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More than two decades after a North Carolina teen died in what was considered a hit-and-run, investigators now say a police officer has been identified as a person of interest in the homicide case.

According to reporting by WRAL, investigators have recently focused on a Four Oaks police officer in connection with the 2004 death of 16-year-old Josh Davis. The officer has not been charged, and the extent of any involvement remains unclear.

Davis died on Jan. 6, 2004, after he was walking along Hall Boulevard in Garner, according to investigators.

Authorities say Davis and his cousin had been walking through a residential neighborhood when the cousin briefly returned to a nearby home to retrieve something. When he came back minutes later, Davis was found bleeding on the side of the road and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

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Investigators previously believed Davis had been struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run. He was found with a fatal head injury, though for years it remained unclear whether his death was the result of an accident or something more intentional.

Now, more than 20 years later, Garner police are working alongside the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) as they pursue new leads. The renewed investigation has gained momentum in recent weeks, with officials confirming in mid-April that new information had emerged.

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A search warrant cited by WRAL indicates investigators developed information from a former spouse of the officer who is a person of interest, and noted inconsistencies in statements given in 2004 and again in recent interviews.

The officer has been placed on administrative leave, and authorities searched a home in Benson in late March, seizing electronic devices as part of the investigation, the outlet reported.

In a statement shared with WRAL, NCSBI confirmed it is assisting Garner police and actively investigating new leads but declined to provide additional details.

“The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is assisting the Garner Police Department with information concerning a 2004 cold case,” the agency said. “The SBI is actively investigating new leads in this case. At this time, no additional information is available.”

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As the case resurfaces, Davis’ family is urging anyone with knowledge of what happened to come forward.

“Somebody watching this video knows who killed my brother,” his sister, Alyssa Hatcher, said in a recent public message.

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Hatcher said she was just 13 years old when her brother died and described the lasting toll on her family, which has spent decades without answers.

“For two decades now, my family has had no answers,” she said. “Until now, I feel like we might get a little bit of closure.”

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In a direct appeal, Hatcher addressed the individual who is responsible for her brother’s death, urging them to speak with investigators.

“I’m not coming at you with anger as Josh’s little sister,” she said. “I don’t feel like you set out that night knowing someone would lose their life … I would just love if you could go talk to the detectives.”

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She also claimed that people in the community have long discussed what happened that night without reporting it.

“We know that one person who has gone around and talked about that night over and over again,” Hatcher said. “Possibly bragged about that night.”

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Authorities are echoing that call.

“The Garner Police Department is asking for the public’s help in an unsolved homicide case,” the agency said in a release, urging anyone with information “no matter how small or seemingly insignificant” to contact investigators.

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Anyone with information is urged to contact Garner Police Investigations at 919-772-8810.

Fox News Digital has reached out to NCSBI, the Garner Police Department and the Four Oaks Police Department for additional comment.

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Heart-stopping video from inside a school bus showed nearly a dozen Mississippi middle school students jumping into action after their bus driver lost consciousness Wednesday behind the wheel.

Video from the Hancock County School District captured the driver, Leah Taylor, passing out during an asthma attack as the bus continued rolling forward.

A student in the front of the bus noticed Taylor slouched over and grabbed the wheel, before she briefly regained consciousness.

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Other students ran up to the front of the bus as she collapsed a second time, falling backward.

One boy quickly slammed on the brakes, as a girl administered medication Taylor was holding and others called for help.

Hancock Middle School principal Melissa Saucier told local outlet WLOX she was “not surprised to hear that our kids remained calm and acted swiftly.”

“This emergency situation could have definitely been detrimental and they handled it exactly how they should have,” Saucier said. “We’re extremely proud of them.”

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The students — McKenzy Finch, Jackson Casnave, Darrius Clark, Kayleigh Clark and Destiny Cornelius — were commended at a school pep rally, the outlet reported.

Taylor told WLOX she is feeling better and is thankful the students “saved her life.”

The Hancock County School District did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Affiliate FOX 26 Houston contributed to this report.

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A Costco employee in Ohio was shot and killed after refusing entry to a shopper who attempted to enter the store while carrying a weapon equipped with a drum magazine.

Police in Strongsville, Ohio, responded to reports of gunfire outside the Costco on Royalton Road around 5:45 p.m. on April 25 and found 61-year-old Randolph E. Corrigan with multiple gunshot wounds. Officers began first aid before he was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Witnesses told police the suspect, 22-year-old Christian M. Bryant of Fort Worth, Texas, was seen walking toward the store entrance with “a drum magazine protruding from one of his pockets,” according to authorities.

Corrigan approached Bryant and told him he could not enter the store with the weapon, according to police.

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According to a court document obtained by WJW, Bryant fired one round and then “after a split second pause, fired many more, one after another, with no pause.”

A police report said Corrigan was shot multiple times, including in the chest, abdomen and right arm. He was initially conscious and able to answer questions, but his condition quickly declined.

Several bystanders stopped to help Corrigan at the scene, with one person applying pressure to his wounds until first responders arrived, according to the report.

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Bryant told police after his arrest that “a white man approached me with a knife for no reason” and that “I defended myself.” During a court hearing Monday, he reiterated the claim, saying, “This man approached me with a knife.”

Police said Corrigan had a pocket knife at the time of the encounter.

Bryant is charged with murder and appeared in Berea Municipal Court on Monday, where Judge Sean Kilbane set his bond at $5 million at the request of Strongsville police Detective Zaki Hazou.

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Hazou said Bryant is a truck driver who was passing through Ohio and has a prior criminal record, though he is not currently on probation or parole.

