When domestic abuse stories hit the front page, survivors and victims of domestic violence are forced to face their nightmares. The impact of Bradley Stone’s killing spree, and stories similar to it, can make people wonder whether it’s worth it to step forward and report their abusers.

"I think it reaffirms every nightmare they have,” said Maria Macaluso, who works with the Women’s Center of Montgomery County. "It’s their worst reality come to life. It has a dampening effect on what they are willing to do. After these things we have to talk to people in a vulnerable place."

Macaluso said case workers started planning Monday as soon as they heard Stone shot his ex-wife and killed five of her family members in a pre-dawn rampage through Montgomery County. Domestic abuse victims who use the center's services began questioning whether working to escape their dangerous situation was worth the potential for their abuser to lose control.

"As soon as the story was breaking [we had] people who have been working with us start calling, concerned about their safety in their situation,” said Macaluso. “It was clear very early on that it was domestic violence."

Most domestic violence victims do not report their abusers. Only about a quarter of physical assaults and half of stalking cases get reported to police, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Faced with the fear of even more danger by aggressors and abusers, when domestic abuse stories become headlines, victims tend to become hesitant about the idea police can protect them.

"We took extra precautions for families within our shelter; we had everyone stay in,” said Ifeoma Aduba of A Women’s Place in Doylestown. "The safest thing to do in the moment was to stay off the streets away from any threats and keep out of the way of any first responders doing their job.”

The National Domestic Violence Hotline also sees an increase in calls during the winter season, but claims the role of the news in domestic abuse cases can be positive.

"Having the conversation about domestic violence in the media allows victims to know where to get help," said Cameka Crawford of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. "It also helps family members or friends of people experiencing domestic violence know where to get help.”

While there is a theory that reports increase during the holiday season, Macaluso reports that the Women’s Center of Montgomery County sees a drop in reports.

"There are different triggers for different people. The abuser loses their job, they’re taking jobs, the woman gets pregnant — those kind of things set people off more than holiday things."

Aduba reports a similar issue at A Women’s Place. "Some years we see a drop in people looking for services — working to ‘keep the peace’ for the sake of their kids and not have that disruption in their family life,” she explained.

"The thing that we try to do with people we are working with is try to validate the fear they are feeling,” said Aduba. "It’s completely understandable that you would watch what occurred [Tuesday] and be unnerved by it.”

If you are in an abusive relationship, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1-800-787-3224.

A New Jersey police chief has been charged with theft after prosecutors say he used a city mechanic to repair personal vehicles on the department’s time.

Perth Amboy Police Chief Benjamin Ruiz, 53, allegedly had the mechanic make repairs to two of his personal vehicles and to an acquaintance’s personal vehicle, according to the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office.

The alleged repairs happened while the mechanic was supposed to be fixing police cars for the city.

Ruiz, who has been with the police department since 1988, was suspended without pay. He was released on his own recognizance after surrendering to officials. NBC 4 New York has reached out to Ruiz's attorney, who did not immediately respond for comment.

The end of New Jersey's red light camera program couldn't come soon enough for Alex Valdez. In fact, it didn't.

"This is B.S.," Valdez muttered Tuesday as he sat in his truck at a gas station on Routes 1 & 9, staring at a printout of a $140 ticket for running a red light on the heavily congested artery south of Newark Liberty Airport.

By midnight, cameras that have recorded hundreds of thousands of red light violations in two dozen towns were scheduled to go dark as the much-scrutinized pilot program comes to an end after five years filled with controversy.

"It's over? Thank god," said Valdez, 27, of Perth Amboy, no doubt echoing the sentiments of untold numbers of motorists who have run afoul of the eye in the sky. "Some of the lights have warnings, some don't. It seems like most don't. It's unfair."

The Legislature would need to restart the program, but the prospects aren't considered good after Gov. Chris Christie said over the summer that he wouldn't be inclined to support its renewal. Christie's office declined to comment last month and referred to his earlier statement.

The program's difficulties have been well documented. A federal lawsuit resulted in refunds to hundreds of thousands of violators, and a computer glitch this year voided more than 15,000 tickets. In 2012, the state had to temporarily suspend dozens of the cameras over concerns that yellow lights weren't properly timed to give drivers time to brake safely.

