It was quite an emotional scene on the podium following Team USA’s gold-medal-winning performance in the 4x100m freestyle Sunday night.

Not one, but two, U.S. athletes broke down in tears, leading to one of the most memorable moments so far in Rio.

“The young bucks brought tears to our eyes,” Michael Phelps told the TODAY Show, referring to Ryan Held and Caeleb Dressel, who along with Phelps and Nathan Adrian captured gold in an event that had been dominated by France the last two Olympic Games.

For Held, 21, it was his first international competition and his first international race. He didn’t compete in any of the previous races as he was added to the squad just prior to the gold-medal race.

While the national anthem was playing and the American flag was raised at the medal ceremony, Held broke down in tears.

Eventually, Phelps consoled the Olympic rookie while they were still on the podium.

"When the tears started rolling,” Held told TODAY. "Michael put his arm around me and was like, ‘Hey man, take it easy, you’re going to make me cry. Just take it all in. You’re not going to have this feeling again for a while.' "

Dressel, who won’t turn 20 for a few more days, also broke down, and cameras caught the emotions for all to see.

As he draped himself in an American flag, Dressel was comforted by Phelps, who has plenty of experience winning gold and appearing on swimming’s biggest stage.

"I was saying to Nathan, I was trying to hold back as much as I could,” Phelps said of his tearful teammates. “(Dressel) started shedding tears and Ryan started shedding tears."

Held said Phelps means a lot to the younger swimmers on the team, through good times and bad. 

"Michael is a great leader and a great athlete,” Held said. "He gives a sense of confidence to other swimmers, so when I’m around him I feel a little stronger and stand a little taller and just feel a little more confident.”

And he also provides a great shoulder to cry on.

"I’ve heard the national anthem plenty of times before, and I’ve received awards before as they played the national anthem,” Held said. “But this was different. The emotions just kind of manifested themselves and the tears started rolling."

Team USA dug deep for a hard-fought victory in five sets over the Netherlands on Monday in the preliminary stage of the women's indoor volleyball tournament.

The Dutch team pulled off a surprising upset of gold-medal challenger China on the first day of volleyball action Saturday, beating the No. 3-ranked team in the world in five sets.

A day off didn't halt Netherlands' momentum, with the Dutch players coming out firing on all cylinders against the American squad.

The U.S. team got out to a flat start, losing the first set 25-18 and helping the Dutch team along with a slew of service faults.

The Americans responded with a 25-18 victory in the second set. At one spot in the middle of the set, USA recorded seven of eight points.

It looked as if the U.S. team - which entered Rio as the No. 1 squad in the world - had settled in, but Netherlands wouldn't allow it for long.

In the third set, the Dutch team jumped out to 24-17 lead. USA rattled off four straight points, but they couldn't complete the comeback, leading to a 25-21 loss in the third set.

The two teams traded points in the fourth set before USA pulled away and sent the match into five sets with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set.

In the deciding set, a series of three consecutive blocks led to points for USA as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead. They went on to win the fifth set 15-8.

Since the match went to five sets, both teams retained a point for pool play and USA collected two points for the victory. The top four teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, which begin Tuesday, Aug. 16.

NBC 7 looks over the massive schedule of events from the 2016 Rio Olympics for Monday, August 8 and brings you seven moments to watch:

Women's Volleyball Seeks Redemption

Locals Karsta Lowe and Carli Lloyd and the U.S. women will square against the Netherlands in the preliminary stage of the women’s Olympic volleyball tourney.

After losing to Brazil in the gold medal match in back-to-back Olympics, the U.S. women will look to win the nation's first ever Olympic gold in the competition.

“The biggest thing about this team is that we want a challenge, we want it to be hard, we want to be tested,” setter Courtney Thompson told NBCOlympics.com. “I hope we get that chance.”

How to Watch: See the U.S. women battle the Netherlands live on your smartphone or desktop computer or live on NBC Sports at 11 a.m. PT.

Locals Compete on U.S. Water Polo vs Spain

U.S. men’s water polo goaltender Merrill Moses has a medal to replace. Moses was a member of the team that won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the medal was stolen while he was on vacation. He said that’s provided motivation to win gold in Rio.

