Sindee Molnar says her love affair with margarine was a short one.

"I tried the margarine but I didn't like the taste," said Molnar. She's not alone.

According to the American Butter Institute, U.S. butter consumption has reached its highest level in 40 years.

Alan Cole says he stopped eating butter 30 years ago when he was told it was bad for his health but now he's not so sure.

"When you go to the margarine and find out what chemicals are in it, it's basically just an oil," said Cole.

Alan's wife Marie agrees.

"I think there are less chemicals in the butter and the margarine is a lot of chemicals," she added.

Now that's not to say margarine is the only alternative to butter. Tanya Lott says she switched to healthier oils and rarely uses butter.

"So I'm using a lot more olive oil to cook with and trying to cut down on all of that," Lott explained.

But sometimes people just want butter.

Jeana Church is the owner of Janet's Cafe in El Cajon. She says customers will order toast and eggs with no butter but turn to the good stuff when ordering other breakfast staples.

"Pancakes or french toast or anything like that, people usually want butter," she said.

Anuja Miner with the American Butter Institute says consumers are moving away from highly processed foods and that works to the advantage of butter.

Miner says margarine and other spreads are no longer viewed as healthier alternatives.

Still, despite the current rise in butter consumption, we are eating less butter than our ancestors.

While people today are eating over 5 pounds of butter a year, in the 1930's an average American ate 18 pounds of butter a year.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was allegedly assaulted near the U.S.-Mexico border in Baja California Wednesday night, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.

Border Patrol officials said the assault happened around 8 p.m. approximately two miles west of the Tecate Port of Entry, which is about 50 miles from San Diego.

Officials said two Border Patrol agents were patrolling the area adjacent to the border fence on all-terrain vehicles when a rock six inches in diameter was thrown over the fence from the Mexico side.

The rock (pictured below) struck an agent’s helmet. The impact from the blow knocked him off his moving ATV, officials said.

The Border Patrol agent sustained injuries to his head, wrist and elbow in the rock-throwing incident and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Immediately following the assault, an infrared scope-operator monitoring the area was contacted but agents were unable to locate any suspect, officials said.

San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Paul Beeson said the agent’s helmet likely saved him from suffering critical injuries. He said this case is another example of the “unpredictable dangers” agents face on the job each day.

According to the U.S. Border Patrol, there have been 408 assaults against Border Patrol agents in San Diego Sector since 2010.

Before this, the most recent clash at the U.S.-Mexico border also involved rocks – and more than 100 people pelting agents in a chaotic, riot-like altercation.

That incident – which investigators believe was organized long before the violence erupted – happened on Nov. 24, 2013, in the Tijuana River Channel near the San Ysidro Port of Entry. At the time, NBC 7 obtained cell phone video that captured the melee at the border.

CBP officials said the large, unruly crowd began running toward the border, hurling rocks and bottles at agents as they tried to illegally cross into the United States. One agent was hit on the head by a full, flying water bottle.

Beeson said agents used pepper spray, pepper balls and tasers in an attempt to thin the crowd. Once agents used “intermediate use-of-force” devices, the group retreated back to the Mexico side of the border. No one was seriously injured and no one made it past border agents.

Officials said a flier containing a message written in Spanish was distributed in the days leading up to the event, indicating it was an organized affair.

The flier encouraged people to meet at the border on Nov. 24 and attempt to cross over into the U.S. together. The flier mentioned reunions with family members and living the “American Dream."

A shooting inside a Philadelphia high school has left two students shot. Police say one suspect has been taken into custody, but that they are still searching for at least one other juvenile.

"Two kids, a male and a female, both shot in the arm" is the call that went out over police radio minutes after the shooting on Friday afternoon.

The shooting happened just before 3:30 p.m. at the Delaware Valley Charter School at 5201 Old York Road in the Olney section of the city, Philadelphia Police say.

A teen boy, who attends the school, pulled out a handgun inside the school's gymnasium and then the weapon fired. Police say it's currently unclear if the shooting was intentional or accidental.

