more that two dozen killed in a texas church, half of them children. >> now most of our chirurch famy is gone. >> the shooter discharged from the military. >> obviously someone who was very deranged. >> a town left stunned with sorrow. good evening. i'm jim rosenfield. >> and i'm jacqueline london. we are learning more about who the gunman was the shooter threatened his mother-in-law in a text message before the massacre. she attended that church but was not there yesterday. devin kelley was kicked out of the air force after assaulting his wife and fracturing the skull of his stepson. police say he did not have a license to carry a gun. new at 6:00, just a short time ago, someone set up 26 crosses near the first baptist church in sutherland springs near san antonio to represent the 26 people killed. half were children.

doctors say just three of the injured are in critical condition and today we learned more about the two good samaritans who chased down the suspect and helped take him down. >> it was the right thing to do. >> it shook this community. it shook people. it has shaken everybody. these people see me as a hero. i'm someone who helped on instinct. >> johnny languaie languagjohnn did not think twice. >> lauren mayk is live in center city. it's a delicate balance for local churches? >> reporter: it is a unique balance that they are trying to strike. let me show you the door here at mother bethel ame church. they are locked tonight. we had to be let in when we

visited earlier today but that is the challenge. they are trying to strike this balance between being welcoming and also being safe and secure. the shooting on a sunday in texas still hard to digest. >> it's just unfathomable. >> state leaders in the philadelphia region offering prayers for the victims today while looking at what another act of violence means for their own places of worship. in philadelphia, they ramped up security at mother bethel ame church after the charleston shooting two years ago. >> we saw charleston clearly as an example that that could have been us. >> reporter: they'll go over that stepped up security plan again. >> what can we learn from this tragedy. this person started shooting outside the building. it's not something that you think about. >> and security is something that he and his colleagues discussed but they don't always agree on the answers. >> all of us kind of have this baggage and we talk about it and

what's interesting is, our conversations are a lot like the country. it's deeply divided. >> reporter: divisions over whether to bring in outside security as mother bethel is designed to be discrete. >> they blend in with the congregation. we have off-duty or retired law enforcement who also have the ability to carry and sometimes the responsibility to carry. >> reporter: for those who don't want to bring in security, he encourages at least a camera system that can help law enforcement if something happens and be monitored before then. >> somebody should be watching those blind spots in worship. >> reporter: i asked the reverend if he would want law enforcement to maybe step up patrols around churches and drive by on sunday and he said what might help is some education for faith leaders in maybe how to assess a threat or a form of volunteer security teams. live if center city, lauren

mayk, nbc 10 news. and tonight in "hardbalharr lit in the colors of the texas flag. pennsylvania stands in solidarity for the people of sutherland springs and governor wolf also ordered flags throughout the state to be lowered to half-staff. we have video of the flag lowered to half-staff at the white house as well. president trump is not calling for strong gun control in the wake of this mass shooting. he says this massacre is a mental health issue, not a weapons issue. >> this isn't a guns situation. i mean, we could go into it but this is a mental health problem at the highest level. >> president trump is continuing his trip through asia tonight but he's monitoring this investigation from overseas. he called the incident a murderous attack that embodied evil. our coverage of the texas church massacre continues next with

"nbc nightly news." lester holt will be live from the scene in sutherland springs coming up at 6:30. but right now at 6:00, a philadelphia art student strangled and her body found dumped in a creek. a jogger discovered her friday morning, a day after she was reported missing. police are trying to find out who would have wanted her dead. nbc 10's drake clark is joining me. who was with her hours before her death is what police want to know. >> reporter: you're exactly right. kierra johnson lived miles from here but this is where she was found dead. investigators are talking to anyone she may have been in contact with before she died. by all accounts, she was not the type of young lady to look for trouble but trouble found her she went from missing to murder. 21-year-old college student kierra johnson strangled and dumped in water at cobbs creek park near spruce street.

