A man who police say tried to defend a group of women from catcallers landed in the hospital after he was brutally assaulted in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square early Saturday morning.

Police say the 39-year-old man who was visiting from Texas was walking along 18th and Walnut Streets around 2:45 a.m. when he observed several men inside a Black Nissan pull up next to a group of women.

The men inside the Nissan began taunting and catcalling the women, according to investigators, prompting the victim to get involved.

"The male victim took offense to something that the guys were saying to the girls and said 'hey, watch what you're saying,'" said Philadelphia Police Captain George Fuchs.

Police say one of the men inside the Nissan then got out of the car and punched the victim once in the head. The man was knocked unconscious after he fell and struck his head on the concrete

The suspect then ran back into the Nissan which fled west on Walnut. The victim was taken to Hahnemann Hospital where he is currently in stable condition.

"This is a tragic, tragic story," Captain Fuchs said. "Here's a guy trying to stick up for these girls and he gets victimized."

Police say the suspect's Nissan had Delaware tags. They are currently looking through surveillance video to see if they can find the license plate number. They are also speaking to a witness at Central Detectives.

If you have any information on the attack, please call Philadelphia Police.

San Diego has never lacked its share of things to do, but America’s Finest City packs in the festivals, conventions and parades. On the heels of San Diego Pride and Comic-Con, yet another fun-filled event is set to take over a bustling San Diego neighborhood: The 30th annual CityFest street fair hits Hillcrest this Sunday, Aug. 10 from noon-11 p.m.

The free festival, which expects over 150,000 attendees this year, will be hosting hundreds of vendors, games, activities, a beer garden, DJs and live music. With the massive, 60-foot main stage located right under the Hillcrest street sign, the all-day event spans Fifth Ave. from University to Brookes Ave.

The Merrow, located in Hillcrest (and formerly known as the Ruby Room), was tapped to help book the headlining bands which range from rock, EDM and reggae and include groups such as Schitzophonics, We Are Sirens, Ed Ghost Tucker, Oh Spirit, Smoke Season, and more.

“[Cityfest] is on the ‘I’ll regret missing this one-of-a-kind spectacle’ list for anyone who loves a band likes Schitzophonics or Oh Spirit as much as we do,” the Merrow's National Talent Buyer, Joe Rinaldi, tells us. “My favorite part of it is the undefined-until-it-happens bell curve part, where the absolute most people of the day are in attendance and experiencing something new that they like.”

Rinaldi’s not the only one excited to see what unfolds.

“Cityfest has one of the biggest outdoor stages and on top of being a street fair, it's becoming more and more music-oriented,” Schitzophonics drummer Lety Beers says. “It's also a good mix of performers so it's meant for everyone to party, not just rockers or the EDM crowd. It's great getting to meet people who don't regularly go to bars or concerts -- so it's a nice way to keep the music scene expanding. One of my favorite thing about playing outdoors is seeing kids dance. Kids really don't have that reservation about getting down and grooving.”

Her enthusiasm is matched by Oh Spirit guitarist/co-vocalist Ian Owen: “I really love playing any street fair or festival. Everyone is always in such a good mood. We play right before Ed Ghost Tucker, who are good friends of ours and are such a great band. Playing outside is always a nice change. Especially during the day -- it gives us an opportunity to play to an audience that maybe doesn't come out to clubs to see bands. I always look forward to it, whether I’m playing or not.”

Owen’s bandmate, guitarist/co-vocalist Ryan Combs, sums it up best: “Hillcrest is such a great community. It’s already one of the best neighborhoods in San Diego -- add live music, art, and a beer garden, and it'll be killer!”

2014 CityFest Main Stage Lineup

• Unsteady: 12-1 p.m.
• Oh Spirit: 1:20-2:05 p.m.
• Ed Ghost Tucker: 2:25-3:10 p.m.
• Hott Thing: 3:30-4:15 p.m.
• Smoke Season: 4:35-5:20 p.m.
• We Are Sirens: 5:40-6:15 p.m.
• Schitzophonics: 6:35-7:20 p.m.
• DJ Will Z: 6-8 p.m.
• DJ John Joseph: 8-9 p.m.
• DJ Taj: 9-10 p.m.
• DJ Nikno: 10-11 p.m.