Two 15-year-old students -- a boy and a girl -- were injured in the shooting, which took place near the gymnasium, police said. The boy was hit in the arm and the girl appears to have been grazed by the same bullet, police tell NBC10.

Both victims were rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center, which is just a block north of the high school.

The girl was discharged from the hosptial around 6 p.m., but the boy remains hospitalized.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says there were seven students inside the gym when the shooting happened and that the entire incident was caught on surveillance video.

THE SUSPECTS

Ramsey says officials were able to quickly identify at least one alleged suspect using the video. They then pulled his records and sent officers to his home along the 2200 block of Bucknell Street in South Philadelphia -- which about 10 miles south of the school.

Once there, Ramsey said SWAT officers took the unidentified suspect custody. The teen's uncle said he boy didn't even make it into the home before police grabbed him.

"We had good response and were able to lock this down very, very quickly and get information very quickly as to who the suspect was and be able to locate that person very quickly and so this one worked out for us," the commissioner said.

Family members outside the suspect's home say he is 15-years-old and a "straight A student." That same family, who wished to remain anonymous, said his involvement in the shooting must be some kind of mistake.

The commissioner said police at first believed that student was the shooter, but through interviews have determined that he may have just been with the shooter.

"It's just like any other investigation, now we're able to talk with the people that were shot, the victims, able to talk with some of the kids that may have seen what took place," Ramsey said. "We have one person in custody that was part of it, at least with an individual that had a gun, if not the shooter himself, and we're looking for a second person, perhaps a third."

The gun has not been recovered. Police say they believe the suspects may have taken SEPTA's Broad Street Subway and a bus to get home. SEPTA Police are searching trash cans and station concourses along the line for the weapon.

THE SCHOOL & SHOOTING RESPONSE

Delaware Valley Charter School is one of 87 charter schools in Philadelphia. Charter schools are independent of the School District of Philadelphia. The school serves more than 600 students in grades 9 through 12.

The school was placed on lockdown following the shooting and was quickly secured. Officials say students were searched and then released on a one-by-one basis. The school was completely cleared at 5:30 p.m.

Parents told NBC10 reporters on the scene that there have been several fights at the school recently and that they had concerns about safety.

Police say the school does have security. The building is also equipped with metal detectors, so investigators are trying to figure out how the student was able to get the gun into the school.

Check back for more on this developing story.

Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

People don’t just like to eat at Phil’s BBQ – they like to talk about eating at Phil’s BBQ, according to some new stats from the business review website, Yelp.

Yelp’s official blog just released its year-in-review list for 2013, highlighting the 10 most reviewed businesses across the country over last year.

Turns out, San Diego’s popular barbecue eatery, Phil’s BBQ, was ranked No. 2 on the list of most “Yelped” about places – and was the only San Diego restaurant to make the cut.

According to Yelp, Phil’s BBQ – which has locations in Point Loma, Santee, San Marcos, Petco Park and the San Diego International Airport – received a total of 1,852 recommended reviews in 2013, with 986 of those being five-star ratings. To date, Yelp says the BBQ spot has received nearly 6,500 total reviews on their website.

With all that chatter, the restaurant maintains a four-and-a-half star average rating on Yelp.

The local eatery ranked second only to Los Angeles-based restaurant, Bottega Louie, which Yelp says received 2,193 recommended reviews over the year and boasts more than 7,000 total reviews to date.

Other businesses that made Yelp’s top 10 most reviewed across the nation for 2013 include, in order: Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco; Wurstküche in Los Angeles; Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles; Katz’s Delicatessen in New York City; Ippudo NY in New York City; Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco; The Halal Guys in New York City; and Founding Farmers in Washington, D.C.

Phil’s BBQ first opened in San Diego in 1998. Since then, the restaurant has served more than one million pounds of BBQ sauce, according to its website.

The company’s Point Loma location is currently closed for a $1 million renovation and is scheduled to reopen on Feb. 11.
 

Governor Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency in California, leading one local waterkeeper organization to rally for mandatory water conservation in San Diego County.

According to Gov. Brown, the current drought in the Golden State is perhaps the worst drought since records began in California. He’s calling on all state officials to do everything necessary to prepare for these conditions.

