i'm eric thomas. >> i'm eric thomas.rating is just getting under -- trading is getting underway on wall street. it appears the dow is getting ready for a lower opening. asian and european market lost ground overnight and dow futures traded down all night long. karen travers has more on what is behind the latest dive for the dough and what the market selloff means for millions of workers and their 401(k) program. >> asian markets fell sharply sparked by growing fears of a second recession in the u.s. and spiralling debt crisis in europe. whiplash on wall street continues. the dow plunged 419 points yesterday after more discouraging employment news. new jobless claims up above 400,000 again this week. >> we think that the problems are going to continue to unfold over the next 18 to 24 months. >> the volatility in the market has investors spooked. >> the psyche of the american investor has been danieled. no question about it. >> in the first ten days of august, $23.5 billion were pulled from the 401(k)s. that is the worst h

. >> i'm eric thomas. the police swat teams are still in place, but it should no longer ruin your commute across the richmond san rafael bridge. officers surrounded a hotel near i-580 where a gunman has been barricaded inside for hours. abc7's terry mcsweeney is live at the hotel. this was a nightmare for the evening commute, terry. >> this began yesterday morning. now you have a fire truck with the ladder leading up to the roof. police having access, good viewing vantage point to the gunman who is holed up out here at the extended stay hotel. but the threat to public safety have been minimized in a very unique way. take a look at how the san rafael police figure this out. they bring in a crane carrying about a 6-x-8 foot sheet of metal and they lower it in front of the window where the gunman has been holed up since yesterday morning. he has a gun. he has used that gun. police are figuring that the one-inch thick piece of steel is going to prevent him from shooting out and threatening anybody on 580. that

. >> abc7's eric thomas is live with the latest. eric? >> as ed lee officially entered the race. there were four key words he kept saying over and over again. i've changed. >> i'm ed lee, mayor of san francisco, i filed papers to file for the mayor's ration this year -- mayor's race this year. >> that is what he did in basement of city hall afr seven months of vows and promises he would not run for mayor, he was not a politician and he was just doing a job that an administrator does. in fact, appointed to fill out gavin newsom's term. part of the deal was he would not run for mayor when it was all said and done. go back to being san francisco administrator. lee says now he has had success. >> his opponre saying more the merrier but that things will be different. >> i had not focussed on running for mayor. i just did work required. there was a tone change in city hall. one that makes me feel good about being mayor to be specific about it. >> he hasn't been subject to inquiry that every other candidate had over the past several months. the fact he repeated hundreds of hundreds of t

eric thomas has the assignment 7 report. >> reporter: the park in marin county, she so mission to takestate parks and beaches proposed for closure because of the budget cuts. >> when i heard they were closing, i have to see all these places. >> he hopes to raise awareness by posting his photos, closing california parks.com. the governor and state legislature says they are necessary to cover the $22 million cut in the state parks budget. plan was passed in march. the parks are slated to close next july. >> you see a place like this, i can't imagine it not being somewhere where everyone can come. >> they say they are left with no choice. they will close unless money or resources are found to keep them open. >> how else are you going save $22 million. they have been cut quite a bit for several years. >> the budget has been reduced by 44% since 2006. park staffing is currently at 1979 levels but the park system has grown by more than 500,000 acres and 10 million more visitors per year than it had back then. >> of the 278 parks statewide, 1504 been affected by budget cuts. fewer rangers and

. >> i'm eric thomas. >> they are looking for a link to two shootings. in the first case an suv was fired into that crashed into gas meter. second case a woman says she was shot on interstate 80. amy? >> reporter: the story is violent and very strange. police aren't sure what to make of it. check out how violent. look how many bullet holes hit this suv. police counted at least 50 shots were fired. driver was hit crashed the car hitting a propane tank. now with gas leaking, police had to evacuate the motel and the parking lot where they hit and block of san joaquin road. this is around 11:00 last night. while they were dealing with the evacuation, they fined one of the shooting victims on the roof of the motel. they have no idea how he got up there or why he up there. then it wasn't over yet. a few minutes later they got a call that a woman was shot while driving on the freeway. she was on westbound 80 so they had to close down the highway to gather the shell casings. they think they are dealing with an ak-47 and all the victims were taken to the hospital

. >> i'm eric thomas. >> it's up to medical examiners to determine why a pit bull turned on its present owner with deadly consequences. a test is set later on the animal today. terry mcsweeney has more on this terrifying story. >> we may never know why the dog attacked his owner but a necropsy is scheduled for today. possibly the dog had rabies. let's take a look at the woman that was killed yesterday. 32-year-old dar la, her husband found the body. he called sut and told police one of the two pit bulls was standing over her body when he arrived at the scene. when police arrived the pit bulls were in the backyard but soon escaped but they killed the dog. >> we wanted to find out what medically was wrong with the dog that may have caused the attack. we did an interview with the husband and follow-up questions we may ask in the future. >> there is actually two pit bulls inside the house, one a spayed female and one an unneutered male. in some neighbors at the scene are quoted as saying they were surprised by the attack. another neighbor is quoted as saying these dogs scared her. we'll hop

