San Diego firefighters battled a blaze at the Evergreen Nursery off Carmel Valley Road Sunday night.

Crews were called to the garden center in the 13,600-block of Carmel Valley Road around 6:30 p.m.

Fire officials said a two-story building was fully involved when crews arrived. Flames could be seen coming through the roof.

Officials said fighting the fire posed several challenges. Crews had to cut through a locked security gate to get inside. Plus, there were no fire hydrants nearby, and trucks had to bring in water.

San Diego Gas and Electric also responded because of fear over nearby power lines.

The nursery's owner said friends who live nearby called him to say his business was on fire.

"They were in their houses. They saw flames and heard popping noises, like things exploding. There's nothing in there that explodes," said Mark Collins, CEO of Evergreen Nursery.

At the end of the day, Collins says he's lucky.

"We have 150 employees," he said. "We're going to get through it."

The business was closed at the time of the fire, and no one was injured. There is no estimate yet of how much damage was done.

A fire battalion chief told NBC 7 it's likely an electrical problem caused the fire.

Collins says Evergreen Nursery will be open for business on Monday.

View Evergreen Nursery in a larger map

The FBI is asking for the public's help in finding a potentially violent fugitive from Arizona with ties to California, authorities said Sunday.

Matthew Duke Maley, 46, of Tucson, Ariz., is wanted in connection with federal drug charges of distribution of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting, according to the FBI.

Authorities tried to serve a search warrant at his Arizona home on Sunday, but he was not there.

Maley has ties to Albuquerque, N.M., Denver, Colo., Tucson, Ariz., Salinas, Calif. and El Paso, Texas, the FBI said in a news release.

Maley is described as white, 6 feet 1 inch tall, about 180 to 190 pounds and is bald with hazel eyes. He has several tattoos on his arms, including skulls, a cross and lightning bolts.

He may be driving an olive green Discovery model Land Rover with New Mexico license plates that read MSG-233, according to the FBI.

Maley is considered armed and dangerous, and anybody who sees him should not approach him, but call the Albuquerque FBI at 505-889-1300 or submit a tip online.

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A man was arrested after the employee of a downtown coffee shop identified him as the man who robbed the business just moments earlier, officials said.

San Diego police were called to the Tabac Coffee shop that sells coffee and cigars on 3rd Street around 1:30 a.m.

An employee told officers the business was held up by a suspect who took money out of the cash register and then fled on foot.

A man matching the suspect description was arrested just two blocks away outside Horton Plaza.

Officers checked nearby streets and even looked inside storm drains but still were not able to locate the a gun or the money.

Investigators say they are confident they have the right person in custody

“Officers a couple blocks away stopped a man matching the description,” Lt. Mark Bennett with San Diego police. “We brought him by here and that victim positively identified the suspect as the suspect that robbed her.”

Officers said the suspect had other warrants for his arrest.

Investigators would not confirm how much money was taken from the coffee shop.

A mother and son from New Mexico are facing felony charges after posting a photo of their new puppy on Facebook, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department.

The photo shows a smiling woman holding a plastic bag with a small, white dog inside.

A Facebook user saw the photo and reported it to authorities.

On Saturday, 21-year-old Britton James Engel and 44-year-old Mary Snell were arrested for felony conspiracy and extreme cruelty to animals.

According to Albuquerque’s NBC affiliate KOB, police say James Engel admitted to taking the picture of his mom and posting it online. Snell told police that the dog, “Baby,” wouldn’t sit still for a picture, so she put the dog in a plastic bag to show a friend how small it was.

The Sheriff’s Department says Baby is safe and in good condition.

Amid the broken homes and scattered belongings in Washington, Ill., is a community refusing to give up hope, one day after it was devastated by a deadly tornado.

An E-4 twister struck the community in the afternoon, killing one and injuring dozens of others. The storm was part of a massive surge that swept across the entire state.

Stormchaser Todd Cannon rode out the storm with his son, Matthew, in their SUV. The vehicle was severely damaged as a result, and Cannon said he and his son were saved by "the grace of God."

