Meriden police are investigating after a teen was shot multiple times on Willow Street Thursday night.

Police said they responded to the area of 30 Willow Street around 8:30 p.m. for reports of shots fired, but found no victim. Shortly after, a patient with a gunshot wound showed up at the emergency room.

Police responded to the hospital and found an 18-year-old victim, who was shot on Willow Street, with several non-life threatening gunshot wounds.

Police returned to 30 Willow Street and recovered multiple shell casings and a handgun. A second victim was also located in the area with a foot injury, though it is unclear if that injury was related to the shooting.

Meriden police are actively investigating. Anyone with information should contact Det. Benoit at (203) 630-6297.

Traffic is detoured on Route 10 in Southington after a vehicle hit a utility pole. 

Police said traffic will be detoured at the intersection of South Main and Mulberry streets and Clark Street and Todd Road and Norton Street and Todd Road.

Spectators watching the Rio Olympics, which kick off Friday, will be hearing a cultural term used to describe pockets of neighborhoods surviving — and thriving — within Brazil's second-largest city: favela (pronounced fah-vel-ah).

It's origins date back to Brazil's civil war in 1897 when soldiers camped out in shacks on a hill where the favela plant grows in the northeast. After the war, some of the soldiers returned to Rio de Janeiro and were forced to settle on the forested hillsides when they weren't granted land promised by the government. Their makeshift living conditions were a reminder of the "favela" hills and the name eventually stuck.

Favela populations grew in the 19th century when slavery was abolished and surged in the 20th century as migration to Rio, the one-time capital of Brazil, became a draw for employment.

Today, there are an estimated 1,000 favelas in Rio, and they are home to about 1.5 million people, according to advocacy NGO Catalytic Communities.

Click through for more on the favelas. 

Watertown police have arrested a man in connection with the theft of two plow trucks in February.

Angel Perez, 46, of Broad Street in Meriden, was charged with first-degree larceny, first degree criminal trover, first degree criminal mischief and conspiracy.

Police said on Feb. 10 two trucks were stolen from Evergreen Lawn and Landscape Maintenance in Watertown. The trucks were found in North Haven and Meriden stripped of plows, sanders and electronic equipment. The damage made the vehicles unusable.

According to police, investigators uncovered forensic evidence in one of the trucks that linked Perez to the crime. Police said Perez has a criminal history and has an arrest warrant out of North Branford for motor vehicle theft.

Perez was held on a $75,000 bond and arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court Friday.

The investigation is ongoing and police believe there are more people involved in the theft.

Norwalk police are asking for the public to come forward with information on the five year anniversary of two 2011 homicides.

Police said Iroquois Alston and Rickita Smalls were both shot and killed on August 6, 2011 on Avenue B in Norwalk.

The State of Connecticut is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction responsible for this crime.

Anyone with information should contact Norwalk Police detectives at (203) 854-3111 or the Connecticut Cold Case Hotline at (866) 623-8058.

Investigators are working with DNA samples that may lead to a suspect in the strangulation of a 30-year-old runner whose body was found in a Queens marsh hours after she was reported missing, a law enforcement source says. 

The source says it's too soon to know if the samples may reveal any definitive connection in the killing and sexual assault of Karina Vetrano, and police continue to pursue multiple avenues of investigation.

On Friday afternoon, investigators found Vetrano's missing sneaker and earbud in the weeds near the running path, sources said, alongside a secluded, overgrown marsh at the edge of Jamaica Bay. They'll test the items for DNA. 

Meanwhile, family and friends were mourning Vetrano at a wake at the Romanelli Funeral Home Friday, ahead of a funeral mass and burial Saturday at St. Helen's Church in Howard Beach. 

Vetrano was "very nice to talk to, very gentle, very sweet," said Marge Rosina, a family friend. 

"It's just devastating. This is someone who always loved life," said a friend of Vetrano who only gave her name as Shaina. Always laughing, having a good time. This wasn't supposed to happen to her. Wasn't something that happens to someone like her." 

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Thursday that the department believes there is a "severe community threat" after the killing of Vetrano, who left her Howard Beach home to run near Gateway National Park Tuesday afternoon and never came home. The department is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Boyce, who previously said the circumstances of the killing were "extraordinarily rare," confirmed that Vetrano had been sexually assaulted in the attack, but that she "put up a ferocious fight right until the end."

"She was beaten quite severely which suggests she put up a good fight," he said. 

