The lockdown has been lifted at West Hill Elementary School in Rocky Hill.

No information was immediately available about what led to the lockdown, other than that the incident was not related to the school, according to police and the superintendent.

The school is located on 90 Cronin Drive.

A 15-year-old Connecticut boy is being held on $2 million bond after he was charged in the slaying of a 52-year-old man who bumped into him at a Stamford McDonald's and spilled coffee.

Police have not identified the Stamford teen charged with the murder of Antonio Muralles, 52, of Stamford, who was beaten with a stick and stabbed in the heart in front of the fast-food restaurant at 25 Bedford Street last Wednesday evening.

The boy appeared in a closed hearing Tuesday. He didn't enter a plea, and his attorney declined to comment on the allegations. The case was moved to adult court, according to the Stamford Advocate.

The teen is one of two people arrested over the weekend and charged in what police called a "horrendous crime."

The other suspect, James McLamb, 22, of New Haven, appeared in court on Monday.

According to police, Muralles tried to apologize, but the group of three to five people did not want to hear it and things escalated to the attack.

EMS crews responding to an unrelated matter found Muralles at the corner of Broad and Bedford streets and noticed a stab wound to the chest while treating him.

Muralles was then transported to Stamford Hospital, where he went through emergency surgery for several hours but died at 1:07 a.m.

The 15-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, allegedly stabbed Muralles several times in the arms and torso, police said. He had been hiding out in Waterbury and was arrested on Monday in Stamford after returning home, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Stamford Police Detective Bureau at 203-944-4417. All calls will be kept confidential.

The stabbing was Stamford's first homicide of 2015.

Four teenagers have been indicted in connection with an attack on two NYPD officers outside of a Brooklyn home that left one of the victims, an off-duty detective, badly beaten, authorities said Tuesday.

The teenagers, all 17-year-old boys, are charged in a six-count indictment with assault, resisting arrest and unlawful possession of marijuana in the Feb. 8 attack on detective Daniel Alessandrino and his girlfriend, officer Jaline Bernier.

Prosecutors say Alessandrino heard a group making noise outside his Bensonhurst home that night around 12:20 a.m. and went out to check on the commotion. The detective, who was off-duty at the time, saw a group of about 15 to 20 teenagers banging and jumping on cars.

Alessandrino, who had been followed out of the house by Bernier, told the teens he didn't want any trouble and asked them to leave, prosecutors say.

One of the teens charged in the indictment allegedly responded, "What are you going to do? Call a cop?"

Authorities say Alessandrino identified himself as an officer at that point, and the teen allegedly said, "I don't care. I'll kill a cop. A cop is going to die tonight."

The teen then allegedly lunged at Alessandrino and started punching him in the head and body, authorities say. Alessandrino pushed him away and the teen allegedly attacked his girlfriend, Bernier. When the detective tried to interview them, the teens allegedly pushed him to the ground, surrounded him and proceeded to kick, punch and stomp on him.

They also allegedly kicked him in the head. The teens were arrested a short time later, authorities said.

Alessandrino had swelling and lacerations around his eye, nose, jaw, head, arm and knee, broken teeth and chest and shoulder bruising as a result of the attack, authorities say. Bernier had eye swelling and facial pain.

The top count in the indictment carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison.

A South Florida high school teacher who allegedly called a student a "rag head Taliban" was given a five-day suspension Tuesday.

Maria Valdes, a teacher at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, won't be paid during her suspension, the Broward School Board said.

The student, 14-year-old Deyab-Houssein Wardani, said he walked into Valdes' French class on Feb. 2 wearing a hoodie after gym class. "Here comes the rag head Taliban," Valdes said, according to Wardani.

"I was a bit shocked and disappointed she called me that. But first off, she was my favorite teacher, and I would never have expected that from her," the teen told NBC 6 earlier this month.

The family is Muslim. After he found out about it a few days later, the boy's father, Youssef Wardani, reported it to the school's principal.

Youssef Wardani stood before the school board Tuesday and let them know he found the punishment unjust and insulting.

"My son is Deyab-Houssein Wardani and he is not a rag head Taliban," Wardani said.

Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said the punishment was fair.

"I believe we have handled this case appropriately and recommended the board approved disciplinary action," Runcie said.

Youssef Wardani repeatedly interrupted Runcie and the board threatened to kick him out of the meeting at one point.