"Honestly, I thought we were going to die," Cannon said.

Back in town, Ryan Bowers took cover in his basement with his wife and 3-month-old daughter. The couple lay on top of the baby to protect her from falling debris.

"Things were dropping on top of me and splitting in two, like the part of the wall, I think," he said. "We crawled out and looked around, couldn't believe it."

The family made it out unharmed, and Bowers' wife said their daughter even slept through the incident.

Residents are now combing through what's left of their community. For many, the devastation is simply too much to comprehend.

"Nobody has anything left," resident Nancy Rampy said. "It's all gone. It's just awful."

"We'll get through this because we all stand together," Rampy said.

San Diego voters will choose between 12 candidates to replace its disgraced former mayor on Tuesday as the city looks to close the books on a tumultuous and sordid chapter in the city’s political history.

The election to replace Bob Filner, who served just nine months before resigning amid allegations of harassment and inappropriate conduct towards women, hasn't received the national attention of mayoral races in New York and Los Angeles, but it's had its share of unusual moments. Mixed in with policy debates, candidates have fought over college transcripts and traffic tickets. One leading candidate shifted political parties twice in less than two years.

Filner has been largely absent during the 12-week scramble since his resignation, but he still looms large over the election.

“I think that everyone wants to be the anti-Filner,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in ethics and governmental reform. “You show that every aspect of your life is open and that you don’t perform sexual assaults.”

At a glance, the field looks like a group of anti-Filners. The three leading candidates, who range in ages from 33 to 46, have all served just two terms or less in state or local office. Filner, 71, ran on a three-decade career in elected office, which included 20 years in Congress.  Candidates have called for increased transparency and integrity at city hall, and local media has delved deep into candidates' backgrounds.

The most intense jockeying ahead of the election has involved Republican Kevin Faulconer, a two-term councilman, and three leading Democrats -- Councilman David Alvarez, former City Attorney Mike Aguirre former legislator and mayoral hopeful Nathan Fletcher.

Faulconer, whose past portfolio of public relations clients has been the subject of scrutiny, issued a “Transparency First” plan as the election entered its final stretch, while Alvarez endorsed a proposal to amend the city's charter on public records access as a "foundation of my blueprint and vision for the future of San Diego." Both trumpeted transparency in releasing their college transcripts, which revealed that Faulconer got an A in Advanced Surfing and Alvarez received a B-minus in "Marching Band," according to local reports.

Fletcher even refuted a local newspaper’s assertion that he had a blemish-free driving record by admitting to receiving a traffic ticket in 2010. His critics have still asked whether he can be trusted, pointing to the fact that he changed political parties twice in two years and his oft-repeated but false claim that he was the first in his family to go to college.

“We want to have a known quantity of our next mayor. We’re not doing this one more time,” said San Diego Republican Party Chairman Tony Krvaric, whose committee has spent heavily against Fletcher.

Fletcher had been attacked from both the left and the right. The Republican Party, which has endorsed two-term councilman Faulconer, and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council have flooded local mailboxes with nearly identical messages criticizing Fletcher's attendance records during his time in the state Assembly. Fletcher’s backers, which include several local law enforcement unions, have countered with attacks on Alvarez.

Strategists say GOP groups are wading into the fight between the leading Democrats because they'd like the inexperienced Alvarez, not Aguirre or Fletcher, to emerge in a runoff against front-runner Faulconer. But that could backfire if the 33-year-old Alvarez and his labor allies can gain traction in his bid to become the city’s first Latino mayor.

“He’s unknown, he’s never run a city-wide campaign and he’s really not known very well outside his district. But he could turn out to be a very good campaigner,” said Brian Adams, a professor of political science at San Diego State University.

Ultimately, Adams said, the election could turn on which candidate can make the best pitch on the hyperlocal issues at the top of mind for voters tuned in enough to cast a ballot in what’s expected to be a very low turnout election.

“If a candidate can convince voters that they’re the one that will actually be able to fill in the potholes better than the other candidates,” said Bryan Adams, a political science professor at San Diego State University. “That will really win them the votes.”