i'm eric thomas. >>> today, tim cook era begins at apple. steve jobs resigned yesterday in the wake of continued health problems. terry mcsweeney is live at the new apple store and everybody is wondering what it will mean for the direction of apple. >> yeah, steve jobs built apple into the number one tech company in the world. now, in a very brief resignation letter he left a whole lot more questions. he didn't give a whole lot of answers. what business snelth who is the new guy? let's take a look at man who built it. he has been compared to a modern day thomas edison, synonymous with ipad and phone. he says he can no longer fulfill his duties as ceo. he is still chairman of the board but not on the day to day hands on. he did have a liver transplant but he did not mention health problems. the new ceo, tim cook, former chief operating officer moves over as ceo. had here is some observations on cook and jobs. >> he is iconic. he represents part of apple. frankly it's going to be hard i think moving on. >> i admire him and i'm glad to hear he

i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm kristen sze. >> breaking news.our firefighters are on the scene of a two-alarm house fire in san francisco at the hotel of intersection of masonic and haight. no word on injuries but we do have a crew on the way and we'll bring you a live update in just a little while. the house fire, two alarms going on in san francisco, masonic and haight. more coming up. >>> san mateo county sheriff's office is set to present a plan for voluntary jet ski patrol. they allow them because it lies within the gulf of the farallones marine sanctuary. it was a photographer that rescued a surfer last january. supports say it's an essential safety net for surfers at half restriction. >> u.s. stock futures are following a day after the ninth worst day ever on the dow jones industrial average and second big drop this week. global markets continued their wild up and down swings. in asia and hong kong closed down nearly 1% in overnight trading. markets in europe were in positive trading territory but they are down right now. >> new foreclosu

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. developing news in daly city where police are looking for the attackers who stabbed four people overnight at a popular bowling alley. terry mcsweeney is live near the serra bowl with the latest? >> i'm in the parking lot behind serra bowl. you can see daly city police are out on the scene and the crime scene tape is still up marking off a couple sections of this parking lot. there is a question whether this is in fact the crime scene. take a look at some of the pictures of officers out in the parking lot. they have been out here for hours. incident happened sometime before 1:00 we believe. we base that on the fact that janitor is saying when he arrived at work at 1:00, nothing was going on. inside the bowling alley a short time later, police asked questions. police are now saying they are not absolutely positive the incident happened here. they heard from one person and assuming one of the victims that it happened here. the four victims were taken to san francisco general hospital aft

. >> i'm eric thomas. also both hands on the wheel because of the wind out there. in the news, police warn that the rising price of gold is leading to bold strong-arm robberies in the east bay. in at least two cases, thieves yanked gold chains off the neck of their victim. terry mcsweeney joins us live from the fruitvale bart station. terry? >> reporter: the price of gold around $1800 an ounce and enough to have the oakland police issuing a warning to women. around the fruitvale bart station and lake merritt bart station to keep your eyes open and your jewelry hidden. take a look. the crimes have been going on for 19 days. men in the late teens and early 20s, have done it dozens of time over that period of time. the thooes don't care it's daylight. they occur between 4:00 and #:00 p.m. they don't care about the crowds. these are happening in main commute hours. >> they are distracted by the cell phone or electronic devices and they snatch the gold chains off their necks and run away. >> i probably won't wear my jewelry knowing that. just leave jewelry at home. >> p

. >> i'm eric thomas. >> bart riders, you need to have a back-up plan for the evening commute. san francisco police already have a plan "b" in place in case demonstrators try to shut down bart stations. it may result in more demonstrators in handcuffs a lot sooner. amy hollyfield is live in civic center bart with more. >> reporter: there is going to be a police crackdown. today is the day we're going see what the crackdown is going to look like. officers say they are not going wait as long as they have in the past. last time they didn't start making arrests until four hours in the protest. meantime, bart stations were closed causing commuters problems. many are saying they know how to work around the interruptions. >> i commute. i stayed home for two days to avoid craziness. i don't do that. i came very early today and i'm heading home early. >> protestors are angry at two things. the officer involved fatal shooting of a homeless man in july and bart's decision to shut down cellphone service two weeks ago in an effort to prevent a protest from happening. the protestors' reactio

i'm eric thomas. >> topping the news this half-hour, breaking news out of the nigeria where many people are dead in the capital after a car tore a part of a wing of united nations building. ten people are dead. they confirm a bomb attack. it houses about 400 employees of united nations in nigeria. the blast happened in the same neighborhood where the u.s. and other embassies are located. we'll bring you more information as it becomes available. >>> federal government is coming to the rescue of the san jose fire department. a grant from fema is allowing the department to hire back nearly half the 49 firefighters laid off last year. terry mcsweeney is live in san jose with more. that leaves another 20 some odd firefighters, what is going to happen to them? we apologize for the technical difficulties. 22 firefighters go back to work today and rest will come back to work later thanks to a federal grant. >> san francisco police will do less watching and more arresting for the next bart protest. amy hollyfield live. why the change in tactics? >> reporter: bart riders are really frustrated and

i'm a eric thomas. >> and i'm kristen sze. >> a warning from bart, the evening commuted could be a nightmare. there could be a shutdown. they are threatening another massive protest in downtown san francisco. nick smith is live at civic center station with the latest. >> reporter: because it is a possible protest scheduled for this afternoon and it is organized by a group anonymous, no one knows what may happen. bart is suggesting that people plan to have another way to get around just in case. take a look at this video. bart wants to avoid a situation like this. another protest like this one that happened last week. this demonstration delayed train service for hours. now, the countdown to another possible protest for this evening has started. the group is promising more of the same planning a protest for today at 5:00 p.m. at civic center station. the passenger alert tells bart riders to be prepared and to have an alternate way to get around. some believe the move to shut off cell service was not a smart move. >> when bart cut off wireless communications that was a dumb move. that added fue

