A man wearing a Halloween mask and another masked man fired a gunshot during a home invasion in Hamden last night and hit a resident in the head before the home owner’s dog attacked and scared them off.

Police responded to a home on Pine Rock Avenue at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday to investigate a home invasion and learned that two people followed two residents into the home, demanded money and there was a physical altercation, according to police.

One of the residents was hit in the head with a gun during the struggle, police said.

The resident’s dog attacked the intruders after the gun was fired and the men ran off.

In addition to the head injury, the resident suffered cuts to the face, police said.
One of the intruders is thin, 20 to 25 years old and between 6-feet tall to 6-foot-2. He was wearing dark clothing and a white Halloween mask.

The other man was also thin, 5-feet-9, 20 to 25 years old and wearing dark clothing and a mask.

Both men had semi-automatic handguns.
 
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective William Onofrio of the Hamden Police Department Major Crimes Division at (203) 230-4040.
 

The southbound side of the Merritt Parkway has reopened in Greenwich after a car crash and fire closed the highway between exits 27 and 28 on Thursday afternoon.

Greenwich police said the road has partially reopened and the scene is clear.

After the fire was out, police warned of long delays and said it would take time for Connecticut State Police to investigate the incident and clean up the scene.

Local traffic is back to normal, according to police. 

The Connecticut State Police Union and National Troopers Coalition are throwing their support to Gov. Dan Malloy as election day draws near.

"As Troopers we are trained to not only listen to the words people say, but we spend considerable time and effort studying their actions and statement," said State Police Union President Andy Matthews, in a statement dated Oct. 22.

"When we reviewed and considered the words and history of candidate Tom Foley for Governor, we became concerned about the risks to our memberships [sic] future," Matthews continued. "We felt compelled to speak out not just on behalf of our members, but also on behalf of the people and communities we serve."

Matthews said that, although the union doesn't always agree with Malloy's decisions, "true leaders make difficult decisions, even when some may not agree."

He said Malloy has worked to strengthen his relationship with the state police department and improve public safety in Connecticut.

"State Troopers are confident and proud of our current leadership," Matthews said.

The National Troopers Coalition also endorsed Malloy on Wednesday, explaining in a press release that Malloy "has taken consistent steps to consult State Police leadership and he has worked with rank and file troopers to imrpove public safety and officer safety."

Malloy will face GOP challenger Tom Foley and unaffiliated candidate Joe Visconti on Election Day.

A new biomedical research facility opening in Branford is expected to attract top scientists and promises breakthroughs in medical science.

“We want to better assess what’s happening at a personal level — whether it's cancer or some other disease — to better diagnose and treat a given condition by generating a much deeper molecular information on an individual,” explained Dr. Eric Schadt, director of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is opening the Branford facility.

The new research center also promises to create new jobs in Connecticut.

“We’ve got 10 on staff right now," explained Todd Arnold, managing director of the Mount Sinai Genetic Testing Lab in Connecticut. "The goal by the end of the year is 25, and we’re hoping to grow to about 150 in the next three to five years.”

The state is providing a $9.5 million loan in support of the research center and will forgive up to $7 million of that loan if the facility can reach its jobs goal.

The announcement comes less than a month after another biomedical research facility, Jackson Laboratory, opened at the UConn Medical Center in Farmington, with state support.
 

Newington's public schools have eliminated Halloween costume parades this year out of respect for religions that object to the idea, but some parents object to that decision.

"To these kids," said Kami Astorino, mother of a fourth grader at Anna Reynolds Elementary School, "it has nothing to do with religion, it has nothing to do with exclusion, and it has nothing to do with evilness. They come to school, they wear their costumes, they celebrate, and that's how they ring in the fall."

Astorino said she respects and appreciates all religions, she doesn't want to exclude anybody and she thinks the world of the principal of her daughter's school.

But, she said, "I'm outraged."

Newington is not trying to cancel Halloween. Teachers can still display ghosts or skeletons or "Happy Halloween" signs.

But the idea is that if some students can't participate in a Halloween costume parade for religious reasons, then there will be no Halloween costume parade.

Student Aubrey Aukstolis hasn't decided whether she'll be a mermaid or a witch next Friday night. She participated in a costume parade when she was in Kindergarten at Anna Reynolds Elementary School.

