State Rep. William Tong is considering running for Attorney General and he made the announcement a day after Attorney General George Jepsen said he will not seek re-election next year. 

Tong, who serves as co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, filed papers Tuesday with the State Elections Enforcement Commission to form an exploratory committee for statewide office with a focus on Attorney General, according to a statement. 

Tong is in his sixth term and has practiced law for the last 14 years as a litigator in state and federal courts in Connecticut. 

His biography says he is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School where he was taught by then-professor Barack Obama. 

Following is Tong’s full statement: 

“Today, I will be forming an exploratory committee for statewide office, with a focus on Attorney General, because Connecticut needs an Attorney General who will stand up for all of us. As I explore running for this office, I will listen to the people of Connecticut and hear what they want in their chief legal advocate. Like Attorney General Jepsen before me, I serve as Co Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, where I personally stood up to the NRA by fighting to pass laws to stop gun trafficking and protect victims of domestic abuse from gun violence; stood up to an unjust system of mass incarceration by fighting to pass the Second Chance Society law, the Excessive Use of Force law, and the law reforming a broken bail system; and stood up for civil rights and basic liberties by fighting for marriage equality, transgender rights, and the rights of immigrants unfairly targeted by federal authorities. And in the midst of the mortgage crisis, I stood up to Wall Street by fighting to overhaul our state's foreclosure laws and to help thousands of people stay in their homes. 

"I took on these fights because I know what it’s like to face enormous odds. My parents came to this country with almost nothing and struggled everyday for my sisters and me. They were able to succeed in a system where if you worked hard and played by the rules, you could achieve the American Dream. Under Donald Trump, we have an administration that attacks families like mine instead of helping us make that American Dream a reality. We need an Attorney General who will continue the legacies of George Jepsen and Dick Blumenthal, standing up to powerful special interests and fighting for those who need an advocate. To serve as Attorney General of Connecticut, and to make history as the first Asian American constitutional officer in state history, would be the highest honor of my professional life and part of my lifelong fight to stand up for all of us.”

An 83-year-old psychologist is accused of sexually assaulting a patient in his home office in Glastonbury and has been charged with fourth-degree sexual assault. 

Police arrested Dr. Clark Allen Tuesday on a warrant after a long-term female patient said he sexually assaulted her in the office of his Hubbard Street home, according to police. 

Allen is due in court today.

North Korea defied President Donald Trump and the world again by firing another ballistic test missile Tuesday.

It was the first missile launch since September and came as Trump and the Senate Republicans were trying to pass a tax code overhaul.

"We will take care of it," Trump said in response to questions about the latest challenge from Pyongyang. "It is a situation that we will handle."

But Trump gave no details. It was the 18th time the North Koreans has test-fired a rocked since he took office in January.

Three state police troopers and a pair of motorists helped pull a man from a burning car on I-84 in Middlebury on Monday.

The car crashed in the westbound lanes of I-84 near Exit 17 around 2:35 p.m. and then caught fire.

Sgt. Dogali, of Troop G in Bridgeport, pulled up on the crash scene shortly after it happened, police said. The dash cam on his cruiser captured what happened at the scene.

Sgt. Dogali used a fire extinguisher to try and put out the flames, but they continued to spread in the car.

Two more troopers, Trooper First Class McGeever and Trooper First Class Welch arrived at the crash scene to help.

The troopers and the motorists were able to free the man from the car and pull him to safety.

State police only identified the crash victim as a 26-year-old man from New York. He was taken to the hospital where he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Two troopers sustained minor cuts to their hands from a broken window.

The Trump administration's recent decisions to end temporary protections for immigrants from countries struck by disaster have ignited a fiery debate over whether families are being forced to return to places unprepared to absorb them to meet hard-line immigration promises.

The Department of Homeland Security says that immigrants from countries such as Haiti and Nicaragua no longer need temporary protected status, which offers giving work opportunities and deportation relief, but activists and politicians blast the decisions as part of a broader anti-immigrant ideology within the Trump administration.

"These decisions are guided not by the law or sound analysis of the need for these programs to continue, but by hate-fueled politics and a desire to deport as many immigrants as possible," Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center, said in a statement.

