it was an accident. it was not a crime. >> former b.a.r.t. police officer, johannes mehserle, and his attorney were back in court today to argue that he should not have been convicted in the killing of oscar grant. this tv exclusive is one of the top stories. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. but we begin with breaking news out of san jose, where police are searching for a possible gunman on a high

school campus. newschopper2 is live over the scene right now at independence high school on edge cakessal park drive. that's near mayberry road and north jackson avenue. san jose police say about two hours ago, they received unconfirmed reports of a student with a gun on campus. officers are searching the grounds of the school right now to try to determine if the reports were valid and if so, to capture the gunman. again, this is a love pick from newschopper2, panned in on police officers, a cruiser, down at the high school. and now getting a shot of the whole campus. we'll bring you any new information on the story as it becomes available. our other top story, the former b.a.r.t. officer convicted of killing oscar grant was back in court. ktvu was the only tv station covering the hearing. noelle walker joins us live.

>> the court appeals process began here today up there on the 4th floor of this state building as former b.a.r.t. police officer johannes mehserle tries to get his involuntary manslaughter conviction overturned for the new year's eve 2009 shooting for b.a.r.t. passenger oscar grant. only on 2, our tv station was the only crew to get footage of mehserle as he left court. he sat stoic during the arguments in front of the three- judge panel, whether he should get a new trial. the attorney general aoffice is handling the a -- general's office is handling the appeal. they declined to speak on camera. but they said the jurors rightfully convicted johannes mehserle for the gross negligence and not for a mistake. now, defense attorneys say they have evidence that other officers have made the same

mistake without being charged criminally. >> absolutely not. this was simply an accident and in california, where people make accidents as we know police officers have made the same accident in nine other cases, there have been no other criminal prosecutions. this was an accident it was not a crime. the defense attorney says mehserle's goal is to get a new trial and to get acquitted and then to work again in law enforcement. right now, mehserle is working as a handyman. he has one month left in his parole. this three-judge panel that heard the oral arguments said have 90 days -- today have 90 day to make a decision. his attorneys have said they will appeal all the way to the supreme court. noelle walker, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. you can read more about the

background of the shooting death. go to ktvu.com. there were more tense moments this morning at the occupy protests taking place at a uc urban farm. tam joins us live from the farm in ab albany to explain where the two sides stand now. >> reporter: police put up two concrete barriers and they've been standing guard ever since this morning but protesters are not budging. >> every day the police come out that he read a notice. they've never threatened with chemicals or substance with us. >> reporter: protesters say uc police set up a blockade and told them not to interfere. occupy says they will pitch nightfall in a different part of the land. in the meantiming they will continue to farm the land owned by the university. >> when i see these people

here, i see them as heroes. >> reporter: this retired man says -- >> we need to preserve the open space. we don't need another shopping center. the university has basically ignored urban agriculture. so this is an opportunity for them to do it. >> reporter: this morning, students watered crops by hand. they say police ordered out all vehicles including trucks used to haul water into the farm. now only foot traffic is allowed. students say because the university shut off their water. their job is incredibly hard. >> but without vehicular homicide we don't have a way to move things onto the land. so today we're planning on carrying buckets. >> reporter: uc berkeley issued a statement saying our faculty made it clear that retear requiring ma tick cue lus supervision and attention to detail cannot be conducted with encampments who don't have the

knowledge, experience to justify their around-the-clock process. as you can see, these are the big tanks that they would bring in. that are not allowed anymore and these are the buckets they are bringing by hand now making their jobs very difficult, as you heard them say. tam, ktvu channel 2 news. back to you. >> thank you. the body of a male student was found at the base of tal hall last night. police are still investigating how he died. but early evidence indicates it could be a suicide. authorities are not released the student's name but other cal students have already set up a memorial page on facebook. rohnert park police hope to name a suspect as they continue to investigate. the family had not heard from

the victim since thursday and they asked police to check on her. once inside her home, officers say they found evidence of a violent crime. police say the woman's white toyota highlander was missing. the license plate is 5 sgc 869. anyone with information is asked to call police. richmond police say a shooting this morning left a man in critical condition. officers say they found a man in his car on an drade -- andid the rade -- andrade avenue. investigators don't know who shot him. another search is underway for sierra lamar but there's new home. police found a major clue. alex savidge joins us live from near morgan hill to let us know what searchers are focusing on today. >> reporter: well, when i talked to sierra's mom this morning, she had a new sense of

