concord just before 6:00. more rain pushing out of the upstate of south carolina. move through gastonia in the next five minutes. bessemer city at 5:40. shelby at 5:50. cherryville and lincoln on the around 6:00. a heavier band of rain sliding through to the north. things settle down by tomorrow morning but from charlotte points north and east there will be rain for the morning drive tomorrow. we'll also talk severe weather risk when i come back. back to the storm cam with meteorologist john ahrens monitoring conditions. this is i-85 in west charlotte. you can see the rain coming down at a decent clip. you definitely need the windshield wipers. and we've seen a lot of brake lights. be sure to take it slow. track the rain in the palm of your hand on your way home or if you're planning to head out for tomorrow, download wsoc-tv weather app and use our interactive radar. >> tonight a warning from

attack during a charlotte teenager's walk to school. a 16-year-old was forced into a car at gunpoint and then assaulted. the kidnapping happened after 7:00 on conference drive. less than a half mile from east mecklenburg high school. today the victim's mother told eyewitness news reporter mark becker how her son got away. mark? >> alison, she told me that her son walks to east mecklenburg, about a half mile from where we're standing when the car approached him right about here. a man with a gun forced him inside. and that was just the beginning. >> yeah. i'm terrified. >> because she's air terrified. that mother didn't want us to show her face. she described in detail how her son was walking to school here early thursday morning when a man pulled up in a car and asked her son if he knew his son. >> my son told him no.

told him to get in the car. she told us the fear grew as the man drove into a nearby neighborhood and made it clear what he wanted. >> the man offered him some money for him to take his clothes off. my son told him no. the man locked the doors. at that point she said her son knew he had to get out. then he saw his chance. he unlocked the doors and jumped out while the car was moving. my son his scrapes on his hips, his elbow. >> police have had a team of investigators working the case looking for the suspect. everyday dozen of students walk the same route home from school. along conference drive. she's lived here for 15 years and says this changes everything. >> this close to the library and the school is there. it's just weird. like that's very disturbing.

told me that her son had seen that same man around here a couple weeks ago. and he would definitely recognize him again if police find him. at this point police are intensely looking. but no suspects yet. reporting live in east charlotte, mark becker, channel 9 eyewitness news. here's a look at police suspect information. they're looking for a black male, mid 30s, about 5-9 with shoulder length dreads and facial hair. he was last seen driving a white four-door sedan. possibly a newer model chevrolet impala or a malibu. if you have information, call police. now to breaking news we're following coming into the news room out of union county where school officials confirm a gun high school. officials say the two teenagers found with the gun don't go to piedmont high school. and aren't sure if the two are students within the district. authorities arrested the teens and charged them with

educational property. their name haves not been released. we're also staying on top of breaking news in uptown charlotte where the crowd continues to build ahead of the controversial vote on charlotte's nondiscrimination ordinance. eyewitness news reporter deshawn brown is live outside the government center on how this meeting will unfold before the vote tonight. >> reporter: the crowd is still growing. ill set the seen for you here. for the last 45 minutes, all these people that come out here to rally ahead of the vote tonight, many with the group don't do it charlotte against the ordinance, this is just a sample of the now 144 people signed up to state their case for or against the ordinance. now, this issue has been a hot topic for more than a year now. if passed, it would ban discrimination against the lgbt community in various places. that includes taxis, businesses, and also public restrooms. now there were so many people who signed up to speak tonight, the city cut the time down from

i caught up with some of the speakers before. and here's what they had to say. >> it concerns me that my young daughters and my young sons would be in a bathroom with a biological person of the opposite gender. >> i'm a person. i deserve the same rights as everyone else. there's no reason why i have to class citizen. >> just to note, this is not a new ordinance. it would be an update to an existing city code that's all ready there but would add language to include the lgbt community again, banning discrimination. reporting live from the government center, deshawn brown, channel 9 eyewitness news. today eyewitness news report ehrlich hanson spoke to mayor roberts about the governor's decision to get the state involved. coming up, he's looking into how often that's happened. a judge granted a pretrial conference between attorneys involved in the case of a morganton teenager accused of

