average human has 6 to 9 units of blood in their body. i went through 19 unit of blood. >> shot six times while on duty. a denver police sergeant talks about what he underweand and major problems for sports authority. >> she said, if you love me, you'll let me do this >> reporter: she told a jury how shows attacked and her unborn baby taken from her baby while she was left for dead. how many more days it could take to repair what nature did to i-70 in just a few seconds. and how an outdoor ice rink is going to last the rest of the month at coors field. 9 news starts now.

his life, denver police sergeant tony lopez, jr. says he is eager to get on with the rest of his life during a routine traffic stop, a man shot him sixes times. tonight, he sit down with us to talk about where he has been and more importantly where he's going. >> fears are born on street corners. >> i saw a police officer on the ground. >> at odd times, moments of confusion. >> reporter: that time, fear went into the life a police officer. six bullets entered his body. he was dying and thinking of his yet to be born son >> he kept knee alive and kept me motivated. i was thinking about him. i don't remember hearing people talk to me, just, stay away

>> the average human has 6 to 9 liters of blood. i went through 19 in the first hour. >> 19 litters, even more lost later. even a few weeks more, even after facing that fear, tony left, his love, his pregnant wife, by his wheelchair side. >> how do you talk about? i don't know. i don't know how. if someone know, please tell me. >> this is who tony lopez is now. the day po the police department pro momented him to sergeant. >> antonio lopez, jr., known as tony. >> that day, in great pain, he made it and evident to walk on crutches. >> it could be another year to three years to never for my nerves to come back on in my foot. i can't really feel anything from about mid-thigh down.

father, denver police commander tony lopez plans on keeping his name close when his own son is born right now. he will be the third. my wife pro toasted, but -- >> when the right day comes, he'll tell his son about the day that dad nearly died. the day he faced an officer's worst fears, armed with little mother than an image of a buy he had yet to meet. >> the thought of him made it all right. i'm excited to share that with him. >> that leads us to two of his goals. >> first, he wants to help carry his newborn son from the hospital without crutches. and then he wants to return full-time to the denver police department by his birthday in mid-september. man with 10 duis is charged with his 11th, the latest on christmas night. he is accused of driving drunk near 48th and inca in denver

man head on leaving two people badly hurt. the latest is the first for him since colorado pass add new law. last year, making more than three duis a felony offense. he also faces several counts of assault from that crash. the woman whose baby was cut from her womb in longmont almost a year ago told jurors in graphic and disturbing details of the day that changed her life forever. state began its case against dynel lane, the woman accused child. testify. also on the stand, dynel lane's boyfriend, saying that she claimed to be pregnant. michele wilkins testified trying to fight back. >> michele wilkins described

that killed her unborn mother. she was buying maternity clothes after responding to lane's craigslist ad. lane began to scratch and push her as she began to leave. >> part of me wanted to give earth benefit of the doubt and i said that i have a buzz or what was it? she said, i think i got it and then she did it again >> reporter: second later, lane shoved her into a side bedroom, tried to choke her and smash tried to choke her and smash her bottle over her head. >> i remember thinking of aurora and feeling like i really -- i thought of her. i felt like i wanted to survive. also for her. >> reporter: wilkins says she lost consciousness for a period of time and awoke with a sharp pain. >> i could feel my intestines outside of my body >> reporter: according to

began several months before the attack. lane claimed she had a due date of of late they are year. the baby never arrived. >> we were to take off work and we would go and sit in his waiting room for a couple of hours and something always went wrong. >> reporter: we were reminded in core today that lane had mourned the death of her own child in early 2000. in court, wilkins said she stayed so long with lane because she had a sense that lane was lonely. wilkins says she was trying to be kind, adele. >> thanks, whitney. sports authority used to be king, a king with a castle. the iconic sports castle store on broadway in denver. now, that location is closing along with stores in greenwood village and boulder as sports authority tries to avoid bankruptcy. the company is shutting 30% of its stores, 140 total.

