The parents of a four-year old girl who wandered away from her elementary school in Allied Gardens told NBC 7 the school put their child in danger and they have moved their daughter to another school district.

Denise Cuellar and Jesus Amaro sat down in an interview with NBC 7 on Friday.

Their daughter wandered away from Foster Elementary School after she went on a bathroom break with a buddy around 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. The little girl walked through one of the gates, crossing several blocks and a busy intersection, finally ending up at the Allied Garden Pool.

Cuellar and Amaro say they are outraged that the teacher did not immediately notice their daughter was missing from the classroom.

“It is by—honestly the grace of God that my child is safe today. Someone was looking over her,” Cueller said.

The parents told us they have removed their daughter from the San Diego Unified School District and moved her to another school in a different district. They say they are upset that school officials knew the gate their daughter wandered out of was an issue but did nothing to fix it.

“Too many people have keys, deliveries go in and out,” Cueller said.

Ceuller said she was notified by employees at the Allied Garden Pool. School officials did not call her until at least an hour after her daughter went missing.

“First thing I don't understand, is the red flag not going up from a teacher when the child never came back to class,” said father Jesus Amaro.

Cuellar says her daughter's teacher assumed another teacher was watching over her child.

In the meantime, Foster Elementary has changed its bathroom break policy for transitional Kindergarten through first grade after the incident. All of the students will be accompanied by an adult at all times.

But Cueller questions why the change was implemented only after a child was put in danger.

Foster Elementary School Principal Karla Shiminski declined requests by NBC 7 for an interview on Friday.

In a statement, a school district official said the principal: "Understands the parents' concerns and is working to ensure this does not happen again. As mentioned previously, they have updated their procedures for when students are out of class and put another lock on the gate for which only the principal and custodian have access."

But the little girl’s parents plan to speak to the San Diego County Board of Education and possibly a teachers union.

A 67-year old man died after he was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road in North Park on Friday night, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) confirmed.

The incident happened at approximately 10 p.m. on El Cajon Boulevard near Kansas Street.

Police say two men were walking southbound on El Cajon Boulevard at Kansas Street at an area marked "No Pedestrians" when one of the men lagged behind. He was struck by an Audi going westbound on El Cajon Boulevard.

The 67-year old was pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to police, the Audi did stop at the scene.

El Cajon Boulevard is closed in both directions.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Fallen San Diego Police Officer Jonathan "JD" De Guzman and his partner Wade Irwin were honored at a local high school on Friday night.

A football player sprinted onto the field holding the American flag high at Del Norte High School in the 4S Ranch community of San Diego. The show of patriotism was all part of the 4th annual Honoring Our Military Night at the high school.

“Quite often we don’t say thank you enough and it’s a very simple gesture which we don't do very much. This is our way of saying 'thank you'," said the school's Athletic Director, Mike Giaime.

Officer De Guzman and Officer Wade Irwin were gunned down during a traffic stop in July. De Guzman was shot multiple times, at point-blank range in his patrol vehicle and died from his injuries. Officer Irwin continues to make a recovery from his injuries.

Officer De Guzman's son, Jonathan Jr. De Guzman, was standing on the sidelines with officers from the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

“Deep down inside we’re all hurt. Very hurt,” said SDPD Sgt.Kelly Davis. “It’s a very difficult tragedy. We will move on. We'll continue our work. But a part of us is lost."

Del Norte football players wore the names of veterans and police officers on their jerseys.

“Thank you very much. It means a lot," former San Diego Police Lt. Rea Shea told player Jalani McCall, who wore Shea’s name on the back of his jersey.

“They’re really big figures in our community so to honor him was a great doing,” said McCall.

Lynn Aguilera, who's husband had been active-duty Marine says it was a special night.

“We honor him a lot at home,” said Aguilera. “But to be honored here, amongst friends, it's special. It really is special."

At the end of the game, players took their jerseys and presented them to the honorees.

Neither Marty McFly nor Dr. Emmett Brown emerged from the stainless steel DeLorean spotted in Santa Monica this week after a police pursuit.

A car that looked like the iconic fictional automobile-based time travel device that shuttled McFly "Back to the Future" drew the attention of onlookers Thursday morning as police pulled over the driver and arrested him for carjacking.

