deputies in arapahoe county this morning found a 6-year-old boy dead and a man with self- inflicted stab wounds inside an apartment where a woman said she was sexually assaulted at knifepoint. a deputy rushing to the scene behind an ambulance was critically injured when his patrol car crashed into a turning vehicle. 9news reporter steve staeger joins us. there's a lot to sort out with this case, steve. >> reporter: this apartment building remains an active crime scene. investigators have been moving in and out all day. many neighbors knew something was wrong here when they heard a loud banging on their door around 5:00 this morning. help. she finally got a neighbor's attention and called 911. one of the deputies rushing to the scene was hit by a driver. he is in critical condition at a local hospital. other deputies got to the scene around 5 a.m. and got in touch with the woman time. they didn't enter her apartment

they say they didn't believe there was immediate need at the time and they also had to work on trying to get a key to get into the apartment because they couldn't find one. when they did go inside, they found the 6-year-old boy dead. they also found his father, the suspect, alive with what they believe are self-inflicted knife wounds. the scene has rattled neighbors here inside this apartment complex. >> my heart sunk. i have kids myself and i can't imagine what this mother is going through right now. my son is on his way to school and all i can think about right now is thank god. >> reporter: the arapahoe county sheriff's office says the man is a suspect in both the sexual assault and the child's death, but they still have a lot of investigating to do before they can even start to talk about any charges in this case, no word also on how bad his injuries are. the driver in the other

with the deputy faces charges of careless driving resulting in injury and failing to yield the right-of-way and we are still waiting to hear more about the deputy involved, but we do know that he is in critical condition. >> all right, steve steger in arapahoe county, thank you. a man was forcibly removed last night from an alaska airline flight diverted to dia. fellow passengers recorded video of the man escorted off the aircraft, but police say he was not arrested. alaska airlines flight 769 was headed to san diego from boston. the airline says the man was drunk, disruptive and at one point threatened the crew. other passengers broke out in applause as he was led off the plane. a group of state senators shot down a plan to make it easier for convicted murderers to get the death penalty. 9news political reporter brandon rittiman explained the proposal when it first came out. tonight he explains how today's vote broke down. >> reporter: the idea started when the aurora that's right

sentence for the killer. tom sullivan whose son -- aurora theater shooting ended in a life sentence for the killer. tom sullivan whose son was in the theater. >> i'm not sure justice was served when one person had the ability to let that person live. >> reporter: sullivan was the only person to testify in support of republican kevin lundberg's bill which would have allowed courts to give the death penalty without all 12 jurors agreeing. lundberg proposed nine jurors out of 12 allowing death, then offered a compromise of 11 out of 12. a member of the shooter's defense team testified against. >> the holmes case, there has been disagreement on what the final decision was. >> reporter: public defenders say the bill would be unconstitutional, that the supreme court requires states to set a higher bar on the death verdict than the verdict

sullivan felt it made it too easy on witnesses. witnesses. >> soccer friends who hadn't seen him in 12 years. >> reporter: the deciding vote came down to the chair, republican ellen roberts of durango voting no because she overreaction. >> i am very comfortable with the death penalty as a potential result, but i think it needs to be the highest threshold from the jury. >> reporter: even she says if the decisions aren't always easy for the rest of us to understand. brandon rittiman, 9news. >> lundberg is saying it is a debate he hopes to continue in the future. we do expect debate on another bill on this topic which would allow courts to seat a second jury on the life or death jury if the first jury can't agree on a decision. its first hearing in the

more than a 1/4 of female undergrad graduate students of university of colorado say 28% of them were assaulted ranging from rape town wanted touching. the survey was conducted by the boulder campus. 41% completed the survey. officials say the results will help them fight the problem. within the last hour a spokesman for denver public schools gave us a final count on how many kids missed class to instead celebrate the broncos super bowl victory downtown. dentist had 24,001 -- dps had 24,152 students with one or more excused or unexcused absences on tuesday which is 9,268 more than were gone on monday. denver public schools serves 90,000 kids, so that's the math on thousand it all broke down yesterday. there was a stinging loss

clinton and a resounding win for bernie sanders and donald trump. carly fiorina and chris christie both suspended their campaigns today. clinton leads by 30 points in south carolina polling but was stunned last night when young new hampshire democrat women reject heard for sanders. >> there is no doubt clinton is going to shake up the campaign because i think that they recognizes that her message is not moving these younger voters. it is not appealing to liberal voters that are essential and that are going to give her endless trouble during this process. so i think she's mostly going to have to change messages. >> south carolina has two primaries of republicans vote a week from saturday. democrats vote a week later. at this point trump has a 16 polling. pope francis smudged ashes today on the bowed heads of catholics during ash wednesday mass in st. peter's basilica.