With the recent terminations together with the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Trump administration has taken lawful status from nearly one million people, she said.

On Nov. 20, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ended protections for nearly 60,000 Haitians who sought refuge in the U.S. after a 2010 earthquake devastated the island. 

They are among more than 320,000 people from 10 nations, primarily Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, who have had temporary refuge and work allowance in the U.S. because of conflict, natural disaster or other extreme conditions in their countries. Other countries currently under temporary protected status, which is often renewed several times but must eventually expire, include Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. 

Over the past few months, the department has announced the end of temporary protected status for Nicaragua and Sudan, and it's expected to make a decision on Honduras in July. 

"Each TPS decision has to be considered on its own merits, but it's hard to overlook the fact that this is the third TPS designation terminated in the last three months," Royce Murray, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said of the decision on Haiti. The department must consult with other government agencies to decide whether a country's conditions still merit temporary protected status, she said, adding, "That process certainly failed Haiti this time."

Instead of considering all of the conditions that make it unsafe for Haitians to return, the DHS looked only at recovery from the 2010 earthquake, Murray said, making it "a very different approach than DHS has taken before."

Temporary protected status for Nicaragua, granted in 1999 after a hurricane caused extensive damage and flooding, was renewed by the DHS several times and will expire on Jan. 5, 2019, more than 20 years after the hurricane hit.

In 2006, to explain its decision to extend Nicaragua's protections for an additional 12 months, the DHS cited recent disasters that "severely undermined progress towards an economic recovery" and high unemployment that would "severely limit current employment opportunities for returning migrants." The department also said that housing projects had not been completed and parts of the country continued to suffer. 

Advocacy groups say these same arguments can be made for Haiti.

Steven Forester, the immigration policy coordinator for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, called the decision to look only at conditions related to the earthquake unprecedented. Had the administration evaluated the other factors, it would have had to extend the program, he said. 

"They said we cannot look at the cholera epidemic, which is one of the two worst in the world (the other being in Yemen), and we can’t look at Hurricane Matthew, two things they’d looked at five months earlier in May."

Seven years after the 2010 earthquake, 2.5 million Haitians still need humanitarian aid, according to a United Nations report from earlier this year. At least 37,867 people are still displaced and living in open camp sites, according to an estimate by the UN Migration Agency. In October of 2016, Hurricane Matthew ravaged the island, leaving Haiti with $2.7 billion worth of damage, about 32 percent of its GDP. 

The Western Hemisphere's poorest country with nearly 60 percent of the population living under the poverty line, Haiti is heavily reliant on Haitians working abroad. Money sent home by Haitians living elsewhere accounts for more than a quarter of Haiti’s gross domestic product. 

The island nation is also at a very high risk for major infectious diseases, including Zika virus, hepatitis A and E and typhoid fever, according to the CIA World Factbook. 

"I travelled to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010 and after Hurricane Matthew in 2016. So I can personally attest that Haiti is not prepared to take back nearly 60,000 TPS recipients under these difficult and harsh conditions,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from South Florida, where most Haitians in the U.S. live, wrote in a tweet on Nov. 20, the day of the announcement. 

But the Department of Homeland Security says Haiti has made sufficient progress since the earthquake.

"The Haitian economy continues to recover and grow, and 97 percent of people displaced by the earthquake and living in internally displaced person camps have left those camps," DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton told NBC in an email. "Ninety-eight percent of the displacement camps established after the 2010 earthquake have closed. In October, the United Nations ended their mission in Haiti saying that the mission had achieved its goals and should conclude.” 

The department came to the decision after what it called "extensive outreach" to Haitian communities throughout the U.S. in the form of discussions with community organizers and Haitian government officials, meetings with TPS beneficiaries, meetings at churches and "listening sessions."

Many Haitian families in the U.S. are now living in limbo, unsure whether they may be separated in the near future.

Of the 59,000 Haitians who were granted TPS after a massive 2010 earthquake killed hundreds of thousands of residents of the island nation, 9,700 of them have been granted permanent resident status, leaving the tens of thousands remaining with the options of leaving the U.S. by July of 2019, trying to change their immigration status or staying in the country as undocumented workers and facing deportation.  

