For first time since his father was diagnosed with the Ebola virus, the son of Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan is speaking out publicly Tuesday.

"I just came down here because I feel God was calling me to see my dad," said 19-year-old Karsiah Duncan.

His father remains in critical condition at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, and health officials are monitoring the teen's mother, Louise Troh, for 21 days, making sure she shows no signs of having the virus herself.

"I want to thank my mom for her strength," said Karsiah Duncan, a student at Angelo State University. "She's been having going through all this being strong. Everything is hard being in the house for 21 days, not knowing what's going to happen after she gets out."

Celebrities such as Iyanla Vanzant and Chris Brown have reached out to Duncan's son to offer their support, and President Barack Obama has shared his support for the family as well. The Rev. Jesse Jackson led a prayer vigil earlier Tuesday outside Presbyterian Hospital for Thomas Duncan.

"What we saw was very painful," Duncan's nephew Josephus Weeks said. "He wasn't looking good."

Family members and Jackson have expressed their concern that Thomas Duncan was discharged from the hospital, only to return two days later with more severe symptoms of the virus.

"He should have been treated earlier," said Jackson, who came to Dallas at the request of the family. "But he is being treated now and I hope not too late."

"It's been tough, it's been stressful, all of the above," said Weeks. "It's been hard for us."

Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas has been praying for Thomas Eric Duncan and Troh ever since finding out about the Ebola virus diagnosis. Troh has been a member of the church since before her baptism in June 2014.

The church will hold a prayer vigil for members of the Liberian community at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 4316 Abrams Road.

Senior Pastor George Mason has said he speaks with Troh daily by phone from her new isolation area. He said he won't be able to visit in person until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approves his request.

Mason and Troh have talked about relying on prayer during her monitoring period and as Thomas Duncan recovers in isolation at the hospital.

Mason said while Troh and her family have not been to church since Thomas Duncan arrived in the United States, his church continues to offer prayer and encouragement to Troh and her family members in quarantine.

A man tried to talk to a woman inside a Queens building lobby, then slashed her neck when she ignored him, according to police, who are now looking for the suspect.

The man, believed to be about 20 years old, approached the 26-year-old victim in the lobby of a Jamaica building after 5 a.m. on Oct. 1, police said. 

He tried talking to the woman, and when she turned away, he grabbed her from behind and used some sort of cutting instrument to slash her neck, according to police. 

The victim was taken to the hospital, where she was listed in critical but stable condition. 

The suspect is about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. 

Police say they are looking for a man who allegedly hit a sleeping 22-year-old man in the head with a hammer in his apartment on the Lower East Side Tuesday morning.

The victim was sleeping when he awoke to find the suspect attacking him in the head with a hammer, according to police. 

The victim tried to run away, and the suspect hit him again, both on the head and the arm, police said. 

The suspect then fled. 

The suspect had been subletting the apartment from the victim, police said, though it's not clear how long he'd been staying there or how well the two knew each other.

The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. 

An ambulance took a pedestrian to the hospital Wednesday morning after a car struck the person in East Hartford.

The car hit the pedestrian near 1254 Main St. in East Hartford just before 6 a.m.

Police have blocked off the area as they investigate.

The extent of the pedestrian's injuries and the cause of the crash are unknown.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

The Blue Hills Avenue section of Route 187 in Hartford is closed Wednesday morning in connection to the fire that killed a fireman and injured three others on Tuesday night.

The road remains closed Wednesday morning in both directions at Tower Avenue and police are still on scene.

A bus driver was injured after a tree branch fell on the bus in Sherman.

The branch was knocked down on Route 37 at Wakeman Hill Road.

No one else was on the bus besides the driver.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

Harmony Hill Road is closed in Harwinton near Route 4 due to a downed tree and fallen wires.

More information will be provided when it becomes available .

Hard Scrabble Road and Melius Road in Warren are closed after a tree fell on Wednesday morning.

More information will be provided when it becomes available.

A flag outside the Blue Hills Fire Station in Hartford, Connecticut is flying at half-staff to honor a firefighter killed and three others hurt while battling a massive blaze Tuesday night in the city's North End.

The injured first responders were rushed to Saint Francis Hospital, where one was pronounced dead, Hartford Fire Chief Carlos Huertas said at a Tuesday night press conference. Hartford police were still on scene as of 4 a.m. Wednesday and the road was blocked off in the area.

