Police searched car-to-car on Sunday night near the Northridge Fashion Center on a report of a sighting of an ex-LAPD officer suspected in an alleged revenge plot in a case of mistaken identity.

Police responded to two separate calls about 3:30 p.m. from people reporting seeing someone who possibly resembled Christopher Dorner inside of a Lowe's home improvement store and in the parking lot near Corbin Avenue and Nordhoff Street, police said.

Police evacuated the store and conducted a search. Authorities also ran vehicle license plates on the white sedan believed to be connected to the man who was mistaken for Dorner.

Complete Revenge Plot Coverage: Special NBCLA.com Section | Timeline | Map | Dorner's Manifesto

Officers called the man and determined he had left with another person. The man did not know there was a search, let alone for him, police said.

Police were taking every precaution as they receive reports of people seeing Dorner, the subject of a multi-state manhunt, wanted in connection the fatal shootings of three people, including a police officer.

"When it comes to this case we leave no stone unturned," said LAPD Lt. Ahmad Zarekami.

Police cordoned off neighborhoods and briefly locked down the store, not letting anyone out nor anyone in, police said.

The lockdown and search was seen mostly as precautionary as officials are receiving many reports from people claiming they've seen someone who looks like Dorner, a 270-pound, 6-foot former Navy officer.

More than a dozen officers remained at the scene as of 8 p.m.

A teacher named in an alleged shooting plot at a Poway middle school told she was shocked to learn her name was on a so-called hit list.

Classes will resume at Twin Peaks Middle School Monday, just days after officials acted on a threat of a shooting in second period Monday morning.

An email sent to a school administrator Friday night referenced 3,000 rounds of ammunition as well as numerous firearms in the plot.

The only teacher named in the email spoke exclusively with NBC 7 San Diego on the condition that her identity and voice be concealed.

She was stunned that a student threatened to shoot her and 23 kids.

“I was completely, completely shocked because I couldn’t imagine anyone who could do that,” she said. “I thought it was a really bad prank.”

Detectives worked identified the source of the email as a 12-year-old Twin Peaks Middle School student. Soon after, they served a search warrant at the boy’s home.

Five rifles, three shotguns and three handguns were found the home and confiscated officials said.

“The student did not have access to the weapons. They were in the care and custody of the father,” explained Capt. Bill Donahue of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department adding that the guns had been locked away.

The 7th grader was taken into custody Saturday and admitted to a local hospital for treatment and evaluation.

As for the student’s parents, Capt. Donahue said they were “shocked” and extremely upset over the situation. The student, Donahue said, was also “scared” when officials interviewed him.

After hearing more about the student, she believes she knows who it is, and wants the best for the boy.

“It's possibly someone who's having some personal issues and reaching out for some help and I'm hoping that we can comfort that family as well,” she said.

The teacher told NBC 7 San Diego she never thought something like this could happen on her campus.

“I was really disturbed and upset by it. And I still am disturbed and upset by it. It's definitely bothersome to know that someone was thinking that way,” she said.

While the teacher did not believe the student would carry out the attack, she says it's hard to say what a 12 year old is capable of.

She said the district and staff have had multiple meetings about security on campus. She doesn’t want parents to be concerned about sending their children to the school.

“We do take it seriously,” she said. “It’s on our minds every day. It really is.”

She described this as an unfortunate, isolated incident.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful school,” she said.

Detectives believe the boy planned to act alone and say there is no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in making the threats.

The superintendent also said school counselors and the district's Crisis Intervention Team would be available to speak to students and parents about this ordeal at the Twin Peaks Middle School campus on Monday.

The case will now be presented to the District Attorney’s office and prosecutors will decide whether to prosecute the suspect as a juvenile or adult.
 

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.

After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.

I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.

For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff.

With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

Murder charges have been filed against Christopher Dorner, the fugitive fired Los Angeles police officer wanted for three slayings in a deadly revenge plot targeting law enforcement agents and their families. If apprehended and convicted, he could face the death penalty.

The Riverside County District Attorney's office on Monday announced that it has filed a murder charge against Dorner in the shooting death of Riverside police officer Michael Crain. Dorner is also wanted in connection with, but has not yet been charged with, the daughter of a former police department captain and her fiancé.