>>> good morning actors i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm cheryl jennings. >> take a good luck loorbg at the picture we're about to show you. they released this sketch of a suspect that they believe was involved in a vicious beating at candlestick park last saturday. it was one of several attack that has day. necessity continue to search for witnesses to two shootings in the parking lot. all the victims are recovering slowly. it led to changes in the stadium including stepped up security and where fans can drink. changes will take place in saturday's night game against houston. 49ers are asking to cancel with pre-season games. anybody with information on these crimes are asked to call san francisco police. >>> fremont police have arrested several suspects in connection with a string of robberies. officers including members of s.w.a.t. team searched homes on the city's border with newark. officials won't say how many they took into custody and they are not releasing any specifics of the robberies. they say it's an ongoing investigation. >> labor of love by a group of young people is being tor

eric thomas, ab abc 7 news. >>> for a list of the parks slated for closure or to check out the websiteo to abc7.com and click on see it on tv. >>> wildlife officials are considering setting traps to catch a kappa beara running around in california. it has been spotted at the waste water treatment plant. they are the world's largest rodents. this someone is said to be the size of a small pig. >> i received a call from the city of pasarobles treatment plan. a kappa bear berra was seen and worked its way. >> they are not dangerous but wildlife officials are hoping to relocate the animal to a shelter. they tend to live longer in captivity. unusual little creatures. >>> still ahead. why the man on the moon could be younger than we think. >>> and coming home. soldiers return from overseas. the one word they wait so long to hear. ♪ [ woman ] sam begged and pleaded... so i sent him to camp. we'd earned lots of points with our new citi thankyou card... and i put them to good use. he told me about his bunkmates, and how he signs up for every activity. ♪ he even hangs out with the camp director.

>>> good morning actors i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm cheryl jennings. >> take a good luck loorbg at the picture we're about to show you. they released this sketch of a suspect that they believe was involved in a vicious beating at candlestick park last saturday. it was one of several attack that has day. necessity continue to search for witnesses to two shootings in the parking lot. all the victims are recovering slowly. it led to changes in the stadium including stepped up security and where fans can drink. changes will take place in saturday's night game against houston. 49ers are asking to cancel with pre-season games. anybody with information on these crimes are asked to call san francisco police. >>> fremont police have arrested several suspects in connection with a string of robberies. officers including members of s.w.a.t. team searched homes on the city's border with newark. officials won't say how many they took into custody and they are not releasing any specifics of the robberies. they say it's an ongoing investigation. >> labor of love by a group of young people is being tor

. >> abc7's eric thomas is live with the latest. eric? >> as ed lee officially entered the race. there were four key words he kept saying over and over again. i've changed. >> i'm ed lee, mayor of san francisco, i filed papers to file for the mayor's ration this year -- mayor's race this year. >> that is what he did in basement of city hall after seven months of vows and promises he would not run for mayor, he was not a politician and he was just doing a job that an administrator does. in fact, appointed to fill out gavin newsom's term. part of the deal was he would not run for mayor when it was all said and done. go back to being san francisco administrator. lee says now he has had success. >> his opponents are saying more the merrier but that things will be different. >> i had not focussed on running for mayor. i just did work required. there was a tone change in city hall. one that makes me feel good about being mayor to be specific about it. >> he hasn't been subject to inquiry that every other candidate had over the past several months. the fact he repeated hundreds of hundr

. >> i'm eric thomas. combination of factors ranging from debt to jobs to troubles in europe are triggering the largest losses in the key index since last summer. abc7's amy hollyfield is live in redwood city with explanation and reaction. amy? >> reporter: we just interviewed a financial advisor who told us his heart skipped a beat when he saw the dow jones this morning. if you saw gains in your portfolio at the beginning of this year, you probably have lost them by now. they're probably gone. wall street continues to worry about the economic weakness in the u.s. and in europe. the latest sign of weakness is the number of people filing for unemployment. the report from the labor department today showed that the job market remains stagnant. the fear, though, is that the recession is going to have two waves. >> i would say that this is definitely showing concerns that the market believes there is a larger chance of a double dip recession. >> is this an indicator this is coming? >> this is a concern about it

