ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 4pm - July 22, 2026

Episode Date: July 22, 2026

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Straight ahead here. And I went to the news at 4 o'clock. Tropical storm Bertha makes landfall. The storm having an indirect impact on North Carolina, bringing heavy rain and flash flooding to the area. We'll tell you everything you need to know. The solemn reminder of the cost of war. The bodies of four fallen service members are back on U.S. soil. Today's dignified transfer marks the third President Trump has attended in nearly five months.

I'm Christiane-Cordero in Washington with the latest coming up. That's ahead. Also, Wake County Schools racing to complete emergency repairs at three of its schools. We're getting an update on how it's going. I would just use at four. It starts right now. Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, keeping you connected to your community and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11. I Witness News. Right now with four storm clouds are hanging over Raleigh today. It's the prelude. to some significant rain that could flood parts of the viewing area tonight and tomorrow morning. And as we prepare for the potential storms, we're keeping an eye on the Doppler net and the roads this afternoon.

Roads in Wake County are dry right now, but as a Doppler net shows us, some rain is headed our way. And thank you for joining us for the news at four. I'm Barbara Gibbs. And I'm Amber Repenta, and today is a first alert day. That's because some rain is heading our way and it could lead to some flash flooding. For that reason, the viewing area is under a flood watch through tomorrow evening. Meteorologist Steve Stewart is in the first alert forecast center timing it all out. So Steve, when can we expect to see that rain? Probably later on this evening. We already have some rain up around the Virginia border.

And it's been there most of the afternoon. And at times very heavy. We can't rule out an isolated strong storm, especially in our northern counties. There's a level two risk there. Really low risk at a brief little spin up. We had one tornado warning up in Virginia that didn't last too long. We could see that this evening. We'll be watching for that.

But by far the greatest threat here is going to be the heavier downpour. As a flood watch for the entire area all the way through the day tomorrow, with the majority of the rain that you're going to see is going to be overnight tonight. And again, tomorrow morning, this is really going to be the biggest risk here. Damaging wind is a medium risk, but a low-level risk for that isolated brief spin-up. That flooding risk highest is going to be from the triangle northward tonight. That shifts farther south tomorrow with that slow-moving front, and even more so as we get into Friday.

But again, there's going to be some heavier rain that moves over saturated ground. If you look at this, the recent rain we had, didn't get much of anything yesterday, but over the last five days, many areas picked up a good widespread two, three, three and a half inches of rainfall. So the rain that's going to come heavy tonight, it won't take much for this to have runoff issues. Got some little cells that are popping up in our northern counties. So notice the direction that they're also moving. And a thunderstorm and getting close to the triad right now, we're quiet. And our in-house model keeps us quiet for quite a while, but later on, it shows the rain coming in.

If you choose RDU and look at all these different models, widespread one to two inches, but the high-resolution rapid refresh model is really bullish, and that's not impossible to get something like that. And again, our model keeps the triangle fairly quiet through the early evening. Late evening, we start getting some showers and thunderstorms. But look at the probabilities really ratcheting up overnight, early tomorrow morning, maybe that morning commute for you around the triangle. could really have not only rain, but heavy rain, and we could have ponding on the roadways. 91 into North Hills right now, DuPont at 69. It's breezy out there. The winds have been gusting to near 30 miles an hour, and the outflow from those thunderstorms up in Virginia have cooled our

northern counties to the 70s. Elsewhere, it's in the 90s, and look at Fayetteville at 98 degrees at this hour. If you're taking a pup for a walk around the triangle, for now it looks like a relatively low risk early. It's later in the evening. We'll start getting. some showers and some thunderstorms coming in. Next week, we have less rain, not zero rain, but less rain. More on that coming up in the 70 forecast. All right. So much to think about.

Steve, thank you. And you can get the latest watches and warnings with the ABC 11 app. It is free. You can also check Dopplernet and the 70 forecast anytime. Well, happening now, emergency repairs are underway at three Wake County schools weeks before the start of the traditional calendar school year. And today's school leaders providing an update on the projects. Elena Athens is joining us live at Creech Road Elementary.

in Garner with more. Hi, Lena. Good afternoon to you, Amber. Yeah, if you can see behind me, there are crews here working right now, dumpster trucks. We've seen a number of workers coming in and out of this property as that work is underway. Wait County School District says that these guys are going to be working not only at this school, but the others seven days a week. We found supplies in the parking lot and crews working at Durant Road Elementary School in North Raleigh. In Garner today, we saw yellow caution tape in the back of Creech Road Elementary, dumpsters and a scissor lift.

