video from the 485 back up. >> people started telling me they thought it was an eight- car pile up ahead. >> chris waited patiently. a spokesperson told us heavy freezing rain kept the 40 contracted crews out treating roads busy. >> they were putting down salt to help break up the icy patches. the difficulty in that was when we had heavy rain move through, it could wash the salt off the roads. >> jenkins admits it wasn't fun waiting in traffic but understands why highway patrol needed to make the call. >> i could have easily been one of those people. once you hit ice, it doesn't are. >> troopers told me they feared if they didn't shut down portions of these highways that someone would have been critically injured or even killed. including some first responders. thankfully, no one was seriously hurt. reporting live eyewitness news. and we brought you live updates on the delays on eyewitness news daybreak. traffic team 9 has the latest traffic alerts and alternate starting at 4:30. now the icy conditions might have thawed out in some spots but in the north carolina mountains, snow is still falling there. and ash county schools will be delayed two hours tomorrow. they've all ready decided. mean time our chief meteorologist steve udelson tracking rain that's headed our way tonight. it was great to see the sunshine and the nice warm up, you probably noticed the clouds have filtered in and not too far to the west, we're all ready picking up showers. of rain initially on live early warning doppler 9. a pretty good swirl on the clouds. this thing has a lot of energy. not a lot of moisture to work with. we're above freezing in the charlotte area. that's not the case in the mountains. that's why i'm forecasting more snow to fall in the high country tonight. here's the future cast. there's the snow, the shades of blue. the charlotte area will initially stay dry. there will be some showers around. it's not going to be a big batch of rain and the vast majority of it history by the time you get up tomorrow morning. when i come back in a few we'll see. we go to breaking news now to rowan county where there's crime scene tape up right now around this home. it's in rock well north carolina. chopper 9 sky zoom over the scene right now. drive. the scene. right now we're working to find out what they're investigating out there and if there's any threat to the other people living in this community. a charlotte fire truck was involved in a crash this afternoon here in university city. we first brought this to you as breaking news at noon. chopper 9 sky zoom flew over the wreck on university city boulevard and east wt harris boulevard. we saw two pickup trucks and a red suv damaged there at the crash scene. medic says one person received minor injuries. new information tonight on a shooting in catawba county where a man is accused of firing at a deputy. barry hildebrand faced a judge today on attempted murder you can see in the video his injured right hand there after a deputy shot him on friday at a home on lake hickory. investigators say the deputy was serving a warrant for failure to appear in court. they say he fired after hildebrand shot at him with a shotgun. tonight channel 9 uncovered new court documents that show what attorneys are trying to do to help this alleged gang member avoid the death penalty. eyewitness news reporter blake hanson has been following this high profile murder case involving a lake wiley couple for more than a year. and he found out that attorneys may actually try to use the victims in their defense. blake? erica, 7 of the 12 charged in this case have all ready taken plea deems but those still fighting the government's claims might still have a long haul before this is all over. an appeal filed today gives us the shooter of debbie and doug london. these documents by his defense team ask the government to turn over evidence as quickly as possible before a meeting in two weeks with the capitol review committee. that justice department committee reviews death penalty eligible cases and makes a recommendation to the attorney general. >> death penalty cases are just inherently complex. >> legal analyst james wyatt says it's another protection for defendants. >> in the death penalty cases, there are a lot more safeguards than in a usual criminal case. >> the appeal seeks a wide range of evidence. everything from whether or not heartly was coerced by other suspects to whether the victims of the murder were engaged in criminal activity. investigators say another suspect jamel looked into the victim's past too once asking a gang associate to see if doug london has ever been arrested. wyatt says the defense will look for anything before the capitol meeting. >> in a normal criminal case you want to ask for a broad array of evidence. want to make doubly sure you ask for that and more. heartly's attorney writes that while this conference is a couple weeks away the committee might not make a decision for several months. this indictment first came down, the first indictment in fall of 2014. but we may be a long way away from this being over. reporting live from the federal courthouse, blake hanson, channel 9 eyewitness news. so who is jamel curatin? he's the accused master mind of the london's murder. he ordered the hit on the couple from his jail cell to prevent them from testifying in another case. he faces the death penalty if convicted. police are investigating after they say someone broke into a home in south charlotte. this happened yesterday morning along milford drive. according to the police report, someone kicked in the back door of the home. the suspect stole a handgun, over $5,000 worth of jewelry. and some electronics. can cause brain and kidney damage in drinking water in york county. carolina water services found led in three communities. the foxwood subdivision in fort mill, river hills in lake wiley. and the cedar wood sub diction in lexington county. officials think the led came off pipes that serve 3500 customers in those neighborhoods. this comes amide an ongoing water crisis in flint michigan. the city is under a state of emergency because of elevated levels of led in the water. here in york county, the amount of led was up to four times above the federal standard. cws officials believe there were errors in how the water samples were taken. follow up tests since last month show that led levels have fallen to a safe limit but cws is required to notify the homeowners and begin testing more frequently. for more information about their findings, we posted the report on our website, just look for this story under the news tab. now we turn our