Law enforcement sources say nothing in Vetrano's personal life raises a red flag. Investigators are exploring the idea she was attacked by a stranger and are questioning local sex offenders, a routine step. A public sex offender registry shows nine level-three offenders in the neighborhood.

Boyce also said that Vetrano sent a text to a friend during the run, but it's not clear what the message was about. 

Vetrano normally ran with her father at the time she left Tuesday, but he didn't accompany her that day, police have said. When Vetrano didn't return, he called 911 to report her missing and a search was organized.

Hours later, Vetrano's body was discovered in a marsh near the Belt Parkway bike path. Boyce said pings from her cellphone led cops to the weedy area near 161st Avenue and 78th Street, where Vetrano was found face down, her hands balled up, clutching the weeds surrounding her.

The woman's father, a retired firefighter, was among the first to find her body.

Family friend Joanne Rosina, who attended the wake with her mother Marge, said Friday the father "seems to be holding up." 

"I said to him, 'Phil, for the first time, I don't know what to say," Rosina told NBC 4 New York. "He says, 'You can't say anything.'"

First responders, like the firefighters from FDNY's 270 squad, paid respects at the wake. Neighbors, meanwhile, have pinned white ribbons to telephone poles. 

Parks officials say they are looking into increasing patrols in light of Vetrano's death. Currently, a two-person patrol watches over all the federal parkland in Queens and Brooklyn. Officials said they are also cutting the weeds.

"You never know what's in those weeds," said one resident. "I would say it's dangerous."

The young woman worked as a caterer for RV Rooftop at Vetro, which said in an Instagram post it would be closed Wednesday to hold a candlelight vigil in remembrance. She was a world traveler and aspiring writer, and on her blog, she wrote about her life: "It's chaotic and unpredictable, but I do believe that on some days, it's quite beautiful, in all its poetic little tragedies." 

No arrests have been made in the case, and authorities are reviewing digital evidence from the park.

Anyone with information about Vetrano's death should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Video being described as "horrific" and "graphic" was released Friday in connection with the fatal Chicago police shooting of an 18-year-old car theft suspect as he ran away from officers last week.

The videos do not show the gunfire that killed Paul O'Neal, but show the events leading up to and after the shooting, including officers firing at a moving car and O'Neal bleeding on the ground.

"It's disturbing and it's violent and it's scary," said O'Neal family attorney Michael Oppenheimer, who called the shooting an "execution." "Again, I’m asking for a special prosecutor — I’m not the prosecutor now. What I saw was pretty cold-blooded. There’s a lot of emotion there, There’s a lot of stuff. There's no question in my mind they ran this kid down and murdered him."

O'Neal, of the 1700 block of E 70th St, was killed around 9 p.m. July 28 in the city's South Shore neighborhood. Officers saw a Jaguar S-Type convertible that had been reported stolen from Bolingbrook, according to police. Police said they "attempted to curb" the car near 74th Street and Merrill Avenue when the Jaguar sideswiped the police vehicle and another nearby parked car.

In the footage, a Jaguar is seen scraping a squad car and another vehicle as an officer opens fire on it. At one point, someone is seen running from the vehicle and officers follow on foot. The suspect then disappears from view and gunshots are heard. 

O'Neal is later seen on the ground, his back bloody as police handcuff him. 

Officers allege O'Neal fired at them before he was shot. At one point, an officer is heard saying, "They shot at us too right?"

Police later said no weapon was recovered from the scene.

Autopsy results show O'Neal died of a gunshot wound to the back.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the dashcam and body camera videos suggested departmental policy was violated in the shooting. Three officers have since been "relieved of police powers." 

"My promise to the people of Chicago is that we will be guided by the facts and should wrongdoing be discovered; individuals will be held accountable for their actions," Johnson said in a statement Friday. "The shooting of Mr. O'Neal has raised a lot of questions about whether departmental policies were followed. While IPRA conducts a thorough investigation, we will not wait to look for ways we can learn from this incident."

"A young man lost his life, and as a city we grieve any time that happens," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "I support Superintendent Johnson's quick and decisive action over the past eight days, which I believe underscores the fundamental change in how the city handles police shootings.  I know Sharon Fairley is already investigating this case, and I have faith that she will reach a conclusion and promptly issue recommendations."

Dean Angelo, president of Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7, stressed in a statement the need for "each individual perspective" on the "chaotic incident" to be considered. 

"Now more than ever, police-involved situations which result in a death need to be completed in a time frame necessary to ensure that a thorough and impartial examination is adhered to," Angelo said. "While this case remains fluid in nature, it is of critical importance to every Chicagoan to not rush to judgement and to allow the systems in place to play out."