For more information on activities and parking, please visit CityFest’s website here.

Dustin Lothspeich plays in Old Tiger, Chess Wars and Boy King. Follow his updates on Twitter or contact him directly.

Police are searching for two suspects who shot and killed an Orthodox rabbi while he was walking to his temple in North Miami Beach on Saturday morning.

Miami-Dade Police said 60-year-old Joseph Raksin was walking on the 800 block of NE 175th Street around 9 a.m. when two young males approached him. Raksin was shot during the altercation.

Raksin was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center where he died.

The two suspects fled the scene, one on a bike and one on foot, according to police. Police do not yet have a good description of the shooters, and say there are no signs that this was a hate crime.

Neighbors, however, disagree, referencing a swastika that had been painted on a synagogue down the block two weeks ago.

The neighborhood is in a heavily-populated orthodox Jewish community with 11 synagogues in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miam-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.

Some Sorrento Valley residents were left without water service all day Saturday after a water main broke in their neighborhood.

Public utilities officials said a 12-inch-diameter concrete water main broke around 8:50 a.m. near the 10400 and 10500 blocks of Roselle Street.

As of noon, crews from the City of San Diego Public Utilities Department were on scene working to repair the main. The water had been turned off.

Officials said water wagons were on site for residents. Crews believe the water service will be restored by 9:30 p.m.
 

San Diego military family got some help preparing for back-to-school season Saturday at an appreciation and enrollment fair hosted by the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD).

Throughout the morning at Serra High School, local families received free school supplies on behalf of International Relief, plus enrollment information and guidance from SDUSD reps.

Vanessa Peters, military liaison for SDUSD, said the event was designed to help alleviate some of the stress of back-to-school season for military families.

The resources were especially helpful for families new to the San Diego area, including the McClendon’s.

“This is a blessing,” said Alonzo McClendon, a father enrolling three teenagers at the fair.

McClendon said it’s difficult moving around a lot as a military family, but community events like this make the transition much easier.

His sons, Jamez and Jahmel McClendon, said they were excited about getting some fresh school supplies, plus enrolling for classes in San Diego.

Jamez told NBC 7 he plans to play football and run track in high school here to prepare him for his dream of one day attending UCLA.

Peters said organizers expected approximately 1,000 families to attend Saturday’s event.

San Diego Gas & Electric provided a free BBQ lunch to attendees. Students were also able to receive free immunizations for school if needed.

Representatives from more than 50 other community agencies were also on hand to distribute information and resources to families. This included reps from Military Kids Club, Navy Federal Credit Union, Operation Homefront and Operation BIGS.
 

An adorable silver and white penguin chick living at SeaWorld San Diego is more than just her looks. She’s a scientific breakthrough.

The 12-week-old bird was a product of the world’s first penguin artificial insemination using frozen-then-thawed semen.

“This is a technique that has never been performed successfully in any penguin species,” said SeaWorld’s Scientific Director Justine O’Brian.

Before this trial run, O’Brian’s team just used frozen semen to inseminate the cold-weather birds because the thawed version had not worked.

But on May 14, things went just swimmingly, and the new technique proved a success when the tiny female Magellanic penguin was hatched.

The baby was hand-raised in the habitat’s nursery and fed with a special formula made of ground herring fillets, krill, vitamins, minerals and water.

While the mixture sounds stomach-churning, the chick gobbled it up five times a day for the first four weeks. Now four months old, the bird is eating solid fish.

She has also joined the other adults at in the main Penguin Encounter exhibit.

O’Brian said her center studies the animals’ reproductive biology to develop technology that helps endangered species have little babies of their own.

