The death of an Oceanside toddler and the discovery of his mother unconscious nearby is being treated as a homicide by investigators.

Oceanside police found the 22-month-old boy and his 28-year-old mother inside the home on Woodpark Way Wednesday night.

The toddler did not survive. His mother was rushed to Tri City Medical Center. Once she regains consciousness, homicide investigators want to interview her to find out what may have caused her son's death.

A 911 call was made around 7:45 p.m. and was reported as a CPR in progress inside the home, officials said. 

When Oceanside Police arrived, they started giving CPR to the child. Paramedics continued the attempt to revive him but he was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The boy's mother was found unresponsive in a room downstairs.  There was no forced entry to the home the family shared with the toddler's grandmother, police said.

Oceanside detectives will remain on scene to conduct the death investigation. 

Officials say they are treating the child's death as a homicide because of its suspicious nature. They say treating it as a homicide until proven otherwise will make it less likely for investigators to miss key details.

A former elementary school teacher was arrested at his San Diego home, accused of eight counts of child molestation covering a decade.

Robert Noel Anderson, 48, taught fourth and sixth grades at Dehesa Elementary School according to officials at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Anderson was arrested Wednesday at his home in Allied Gardens on allegations he molested several children, officials said.

The cases were reported to deputies between 2003 and 2013, officials said.

Anderson was booked into the San Diego County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, September 15 in El Cajon.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Child Abuse Unit at (858) 974-2310/after hours at (858) 565-5200 or you may Call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
 

Among those who will be remembered on the 13th anniversary of 9/11, there will be locals who died in the crashes of four planes in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.

Brian Sweeney's name will be among those read Thursday as America stops to remember the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The one-time Pacific Beach resident was aboard Flight 175 on that fateful day and managed to leave his wife a voicemail moments before he died that begins,  "Hi Jules, it's Brian. Listen, I'm on an airplane that's been hijacked."

His widow, Julie Sweeney Roth, has shared the recording with the 911memorial.

"I'm thankful for it," she said. "I know without a shadow of a doubt what he was thinking. The calmness of his voice soothed me. So I do have that."

There were others from San Diego who lost loved ones that day.

Susie Ward Baker of La Mesa lost her son, 38-year-old Tim Ward, a project manager for Rubios and 1987 graduate of San Diego State University. He was also on Flight 175. 

Ramona resident Ann Browne was anticipating a visit from her brother Father Francis Grogan from Massachusetts. A friend had given him a first-class ticket on the United flight.

Robert Penninger, 63, of Poway was on American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. A classic car and motorcycle enthusiast, Penninger was said to enjoy showing his 1999 Cobra Mustang at area car shows.

"Bob Penninger loved life, always living it to the fullest. He always tried to find humor in any situation," his wife Janet told the Washington Post.

Stock trader Brent Woodall, the son of a La Jolla couple, called his parents from Tower 2 when the first plane crashed into the WTC. He called again later to say he was getting out but perished in the tower collapse.

Woodall graduated La Jolla High School where a memorial award and scholarship was created to recognize outstanding baseball players, something Woodall excelled at before beginning a career in finance.

Deora Bodley, a 20-year-old college student from Mira Mesa, was visiting friends in New Jersey before boarding United Flight 93. A graduate of La Jolla Country Day, Bodley was about to start her junior year at the University of Santa Clara.

Bodley's sister spoke with NBC 7 three years ago and said she thinks about her sister every day.

"I don't think there's ever been a day that I've not had her in my mind," said Murial Borza.

To mark the anniversary, visit the 911memorial.org website and listen to oral histories from those who witnessed the events including first responders and survivors or listen to The Survivor Tree, a children's poem about a tree found by workers at the site of the memorial.

Or take part in one of these local events: 

A memorial will be held in front of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice in the Garden of the Sky marking the moments the four planes crashed beginning at 8:46 a.m. PT.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer will take part in a special ceremony at the Midway Museum from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. along the Embarcadero. Museum admission is free for those two hours to allow the public to attend the event.