Last Christmas, the three Shyba kids sat on Santa's lap in Manhattan and asked for a dog.

Mom and Dad said no.

But the family moved to Santa Cruz this year and changed their minds. Earlier this month, they bought "Theo," an adorable boxer-Labrador-German shepherd mix.

Suddenly, they're stars.

Their story — documented in pictures of Theo and the youngest Shyba child, Beau — has gone viral.

Mother Jessica Shyba's blog, Momma's Gone City, has received 200,000 clicks in the last two days, and she's been given a shout-out by the Today Show, Ellen DeGeneres and a slew of other talk shows, all because she captured Instagram photos of her puppy and 23-month-old, blond-haired toddler sleeping together at naptime.

"It's so weird," Shyba told NBC Bay Area Monday morning. "But I'm just rolling with it."

"Rolling with it," meant waking up at 1:30 a.m. Monday to drive more than an hour to San Francisco, where she was a guest on Fox and Friends. Theo and Beau sat in Shyba's arms, or rather, struggled in her arms as she gave her interview, both obviously tired from the early morning drive and stress. At one point, Shyba gave up the puppy to a news crew member to keep them apart. Afterwards, she took Beau to his doctor's appointment and waited for an NBC Bay Area crew to show up at her house.

"It's really hard for me to put into words how I'm feeling," said Shyba, who has been toiling on her blog for four years. "I woke up the other night in a panic, so scared because this is my family, the most important thing to me."

She only began photographing her son and puppy within the last week or so. But the story began last Christmas in Manhattan. That's when Shyba, who'd moved to New York City while her husband was in dental school, took her kids to see Santa at Macy's Santa Land in Herald Square. The kids asked for a dog.

https://t.co/vGOHcW39S1

— Jessica Shyba (@MommasGoneCity) November 16, 2013

At the time, she and her husband, Justin Shyba, said they couldn't make it work with school loans and a tiny place to live.

Then they moved back to Santa Cruz, where Justin Shyba is now a practicing dentist in the nearby city of Soquel.

They wanted their children's year-old Christmas wish to come true. On Nov. 4, the family went to the Santa Cruz SPCA and adopted Theo.

Theo immediately responded to all the kids: Jack, 6, Zoe, 5, and Beau, the baby of the family and the only one of the Shybas who still naps.

Pretty soon, puppy and baby were bonding in sleep and Shyba began documenting all of it on her Momma's Gone City blog, calling it "the most organic and beautiful friendship I have ever witnessed." She also tweets under the handle @Mommasgonecity and her photos can be found under the hashtag #theoandbeau.

Renowned baby photographer Anne Geddess would be proud of these photos. One shows Theo's paw touching Beau's pacifier. Another shows the dog's chin on Beau's bare shoulder. Another shows the two snuggled together on their backs, Beau wearing a rainbow tank top and Sesame Street diapers.

Shyba said it's difficult to predict when Theo and Beau will sleep, and when she can zoom in for just the right image. She gets so excited sometimes, she said, that she's scared she'll wake them up.

Shyba, who went to fashion school in San Francisco, has been working as a mother of three, blogging as a hobby, though she does get paid by certain brands, such as Cottonelle and Pampers, if she mentions their products.

She acknowledged that her new fame will definitely be "good for business," though she declined to talk specifics. She's hoping to work on a book, and has talked to an agent about documenting the lives of her family.

Shyba is touched by the flood of emails that have been pouring in. Many fans simply enjoy witnessing the budding relationship between a young boy and his dog. Others have praised her as an animal advocate. Shyba hopes the attention will bring more donations to the SPCA.

"I'm just trying to keep my focus," Shyba said. "Celebrities come with the hope that fame is part of the package. But I just wanted to document my family life. This is certainly unprecedented."
 

#theoandbeau https://t.co/JZHsNFxqzr

— Jessica Shyba (@MommasGoneCity) November 17, 2013

A state law inspired by a San Diego County boy has become a high-potential lifesaving measure for newborns born with heart defects.