A D.C. police officer is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at police headquarters and a 16-year-old girl at the church where the officer is pastor.

Officer Darrell Best, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was ordered held without bond on charges of first-degree sexual abuse while armed, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and third-degree sexual abuse. He is accused of sexually assaulting two members of God-A Second Chance Ministry Church on Southern Avenue SE.

A 16-year-old girl told police Saturday Best sexually abused her three times at the church beginning in December. He was off-duty during the incidents, police said. According to charging documents, Best was in uniform on one occasion when he raped the girl inside the church.

The second victim, who is now 18 but was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, says she was sexually assaulted in Best's office on the fifth floor of police headquarters after he took her out to dinner Dec. 3, according to charging documents. He was wearing his badge and gun at the time.

When investigators took her to headquarters to identify the location, they initially took her to another office on another floor and she was able to tell them that wasn't where it happened. When they took her to Best's office, she cried as she entered and said that's where the assault took place, according to charging documents.

Police said they have video of Best and the victim at headquarters together. They also have access key records placing Best there.

Both girls said they pleaded with Best to stop.

Best’s attorney, Elliott Queen, declined to comment.

"The allegations against off-duty officer Darrell Best are serious and disheartening," read a statement from Chief Cathy Lanier. "The fact that he used his position as a pastor and a counselor to gain access to his victims is extremely disturbing. Once MPD became aware of the allegations, we immediately conducted an investigation, obtained a warrant and arrested him."

Best's police authority was revoked and his gun taken when the 16-year-old came forward Saturday. He was arrested about 9 p.m. Monday at his attorney's office in Largo, Maryland.

“We won’t tolerate any employee preying on young people,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “We know that the accused was off-duty when this happened, but we think that the process has worked and we know that he’ll face justice.”

United Airlines is outsourcing to cut costs, and as of Tuesday, 69 baggage handlers and ticket agents at Bradley International Airport lost their jobs with the airline.

United is hiring contractors to fill the positions at Bradley and more than a dozen other airports.

"These were difficult decisions," said Luke Punzenberger, a spokesman for United, "but we want to make sure out costs are competitive."

He said there is no change in schedule for United. The employees are all Machinists Union members, eligible to bump someone with less experience in order to stay with the airline. But if they do, they'll no longer be working at Bradley.

"That's really ridiculous," said Charles Foster. "I've got a few friends who work at the airport doing luggage, cleaning out the airplanes and stuff like that."

The job market locally will be tough for those deciding to stay put, according to one jobseeker.

"If they don't have a bachelor's degree or a master's degree, it's difficult for everybody, you know?" said Kelly Desroches, a Newington resident looking for a secretarial position. "I'm going back to school right now. I was in the mortgage business for a little bit."

Police arrested a 22-year-old Hartford man on child pornography charges on St. Patrick's Day.

Miguel Labrie is accused up uploading videos and images containing child pornography into a Dropbox file sharing account.

The Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes and Electronics Evidence Laboratory notified Hartford police on Nov. 5, 2014 about the activity after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing Exploited Children about the suspected child pornography in Labrie's Dropbox account, police said.

After searching his home on Dec. 9, 2014, police discovered that Labrie sent child porn images to other people on his phone. That remains under investigation and police obtained other evidence revealing that he was downloading pornographic images of children to his Dropbox account. Then on Dec. 19, 2014, police got a warrant to examine the account and the account was provided to the department's special investigations division detectives on Jan. 10.

Police found 21 videos and 37 photographs determined to be child pornography, police said. The videos are 22 seconds to 33 minutes and 21 seconds long, according to police.

After getting an arrest warrant on March 11, police arrested Labrie in a restaurant in New Britain on March 17 at 11:45 a.m., charging him with first-degree possession of child pornography, promoting a minor in an obscene performance and obscenity to minors.

Police are holding him in custody on a $500,000 bond.

A South Windsor resident is counting his blessings after fierce winds of more than 50 mph knocked a tree into his home on Strong Road on Tuesday.

"I'm just standing in my kitchen. I was looking out the window because I have willow trees in the back and I thought those would be going over," homeowner Jon Klaus recalled. "Then I heard a small thud. My cat came running in, and I look out the window and I see my pine tree leaning against the house."

Klaus said it could have been much worse.

"Luckily, it didn't hit the power lines or do any damage," he said.