"I remember her doing it a couple of years ago and it was nice," said her father, Michael Aukstolis.

Fire broke out Thursday night at a nursing home on Greenwood Street in Hartford, the same facility where more than a dozen people died in a blaze 11 years.

Hartford fire officials said flames broke out in the laundry room around 7:45 p.m. The fire was contained to just that area, but firefighters struck a second alarm as a precaution since a number of residents can't walk.

Everyone made it out safely, but one staff member was taken to the hospital for treatment of possible smoke inhalation.

Firefighters extinguished most of the flames by around 8 p.m. and began leaving the scene about an hour later.

Sixteen nursing home patients died and dozens more were injured in a blaze at this facility in 2003.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. 

New York City doctor Craig Spencer is the fourth person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States and the first in New York. He recently came back from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, and preliminarily tested positive for the Ebola virus at Bellevue Hospital on Thursday, Oct. 23. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the following day that he had contracted the potentially deadly disease.

He was in stable condition as of Oct. 24 and talking on the phone with extensively with family members, officials said.

Spencer is the fifth U.S. aid worker to contract the virus while working in West Africa. Dr. Kent Brantly, who recovered from Ebola earlier this year, issued a statement saying he is "grieved to hear about another health care worker contracting Ebola in West Africa.

"My prayers are with Dr. Spencer, his family and the crew taking care of him," he said in a statement released to NBC's "Today." "From everything I've read and heard about his circumstances, it sounds like New York has done everything right to contain this case."

Here's what we know so far about Spencer, his background, what he has done since coming back to the U.S. and the people with whom he may have come into contact.

Who is Craig Spencer?

Spencer, 33, is an emergency room doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Columbia Medical Center campus in Upper Manhattan. He is a Detroit native who went to Wayne State University there and has family in that area.

He was volunteering with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea, one of the three West African nations experiencing an Ebola epidemic. He hasn't returned to work at NewYork-Presbyterian since returning to the U.S., the hospital said in a statement.

Spencer "went to an area of medical crisis to help a desperately underserved population," the hospital said in a statement. "He is a committed and responsible physician who always put his patients first."

Spencer also attended Columbia's University Mailman School of Public Health.

"Off to Guinea with Doctors Without Borders,'' he reportedly posted on Facebook on Sept. 18, along with a photo showing him dressed in protective gear. "Please support organizations that are sending support or personnel to West Africa, and help combat one of the worst public health and humanitarian disasters in recent history.''

Spencer left for West Africa via Brussels in mid-September, according to the Facebook page. He completed his assignment there on Oct. 12 and left on Oct. 14 via Europe. He arrived in the U.S. on Oct. 17 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

When Did Spencer Test Positive for Ebola?

Spencer participated in the enhanced screening at JFK for all travelers returning from the West African nations affected by Ebola. He did not have fever or other Ebola symptoms.

While back in New York, Spencer checked his temperature twice daily, New York City’s health commissioner Mary Travis Bassett said at a Thursday evening media briefing. He began feeling sluggish on Oct. 21, but did not have any symptoms then. He felt well enough to go on a three-mile jog this week.

On Thursday morning, between 10 and 11 a.m. ET, Spencer reported coming down with a 100.3-degree fever and diarrhea and called 911, New York's Department of Health said. Officials corrected the number Friday morning after having first said in error that his temperature was 103 degrees.

He was transported from his apartment on West 147th Street in Hamilton Heights to Bellevue, one of eight New York state hospitals designated to treat Ebola patients, by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Spencer was placed in a special isolation unit at the hospital, where he's being cared for by the predesignated medical critical care team.

Doctors Without Borders said it was notified about Spencer's fever Thursday morning and immediately notified New York City health officials.

"We are fully prepared to handle Ebola," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday.

A blood sample was sent to the New York City Health Department laboratory, which is part of the Laboratory Response Network overseen by the CDC, for preliminary testing, and tested positive for Ebola. A CDC test confirmed he had contracted the disease.

What Has Spencer Done Since Returning From Africa? 