Haitians with protected status have an estimated 27,000 U.S.-born children, according to the Center for American Progress. Another 246,200 American children have parents who are TPS holders from El Salvador and Honduras.

"They’re going to have to decide between going to Haiti, a country they don’t know just to be with their mom or dad, or saying goodbye to pursue their birthright as Americans to grow up here," Forester said.

Protections for Hondurans, extended to July 5, 2018, may or may not be extended again. The government is expected to make an announcement about El Salvador's status by Jan. 8.

If all immigrants from Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador were to lose their protected status, the loss of their contribution to the labor force would be a huge hit to the U.S. economy, experts say.

The GDP would suffer a loss approximately $164 billion over 10 years without TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, according to a report by the Center for Migration Studies.  More than 81 percent of workers with temporary protected status from these three countries participate in the U.S. labor force, a rate higher than the total U.S. population (63 percent) and the foreign-born population (66 percent).

A spokesperson for DHS reiterated that the TPS program was always meant to be temporary.

"Congress intended for the program to be temporary and was very clear that any attempt to legalize this population would require a super majority vote in the U.S. Senate," DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton told NBC.

The program was created in 1990 to protect immigrants facing dangerous conditions in their home countries from deportation. The first to be granted temporary protected status were residents of El Salvador, who were fleeing a 12-year bloody civil war.

Three members of Congress, two Democrats and a Republican, have proposed legislation that would allow TPS recipients to apply for permanent residence.

"The Temporary Protected Status program was created with bipartisan support to protect human life," said Rep. Yvette Clarke, a Democrat from New York., who introduced the legislation with Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal. "It advances American interests and values and we must work in a bipartisan manner to do the right thing and protect hardworking immigrants from being sent back to countries where their physical well being could be cast into doubt."

The bill, called the ASPIRE TPS Act, is co-signed by eight other Democratic members of Congress.

A West Philadelphia teenager was identified Tuesday as the person found dead late last week on top of a SEPTA train when it pulled into a Center City station.

The burned body of Raekwon Jones, 15, of the Mill Creek section, was found on top of the Regional Rail train when it pulled into Jefferson Station during the Friday morning rush hour, city police said.

Jones' remains were burned beyond recognition, which made it impossible initially for police to identify the person killed.

It remains unclear what Jones was doing on top of the train, or how he got up to the area where he was apparently electrocuted.

The "charred body," as police described it, was found about 7:30 a.m. at Jefferson Station, with the person's legs dangling off the side of the top of the train. 

The body was found near the rear of the train in the vicinity of the power lines that connect to overhead the electrical source, police said. The connection between train and SEPTA power is high-voltage and deadly to the touch.

"The male has severe burns all over his face and body," city Officer Eric McLaurin said in a statement. "The male's clothing and belongings were also burned beyond recognition."

Delays of up to 20 minutes on Regional Rail lines were initially reported, but by noon, most of the train lines were running close to schedule.

A federal court jury found a Libyan man guilty Tuesday of playing a role in the deadly 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. government compound in Benghazi, Libya. 

But he was acquitted of charges that his actions killed four Americans, NBC News reports.

Five years after the raid that killed a U.S. ambassador, Ahmed Abu Khatallah was found guilty of helping to plan and carry it out. It is the first conviction to stem from the deadly raid.

Prosecutors said Khatallah was among 20 people who stormed the U.S. mission with machine guns and grenade launchers, set it on fire and later attacked an annex, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans: Glen Doherty, Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods.

But in a big setback to prosecutors, the jury found Khatallah not guilty on charges that his actions led to the deaths of the Americans. Of 18 counts in the federal indictment, he was convicted of four: destroying U.S. government property, discharging a firearm during a violent crime, and two counts of providing support to a terror organization.

Before hanging himself in prison last April, former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez may have set up a hidden trust for his 5-year-old daughter.

The "AJH Irrevocable Trust" was discovered in documents filed in Bristol Probate and Family Court by attorney John G. Dugan, according to the Boston Herald. Dugan is the special council representing the Hernandez’s estate.