According to state records, the last time a Hartford firefighter died extinguishing flames was in 1974.

Authorities have not publicly identified the firefighter who died but said he was a 48-year-old Hartford native and six-year veteran of the fire department.

"Our hearts are extremely heavy at this time with the knowledge that these brave men and women risk their lives every day to protect our city," Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra said at the media briefing. "The simple acceptance of that responsibility on its own terms makes them heroes."

A second injured firefighter was transferred to Bridgeport Hospital with burns over 10 percent of his body, according to Segarra. Although his injuries are serious, he's expected to survive.

Two other firefighters remain in stable condition at Saint Francis Hospital, authorities said.

Flag at Blue Hills Fire Station is at half staff pic.twitter.com/szmM67K23y

— ilana gold (@ilanagoldNBC) October 8, 2014

According to Huertas, the two-alarm fire broke out at 598 Blue Hills Avenue around 6:30 p.m. An ambulance arrived shortly thereafter, and one firefighter was strapped to a stretcher, still conscious.

Thick black smoke poured from the two-story home, and neighbors recorded cellphone video of flames shooting through the windows.

A woman whose daughter lives in the burned house said she watched one of the firefighters jump out. The pastor of the homeowners' church group arrived to pray for the families involved and said everyone made it out safely.

Segarra spent the evening at Saint Francis Hospital comforting the family of the firefighter who lost his life.

"I have been with the family of the deceased firefighter for the last several hours and I can tell you that the suffering and the grief is indescribable," Segarra said at the press conference. "I want you to know that this gentleman is a true hero and he will never be forgotten."

Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave men and women of the HFD who risk their lives to keep our city and our families safe.

— Mayor Pedro Segarra (@HartfordMayor) October 8, 2014

Blue Hills Avenue was blocked off for several hours near the intersection of Litchfield Street. Authorities have not elaborated on the details or speculated about the cause.

"Our entire department is grieving but there will be no loss of service. What is important to understand is that one firefighter lost his life saving others," Huertas said, fighting tears.

The flames forced out two families, who are receiving housing help from the Red Cross, according to Huertas. Grief counseling will be available to those affected.

"Tonight's tragic events are another reminder of the incredible sacrifice that our state's first responders make on a daily basis," Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said in a joint statement Tuesday night. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the hero we lost tonight and those who were injured in the line of duty in our capital city."

Officials said the fire is under state and federal investigation.

Deepest sympathies to our city heros and strong family at the Hartford Fire Department. pic.twitter.com/JWESDvFrED

— D/C Foley (@LtFoley) October 8, 2014

Storms have knocked down trees across the state and caused almost 4,700 power outages in some towns.

A bus driver in Sherman was injured when a branch fell on a bus on Route 37.

Harmony Hill Road in Harwinton is closed at Route 4 due to downed trees and wires.

Route 6 in Southbury is closed west of Route 61 due to fallen trees.

Liberty Street is also closed at Eden Avenue in Southington due to fallen trees and wires near 165 Liberty St.

Hard Scrabble Road and Melius roads in Warren are also closed after a tree fell in the area.

Connecticut Light & Power is reporting almost 4,700 outages, including more than 1,500 in Kent and 850 in New Milford.

Route 109 in Morris was closed by Hinman Lane, but has reopened.

Amid cries of disapproval and pleas from players and parents, a New Jersey school district unanimously approved the decision to sideline a powerhouse high school football program for the remainder of the season in the wake of a criminal probe into hazing allegations.

The board that oversees Sayreville High School approved the decision to cancel team activities at all levels – freshman, junior varsity and varsity – just a day after parents were told in a private meeting that the teams wouldn’t play another down in 2014.

The decision comes after Middlesex County prosecutors said they were investigating reports of bullying, harassment and intimidation involving some seniors on the team. Authorities said last week that some of the allegations could constitute as sexual assault. 

The school, which won the Central New Jersey Section IV championship three out of the last four years, had already canceled and forfeited a game against South Brunswick last week.

Sayreville Schools Superintendent Richard Labbe said Monday in a statement that the incidents took place "on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted.” No single player has been suspended.

Before voting, school board president Kevin Ciak said the decision to cancel the remainder of the season was the right one.

“It’s a sad situation to be in, but I really believe, at the end of the day, when we come back next year, it will be with a stronger sense of commitment and character,” Ciak said.