“And [we] use this information to monitor the health of not only our zoological populations, but wild populations as well,” said O’Brian.

The first marine mammal conceived through artificial insemination was in February 2000, SeaWorld says.

A former pharmacy technician who sexually abused his 5-year-old niece and created a video montage of explicit images of the child will spend the next 35 years in prison, a San Diego judge ruled Friday.

Damian Clemente Mora, 31, of El Centro, Calif., pleaded guilty in March to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

According to sentencing documents, investigators discovered that Mora had photographed and videotaped his niece 512 times in sexually explicit positions and stored the images on his digital devices, including his computer, camera, table and a thumb drive.

The abuse happened over a two-year period.

Investigators said Mora compiled the hundreds of images into a disturbing eight-minute video montage that included upbeat music and an off-color subtitle that read, “Starring: A Loving Uncle.”

Prosecutors said Mora boasted about the photos “to other pedophiles and cavalierly wrote about finding additional victims.”

In a letter addressed to the court, the victim’s mother wrote that “an entire lifetime [behind bars] would not be enough for this man to pay for what he did.”

U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy said she hoped Mora’s sentencing would bring some sense of peace to the victim and her family and prevent the guilty from victimizing other children.

“No amount of time will ever restore the innocence of a 5-year-old girl, who will forever be haunted by the memory of two years of sexual abuse at the hands of her own uncle. No amount of time will diminish a mother’s pain and anguish over the victimization of her child,” Duffy said.

Mora’s case was handled by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Centro.

In addition to his time in prison, Mora was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.
 

An Ohio postal worker has been put on leave after she was caught on camera throwing undelivered mail into a dumpster.

The incident was filmed Wednesday by a resident in Bond Hill, Ohio who saw the woman carry a white crate to the dumpster and dump the contents into the trash bin, according to NBC station in Cincinnati WLWT.

In the footage, the woman returns to her vehicle and grabs more mail, which is also tossed in the dumpster.

Residents in the area said they suspected something was going on when they didn't receive mail for several days.

The letter carrier has been identified and is on leave pending an invesitgation, officials said.

"This is clearly unacceptable behavior that does not reflect the efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers in our workforce," the United States Postal Service said in a statement Thursday. "USPS OIG special agents identified the employee responsible for not properly delivering a small amount of mail. This mail was recovered and is being delivered to postal customers. The employee is not currently working pending the administrative review process."

The postal worker could be charged with federal misdemeanors for deserting mail and delaying mail delivery.

Ocean Beach has a new addition: a 6,000-square-foot restaurant and bar fit for both foodies and beachgoers.

OB Warehouse – located on the second floor at 4839 Newport Ave. – opened its doors to the public this past Thursday. The eatery is just the latest project from renowned San Diego restaurateurs David and Lesley Cohn of the Cohn Restaurant Group.

The new venue was designed by Philippe Beltran, the same mastermind behind hotspots like Bo-Beau Kitchen + Bar, 100 Wines and the newly-remodeled Indigo Grill.

The space includes cool communal seating, a large central bar and outdoor patio.

As for the menu, Chef Amiko Gubbins is manning the kitchen, using in fresh, California-sourced ingredients to create unique dishes influenced by places from around the globe. Chef Elias Gonzales lends creativity to the kitchen as Chef de Cuisine.

To give you a taste, the menu lineup includes dishes such as the savory Moroccan Spiced Rub Flat Iron with crushed potatoes, caramelized pearl onions, broccolini and kalamata olive vinaigrette, as well as the Hoisin Chicken Potstickers served with wilted pea tendrils and ginger scallion dipping sauce.

There are also a few flatbreads, including the Merguez Sausage creation, which combines oven-roasted tomato, feta and harissa, and the Triple Crown, featuring shiitake, crimini and king oyster mushrooms plus fontina, gruyere and shaved parmesan.

The OB Warehouse drink menu includes a worldly wine list boasting more than 50 options and specialty cocktails such as “The Carpenter & His Apprentice,” a combo of Absolute vodka, Junipero gin, jasmine liqueur, hibiscus liqueur and lemon juice.