The case is expected to be presented to a Cuyahoga County grand jury, and additional charges may be considered, according to police.

Following Corrigan’s death, a GoFundMe page was launched to help his family cover funeral expenses. As of Tuesday evening, the fundraiser had raised more than $40,000 of its $55,000 goal.

“He was selfless and caring…the sole caregiver for my 86-year-old grandmother,” the page’s description read. “Aside from taking care of her, he LOVED going to work at Costco, always talking about his coworkers. He would joke, laugh, and pass around sweet treats to everyone around him, making every day brighter for those he met.”

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A victim advocate speaking on behalf of Corrigan’s family said they want “justice to be served” and urged anyone who witnessed the shooting to come forward.

Representatives for Costco and the Strongsville Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

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Harrowing body camera video shows the terrifying moments a California police officer was allegedly kidnapped by an armed robbery suspect and forced to shoot him in the leg as the pair veered down a local roadway. 

The incident unfolded around 5:16 a.m. on Feb. 20, when officers with the Antioch Police Department (APD) were dispatched to the FoodMaxx grocery store on Lone Tree Way regarding reports of an armed robbery involving multiple suspects, authorities said in a statement posted to social media. 

As officers attempted to detain the individuals, one suspect allegedly attempted to flee the scene by ramming his car into an occupied police vehicle, leading to a physical struggle between the suspect and officer. 

“During the altercation, the officer was pulled into the vehicle as the suspect drove forward, striking both a police car and a nearby store,” the APD said.

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Surveillance video released by the department shows the moment a stolen Infiniti smashed through the front doors of the grocery store before two men climbed out of the vehicle and ran into the business. The suspects then allegedly threatened the store clerk with a handgun, police said. 

Within minutes, an Antioch police officer pulled into the parking lot and attempted to block the suspects’ vehicle as another officer approached the passenger side and opened the door. 

“Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands!” an officer is heard shouting.

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The suspect allegedly subsequently accelerated forward at a high rate of speed, trapping the officer inside the vehicle as he sped away. 

“Stop the car! Stop the car!” the trapped officer, identified as Travis Donaldson, can be heard yelling. 

“Get out of the car, bro,” the suspect, later identified as 23-year-old Dominick Desouza, replied.

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Desouza is heard threatening to crash the vehicle as the pair continue to argue. 

“Don’t do it,” Donaldson warns. “It’s not worth it.”

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“I got a family, bro” Desouza replied. 

Donaldson then begins pleading with Desouza to pull over while also giving him an ultimatum.

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“Stop the car, or I will shoot you in the leg,” Donaldson said. 

Body camera video shows Donaldson firing a single shot into Desouza’s leg.

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“Officer Donaldson intentionally shot Desouza in the leg to reduce the likelihood of a fatality to Desouza, himself, and members of the community,” the APD said. 

Despite his injury, Desouza crashed into a parked car inside a residential neighborhood and fled on foot, but was located just minutes later, according to police.

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Desouza was subsequently taken into custody and transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the APD added. Donaldson also only sustained minor injuries from the incident. 

Desouza is charged with kidnapping, robbery, burglary and assault on an officer, according to authorities.

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Fox News Digital’s Adriana James-Rodil contributed to this report. 

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A Chinese hacker accused of stealing COVID-19 research from U.S. institutions in a massive cyberattack has been extradited to American soil. 

FBI Director Kash Patel said the case involving Xu Zewei is a “historic win for our cybersecurity efforts under President Trump, bringing bad actors who target American infrastructure to justice no matter where they try to hide.” 

Patel said Xu, a Chinese national and accused state-sponsored hacker, is “allegedly responsible for a massive cyber intrusion campaign in 2020 and 2021 stealing COVID-19 research from American institutions.” 

“Xu has been extradited to the U.S. out of Italy as of this weekend, and he will now face federal charges,” Patel revealed Tuesday in a post on X.

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“During 2020 and 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Xu and his co-conspirators allegedly targeted and hacked U.S. based universities, immunologists, and virologists conducting COVID-19 research – including key treatment and vaccines – accessing email accounts and more,” Patel said. 

The Justice Department said Xu is facing nine charges, including two counts of wire fraud, two counts of obtaining information by unauthorized access to protected computers and aggravated identity theft. The wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.

“According to court documents, officers of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security’s (MSS) Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB) directed Xu to conduct this hacking. The MSS and SSSB are PRC intelligence services responsible for PRC’s domestic counterintelligence, non-military foreign intelligence, and aspects of the PRC’s political and domestic security,” the Justice Department said.

“Xu and others reported their activities to officers in the SSSB who were supervising and directing the hacking activities,” the Justice Department added. “For example, on or about Feb. 19, 2020, Xu provided an SSSB officer with confirmation that he had compromised the network of a research university located in the Southern District of Texas. On or about Feb. 22, 2020, the SSSB officer directed Xu to target and access specific email accounts (mailboxes) belonging to virologists and immunologists engaged in COVID-19 research for the university. Xu later confirmed for the SSSB officer that he acquired the contents of the researchers’ mailboxes.”

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Patel said, “Xu was also allegedly a key contractor [in] part of what’s known as HAFNIUM, a group responsible for a massive cyber intrusion campaign (directed by PRC officials) that compromised nearly 13,000 U.S. organizations.”

Patel thanked the FBI’s partners in Italy, mentioning that Prefect Vittorio Pisani of the Italian National Police “worked with us nonstop” in the investigation to bring Xu into custody.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to attorneys representing Xu for comment.