ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 11pm - February 5, 2026

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

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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. And breaking news in Wake County is first at 11 tonight's students forced to evacuate after a fire breaks out inside a dorm room on the Shaw University campus. It's significant because it's the same dorm that's been plagued by heating and hot water problems all winter long. Hi everyone, good evening. Thanks for joining us here for the news at 11. I'm Steve Daniels. Lauren is on assignment. We'll join her in a few minutes. Tonight's fire on the downtown Raleigh campus forced freshman students who were living with no heat and no hot water out in the cold as fire crews rushed to respond. Here's what we know tonight. The Raleigh Fire Department responded to the fire at the Dimpel Newsome Residence Hall shortly after 8 p.m. According to the fire chief, the flames were mostly contained to one room which has significant damage. He also says rooms nearby have minor smoke damage.

Right now, it's not exactly clear what sparked the fire, but the chief was able to say it was an accidental electrical issue. The fire forced students to evacuate many of them gathering at the nearby McDonald's on Wilmington Street, and that's where we talked with some of them tonight who say they found out about the fire from a group chat with their friends. I just seen a text in my group chat, and I'm like, what in the world? And then I just seen them saying, oh, there's a fire. They're smoking the building. Y'all need to evacuate. So I made sure that all my friends and everything evacuated.

I made sure that we all got out safely. Fortunately, no students or firefighters were hurt. This is the same dorm that's been having heating and hot water issues for weeks now. Eyewitness News has reached out to Shaw University several times for comment tonight, but we have not heard back. And if you want to read more about the issues students have been facing at Shaw, you can read our article on our website right now at ABC11.com. It's another night of below freezing temperatures across the area, but a warm up is on the way. Let's head over to Chief Meteorologist Don Schweniker. He's in the First Alert Forecast Center with a look at those temperatures down into the 20s tonight.

Yeah, it's going to be very cold out there in a cold weekend, but we do warm up. We'll talk about that in a bit. Let's show you at First Alert Doppler net tonight's scanning the skies gets dry across our part of the Carolina. Live look from our Sheraton SkyCam. You can see still lots of folks on I-40 tonight, 27-degree. right now under partly cloudy skies. 25 in Durham Carborough, 28 down in Fayetteville. You're still above freezing, Goldsboro to Clinton, 23 in Oxford, 22 in Roxborough, and everybody

5 to 10 degrees cooler tonight, and that means a colder overnight ahead. So let's walk you through it. Over the next several hours, we'll see those temperatures tumbling into the low 20s. By 9 o'clock, it'll be sunny, but we're still below freezing. Now, you'll head out the door to sunshine tomorrow, but take the umbrella with you, because between 3 and 5. We anticipate some showers working into the region, mainly from the triangle, north and east, and then they clear out as we head into the weekend. We'll talk more about that very cold weekend, and we've got 60s in the 7-day forecast. That's coming up in just a bit.

Steve. Yeah, we want to hear all about that in the minutes ahead. We'll see you soon. Don, thanks. New here at 11 for the first time since the former Kerry town manager, Sean Stiegel stepped down. We're learning more about the town of Kerry's finances, the town wrapping up an external independent audit. And tonight during the town council meeting, we got a closer look at the results and the recommendations as well as the weak spots when it comes to safeguarding taxpayer dollars. Jemise Price, live now at Town Hall in Kerry. What are the results you're seeing from this audit? So Steve, the financial piece of this audit is completed and is anticipated that the auditor will issue a clean, unmodified opinion.

That is the highest level of assurance when it comes to an audit. But there are still so many questions tonight surrounding the town's finances under the leadership, of the former town manager Sean Siegel. An annual audit requested by the town and conducted by auditors, Cherry Beckard, is near completion. During the town council meeting, it was determined the town had certain deficiencies

with a tone at the top set by former town manager, Sean Siegel. The director of the audit, Leanne Waters, says the findings so far are concerning. Your former town manager did not always adequately communicate the importance of compliance with policies and procedures, accountability, and other internal control responsibilities. And unfortunately, we learned that employees did perceive that there was a risk of retaliation

if they raised concerns. It's recommended the town implement periodic anonymous surveys to get the tone of the culture and strengthen retaliation protections. Other recommendations include the town adopting a comprehensive policy that defines permissible benefits for elected officials. We would just recommend that you consider establishing a policy that clearly delineates that information, just for transparency to your citizens, so that they too will understand the business purposes and the benefits of participating in those types of trips. And then the final recommendation that we have really relates to the dollar threshold for your P-card lost receipt form. The Independent Auditors report comes after the North Carolina State Auditors Office continues to examine alleged cases of fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayers' dollars.

