On Friday, the Justice Department's top counter-terrorism prosecutor said that "crowdsourcing terrorism" is becoming a new phenomenon and a real threat.

"Hackers a world away can intrude into our homes with the push of a button, to steal from us, to gather intelligence that can be used against us, and even to try to hurt or kill us," John Carlin said at the Roger Williams University Law School in Providence, Rhode Island. 

Hackers for ISIS have been able to get lists of people ranging from soldiers to bureaucrats tied to the State Department, foreign embassies, the armed services, NASA, USAID and even local agencies like the New York City school system and the Alabama health department. 

Hartford’s Director of Development Services Thomas Deller has resigned. 

According to Maribel La Luz, spokeswoman for the office of Mayor Pedro Segarra, the mayor accepted Deller’s resignation on Friday, effective October 31, 2015. Darrell Hill will serve as Acting Director of Development Services.

No specific reason was given for the resignation, but Deller came under fire for questions raised over the Dillion Stadium redevelopment proposal. His department paid nearly $2 million to the developer, a company run by a man the Hartford Courant revealed was a convicted embezzler.

Friday the mayor released the following statement on Deller's resignation:

“I appreciate and am grateful for all of Thom’s years of service. He has worked extremely hard and has lead the efforts for several successful projects such as the Intermodal Triangle, Downtown North, Strong Cities, Strong Communities challenge (SC2), modernizing our permitting system, initiating the modernization of our zoning code, Coltsville, UConn, and several CRDA developments including 777 Main Street, “Sonesta”, and Capewell. Given recent events, however, I believe he has made the right decision for him and for the City of Hartford.”
 

Two Georgia ex-deputies were acquitted Friday of involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Mathew Ajibade, a mentally ill man who was tased while in restraints and then left unattended, NBC News reported.

The former officers and a jailhouse nurse were convicted of lesser charges, according to NBC affiliate WSAV.

Jason Kenny, who used the stun gun on Ajibade, was found guilty of cruelty to a prisoner, which carries a possible prison sentence of 1 to 3 years. Maxine Kenny was found guilty of falsifying records.

The nurse, Gregory Brown, was acquitted of manslaughter charges by the judge earlier in the week after an investigator admitted he had been indicted based on incorrect information about jailhouse policies.

Chris Oladapo, Ajibade's cousin, told NBC News that he was not surprised the officers were found not guilty of the top charge.

"I knew that that same system that failed Mathew would not be the system that got him justice," he said. "I had already warned my family not to expect anything.

"We expected nothing, and we got nothing."

A group of Uber drivers protested at the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Friday as part of a weekend-long strike that could take as many as 1,300 Uber drivers off the road.

As they gathered, they chanted and held signs that read, "Uber's greed puts drivers in need."

The strikers are demanding that the transportation company raise rates 60 percent nationwide and raise cancellation fees and minimum fare fees to $7.

The upset drivers also want to see Uber implement a tip option for passengers – something the company’s competitor Lyft already provides.

“There comes a point where enough is enough,” said former Uber driver Abe Husein, who says he organized the strikes. “We have to make a stand and fight for our rights.”

He continued: “Drivers are left with about 7-10 cents a mile profit, which is below minimum wage.”

Some Uber customers have said that the demands don’t seem unreasonable, adding that they would be willing to pay a little extra if it meant getting quality service in return.

“I feel like this [wage] policy has stopped them from receiving credit for their work,” said Uber customer Adrian Pintor.

Others, however, say they would quickly switch over to other ride-sharing apps if the price of a fare rises dramatically.

“If their fares go up, I just might not use it – and they’ll get no fares,” another Uber user warned.

The San Francisco strike is mirrored in other locations across the country, where protests are planned in Los Angeles and Chicago. Drivers for Uber are unable to formally unionize, however, as they are considered independent contractors.

Uber officials declined to comment directly on the strikes, instead releasing a statement saying, the company "always welcome feedback from our driver-partners."

A man who pleaded guilty to dragging his friend's body out of a hotel room in Virginia after the friend overdosed on drugs was sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison.

A federal judge said she hopes the sentence will send a message to drug dealers that they're responsible for calling for help if someone overdoses.