The bar also had more than 20 beers on tap, with a focus on unique craft beers with a heavy regional emphasis.

The Cohns hope the eatery reflects the spirit of OB.

“This project has been a long time in the making, and we’re incredibly pleased to bring this fun, world-cuisine dining option to the area,” David Cohn said in a media release. “Ocean Beach is a vibrant community known for its character and originality, and we’ve created a menu and design that complements the neighborhood.”

The restaurant is open seven days a week, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday and Saturday. A daily “Social Hour” takes place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Cohns currently operate 21 restaurants in the San Diego and Southern California food scene. Their eatery empire began in with one small diner in 1981.

Local favorites include Analog, Blue Point Coastal Cuisine and Vin De Syrah all on 5th Avenue in downtown San Diego, as well as The Prado in Balboa Park, The Corvette Diner at Liberty Station and
Island Prime & C Level on Harbor Island.

The Cohns operate their restaurants with the help of their daughter Jessica, their son Jeremy and their son-in-law Mike. They employ more than 1,000 staffers across their businesses. Over the past three decades, many of their San Diego restaurants have won major dining awards including the San Diego Gold Medallion Awards and Gaslamp Quarter Association Lamplighter Awards.
 

A new health center is transforming part of Chollas View into a “corner of hope” for neighborhood families, and who better to extol the benefits of staying healthy than San Diego’s own Meb Keflezighi, the winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon.

The international running icon lent words of advice to the ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday for the Diamond Neighborhoods Family Health Center, where his sister served as its first physician.

“As an athlete or someone like you, being healthy is the success to life. If you’re not healthy, you can’t work the double shift or I can’t run a marathon,” said Keflezighi.

The celebration served a trifold purpose: a welcome for the neighborhood, a health fair and a back-to-school event.

The nonprofit center has grown from a small storefront in a poor area to new, 23,000-square foot facility aimed at improving the health of its community – and not just medically. On top of 40 booths offering health information and activities Saturday, organizers gave families free school backpacks to encourage learning in the neighborhood.

“My goal is one or ten of these kids will be here working at this hospital or expanding it. That’s hopefully the goal because education is the key to life,” Keflezighi told NBC 7.

Keflezighi believes it takes a village to raise a child, and the center’s Chief of Security Willie Newton is a testament to that.

He shared his story with the crowd Saturday, describing how a liquor store once occupied the corner of 47th and Market streets where the Diamond Center now sits. His mother was a frequent patron of the store, getting drunk and passing out on the front steps.

As he walked home from school in his teenage years, Newton would pick his mom up and carry her home. Years later, when the liquor store was demolished, he applied to work in security for the health center that took its place.

“They were going to turn a corner of hopelessness into a corner of hope to help my friends and neighbors and all the kids like me who are just trying to get by,” Newton said.

Now, the Chollas View facility works to give healthcare to uninsured, low income and medically underserved patients. The Diamond Center is part of the Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD), which hosts clinics and programs from El Cajon to Mission Beach.

The $13 million cost of this project, which technically opened in March, was paid for by a grant authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal New Market Tax Credit program and the FHCSD. Other foundation grants went toward providing equipment for the Diamond Center.

A Keys man was arrested after beating his girlfriend after he had a dream she cheated on him, according to police.

Carlos Gascon's girlfriend told Monroe County Sheriff's deputies that Gascon beat her all day Friday. She was able to call for help at 6:45 p.m. after Gascon passed out.

The woman accused Gascon of choking her, pouring hot coffee on her, cutting the back of her leg with a knife, and threatening to kill her while holding a knife to her throat. Gascon also allegedly picked her up and slammed her down on a glass table, breaking it.

Gascon's girlfriend also alleges that he picked up his dog, slammed it on the ground and put his foot on the dog's neck.

Gascon faces charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, domestic battery by strangulation, battery, false imprisonment and animal cruelty. 

