ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 11pm - February 19, 2026

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Eyewitness News at 11pm - February 19, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, preparing you for tomorrow starting tonight and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. Breaking news and Raleigh is first here at 11 o'clock, Chopper 11 over a massive police operation. RPD was going in to arrest a murder suspect connected to another Wake County murder investigation. and when they were serving that search warrant, the suspect opened fire on police. One police officer was hurt. The suspect also shot. Both of them are now out of the hospital.

And that 26-year-old man, Solomon Owens, is now under arrest in connection with a Garner murder investigation. Yeah, police are saying he murdered Joey Adams back on February 9th, who was killed on Timber Drive in his red car. He was the only person in the car that night. And for so long, Garner police wondered what happened? inside that car and what led up to that. Lots of asking of the public to send tips and cell phone videos of anyone who was in the area. It was a very intense investigation. But tonight we find out from Garner Police that they declared Solomon Owens was their suspect tonight and they had the help of Raleigh Police as they tried to go in to get him. Thanks so much for joining us here for the

news at 11. I'm Lauren Johnson. Hi everyone. I'm Steve Daniels. All of this breaking news that's been unfolding through the evening in Raleigh just coming into focus in the past few minutes when we had a news briefing from the Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce who laid out in great detail how this unfolded, this very delicate and violent operation for his Raleigh police officers tonight. Thankfully, the Raleigh police officer who was injured when that suspect opened fire is doing fine tonight. The suspect also is out of the hospital after getting shot. This was an operation between many law enforcement agencies in the triangle, the RPD, the Way County Sheriff's Office, Garner PD, and they made a point of saying this 26-year-old Solomon Owens is,

from Durham and the DPD and the Durham Sheriff's Office also involved in this operation tonight. Jemise Price listened in on that press conference that just happened. She joins us live from the scene there. Jamise, what can you tell us about what's still happening there? Lauren, hours later, this investigation far from over, it is still playing out just behind me here. I want to bring you guys in a little bit closer so you can see the scene here. You can see where officers focus most of their attention at this apartment building just behind us here. 7100 block of a wood bin drive. You can also see there's still a number of RPD officers here. You see those cruisers there as well. So let's start tonight with the good news that RPD officer expected to be okay after being injured, after being shot while trying to serve a felony arrest warrant. Now police say they returned fire in the suspect. 26 year old Solomon Owens was injured, checked out and has been released. He is now in custody at the Raleigh Police Department. And now we also know that the focus has been pretty much here again at this building.

We've seen a lot of neighbors coming to this area trying to get back into their apartments. They were escorted in by RPD. But all of this, the focus of this, it goes back to a Garner and that investigation there. Police say 41-year-old Joey Adams was shot multiple times while driving his Red Honda Accord on Timber Drive approaching Van Jure Springs. on February knife just around a seven o'clock. Now his family has described him as a great friend, a proud father of five kids and a devoted husband. Now Joey was the glue of that family

and they've always told me that they don't know why anyone would want to harm him and that is something that Gardner police trying to work out and figure out right now. But back out here on Woodbend Drive, we have the opportunity to talk to those neighbors. They describe this scene as a very chaotic one. Take a listen. On February 9th, Joseph Adams was shot and killed in his vehicle on Timber Drive at Garner. Through these dedicated efforts, we identified Solomon Owens, 26 years old

of Durham, as the person responsible for that murder. With the help of Raleigh P. Day, Mr. Owens was taken into custody this evening. Okay, and those neighbors describe seeing rifles out. They described seeing a very, very heavy police presence. At times, they really didn't know exactly what was going on. Again, all of this area was blocked off for hours. They, a sense, removed some of the crime tape and people can actually drive down this street once again. So we will continue to be out here while this investigation unfolds. Lauren and Steve. And one part of the mystery that remains tonight, Jamees, the Garner Police Chief Chris Adams, said the motive for the shooting of Joey Adams is still. unclear to them. Yeah, so much more to come of this investigation. Jamis, thank you. And more breaking news in Raleigh, another large police investigation also unfolding. Chopper 11 over this scene. This is a crime scene investigation on Raleigh Boulevard near Glasscock Street. We're told a young person was stabbed and taken to the hospital. They are expected to survive. And police say it was another young person who was in custody in connection

with that stabbing tonight. We're also following some breaking news in the entertainment world. After Eric Dane has died at the age of 53. Dane had been battled. A-LS. He announced the diagnosis last year. Dane was best known for his role as Dr. Mark Sloan on the show, Gray's Anatomy. He also starred in the dramatic crime thriller series Countdown. We have some new details from Nash County tonight after police discovered a body on the grounds of a former school in Nashville. Authorities say officers conducting a routine security check found that body inside the old green alternative school. The police chief is calling it a suspicious death investigation and they're working to identify that person. Anyone with information is asked to call Nashville police.

