Hazmat crews were called to the College of New Jersey Friday afternoon after a student was exposed to a hazardous chemical.

The female student was exposed to benzyl bromide while in the chemistry building located on the college campus at 2000 Pennington Road, according to school officials.

"She was walking around, into the library and the dining hall," said J.J. Heindel, a 21-year-old senior. "She was sitting with her friends in the dining hall and everyone was tearing up."

School officials say the affected student checked in with the school's health services after feeling a tingling sensation on her arm and smelling an unusual odor.

Authorities called hazmat crews to investigate the possiblity of contamination in the buildings she entered, forcing students to stay put in the library, dining hall and chemistry building during a quarantine.

No contamination was detected in any of the three buildings, which were all reopened by 2 p.m., according to school officials.

"It was pretty calm," said Heindel, who had to remain inside the cafeteria for about 20 minutes.

Despite the potentially scary situation, Heindel was not the only student unalarmed. Many students were joking about the situation on Twitter.

It's like monster's inc except the hazmat guys are here for a chemical spill instead of a human on the loose @TCNJPROBLEMS

— Joan Hales (@JoanHales) April 11, 2014

If this chemical spill gives us x-men powers can I be colossus? @TCNJPROBLEMS

— Joe Clayton (@josephclayton13) April 11, 2014

Turn down for benzyl bromide @TCNJPROBLEMS

— Christian Cleary (@chrstianmingl92) April 11, 2014

The affected student, who was in good condition, was transported to the Capital Health Regional Medical Center as a precautionary measure.

An off-duty Philadelphia police officer is hospitalized after she confronted an intruder she discovered breaking into her home Friday.

A 30-year-old man broke through a rear dining room window in the home along the 1000 block of South 54th Street in the city's Kingsessing neighborhood just before 1 p.m., according to reports.

But the resident, an off-duty cop assigned to the traffic division, was home.

She confronted the man, who attacked her, stabbing her once in the right arm, according to officials.

At that point, the officer ran upstairs to get a gun and the suspect fled out the front door, according to reports.

Investigators say they arrested a suspect just a few blocks away, near the intersection of 55th and Warrington streets, after the victim identified him.

The off-duty officer drove herself to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for the laceration. She was treated and released.

A suspect in the shootout that wounded an 11-year-old is on the run Friday -- the same day officers took the man's brother into custody.

Police are searching for 25-year-old Marcelus Temple, who they say opened fire on the 1500 block of North Gratz Street at 3:48 p.m Sunday when 11-year-old Kashie Crawford was playing basketball outside with friends.

Authorities arrested Temple's 16-year-old brother Friday for his alleged involvement in the shooting.

The younger brother got into a fist fight with someone, so he and Temple went to Gratz Street to retaliate, according to police. Witnesses told officers that a man was walking south on Gratz Street, when at least one passenger in a blue Mercury Grand Marquis began firing at him.

The man returned the gunfire before fleeing on foot, according to police. The vehicle fled in an unknown direction.

Authorities describe Temple as 5-foot 8-inches tall and 195 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

He is known to frequent areas near the 1900 block of Susquehanna Avenue and the 1500 blcok of Gratz Street.

Police say Temple is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees the suspect should not approach him, instead contact 911, according to officials. Police ask anyone who has information about the suspect or the shooting to call the tip line at 215-686-8477.

Witnesses say, after the shooting, they saw the boy running down the street and ducking into a rowhome. The victim was transported to Temple Hospital and listed in critical condition.

Once stablized, Crawford was transported to Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children for additional treatment, according to authorities.

At least 15 shell casings from two different guns were found at the scene, according to detectives.

The shootout, one of several violent incidents to occur near Temple's campus recently, spurred a local politician and neighbors to issue a "Call for Action."

Pa. State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas (D - 181st) will lead the concerned residents in an anti-violence rally at 18th and Oxford streets beginning at 3 p.m. Friday.

