A motorcyclist died in a crash near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego Saturday, officials confirmed.
The accident happened at around 1:35 p.m. in San Ysidro, on southbound Interstate 5 at southbound Interstate 805, California Highway Patrol said.
For unknown reasons, the motorcyclist lost control and crashed. No other vehicles were involved and no one else was hurt.
Details were not immediately released.
Friends and family gathered at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton on Saturday to warmly greet the Marines, on the 13th Marine Expeditionary Force, returning from a seven-month deployment on the USS Boxer ARG.
"During the last seven months, the Boxer ARG / 13th MEU team has performed exceptionally, demonstrating the responsiveness and relevance of a forward-deployed amphibious force," said Col. Anthony Henderson, Commanding Officer of the 13th MEU, in a statement.
The Marines returned home on Saturday from a seven-month deployment to the Pacific and Middle East aboard the USS Boxer, according to a Marine representative.
"As we prepare to return to our families, friends and San Diego neighbors, I reflect proudly on the focus, dedication and teamwork demonstrated by every Marine and Sailor on this team," said Henderson.
While deployed, the 13th MEU worked on maritime security operations and participated in bilateral training exercises off the Korean Peninsula and Eager Lion in Jordan, said a Marine official. Both were major security cooperation events.
According to the Marines, the 13th MEU has conducted strikes against ISIL as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. They have also provided support to other coalition operations fighting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in southern Yemen.
The Marines and Sailors greeted their spouses, parents, friends and babies with hugs, upon their return from deployment.
The BOXER Amphibious Ready Group, which operated with the 13th MEU, will return home on Monday, Sept. 12 at the Naval Base San Diego Pass & Decal.
If Donald Trump is elected president, some experts fear he could cause unnerving on U.S. allies and he could push for an American foreign policy that is more favorable to Russian President Vladimir Putin's goals and interests.
Trump's praise for Putin's "strong" leadership has already caused issues, said Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia in the Obama administration.
"He's already done damage to us vis-a-vis Russia as a candidate. I frankly shudder to think what he could to U.S. interests as commander-in-chief and president," Farkas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told NBC News.
Trump's effusive admiration for Putin, who Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, referred to on Thursday as "a thug, a dictator, an autocratic ruler who has his opposition killed in the streets of Russia" has baffled many, including some in his own party.
Nina Khrushcheva, a great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and a professor of international affairs at The New School, feels the Trump-Putin rapport could go one of two ways should Trump become president.
"It will supposedly be a very positive relationship," she told NBC News. "But since Putin and Trump in some ways are similar — that is, they say it like it is and really don't mind the consequences — it also is entirely possible and likely that that relationship will collapse quickly because one will insult the other and try to show each other who's the better man."
A woman faces a number of hate crime charges after she attacked two Muslim women and tried to rip one their hijabs off as they pushed their toddlers in strollers on a Brooklyn sidewalk, authorities said.
Emirjeta Xhelili approached the two women at about 1:30 p.m. near 20th Avenue and Cropsey Avenue in Bath Beach on Sept. 8, according to court documents.
She punched one of the women in the head and tried to rip her hijab off while screaming, "get the f--k out of America b----s, you don't belong here," according to the criminal complaint.
Xhelili then allegedly pushed the woman's stroller, which had her 3-month-old baby inside, toward the ground before turning to attack her again.
"This is the United States of America," Xhelili is alleged to have shouted while punching the woman in the face and trying to rip her hijab off her head.
She then tried to grab the second Muslim woman's stroller, which had her 11-month-old baby in it, away from her, court documents allege.
Xhelili faces a number of charges for the alleged hate crime, including assault, menacing and endangering the welfare of a child.
As many as 30 to 40 people were injured after a deck collapsed at an off-campus party at Trinity College in Hartford on Saturday night.
Police and firefighters responded to the house at 1715 Broad Street just before midnight.
A third-floor balcony collapsed onto the second floor balcony, which then collapsed on the first floor, according to Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley.
There were no major injuries, Foley tweeted.
Families concerned about students who may have been injured in the collapse can call Trinity Campus Safety at 860-297-2222. Trinity will attempt to contact each family directly involved, according to Foley.
Padres starting pitcher Christian Friedrich hasn’t won a game since June 23rd. He changed that Saturday night when he dominated his former team, the Colorado Rockies.