The drama began when Santa Monica police received a call of a carjacking in the 2600 block Ocean Front Walk, police said in a news release.

The carjacker led police on a short chase before crashing into a car about a half a mile away.

Police pinned the car in and took the man into custody.

The carjacker suffered minor injuries and he was booked charges of carjacking, reckless evading of police, and he had an outstanding traffic warrant, police said.

Maybe the driver just wanted to see what happened when he hit 88 mph. But he didn't get a chance to leave any fiery tracks.

A suspected gunman was in custody Friday night after an Amtrak train with nearly 200 people on board was evacuated and all Metrolink service through the Chatsworth Station was halted after authorities received a report that a man with a gun was seen aboard the Pacific Surfliner.

The man was arrested after tear gas was deployed on the train, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Special Enforcement Bureau.

The Metrolink Operations Traffic Center, which controls rail traffic through Chatsworth, received a call at 6:19 p.m. from a passenger on the Pacific Surfliner that a gunman was seen aboard the Amtrak train, according to Ramon Montenegro of the sheriff's Transit Policing Division.

Deputies at the Chatsworth Transportation Center at 10040 Old Depot Plaza Road "secured the train and began evacuating the passengers," Montenegro said. "Then we notified our Special Enforcement Bureau and Amtrak police who are both rolling to the scene."

Craig Shulz of Amtrak told City News Service all 187 passengers and five crew members aboard San Diego-bound Amtrak Train 790 "safely left the train and remain inside the Chatsworth Station."

However, Montenegro said one man remained on the train, citing information from deputies on the scene.

Montenegro said deputies on the scene are interviewing passengers to find out what they saw. All Metrolink traffic through the area had been stopped, he said.

San Diego State University researchers released a study that suggests the augmented reality game, Pokemon Go, may pose a risky distraction to drivers.

Newly released data indicates hundreds of thousands of players are driving while playing the game or distracted by other players.

SDSU researchers analyzed social media and news reports related to the augmented reality game, Pokemon Go, to investigate possible driving hazards. The team found 14 car crashes that news reporters connected with Pokemon Go, which included two fatal crashes.

“Considering that people had to tweet or be tweeted about to be captured in our study, we are likely underestimating distractions linked to Pokémon GO,” said Eric Leas, the study’s coauthor and a doctoral student in the SDSU/UCSD Public Health Joint Doctoral Program, in a statement.

“Yet, in just 10 days, our findings suggest there were more than 110,000 cases of potentially distracted drivers or pedestrians, and 14 accidents, giving a clear justification for a public health response.”

The study was led by SDSU's Graduate School of Public Health, assistant research professor John W. Ayers, and University of California, San Diego, professor Linda Hill.

“By relying on big media data we can rapidly discover emerging public health issues by directly observing what the public is thinking and doing in their own words and in near real-time,” Ayers said, in a statement.

According to the medical journal, JAMA Internal Medicine, the social media was analyzed by compiling and reviewing 345,433 twitter posts that combined words like "driving," "drive," or "car" with "Pokemon."

Roughly 33 percent of these tweets came from Pokemon Go players either driving or riding in a car, or from pedestrians distracted by the game, according to the analysis. Out of that percentage, 18 percent suggested the player was driving, 11 percent that a passenger was playing and 4 percent that a pedestrian was playing near traffic.

Researchers say the numbers are alarming when considering the fact that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people between age 12 and 24, which represents the game's target audience.

The researchers noted that more precautions could be taken such as editing the game design so that Pokemon Go cannot be played at driving speeds, and increasing awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.

A Sig Alert has been issued on westbound State Route 94, after a semi truck was overturned in a traffic collision involving multiple vehicles, California Highway Patrol confirmed.

Just after 1:12 p.m. Friday, the multiple-vehicle collision occurred. It is currently unknown whether there were any injuries.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department is currently at the scene.

Lanes 1, 2, 3 and 4, are closed off. Traffic is backed up east of the crash to Euclid Avenue.

For immediate updates check NBC 7's Traffic page.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

Brain Cancer has replaced Leukemia as the leading cause of cancer death in children and teenagers, according to a new report by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The findings reflect recent advancements in treating Leukemia as opposed to increased deaths from brain cancer, according to researchers. The reversal is still troubling for parents of brain cancer victims who want to see better treatment options available.

