straight into this house with a couple married for half a century. and this has happened before. that is what makes it so tragic. witnesses describe a loud blast and a wall of flames. >> it's tragic. you see it in the movies happening. but you never expect it in your front yard. >> the first bang came from the truck hitting the house. chris rushed over to help the driver. and described what he told me. >> i don't know what happened except i fell asleep at the wheel. >> there was concern for herself and her husband. but no sense of grave danger. weaver said she didn't know the gas line ruptured. he saw her through a window and told her to run. watching her turn to walk away from me and this wall of fire. i'll never forget that. he said the explosion came

she was buried in the rubble. neighbors got them out. both were badly burned. she was worried about her husband before she was worried about herself. and he asked about her. there was a second explosion. both of them died from their injuries. >> it was just unreal. >> family members combed through the scattered debris. >> it's momentos and cards they sent their mom and dad. >> troopers investigating this crash have obtained a sample of his blood. they're checking that for impairing substances. he drove a truck in kings mountain. i went by there earlier to speak with them. as i approached, someone came up, locked the door, and refused to answer. >> the mayor lives across the street from the victims. she witnessed the other crashes in their yard.

help from the state but was told there isn't anything that can be done. dozens of people have left the family messages and prayers on our wsoc-tv facebook page. and you can do the same. like our page and look for this top story. breaking news out of raleigh where the chief of police announced an officer shot and killed a man who was running away. >> a cloud of protesters are gathering at the scene now. erica bryant is in the news room with the latest. >> many at the scene identified the victim as akille denkins. he was being chased. he was wanted on felony drug charges. a gun was found near him. a thorough investigation is being promised.

investigation will conduct a criminal investigation concerning the officer involved shooting. the raleigh police department's internal affairs unit will conduct an administrative investigation that will focus on departmental policy matters. >> the raleigh city council was supposed to talk about body cameras for the police officers tonight but that item has been taken off the agenda in light of the shooting. we're going to stay on top of this breaking story on air and also with our social media sites. if you're not near a tv, follow us on twitter @wsoctv. a man will serve seven years in prison. a federal judge sentenced james keith call this afternoon. deputies say he stole the truck in 2014 and led them on a chase and hit a guardrail near statesville.

friend of his talked him into surrendering after he refused to come out of the truck for hours. a suspect all ready accused of cutting off an ankle monitor tried to flee police again. he was in custody being treated at cmc when he ran out of the hospital. they found him a short distance away. the nation's top car safety regulator says he can recall all takata air bags even if he wanted to. he said such a recall could be illegal. and he says it wouldn't give big safety benefits. a total recall was asked for after a man died when a bag exploded and flung shrapnel at him.

deadly hit and run in east charlotte. we were the only station there as police brought him into questioning. we brought you the crash scene as breaking news this morning. and now eyewitness news reporter angela hong found out it was the suspect who led officers right to him. charlotte mecklenburg police say the victim was trying to cross this portion of central avenue around 2:30 this morning. people say it's a common thing that happens but this time it happened in the path of a drunk driver. >> somebody stole my van. >> when channel 9 confronted the suspect as he was being brought in for questioning, he denied being behind the wheel of this silver honda van. in fact, he says he called police himself to report it missing. channel 9 was the first to show you this car parked at the green buyer apartment complex a quarter mile away from the

crash on central avenue. police located it outside of the building next to perez rivera's. investigators believe he was driving and drunk. >> it's crazy that he made it that far. i think if anybody had seen him -- there's been more police. i'm surprised no police saw him. >> he works across the street from the crash site and says pedestrian always try to cross the street. >> it's scary to think that somebody would be willing to leave somebody there. >> police say the area was well lit but the victim wasn't crossing in a crosswalk. they believe speed played a role in this crash. police say there were other witnesses who were able to help

angela hong, channel 9 eyewitness news. police haven't revealed the name of the victim. they're trying to notify family. perez rivera is being held on bond. the connect nc bond could support thousands of jobs over the next few years the bond is on the march 15th primary ballot the justice center says the bond would create 5,000 jobs in construction. most of the money would go to building and renovating buildings on college campuses. but it will boost other areas like retail and food service. governor pat mccrory has been pushing the bond which will not require a tax increase. he says it's important to borrow money now before interest rates go up more. new sales taxes are taking effect across north carolina tomorrow hiking the cost for services for your car repairs to home installations, eyewitness news reporter dave faherty breaks down the new tax and where that money will go. dave?

