What was supposed to be a quick stop for a family cookout quickly turned into a harsh lesson in discrimination for a mother of four who said she was kicked out of a Family Dollar store for wearing a niqab.

The incident, which was captured on cell phone video and took place in front of Sarah Muzdaher Safi’s children, began when Safi stopped inside a Family Dollar store in Gary, Indiana, Monday afternoon wearing the traditional Islamic veil.

Safi said she had gone to the store to pick up charcoal and was shocked when an employee demanded she either take off the niqab or leave.

In the video, an employee, who identified herself as a store manager, can be heard saying, "Yes ma’am, if you can’t remove that from your face, I’m going to need you to leave the store."

"I’ve worn my garments for a long time," Safi said. "I have never been treated like this in any establishment. Ever."

In the video, Safi tells the clerk she is wearing a religious garment.

“I understand, but you have to understand this is a high crime area where we get robbed a lot, you need to remove that from your face or remove yourself from the store,” the employee said.

The clerk told Safi to leave two more times before wishing her a “blessed day.”

"It's not just a blatant violation of the civil rights laws of this country but it's also a violation of the basic laws of decency and morality that you don't treat customers this way just because they have a different cultural background or a different religion,” said Ahmed Rehab with the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Family Dollar, which is owned by Dollar Express, did not respond to NBC Chicago’s request for comment.

Safi claims she contacted the chain about the incident and was told they were looking into it.

Safi said she won’t be going back to the store, but has a message for the woman in the video.

“I just want to understand….like I wish people would do of me. Just try to understand. I want to explain to her what I believe,” she said.

La Mesa businesses and eateries will unite Wednesday night for the launch of a brand-new community event aimed at highlighting the Village and all of its unique offerings.

The La Mesa Boulevard Stroll – starting Aug. 3 and happening on the first Wednesday of every month from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. – will give locals and visitors a chance to discover new businesses and restaurants in downtown La Mesa. The family-friendly event will include late-night hours at select shops and restaurants, drink and dining deals, food trucks, live music, local artists and activities for kids.

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More than two dozen businesses in the Village will participate in Wednesday’s kick-off event, including Bo-Beau Kitchen & Garden, Hoffer’s Cigar Bar, Pete’s Place, Johnny B’s, La Mesa Wine and Spirits and San Pasqual Winery, to name a few. For the full list of participating businesses and La Mesa Boulevard Stroll deals, click here.

As part of the event’s “Passport Program,” attendees can download and print a passport online and collect stamps from participating businesses along their stroll. If you get eight stamps, you can enter to win prizes from local businesses, including gift certificates, free dance classes, massages and more. Attendees can also pick up the passport at Prêt-à-Porter Salon & Spa or Legacy Park at La Mesa Boulevard.

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As the Strolls continue, organizers say future events will include photography contests, historic walking tours and picnics in the park. Locals are invited to suggest ideas for activities, too, by emailing organizers at lamesaboulevardstroll@gmail.com.

The La Mesa Boulevard Stroll is organized by a community group that includes local business owners: Teri Favro, owner of Amethyst Moon; Kim Creekmore, owner of Cultivate-a HairLoveDesign Salon; Jen Derks, owner of Four Fin Creative; Marvin Ballo, of La Mesa Wine & Spirts; and Roz Oserin, co-owner of Prêt-à-Porter Salon & Spa.

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US Beach Volleyball Player Lauren Fendrick said Wednesday that so far, the concern over water quality and the Zika virus have been “non-factors for us.”

The Carlsbad native ran into NBC 7’s Steven Luke outside the Summer Olympics’ beach volleyball venue on Copacabana Beach.

Fendrick, along with her husband, Andrew, gave an interview via Facebook Live to Luke.

She said she’s been thrilled with the energy of the city and hasn’t had any issues with some of the problems publicized heavily surrounding the Olympics.

“The Olympic energy is just incredible,” she gushed. “I’m super stoked to compete.”

Along with her feel for Rio, Fendrick told the Facebook audience that she's already looking ahead to Tuesday, when Team USA competes against Brazil, regarded as the best in beach volleyball in the world.

“You’re going to see some of the best beach volleyball here you’ve ever seen,” she told Luke.