"There's a lot of kids getting sick and people come to me for advice, 'where should my child go? What should we do? What is the first thing when my child is diagnosed? What do I do?'" said Bree Rowand.

Rowand, an Alpine mom who lost her daughter Kylie to brain cancer nearly 2 years ago, raises money and awareness through the Kyle Strong foundation named after her daughter.

Her daughter’s journey gained national attention through a Facebook page  detailing the baby’s fight for life.

“She just consumes my life basically,” said Rowand whose foundation now helps other families and donates money towards pediatric brain cancer research.

While Oncologists made enormous strides in recent decades developing effective chemotherapy regimens for Leukemia patients, the challenges for treating brain cancer patients remain.

"A lot of it is because of this thing called the ‘blood brain barrier’ which limits certain drugs and molecules into the brain,” said Dr. John Crawford, Director of Neuro-oncology at Rady Children's Hospital.

“It’s a filter and so the chemotherapy that children get for leukemia can be very similar for what they receive for brain tumors, but the chemotherapy has better penetration in the blood against the blood cancer than it does against the brain cancer," Crawford said.

Crawford see between 50 and 60 brain cancer patients a year at Rady Children’s Hospital and says on average between 10 and 15 kids per year will die from the disease.

"I think it is important we raise attention because with our combined efforts, I think we have a real success at beating this disease," he said.

The new status as the number 1 cancer killer of children, may help with fundraising efforts to combat brain cancer which impacts 1 out of every 20,000 kids nationwide.

Rowand’s latest fundraising help came from “The Daily Method”, a Rancho Bernardo Fitness Studio which offered free classes to customers so they could donate to the Kylie Strong Foundation.

"There are 12 childhood cancers and thousands of subtypes of childhood cancers and with all those cancers kids are only getting 4 percent of the national budget for all those cancers" said Rowand.

“They need more you know.”

Parents in San Ysidro told NBC 7 that they are taking extra precautions for their children after a San Diego teen was found dead in Tijuana—shot seven times in the head.

Desteny Memory Hernandez, 18, was found dead last week, according to the Baja California Attorney General’s office. The Imperial Beach teenager had gone partying with her friends at a nightclub at a nightclub in Tijuana.

The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18-years old—an attraction point for many local teens who can easily get across the border.

NBC 7 spoke with some parents who say after this incident, they are worried about their kids’ safety.

“I think between the ages of 18 and 22, they really don't know about the dangers in Mexico—in a different country,” said parent Lorraine Bumbasi.

A mother of four, Bumbassi said her 22-year old daughter has traveled to Tijuana with friends but younger kids need to be informed of any possible dangers.

According to the La Frontera newspaper in Tijuana, Hernandez sent her friends text messages, saying she had met some guys and was heading to one of their houses in the El Florida neighborhood. Her body was found on Sept. 7.

"Just to let them know, warn them that it's just a different country, it's not safe,” Bumbassi said. “They don't have as good of a system to police people over there compared to the U.S.— I think it's safer here in the U.S."

Bumbassi says she wants to see more regulations for teens that are going to Mexico, such as notifying parents when their kids cross the border during certain hours.

But another parent, who was born and raised in Tijuana, disagreed.

Miguel Garcia says it’s important to educate his daughters about safety but killing is not the norm for his hometown.

"It's a tragedy obviously but there's always good stuff happening there. Not only if you want to go down and have some fun, but there are also a lot of positive things going on down there as well,” he said.

Garcia says he would be concerned if his daughters went to Tijuana under the age of 18 years old. But he would educate them on taking necessary safety precautions before they cross the border.

"I think it's an isolated thing. I don't think it's a general thing,” Garcia said. “I go there all the time and you can have fun as long as you don't hang out with the wrong people and the wrong crowds."

Meanwhile, local young women told NBC 7 that they are also taking precautions, like dressing down to avoid attracting a lot of attention.

Hernandes'z cause of death was determined to be gunshot wounds to the thorax, abdomen and head. Officials from the Tijuana medical examiner’s office said there were no signs of sexual assault. 

Her brother, Francisco Hernandez told NBC 7, that she was a kind and loving girl.

Mexican homicide investigators are investigating the shooting. So far, no arrests have been made.