The team, along with locals Alex Bowen and Jesse Smith, competed in a preliminary match on Monday morning. Spain beat the U.S. in men's water polo, 10-9. That's the second loss for the men of Team USA. Watch a replay of the match here.

Muslim Fencer from New Jersey to Make History

Ibtihaj Muhammad, the middle daughter of a retired detective and special education teacher, will make history Monday when she become the first U.S. athlete to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab, the head scarf required of Muslim women.

The Maplewood, NJ native, ranked seventh in the world in the women’s saber, began fencing after her mother saw fencers practicing and suggested she try the sport because of its modest uniforms.

“I feel like I’ve been blessed to be in this position, to be given this platform,” said Muhammad. “When I think of my predecessors, and people who’ve spoken out against bigotry and hate, I feel like I owe it not just to myself but to my community to try and fight it.”

Michael Phelps Goes for More Gold

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with a record 22 medals, enters his fifth Olympic Games looking to add a few more to his treasure trove.

His first individual event will be the 200m butterfly, an event where Phelps already possesses two gold medals and one silver. While a number of incidents plagued Phelps following the 2012 London Games, the Olympian says he’s more focused than ever and determined to leave the sport on his own terms.

“I haven’t trained like this in a decade,” Phelps told Matt Lauer in an earlier TODAY interview. “I want to retire how I want to retire and I have a great opportunity to do that.”

How to Watch: Watch Phelp’s return to individual Olympic competition live on your smartphone or desktop computer. The preliminary heats will air live on NBC Sports at 9 a.m. PT. The semifinal is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET and will air in primetime coverage on NBC 7.

With New Partner, 3-Time Gold Medalist Walsh Jennings Aims for No. 4

Three-time Gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and rival-turned-partner April Ross face China in the preliminary round of the women’s beach volleyball tournament. Walsh Jennings comes to Rio just a year removed from a serious shoulder injury that sidelined her most of the fall. While competing with Ross, she dislocated her right shoulder twice. She had surgery in September to repair her labrum, which had torn from the bone.

But Walsh Jennings believes the injury may ultimately be a blessing, as it forced her and Ross to learn how to rely on each other.

How to Watch: See the duo live on your smartphone or desktop computer here. Or you can watch live on NBC at 8 p.m. PT.

Team USA Basketball's Next Foe: Venezuela

After demolishing China 119-62 in their opening match, Team USA’s next opponent is a Venezuelan squad making their first Olympic appearance in the men’s tournament since 1992.

The game will feature a matchup of high school teammates as Venezuela’s best player Greivis Vasquez, a point guard for the Brooklyn Nets, and Kevin Durant square off.

How to Watch: See Team USA continue their march for gold against Venezuela live on your smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. The game will also air on NBC Sports at 3 p.m. PT.

Field Hockey Looks to Build on Last-Place Finish

The U.S. women’s field hockey team finished last at the London Olympics, winning just one of its six games. Following the 2012 Games, the team brought in a new coach, Craig Parnham, and overhauled its system in the hopes of Olympic success in Rio.

The team enters the Olympics with its highest world ranking ever at fifth and a legitimate shot at a medal, something the U.S. hasn’t accomplished in the sport since 1984.

On Monday, the United States claimed its second straight win against a top-three team in women's field hockey, beating No. 3 Australia 2-1.

A Colorado man who lead El Cajon police on a high speed chase, which ended in the death of his girlfriend, will spend more than 7 years behind bars. 

Geoffrey Sims, 34, could have faced life in prison, but instead pleaded guilty on lesser charges, including voluntary manslaughter, resisting an officer by using force or violence, and felony evading of an officer. 

“He provoked the officer into shooting and that resulted in the death of another, but his actions provoked the officers and so, he would be legally responsible,” said Deputy District Attorney Jihan Yacoub after court Monday.

He said the District Attorney felt they had a stronger case with the ultimate decision on charges.

The police pursuit started when El Cajon police officials pulled over the suspect, who was riding with three other people and a dog in a stolen red Toyota, near Walter Way and Main Street. However, when officers walked up to the vehicle, Sims hit the gas and drove north on Second Street. Yacoub said he drove onto the freeway and ran at least six red lights on surface streets.

Finally, the car turned onto South Pierce Street, which ends in a cul-de-sac.

When he reached the dead end, police said Sims made a U-turn to face pursuing officers. El Cajon Police Officer Samson Pak got out to approach the stolen car, but Sims started driving toward him.