Jason Laytham, 37, of Leesburg died in September 2014 after he overdosed on a mix of drugs including cocaine. His friend Jason Colley, 36, of Luray, sold Laytham and another man the drug in a hotel room in Ashburn, he said in a plea agreement this summer.

After using the drugs, Laytham and the other man fell unconscious, the statement of facts said. Colley dragged Laytham's body out of the room and then called for help.

When an EMS crew arrived, the other man was still unconscious in the hotel room. That man survived, but Laytham died.

Colley admitted to selling the drug but stopped short of saying that's what killed his friend. He was sentenced on Friday for tampering with evidence by moving Laytham's body.

Laytham was a Broad Run High School graduate who had a son and was engaged, his obituary said.

Outside the courthouse on Friday, Laytham's sister Erika Potter said she's still seeking justice for her brother. She said she wants Colley to be charged with selling drugs.

"It was my brother this time. It will be somebody else’s the next," she said.

New Jersey residents and a New York animal rescue are racing to try to help a bear with an injury so severe it can only walk on its hind legs like a human.

The bear, nicknamed "Pedals" by neighbors in Oak Ridge, New Jersey, has been seen wandering near homes upright and also eating crab apples and sleeping in lawns. The bear first gained notoriety after video of him trotting down a neighborhood street was posted on YouTube.

"You see it on TV or you see it on YouTube or whatever, but to see it in person is pretty good," one resident said.

But a year after the video was posted, residents are becoming concerned that the bear, who appears to have lost weight and is often seen panting or foaming at the mouth, won't make it through the winter.

Sabrina Pugsley has had many encounters with Pedals. She has become so worried about the bear that she's led an online campaign to send him to a wildlife sanctuary Upstate.

"He just looked terrible," Pugsley said of a recent encounter. "He was panting, he had foam around his mouth. He had actually been chased around the neighborhood by a bunch of teenagers in a car." 

So far Pugsley has raised more than $22,000 as part of the online campaign. She has also collected nearly 80,000 signatures online calling on the NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife to move him.

In a statement the NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife said that the bear shouldn't be relocated to a sanctuary.

"The best course of action is to allow the animal to continue to live its life in the wild," the agency said. "The bear survived last winter's very cold and snowy weather [because it] has been able to find adequate food sources [...] without the intervention of people." 

"Leave it alone," one resident, who believed the bear shouldn't be moved out of the area, said. "It's not hurting anybody and people actually feed it. It's able to forage and take care of itself. It has been around for numerous years so it must be doing okay." 

For now, Pedals will stay a fixture of the neighborhood, crossing streets upright and appearing and disappearing behind fences and homes.

A U.S. jury on Friday ordered Apple Inc. to pay the University of Wisconsin-Madison's patent licensing arm more than $234 million in damages for incorporating its microchip technology into some of the company's iPhones and iPads without permission, NBC News reported.

The amount was less than the $400 million the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) was claiming in damages after the jury on Tuesday said Apple infringed its patent for improving the performance of computer processors.

Apple said it would appeal the verdict, but declined to comment further.

WARF praised the verdict and said it was important to protect the university's inventions from unauthorized use. "This decision is great news," said WARF Managing Director Carl Gulbrandsen in a statement.
 

The Miami Dolphins are leading a sports-wide initiative to promote understanding, respect and equality, and to combat racism.

The Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE) has launched a nationwide campaign that's using the power of sports to advance race relations. The effort was founded by Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill and wide receiver Greg Jennings are among several athletes who have pledged their support to the RISE initiative.

"From fans to athletes, and everybody in-between, we must help people identify and alter their behaviors to make real change," Tannehill said in a release.

Jennings added, "Our differences can bring us together if we can bond through a shared interest like sports."

Other athletes taking part in the initiative include Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Justin Tuck and DeMarcus Ware.

"While it would be unrealistic to say that RISE alone will end racism, we have the opportunity to harness the unifying power of sport and create a new paradigm," said Ross in a statement.

At RISEtoWIN.org, people are encouraged to stand up against racism and speak out against discrimination.

The "It Takes All Colors" app also encourages people to upload a photo, apply their team colors and share it across social channels.