Bassett said Spencer spent most of his time in his apartment, limiting his contact with people, but he had gone on a three-mile jog, taken the A, 1 and L subway trains, visited the High Line in Manhattan, stopped by the Blue Bottle coffee shop near the elevated park, and went to The Meatball Shop on Greenwich Avenue.

He also took an Uber livery car to The Gutter bowling alley in Brooklyn Wednesday night, where he met some friends and bowled.

"At the time he was at the bowling alley, he had no fever," Bassett stressed.

Who May Have Been Affected?

Health officials have been tracing Spencer's contacts to identify anyone who may be at risk. Bassett said officials were aware of four people who came in contact with Spencer: his fiancee, two friends, and the Uber driver.

The fiancee and friends who have been in direct contact with Spencer have been quarantined and are in good health, she said. They weren't yet being tested for Ebola because they were showing no symptoms, she said.

The Uber driver was determined not to be at risk because he had no direct physical contact with Spencer.

“Our understanding is that very few people were in direct contact with him," Mayor de Blasio said Thursday.

What Happens Next?

Spencer's apartment was cordoned off and the Department of Health was giving out information to area residents Thursday night. The bowling alley has been closed as a precaution, and will be examined Friday.

The Gutter said in a Facebook post Thursday that it had talked with health department officials, who determined that other bowlers weren't at risk for contracting the disease.

Officials have Spencer's MetroCard to track where he's traveled. They said there's a "close to nil" chance anyone was exposed on the subway.

"There is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed," de Blasio said. "We've been preparing for months for the threat of Ebola with clear and strong protocols that were scrupulously followed in this instance."

A specially trained team determined earlier this week that Bellevue Hospital has been trained in proper protocols and is well prepared to handle Ebola patients, the CDC said.

Several members of the CDC's rapid response team were on their way to New York on Thursday night, and others were arrived Friday morning.

President Obama spoke Thursday night to de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo and offered the federal government's support, The Associated Press reported. He asked them to stay in close touch with Ron Klain, his "Ebola czar," as well as public health officials in Washington.

A Northeast Philadelphia man fired an assault rifle at his neighbor more than two dozen times after an argument spiraled out of control Thursday night.

"The shooter fired multiple shots, unloaded his magazine, then reloaded the weapon," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Not only was the 57-year-old neighbor hit multiple times but bullets -- police said at least 28 were fired -- also hit neighboring homes along the 8900 block Alton Street in the Bustleton section of the city.

Medics rushed a 57-year-old man from the scene to Einstein Medical Center in critical condition, according to Philadelphia Police.

"This victim stated who he was shot by," said Small.

Investigators said the incident began as an argument between the older man and a 26-year-old suspect around 7:30 p.m. in the rear driveway of the homes. At some point the suspect grabbed an assault rifle and began firing, police said.

At least 20 bullets hit two neighboring homes, said police. Officers checked on the residents inside and luckily no one was hit.

Police arrested the unidentified shooting suspect without incident and confiscated the rifle, said Small.

A 4-year-old girl was found dead at a Queens homeless shelter and authorities are classifying her death as "suspicious," police say.

Police found the child, identified as Linayjah Meraldo, after responding to a call at the Briarwood Family Residence, a temporary housing shelter for homeless families on 134th Street, on Thursday. The little girl's four siblings were in school when she was found; the child's mother said she kept the girl home because she wasn't feeling well, according to a source familiar with the case.

There were no other adults living in the unit where the mother and children were staying.

The mother initially told police Meraldo was involved in a physical altercation with a sibling -- "a tousling thing," she called it, according to the source. The source said the mother later said the child had fallen, and that the version of events she told investigators kept changing.

The little girl was last seen in the 100-unit shelter Thursday morning, the source said. The child was active and nobody noticed bruises or other injuries, according to the source.

The family has lived at Briarwood for nearly a year.

The Department of Health and Human Services called Meraldo's death "terribly disturbing." The agency said in a statement it was working closely with police.

The child's death comes less than a week after a 3-year-old girl was found dead in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, saying the girl died from blunt impact to her head and torso. Her 20-year-old stepfather was arrested on a murder charge.

After the Brooklyn girl's death, Mayor de Blasio called for a thorough investigation. 

The Department of Correction has stopped placing sex offenders at a group home on Clinton Street in Manchester after residents began to fight back out of concern for the safety of their children and families.