Crawford is the third child to become a victim of gunfire in the past week. On Saturday, Police say a 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed Jamara Stevens, his 11-year-old sister, in their Mantua home while their mother was just down the hall in the bathroom.

A 17-year-old was shot in the face on March 30. Antonio Flores was found with a gun shot wound to the head in a Spring Garden apartment. His friend Sergio Santiago, 22, was arrested later in the week.

A barricade situation in the West Oak Lane section of the city is over, according to investigators.

Police say a man barricaded himself inside a home on 19th and Ashley Streets around 6 a.m.

After several hours, police told NBC10 that the scene was cleared and no one was injured.

Police have not yet revealed what led to the barricade in the first place or if any arrests were made.

Following Superstorm Sandy, donors gave $312 million to the American Red Cross. How did the aid organization spend that money?

A year and a half after the storm, it's surprisingly difficult to get a detailed answer.

Red Cross officials told ProPublica the organization has spent or committed $291 million on Sandy through the end of February 2014. But the organization has not given a breakdown showing how, where, and when the money was spent.

"The Red Cross is too big and too important to be allowed to be this secretive," said Doug White, a charity expert who has written extensively on nonprofit finances.

White said such a lack of transparency is common among charities. Like other non-profits, the Red Cross is required to disclose only top-line numbers on its fundraising and spending, which it publishes in an annual report and a standard tax filing.

But the Red Cross stands out both for the scale of its operations and the unique role it plays in domestic disasters.

It is the first call for many people moved by images of a tornado, flood, or fire ravaging a community. The organization is also a strange hybrid: a nonprofit charity, it also has a congressional charter. It gets little money from the federal government but it has an official role doing disaster relief in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. President Obama is its honorary chairman.

In contrast to the Red Cross, there is a wealth of information available about Sandy relief money that has flowed from the federal government to states and towns. (That has allowed for attendant media scrutiny.) 

Despite its beloved name, the Red Cross has had a rocky decade and a half.

Allegations of mismanagement of funds and poor performance followed both Sept. 11 and Katrina.

A series of CEOs were forced out -- one after Sept. 11, another after Katrina, and a third following an affair with a subordinate. Congress in 2007 imposed a set of governance reforms, including reducing the size of the organization's 50-member board.

Appointed as CEO in 2008, former AT&T executive Gail McGovern has had a longer run than her predecessors and won praise as a competent manager. But the Red Cross faced familiar criticism after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

The Red Cross weathered more criticism almost immediately after Sandy hit in October 2012. As donations poured in, partly on the strength of appeals from Obama and a star-studded televised benefit concert, residents on Staten Island and the Rockaways complained the Red Cross was missing in action.

When it comes to its Sandy spending, the Red Cross gives a dollar-figure breakdown in only the broadest of categories: Food and Shelter, Individual Casework, Housing and Community Assistance, and Relief Items are the four biggest.

The Red Cross also gives raw numbers of services provided in a different set of categories: emergency vehicles activated; relief items distributed; overnight stays in shelters provided; health and mental health contacts provided; meals and snacks served; and workers and volunteers mobilized.

Because the spending isn't categorized in the same way as the numbers of services provided, one can't calculate, for example, how much it cost for the Red Cross to provide 74,000 overnight shelter stays or what exactly it purchased for the $85 million it spent on individual casework.

Citing its finance tracking system, the Red Cross said it could not match up the categories for us.

"It would be helpful to know where people received assistance and how much, and when," said Ben Smilowitz, the founder of the Disaster Accountability Project, who has tracked the Red Cross since Hurricane Katrina. "You might actually see that some neighborhoods received more than others in equal need."

"Aggregate data does not tell you a whole lot," Smilowitz added. "If the data was open, they would be inviting a lot of scrutiny."

Red Cross spokeswoman Anne Marie Borrego said the group continually updates its website with stories about how it is spending disaster donations.