We rushed to the hospital after being shot this afternoon. Police say the shooting happened near the intersection of B and School Street. We are working to learn more on the victim's condition. So far, no arrests have been made. And new tonight, authorities arresting a man accused of shooting and killing a 19-year-old woman earlier today in Wake County. The shooting happened around 11 a.m. on Avery Street just off of East Garner Road near Auburn. Officials identifying the victim as 19-year-old Jennifer Solis. The Wake County Sheriff's Office says Ricardo Maldonado was taken into custody in Georgia.

He's facing a first-degree murder charge. Authorities say Maldonado and Solis didn't know each other. All right. Let's take a first look at the weather right now. It is a warm and humid night outside here in the triangle. Sure doesn't feel like February and tomorrow we could have a new record high temperature. Chief meteorologist Don Schwedeker here now to show us what we can expect. And amazing, it's in the 60s outside right now.

It is and it is so humid in spots that we are seeing some fog starts for. We'll talk about that in a moment. Live look on your first alert Doppler net tonight's scanning. This guy's not seeing any rain. around here. We saw some earlier. That's worked out, but it's left the moisture behind. We're looking into downtown Durham. You can see this low cloud deck is settling down toward the surface. So don't be surprised to see some fog, especially if you had showers earlier. 59 mostly cloudy north-northeast wind at five miles an hour. Temperatures from across the region.

60s down south, 40s up to the north where it stayed cloudy and cool all day. The boundary running right along here, and that's where the showers were earlier. A look at the next 11 hours. You'll see those temperatures really not changing that much. Cloudy skies with fog. Numbers will slip into the 50s tonight as we get back up toward 9 o'clock 64. By lunchtime, we're talking almost 70, but we could see some thunderstorms. We'll talk about those thunderstorm chances in your complete forecast coming up in just a bit. Lauren. All right, Don, thank you. a scary scene in Moore County after someone through a flashbang device near an early voting site. Aberdeen Police responded to the scene at Aberdeen Lake Park around 2.30 yesterday afternoon.

tell us the device was thrown from a car traveling on US one. It landed roughly 150 yards away from the Aberdeen Lake Park early voting site. Fortunately, no one was hurt, no property was damaged. So far, there had been no arrest. Also in Moore County, a man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend on Valentine's Day made his first court appearance today. The judge ordered Caleb Fosnaf to be held in jail without bond. The Moore County Sheriff's Office says he shot and killed Katia Tovmash, who was a Ukrainian refugee, and Fort Bragg soldier Matthew Wade inside a home in Vass. Authorities arrested Fosnoff in Ohio and flew him back here to North Carolina yesterday.

Newly released dash cam video shows state troopers in Ohio taking Fosnoff into custody on Saturday. You can see troopers with their guns drawn arresting him during that traffic stop. Durham police arresting two people in connection with a shooting that killed a young person outside of gas station. That shooting happened Monday night on South Austin Avenue, not far from the Durham Freeway. Today police announced the arrest of 18-year-old Donnell Stanford. He's charged with murder. also arrested a 16-year-old, but because of their age, they are not releasing that person's identity. And that deadly shooting is just one of nine homicides in Durham so far this year. In fact, there

have been six deadly shootings in the past week alone. But recent crime data from the DPD shows overall crime is down. The police chief, Patrice Andrews, presented the Bull City's 2025 crime report, two city leaders today. The report shows violent crime, including homicides, is down in property crime like burglary has dropped two. But at the same time, larceny tops the list for crime committed by juveniles. Durham residents spoke pretty passionately at this work session at City Hall, urging their leaders to act quickly and find solutions to gun violence.

I was born and raised here, and I'm tired of seeing our babies die in the streets. I would like to see any resource that can help contribute to Lauren Grun. Like what? Like Boil City United, Shot Spotter. I'd like to exceed more investment into youth engagement,

youth opportunities. Tomorrow, Mayor Williams is holding a news conference to talk about the ways the city is addressing violent crime. So to come here at 11, we'll have more on the breaking news unfolding in Raleigh, a police officer sent to the hospital, a suspect injured, as they traded gunfire in a North Raleigh apartment complex. We'll have another live report from that scene coming up after the break.

