i'm told that next month is when the full council could get his formal request on how many officers he's seeking to add to the force that's while the city continues to work on a new budget. reporting live at cmpd headquarters, jenna deery, channel 9 eyewitness news. the last time cmpd added additional officers to the force was in 2008 the department only received half of its requested 250 additional officers. but crime still dropped around 30%. you can follow all of our coverage on the city's rise in violence and the chief's push for officers on wsoctv.com. the links are inside jenna's story on the home page. a charlotte man is facing federacharges in a dangerous plot that included trying to smuggle guns and ammunition into ghana west africa. over the last two years, than 60 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition from various stores, gun shows, and the internet. eyewitness news is digging more into this case now and will have much more on the arrest and the alleged plot tonight at 10:00 and 11:00. right now we're following breaking news out of raleigh where north carolina's senate approved changes to voting maps for the state's congressional districts. we first told you about the maps last night. the changes were ordered by a panel of federal judges who said the current congressional boundaries are unconstitutional. the new boundaries make significant changes to congressional seats representing charlotte. but republican leaders say they consolidated many counties that were split in the current maps. >> if you notice that map is out of 100 counties, 87 of them are whole. which is as compact as we could possibly make it and still meet the requirements. >> the maps now head to the confirming vote. an eyewitness news reporter jim bradley is there in raleigh listening to the debate fist hand. coming up, he'll have a closer look at it and what this means for voters throughout the state. new developments involving mumps cases in the area. lincoln county just confirmed a case it was looking into is not the virus. cabarrus county still waiting on results to confirm its case. new tonight, eyewitness news reporter tina terry talked to experts trying to understand the recent out break and keep it from spreading. tina? >> well, yes, alison, tonight health workers are trying to understand why these cases are all of a sudden popping up, in the mean time, they are encouraging people to go and get their vaccinations if they haven't all ready and to protect themselves in other ways. daily sanitizing is an everyday practice here and with news of the mumps, the owner is even herself and the kids she cares for. >> i constantly wash the children's hands. and sanitize the daycare toys. to keep germs down. >> things the cabarrus county health department says everyone should keep in mind in light of the recent months out break. >> it's important that people will know that it's going on. what we will be doing is looking at why we have some cases suddenly that we've never had before. >> two cases have been confirmed in mecklenburg and iredell. six others are being investigated. cabarrus county is waiting on test results from a possible case. >> quite possibly they are linked. but we don't know that yet. >> today, an expert on the virus explained why we may be seeing these cases now. >> the kind of mumps that circulates in many of these out breaks is genetically different than what's used in the vaccine. >> but he says it's still important for people to get vaccinated. with the mumps. but asics before, patients who are vaccinated don't end up with the most severe complications. >> as we mentioned earlier, test results from the lincoln county case came back and they confirmed with us that that is not a mumps case. again, the verdict is out on the cabarrus county case. we'll let you know as soon as we hear more. reporting live from mecklenburg county's health department. tina terry, channel 9 eyewitness news. we have more breaking news happening out of hawaii' where five people survived a helicopter crash near pearl harbor. the civilian chopper splashed into the ocean and we're told all five people have all ready been taken to land. there was only one injury. all of this happened near the u.s.s arizona memorial in pearl harbor which is a popular site for tourists. new tonight, a truck driver accused in a deadly hit and run up there after being arrested in charleston. we have this mug shot of stevie in chester county. a judge denied his bond today. he's accused of rear ending an suv this month killing flora ellenburg. the crash happened in the early morning hours on i-77 near grape falls. a 14-year-old boy witnessed his 18-year-old brother getting shot in north charlotte. officers say the two of them were along bell font drive when a gunman fired a shot. the 18-year-old was hit and rushed to presbyterian hospital. he's expected to be okay. the 14-year-old was not hurt. police haven't said what led up to the shooting and so far no arrests have been made. we're two days away from south carolina's important primary and there are two poles showing two different leaders in the republican race. our wall street journal pole that came out yesterday shows ted cruz beating donald trump cbs pole out today gives trump a 17 point lead over cruz. the dualing poles may show there could be a shift in the republican race soon. meanwhile, trump received a thumbs down from pope francis today. when asked about trumps views on immigration, the pope said that anyone who wants to build a wall along the u.s. mexican border is not christian, trump has promised to build the wall and deport 11 million people illegally. trump fired back and said a religious leader questioning a person's faith is quote disgraceful. as we head into south carolina's primary, next at 5:30, eyewitness news reporter greg suskin explains why south carolina is such a unique state for candidates and why it's a make or break sake for some. new tonight, a fire destroyed a home in york county this afternoon, and chopper 9 sky zoom flew over the house just off u.s. 21 north of fort afternoon. you see that open hole there in the roof and firefighters inside spraying water. we're told that 11 people live at this home. but thankfully no one was at home at the time. tonight we're asking questions about what caused the fire. cocaine, meth, and heroin, they're just a few of the items