Fearing for his life, he said, Pak opened fire, striking Kelsey Rose Hauser, 25, of Conifer, Colorado, who was sitting in the passenger seat. She died from the gunshots, as did a pit bull sitting in her lap.

Sims and the two other men inside were uninjured. The prosecutor said Sims continued to drive the car forward, ramming it into another police vehicle approaching the scene.

Officers were then able to take all three surviving suspects into custody.

Sims was initially charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon, evading an officer, resisting an officer using force, reckless driving and possession of a stolen vehicle.

The attorneys will be back in court in November to discuss potential restitution to Fox Car Rental. 

For the fastest man in the world, even an ordinary press conference becomes extraordinary.

Such was the case for Usain Bolt on Monday in Rio. 

The press conference didn’t start off on the right cleat, as Bolt received a lukewarm response from the pool of journalists as he was introduced.

“First of all, you’ve got to clap louder than that,” Bolt joked as he walked on stage.

Bolt then discussed his desire to break the 19-second mark in the 200 meter race (he holds the record at 19.19), said his training is going well despite his bum hamstring, and reiterated that this will, indeed, be the last Olympics of the soon-to-be 30-year-old’s career.

There were a few bizarre moments, as well.

Someone in the crowd rapped for him. At least we think that’s what it was. Watch at your own risk:

And then at the end of the press conference Bolt was joined on stage by samba dancers, who proceeded to dance him off the stage because, well, he's Usain Bolt and you're not.

Bolt's first race will be Saturday as he begins his quest for gold in the 100 meters.

The parents of two Americans killed in the 2012 terrorist attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court Monday against Hillary Clinton.

In the suit, Patricia Smith and Charles Woods, the parents of Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods, claim that Clinton's use of a private e-mail server contributed to the attacks. They also accuse her of defaming them in public statements, NBC News reported.

Smith was an information management officer and Woods was a security officer, both stationed in Benghazi.

In a speech to the Republican convention in Cleveland, Smith said, "I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son."

The parents were represented by Washington, D.C., lawyer Larry Klayman, a frequent critic of the Clintons.

Neither the Clinton campaign nor a lawyer for Clinton responded immediately to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The San Diego Association of Governments has made $7 million in competitive grants available to local agencies and community organizations seeking to improve transportation for seniors and people with disabilities.

Two sources produced the available grant funds are TransNet and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Enhanced Mobility Program (Section 5310).

Funds from the TransNet program must be used toward projects dedicated to seniors age 60 and older living in San Diego County.

FTA Section 5310 funds are designated for projects that assist seniors age 65 and older and disabled people of any age living in urban areas of San Diego County.

Those eligible to apply are local government agencies, tribal governments, social service agencies, private and public operators of public transportation, and nonprofit organizations that provide specialized transportation services to vulnerable populations.

A grant application workshop will be held at SANDAG headquarters at 401 B Street on Thursday, August 11 at 9:30 a.m. in its board room on the seventh floor. Registration is not required.

Application drafts are due by Friday, September 23 and final applications are due Monday, October 24. Final approval for project funding will be made by the SANDAG Board of Directors in February 2017.

Grant applications and related materials are available here.

One person was shot in Ocean Beach, San Diego police confirmed to NBC 7 San Diego. 

The shooting happened after 5 p.m. near Ebers and Muir Streets, SDPD officers said. 

The victim was taken to the hospital; it is unclear where exactly he was shot. 

One person has been taken into custody for questioning. 

Authorities are on scene investigating. 

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

J'Ron Erby made his parents extremely proud in May.

“He means the world to me. He’s sort of like a mini-me,” said his father Lee Erby, Sr.

Erby graduated from Wayne State College in May then turned his education and time as a college football player into an internship with the San Diego Chargers.

“To be in PR, to mesh communications, which is his passion with sports, that really is his dream. He's living it right now," explained his older brother Lee Erby, Jr.

The 23-year-old's dreams were put on hold, though, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver early Friday morning while celebrating his roommate’s birthday in Pacific Beach.

A silver sedan heading east on Garnet at Cass swerved around a parked car into oncoming traffic, plowing into Erby and his friend, police said. The car never stopped.