were set up on the other side of the building. The Wake County School District is also making an emergency repair at Davis Drive Elementary. In total, the fixes are expected to cost $5.6 million. As engineers, we've got public safety top of minds. We sat down with structural engineer Cody Johnson, who owns a firm Oak Line. Johnson has worked on schools before. He says in one case, after a roof collapsed, I asked him about Wake's investigation into these schools, which found missing rebar, grout, compromised beam connection elements,

and roof support structures. Johnson says those last two findings are extremely concerning. When I hear you say connections, especially at the roof elevation, there's concern that there's a spontaneous collapse where we have no warning. And that's the type of failure mode that engineers do not want. We put a high level of safety factor on those items.

Hoping that all of these repairs are done by the start of the school year ahead at 5 o'clock, what that structural engineer is saying about this timeline. and the permits that will be required for staff, as well as students to be allowed to go back inside these structures. We'll have that coming up. For now we're live in Garner,

Elena, Athens, ABC 11, eyewitness news. I'm trying to get it right for all those students before school starts. Elena, thank you. New this afternoon, Durham Fire is investigating a fire at an auto shop. Chopper 11 flying over the scene here. This is the 2,700 block of Hillsborough Road

and you can see the extensive amount of damage to the building and smoke, even some flames coming out there. We're told that fire started with one car, and then it quickly spread to multiple bays of the auto shop. And right now, crews remain on scene working to extinguish the flames, and we are working to learn more on the cause and if anyone was hurt. Today, the bodies of four Army service members killed in the Middle East are back in the U.S.

President Trump among those in attendance for the dignified transfer. Two of those fallen American troops, Sergeant Michael Swinton, and First Lieutenant Tyler Fiann. We're stationed at Fort Bragg. ABC's Christian Cordero is live in Washington with the latest on this. John, good afternoon to you. Today's ceremony is a reminder of the human cost of war, a war that could be expanding. Yeah, absolutely on both points. Barbara, good to be with you as well. Look, this is the third dignified transfer. President Trump has attended since the start of the war

with Iran nearly five months ago. Today, one by one, cases draped in the American flag were transferred from a military jet onto American soil. Military personnel escorted the bodies of the four fallen service members at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base in order of rank, 25-year-old First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii, 30-year-old Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton of North Carolina, 28-year-old Sergeant Angel Rampersat of New York, and Private Isabella Gonzalez of Texas, just 19 years old. President Trump was among the guests in attendance meeting with the families

before the dignified transfer. They're their children. There's no games, no nothing. that's their child. And all you can do is throw out your heart. The Pentagon says three of the fallen soldiers were killed during Iranian airstrikes at a U.S. base in Jordan. Sergeant Swinton died from injuries he sustained during the controlled detonation of an Iranian

drone in Iraq, according to the Pentagon. Their deaths mark at least 18 Americans killed so far in a war that continues to escalate. Trump today in a social media post threatened to bomb one bridge or power plant anytime Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded on state media threatening to retaliate against any such strikes by hitting bridges and other infrastructure in the region that the U.S. relies on.

Now, in addition to the human toll that you mentioned, Barbara, Defense Secretary Pete Hegsef yesterday, told senators that he estimates the cost of the war with Iran is so far at $37.5 billion. We're live in Washington. Kristianne Cordero. Barbara, back to you. All right. Chris John, thank you. Thank you. In the wake of the deaths of those soldiers, eyewitness news sat down with the Fort Bragg

casualty supervisor whose job is to deliver some of the hardest news the family can ever receive. When a soldier dies, the family basically has no clue as to be, what needs to be done. So we basically, we're that light in the darkness that gassed them through. A casualty officer helps families navigate every step after a service member is killed, goes missing, or is seriously injured, providing administrative, logistical, and emotional support when a soldier dies. They join a chaplain on the notification team delivering the news to loved ones in person. Fort Bragg's casualty office includes nine full-time personnel and about 70 casualty assistance officers who support families through the days and months that follow.