At the time of his 2013 arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Hernandez was reportedly paid more than $9 million of a new $40 million contract by the Patriots.

The Herald reported that Dugan warned in his filings that Hernandez’s estate "will probably be insolvent" — citing debts of $2.82 million while declaring there is only $1.2 million in assets.

Estate attorney Mark M. Curley, who is not associated with Hernandez’s case, told the Herald that once the terms of an irrevocable trust are signed, they cannot be altered.

The contents of the trust are not public record.

Hernandez was found hanging in his jail cell in mid-April, just days after he was acquitted of a deadly double shooting that happened in Boston's South End in 2012. A few weeks later, a judge vacated Hernandez's prior conviction for Lloyd's 2013 murder, citing a legal doctrine that wipes a defendant's conviction should the defendant die before an appeal can be heard.

Fire officials have identified the victims of an Enfield house fire that left one man dead and two women and a child hospitalized.

Officials from the Thompsonville fire department said that just before 2 a.m. Friday flames broke out at 11 Alden Avenue on the second floor back porch of the two-family home.

Firefighters rescued two people from the second floor of the home, but one tenant was killed.

The victim killed in the fire has been identified as 21-year-old Jose Cotto. Cotto’s fiancée and 2-year-old daughter were rescued by firefighters and remain hospitalized. His mother, who was also inside the home at the time, was able to escape of her own power when a neighbor rushed to her aid and is receiving care at a local hospital.

Officials said 45 firefighters from multiple departments responded to the blaze, including crews from Thompsonville fire, North Thompsonville fire, Hazardville fire, Enfield fire, and Shaker Pines fire. The Longmeadow, Mass. fire department and Suffield Fire Department also responded to provide station coverage.

The state fire marshal's office and the Connecticut State Police Fire Explosion Unit are assisting with the investigation into the cause. Anyone with photos or video of the fire, or who witnessed it, is asked to contact Thompsonville Fire Department or Enfield police.

A 40-year-old Hartford juvenile detention officer is accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a teenage girl at the facility and has been charged with second-degree sexual assault.

State police started investigating on Aug. 17 when they were notified about an inappropriate sexual relationship between a 40-year-old juvenile detention officer and a 17-year-old girl at the juvenile detention center on Broad Street in Hartford.

The girl’s mother had gone to Windsor Locks police the day before and said her 17-year-old daughter revealed to her younger sisters that she was having a sexual relationship with a detention officer, according to court records.

The investigation led to police looking at Instagram accounts belonging to the teen and the detention officer, 40-year old Marquis Marquez, of New Britain, which included messages about avoiding cameras.

One of the teen’s friends told investigators that she met with the 17-year-old during a furlough from the facility and the victim told her she was dating a 40-year-old man who was nice and has two children, according to court records.

The victim told one of her siblings that Marquez was her boyfriend and she told another sibling that he wanted to “share a life with her,” according to the court records.

Marquez’s co-workers reported that he would spend many hours with the teen and a supervisor had approached him in September as he was sitting in a chair at the threshold of the victim’s room and said he was not visible to video surveillance.

In October, police interviewed the teen and she told them her relationship with Marquez was “close” and he was “like a big brother” to her, but denied any inappropriate physical contact.

The teen eventually admitted to sending nude pictures of herself to Marquez, at his request, and said he exposed himself in photos he sent her, according to court records. She went on to defended Marquez and told police she did “not want him to get in trouble.”

Marquez initially told investigators he believed he was being targeted in a conspiracy by juvenile detention center management to investigate him and later charge him with discipline, court records say.

He described the teen as “troubled” and at first, he denied communicating with her teen outside the facility. Then police asked about the Instagram account and Marquez admitted to the communication on social media being sexual in nature, but he said he never touched the girl.

He did, however, admit to sending nude pictures of himself to the teen and asking for nude photos as well, the arrest warrant application says.

Ultimately, Marquez admitted that the teen performed oral sex on him and said she initiated it, the arrest warrant application says.

When asked what he would say to the teen if given the opportunity, Marquez said he would apologize.

“Let her know I was definitely wrong, that I had, I guess, a moment, so forth and so on, but I would apologize to her and I would hope that she would forgive me for being what I was. For being like that, for taking advantage. I really would,” he told investigators.