South Windsor was among the hardest hit when winds of up to 58 mph ripped through northern Connecticut late Tuesday afternoon. Power lines came down on Buckland Road near the Buckland Hills Mall, while trees fell across Chapel Road and Ellington Road.

A Monroe dad is facing assault charges after accidentally shooting his 10-year-old son in the cheek over the weekend, according to police.

Police said Vincent Pizzolato, 44, of Partridge Drive in Monroe, had just returned from target shooting at a local gun range with his wife when he went to secure two pistols in the basement Sunday afternoon.

While he was putting the firearms away, Pizzolato checked a 9mm handgun and pulled the trigger, believing it was empty. The pistol fired one round. Police said the bullet pierced a wall and struck Pizzolato's 10-year-old son in the cheek.

"He was putting his weapon away in a safe," said Monroe Police Capt. Michael Flick. "Didn't realize he had a live round in the chamber."

No one else in the home was hurt, according to police, who said Pizzolato was shaken up after the incident.

The boy was taken to Bridgeport Hospital, then transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital for treatment. Police described his injuries as substantial, but said they expect him to be OK.

Pizzolato turned himself in Tuesday evening. He was arrested and charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, second-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree assault with a firearm.

Pizzolato was released on a promise to appear and is due in court March 25.

There was no answer at the door of the Pizzolato home when NBC Connecticut went to the family's home on Monday.

Police initially said the boy was 11 years old due to misinformation from his parents, according to Flick.

A defense attorney from Uncasville was cited Tuesday after a bag of marijuana fell out of his pocket in front of the judge, according to state police.

Police said Vincent Fazzone, 46, dropped a plastic bag containing about 2 ounces of pot inside the New London courthouse late Tuesday morning.

He was cited for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana.

The Hartford Courant reports that Fazzone took the marijuana from a client's son before court Tuesday morning. According to the Courant, Fazzone planned to sit down with the boy and have a conversation about the pot after he got home from school.

Fazzone, who is listed online as practicing at 39 State Road in Uncasville, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Windsor Locks residents voted Tuesday night to pay $460,000 to a police sergeant acquitted of hindering the investigation into a deadly crash that sent his son to prison.

Townspeople voted 387 to 178 in favor of the settlement for Robert Koistinen, according to First Selectman Steven Wawruck Jr.

Windsor Locks took up the agreement at a public hearing and town meeting after the town board of finance struck a deal with the sergeant. After the board of finance and board of selectmen signed off on the agreement, town officials put it a referendum.

Koistinen was fired from the police department in January 2012 and charged with hindering the investigation into the deadly October 2010 crash that sent his son, Michael Koistinen, to prison.

Michael Koistinen was off-duty and had been drinking that night when he struck and killed Henry Dang, a 15-year-old boy who was riding a bicycle, according to police. He's now serving a five-year sentence.

Robert Koistinen was found not guilty in October 2012, and then case went to the state Labor Board, which decided Koistinen should get his job back.

“This settlement has been years in the making and is the result of many hours of negotiation. The Police Commission unsuccessfully litigated the termination of Robert Koistinen before the State Labor Board and the state had also unsuccessfully tried Robert Koistinen for hindering prosecution and interfering with police,” the police commission said in a statement.

The settlement includes giving Robert Koistinen $265,000 in back pay from January 2013 to April 1, 2015, and $195,000 to waive all claims, past and future, including in accrued vacation time and sick time.

Koistinen will resign from the police department.

A 58-pound puppy armed with a miniature camera is being touted as a new and vital weapon against terrorism in the New York area.

Kara, a Labrador-Golden Retriever mix, is one of just nine dogs in the entire country trained to sniff out nineteen thousand different kinds of explosives.

"She's just indispensable for law enforcement, another tool in our ever growing tool box," said Charles Mulham, spokesman for the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Kara herself is practically an ATF agent, a so-called SEEK dog, who has her own badge and business card.

"She amazes me every day," said her handler, Stephanie, who doesn't want to be fully identified because of her prior undercover work.

Kara works off-leash, moving as far as 150 yards from Stephanie, all while wearing a tiny camera tucked into her collar or attached to her back.

Stephanie can access the camera with her cellphone, allowing her to see what Kara sees, even if the two are separated.

"We can search much more efficiently than if I had to walk every step of it with her," said Stephanie.