Coming up here on Iowa News at 5 o'clock, our Penelope Lopez is sitting down with a Fort Bragg chaplain who shares how they help military families and fellow service members. begin to navigate an unimaginable loss. Now to some other local headlines in your speed feed. First, authorities arrested private school track coach in Durham this afternoon on charges related to child pornography. According to arrest records obtained by eyewitness news, 21-year-old Sumner Verkler is charged with 10 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Verkler was an assistant track and field coach in Durham Academy. However, the school says there's no evidence that their charges are connected to any Durham Academy students. is now charged after a domestic incident that led to an hours-long standoff overnight in Raleigh. This happened at a home on Penn Oak Road around 915 last night. Police say the suspect identified as Donovan Privet assaulted a woman inside the home and refused to leave or let her leave. He eventually surrendered around midnight. Prevette is facing several charges including common law robbery, first degree and second degree kidnapping and assault on a female.

In Chatham County, a Pittsburgh man is facing multiple charges including kidnapping and felony cruelty to animals after a domestic dispute ended with a dog being shot multiple times. It happened last Friday at a home on Cedar Grove Road. Deputies responded after a woman called and said her husband was trying to kill her. The couple's four-year-old son was also in the home. Deputies heard multiple gunshots while trying to get the suspect to come out of the home. A short time later, the suspect Michael Livendowski Jr. came out of the home and was taken into custody. A dog was found dead inside the home. One person and the couple's four-year-old son were taken to the hospital for medical evaluation. Levantowski is being held in the Chatham County Jail.

And that is your speed feed. Amber, back to you. Barbara is still ahead here on eyewitness news at 4 o'clock. The family of a Mississippi teenager who died on a boating trip, 4th of July weekend, is responding after a private autopsy finds the cause of death undetermined pending an investigation. The only question that we have is what happened to our son. The latest in the investigation as to what happened to Nolan Wells. And a trial date has been set for ousted Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife in their narco-terrorism and drug trafficking case. Steve? Okay, I-40 aviation right now.

Boy, it's pretty crowded out there as you would expect this time of day. But no rain yet. The rain up in our northern counties, it's going to take some time before that entire ban starts to press farther to the south. So the early evening should be okay. But later on, overnight tonight, boy, we could have some flooding concerns. We'll talk more about that coming up. But first, here's your traffic hotspots brought to you by. West Shore home.

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Right now at 4, a preliminary independent autopsy has found Nolan Wells' cause of death to be undetermined at this point. The Mississippi team mysteriously disappeared after its life worth outing with friends. ABC's Reno Roy has the latest. The preliminary results of an independent autopsy finding Noel, in Wells' cause of death is undetermined. Based on the examination of the body, he cannot rule out foul place. The 18-year-old mysteriously disappeared after a July 4th boat trip with friends to an island off the Mississippi coast. Those friends returning without him saying he stayed behind after meeting a girl.

His body was found nearby two days later. Investigators say they believe Wells drowned, an official cause of death along with the state's autopsy and toxicology reports have not yet been released. It was not even an hour that his body had been removed and the sheriff came out and said, this is, you know, accidental drowning. Wells's family sent his body to Washington, D.C. for the independent autopsy. According to records obtained by ABC News, the medical examiner found an area of red discoloration on the back of the teen's head, but says it's not clear what may have caused it. But it does still raise the question of when did that red get there, how serious is that redness?

That in of itself, I don't think, is a cause of death, of course, because that's why the autopsy here did not point to it, but it does lead to more questions. During the initial autopsy performed by the state, tissue from his body was removed, which doctors say is common so that investigators can look deeper inside the body. The family now asking for that tissue to be further examined.

The only question that we have is what happened to our son. The sheriff says more than 60 witnesses have now been interviewed and that the teen's phone is being analyzed. Rina Roy, ABC News, New York. New this afternoon, ousted Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro and his wife will stand trial June 1st, 2027. During today's procedural hearing, attorneys discussed evidence, disclosure, material classification, and pretrial deadlines. Maduro and his wife both faced narco-terrorism charges after their arrest during a U.S. military raid in Caracas back in January. The couple is pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they fix the possibility of life in prison. Tracking the

tropics now and Tropical Storm Bertha has Delta blow to protected sea turtles on St. George Island, Florida. That's right. So local patrol groups report more than 200 nests were washed away by the storm. Nearly two-thirds of all nests on the beach. Each one typically holds anywhere from 80 to 120 eggs for the nests that remain. Crews say that it will be a couple months until they know if those eggs will hatch. I know. I don't like that. I know.

I hate to hear it. Yeah. Yeah. And listen, it's funny. I'm not funny. But when you break it down, the amount of rainfall compared to where Bertha is,

we're going to get more. Oh. It's more of a wind event, isn't it? Yeah, it's a wind of wind, and the seas are up, obviously, down there. So, but the moisture is getting pulled up here, folks, and it's interacting with the front.

