township for a scrimmage monday evening. >> there were times it was very low, no more than ten feet above the players. >> reporter: forcing the refs to delay the game for about 20 minutes. >> as we were in the huddle it started to come over top of us, then everyone's like get this thing off the field. >> i have been coaching for 20 years. definitely haven't dealt with that one before. it raised some concerns just about safety but also about legality. >> reporter: someone called 911 but the drone had flown off by the time police arrived. . >> we were unable to locate the operator of the drone. >> it circled around over our heads. >> reporter: emily had a close encounter with a drone over the weekend on ocean city's fifth street beach. >> you really thought that if something went wrong, you would be injured. it was a little frightening. >> reporter: the faa strongly encourages recreational drone users not to fly near people or stadiums or within five miles of an airport. ocean city's is not nearly that far from the football field.

but police say there's little they can do. >> these are only guidelines. we in law enforcement are waiting for the law makers to give us some enforcement powers to regulate the use of these drones. >> it brings about a sense of you're just uncomfortable as a result of not knowing what the situation really is. >> reporter: police say if something goes wrong, however, and somebody gets injured by a drone, then the operator will be held liable. in ocean city, ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. tracking tropical storm erika. already the storm has killed at least four people in the caribbean island of dominica. people in puerto rico are gearing up for flooding the storm may bring. take a look at the latest hurricane loop. you see where the storm is churning right now. who better to track this storm than our own hurricane expert, nbc 10 first alert chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. glenn? >> it is a relatively weak and

disorganized storm but it's got a lot of rain with it and now that it's going over land masses, it's creating some of that flooding you were talking about. it has been generally moving straight to the west, into the caribbean sea, and generally south of puerto rico. yesterday, remember we were showing you computer models showing it was going to go north of puerto rico? so already, things have changed. it's moving just north of due west at 15 miles an hour, maximum winds of 45 miles an hour. now, there it is. as it moves to the west it's already disorganized. you see these clouds moving real fast? that strong upper level wind, that's really hostile for an environment for any kind of strengthening. so we don't think that this storm is going to strengthen over the next couple of days. the latest track from the hurricane center takes it near very mountainous country, haiti and dominican republic, and then near the bahamas. so it's not going to be able to

strengthen until it would get into this area. if it gets in that area, then conditions become more favorable for strengthening. >> i know the power of this storm has a lot to do with weather it moves over the mountainous terrain. what are the chances erika will fall apart? >> it's already disorganized. it already has that wind shear that's helping to rip it apart. then going over mountains, that's a triple negative for any kind of development. i would say there's at least a 30% chance that it doesn't survive the trip through those mountains, if it goes in that direction. >> we know you will watch it closely. thank you. the next update from the hurricane center comes in at 11:00 tonight. meteorologist sheena parveen will have the latest then. breaking news. a philadelphia sports legend died today in the lehigh valley. former sixers darryl dawkins died this morning. dawkins played 14 seasons in the nba.

he was drafted by the sixers in 1975. he was best known for his slam dunks, even shattering the backboards. dawkins died at a hospital this morning after a heart attack. he was 58 years old. coming up later, a tribute from the sixers. now on "nbc 10 news at 6:00," friendly fire. that's how a chester county deputy became injured this week when a man with a knife attacked him. today, we learned the deputy was accidentally shot by a fellow officer and not injured by this knife. nbc 10's deanna durante joins us live with new details about the attacker who also jumped over the white house fence earlier this year. >> reporter: yeah, the district attorney says both of those deputies are recovering. the deputy who is responsible for the fatal shooting and the deputy who was injured by that friendly fire. now, we have also learned that the attacker showed up here at the chester county justice center on tuesday morning after he had sped away from his house.