A device exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, Saturday morning as about 5,000 runners were set to participate in a 5K Marine charity race, authorities said.

The explosive device went off in a garbage can on D Street and Ocean Avenue about 9:30 a.m. along the race route, police said.

No one was injured in the blast, according to the Ocean County prosecutor's office.

The third annual Marine Semper Fi 5K race to benefit the MARSOC Foundation was expected to start at about 9 a.m., but was delayed because of late sign-ins, authorities said.

The race was canceled after the explosion.

The device was composed of three pipe bombs, only one of which went off, leaving plenty of physical evidence for investigators to examine, federal officials said. 

It appears the device was set off by a timer, officials said, but it is not known what explosive material was in the pipes.

Runner Adam Carswell of Toms River, New Jersey, told NBC 4 New York he saw the smoke rising from the garbage can after the explosion. 

"It was a big puff of smoke, fairly large," he said.

"It makes me very angry that this could happen in a sleepy little town like Seaside Park after Labor Day," he added. 

Lauren Rispoli, a Seaside Park resident, said she was in bed when she heard the blast.

“I thought it might have been an explosion of some sort or a sonic boom,” she said.

Rispoli said the explosion will not rattle the spirit of people in Seaside Park.

"We will support this run again next year here or wherever they choose to do it," she said. "Even if it’s next year, we’re not afraid, we’re not going to let this stop us." 

A number of law enforcement agencies responded to the scene Saturday, but the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office will be the lead investigators in an effort to better coordinate the probe across units, an FBI spokesperson said. 

The MARSOC Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises money to support "active duty and medically retired MARSOC personnel and their families as well as to the families of Marines and Sailors who have lost their lives in service to our Nation," according to the groups website.

The San Diego Chargers are teaming up again for their 28th annual Back-to-School Shoe Distribution Tuesday, Sept. 20 from 9:30-12 p.m.

Jerry Attaochu, King Dunlap, Brandon Flowers, Antonio Gates, Melvin Gordon, Phillip Rivers, Darrell Stuckey, Manti Te’o, Jason Verrett, Danny Woodhead and many more players will help children shop for new shoes at five Payless ShoeSource locations in San Diego.

Players will be at the following Payless ShoeSource locations:

• 3460 Murphy Canyon Road in San Diego
• 662 Dennery Road in South Bay
• 900 Plaza Boulevard in National City
• 3998 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
• 3225 Sports Arena Boulevard in San Diego

Donald Trump says he is "shining a national spotlight" on Americans killed by immigrants living in the United States illegally and vowed to deliver justice to the families of the victims.

"What is the acceptable number of lives to be lost in the name of illegal immigration? Let me tell you what that number is: zero," Trump said Saturday at anti-illegal immigration group's conference in Houston, Texas.

Trump spoke at the Remembrance Project first annual luncheon, an organization founded to advocate for tougher immigration laws in honor of those killed by people in the country illegally.

The Republican nominee touted a strong message against crime by undocumented immigrants, painting a picture of an America with porous borders and rampant crime done by those who flow into the country illegally.

"Every day our border remains open, innocent Americans are needlessly victimized and killed. Every day sanctuary cities are left in place and innocent Americans are put in harms away. Everyday we fail to enforce our laws," Trump said.

But the reality and the numbers don't match Trump's narrative. According to the Wall Street Journal, a report from the Immigration Policy Center found that illegal immigrants are less likely than the native population to commit violent crimes or be incarcerated.

Trump told the group most "politicians ignore your cries, but I never will," vowing to "deliver justice to every American family and victim" if he wins the presidential election."

Trump also falsely claimed that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton wants to abolish America’s borders and misrepresented her immigration policy as effective amnesty for all.

"She didn’t want to get involved,” Trump said, stating that Clinton, as secretary of state, refused to take forceful action and get countries to take back their citizens who committed crimes in the U.S. and needed to be deported. The crowd responded chants of "lock her up."

Members of the Remembrance Project have repeatedly appeared on stage with Trump at rallies across the country and he has made its cause part of his platform. 

According to the group's website, The Remembrance Project brings national attention to "under-reported killings, and is 'connecting-the-dots' through its initiative, the 'Stolen Lives Quilt'– a visual memorial dedicated to slain Americans, who would otherwise still be alive and with their families, if only current laws were enforced.”