According to DOC spokesperson Karen Martucci, DOC Interim Commissioner Scott Semple sent a letter to Manchester town officials explaining that no additional offenders will take up residence there.

Manchester Mayor Jay Moran said the DOC promised to keep a close eye on sex offenders currently living at the group home to help maintain neighborhood safety.

It comes after more than 100 Manchester residents spoke up at a meeting with the DOC commissioner earlier this month and implored him to take action, arguing that the home is too close to schools, bus stops and public parks.

DOC officials and Manchester town leaders are planning future meetings but haven't set dates yet. Moran said he's pleased the DOC commissioner has opened the lines of communication.

He considers the development a "step in the right direction" but said he ultimately wants to see the group home shut down and the sex offenders moved out of the neighborhood.

Neighbors and Manchester officials said they weren't alerted when sex offenders began moving into the group home over the summer, but there is no law that requires the DOC to inform them.

As rain caused slick roads Friday morning, there were some minor crashes on the wet roads for the morning commute.

Minor accidents in Manchester on Interstate 84 westbound on the left shoulder between exits 64 and 63, Norwalk on Route 7 southbound near I-95 on the right side, Trumbull on Route 8 southbound near exit 7 and  Enfield on I-91 northbound by exit 47E are causing delays.

Check back for updates and follow NBC Connecticut First Alert traffic reporter Heidi Voight on Twitter at @HeidiVoight for more information.

Dallas nurse Nina Pham was declared free of Ebola and discharged from the hospital on Friday, just before she met with and hugged President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," Pham said in a brief statement outside the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, just before she headed to the White House. "I am on my way back to recovery, even as I reflect how many others have not been so fortunate."

Tests show that Pham, who contracted the virus while caring for the first patient diagnosed in the United States, has no more virus in her system, Dr. Anthony Fauci of NIH told reporters.

Pham thanked everyone who has been praying for her, and the medical workers who have been caring for her. "As a nurse, I have a special appreciation for the care I have received from so many," she said.

Pham, a nurse with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, contracted Ebola while helping to care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. She helped treat him from his first day in intensive care at until Oct. 7, the day before he died, NBC5 in Dallas reported.

Pham was flown via charter flight Oct. 16 to Frederick, Maryland's municipal airport and taken by ambulance to the Clinical Center, a hospital located on the grounds of the 312-acre NIH campus in Bethesda.

In her statement Friday, Pham thanked Dr. Kent Brantly, the first American to recover from Ebola, for the "selfless act" of donating his blood, and she asked people to pray with her for her colleague Amber Vinson and for just-diagnosed Dr. Craig Spencer.

In advance of Pham's arrival at NIH last week, Fauci, one of the most highly respected immunologists in the world, announced he would be her admitting physician.

On Friday, while wearing the colors of Pham's nursing school, Texas Christian, Fauci called her a "courageous and lovely person," saying that she also represents the nurses and healthcare workers who put themselves on the line caring for sick patients.

He said they did not administer any experimental drugs to Pham during her treatment at NIH.

Fauci said she was doing well in Texas, and continued to do well at NIH. "We both supported her, so I can't pinpoint in one patient, what was the turning point," he said.

Fauci said it was not possible to pinpoint whether Brantley's donation of plasma was critical in her recovery and that more research is needed.

He said Pham's youth and general health were likely other factors that likely helped, as was the fact that she entered a hospital that was able to give her intensive care early.

Fauci said that Pham communicated with her family via FaceTime during her treatment -- and that she taught him how to use the program, too.

"I gave her my cell phone number just in case I get lonely," he quipped.

Pham's dog, Bentley, tested negative for the virus, Dallas officials announced Wednesday. Dallas Animal Services have been caring for him in isolation. Officials said they'll run one more test before the end of a 21-day quarantine period Nov. 1.

Pham said Friday she plans to return home to Texas and looks forward to reuniting with Bentley.

Pham's Texas hospital said the decision to transfer her to NIH was made in consultation with Pham and her family, adding that many of the medical personnel who would have usually worked in the intensive care unit were themselves "sidelined" for monitoring.

In an emotional video recorded shortly before she left Texas, Pham is shown in her hospital room speaking with a doctor and another medical worker, telling them, "Come to Maryland, everybody!" and "I love you guys."

