ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 11pm - May 11, 2026

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

Eyewitness News at 11pm - May 11, 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. Right now at 11 terrorized by vultures. A pack of the birds have taken over one neighborhood. At the center of it all, a couple being blamed for feeding them. Neighbors say they're fed up. I watched them pick tiles off my neighbor's roof, and I found tiles. from my roof and my front yards. Tonight, a lawsuit has been filed what the couple is saying about the allegations against them. Also new tonight protecting libraries in Wake County, a group coming together to rally against

possible cuts in a proposed county budget. What the group says was the final straw. But first, we begin in Raleigh tonight. Police were called to a local Walmart tonight investigating shots fired, steps away at a busy bus station. Eyewitness news watched as officers put up crime scene tape to investigate that shooting. Thanks for joining us here for the news at 11. I'm Lauren Johnson. Steve has the night off. Raleigh police tell us a victim was hit by pieces of a bullet and taken to the hospital.

Jamise Price joins us live and James this is not the first time police have been called to that exact bus stop. That's right, Lauren. We counted three incidents, two shootings and a stabbing at that same location. And the folks who were at that Walmart today simply just trying to grab groceries, never thinking that violence would unfold there. and at the same time nearby, there was a community meeting to address crime in Raleigh. This should be a wake-up call for all of us. Crime tape of canine and police officers working to make sense of this latest investigation. A shots fired call at this bus stop near Walmart just before seven tonight. Raleigh police said a person was injured by the bullet fragments and taken to the hospital.

This investigation unfolding less than a half of a mile from this community meeting. Bring back the village where Raleigh Police and neighbors talked about ways to end this type of violence happening outside their doors. People are concerned, but it's easy to go in your house, close your door, you're saying, say, that's not my problem, until it hits your door. Diana Powell is the founder of Justice Serve and C, one of the organizers of this community meeting. She's often a resource to families impacted by violence. Tonight, the group gathered to talk solutions. There are five pillars that I say. We have got to educate each other, our community, right?

And we got to organize, strategize, and mobilize, and then unify. And then we can have that fist to fight nonviolence, to get the changes that we need. And those changes are needed now. A quick check at this bus stop shows a fight, to a shooting here last summer. And before that, a person was stabbed near the same location. It's definitely heartbreaking. Raymond Owens was also at tonight's community meeting.

When I was out there in the streets in the south side of Riley, I needed somebody to talk to. I needed some people to go to. He wants to be a part of the village that stops the violence we're seeing. That's really one of the main focus is getting to the youth and letting them feel accepted and letting them know that they definitely got other resources and other things to do outside of the violence. So the group meets every second Monday of the month. I'm also told that they are working now on a gun buyback event to get these guns off the street. The same weapon that was used in this investigation that shut down a busy bus stop in Raleigh for hours.

In Raleigh, Jemis Price, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Yeah, we're still learning to wait to hear more about that victim and that shooting. James, thank you. Let's turn our attention now to your first alert weather. It's been a below average start to the week for high temperatures. Here's a live look at the Raleigh and Durham Skylines. I know earlier dawn tonight when I said it's cold outside. You were like, okay, Lauren, not cold, but it's definitely colder than it should be for May. Yeah, well, now it's kind of cold. I mean, we're getting 40s and could see 30s in spots tonight. We'll talk about that in a minute. Good evening to you. Not seeing any showers. We're dry in the first alert Doppler network tonight. Even Fayetteville sliding down into the 50s now 55 degrees on the self-help sky. as we look down Hay Street there. Temperatures from across the region, 40 in Rhone Oak Rapids. You're getting close to those 30s. 42, Roxborough, 48, Durham, Raleigh, 53 in Lillington, and 56 in Fayetteville. Let's check your fast forward forecast. And this is where we were today. We were at 66 degrees. We had plenty of clouds around. Now we'll compare it to tomorrow. And you'll notice tomorrow blue skies and the sunshine will bring temperatures about 10 degrees warmer. But we go from the 70s into the 90s. We'll talk about that in your first alert forecast. Coming up for you in just a couple of minutes. Lauren. All right, Don, we'll see you then. Thank you tonight. People in Wake County got the chance to speak up for the first time on a recently proposed budget. One sector impacted by budget cuts would be county libraries. Our cameras captured this protest outside the Wake Commons building

in Raleigh. Critics say it would lead to fewer staff, hours and services for people to enjoy. The proposed budget also includes a two-cent property tax increase. The budget would also fully fund the Wake County School District's $823 million request. New at 11 Durham County residents are looking at a property tax increase in the proposed budget for next year. Tonight Durham County's manager presented a 1.04 billion dollar budget to commissioners. It includes a two cent tax rate increase that would bring the total countywide rate to 57.42 cents per hundred dollars of value. The largest investment in the proposed budget is education with