That being said, the San Diego Coastkeeper – an organization that protects and restores swimmable and drinkable waters in San Diego County – is now calling on the San Diego County Water Authority to enact a mandatory water conservation plan.

Matt O’Malley, a waterkeeper with the organization, said the average resident in San Diego uses 140 gallons of water per day, which includes everything from drinking water to water used in the shower or kitchen.

O’Malley said locals can do better than that, and thinks mandatory water restrictions are necessary at this point.

The San Diego Coastkeeper is urging the Water Authority to require residents to use water more wisely, saying Sacramento and other northern California cities have already imposed mandatory water restrictions to conserve shrinking supplies.

The waterkeeper organization said that when the Water Authority enacted a restriction in 2009, local residents responded by conserving 20 percent. From 2009 to 2011, the region as a whole reduced its water use by 14 percent.

“With all of the odds stacked against our water supply and residents’ responsiveness when asked to reduce use, we see mandatory water conservation as the new standard in water supply for San Diego,” said O’Malley. “It’s the only way to ensure an affordable California way of life that we all love.”

Read About Ways to Save Water Here

According to O’Malley, the region takes almost half of what it uses from the Colorado River and another 30 percent from the San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California. The Colorado River was named the Most Endangered River in America in 2013.

On Friday, amid Gov. Brown’s drought announcement, NBC 7 spoke to locals who about the water issue. Many said they couldn’t remember the last time it rained.

NBC 7 has reached out to the San Diego County Water Authority for comment.

On Friday afternoon, the Water Authority announced that the local region has adequate water supplies and reserves for 2014 because of “local investments in diverse and more reliable water supplies over the past two decades and a long-term decrease in regional water demand.”

The Water Authority said it’s not projecting the need for countywide water-use restrictions right now but is encouraging residents and businesses to use water efficiently and avoid wasting the resource.

“Today’s declaration underscores the constant water supply challenges facing California, the need to always use water wisely and the value of our investments in diversifying our water supplies,” said Thomas V. Wornham, Chair of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors.

The Water Authority also said its staff is in the process of closely evaluating Gov. Brown's drought declaration. Staffers plan to deliver an update on local water supply conditions at the next Board of Directors meeting on Jan. 23.

Water Authority officials said San Diegans have made great strides in water-use efficiency over the years, with per capita water use decreasing about 27 percent since 2007. To learn more about water supply, visit the Water Authority’s website.
 

It’s not easy running a marathon, especially in the blazing weather we’ve been having. The 10,000 runners for Sunday’s Carlsbad full and half marathon have that in mind as they prepare for the race.

“It's gonna be a little bit warmer, so I've been hydrating since yesterday, drinking a lot of Gatorade, water,” said runner Tina Stillions.

This is normally a cold weather race. This time last year, it was cold and blustery. This year, organizers are mindful of the potential dangers the heat could pose for runners and so they're taking extra precaution. As organizers begin their pre-race setup, one thing a visitor notices: water.

“We typically order 12,000 individual bottles,” Christine Adams CEO In Motion, Inc., which organizes the race. “We have about 9,000 finishers, so we have more than one for every person. But we've upped that by more than 10 percent.”

Also, three medical stations will be set up along the course and at the finish line. There will be doctors on bicycles and race guards.

“We have a medical tent at the finish line, a full field hospital ready to transport or treat as needed,” Adams said.

Organizers are hoping early start times for the races will benefit the runners. The full marathon starts at 6:15 a.m. and the half starts at 7:45.

“I hope it’s still cool when I finish, probably in the 60s when I finish, not in the 70s yet,” said runner Michael White. “That’s my goal, to beat the heat by running fast.”

“We're definitely drinking water, but we're hoping the sun doesn't really hit its peak until about noon, when we should be done by then,” added runner Arlene Ashton.

A chat room post threatening violence at an Escondido, Calif., school has turned into a true case of whodunit. Investigators have concluded the minor who initially appeared to be responsible for the threat had nothing to do with the crime.

Now, the attention of Escondido police has shifted to tracking down the real culprit.