Attorneys for the O'Neal family said his relatives saw the footage moments before it was released to the public and were visibly upset and too distraught to address the media after. 

They spoke hours later, saying they "just want answers."

"I’m very hurt, words can’t describe how I feel at this moment,” said his sister Briana Adams, who noted in an emotional statement that she wanted "everybody to know that Paul had goals." 

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the shooting's "chronology of events is complex" and still being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority.

Earlier this week, the department said it was investigating after it was found that the body camera of an officer involved in the shooting wasn't recording at the time.

"You actually see the accident and it appeared to me that you see a Jaguar that Paul was in, the police car goes down the wrong way and slams into the Jaguar, the Jaguar stops," Oppenheimer said. "It's quite disturbing. All you see is a bunch of smoke and then you see running and hear the gunshots. It's pretty graphic."

The release Friday morning is the first time the city has released video of a fatal police shooting under the department's new policy, which calls for the video to be released within 60 days. 

The policy was part of an effort to restore public trust after video released last year showed an officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. The footage sparked protests and outrage nationwide and ultimately led to the firing of former police superintendent Garry McCarthy.

O'Neal's family has since filed a wrongful death suit in federal court.

For 26 years, an adaptive sports camp in West Hartford has been helping disabled children and young adults connect with others just like them across New England.

This year, 43 people ages 6 through 20 came from five states to participate in the week-long Hospital for Special Care Ivan Lendl Adaptive Sports Camp. The camp was held on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph. Two-thirds of this year’s participants returned from last year.

“They come here and they’re around a group of their peers and they’re not thinking about their disability. They’re just focused on being children and having fun,” said Carlos Quiles of Meriden.

Quiles went from camper to counselor. He said it helped learn not to let his disability get in the way of what he wanted out of life.

“I’ve been doing it for 19-20 years now, and it’s something that I’m gonna keep doing until I can’t do it anymore because I know what it did for me as a camper,” he added.

DeBrandson Davidson’s son DJ loved playing sports in high school, but he says those opportunities disappeared after a disability two years ago.

“In our town there’s not too many kids that he knows of that are in wheelchairs,” Davidson explained.

This week he was not alone. He played the sports that he loves and learned new ones, with dozens of other children and young adults just like him.

From tennis to track and field, badminton to bowling, participants played more than a dozen sports.

“The kids come here and they associate spot on with a peer with somebody who looks like them, who has the same disability, who has the same challenges in school, who has the same challenges in life,” said program manager Janet Connolly.

With another week of camp in the books, camper Helen Newman’s already planning for next summer.

“I’m just gonna think about how fun it was and I’m going to look forward to next year and it’s gonna help me with my physical abilities and everything,” said Newman.

The campers say they created lifelong friendships, broke down barriers, and reached goals they never even thought were possible.

“He came here knowing nothing and now he’s going home with a lot of knowledge,” added Davidson.

A high school teacher, college football player and state IT specialist were among the 41 people arrested as part of a three-day sting to crack down on human trafficking in Nashville, Tennessee.

Undercover agents posted ads on the classified site Backpage.com to find people who were willing to pay to have sex with juveniles, as part of "Operation Someone Like Me," the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. They got 485 responses.

Agents posed as juveniles in some of the ads, and 18 of the men paid to have sex with an underage female.

"This is our most significant operation to date," TBI Director Mark Gwyn said.

A father abducted his child in the mother's car in New Haven, police said.

New Haven Police said the incident was a domestic kidnapping on Thursday night.

The child is safe and the father, Nicholas Ferraro, 34, of Howe Street in New Haven, was arrested and faces multiple charges including second-degree kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor, first-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with an officer, assault on a police officer and engaging police in pursuit.

According to police, the child’s mother approached Officer John Gregorczyk and said the child’s father, Ferraro, took off with the child and a car that belonged to her. The mother said Ferraro did not have custody of the child.

Police said Gregorczyk immediately gave a description of the child, Ferraro and the stolen vehicle to dispatch and other officers. A few minutes later Gregorczyk and Officer Gregory Ammon located Ferraro near the intersection of Jefferson Street and St. John’s Street.

Ferraro stopped his car and opened the door, police said. Officers ordered him to the ground but he ignored them and got back behind the wheel. Ammon stuggled with Ferraro and was dragged by the car and thrown into a tree. Ferraro drove off down Jefferson Street toward Grand avenue.