The President, First Lady and one of their daughters arrived on the Cape Saturday afternoon for the start of a family vacation, even as the US continues to conduct airstrikes against Islamic terrorists in northern Iraq.

Marine One and the First Family departed the US Coast Guard Air Station on the Cape for Martha's Vineyard only a couple of hours after the president spoke to the nation, saying the airstrikes will continue as long as necessary.

Before leaving the White House for a two-week vacation, the president told reporters that he was ready "to not have a suit on for a while." Obama and his family have vacationed on the island every summer of his presidency, except 2012 when he was running for re-election.

The Obamas are staying at a rented home, up-island in Chilmark. The president played his first round of golf at Farm Neck in Oak Bluffs Saturday afternoon. While he typically keeps a low-profile, the president will take part in a Democratic fundraiser on the island Monday night.

Authorities are investigating a photo being shared on social media that appears to show an off-duty LAPD officer brandishing a weapon while driving a vehicle.

The photo appears to show a woman in a Blue Chevy Tahoe pointing a gun toward the driver’s window of the vehicle in what some are saying could be part of road rage incident, but authorities could not confirm that.

Officials with Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that the woman in the photo is an off-duty police officer. The incident reportedly happened Thursday, but it is not clear what led up to the incident on the 60 Freeway.

Her name was not being released as LAPD Internal Affairs Group is beginning an investigation to determine if any misconduct was committed.

A report was filed with the California Highway Patrol's East Los Angeles station in Monterey Park, officials confirmed.

The CHP confirmed it is investigating the incident, but a report was not expected to be released until Monday at the earliest. LAPD launched their own investigation to get to the bottom of what was happening the photo.

What led to the incident was unclear. It's unknown whether any arrests have been made.

Two people were shot during the Bud Billiken Parade on Chicago's South Side Saturday afternoon, police said.

The shooting happened just after 12:30 p.m. in the 4200 block of South King Drive near the parade route, according to authorities.

An 18-year-old man was shot in the left arm, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala, citing preliminary information.

Chicago Fire Media Affairs says the man was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious but stable condition.

Police initially said only one person was shot during the incident but later said a 17-year-old man was shot in the hand and suffered a graze wound to the buttocks. He was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in stable condition.

Witnesses at the scene said the parade was still happening when the shooting took place.

Police officers were seen pulling apart parade barriers and sprinting to the scene of the shooting.

The 85th Annual Bud Billiken parade stepped off at 10 a.m. Saturday and traveled south on King Drive from Oakwood Boulevard to 51st Street then down Ellsworth Drive from 51st Street to Garfield Boulevard.

Parade-goer and former Bud Billiken King Ted Bell said he was concerned the shooting would damage the parade's reputation.

"It’s one of the few staples that we have in the black community, African American community, where people can come out, enjoy themselves, bring their families, their children, just have a bunch of fun on a day and not have to worry about this type of thing," he said.

Further details on what prompted the shooting were not immediately available.

Police said no one was in custody for the shooting as of Saturday evening. Area Central detectives are investigating.

An estimated 10,000 pounds of marijuana was found hidden behind what appeared to be boxes of Barbie toys piled up in a tractor trailer Thursday evening, according to San Bernardino police.

The packaged weed was seized from a truck depot in San Bernardino around 7 p.m., police said.

The marijuana was packed in unmarked cardboard boxes that were hidden behind decoy boxes that appeared to contain "Barbie Sisters Camper" toys. Police had been working on an investigation that led them to the truck depot, and upon arrival, discovered the suspicious looking truck.

Police suspect that the marijuana was not grown in the United States. Lt. Travis Walker said that the truck was likely dropped to the undisclosed location, and was unaware of whether that was its final destination.

No arrests have been made but police say they have a lead on the suspects.

It is being called an epidemic: Cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, are spiking across California, nearly triple the average. With the school year starting, the spike has Bay Area health officials urging parents to act.