The murder charge includes two special-circumstance allegations — the murder of a peace officer and the discharge of a firearm from a vehicle — that make Dorner eligible for the death penalty. Dorner was also charged with three counts of attempted murder of a peace officer.

"Mr. Dorner has committed one of the most horrific crimes imaginable," Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said as he announced the charges Monday.

Crain, 34, was shot Thursday while he and his 27-year-old trainee partner — with less than a year on the job — were sitting at a traffic light near the Riverside Freeway in an ambush. The trainee was also injured in what police described as an ambush-style shooting.

Timeline: Revenge-Plot Slayings | Read: Full Manifesto | Map: Search Locations | Tips: 213-486-6860

Earlier Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department said law enforcement agencies involved in the search for Dorner are following up on more 600 tips from the public in an investigation that includes a $1 million reward.

That massive reward, to be given for information leading to Dorner's capture, was announced Sunday, even as investigators were still combing the snowy mountains around Big Bear Lake, where Dorner's burned out truck was found last week.

At a Monday morning news conference, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Andy Neiman said the clues were related to possible sightings and other information regarding the location of 33-year-old Dorner, accused of killing daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiancé Feb. 3 before Thursday's shooting death of a Riverside police officer.

Dorner outlined his plans for a revenge plot targeting law enforcement agents and their families in an 11,400-word document posted online, according to investigators.

"We will follow up on every clue we receive," Neiman said. "We have to prioritize. Obviously, 600 clues is a lot to sort through. Those will be followed up on immediately, others maybe not quite as readily."

Neiman was asked whether he thought the leads were generated by the $1 million reward announced Sunday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dorner, a former Navy reservist who was fired from the LAPD in 2008.

"It's my hope the public would do everything they can," Neiman said. "If the million dollar reward is stimulating additional clues, all the better."

A second LAPD briefing on the case is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.

Every day that Dorner is loose, said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on Sunday as he announced the huge reward, is another day when the likelihood of an attack on police officers or their families increases.

"We are asking the public, 'Please help us to protect you,'" Beck said at a news conference. "Please help us to find Dorner before he is able to kill again."

As for search locations, teams on the ground and in the air continued the manhunt Monday in the Big Bear area. Dorner's burned-out Nissan Titan pickup was found south of Big Bear Lake Thursday, just hours after the "ambush-style" shooting death of Riverside Officer Michael Crain.

There have been no reported sightings of Dorner in the Big Bear area, but authorities still consider the San Bernardino Mountain resort community a "critical" location in the investigation. Agents are searching vacation homes and government lease cabins in remote areas.

The mountain area has been one of the primary locations in the manhunt, which has included San Diego and Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

Dorner was identified Wednesday as a suspect in the Feb. 3 shooting deaths of Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, 27. Dorner repeatedly refers to Quan's father as being involved in his 2008 firing from the LAPD.

Hours after the announcement, LAPD officers providing a security detail for one of the subjects mentioned in Dorner's manifesto encountered him early Thursday in Corona. About 20 minutes later, Crain and his partner were "ambushed" by Dorner in Riverside, authorities said.

Chief Charlie Beck said Sunday that the LAPD plans to reopen the case involving Dorner's firing after he reported another officer for alleged brutality. Investigators later said Dorner's accusation was false.

An El Cajon DMV manager is facing charges for allegedly supervising a bribery scheme that put forged licenses in the hands of truck and car drivers, the U.S. District Attorney announced Monday.

Hundreds of drivers obtained the licenses through recruiters who worked with five DMV employees over the past two years, according to the complaint issued by US Attorney Laura Duffy.

One of those employees was manager Jesse Mario Bryan. Duffy stated that he supervised the employees involved in the alleged bribery conspiracy. 

Employees within the DMV first brought their suspicions to the US Attorney's office more than two years ago. The office worked with the FBI to investigate the possible corruption.

Using a mix of wire taps and undercover operations, investigators found that "recruiters" were soliciting people who wanted drivers licenses but could not obtain them.

The recruiters texted the applicants' information to the five DMV employees, who entered false passing scores on both written and driving tests, according to a previous statement from Duffy. 

Applicants paid up to $600 for the Class A and C licenses. The bribes were split between the DMV employees and the recruiters.

"Commercial Class A driver licenses allow the licensee to drive commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, which can cause enormous harm to the public if operated incorrectly by an unqualified driver," according to a statement from Duffy's office.