$235 million proposed for Durham public schools. including a $10.9 million increase that marks the sixth consecutive year the county has grown local school funding by more than $10 million. No bond has been issued for the man charged in a Mother's Day shooting at a Durham restaurant. 55-year-old Samar Suleiman al-Mahood making his first court appearance today. He's charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Police say he was one of two employees who got into an argument yesterday. We're told someone tried to calm things down, and that's when he allegedly fired a gun,

injuring the man who tried to stop the argument that victim still being treated at the hospital. Raleigh police have identified the suspect responsible for the shooting at the Triangle Town Center Mall. Police have charged 18-year-old Marcus Neal with assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed gun, and discharging a weapon within city limits. Authorities say he shot a gun at least seven times inside the mall. Detectives have also filed juvenile petitions against three teens involved for misdemeanor rioting and misdemeanor assault. New at 11 state Democrats are dropping a gerrymandering lawsuit. State Representative Rodney Pierce of Halifax County filed notice he is voluntarily dismissing his lawsuit challenging the Republican drawn state Senate map. The suit had alleged the map diluted the voting power of black residents in northeastern North Carolina.

But last month's Supreme Court ruling, which struck down Louisiana's majority black congressional district, effectively closed the legal path forward. Pierce said in a statement the court has made the voting rights act, quote, a meaningless law with no teeth. One person from North Carolina was on board the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hunter virus outbreak. The state health department confirmed one person from our state was on board. That ship has been now evacuated to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Unit. Around the world, there are now 11 total confirmed and probable cases linked to that ship. ABC's Alex Stone joins us now with the very latest. Only crew members remain on board the MV Hondias, seen here refueling Monday at anchor before

heading to Rotterdam in the Netherlands with its Filipino crew. 149 passengers are off the ship, including 17 Americans and a British national who lives in the U.S., who are now in Nebraska and Georgia being monitored. So of the 18, 16 are 16 passengers are here and two are in Atlanta. One American has tested positive after getting off the ship. Another is showing symptoms. The others are not showing symptoms, but they're being watched. Most are now at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's quarantine unit. The person who tested positive is in the biocontainment unit. They were in good spirits. We've been doing symptom monitoring as well as temperature checks.

The two other Americans, a couple, are at Emory University in Atlanta. One individual was deemed to be symptomatic on evaluation prior to leaving the Canary Islands. And the second individual was considered an asymptomatic but close contact to this. primary individual. On Monday, President Trump saying he is certain hanta virus will not spread wide. It seems like it is not easy to spread. In France, eight nationals who shared a flight with a person who had hontovirus 15 days ago are now in isolation at a hospital. They do not have any symptoms. Hauntavirus can kill up to 40% of patients. There is no cure, but early detection and medical care can improve survival rates. Those Americans who are in the

the quarantine unit in Nebraska will be given the option to go home if they don't show any symptoms and can stay isolated for six weeks at home reporting into their local health department. Alex Stone, ABC News, Los Angeles. Alex, thank you. So to come in 11, a businesswoman charged tonight with pocketing more than a million dollars in sales taxes, what we're learning from court. And one in five North Carolina children doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. But the food bank that's trying to help them is also running low. We'll tell you what's happening there next. And Don are checking those chilly temperatures outside tonight.

Yeah, we're seeing 40s out there tonight. Coldest night we'll see for a while. We've got a big warm-up to first alert you about. We'll talk about that. Your 7-day forecast up next. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up?

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Food banks across the triangle are sounding the alarm tonight saying they're caught in a perfect storm of rising cost and surging demand. The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina says the same economic pressures pushing more families through their doors are also making it more expensive for them to operate. A year ago, $1 in donations could provide five meals. Today, that same dollar provides only three meals and that number keeps dropping. The cost of fuel rises, the cost of utilities rise. the cost of shipment and storage rises, that hits us as well.