The FBI is also working to determine if there is evidence supporting a criminal investigation into Steele. They will certainly have an opinion, and I have a feeling it won't be very rosy, but we will hear from them. And we also have the DA and the FBI looking into things. Don't know if they'll find anything. We have no idea, no information what's going on with them. And then we have the internal investigation where they will try to come up with additional policy and procedure changes to make us stronger. So that finished report is expected by February. 12th. It will be included in the 2025 annual comprehensive financial report. We're live in

Kerry. Jimis Price, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Some intriguing early findings there tonight at Town Hall. Jamies, and we'll look for more one week from now. Let's get to some new details tonight from Johnston County about a story we brought you as breaking news here at 5 o'clock. We had Chopper 11 over a heavy police presence at an apartment complex on Rick's Road in Selma. Officials tell us they responded to the scene shortly before 4 p.m. and they found a 20-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. He's in critical condition tonight at WakeMed. Police have not said if they have a lead on the shooter there in Johnston County. In Cumberland County, a man wanted for murdering his own brother has now been found dead. The sheriff's office says the body of George Snow was found this afternoon

in the woods off Lillington Highway in Spring Lake. He was wanted for killing 65-year-old Donald Snow. Donald was found dead yesterday in a home on Brinkley Drive in Spring Lake. Tonight the FBI is investigating after a Nash County deputy shot and killed a man last night. This happened at a home on Tom George Road. Deputies responded to a call about a man holding a knife to his wife's throat. Authorities say the man identified as Christopher Irb later came out of the house armed with an AR-15 rifle and pointed it at the deputies. That's when a member of the Nash County sniper team shot and killed Erb. The deputy involved is now on administrative leave. In Wake County tonight, an autopsy report is giving us some new insight about a triple shooting at a restaurant in North Hills

in January of last year. Our news gathering partners at the News and Observer obtained that And according to the findings, George Colome, the executive chef at Coquette, shot his co-worker Jonathan Schaefer in the back at least eight times as he was sitting down. Colom also shot another coworker and then turned the gun on himself. Police never gave a motive for the shooting, but the report from the medical examiner indicates Colom and another employee were arguing over a woman. Today we heard more very emotional testimony in a Raleigh courtroom during the sentencing hearing for Heddingham mass shooter Austin Thompson.

The wife of Raleigh police officer Gabe Torres gave a gripping victim impact statement, and she also played a recording from their daughter. My daughter is now five. She only knows her daddy through photos. Layla, if you could talk to the person who killed your dad, what would you say to that person? Say so like to my dad. I miss him so much. Austin Thompson's father also took the stand today and he talked about losing his son James in that killing spree and now to this day he still doesn't understand why Austin carried out that mass shooting

how can you do that I don't know how it's even possible it's unbelievable I still don't understand it when James died part of me died and uh with Austin I mean I still love him but I just don't understand why I can't that the problem I have, I can't put the two and two together. A Raleigh Police Sergeant also testified today that Austin Thompson searched online about school shootings 25 times, serial killers 30 times, and whether juveniles are eligible for the death penalty. Federal investigators now opened a civil rights investigation into a now fired Raleigh police officer accused of taking a woman to his house for a sexual encounter when he was on duty. The FBI relieves more victims may be connected to sex crimes allegedly committed by that former. officer. Tremail Cogdell was arrested in October. The Ralee Police Chief Rico Boyce said Cogdell met a victim following a crash he responded to. He allegedly drove that woman

in his police vehicle to his home where they had a sexual encounter while he was on duty. A grand jury indicted him on several charges, including obstruction of justice and several counts of solicitation of prostitution. Police procedure experts say federal involvement in this case and signals some severity of the allegations. We need to send a message to other law enforcement agents or other people in power that if you take advantage of that power, there are consequences when you do it using your official capacity. The Way County District Attorney's Office tells us it's not uncommon for state and federal investigators to work together to determine if state and federal laws have been violated. Eyewitness news reached out to the attorney representing Cogdell about the FBI's involvement. So far we have not heard back.

