here's mark strassmann. >> on thanksgiving night chaos exploded at the riverchase galleria mall.omeone had shot and wounded two people 6789 and 21 year 08d emantic bradford, jr. known as ej lay dead shot by a responding police officer. april pip kins his mother got a call from one of his friends. >> ej, he said ej dead. and at that moment i just-- lost it. i'm like not my baby, no, i'm like no, this can't be. >> at first police in hoover, alabama claimed they had stopped a deadly threat. >> the hoover officer encountered an armed individual and he did shoot and kill that person. >> his family says bradford who had a concealed weapons permit was armed but his gun was always holtz terred and by friday night hoover police admitted bradford likely did not fire the rounds at the mall. they're now searching for the real shooter. that pains eman ticker bradford senior, the victim's father who is also a police officer. >> you got him on tv, you made it national, daggone press conference, made it good like this officer say hero. no, he screwed up. >> the bradford family is angry that hoov

mark strassmann. >> reporter: on thanksgiving night chaos exploded at the river chase galleria mall. someone had shot and wounded two people. and 21-year-old emantic bradford jr., known as e.j., lay dead, shot by a responding police officer. april pipkins, his mother, got a call from one of his friends. e.j. he said e.j. dead. and at that moment i just lost it. i'm like not my baby. no. i'm like no. this can't be. >> reporter: at first police in hoover, alabama claimed they had stopped a deadly threat. >> the hoover officer encountered an armed individual and he did shoot and kill that person. >> reporter: his family says bradford, who had a concealed weapons permit, was armed but his gun was always holstered. and by friday night hoover police admitted bradford likely did not fire the rounds at the mall. they're now searching for the real shooter. that pains emantic bradford sr., the victim's father, who is also a police officer. >> you've got on tv, you made it national. made it good like that office

we want to go to mark strassmann, covering at stacey abrams headquarters. mark, i know you have new reporting. >> reporter: the new reporting gayle-- norah, suggests we could be in very a very long night here. fulton county, atlanta, is the state's most populous county. about one million information live here. local election officials estimate the turnout here was as high as 60%. there were problems at a number of precincts, including too few machines. the n.a.a.c.p. filed suit. a judge has ordered three precincts to stay open last, one until 9:00, two until 10:00, three hours after the typical closing time. so that's going to delay the vote. another issue is this-- in fulton county, about 2,000 voting machines in service, once the doors are closed the machines have to be transported to two different site where's the results are uploaded. local election officials near fulton, the results from the most populous county in florida may not be fully reported until midnight. norah. >> wow, mark strassmann there. and that's really interesting because in georgia, i

mark strassmann has mo s actual gunman in the thanksgiving mall shooting. brown has been charged wa attempted murder for a shooting spree that left two people wounded and the hoover, alabama, police department under fire. >> the shooter is down at this time. >> reporter: a responding police officer shot 21-year-old emantic bradford jr. mistaking him for the gunman. bradford was armed but had a concealed weapons permit. >> they killed him in cold blood. they shot that man down for no reason. >> reporter: police in hoover, alabama, later conceded bradford never fired his weapon, the officer killed the wrong man. since then, protesters have been demanding answers and the release of body camera video. so far, investigators have resisted that. hoover councilman derrick murphy and other city officials said if the state agency investigating the shooting won't release the i e s of information by monday at noon, the chief will decide whether to release bradford sooun yo senior is a retired police officer. >> i want justice for my son. i want the officer who did the

polls show this race is dead even. >> glor: mark strassmann, thank you very much. the president's final campaign stop is missouri tonight, one of the battleground states that could decide control of the senate. democratic incumbent claire mccaskill is trying to perform a tricky balancing act on key issues as the president goes all out for her republican opponent. dean reynolds is in missouri. >> reporter: in the last days of this tight campaign, claire mccaskill's political compass at times veers rightward. >> we need to stand strong for things like balance. >> reporter: she's not one of those crazy democrats, she insists. nor is she a softy on that caravan of migrants the president calls a threat. what is your position on that caravan? >> i think that we have to make sure that we secure the border and that there is an orderly process under the law that allows people who come to our borders to turn themselves in for asylum. um reporter: last week, mccaskill even said the president should use every tool at his disposal against the migrants, but today she clarified.