Tuesday’s school board meeting was regularly scheduled but held in the school’s cafeteria to accommodate the massive crowd. Community members and parents expressed anger with the decision to end the season, while players decked out in blue and gray jerseys and letterman jackets made emotional pleas to the board.

One senior player, Justin Gallagher, told the board that he didn’t think any of his Bombers teammates – who he referred to as “brothers” – would harass or intimidate one another.

“We’re a team," he said. "We stick together and nothing makes me believe anybody’s after each other."

Another senior player, Derek Rodriguez, said a decision takes away from seniors who had wanted to play for the team their whole lives and weren't talented enough to go on to play college football.

“We’re not going to have that closure of finishing our senior year and going out like we wanted to go out,” he said. “It got taken from us for something that we didn’t even know that was going on.”

Parents also voiced disapproval, saying the decision unfairly punishes students who may have not known about the alleged hazing.

Madeline Valet said her son, a team captain, has dedicated himself to the team and was questioned by police about “a butt being grabbed.” She said she didn’t think the players should lose the season.

“No one was hurt, no one was died,” Valet said. “I don’t understand why they’re being punished… I don’t believe the punishment fits the crime.”

Still, school board members all decided to uphold the decision to cancel the season. In their own statements – peppered with boos and catcalls from the audience -- several members explained their reasoning for voting for the cancellation.

School board member John Walsh alluded to the case of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University student who committed suicide after being bullied by a roommate.

“It's sad and it’s terrible and it’s heartbreaking (to cancel the season), I get that," Walsh said. "But it's not tragic. Tragic would be walking in front of the casket of a victim who decided he couldn't take it anymore."

Meanwhile, police are also investigating assistant football coach Charlie Garcia, 38, after they found more than two boxes of steroids and more than a dozen syringes during a traffic stop late last month.

Follow Brynn Gingras on Twitter @Brynn4NY

A loaded handgun was found hidden inside a 19-year-old prisoner's underwear at D.C. Superior Court despite multiple searches beforehand.

Isiah Bogan was arrested in Southeast D.C. early Tuesday for unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. After he was taken into custody, authorities say they found a loaded handgun in his underwear. 

D.C. police say Bogan was in the custody of three different agencies throughout Tuesday morning, all of which searched him. Gwendolyn Crump with D.C. police said it was unclear where the weapon came from or how Bogan got it.

A former D.C. officer said Bogan should have made it through at least one official search before the gun was found on him, just feet from the arraignment courtroom. 

"Any suspect who is detained by the police should have a cursory search, we sometimes call that a pat-down," said security expert Dwayne Stanton. "Then when they get to their destination, another search takes place, be it an investigator's office or the central cell block."

Despite the importance of the searches, Stanton admits officials can sometimes miss things.

"One [reason] would be the size of the person, their girth. Of course, a bigger person would have more mass to hide a weapon or some contraband," Stanton said.

Bogan was later returned to D.C. police custody. The incident remains under investigation, and Bogan is now facing additional charges.

Storms on Wednesday morning didn't stop people from lining up outside the first Connecticut Chick-fil-A in Brookfield 24 hours in advance.

Nearly 30 people were already lined up as of 7:30 a.m. yesterday and pitched tents in the parking lot for a chance to win free Chick-fil-A for a year. By midnight, 100 people were in line.

Those first 100 people in line who can verify they are 18 or older will win free Chick-fil-A for a year.

The restaurant opened this morning at 6 a.m.

The restaurant chain is also providing bathroom access, Chick-fil-A food throughout the day and security, as well as holding a DJ dance party in the evening.

The restaurant brings 80 jobs to the state.

Chick-fil-A is located at 156 Federal Road in Brookfield. Three other Chick-fil-A restaurants are slated to open in Connecticut.

A new restaurant inside the Danbury Fair Mall and a stand-alone restaurant in Wallingford will open Nov. 6, both offering the chance to win Chick-fil-A for a year. The restaurant plans to open a site in Enfield as well.

The National Weather Service says the storm that caused serious damage to the town of Easthampton, Massachusetts, on Wednesday appears to have been a microburst and not a tornado.

Easthampton Mayor Karen Cadieux had initially said a tornado might have hit the town, but later said it might just be a microburst. The National Weather Service is sending a team to survey the damage, but said based on the way the trees fell, it appears to have been a microburst.

"You couldn't walk anywhere because it was just complete trees blocking the entire road, you couldn't even move," said Mayor Cadieux.