And, boy, we are going to get quite a bit of rape. Severe risk is level one. There was a two. in our northern counties, SPC has brought that down a little bit. The flooding is really the big story here. It's an elevated flooding risk for overnight tonight into tomorrow morning. Matter of fact, through the day tomorrow, we have a flood that watch that's in effect for the entire area. Right now we're looking quiet out there.

We're even seeing just partly to mostly cloudy skies out there at this time, but we do anticipate the rain to be pushing south later on. Elevated flood risk and it'll be a stormy overnight tonight with some rounds of heavy rain. A soaking rain tomorrow. Aries are flooding. If you come across something like this, don't even attempt it. Turn around, call work and say, listen, I can't get in. Whatever it is, not worth the risk to drive through that. I got to say to 50, 50 weekend, Sunday being the better half. But keep this in mind, doesn't mean it's going to be dry, but just notice the probabilities going down as we get closer to Sunday. But tomorrow's going to be, again, quite a bit of rain. The heaviest is likely going to be in the morning as we're pulling some of this moisture from Bertha interacting with this front. And where is that front going to stall? Some of the latest guidance will suggest farther south as we get into Friday and Saturday, which means less rain for us. But along that boundary, right, that stationary front, we have an area of convergence and we get the rising air at that point in time and the steering currents push this in the same direction. We call this a training event. That's why it's so easy to have flooding in some areas and hardly anything at all in others.

So it really depends on where that sets up. And tonight it's really going to be from the triangle and points northward. Tomorrow you see how that higher risk shifts to the south and east and even more so farther to the south as we get into Friday and that'll be fine tuned. WPC has quite a bit of rain around overnight tonight and then notice tomorrow still some heavy rain, but it's really triangle and point southward even more so as we get into our Friday and then Saturday just a few leftover showers. We might even pull back on rain chances, but for now I'm going to keep them elevated until we see where this front is. Can't rule out a brief spin up. That's a possibility. low in risk, maybe some damaging winds with the thunderstorms that develop.

The hands down, this is going to be a flooding concern for us. And look at how all that rain moving west to east has been going on during the course of the day. On DopplerNet right now, we've got some spotty showers that are popping up. Notice the lightning that's really flared up here in the last little second. Let's get a little bit closer there. I don't think we have much in the way of rotation. There could be a little bit something we need to watch here. If we get a brief spin up, I'll let you know if that does indeed happen.

Now, I don't like showing models in a situation like this, but the high-resolution rapid refresh here is initializing fairly well. So you can see where the bands of heavy rain are going to be as we go into the overnight hours. And the issue is tomorrow morning. This could be set up right over the triangle potentially. It could be farther north. It could be farther south. But for now, we're going to go ahead and say in and around the triangle. That morning commute tomorrow could be an absolute mess.

91 right now in the North Hills at Southwest Breeze at 16. It's been gusting at times. Outflow from the thunderstorms have cooled our northern counties. Look at Fayetteville, 98, where the heat indexed about 102 degrees, so really got a lot of fuel for these thunderstorms. If you're heading out to see Death Cab for Cutie tonight at Walnut Creek, our model keeps things quiet for the concert, but don't be surprised if you get some rain coming on by. Hands down, it's going to be tomorrow morning, the elevated risk for rain. So you have a lot of. commute tomorrow morning. It could be quite a bit of a mess. Where does this stall out right now that European model keeps it farther south on Friday and it keeps a few showers around on Saturday as well. Obviously with Bertha right now, it's made landfall there in the southern south of New Orleans. It'll hold its strength as it gets closer to Houston, but the heavy rain is really going to be in the Gulf. They're not worried about flooding rains there. We'll get the rain tonight. It'll be heavy at times that risk of flooding tonight and again tomorrow. Temperatures will be in the 70s where the rain cool there could be a little delay on the rain making it down to the sandhills. First of all,

seven day. So a flooding risk tomorrow, a flood thread on Friday, but mainly south. It depends on where the front sets up. We're not done yet. Still some showers around on Saturday. Sunday just a spotty shower. And then we're going to heat up next week in the 90s and a few storms next Tuesday evening. All right. Look at that 70s though. I haven't seen that in a while. All right. Steve. busy day for you. Thank you. Still to come here at 4 o'clock. One gas station chain is showing appreciation to our first responders with some free treats. We'll tell you who is doing that when we come back. Also, a warning for Chick-fil-A customers. The fast food chain says it was hit with a data breach. What you need to know if your account was compromised.