“You have left a trail, we will follow it and it will lead to you,” said Escondido Police Lt. Neal Griffin at a briefing Friday afternoon.

Heritage K-8 Charter School in Escondido cancelled classes Friday after learning that someone had made a violent threat against the school online. On Thursday night, the school posted this message on its website alerting parents and students:

Tonight, January 16th, at around 8:00pm, we received word from the Escondido Police Department that someone had made a threat of violence towards our high school for tomorrow, January 17th.
We want our students and staff to be safe, so as a precaution we are closing school tomorrow, January 17th. We will be back in session on Tuesday, January 21st.

Heritage Digital Academy and Escondido Charter High School, also part of the American Heritage Charter Schools system, posted similar messages on their websites.

According to Lt. Griffin, the Escondido Police Department first learned of the threat Thursday night after six reporting parties around the country – including callers from Texas, Illinois and Washington – alerted authorities.

The post the parties had reported seeing online said the Heritage K-8 Charter School would be attacked at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Lt. Griffin said. Police spoke with school faculty and they agreed it would be best to cancel all school activities for the day.

As police launched their investigation, it soon became clear that the case was much more complicated than it seemed.

Lt. Griffin said the suspect who posted the threat did so by impersonating a minor online, making it appear as if the minor was the person behind the post.

Police tracked down the minor thought to be the author of the post, an Escondido resident who is not a student at Heritage K-8 Charter School.

After an extensive interview with the minor in the presence of the minor’s parents, Lt. Griffin said investigators concluded the minor had nothing to do with the post and was not the sender of the threatening message.

“This minor child is a victim of a very malicious personal attack of identity theft,” Lt. Griffin explained. “[This is] not a hoax, it’s a very serious crime.”

The lieutenant said the investigation into the threat is ongoing and said the Escondido Police Department has conferred with the FBI regarding the case.

As of Friday afternoon, officials could not say whether they had narrowed down a suspect. They also couldn’t confirm the age of the perpetrator.

However, Lt. Griffin did say investigator feel “very confident” that they will be able to solve the case.

“We’re becoming increasingly focused and we’re pretty confident that what has begun as a very large pool will become smaller and smaller,” he said.

Once in custody, Lt. Griffin said the suspect will face a number of charges, including false reporting of an emergency and identity theft.

For now, Lt. Griffin said experts in computer analysis are leading a meticulous investigation and are currently examining a computer that could unlock more answers.

“There is no such thing as cybersecurity. There is no such thing as anonymity,” he said.

Though officials won’t say if the suspect is a juvenile, Lt. Griffin said that if the crime does involve a young culprit or culprits, that person or persons should come forward.

He said investigators believe the case has a local connection and are asking the suspect to identify themselves.

Lt. Griffin also said parents should use this as a warning to keep tabs on their children’s internet activity at all times.

“Computer and privacy and kids just don’t mix,” he said.

The ordeal left some Escondido parents and guardians on edge.

Grandparent Efren Garcia received a call around 10 p.m. Thursday notifying him of the school closure and arrived on campus around 6:30 a.m. Friday to get more information.

“I’m scared really. I’m scared with my child,” Garcia told NBC 7. “Better not bring my child today.”

Dennis “Coach” Snyder, executive director and founder of American Heritage Charter Schools, credited Escondido police for being proactive.

Snyder said police told him they found the threat online claiming someone was going to shoot up Escondido charter high school then commit suicide.

Besides posting the alert of the threat and cancellation of classes on the schools’ websites, faculty also posted the news on their Facebook pages and sent automated phone calls to the homes of students.

Again, the investigation into this incident is ongoing. Anyone with tips on this case should contact Escondido police at (760) 743-8477.

Something on Coronado smells so bad it’s making people sick according to one business owner.

Coronado police were called to a section of First Street around 6 a.m. Friday for a sewer gas leak.

Firefighters also responded to the area because of complaints of a thick stench.

Officers said that despite the smell, the leak is harmless.

The owner of nearby Affordable Engineering Services told NBC 7 that the smell was so overwhelming that his employees were sickened.