Friedrich pitched seven shutout innings giving up just two hits and one walk. The lefty struck out ten matching a career-high and retired the last thirteen batters he faced.
It was easy for him to relax on the mound because his offense got him an early lead.
Yangervis Solarte gave the Padres an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single to right in the first scoring Jon Jay.
Then in the bottom of the second, the Swinging Friars showed up with two-outs.
Derek Norris drew a one-out walk before moving to second on a Luis Sardinas single to right. Norris was erased at third on a fielder’s choice bunt off the bat of Friedrich. Travis Jankowski loaded the bases thanks to a catcher’s interference call.
Jay followed with a single to right scoring Sardinas putting San Diego up 2-0. Wil Myers hit a two-run ground rule double extending the Padres lead to 4-0. On the next pitch Solarte doubled to right scoring Jay and Myers.
The Padres scored five-runs with two-outs in the second inning.
Colorado plated three in the eighth with a DJ LeMahieu RBI single and Carlos Gonzalez two-run single to cut the Padres lead to 6-3.
But Brandon Maurer came in, in the ninth and recorded his ninth save of the season.
Padres win 6-3 to secure at least a series split with the Rockies.
Edwin Jackson goes for the series win tomorrow at Petco Park opposite Chad Bettis.
A tow truck driver helped lead authorities to arrest a suspect in the fatal DUI crash that killed a grandmother and a toddler Saturday morning on Interstate 15.
CHP officials said Erin Hughes, a tow truck driver who works for Pacific Auto Center, did not know the suspect was involved in a fatal hit-and-run when he towed his vehicle to Vista.
Later when Hughes heard the story on the news, he called CHP to report that he'd driven the suspect home. This tip helped the authorities find and arrest suspect Grant Thoren, a 31-year-old man in Vista.
Hughes said an older man was also with Vista, and he could tell that Thoren had been drinking and was clearly very upset.
"Even when he got up he was kind of staggering," Hughes told NBC 7 in an exclusive interview.
The deadly crash that happened on the southbound I-15 and Scripps Poway Parkway took the lives of a 64-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter.
According to CHP, the suspect was driving a silver Cadillac CTS when he crashed into the Honda carrying a family of four. Thoren allegedly stopped for a moment and then took off. A different pickup truck also slammed into the victims' car and remained at the scene.
Meanwhile, Thoren exited on Mira Mesa Boulevard, drove to a gas station, and called the towing company to have his car taken to his residence in Vista.
"The alignment was off a little bit but it wasn't that bad...when I greeted them shaking their hands, his handshake seemed kind of lifeless in his hand," said Hughes, remembering the damage to the car and the suspect's odd behavior.
"I had a feeling they didn't want to be seen. They wanted me to drop the car in the driveway as quietly as possible," said Hughes.
Soon after he left the residence, Hughes saw a news report and realized the car was part of the crash.
"They gave a description of a silver CTS. That was the car I just towed, so I called it into CHP," said Hughes.
Within a few hours, law enforcement made an arrest.
A grandmother, a 35-year-old mother, a 5-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl were sitting in the vehicle together when they were struck. The surviving mother and 5-year-old girl were taken to local hospitals where they are being treated for major injuries.
After learning about the lives that were lost, Hughes said he always tries to help the authorities in any way he can while on the road.
"I felt bad for the families, you know," said Hughes.
Thoren is facing multiple charges including DUI, felony hit-and-run and homicide, the CHP confirmed. The investigation is ongoing.
Members of a South Jersey high school football team knelt during a rendition of the national anthem before a game Saturday to draw attention to social injustices and economic disparities.
Players and coaches from the Woodrow Wilson Tigers carried out the silent demonstration as a recorded version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" played at the team's field in Camden before a match-up against Highland High.
Tigers coach Preston Brown initially planned to take a knee alone and informed his team about the decision Friday. When the anthem played over the PA system Saturday morning, most of his team joined in the protest.
“I am well aware of the third verse of the national anthem which is not usually sung, and I know that the words of the song were not originally meant to include people like me," he told NBC10 Saturday night.
The anthem's third stanza, which is hardly ever performed, reads in part "No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave."
That specific section has been cited as a symbol of racial oppression and has been central to high-profile protests by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other sports stars. The protests have sparked a national debate about freedom of expression and the true meaning of the lyrics and added to the continued debate over racial inequality in America.