Fendrick attended Carlsbad High School. This is her first Olympics, though she nearly qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Check out the Facebook Live above.

The Pentagon says 33 U.S. service members, including one who is pregnant, have contracted the Zika virus overseas, NBC News reported. 

Officials would not say where the service members were posted, but a defense official said all recently traveled to areas where Zika is prevalent. No details about the pregnant service member were provided. Six dependents of military personnel have also been infected, a Pentagon source told NBC News.

The Military Times reported that the Department of Defense started tracking the mosquito-horne illness earlier this year. 

"(We are actively testing mosquitoes) as part of our ongoing integrated vector control and surveillance programs at bases and installations," Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Benjamin Sakrisson told The Military Times.

The White House on Wednesday denied suggestions that a $400 million cash payment to Iran in January was a "ransom" to free four Americans being held in Tehran — characterizing the move as coincidental.

A Wall Street Journal report Tuesday characterized the Obama administration's payment to Iran as a "secretly organized" airlift of cash to Tehran. It did not say when in January the money was received in Iran.

But, State Department spokesman John Kirby said that sum was actually part of a $1.7 billion settlement to Iran for an outstanding legal dispute that had been before an international tribunal in The Hague, adding that the negotiations over the settlement were "completely separate" from the hostage discussion.

"Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of the Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years," Kirby said.

The money was owed to the Islamic republic following a failed arms deal dating back to 1979, NBC News reported.

The State Department formally announced the settlement terms on Jan. 17 — a day after the four Americans were freed.

San Diego County law enforcement officials have announced a new countywide body-worn camera release protocol for officer-involved shooting videos, unifying for the first time the way agencies release those relevant videos. 

Members of the San Diego County Police Chiefs' and Sheriff's Association made the announcement Wednesday at a news conference. 

Starting Wednesday, the District Attorney's office will review and release body camera video from officer-involved shootings in a public manner, such as a news conference, with context. 

"It is to show what happened, but in the context of what other evidence we have," said Dumanis.

Video evidence will not be released until the DA's office finishes their independent review of the incident and the findings have been given to the law enforcement agency involved. Criminal proceedings could also stall the release of the videos. 

DA Bonnie Dumanis said the office doesn't have a specific time frame for the release of the videos, though they will be adding more people to review cases to ensure the turn-around time is not as long. 

"The default position will be to release OIS-related video evidence," a statement from the San Diego County Police Chiefs' and Sheriff's Association said. 

Dumanis said any videos released will likely become public during the end of the criminal proceedings, though that release would vary with each case. "It depends," Dumanis said. 

Dumanis said if they released the video right away following any incidents, it could change the narrative for members of the public. 

When released, the faces of officers, witnesses and the person shot will be blurred out. Only certain portions of the video will be released, as well, Dumanis said. Only parts of the video "related to the DA's decision of whether or not a crime has been committed" will be released, according to a statement from the association. 

The new policy, Dumanis said, "can aid the public in understanding how and why these incidents occur."

"I think the public will be very much happy with what we're about to disclose," Dumanis said. 

Dumanis said her office on average reviews 18 officer-involved shooting incidents a year. 

A federal judge’s order on the use of bathrooms by transgender students was put on hold Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court, NBC News reported. 

The school board in Gloucester County, Virginia, is challenging a decision by a federal appeals court that ruled it must allow a student, who was born a girl but now identifies as a male, to use the boys’ restroom in the coming school year. 

The board asked the Supreme Court to block the lower court order as it prepared to appeal the decision. 

Wednesday’s order means the student, Gavin Grimm, cannot use the restroom of his choice when school starts.

In April, the court ruled that refusing to allow students to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity violates Title IX, which bans sex discrimination by schools that receive federal funding. 

Vice President Joe Biden will accept an award in Philadelphia Wednesday night honoring his work in coordinating the federal government's cancer research initiative.

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia will celebrate Biden at a ceremony at the Bellevue at 6:30 p.m.

Biden is heading up the National Cancer Moonshot, an acceleration program to eliminate cancer. An estimated 600,000 Americans die from cancer every year, according to The White House.

The moonshot is providing new funding for research and fostering coordination between different research centers to attack the diseases.

Beau Biden, the vice president's son and former Delaware Attorney General, died last year after a battle with brain cancer.