And so it makes it much more expensive for us to purchase the food that we purchase. Even though we can for every dollar someone donates provide three meals worth of food, that number keeps ticking down and down and down. Just a year ago, we were at $1 providing five meals worth of food. North Carolina did secure funding to continue the Sunbucks program this summer. It provides critical meal support for kids out of school, but organizers say there is still a much. greater need. New at 11, a businesswoman in Asheville's facing felony charges tonight.

She's accused of pocketing more than a million dollars in state sales taxes. The North Carolina Department of Revenue says 50-year-old Rachel Ann Rose collected nearly $1.2 million in North Carolina sales taxes from her customers between May 2022 and August of 2025. Rose is the president of four seasons plumbing. Rose is also accused of failing to file corporate income tax returns for three consecutive years and failing to file her own person. tax returns for those same years. She appeared in federal court in Wake County today and was released on a $200,000 unsecured bond. Her first appearance in Superior Court is set for May 18th. Drivers could soon find out the EPA is driving down cost when it comes to those annual emissions

test. The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week it is proposing to approve North Carolina's plan to end vehicle emissions testing in all 19 counties where it is currently required except Mecklenburg. If finalized, that change. would save North Carolina drivers nearly $20 million annually on emissions inspection fees. The EPA says the state has demonstrated removing the requirement won't interfere with its ability to meet federal air quality standards. The counties that could see changes are Wake, Durham, Cumberland, Johnston, and more than a dozen others. New at 11, a Hillsborough neighborhood has a vulture problem and now it's turned into a legal battle for one couple. The town of Hillsborough has filed a civil lawsuit against the pair, accusing them of feeding,

scraps to a flock of vultures. And neighbors tell eyewitness news, the creatures have taken over the street and caused damage to their property. Tom George, talk to the couple who are defending themselves tonight denying the claims in the lawsuit. Well, the complaints about the swarms of vultures or a committee of vultures, if you want to use the technical term, have been going on in this neighborhood for years now, but it just now escalated to the point where the town of Hillsborough is actually suing the couple that they believe is drawing those vultures into the street. Like a scene from a movie, They're a little spooky to be frank. Holden Richards living his own Hitchcock-style nightmare.

Everybody thinks they're ugly and stuff, but they also are not great. You know, they're not good neighbors. Vultures taking over his neighborhood on Queen Street in Hillsborough. They tend to mark their territory with their excrement and, you know, and they have really long, sharp talons. And so they're not great animals to have perching on your house. Aside from cleaning up presents, he's also had to feel. fix his roof. I watched them pick tiles off my neighbor's roof and I found tiles from my roof in my front yard. So I have a feeling that's exactly where they came from. Pictures now in court documents

showing dozens of vultures circling this house. He believes is the culprit, his neighbors, Ken and Linda Ostrand. I'm sure that every one of my neighbors have probably called. A few vultures greeted us from their home where Linda welcomed us inside to share her side of the story. She says they're being unfairly targeted and the birds have been there since before she moved in. It's sort of, it's It's ridiculous is what it is. But I guess when somebody complains, they have to respond to it. After initial complaints, the town changing its ordinances, banning any feeding of wildlife beyond normal bird feeders. And they passed a rule. They said you can't feed birds unless the feeders are hung five feet off the ground. So nobody in town anymore is allowed to throw seed on the ground.

According to this new complaint filed by the town against the Austrians, they claim they were feeding scraps to the vultures and even named some of them. them, all seeking an injunction to end the alleged feeding of the vultures that they say is causing a safety issue. Linda says it's based on hearsay, and in their response, they say the evidence of the flying birds doesn't prove that they were feeding them, quote, any more than tennis shoes, demonstrates that the wearer is a Wimbledon player. She's also a longtime wildlife rescuer. If people didn't have vultures around here, you would hear them screaming bloody murder about the town not cleaning up the animals that have been hit by cars, because that's what they do. their nature's garbage disposals.