Brown told NJ.com, which first reported the story and also recorded video of the demonstration, that he stood for the anthem as a "formality" all his life. He went on to say that he loves America and the military.
Woodrow Wilson's student population is almost exclusively non-white with Hispanics and black students being the most represented respectively, a state census shows.
Two students chose not to kneel, Brown said, adding each student had the right to "exercise what they thought was right."
The Camden City School District agreed with Brown's sentiment. In a statement, spokesman Brendan Lowe said while the district supports standing for the flag, they "strongly respect" students exercising their First Amendment rights.
"Whether our students choose to stand, kneel, or otherwise, we're proud of their engagement with what is more broadly a very important social justice issue."
When chief of staff Andrew Card knelt down and told George Bush "America is under attack" 15 years ago Sunday, the words he whispered in the president's ear in a Florida classroom launched what was supposed to be a planned, orderly response to a national emergency.
But what followed instead was chaos, a breakdown in communication and protocol that risked international conflict and could have made Sept. 11, 2001, a still bigger tragedy.
Based on a review of newly unclassified documents, memoirs and other published accounts, and interviews with U.S. officials, NBC News has learned that top U.S. officials couldn't talk to each other or to anyone else due to inadequate communications equipment and procedures and that only one top official followed the emergency “continuity of government plan.”
A woman who ran after a San Diego city bus after realizing she had forgotten her purse on board was hit by the public transit vehicle Friday night, police said.
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said the 53-year-old woman hopped off the bus in the 5900 block of University Avenue in the El Cerrito area at around 9:30 p.m.
As the bus began to pull away, the woman realized she had left her purse on the bus and began running after it.
As she ran, police said the woman tripped and the bus ran over her leg. She suffered multiple fractures to her lower leg and was taken to a local hospital, where she’s expected to recover.
The incident is under investigation. Anyone with information can call San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
In the days immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, J. Chester Johnson volunteered at St. Paul's Chapel, the historic church in the shadow of the World Trade Center that became a respite center for workers digging for bodies in the rubble of the twin towers. He helped to feed and tend to the firefighters, police officers and others.
Today, Johnson, a poet and a retired consultant, is working to build a memorial to the victims of a race riot near his hometown in Arkansas — an endeavor he says he took on after seeing what could happen when a group of people come together to grieve.
Dr. Cindy Otto, a veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania, arrived in Lower Manhattan as a member of a FEMA search and rescue task force, providing medical care for the dogs on what the workers called "the pile." Otto was inspired to start the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, which is focused on developing top-rate rescue dogs.
Fifteen years after the attacks, they and psychologists, chaplains, family members and others are continuing to honor the spirit that prevailed after the attacks, when thousands reached out to friends and strangers to help New York City recover. They say their work was life-changing, influencing them in ways that they had not anticipated.
"While we came to help, actually our being volunteers, it began to heal us," Johnson said.
At St. Paul's Chapel, Johnson was among cooks and chiropractors, musicians and massage therapists working under a banner that read: "To New York City and All the Rescuers: Keep Your Spirits Up…Oklahoma Loves You!!" Podiatrists treated the workers' feet where George Washington prayed on the day he was inaugurated president — an appropriate tribute, they decided, because so many of Washington's troops fought without boots at Valley Forge.
"There was a such an outpouring of love, care and generosity reflected during that time," said Johnson, whose poem about St. Paul's was reproduced on a memento card from the chapel.
Later, after he learned of the massacre of African-Americans during the Elaine Race Riot of 1919 — and that one of his grandfathers had participated — he became determined to create a memorial to the killings in Phillips County, Arkansas.
"It created a possibility in me to do things that I had not envisioned for myself," he said.
On Sunday, the names of first responders, recovery workers and volunteers who have since died will be called out in St. Paul's churchyard, a ceremony organized by another of the volunteers, Barbara Horn. She returned to New York City from graduate school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after the attacks.
"It was like a homing device went off," she said. "I had to get home."
Horn found her way to St. Paul's and went on to befriend some of the relatives — and become a liaison to one family in Japan — and to help create the Sept. 11 walking tours conducted by survivors, rescue and recover workers and family members.
"That's something that changed my life," she said.
Otto monitored the health of the search and rescue dogs — the last one, Bretagne, died in June at the age of 16 — and four years ago opened the center at the University of Pennsylvania. Most of the rescue dogs fared well afterward, she said, little affected by the lung problems many of the workers have had, for example. At the center, researchers train search dogs and investigate what makes them successful.