What’s in a name? Apparently, Olympic athleticism if you’re Carli Lloyd. Both Carli Lloyds.

As Olympic athletes strive to win gold and make their names known at the 2016 Rio Games, one moniker may be repeated more than the rest, as the same name belongs to two athletes on Team USA.

That name is Carli Lloyd.

One Olympian – Carli Anne Lloyd – is the 34-year-old soccer star from Delran Township, New Jersey, who plays for the United States Women’s National Team. Her team plays Rio 2016 Wednesday and on Saturday.

The other Olympian – Carli Ellen Lloyd – is the Women’s Volleyball star from Fallbrook in San Diego’s North County, who turns 27 this Saturday, the very day she makes her competitive debut in Rio, with a match at Maracanazinho in Maracaña.

NBC Sports reports that the women who share a name will make history in Rio as they become the seventh set of U.S. Olympians with the same name to compete at a single Games, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon.

By Mallon’s count, NBC Sports says the last time this happened was in London 2012, when two Ryan Baileys competed, one in Track and Field, the other in Water Polo.

Other same-name Olympians on Mallon’s short list include: Dave Johnson (1992 – Shooting and Track and Field); Craig Wilson (1992 – Baseball and Water Polo); John Matthews (1976 – Rowing and Wrestling); John Davis (1952 – Rowing and Weightlifting); Bill Miller (1932 – Rowing and Track and Field).

According to the Team USA website, Volleyball’s Lloyd says she’s never met Soccer’s Lloyd, but they’re forever linked by their name.

“People always talk about her when they hear my name, so I feel like she’s in my daily life,” Lloyd told the Team USA website. “You spell it the same, and it’s like yeah, but I don’t know her at all. I’ve watched her success and she is such a baller. I’m awful at soccer. I don’t really even understand the sport that well. But I watch her fire and it’s cool.”

Volleyball’s Lloyd told the Team USA website that fans began mixing her up with Soccer’s Lloyd after the U.S. Women’s Soccer team won gold in the 2012 London Games. It was then that she began getting lots of congratulatory messages on Facebook from fans of Soccer’s Lloyd.

In 2015, Soccer’s Lloyd made an even bigger name for herself when played in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and became the first player in U.S. Women’s National Team history to score in four straight FIFA World Cup games. In 2015, she was also named FIFA World Player of the Year.

In a humble moment, Volleyball’s Lloyd told the Team USA website that she doubts Soccer’s Carli Lloyd gets as much of the name mix-up on her end.

“It’d be interesting to hear her side, if people ever mixed her up – probably not because I’m not as big time as her,” Lloyd told the Team USA website.

But the name confusion still happens to Soccer’s Lloyd.

In fact, on Tuesday while in Rio, Soccer’s Lloyd tweeted about Volleyball’s Lloyd to confused fans: “nope there are 2 of us and she in fact plays volleyball!”

Volleyball’s Lloyd says she hopes to one day meet her Olympic name twin.

“I thought about it. I just don’t know how I would actually go about it,” she told the Team USA website.

Well, the feeling is mutual – according to Soccer’s Lloyd – and that time to meet face-to-face may actually be in Rio de Janeiro.

Last month, Soccer’s Lloyd posted this message to her Twitter page, saying a meeting – and photo -- between the two Carli Lloyds needed to happen.

Should that run-in in Rio go down, the Olympians should have plenty to talk about -- and maybe even matching gold medals.

A 51-year-old San Diego woman has contracted West Nile Virus, the first case reported in 2016, county health officials said. 

The El Cajon resident donated blood on July 27, which was when authorities found evidence of the active infection. This week, she developed a fever and headache and was diagnosed with West Nile fever. 

No other residents have been confirmed infected with the virus.

The County has counted 185 dead birds infected and 77 batches of infected mosquitoes infected with the virus, more than they have in recent years at this time. 

“The numbers of dead birds and positive mosquito batches positive for West Nile virus has increased from what was found last year, so it’s important for the public to know the facts about how to prevent mosquito breeding and protect against mosquito bites,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer, in a statement.

Last year was the deadliest year yet for the virus in San Diego: six people died as a result of contracting the virus and 44 human cases were reported. 