Still to come here on eyewitness news, new clues in the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of today show host Savannah Guthrie, police putting out a new timeline in Arizona of what happened the night she vanished. Plus, the Guthrie family has a new message to Nancy's kidnappers. Also a big night for Hollywood here in the South. Lauren Johnson is on the red carpet tonight in Atlanta, catching up with one of the hottest stars on Hulu right now. We'll take you to the SCAD TV Fest in Atlanta coming up in just a couple of minutes. And Don's back checking on those temps outside right now. It's a cold one out there tonight under clear skies,

but we do have a nice warm up on the way. We'll talk about that. And Saturday could be a problem if you planned on doing some outdoor burning. We'll explain that as well in your complete forecast coming out. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. Tonight we continue following the latest developments in Los Angeles where a car crashed into a grocery store, killing three people.

It happened in the Westwood section of L.A. near the UCLA campus. Police say a driver hit a bicyclist continued down the street and then plowed into the store. Six other people are hurt. According to investigators, an elderly woman was behind the wheel of the car and they say she's cooperating with police and it appears to be a tragic accident. And in Kerry this afternoon, an elderly woman driving an SUV crashed into the front of the Whole Foods at Waverly Place. Police say she accidentally stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake. The view from Chopper 11 shows damage to the window there in the front of the Whole Foods. Thankfully no one was hurt. Carrie police say the driver woman. face any charges. Now to an update on the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of today's show

host Savannah Guthrie. Authorities in Arizona believe someone kidnapped Nancy from her home in Tucson over the weekend and tonight investigators say they're holding out hope she is still alive. A couple of hours ago Savannah's brother whose name is Cameron posted a new video message on Instagram to his mom's kidnapper. This is Cameron Guthrie. I'm speaking for the Guthrie family. Whoever is out there holding our mother we want to hear from you. We haven't heard any directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact. Investigators also provided a new timeline of events. They say just

before 2 a.m. Sunday the doorbell camera at Nancy's home was disconnected. Software data recorded movement at the home minutes later and then shortly before 2.30 a.m., the app on Nancy's pacemaker was disconnected from her phone. As of tonight, authority, have not identified a person of interest or a suspect there in Arizona. Tonight concerns in the cryptocurrency industry following a sharp sell-off of Bitcoin. The world's most famous crypto has now lost half its value from its October peak. Bitcoin is now trading at just over $62,000. That is a 15-month low.

Experts say the crash isn't anything new because this kind of digital currency is pretty volatile. Lauren is not here on the anchor desk with me tonight because she's on assignment in Atlanta where it's a big night for Hollywood. The SCAD TV Festival is underway in Atlanta. It's put on by the Savannah College of Art and Design, and it's bringing out some of the biggest names in television. Lauren is on the red carpet catching up with one of Hulu's hottest stars, Jackson White. We're on the red carpet at the SCAD TV Fest in Atlanta talking to one of the stars of Tell Me Lies.

It's been rough, but I just have to try to get over it. You know them as Stephen and Lucy, the toxic couple at Baird College, starring in Hulu's hit drama, Tell Me Lies. He's so evil deep down inside. So to transform yourself into that is amazing. It's fun. It's a good exercise in stoicism. The on-screen couple taking their love from the set to real life in a much healthier relationship. You're on set with your girl and then you're offset with your girl.

How is that? It's amazing. It really is a great experience. Jackson, back in Atlanta for the SCAD TV Festival, where he was honored with the Rising Star Award. It's great. What an honor. So cool. It's nice to be recognized in any capacity for all the pain and the grinding and the, you know, whatever. It's very nice. It's a nice way to look back on tennis.

