Ellington High School was evacuated Sunday afternoon due to a written bomb threat found at the school during a dance recital. 

State police and bomb-sniffing police dogs searched the school and found no evidence of a bomb at the school or physical threat, according to state police. 

A bomb threat in the form of a vague written note was found in the area of the school at about 1:24 p.m., prompting the evacuation as a precaution, state police said. 

While the evacuation disrupted the event, no one was injured and there was no specific threat against a person made. 

State police have no released information on the source of the note and no arrests have been made at this time. 

The scene was cleared as of 4:59 p.m. 

Five people were shot overnight at a private themed party above a tattoo parlor in New Haven and one of them is in critical condition as police look for the shooter. 

Chapel Street is closed while police investigate the shots that rang out as a party was winding down in a private space above Evolution Tattoo Parlor at 849 Chapel Street between Church and Orange streets. Police responded to reports of a shooting on the second floor at about 2 a.m. When police arrived, a crowd of people were in the street running from the shooting site. 

Three gunshot victims found on scene were transported by ambulance to Yale-New Haven Hospital and two others were taken to the hospital in a private car. Jamie Rodriguez, 21, was shot in the lower back, kneee, groin and thigh and is in critical condition. Joshua Agosto, 25, was shot in the chest and buttocks, Gerald Pugh, 28, was shot twice in his leg and also in his right buttocks and thigh and Jovanni Leon Vargas, 23, was shot twice in one arm, once in the other and a bullet grazed his abdomen. A gunshot grazed 30-year-old Hector Martinez's upper back. All but Rodriguez have non-life-threatening injuries and are either in stable condition or nearly ready for release from the hospital, police said.

Two groups were seen arguing earlier in the party and again toward the end and private security guards separated them twice before the shooting, police said the initial reports indicate. Security brought the smaller group outside and kept the larger one inside, so the dispute wouldn't "spill out into the street," police said. 

But moments later, witnesses told police that a man re-entered the second floor space and opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun, emptying the weapon of all its bullets. That's when the five victims were believed to be shot and the shooting was contained to the second floor of the building, police said. 

The shooter may have fled in a silver Invinity SUV that took off at a high speed in the eastbound direction on Chapel Street, police said. 

It was a themed "white party," where the guests were wearing white clothes. Witnesses told police the shooter was a man with an average build, dark hair and a clean-shaven face. He may have been wearing a white V-neck T-shirt. 

Police interviewed dozens of people and are still questioning more people to figure out what triggered the dispute and shooting. No suspect has been identified at this time and police are asking for the public's help to provide any information on the shooting. 

Major crimes and investigation bureau detectives are speaking to people on scene with information and are combing the crime scene for evidence. 

Police ask anyone who witnessed the shooting or who has information to call detectives at 203-946-6304. Tips can be phoned in anonymously. 

Hartford police are investigating a shooting on Belden Street in the capital city, according to police sources. 

The injuries resulting from the shooting near the Main Street intersection are considered non-life-threatening, police sources said. 

No further information was immediately available. 

You see it every day scrolling through social media: People venting about their lives and experiences, but one Illinois woman’s Facebook post from aboard a United Airlines flight has sparked a global debate.

Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim chaplain and director of interfaith engagement at Northwestern University, says she was 30,000 feet in the air when a request for a soda left her in “tears of humiliation from discrimination.”

“The flight attendant asked me what I would like to drink and I requested a can of Diet Coke,” Ahmad wrote on her Facebook page Friday. “She brought me a can that was open so I requested an unopened can due to hygienic reasons. She said no one has consumed from the drink, but I requested an unopened can.”

That is when Ahmad says the flight attendant responded that she could not give her an unopened can, adding, “So no Diet Coke for you.”

Just moments later, Ahmad says, the same flight attendant brought a male passenger seated beside her a beer – in an unopened can.

Ahmad asked the woman why she was refused an unopened can while others were clearly allowed, according to the post, in which the flight attendant responded they were unauthorized to give unopened cans to passengers on the plane because they may use it as a weapon.

“So I told her that she was clearly discriminating against me because she gave the man next to me an unopened can of beer,” Ahmad wrote. “She looked at his can, quickly grabbed it and opened it and said, ‘It’s so you don't use it as a weapon.’"