What isn't in dispute is that the cameras have enriched the coffers of the 25 towns that signed up for the pilot program through the state Department of Transportation (50 more towns applied but weren't included). For example, one intersection on Routes 1 & 9 in Linden produced more than 17,000 citations in a 12-month period, ranging from $85 to $140 each. An intersection on Route 70 in Cherry Hill produced more than 20,000.

Not every town embraced the cash windfall. Brick Township pulled the plug on its cameras earlier this year, claiming a negligible effect on safety, and Pohatcong Township said it would drop out of the program if it extended past this month.

"From my perspective, for your budget it's great to have the cameras, but sometimes you have to look at what's right and what's wrong," Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III said.

Lawmakers who have opposed the cameras, in particular Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon and state Sen. Michael Doherty, both Republicans, posted statements online applauding the end of the program. O'Scanlon planned to celebrate between 10 p.m. and midnight at a restaurant in South Plainfield that sits near an intersection monitored by the cameras.

Linden Councilman Peter Brown and other officials say the cameras have made roads safer and changed driver behavior for the better. Foes claim the cameras don't target the red-light runners who cause the most serious accidents but instead punish people mostly for turning right on red without coming to a complete stop. They also point to increases in rear-end collisions at some intersections where cameras are present.

A spokesman for American Traffic Solutions, which operates the cameras in 17 New Jersey towns, said the statistics show the program has worked.

"While the number of vehicles on the road has increased, the number of crashes had decreased, as has the number of violations," spokesman Charles Territo said. "That's exactly what the program was designed to accomplish."

Questions remain as to what exactly drove Bradley Stone, a 35-year-old Iraq War veteran, to commit a deadly shooting spree on Monday. Stone is accused of killing his ex-wife, five of her family members, severely injuring another family member, and later taking his own life.

Stone's service in a short tour in Ramadi, Iraq as an artillery meteorological man in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve prompted the question: were the veteran's actions brought on by an undiagnosed or untreated case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

PTSD is an anxiety disorder whose onset typically follows a traumatic experience involving a threat of serious injury or death. The disorder is sometimes diagnosed among veterans who return from combat exhibiting symptoms such as nightmares, chronic anxiety and fear, emotional outbursts and diminished interest in life.

According to clinical social worker Janet Castellini, the symptoms of PTSD are not always immediately recognizable.

"There is such a thing as delayed onset. So their symptoms may not show up for a while," she said.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said to her department's knowledge, Stone had not been diagnosed with PTSD. But fellow Marines said Stone told them he suffered from the disorder after returning from a two month tour in Iraq in 2008.

Dave Kamioner, a veteran and representative for The Veterans Group, a Philadelphia-based non-profit group home that provides health and wellness services for veterans, said life in military service itself is so different from civilian life, the dissonance could bring on PTSD symptoms in veterans.

"Even without combat, the military culture is very different from day-to-day civilian life," he said. "In the military, most decisions are made for you; you're told what to wear, what to eat, every action you do. You fear for your life every day. It's so different from the civilian world, and that cultural dissonance can really take a toll."

Joe Eastman, a 25-year military veteran who did not know the shooting suspect, said Stone may have been in denial.

"Many of the younger guys coming back, they don’t think they have a problem, and they think they can get through it all by themselves," he said.

Eastman, who works as a community liaison for The Veterans Group, said his organization strongly encourages veterans to seek help if they have even the slightest symptoms of PTSD.

"We try to get them to seek help if they present symptoms," Eastman said. "We’ll even go with them so they won’t be alone. But until they're medically diagnosed, you just don’t know. This might have been a person who had these symptoms, didn’t recognize it, and just snapped."

Dr. Elna Yadin of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the Perelman School of Medicine said there are proactive steps that families can take when they recognize PTSD symptoms in a family member, whether they have been diagnosed with the disorder or not.

"If the person has not been diagnosed, we ask families to ask the person if they would like to read some information to learn more about the disorder. That is a good starting place," she said.

"If someone has been diagnosed, then the family member can help by offering ways to support the person while they go through treatment. It requires a lot of work and allocated time, and we know that some of our veterans can't take time off of work, or they don’t have childcare. So, a family member could be helpful in that way by saying, 'I will do this for you so you can take time to heal,'" the doctor said.