Wendy's 99 cent frosty is back and frosty farmers couldn't be happier. Made with Canadian dairy, they grow up cool, creamy, and mild. think. It's farm to Frosty. Get a small 99 cent frosty until August 2nd and participating Wendy's Texas Extra. It's time now for some news you can use and an important update for Raleigh residents. The city's yardway center is going cashless. Starting August the 1st, the Solid Ways Services Yard Waste Center will no longer accept cash payments. City leaders say the move will help to improve efficiency, enhanced security and also reduce expenses. And you can pay using credit or debit cards and you can find more info on the city of Raleigh's website.

Chick-fil-A is warning some customers after a cyber attack targeted its loyalty program. The fast food chain says hackers used email addresses and passwords obtained from a third-party source to access some Chick-fil-A-1 accounts last month. The company says names, email addresses, membership numbers, the last four digits of some payment cards, and also gift card balances may have been exposed. Chick-Fleigh says that it logged defected customers out of their accounts and removed stored payment methods. And now to the push to honor first responders this Friday, July 24th. Circle K is offering free hot dogs, cookies, and soda to all first responders.

You must show official ID to take part in the promotion. It's all part of the convenience industry's annual 24-7 day. And also throughout the month of July, Circle K says that customers can round up purchases at self-checkout to benefit the American Red Cross as well. And that's news you can use. Barbara, back to you. All right, Amber, thank you. Up next, snap enrollment drops in 49 states since this time last year, including here in North Carolina. After the break, we're hearing from local food banks who say they're seeing an increase

and people following those outs. And the Durham Exchange Club is celebrating six decades of helping people with disabilities gain real world work experience. The big event held today to mark the nonprofit's milestone anniversary. We are local news. Want to see your rewards go further? Now at Shell, Scene Plus members can fill up on points at the pump, on snacks, car wash, and more. Plus, Scotia Bank and Tangerine card holders can get up to 10 cents per liter in value with a linked card.

New rewards partners, new ways to save and earn at Shell. Get more, go further. At participating shell locations, conditions and limits apply. Actual value may be lower. Visit shell.ca. slash loyalty for full details. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. And we're back now here with your top stories at 4.30 first.

The bodies of four U.S. service members killed in the Middle East in the last week are now back on U.S. soil. President Trump attending the dignified transfer today. Service members killed in action include Fort Bragg's soldier and Fayetteville native sergeant Michael Swinton and Fort Bragg's lieutenant, Tyler Feehan. And today is a first alert weather day. The viewing area under a level. level one severe weather risk as storms head our way. And these storms are expected to bring heavy rains that could cause flash flooding. And not only is the heavy rain a concern, there's also a chance for damaging winds. And we're already seeing some strong winds.

It was a windy soccer practice for these players over at St. Mary's School in Raleigh today. Girls getting some kicks in despite the windy conditions and let's send things over to meteorologist Steve Stewart tracking those storms in the first alert forecast center. Hey Steve. Hey guys, yeah, this is going to be a while before this really pushes to the south. And we did have a level two risk earlier in our northern counties, SPC pulled back on that. So got to watch out for an isolated spin-up, though. I'll be doing that as we go through the evening. The big story here is the flooding risk. And again, it's going to take some time, but pretty rare for us to have a level three out of four risk of flooding.

That's why the entire area is under that flood watch for overnight tonight. And really through the day tomorrow, there'll be some bands that set up and slowly push south overnight into tomorrow morning and really cost some issues. So there's the risk today. Notice tomorrow it pushes to the south and even more so as we get into our Friday. And it depends on where that front sets up. If it's far enough to the south, a lot of us could be fairly quiet, although still cloudy on our Friday. Look at the recent rain we had in the last five days. Many areas of ground is pretty damp, if not saturated.

We had widespread areas of two, even three inches of rain. And whatever starts to come in here tonight could be a runoff concern. We had a couple little thunderstorms moving on by that one right there kind of ramped up. but now it's weekend. But we're seeing a few more kind of in that same trajectory. I'll be watching that. Any flooding has been going on up in Virginia. It'll take some time before that settles to the south.

But notice most of the models, one to two inches, the high-resolution rapid refresh model, really bullish on amounts, and that could verify in a few areas easily. We could get that much. And notice our model keeps things quiet early evening. It's late evening and overnight.