To demonstrate Kara's prowess, the ATF hid a small bag with dynamite in a Nassau County park.

Within minutes, the dog located the bag and sat next to it - signaling there was explosive material inside.

Later, pieces of handguns were hidden in a playground and again Kara quickly tracked them all down.

Each time she discovered a dangerous item, Kara was rewarded with food.

Kara only eats while training, her handler said - a regimen that helps ensure Kara will be ready to work at any time of the day or night.

"For her it's fun," Stephanie said. "But for us, it's serious work."

As temperatures dip down below freezing, melted snow is causing concern about black ice.

Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan said temperatures are expected to drop into the 20s overnight, with wind chills in the single digits.

Puddles of snow melt are liable to re-freeze across the state, making for slick travel conditions.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton described Clapboard Ridge Road as a "black ice nightmare" and said the area is blocked off until state workers arrive to put down snowmelt.

Police are investigating after a woman in her 30s was shot in the head and killed on Congress Street in Hartford on Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities were called to 48 Congress Street around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. They found the woman at an apartment there and pronounced her dead at the scene, according to police.

Investigators are interviewing two men who were in the apartment at the time of the shooting. Police said the men are considered witnesses and no charges have been filed. A gun was recovered at the scene.

The victim has not been publicly identified. Police said authorities are still working to notify her family members.

Major crimes detectives are working to obtain a search warrant that will allow them to enter the apartment and look for evidence. Congress Street is blocked off while police investigate.

Hartford police said there is no danger to the public.

Wind gusts of up to 58 mph have brought down trees and wires in the northern part of the state, causing more than 12,000 power outages and prompting several road closures late Tuesday afternoon.

According to Eversource Energy, thousands customers are still without power. More than 12,000 people lost electricity at the height of the wind storm, a number that has since dropped down to about 7,000. The greatest number of outages were reported in Hartford.

Rockville Hospital in Vernon also lost electricity and resorted to a generator, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Buckland Road was closed for hours near the intersection of Route 30 in South Windsor after a power line blew into the roadway, according to South Windsor Police Chief Matthew Reed. The road reopened around 9:30 p.m. after Eversource Energy removed a live wire from the road.

Fallen trees were also reported on Chapel Street and Ellington Road in South Windsor, on Miller Road in West Hartford and on Aspenwood Drive in the Weatogue section of Simsbury. Hartford police said trees came down in the city's West End and North End.

The state Department of Transportation reports that Route 163 is closed in both direction at Crandall Hill Road in Montville, Route 44 is closed at Route 21 in Putnam, Route 165 is closed in Voluntown and Route 164 is closed in Griswold.

Berlin Street is shut down at the intersection of Wilcox Avenue in Berlin due to a a tree down in the roadway, according to police.

Route 117 is closed between Village Drive and Church Hill Road in Ledyard while crews work to remove a tree that fell onto primary wires, according to the police department. Eversource Energy is en route to make repairs.

Service along the Metro-North Danbury Branch is delayed 10-15 minutes due to downed wires in the area of Branchville, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Trees also came down onto homes in South Windsor, Hartford and West Hartford.

South Windsor police said no one was hurt and nothing was damaged when a tree fell onto the house at 1201 Strong Road in South Windsor. Another tree struck a home on Barbour Street in Hartford, while a third toppled onto a home in the Astronaut Village neighborhood near Westfarms Mall in West Hartford.

Meanwhile, East Windsor police and fire officials were called to Cricket Road after a cable TV line blew off a house and onto a school bus. Police said only the bus driver was on board at the time. Police pulled the wire off the bus and firefighters moved it from the roadway.

A driver in Torrington narrowly escaped when a pine tree came down onto his moving pickup truck on Torringford Road, the Republican-American reports.

Over in Wethersfield, an antenna fell onto an SUV in the parking lot of the Wethersfield Housing Authority complex at 60 Lancaster Road. One vehicle sustained minor damage and no one was hurt.

Winds of up to 58 mph have been recorded at Bradley International Airport, while gusts have reached 51 mph in Greenwich. A spokesperson for Eversource Energy said wind is pushing tree limbs into power lines.

Gusts are expected to die down a bit tonight, and temperatures will fall into the 20s with single-digit wind chills, according to First Alert Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan.

Winds will pick up again tomorrow, and wind advisories have been issued for Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. Wednesday.