For more information, watch the RISE public service announcement:

Southington police are investigating an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven.

It happened at the location on Queen Street.

No one was hurt.

It's not clear what was taken.

The staff at Greene-Hills Elementary School in Bristol tied up their laces Sunday to honor a colleague who died of cancer.

Clint DeSena was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in 2014. He died in January at the age of 34, five months after his daughter, Callie, was born.

Saturday, his fellow teachers held the DeSena Dash, a 5K run/walk, kids fun run, and raffle. Fifty percent of the proceeds went to benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where DeSena sought treatment. The other half started a college fund for Callie.

“I think he would be humbled. And, I think he would actually be surprised by how many people are here and wanting to help his family. He would be shocked,” said Maggie DeVito, a seventh grade teacher at the school, and one of the organizers of the event.

As she greeted hundreds of her husband’s former colleagues and students, Margaret DeSena was overwhelmed by the support her husband's work family has shown.

“It is humbling, and honoring, and amazing,” said DeSena.

“Clint was one of those teachers who had the most compassion, understanding for his students,” said Greene-Hills first grade teacher Colleen Parent.

Participants were asked to wear superhero costumes and t-shirts in honor of DeSena’s love for comics. They could also pose for a picture in front of their favorite superhero cut-out, get their face painted or paint a caped crusader mask.

“He was a good teacher because he knew what everybody wanted to do,” remembered former student Mark Palma.

DeSena’s death hit students and staff hard at Greene-Hills Elementary, which many describe as a family.

“I really miss him. He always knew what everyone wanted and he was really nice,” described Martina Jagielski who wrote a poem about her former teacher.

His wife said running at the school where he loved to teach was a fitting tribute.

“He was the most kind man I’ve ever met. He cared about everyone else. The two places he loved to be was running and at this school,” added DeSena.

Millions of Americans woke to chilly temperatures Saturday, and many could see snow before the weekend is over, NBC News reported.

The Weather Channel reports the coldest air mass of the season has descended on the nation's Midwest and Northeast, plunging temperatures into the 30s — and even high 20s in some areas. 

Freeze watches and frost warnings stretch from Iowa south to Mississippi and east through New England, with lows Saturday night into Sunday expected to sink to freezing or below. 

State police are seeking the public's help in identifying someone they believe stole a woman's credit card and used it to make purchases.

A woman reported to state police on Oct. 12 that a credit card was stolen from her wallet and that she was in Oxford at the time she noticed it was missing.

The credit card was used in several stores in Stratford and Trumbull the next day.

Police are looking for a suspect captured in surveillance video at one of the stores.

State police ask anyone who recognizes the person in the security camera photo to contact the Oxford resident trooper's office at 203-888-4353, Troop A barracks in Southbury at 203-267-2200 or text TIP711 and the information to 274637 to leave an anonymous tip.

A freeze warning has been issued for most of Connecticut, effective Sunday morning.

Clouds and sunshine are expected today and temperatures will only climb into the lower- to upper-50s. It will be breezy with sustained winds from the northwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour.

With the loss of daytime heating, clouds will melt away tonight and temperatures will tumble.

Lows will be in the middle-20s in the hill towns and lower-30s elsewhere. A freeze is even possible down to the shoreline.

A freeze warning is in effect for inland Connecticut from 1 to 9 a.m. Sunday, while the immediate shoreline has a freeze watch for tonight. Northern Litchfield County doesn't have a weather alert becasue the growing season has ended there.

Tomorrow will be noticably cooler than today. In fact, the highs in the hills will struggle to reach the lower-40s, while elsewhere highs will be in the upper-40s. With a breeze, wind chill temperatures will be in the 30s at times!

Even if a freeze doesn't happen tonight, there's a greater chance of one happening tomorrow night into Monday morning. That's when temperatures will fall into the middle-20s in the hills and even upper-20s inland. Shoreline areas are likely to bottom out at 30-degrees!

This is a short-lived blast of unseasonably cold air. Mostly sunny skies return on Monday, and temperatures will be back near 50-degrees.

Next week, temperatures return to above average levels with middle-60s expected. The dry, mainly sunny weather looks to stick around for several days starting Monday. A few more clouds could be mixed in on Wednesday.