Kamioner says for veterans who do suffer from PTSD, Stone's downward spiral is a wake-up call to seek help.

"When we see one of ours like this, a brother in arms, is a tragedy because we know not many years before this he was probably serving honorably and now he is involved in this tragic incident," he said. "Somewhere in between there was a failure -- probably on his part to seek help, and maybe on our nation's part the failure to identify him and prevent this."

Yadin agreed that seeing Stone's experience may encourage more veterans to seek treatment.

"Most of the veterans that we see, they seek treatment because they are afraid of something like that happening to them and they do not want to get to that point. We’re lucky to see many people who come for help and they often say that the reason they came is because they thought, 'That could have easily been me, and I don’t want that to happen to me or my family,'" she said.

"If something good has to come out of something bad, perhaps that realization is one of them," she said.

A Pakistani community in New Jersey is reeling in devastation following the murders Tuesday of more than 130 schoolchildren in Peshawar. 

"We are in tears, we are really upset," said Hasim Raza. "This is not the teaching of Islam."

Congregants at a Boonton mosque, almost all of them Pakistani American, have been in touch with family back home. 

Pakistani American Tahir Awan said, "They are doing this for what? For heaven? They are not going to heaven, they are going to hell. Islam is the message of peace. Not terrorists." 

The Taliban attack on the military-run school Tuesday that left more than 140 people dead, including children and staff members, was motivated by the militant group's war with Pakistan's army, NBC News reported.

About 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside Army Public School at the time of the attack.

"The gunmen entered class by class and shot some kids one by one," a student who was in the school at the time told local media. 

Pakistani military sources said six Taliban militants were killed at the scene, according to NBC News. The attackers were wearing police uniforms and suicide vests, a military source told NBC News. 

Boonton business owners like Muhammed Khalid checked the news all day, and each time the death toll and the despair got worse. 

"It was really, really sad," he said. "Horrific. They killed so many kids." 

New Jersey resident Zafar Khurshid said he'd been upset all day since hearing about the massacre.

"I hugged my kids so many times today when they came back from school," he said. 

Imam Muhammed Attaullah, the spiritual leader for hundreds of Muslims in Boonton, said in Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, that he will tell his followers to remember the true teachings of Islam: kindness and justice. 

More than 100 people are expected at the mosque Tuesday night and on Friday to offer a special prayer for the children and all the victims of the terror attack in Peshawar. 

In New York City, a vigil was held Tuesday night at Washington Square Park. 

"I think the futility, weakness and sadness we felt when we saw this happening back home was deafening," said Zarnaab Adil, an attendee. 

Another vigil is set for 8 p.m. Wednesday in Brooklyn's Midwood neighborhood. Pakistan's consul general and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams are both expected to attend the event.

A woman is dead and another is hospitalized with critical injuries after being found inside a burning building in Paterson, New Jersey Tuesday evening, authorities say.

Paterson firefighters were called to 99 Pearl St. at about 7 p.m., where a fire was burning on the second floor of an abandoned three-story building, officials said. 

They found two women trapped inside a fully engulfed room on the second floor, the fire department said. One of the victims was rescued and taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. 

Firefighters tried to rescue the second woman but were unable to get to her because of the intense flames. That woman was pronounced dead at the scene after the fire got under control. 

Officials believe the victims were trespassing in the empty house. They're investigating a cause. 

The Delaware Valley’s Voice is not quite America’s voice but he impressed in any case.

South Jersey native and Philadelphia Art Institute alum, Matt McAndrew, came up just short, finishing second in Season 7 of NBC10’s The Voice.

Matt’s delivery of songs from artists ranging from Coldplay to Damien Rice to Judy Garland put him near the top of the singing competition. But it wasn't enough as country singer Craig Wayne Boyd, of Team Blake, won.

Matt however, did beat out fellow Team Adam members — Pittsburgh’s Chris Jamison and wild card R&B singer Damien Lewis — on Tuesday night's show.

Matt’s original performance of “Wasted Love” on Monday night’s episode wasn't enough to put the Team Adam star on top but the future is still bright for the Barnegat Light, New Jersey native who told NBC10 he was extremely appreciative of his new-found fame.