County officials urge people to prevent mosquito breeding by dumping still water outside the house. Mosquito fish, which are available for free from the Environmental Health Vector Control Program, can be used in backyard water sources to control mosquito breeding.

They also remind people to stay inside when mosquitoes are most active – from dusk until dawn – and to wear long sleeves and pants or use repellent. Residents should report dead birds or green swimming pools to the Environmental Health Vector Control Program.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is urging all gay and bisexual men and any HIV-infected individuals to get vaccinated against meningococcal disease as an ongoing Southern California outbreak continues to spread.

There have been 22 confirmed cases since March in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, according to the CDPH. Two people have died from the disease. Officials say most of the reported cases have been in gay or bisexual men.

There are no reported cases in San Diego County, but health officials are advising residents to get vaccinated as a preventative measure. 

Meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial infection that can cause meningitis and bloodstream infections (sepsis) and can be fatal. The disease can be transmitted through close personal contact with an infected individual by respiratory droplets from the nose and throat.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, severe headaches, vomiting, rash, stiff neck and muscle pain. Anyone experiencing these symptoms is asked to seek medical care.

“Vaccination is the best protection against meningococcal disease,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith in a statement. “It is important that all gay and bisexual men and people living with HIV in the affected counties take action to protect themselves to reduce their risk.”

According to the CDPH, any individuals who regularly frequent crowded venues such as bars or parties, use illegal drugs, smoke cigarettes, marijuana, hookahs or spend time in areas where smoke is present, may be at an increased risk of getting infected.

The CDPH recommends that all gay and bisexual men as well as people living with HIV should receive the Men ACWY vaccine. HIV-infected individuals should receive two doses of the vaccine.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine hit his Republican counterpart on Wednesday, tying him to a piece of North Carolina legislation that tried to regulate which bathrooms transgender people could use, NBC News reported.

North Carolina's law caused backlash, including a boycott of the state by people, businesses and events. Pence faced similar backlash last year after signing a "religious freedom" bill, which many critics said would legalize discrimination against the LGBT community. 

"The vice presidential nominee on the Republican side Mike Pence did something like the North Carolina bill," Kaine said. "Found that immediately, discriminating against LGBT people immediately companies started to pull out. You're seeing those announcements in North Carolina too, whether it's the all-star game or PayPal. Same thing happened in Indiana and he had to kind of do a U-turn."        

It was the first time Kaine publicly took on Pence since he was chosen by Hillary Clinton as her running mate.  

Police believe a serial killer in Phoenix may have added a ninth shooting on July 11, in which the gunman fired at a man and a 4-year-old boy sitting in a car, NBC News reported. 

The new incident means the shooter tried to kill again, even after police put the city on alert. The man and boy were not injured. 

Based on witness statements, police believe the suspect has access to several cars, including a white Cadillac or Lincoln, and a late 1990s or early 2000s 5 series BMW. Investigators have looked into whether he works as a mechanic or on a used car lot. 

Officials thought the gunman’s spree ended in mid-June when he ambushed and fatally shot two women and a 12-year-old girl in their driveway.

The Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony is just two days away, but soccer fans in San Diego turned out in full force Wednesday to cheer on the first sport to compete.

The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team took on the New Zealand team at 3 p.m., winning 2-0, and some die-hard fans were at O’Briens Pub in Kearny Mesa hours beforehand.

A local chapter of the American Outlaws, a national organization of about 600 soccer fans, showed up to watch the game, as they do for all US men’s and women’s games.

As they watched the game, they cheered and chanted: "We love. We love. We love you. And where you go, we'll follow. We'll follow. We'll follow."

Group members told NBC 7 on Wednesday that momentum will continue to grow as the US team advances.

Elsewhere, soccer fans can watch all Olympic games at The Lot in La Jolla, which will broadcast all USA games on its big screen TV, as well as Shakespeare Pub and Princess Pub.

Georgia police arrested a man Wednesday in connection with the killings of two teens found behind a grocery store, NBC News reported. 

Jeffrey A. Hazelwood, 20, was arrested and will be charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Natalie Henderson and Cater Davis, both 17, according to Roswell police. Both teens were shot in the head. 

Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant would not disclose a motive in the killings, and would not say what relationship, if any, Hazelwood had with the victims. He said in a statement that video and other evidence led police to Hazelwood. 

A delivery driver found Henderson and Davis behind a Publix grocery store shortly before 6 a.m. Monday.

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, will carry Team USA's flag during the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games, Matt Lauer revealed on the "Today" show Wednesday.

The Opening Ceremony will be held Aug. 5 at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Phelps, the first American male swimmer to qualify for a fifth Olympics, was chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA members, the United States Olympic Committee said in a statement.

He told Lauer and "Today" co-host Hoda Kotb he learned of the honor from a pool staffer after practice Tuesday.

"I'm honored to be chosen, proud to represent the U.S., and humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all it stands for," Phelps said. "For Sydney, I just wanted to make the team. For Athens, I wanted to win gold for my country. For Beijing, I wanted to do something nobody else had done. In London, I wanted to make history. And now, I want to walk in the Opening Ceremony, take it all in, represent America in the best possible way and make my family proud. This time around, it's about so much more than medals."

The trailblazer is only the second swimmer to lead the U.S. delegation into the Opening Ceremony. Phelps told Lauer that as swimmers, "we don't think we have this opportunity" and"there will be a lot of emotions."

At the age of 15, the Maryland native became the youngest male to break a world record when he smashed the 200-meter butterfly record at the 2001 Spring Nationals. After qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Phelps became the youngest male to make a U.S. Olympic swim team in 68 years.

Phelps set another record at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 where he won eight gold medals — more than any other athlete at an Olympics.

Twenty-two medals later — 18 of them gold — Phelps hopes to clock in a personal best in Rio.

"I haven’t done a best time since 2009. And you know, in our sport, it’s like you don’t want to work for a year, two or three or four years and not get faster," Phelps told NBC Sports' Bob Costas. "I am swimming faster than I have then, and potentially it could happen. I am not gonna say no, but I would love to see a best time and I think whatever happens in Rio, I'll be able to turn the page and know that that was the best that I can do." [[389048691, C]]

In an exclusive interview with Costas, scheduled to air at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on NBC, Phelps revealed teammate Ryan Lochte, who holds the 200- and 400-meter individual medley records, has pushed him to be the best swimmer he could be.

"I can honestly say that I don’t know if I have had another competitor for this many years, that I still go head-to-head with that we are literally stroke to stroke in every single race," he said, adding that Lochte "definitely pushes me because I hate to lose, and I push him because he is probably the same exact way."

U.S Olympic Team Flag Bearers: Opening Ceremony

1908: Ralph Rose, Track and Field

1912: George Bonhag, Track and Field

1920: Patrick McDonald, Track and Field

1924: Patrick McDonald, Track and Field

1928: Lemuel (Bud) Houser, Track and Field

1932: F. Morgan Taylor, Track and Field

1936: Alfred Jochim, Gymnastics

1948: Ralph Craig, Yachting

1952: Norman Armitage, Fencing

1956: Norman Armitage, Fencing; Warren Wooford, Equestrian*

1960: Rafer Johnson, Track and Field

1964: William Parry O’Brien, Track and Field

1968: Janice Lee Romary, Fencing

1972: Olga Fikotova Connolly, Track and Field

1976: Gary Hall, Swimming

1980: U.S. did not attend

1984: Edward Burke, Track and Field

1988: Evelyn Ashford, Track and Field

1992: Francie Larrieu Smith, Track and Field

1996: Bruce Baumgartner, Wrestling

2000: Cliff Meidl, Canoe/Kayak

2004: Dawn Staley, Basketball

2008: Lopez Lomong, Track and Field

2012: Mariel Zagunis, Fencing

2016: Michael Phelps, Swimming

*Due to Australia’s immigration laws for horses, the 1956 equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden.

More than 100 parents gathered inside an auditoritum at Cesar Chavez Middle School in Oceanside Tuesday night to express their concern after a student who made a school threat was released from juvenile hall just two weeks before the start of the 2016-2017 school year.

The former student from El Camino High School was arrested in May, 2015, accused of threatening violence on the campus. Oceanside Police detectives found body armor, replica guns and handwritten notes that they described as threatening in the then 17-year old student’s bedroom.