Easthampton Police said the storm hit town around 4:54 a.m. Several residents were injured, but did not require hospitalization. Two people were trapped in a car, but they were able to be rescued. Most of the damage was on Route 141 and Hendrick Street.

Police said trees and power lines were knocked down, and one tree reportedly fell on a house, narrowly missing the residents inside. 

"Had this happened in commuter time, even 6 a.m., 6:30, 7:30 it would have been devastating, so it's no short of a miracle," Mayor Cadieux added.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is on scene, and police said it will likely take days to clean up.

Mayor Cadieux says as crews have begun working their way up nearby Mount Tom, they have determined the damage is worse than originally thought.

"The sad part is the damage as you're going up to the left side is so extensive," said Mayor Cadieux. "We couldn't see that, at first it just looked like the tops of the trees were off, well it's not, they're all uprooted and all hanging, so it is massive damage."

At one point Wednesday morning, 6,500 customers lost electricity.

Emergency management crews took NECN on a tour of the cleanup, which at times looked overwhelming. The storm snapped tree tops like they were toothpicks, uprooted evergreens and pulled down power lines, twisting them into a tangled mess.

"Because it hit the western side of the Mount Tom range, the wind had nowhere to go. It kind of funneled it into this spot and that's what created the - what they're saying is a minimum of 100 mile-an-hour winds," Easthampton Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director David Mottor said.

NECN Chief Meteorologist Matt Noyes said the radar signature was conducive to a large swath of straight line wind damage this morning, possibly a downburst.

"You can occasionally get spinups on either side of a downburst," he said.

Power has been offiicially restored to all homes except the last home on Mountain Road, where they will have to completely redo the power lines. Easthampton officials say they believe Route 141, which is Mountain Road, will be shut down for tree clean-up through at least midday Friday.

Easthampton Mayor Karen Cadieux says a tornado might have hit the Massachusetts town on Wednesday morning.

"We believe at this point, a tornado hit Hendrick and Mt Road," Cadieux said on her Facebook page. 

"Still checking the damage on Mt. Road and Hendrick St with the Police and Fire Chiefs," she added minutes later. "At this point we believe it's a tornado."

Cadieux later provided an update, saying it is still to be determined whether it was a tornado or a microburst.

NBC Connecticut meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan said the radar at the time indicated the potential for a powerful microburst.

"Based on the pictures  I've seen, and the radar images from this morning, the storm was likely a powerful microburst. Though, there is a small chance it could have been a tornado," Hanrahan said.

Based on the inital reports and pictures, Hanrahan said winds could have exceeded 100 miles per hour, which is the equivalent of an EF1 tornado.

Easthampton Police said the tornado or microburst occurred around 4:54 a.m. No one was injured. Two people were trapped in a car, but they were able to be rescued. Most of the damage is on Route 141 and Hendrick Street.

Cadieux posted several photos of the storm damage to her Facebook page, showing downed tree limbs.

Police said trees and power lines are down, and one tree reportedly fell on a house. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is on scene, and police said it will likely take days to clean up. 

New Britain police have arrested a woman who they said failed to treat her flea-infested dog and allowed it to suffer.

Animal control officers went to Michelle Szewczyk’s  Sexton Street home in New Britain after receiving an anonymous complaint on Aug. 4 from someone who said dogs in the home were suffering from untreated flea infestations and there was no running water in the residence, police said.

When police got to the house, they found a 7-year-old German Shepard infested with fleas and suffering from a serious ear infection, police said.

Police issued an infraction for unlicensed, unvaccinated dog and said they gave Szewczyk the chance to bring her dog to a veterinarian, police said.

In the weeks that followed, animal control officers followed up with Szewczyk several times, but she still had not sought treatment and the dog continued to suffer, police said.

Police took Szewczyk’s German Shepard and took the animal to a local veterinarian to be treated and obtained an arrest warrant, charging Szewczyk, 40, with animal cruelty.

She turned herself in to police. 

Police said the dog remains in the custody and care of the New Britain Police Department and the city of New Britain Health Department assisted with the investigation.   

It’s not clear if she has an attorney.
 

A married couple fled to South Carolina after they were involved in a bank robbery in Woodbridge in March, but police tracked them down and have arrested them, police said.

Police took former New Haven residents Zakea, 34, and Jermaine Brooks, 37, into custody on Tuesday and drove them from South Carolina to Connecticut.