>> in this case, it's a justified shooting. >> reporter: district attorney tom hogan released this photo of the knife he says curtis schmidt was using to slash the sheriff's deputy inside the justice center on tuesday. smith arrived before noon yelling something like let's do this. then he went on the attack. >> as the attacker was coming in with a knife and stabbing him in the back, the other deputy sheriff was firing, two rounds hit the person with the knife. the third round actually went through the microphone that's on the front of the chest and then went through and hit the finger of the deputy sheriff. >> reporter: another deputy stepped in and fired three shots. two hit smith, the other injured the deputy under attack. that deputy is recovering tonight. smith has a history with law enforcement. the secret service says he climbed a wall near the white house in march and was charged with unlawful entry. he was arrested again two months later in a domestic case. officers didn't know he was the curtis smith who made news jumping that white house wall. >> it wasn't actually until in the middle of this investigation

post-shooting that somebody finally put all that together. that's because when we ran him through ncic, the white house incident does not show up in his criminal background check. >> reporter: i double-checked with the secret service. they say that that information was entered into the national criminal information data base. i checked back with tom hogan. he says when they ran smith, that information was not there in his profile. so again, there is some dispute here. both deputies tonight, recovering. hogan says they will be back on the job soon. deanna durante, nbc 10 news. a burlington county road is still shut down after a crash that killed two people. skyforce 10 over the scene along route 206 at garden street in southampton. police tell us the impact of that crash flipped over a car. a passenger and a pedestrian are dead. the driver was flown to a hospital. the accident happened around 2:00 this afternoon. traffic trouble for the pope's visit to philadelphia. today, we have learned of road

closures in cherry hill near the woodcrest train station. several roads will be closed on burnt mill road and woodcrest drive. there will also be several roads where you can't park. some people will have to walk nearly a mile to the train station. nbc 10 south jersey bureau reporter cydney long reports from camden county. >> if we get the volume of traffic they are anticipating it will be a nightmare. >> reporter: a traffic nightmare times three. pennsauken and cherry hill police have three areas of major concern for standstill gridlock during the pope's visit. the airport circle where route 70, 38, 30 and 130 converge, a big one. >> if everyone continues to drive like they would on a saturday or sunday afternoon, it's going to gridlock the neighborhoods up marlton pike. >> reporter: traffic will have to turn around at baird boulevard due to the ben franklin bridge closure. a second trouble spot, keeping the betsy ross accessible by means of not allowing cars to cross 130 on union avenue.

>> worst case scenario, total gridlock. >> reporter: number three, cherry hill police chief worries drivers will abruptly abandon cars in neighborhoods near patco's woodcrest station and warns the walk from the overflow lot will be long. both departments already coordinating with tow companies and empty school lots designated to ticket and tow immediately. >> we can't have total traffic congestion, people parking in front of driveways, people parking and blocking fire hydrants, parking on roadways that will cause potential for safety issues. >> reporter: penn sasauken poli will stretch its overtime budget thin to have cops at traffic signals along 130. >> people have to be there to operate traffic lights. >> we have to make preparations and in essence prepare for everything and hope that nothing happens. >> reporter: cherry hill

prepares for the pope and if they get no volunteers it will be forced overtime. cydney long, nbc 10 news. septa is joining philadelphia's effort to get people to embrace pope week in philadelphia. septa said close to 200,000 papal visit rail passes are still available for the pope's visit in late september. more parking spaces are also opening up. septa says it will now keep running as long as it takes to get you back home after the saturday and sunday papal events. buy papal rail passes at septa ticket offices. we have a special section on the nbc 10 news app about the pope's visit, the world meeting of families begins in just one month. thousands of drivers in montgomery county are happy to see a busy road in plymouth township back open tonight. the ribbon was cut today on the new plymouth road bridge. a sinkhole opened up underneath the old bridge back in march. since then, crews found eight other sinkholes and repaired them. the new bridge is highly reinforced and changes were made to the creek to prevent more

sinkholes from opening. >> we knew we needed to do it in an expedited fashion. the fact that we had contractors willing to come on board and guarantee it would be done in four months which in transportation is light speed, it was fantastic. >> the new bridge cost the state $22 million. next, on "nbc 10 news at 6:00," ten years later. hurricane katrina forced them out of their homes. tonight, we catch up with storm victims who now call philadelphia home. it's a pest that keeps popping up. the latest local area hit by the spotted lantern fly. next, i'm keeping an eye on erika's track but a warmup is coming in time for the weekend. (plays throughout)

♪ sometimes, at last doesn't happen at first.