Hartford HealthCare is warning that some vaccines and tuberculosis tests given at several of their facilities may not be effective due to temperature fluctuations while the items were stored.

The issue affected several vaccines, including flu, tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis, pneumococcal, hepatitis B, and meningococcal at the Plainville, Vernon, Colchester, Norwichtown and Duncaster locations. The tuberculosis testing was conducted at facilities in Montville, Wallingford and Meriden.

The medical group stresses that the issue will not cause any harm to patients, but may make the vaccines less effective. Hartford HealthCare is contacting the 947 patients affected and offering a second vaccine or test free of charge.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 877-707-4442 or click here. 

Earlier this month the Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Bishop's Corner in West Hartford reported that vaccines given between Oct. 22 to Oct. 25 may not have been stored properly and recommended revaccinations for 56 patients.

Hartford HealthCare says it has taken steps to prevent the issue in the future, including the following:

• On site re-education of staff at all locations
• Daily temperature log recording and reporting
• Monthly review of temperature logs
• Periodic on-site vaccine storage audits
• Ongoing standardization and placement of digital temperature data recorders at all sites without them
• New technology will be implemented that removes human error, utilizing a central monitoring system with real time alerts for all sites.

After all shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, "Giving Tuesday" is a day to promote giving back to the community.

NBC Connecticut is proud to partner with the United Way and the Hartford Yard Goats to help those in need.

Giving Tuesday is an international push for giving. Locally, the United Way is raising money for families in our community who need it most.

"It makes me feel good," David Graham of Bloomfield said. "I think it’s very important to give to those in need. I try to do it as much as I can. I try to instill that in my kids. I’m just trying to help out the community."

The United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut collected hundreds of dollars during a few short hours today.

The mission this year is neighbors in need. One hundred percent of the donations collected today will go to local families displaced by the recent hurricanes.

"There’s a need for shelter there’s a need for food, there’s a need for medical assistance. So any little bit helps," said the United Way’s Chris McNally.

Since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September, the United Way has received nearly 400 calls for help through the state’s 211 system.

"This makes a huge difference for everybody coming in,” McNally said. “Since they’ve been displaced they’ve lost their jobs, they’re asking families for support coming here to Connecticut and they’re really looking for backing and that’s what we do at the United Way."

"I think it’s great," said Manchester resident Ayesha Nejias. "They need all the help they can get. And every little bit helps."

You can donate by going to the NBC Connecticut app or texting "GIVEONTUES" to 41444.

Relief is here for the residents of the Thames River Apartments in New London, who have been plagued with rodents, roaches and hot water problems.

A new $1.28 million grant will fund relocating the 118 families living there. It comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Choice Voucher program. The program helps low-income families, the elderly and the disabled afford housing in the private market.

New London Housing Authority staff said the residents in Thames River spend up to 30 percent of their income on rent. They’ll continue to pay that with the vouchers.

"I'm just happy to go. I've got tears in my eyes already just talking about it," said Jeanette Parker, who lives in the Thames River high rises.

Parker also serves on the New London Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. She took pictures of roaches on the property and dirt covering the stairways. Parker said residents have opened their windows because the heat is too high, there’s scarce hot water, and her son had an encounter with mice.

"They were just climbing up the closet. (The coat) was on a hanger. Inside his hood: mouse poop. All over the place," Parker said, who plans to move away from New London.

Resident Rena Cook plans to stay in the city to be near her newborn twin granddaughters and her 4-year-old grandson.

"A lot of people are going to be finding apartments in the snow, but at least it’s happening.” Cook said.

J. D’Amelia and Associates, a contractor with the state Department of Housing, will issue the vouchers, said Lee Erdmann, interim executive director of the New London Housing Authority. The housing authority hired Glendower Group to help with relocation efforts.

Erdmann said many people plan to stay in New London.

The federal funding can assist 122 families. Currently 118 families are living in Thames River, Erdmann said. The goal is to have all of them relocated by June 30 or earlier.

"It is absolutely a step in the right direction," according to Erdmann.