>> a grjogger contacted an offir and he made the proper notification. >> that gruesome discovery made last friday a day after she was reported missing. a maintenance worker at the southwest philadelphia apartment complex says he saw her on the day she disappeared and he's devastated knowing he may be among a few people who last saw her alive. >> nice kid, going to college, and she modeled. >> johnson was heavy into the arts and cared deeply about land conservation. she was a second year student studying visual communications in center city. >> she was funny. she had her own sense of style. she loved art and loved performance art. >> reporter: her small class of 15 relearned she was the murdered student they heard about on the news. >> it is hitting very hard. yes. >> reporter: meanwhile, philly

detectives are looking for a killer. the person who squeezed the life out of a young woman who was full of so much promise and potential. and police are asking anyone who may have seen her to give her a call as they are trying to put together a puzzle. we're live in the city's cobb creek section, drake clark, nbc 10 news. in ten minutes, we'll find out more from a ragnor commissioner. facing child porn charges, he's stepping down from his position. the town manager is holding a news conference coming up in ten minutes. brandon hudson and we're tracking shower chances this

evening. an isolated shower could pass by and this is a live look from the campus and tammie souza has more. tammie? >> isolated showers, maybe a driz sdplel or a mist as it heads out. not a half bad night but you can see some sprinkles on doppler radar. they kind of put this into a clear air mode and we have showers between washington and baltimore. it's just moisture in the air being picked up. it's not really raining. it's falling to the ground. we're going to have a damp night out there but you can see the clouds across western pennsylvania. the front that has come through has fallen apart. it's the same front that brought severe weather and tornadoes across parts of the great lakes

and upper great lakes and ohio valley. 52 in allentown. 41, mt. poconos and check out our temperatures tonight, they will be nothing like last night. they are not mild. 41 in vai lat and 41 in philadelphia and 43 in stone harbor. this is the tip of the iceberg. there is much colder air coming in. full forecast in a few minutes. tomorrow is decision day for voters in pennsylvania and new jersey. the polls in p.a. open at 7:00 a.m. and the polls in both states close at 8:00 tomorrow night. the biggest race in new jersey is the fight to replace governor chris christie. murphy is scheduled to take part in a rally at the baptist church in the next 30 minutes. his opponent, republican

candidate kim guadagno, spend the day canvassing the garden state. this is part of her main tour. there will make sure that there are no legal violations when you're trying to vote. and you'll be the first to know who wins if you download our app. new jersey is owed about $4 million in grant money used to pay police overtime, train officers and members of the state's congressional delegation says the justice department is putting immigration restrictions on the grants. they say it's an effort to punish sanctuary states and communities. after nine weeks, the trial of bob menendez is now in the jury's hands. deliberations began in the case today and menendez is accused of taking gifts from his friend, a

wealthy doctor, in exchange for political favors, including settling a $9 million medicare dispute. both men have denied any wrongdoing. new at 6:00, philadelphia is going allç in to help bring amazon here. so far, the price tag is close to $250,000. city agencies have spent $245,000 of the bid dubbed philly delivers. that includes $85,000 on a campaign in seattle, home of amazon's corporate headquarters, which includes these ads. it would bring 50,000 jobs to the city it chooses. there are 238 contenders. ♪ oh, you know what that means, the 8-1 eagles have the highest scoring offense in the nfl. >> are we playing that music louder? >> they were excited. >> they were so excited, it's becoming a problem at lincoln financial field. the team sets off fireworks every time they score a

touchdown, as we know, but in the middle of yesterday's beat down, the team announced they ran out of fireworks. it won't be a problem for long, though. the team is ordering more fireworks and they'll have plenty for every touchdown scored the remainder of this year. >> does that mean they weren't anticipating that many touchdowns? >> no. coming up next, only your official eagles station takes you inside the eagles locker room after yesterday's win. coach doug pederson is up next. but first, all new at 6:00, a former philadelphia fliyer joins one man's recovery from adecks. ♪ ♪

it feels good to be back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ christie: this is new jersey is facing an epidemic fueled by addictive opioid painkillers. codeine... oxycodone... fentanyl... morphine. these are just some of the medications prescribed for pain relief. these pills can be highly addictive, and the addiction doesn't end when the prescription runs out. many times, people turn to a deadlier option - heroin. addiction is a disease, but help is within reach. call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov.