He sent his employees home and some customers have complained about the smell.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

The drought has gone beyond "severe" in much of California.

The historic lack of rain has translated into a stark lack of snow in the Sierra Mountains, a satellite image from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows.

Take a look at the two California maps, from January of 2013 and then this January. This month's extremely dry conditions come after parts of California experienced their driest year on record in 2013, according to the National Weather Service.

As if an epically-dry December wasn't bad enough, January records for bone-dry weather could be broken if the forecast for no rain holds up.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Friday, calling it perhaps the worst drought since records began in California.

He asked everyone to cut long showers short and stop watering their lawns.

On Thursday, California was one of 11 states with counties declared to be primary natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Drought Monitor produces a weekly map of the country showing the areas hardest hit by lack of precipitation.

In the current version, the majority of our state is listed as its second most severe category “Extreme Drought” second only to “Exceptional Drought.”

The designation means eligible farmers in those counties can qualify for low-interest emergency loans from the department.

The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary information from its investigation into the recent landing of a Southwest Airlines 737 at the wrong airport in Missouri.

The pilots indicated in interviews the bright lights and runway orientation led to confusion on Jan. 13, when they mistakenly landed at a smaller airport seven miles away from their intended one.

The captain, who has been with Dallas-based Southwest since 1999, told investigators it was his first flight to Branson Airport. The first officer has been with Southwest since 2001 and told investigators he had flown to Branson Airport once during daylight hours.

During NTSB interviews, the pilots told investigators that the approach had been programmed into their flight management system, but that when they saw the airport beacon and the runway lights of M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport in Hollister, Mo., they mistakenly identified it as Branson Airport.

The pilots explained to NTSB investigators the bright runway lights and the fact that the runway was oriented in a similar direction led them to believe they were landing at Branson Airport.

They told investigators they flew a visual approach into what they believed to be Branson Airport and that they did not realize they were at the wrong airport until they landed.

The pilots say they had to brake heavily to bring the aircraft to a stop and then advised the Branson Airport tower that they had landed at the wrong airport.

The NTSB says it has analyzed data from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. According to the cockpit voice recorder the Southwest crew was informed by air traffic control that they were 15 miles from their intended target, which was Branson Airport.

The crew responded that they had the airfield in sight and the control tower cleared Southwest Flight 4013 for a visual approach and landing on runway 14 at Branson Airport.

According to the cockpit voice recorder, the landing was uneventful and it was not until shortly after landing that the crew realized they had landed at the wrong airport.

No one was injured in the landing at a small airport built for light jets and private planes, but passengers smelled burning rubber as the pilots braked hard to stop near the end of the runway, which gives way to a steep drop-off.

The manager of the Taney County Airport, which opened in 1970 and doesn't have a control tower, said no 737 had ever landed there.

The two pilots, each with at least 12 years at Southwest, were placed on paid leave after the incident. A dispatcher who was authorized to sit behind the captain and first officer on the flight was also placed on paid leave.

A review of the case involving a 4-year-old boy found dead in a Times Square apartment after he was abused and starved has revealed several improvements needed in the child welfare system, Mayor de Blasio said Friday.

De Blasio said some of the changes will be enacted immediately, while others may need legislation. Any mistakes made by child welfare workers were more "missed opportunities" rather than violations of procedure, the city said.

"Our duties are to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again," he said.

One change will be to require a final Family Court appearance in all abuse and neglect cases that get closed. 

The child who died, Myls Dobson, had been known to child welfare authorities since 2011 when a neglect case was brought against his mother, sources close to the investigation told NBC 4 New York.

The child was living with his grandmother when his father, Okee Wade, petitioned for custody of the child, the sources said.

Wade was granted custody in August of 2012 but on the condition that child protective services visit the boy twice a month for one year. Those visits stopped the following summer, right around the time a warrant was issued for Wade's arrest following an racketeering indictment in June for allegedly siphoning money from bank accounts in Atlantic City.

Wade left his son in the custody of a caregiver on Dec. 18 and was shortly after arrested in the New Jersey case.