The law, which took effect July 1, requires hospitals perform a $3 test on all newborns to screen them for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD).

If Caleb Peltier had received the test, it would have given his parents a warning and the chance to avoid the invasive surgery he underwent at just 16 days old.

The Peltiers knew something was wrong when Caleb wasn’t eating at 3 days old. His mother took him to his pediatrician who urged her to take him the emergency room at Tri City Medical.

“It was horrible, the worst day of my life by far,” Caleb’s father DJ Peltier said.

Several hospitals and specialists later, Caleb underwent heart surgery.

“We were sick. We just prayed every day. We didn’t know what to think we were just so scared,” Caleb’s mother Casey Peltier told NBC 7.

Now 3 years old, Caleb (pictured below) is doing well and living with his family in Vista.

His parents and the March of Dimes wanted to prevent this from happening to other families so they approached State Sen. Marty Block last year and asked him to help.

As a result, California became the ninth and largest state in the nation to require the life-saving test for all newborns.

Clips are attached to an infant’s hand and foot and then to a device that is a little larger than a bedside radio.

“It’s like a band-aid on the baby’s finger and it will measure the baby’s oxygenated blood,” Caleb’s mother explains.

“This test, which is now law, now required of all hospitals, could’ve saved this family so much grief, could’ve save taxpayers so much money that had to be spent and could’ve saved poor Caleb so much pain,” Block said.

Since the law went into effect Block said he knows of two babies – one in Irvine, another at UCLA – that tested positive on the preliminary test.

After more testing they were found to have heart defects and were treated.

“It’s actually, for many babies, an easy correction if you catch it early, that’s the key,” Block said.

According to the American Heart Association, several other states have now enacted similar legislation or are currently screening.

They include Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.
 

Interim Mayor Todd Gloria kicked off the San Diego Food Bank’s holiday food drive Monday at the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego.

He also handed out awards from the 2013 Colleges Rock Hunger Food Drive to students at San Diego State, UCSD and Cal State San Marcos, who collected more than 244,000 pounds of food donations.

San Diego State won the competition, collecting 3,964 pounds of food and more than $37,000 in donations.

“We know that we have nearly half a million food insecure families in our community,” said Gloria, who awarded a life-size "guitar trophy" to students from SDSU. “San Diego has some very generous folks, particularly at the holiday season. This is an opportunity to do something about that and to make sure that those families that may go hungry tonight may have something in their cupboard.”

San Diego State University president Elliot Hirshman praised the leadership of the students who participated in the food drive.

“Students are really passionately embracing the need to support members of our community who face challenges,” he said. “And that really is an example of leadership for all of us.”

Steve Bernstein, business banking president at Wells Fargo and one of the food bank’s co-chairs, urged San Diego residents to donate through a program with Von’s grocery stores. Shoppers can buy a $10 bag of groceries which will then be donated to the food bank through the end of the year. They can also donate on the San Diego Food Bank's website.

“Every dollar, every can of food donated will ensure a San Diegan will not go to bed hungry,” Bernstein said.

A new shopping and dining center opened Monday along the Embarcadero in the same area as the former San Diego police headquarters. 

The plaza is called The Headquarters because it takes the spot of the former San Diego Police Department headquarters that closed in 1987.

The $40 million space includes 100,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment near Seaport Village.

“We see it as a complement to Seaport Village which has always been a tremendous success, a great place to go, take relatives and enjoy,” said Terramar Retail Center CEO Steve Bowers. “This is sort of a next step.”

Thirty shops and restaurants are housed in four buildings set around a courtyard.

Simply Local, described as a Parisian bazaar with various vendors, is located in an area that used to house jail cells. The Cheesecake Factory and Seasons 52 now stand where the old “car barn” was. The former police station file room is now home to the Mexican eatery, Puesto.

Developed by Terramar Retail Centers, the center preserves a small piece of the old police building. Of the three cell blocks, eight jail cells were preserved so shoppers can walk through and take pictures of themselves in old-style jail cells. There are also photographs of the department and the way it was used over the years.