A fight broke out early Saturday morning in the neighborhood of Oak Park.

A 21-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the torso and legs during a house party at 5300 Caminito Mindy.  Police were called and able to assist him to the hospital where he suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

A 23-year-old male was also transported to the hospital for a stab wound to the leg as well as a 21-year-old man with a non-life-threatening stab wound to his abdomen.

The suspects were possibly two dark-skinned men in their 20’s, police said. There were reports of a gunshot during the incident, but there were no gunshot victims or damage found.

Detectives responded to the scene and are investigating.

Anyone with information related to the above incident(s) is encouraged to call the listed Command handling the investigation or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

San Diego lifeguards broke previous summer records this year with 1,707 rescues in June, 4,102 in July and 1,279 in August. Lifeguards generally average 1,067 rescues in June, 1,807 in July and 818 in August.

So far this year lifeguards have made 8,628 rescues while the previous record set in 1993 was 7,446.

Lifeguard Chief Rick Wurts said his team has been fully committed to protecting the lives of San Diego beachgoers.

“Every member of this Division pulled together and worked as a team to keep our coast safe,” Wurts said. “They are an outstanding group of professionals.”

The increased number of rescues may be due in part to the extended period of warm ocean temperatures to promote more people to come to the beaches.

General Dynamics NASSCO, a ship building company, christened a new fuel efficient ECO class tanker for American Petroleum Tankers (APT) at a ceremony in San Diego Saturday.

The Bay State is the fourth of a five-tanker contract between NASSCO and APT, which will each have a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity. The 610-foot long tankers are equipped with a new ‘ECO’ design. The first three ships under the contract are already in service, and the last ship is expected to be finished next year.

“The christening of a ship is to wish good fortune to those sailing in her and to celebrate the thousands of hardworking men and women who constructed the ship,” said Kevin Graney, vice president and general manager for General Dynamics NASSCO. “Even more, we celebrate the significance of the Bay State and her sister ships in the ECO Class program. Upon each respective delivery, the ships constructed as part of this partnership with American Petroleum Tankers will join the ranks as some of the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly tankers in the world.”

Improved fuel efficiency design features on the ship include a G-series MAN ME slow-speed main engine and an optimized hull form.

“After another great christening ceremony, we now look forward to soon taking delivery of the Bay State, our fourth NASSCO-built, ECO Class tanker. This state-of-the-art vessel will be another welcome addition to our growing fleet – one that will provide safe and reliable transportation for our customers in the decades ahead. We applaud our partners at NASSCO for making this day possible,” said Rob Kurz, vice president of Kinder Morgan Terminals and president of American Petroleum Tankers, a Kinder Morgan, Inc. subsidiary.

The Bay State and the other three ships built under the contract are the first to obtain a PMA+ Notation, which represents compliance with the highest standards of human factors in engineering design. They were designed by DSEC, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding &Marine Engineering.

The ships were designed by DSEC, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of Busan, South Korea.

More than 300 female founders and funders from the United States and Mexico have gathered at the second annual "Hera Venture Summit" at the University of San Diego on Saturday, to promote bi-national networking.

Officials said the event is set from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Mother Rosalie Hill Hall: School of Leadership and Education Sciences. It's hosted by Dr. Silvia Mah, founding partner of Hera Fund and Hera Angels, and Felena Handson, founder and CEO of co-working space Hera Hub.

Its purpose is to foster relationships among female investors and funders working for Hera Angels, as well as encourage connections between the San Diego and Mexico start-up businesses, especially from the CaliBaja region, said Hera Venture officials.

At the event, women are discussing trends and resources related to start-ups and investing. There is also a showcase of San Diego products made by women featured on display, according to Hera Venture. Three women from San Diego have participated in a Shark Tank-like "Fast Pitch" contest, a game that encourages women to share their creative business ideas.

Attendees will be welcomed by Barbara Bry, a start-up advocate and candidate for San Diego City Council District 1, and Michael Lawless, clinical professor of management at the University of San Diego School of Business.

Some prominent business panelists at the event are Qualcomm's Navrina Singh, and Golden Sees angel investor Kim Kovacs.

Tickets are $239 at the door, with the exception of students, who are granted free admission.