The complaint lists 21 defendants charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and produce unauthorized identification documents. 

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Two men have been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a Chicago teen whose death has captured headlines nationwide, Chicago police announced Monday.

Michaeil Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old honors student Hadiya Pendleton, gunned down two weeks ago just after she performed at President Barack Obama's inauguration.

They also were each charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery and discharge of a firearm.

Pendleton's mother Cleopatra Crowley told NBC News on Monday night that she was "ecstatic" that her daughter's accused killers had been charged.

"Look at what they've done to me and my family. We put so much work into raising my daughter. We had hopes. My son no longer has a big sister. They deserve to feel something that is remotely comparable," Cowley told NBC News. "But my daughter is dead, and even if they are rotting in jail, they will still be alive."

Ward confessed to shooting Pendleton in what he told police was intended to target a rival gang in retaliation for a July shooting in which Williams had been shot, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told reporters Monday night.

"The offenders had it all wrong," said McCarthy. "They thought the group they shot into included members of a rival gang. Instead, it was a group of upstanding and determined kids, who, like Hadiya, were repulsed by the gang lifestyle."

McCarthy credited affirmative police work, not tips, with the arrests.

On Saturday night, police apprehended Ward and Williams as they arrived at a strip club to celebrate a friend’s birthday, on the same day as Pendleton’s funeral, police said. Ward did not resist, while Williams tried unsuccessfully to flee.

Before the fatal shooting, Ward had been stopped by police in a traffic stop, according to police. He had been in the same car that was later linked to Pendleton's killing.

At the Monday night news conference, McCarthy expressed sad frustration that Pendleton's death could have been prevented if the state had mandatory minimum sentencing for gun violations. Ward, explained McCarthy, was arrested in 2011 and charged with unlawful use of a firearm. He was sentenced to two years probation.

"When we talk about mandatory minimums, we're talking about saving lives," he said.

Earlier Monday, White House aides told NBC News that First Lady Michelle Obama had invited Cowley, Hadiya Pendleton's mother, to be her guest at Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

Cowley will attend the speech after she and her husband make an appearance at Sen. Dick Durbin's Washington, D.C., hearing Tuesday on gun safety.

The first lady traveled to Chicago Saturday to attend Pendleton's funeral. She reportedly met privately with family before services began, offering encouragement and telling them to "hang on" and "stay strong."

Pendleton was killed two weeks ago in a park on her city's South Side, days after she performed at some of President Obama's recent inauguration festivities. She was shot to death blocks from her school and about a mile from the president's and first lady's Chicago home.

The White House announced Sunday President Barack Obama will visit Chicago on Friday to talk about gun violence and the economy. He reportedly sent a letter to the girl's family saying that he would work as hard as possible to "end this senseless violence."

California is home to both Hollywood and the SETI Institute, which seems to be a match made in screenwriter heaven.

It's hard not to get whimsical about an organization with the name of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, but the Mountain View-based institute spends a lot of its time on rather everyday, not-made-for-a-blockbuster pursuits.

Such as? Well, the naming of two Plutonian moons, for example, which could be seen as a bit of space-oriented housekeeping. Except this task is rather fantastic, and the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at SETI Institute is being extra fantastic by turning to the public for help.

Your part? Choose from one of the mythological names provided by the institute -- full list here -- or get creative and write in one of your own.

Here's the thing, of course: Hades is that distant orb's prominent theme, as it is with its already-named moons. So you'll need to put your mind to moon-appropriate handles of an Underworld-type nature. Flowers and butterflies need not apply, in short.

On the list of possibilities provided by SETI Institute? Styx, naturally, and Orpheus, too. Myth lovers, your day has arrived.

Feb. 25 is the deadline, so you have time to comb those old textbooks.

And if you're a fan of SETI Institute? Well, SETIcon II has passed, but you might keep your eye directed here for info on future gatherings. Both SETIcon I and SETIcon II were, you guessed it, in California.

Better take notes, Hollywood.

When President Barack Obama delivered his first State of the Union address in 2009, unemployment was reaching a 25-year high, and the Dow was headed for a 12-year low. He said, the "state of our union is a concern that rises above all others."

Tuesday night, Obama will likely include a similar sentence: "The state of our union is..." That simple, unequivocal structure, which has been used by almost every president since Lyndon Johnson, is now a standard soundbite that everyone anticipates.