here's mark strassmann. >> reporter: police say 20-year- old erron brown is the actual gunman in the thanksgiving alabama mall shooting. brown has been charged with attempted murder for the shooting spree that left two people wounded and a hoover, alabama, police department under fire. a responding police officer fatally shot 21-year-old emantic hiadford jr., mistaking him for the gunman. bradford was armed but had a concealed weapons permit. >> reporter: police in hoover, alabama, later conceded bradford had never fired his weapon. the officer killed the wrong man. since then, protesters have been demanding answers and the release of body camera video. so far, investigators have resisted that. today, hoover city councilman derrick murphy and other city officials said if the state agency investigating the shooting won't release the mall videotape, they might. >> in the event we don't receive onchief ll decid whether to release the information on his own. >> reporter: emantic bradford sr. is the victim's father and a retired law enforcement officer. >> i want justice for my son. and i

mark strassmann spoke with the victim's parents. >> reporter: bedlam at the riverchase galleria mallthanksgiving night. gunshots sent shoppers scrambling for cover. two people were wounded. >> be advised, the shooter is down at this time. >> everybody out! >> reporter: a responding police officer fatally shot 21-year-old emantic bradford, jr., known as "e.j." >> the hoover officer encountered an armed individual and he did shoot and kill that person. >> reporter: but hoover police now admit bradford was not the mall shooter at all. he was apparently a bystander and his killing a mistake. bradford was armed, but had a legal concealed weapons permit. the actual mall gunman is still at large four days later. >> you shoot first and ask questions later. it's backwards. >> reporter: april pipkins is the victim's mother. >> i'm like, "not my baby." mm like, "no, no, this can't be." >> reporter: worst moment of your life? >> the worst by far. the worst. li police here need to address the situation, say we made a mistake. >> reporter: emantic bradford, sr., the victim's father, is himself a p

mark strassmann was in that courtroom as christopher watts faced a judge and his in-laws. >> you disgust me. >> reporter: frank rzucek erupted at christopher watts, his son-in-law, for a triple murder both senseless and sinister. >> they were taken by a heartless one. this is the heartless one, the .vil monster. >> reporter: shattered family o mbers glared at watts who sat slumped and trembling. he made no statement, leaving even the judge struggling to explain how a father could murder his own family. >> this is perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime that i have handled. >> he was the one for me. >> reporter: on august 13th, shanann watts, 15 weeks pregnant, disappeared along with daughters bella and celeste. >> my daddy is a hero. >> reporter: watts pleaded publicly for their return. >> i just want them back. >> reporter: but by then they were all dead. police quickly discovered watts was having an affair with a coworker. he confessed to strangling his hefe but falsely blamed her for killing their daughters. watts finally led police to all three bodies dumped at the oil field wher

here is mark strassmann. >> reporter: this is in every sense a real partnership? >> in every way. >> reporter: in every way, bren has gone the distance. they race as a team in ironman competitions. you know, those grueling swim/bike run events that cover 140.6 miles. what with you, are you a competitive guy? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: kyle has cerebral palsy, no use of his arms or legs. >> from the earliest age, i wanted kyle to be included in whatever we did. so let's just figure this out. >> reporter: he always look out for you? >> he was always there for me. maybe a little bit too much at times because i'm very independent. >> reporter: good big brother? >> great big brother. >> reporter: kyle got the idea watching brent race in his first ironman in 2010. they found the right equipment, started training and made it happen for kyle, just as when they were kids. >> kyle uses my legs and i use his spirit. so i pull kyle on a boat and push the pedals on a bike and push him on a run. but that whole time kyle has allegiancia. so his body is fighting itself. >> reporte

mark strassmann has more. >> reporter: on thanksgiving night, chaos kploexploded at th mall.omeone shot and killed two people, and e.j. laid dead. so by a responding police officer. april pipkins, his mother, got a call from one of his friends. >> e.j., he said e.j. dead. and at that moment i just lost it. i'm like, not my baby, no. i'm like, no, this -- this can't be. >> reporter: at first, police in hoover, alabama, claimed they had stopped a deadly threat. >> the hoover officer encountered an armed individual and did he shoot and kill that person. >> reporter: his family says bradford, who had a concealed weapons permit was rarmarmed bus always holstered. and police admitted bradford did not fire the rounds at the mall. they're now searching for the real shooter. that pains the victim's father who was also a police officer. >> there go a press conference, made it good like that officer is a hee roe row. no, he screwed up. >> reporter: the bradford family is angry that hoover police have never contacted them. >> you shoot first, ask questions later, it's backwards. >> repor