The 27-year-old caregiver has been accused of abusing and starving him in the weeks before he died.

De Blasio said the city would also seek state legislation that would allow child welfare officials to better track and supervise parents who are not the subject of a child welfare investigation but who care for a child under agency supervision. 

Further, the mayor said the city wants child welfare authorities to have greater access to criminal court cases. Currently they can access information about convictions, but not active arrests that have yet to lead to a conviction, he said.

A suburban Chicago couple who lost their teenage daughter in a car crash last year feels as if they were victimized again after receiving a letter from OfficeMax Thursday.

The envelope was addressed to Mike Seay, but the second line read "Daughter Killed in Car Crash."

Seay's 17-year-old daughter, Ashley, was one of two teens killed in a crash last April when their SUV veered off the road and slammed into a tree in Antioch.

Seay says he thinks about his daughter "10,000 times a day," and was shocked to see the insensitive letter.

"Why would they have that type of information? Why would they need that?" Seay told NBC 5. "What purpose does it serve anybody to know that? And how much other types of other information do they have if they have that on me, or anyone else? And how do they use that, what do they use that for?"

Seay asked his Facebook friends how he should handle it, and eventually decided to contact the OfficeMax call center.

"The manager told her that it was impossible, that this can't be happening," Seay said.

NBC 5 reached out to Naperville-based OfficeMax, who blamed it on a third-party mailing list provider. The corporate affairs office released the following statement:

"We are deeply sorry that Mr. Seay and his family received this mailing from us, and we are reaching out to Mr. Seay to convey our sincerest apologies on this unfortunate matter. This mailing is a result of a mailing list rented through a third-party provider. We have reached out to the third-party mailing list provider to research what happened. Based on a preliminary investigation today we believe this to be an inadvertent error; and we are continuing the investigation. -- " -- Nicole Miller

Every time we think the National Zoo's beyond-adorable panda cub, Bao Bao, couldn't get any cuter, she proves us wrong. Fortunately, you don't have to wait any longer to see her in person.

The almost-five-month-old cub went on display to her adoring public for the first time Saturday morning, and the National Zoo is prepping for big crowds. They've extended hours for the panda house, which will be open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Why do people come to see Bao Bao?

Starting Tuesday, the panda house's hours will be 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Friends of the National Zoo will be able to make special appointments to see her before 10 a.m.)

Visitors will be allowed into the building in small groups to avoid overcrowding, zoo officials said.

Bao Bao may be visible inside or outside, depending on the day, curators said. The amount of time she and her mom, Mei Xiang, will be on view will depend on their behavior each day.

They'll also have access to a private den if they choose to hide out from the paparazzi.

Bao Bao should be socially savvy already -- she spent a morning with the media rock-climbing and following her mom. She's turned out to be a calm and relaxed panda cub, more subdued than older brother Tai Shan, curators said.

"Tai Shan was a little more vocal when we did things like weigh him, where she seems kind of relaxed about it," Smith said. "She's like her dad. Tian Tian is very relaxed and kind of goes with the flow. So I'm thinking she got that from him."

Born by surprise Aug. 23, Bao Bao first weighed in at just 4.8 ounces. She's done a lot since then: meeting Hugh Jackman, having a naming ceremony that featured video tributes from two nations' first ladies, and famously squealing her way through a vet visit.

Bao Bao's also been spending more time exploring her surroundings lately, and keepers are working on training her and are offering her a variety of enrichment items.

"She's gone from kind of crawling to walking, and she's so playful, so energetic," Smith said. "She's such a great little girl."

Are you planning to see Bao Bao when she makes her public debut? Share your experiences and photos with us on Twitter @nbcwashington using the hashtag #baobao!

Two people were injured in a shooting in San Diego’s Chollas View area Friday night, police confirmed.

Authorities said shots were fired just after 8 p.m. in the 4900-block of Lise Avenue.

Two victims sustained wounds, police said. They were transported to a local trauma center with unspecified injuries.

The incident is under investigation. Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

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A pre-dawn stampede killed 18 people Saturday as tens of thousands of people gathered to mourn the death of a Muslim spiritual leader in India's financial capital, police said.