terrorist group isis. attorneys want to discuss the use and handling of clalaified government material during justin sullivan's trial. the judge is still considering a motion to avoid -- in order to protect the documents. a trial date hasn't been set. prosecutors revealed that evidence from an uncharged murder was turned over as evidence in a case involving suspected members of the floods gang was being investigated. a grand jury indicted twelve people in 2014. some accused in the murder of doug and debbie london. one suspected gang member will have a hearingfection week to decide if he's eligible to face the death penalty. there's a search to find a group of kids who shot a six week old puppy 18 times with a bee bee gun in rock hill. this is video of little brody from our news paper partner the harald. a utility worker found him bleeding heavily.

the worker told officers he saw 15 to 20 kids around the dog apparently shooting it. investigators learned the puppy was abandoned by its owner. he's at ebenezer medical hospital recovering well. north carolina is one of the top 20 states nationwide with the most drug overdose deaths. the centers for disease control says drug overdoses have hit an all time high in the united states. in 2014, overdoses killed 40,000 americans. which is a 7% jump from the year before. nevada was ranked number one with the highest concentration of overdose deaths. north carolina was ranked number 20. on this map, the darker color indicates more than 20 deaths per 100,000 people. you can see most are in the western counties of the state. the cdc says the rapid rise is because of the abuse of opiates which include prescription pills and heroin.

under way to fill a new 50 million-dollar expansion at north lake mall. channel 9 found officials are struggling to fill the mall as it is now with several store fronts sitting vacant. today eyewitness news anchor liz foster went to mall officials to find out if they're worried about filling this brand new project. >> that new expansion will be built behind me in the grassy area the truck is blocking now. some shoppers are surprised the mall is expanding when there are several vacant stores inside it. >> on this grassy area in front of north lake mall, there will soon be at least 200,000 square feet of retail space connected to the mall's main entrance. >> i think it's a good idea. i'll be there. >> chicago based starwood retail partners which owns north lake mall is moving forward with the 50 million- dollar addition despite this sign trying to attract new stores and restaurants inside and outside the mall. >> i see a lot of vacant stores and a lot of stores leaving.

counted 18 store fronts either vacant or under construction. heather shops at north lake often. she told me it's less busy than it used to be and doesn't think the addition is a good idea. >> i think they need to focus more on bringing people back to the mall. >> but the mall's parent company has all ready purchased this land and construction is expected to begin early next year. >> expansion is fine as long as it's not tax dollars and if they want to make a capital improvement, i'm all about that. >> i asked the mall spokeswoman several questions, including what stores would be coming to that expansion, when it could be completed, and if it could be a wasted investment considering there are vacant stores inside the mall. questions. reporting live near north lake mall, liz foster, channel 9 eyewitness news. police and charlotte leader haves been paying attention to the north lake mall area after a deadly shooting christmas eve. it brought back memory of shootings at eastland mall a decade ago that ultimately led

in january, channel 9 obtained emails showing city leaders started talking about the similarities and promising to make changes. the supreme court met today for the first time since justice antonin skalia died. the justices say it's hard to imagine the court without skalia who served for nearly 30 years. the justices heard arguments in two cases today. and next week they're expected the take up the most anticipated case of the term. just released, very clear surveillance video of a man accused of robbing two local stores, the violent confrontation and why police think the cases are connected. the rain we've been watching and tracking all day it's the beginning, the tip of the iceberg.

