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

Episode Date: September 12, 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. Tonight on eyewitness news, 25 years after the September 11th terror attacks and a promise to never forget. Today, so many heavy hearts all around the country as we mourn, remember and reflect on September 11 25 years ago. A day of remembrance as we honor the lives lost will take you to the somber ceremonies in New York and all around the country. We're also following a day of service here at home, how the community is coming together as won all these years later to honor those we lost on that fateful day. But first, this afternoon and this evening, we were on alert for severe weather. Now that risk is gone for tonight.

Thanks for joining us here for the news at 11. I'm Steve Danos. And I'm Lauren Johnson. We saw some spotty showers and thunderstorms tonight that moved out, but more wet weather is expected. Tomorrow let's get you over to Chief Meteorologist, Don Schwinnaker. the first alert forecast center, Don, what should folks be expecting for the weekend? Well, the first half of tomorrow looks pretty good. It's the second half that we could see pop-up showers and storms during. We're not seeing anything out there tonight. Live look at First Alert Toppler. We did have some showers fire right over downtown Raleigh, but those have since died out. Looking in on the Pendo Sky Cam, 76 degrees right now, mostly cloudy, east-southeast wind at seven miles an hour.

And the showers we did see out there tonight help to knock those feels like temperatures down into the 70s pretty much across the region. Rocky Mount's the only warm spot in the 80s, 82, 76 Raleigh, 77 Chapel Hill, 74 out your door, down of Fayetteville and 74 up in Roxborough. We look at today, we had the clouds work through a mix of clouds and sunshine, some pop-up showers. As we go through tonight and into tomorrow, your fast forward forecast showing scattered storms in after three or four o'clock in the afternoon. And most of them should stay below severe status, but one or two could go severe. We're going to talk about that and we're going to time out all the weekend rain in your first alert 48 hour forecast. That's coming up for you in just a couple of minutes. Steve and Lauren.

All right, Don, we'll see you then. Thank you. Take a moment. Download the free eyewitness news app. It'll help you track changing weather conditions on the go to get started. Search for ABC 11 in your phone's app store. A day of remembrance all across the country as we marked 25 years since the September 11th attacks. It was the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history.

In New York City today, six moments of silence marking the timeline. of the attack and a new moment of silence added this year honoring those who have died from 9-11 related illnesses or injuries. Families gathering to read the names of the 2,97 people killed and share their stories. 441 first responders died in the attack running toward the unknown, sacrificing their lives to save others. Firefighter Martin DeMayo from Hazma Company 1. You would be proud of the family we built and become. All four living former presidents attended that ceremony at the 9-11 Memorial Plaza. Let's turn now to some of the events happening here in our area,

paying tribute to those lives lost on 9-11 and also in the years after the attacks. An early start to the day for the annual memorial stair climb at UNC Chapel Hill. And this afternoon, Governor Josh Stein spending time in Raleigh for a day of service. Akela Davis attended that event at Chavez Park. Tonight, a day of remembrance turned into action at Raleigh's Chavis Park. Governor Josh Dine rolling up his sleeves along. alongside community members to pack supplies for people in need. I'm inspired to be with so many people who want to use this day in service of others.

On Duke's campus, the chapel bell rang four times echoing throughout West campus in memory of 9-11 victims and the times of the attacks. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day, including six Duke alumni. Ceremonies across the triangle today honoring the dead, including hundreds of first responders. Today we also remember the firefighters who survived 9-11 and carry that day with them for the rest of their lives. We remember the first responders who returned to that pile. We remember those who searched, recovered, worked long shifts, and kept answering calls while carrying unimaginable memories. 9-11 inspired Raleigh Fire Lieutenant James Jones to join the force, telling me it's a day he'll never forget.

Really touching because being in a volunteer setting, it actually put me in the mindset of I have to do something for my country. My heart goes out to those families because there's still people suffering from 25 years ago, still to today, because there's no time period in a loss like that. In the triangle, Akela Davis, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Akela, thanks. And new tonight here on eyewitness news, we're taking a look at the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched after 9-11. The VA says 30% of veterans who served in those wars have post-traumatic stress disorder that continue to be. impacting their lives and in many cases their families too. Tonight we're introducing you to a Wake County woman touched by PTSD who decided to do something to help and now she's serving 3,000 people.