But each State of the Union is unique. Some are remembered for their words, some for their staging and some for their historical impact. And some are remembered much more than others.

Here are the five most noteworthy State of the Union addresses in the last 50 years, according to Gerhard Peters, co-director of The American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Lyndon Johnson in 1965: His 1964 speech might be the most noteworthy for policy reasons, because that's when he declared War on Poverty. But his '65 State of the Union was noteworthy for the time: It was the first delivered during prime time. This was the next step in a series of changes over a period of 42 years that helped make the State of the Union a major event: Calvin Coolidge's 1923 speech was the first to be broadcast on the radio, and Harry Truman's in in 1947 was the first televised. By moving the speech to prime time, LBJ transformed it from a political event to a conversation directly with the American people. He recognized that if he did it at prime time, television would be pre-empted, and he could just speak to the entire nation at once.

Richard Nixon in 1974: This was really his last big attempt to persuade the American people that Watergate wasn't a big deal. It didn't work. Nixon also failed the aesthetics test: He just didn't look good. He was sweaty, especially on his upper lip. He looked uncomfortable, he acted uncomfortable and the applause was tepid. It was just awkward.

Ronald Reagan in 1982: The nation met Lenny Skutnick, and presidents have been introducing us to new Lenny Skutnicks ever since. In fact, "Lenny Skutnick" has become a tradition that every president has followed in almost every State of the Union since. That's when the president acknowledges somebody sitting in the gallery. It's usually some sort of hero or inspirational figure. Clinton had Rosa Parks, Sammy Sosa, Hank Aaron. Skutnick worked for the federal government and jumped into the Potomac River after a plane crash to save lives. Reagan acknowledged him as the quintessential exemplar of American spirit.

George W. Bush in 2002 and 2003: In 2002, George W. Bush introduced us to the Axis of Evil — Iran, Iraq and North Korea. In 2003, Bush used the State of the Union to persuade the country to go to war with Iraq, pointing to the Yellow Cake uranium in Africa.

Bush was not known as a great orator. On the contrary, he was attacked relentlessly throughout his presidency for his verbal missteps. So it's somewhat ironic that when asked who he thinks made the best use of the State of the Union, Peters points to the man who led us into war in Iraq.

"Generically, if you need to start a war in a democracy, you need to get the people on your side,"  Peters said. "If I were president and I wanted to launch a just war, setting aside whether the Iraq war was a just war, I might follow a similar path that Bush did — I might check my facts first."

Word cloud of every State of the Union from JFK to Obama made with WordItOut

A man was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison for his part in the sex trafficking of a 14-year-old girl. 

Randy Martell Ballard, 28, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to sex trafficking children, the U.S. Attorney's office announced.

Ballard met a 14-year-old girl in El Paso, TX and transported her to San Diego for the purpose of engaging her in prostitution, according to court documents.

He purchased a bus ticket for her with a false name and posted prostitution ads online. He also gave the girl false identification documents.

The National City Police Department worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security team to investigate the case.

In addition to his time in federal prison, he will also have to serve 5 years of supervised release, pay a $1,000 fine and register as a sex offender. 

A new study at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego may change the future of peanut allergies for kids.

The study will give participants a skin patch with tiny amounts of peanut in the hopes of desensitizing children who are allergic to peanuts.

The hospital has seen nearly 3,000 children with peanut allergies. The only way to manage the allergy is simply to avoid it, or treat accidental ingestion.

"The new patch therapy could prove to be a breakthrough for the peanut allergy sufferers,” said Stephanie Leonard, director of the Food Allergy Center at Rady Children’s Hospital in a statement.

About 3 million people in the U.S. suffer from the allergy and only 20 percent of children grow out of the allergy, according to the hospital. 

To participate, patients must be healthy and at least six years old, have eaten peanuts and had a reaction, and currently following a strictly peanut-free diet. 

Click here for more information on the study. 

Traffic began backing up on the I-805 in Chula Vista after multiple cars collided.

According to CHP, at least two vehicles were involved in the crash at Telegraph Canyon Road at about 6 p.m.

The accident prompted a response from the San Diego Fire Department.

Traffic was backed up for several exits following the crash. Check traffic conditions here.