Speechless, Ahmad says she looked to her fellow passengers who witnessed the behavior for a source of support, but instead was greeted with more backlash.

“The man sitting in an aisle across from me yelled out to me, ‘You Moslem (sic), you need to shut the f- -k up.’" she wrote. “He then leaned over from his seat, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Yes, you know you would use it as a weapon, so shut the f--k up."

“I felt the hate in his voice and his raging eyes,” she wrote. “I can't help but cry on this plane because I thought people would defend me and say something. Some people just shook their heads in dismay.”

By Sunday afternoon, Ahmad’s Facebook post had garnered more than 7,600 shares and hundreds of comments blasting the airline for the described treatment, many of whom are calling to stand against the company with the hashtag #unitedfortahera.

Ahmad told NBC Chicago that since posting of her experiences there have been so many attempts to try to hack into her page that Facebook had to temporarily take down her account. As of 5 p.m. on Sunday her page was restored.

In response to her story, United Airlines released the following statement Saturday evening:

“The flight attendant onboard Shuttle America flight 3504 attempted several times to accommodate Ms. Ahmad's beverage request after a misunderstanding regarding a can of diet soda. The inflight crew met with Ms. Ahmad after the flight arrived in Washington to provide assistance and further discuss the matter. Additionally, we spoke with Ms. Ahmad this afternoon to get a better understanding of what occurred and to apologize for not delivering the service our customers expect when traveling with us. We look forward to having the opportunity to welcome Ms. Ahmad back.”

In a Sunday morning Facebook post, Ahmad expressed her disappointment in the airlines response.

“Unfortunately, United has dismissed my entire narrative and trivialized it to a can of soda,” she wrote.

United Airlines spokesman Charlie Hobart told NBC News that the company has "apologized for not providing the experience that our customers expect," adding that further questioning regarding the flight attendant in question and policies to be directed to Shuttle America, the airline operating Flight 3504. Shuttle America did not immediately respond to their requests for comment.

Ahmad, on the other hand wrote she wanted to make it clear her goal was not to punish the flight attendant involved.

“I simply did not expect United Airlines to dismiss the unwarranted and unfortunate rude behavior, discrimination and hateful words," she said in the post. "But rather acknowledge their accountability and role in the painful experience and share corrective measures within their training to prevent this from happening again regardless of their race, religion, gender, sex, or socioeconomic background.”

“I have dedicated my life to peace; in fact I was on this United flight to promote social justice activism, just and peaceful conversations between Israelis and Palestinians at Kids4Peace.” She wrote. “It is truly disheartening when the discrimination of Americans as myself who are working hard every day to promote dialogue and understanding is disregarded and trivialized.”

A man was shot in the hip in Hamden on Sunday night.

It happened around 9 p.m. in the area of Goodrich Street and Shepard Avenue on Saturday.

The victim was transported to Yale New-Haven Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police are investigating in the Hamden and New Haven area.

No suspect has been identified at this time and no arrests have been made.

Police are trying to find the person who tied a dog to a pole and left her to die.

A woman called the Animal Welfare Society of Monroe, Pennsylvania, around 5 p.m. Saturday reporting she found a dog who was near death and hogtied to a pole in Pocono Country Place, Mount Pocono.

Police arrived at the scene and immediately took the dog, who officials believe is around four years old, to the veterinarian. The vet released the dog to AWSOM who named her "Baby Girl" and are helping with her recovery.

Officials say the dog has mange, a skin disease caused by parasitic mites, and swollen feet due to being tied up.

Officials are now searching for the dog’s owner. If you have any information, please call the Pocono Mountain Regional Police at 570-895-2400.
 

A man in a suit robbed a Glastonbury gas station at knifepoint early Sunday morning.

It happened just after 4 a.m. at the Global Gas Station at 2997 Main Street.

The robber was between 25 and 35 years old and was wearing a dark suit with a white suit underneath, a striped tie, black Yankees hat with a white brim and sunglasses, polie said.

No one was injures.

The robber was last seen on foot headed toward East Hartford.