Elena Athens has the details from our downtown Raleigh Newsroom. Elena, what can you tell us? Well yeah, the nonprofit that I met with today says that 9-11 can stir up a lot of emotions for folks. I did speak with a soldier's wife who's also working through that right now. It can be a very emotional day for me to say the least. Allie Anderson grew up in a military family. Both parents served in the armed forces.

She shared this picture from when her dad came home from the Middle East in 1995 and says every year. On this day, she's reminded of his sacrifices over 32 years. A large amount of his career was heavily influenced by the events of 9-11. Her husband is currently deployed with the 82nd Airborne. While she's home caring for their two kids, Anderson says the nonprofit The Joel Fund has helped her through the emotional struggles and stresses. Get out of the house, you know, lean on each other. And this is our multi-purpose room. The fund opened its Joel Center just three months ago in Rollsville. Most of the programming for the veterans and their families are done in this room. Nearly all of the

services are free. It's where we can meet one-on-one with people if they need that assistance. Brooke Dickhart started the fund and named it after her father, a former Navy SEAL who passed away in 2014. she says after a long battle with PTSD. The fund serves about 3,000 people now. Dick Hard believes the number will rise the next year, and she's trying to offer everyone hope. We just took our experience and turned it into an organization so we could help other families so they didn't have to go through what we went through.

So volunteers from that organization will be at Rollsville's 9-11 remembrance service tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock that will take place at the elementary school, letting people know that they are folks, they are willing to help and a safe space to go. We're live in the Raleigh, Eyewitness News Center, Elena, Athens, ABC 11, I Witness News. Really amazing grassroots effort there to help people with PTSD. Yeah, it is. Finding community through tragedy, unfortunately. Elena, thank you. And as we marked 25 years since 9-11, a first-time author and Carrie is out with a new work of fiction

that puts a real-life September 11th hero inside the story. The local novelist, with an unlikely personal connection to the attack, spoke to eyewitness news this week. Patrick Stapleton was a preteen in New York when the towers fell. But two years before 9-11, a 10-year-old Patrick got an autograph from a Boston college lacrosse player named Wells Crowther. He kept that ball in a case in his bedroom, not knowing the hero Wells would become. Wells was 24 in Equities Trader and former volunteer firefighter when Flight 175 hit the South Tower. He stayed, saving as many as 18 lives before the tower collapsed. For months, survivors knew him only as the man in the red bandana.

In his debut novel, The Last I Love You, Patrick made Wells a critical character. When I think of his age, Joel, I think we're in the 25th anniversary now, and so he's been gone longer than he was alive. And I think a lot about that and how his legacy is still as strong as ever. Patrick says he sent the book to Wells Crowther's mother before publishing to get her blessing. Tonight in Fayetteville community members gathered to take part in the 9-11 Memorial Stair climb at Segger Stadium. Participants climbed 110 floors, which represent the stairs first responders faced inside the World Trade Center as they ran inside to help get people out. Among the 441 first responders killed back on that date, 343 were firefighters. I witness news spoke with

Captain Stephen Shakeshap, the Fayetteville Fire Department at that event, and he told us about what it means to Fayetteville to see the community come out. Here in Fayetteville, being the largest neighbor to the largest military installation in the world, we were especially other than New York City, D.C. and Shanksville, nobody else recognized the cost of war and the burden of freedom more than the city of Fayetteville. So it really is extra special here. The event was hosted by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Since that tragic day, 25 years ago, September 11th has been transformed into a day of giving back for many people. The anniversary of the 9-11 attacks is now federally recognized as a National Day of Service. Members of the Disney volunteers were at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan today, preparing to pack meals for charity. Among those there, Disney CEO, Josh Debrae O'Connell,