talked with today had no idea about this new tax. even some of the businesses aren't sure how it impacts them. at the color cabana hair salon in mooresville, she's been cutting hair for more than two decades but she'll be required to charge customers a new tax on all haircuts. something she wasn't aware of until a customer told her. >> she wouldn't have gotten a letter from the irs or the county to let us know we have to charge tax now. i'm just supposed to like start today. start today and charge a tax. >> not only haircuts but the next trip to get your car repaired will be more expensive. you'll pay sales tax on the labor cost to fix your vehicle. >> how many more times can they get it from the working guy. you know. you're getting it from every angle now it seems like. >> lawmakers approved the additional tax last year. part of the additional revenue

and colleges and economic development programs. it was an effort to lower income taxes. >> we'll do it. but i hope they make good use of that money. that's all i have to say. >> and the estimates are right now that the new tax, the new sales tax will bring in approximately $85 million of additional revenue, reporting live from mooresville, dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. >> we put a full list of the new sales tax changes on wsoctv.com. look for them inside dave's story on the home page. an update on an investigation involving the school superintendent and two district officials. just three hours ago, we learned the district attorney will not file any criminal charges after the school district internal investigation involving school laptops. they finished their investigation and found no wrong doing. channel 9 broke the

back in november. superintendent mary ellis and two district administrators have a company educatrix that employed someone -- investigators call it road rage, a driver shot in front of a child. next at 6:00, we're asking why the suspected shooter is not in jail. step outside and enjoy sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. both of which will soon be history.

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the head of national intelligence says the most significant threat to the u.s. now is home grown terrorism. this rowan county man is serving 20 years in prison for trying to join the terror group isis. for months i questioned him about that through emails and phone calls. tonight his words and what the fbi is saying about him.

virginia, donald ray morgan called me. to answer questioning i've been emailing him for months about his attempt to help isis in syria. he grew up inrowan county and told me he once aspired to protect america. he was a cadet. he provided this photo the nbc before his arrest. after graduation he enlisted in the army national guard but says a car accident led to his discharge and at one point, morgan worked as a rowan county deputy. >> i had this belief that there was duty honor in country. and i still to some degree have the same values, just a different team. >> that team he says is the islamic state.

he told me he first learned about islam at unc charlotte where he took classes in the 90s. >> the second class i took was contemporary islam. an introduction to islam. it was taught by professor katherine johnson. >> i found professor katherine johnson still teaching religion studies. >> do you remember him? >> i don't. i really don't. >> she's a muslim herself. she says the islamic state's views contradict her teaching and the muslim's face. >> because these people disagree with your understanding of their religion, their lives, families, and properties are forfeit. somewhere along the line he latched on to a very extremist version of islam. morgan told me he committed to islam in 2012. court documents show he posted support through multiple

fbi assistant special agent in charge tim says agents had been monitoring his posts. >> would you consider him a home grown terrorist. >> he's somebody who was radicalized online. he accepted a different perverted way of islam. >> he traveled over seas trying to enter syria. >> my objective was to help in whatever capacity i could. >> were you willing to lose your life or kill others for your faith? >> i was willing to lose my life to be an airborne special forces green ba ray -- i don't condone an attack against any

was denied entry into turkey and sent back to beirut unable to join the islamic state. when he returned to the u.s. he was arrested. he's serving 20 years for possession of a firearm by a felon because of a previous conviction in 96 and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. >> we took somebody off the streets intent on harming americans. >> the fbi wouldn't say how they became aware of morgan but they say the internet is the primary way they recruit americans. if you see or hear suspicious behavior, report it so they can investigate. we posted emails on wsoctv.com along with raw clips of my phone conversations with him and the fbi interview. click 9 investigates and look inside my story. you've probably been