. >> i'm eric thomas. in the news, abc7 learned that police expect to make more arrests in the murder of a 3-year-old boy in oakland on monday. two men are already in custody in connection with the drive-by shooting that caught the young victim in the crossfire. abc7's nick smith is live in oakland with the story. nick? >> good morning. oakland police will not give us details about the two men who have been arrested but they say they expect to have the investigation wrapped up in the next 24 to 36 hours. take a look behind me. you can see a memorial that has continued to grow since the shooting. oakland cops surrounded this pittsburgh apartment complex on peasant drive yesterday. police sources tell abc7 news two men were arrested in connection to their investigation of the drive-by shooting that took the life of 3-year-old carlos nava. carlos was caught in the crossfire of bullets when picking up pizza with his mother. the senseless death of the little boy angered the community because of brazen nature of

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm terry mcsweeney in for eric thomas.the prosecutor who put jaycee dugard's kidnappers away want to take on the patrol system that failed her. armed with a just-released video of the kidnappers in action. abc7's amy hollyfield joins us live from antioch where the garrido held jaycee dugard for years hidden away from parol agents. amy? >> reporter: according to the report, garridos would come to parks like this one and video children without them knowing it. they would use a hidden camera. the report released yesterday says system failures started back in 1988. saying phillip garrido should never have been freed from prison. he was serving time for a previous kidnapping and rape. the system showed that they missed numerous warning signs. the garridos were so unsupervised they would be out in parks, filming girls to help feed phillip garrido's attraction to children. listen as nancy garrido coaxes a young girl to demonstrate gymnastics. >> can you go all the way down? >> yes. >> let me see. i bet you can go down really easy

. >> i'm eric thomas. in the news this morning, less than a half hour from now the government is expected to issue what is expected to to be disappointing jobs report. economists expect it to show the jobless rate remains unchanged at 9.2%. and that employers only added 90,000 jobs a month. 100,000 new jobs a month is needed to keep up with the population growth. the report comes one day after the sharpest selloff on wall street since the 2008 financial crisis. letter -- abc's scott goldberg has more. >> reporter: if you thought the economy was in clear after washington passed the debt deal, welcome to wall street where the dow suffered the biggest one day drop and gave back everything it gained this year. >> there isn't much washington can do, and even if there was, there isn't much trust that they'd do the right thing. >> this started overseas that fears that italy and spain might default in greece. this could add up to a double-dip recession. >> investors in general are worried we're headed for a recess

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. buckle up for a bumpy ride when the u.s. markets open an hour-and-a-half from now. stock future reflect investor worries after the massive freefall yesterday. overnight, the asian markets yo-yoed wildly. abc7's tomas roman is live at the san francisco floor of the new york stock exchange. >> reporter: there will be a lot of nervous investors inside the new york stock exchange this morning, because the asian markets fluctuated 30% overnight. now, those investors are waiting for that opening bell anxiously. wondering if today is going to be another stock market freefall. >> yesterday, the dow fell more than 600 points due to a massive global stock market selloff. investors are watching the asian markets that began fluctuating in both directions. it's a hit to financial future. 401(k)s could see drop of $16,000. many investors see nothing but gloom, experts say people should think long-term and avoid panicking. >> everyone feels nervous. i hope i have a long enough runway before i have to retire. >> they need to look at what th

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping the news at 5:01, the second suspect arrested in the drive-by shooting death of a 3-year-old boy in oakland has the first court appearance this morning. meantime, the community will say goodbye for the last time to the young victim. abc7's amy hollyfield is live in oakland with the story. >> kristen, the man was arrested in las vegas but he has a lengthy rap sheet here in oakland. 22-year-old willie torrence's rap sheet includes robbery and accusation that he choked his ex-girlfriend and threatened to shoot her in the face. his arrest was announced the same day friends and family held a rosary service for the young victim, 3-year-old carlos nava, who was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting last week on international boulevard at 1:00 in the afternoon. police have now made two arrests in the case. they caught the man they believe pulled the trigger last week in pittsburg. >> it was very challenging in the beginning but i got to say that most of the information we rec

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping the news today, richmond police are trying to find a gunman who opened fire on two people last night, killing one person. this caps an exceptionally violent month for the city and pushes the homicide count all of last year's. amy hollyfield is live at the scene. >> a woman was killed here, kristen. some of her family members are here staring in disbelief. they tell me she was 26 years old and they just saw her at church yesterday. they are here hoping to get answers. the police don't know much at this time. they are still gathering evidence. this happened at the apartment complex where the woman lives. but there is a car crashed in the apartment parking lot. which adds to the mystery. one captain told me a working theory that the shooting didn't happen here. pew they were driving here. because this is located, this crime scene, just outside kaiser permanente medical center. currently, the man is in critical condition. but the woman was killed. there has been a spike in violenc

. >> i'm eric thomas. economists say the jobs is encouraging but not enough to ease worries of investors. the nation's unemployment rate dropped from 9.2 to 9.1%. california unemployment rate is 11.8%. abc7's terry mcsweeney joins us from the employment development department in san francisco with more. terry? >> at the employment office, folks aren't so much concerned about the big picture jobs report. they're more concerned about the job report as in the one that will turn their personal economy around. earlier, i was at the san francisco floor of the new york stock exchange where desplat -- despite the headline may ham in the market, they say to buy more stocks. as the dow jones went up and down every way this morning, brokers took it in stride. traders know august through october is the slow season. they have huge stocks to the sideline. the initial enthusiasm about the drop in the unemployment rate was tempered by the details of the job report. >> then you read the numbers more and there are less peop