lent, a period of repentance, prayer and self-sacrifice as the faithful prepare for the celebration of easter. the ashes symbolize mortality. in his homily pope francis said lent represents the occasion to practice simplicity and sharing. the electronic cigarettes or vaporizers have been touted as safer alternatives to tobacco, but one colorado teen plans to quit smoking altogether after his e cigarette exploded. doctors say it is, in fact, a growing problem. here is 9news reporter christine noel. >> reporter: it began as a hobby, a few cigarettes here and there, over the years an occasional puff turning into a pack a day. >> hard to breathe, wheezing, especially higher up altitudes. >> reporter: instead of quitting cold turkey this 19- year-old turned to electronic cigarettes or vaporizers marketed as a safer tobacco alternative, but safe, alex says these are anything but.

out from the side of my pocket. >> reporter: the scholars on his leg he says are -- the scars on his leg he says are proof. last month the lithium ion battery inside of his e-cig exploded in his pants pocket charring a portion of his lower body. >> second degree over my stomach and over most of the right of my leg and on the upper part where the actual initial explosion was i got a bunch of third degree. >> reporter: this is not the first time doctors at the burn center at the university of colorado hospital have seen significant injuries from e cigarettes blowing up. >> this is becoming a more common problem as people use these devices. >> reporter: in the past 12 months dr. art lichter and his team have treated five patients with significant burns. >> there appears to be situations with either rechargeable batteries overcharged or some moisture that gets into the casing and then it causes an explosion. >> reporter: according to the

agency, 80% of reported e- cigarette explosions occurred while the device was charging. 12% happened while the e-cig was in use. >> but you have donors on that site. >> reporter: alex is now on the road to recovery but says he plans to kick his smoking habit without the help of vaping. >> there's no point picking it back up. >> reporter: in aurora, christine noel, 9news. >> a greeley man was hospitalized after an e cigarette exploded in his face and in colorado springs a man's device blew up while charging. no deaths have been reported related to e cigarettes. ahead a spectacular view of lightning storms on earth from the international space station. >> and the only american judge in the agility category at this

many of the attorneys with us today for lawline 9 specialize in injuries and accidents. they're with the denver bar and they will take your calls and offer free advice, 303-698-0999. british astronaut tim peak offered up an incredible view from the international space station tweeting amazing images of lightning in a time lapse video. footage shows a series of lightning bolts striking earth as storms cross europe and africa. peak recently became the first british astronaut to carry out a spacewalk. he traveled to the iss in december always part of a six

-- as part of a six month mission for the european space station. the there was an increase in stolen -- there was an increase in stolen identity information used to file fraudulent tax returns in colorado. the irs is seeing similar problems. paper checks may be used again this year. the 104-year-old westminster kennel dog club show starts off saturday with one of the newer events, the agility competition. people seem to love it. we will be introduced to a woman from boulder who plays a major role this year. >> run, sing, run! >> reporter: as cute as -- sting, run. >> reporter: as cute as it is. >> these are my two miniature

>> reporter: her love for her two dogs is definitely no secret, but until recently this was. >> this weekend i will be judging the westminster kennel club. you find out two years in advance and have to keep it all top secret. >> reporter: she doesn't know who nominated her for the honor. she does understand this type of event. >> agility takes a lot of training. >> reporter: kitty's dogs compete in agility competitions several times a month. she's also created courses and judged for 10 years. >> it's satisfying. when you compete, it's an adrenaline rush. >> reporter: adrenaline will come in handy saturday in new york city. >> this week i started to get a little bit nervous. before that the nervous part was how am i going to dress myself? >> reporter: because this dog show is all about looking good. >> here we've got the little sparkly jacket. i found myself with this two piece kind of formal outfit

if i could run in it. it was pretty amusing, actually. >> reporter: also pretty amusing, a woman named kitty judging a dog show. >> i got that name long before i got the dogs. >> reporter: and like a moonwalking poodle, that's pretty cute all by itself. >> come here, come here. >> the westminster kennel club agility competition starts 8:00 saturday morning at madison square garden in new york city. >> love to watch. after what will likely be the warmest day of the week we have some windy days in our five-day. >> how far temperatures will drop as winds pick up this weekend next in kathy's

hello. welcome back. meteorologist kathy sabine outside in the 9news backyard where it feels like springtime in february. spring, of course, does not arrive until march 21st, but don't tell mother nature that. we enjoyed 60s today. it's a baffle evening now, good -- beautiful evening now, good commuting. our high today at dia is 20 degrees warmer than average for this time of year. the overnight low temperature was very mild as well. with the high cloud deck i think we're on the way to another mild evening. the 30 day outlook shows above average temperatures forecast

of the western u.s., midwest and northeast with cooler than average readings forecast with the long range models indicating that in the southern plain states. winds out of the west shifting southwest. we have a nice breeze in the 9news backyard outside the studios with 62 degrees at the 5:00 hour. dress like spring, so it kind of feels like spring. you can thank high pressure for that keeping the storm track to the north, a big blocking ridge. we're seeing cold arctic air rise the jet stream through the great lakes into the northeast where all the heavy and cold weather is. current temperatures anywhere from minus 7 north of two harbors down to about six now in mason city as compared to 40 in grand island and mid-50s now in denver. so we are just on the western fringe of some cold air, but it will stay put. that's where all the snow, wind and really difficult travel conditions will be as well. minneapolis and chicago right through washington and new york. these winter weather and travel