"The Red Cross issues regular reports about our spending and programs for disasters such as Sandy," she said.

Another obstacle to tracking Red Cross spending lies in the phrase "spent or committed." The Red Cross generally combines the two activities in its totals. The amount that it commits, rather than spends, can be considerable. When the Red Cross "commits" funds, that typically means it has made a decision to grant money to a smaller organization, such as a local soup kitchen. The Red Cross then usually parcels out the money over time. The money hasn't immediately been put to work helping victims.

Critics argued after Sandy the Red Cross wasn't spending donor dollars quickly enough. But the way the organization releases figures makes it impossible to judge how fast money has been getting out the door. The Red Cross declined to give a breakdown over time of money spent and committed versus money spent.

Among other new details in response to ProPublica questions:

• The Red Cross counts as Sandy spending some amount of overhead -- specifically a portion of the annual cost of maintaining "permanent disaster response infrastructure." It wouldn't say how much money.
• While the Red Cross says it spends an average of 91 cents of every dollar on programs and services, a bit less may go to actually help victims. That's because, the Red Cross told us, it keeps 9 percent of total Sandy donations for "general operations support" even on the $78 million it has passed on to other organizations, which in turn have their own overhead and other expenses.

• The Red Cross said it limits a grantee's administrative costs to just 3 percent because the groups it gives money to are already up and running. The 3 percent allowance "is designed to account for the incremental cost" of particular Sandy projects, the Red Cross told us.

• The Red Cross acknowledged that it produces after-action reports following disasters like Sandy to figure out what went well and what didn't. But the organization said they are for "internal use" and declined to provide copies.

If you have experience with or information about the American Red Cross, including its operations after Sandy, email justin@propublica.org. 

The national office of the NAACP has suspended the longtime head of its Philadelphia chapter, J. Whyatt "Jerry" Mondesire, and three board members involved in a months-long public feud involving allegations of financial mismanagement.

The national NAACP said in a statement Friday that there is an "internal administrative process which provides suspended members with a right to appeal," and adding it would not comment further.

The suspended board members -- Donald Birts, the Rev. Elisha Morris and Sid Booker -- have accused Mondesire of mishandling the group's finances. Mondesire has vehemently denied the allegations.

Mondesire did not respond to a call seeking comment. Gerard Egan, an attorney for the three board members, said his clients would contest their suspensions.

News of the suspensions was first reported by The Philadelphia Tribune.

A 36-year-old Camden County man has been arrested for allegedly calling an elementary school and warning everyone would die if the school wasn't evacuated.

Todd Hughes, of Berlin, N.J., called the main office of Winslow Township Elementary School #2 in Sicklerville, N.J. at 12:20 p.m. on Friday, April 4 and made the threat, Winslow Township Police tell NBC10.com.

Winslow Township Police detectives say the phone call lasted about 14 seconds and during the call Hughes told a faculty member that if the staff didn't get the kids out right away, they would die.

The school, which is made up of nearly 300 children in grades Pre-K through 3rd, was immediately evacuated and dozens of officers, including K9 units descended on the school to search for any suspicious devices, officials said. Nothing was found.

Police say they also searched the nearby Winslow Township Elementary School #5 as a precaution, but again found nothing.

"The kids were scared. Some of the kids were crying and, you know, it's a scary event for them," said Officer Chris Dubler.

Detectives say they traced the phone call to Hughes' home and then arrested him on Friday night at his job -- a pizza shop in Merchantville, N.J.

He's been charged with Making Terroristic Threats and Causing a False Public Alarm.

Officials have not elaborated on a possible motive for the empty threat, but say he's no stranger to law enforcement.

Hughes is being held on $50,000 bail. An attorney was not listed for the man.

Philadelphia Police have identified the man they say raped, beat and robbed a tourist after the two men met on the popular gay dating and hookup app Grindr.