that authorities say they found on two men after a chase through rock hill. officers say they tried to stop the car that anthony and brandon griggs were in last night. they said they caught the pair a short time later when the two tried to ditch the car and run off. investigigors say the two of them are known drug dealers on the east side of rock hill. sheriffs from mecklenburg and iredell counties are returning home from three days focusing on fighting terrorism. the conference in charleston focused on domestic terrorism and lessons learned from the attacks there and in chattanooga tennessee. the iredell county sheriff said they were told to establish good relationships with churches and the community. finalled a lawsuit to stop refugees from being sent to the state. the plaintiff says he wants to protect the state from criminals and terrorists. governor nikki haley is named as one of the defendants but the governor's office said she's all ready asked the federal government to examine its refugee vetting process after one of the paris terrorist attackers posed as a syrian refugee. all new today at 5:00, a town administrator is off the job tonight after long view leaders discovered that he was allegedly padding his paycheck with hundreds of hours in sick time and advanced pay. dave faherty just got a confidential letter from the town's attorney about the allegations. >> reporter: david is well known here in long view. he's worked here for nearly 14 years. according to the letter from the town attorney that we got. he directed payroll to give him david's name is no longer in the council chambers in long view. his picture has been removed from the town's website. but no one we talked with today new about his firing or the allegations spelled out in this letter that we showed michael francis who lived here for years. >> it's not a surprise. not a surprise at all. people that get in power it seems to to to their head. and they feel like they can get by with pretty much anything. >> this is video of him during an earlier interview as long view town administrator. lenoir has lived in up to for decades and says she saw him often. >> he seemed nice and trust worthy. >> according to the letter, he received four months of his 86,000-dollar salary in advance. he's accused of forging a town alderman signature to get paid 400 hours of sick time last summer. he's not returned our calls. jessica page and her family believe the town should do more than just fire him. >> it's scary to think about people cheating us somehow and forging things. you don't know what to trust and believe any more. >> it's important to note that david has not been charged with anything. we could find no police investigation under way. when i asked town leaders about this today, they told me they could not discuss the matter because it's a personnel matter. they did tell me they would bring it up during the next council meeting in march. reporting live from long view, dave faherty, channel 9 eyewitness news. local leaders are pushing for answers on a potential eye cancer cluster in huntersville. >> what's the hold up here? >> cms. >> channel 9 investigates why cms shut the doors to environmental testing at hope well high school. a battle between the government and apple. >> who experts say would be the real threat if software was built to access iphones. next. second day in a row, we saw sunshine, temperatures warm been able to 've the iphone belonging to one of the san bernardino terrorists has sparked the debate between national security and privacy. >> yes apple is fighting a request to unlock it. saying it could also allow the government into everyone's iphone. all new at 5:00, one security expert explained to eyewitness news reporter ken lemon why apple should give up the fight. >> the argument is over getting passed the screen. enter the right code, and you're in. and the phone is wiped clean. creating software to get past this screen could give the federal government access to all apple products. shauna says her iphone maybe her most cherished possession. she worries about how far federal agents will go if they can access it. it's a common fear among iphone users we talk to. >> have ways of saying what's going on in my private life which is none of their business. >> reporter: agents want valuable information from the phone of terrorist syed farook. he and his wife shot and killed 14 people in san bernardino before they were killed. agents have his phone. they want to know who he talked to, any plans shared. but they can't unlock it. in a message, apple stated if they're forced to create a method to get passed the screen then federal agents might be every message and view every camera. not true says this national security expert who spoke to me by phone. he said the real threat could come from within apple's offices in china where hackers are all ready active. >> i have a threat inside apple right now. >> he said everyone would be safer if apple stops fighting the court order that may give agents the information they need to look into information between terrorists and attacker all ready in the u.s. in the western bureau, ken lemon, channel 9 eyewitness news. legal experts say that this is a landmark case right now. microsoft and google are also weighing in. saying that they are siding with apple. they believe there should be no government back doors into your phone. there's a warning tonight telling you to ignore certain phone calls about health care. if the caller says that he or she is tied to the affordable health care act or the health insurance marketplace, hang up. that person is probably fishing trying to get your personal even action 9 received two of these phone calls recently. people who legitimately work in the areas, won't cold call you to try to get your business. breaking news tonight, a north carolina couple filed a lawsuit against takata and honda for serious injuries in a car crash. the lawsuit syces the couple from cherokee county got into a low speed crash in andrews north carolina in 2013 and their 2003 hon do odyssey. the couple said the air bag aggressively exploded violently striking the wife. 13 ribs. a possible seat belt failure has forced toyota to recall almost 3 million rav 4 suvs. the recall includes more than a million in the united states. it covers rav 4 models from 05 to 14. and electric vehicles from 12 to 14. row