we have breaking news coming out of texas related to that church shooting. the air force now admitting a mistake that helped the shooter manage to buy a gun. the air force saying it did not submit the shooter's criminal history of domestic violence to the fbi, which is required by pentagon rules. devin kelley was kicked out of the air force after assaulting his wife and fracturing his stepson's skull. all new at 6:00, a former philadelphia flyer supporting a young man on his road to recovery. today, a former defenseman stepped by the home of where michael is at in rehab ever

since he made a desperate plea for help to our cameras last month. >> i've got scars all over my body because of this drug. i want every kid to understand, if they can stay away from this, i have ruined three families. >> south jersey reporter cydney long has been documenting his journey. she has more. >> reporter: now entering his fourth full week of rehab, recovering addict michael got a visit from former flyer defense man chris. he saw the story on nbc 10 on a night he was off the ice. >> it was intriguing for me and the other thing that jumped out was this kid had this cowboy jersey on. >> reporter: he passed along a flyer sweatshirt. >> awesome. >> we'll get rid of the cowboys. >> reporter: it means a lot to me that somebody recognizes my struggle.

>> reporter: this comes as he now has the detox medication in the rearview mirror. having always failed at trying to recover on his own, this is the furthest he's ever come. his goal is complete abstinence, be a drug, drinking a aor smoki >> i'm working on that right now and the anxiety of never drinking again at a party or a game, a super bowl. >> reporter: it was just ten days ago that he was ready to throw in the towel on his recovery, walking out of the doors of this rehab, his mission to get high. he wound up in kensington. a female viewer spotted him and he said his choice curse words reminding him he was supposed to be in rehab. >> if the stars weren't aligned the way they are for me, i didn't see the opportunity that i have and the miracle i'm being blessed with until that moment. >> you should be proud of yourself. it's a hard first step to take i just wanted him to know, you're going through a tough time now.

he's better today than he was a week ago. >> reporter: he's grateful. >> i feel alive. i feel hopeful. >> reporter: so many players are hoping that he scores big at beating addiction. from yeardley, cydney long, nbc 10 news. >> and the nbc 10 team has been tracking the opioid crisis on our region and right now on the nbc 10 app you can get more information. here's a live look along bothhouse row. let's bring in chief meteorologist tammie souza has more. >> there may be flurries flying in places like the poconos. there is drizzle and a brief shower. 71 is the high today t shortly after 3:00, we hit it and it

went right back down. that's the last 70 that you'll see in ten days and the low of 61, that's the last 60 that you'll see in the next ten days. our highs have been gusting at 26 miles an hour. take a look at the picture that rain captured. you can barely make out this arc here. there's a spectacular rainbow. look at the cool air spilling in. it gets to places like billings, montana, twin cities, in the 20s. it's not warm at all here in rochester. we're hanging on to a dcorridor of 60s and 70s. 66 in wilmington and 52 in allentown. 50s, that's where we're going to be. take a look. we're only going to be in the 50s for the next several days

and then drop back up to the 50s. ea average is 60 degrees for this time of year. we have spotty showers out here and the radar is going into something that we call free air mode or clear air mode. it's picking up a lot of moisture in the air. not a lot of showers are making their way through the area. you can see where the front has skimmed past us. it brought tornadoes to the ohio valley yesterday. you can see two storm systems now. the northern one with a very cold air and snow in the twin cities and across the dakotas. southern one coming out of the missouri valley, it brings us showers. the front will pass us and turn our winds to the north and we wake up to temperatures in the low 40s and philadelphia. 30s for the outlying areas. clouds move in, showers will move in tomorrow. look at this. rain in the outlying areas and that's going to continue into wednesday evening perhaps and then we'll be done with it. tonight, 41 in philadelphia.