♪ ♪ your dad just kissed my mom. ♪ turning two worlds into one takes love. ♪ helping protect that world takes state farm. vice president joe biden may have just given top democrats a big hint about his political future. biden scored third in a new poll out today but fared better than hillary clinton in matchups with the leading republicans. nbc's melissa russo reports. >> reporter: he tells his fellow democrats he's still making up his mind. vice president joe biden weighing whether he could pour his heart and soul into a national campaign so soon after losing his son. >> he's had a great life in

public service. he's had some personal trauma. why wouldn't you just enjoy the rest of your life? >> he can bring experience to the table will with also an ideology in line with the democratic view. >> he's been around enough already. >> reporter: the latest quinnipiac poll shows biden beating donald trump by eight points and beating jeb bush by six points in hypothetical general election matchups. the poll shows hillary clinton and bernie sanders also beating those republicans, just not by as much as biden. >> he should have the space and the opportunity to decide what he wants to do. >> joe would be a formidable opponent. >> reporter: political strategists say biden's numbers are not surprising. >> he is the sitting vice president. his name recognition is great. and he has zero accountability. he has been in a largely nonpartisan role. ever changes in the arena. >> reporter: the poll shows the vice president would outperform his fellow democrats in a general election if it were held today, but he's in third place among democratic primary voters.

clinton leads the democratic field with 45% of democrats. sanders has 22%. biden, 18%. on the republican side, trump remains in first place with 28%. ben carson in second with 12% and bush, cruz and rubio are tied for third. chris christie trails behind eight other republicans with just 4% which is more support than he's seeing in some other polls. the poll also asked voters to play a game of word association. for instance, what word comes to mind when they think of donald trump? >> capable. >> opinionated. >> obnoxious. >> reporter: clinton? >> clever. >> secretive. >> bright. >> untrust worthy. >> reporter: the number one answer for clinton was liar. for trump, arrogant. for bush, bush. >> melissa russo reporting. "nbc nightly news" will have more on decision 2016 in just a few minutes. the spotted lantern fly is causing another township in

berks county to go under quarantine. this covers brookdale township. that fly is an invasive insect new to the u.s. it was first detected in our area last fall. the quarantine means there are restrictions on moving firewood, brush, yard waste, construction materials, even lawn mowers. the spotted lantern fly is one imp long and is black, red and white. it is native to china, india, japan and vietnam. many katrina survivors have been calling philadelphia home for the last ten years. one of them is well known new orleans jazz drummer alvin jacques. he was flooded out of his home. he managed to get his mother to the superdome but they were separated and she did not survive. >> i love my mother. i still love my mother like she's alive in my heart right now. what happened, i didn't witness it. it was the story i was told. >> he says he misses the new

orleans clubs where he used to perform but playing music in philadelphia has helped him heal. we are in the historical peak of hurricane season and of course, things got more active in the atlantic. we have erika. it is a threat to florida. the u.s. has not been hit by a hurricane in quite awhile, a long stretch here, and there is that threat. we have one more day of spectacular comfortable weather and then the 90s are going to be returning probably starting on sunday. more great baseball weather for the phillies tonight. 80 degrees, the winds northwest at 13 and the humidity continues to be very low. the temperature today got up to 81 and there it goes. it's going up there each day as we go through the weekend. by sunday, 90. monday, 92. then tuesday, 90 plus would make it another heat wave. the temperatures now generally in the 70s.

80 degrees in philadelphia but 60s in the pocono mountains. we've got some delightful weather coming up for much of the area. we had some clouds to the west, fair weather clouds. they are dying as the sun starts to go down. there is plenty of dry air in the eastern half of the country. that's going to impact us over the weekend. we have another great weekend at the shore here. temperatures into the low 80s, wind not too strong. just another great weekend. now, things are changing as we head down toward the caribbean. this is erika. it has been moving straight to the west. you can see the track of it. so now it does look like it will go south of puerto rico and then is it going to hit this very mountainous island where haiti and dominican republic are? it's got 45 miles an hour winds now. so one of the possibilities is that it goes very close to puerto rico, weakens some more,