window seats could come in contact with a metal seat cushion frame. if that happens, the belts would be cut. and they would not restrain passengers in a crash. right now take a look at the sunset. this is the view from our charlotte cam. gorgeous out there now. our chief meteorologist steve udelson is here to tell us what temps to expect through the evening. >> we will cool down after reaching the mid 50s this afternoon. we're at 53 uptown. down in 52 university city. 53 is where we check in with mint hill. york along highway 321, 56. notably cooler in the mountains. better than we had been this week. at least we're above 40 degrees. which is a far cry from where we were a couple days ago. sun down a little under an hour from now. temperatures steadily fall through the 40s. if you're outside this evening, you want to deal with february chill, this is worth the wait. we're talking about the a fly over nearly right overhead. northwest sky, about a quarter of 8:00 this evening. it looks like a moving star. those who have seen it really enjoy it. people hear on facebook and twitter, people wondering when it's going to happen. as far as temperatures overnight to be the pretty much where we should be. 30 in albemarle and salisbury. same for statesville, 20s as you hit the high country, tomorrow's future cast, plenty of sunshine, a few passing clouds over the mountains and foothills. and it should be beautiful. temperatures around 40 at 9:00 a.m. we'll rise to near 50 by lunch time on our way to highs in the low to mid 50s. average for this time of the year. our neighborhood forecast in gastonia, ready for a fabulous friday. upper 40s by lunch time. lower 50s tomorrow afternoon. out toward rock hill. talk about temperatures up if you're heading out for lunch it looks good. mid to upper 50s. our trend continues that warm up. we started talking about this yesterday. well into the 60s into early next week. but there's a trade off as there often is this time of year. you get sunshine and you'll start to bring in the clouds. you get the warmth. then the clouds. maybe a sprinkle on sunday. but most neighborhoods stay dry. but the warmth takes center stage. my five-day forecast, the real rain waits until next week. i'll use future cast to show you how much the initial outlook is on what we'll see as far as rainfall goes. >> this weekend looks good. >> maybe not as sunny as you would like but plenty of warmth. donated by the carolina panthers, west charlotte high celebrates a 200,000-dollar gift. >> they deserve it. >> how one football field could benefit an entire community. plus calls filled with fear charlotte's north lake mall on christmas eve. >> my,daughters who are 13 and 18 called me from north lake mall and they said there's a shooting there. >> the comfort and help the dispatchers gave to shoppers and families who were fearing the worst. paying to drive. yo (donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk. we just got new video of breaking news out of hawaii. you have to watch this. it's video of the helicopters hard landing. watch. into the water near pearl harbor. it just drops from the sky. and then it spins into the ocean. the coast guard says five people were on board that civilian helicopter. authorities say that one of them is in critical condition. all of this happened near the u.s.s arizona memorial in pearl harbor which is a popular site for tourists. well there's a new idea tonight for how to pay to fix crumbling bridges and highways. it actually means paying less at the gas pump but more on the road. there's a new study from the congressional budget office that says the federal government would be better off it would replace the nation's federal gas tax about 18 cents a gallon. it could mean better bridges and fewer potholes. the study identifies possible problems such as charging drivers to use roads could raise privacy concerns and hurt lower income families. fixing bad roads and bridges has become an ongoing debate in south carolina. yesterday lawmakers spent the day debating how to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the crumbling infrastructure. one proposal would boost the gas tax by 12 cents a gallon and raise other fees while cutting the income tax. but no action was taken because one state senator filibustered the roads bill. a new report says 10% of the nation's bridges have structural problems and they may be unsafe to drive on. a builders association report found nationwide, more than 204 million people drive daily over the 58,000 bridges that need repairs. 2,000 bridges, about 12% need to be fixed. in south carolina, about 11%, or 1,000 bridges are deficient. we have all new stories ahead at 5:30, next requests for environmental testing denied at this local school that could be tied to a mysterious eye cancer cluster. >> why won't you let somebody in? >> channel 9 investigates why school leaders refuse to allow checks that could provide some answers for an entire community. for the first time, we're hearing the terrified 911 calls from shoppers, employees, and parents as gunshots rang out inside north lake mall. >> i'm talking to one of the with the officer involved th the ofofcer invol my daughters who are 13 and 18 just called me from north lake mall and they said there's a shooting there. >> there's about ten of us stuck in the back here there's shots going off. >> we have one shot. >> scary. for the very first time we're hearing terrifying 911 calls rang out at north lake mall on christmas eve. >> they came in one after one from shoppers from mall employees and frightened family members praying their love ones were safe. eyewitness news anchor brittney johnson takes us through the calls and talked to one shopper who was inside the mall that day. >> reporter: these calls give us a different perspective. you can hear the shoppers trying to stay safe as chaos unfolded during the deadly shooting inside the mall. >> i got a text telling me how much she loved me, that she's heard shots. >> as police surrounded north lake mall, dispatchers tried to comfort families that went from shopping to being scared for their lives. >> you guys are all locked safely in the back room. no one is injured. >> eyewitness news obtained 911 calls that reveal how frantic parents tried to get help for their kids when they learned there was a shooting in the mall. >> is there more than one