Jermaine Brooks and another man entered TD Bank at 128 Amity Road in Woodbridge on March 9 at about 12:45 p.m. and robbed the bank. They fled in a car waiting outside that Zakea Brooks was driving, police said. Police located the tan vehicle registered in New Jersey in New Haven, but no one was in the car.

Police said the male suspects wore black clothing and masks. One of the men demanded money from the bank teller while the other kept employees and customers from intervening, according to police. It's unclear which role Jermaine Brooks played.

Police identified Jermaine Brooks as a suspect and Zakea Brooks as the getaway driver. Officers located the couple in South Carolina. Anderson City Police Department and the Anderson County Sheriff's detained the couple as fugitives from justice due to the Woodbridge charges and took them into custody until Woodbridge police arrived to bring them back to Connecticut.

Woodbury police charged Jermaine Brooks with first-degree robbery, third-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny. Zakea Brooks faces charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny.

The couple was arraigned at New Haven Superior Court on Oct. 8.

Police continue to investigate and anticipate further arrests.

Waterbury police have released a YouTube video of vehicle suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run that killed an 18-year-old bicyclist Monday night. They are asking for the public's help to find it.

Police are still looking for the driver of an oncoming car that hit Eric Delage, 18, at about 7:40 p.m. Oct. 6 on Baldwin Street in Waterbury after another car struck him while he was riding his bicycle, police said. He was thrown into the path of the second car, which hit him and fled the scene, police said. The accident happened near the intersection with Pleasant Street.

In a video the department released on YouTube, police show surveillance footage of the suspected vehicle. Police identify the second car that hit the boy as a gold or silver Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Caravan and said that it was last seen traveling south on Baldwin Street.

Officers arrested Israel Diaz, 30, the driver of the first car that hit Delage on Monday.

Police ask anyone with information to contact Waterbury police at 203-574-6941 or wpdmedia@wtbypd.org and said that calls will be kept confidential.

Thousands of runners will be heading to Hartford this weekend for the Hartford Marathon.

The NU Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon begin at 8 a.m. in Bushnell Park on Saturday, while wheelchair participants start at 7:55 a.m.

The course begins on Capitol Avenue in front of the State Capitol grounds and several roads will be closed in Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford and in South Windsor. 

Some exits of Interstate 84, I-91 and Route 2 will also be affected. 

In addition to the Hartford Marathon, there will also be a 5K. It will begin at 8:01 a.m. at Washington Street and Buckingham Street at the red balloon arch.

A children’s race will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Elm Street by Pulaski Circle.

Event organizers are expecting 20,000 runners to participate in the road race with an additional 40,000 to 50,000 spectators and volunteers also on hand.

Between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. , several exhibitors will participate in an outdoor expo in Bushnell Park.

Road closures will include:
 
Capitol Avenue, between Oak Street And Hudson Street from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.

Lafayette Street will be closed between Capitol Avenue and Russ Street as of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.

Trinity Street will be closed between Ford and Elm streets, west Of Pulaski Circle as pm noon today.

Trinity Street will be closed between Elm Street And Capitol Avenue as of 11 p.m. on Friday.

Elm Street will be closed from Trinity Street To Pulaski Circle as of 9 a.m. on Thursday.

See the full list of road closures.

A variety of local businesses in Hartford are offering special deals for Marathon runners and spectators. Find a full list on the Hartford Marathon Web site.

Big chain restaurants in the United States are cutting back on extra calories in new items they introduce, a study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found.

Items introduced in 2013 – mostly salads and sandwiches– had 60 fewer calories, on average, (about 12 percent) than items on the menu in 2012, according to the study. New beverages and kids' items also saw a decrease of calories.

The study, published in the October issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is based on data from the MenuStat project, a survey of menu items in 66 of the 100 largest U.S. restaurant chains, and was conducted over 2012 and 2013. The analysis looked at fast-food companies like McDonald’s to full service restaurants like IHOP and examined over 19,000 restaurant items.

The study found that overall, average calories didn't change on chain restaurant menus. Most of the changes were to items that don't make up the base of a restaurant's business, so there wasn't much change to signature burger and pizza items.

Sarah N. Bleich, a healthy policy researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who led the study, said the voluntary decrease in calories is most likely a result of federal laws requiring restaurants to release their calorie numbers.

Still said the results of the study are significant because about one in three Americans eat daily at a fast-food restaurant, and if each person ate 60 fewer calories per visit, "the impact on obesity could be significant," she said.