He got away with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

A Colchester business on South Main Street was broken into late Saturday into Sunday morning and someone stole $200,000-worth of vehicles and equipment, police said.

A green box truck, green flat bed, Chevy pickup truck and more than 20 John Deere riding lawn mowers were stolen from DH Marvin, as well as tools.

Police found the Chevy in a nearby parking lot and recovered it.

Police ask anyone with information about the larceny at the commercial business to call the Colchester department at 860-537-7270.

A Shelton man is facing charges after leaving his two children under 3 years old alone in a car in Orange earlier this month.

Police responded to the K&G Fashion Superstore at 80 Boston Post Road on May 16 after receiving a report of two young children unattended in a vehicle at about 2:50 p.m., police said.

Hasan Mehmeti, 37, of Shelton, was arrested and charged with two counts of risk of injury to a minor and two counts of leaving a child under 12 unattended.

He admitted to police that he left his two kids alone in the car briefly while he was in the store, so police took him into custody and arrested him. 

He was released after posting a $5,000 bond and last appeared in court on May 18.

Three people were injured, including a 9-year-old girl, when the driver of a Porsche apparently mistook the gas pedal for the brake and plowed into a terminal wall at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, police said.

The car was making its way through the departures level at Terminal 7 just before 5 p.m. when it suddenly "lunged" onto the sidewalk and crashed into a utility room above a stairwell, coming to rest about 3/4 of the way inside, said Sgt. Roy Ceja of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The girl, a pedestrian, was hospitalized in critical condition, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. The 67-year-old driver and his passenger were also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Ceja said officers had not formally interviewed the driver, but said they were investigating the crash only as an "accident."

"He was not inebriated in any way from our initial investigation" Ceja said.

Despite the gaping hole in the wall, LAFD Battalion Chief Armando Hogan said there was "no extensive damage" done to the structure.

Operations at the airport were not affected by the crash, Ceja said.

When NBC Connecticut traffic reporter Heidi Voight went fishing with her boyfriend, David Borselle Jr. recently, it turned out that the stripers weren't the only catch of the day.

Borselle Jr., chef and owner of A'vert Brasserie in West Hartford Center, was fishing for an answer to a very important question. Would she marry him? And she said yes!

Fishing is the couple's favorite thing to do together, so Voight didn't suspect anything when Borselle Jr. took her to a beautiful spot on a private dock along Niantic Bay to watch the sunset and sip some bubbly. The tide was coming in and she was bugging him to get their saltwater rods before the stripers moved up the river, but she said he seemed to be stalling so she started to think something was up. As she started to leave to retrieve the fishing poles herself, Borselle Jr. got down on one knee and proposed.

"He wanted it to be on the water since that's our happy place... so our wedding will definitely be nautical/fishing themed since we have spent the past five years together boating and fishing in every free second we get," Voight said. "So I suppose you could say I reeled in a fishing buddy for life!"

Their friends, Brad and Barbara Baran were in on the surprise proposal and set up a celebratory spread including oysters and champagne at their house near the beach.

Congratulations to Voight and Borselle Jr. on their engagement!

West Haven firefighters are searching for a missing swimmer off Dawson Avenue beach, but had to pull certain apparatuses out of the water Sunday night due to the stormy weather. 

The call came in at about 3 p.m. and the swimmer hadn't been seen for at least a half an hour at that time.The person was swimming alone at the time and a lifeguard saw the person. 

"The lifeguard saw a swimmer approximately 800 feet offshore. They monitored their swimming because of the distance they were away with binoculars and they saw the swimmer go under and they didn’t them come up," Deputy Chief Steve Scarfariello, of the West Shore Fire Department, said.

No missing person reports have been filed, so the West Shore Fire District is putting out a plea for everyone to check on their loved ones in effort to identify who the missing swimmer is.

State police, the U.S. Coast Guard, Milford firefighters and New Haven firefighters are responding to help search for the swimmer. A helicopter also circled over the water late Sunday afternoon to look for the missing person. A dive team also searched the waters and more Coast Guard crews have been called.

The search is ongoing, but will be suspended if there is lightning in the area. If that happens, it's not clear how soon it would resume. The search was expected to go into the night Sunday.