Eleven international filmmakers, each from a different county, gives their own vision of the events in New York City during the September 11 attacks, in a short film of 11 minutes, 9 seconds, and one frame - shown at 1 p.m. In addition, there will be a discussion at 4 p.m. - both events at the Central Library.

A wreath will be placed at the 9/11 Memorial Tree in Warren Mall on the campus of UC San Diego at 8 a.m. and noon.

San Diego State University will remember 9/11 at a special ceremony at 10 a.m. near the Campanile Walkway flagpole in front of Hepner Hall.

National City Firefighters Local 2744 will hold their annual 9/11 Breakfast and Remembrance Ceremony beginning at 7 a.m. followed by a ceremony at 8:45 a.m.

Honor those killed by giving the gift of life at the 13th Annual Patriots Day Blood Drive at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cuyamaca College will hold a memorial ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on the Grand Lawn to honor those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks.

Coronado High School Navy Junior ROTC will plant 2,977 flags in the quad. Each will have the name of one of the victims of the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attack. A moment of silence and taps will take place for students at 9:30 a.m.

A Holden, Massachusetts, doctor diagnosed with the Ebola virus is improving significantly.

Dr. Rick Sacra has been in an isolation unit at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha since Friday after contracting the deadly disease in Liberia. While he's still very weak, he's been getting better everyday.

His wife, Debbie, is keeping in touch with him through a video conference system and says there's been ups and downs.

"He was very pale, his eyes were red, he did not have a lot of energy," she said at first.

However, during the news conference, doctors explained how the blood transfusions he's getting from Dr. Kent Brantly, another ebola survivor, may be helping him. The theory is that people who have survived the often-deadly virus develop antibodies to it, and those anti-bodies may kick start another person's immune system.

He's also taking another experimental drug, but doctors refuse to identify it, saying it's uncharted territory.

"We thank God for his mercy in preserving Rick's life. We are also thankful for the research drug and excellent supportive medical care that was available, because he could be evacuated," Debbie Sacra said.

His wife also spoke about when Dr. Sacra was in Liberia, he couldn't even find a single pair of rubber gloves or protective boots for his staff. He eventually acquired them, but she said this shows just how bad the situation is there.

When asked, if he will go back, she said, "I'm sure that when he gets his strength back, he's going to be ready to go back and I'll have to allow that."

Sacra is the third American aid worker with the virus to be flown to the U.S. for treatment. A fourth worker, who's name isn't known, is now at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Three Kidde smoke alarm models were recalled Thursday due to the possibility of alarm failure following a power outage, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall applies to about 1.2 million residential smoke alarms in the US and 112,000 in Canada. No injuries or incidents have been reported.

The models are the Kidde i12010S with manufacture dates between December 18, 2013 and May 13, 2014; combination smoke/CO alarm il2010SCO with manufacture dates between December 30, 2013 and May 13, 2014; and combination smoke/CO alarm model KN-COSM-IBA with manufacture dates between October 22, 2013 and May 13, 2014.

The smoke alarms are hard-wired into a home's electric power. Two of the models come with sealed 10-year batteries inside.

The alarms are round, white, and 5 to 6 inches in diameter, with "Always On" engraved on the front of models with sealed 10-year batteries inside.

Amazon.com, HomeDepot.com and shopkidde.com are a few of the retailers who sold the alarms, from January 2014 through July 2014 for between $30 and $50.

Consumers are advised to keep using the recalled alarms until they install replacement alarms.

Consumers can call Kidde at (844) 553-9011 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday to request a replacement or go online at www.kidde.com and click on "Recalls" for more information.

A prisoner who escaped during transport Thursday morning did not stay free for long after a San Diego deputy chased her down in Mission Valley, officials said.

The escape attempt happened around 10:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of Hotel Circle North.

Officials said the prisoner escaped from a marked San Diego County Sheriff’s Department vehicle while she was being transported. A deputy chased down the woman and she was taken back into custody near the Riverwalk Golf Course.