will fall. vo: know you have a dedicatedadvisor and team who understand where you come from. we didn't really have anything, you know. but, we made do. vo: know you can craft an investment plan as strong as your values. al, how you doing. hey, mr. hamilton. vo: know that together you can establish a meaningful legacy. with the guidance and support of your dedicated

c wealth management it's a wet commute for drivers headed home tonight. our storm cam is monitoring the roads as we have waves of rain pushing across our area. chief meteorologist steve

to pinpoint where the heaviest rain is moving. flint michigan's drinking water crisis is getting more attention from washington. two senior members of congress are meeting to get an update on what's being done to talk about the led tainted drinking water. congress has stalled on a proposal to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fix the broken water system. also to treat the residents poisoned after led leaked from pipes into the drinking water. well since the emergency in flint, channel 9 has been investigated the drinking water in the area and how safe it is. >> i learned some chemicals in water supplies aren't regulated by the epa. including one linked to cancer. i dug through reports and found which neighborhoods have the highest levels of those chemicals and the impact to families. >> the water running from aj smith's faucet comes from the well at his belmont home. but it goes through this 7,000- dollar filter system he

high levels of hexo valent chromium. a contaminant that can occur naturally but has been linked to cancer. >> it concerned me because of the cancer risk. and i have small children. >> state environmental officials are looking into whether or not the chemical could be coming from 800,000 tons of coal ash buried under a horse pasteur near his home. state officials required her well be tested for hexo valent chromium and sent her this letter. your well water not be used for drinking or cooking. >> the standard practice is to set it at 1 in a million risk of cancer for hexo valent chromium.

city water supplies. municipal systems must be rules set by the epa. but the epa doesn't specifically regulate hexo valent chromium. the epa is studying cancer risks and considering whether to limit that chemical in city drinking water. the epa requires cities like charlotte to specifically test for hexo valent chromium. i looked through a local 2014 water reports. they all meet rules. but the levels of hexo violent chromium range widely. lincolnton and concord had the highest with levels that exceed the state well water guidelines. lincolnton's triple, concord's level, more than six times higher. >> does that cause the city of concord concern? >> the city is monitoring it. as is the epa. that's why it's being tested. it's not treated in the process because the treatment is

it's not clear when the epa will regulate hexo valent chromium because the rules or recommendations differ depending on where your water comes from. state leaders say education is important. brown's family relies on bottled water. >> this is how we're living with this bottled water. it just has taken over our home. >> recent tests showed smith his filter is working. he feels safer now taking a drink. >> get your water tested to find out what's in it. it doesn't matter if it's well water or city water. >> they should have research compiled by mid year. treating water to limit or removal the chemical could be really expensive. that's something the epa will consider too. it can cost $150. find a list of certified labs or check the local water reports we've compiled. go to wsoctv.com. it's all inside my story under the 9 investigates tab. it doesn't matter what

uptown heading south, you'll see a wet go out of central avenue. independence boulevard through elizabeth. providence road, randolph, monroe all seeing the rain, park road, south boulevard, there's no escaping it. back across to catawba into gaston and york county. tracking the rain to the northeast at 10 or 15 miles per hour. by the white water center at 6:00. the highland creek neighborhood at 6:00. that extends west across portions of york county up 321. pretty good rain about to cross the north carolina line into portions of cleveland county, eventually into lincoln county. it moves through earl in the next ten minutes. kings mountain in a few minutes. gastonia at 6:00. same for dallas, cherryville at 6:05, southeast of charlotte

county. chesterfield, monroe, by 6:00, uptown, about 6:20, wadesboro and huntersville by 6:30. obviously wet if you're outside this evening. you'll need the rain gear for sure as well as tomorrow morning. remember keith monday will take you through the morning drive starting at 4:30 and show you where the heavier rain spots are. upper 40s from charlotte northwest. upper 30s in the high country. still in the form of rain. lower 50s south of charlotte. bus stop forecast, rain gear a must. we're talking about raincoats and umbrellas assuming you can get the kids to grab that stuff. batches of rain we'll track over the next few days. temperatures go up and down until the next cold front comes through on wednesday. and as it does we'll run into a severe weather risk. christine rapp will join me to take you through the risk. tomorrow after we get through the morning drive, we'll see an extended stretch of not beautiful weather but nothing terribly heavy falling from the sky. it'll be this time tomorrow