And Don's back checking on the Tubbs outside. It's warm out there tonight. Numbers in the 60s, as we talked about earlier across the region, some fog settling in spots. Talk about that, a record high temperature tomorrow and some cold air in the seven-day forecast all coming up. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. Right now at 1114, for the last 10 days, Garner Police has been desperately searching for suspect

who killed a father of five in his car on Timber Drive. It happened back on February 9th. They were pleading to the public for any information, anyone who had video in and around that area. And tonight they developed a suspect and partnered with RPD to try to capture that person. Yeah, Garner Police say they have their man. They have found the killer of Joey Adams. his name is Solomon Owens.

He is 26 years old. He's from Durham, but they executed a search warrant at a North Raleigh apartment complex just off Six Forks Road. That's where the SWAT team went in serving that arrest warrant. And when they got to the door there, they say that Owens opened fire on the officers. The officers returned fire. One RPD officer was injured and taken to the hospital. Owens also injured there and taken to the hospital and released in RPD custody tonight. Jemise Price there at the apartment complex.

She's been following this breaking news through the evening and you're hearing from some of the neighbors there tonight, Jamies. That's right, Steve, a lot of frustration with those neighbors, not really understanding exactly what's going on here. And I want to give you guys a closer look at a part of this investigation out here on Woodbin Drive. This is the unit where RPD has focused most of their attention. And within the last few minutes, we were still seeing those officers going up and down the stairs here. This is where that shooting investigation unfolded. This is where our PD says that Solomon Owens opened a fire on their officers here. This is where he was taken into custody and all of this unfolding while neighbors are trying to figure out exactly what happened out here.

They described a very chaotic scene. Take a listen. There's a lot of officers out there and a lot of lights. And I posted on like a next door app and in like 10 minutes. They were like, oh, yeah, no, somebody somebody. got shot. There were drones and they came in with like rifles and things and they police taped off to the whole thing the whole street. I counted at least six in front of my house and I've never seen that many police cars unless they're

parked in the police parking lot and all their lights are going and they wouldn't let anybody through and then you look down at the bottom of the hill and there's four or five more down there too. Now we know the RPD was serving a felony arrest warrant in connection to the death. with a 41 year old Joey Adams. And I've had the opportunity to speak with Joey Adams family and friends. And they describe him as this great dad, a great friend, a great husband. And they don't understand exactly why someone would want to harm Joey Adams.

And that is a question that Garner police will have to sort out at this hour because they don't know exactly why all of this happened as well. That is a question that will be answered in possibly the days and weeks to come. Lauren and Steve. James Price reporting for us from that scene. We know RPD, Garner Police and several other agencies are going to be working there tonight in detail because of that shooting there. Such a relief, though, for Joey Adams family. They've been in a state of absolute heartbreak after their tragedy losing the father of five. And Garner Police believe they have now found the killer.

All right to some other news recovering tonight. The next time you pass through Terminal 1 at the RDU Airport, you'll notice some new restaurants. Officials there held a ribbon cutting for those new eateries today. the new Raleigh Beer Garden, a new Italian restaurant, and a candy store. This is part of the broader multi-billion dollar investment taking place at RDU that also includes the expansion of Terminal 2. RDU is also getting a new longer runway that's scheduled to open around 2029. And in Raleigh, after years of delays, developer John Kane could begin construction on the Downtown South Project by the end of the year. That multi-billion dollar development would be located

south of downtown Raleigh on South Saunders Street near I-40. The centerpiece would be a soccer stadium developed in partnership with businessman Steve Malick, who's the owner of the Carolina Courage women's soccer team. The development would also include retail and office space, but there's still a big hurdle in getting the project off the ground. Kane Realty and Malick are working to get financing right now and they hope to partner with the city of Raleigh and also Wake County. All right, John Swinaker, I know you went outside. Someone said, how's the weather out there? Don said, it's perfect, but wait, it is a little humid. It was for this time of year. Yeah, it's so weird to be just this sticky and with that humidity. Right. We are seeing some fog start

the form. We'll show you some visibility in just a moment. Let's take a look at the next seven days. Tomorrow the warmest day of the next seven. We break a record in Raleigh. Our old record is 75. The old record down in the sand hills is 84, I believe. I don't think you'll make that. Sunday 60, Sunday 49, Monday 46, and we'll stay in the 40s even on into Tuesday. Live look on first alert Doppler net tonight scanning the skies. We had the showers earlier tonight. They're gone, but they left a lot of moisture in the lower part of the atmosphere. And that's causing some fog to work in. This is downtown Durham.