By about 7:30 p.m., traffic was mostly cleared. 

Check here for updates.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the search for a fired LAPD officer wanted for three shooting deaths — including the daughter of a former police department captain — are following up on more 600 tips from the public in an investigation that includes a $1 million reward.

Timeline: Revenge-Plot Slayings | Read: Full Manifesto | Map: Search Locations | Tips: 213-486-6860

At a Monday morning news conference, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Andy Neiman said the clues were related to possible sightings and other information regarding the location of 33-year-old Christopher Dorner, accused of killing daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance Feb. 3 before Thursday's shooting death of a Riverside police officer. Dorner outlined his plans for a revenge plot targeting law enforcement agents and their families in an 11,400-word document posted online, according to investigators.

"We will follow up on every clue we receive," Neiman said. "We have to prioritize. Obviously, 600 clues is a lot to sort through. Those will be followed up on immediately, others maybe not quite as readily."

Neiman was asked whether he thought the leads were generated by the $1 million reward announced Sunday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dorner, a former Navy reservist who was fired from the LAPD in 2008.

"It's my hope the public would do everything they can," Neiman said. "If the million dollar reward is stimulating additional clues, all the better."

A second LAPD briefing on the case is scheduled for 3 p.m. Riverside authorities plan to conduct a 1 p.m. news conference about the investigation.

As for search locations, teams on the ground and in the air continued the manhunt Monday in the Big Bear area. Dorner's burned-out Nissan Titan pickup was found south of Big Bear Lake Thursday, just hours after the "ambush-style" shooting death of Riverside Officer Michael Crain.

There have been no reported sightings of Dorner in the Big Bear area, but authorities still consider the San Bernardino Mountain resort community a "critical" location in the investigation. Agents are searching vacation homes and government lease cabins in remote areas.

The mountain area has been one of the primary locations in the manhunt, which has included San Diego and Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

Dorner was identified Wednesday as a suspect in the Feb. 3 shooting deaths of Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, 27. Dorner repeatedly refers to Quan's father as being involved in his 2008 firing from the LAPD.

Hours after the announcement, LAPD officers providing a security detail for one of the subjects mentioned in Dorner's manifesto encountered him early Thursday in Corona. About 20 minutes later, Crain and his partner were "ambushed" by Dorner in Riverside, authorities said.

Chief Charlie Beck said Sunday that the LAPD plans to reopen the case involving Dorner's firing after he reported another officer for alleged brutality. Investigators later said Dorner's accusation was false.

Former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner — the suspect in three killings that have targeted law enforcement and the subject of a continuing manhunt — was suspected last week of fleeing to Mexico, according to a federal court document.

The criminal complaint filed in federal court on Feb. 7 charges Dorner with fleeing to avoid prosecution. It states that there was reason to believe he had crossed the border into Mexico.

An affidavit included in the complaint (PDF) was written by U.S. Marshals Service Inspector Craig McClusky the same day that the search for Dorner led to his burned-out truck in the mountain resort of Big Bear.

McClusky recounted the Irvine Police Department's request for assistance from the U.S. Marshal Service in finding Dorner after he became a suspect in the Feb. 3 killing of Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan, who is the daughter of an LAPD official mentioned by Dorner in a manifesto that details his alleged revenge plot.

McClusky described "the recent observations of a suspect matching Dorner's description attempting to flee to Mexico," and stated "there is probable cause to believe that Dorner has moved and traveled in interstate and foreign commerce from California to Mexico" to avoid prosecution.

Timeline: Revenge-Plot Slayings | Read: Full Manifesto | Map: LAPD Manhunt | Tips: 213-486-6860

The document also states that U.S. Marshals were tracking a Dorner associate identified only as "J.Y.," who had been spotted in Costa Mesa.

The search for Dorner continued in Big Bear on Monday, even as police followed multiple sightings of the former officer that turned out to be false.

Also on Monday, the Riverside County District Attorney's office filed a charge of murder against Dorner in the shooting death of Officer Michael Crain, who was killed in what authorities have described as an ambush. Crain was shot Thursday while he and his 27-year-old trainee partner were sitting at a traffic light near the Riverside Freeway in a shooting that police described as an ambush.

"We felt the state of the evidence dictated there was no reason to withhold filing charges," Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said. "He's a felon at large."