39 in south jersey. i'll be back with your ten day on 10 at the end of the newscast. i'm john clark. the eagles keep rolling. who is going to keep rejoining the team after the bye week. doug pederson's speech to the team after their seventh trait win, that is next. joseph, i'm steve. how are you?

nice to meet you sir. nice to meet you. how's it going man? the yankees? come on. [ laughing ] look at the smiles and the hard work that the people here are doing. it's like making mini sandwiches. they're no different than anyone else. they just want a job. they want respect and they want dignity. this is a nice place. yeah.

he plays basketball with lauren. steve called, fairly frantic. you know, he had a premature baby and i think he had just been given the diagnosis that she had down syndrome. lauren brought out the best in me. she made me a different person. deep down in his heart he feels for people who are disadvantaged. lauren's a light in everybody eye. she's the spark that has started the fire. the goal is to keep places like this open so all people, regardless of disability, have an opportunity for employment. see, i love you. i love you guys too. you know that. yeah.

i'm john clark. the eagles are 8-1 for the first time in team history. now let's take you into the birds' locker room after the big win.

>> that is a [ bleep ] performance like i've ever seen. >> the best part about it is, we have a ton of unselfish guys. every week we get somebody different and nobody really cares who it is. >> reporter: carson wentz is leading this team. his work ethic, his preparation for games has created the standard for his teammates to follow. >> by the end of the week, every friday, he's so tired he needs to sleep just because of how much he puts in. he shows up and carson leads touchdowns by 17 and that's more than he had all of his rookie year. >> it's hard to come up with words to describe carson wentz. he seems to amaze. he's elevating the play around him and that's what good, great quarterbacks can do and he's only in his second year and i

think he's only going to get better. >> you're 8-1. 8-1. >> it's an opportunity for me to be in the league to have this kind of start and so you don't want to lose that by looking too far ahead. just enjoy it, because it's something special that we're doing here in the city. enjoy every step of it. >> you started something special. let's finish something special for the remainder of this season. >> good message there. when the eagles come back after their bye, they face the cowboys. 6ers medical staff made a decision to rest him. we'll be right back. but most of all, he's a fighter. chris brown has never been afraid to take on the big fights. that's why he stood up to republicans and democrats alike to fight the north jersey casinos and the takeover of atlantic city. chris brown is fighting to protect jobs in our region...

a true champion for the working men and women of atlantic county. on november 7th, let's keep him fighting for us. chris brown for state senate, he's on our side. nice to meet you sir. joseph, i'm nice to meet you.u? how's it going man? the yankees? come on. [ laughing ] look at the smiles and the hard work that the people here are doing. it's like making mini sandwiches. they're no different than anyone else. they just want a job. they want respect and they want dignity. this is a nice place. yeah.

he plays basketball with lauren. steve called, fairly frantic. you know, he had a premature baby and i think he had just been given the diagnosis that she had down syndrome. lauren brought out the best in me. she made me a different person. deep down in his heart he feels for people who are disadvantaged. lauren's a light in everybody eye. she's the spark that has started the fire. the goal is to keep places like this open so all people, regardless of disability, have an opportunity for employment. see, i love you. i love you guys too. you know that. yeah.

we've paid a big price for chris christie and kim guadagno. they gave out billions in corporate tax breaks. millions to whitewash the bridgegate scandal. millions more wasted on empty office space. we got stuck with the bill. property taxes up. train and bus fares up. college tuition up. women's healthcare funding eliminated with christie and guadagno we're paying more and falling behind. four more years of kim guadagno is unaffordable. tonight at 11:00, millions of people fooled by fake news but what can you do to stop fake news in your feed? we'll show you at 11:00. and finally it's fall. we'll see only the 50s for the

next ten days. actually, 40s to end the weekend. pull out the warm jacket. that's our news at 6:00. thanks for watching. >> we'll see you back here at 11:00 tonight. tonight, shock waves from the church massacre here in texas. 26 people killed as they prayed. and we now know about half the victims are children, the youngest just 18 months old. >> we've lost a lot of people that are very close to our hearts and a lot of children are gone and i just ask everybody for prayers. >> eight members of one family gone. >> they were a family like no other. tonight, the heroes who gave chase and took the gunman down. >> he told me that he just shot up -- the other man just shot up the church and we had to go get him. >> new details on the