Those probabilities really keep ratcheting up. And your morning commute tomorrow could be a really wet one. So we got to give ourselves extra time and be cautious out there. 91 and steamy out there. Breezy is well out of the south and west. Rain cooled 70s northern counties farther to the south. Yeah, it's very hot near 100 degrees down in Fayetteville,

with feels like temperatures over 100. Early evening should be okay to take the pups out, but if you wait a little later on, you could get caught in a shower with thunderstorm. Now next week, less rain, not zero, but less rain. And we'll talk more about that coming up in the 70 forecast. All right. Steve, thank you. And right now here at Four Food and Security

remains a really big issue across our area. There's a new report out from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, finding an estimated four million Americans have been dropped from SNAP between July 2025 and April 2026. Michael Perchick visits Catholic Parish Outreach Food Pantry today, which says

there's say more clients than ever. It's another busy Wednesday at this food distribution site in Raleigh as a team of volunteers are working hard to try and keep up with the increasing demands. aisles of food stacked from floor to ceiling being cleared out over a span of hours as people need continue to show up. We just finished our fiscal year on June 30th and we were averaging about just under 3,000 families a month and we were just under 12,000 people a month. Kelly Rappell is the program director at Catholic Parish Outreach Food Pantry.

She says that figure is up 10% from last year. While they don't ask individuals the reason they're seeking assistance, it coincides with stricter eligibility requirements on SNAP. enacted by the federal government. The new law raised the upper limit for work requirements from 54 to 64 years old, while lowering the exemption for parents with children under 18 to just those with children under 14. There's many factors out there, including inflation and cuts to benefits and a lot of other factors that are definitely driving the need for them to come in. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities from last July to this April,

the number of SNAP enrollees in North Carolina dropped by more than 12 percent, But not everyone is no longer utilizing the program due to the new rules. Kayla Lawson got a job and can now support her family through her income, though she describes how important the benefits were. Makes you feel more secure. You're having something to fall back on. You're not worried about if you're choosing between your living situation and groceries. Coming up at 5.30, we'll take a closer look at the drop in SNAP enrollees in neighboring states

and how North Carolina stacks up. In Raleigh, I'm Michael Perchick. ABC 11, I would miss news. Michael, thanks. And if you or someone you know is in need of food, a food giveaway is happening tomorrow in Durham at 101 South Driver Street, you're asked to park at the nearby Shepard's House and make sure to bring your own bags and take what you need.

The giveaway starts at 5 p.m. And ABC 11 is partnered with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina in its annual initiative Stop Summer Hunger. Your donation can help families facing food and security across our. area. Every dollar donated will be matched up to $100,000. And we are nearing our goal of seven million meals. Five million has been raised so far. There's still time to give. You can donate from now until July 31st. And we put up more info on ABC11.com. Right now, for community advocates are continuing their calls for ICE to leave North Carolina. Today, dozens of people

gathered outside the state legislative building to protest ICE practices and remember those who've died in ICE operation. Sean Coffey has more from the group as they voiced their concerns. Today's gathering outside the legislative building here on the lawn culminated in the reading of roughly 60 names of people who have died in ICE detention or in ICE operations across the country. The gathering comes just weeks after the deaths of two people in Texas and Maine earlier this month. We're gathered here today to send a clear message to the Trump administration and state legislators. North Carolina opposes mass detention.

That was the message Wednesday outside the legislative building as dozens gathered to protest ICE tactics across the country. Dignity is not earned by citizenship. It is not determined by where someone is born. It is not dependent on immigration status. It is inherent. Demonstrators also calling on North Carolina lawmakers to stop the expansion of ICE detention centers and offices and do what they can to stop any permanent detention centers for being established in North Carolina. They also demanded lawmakers not cooperate with ice agents in North Carolina. We will for any ICE detention facilities in our state.

We have a moral responsibility to resist this. And we will speak out for those unjustly trapped inside these detention centers. Eyewitness news reached out to several legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle about the calls from protesters. In response, a spokesperson for House Speaker Destin Hall said the General Assembly has enacted three measures strengthening local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It is simply common sense that law enforcement agencies should work together to identify and remove individuals who are in this country illegally and commit crimes. Currently, ICE has several field offices here in North Carolina, but no long-term detention facilities

in the state. In Rollins, Sean Coffey, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Sean, thanks. Next year at 430, potential legal troubles for ECU School of Medicine. The Department of Education and DOJ launching an investigation into the school after alleged racial discrimination in admission practices. And a North Carolina Crumble cookie shop goes viral after employees are captured on video doing hair while on the job. My name is Peter Parker, but I'm also Spider-Man. This July, we're faced with a threat. That could be anyone. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker. I'm just a neighbor, friendly neighbor. But he hasn't forgotten them. Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing.