All flash flood warnings issued for Hartford, Fairfield, Tolland and Windham counties Sunday night and a severe thunderstorm issued for the Fairfield area have been canceled. A flood watch remains in effect for those counties until 4 a.m. Monday.

Exit 25 was closed on Interstate 84 west in Waterbury as of 7:51 p.m. due to flooding. Department of Transportation crews respond to clean it up. It's unknown when the exit will. reopen.

Berlin police have received several reports of flooded roads in town, but said that there are no road closures at this point. While the National Weather Service reported flooding on Route 189 in Granby, police said they have no reports of flooding on that road in their town and that it's passable.

Hail and damaging winds are possible, according to the National Weather Service.

Flash flooding watches have also been issued for Fairfield, New Haven, Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties until 11 p.m. Sunday night. Flood advisories were in effect in northern Windham County and northeastern Tolland County until 5:15 p.m.

There were 3,142 Eversource customers without power at one point, according to the power company's outage map, but that number was down to 963 by 7:37  p.m. At one point there were 2,396 in Woodbury without power due to downed wires on Carmel Hill Road, but that number was down to 414 as of 7:37 p.m.

Some parts of the state saw rain showers Sunday as a cold front moved in.

Inches of rain falling in some locations made street flooding a possibility, according to NBC Connecticut First Alert Meteorologist Darren Sweeney. 

After the warmest May on record by several degrees, temperatures dipped into the 60s by dinner time. 

Monday will remain chilly. The average high is 75 degrees. 

Temperatures should warm up again by Wednesday. 

When Alicja Bator, a devout Catholic who once considered becoming a nun, was going through a divorce, she felt profound loss, as if someone close to her had died. She met her ex-husband when she was 18 and got married at 24 in a New Jersey church. Seven years and three children later, she filed for divorce. 

“It’s extremely draining and it created a huge guilt in my heart and soul,” said Bator, 37. “I was married before God and to have it fall apart was very difficult."

Bator is one of 11 million U.S. Catholics to have divorced, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The divorce rate of U.S. adults is 36 percent, higher than the 28 percent rate among Catholics. 

The Catholic Church, however, doesn't recognize divorce, because it considers marriage permanent. Millions of Catholics in the U.S. who remarried outside the church without first obtaining an annulment — a declaration by the church that their marriage was never valid — are banned from receiving Holy Communion, one of the most important rituals of their faith. Considered adulterers by the church, and feeling like outcasts, many have drifted away from the fold, often attending Protestant churches, instead, where they can receive Communion. The Vatican is paying close attention to their plight: Pope Francis last year revived the debate on how the church could integrate the divorced and civilly remarried in the life of the church. 

Confusion About What Annulment Means

An annulment declares that a marriage thought to be binding according to the church fell short of at least one of the five essential elements required by church law. Those elements include that a man and woman be free to marry, be faithful and open to having children. Once a Church Tribunal — a type of Catholic Church court — grants an annulment, the person is free to remarry and participate fully in church life.  

Many divorced Catholics, however, don’t even know an annulment is an option. Those who do are confused about the process, according to church officials. They also feel there aren’t enough support groups and programs in their parishes to help them deal with the trauma of divorce, something church officials also recognize. Out of the 30 million Catholics in the U.S., 4.5 million have divorced and remarried outside the church without an annulment, according CARA.

“Mostly, people wrongly rely on their own limited understanding to assume they could never get an annulment, so they leave the church,” said Rose Sweet, a Catholic author who created “The Catholic’s Divorce Survival Guide,” a DVD series. Well-meaning pastors can even give false information unintentionally, she said. 

Sweet said the church’s approach toward divorced Catholics ranges from “warm reception and support to outright shunning.”

Bator has been divorced for four years but she’s yet to apply for an annulment. She says it has been difficult to reconcile divorce with her faith and she admits she doesn’t fully understand what an annulment offers. She say she filled out an annulment form several months after her divorce but she hasn’t followed through.

“Maybe if I meet a man who truly loves me and would consider getting married then I would go forward with an annulment,” she said.