Each resident can look for their own apartment or the Glendower Group will give each family three options, Erdmann said.

Betsy Gibson, the chair of the New London Housing Authority Board of Commissioners said the first families could move out in December if they have housing locked in.

Erdmann said letters have already been delivered to families at Thames River. On Dec. 8, representatives from both J. D’Amelia and Associates and Glendower Group will be on site to have individual meetings with tenants and have them fill out necessary paperwork.

"For the kids to maybe put a pool in their backyard and go outside and play and don't have to worry about gunshots or fights or what have you," Parker said about the benefits of finding a new home.

As for the Crystal Avenue property, it will eventually be sold to the city at an appraised price of $185,000. The city will then handle the cost of demolition and future development, Erdmann said.

"New London families will now have an opportunity to access the housing they deserve,” said New London Mayor Michael Passero in a statement. “This grant will open the doors to safe, quality housing which will serve as a foundation for a strong future for our community."

"This critical funding will enable over one hundred New London families to secure decent, safe, and sanitary housing as winter sets in,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Sen. Chis Murphy, and Rep. Joe Courtney in a joint statement. “Housing Choice Vouchers provide critical access to affordable housing that supports families and others in need during their toughest times. We welcome HUD’s investment in the New London community, and are grateful for the New London Housing Authority for its continued work towards expanding quality, affordable housing in the city."

The Hartford community was invited to a forum Tuesday to get to know the person who may become Hartford’s next police chief.

Lt. Col. David Rosado was born and raised in Hartford. He graduated from Bulkeley High School and UConn School of Law.

Mayor Luke Bronin said Rosado has a distinguished career in law enforcement and currently oversees field operations for about 700 troopers as the commanding officer of the Office of Field Operations for Connecticut State Police.

Bronin intends to nominate Rosado for the position of police chief. Current Hartford Police Chief James Rovella is set to retire early next year.

The mayor said that during his search for a replacement, Rosado’s name is the one that kept coming up.

"I think he is committed just as Chief Rovella has been committed and just as I’m committed to a culture of accountability and transparency and community engagement," said Bronin. "I think he's somebody who brings a wealth of experience in law enforcement, a deep knowledge of the Hartford community, and a commitment to continuing the work of real, open, transparent community engagement."

Rosado says he plans to focus on serving the city and making sure officers have what they need, and he wants to expand and continue community policing. He says he'd look to enhance technology and make body cameras a priority. He also wants to prioritize diversity within the department at all levels.

"In my family, I have three unsolved homicides. I have four grandsons. The youngest is 18 and the oldest is 27. Every day I worry about them," said Hartford resident Steven Harris.

Harris has lived in the city for 70 years and attended Tuesday night's forum. He says his number one concern is community policing. He wants to make sure the officers who walk the beat are engaged and close to the community they serve.

"Most of the folks I know don't trust the police because most of their interactions aren't good interactions," said Harris.

Residents say the next police chief certainly has a challenging job ahead of them.

"I want whoever the chief is to do well," said Harris.

There will be one more community forum so residents can meet Rosado. It will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30 at The Lyceum at 227 Lawrence Street.

The city council has the final say on whether he will become the next police chief.

Police in Tampa, Florida, said Tuesday night that they plan to charge a man who was detained with a gun at a McDonald's and booked on four counts of first-degree murder in connection with a series of shooting deaths that authorities had said could be the work of a serial killer.

Acting on a tip, detectives recovered a gun and found the suspect, identified as Howell Emmanuel Donaldson III, 24, at the McDonald's restaurant in Tampa's Ybor City neighborhood, WFLA reported. 

"Tonight is the beginning of when justice will be served, and then the process will occur when this individual rots in hell," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said during a Tuesday night press conference.

Police have said they believe the incident is connected to the recent murders in the Seminole Heights neighborhood, although they haven't said why.

"We have recovered other firearms before, so we will see,” Police Chief Brian Dugan said. “We’re going to go through this. We’re in it for the long haul. Let’s see where this leads.”

Residents and police had been on edge since Oct. 9, when 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell was shot to death. Two days later, 32-year-old Monica Hoffa, was slain. And on Oct. 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20, was killed after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. On Nov. 14, 60-year-old Ronald Felton was killed.