“We’re just asking for whoever did this to take a look in the mirror. If it was my son he would do the right thing. We taught him and raised him right," said his father.

Erby is recovering at Scripps La Jolla after suffering multiple skull fractures and brain trauma in the crash.

“I whisper in his ear that we’re here,” his father said. “Just relax, everything will be okay. You’re in God's hands.”

A Gofundme page has been set up by his family to help him with his long road to recovery.

For two school years, a teacher a La Jolla High School has been paid leave. Now, the question is whether she continue to be on paid leave for a third school year, or head back to the classroom.

According to public records, Emma Zink makes more than $119,000 a year in pay and benefits.

The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) says Zink is fighting to keep her job in the classroom, and her case is making its way through a lengthy process.

The district says because it is a personnel issue, they cannot reveal the reason why Zink is no longer in the classroom or where the process currently stands.

But some parents are questioning the process.

“It shouldn't take two years to remove any teacher,” said Alice Mitchell from La Jolla, speaking in general terms. She then added: “With respect to the one you're talking about, we just don't know why it's taking that long. So you have to admit, once you know the whole story, it's possible the amount of time is reasonable."

NBC 7 filed a public records act request for a petition signed by La Jolla High School parents who wanted Zink out at any cost.

Some comments described Zink as unqualified to teach, a bully who rules her class with intimidation.

“Zink represents everything we don't want in educators,” one parent wrote.

In the petition, there were also references to a cell phone video of Zink allegedly grabbing a student. She was then escorted off campus.

But Zink’s supporters say she is a great teacher who just wants discipline and order in her classroom.

NBC 7 spoke to folks at the Promiscuous Fork in La Jolla who do not know Zink.

“Two years! It shouldn’t take that long,” said Fatimah Hemphill.

“They should either fire her or make a decision,” said her sister Fatia Fouts.

SDUSD Board member Dr. Michael McQuary said he cannot talk specifically about this case

“However, the general concern is a major one for me, as is with others across the nation,” he said.

McQuary told NBC 7, he is working with all the major organizations to improve the teacher evaluation process.

With the 2016 Rio Games in full swing, several San Diego athletes are vying for the Gold as they represent Team USA.

On Monday, local athletes will compete in men’s water polo, archery and indoor volleyball.

Today’s contenders with ties to San Diego are:

Kerry Simmonds and the U.S. Women's Eight comes into the Rio Olympics on a massive 10-year winning streak. She joined the crew of coxswain Katelin Snyder, Amanda Elmore, two-time Olympic gold-medalist Elle Logan, 2012 champion Meghan Musnicki, Tessa Gobbo, Lauren Schmetterling, Emily Regan, and Amanda Polk as they took on the Netherlands, Romania and Australia in the opening heat, with one crew to advance directly to the Olympic final.

Jessica Javelet: This Torrey Pines High School alum and her teammates, including Fallbrook High School's Richelle Stephens and Chula Vista OTC athlete Jillion Potter, beat Fiji 12-7 and will go on to face France at 2 p.m. PT.

The team's been knocked out of medal contention after weekend matches. They are now competing to determine their final Olympic ranking.

Carli Lloyd: A Bonsall native and Fallbrook High School graduate, Lloyd will compete in Indoor Volleyball at 11 a.m. PT at Maracanazinho in Maracaña.

Karsta Lowe: This indoor volleyball Olympian competes on Team USA today, at 11 a.m. PT from Maracanazinho in Maracaña. Lowe is a Rancho Santa Fe native and graduate of La Costa Canyon High School.

Mackenzie Brown: This Chula Vista OTC resident athlete entered Monday's archery competition ranked fourth in the world. She was upset in an intense set. Watch the recap here.

Alex Bowen: The Santee water polo athlete scored three goals as the U.S. faced Spain early Monday at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center in Barra. Get results of the match here. He was joined by Jesse Smith, Coronado resident and Coronado High School alumnus.

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For updates from the 2016 Rio Games, including profiles of San Diego athletes, visit our Olympics section here.

NBC 7’s Steven Luke is reporting from Rio during the 2016 Olympic Summer Games; follow him on Twitter and Facebook for exciting updates from Brazil over the next few weeks.

A San Diego teenager's remarkable recovery after a devastating skateboarding accident is inspiring his mother to do all she can to convince other skateboarders to wear helmets.