Catholics who apply for an annulment say the process can be healing, but it can take anywhere from a year to more than two years. The length of time varies by diocese.

Debate Over How to Integrate Divorced Catholics

In October 2014 Pope Francis called a meeting of Catholic bishops, known as synod, to discuss family issues. A second Vatican synod is set to gather this October after the pope returns from his historic visit to the U.S. Bishops are expected to decide whether to recommend changes to how the Catholic church should integrated the divorced, then it will be up to the pope on whether to take any action.

The pope, who will attend the Meeting of World Families in Philadelphia in September, has said the church should make it easier for some divorced Catholics to remarry and receive other sacraments so they can fully participate in the church life.

According to Edward Kurtz, the archbishop of Louisville and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the report issued at the conclusion of the first synod last year looked at a range of areas for reform.

Some bishops want the church to make it easier for a divorced person to receive Communion even if they remarry outside of the church. The pope has indicated, however, that “Communion alone is no solution. The solution is integration.”

According to Archbishop Kurtz, the idea that had the greatest consensus at the synod was removing annulment fees, he said, which average $500, depending on the diocese.

Sweet said the church should ensure that an advocate assigned to help a person seeking annulment doesn’t just assist with paperwork, but also provides spiritual support.

“In many parishes there is no one there to hold their hand, no one one to listen to their story, no outreach. It’s a mechanical process that is cold and sterile,” Sweet said. “But there are parishes where people go through the process and end up with deeper faith.”

Jim Glaser, a registered dietitian, was told it would take two to three years to get an annulment in his diocese in Tucson, Arizona. He said it was “discouraging,” but he was determined to do it.

“It’s not great to hear that it is going to take up to three years for the church to examine testimony from witnesses and make a decision on whether a person’s marriage is valid or not,” said Glaser, 58, who became a single father of five after his divorce in 2011. 

His ex-wife, who applied for an annulment in San Diego, was able to get it in less than 18 months. Glaser participated in the process. He also spoke with priests and a deacon about his divorce and connected with Sweet. He said all parishes should offer some sort of program to help guide the divorced and let them feel like they are still welcomed in the church, despite their failure in marriage.

Divorce Ministries a Well-Kept Secret

Catholic divorce ministries are active across the U.S., but unlike marriage ministries, which offer preparation for couples getting married, divorce ministries are not required by the church. In parishes where they operate, they are often a well-kept secret, even some divorce ministry leaders admit. 

Sweet, who will lead a panel on divorce at the World Meeting of Families, created her "Divorce Survival Guide” after going through her own divorce in the 1990s. She said she had been unable to find content that would provide healing while being faithful to the Catholic Church’s teachings.

Over 400 parishes have purchased her program so far and are using it in their support groups, according to Sweet. 

Father Stephen Porter, who’s featured in the guide, offers the divorce survival program at his parish in Rialto, California. He started the support group after realizing that there were people who were “lost and confused and sometimes angry” about their divorce.

His parish also waived annulment fees, and he credits Pope Francis for the move. 

“One of the things I think Pope Francis is trying to do is take away the stigma of divorce and help divorced Catholics not to think of themselves as second class citizens, second class Catholics because their marriage failed,” Father Porter said. “He’s also saying to us priests ‘come on, love, don’t judge, don’t evaluate, just love people where they are.’"

The Merritt Parkway Southbound has reopened in Stamford after a tree came down and blocked both lanes.

The tree came down between exits 33 and 31, officials said, and crews from the state Department of Transportation responded.

One viewer said traffic is moving again.
 

Two women have been arrested, accused of assaulting another woman in Hamden early Sunday morning.

Police responded to a home on Fitch Street at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday to investigate an assault and learned that a 31-year-old woman has been attacked, according to a news release.

The victim said she was asleep in her bedroom when she heard a banging sound outside of her front door before two women forced their way in, entered her bedroom and assaulted the victim, police said.

The victim, who had minor injuries on her face and back, said one attacker had a hammer.
Officers quickly arrested Jamesha Belton, 22, of New Haven, and Officer Peter Conti apprehended Shantasia Mabery, 22, of New Haven, after a foot chase.

Belton and Mabery were both charged with first-degree burglary, assault in the third degree and interfering with a police officer.