A chance to look back and it's a comeback to Atlanta. I love this part of the country too and I ate super good here. I don't know. Everyone's just down to earth. Cool. It's like it's a cool city. Just as cool, the young scholars at SCAD who get a front row seat to the festival, and the 29-year-old has this wisdom to share with them. Buckle up. It's a lot of trial and error and correcting your mistakes and failing a lot. Just get ready to fail, a ton.

And I think the ones who succeed are the ones who just keep going no matter what. As we all await the highly anticipated season finale, Are we going to love or hate Stephen Moore? Oh, I can't even say it's a great ending, but it's going to spark a lot of conversation. So no spoilers there, but he'll tell you no lies. On the red carpet at the SCAD TV Fest in Atlanta, I'm Lauren Johnson. Lauren, thanks. And tomorrow here on eyewitness news, Lauren is talking to the cast of the TV show Scrubs.

That show is getting a reboot here on ABC 11 later this month after being off the air for 15 years. All right. Let's talk to Don right now. We've got a chilly air, Arctic air, in the forecast for a couple of days. But we've got a good warm up on the way, too. Yeah, we warmed up a little bit this week, but it's going to die back down for the weekend. The difference between this weekend or the last two weekends, we're dry. Perfect. All right. All right.

We'll talk about that right now. We're dry tonight live. Look at our first alert, Doppler net, not seeing anything out there in the way of rain or snow. I want to back this up a little bit. We'll come back to the North Hills in just a minute. Let's talk about that seven-day forecast. Don't want you to wait for it. 47 on Friday, Saturday, 36.

I've got biting breeze in there. We'll talk more about that in a moment. Sunday, more clouds 37. Then we're back into the 60s by Wednesday. All right, the reason I mentioned that biting breeze on Saturday is because we could see significant wind gusts on Saturday, and now my clicker has stopped working. It's going to be one of those nights.

That's all right. We'll step off and we'll see if we can get the computer to, oh, no, it's not. locked up. That's the emoji forecast. You can see that every night at 6.30. Let me see if I can reboot the computer real quick. Hold on just a second. We're going to go right here and see if we can get the wind going. There we go. So look at our wind gusts on Saturday. 7 o'clock in the morning. We're in the 30 mile and hour range. And as we go through the day, we'll see these wind gusts 10 a.m. still in the 30s and upper 20s. We'll see low humidity as well. So I would not be surprised

to see a red flag warning as we head through Saturday or at least a burn advisor. You're not going to want to burn with winds in the 30 plus mile in hour range. We've got widespread drought across the region. It is going to be a bad day to burn outside. Not seeing any rain or snow out there tonight. Let's check that temperature of North Hills, a live look, and we're seeing the numbers right now in the 20s across the region. Maniota Murphy tonight, 35 in Manio, 32 down at ECU. We've dropped into the 20s here.

26 in the triad, boons at 21, 29 in Lumberton, and 34 in Wilmington. Overnight, we'll see those numbers in the 20s across the region. Expect a cold night, 23 in Raleigh, 24 Fayetteville, 20 in Roxburgh, and 19 in Henderson. Then tomorrow, as the sun pops up, it's going to be a little warmer in spots. 47, Raleigh, 45 in Durham, 50 in Fayetteville. take the umbrella with you, especially from the triangle north and east. We do have a chance of some showers anytime after lunchtime. Seven-day forecast shows just a few light showers around tomorrow.

That clear and windy day on Saturday, Sunday 37, Monday 50, Tuesday, 58. We're back into the 60s with rain, not snow by Wednesday. Steve. That looks good, Don. Thanks. A young woman from Durham is heading to the Super Bowl and she's taking her mom. We'll explain why next. Tonight, a young woman from Durham who went to take.

Hillside High and UNC is about to make her Super Bowl dream a reality, and she's taking her mom along for the ride. My mom and I are super close. When I found out we get a plus one, she was the first person I called. She was like, you don't want to take your friends? Absolutely not. I'm taking my mother. Deja Salings has spent the past three seasons working for the Seattle Seahawks as their community engagement and legends coordinator. She helped support former players in their transition to life after the NFL.

Deja and her mom are heading to San Francisco for the Seahawks. Super Bowl tomorrow. They'll get to take part in the welcome receptions, tailgating, and also the Super Bowl post-game party. Can't...