coverage to vote 2016 with the south carolina's primaries just days away. presidential candidates are now ramping up their campaign stops all across the area. and all new tonight, eyewitness news reporter greg suskin found out that all these appearances are putting some strains on local law enforcement. greg? >> they sure are, in just about 48 hours from now, republican jeb bush will be here holding a town hall meeting in this building and police found out about this just yesterday. i'm learning that's pretty common with events like this. presidential hopefuls often draw crowds of hundreds or thousands. that makes it no easy task for police when it comes to security. >t's just a lot of work. >> says rock hill police captain, mark. he tells me agencies try to meet a week ahead of time to plan for traffic and safety issues but that's not usually possible. >> the politicians are changing their schedules everyday. so we'll be planning for event they cancel it and decide to throw something on thursday. >> when donald trump filled 6,000 seat, dozens of officers were needed. many are off duty, earning over time. and sometimes detectives are taken off cases to work the events. but rock hill police don't take officers off the streets or out of schools for political events. former florida governor jeb bush will hold a town hall in rock hill thursday. ohio governor john kasich will be in sun city in indian land at the same time. voters are getting swamp with calls and mailers from candidates. john winthrop says they're annoying. >> they're trying to put the bug in your ear to vote for them. >> reporter: he says the assault on voters can backfire. jan told us it bothered her. >> oh yes, yes, lots. so much so that we unhooked our phone. >> experts tell me all the are designed to push name recognition for uncommitted voters and a lot of the campaigns feel like there's no such thing as bad publicity. greg suskin, channel 9 eyewitness news. wall street started the shortened week with more gains making investors wonder if the recent losses are finally over. the dow closed up 222 points. and the nasdaq closed up 98 points. tonight a band of black wool is marking the spot where justice antonin skalia sat. this tradition goes back to 1873. we also learned today skalia will lie in repose at the high court on friday and his funeral will be on saturday. president obama is talking about the supreme court vacancy right now in california. after the closing of the southeast asia summit. the president just said he will nominate a candidate who was quote indisputably qualified we'll continue to monitor his remarks and bring you new information throughout the news cast. a new plan calls for universal prek for all mecklenburg county kids under age 5. >> i think that's pretty optimistic. >> how it will be implemented and who will pay for it. >> registered sex offenders using facebook with potential access to your children. >> you have to make the assumption that they're lurking. >> but our investigation shut them down. >> why did you have a facebook account? >> 9 investigates at 5:30 on channel 9. mother nature gave us a set of bookends today. clouds to start the day and right now we are staying on top of the breaking news for you out of rowan county where a home along belmont place in rock well is roped off with crime scene tape. you see a lot of activity there on the ground. this is the view from chopper 9 sky zoom. we can see deputies out there. it looks like neighbors out there as well. we're working to ask some more questions, gather more information about what they are investigating, we're asking what happened, if anyone has been injured, and if there's a threat to that community. some mecklenburg county commissioners say they want to implement universal prek for all children under the age of 5. in today's state of the county, commissioners laid out some disturbing trends that show many students are lagging behind, all new tonight, eyewitness news anchor liz foster asked leaders how they plan to roll it out and who's going to pay for it. liz? >> the call for universal prek here at the government center today was one part of the state of the county address. they have concerns with. >> welcome to this 2016 state of the county address. >> as soon as mecklenburg county commission chairman trevor fuller called for universal prek the audience erupted in applause. fuller said the initiative includes all children in the county age 5 and younger. >> no child in our community will be denied because of his or her family's financial condition. >> fuller followed with how universal prek will be implemented in three phases. first all kids currently on waiting lists would be placed in programs. in the second phase, all four- year-olds in the county will be served and lastly reaching children up to three years old. >> i think it's optimistic and i'm in support of that. >> kids that have access to early childhood education are more likely to succeed academically and in their career. think it's a good idea but she has one concern. >> fuller didn't say who or what agency will pay for the initiative but that support will be needed from state and federal governments and upon the profits and businesses. >> i'm not plugged in enough to the numbers and the budget piece of it to know if it's feasible or not. an implementation team will be formed to over see the initiative. up next, whether your taxes could go up. live from the government center, liz foster, channel 9 eyewitness news. there's a new safety alert tonight that general motors is recalling 200,000 more vehicles because of faulty takata air bags. it effects saab cars from 2003 to 2011. the saab 95 from 2010 to 2011 the air bags can fling shrapnel during a crash. the recall involving the takata air bags is the largest in history. action 9 investigated how to protect yourself. check safercar.gov and put in your vin number. the recome list keeps growing. and push your front seats back as far as comfortable so you'll be farther away from the air bags. this evening we're taking a look from the charlotte camera. but it's a nice improvement compared to yesterday. >> a step in the right direction. in the mid 50s. charlotte, university city, toward belmont, checking in with 56, 58 from matthews, down toward waxhaw, we got readings a little cooler toward i-40, 50, and hickory. upper 30s across the high country. that's the trouble spot later tonight. but for the rest of us, not bad. should only go one way, up from yesterday. here's a look at the future cast this evening. the future cast i showed you a bit ago showing rain rolling in. we'll still be