Detectives are asking for the public's help in finding 26-year-old Douglas Spady, a.k.a. Douglas Casey, of the 5200 block of Cottage Street, in relation to the Wednesday afternoon attack.

Spady allegedly pulled a gun on a 34-year-old Canadian man, in his hotel room at the Hilton Home 2 Suites at 12th and Arch Streets, and raped him.

The victim, who was visiting Philadelphia to take part in an education conference, told NBC10.com that he invited the suspect over to his room after they met on Grindr.

“The whole thing was just a giant blur. I was scared and I kept thinking if i just do what he says, then he'll just go away," the man said.

Following the assault, the victim said he was forced to buy four $500 Visa gift cards. He was then walked to five nearby ATMs and told to withdraw $200 from each cash machine. In all the suspect stole $3,000.

"I was afraid to say anything. I was afraid of what was going to happen," the victim said.

The suspect and victim walked about 15 blocks – from 12th and Arch Streets to 20th and Walnut Streets – during the ordeal, the man said. Then inside a bar along the 2000 block of Walnut Street, the man was able to break free, run away and call police.

Surveillance cameras inside the bar captured the struggle between the men.

Spady stands 5 foot 11-inches tall with wavy hair and star tattoos on the back of his right hand, police say. He was wearing a dark colored jacket, dark blue jeans and tan boots.

Anyone with information to call the tipline at 215.686.TIPS.

The NBC10 Great Shredder Event returned on Saturday for its 10th year. The event took place today at 9 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Center, 3601 South Broad Street.

This year, Allstate teamed up with NBC10 to help the public protect itself by offering a free shredding service to permanently destroy personal documents.

Your favorite NBC10 anchors and reporters were on-site to greet attendees and help them with their items.

During the event, the Allstate Reality Rides tent held raffles every half hour, giving away several prizes including Phillies tickets, Flyers merchandise and more.

A Bucks County mom says her teenage son was knocked unconscious during a random and severe beating at the hands of a group of men. Now, she's concerned the attackers could strike again and hurt another child.

"He has a whole bunch of facial injuries," said Tina Grady as she described the beating her 16-year-old son received.

The boy, Jarrett Grady, was walking home from a car show near his high school in Falls Township, Pa. around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday when he was attacked from behind, she said.

He had his hood up and was listening to music when six or eight guys started beating him along a poorly-lit section of North Park Drive, according to the mother.

"There was two cars, they pulled over, shut their lights out. And then a few minutes later, he was being beat about the head, the face, being kicked," Tina Grady said.

Jarrett was knocked unconscious and suffered a number of injuries including black eyes, a broken nose and severe bruising on his side. The attack happened so fast, the teen didn’t get a good look at the group, Tina Grady said.

"We're lucky that he's alive. We're lucky that somebody didn't kill him," the mother said.

Tina Grady says she’s worried the group will carry out a similar attack on another teen and hopes police will nab those responsible soon.

“I don't only fear for the safety of my children but I fear for the safety of other children. Because if it happens to my son, it can happen to anyone.”

Falls Township Police have surveillance video of a group of teens at a convenience store from earlier in the evening, but it’s still unclear if they were involved.

Didn't have a chance to catch up on local news yesterday?

Parking Garage Collapses, Hurts 2
Two workers were taken to the hospital after two sections of a parking garage under construction collapsed at New Jersey's William Paterson University.

Tourist Raped, Beaten & Robbed After Meeting Man on Gay Dating App
A Canadian man, taking part in an education conference in Philadelphia, was sexually assaulted, beaten and robbed after meeting another man on the popular gay dating and hookup app Grindr.

Sentencing Day for Doc Convicted of Waterboarding Girl
A former Delaware pediatrician convicted of waterboarding the daughter of his longtime companion by holding her head under a faucet is facing sentencing on assault and endangerment charges.