Officers pursued Ferarro through Fair Haven, East Rock, and downtown before he hopped on Interstate 95 toward Branford. Police said Ferraro exited at exit 55 and headed back to New Haven. An East Haven police officer was able to stop Ferraro on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge where he was taken into custody, police said.

The baby was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The child was not harmed.

Officer Ammon was evaluated on scene for his injuries.

Three beaches on Cape Cod were closed to swimming Friday after as many as six great white sharks were spotted feeding on a whale carcass.

The carcass has since washed up near Noons Landing in North Truro. Noons Landing, Beach Point and Cold Storage beaches are off limits to swimmers through Sunday.

The dead whale was spotted Wednesday morning floating in Cape Cod Bay off North Truro. The sharks were also seen Thursday about four miles from Pamet Harbor, according to the town of Truro.

The Center for Coastal Studies captured video of sharks feeding on the minke whale carcass on Thursday. The 11-foot long female whale was floating belly up. There were no outward signs of the cause of death.

The town urges patrons of bayside beaches to remain vigilant and report any shark sightings to Truro police.

CLICK HERE FOR SHARK SAFETY TIPS

A 45-year-old Waterbury man is dead after a crash on Interstate 84 East in Waterbury around 3:30 a.m. on Friday.

Victor Medero's Mitsubishi Montero hit the back of a Chevy Silverado driven by 27-year-old Richard Lamothe, of Bristol, between exits 20 and 21, according to state police.

After the collision, Medero's vehicle rolled over and slid several hundred feet, police said, and he succumbed to his injuries.

Lamothe did not report any injuries.

Police ask witnesses to call Troop A in Southbury at 203-267-2200.

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with Connecticut after finding that the state failed to comply with parts of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

According to a press release from the Justice Department, investigation found that the state did not process applications for driver’s license and identification card renewals as applications for voter registration with respect to federal elections. Additionally, Connecticut did not process change of address notifications for voter registration purposes.

Officials said Section 5 of the NVRA requires states to allow residents to register to vote for federal elections when they renew driver’s licenses or other identification. It also requires that states give residents the option to change address for voter registration purposes when they notify a state’s motor vehicle agency of change of address.

The Justice Department announced they would be investigating concerns of non-compliance back in April.

The settlement requires that Connecticut allow voter registration in all applications for driver’s licenses or ID cards, and give residents the ability to change their federal voter registration address when submitting a change of address notification. The state will also contact eligible voters who could not submit or update their voter registration information when they last applied for these services and offer them the appropriate information on how to register.

The Justice Department said that the state already took steps to rectify the problems by creating a voter registration application in the electronic driver licensing system.

For more information visit the Justice Department website.

On Thursday a home on East Street in Vernon exploded and collapsed with seven people inside. Now the community is rallying together to collect donations for those victims. 

The Cornerstone Foundation Clothing Bank Etc., is a local group that collects donated clothing and other items. Volunteers are working with the victims’ family members to replace what was lost in the explosion.

Six of the seven people lived in the now destroyed home and on top of recovering from their injuries, they need everything from shirts to jeans to book bags to household essentials.

Organizers say they’ve already collected some clothing, but it’s not enough.

“They definitely need more absolutely need more. This is really just to get them through now and then we’re going to have to hope that they’re even going to fit so yeah we do need to get more clothing to them,” said Clothing Bank Etc. Director Christine Filanowics.

The family could also use monetary donations or things like grocery store gift cards.

Anyone interested in donating can bring items to Clothing Bank Etc. at 3 Prospect Street in Vernon. For more information visit The Cornerstone Foundation website.

Your eyes would not be deceiving you if it looks like Michael Phelps is glowing with pride as he carries the American flag Friday night during the Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Phelps, like the rest of Team USA, will be wearing a Ralph Lauren-designed blazer during the athlete march into Maracana Stadium. But with a flip of a switch in the pocket of his specially designed blazer, Phelps will start to glow — well, to be more specific the Team USA circular logo on the front of the blazer and the “USA” on the back will light up, causing the most decorated Olympic swimmer of all time to stand out among the thousands of athletes in the arena.

To create the look, Ralph Lauren took the official jacket made in Rochester, New York, and sent it to a Flex facility in Texas, where battery-powered electroluminescent panels were placed on the blazer.

"The Flag Bearer Jacket will literally light the way for Team USA as they represent our country in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games,” said David Lauren, Executive Vice President, Global Advertising, Marketing & Communications. "This groundbreaking jacket exemplifies Ralph Lauren’s continued exploration of the intersection of fashion and technology. For an athlete, being chosen as the flag bearer for Team USA is an extraordinary honor, and we wanted to pay tribute to that position."