“All the stores will be open and we want to make it a home for San Diegans,” said Jennifer Gordon, VP of Marketing of The Headquarters.

For more information on the shopping center, click here.

San Diego police confiscated several firearms from a Clairemont home after a man’s gun accidentally fired and killed his best friend, officials said.

Officers were investigating the shooting that took place around 1 a.m. Sunday at the home in the 4900-block of Gallatin Way in Northwest Clairemont.

The gun owner was showing his friend a gun when the gun dropped to the ground and fired, shooting the friend in the chest according to San Diego police.

Paramedics found 21-year-old Michael Nugent lying on a house’s front lawn and rushed him to a local hospital, said Lieutenant Mike Hastings.

Nugent died from his wounds Sunday morning.

Clarence Allen has lived next door to the family for almost 50 years.

“They’re a great family. The boys have never been in trouble,” Allen said. “It’s a shock that something like this could happen.”

Investigators questioned the victim’s friend and are looking into the shooting.

“It’s a tragedy that it happened to the other boy because they were best friends,” Allen said.

Allen said the home also serves as a day-care center during the day.

“I had no idea there was ever a gun in the home,” the neighbor said.

If you have information about the incident, call San Diego Police’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

San Diego police are investigating the shooting of a man inside a Clairemont home used as a daycare.

Michael Nugent, 21, died from a chest wound he suffered when his best friend’s gun dropped to the ground and fired, officials said.

San Diego police officers were called to the home on Gallatin Way around 1 a.m. Sunday.

Sharon Orr owns the home and the daycare and described Nugent as a longtime family friend.

“We are devastated,” Orr said.

Orr’s son was with his friend when the gun fired.

Paramedics found Nugent lying on a house’s front lawn and rushed him to a local hospital, said Lieutenant Mike Hastings.

He was later pronounced dead.

Investigators confiscated several firearms from the home. During the week, the Orr Family Daycare operates out of the home.

Orr said the guns were registered and kept far from the children who she supervised in the at-home daycare.

“The guns were in a $600 safe upstairs. The guns were never out of the safe during daycare hours and the children didn’t go upstairs,” she said.

About her daycare, Orr said, “been doing this for 27 years, it’s my life” and then began crying.

Clarence Allen has lived next door to the family for almost 50 years.

“They’re a great family. The boys have never been in trouble,” Allen said referring to Orr’s family.

"It’s a tragedy that it happened to the other boy because they were best friends,” Allen said.

If you have information about the incident, call San Diego Police’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

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A motorcyclist was killed after getting into an accident with a San Diego police car, according to police.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the victim as 62-year-old Mark Griffin McCaffrey.

The crash happened just after 7 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Balboa Avenue and Mt. Everest Boulevard in Clairemont.

Paramedics rushed McCaffrey to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The ME listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma.

Police say the officer was not injured. The officer's name has not been released.

According to officials, the officer was going westbound on Balboa when he was called to provide backup for a hit and run accident in the area. The officer did a U-turn in the intersection, colliding with the motorcycle.

Officials say the patrol car had lights and sirens on at the time of the crash. The motorcyclist applied his brakes, but still smashed into the passenger side of the patrol car.

"Drivers are expected to turn to the right outside the roadway and allow the officer to pass in an emergency," San Diego Police Lt. Mark Bennett said.

Suzanne Garrett was stopped at the traffic light behind the officer and saw the accident happen.

"When I looked over from where the sound came from, there was a man down. He did not move," Garrett said.

Garrett was still shaken up an hour after the crash.

"That man's life is not worth going after someone for property loss," she said. "That's very unnerving."

Neighbors tell NBC 7 this is a dangerous intersection and say everyone has a responsibility to other motorists.

"You have to be safe. Make sure you're looking around when you are making a U-turn," Chris Kato said. "You can't expect other people to react that quickly."

View 5200 Balboa Ave in a larger map

When it comes to everyday decisions, like where to eat or what services to trust, millions of consumers have come to depend on what's become the "go-to" guide for recommendations - Yelp.com.