There are delays on the New Haven Metro-North line Saturday morning.

Mechanical difficulties with the Saga Bridge are causing delays of up to 30 minutes, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

The MTA advises passengers to listen for announcements at the train station they are at for the latest updates.

Two Palestinians were shot dead on Saturday when they tried to stab Israelis in separate attacks in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, NBC News reported.

In the first attack, Israel's military said an Israeli civilian shot and killed a Palestinian who attempted to stab him in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Elsewhere, Israeli border police stopped to question a Palestinian man walking " suspiciously" through a neighborhood around East Jerusalem, a police spokesman said. Officers fatally shot the man when he drew a knife and tried to stab them, the spokesman said.

Recent violence has been triggered in part by Palestinians' anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine and a key national symbol for the Palestinians.

The site is also revered by Jews as the location of two destroyed biblical Jewish temples.

A slow-moving typhoon could bring as much as 6 feet of rain to parts of the Philippines as it hovers over the country this weekend and into next week, forecasters warned, NBC News reported.

Typhoon Koppu had estimated maximum sustained winds of about 120 mph by 11 p.m. ET Friday, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Koppu was expected to make landfall by Saturday night local time.

The Weather Channel warned of a potential "catastrophic flood threat" from a days-long deluge.

In 2003, Haiyan ripped through the typhone-prone country leaving more than 7,300 people dead and missing in its wake.

Doors opened at 10 a.m. for our Health and Wellness Festival and NBC Connecticut viewers across the state came to take advantage of the first day our event at the XL Center in downtown Hartford.

"It's amazing. I like it. Lots of people, lots of energy," Siri Marquez said.

More than 100 vendors are offering services ranging from healthcare consulting and blood donation to free flu shots. Ana Rivera drove from Meriden to get hers.

"I always come to get the flu shot. My husband and I have always attended," Rivera said.

But it's not just flu shots. There is something here for just about everyone. Connecticare brought a photo booth.

"You can come and have your photo taken and the family is all welcome. Open enrollment started for Medicare October 15th so we're here to answer any questions," Michelle Zedegrin, of Connecticare, said.

We also have tons of free giveaways and a chance to win prizes like an Apple watch or a snow blower.

If you miss us today, feel free to swing by tomorrow. Doors will reopen again tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"You have to find time for yourself and stay healthy for your family," Rivera said.
 

An Army veteran shot five times during a rampage at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, recounts how the gunman looked like "he was playing a video game and showed no emotion."

"There was a bunch of yelling that started in the other room, my teacher walked up to the door that connected our classroom and asked if everyone was OK, no one could tell what the yelling was," Chris Mintz wrote in a Facebook post, adding that the gunshots "sounded like firecrackers going off."

Mintz and his classmates ran to the library and warned others about the shooter. He than headed back towards the gunfire at Snyder Hall, unsure of the gunman's location. 

"All of a sudden, the shooter opened the classroom door beside the door to my left, he leaned half of his torso out and started shooting as I turned toward him," Mintz wrote. "The shots knocked me to the ground and felt like a truck hit me."

Farmington police are looking for a man who robbed a bank in Farmington Saturday morning.

Officers responded to the Webster Bank at 2 High Street at 9:39 a.m. after receiving a report of a robbery.

A man handed one of the bank tellers a note informing them he was robbing the bank and gestured to his waistband implying he had a gun, police said. No weapon was ever displayed. The teller gave the man an undisclosed amount of money and the suspect took off on foot in the southbound direction on High Street, police said.

Officers described the suspect as tall, about 6 feet to 6-foot-2, and said he was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and maroon Yankees hat.

Officers secured the perimeter and a K-9 unit searched for the suspect, following a trail in the southbound direction on the road, stopping abruptly at about 11 High Street, police said. That most likely indicates that the suspect left in a vehicle waiting for him.

Police are canvassing the area and detectives are processing the scene, police said just after 11:30 a.m.

The department has released photos of the suspect and asks anyone who witnessed the robbery or who has information to contact Farmington police at 860-675-2400. Members of the public can also leave anonymous tips at 860-675-2483, which is the department's tip line. The case number for the incident is 15-18704.