. >> eric thomas is live in the newsroom with more. >> the market is waiting to hear from chairman ben bernanke if the federal reserve will use the few tools it has left to boost a slowing economy. among them, a firm commitment to keeping interest rates near zero. a potential third round of buying and holing on to treasury bonds. >> when the opening bell rang this morning on the san francisco floor of the new york stock exchange, traders had their fingers crossed. >> traders are optimistic after so much selling that we could have an up day. >> the selling peaked with a 634-point drop on the dow yesterday. in response to the downgrade of america's credit rating from standard & poor's. >> this is an abnormality. we never see a market down 600 unless something is extreme. being downgraded for the first time was extreme. >> s&p said it didn't see the political will in washington to solve the country's debt and deficit problems. the ratings agency then downgraded fannie mae and freddie mac which could send mortgage rates higher, and state and government bonds could be the next to take a rat

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. the top story, the u.s.d of worry under the unprecedented downgrading of the credit rating. overnight, we have major drop in trading overseas. abc7's leslie brinkley is live at the pacific exchange with the latest. leslie? >> well, the stage has been set for wall street today. the stage is set with prediction of a sharply lower opening. especially given market reaction in asia to the tuesday that the u.s. credit rating downgrade announced on friday. in japan, the nikkei lost 2.18%. similarly, a market drop in hong kong of over 2%. those are final results. pessimistic trading in europe, the stsb is down 1.90 right now. germany is down 2.6. but some say it could have been worse. >> i heard reaction in asia has been better than expected. that is really because last friday we had one of the biggest in year between 4-5%. but today, we still have one to 3%. >> futures show the dow jones/industrials average slumping 242 points to 11,160 today. the u.s. stock market opened in just one hour. the standard & poor's ann

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm terry mcsweeney in for eric thomas this morning. one vote down and up with to go. the house passed a debt plan to avoid economic disaster. today, the senate votes under the gun less than 24 hours less until the government runs out of money. all of this magnified by the emotional moment when gabrielle giffords returned to the house floor to cast her vote. scott goldberg has details. >> with two minutes left on the house clock and the debt deal still hanging in the balance, members of every political faction stopped fighting for a moment. they were stunned to see arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords walk in to the house chamber for the first time since she was shot in the head in january. >> there isn't a name that stirs more laws, more admiration, more respect. >> giffords, democrat, voted yes. then the rest of the yes votes rolled in. >> even the hardest hearts, which we had a lot of hardened hearts in this debate melted when she walked in the room. >> the house passed the deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending by a mar

i'm eric thomas. >> we begin with breaking news from nigeria's capital where a large explosion has leveled an entire wing of united nations office building killing at least three people. they say the building houses about 400 employees of the u.n. in nigeria including the majority of the offices. blast happened in the same neighborhood as the u.s. embassy and other diplomatic posts. it's clear that several people have been cleared but no casualty count yet. we'll continue to follow the story and bring you more on it as we get it. >>> san francisco police say the time for tolerance is over. they are ready to crack down on the next protest that is scheduled for monday's rush hour. amy hollyfield has more on the tough talk. >> reporter: the general feel among bart riders are relief. even those that are sympathetic, they are tired of getting caught in the middle. the protests have shut down a few bart stations in downtown san francisco during the evening commute for the past two mondays and the group anonymous promises it will do it again this monday. police have generally been lenient all man

. >> i'm eric thomas. >> we begin wall street watch. dow jones average fell 519 points yesterday. over the past three weeks, it's lost 2,000 points but indicators point to a profitable turnaround today. edge is yeo is live outside the new york stock exchange. >> good morning. market watchers are bracing for another wild ride on the stock exchange. first off, there is lingering concerns about european government debt load. france was concerned they might see a downgrading of their credit rating. some of the concerns were based on rumor but that is the nature of uncertainty. asian markets closed a bit down today giving some analysts little relief that european concerns may also be a little overblown. >> it's not so much even the news coming from europe, france may be downgraded but it has not created the shock like the u.s. credit downgrade. >> reporter: again asian markets closed down a bit down. tokyo markets loss half a percentage point and hong kong lost half a percentage point. so far today, there is some good news. london opened today and actually currently trading in positive

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. bart is warning commuters to prepare for a bart protest over a bart shooting and cellphone shut down. police promise to crack down hard. amy hollyfield is live at civic center station in san francisco. >> reporter: today is the day. police are going to move in more quickly today. their actions should than different than last. today is the day that bart riders seem ready to push back. these protests have been happening on mondays and shutting down stations and really causing problems and hassles for commuters. place say the support the right to protest but starting today they are going to aggressively protect the rights of others like bart riders. they are not deterring the protestors. they say they don't take well to threats, but if they had any sympathy or support among bart riders the support is hard to find. this is what we've been hearing a lot of in the last few days. >> i'm tired of the protestors, to be honest with you. i'm usually for freedom of speech. that is fine. when it a