At least 40 other people were injured in the stampede when mourners thronged the home of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the head of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, Mumbai Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh said.

Burhanuddin died Friday at the age of 102.

Thousands of white-clad mourners had thronged the streets of Malabar Hill, an upmarket neighborhood in south Mumbai. Many were wailing and crying as they inched forward through the narrow road.

Singh said the stampede occurred when the gates leading to the spiritual leader's house were closed at about 1 a.m. The crowds surged forward, with many people getting crushed near the gates and with no way to escape.

Singh acknowledged that crowd management around the Syedna's home was poor and said police at the scene were badly outnumbered by the huge number of mourners.

"We didn't think the crowd would be so great," Singh said. "Also, it's an emotional occasion when police cannot take harsh measures to push back the crowd."

The Syedna had succeeded his father in 1965 and led the community for nearly five decades. He was well known as a promoter of education and spiritual values in his community.

Tens of thousands of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims from all over India and several other countries headed to Mumbai for his funeral later Saturday.

Across Mumbai, shops and businesses owned by Bohra Muslims were closed Saturday in homage to their leader.

Deadly stampedes are fairly common during India's often-chaotic religious gatherings and festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

In October, more than 110 people were killed in a stampede at a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. More than 220 people were killed in a 2008 stampede at the Chamunda Devi Hindu temple inside Jodhpur's picturesque Mehrangarh Fort.

Three people were injured, including a pregnant woman, early Saturday morning after a gunman opened fire into an SUV that broke down along a Chicago expressway, officials said.

Illinois State Police said a 2008 Buick SUV broke down just before 1:30 a.m. on a southbound ramp to 71st Street off of Interstate 94.

While the Buick was waiting for help, a black Dodge Charger with orange stripes pulled up and began to shoot inside the Buick, police said.

The 27-year-old driver of the car was shot four times in his upper extremities while two female passengers in the car, one of them pregnant, were struck several times, police said.

A 19-year-old woman in the back of the car was shot six times in her lower body and a 24-year-old pregnant woman was shot three times in her lower body, police said.

The three victims were taken to John H. Stroger Hospital and Advocate Christ Medical Center in stable condition, police said.

A fourth passenger in the front seat of the car was not harmed.

The exit ramp to 71st Street was shut down following shooting but was reopened just before 7 a.m.

The Illinois State Police is asking anyone with information regarding the shooting to call the ISP Chicago District at (847) 294-4400.

At least two people have been killed and four others injured in shootings across Chicago since Friday.

Detectives in Montgomery County, Md., have charged a mother with the deaths of her two children.

Police charged Zakieya Latrice Avery, 28, of Germantown, with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. She is currently being held without bond.

The deceased children are identified as Norell N. Harris, 1, and Zyana Z. Harris, 2.  The other two children are still hospitalized.  They are identified as Taniya Harris, 5, and Martello Harris, 8.

Police were called to the 19000 block of Cherry Bend Drive Friday morning and discovered the victims. Avery attempted to run from officers, but was apprehended quickly.

“Cases like this are heartbreaking,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims along with the 911 operators, police officers, evidence technicians, and fire and EMS personnel that responded.”

A neighbor called 911 on Friday saying he saw a blue car with its door open and the knife on the sidewalk outside the house. Police who responded to the scene saw a blue car with its door open. The keys were in the ignition and there was blood in the car.

Police also found a knife on the sidewalk outside. Police believe the red-handled knife may be one of the weapons used in the attack.

Officers had to force their way into the home and found the victims inside in a "very bloody" crime scene. The children were found in the bedrooms and may have been asleep at the time of the attack.

Witnesses described seeing the officers bring out the victims. "I did see a police officer holding a child ... it was a little kid," said one neighbor, who did not want to be identified.

The injured children are being treated in Children's Hospital in northwest Washington.

A suspect in a Philadelphia school shooting that sent two students to the hospital turned himself in Saturday afternoon.

Police say the 17-year-old boy was involved in a shooting on Friday shortly before 3:30 p.m. inside the gymnasium of the Delaware Valley Charter High School on the 5200 block of Old York Road.