He was found guilty and charged and served time for making threats.

According to the Oceanside Police Department, he has been released but is under the supervision of the San Diego County Probation Department.

But the Oceanside Unified School District says since he is no longer in custody, they want parents to be informed about his release as schools will resume on August 15.

Meetings are being held this week at various school campuses in Oceanside to inform parents about the steps the district is taking to ensure kids’ safety.

Superintendent Dr. Duane Coleman says she is the one who made the decision to give out the information regarding the student.

"I did it as a parent because I think as a parent, I would want my school district to give me this kind of information," Coleman said.

NBC 7 spoke to a parent who attended the meeting Monday night at El Camino High School.

Rick Camacho says he is glad he went but there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

"Because it's very easy to know that ‘okay they're guarding a specific school that was a threat’,” he said. “Okay, but normally people don't go for the hardest target. They go for the easiest target and that's the schools basically, like where my kids are going."

Jesse Puffenbarger told NBC 7 that she is now hestitant to send her kids to school.

"You're sending your kids to school and it's uneasy. You never know what's going to happen with kids," she said.

The Oceanside Police Department says there is no active investigation and they don’t have any information to suggest current threats or any criminal activity.

But one parents says, she’s happy to hear that the district is still taking precautions.

“I think we should always, you know, act as if they are gonna do it and try to take whatever precautions we can,” said parent Amanda Hadden.

The district does have a permanent restraining order against the former student.

Here is a list of meetings being held this week:

• Aug. 3, 6 p.m. at El Camino High School
• Aug. 4, 6 p.m. at Oceanside High School

Republicans close to Donald Trump are plotting an intervention with the candidate after a disastrous 48 hours led some influential party voices to question whether Trump can stay at the top of the Republican ticket without catastrophic consequences for his campaign and the party.

Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are among the Trump endorsers hoping to talk the real estate mogul into a dramatic reset of his campaign, sources tell NBC News.

The group of GOP heavyweights hopes to enlist the help of Trump's children to help rescue his candidacy. Trump's family is considered to have by far the most influence over his thinking at what could be a make-or-break moment for his campaign.

Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Wednesday he had heard nothing of such a meeting and disputed that it would be necessary, saying on FOX News that "the only need we have for an intervention is with some media types who keep saying things that aren't true."

"The candidate's in control of his own campaign," he said.

A Skyline teenager who had just turned 18 and graduated high school was shot and killed Tuesday on the street where he lived, family members told NBC 7.

Gregory Davis, 18, was killed and another man was injured in a shooting at 5:40 p.m. on 61st and Alderley streets, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) confirmed.

He was standing with a group of people near the intersection when they were approached by two men on foot. The suspects opened fire on the group using handguns and then ran eastbound on Alderley, police said.

Davis was shot in the upper body. The second victim, a 25-year old San Diego man, was shot once in the leg.

People in the area took the men to Paradise Valley Hospital before police arrived. Both victims were then transported to another hospital because Paradise Valley does not have a trauma unit.

Davis lives on Alderley Street, according to police. The condition of the second victim is unknown.

Relatives of Davis say the young man had just celebrated his birthday on July 12.

He was finishing summer school courses after having graduated from Morse High School, according to a spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District.

His grandmother said Davis was planning on getting his drivers license.

"I can't believe it. I'm still in shock. It hasn't hit me yet and it hasn't hit his mother yet," said Jacalyn Marshall. "When it's the bad kids, you can kinda understand but Greg was a good kid. Greg stayed to himself."

Neighbors told NBC 7 the teenager was considering joining the U.S. Army.

Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Israeli officials detained, interrogated and deported five Americans trying to enter the country to "observe the conditions under which Palestinians live," according to a U.S. rights group.

The activists with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which describes itself as a national coalition working for Palestinian rights, say they were trying to "gain a better understanding of the situation on the ground," NBC News reported.

"Upon their arrival [on July 17], a U.S. campaign staffer and four other members of the group — all carrying U.S. passports — were interrogated by Israeli border police about their backgrounds and political involvement," a statement issued by the organization Tuesday said.

A spokesman for Israel's Interior Ministry said three of the five campaigners were denied entry for "security reasons" but did not elaborate on what those reasons were.