You can see this is thick it up just even since the top of the show. And if you're under one of these spots, it will be thick out there. 59 mostly cloudy in a north-northeast wind at five miles an hour. Out at RD, you can see that fog layer just hovering right above RDU. So far the winds are out of the north-northeast at five, so that's keeping it stirred up enough that we haven't seen it settled to the surface. But we are seeing pockets of it, and I think you will see more fog as we go through the overnight. We'd like to see these visibilities up around 10 miles. Wilson's down to 4, just a half a mile at Smithfield,

two miles out in Burlington and Roxborough. So we'll continue to see these pockets of fall get thicker through the overnight hours. Temperatures from Manny O to Murphy tonight to warm a spot in the state is Charlotte. They're at 67 at this hour. Lumberton's close at 66, 63 down at ECU, but you're in the cool air up in Chase City, just 45. 55 out in the triad, 44 and boom. But look at Murphy, 65 degrees. even warm out in the western mountains.

Tonight we'll see those temperatures down into the mid-50s, cloudy skies mild and that patchy, dense fog. So be ready for that. Satellite radar composite shows the shower is now out of here. We see a few clouds working through. Zoom it out, some heavy rain. They had tornadoes in parts of Indiana and Illinois tonight to near the University of Indiana.

They had one. And then big snows going on from Iowa into Nebraska tonight. They've shut down schools out there. They can see four to eight inches. closer to home. We see just warm weather as we go through the overnight. You wake up tomorrow morning, patchy fog until about 7 a.m. Watch what happens between 7 and noon, though. Here's the line working through. Not everybody will see rain, but if you get under one of these, the possibility is there to see some thunder. Now, we're not anticipating any severe weather, but you could see a few rumbles of thunder as that rolls through. Skies will clear, and then tomorrow evening looks great. If you've got Friday night plans that will be dry, it will be warm. We start off in the 50s and then we do see some scattered showers as we go through the day. Forecast looks like this for tomorrow. Temperatures in the mid-70s, record breaker in Raleigh at 76.

76 Durham could get close to 80 or 81 down in Fable. It is going to be so warm. Your seven-day forecast shows 60 in on Saturday, Sunday 49, the 40s with the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Morning lows will be around freezing. So Mother Nature reminding us winter isn't over yet. Wednesday back to 58 and 60s in with a shower chance by next Thursday. Be ready for a nice warm day tomorrow, but take the umbrellas with you as you head out the door. It won't be raining when you head to work, but if you need to go somewhere around lunchtime,

you could get wet. Mother Nature seems confused. 80s in February. Seriously, she's been all confused all year long. Don, thank you. Still ahead, the eye of the storm will tell you about the new exhibit in Raleigh honoring the Carolina Hurricanes. You don't need AI agents, which

may sound weird coming from Service Now, the leader in AI agents. The truth is, AI agents need you. Sure, they'll process, predict, even get work done autonomously. But they don't dream, read a room, rally a team, and they certainly don't have shower thoughts, pivotal hallway chats, or big ideas. People do. And people, when given the best AI platform, they're freed up to do the fulfilling work they want to do.

To see how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. County construction is now underway on the new Clayton High School. This is video from today's groundbreaking ceremony, the school which will be able to accommodate 2,000 students is being rebuilt at its current site. The new 278,000 square foot facility will feature a three-story academic wing and a two-story arts and athletics wing. Everybody is just so excited about this new expansion and the redo of Clayton High School. You know, Clayton High School has produced a lot of wonderful contributors in our town and in our state and across the country. And I think it means the world to them to know that the good works coming out of Clayton High School for

more than 100 years are now going to have a foundation to do for the next 100 years. The price tag for that new school, $130 million. Hey, check out this new interactive art installation in Raleigh's Smoky Hollow District off P Street. The downtown Raleigh Alliance is behind it. They call it the eye of the storm. It's an interactive hockey stick and a bench, a tribute to the Carolina Hurricanes. All you have to do is crank the handle to power up the lights and experience the energy. of our home team. Live to the scene where that police operation unfolded,

arresting a murder suspect. We're seeing some activity right now. A tow truck is towing away a red car there. We've got our breaking news crew, the live feed coming in from the scene. Just trying to get that into focus for you right now. As we've been telling you, this half hour, the RPD executed a search warrant

taking 26-year-old Solomon Owens into custody in connection with the murder of Joey Adams in Garner. and during that arrest, the execution of that arrest warrant, the suspect Owens opened fire on our PD officers, an officer was hurt, treated and released, the suspect treated and released as well. Our morning show will have more on this coming up at 4.30. Good night.

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