Amy Attas, another of the veterinarians who volunteered near ground zero, said that the handlers would open up as their dogs were treated for cuts, burns and dehydration, prompting the vets to ask psychologists to sit with them.
"A lot of the handlers told us that their dogs were really depressed, because they were search and rescue dogs and they weren't finding anybody," said Attas, a house call veterinarian in New York City.
Donna Bassin, a psychologist and an artist, accompanied the first family members to travel to ground zero, visiting the remnants of the twin towers by boat down the Hudson River. She quickly realized that she was unprepared for the enormity of the tragedy and six months later was consulting with military veterans about handling such overwhelming traumatic grief.
"I think all of us were in a very disassociated state," she said. "There was a gunner boat with us, that came down alongside of us. I remember staring at it and trying to get into my head that this was a war situation."
She has now made two documentaries about veterans back from the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq: "Leave No Soldier" and "The Mourning After." She wanted to learn from them, particularly the way veterans formed a community to take care of each other, she said.
More than 1,000 chaplains served at ground zero, said Peter Gudaitis, the executive vice president of the New York Disaster Interfaith Services and the president of the National Disaster Interfaiths Network. Some were ordained, credentialed disaster chaplains — meeting standards set by the national Red Cross — but others were simply volunteers who showed up without particular training.
"A lot of it was a lot of good will and unconditional love and a good mix of crazy -- and self-serving, self-promoting, proselytizing, problematic people," he said.
Some pushed themselves too hard, later leaving the ministry, developing post traumatic stress disorder or problems with substance abuse, he said. Marriages broke up.
In New York City now, a disaster chaplain always partners with a mental health professional. Special training is required. Proselytizing is forbidden. The goal is to help rescue workers and others to draw on their own emotional and spiritual resilience, and to make sure the chaplains take care of themselves, he said.
"The body retrieval and relief process, recovery process went on for 10 months," he said. "So it was in many ways a laboratory for how we do trauma work over a prolonged period of time."
The Islamic Circle of North America was among the groups participating in the interfaith organization, working with Muslims who were falling through the cracks or other survivors who were not being served. Muslims tried to counter Islamophobia with civic engagement, said Adem Carroll, the group's director for Sept. 11 programs. The Islamic Circle of North America went on to create separate programs for U.S. disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, and younger Muslims in particular are taking part, he said.
"They have a sense, many of them, of their being part of a larger society with responsibilities whether it's to confront climate change or to deal with racial justice issues, whatever they're aware of and concerned about," Carroll said.
The Rev. Willard Ashley and Rabbi Stephen Roberts both deployed chaplains after the attacks and later they edited a book together — "Disaster Spiritual Care: Practical Clergy Responses to Community, Regional and National Tragedy" — when they realized there was not one available.
Ashley, the dean of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey, had worked to keep clergy healthy in the months after the attacks.
"The premise was if you're healed, you can help your congregation heal," he said.
Roberts, the president of Chaplain Distance Learning, said he was motivated by the sound in the emergency room at New York Presbyterian Hospital after the World Trade Center collapsed. It was silent.
"There's nothing worse than thinking you're going to be able to save lives and in the emergency room, there was no one to save," he said.
Glenn J. Winuk was a lawyer at Holland & Knight and a volunteer firefighter on Long Island, who on Sept. 11 raced from his office a block and a half away to help evacuate the south tower. He died when it collapsed.
"I knew my brother," his brother, Jay Winuk, said this week, standing at the World Trade Center's memorial pools. "I knew where his office was. And I knew there was no way he wasn't coming over here."
With no body to mourn -- Glenn Winuk's remains were not found until the following year -- his family placed some of his possessions in a pine box and at first buried those, including a small fire truck. And in his memory, Jay Winuk encourages people to volunteer in some way on the anniversary.
Winuk and a friend, David Paine, co-founded a nonprofit organization that has come to be known as 9/11 Day or more formally, the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance. Last year, more than 28 million people commemorated the day with charitable work or good deeds, Winuk said.
"There is no other larger annual day of charitable engagement," said Winuk, who owns a public relations firm in Carmel, New York.