. >> i'm eric thomas. combination of factors ranging from debt to jobs to troubles in europe are triggering the largest losses in the key index since last summer. abc7's amy hollyfield is live in redwood city with explanation and reaction. amy? >> reporter: we just interviewed a financial advisor who told us his heart skipped a beat when he saw the dow jones this morning. if you saw gains in your portfolio at the beginning of this year, you probably have lost them by now. they're probably gone. wall street continues to worry about the economic weakness in the u.s. and in europe. the latest sign of weakness is the number of people filing for unemployment. the report from the labor department today showed that the job market remains stagnant. the fear, though, is that the recession is going to have two waves. >> i would say that this is definitely showing concerns that the market believes there is a larger chance of a double dip recession. >> is this an indicator this is coming? >> this is a concern about it

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. >> let's begin with statewide amber alert. christina ramirez was reported missing around 4:00 in san benito county. police describe her as hispanic, four feet tall 85 pounds. authorities believe her father, 34-year-old kidnapped her. he is 5'6", 150 pounds and has a tattoo on his left calf. his vehicle is white honda odyssey minivan, with 3 wan 638. >> bart is expected to name a new general managers today and she'll take over a period when the agency's police department is under fire and weekly protests disrupted the rush hour. >> reporter: what a time to be starting a new job at bart. the board of director member lynette sweet tells me she can't wait to talk to her right away about how to get control of the anger that is being directed towards bart. the protest group anonymous has promised to demonstrate every monday until their demands are met. some of their demands is disarming bart police and making an apologize for shutting off cellphone service. she has been trying to negotiate with the protestors and she wants to talk t

i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm kristen sze. san francisco police are asking witnesses to come forward and help them catch the attackers three separated incidents of violence at a 49ers-raiders game. live where the three victims are being treated. >> reporter: at last check the victims of that violence here at san francisco general hospital were in serious condition. they were involved in completely unrelated incidents according to police. they also say there are actually more incidents of violence they could count. much of the violence is video of them posted on youtube the fights were just about everywhere including in the stands where two men slugged it out for several minutes. one of the victims that were brought to san francisco general was beaten unconscious in a bathroom. two men were so is not a parking lot. one man is covering okay the other had multiple wounds that initially put him in critical condition but his condition has since improved to serious. we talked to two men who were visiting san francisco and watched wh

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. the government is warning consumers to get rid of tainted turkey that could be in the freezer. it's at the heart of the nationwide salmonella outbreak that killed a northern california man. amy hollyfield has information we need to know. >> reporter: the turkey has definitely made its way to northern california. one death happened in sacramento. one illness has been reported in san francisco. the u.s. department of agriculture said the investigators found a link between cargill ground turkey and the illness outbreak. this is called one of the largest food recall in history. sill toms are diarrhea, cramps and fever within 72 hours of eating product. the most vulnerable are the eld her i, young and -- elderly, young and pregnant woman. you can eat tainted turkey safely if you follow basic tips. >> wash your hands frequentenly, prevent cross contamination and cook it so it's well down. >> meat company cargill is pulling the ground turkey process and the arkansas plant between february an

i'm a eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. >> we begin with a violent night in richmond with shots fired into several vehicles. several people were struck by bullets and what could have been a dangerous explosion at a gas station. >> police are busy trying to piece this one together. the big question is why. check out this suv, you won't believe all the bullet holes that it has and someone opened fire on the people inside and just wouldn't stop. they are trying to count the bullet casings and got up to 50. i'm not sure i've ever seen that. the driver was hit so he crashed the car and hit a gas meter. because gas was leaking they had to evacuate the motel on carlson boulevard. while they were dealing with the evacuation they discovered two men with gunshot wounds. they were the men in the suv. they were taken to the hospital. then about ten minutes later. shots were fired on westbound 80 at carlson. then a woman rear-ended a gas tanker truck. she had been shot in the stomach. police do believe the shootings must be related. they are not sure why though this happened. they did have to clos

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping the news, san francisco firefighters say an elderly woman and her care-give rer in serious condition following an overnight fire in the paveng heights neighborhood - neighborhood -- pacific heights neighborhood. a victim, woman in her 80s and a woman in her 60 taken to the hospital to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation. >> they knocked the fire down, located them, knocked them out. they were on oxygen, they were not alert. the paramedic were working on them. one had burns on the body and the other was baghdaded with oxygen. >> it appears it started in the bedroom and preliminary investigation indicates it might be started by lit cigarettes. >>> investigators are trying to find suspects of a shooting of a man who was shot in a pick-up truck. started in parking lot of mcdonald's restaurant. he tried to drive off when he was shot but the truck crashed in the center divider with the driver dead inside. they kept sonoma boulevard closed for most of the evening gathering evid