Both were detained at police headquarters on a $10,000 bond and are scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on June 16.

Witnesses of a road rage incident on a San Diego highway in which a Navy officer was killed last week shared video taken just moments before the crash.

In the video captured on a mobile phone, a dark-colored car can be seen driving closely behind a motorcycle.

William Touch told NBC 7 he was trying to follow the two vehicles and witnessed the vehicle "sideswiping" the motorcycle three times.

"Her front bumper was literally touching the bike itself," Touch said Sunday. "She stayed right behind him and I guess clips the back tire and I guess shakes a little bit."

California Highway Patrol Officers arrested driver Darla Jackson Friday and charged her with one count of murder for the May 28 collision that killed Zachary Buob, an active duty Chief Petty Officer in the Navy's special operations.

Jackson, 26, was driving a black Nissan Altima northbound on Interstate 5 near E Street in Chula Vista at around 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Jackson and a man on a red Ducati motorcycle got into some type of disagreement on the roadway, officials said.

After the two drivers transitioned from I-5 to eastbound State Route 54 and passed National City Boulevard, Jackson hit the Ducati from behind and ran over the rider, CHP officers said.

The motorcyclist, identified by friends as 39-year-old Zachary Buob, a Santee resident, died about an hour later at a hospital.

"Still can't believe that this happened to such a good guy in such an evil act," said Donny McCowan. "It happened to such a good individual. He's one of the greatest guys I know at the command and he's really going to be missed."

Buob's death brought bikers and service members from across the state to ride in honor of their brother.

They rode from Mission Valley mall to the site of the crash where a memorial of flowers and flags grows.

"How he left he didn't deserve it," said family friend Chad Braun. "He served his country and he was here home doing what he loved and he was free and it's sad he went the way he did.

"It was unexpected and it shouldn't have happened."

The victim of a robbery in Hamden early Saturday morning was arrested after police found him with a stolen handgun, according to a news release from police.

Police responded to Bowen and Cherry Ann streets around 4 a.m. on Saturday to investigate a report of shots being fired and learned that Johnnie Searight Jr., 31, of Hamden, and a 24 year-old woman were walking on Bowen Street when two men came up and stole their cell phones and jewelry, police said.

Searight was shot in the forearm during the robbery and police said they found him with a stolen 9 mm handgun.

He was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, released and charged with criminal possession of a firearm along with theft of a firearm. He was also charged on two arrest warrants for violation of probation.

Searight was detained on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on June 17.

Police are continuing to look for the robbers, who were described as men between 6-feet-2 and 6-feet-5. Both appeared to be in their late 20s.

A man suspected of shooting a 25-year-old man in the abdomen and face in the area of 8 Barbour Street in Hartford drove himself to police headquarters and turned himself in, according to police.

Junior Lloyd, 31, of Bloomfield, has been charged with criminal attempted murder, first-degree assault, carrying a pistol without a permit and unlawful discharge of a firearm.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was shot during a fight over a women, according to police, and he was transported to Saint Francis Hospital, where he is listed in critical, but stable condition. 

Police said Lloyd drove himself to the police station soon after the shooting and surrendered himself to officers at the front desk.

A congressional intern was arrested Monday by U.S. Capitol Police after he tried to enter the Longworth House Office Building with an unloaded handgun, NBC News reported.  

Joshua Wheeler of Atchison, Kansas, was arrested as he entered the New Jersey & C Street entrance, Lieutenant Kimberly Schneider, the Public Information Officer for the Capitol Police, said. 

Police discovered an unloaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun after Wheeler, 25, submitted to an administrative search required for entry into Congressional Office Buildings.

Wheeler was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and unregistered firearm. He is being processed at USCP Headquarters. 

He has been an intern for House Republican Conference Vice Chair Lynn Jenkins since May 18, her office confirmed to NBC News. 

"It is our current understanding this was an accident and we are in full cooperation with Capitol Police to resolve the situation. Mr. Wheeler used poor judgment and was immediately placed on temporary leave as soon as we were informed of the arrest," Jenkins' Communications Director Thomas W. Brandt told NBC News by email.