rain bubbles out of the midlands of south carolina and pushes toward the charlotte area. hourly forecast tomorrow temperature wise, the average is 57. we'll start mild around 50. then temperatures sit tight. upper 40s to near 50s all day. the neighborhood forecast, cooling down with the rain ending during the afternoon up toward hickory. highs in the mid 40s. toward rock hill. we wish it would look that nice. cloudy skies. rain tapering off in the afternoon. temperatures in the upper 50s. toward page land, we're talking about temperatures managing around 50s. as the showers come to an end. my five-day forecast we run the risk of scattered storms to cool off and dry out through late week. >> we'll need to dry out after this few days. >> i'll have a look at how much rain we'll see. firefighters have been targeted by thieves in a

new at 6:00. >> bring it on. >> how this veteran is standing up to protect one fire house in charlotte. after our investigation into an unusual number of cases of a rare eye cancer in

effort to relieve anxiety in (donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk.

clear surveillance video just released of a man wielding a knife in a local clerk's face demanding money. police belief the man in this video is connected to a similar robbery just 24 hours later. >> the gastonia businesses are less than a mile apart. reporter ken lemon just got the 911 calls. >> you can see him step into the store, pull a knife, and yank the clerk on to the counter. he directs the clerk to give him cash. he grabs a few dollars from the clerk.

chest and grabs the money with the other hand. that happened before 9:00 saturday night at this express mart on east garrison boulevard. the next night at about the same time, the same man went into the family dollar a few blocks away. they say that's him captured by a security camera. >> i turned around like is this for real? and so he was like open the register. >> it's frustrating news. >> i live up the street. >> he often walks to shop at the family dollar store. >> it's right down the road. somebody could try to rob you at your own house. >> security cameras had a great view of this robber. workers wanted to make sure police knew it. she said he drove away in a rusted older model truck with the paint stripped away. >> turn yourself in. because you're on camera. >> police hope someone

the man thth owns this express mart owns another business in gastonia. he's now looking at adding extra security at both locations. in gastonia, ken lemon, channel 9 eyewitness news.

area, coming up next at this is channel 9 eyewitness news at 6:00. at 6:00, we're live inside the charlotte city council chambers. in just moments, more than 100 people will begin taking to the podium one by one to share their thoughts about a controversial ordinance that bans discrimination in businesses and public restrooms. it's one of the most controversial topics being

leaders in over a decade. and as you can see, the room tonight is packed. >> not too many empty seats there. we'll have more from the government center. showers moving into the charlotte region throughout the afternoon kicking off a soggy pattern that will stick with us for the next few days. >> i'm erica bryant. our chief meteorologist steve udelson is using the areas most powerful radar to pinpoint which neighborhoods will see the most rain tonight. >> live early warning doppler 9 focusing just south of uptown charlotte. ground zero for the heaviest rainfall. independence boulevard through the elizabeth, plaza mid wood neighborhoods. through myers park, wt harris, clipping unc charlotte. we're seeing heavier rainfall. on the southwest side of town, toward steele creek. heavy rain approaching 485. that batch of rain moving northeast at 15 miles per hour. moves through palm creek.

huntersville at 6:15. lighter rain from chester to lancaster to page land along highway 9 up across the foothills. we're seeing rain breech the north carolina border in cleveland and gaston counties. gastonia, shelby, we'll see the rain in the next few minutes. lincolnton and maiden by 6:30. temperatures cooled back to 54 in charlotte. 59 in chester and lancaster. the warm air being squeezed out by a cold front. the rain will continue through this evening, lifting from south to north through the metro into the mountains and foothills. our threat tracker tonight clearly focused on the rain threat. thankfully the severe weather risk is low. as well as the risk for ponding and puddles. it's not going to last that long. but for the time being, a mess on the roads. in west charlotte, let's head to our john ahrens. >> i've been following that band of very heavy rainfall on the weather app.