Medics were called to the scene to treat the would-be escapee for unspecified reasons. She was taken away from the scene by ambulance. The deputy was not injured.

The woman's short-lived escape is under investigation.

This incident comes just days after another prisoner -- Don Torrillo -- escaped from custody while being transferred to San Diego Central Jail in downtown San Diego.

In that escape, Paschall ran out of the building as an officer opened the jail’s bay door. He was on the loose for hours, but was eventually captured.
 

It’s only been two months since the San Diego County Fair wrapped up for the summer but already organizers are looking ahead to next season, carving out dates for more fair fun.

Next year’s fair season will officially open June 5, 2015, at 4 p.m. and will run through July 5, 2015 – making for exactly 24.5 days of family-friendly fun, rides and, of course, fried food, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The dates were approved this week at a 22nd District Agricultural Association Board of Directors meeting.

Organizers say the 4 p.m. opening on June 5 will be considered a “sneak peek” into the season ahead and will “be filled with surprises.” The fair will be closed on Mondays and the first two Tuesdays of the 2015 summer season.

The theme is expected to be announced later this month. This past season’s theme was “Fab Fair,” a tribute to the Beatles pop culture invasion in America and the 1960s.

As always, the fair will be jam-packed with vendors, activities, rides and its famous lineup of concerts, also yet to be announced.

The San Diego County Fair is one of the 10th largest fairs in America, attracting more than 1.4 million visitors to Del Mar annually.
 

Downtown San Diego’s Financial District is a bit brighter these days thanks to a new, bright piece of street art that’s hard to miss.

As part of the renovation of Five Thirty B – the former Union Bank building at 530 B St. – the landlord has commissioned a team of local street artists to paint a 30-foot by 105-foot mural on an exterior wall of the building. The team is led by muralist Maxx Moses.

The art, titled “Inception’s Reflection,” will be completed this week. It features a colorful palate of different shapes and forms meant to energize those who live and work downtown.

“We wanted something that reinforces our efforts to create a park in the sky, and Maxx and his team certainly accomplished that,” said John Bragg of Kearny Real Estate, the company that acquired the building earlier this year and is leading a $15 million conversion of the space, including turning the once-barren rooftop into a 15,000-square-foot collaborative outdoor meeting space and roof garden.

Given the mural’s size, it’s visible from several vantage points in the area, including 5th Avenue and B Street.
 

An Arlington hot yoga studio triggered a Twitter frenzy Thursday after offering a Sept. 11-themed discount on yoga classes, the Washington Post reports.

Bikram Arlington, located just four miles away from the Pentagon, tweeted Thursday morning: "9 + 11 = 20% OFF! PATRIOT DAY SALE on Bikram Yoga."

The studio deleted the tweet soon after outraged responses began flooding in.

Before deleting the tweet, however, the Bikram Arlington account tried to defend its promotion, tweeting, “The goal was to point out what date it was and associate to patriotism and to remember it. Its a shame some of you go to the negative.”

Minutes later, the company tweeted again, advising users to search the term "911 building 7," referring to a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 attacks. That tweet has been deleted as well.

Owner Zahra Vaezi, 33, told the Washington Post, "I didn’t realize people would be so 'roar,' you know?"

“It’s like that man who punched his wife,” she said, referring to ex-Ravens player Ray Rice, who appears to punch his then-fiancee in a video released earlier this week. "I mean, that’s upsetting. But I think it kind of gets blown out of proportion."

Vaezi’s husband, Frank, who wrote the promotional tweet, has taken to Twitter to apologize for the tweets, several times.

"I wrote that stupid post at 1am with yoga brain. I’m sure some of you know what I mean. Z fought against it don’t blame her!!" read one tweet.

"Please accept our sincerest apologies, we did not mean to cause any harm to anyone," read another.

The intention of the sale was to honor the memory of the many members of our family, community and our nation that we lost.