Paige Hargis is spearheading what's called the "My Grey Matterz" campaign.  The goal is to change the culture of skateboarding by educating skateboarders and their parents, and by partnering with professionals and other leaders in the skateboarding community.

On September 19, 2013, Paige's son Alex was skateboarding in the street in front of his house when he fell backward and landed on his head. The then 13-year-old was not wearing a helmet. He was knocked unconscious and suffered multiple seizures.
    
"The image of my son repeatedly slamming his head against the pavement in front of my house will be forever etched in my memory," Hargis told NBC 7 San Diego. "I felt completely terrified and helpless as the paramedics fought to save his life."

Alex was rushed to Rady Children's Hospital, where doctors put him in a coma to reduce brain swelling.

An MRI would eventually show his condition was worse than expected. Doctors told Alex's parents it was possible he could stay in a vegetative state forever.  It was during that extremely difficult time that Hargis said she realized she had to do something about helmet use in the skateboarding culture.

"I knew we had to do something to change this mindset, even as Alex lay in his hospital bed attached to a ventilator and an IV bank," Hargis said.

Alex says right around the time of his accident, he had started to think it was "annoying" to wear a helmet.

"He rarely saw his role models wearing protective gear because it was seen as uncool, or if you did wear it you aren't consider a 'legit' skater," his mom said.

Accidents like Alex's are becoming all too common.  San Diego County has seen a dramatic increase in head injuries among teenage skateboarders who are not wearing helmets.  
    
According to the County's Health and Human Service's trauma registry, there were 373 skateboarding injuries from 2013 to 2015.  Eighty one percent of those skateboarders sustained a traumatic brain injury and only 9 percent were wearing a helmet.

The highest rates are in beach side towns. Most are recreational riders who are on public streets, often riding downhill at high speeds. Skateboarders 16 to 18-years-old are significantly less likely to wear a helmet than other age groups.

Alex was lucky. He did slowly begin to recover in the hospital. But because of his traumatic brain injury, he had to relearn everything, from how to eat to how to walk.
    
"It was really frustrating to have to relearn all of my school work," Alex said. "For example, sometimes that meant I could do algebra but not subtraction."

After 61 days of intense therapy, Alex finally got to go home.

"My son's recovery has been nothing short of miraculous," Hargis said. "and even so it has been a challenging three years to get where we are today."

Alex is a student at Torrey Pines High. Because he can't play contact sports anymore, he started rowing with the San Diego Rowing Club. He also now does school presentations around the county promoting helmet use.  

Meanwhile, his mom is working to build the My Grey Matterz campaign.  A grant from the Trauma Research and Education Foundation (TREF) is helping her produce PSAs focused on educating teens. They should be ready late summer. She's also working on developing the website, which you see by clicking here. 

Another priority for the campaign is to convince professional skateboarders to embrace and help spread the message.

World Cup Skateboarding Champion and XGames medalist Andy MacDonald is one pro skater who signed up to support the campaign.

"It's been a long time coming, but I think that skateboarding is finally old enough and mature enough to get over its own image problems and start supporting a pro-helmet culture," MacDonald told NBC7.  

"It's not about making helmets cool. They are necessary, period. The only thing not cool is brain trauma," MacDonald said.

Longtime skateboarder and industry leader Chris Conway is also lending his support to the cause.

"I have seen far too many head injuries both in the professional and amateur worlds and it pains me to see injuries that could be avoided by simply wearing a helmet," Conway said.

Alex Hargis said his accident taught him that a split second decision can change, or even end, your life.

"Wearing a helmet may not look the coolest or feel the best, but is that really worth the risk of permanently affecting your life, or even ending it?" Hargis said. "Do you really want your mom to have to feed you and change your diapers for the rest of your life?"

For more information about the campaign or how to arrange a school presentation, you can contact the website by clicking here. 

If you're planning on voting in the November election, you’ve already got a lot of homework to catch up with.

It might take half semester to get through the guide for statewide ballot measures alone.

The 17 propositions that have qualified so far run into hundreds of double-sided pages -- and a few more measures are pending, ahead of Friday's qualification deadline.

At the local level, several citywide propositions await San Diego voters.

Two of them are downtown stadium-oriented, filling 77 and 119 pages, respectively.

Where to start and stop?