The group urges people to choose their own projects, whether writing letters to U.S. troops, giving blood or cleaning a beach. Its success comes from its flexibility, Winuk said, and over the years, the organization has worked with the American Red Cross, the National Football League and corporations such as American Express.
On Sunday, 2,000 volunteers from a coalition it put together called Tomorrow Together will pack a half a million meals for those who are hungry.
"Even 15 years later, people want to do something to mark the day," he said.
County health officials plan to hand spray a neighborhood in Grant Hill after a resident returned from a trip abroad where they were infected with the Zika virus.
The individual, who recently visited a tropical country, tested positive for Zika at the San Diego County Public Health Laboratory. Mosquitoes and larvae that could carry the virus were also found near the Zika patient's residence. Officials plan to go door-to-door to residents' homes on Saturday and leave notifications for people living where the spraying will occur.
"We can't stress enough that it's very important for people to inspect in and around their homes and dump out any standing water so these mosquitoes can't breed," said Elise Rothschild, County Environmental Health Director.
This Saturday, County officials plan to spray an area in Grant Hill bordered on the west by Dodson Street, the north by Island Avenue and the south by K street. Officials say the eastern border is about halfway between 30th street and 31st street.
Aedes species of mosquitoes, which are known to carry Zika, are not native to San Diego County. Officials said they prefer to live close to people, which is unlike most native species. A female mosquito can lay anywhere from 100 to 300 eggs at a time.
“They can breed in the trays under flower pots, in holes, in trees, toys in the yard that can collect sprinkler water — anything that can collect water," said Rothschild.
When spraying the County will use Pyrenone, an insecticide derived from chrysanthemums, that poses low risk to people and pets. The chemicals dissipate in about half an hour.
To avoid exposure to the spray, officials are encouraging residents to stay inside with any pets, close doors and windows, cover fishponds, rinse fruits and vegetables from their gardens and wipe down outdoor items. Beekeepers are advised to cover their shelter hives and habitats.
A grandmother and her 2-year-old granddaughter were killed in a crash on Interstate 15 early Saturday morning after a DUI suspect plowed into their family vehicle.
California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials said the deadly crash happened around 1:45 a.m. on southbound I-15 at Scripps Poway Parkway, near Mercy Road.
A family – including a 64-year-old grandma, a toddler, a 5-year-old girl and the 35-year-old mother of the children – were in a Honda when a silver Cadillac CTS crashed into them.
The driver of the Cadillac -- now identified by officials as Grant Stewart Thoren, 31 -- stopped momentarily on the right shoulder of the freeway, but then fled the scene.
CHP officials said that due to the damage from the hit-and-run collision, the Honda became disabled in the traffic lanes.
Moments later, a man driving a red pickup truck, accompanied by a passenger, failed to see the disabled Honda and slammed into the vehicle. That drive remained at the scene.
When emergency crews arrived, the Honda was so mangled they had to extricate the family from inside.
The grandmother and 2-year-old girl did not survive, CHP said.
The 35-year-old woman the 5-year-old girl were rushed to local hospitals with major injuries. The girl suffered a concussion and is currently being treated at Rady Children's Hospital, while her mother is hospitalized at Sharp Memorial.
The passenger in the red pickup truck was also taken to a local hospital with unspecified minor injuries. Officials said the driver of the truck was not injured.
Investigators shut down several lanes along the freeway following the deadly hit-and-run. They also launched a search for the driver of the Cadillac who fled the scene.
By 7:15 a.m., CHP officials confirmed Thoren had been arrested at his home in Vista on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Thoren is facing several charges including DUI, felony hit-and-run and homicide, the CHP confirmed.
Investigators said Thoren told them that after the crash, he exited the freeway on Mira Mesa Boulevard, drove to a gas station, called a towing company and had his car towed to his home in Vista.
CHP officials said the driver of the tow truck did not know Thoren had been involved in the deadly hit-and-run when he towed him to Vista. The tow truck driver later heard the story on the news, and then called CHP to report that he had driven the suspect home.
NBC 7 reached out to the towing company where the driver works, but they declined an interview Saturday morning.
The investigation is ongoing.
On Saturday morning, Thoren's Cadillac remained in the driveway of the home in Vista. Investigators collected evidence from the vehicle.
CHP officials said it appears the home where the DUI suspect lives may be some type of "sober living" home.
Investigators said the driver of the red pickup truck involved in the second collision with the family's Honda was not driving under the influence.