With three deaths already this year in the state – and the numbers soaring in Santa Clara County – officials are urging everyone to get vaccinated. San Jose mom Gayle Barry has heard about the number of cases surging, right as school is set to begin. "It's a very scary thing,” Barry said. “Anytime I send my kids to school, they always come home with notices of things they've been exposed to that I have no control over." That is why Barry says she has vaccinated her three little girls.

The numbers of pertussis cases are staggering: California has seen nearly 7,000 cases of the cough this year. Compare that to just more than 2,500 in 2013. In Santa Clara County, the numbers are more than double what they saw last year, with nearly 350 cases so far. "The pertussis, or whooping cough, cycles every few years, so we expect an increase every few years of pertussis,” said Dr. George Han, Santa Clara County's deputy health officer. “That is why they are calling it epidemic."

Dr. Han said the last time the numbers were this high was 2010, and while it’s not clear why cases spike in certain years, it’s important to take notice. "It's a very serious disease, especially in infants 1 year of age,” Dr. Han said. “They're typically the ones that get hospitalized.”

With school about to start, Dr. Han is urging everyone to make sure children are vaccinated. But Barry says, despite the vaccinations being mandatory, she knows not everyone does. "I have a lot friends that choose not to vaccinate, and I have family that choose not to vaccinate, and I'm completely opposed to that,” Barry said. “I think it's important to vaccinate."

Dr. Han said, while it is incredibly important to get vaccinated, like the flu vaccine, it does not always prevent individuals from getting the virus. However, it’s still the best chance to staying healthy.

A San Diego business owner said his family has become the target of death threats after they decided to house an undocumented immigrant family from Guatemala.

"You're a race traitor, you're a traitor to your country, we're going to kill you, we're going to kill your family, we're coming down there,” Mark Lane said, quoting phone calls, text messages and Facebook posts threatening him and his family.

Lane has had a hard time sleeping after the threats started pouring in on July 29, two weeks after his family voluntarily took in a Guatemalan mother, her two teenage sons and her 23-year-old daughter through the organization Border Angels.

The family wanted to escape threats from gangs trying to recruit the boys, they told Lane.

“They took the girl and gang raped her as a mechanism to get them, to get the boys to join. That's when they decided they have to leave,” said Lane. The family is now waiting for their case to be heard in court to find out if they must return.

Lane made the decision to house the family after watching the Murrieta protesters last month who forced three busloads of undocumented immigrants ready for Border Patrol processing to turn away from their city.

The father said his 5-year-old son asked him why people were mad at the buses, and the question and hatred he saw triggered something in him to take action in the immigration crisis.

He even helped launch a Facebook campaign to boycott Murrieta, he told MSNBC’s Ari Melber. However, the tactic backfired when opponents set up a Facebook page of their own to boycott Lane’s shop, Poppa’s Fresh Fish Company in Logan Heights.

But with the backlash has come a strong show of support. Lane started receiving encouraging phone calls, orders for fish and donations from patrons across the country.

On Saturday, first-time customers trickled in for more than the fish tacos.

“I just believe in supporting people like this because I find it ridiculous that people are harassing him and bugging him for doing a good deed,” said customer Elaine Allen during her first visit.

“There are so many people out there that are against what he's doing, and facing threats against him and his family is ridiculous,” said another first-timer Rosalba Barragan. “That's not what good human beings do. We support one another; we help one another."

Others told NBC 7 they disagreed with Lane’s stance, though they did not use threats. The San Diego Tea Party released the following statement:

“Our members are staunch constitutionalists who believe in the rule of law. When our president decides not to enforce laws that best fit his political needs he breaks the sacred oath he gave us and neglects to do right by his people. The issue with the store owner, and whether or not to boycott is a personal decision one must make. If our leaders on the left and right actually wanted to fix this problem, they would just enforce the laws on the books. At that point the store owner would not be so bold as to break our laws in the first place.”