The Los Angeles Police Department on Sunday announced a $1 million reward in the case. More than 600 tips have been received, according to the LAPD. 

American influence on the Papal Conclave that will elect the next pontiff has never been stronger. But the odds of an American becoming pope remain distant at best, Vatican scholars and journalists say.

That's in large part because the United States, with more Catholics than any European country, is already seen as having too strong a hand in global politics and economic matters. So why give us the papacy, too?

"America was a missionary country up to the beginning of the 20th Century, and we like to think of ourselves as the center of the world, but Rome doesn't," said Charles Hilken, a St. Mary's College of California history professor who specializes in papal elections.

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI named three new American cardinals, bringing the country's total to 19, 11 of whom are younger than 80 and thus qualified to vote in the papal election. That's nearly 10 percent of the conclave.

Only Italy, home of the Vatican, has more eligible voters, with 28.

Of the American dark horses, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has the best chance to succeed Benedict, who will abdicate this month, observers say.

"Look, the Holy Spirit has his little jokes, as they say in the Curia, so you never know what the conclave will do, and Dolan is certainly the most appealing American candidate, likely the most ever," said David Gibson, a writer for Religion News Service and the author of a biography of Benedict. "But he's still a huge long shot."

The reality is that the U.S. is not where the Catholic Church wants to focus its energy, Gibson said. While popes have always come from Europe, the church's future is widely seen as lying in the Southern Hemisphere: in South America, and in Africa, where membership is booming.

"If they go outside Europe for the first time, Latin America is the best bet," Gibson said.

In that sense, we still could see the first "American" pope, albeit one from Brazil (home of the largest Catholic population, more than that of Italy, France and Spain combined), or Mexico, with the second-largest Catholic population, or even Argentina.

There is also a promising candidate from the north: Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian-born former Archbishop of Quebec who now works in a powerful position in Rome.

"That's more likely than it going to the U.S., to be quite honest," Hilken said.

A University of Maryland graduate student opened fire on his two housemates in an off-campus residence then turned the gun on himself, Prince George's County Police said.

Police identified the suspected shooter as Dayvon Maurice Green and said he had purchased the gun legally about one year ago. Police said Green had been suffering from an unspecified mental illness before the shooting.

Green was studying computer science at the University of Maryland and had completed an undergraduate degree at Morgan State University.

Police said that shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, he set a fire in the basement of his rented home. As his two housemates ran outside and confronted him, he opened fire, according to authorities.

Green then went to the rear of the house and killed himself, police said.

One housemate, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, ran to a neighbor's house for help. The other victim later died at a local hospital.

"All I heard was about six to seven shots going, 'pop pop pop,' and then about 15 minutes later, we saw the cops," neighbor Jithin George told NBC's Washington TV station News4.

The identities of the victims -- both male University of Maryland students -- have not yet been released. It is unknown whether they were graduate or undergraduate students.

The university sent an alert to students around 1:15 a.m., warning them that a shooting had been reported off-campus.

Nestlé Prepared Foods Company announced they are voluntarily recalling two production codes of Lean Cuisine Culinary Collection Mushroom Mezzaluna Ravioli due to reports of consumers finding small fragments of glass in the ravioli portion of the entree.

The only production codes included in the recall are 2311587812 and 2312587812 with "best before dates" of DEC 2013. Consumers can find the production codes on the right-side flap of the box, as illustrated above.

Customers with the product are instructed to contact Nestlé Consumer Services at (866) 586-9424 or leancuisine@casupport.com for further instructions. Nestlé will provide a replacement coupon to reporting consumers and also may make arrangements to retrieve the product for further examination.

Find more information on product recalls on the FDA's Recall page here.

An episode of “The Steve Wilkos Show” was interrupted on a Montana TV station Monday by a hacker who warned of a zombie apocalypse.

The Montana Television Network said hackers were able to sabotage the station’s Emergency Alert service of the station’s Great Falls affiliate and told viewers “dead bodies were rising from their graves” and “attacking the living.”

KRTV said on its website that the hacked message reached “several” Montana counties. The phony alert was promptly pulled off the air and prompted KRTV to issue an apologetic message on the air and online.

The Great Falls Tribune reported that the “undead” message garnered at least four calls to authorities to check its validity.