continues in that direction which would put it right over the mountains of hispaniola here. that causes friction. that helps rip the storm apart. then there's cuba. cuba's got big mountains, too. so if it takes that track, going over those three islands, it may not make it. however, if it manages to end up north of hispaniola, it's going into very warm water, the other conditions are going to become more favorable, and then we have a chance of a hurricane threat to florida. the possible tracks according to the different computer models, some of them taking it now even toward the west coast of florida but very few are going far enough to the east to not affect the united states. the latest forecast from the hurricane center keeps it below hurricane strength all the way through sunday. there's too much going against it. too much wind shear. too many mountains. it's already disorganized. but if it makes it to this area,

the conditions would be favorable for strengthening and then you got trouble somewhere along the florida coast or southeast coast or gulf of mexico. it's still too early to tell about that. there are just too many possibilities. but it's not going to strengthen in the next couple of days. tonight, clear and comfortable, 63 for a low in philadelphia, 55 north and west. during the day tomorrow, sunshine, low humidity, another beautiful day. temperatures in the low to mid 80s. and a little warmer on saturday, still low humidity. little hotter on sunday and then it's hot and humid time for monday and going into much of next week. i'm john bourke from comcast sports net. we'll have the latest on sam bradford's status for saturday's game in green bay. don't miss chip kelly's take on the kendricks contract extension next.

the family of darryl dawkins has released a statement confirming the former sixers center passed away from a heart attack this morning at the age of 58. dawkins played 14 seasons starting in 1975 when the sixers made him the fifth overall pick right out of high school. he played here in philly for seven seasons until he was traded to the new jersey nets in 1982. perhaps best known as chocolate thunder for those huge rim-shattering dunks that broke two backboards in 1979. 76ers ceo scott o'neill released a statement that read in part simply put, darryl dawkins was beloved by his family, friends, former teammates and fans all

over the globe. his charm, infectious smile and unparalleled sense of humor will be sorely missed. to football. the nithird preseason game is typically the dress rehearsal for the regular season with the starters sitting out the final preseason game. sam bradford's playing status for saturday in green bay is still to be determined. kelly will meet with his staff to discuss the rotation and then will finalize it tomorrow. bradford finished 3 for 5 for 35 yards passing, leading the eagles to a touchdown in his only drive against the ravens and he is raring to go this weekend. >> i plan to play. it's always his decision but we haven't talked about it. i don't know how much but yeah, i plan to play. >> i think he's beyond the cautions physically. it's what do we want to get accomplished, what do we need to see. the eagles signed linebacker mychal kendricks to a four-year extension tuesday. today we got chip kelly's first reaction to the signing. reports he had soured on kendricks because of his lack of size this offseason.

>> you value those guys, the guys that can run, physically be able to run with tight ends and running backs but also be big and strong enough to take on offensive lineman. ke do all those things. that's why we extended him. >> that doesn't mean i want 6'11" inside linebackers. he fits into all the parameters from a standpoint of what we're looking for. he's a prototypical guy. >> count down is on to preseason game three as they visit the packers saturday night. you can see it only on nbc 10 at 8:00. our pregame coverage starts at 7:30. nbc 10 is the official television station of the eagles. we'll be right back. patients across the country have spoken. they recently rated their care experience at over 3,500 hospitals nationwide in a survey conducted for the centers for medicare and medicaid. just seven percent received five stars. among them were four hospitals that are part

of cancer treatment centers of america. learn more at cancercenter.com. cancer treatment centers of america. care that never quits. appointments available now. the road to hell is paved with good intentions. mr. president, we know you tried to make a good deal with iran. whose leaders stone women, hang homosexuals, sponsor mass terrorism, scream for the destruction of israel and death to america.

so, what if you're wrong? and they can't be trusted? senator casey, don't trust iran. vote this down.

now for a look at what's coming up on "nbc 10 news at 11:00." a family pleads for help finding the person who hit their loved one and left him to die. tonight, the two good samaritans who found the victim and how their training may have helped save his life.

the latest track tonight? >> latest track at 11:00. . tonight, the killer's trail. what he left behind in his home and in his car before carrying out his deadly grudge on live tv. did he believe he could outrun the law and the passionate plea from the father of one of the victims. deadly turn, tropical storm erika has now claimed several lives battering the caribbean with severe floods and mudslides threatening to slam florida as a hurricane. the interview with a federal agent that took down one of two escape peas and a never before look at the manhunt. in or out, we hear from vice president joe biden about whether he's ready to run as new poll numbers show this may be his moment. "nightly news" begins right