— Bikram Arlington (@bikramarlington) September 11, 2014

Vaezi also told the Post that the promotion is still valid.

The studio's voice mailbox was full, and NBC Washington was unable to leave a request for a comment.

The criticism of Bikram Arlington comes after similar outrage last year over a 9/11-related promotion by a Wisconsin golf course.

The owner of Tumbledown Trails Golf Course was bombarded with a backlash and even death threats after he advertised nine holes of golf for $9.11 to mark the anniversary of the attacks.

The trail where a 6-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion remained closed on Thursday, a day after a federal tracker killed the animal as it perched in a tree.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Kirsten Macintyre told NBC Bay Area she expects the Picchetti Ranch Zinfandel Trail in Cupertino to stay closed "for at least a few more days."

"Although we believe we got the cat we were looking for, until the DNA tests prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, it would be premature to pack everything out and reopen the trail to the public," she said.

A tracker  with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services spotted the male lion in question about 10:30 a.m., and killed him with a rifle in the name of public safety. The large cat was found 130 yards from where he had jumped out and bit a boy on Sunday afternoon while he was out walking with his family and family friends.

The boy's father screamed at the mountain lion, who eventually let the boy go. The family raced to the car and got the boy to Valley Medical Center, where he was released Monday. The boy has not been publicly identified and his family have denied interview requests.

Macintyre said that the lab results on whether the mountain lion had rabies won't be released until Friday at the earliest. That test, she said, is a priority, because if it is comes back negative, the boy can stop taking anti-rabies shots.

The Southern California high school that had come under fire for its "Arab" mascot and logo, widely denounced as racist, now has a new mascot: the "Mighty Arab." 

"The new mascot is a distinguished-looking Arab gentleman in historical dress," Superintendent Darryl Adams Coachella of the Valley Unified School District told KPCC. "It's a stoic figure but a very classy figure."

The school district approved Coachella Valley High School's new logo and nickname after an anti-discrimination group objected to the old one, which depicted a scowling man with a scraggly beard, hooked nose and headscarf.

The new "Mighty Arab" mascot and logo will represent the school in Riverside County with a trimmed beard and kaffiyeh featuring the initials "CV."

The new mascot was approved at the district's Board of Trustees meeting earlier this week, about a year after the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee voiced objections to the old mascot. Mascot discussion occurred in a closed-door meeting Tuesday before the unanimous vote in favor of the new logo and nickname.

The old nickname was just "the Arabs," minus the "Mighty."

District officials said last week that the old mascot costume, which included the scowling face on an enlarged head, will no longer appear at events. The costumed mascot appeared at events such as football games, alongside a costumed belly dancing genie character.

The new logo will be featured on uniforms and physical education shirts. The old logo will be removed from murals on several school buildings and signs on the campus, school officials told KPCC.

Abed Ayoub  of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said the group fully supports the new mascot and image.

"We're very happy with this," Ayoub told KPCC. "It's something that could be on the murals and on the gym floor without offending anybody. It's not a caricature based on stereotypical, Orientalist views of who Arabs are."

Ayoub  is planning to attend a joint news conference Friday with school officials, KPCC reported.

The Arab mascot has existed since the 1920s to recognize the desert region's reliance on date farming, a traditionally Middle Eastern crop. Opposition to the change had come mostly from the school's alumni, but the president of the alumni association Rich Ramirez welcomed the move.

"All the alumni want to keep it as it was," Ramirez told The Desert Sun. "But I've written a lot of retorts saying, 'It's not up to us any longer in today's society. If you offend one of 10, you've got to do something about that one."

The father of a 4-year-old Miami boy who was found mauled to death in a dog attack has now been charged with manslaughter.

Charges for Javon Dade Sr., 30, were upgraded from child neglect causing great bodily harm to manslaughter at his arraignment Thursday. His girlfriend, 26-year-old Alessandra Carrasco, who was also arrested on child neglect charges, is also being charged with manslaughter.

It is unclear if either has an attorney.