All of the October victims were either getting on or off a city bus, or were at a bus stop when they were shot, police said.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that a McDonald's employee said Donaldson was a fellow co-worker.

The employee said the co-worker handed a manager a gun and left to visit an Amscot. When the co-worker returned, Tampa police were waiting. 

Dugan said the department had received more than 5,000 tips. He thanked those who called in the tip that led to Donaldson's arrest.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott praised the effort of Tampa law enforcement, one week after visiting the area.

"As a father and a grandfather, it is unimaginable what the families of these victims are going through. Our thoughts and prayers remain with them, and we will work to ensure that they receive the justice they deserve," Scott wrote in a statement. "In Florida, we have absolutely zero tolerance for this type of evil behavior and anyone responsible will be held to the fullest extent of the law.”

A New Britain mother says a stranger came to the rescue when her son wandered away from school Tuesday afternoon.

Nicole Norton’s 8-year-old son Jack, who has autism, wandered away from Vance Elementary School Tuesday afternoon. Taylor Simon noticed him on the side of the road without a coat and gave him a ride home.

"When he walked to the corner he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to cross the street, that's when I jumped in my car and grabbed him, and I asked he wanted a ride home and he said yes,” Simon said.

She reported the incident to New Britain police and the school. New Britain police confirmed they responded to the home to check on Jack. Police said a school social worker was at the house when police arrived.

Nicole said Jack left school as he transitioned from one class to the next.

"Between the walk to the special services class he decided to leave,” she explained.

"I left school, I went out the front door," Jack said.

Thanks to Simon, Jack made it home safe, and his mother is grateful for that.

"It could have been so much worse," Nicole said.

New Britain Superintendent released the following statement on the situation:

"We are aware of the incident that occurred at Vance Elementary School earlier today where a student left school property without permission.

Very shortly after, a neighbor just a few houses away saw the student and brought the student home. The neighbor then reported it to the police department and at the same time, the neighbor’s spouse called the school to inform them of the situation.

As soon as administration was notified at Vance Elementary School, they immediately called the police department to ensure that the student was safe. A staff member was then sent to the student’s home as a secondary safety measure. The student was at home with the mother and was indeed safe.

My office was in contact with the administration at Vance School throughout the incident and have been made aware of all updates throughout the afternoon.

We are in the process of reviewing our security cameras to determine the sequence of events that led up to the student leaving the building."

A fire broke out at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown on Tuesday night.

According to fire officials, fuel oil spilled at the plant earlier in the day and some of that oil got into some insulation behind a turbine. The turbine heated up and the oil caught fire.

The fire was minor, but difficult to put out because of the insulation, fire officials said.

There was no damage to the plant.

Kleen Energy was the site of a 2010 explosion that killed six workers.

NBC Connecticut meteorologists are forecasting pleasant weather for the New Haven Tree Lighting Thursday evening.

NBC Connecticut is the official media sponsor of the tree lighting and will broadcast the event live on air and online. 

Temperatures on Thursday are expected to be in the middle 40s with falling temperatures by the evening. 

Make sure to dress warmly if you're heading to the tree lighting.

Temperatures by Thursday evening will fall into the upper 30s and low 40s.

Chris Garafola and his sister Brittany, who has Down syndrome, grew up in Vermont, but now he is a successful model working full-time in Boston. Garafola surprised Brittany for her 32nd birthday with a photo shoot of her own, and the video has since gone viral. Garafola hopes people will open their hearts to see how beautiful people with special needs are.

Norwalk police are looking to identify a man who picked up a fraudulent wire transfer that left a grandfather out more than $2,000.

The suspect picked up the fraudulent wire transfer at the Stop & Shop on Connecticut Avenue in Norwalk on Oct. 14, according to police.

The victim, who does not live in Connecticut, received several phone calls from a man pretending to be a law enforcement officer who demanded the grandfather wire money because the victim's grandson was in jail, police said.

The victim wired $2,450 to the Norwalk Stop & Shop where the suspect picked it up.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to call Norwalk police at (203) 854-3011 or leave an anonymous tip at (203) 854-3111.