Philadelphia Hybrid Photos
Artist Eric Nagy has turned his love of history and design into a project that merges images from the past and present. Pictured is East River Drive Walk at Hunting Park Ave from 1900 merged with a scene from today.

NJ Woman Hit by 2 Taxis Dies: Police
A 22-year-old Boston College student from New Jersey was struck by two taxis and killed as she and her stepsister tried to cross an Upper East Side street late Thursday, authorities and her family say.

All roads near the scene of a massive fire that burned through a clothing store in Old City, Philadelphia have reopened.

The building at 3rd and Market Streets that houses the Suit Corner caught fire Wednesday shortly after 9 a.m.  

Firefighters had the fire under control at 10:37 a.m. but it was not fully out until late Wednesday night.

• Latest blaze details and what fueled the fire

Due to hotspots, Market Street remained closed from 2nd to 4th streets through Friday. Those roads have since reopened.

• Get the latest traffic from NBC10.com

State police say four people were killed and a child was critically injured after three separate accidents that took place Friday night into early Saturday morning in Delaware.

The first fatal crash occurred in Frederica, Delaware around 10:40 p.m. on Friday. Frederica is located in Kent County about 60 miles south of Wilmington. Police say 42-year-old Tricia Martin of Camden, Del., was driving a 2009 Acura MDX westbound on Barratts Chapel Road.

Investigators say her Acura crossed over the eastbound lanes and off the south side of the roadway where it drove along a ditch line and collided with a telephone box and fence. The vehicle then struck an embankment, causing it to overturn on its side.

While Martin was still inside the vehicle, investigators say her 10-year-old daughter, Taryn Martin, exited the car and tried to ask for help from a passing vehicle that was stopped at the roadway near the Acura.

While she was talking, investigators say a 2005 GMC Yukon, driven by 49-year-old Richard Triola of Magnolia, Del., was traveling eastbound on Barratts Chapel Road when it struck the Acura.

During the crash, Tricia Martin was ejected from her vehicle and thrown onto the roadway while Taryn Martin was struck by one of the vehicles and thrown onto the grass.

Tricia Martin was flown to the Christiana Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead. Taryn Martin was transported to Kent General Hospital and then transferred to A.I. DuPont Hospital where she is currently in critical condition.

Triola was taken to Kent General Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The second accident occurred around 12:20 a.m. in Wilmington, Del.

Police say 31-year-old Rhashem Revelle of Wilmington was driving a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee eastbound on Airport Road at a high speed. As he entered into a right curve, investigators say Revelle lost control of his vehicle and crossed into the center median before re-entering the eastbound lanes.

The Jeep then exited the south side of the road and struck a raised curb before crashing into a metal traffic pole. The impact caused the vehicle to roll onto the driver’s side and slide until the top portion of the vehicle struck a tree.

Revelle and one of his passengers, 27-year-old Tynisha Scott of Bear, Del., were both pronounced dead at the scene.

The third passenger, 26-year-old Andre Revelle of Wilmington, also suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The final accident occurred around 2:15 a.m. in Gumboro, Delaware, which is about 100 miles south of Wilmington in Sussex County.

Police say 46-year-old Donald Davis of Millsboro was riding a scooter southbound on Cooper Road. While turning at a sharp left curve, investigators say he crossed into the northbound lanes, lost control and was ejected from the scooter, crashing into a ditch.

Davis, who police say was not wearing a helmet, struck his head on the pavement and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police continue to investigate all three accidents.

From concerts, to sports to fundraisers, to karaoke, several exciting events are taking place in our area today.

NBC10 Great Shredder Event
9 a.m. to Noon

Auditions for “Brothers of the Knight”
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Mayfair Egg Hunt
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Hayride to Bunnyland
11 am – 4 pm

Manayunk StrEAT Food Festival
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Free Skating at the Wells Fargo Center
12 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Point Breeze 5K Run
8 a.m. to Noon

Walk Against Hunger
8 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Hershey Park Opens

Six Flags Opens


Get the full entertainment guide, including times, locations and tickets, here.