optimism and that's because investigators found a car any believe is directory lived to her abduction -- linked to her abduction. and we saw volunteers searching for evidence most varied by this significant -- motivated by this significant new development. volunteers scoured the brush along highway 101 near bailey avenue this morning, hoping to find that next piece of evidence that can lead investigators to sierra lamar. >> they did get a clue. that's given them hope. so maybe we can generate some more clues from that clue and hopefully solve this thing and bring sear home. >> reporter: everyone out here excited to hear investigators have located this red volkswagen jetta seen investigator times on surveillance cameras. the sheriff's office is not saying where the car was found or if detectives are focusing on the registered owner but investigators say they have every reason to believe sierra

is still arrive. especially since you are searching and you've been here several times. something like this makes you think you are gonna get somewhere. so it feels good. >> reporter: at the search commander center, marlene lamar, bowed her head and held hands with volunteers. the discovery of this car has her feeling positive. >> i'm hopeful. i'm very optimistic. until sierra comes back, we're all praying and the faith is there. >> reporter: it's been nearly two months since sierra disappeared. the 15-year-old was last seen just before she was supposed to catch the bus to school. her mom says she's a inspired by the sores of other missing -- stories of other missing children who eventually came home safe. >> elizabeth smart was recovered nine months later. i think about that story and that definitely makes me cling onto hope. >> reporter: turnout has been strong so far this morning in morgan hill. about 0 volunteers already

involved in today's search and another search will be happening on saturday. just within the last hour, the sheriff's investigators made an announcement and essentially what they've said, they've been in contact with police departments in san jose and walnut creek, checking with those departments about cases that may hold some similarities they say to the sierra lamar investigation. so far, no direct connections with been found yet. alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. police are still investigating the death of a 13- year-old boy, nathan streub was killed as he rode his skateboard last night just after 5:15 last night. he was a student and police notified the district of his death. this is video -- this is video this morning as students arrived to school, where nathan's mother is a teacher. they are mobilizes resources to

help everyone get through this difficult time. >> we have substitutes to relieve teachers. we have grief counselors and our crisis team has mobilized. so they are here to help students get through the day and to help our teachers make it through today and beyond. >> a memorial that's growing at kara place where the accident happened, cards there to express concole lenses. he was wearing a helmet -- condolences. he was wearing a helmet when his head side the side of the car. he got a whiff of a chemical smell coming from across the street in the back of this pickup truck. a chemical scare landed for hours on the peninsula. you may be surprised to learn what happened. the bay area continues to cool down. mark tamayo will be here to tell you if the lower temperatures will reach your

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♪america ♪ america >> oakland police are holding an emotional tribute this noon to honor officers who have made the ultimate sacrifices. officers' friends and family members walked to a gathering for the 16th annual police officers' memorial. the ceremony honors oakland police officers killed in the line of duty. >> officers here, the families of those who passed away want to remember and acknowledge the sacrifices these officers have made for the department, for their fellow officers and also for the citizens of oakland. 51 oakland police officers have died in the line of duty since 1867. all of their names are etched in a special memorial wall. a suspicious chemical smell triggered a hazmat scare this morning on the peninsula. it all began when a sheriff's deputy got a whiff of a chemical smell coming -- coming from a pickup truck parked outside of a business on edison way in menlo park. the deputy discovered a man was

using a dangerous chemical to refine gold in the back of the truck. there were also -- there was also an extension cord running from the building to the truck to power the operation. the fire department was asked to respond but called in a hazardous materials -- materials team. >> the person was heating gold and the gold was in the beakers. it's chromatic acid. >> that acid is used to brighten gold and is considered carson o-- carsen ogenic -- carson0genic. these are foe -- photos from ktvu. muni has stopped service on the n-judah line because of the

street closure. shuttle buzzes are being run around the area. there are no reports of evacuations and pg&e says repairs on the line should be completed this hour. the investigation in berkeley continues into an overnight fire at a popular restaurant. it started around 11:00 last night at the flavors of india restaurant on college avenue. investigators say the fire started in the kitchen and quickly spread through the entire restaurant. the restaurant was closed at the time and no one was hurt. but the flames did cause major damage. fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause. contra costa county firefighters are investigating a fire in unincorporated san pablo. firefighters say around midnight, an unknown devicic nighted after being thrown on the driveway of a home on shamrock avenue. they say no one was hurt and the flames were contained in the driveway. the residents said they didn't know why their house was targeted. overnight the authorities

searched for a house near market street. they didn't find anything but we're told surveillance video showed the train pitting -- hitting a pedestrian who tumbled down an embankment. but the individuals got up and ran away. investigators have been checking local hospitals to make sure the person is okay. cost plus will soon have a new opener at a price tag of $495 million. bed, beth&beyond announced it's buying the stores. the two companies had already been cooperating in the past two years with cost plus operating specialty food departments in some bed, bath b beyond&beyond stores. the group calling it self "stand with oakland" organized an event at preservation park.

