Car fire extinguished, VB School Board's cell phone policy, Mangione lawyers up: Sunrise Brief

TOP STORIES: Car fire extinguished, VB School Board's cell phone policy, Mangione lawyers up

1. A car erupted into flames in the Downtown Tunnel on I-264 in Portsmouth Tuesday night, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. A video captures the moment flames shot up from the vehicle, backing up traffic in both directions.

   Virginia State Police say they were dispatched at 4:50 p.m. to respond to the car fire, which was heading eastbound inside the tunnel. Fire crews arrived soon afterward to extinguish the flames.

   Police say there were no external injuries reported, but we're still working to learn if anyone experienced respiratory or other internal injuries.

   The car was ultimately towed away, allowing traffic to flow once again.

   Car fire shuts down lanes of Downtown Tunnel in Portsmouth

2. The Virginia Beach School Board voted to revise their cell phone-free policy Tuesday night. A new cell phone policy was proposed to better adhere to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's Executive Order 33.

   This new policy was passed unanimously by the board, requiring Virginia Beach schools to adopt no cell phones "from bell to bell," with one exception.

   The board voted to allow high schoolers to have their phones during lunch periods. At all other times of the day, though, they must be stored in backpacks or lockers.

   Middle school students have to have phones away from the first bell to the last bell, including lunch.

   Elementary students will not have phones on school grounds at all.

   Virginia Beach to allow high schoolers to use cell phones during lunch

3. The legal fallout surrounding the killing of a UnitedHealthcare CEO begins following the arrest of a suspect on Monday. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested in a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after someone tipped local authorities about his presence.

   According to investigators, when Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's earlier this week, Altoona Police Officers found a 3D-printed gun and a silencer similar to the one used in the shooting.

   In Pennsylvania, Mangione was charged with forgery, possession of a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement authorities.

   Only a few hours later, online court records in Manhattan showed that Mangione was formally charged with Brian Thompson's murder, alongside three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a forged instrument.

   The lawyers for 26-year-old Luigi Mangione say he plans to plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charges.

   We've learned Mangione is expected to fight extradition to New York.

   Authorities say that process could take up to 30 days.

This morning's weather: Soggy, windy start to the day

Forecaster Derrah Getter says we’re off to a soggy and windy start today. Scattered showers will briefly diminish through the late morning hours. Another round of showers and storms reignite as we head into the afternoon.

There is a level 2 severe weather threat with the highest concern being damaging wind gusts and isolated tornadoes mainly for northeast North Carolina. The timing of the strongest storms will be from around noon to 6 pm.

By 10 most of the stormy weather should be out of here. There will be a big temperature drop between Wednesday and Thursday. Highs Wednesday will be near 70 degrees while highs Thursday fall back into the 40s.

For the latest weather updates, watch Myles live on News 3 This Morning here.

This morning's traffic:

So far this morning, there haven’t been any major traffic incidents in our area.

Interactive Traffic Map

For the latest traffic updates, watch Conor live on News 3 This Morning here.

We Follow Through: York County mom who lost her son in a crash is turning her grief into advocacy

• A York County mom of a teen killed in a crash is channeling her grief into advocacy through a website aimed at helping drivers. News 3 has spoken with Tammy Guido McGee before.

  Guido McGee's son, Connor, was killed in a crash on Yorktown Road on homecoming night in 2019. All three people in the car were killed, including the driver, who police say was both unlicensed and under the influence.

  “They had to go one mile down the road to a party, and the driver didn’t make it 500 yards,” Guido McGee told News 3’s Conor Hollingsworth. “He ran off the road with excessive speed, lost control of the car, hit a tree, flipped the car, and he killed all three of them.”

  We followed up with Guido McGee to learn more about how she — like a lot of parents who experience tragedy — is turning her grief into advocacy. She is setting up a website that will allow you to report problem drivers or issues on the road without needing to identify yourself.

  As someone who sees crashes on the traffic cameras almost every day, Conor wanted to learn more about the website and how it works — especially ahead of upcoming holiday travel, when there’s less daylight and people stay out late celebrating.

Tune in tomorrow and watch the full story on News 3 This Morning here.

WTKR News 3, Where You Are: In the app

Follow us on social