for the for the holiday. oh that's a that's a great stretch right there. thanks jeff. well up next a new investigation into the death of

friends star matthew perry. the detail from the coroner's report now at the center of that investigation a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet.

we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today!

mean that the coroner says killed him. friends actor died at his la. home back in october. his assistant found him unresponsive in his hot tub. perry was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to deal with depression and anxiety. now he'd

had his last infusion a week and a half before his death. the coroner's report, though, revealed the amount of ketamine in his blood in the range used for anesthesia during surgery. so it was likely not linked to that infusion. now, the question is, how did he have such a high level of ketamine? it was listed as the primary cause of death. another legendary bay area company announcing layoffs. this time it's pixar, headquartered in emeryville. pixar's parent company, disney, says it's laying off 14% of pixar workforce. that's about 175 employees. disney says it wants to focus on quality content instead of quantity. it wants to also make more movies for theaters and less streaming content for disney plus. it's not clear, though, if any of these cuts or how many will in fact affect the employees. there in emeryville. okay, watch this new video out of los angeles a tight rope stunt, more than 40 floors above ground. look at

that, 28 year old benjamin schneider told our nbc station in los angeles that he was creating art when he walked on a slack line at the abandoned oceanwide plaza. you remember that abandoned high rise building across the street from the crypto.com arena, where the lakers play construction stopped on those towers in 2019 when the chinese developer went bankrupt. they're now covered in graffiti and have become a controversial topic in a public safety burden for l.a. city leaders. lapd surrounds the site 24/7, but schneider and his team managed to slip past the officers with a drone camera to capture that tight walk. there's fire trucks underneath me, there's police officers. there's. they were still at the bottom. they didn't come up and do anything. they just were watching from the bottom. i guess the only thing that was going through my mind when i was walking was pretty much just don't look down, don't fall and don't die. yeah, those would be my top three as well. lapd is now investigating the

tightrope stunt. after months in the headlines, the oceanwide plaza building is now up for sale. don't look down. no. and don't fall. up next, one of the giants is crediting that visitor at oracle park recently for the team's recent resurgence. we'll explain. first, let's give you a live look inside rockefeller center. lester holt preparing for nightly news. one of the top stories the defense rests in the former president trump's hush money trial. without calling the former president as a witness. what happened today in court and more. just 3.5 minutes away.

rally pelican, the rally pelican. we knew this was going to happen. yeah. the bird made its first appearance may 11th, causing a delay after landing right in center field. sent social media into frenzy. since then, the giants have won six of eight. elio ramos was called up may 8th and has been making a big impact today on knbr radio. he credited the giants hot streak to the rally pelican. of course, tonight at 7:00 we investigate. close calls between driverless cars and crossing guards. this is happening near schools in san francisco. that story and more coming up on our 7:00 news. up next on nightly news. that rare occurrence in the sky that singapore airlines flight to london hit by severe turbulence causing the death of a passenger and injuring so many others. lester holt joins us in

new york right now with more on that flight. breaking news tonight. the deadly tornado outbreak under way in the central u.s. as we come on the air. the dramatic images, swirling debris as multiple tornadoes are reported in the midwest. the view from above showing major damage, homes destroyed, a neighborhood leveled. 50 million at risk from texas to michigan, and the threat lasting into the night. also tonight, the deadly turbulence on a singapore airlines flight out of london. oxygen masks hanging down, debris in the aisles, blood on the seats. at least one dead, 30 injured. what caused it? donald trump's defense resting its case in the hush money trial without calling hihe