For all of the fashionistas out there who are looking for details on what Team USA will wear, here are the specifics: a deep navy blazer complemented by gold buttons, repp-stripe trim and an embroidered Polo Pony; a red, white and blue-striped T- shirt and selvedge white denim jeans with inspirational details ("Faster, Higher, Stronger"), boat shoes, striped cotton bracelets and navy grosgrain belts.

Phelps is one of just two people who will get to wear the light-up jacket. The yet-to-be-named flag bearer of the U.S. Paralympic Team also will get the honor of lighting the switch on a blazer of his or her own.

U.S. intelligence has assigned more than 1,000 spies from 17 agencies to protect the Rio Summer Games and American athletes and staff as part of a highly classified effort, NBC News has learned.

Hundreds of analysts, law enforcement and special operations personnel are already on the ground in Rio, according to an exclusive NBC News review of a highly classified report on U.S. intelligence efforts.

In addition, more than a dozen highly trained Navy and Marine Corps commandos from the U.S. Special Operations Command are in Brazil, working with the Brazilian Federal Police and the Brazilian Navy on Olympic Security, according to senior military officials.

The U.S. military has also placed larger military units on call should a rescue or counterterrorism operation be needed, the officials said.

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan non-profit organization that will hold candidates and key figures accountable during the 2016 presidential campaign. FactCheck.org will check facts of of speeches, advertisements and more for NBC.

In comparing the records of the vice presidential candidates, Donald Trump ignores prevailing economic trends when he notes that when Tim Kaine was governor of Virginia “unemployment doubled” while under Gov. Mike Pence, Indiana has seen “great job growth.” Kaine served during the Great Recession when every state saw unemployment rates rise significantly, and Pence has served during the economic expansion following that recession, when every state but one has seen job gains.

We have long cautioned our readers to be wary of claims about governors’ performance on job creation, because economists point out that job gains and losses, and unemployment rates, tend to track regional and national trends. And viewing them out of that context presents a distorted view.

Such is the case with Trump’s comparison, which he made during a speech in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Aug. 3.

Trump, Aug, 3: Your vice presidential candidate, running along with Hillary, you know what happened the first week, [Kaine] raised taxes in the state of Virginia, and I think you heard, by $4 billion. $4 billion. And that was when he started. Unemployment almost doubled, in fact it might’ve more than doubled. So his first act was a tax increase, his second act was watching the state go to hell.

• Pence Backs Ryan, Breaking With Trump

… You look at Mike Pence, the great job he’s done in Indiana, it’s been amazing. Lower taxes, great job growth.

A similar comparison is made on the Trump campaign website.

Before we get to the jobs numbers, a word about Trump’s claim that in Kaine’s first week as governor, he “raised taxes in the state of Virginia” by $4 billion. Not long after taking office, Kaine proposed higher taxes on auto insurance and purchases, as well as higher fees for car registration and stiffer fines for driving offenses. The Washington Post estimated the higher taxes and fees would raise revenue of $1 billion a year, or $4 billion total over the four years of Kaine’s term. The extra money would have been earmarked to ease the state’s transportation woes — going to mass transit, highway construction and road projects.

However, the Republican-led state Legislature squashed Kaine’s transportation proposal. So it would have been accurate for Trump to say that in his first month of office Kaine tried to raise taxes by $4 billion, but inaccurate to say Kaine “raised taxes” by that amount, or to go even further and suggest a cause-and-effect that the tax increase hurt the job market. The proposed tax hike never came to pass. (In Kaine’s final budget proposal, he proposed income tax, alcohol and cigarette taxes that the conservative Americans for Tax Reform projected would come to “nearly $4 billion in higher taxes,” but that plan was rejected as well.)

Unemployment

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Virginia went from 3.2 percent in January 2006 to 7.4 percent in January 2010 (Kaine’s time in office). The national unemployment rate over that period went from 4.7 percent to 9.8 percent. So one could say the unemployment rate more than doubled in Virginia under Kaine. Or one could say unemployment was 1.5 percentage points better than the national average when Kaine took office and 2.4 percentage points better than the national average when he left.

As for Pence, the unemployment rate in Indiana was a little worse than the national average when he took office (8.4 percent in Indiana, 8.0 percent nationally) and was slightly better than the national average in June (4.8 percent in Indiana, 4.9 percent nationally).