Well into Saturday, all lanes, except for the carpool lane, along southbound I-15 near the crash site remained closed to traffic.
A SigAlert was issued in the area, and traffic was backed up for miles, with single-digit speeds from Carmel Mountain Road. Motorists were advised to use State Route 56 as an alternate route to get around the area but traffic on that freeway was also sluggish. CHP expected to have all lanes cleared by the afternoon.
At 12:40 p.m., Caltrans said all lanes on southbound I-15 had re-opened to traffic. Get traffic updates here.
The names of the grandmother and toddler killed in the hit-and-run DUI crash have not yet been released. Investigators said the mother and children are from Temecula, just north of San Diego County, while the grandmother was from Fairfield, California.
Here’s a look at what is going on in San Diego sports for the week of September 12-18th.
PADRES: The Friars are on the road facing National League West opponents this week. Monday-Wednesday they’re in San Francisco to play the Giants. Thursday is a travel day as they head to Colorado Friday-Sunday to take on the Rockies.
CHARGERS: The Chargers home opener is Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m.
Members of a South Jersey high school football team knelt during a rendition of the national anthem before a game Saturday to draw attention to social injustices and economic disparities.
Players and coaches from Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden carried out the silent demonstration as "The Star-Spangled Banner" played over the loudspeaker before the Tigers' home opener against Highland High.
Tigers coach Preston Brown initially planned to take a knee alone and informed his team about the decision Friday. When the anthem played over the PA system Saturday morning, most of his team joined in the demonstration.
“I am well aware of the third verse of the national anthem which is not usually sung, and I know that the words of the song were not originally meant to include people like me," Brown told NBC10 Saturday night.
The verse has been cited as a symbol of racial oppression and has been central to high-profile protests by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other sports stars. The protests have sparked a national debate about freedom of expression and the true meaning of the lyrics, adding to the continued debate over racial inequality in America.
Brown told NJ.com, which first reported the story and captured video of the demonstration, that he stood for the anthem as a "formality" all his life. He went on to say that he loves America and the military.
Woodrow Wilson's student population is predominantly African-American, a state census shows.
Two students chose not to kneel, Brown said, adding each student had the right to "exercise what they thought was right."
The Camden City School District agreed with Brown's sentiment. In a statement, spokesman Brendan Lowe said while the district supports standing for the flag, they "strongly respect" students exercising their First Amendment rights.
"Whether our students choose to stand, kneel, or otherwise, we're proud of their engagement with what is more broadly a very important social justice issue."
A college football player punched a referee during a stoppage in play during a game Saturday night in Ventura, California, sending the unconscious referee crashing to the turf.
The visiting Mt. San Antonio College lineman, Bernard Schirmer, was arrested following the confrontation, accused of punching the unidentified side judge in the middle of the third quarter in a game against Ventura College, college police confirmed.
The referee was seen walking Schirmer back to his huddle during the game after breaking up an argument between players.
As the referee is seen ushering Schirmer along, he is punched and falls to the ground. Schirmer was immediately ejected from the game and arrested on suspicion of felony battery, according to Ventura County Community College District Police Department.
In the video, commentators can be heard reacting in total disbelief after the punch.
"Oh my God, the ref just got punched in the face by a player!" one said. "What?! I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life!"
The Ventura County Star reported California Community College Athletic Association bylaws say hitting an official can be punished by up to a five-year ban.
In a statement to NBC4, Mt. SAC said "the incident is being fully reviewed and addressed by all official parties."
The college said after reviewing video footage and interviewing those involved and outside witnesses, it maintains that Schirmer "unintentionally hit the referee."
"Out of frustration, Mr. Schirmer struck himself on the helmet, a habit he often does to calm himself down ... he inadvertently hit the referee and initially believed someone else had done so," the statement reads.
Schirmer was released on bail Sunday morning at 7 a.m.
One person died and two others were critically injured after a shooting at a Walmart in Kansas on Sunday, police said.
Shawnee police spokesman Dan Tennis said in a news release that the incident occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m. at a Walmart southwest of Kansas City.
As a woman was placing her infant in a car seat in the store's parking lot, Tennis said, two suspects struck her in the back of the head with an unspecified object.
Tennis said a good Samaritan was shot repeatedly after trying to help her. A second good Samaritan then intervened, Tennis said, shooting and killing one of the suspects.