why not. enjoying the sunshine and warmth. a lot of things in bloom. in south charlotte. camillas are out. and you probably noticed the trees budding up and blooming. mainly cedar and elm trees. believe it or not our pollen count is high. pollen season has begun. it's made worse by these gusty winds. winds close to 50 miles per hour in the high country. it's drawn temperatures up. lower 70s from charlotte through rock hill. 68 lancaster, 70 in chester and rockingham. as well as in shelby and lincolnton. in the mountains, readings for the most part in the 50s. these clear skies give way to the next shot of rain. not tonight. not a cloud to be found on live early warning doppler 9. you're safe to go out. a steady fall back through the 50s.

the winds pick up as we head through tomorrow. that's going to drag in the next change, the next storm system pushing our way, tomorrow it'll be different. in the 40s, sunny, but in the 40s. clouds and showers over the southwest mountains. most of that initial batch of rain moves through the charlotte area. i expect nothing more than a spotty shower. what bears watching is later tomorrow night there's a line of showers that may have thunder embedded in it. then that's going to move toward the charlotte area. at this point, it appears as though that will begin to dry up and break up as it pushes east, as far as temperatures tomorrow, one more warm day, back in the mid 60s. blowing rock, showers by evening, temperatures will be in the mid 50s. and the trend, back to reality, several days of temperatures in the 50s after tomorrow as we

let's check out that weekend with the five-day forecast, rain tomorrow night, next batch of rain thursday into friday. aside from that it's the cool down that takes center stage. highs in the 50s. today was a great tease. it'll come back soon. thanks steve. we have breaking news in northeast charlotte. chopper 9 just arrived on the scene here. this is on west sugar creek and mineral springs road. making calls to the charlotte mecklenburg school district to see if kids were on board the bus at the time. we'll bring you new information as it comes into the news room tonight. bullets sprayed in uptown. a third violent incident during the ciaa weekend in three years. we ask city leaders what's being done to protect the city

police say road rage led to

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see virginia prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing rookie police officer. he's being held without bond after police say he killed his wife and officer ashley. it was her first day on the job. >> she shared with us she felt like she still wanted to do this job. hamilton shot two other officers. they are expected to recover. one of the boston marathon

terrorism months before the deadly 2013 attacks. a newly released and heavily redacted department of homeland security report shows tsarnaev passed his u.s. citizenship test. he died after the bombings in a shoot out with police. and his brother was convicted and sentenced to death. the president awarded a navy seal the nation's highest military honor. he held a taliban member by the throat against a wall until a teammate could shoot him. he's the first to get the award since the vietnam war. >> a rare opportunity for the american people to get a glimpse of a special breed of warrior that so often serves in

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yncsts.com. now, from the news team that's covering the carolinas, this is channel 9 eyewitness news at 6:00. three high profile shootings in charlotte. all during ciaa weekends. in each of the last three years. >> it's concerning that something like that could happen. >> the post recent was early sunday morning. three men sit in jail connected to the bullets shot into cars and buildings in the heart of uptown charlotte.

image has taken a hit here. i'm scott wickersham. >> i'm erica bryant. brittney johnson reached out to city leaders about the violence and the trend for one of charlotte's biggest weekends. >> sunday's shooting was very discouraging to city leaders. after six days full of events without incident. there's a sense of urgency about what led up to the violence for the third year in a row. economic development. great opportunity to showcase the city of charlotte. he is deeply concerned that police say these suspects came specifically for ciaa weekend and were involved in a shooting that sent roughly 50 bullets into this van in the hyatt hotel. >> it's concerning. >> brandon works nearby. >> the night of the event.

i noted a large security presence. could do. >> after shootings that injured people inside the sheraton hotel, mitchell says this year the city met with venue managers to push safety. and there were no issues at party. >> we do an excellent job of being proactive. but at the end of the day. you can't control everyone. >> after this weekend. the ceo insists they're going to try. >> we're going to double down. we'll work hard to think about how did this happen. and how can we prevent it. the ciaa commissioner sent a statement saying they're working on forming a committee to discuss strengthening security for next year. they don't want these isolated acts of violence to over shadow how much this tournament does