That's my responsibility. Dr. Banner? I didn't know you could get that big. Spider-Man, brand-new day. In theaters, July 31st. New here at 4. The Brody School of Medicine at ECU is now under investigation for alleged racial discrimination in admission practices.

ECU is among five other medical schools being investigated by the Department of Education, DHS, and the DOJ. A news release about the investigations did not give details of allegations involving ECU, but federal authorities say they are looking for evidence of race, conscious admissions practices. The investigation will determine whether ECU violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a statement, the university said, quote, the university, including

the Brody School of Medicine, complies with the Supreme Court ruling in the students for fair admission v. Harvard related presidential executive orders and other federal state and UNC system guidance, end quote. The university says, that it will respond to the Department of Education. Well, now to an investigation in South Carolina, four church leaders, including a former South Carolina pastor and his wife, are facing charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Investigators say that they helped conceal a registered sex offender's involvement with children at the Paulies Island Community Church and its affiliated school. The church leaders also face additional charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk or of cause, harm, or willful, abandoning a child. Investigators say that they're now analyzing digital devices,

seized from the church and those charged. In Charlotte, a Crumble Cookies customer expressing concern after he says he saw an employee styling another employee's hair near a food preparation area. The man recorded the incident earlier this week. You see the video here. The company responded in a statement saying, quote, the conduct shown is unacceptable and does not reflect crumble standards, end quote. This location was closed. and a thorough cleaning took place. It officially reopened on Tuesday. Next year at four, a rare goodwill find equals a massive payday for one very lucky team. The item he found that belonged to a basketball icon.

And a woman's day goes from leisurely to alarming when a bear decides it wants to join in. The musty video when we come back. New it for the Durham Exchange. This episode is brought to you by Activia. You might already be eating yogurt, but not all yogurts are created equal. Activia contains over 1 billion probiotics per serving to survive and reach the gut alive. When it comes to gut health, Activia is the number one family doctor-recommended probiotic yogurt brand. Choose Activia. Feel good from the inside out.

Visitactivia.com.ca for more details. The Exchange Club Industries held a special event today honoring its 60th anniversary, the local nonprofit. that connects people with disabilities to job opportunities across Durham and some surrounding counties. The event featured remarks from local officials, advocates and their families. Organizers say the opportunities help people gain

real world work experience while receiving the support they need to build confidence and develop new skills. Now to today's top trending stories in real news. First, a heartwarming moment on a bus. It's so cute. A baby led her fellow passengers in a spontaneous round of applause.

In this video taken on a trip through Rocky Mountain National Park, the bus passengers there are seen laughing as they join in in that baby's infectious enthusiasm. The girl's mother shared the video saying she and her partner are both introverts and they're very surprised by how outgoing their daughter is. Mom says baby girl definitely demands attention wherever she goes. She is a leader. A woman's quiet moment on a park bench came to an abrupt end when an unexpected park goer decided to also take a seat. this is wild. Look at this. It's a bear, a black bear. You can see the woman here on video sitting on that bench when she turns around and sees the bear creeping close to her. She quickly gets up and it takes off. The bear doesn't appear to follow instead it goes into the

nearby woods. Wow, that's too close for comfort. Speaking of bears, an extremely chill bear has been winning hearts online and inspiring people with its relaxed attitude to life. Check out this bear at the Wild Safari in Jackson Township. He's just a little bit. You can see the bear just lolling in the water on his back before raising one of its front paws. People online have been making comparisons to the jungle books, blue, another super relaxed bear. The bear necessities of life. That doesn't even look real.

That's real news. It is not AI though, Barbara. Back to you. I was going to say it looks like a little cartoon. So cute. All right, well, you may be familiar with the saying one man's junk is another man's treasure. Well, that appears to be true for a teenager whose thrift store purchase just sold auction for nearly $90,000. Take a look at this. 19-year-old Quinn Brown first spotted the Los Angeles