As medical workers prepared to transport Pham to Dallas' Love Field last week, her coworkers at Texas Health Presbyterian held up signs to encourage her.

A massive recall of cars with potentially deadly airbags likely does not apply to cars sold in Connecticut, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But a Connecticut lawmaker is pushing for a nationwide recall regardless.

The recall includes nearly 8 million cars nationwide, including Honda, Toyota, Subaru and BMW vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it mostly affects drivers in humid states because the humidity may play a role in the defect.

However, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and the president of the CT Auto Retailers Association are calling for a nationwide recall as a precaution.

"There needs to be a national recall and car owners need to be provided with loaners or rental cars at no cost to them, Blumenthal said.

Drivers in Connecticut are still urged to check their vehicle identification number to check whether any recalls apply to their cars.

Blumenthal  is scheduled to hold a press conference encouraging a national recall.

The medical and humanitarian organization that employed the New York doctor who tested positive for the Ebola virus said that the risk for staff returning from the front lines in West Africa can't be completely eliminated, even with "extremely strict procedures" to protect against the potentially deadly disease. 

Craig Spencer tested positive for the potentially deadly virus at New York's Bellevue Hospital on Thursday, six days after he arrived home from an Ebola assignment in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders.  He is the first Ebola case in New York City and the fourth diagnosed in the United States.

Doctors Without Borders, which is also known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières, said the doctor who contracted the virus followed its guidelines for self-monitoring, which includes checking temperature twice a day and staying within four hours of a hospital with isolation facilities during a 21-day incubation period. He was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after reporting a fever of 100.3 degrees. 

"Extremely strict procedures are in place for staff dispatched to Ebola affected countries before, during, and after their assignments," Sophie Delaunay, executive director of MSF, said in a statement. "Despite the strict protocols, risk cannot be completely eliminated. However, close post-assignment monitoring allows for early detection of cases and for swift isolation and medical management."

The organization has launched a "thorough investigation" to identify how Spencer contracted Ebola.

More than 10,000 people have fallen ill with Ebola since the outbreak began in March, creating a dire need for international health workers in the West African countries that have been hardest hit. 

Spencer, 33, is one of more than 700 international staff Doctors Without Borders has sent to Ebola-stricken countries since March. Three international staff and 21 locally employed staff have fallen ill with the virus since that time, with 13 dying of the disease.

“Tragically, as we struggle to bring the Ebola outbreak in West Africa under control, some members of our staff have not been spared,” Delaunay said in the statement. “Our thoughts are with our colleague in his own struggle right now, and we sincerely hope for his quick and full recovery.”

Scores of other aid groups and health workers have stepped up as well. More than 3,700 people have signed up using an online portal USAID launched in early September to connect potential volunteers with aid organizations, said Lisa Hibbert-Simpson, press officer with USAID. Demand for more help hasn't slowed, she said.

“The need will exist until we have it under control," she said. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says health workers are among those facing the highest risk of contracting the virus, which is spread through contact with bodily fluids from a person who is already showing symptoms.

In late August, the World Health Organization called the "high proportion" of doctors, nurses and heath care workers infected "unprecedented." As of late October, the virus had sickened more than 440 health care workers worldwide, claiming the lives of 224.

Four American health workers and a freelance cameraman for NBC who fell ill after working in West Africa have recovered from Ebola after receiving treatment back in the United States. Two nurses in Dallas who contracted the virus while caring for a patient diagnosed there were also recently declared Ebola free. That patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, has been the only person to die of the virus in the U.S. so far.

Officials in New York have said the risk to the public is minimal given the timing of Spencer's symptoms and admission to the isolation unit.   They believe he had direct contact with fiancee and two friends, before going to the hospital. The three have been quarantined and are in good health, New York City's health commissioner said.

Police have taken a suspect into custody after receiving the report that a man sexually abused a Waterbury resident's rescue dog.

Alice Woodruff, of Waterbury, told The Republican American that she held the man at gunpoint after catching him naked near her back porch performing a sexual act on her 12-year-old pit bull named Layla.