Police say an 18-year-old female student was shot in the rear of her left arm. The bullet went through her bicep and then struck a 17-year-old male student in the shoulder, according to investigators.

Philadelphia Police quickly responded to the scene and immediately secured the school to determine whether it was an active shooter situation. Police say the suspects involved in the shooting fled from the building after the two victims were struck. The school was still placed on lockdown however until police and the SWAT team determined the scene was safe. They then evacuated all students from the building. The SWAT team and Canine officers conducted another sweep of the school after all the students were released.

Both victims were taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center. The girl was later released while the boy still remains at the hospital in stable condition.

Police say school security and officials provided descriptions and identities of possible suspects in the shooting. Based on the information, police took a 15-year-old boy into custody immediately after the incident. Police later concluded however that security officers provided inaccurate information and determined that the boy was not involved in the incident. He was released from custody and will not be charged.

Investigators say the shooting was captured on the school’s surveillance system. After examining the video and conducting several interviews, police were able to identify two suspects, including a 17-year-old boy. Police executed search warrants for the first suspect’s home on the 5600 block of N. Syndenham Street as well as the 17-year-old's home on the 7400 block of Rugby Street.

Police say the first suspect turned himself in to the Northwest Detective Division on Friday. He was later released on Saturday after questioning. He has not been charged at this time.

The second suspect, the 17-year-old boy, turned himself in Saturday afternoon. He is being charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault and other related offenses. Investigators have not yet revealed whether he will be charged as a juvenile or as an adult. 

The suspect's attorney claimed that the shooting was "not intentional." The attorney also said that his client did not have a prior record and "stays out of trouble."

Delaware Valley Charter School is one of 87 charter schools in Philadelphia. NBC10 reached out to Thomas Monson, the president of the school's Board of Trustees, for comment.

"We along with Philadelphia Police are investigating these events and will provide you with details as they become available," Monson said.

Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.

 

Fast-acting parents and crafty police managed to track down a teenage runaway from Escondido before it was too late, ending one family’s nightmare.

On Monday morning, a 15-year-old high school girl skipped town with her much older boyfriend, 25-year-old Jesus Nolasco, a man her parents had forbidden her from dating.

When the teen didn’t show up to class, her school called her parents.

The parents immediately contacted the runaway on her cell phone, but she refused to come home.

At that point, the girl’s parents contacted Escondido police. Soon, investigators tracked the pair to Shelton, Wash., about 1,200 miles away, chasing a job opportunity for Nolasco, according to Escondido police Lt. Neil Griffin.

Police say the girl was there willingly with Nolasco but is under the age of consent.

“It was a relationship that would have eventually put this young girl on her own – on her own a long way from home,” Lt. Griffin explains.

By Friday morning, the teen was safe and in protective custody, while Nolasco was in Shelton jail awaiting transport to San Diego County Jail.

According to officials, Nolasco faces charges of committing lewd acts with a minor and contacting an underage girl for sex – felony crimes with serious consequences, if convicted.

Investigators say the teen’s parents acted quickly but ignored the signs leading up to their daughter running away from home.

“Some of the signs parents can watch out for are a drop in grades, high truancy level, change in attitude around the house, secretive phone calls,” says Lt. Griffin.

The case is part of a much bigger problem involving young runaways who often end up in dangerous, compromising situations.

Police say these kids are promised many things but instead of a happily ever after, they are often left alone and homeless. From there, some turn to drugs or alcohol. Others are even manipulated into sex slavery.

In 2012, some 90,000 runaways were reported in the state of California. Often times, those runaways are linked to older suspects who help lure them away from their homes.

“They’re pedophiles and they are predators. They groom these relationships and they manipulate young children,” said Lt. Griffin.

Police say this case should serve as a warning to parents to constantly be aware of what their children and teens are up to and ask those hard questions.

“Don’t be squeamish,” said Lt. Griffin. “Get in your kids’ business, especially at this high risk age of 15 to 18, when they think they are invincible and can make their own decision,” he added.