i'm terry mcsweeney in for eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. >>> right now san francisco police are looking for the person who took a shoot shot an off-duty police officer overnight. investigators say it happened near the intersection of silver and bayshore in the bayview district. off-duty officer was driving when a shot rang out and hit the vehicle. that officer was not injured. police blocked off the area for several hours while they collected evidence and searched for suspects. so far no arrests have been made. >>> bart's controversial move to shut off cellphone service is going to be a hot topic at today's bart board meeting. amy hollyfield joins us live from the civic center bart station with details. >> reporter: good morning. riders who use this station are right in the middle of this controversy. if they have anything to say about this, today is their day. a hacker group has promised to keep holding protests like we've been seeing until they get an apology from bart to from shutting off the cellphone service. they shut it off to keep protestors from organizing. bart was the first r

i'm eric thomas. we'll keep track of that. we start with this. bart is expected to be back on track and hoping there will be no further problem at the computer system with the operations control center. the computer that monitor the movement of trains went down around 7:30 last night and bart decided to shut the whole system down after moving passengers to the nearest station and letting them off. people were advised to take alternate forms of transportation. they included many san francisco giants fans heading home early from the ballpark. >> left the game early because they were losing. here we are. >> they told to us find alternate transportation, call somebody to pick you up. we're kind of stuck because we're in livermore. the dublin/pleasanton station is far. >> service wasn't fully restored until after 11:00. >> oakland police have extra patrols, officers on tactical support. the victim this time is a 3-year-old boy. nick smith is live at 64 and international boulevard, the site of a mobile commander unit. nick? >> reporter: the mobile comm

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. the top story, in japan many people's nerves are rattled after magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit off the northeastern coast. centered 185 miles northeast of tokyo, south of where the catastrophic 9.0 quake was centered on march 11. tsunami advisory triggered after the quake but was lifted a short time later. the tumbler hit after 2:30 in the afternoon tokyo time. that is about 10:30 p.m. our time last night. so far, there are no reports of damage or injuries. it was the first sizable earthquake in japan in a month. >> in this country, we begin with another day of jitters on wall street and whether the market will continue to hemorrhage or make back yesterday's losses. the dow dropped more than 4 400 points yesterday. asian markets followed suit overnight. abc7's nick smith is live with a preview. nick? >> good morning. the global financial markets plunged again on renewed fears of a looming u.s. recession and stability of european banks. it looks like wall street will be in negative territ

. >> eric thomas is live in the newsroom with more. >> the market is waiting to hear from chairman ben bernanke if the federal reserve will use the few tools it has left to boost a slowing economy. among them, a firm commitment to keeping interest rates near zero. a potential third round of buying and holing on to treasury bonds. >> when the opening bell rang this morning on the san francisco floor of the new york stock exchange, traders had their fingers crossed. >> traders are optimistic after so much selling that we could have an up day. >> the selling peaked with a 634-point drop on the dow yesterday. in response to the downgrade of america's credit rating from standard & poor's. >> this is an abnormality. we never see a market down 600 unless something is extreme. being downgraded for the first time was extreme. >> s&p said it didn't see the political will in washington to solve the country's debt and deficit problems. the ratings agency then downgraded fannie mae and freddie mac which could send mortgage rates higher, and state and government bonds could be the next to take a rat

. >> i'm eric thomas. >> we begin with breaking news out of daly city, an act of violence outside a bowling alley that sent four people to the hospital overnight with stab wounds. terry mcsweeney is live w in daly city with the latest. >> reporter: i'm in the parking lot behind the boulevard, daly city police are still out and they have quite a section taped off with crime scene tape. this is where apparently the four people were stabbed. it happened sometime before 1:00 this morning. exactly what led up to it we don't know a spokesperson for the police department has not filled us in but we do know after the incident in the parking lot, the four victims went to a hospital which i can see from where i'm standing, seton medical center which is just up there. they do not have a trauma unit so the victims were put into ambulances and taken to san francisco general hospital. take a look at pictures we have from there. we do not have any word on their condition, getting a detective to talk to us shortly. we do know that four people were stabbed but they were transported by friends or themselves

i'm eric thomas. kristen sze is off today. >> this is apple's first full day of the 21st century without steve jobs in the chair. he stepped down and reaction is rolling in. terry mcsweeney is live at the new apple store in berkeley. >> some say they are stunned and some say they expected it but whatever, steve jobs is no longer ceo at apple. he is still with the company, but he is no longer ceo. in his letter he can no longer meet his duties and expectations. what does that mean? take a look at the man who some call a modern day thomas edison. he brought us i-things, iphones and pads, is it a health issue? he has had serious health problems. he has had a liver transplant but no mention in his resignation letter. he recommended tim cook as chief operator to be the new ceo. that has been taken care of already. what will apple look like with cook in? >> he is doing the day to day stuff while steve jobs was still involved with apple but not with the intensity that he used to zblb he is not the next steve