Despite the controversy, Lane said the threats against him have only strengthened his resolve to do something. He is preparing to launch his own nonprofit this week, dedicated to helping undocumented families and the Americans who choose to take them in.

“We were lucky enough to be born here,” said Lane. “That doesn't make us better than anybody. We have people fleeing violence. We need to take them in and give them shelter, and that's what we've always done since we were a country.”

Children on a school field trip ducked for cover as San Diego police opened fire on a man armed with a gun.

The students witnessed the officer-involved shooting in the 2800 block of N. Mission Bay Drive near De Anza Cove around noon Wednesday. 

The man, now identified by officials as Lance Tamayo, called 911 and said he was sitting in his car and was going to shoot himself, San Diego Police said.

Officers surrounded the car and attempted to talk the man out. Police said Tamayo was initially cooperative and got out of his vehicle to turn himseld in.

Quickly thereafter, however, his plans changed.

Tamayo got back inside his vehicle and pulled out a handgun.

Witnesses said the man got out of a car, waved the gun around, pointed it at his head, pointed it at police officers and even pointed it up at the police helicopter. Officials said Tamayo also pointed the weapon at civilians in the park.

The same witnesses said the man was shot once by police officers in what appeared to be his chest. He went down to the ground and then got up again and walked over to a shaded area where police handcuffed him.

There were nearly a dozen police patrol cars on the scene just west of Interstate 5 along North Mission Bay Drive.

The school students were on a field trip to Mission Bay and witnessed the incident. No one was injured except for Tamayo.

On Saturday, the San Diego Police Department confirmed the officer who fired the shot was Officer Michael Weaver, an SDPD Northern Division officer with nine years on the force.

Tamayo was struck in the stomach area and transported to Scripps La Jolla via ambulance. As of Saturday, police said he remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Police said Tamayo will face felony charges for brandishing a handgun at citizens and police.

A 40-year-old man was fatally hit by a freight train in San Diego’s North County early Saturday morning marking the second such incident in the area in just over 24 hours.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said this latest train death happened around 1:50 a.m. at Mile Post Marker 238.2 in the 900 block of South Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas.

Officials said a man was struck and killed by a northbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) freight train – the same type of train that fatally hit a 22-year-old man in Carlsbad Thursday night.

In the Encinitas case, witnesses told investigators that the man was sitting on the west rail of the tracks with his head in his hands, looking downward, as the train approached.

The freight train activated its horn and emergency braking system but was unable to stop before hitting the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not immediately released.

The incident remains under investigation and anyone with information should contact the sheriff’s department at (858) 565-5200.

Meanwhile, the victim from Thursday’s fatal train case in Carlsbad was identified Friday as Patrick Terrin. Officials said Terrin was struck by a BNSF freight train as he attempted to cross the tracks at Mile Post Marker 229.1 near Grand Avenue and State Street. In that instance, officials said the grade crossing warning system was activated and working when the train approached.
 

As the U.S. launches more airstrikes in Iraq, some question the strategy and safety of the operations.

NBC 7 spoke to a recently retired F-18 fighter pilot who was stationed at MCAS Miramar. For years, retired Marine Capt. Leo Melendez flew the same type of aircraft being used in the strikes.

He’s been deployed as a pilot to Southeast Asia numerous times and was also deployed to Iraq as a military advisor serving on the ground.

Melendez said there are fewer risks for American troops in airstrikes compared to ground operations.

“It’s still exposing some of our troops out there, but it's a minimal exposure. We have a large impact on enemy forces or whoever the target is,“ he told NBC 7 on Friday.

In these kinds of conflicts, Melendez said, the U.S. typically starts with airstrikes because we are able to do them right away with aircraft carriers strategically placed around the world.

There has been criticism.

The retired Marine captain admitted, in the air, it's more difficult to identify targets and there's always the risk of hitting civilians.

“But, we have professional aviators and planners and services across the board. This is what they do. This is what they do every day, day in and day out,” he said.

Melendez said that training helps minimize the number of civilian casualties, but the risks are always there.