. >> reporter: mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. >> glor: brothers first.the cbs evening news for tonight. i'm jeff glor. see you tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org crews fan out over the burn zone... their grim search for those feared dead. *another day of unhealthy air.. across the bay area. when smoky sk >>> a some research and recovery mission. crews spent out over the burn zone. >>> another day of unhealthy air across the area, when smoky skies should finally clear out. the to gridlock on a drive -- >>> gridlock on the highway. the nightmare that left victims with nowhere to escape. >>> it is another day of battling the flames and now a tough search for the missing. families hoping their loved ones made it out. the death toll now stands at 42 making it the deadliest fiery in state history. -- making it the deadliest fire in state history. more than 200 people are still missing. flames have destroyed more than omes, ,000 will remained threatened. flames have consumed 195 square miles

mark strassmann spoke with the victim's parents. >> reporter: bedlam at the riverchase galleria malln wednesday night. gunshots sent shoppers scramling for cover. two people were wounded. a responding police officer fatally shot 21-year-old emantic bradford jr. known as ej. >> he did shoot and kill that person. >> reporter: but hoover, alabama police now admit bradfhe atlasn. bradford was armed but had a legal concealed weaponsns still at large four days later. >> you shoot first, ask questions later. it's backwards. >> reporter: april pipkins is the victim's mother. >> i'm like not my baby, no, no. no, this can't be. >> reporter: worst moment of your life? >> the worst, by far. the worst. >> police need to address the situation, say we made a mistake. >> reporter: emantic bradford sr., the victim's father is himself a police officer. he sees something troubling in the death of his son. you think race was a factor? >> i think race was involved in that situation because you never administered him any type of help. you shot him in the head and left him there and let my son bleed out. >

mark strassmann is outside the courthouse. >> reporter: good morning. calculated and cold-blooded, these killings seemed to jar everyone involved. even the judge called it as vicious as any case he had ever handled. it was a dark side of christopher watts that seemed to come out of nowhere. >> i have no idea what gave you the right to take their lives. >> reporter: shanann. >> we loved you, we trusted you, your faithful wife trusted you, >> reporter: then they did something remarkable. they showed mercy, asking the judge to spare christopher watts' life. >> this is hard to say but may god have mercy on your soul. >> reporter: district attorney micha michael rork said she died slowly. >> how quickly? >> probably within the first 24 hours. almost smirking at times when he was talk about his missing family. >> reporter: o'rourke said watts was having an affair and was unexcited to learn his wife was pregnant again. >> in his mind, his family became a hindrance. >> reporter: in august, when his family first disappeared, watts publicly pleaded for their safe

mark strassmann is in hoover, alabama with what bradford's family told him. >> reporter: overnight, hooverending their sympathy to the family of bradford jr. but insisted he had brandished a gun in the mall. bradford's family says the real reason he was shot is because he was black. >> will be the one trying to get people out of harm that's the type of person he was. >> reporter: his family says police owe them answers and an apology after their son was mistakenly identified and shot dead by a police officer on thanksgiving night. >> you shoot first. and question later. it's backwards. >> my peace of mind has been taken from me. >> reporter: his father is a police officer himself. >> i know my son always respected the police. you gave a command, you came around the corner, freeze, drop your weapon, he comply with your order. >> reporter: since thursday's shooting, the local community has valleyed around bradford's family. on saturday, the family joined by 200 protesters outside the mall demanding action. benjamin crump is the attorney for the family. >> if he happen s to be black, police d

mark strassmann is in hoover, just south of birmingham, continuing to follow the story, mark, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. hoover's mayor says the city is cooperating with state investigators but some city leaders want to take it a step further and release all the information and video from the shooting at the mall to set the record straight and ease tensions here. investigators say 20-year-old erron brown is the gunman who started the shooting on thanksgiving night. us marshals acting on tips arrested him at this home thursday. >> we're doing this vigil tonight in memories of mr. bradford jr., amen god. >> reporter: overnight, crowds gathered at a city park in birmingham to remember e.j. bradford jr. the 21-year-old was shot and killed by a hoover police officer responding to reports of gunfire inside the riverchase galleria mall. the officer believed bradford was the gunman. investigators say bradford was armed but had a concealed weapons permit and never fired his gun. >> they shot that man down for no reason. >> reporter: april is his mother. >> i'm going to do everything w