The man said he was involved with ISIS and that he was the anti-Christ, Woodruff told the Rep-Am, adding that he claimed to have given the dog Ebola. The incident happened around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

Waterbury police are investigating the incident and have taken a 22-year-old suspect into custody. Police said the man, who lives nearby, was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury for an evaluation.

"The suspect has not been charged yet, but he will be when he is released from the psychiatric unit," Deputy Chief Chris Corbett said.

Police have not released the man's name at this time.

Police have arrested New Haven man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl multiple times over several months.

Christopher Jenkins, 27, was doing yard work and jobs around the house for a friend's family in North Haven when he groped the teenage girl, who was home alone, and "forced her to perform sexual acts," police said.

Jenkins is accused of sexually assaulting the girl several times since May.

He ran from police and hid in a basement crawlspace at his New Haven home before police took him into custody, authorities said.

Jenkins faces charges of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor.

Police held him in custody on a $250,000 bond and he is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Monday.

Emergency crews are trying to contain oil leaking from an overturned oil truck in South Windsor.

A Teddy's Oil truck out of Manchester, carrying 1,700 gallons of home heating oil, rolled over on Smith Street near Pleasant Valley Road and Buckland Road just before 1 p.m., according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The accident happened near the Evergreen Walk shopping area. the driver was turning in a cul-de-sac when the vehicle rolled over on its side.

The truck driver was not seriously hurt but was taken to the hospital with back pain to be evaluated, according to South Windsor police Chief Matthew Reed.

About 20 gallons of oil spilled, but police said the main 1,700-gallon tank remained intact.

The South Windsor Fire Department responded and "was able to stop the discharge of fuel from the truck by securing the dome cover," according to Dennis Schain, a spokeperson for DEEP.

The oil company hired an environmental to clean up the oil spill under DEEP supervision, Schain said. The spilled fuel spread to the soil nearby and the contractor will escavate the contaminated soil.

South Windsor's Environmental Service, Inc. pumped the tank and the truck was towed from the scene, according to police.

Environmental officials placed a "boom" in a "downstream" catch basin to prevent runoff from reaching the storm drain, according to Schain.

The South Windsor Police Department Traffic Unit is investigating the crash.

Lock your car doors: That's the message North Branford police are sending residents after a string of car break-ins overnight Wednesday.

Police said burglars targeted vehicles along Holly Mar Hill Road, Oxbow Lane and Maria Todd Road. They believe at least a dozen cars were hit.

Brett Gagliardi is one of the residents who found his car disheveled Thursday morning. He said backpacks were busted open and the cash he had inside is now gone.

“It’s bold,” said Gagliardi. “They had to have been here for a long time.”

It was the same story up the street at Andrea Konesky’s house. Konesky said she began the morning by putting her children’s backpacks back together after thieves rifled through them.

Nothing was taken, but Konesky said some of her neighbors weren’t so lucky.

“That’s horrible to wake up in the morning and find you are out a couple hundred dollars,” said Konesky.

According to North Branford police Sgt. Sean Anderson, cash and small electronics seem to have been the targeted items. He said efforts to steal those items weren't overly ambitions.

“All the vehicles were unlocked. There was no forced entry,” said Anderson.

It also appears the thief or thieves were not especially attentive. One resident caught the break-ins on camera and shared surveillance video exclusively with NBC Connecticut.

The video appears to show a person in a white hooded sweatshirt trying to get into three cars parked in the driveway.

“It’s just an easy thing to do,” said Anderson. “People leave things unlocked and at this time and age; that’s what people do.”

Police are encouraging anyone with information on the break-ins to come forward.

The New London Board of Education has extended the interim superintendent's contract through Nov. 21 while the search continues for a permanent replacement.

According to the board, Richard Foye, who was originally contracted to serve a 90-day term, will continue another month as acting superintendent.

Foye was appointed Aug. 6 after Terrence Carter, the candidate who was selected to come on as full-time superintendent, allegedly lied about his qualifications and did not earn the doctorate degree he was set to receive.

Carter's contract was rescinded in August when the board voted unanimously to rescind the job offer.

The Board of Education has planned a tentative meeting to identify another acting superintendent prior to Nov. 21 until a permanent replacement is selected.

Foye previously served as interim superintendent in New London from August 2033 to January 2004.