"The Voice" returns to NBC in 2015 for season 8, featuring the return of original series coach Christina Aguilera, who will join Adam, Blake and Pharrell in the big red chairs.

A man, accused of groping three passengers and a flight attendant during a drunken episode that caused a London-bound airplane to return to Philadelphia has received his sentence in a Philadelphia courtroom.

Robert Coppack, 41, pleaded guilty earlier this year, according to court documents obtained by NBC10.com. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to spend five months in community confinement and to pay $53,354 in restitution.

In addition to the confinement, U.S. District Court Judge John R. Padova ordered the defendant to refrain from alcohol and illegal drugs, submit to testing for alcohol and drug testing, and participate in alcohol and mental health treatment while on supervised release.

By pleading guilty, Coppack avoided going to trial. According to court records, federal prosecutors were prepared to call witnesses including flight attendants, passengers and air marshals.

Those witnesses would have told the court that Coppack repeatedly touched an 18-year-old college student, at least two other passengers and a flight attendant on board US Airways Flight 728 that left Philadelphia International Airport on May 13.

He had alcohol in a Gatorade bottle, prosecutor Sarah Grieb said. "The student noticed alcohol on the defendant's breath."

After the flight attendants told Coppack not to touch anyone, he allegedly became aggressive, hurling vulgar language at the attendants as well as the passengers around him.

The flight attendants then repeatedly told Coppack to stand up and walk to the back of the aircraft, according to officials. As Coppack walked to the back, he allegedly touched another female passenger, who happened to be a retired flight attendant, on the arm and breast. The passenger claimed Coppack did this on purpose and that the touch was “sexual in nature.”

“He threatened Federal Air Marshals… repeatedly telling them that he was going to “kick ass” and that they should take his handcuffs off and make it an even fight,” read court documents.

Coppack said he was drunk at the time and has battled drug addiction and mental illness. Coppack said he was undergoing treatment and wears an electronic monitoring device, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Police in Jersey City are investigating after at least two dozen vehicles parked on a Jersey City street were found with slashed tires in the early morning hours Monday. 

Officers were called to Boyd Avenue at about 4:45 a.m., where they found 27 vehicles with slashed tires between Westside and Mallory avenues. Each of the cars had its two tires on the drivers slashed.

Resident Sullia Danda was late for work as a nurse when she walked outside for her overnight shift and saw the slashed tires.

"I had to change all the tires," she said.

She wasn't alone. Roberto Chernec found the same thing as he got ready for work.

"In the morning I was waking up to go to work and I find all the tires are flat, maybe 20 cars on the block," he said. 

Samy Ahmed finally got around to replacing his tires Tuesday, and the $300 bill is tough for him to swallow this holiday season. 

"I say, God, make the police get him," he said of the vandal. 

Investigators say they have surveillance video from a business across the street but haven't released it. 

An unrelated tire-slashing spree in Brooklyn over the weekend netted an arrest after authorities released surveillance video of the suspect. The victims in Jersey City hope the same will happen in this case. 

-- Brynn Gingras contributed to this report. 

Don’t put that Mummers strut to sleep after New Year's Day. The Mummers — known for strutting down Broad Street  will add Main Street to the mix next year.

The Mummers will march down Main Street in Manayunk on Sunday, Feb. 22 in honor of Mardi Gras, a source with the Mummers Association exclusively told NBC10.

Organizers hope to keep the February edition of the parade — dubbed the “Mummers Mardi Gras Parade in Manayunk” — a family-friendly affair by keeping alcohol off Main Street and instead in the bars, said the source. The extra crowds could mean big business for Main Street bars and restaurants.

The new parade route will run from Green Lane to Lock Street — about 1 mile — and will focus heavily on string bands playing the length of Main Street, said the source.

The hope is that by adding a parade in addition to the long-running New Year’s Day parade, the increasingly-expensive Mummers tradition can stay sustainable for years to come.

The Mummers are expected to officially announce the new parade at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The move to add the parade came after the colorful Mummers announced major changes to the traditional New Year's parade — most notable marching down Broad Street instead of up the street toward City Hall.