But the popular review-driven website now finds itself in the middle of a class-action lawsuit, in which attorneys for the plaintiffs allege contributors should have been paid for the reviews they wrote.

In that lawsuit, attorneys also allege that Yelp controls its reviews to pander to its advertisers.

NBC4 spoke with a SoCal dentist, Gary Hollander, who said he could attest to such practices.

"This is a forum for anybody to write in," said Hollander, who says getting people into his dental practice got much tougher in the midst of the recession when he started getting several negative reviews on Yelp.

"I wrote to Yelp figuring that they could knock it off," he said. "Instead, I got an email back stating (that) they can't interfere with factual disputes."

The tone quickly changed, according to Hollander and his wife Mary, when a month later, Yelp called him back asking him if he wanted to buy an advertisement.

"My husband said 'I don't like the negative reviews, what will happen with those if I pay the $350?' and they said 'no problem we can remove these negative reviews,' and they did," said Mary Hollander.

Gary Hollander claims he called Yelp back a few weeks later to inform the company he decided not to advertise.

"My husband said to me 'the negative reviews are back,'" said Mary Hollander. "Since he didn't pay the $350. That's extortion!"

Attorneys allege in the lawsuit that Yelp "placate(s) advertisers who might get upset by negative reviews.

Lily Jeung is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. For years, she told us she was considered an "elite" reviewer.

"I had about 5,000 'friends' on Yelp," said Jeung. "I had written well over a thousand reviews."

But Jeung's entire profile and all her reviews are now nowhere to be found because they were deleted by Yelp.

"If you wrote a positive review for a business that was on the list of business they were trying to get to advertise they would filter the review," explained Jeung. "If you were to write a negative review about a business that was giving them a lot of money -- they would delete your account as well."

"When they deleted my account, they sent me an email," she said.

In the email, Yelp stated it was Jeung who wrote reviews for businesses that tried to pay for positive reviews, a claim, which Jeung denies.

"I felt shocked!" she said.

Yelp sent NBC4 a statement that reads in part:

"There has never been any amount of money a business can pay Yelp to manipulate reviews. Our automated review filter does not punish those who do not advertise."

A spokesperson for Yelp believes the lawsuit is a result of backlash by some of the plaintiffs who the company says had their accounts removed for improper conduct.

Jeung doesn't believe it, and says she is speaking out because she believes Yelp has gotten away with too much for too long.

"I see how hard it is to make it - to have a small business," said Jeung. "But having someone, some big corporate entity come in, and try to get you to pay all this money in order to stay afloat?"

Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds remained in fair condition Tuesday night at the University of Virginia Medical Center after he apparently was stabbed by his son, who then shot himself, police said.

Virginia State Police are investigating the incident as an attempted murder-suicide, spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Tuesday afternoon.

"Based on the evidence we have right now, we are looking into this as an attempted murder and suicide," Geller said.

At two afternoon news conferences, state police stopped short of confirming what other sources had told News4: That 24-year-old Austin "Gus" Deeds stabbed his father then killed himself. But state police did confirm that Creigh Deeds suffered multiple stab wounds to the head and upper torso during an altercation at his home, and that Gus Deeds died at the scene of a gunshot wound.

Creigh Deeds, 55, was able to walk out of the home and down a hill on his property (seen in the picture below) to Route 42, where he was spotted and picked up by a cousin, who took the senator to his residence. 

Deeds was airlifted to UVa. Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition and was treated in the intensive care unit.

Troopers and first responders attempted to treat Gus Deeds, but he died at the scene. His body was taken to the medical examiner in Roanoke for an autopsy.

Investigators recovered a firearm at the scene, but police did not say what type.

Police are not seeking any other suspects, Geller said.

Virginia State Police said in a press conference Tuesday that they believe the incident happened shortly before 7:25 a.m., when the Bath County Sheriff's Department received the 911 call. They are not sure who placed the call.

• RAW VIDEO: Va. State Police Discuss Deeds Assault

Creigh Deeds has been able to speak to investigators, Geller said. The Bath County Sheriff's Department is assisting Virginia State Police with the investigation.