Chairman of Disney Entertainment Television, Kevin Martinez of ESPN and Allman, Kara Medovic of ABC News. The idea to make September 11th a day of service was first conceived back in 2002 to honor the spirit of unity and service that arose after the attacks. Coming up, a new twist in the case the man accused of causing a disturbance on UNC's campus. We're explaining why that man did not show. up in court in Orange County today while he remains held in Wake County. And some parking confusion at a popular Raleigh shopping center. The I-team troubleshooter breaking down what you need to know before your next trip to North Hills. And Don's

checking on the temps outside right now. Cooler than they were last night because of the showers that work through rain's done for now, but more on the way tomorrow. We'll talk about our rain chances on your Saturday and your complete forecast next. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness News continues now. We are back now with Breaking News in Raleigh. A woman has been hit and killed by a train. This happened near the state fairgrounds. Our breaking news crew on the scene along the train tracks right off Hillsboro Street and Powell Drive. This is right behind the Berks Brothers hardware store, the RPD trying to figure out why the woman was on the tracks and they're working to identify her. The man accused of causing a disturbance at UNC Chapel Hill was expected in court today but remains in Wake County on two separate pending matters. 45-year-old Keegan Wilson faces disorderly conduct and simple assault charges in connection with this incident at Greenlaw Hall.

Black student groups were having a watch party there before the disturbance. Wilson is accused of assaulting one person. Court documents say Wilson pushed and chased people with a sharp object, sprayed them with an alcohol-based substance and used a lighter, along with hitting people and using offensive and hateful language. I think the university could have done a better job of alerting the students, like, hey, maybe stay away from this area, like don't. because there were people who weren't involved in the situation who were still walking through. UNC police say they quickly apprehended Wilson, so they did not issue an alert Carolina notification,

but some students say they still wanted to know what was happening. Wilson has no prior criminal record, and he's currently under an involuntary commitment order following a mental health crisis. His next court date is in Orange County on September the 23rd. The I-Team Troubyshruiter is diving into parking frustrations at a popular North Raleigh shopping area. The parking is free, but with a catch, and one woman, Caught a mistake, last year, North Hills implemented new parking enforcement in some areas where you can park for free. But you first must register your car by scanning a QR code or risk getting a citation. At first, you got three hours of free parking.

And then this summer, it was knocked down to two hours. But not all the signs were changed. Courtney Carroll visited North Hills and parked where the signs stated three free hours of parking. And she even snapped a picture of the sign. But two hours into her dinner, she got an alert. Her free parking expired and she had to pay. I think it's very misleading. You are kind of being forced to pay into that, especially when it was advertised as three hour parking and then you get a text two hours into dinner. You're kind of forced to pay. Otherwise you're going to get the ticket. A representative with Kane Realty said when its power parking program changed this past June to just two hours, the company says signage was updated throughout the area, but acknowledges one sign still showed three hours, which has now been corrected.

They also apologize for the confusion this may have caused, and if anyone has experienced an issue, they are happy to offer a courtesy waiver. Kerry, town leaders are going back to school on how to manage your tax dollars after that scathing state audit exposed how the town was spending your money. Last night's crash course is a step one program of a 39-step plan ordered up to fix the town's spending and rebuild its savings. The state auditor recommended the training after a report blasted Kerry for extravagant spending and a serious lack of oversight and transparency. Now the town council says it'll update its savings policy at its next work session. The federal government is no longer threatening to withhold highway money from North Carolina over its handling of commercial driver's licenses issued to people who are not American citizens. That's according to our news gathering partners at the News and Observer. The NC DMV revamped how it issued certain CDLs to make sure it's meeting federal requirements.

Over the summer, the DMV was able to resume issuing CDLs to migrants who are in the country legally, but Changes in federal rules could make those licenses rare in the future. All right, Don told us about the storm risk coming our way this weekend, but he's also got some 80s and a drop in humidity to tell us about. And some pancakes for breakfast. Oh, that's Friday night. The only night of the week we do your flabjack forecast. It kind of started off. You're home with kids tomorrow.

Maybe good morning and make some breakfast. Temperatures will be in the 70s. Could see some patchy fog very early in the morning. We're in the 80s by lunchtime. All right. Let's talk about what we're seeing as far as the one big thing. thing to take away from tonight's forecast. Be ready for some scattered late day showers tomorrow.