Last year, the Hera Ventura Summit netted $100,000 in angel investing deals.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department is joining forces with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) through a county wide grant to help fight underage drinking and other crimes that may occur at ABC-licensed establishments.

In July, the SDPD received an ABC grant of $100,000 to be spent in communities to help battle alcohol-related crimes and educate ABC-licensed businesses. The goal of the ABC Grant Assistance Program is to partner with local law enforcement agencies to help make communities safer.

San Diego deputies and agents from Alcohol Beverage Control along with five minor decoys organized a “Minor Decoy” and “Shoulder Tap” operation at various locations in the communities of Santee and Lakeside.

The “Minor Decoy” operation involved minors who tested “off-sale” and “on-sale” establishments. Minors tried to purchase alcohol at 11 different locations and successfully, all licensed business turned the minors away.

In the “Shoulder Tap” operation teenagers asked adults to buy them alcohol outside of local retail liquor stores.  31 adults were contacted and one was arrested for selling alcohol to a minor (a misdemeanor offense).

ABC-related operations such as “Minor Decoy” and “Shoulder Tap” help reduce alcohol abuse and youth access to alcohol. Operations like the ones above will continue through June 2017.

Anyone with information on licensed liquor establishments providing alcohol to minors can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (858)580-8477, or call the Sheriff's Department non-emergency line at (858)565-5200.

Some 29 people were injured in an explosion in Chelsea Saturday night, and authorities removed what appeared to be a secondary device a few blocks away. 

"All hands are on deck; injuries are significant," Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, though. 

"There is no evidence at this point of a terror connection," he said, though he added it was "an intentional act."

Law enforcement sources say police are in possession of a video that shows a man putting an object in a dumpster, followed by an explosion some time later.

President Obama was briefed on the explosion and receiving regular updates.

Crews responded to the scene at 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue around 8:30 p.m. Police Commissioner Jimmy O'Neill said the explosion took place out on the street, though de Blasio declined to answer whether the cause was a bomb in a dumpster, as some sources suggested. 

The NYPD also removed a possible secondary device on 27th St. Four sources said the device was a pressure cooker and that it had what appeared to be wires coming from it, a cell phone and black tape. 

After asking people to stay away from their windows in the area of that device, the NYPD tweeted that it had been safely removed just before 2:30 a.m.

Photos posted to social media showed an extensive emergency presence at the scene, with the area between Sixth and Seventh avenues cordoned off. Sixth Avenue was closed from 14th to 34th Street and NYC Transit reported extensive disruptions to the 1, 2, E and F subway lines. 

At least one Twitter user tweeted that her "whole high-rise building shook" from a apparent blast. Another image showed a Dumpster or trash bin blown apart, with bits of debris scattered on the sidewalk. People at least seven blocks away reported hearing and feeling a loud boom.

Earlier Saturday, one of three bundled pipe bombs placed in a trash can along a 5k race route to be run by Marines detonated in Seaside Park, New Jersey. The race had been running late, but authorities said they believed the device had been timed to explode as runners went by the trash bin.

No one was hurt, and de Blasio said there was no evidence of a connection between the two blasts. 

A national campaign "Honorably Discharged, Dishonorably Deported" is calling attention to the problem of discharged U.S. veterans being deported to another country after serving in the military, said city officials.

Experts will provide detailed analysis on this national dilemma at a press conference 9 a.m. Monday, in the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center on 2115 Park Blvd.

U.S. Congressman Juan Vargas will discuss possible legislative changes to address the problem.

Community leaders such as veterans, elected officials, along with business, labor and civil rights organizations have announced the launch to advocate for solutions, said city officials.

Attendees will include California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and Nathan Fletcher, former Assembly member and Marine veteran.

A 67-year-old man was struck by a vehicle while crossing the street on 2800 El Cajon Boulevard, according to San Diego police.

The driver, a 27-year-old man, was headed westbound at about 9:55 p.m. Friday evening and did not see the pedestrian before striking him, said SDPD Sgt. Brad O' Donnell.

Without heeding signs warning against pedestrian crossings, the victim attempted to cross the street, said Donnell. After he was taken to a local hospital, the man died from his injuries.

It was unclear whether speed or alcohol was a contributing factor in the collision. An investigation is being conducted by the San Diego Police Traffic Unit.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.