"The news from this morning is utterly heartbreaking," said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. "Creigh Deeds is an exceptional and committed public servant who has always done what he believes is best for Virginia and who gives his all to public service."

Four years ago, Deeds, a Democrat, lost badly to Republican McDonnell in the Virginia governor's race, although Barack Obama had carried the commonwealth just a year earlier. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said the loss was a reaction to Obama's election in 2008, and a harbinger of the Tea Party surge.

But Deeds has held strong as a Democrat in a legislative district that encompasses both the urban center of Charlottesville and more rural, typically Republican areas of far western Virginia. Deeds has also been helped by his home turf of Bath County, which is typically Republican but turns out the vote for one of their own, Sabato said.

State police would not comment on reports that Gus Deeds was released from Bath Community Hospital Monday following a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported a psychiatric bed could not be found for him over a wide area of western Virginia.

"While I cannot confirm whether or not anyone was issued an Emergency Custody Order (ECO), what information we can provide at this time is the typical procedure involved in an ECO," read a statement from Dennis A. Cropper, Ph.D., executive director of Rockbridge Area Community Services in Lexington, who was cited in the Times-Dispatch. "Once a person is taken into custody under an ECO, they can be held for up to four hours while an evaluation from a Mental Health professional is conducted. Within those four hours, if a mental health professional determines that they need a psychiatric bed space, they have to use those same four hours to locate a receiving facility. In certain conditions, a two-hour extension is granted by a magistrate, but under no circumstances can a person be held beyond six hours involuntarily under an ECO."

Colleagues of Sen. Deeds said they've heard of difficulties with his son but never imagined an outcome like this.

Gus Deeds withdrew from the College of William & Mary last month, the college said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. He had been enrolled there since 2007, although not continuously.

He was a music major with "a strong academic record," according to the school.

"Our hearts go out to the entire Deeds family," the school's statement read in part.

The same year his father ran for governor, Gus Deeds, then 20,  was arrested in Bath County for alcohol possession, according to the Virginian Pilot.

Reaction to the news of the attack on Creigh Deeds came from throughout the commonwealth.

"This is a truly sad day for Virginia and for the many people who know Creigh as the fine public servant and friend he is," said Virginia Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe, whom Deeds defeated in the Democratic primary in 2009. "We join people across the Commonwealth and country in wishing him a full recovery."

Mark Warner, who campaigned for Deeds in 2009, said:

Stunning news from Bath County. I am praying for @CreighDeeds and his family at this very, very difficult time.

— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) November 19, 2013

That sentiment was echoed by Virginia Delegate David Toscano, who represents Albemarle County in the General Assembly:

Our thoughts and prayers are with @CreighDeeds and his family.

— David J. Toscano (@deltoscano) November 19, 2013

Creigh Deeds has been a Virginia state senator since 2001, representing Virginia's 25th District. He served in the House of Delegates for 10 years prior and ran unsuccessfully for attorney general of Virginia in 2005 before his run for governor in 2009.

Deeds and his first wife, Pam, divorced after nearly 20 years of marriage in 2010. The couple also has three daughters. Deeds married his second wife in June 2012. She was not home at the time of the altercation.

Stay with NBCWashington for more on this developing story.  

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A man and a child were struck by gunfire Monday night in what police say could be a gang-related drive-by shooting in Long Beach.

The pair was riding bicycles in the 7000 block of Orange Avenue near 70th Street when a light-colored sedan drove by and opened fire, said Sgt. Aaron Eaton, with the Long Beach Police Department. Witnesses reported hearing up to 10 gunshots.

The shooter drove away, traveling south on Orange Avenue, Eaton said.

Details about the victims were not immediately known, but police said the child was younger than 10 years old and suffered from at least one gunshot wound to the upper torso. The adult victim was shot at least once.

The victims do not appear to be related to each other, Eaton said. They were taken to a hospital in unknown condition.

Anyone with information in the case is urged to call the Long Beach Police Department.

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