Now, the committee of vultures turning to a committee of lawyers and judges until this case is settled. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to tell the vultures that this is a no feed zone. I just don't know. Now, as it stands right now, there is no court date set here in Orange County for that civil case against the Austrans. Meanwhile, the town of Hillsborough declining to comment while that case is still pending. In Hillsborough, Tom George, ABC 11, I Witness News. Oh boy, that is quite the battle out there. It's nature versus humans, it seems, right? With those vultures pulling off those... No, thanks. I know. Not the drama you want to be a part of it. I am not a vulture friend. So you guys live your life.

I know. There you go. It's like the seagulls at the beach. If you hold your hand up. Yeah, I won't do it. I know. Yeah, I don't stay away. I don't need those problems. All right, let's talk about a new thing I'm trying out here in the weather department. I'm calling it the shift. And it's basically what's the next big weather. thing working into the region. We're going to start with that every night at 11 o'clock. So the next big thing headed in. The 90s are back. We are going to see a very warm weekend and it shows up in the seven day forecast. Look at this. We're in the 70s tomorrow, but by Sunday 90 degrees and we will stay 90 degrees on into next week. More on that in a bit. Live look on your first alert Doppler net tonight. We're dry across the region. Take a live look into downtown Fayetteville right now. 48 degrees, mostly cloudy and winds are calm. Maneota Murphy tonight 50s down at the coast,

52 for ECU if you look down in that area, 43 up in Chase City, 48 in Raleigh, 59 still in Lumberton, that cool air just pushing south, 46 in the tribe. But look at Boone, just seven degrees cooler than us tonight as that cold air settles in. Overnight, we'll see the temperatures into the 30s in the northern tier, 39 Roanoke Rapids. 39 Henderson, 39 Roxborough, 46, Raleigh, 42, Sanford, and 47 in Fayetteville. If you're headed out for a run in the morning or a walk, your fitness forecast shows a chilly start to the morning. But by 9 o'clock, we are up to 54 degrees by 11 o'clock 62 and by lunchtime, 66. Let's show you what's happening.

Satellite radar composite. Skies have cleared. So the little bit of heat that we did build up on this cool day is now being radiated back into space. and that is keeping us chilly. Watch the numbers tumble as we go through the overnight into tomorrow. Now it does show some fog tomorrow morning, so we will have to watch for that. Then as we work our way into Wednesday, watch Wednesday night. That line working through.

That showers and could even see some thunderstorms in the overnight and then drying out as we head into Thursday. Here is the surface map. You can see the first front through as we head through the day tomorrow. We're at 74 degrees, this little piece of high pressure working in giving us sun. sunshine and a real nice day. As we get toward Wednesday, this is the front. We're going to watch ahead of it. We'll see a surge of warmer air, so we'll get up around to 80 degrees.

Front drops through Wednesday night. That brings the chance of showers in the overnight, and then we'll dry out with high pressure building in Thursday before the heat works in for your weekend. Forecast looks like this for tomorrow's 74 Durham, 74 Raleigh, 75 in Fayetteville. We check on temperatures across the region tomorrow. 76 in Fort Bragg, 74 in Clinton. 73 Kerry Garner Clayton, 73 Lewisburg, and 74 in South Hill.

Seven-day forecast shows 79 on Wednesday, Thursday, 73. Great finish to the work week on Friday. Heat is here for Armed Forces Day on Saturday. And Sunday, we are back into the 90s. All right, that's good. It's a little chilly, but we'll make it where we're supposed to be done. Extra blanket on the bed tonight, AC by the weekend. All right.

Quick break. We'll be right back. Eyewitness News. We are local news weeknights four to six 30 and 11. The so-called greatest show in sports brought some really good economic benefits here to the triangle. UNC says last month Savannah Banana Games at Keenan Stadium generated more than $17 million in economic impact for the region. More than 100,000 fans showed up for the two game series and they spent money on things like hotels, parking, concessions, merchandise. The university says it hopes to host more events like this. the future. Now to a controversial story you may or may not agree with cat person or dog person.

In areas of Asia, cats have officially beat out dogs as the preferred pet. A new government survey out of Taiwan reflects that trend. It shows felines outnumbered their canine counterparts for the first time last year. Even in places where kines remain top dogs, cats are becoming more popular. Experts say the reason cats can be appealing because many people are living in small apartments because of population density and that part of the world. A bunch of dogs. All right, Kate, thank you. And thank you at home.