The body of Javon Dade Jr. was found in overgrown grass in the family's back yard after he was reported missing on Aug 13. He had been mauled to death by a dog or dogs in the yard, police said.

According to Miami-Dade Police arrest reports, Dade Jr. was found with "severe head trauma and neck trauma consistent with a dog mauling."

In court, prosecutors said Carrasco "brought the dog into the property" and that she "was in charge of the child."

Carrasco and Dade Sr. had spent the night and early morning smoking marijuana cigarettes laced with cocaine, the reports said.

When Dade Sr. went to check on his son around 9:20 a.m., he wasn't in his bedroom, the report said. Police arrived and found the body in the yard.

Police said Animal Services workers took six dogs from the scene and one, a blue and white adult pit bull, was later euthanized.

The Department of Children and Families had warned of the dogs three years before the incident, officials said.

A Fairfax County woman is left to pick up the tab after someone racked up more than $1,000 on her E-ZPass when her transponder was stolen following a severe car accident.

After the head-on crash back in February, Mindy Gaertner feels lucky to be alive -- let alone walking.

"The last thing I knew, there were headlights right in front of me," said Gaertner. "And the worst sound I ever heard in my life."

Gaertner was left in critical condition following the wreck, and her car was totaled.

Since then, she's focused on one thing: Recovering. She doesn't really remember the first month after the crash. "I was heavily, heavily medicated and had a lot of injuries from head to toe," Gaertner said.

Over the past several months, she's been in and out of intensive rehab. But a few weeks ago, while going through her bills, she found a charge on her American Express credit card statement that didn't quite make sense.

Gaertner found out that her E-ZPass transponder, linked to her credit card, had paid for tolls up and down the East Coast, from Virginia to Massachusetts. The total over the course of several months: $1,003.78.

"It never occurred to me that the E-ZPass would've even survived the accident, much less [that] anyone was using it," she said.

But someone was using it -- a lot.

"This person was driving all over," Gaertner said. She called E-ZPass, and the company canceled the transponder. But a few more charges came through: "...[E]ven though E-ZPass stopped it, these people were still driving around and added up another $108 after I stopped it," she said.

Mindy then called the tow truck company, Henry's Wrecker Service.

"I said, 'Look, this is what happened, I need to know when the car was taken away and who took it,' and the response was, 'Have a happy Henry's day,' and I was hung up on."

Henry's told News4 they are investigating and said that the first of the fraudulent charges came the day the car was moved to a salvage yard.

Gaertner then contacted Fairfax County Police, but they say it's out of their jurisdiction.

"We would say, treat those E-ZPasses like a credit card," said Lucy Caldwell of Fairfax County Police. "Call the E-ZPass company and cancel it immediately."

Gaertner thinks the condition of her car made it easier for a thief to target.

"When you look at the picture of the car, it's easy to understand that that was a great target," she said. "That whoever was in that car was not going to be in a situation to be thinking about the E-ZPass."

With a hospital bed in her living room, it's clear that Gaertner's rehab has been intense. And now in addition to medical bills, she's left paying for someone else's joyrides.

"It's not ending. It's constant," she said. "I mean, I didn't even know you could rack up charges like that."

Two women on a morning walk caught a man masturbating in his vehicle outside a North County school, police said.

In their call to police, the two women said they saw a white male masturbating in the car parked near Carmel Creek Elementary.

Officers said the VW station wagon had been parked along Carmel Creek Road, south of Del Mar Heights Road and east of Interstate 5.

Soon after, a San Diego Police officer pulled over a vehicle for running a stop sign near Carmel Creek and Del Mar Trails. The officer was unaware of the lewd act call when he stopped the driver.

Officials said Kevin Garrison, 23, was positively identified by the two witnesses and then taken into custody on felony indecent exposure.

He was booked on that charge along with possession of marijuana and failure to register as a sex offender stemming from a previous conviction.
 

The man whose alleged hatchet-wielding antics prompted a school lockdown Wednesday has turned himself in to law enforcement, El Cajon Police say.