around 50 in most of the charlotte area, about 8:00. gradually cooling into the 40s. notice from i-40 north and especially over the mountains, we're back to freezing as we head toward midnight. that's when this puppy will come on in. and it's racing our way. as far as rain totals go. it's a very quick hit. and not a lot for the charlotte area. basically 1/10 to 1/4 of an inch. but upwards of 1/2-inch in the high country. and a lot of that will fall in the form of snow. several inches toward the tennessee line and ski country. lower elevations, an inch or two. temperatures by morning, a few left over clouds, upper 30s in the charlotte area. below freezing across the high country. first thing tomorrow morning, clouds, by 9:00 they're history. and most of us get to enjoy an absolutely gorgeous afternoon. temperatures a few notches cooler than today. lower 40s at 9:00 a.m. near 50. and we'll be in the mid 50s tomorrow afternoon. pretty much spot on to where we should be in mid february. our neighborhood forecast takes us to albemarle, clouds thinning out. temperatures climbing from the 30s early on to the upper 50s. get used to the 50s. they're here for a while. through friday, and how about this, even nicer as we hit the weekend. with temperatures climbing into the upper 60s. and as a bonus, we get the sunshine too. the five-day forecast, after tonight's showers and mountain snow, we get plenty of sunshine as we head through the late week and into the weekend, early next week looks stormy again but let's enjoy what should be a great late week and a nice weekend. >> it's so nice to see the sun today. >> it made a difference. >> we loved it. thank you steve. >> after winter weather forced schools to close again this week, districts are trying to figure out where to make up the days. >> it's a little crazy. if spring or summer break will be cut short. a homeowner shot an intruder breaking into his home. >> i didn't want. i had to. >> why he told channel 9 he didn't have a choice other than to fire his gun. and then african americans arrested more for marijuana in we're breaking down the gap (phone ringing)you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) answer rererererererererererererererererererererererererea majority of suspects in marijuana arrests in mecklenburg county are african americans. channel 9 requested a list of all marijuana arrests from cmpd. and we looked closely at the numbers and disparities. looking at the past two years in 2014, police arrested 451 african americans for cases of small marijuana possession compared to 12 hispanics and 36 whites. in 2015, 311 african americans were arrested, 12 hispanics and 28 whites. over all, there's a drop in the number of arrests. citations up 11%. arrests down 35%. officers say there's an increase in violent crime when large amounts of marijuana are involved. violent home invasions this year have been drug related. they say many of the arrests are related to high crime areas in charlotte. channel 9 posted the full cmpd report on our website at wsoctv.com. find it under the story under the news tab. new at 5:00, north carolina judges are trying to decide the fate of a law that could prevent property owners from improving their land for decades. the law allows state transportation officials to reserve a possible route for a future highway. it's designed to hold down the cost of buying highway land until it's ready to be built. that means realestate is unlikely to appreciate in value. south carolina senators plan to debate how to get more money for the state's roads. they would raise the gas tax over three years in five years, an estimates $723 million would be put into roads. income and other taxes by 400 million during that period. here's a look at the new stories we're working on for you. first a channel 9 investigation exposes local sex offenders on facebook. >> if it was easy for us to find an offender online, are there more out there? we're pushing for answers to find out why more isn't being done to prevent it. two charlotte neighborhoods are merging. one is booming and the other dealing with drugs and crime. the new method to try to bring them together and weed the problems out. >> i hate to shoot people like that man. but these people make you shoot them. >> an intruder shot. told channel 9 he didn tonight a local homeowner is standing by his decision to shoot a man who he says was trying to break into his home. >> if i hadn't shot him, he might have shot me. >> that 71-year-old says he didn't have a choice. >> he told eyewitness news reporter dave faherty it was instinct. when he heard his sliding glass door smash last night, he grabbed his gun. >> the homeowner in hickory tells me he first heard someone because it was so late he didn't answer. about 10 or 15 minutes later he heard someone trying to break in the rear of his home. >> i was coming out of my bed room. >> tony showed us where he was standing when someone smashed glass door. he was in his bed watching tv. he heard the sound of shattered glass. >> i'm disabled. somebody kicked the door in. i have to do something. i seen them coming in the door. i shot him. he fired his gun three times. striking the man twice in the chest with his 22 pistol. you can see where the third shot hit part of the door frame nearby. he had never seen the man prior to last night. >> i didn't want to. but i had to. if i hadn't shot him. he might have shot me. i don't know. >> police aren't releasing the name of the man. they confirm to us he under went surgery and is in stable condition tonight. friends of the 71-year-old say >> he did the right thing. i would have did the same thing. it's dangerous. people break into your house like that. >> right now there are no charges against tony pits or the man accused of breaking into his home. police telling me tonight they're going to finish their investigation, forward it to the district attorney and let him decide on charges. reporting from hickory, dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. now we'll go back to the breaking news out of rowan county where a home is roped off now with crime scene tape. chopper 9 sky zoom has been over the scene for the past 30 minutes. we've seen several deputies on the ground in front of this home on belmont place. still at this hour, investigators haven't said what happened here. we'll continue to stay on top of this story throughout the next hour. we will bring you every new development as soon as we learn more. we're also following breaking news out of mecklenburg and iredell counties where both counties

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