“I think it's going to be (on) the measures that have to do with bonds, and sort of less-sexy issues like hospitals and taxes, that people might just throw up their hands and say, 'There's no way I'm going to wrap my mind around all this," says Voice of San Diego managing editor Sara Libby, who has closely followed this year’s ballot-cause campaigns.

As a result, ballot ovals for a lot of propositions won’t get inked in.

Or, as Libby points out: “Once people get overwhelmed with a certain number of measures, they tend to just vote ‘no’ on everything.”

For taxpayers, it’ll be an unusually expensive election season – maybe the priciest ever -- in terms of printing, labeling and mailing costs to reach millions of voter households in California, and hundreds of thousands in San Diego County.

San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith will brief councilmembers on the issue during a Wednesday special session.

While he believes there’s no legal requirement to put the provisions of the stadium-centric measures into text form, Goldsmith says he’ll recommend doing so.

"Some people are going to read the whole thing -- that's good.” he told NBC 7 in an interview Monday. “Some people are going to be offended that it costs too much, and that it's too big. That's what the city council's for and they represent all the people, and they can make that decision."

Pity the poor postal carriers who’ll have to deliver the freight.

The United States men’s gymnastics team was sunk by a shaky start and -- despite a strong rally on parallel bars -- missed a medal, finishing fifth for the second straight Olympics on Monday.

Japan won gold by finishing with a spectacular performance on the floor, highlighted by Kenzo Shirai’s bouncing, soaring 16.133 en route to a total of 274.094.

Despite having the day’s top rotation score of 47.866, on parallel bars, China was edged out for silver by Russia. Britain was fourth.

Alexander Naddour’s stumble on floor earned him a 13.566, the USA’s lowest score of the day, though its total there was was slightly better than than the 43.699 on pommel horse, a familiar villain for the US men, who were undone by the horse four years ago in London, where they also finished fifth.

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The United States, which missed a medal by 1.438 points, expected better after finishing second in qualifying with room for improvement. Instead, the team of Naddour, Dan Leyva, Sam Mikulak, Jake Dalton and Chris Brooks regressed.

They finished with a 268.560, nearly two points worse than in qualifying.

Four years ago in London, the Americans dominated qualifying only to slide to fifth with a medal on the line, a fall kickstarted by a forgettable set on pommels.

On Monday night, the horse was a problem again, but so was the floor. 

The U.S. finished ahead of Brazil, Germany and Ukraine. Japan was led by Shirai's astonishing floor routine, but Kohei Uchimura led the team, competing on each apparatus two days after he fell on the bar, where he is the world champion. 

The U.S. rallied on rings and especially on vault after the slow start, but couldn't catch Japan, Russia or defending champ China.

A fall by Britain's Louis Smith on its last apparatus, the horse, may have cost his team a chance to repeat as bronze medalists.  

A growing 25-acre brush fire burning off southbound Interstate 15 near Gopher Canyon Road has prompted evacuations as the flames threaten homes, Cal Fire officials said. All southbound Interstate 15 lanes are closed as crews battle the blaze, which is zero percent contained. 

The fire, which broke out around 3 p.m. Monday in Bonsall, is composed of two fires burning toward the west; combined, the fires are being called the Gopher Fire. The fire is located 13 miles north of Escondido. 

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The blaze began as three to five acres, but quickly grew to 25 acres. 

Three homes near the Lawrence Welk Resort in unincorporated San Marcos area have been placed under an evacuation order. San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies have notified the residents of the fire. 

As the flames burn, all southbound I-15 lanes have been closed at Gopher Canyon Road, California Highway Patrol officials said. 

The Old Highway 395 on-ramp to the southbound I-15 is closed as well.

At this time, all northbound lanes are open. 

No injuries have been reported yet. 

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

They’re objects some consider as valuable as cash or jewelry: guns.

When people break into homes or businesses, guns are often the target, said Graham Barlowe, the Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Cash is extremely valuable because it can get you a number of things, but of the commodities that we find that people that are involved in criminal activity are looking for, guns are very high on the list.”

A recent string of robberies in Sacramento points to that.

At least seven gun stores have been targeted for burglaries in that area in the past few months. Including two on July 14.