A 24-year-old Trumbull man died in a single-car crash on Old Sawmill Road in town Tuesday morning.

John Kreuttner was the only one in the car when he crashed into a boulder in the cul-de-sac on the road and it took firefighters several hours to extricate him from the vehicle.

Trumbull police, fire and EMS crews responded at 9 a.m. after receiving multiple calls, police said.

The front of the car was heavily damaged.

Trumbull police are investigating the crash with the assistance of some Monroe police officers.

A former Eddie Bauer store employee in South Windsor is in police custody on larceny charges after adding $16,000 to her credit cards from store accounts, police said.

Alejandra Silvia, 30, was working at the store in the Evergreen Walk in South Windsor in February when she did the credit transactions, "causing a $16,000 loss to the retailer," police said.

The Buckland Road store discovered that in an internal investigation and reported it to police.

Police arrested her on Wednesday and charged Silvia with four counts of sixth-degree larceny, 11 counts of fifth-degree larceny and 14 counts of sixth-degree larceny.

The department is holding her in custody on an $8,000 bond until she is arraigned in Manchester Superior Court on Wednesday.

State police have arrested a juvenile in connection with a vague school shooting threat that led to extra police presence at schools in Somers last week.

After investigating, with from the F.B.I., Yik Yak Inc., and other local law enforcement agencies, police identified a juvenile, who admitted that there was never any original threat to shoot at any schools, police said.

A parent contacted state police just after 8 p.m. last Thursday about a threat of a possible school shooting posted on the Yik Yak app, a social media app that allows people to post anonymously, police said.

The State Police Eastern District Major Crime Unit, F.B.I., Yik Yak Inc., and other local law enforcement agencies looked into it and never found an actual credible threat, but they did found several responses in reference to an alleged threat.

State police have charged a juvenile with first-degree falsely reporting an incident and breach of peace.

No additional information has been released.

Police have arrested a man suspected of robbing a New Milford bank last month.

Curt Jones, 39 of New Milford, is suspected of robbing the Bank of America, at 55 Main St., on Feb. 25. and was arrested on Tuesday.

Police said a school employee identified Jones early on in the investigation, but Jones is not a school employee.

After police obtained evidence, which the state laboratory examined, detectives established probable cause to arrest Jones, who is being held on a court-set $100,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Bantam today.
 

Jeff Borland didn’t let his son, Chris, play football until high school growing up in Ohio. He thought youth coaches didn’t know how to teach little boys how to be safe tackling.

So it was with great pride and relief for him and his wife, Zebbie, when their 24-year-old son, the sixth of seven siblings and a promising rookie linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, announced to the world this week that he was retiring from the sport because he had researched what concussions could do later in life.

“As a parent,” Borland said Tuesday night in a phone interview with NBC Bay Area from Kettering, Ohio, “you’re relieved.”

Relieved, he said, because football usually means “physical punishment,” which takes a toll on the mind and body.

Now, the elder Borland said, his son will be looking at what to do next: "I think there will be more school," he said, without indicating what his son's next career path would be, adding that Chris Borland graduated with a history degree at the University of Wisconsin.

"He did what he had to do, and proved himself successful in the NFL," the elder Borland said. "There were many good lessons learned from playing football - preparation, discipline, team work. The challenge now is to transfer those skills to the next career."

Chris Borland began researching and reading all about concussions and head injuries, and announced his retirement on Monday to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru. The two Bay Area brothers wrote a book and created a documentary, the “League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth,” that changed the national conversation about head injuries and football.

"I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," Borland told "Outside the Lines." "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."

The decision had nothing to do with his ankle injury and shoulder issues: “I feel largely the same, as sharp as I’ve ever been," he told ESPN. "For me, it’s wanting to be proactive. I’m concerned that if you wait ’til you have symptoms, it’s too late.”

Borland is the most prominent NFL player to leave the game in his prime because of concerns about brain injuries, the brothers noted. More than 70 former players have been diagnosed with progressive neurological disease after their deaths, and numerous studies have shown connections between the repetitive head trauma associated with football, brain damage and issues such as depression and memory loss.

As the regular season approached, Borland’s father, owner of The Borland Group, a financial advisory firm, said his son began starting to think, “What am I going to do with my life?” That led his son to do some “reading and researching,” his dad said.

“He became concerned this could compromise his career after football," Jeff Borland said. "And he didn't want to jeopardize the next one."