ALSO ON NBC10.COM

• THE SCENE: DINING, SHOPPING AND NIGHTLIFE
  
• OPEN HOUSE: YOUR REAL ESTATE, RENOVATION AND DESIGN DESTINATION
  
• 1ST LOOK: THE COUNTRY'S HOTTEST DESTINATIONS

The Philadelphia Gun Club has filed a lawsuit against an animal-rights organization over alleged harassment, stalking and intimidation.

The nonprofit Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, aka SHARK, has for many years protested the club's live pigeon shoots in Bensalem, Bucks County. At semi-annual events, the club members vie to shoot birds that are released into the air.

Sean Corr, the gun club's attorney, says SHARK has gone far beyond traditional protest activities. He says the animal-rights activists have posted phony reviews about the sportsmen's private companies on sites such as Yelp, and surrounded the club with loudspeakers blaring profane messages.

One of the messages, says Corr, translated into "go fornicate yourself, you rotten ... and then a 'c' word, which is a vulgar reference to the female anatomy."

He says the group blared out that statement "over and over and over again for hours at top volume."

"That is not constitutionally-protected speech," said Corr.

Steve Hindi, SHARK's president, rejects the notion that members have harassed anyone. He says they've simply exercised their right to free speech.

"This is legal, nonviolent, peaceful activity," Hindi said. "If they don't like the First Amendment, I guess they can go and try and get it knocked out."

For many years, animal-rights activists have unsuccessfully lobbied Pennsylvania's General Assembly to ban pigeon shoots.

This story is reported through a newsgathering partnership between NBC10.com and NewsWorks.org.
 

A Delaware County man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a teen boy he was tutoring.

Investigators with the Special Victims Unit say an 18-year-old man accused 27-year-old Alexander Brengle of Wayne, Pa. of sexually assaulting him several times in 2009.

The alleged victim told police he was 14 years old at the time and was being tutored by Brengle.

The teen claimed Brengle visited him at his parents’ home in Rittenhouse Square and tutored him in Latin. Over a two-month span, Brengle allegedly sexually assaulted the boy and also gave him alcohol as well as the drug Klonopin.

Brengle was arrested on Thursday after the alleged victim contacted police. He is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, sexual assault, solicitation of minors to traffic drugs, corruption of minors and other related offenses.

Brengle was released on Friday after posting 10 percent of $50,000 bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 1.

Police are also investigating whether there are other victims out there.
 

Sarah Shaffer's son Mason was diagnosed with a blood disorder when he was just 7 months old.

Blood from an umbilical cord saved Mason, who now is 5 years old.

"We didn't have a match within our family. One person donated one cord and that's what saved his life," said Shaffer.

Because storing cord blood for individual use is very expensive, much of it is disposed of instead of saved. Stem cells in cord blood can be made widely available to patients in need of life-saving transplants. And that's why Mason's parents are launching a foundation in partnership with Temple University Hospital to start Philadelphia's first public cord blood donation program.

"When we got to the other side, and it was such a fortunate outcome, we made a commitment to make that opportunity possible for as much people as possible," Shaffer said.

"After a baby's birth, and after the cord is clamped and cut, the blood remaining in a portion of the umbilical cord and the placenta is collected with no risk to baby or mother," explained Dr. Dimitrios Mastrogiannis, Temple University Hospital's director of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine. "This cord blood is a rich source of stem cells which can be used to treat leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia, and about 70 other cancers and diseases."

But there is an acute national shortage of cord-blood matches for non-white patients, Mastrogiannis said.

"So we hope that these mothers will donate the blood, their cord blood, so we'll increase the pool of under-represented minorities in the program," he said.

About 65 percent of babies delivered at Temple University Hospital are African-American and 30 percent are Hispanic.

This story is reported through a newsgathering partnership between NBC10.com and NewsWorks.org.