One of those was captured on security camera video. It shows a group of five men crashing an SUV through the front door of a gun store, 45 miles northeast of Sacramento. The video shows the men climbing over the crumpled security fencing that they tore through with the SUV.

That same night, police say, the men hit a Folsom gun store before being caught by Oakland Police Department officers.

“Whenever I see a stolen gun, I see a future robbery, I see a future homicide, I see a future assault.,” says Barlowe.

On a typical day at least 34 guns are reported as lost or stolen in California. That adds up to more than 12,000 a year.

According to data from the California Department of Justice, nearly 70,000 guns were reported lost or stolen to law enforcement agencies in the state between January 1, 2010 and September 30, 2015.

“People don't steal guns for their collection,” said Barlowe. “They steal guns to use those guns.”

A joint investigation between NBC TV stations in California found that most of those 70,000 guns were reported stolen, not missing. An analysis, matching those gun serial numbers to police records from more than 70 California law enforcement agencies, found that 2,655 of the guns reported lost or stolen were used in crimes ranging from murder to grand theft.

Click here to read more on what the investigation found.

Eric Jones, Chief of Police for the City of Stockton Police Department said, he knows a large percentage of the stolen guns found in the database end up on the streets of his city. 

The data analysis shows a large number of guns are reported stolen in the Sacramento and the Central Valley area. In the nearly five-year period, Sacramento agencies received 3,627 reports of guns stolen; Bakersfield 2,879 and Stockton 2,476. 

Click here to see how many guns were reported lost or stolen to California law enforcement agencies from 2010-2015. 

“I really do believe the reason that firearms are really looked for by burglars in a lot of these crimes is because they are of high value to them,” said Jones. “They're very difficult to trace and there's a big market for them in the criminal world. So, I think it's definitely a commodity they're looking for.”

According to information from the Stockton Police Department, between 800 to 1,000 guns a year are seized at crime scenes or during probation searches.

Making it even harder, Jones said, guns are often rented or traded from criminal to criminal. The same gun being used by a number of people in multiple crimes.

Jones describes it as gun renting.

“Very similar to rent a gun,” he said. “It's in fact, it's it's a lot like that. So, you know there are certain individuals who are designated as the holder and then they will rent it out to various people within that group or another group and use the gun over and over in numerous crimes.”

Barlowe with the ATF said he sees the same thing.

“They use it like a community gun,” he said. “So that's it's available for more than one person. It also lessens the responsibility of one person if they are caught with it because they can say that they were not available or unavailable for the other crime, so they sort of have an alibi.”

“There's a story as to what the gun was used (for) and there might be a story as to what the gun will be used (for) in the future,” said Chief Jones. “If we're taking those guns out of the hands of the criminals of the gang members. We're preventing who knows how many other crimes.”

Evin Johnson grew up around gang violence and guns in Sacramento. Even as a youngster Johnson says he knew how to buy a gun off the street.

“Being around guns and stuff, it was just something normal for me growing up,” he said. “At an early age you just kind of…you get used to it.”

He says he thinks a lot of the guns he has seen on the streets are probably stolen.

“Some guys get permits and they help other guys get guns...but, maybe their friends have a felony or something like a misdemeanor charge, they can’t get a gun,” he said. “Most of them are probably stolen.”

ATF’s Barlowe says if someone is looking for a way to get a gun, they will find it.

“If they can’t go to a store and buy one (they) will go outside the state and purchase firearms outside the state,”he said. “Or they will go to the stolen firearms market and look to unlawfully purchase a stolen firearm. Or they will go to the unfinished firearms market and they will buy an unfinished or ghost gun and finish it themselves. Generally unlawfully as well.”

Missy Franklin found herself in an unenviable place Monday night: Watching Katie Ledecky take center stage.

Ledecky qualified for Tuesday night's women's 200-meter freestyle final but Franklin failed to earn a berth, ending hopes for one of the best rivalry match-ups of these Olympics.

Ledecky, who plans to enroll at Stanford in the fall, advanced to the final with a time of 1:54.81, the second fastest of the semifinals behind only Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom. But Franklin, the former University of California-Berkeley star, was essentially a non-factor as she finished 13th with a time of 1:57.56. Ledecky had the fastest time in Monday afternoon’s heats at 1:55.01, while Franklin’s time of 1:57.12 was 12th best, foreshadowing her disappointing finish Monday night.