Lakers jacket in someone else's arms at a goodwill in Hillsborough, Oregon. And when that person changed their mind about it, about buying it, Brown could not believe his luck. It only cost him $3. The jacket turned out to have been worn by Hall of Famer, Will Chamberlain, during the NBA finals in 1972. Sotheby's authenticated it and conducted the auction. How cool is that? Amazing. What an eagle eye he had to. That's right. Good for him. All right. Steve's a busy one this evening, tracking all the radar. I am. Let's just look at it some data there really quick before we get on here for you. So it is a level one risk. It was a level two in our northern counties. SBCs pulled back a little bit. Still, we can't rule out some damaging winds with some of the thunderstorms or a brief little spin-up. Hands down, the biggest story is going to be how much rain we're going to get. And we do have that flood watch tonight all the way through the day tomorrow. We could see. see areas picking up two to four inches of rainfall. Elevated flood risk as we go overnight. It will be stormy. Keep in mind this is a majority of this is going to be after the midnight hour really starts

to pick up. And during the day tomorrow, the morning commute could be a mess. If you see something like this, don't even try to drive through a turnaround, find a different way or just go head back home. It's not worth the risk. 50-50 weekend, I think Sunday's a better half. Doesn't mean we're not going to have rain. Those chances are drastically going to be coming down. the lion's share of this is going to be tonight and into tomorrow as that front's going to start to stall. Notice the risk tonight to level three out of four in our northern counties there.

That shifts farther south tomorrow and even more so on Friday. I wouldn't be surprised Friday if some of the guidance is right. We really start to pull back on the rainfall. WPC has the lion's share tonight and then tomorrow notice how that shifts farther south. Same thing on Friday. And then by the time we head to the weekend, just some scattered showers around. But birth is throwing some moisture our way. It's interacting where there's really slow front, and the question is, does the front stall and where is that going to be?

For now, we got little cells popping up. I'm watching for rotation in those. The heaviest rain most of the day has been up in Virginia. That should start pressing farther south as we go overnight tonight. We'll see that rain midnight 1-2 in the morning start to push in. Pockets of very heavy rainfall, and notice we could have widespread rain early tomorrow morning. Now, this is trying to show the heavier rain setting up to our south tomorrow morning. This is just one run. I think it's going to be more in the triangle as we get going through the morning hours. So do expect to have some ponding on the roadways. 91 into North Hills right now where we see in the outflow for those thunderstorms in Virginia's cooled 70s there.

Almost 100 right now down in Fayetteville. It feels like temperature at 102 degrees. So where does that front set up? The European model keeps it to the south. We might pull back a little bit on Friday's rain then. Same thing as we go into Saturday. Spotty showers around with the front nearby. We have to keep. it in the forecast. So for tonight, expect rounds of some very heavy rainfall, especially after midnight into tomorrow morning, and then we'll continue with on and off rain through later on the day. The biggest risk is going to be some flooding concerns during the course of the day. So it's a first alert day for tomorrow. A flood thread on Friday, but it's mainly south. It really depends on where that front sets up. We're not done yet. Still unsettled Saturday. A few spotty showers on Sunday, so that's the better half when we start to heat things back up. And then we go. back to the 90s as we get in early next week. Maybe we'll get some storms late Tuesday evening. Here's Steve and Lauren and what's coming up at 5 o'clock.

Hello Steve. Two Fort Bragg soldiers killed in action in the Middle East related to the war with Iran are now back on American soil. And new here at 5. We're talking to a chaplain at Fort Bragg who helps Army families in their time of tragedy. Also new at 5 o'clock there's a new crime fighting tool in Wake County. We're taking you inside a brand new DNA lab that could really help solve some crimes quicker than ever before. And new at 5. We are hearing from a man who was sitting in a window seat on a Boeing 737 when the window blew out, sucking his body halfway out the window right there in mid-flight.

His wife actually holding onto his legs so he wouldn't get sucked out entirely. He explains that terrifying ordeal. Wow. And check out this video. We're calling it the bear buffet. These guys know how to cool off in this intense summer heat. And finding lunch did not prove to be tough at all. We'll dive deeper into dinner from the bear cam.

All you can eat sushi right there, huh? We'll see it for the news at five here in just a few minutes. minutes. All right. Sounds great. See you then. New here at four, we are getting our first look at a new Disney Plus documentary made by the granddaughter of a Disney legend. From the moment you step inside, you are transported to another place. Kevin Feigey, James Cameron and John Favreau are among the icons appearing in Disney World Builders. It's a documentary directed by Leslie IWorks, granddaughter of UB, Iworks, who co-created Mickey Mouse alongside Walt Disney and it gives viewers a peek behind the curtain to see how some of Disney's iconic stories and worlds are created. The documentary is coming soon to Disney Plus. We are going to take a quick break. But when we come back, we're going to show you a unique summer camp dedicated to educating girls on their hair care.