it comes one day before the deadline of one of two recall petitions to mayor quan. >> i'm pleased at the polls and the opposition shows that the recall wouldn't pass. i have my friends and colleagues and the coalition have started another poll which issjust briefly been briefed on and those numbers are better for me in else test recall. >> backers of recall -- in terms of the recall. if it's been a bit too hot for you, we have relief. the fog making a comeback first thing in the morning. primarily first side here. it will wring in -- it will bring in cooling relief.

there is our picture. this is around monterey bay. still ling gering patch around the san mateo county coastline for pacifica out toward the golden gate like we just showed you, and around stenson beach. forecast headlines for today, we do have this -- sunny skies and breezy, still some patchy coastal fog out there. tomorrow still pretty much the same deal with the temperatures on the warm side inland. this weekend we do warm back up with increasing -- with an increase in sunshine. could approach the 90-degree mark once again. here is a look at some of the current numbers. san francisco right now, 59 degrees. san jose at 72 and right around 80 degrees in livermore at last check for the 12:00 hour. high pressure has been the key player over the past few days. there is one weak system up to the north. this cold front -- typically when we talk about a cold front, we association it with

-- associate it with rain but that won'ting the race. 60s 70s, warmest locations around 85 to 86 degrees. and then tomorrow, not too much change but once this system moves out and it will, we begin to warm things back up on friday and right into the weekend. forecast highs this afternoon, just nice. you can see santa rosa at 80 degrees antioch mid-80s and downtown san francisco in the mid-60s. a bit of a breeze kicks in in the afternoon, a typical sea breeze, the timing always targeting the late afternoon, we could have winds from around 10 to 20 miles an hour. san jose at 80 and morgan hill in the 80s. here is a look ahead of a -- a look ahead at your five-day forecast. the temperatures do burn up for -- bump up for friday and saturday. a lot of sunshine. temperatures on track to reach the upper 60s for the beaches.

mid- to upper 80s inland. i'm tempted to say no more rain for the rest of the season. once i say that, the forecast models change their mind but at least for now it looks try. breaking news out of washington, d.c. where president obama a short time ago told an interviewer that he supports same-sex marriage. he's the first president to come out in support of gays and lesbians getting married. his comments come after vice president joe biden voiced his support for same-sex unions. mr. obama had previously said his personal views on the issue were evolving. a position that had frustrated his supporters in the gay rights movement. a los angeles county judge this morning overturned a small claims settlement of nearly $10,000 against american honda motor company. a small claims commissioner had ruled in favor of hector peters who claimed honda had misrepresented the mileage her vehicle could achieve but on

appeal, the mileage estimates are for comparable purpose only and there are too many variables to hold the manufacturer responsible for the vehicle.

wall street shaking off the worse of an early selloff after the dow fell as many as 184

points this morning. the key averages are modestly lower due possibly to some bargain hunting. the dow is down 71. nasdaq is down 7. s&p down 6. the continuing fallout at yahoo! over the controversy surrounding the official resume of the ceo. board member patty heart says she will not run for reelection to yahoo!'s board. heart led the committee that hired scott thompson as yahoo!'s chief executive last year. his resume has periodically included a bachelor's degree which he did not earn. the company is not commenting on heart's decision. the number of people using the carpool lanes on bay area toll bridges continues to drop. the trend started nearly two years ago when carpools had to start paying a discounted toll. within a week, the number of carpoolers dropped 26% and so far this year, it's down 10% more. however, the number of cars crossing the seven-state

operated toll bridges is up about 1.5%. tonight at 5:00, the search for sierra lamar. in just an hour, a new search will begin for clues in the case. a new round of searchers are gathering. this as we try to uncover new information about the latest clue in the case and that would be this car. thank you for joining us. we will see you the next time news breaks. be sure to join us again at 5:00. also we're all here for you at ktvu.com. and mobile ktvu.com.