probably another day, maybe two. cold air following this front to the south, low pressure headed northeast, mild and dry from the southern plains states back to the southwest, a little moisture coming into california, but a lot of that moisture riding the jet up and over the top of colorado. we're looking for highs tomorrow above average, close to 60 in the city. look what's happening just east of us. highs are about half that number in st. louis, chicago, omaha and minneapolis. now other than a few high clouds around the area, tonight is turning out to be a beautiful evening, another nice day tomorrow but less wind in the foothills and a few high clouds around. that may keep us from looking at high temperatures in the low to mid-60s. so the cloud cover will definitely be a factor for us tomorrow. tonight 14 in aspen, 10 in dinosaur, 28 the low in greeley, 27 in pueblo. still very warm in southeastern colorado, but the clouds and winds take temperatures down a bit, still way above average for this time of year and a weather trend that looks to

in the denver metro area tonight we're calling for partly cloudy skies, breezy and cool, the low 30. sun-up tomorrow about 7:00 and we have high clouds around, a little less wind west of town and temperatures way above average again. there is a dry front that rolls in friday. we'll be cooler but dry. we start to warm up on saturday and then we have another stronger front sunday that may bring a few flurries northeast of us. we start the warming trend in earnest again monday and we'll look for high temperatures close to 70 by the middle of next week. that is a valentine's day forecast to love, as is this beautiful picture in the chatfield area and how about this one coming in from evergreen? just so pretty with the cloud cover around. remember if you get a beautiful sunrise or sunset shot, send that in.

drew is in an early routing on the stock market was almost over by the closing bell. the dow finished 99 points lower, s&p slipped a fraction

from colorado sports leader here's drew soicher. >> hi, everybody. what do you think peyton manning sees when he looks into his reflect off the vince lombardi trophy? does he see a man who just led his team to a super bowl championship and wants to try it again, a man who would like to play one more season in the nfl regardless which of team it's with or a man who wants to become just a 2nd quarterback immediately retire? whatever it is you got to right away. >> no. there's no deadline. so i mean again we're going to enjoy this, let peyton enjoy this. i'm sure he'll sit down with his family and eventually we'll through that. there's no timeline for that right now. >> the broncos have to move forward fairly quickly, so there most definitely is a

9news broncos insider mike klis is in the sports office. hi, mike. manning will probably retire, but if he wants to keep playing, i don't understand why you keep saying it won't be with the broncos. they just won the super bowl, you know. >> reporter: yes, drew. i give the offense six points and a two-point conversion in that game. the defense got two touchdowns. jordan norwood set up another field goal, but you know how when you're running out of gas or your carious empty and you're sweating it out on the highway and you get off -- car is on empty and you're sweating it out on the highway and you get it off and you're just going on fumes. i thought peyton manning had that one game left in him and came through and was good enough, but the real reason why there's no chance is because brock osweiler is a free agent. if brock osweiler's contract wasn't up, there would be a chance peyton manning would come back with the broncos, but because they have to resign brock osweiler, he needs to

back, nothing wrong with her relationship. it's a good one, but brock osweiler has been there, done that for four years. it's time for him to be the starting quarterback. he needs peyton manning out of the picture. >> everybody is outraged that cam newton acted like a big baby during and after the super bowl. sent that unfair? i -- isn't that unfair? i thought we wanted our athletes to show real emotion. >> reporter: yeah. i agree. when peyton manning lost to the new orleans saints, he ran straight off the field without shaking hands with drew brees. bill belichick the first time he lost the super bowl to tom coughlin's new york giants, belichick ran. maybe it is poor sportsmanship, but you lost the game, who cares? you don't care about what people feel about you when you have lost the game. now there is question about how much cam newton cared about losing when he didn't go after that fumble. so maybe that's why people saw a little contradiction there, but i didn't have a problem with cam being surly after a

>> me neither. thanks, mike. we'll be surly together. the broncos huddle begins at 7:00. 9news sports reporter rod mackey is giving you a chance to move the chains. >> reporter: we get to talk a lot of sports, talk to the players and coaches and let you know what they say, what they're thinking. tonight on a special post super bowl edition of the broncos huddle we want to hear what you're thinking using some new technology. we'll post some questions during the show so you can let us know your opinion by logging onto 9news.com/votenow on your mobile device. the answers from you and everyone watching will appear on the screen as you vote. we'll post the questions. you vote on them. it's going to be a ton of fun. so grab your phone and get ready to play along. we'll see you tonight at 7:00 on the broncos huddle. >> you know who i can't get off my mind since the broncos went to the super bowl and now only

participate, tim mckernan, the barrel man, would have loved this. >> yes, he would. >> was it his brother who showed up for the team departure? >> yeah. his wife was out there yesterday at the parade. >> maybe it was his son. i'm trying to remember who it was, one of them showed up in the barrel, the whole deal. it was great. >> there were like 17 of those barrels stored somewhere and they break them out every now and then and donate them sometimes to charity autographed by players and everything else. i miss him and he would have loved it. >> so do we all, no question. thanks. >> nbc nightly news is next. have a good evening! in between we'll see you back