Officers began an extensive search for Christopher J. Wilson, 19, Wednesday afternoon after police say he got into a confrontation with a homeowner and pulled a hatchet from his backpack. The confrontation happened about a block away from Fletcher Hills Elementary School.

No one was injured in the argument, and Wilson soon left the scene.

Witnesses reported he crossed school grounds as he walked with the hatchet, which pushed administrators to lock down Fletcher Hills Elementary for about 15 minutes.

There was never any direct threat to students, police say.

During their search, officers surrounded Wilson’s home. His mother was called in to coax him out using a bullhorn, but when police swept the building, they could find no sign of Wilson.

Their hunt turned up nothing through the night and the following morning.

Around 11:50 a.m. Thursday, Wilson walked into the El Cajon Police Department and voluntarily surrendered himself.

He was arrested on suspicion of having a weapon on school grounds and for making criminal threats.

Neighbor Jeff Stratton, who has known Wilson since he was a child, told NBC 7 the suspect is always nice, polite and cordial to him.

He said Wilson does not have a violent tendency.

"It troubles me a lot to see a kid that I look at almost -- when he used to hang around, he was almost like one of my kids. Now I find this happening. If I had seen him walking around here, I would have walked up and said, 'Give me the hatchet. What are you thinking?'" said Stratton.

El Cajon Police will continue the investigation.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

We will never forget. Those words hold true on the San Diego-based USS Nimitz thanks to a special memorial located on the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier.

Crew members walk by a special piece of steel from the World Trade Center that has been crafted into a memorial and remember why they serve.

"When I walk on board every day and see that gerder and remember we got hit on our on soil that gets to me," said Capt. John Ring.

PA Clint Phillips agrees, "When you see that out of corner of eye it’s that instantaneous ‘That’s why I do what I do.’"

Watch this profile of the memorial and the crew inspiredby it from NBC 7’s Dagmar Midcap.
 

A San Diego Unified School Board trustee said Thursday he considers the district’s acquisition of an armored vehicle a “misguided priority.”

School Board Trustee Scott Barnett said the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle is not something the district should have in its fleet.

“We’re a school district, we’re about education,” he said.

"Yes we do need to protect our kids but I believe this vehicle - armred vehicle - is misguided and does not represent what the district wants to put out there as the symbol of our district." 

SDUSD accepted the $710,000 MRAP as part of a program to distribute vehicles left over after withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq. The only cost would be shipping the vehicle from Texas to San Diego (estimated to be $1,000 to $4,700).

According to an internal memo sent to SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten from the district’s police chief, cost of maintaining the School Police Student Rescue Vehicle would range from $500 to $1,000 annually.

The second largest school district in the state of California has a fleet of approximately 1,000 vehicles ranging from school buses to maintenance and delivery trucks.

According to Barnett, SDUSD has no plan for replacing its aging vehicles including 10 of the district's police cruisers that each has over 130,000 miles.

Through the grant, SDUSD cannot sell the MRAP but Barnett proposed leasing the armored vehicle to local police and using the money to fund new school police cars.

San Diego Unified School Police Chief Rueben Littlejohn says leasing the MRAP to other law enforcement agencies would counteract the benefit of owning it.

“In an active shooter situation this vehicle, which is bulletproof, would be backed up to a classroom door as close as possible and officers would usher students and teachers into the vehicle and get them out of harm's way as quickly as possible,” Chief Littlejohn said.

He believes if school police had to wait for its arrival, it would not be useful in an emergency situation.

Barnett said the plan to accept the MRAP was not discussed with the board or listed on a board agenda. He said he first learned of the plan through a post on Facebook.

“This is an issue that the school board would have been interested in at least knowing about and, I believe, discussing and determining whether or not this is something we want in our fleet,” Barnett said.

In his opinion, the district should have waited to accept the grant until school officials had the chance to see results of a two-year review of the district's security needs. That report is scheduled to be released Sept. 23.