Even a few rumbles of thunder. We're not in a high risk for severe weather, so that's great news. But you still could see a shower or two out there. Live look at First Alert Doppler net. We see mainly, this is mainly radar trash through here, but we are seeing one little shower out in Alamance County that's just kind of popped up in the past hour. That will die out quickly and the rain will shut off overnight. We'll head south first in our viewing area.

a live look into Fayetteville on the self-help sky cam. 74 right now, clear east-southeast wind at 5 miles an hour. We'll come up to RDU, 76, mostly cloudy and an east-southeast wind. Mannyota Murphy tonight, 80 down at the coast, 14 degrees cooler up on Boone at 66, 79 in the triad, 77 in Greenville, 72 in Chase City, 78 in Lumberton and 73 out in Asheville. Overnight, we'll see our temperatures into the 70s for lows. Mostly cloudy skies.

That patchy fog I mentioned happening around 6, 7 o'clock in the morning. By 8, 9 o'clock, it's burned off. So if you sleep a little later tomorrow, you won't run into it. Fitness forecasts. Temperatures will be in the 70s tomorrow morning. By 10 o'clock, we get to about 80 degrees. And by lunchtime, the 84. Satellite radar composite shows the showers that we saw earlier really clearing out tonight.

We'll see a break in the action. We zoom it out. Still some energy out west, though. This is what we'll work in as we head through the day tomorrow. So let's time it out for you. First alert predictor forecast model. We'll start today around 80 degrees. And then by the afternoon, there's those showers popping.

3, 4, 5 o'clock. Could have some rumbles of thunder as well. The bigger story will be these things have a lot of moisture to work with. It's so humid out there that anything that does get rolling could put down some heavy rainfall. Then as we go into tomorrow night, those showers, for the most part, shut off, can see an isolated shower to start Sunday. Most of Sundays rain free till late in the day. And then by Monday, we start to clear out and we see temperatures back into the 80s near 90 before some cooler air works in for next week. For tomorrow, though, we expect temperatures in the 80s.

First half of the day is dry. Second half, 40 to 50 percent chance of shower. So some folks aren't even going to see rain tomorrow. Other folks could see a very heavy rainfall, though. We'll keep an eye on it throughout the day. 86 tomorrow at Fort Bragg, 88 down in Clinton, 86 in Sanford. Pinehurst will go to 85. 87, Wendell, 85 up in Behavis.

Hama, 84, Pittsburgh, 87 in Holly Springs, 88 Tarborough, 86, Lewisburg, 84 in Henderson. First alert, seven-day forecast, powered by Accuweather. Sunday, spotty storms around 91 degrees. If you're headed to the Panthers game in Charlotte, it could be the hottest home opener ever. Monday, 93, Tuesday, humidity drops, temp drops. We're in the 80s, Tuesday into Wednesday. Not a bad midweek. That's looking good.

It is. Don, thank you. ABC 11 spotlighting people and products that are North Carolina made. Just ahead, we're introducing you to the NC State Professor whose barbecue sauce is becoming a wolfpack favorite. And remember, you can always watch eyewitness news live on ABC 11, Disney Plus, and wherever you stream. Eyewitness News. We are Local News, weeknights 4 to 630 and 11. ABC 11 is always spotlighting people and products that are North Carolina made. And tonight we're taking a look at a new barbecue sauce that's perfect for Wolfpack tailgating parties.

It's called sloboring sauce and it was created by wildlife and biology professor Dr. Chris Depperno. What started out as a homemade recipe served as cookouts for more than 15 years and has grown into a business with a bigger purpose. A portion of every purchase supports student scholarships. The collaboration with North Carolina State University is extremely important to me and my family. And I love working with students and teaching students and being able to provide some dollars. for future scholarships to help train the next generation is very, very important to us. DeParno says North Carolina's two iconic barbecue traditions inspired slobbering sauce. He wanted it to be a mix of the eastern and western styles of barbecue the state is known for.

All right, ABC 11 is your home for SEC football. It all kicks off tomorrow at noon with Arizona State traveling to number 10, Texas A&M. Then at 3.30, number 12, Alabama hits the road for a matchup with Kentucky and the game of the season. 730 with number one Ohio State heads to Austin taking on the fourth ranked longhorns college football this weekend right here on ABC 11. Thank you very much, Kate, guys.