The night before the hoax, AMC’s zombie drama, “The Walking Dead” was seen by 16.6 million people, Nielsen ratings reported. The graphic novels series that the show is based on has also been featured on The New York Times bestseller list.  

Watch the hoax for yourself below:

Two Customs and Border Protection agents accused of performing sexual acts at a local circus show were found not guilty of lewd conduct, a San Diego judge announced Monday. 

Witnesses described a dirty public act between off-duty agents, Kallie Helwig, 24, and Gerald Torello, 35, under a circus tent at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on March 27. 

The two agents were in the audience watching Cirque du Soleil at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on the evening of March 27. The Sheriff's Department said spectators saw the two touching each other inappropriately.

The woman who deputies say was punched by Helwig described what happened to NBC 7 in a previous article.  She asked not to be identified because she didn’t want to put herself or her family at risk.

She said she saw the two off-duty agents heavily kissing as Torello was touching Helwig's breasts. She then saw Helwig's head and hands moving up and down in Torello's lap.

When she told the two to stop, Torello said he couldn't stop Helwig.

Then, the witness said two children turned around and saw the two off-duty agents performing what appeared to be oral sex. Torello gave one of the children a high-five as this was happening, the witness said.

"After they called security, security told them to stop and they did," said Lieutenant Ken Nelson of the Sheriff's Department.

However, the witness said she couldn't get security to help the situation until she used a strobe-light app on her phone, which caught the attention of an usher. The usher then saw the agents and they stopped.  As the crowd was exiting, Helwig allegedly attacked the woman, hitting her in the face.

"My vision went black, and that was the last thing I felt," the witness said.

The victim's husband said Torello also tried to get involved. After the fight had settled down, a security guard asked if the victim wanted to press charges, and she replied yes.

She suffered minor injuries, including minor vision impairment and bruises on her face and arms, she said.

Helwig was cited for misdemeanor battery. Torello was taken to the Sheriff's Department's Encinitas Substation, cited and then released. 

Jurors were hung on two counts pertaining to lewd acts. They did find Helwig guilty of battery.

Lt. Nelson said in a previous article that statements from the witnesses did not warrant an arrest for lewd acts in public.

Customs and Border Patrol released the following statement about the incident:

“All Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner while on or off duty. CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe. CBP takes every allegation of misconduct seriously and fully cooperates in the investigation of such allegations. Presently, the two employees in question have been assigned administrative duties.”

Both agents have been with the Customs and Border Patrol since 2008.

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A new study at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego may change the future of peanut allergies for kids.

The study will give participants a skin patch with tiny amounts of peanut in the hopes of desensitizing children who are allergic to peanuts.

The hospital has seen nearly 3,000 children with peanut allergies. The only way to manage the allergy is simply to avoid it, or treat accidental ingestion.

"The new patch therapy could prove to be a breakthrough for the peanut allergy sufferers,” said Stephanie Leonard, director of the Food Allergy Center at Rady Children’s Hospital in a statement.

About 3 million people in the U.S. suffer from the allergy and only 20 percent of children grow out of the allergy, according to the hospital. 

To participate, patients must be healthy and at least six years old, have eaten peanuts and had a reaction, and currently following a strictly peanut-free diet. 

Here is more information on the study. 

Caltrans spends about $2 million a year in replacing stolen copper wiring that powers metering lights, traffic signals, lights on freeway signs and city streetlights.

Spokesman Bob Haus said in the last seven years, the state has spent $27 million on the thorny and expensive problem.

There is no real way to stop the problem completely, but Caltrans has been using aluminum wire instead of copper, moving some equipment to other locations and burying pull boxes, the long, thin, metal cylinders through which the wiring runs.

In the Bay Area, the Bay Area Newspaper Group first reported that a total of 59 meters have been vandalized in over the past year, and Caltrans has replaced the wiring at just 18. It can take three to four months to make repairs, and typically costs $35,000 to fix one meter.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau ranked California fourth in the United States for the most metal theft claims between 2009 and 2011, and probably only a fraction of all thefts are ever reported.

San Jose has spent as much as $160,000 to repair 500 lights. Fremont saw its repair bill jump from $62,000 for stolen streetlight wires three years ago to $438,000 last year, according to the newspaper group.

Why are thieves pilfering the copper? Copper has gone for as much as $4 a pound at salvage yards, almost three times the price four years ago.