. >> i'm eric thomas. if all goes as planned, the bay bridge, the bridge structure will soon call for help if something breaks. caltrans is installing an acoustic monitoring system to listen for defects and send out warnings. abc7's terry mcsweeney is live on treasure island to look at a new system for an old bridge. terry? >> yeah, more than 600, 640 to be exact, listening devices are being installed on the bay bridge right now. they are going to be listening. the next time there is a crack in an "i" bar, we've seen it before, the caltrans officials will be notified immediately. this is next generation. take a look at what prompted all of this. you may remember, in fact, if you were in town, you undoubtedly do, the 2009 labor day shutdown of the bridge in a routine inspection. there it was. a crack in an "i" bar. the bridge was closed z repaired, reopen. the repair gave way. the bridge closed again and repaired again. the 600-plus sensors will monitor close to 400 "i" bars listening for a crack. a company

i'm eric thomas. commuters this morning again travel smoothly to the richmond-san rafael bridge. overnight, authorities did something to allow them to reopen a key section of interstate 580 even though a gunman remains holed up in a hotel off the freeway. terry mcsweeney has the latest on the tactic they're using. >> one problem solved and one continues. they still have a gunman holed up. you can see the fire truck there. the ladder giving police and other authorities to the roof of the extended stay hotel. they have been out on the scene for a while now but they have managed to make the situation safer for everyone. look at how they did that. a crane was rolled in last night. about 12:40 this morning it took a sheet of cast iron one inch thick and brought it up to the room on the second floor where the gunman has been holed up since yesterday morning. this is the gunman that has fired a shot. now that the one-inch thick piece of steel is there it's no longer a threat to anybody on 580. now take a look at the suspect. this is a person wanted for shoplifting and assault. sunday he

. >> i'm eric thomas. we begin with a recall of possibly contaminated meat that many of us may have in our fridges right now. car gil meat company recalling 36 million pounds of turkey because it may be tainted with a dangerous bacteria. amy hollyfield is covering the story for us in the newsroom. >> reporter: the one person who has died from the outbreak lived in sacramento. and one illness has been reported in san francisco. illnesses have been reported in 26 states, dating back to march. the minnesota based company cargill says it's recalling the meat voluntarily after conducting its own internal investigation. this is called one of the largest meat recalls ever. government officials say that even contaminated ground turkey is safe to eat, if it's cooked to 165 degrees. the fda recommends you cook it for ten minutes. make sure to wash your hands to keep from getting sick. >> the most vulnerable people are the very old, the very young, and imunocompromised people and pregnant females. >> reporter: cargil

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. thank you for joining us. the top story, this morning police in richmond are investigating a double shooting that left two victims in critical condition. it happened around 2:45 a.m. near the intersection of seventh street. investigators will only say at least one of the two people shot was a woman. there has been a big jump in murders in the city lately. nine people were killed in july. there have been a total of 21 murders in richmond so far this year. the same total for all of last year. >> in oakland, police are investigating a shooting that happened late last night outside of kimball's nightclub. police were called to second and broadway before midnight. one person had been shot less than a block away apparently after leaving the club. injuries were said not to be life-threatening. police found several cars with bullet holes in them and 30 shell casings in the area. >>> more violence in oakland over the weekend. three people died in separate shootings, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot as he stood

. >> i'm eric thomas. in the news, a stroll home from the ball game turns in a life or death struggle for 9-year-old boy in san francisco, injured by a hit-and-run driver last night while walking away from at&t park. amy hollyfield is live at the scene of the crash with good news about the search for a suspect. amy? >> reporter: eric, they did make an arrest, but not here. he left the scene from here. he was driving down new montgomery and the child was in the crosswalk on mission street. the truck was turning on to mission street. that's when he hit the 9-year-old boy and then kept driving. police made an arrest. a couple of hours later in hayward. he was driving a damaged white toyota pick-up truck, which fits the description of the truck that hit the boy. san francisco police brought witnesses over to hayward, and those witnesses confirmed it was the same truck. the accident happened at 10:30 in san francisco. witnesses say after the truck hit the boy it went on to hit other cars on mission street. some

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping the news, the police chief for oakland schools is off the job and under investigation for making a series of racial slurs against one of his offersers. abc7's terry mcsweeney joins us live from the newsroom. terry? >> reporter: investigated on july 18, story that begins on a golf course. the chief and three staff went to a charity golf tournament at sequoia country club in oakland. the racial slurs began while the four were driving after the event. white sergeant in the vehicle filed the complaint that started the investigation. joel sullivan is his attorney and tells us what happened that day. >> he called the african-american the "n" bomb several times and told him he had no right to live in la marinda because he was an african-american. he didn't use that word. he should be hung in the town square because he's african-american and he was the last african-american he would ever hire and he'd just as soon kill him. >> he was a lubt with the oakland poli -- a lieutenant with t

. >> i'm eric thomas. economists say the jobs is encouraging but not enough to ease worries of investors. the nation's unemployment rate dropped from 9.2 to 9.1%. california unemployment rate is 11.8%. abc7's terry mcsweeney joins us from the employment development department in san francisco with more. terry? >> at the employment office, folks aren't so much concerned about the big picture jobs report. they're more concerned about the job report as in the one that will turn their personal economy around. earlier, i was at the san francisco floor of the new york stock exchange where desplat -- despite the headline may ham in the market, they say to buy more stocks. as the dow jones went up and down every way this morning brokers took it in stride. traders know august through october is the slow season. they have huge stocks to the sideline. the initial enthusiasm about the drop in the unemployment rate was tempered by the details of the job report. >> then you read the numbers more and there are less peopl