The face-off’s failure to materialize represents a passing of the torch from former phenom Franklin, who first competed in the 2008 Olympic trials as a 13-year-old, to Ledecky, who at just 19 is already considered by many to be the greatest women’s swimmer in the history of the sport.

Franklin finished a tantalizing one one-hundredth of a second short of the bronze in the 200 meter freestyle in the 2012 Games in London, with a time of 1:55.82. That fourth place finish was one of the rare disappointments of Franklin’s London Games, where she was the first female to qualify for seven Olympic events. She ultimately medaled in five, with her gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter backstroke, 4x100 meter medley relay and 4x200 meter freestyle relay matching the record four golds that Amy Van Dyken earned in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Franklin spent two years swimming at Cal before turning professional. During her time as a Golden Bear, she was a four-time individual NCAA champion, winning the 200-yard freestyle in 2014 and 2015, and the 200-yard backstroke and individual medley in 2015.

Ledecky was a relative unknown in 2012 when she burst upon the world stage in London. She announced her presence with authority in her first-ever international final, winning the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 8:14.63, beating Janet Evans’s 23-year-old American record in one of the biggest upsets of the Games.

Since London, Ledecky has set 11 world records, winning all 12 of the individual international finals in which she has competed. As the current world record holder in the women’s 400, 800 and 1500 meter freestyle, Ledecky’s dominance is so complete that she raises the eyebrows of members of the U.S. men’s team, who she generally trains with.

“She swims like a guy,” Ryan Lochte, himself an 11-time Olympic medalist, told Sports Illustrated. “Her stroke, her mentality: She’s so strong in the water. I’ve never seen a female swimmer like that. She gets faster every time she gets in, and her times are becoming good for a guy. She’s beating me now, and I’m, like, ‘What is going on?’”

Ledecky set an Olympic record in the 400 meter freestyle heats on Sunday afternoon, beating the next closest swimmer, Great Britain’s Jazmin Carlin, by more than four seconds with a time of 3:58.71. In the final on Sunday night, she shaved more than two seconds off of that time, topping her own World Record with a time of 3:56.46

Ledecky already has a silver medal in this Games as well, anchoring an American 4x100 meter freestyle team that included Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil and Dana Vollmer on Saturday. The Australians took the gold with a World Record time of 3:30.65

On August 11, Franklin will participate in her second of two events in Rio as she attempts to defend her Olympic title in the 200 meter backstroke, an event in which her time of 2:04.06 from London still stands as the world record. Heats for the women’s 800 meter freestyle are the same day, with Ledecky the prohibitive favorite to take the gold. The Olympics do not have a women’s 1500 meter freestyle event.

On paper, Cal versus Stanford represents one of college’s most spirited and storied rivalries, but the version involving Franklin and Ledecky enjoys a distinct lack of acrimony. The two joined forces in gold medal performances in the 4x200 meter freestyle relays in the 2013 World Championships, the 2013 and 2014 Pan-Pacific Championships, and the 2015 World Championships.

Franklin speaks of Ledecky in glowing terms.

"It's been such an honor to watch her," Franklin told Reuters before the Olympics. "I think she's capable of unbelievable things, doing things that no-one in this world has ever seen before. To be able to tell my kids one day or tell stories that 'hey, I was there when Katie Ledecky did this'. That is so cool for me ... hopefully I can push her the way she's pushed me similar to how we talk about Australia pushing the U.S."

Maryland-based Zips Dry Cleaners has signed a development deal with a Los Angeles area franchisee to build 110 locations in Southern California, including 15 in the San Diego market.

A company spokeswoman said terms of the agreement with ZDry LLC were not being disclosed. Specific locations have not been announced, but the dry-cleaning chain is scoping neighborhoods including Point Loma, Mission Hills and downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter.

A company statement said partners in ZDry LLC currently own 10 Planet Fitness gyms in the Los Angeles area. The franchisee’s agreement with Zips requires it to open its first San Diego area location within the next 18 months.

Headquartered in Greenbelt, Md., Zips Dry Cleaners was founded in 1996 and has been franchising since 2006. The company operates with a same-day, one-price business model, charging $1.99 per garment regardless of type.

The company has recently been expanding outside of its Mid-Atlantic home region, where it currently operates more than 40 stores.

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