Job Growth/Loss

During Kaine’s term as Virginia’s governor, the state lost a net 97,800 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a job loss rate of 2.6 percent. But that’s better than the national average. Nationwide, there was a 4.2 percent rate of job loss over the same period.

And under Pence in Indiana, the state has added a net 153,800 jobs (as of June, the latest data available). That’s a job growth rate of 5.3 percent, worse than the 6.6 percent job growth rate nationally over the same period.

So what does that tell us about Kaine’s performance on jobs relative to Pence’s? Very little.

“The U.S. macroeconomic climate was completely different for these two periods,” Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University economics professor, told us via email. Kaine’s term in office, 2006 to 2010, “included the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn in U.S. history since the Great Depression,” while in comparison, Pence’s time in office, 2013 to 2016, “was a continued economic expansion following that recession,” Sinclair said. “So yes, although the raw numbers are consistent with the claim, the context is very different.”

As always, we caution readers to view jobs claims with skepticism, and to put any claims about job gains or losses into the context of regional and national trends.

On their final day at the Sullivan Basketball Academy Camp, Avery Sutton, Teriq Mallory and Eric Jones are practicing their dribbling, passing and shooting before this weekend’s Hoop It Up Tournament in New Haven.

“I feel happy because I want to win the tournament,” Mallory said.

Mallory is excited to compete in the three-on-three tournament for the first time.

“I can shoot, and I can pass the ball, I’m not a ball hog,” he said.

His teammates Sutton and Jones played last year.

“It was great, here with my buddy here my teammate,” Jones said putting his arm around Sutton, “we had a good time playing.”

More than 300 players make up the more than 110 teams that have signed up so far. Participants will receive t-shirts, bags, water bottles and wrist bands.

Hoop it Up is a basketball tournament hosted by New Haven for ages 8 and up. This year teams from Bridgeport can join New Haven and Hartford in signing up for free.

“It gives you a sense of self confidence, it keeps you engaged with your community with your brothers and sisters, it’s something we all need to have,” said Jason Bartlett, tournament organizer and Youth Services Director in New Haven.

While they will face teams from Connecticut’s other big cities this weekend, over the next two weeks Sutton, Mallory and Jones will be watching Team USA go for the gold in Rio.

“Who is going to be the start for Team USA?” NBC Connecticut asked them.

“KD,” Mallory said, referring to NBA All-Star Kevin Durant.

“I think it’s going to be Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan,” Jones said.

These boys tell NBC Connecticut they have their own basketball dreams.

“To go to the NBA and to be the greatest player, be a point guard,” Sutton said.

“To be the best that I can be, and go to the NBA and play for Team USA,” Mallory said.

There is still time to register for Hoop It Up before the games begin Saturday morning at 9.

Church Street by the New Haven Green will be shut down from 6 a.m. Saturday until 6 p.m. Sunday night as the road is transformed into a dozen basketball courts.

Police seized drugs and approximately $20,000 worth of stolen items from a New London home on Friday.

New London police and Connecticut State Police Narcotics Task Force served a search and seizure warrant at 123 Connecticut Avenue.

Police said they seized a small amount of heroin, pills, drug paraphernalia and about $20,000 worth of stolen property. 

Approximately $15,000 worth of the stolen items has been identified by the owners, who were recently the victims of a burglary, New London police said. 

The search resulted in the arrest of Edgardo Trinidad, 45, and Stephanie Bliss, 24, who were both charged with possession of heroin, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a legend drugs and second-degree larceny by possession. 

Jason Carson, 30, of Mystic, was also arrested at the scene because he was wanted on four arrest warrants. Carson was charged with violating probation, failure to appear in court first-degree and two counts of failure to appear in court second-degree. 

A dead baby found inside a bedroom in Westchester County Friday morning may have been stuffed in a freezer at one point, law enforcement sources told NBC 4 New York.

The 15-month-old girl's body was found in the second-floor apartment of a house at South Fulton and Washington streets in Mount Vernon, the sources said.

It's not clear how or when the baby, identified as Samia Rose, died but police said the girl had trauma to her face.

Law enforcement sources initially said the baby was found in the freezer but now say it appears the child may have been in the freezer at some point.

Police are questioning the baby's family. Investigators at the scene were hauling bags of potential evidence out of the building. 

"It's really sad. I can't believe it because the family is a good family," said neighbor Victoria Lewis. 

Carmen Mahoney remembered the little girl as a smiling and happy child. She said the girl came from a good family and had a loving mother. 

"She is a good mom, OK. A good mom," she said.