know, a big effort on their part and painful cuts like we saw today with store closures and things like that in order to rebound. they have missed an interest payment about a $20 million interest paled on a $363 million loan that comes to terms in 2018. so they're going to have to try to figure out a way to reconcile that. >> sports authority is not offering an estimate on how many people will lose their jobs in all of this. the sports authority losing the sports castle, that probably means the end of the labor sneak wrap sale which has been around. and then the question of what happens with the naming rights at the stadium and whether sports authority will try to get out of it long-term deal there. we can all agree that bankruptcy field at mile high would be a terrible name by tomorrow evening, road reopen by tomorrow would be a best-case scenario, o dot says.

because they can't see anything that might come down on them cdot will have one lane open to traffic by the afternoon. it could be next week before a lane in each direction reopens rocky mount national park is now america's third busiest park, take, that yosemite and yellowstone. rocky welcomed more than 4 million visitors. 2014 was also a record year. rocky is if i had. smoky mountain is the first with 10.7 million visitors. grand canyon broke the 5 million mark for the first time in 2015. rocky moose from third to fifth beat out yosemite by 5000 visitors and yellowstone came in fifth with 4.1 million visits. we'll show you little known

nearly 70 degrees in denver today. it could be even warmer tomorrow. the only drawback will be the wind. high wind watches and warnings will be out through friday for gusts that could hit 70 to 80 miles per hour in some areas. there will also be red flag warnings and fire weather as humidity levels drop below 10%. kathy will have more on that in a few minutes. feels like baseball season with temperatures in the 20s. but on coors field, there is a sheet of ice above the pitcher's mound. but that ice is there for the outdoor hockey games that games that begin over the weekend. >> 32, partly cloudy. little snow. >> this would make the situation far from ideal now, wouldn't it? colorado weather giving the nhl a taste of its typical unpredictable ways. >> it's fun. you are building something where it does not really belongs. >> that does not mean that the

>> this is not much different than what we experienced in l.a., dodger stadium and san jose at levi. >> this weather center keeps the team on schedule. >> we have that and we track it daily but we also have meteorologists giving us forecast twice a day. >> two main problems the first, that pesky but beloved colorado sun. >> the top will get soft with the sun beating on it but with every blanket, we'll reflect it off. >> and that tarp is out all day until the sun sets on the make shift pond when the light height back behind the stadium wall. they roll the tarp back and work on the ice until the first light shines again. and then there is the issue of our sudden spring-like temperatures. >> we have a 300-ton refrigeration unit that pumps the cold air there. >> the cooling system removes any heat from the water and keeps it frozen. while it may not seem like winter outside, it will stale

>> we didn't think it would be 75. we thought it would be more than 30 to 35. but, hey, i just came out of minnesota. this is great. >> er they are expecting it to be warm for the games. and i asked about apparel, whether they are going to change it and they said, they can't because it's been ordered weeks ago. >> drew will have more on the players' experience on the ice surface because for a lot of them, it's like playing when they grew up. >> sure. sure. >> that's how they learned. >> and the seating is a little bit counselor intuite at this. you thought that you would have grad great scenes along the base lines but that's not true. there are boards. if you are on the bottom rows, you would be looking at people skating back. you would not seat puck. >> how about that? >> thanks, steve.

hospital becomes a digital hostage. how much it had to pay in ransom to get a computer back from its attackers. and the pope as you have rarely seen him before. what happened that led him to scold people. and why there are so few affordable places being built. and kathy with the details on the weather that could send the fire dangers soaring tomorrow. if attendance is an indication of success, the rockies are going to win the

the pope had to get the crowd under control on his final day in mexico. while greeting people, people started grabbing him and he almost fell. he almost fell on a man in a wheelchair. his demeanor changed. he told the crowd, don't be selfish several times and they did take a few steps back. hospital in southern california said it became a digital hostage to a group of hackers. hollywood presbyterian said it paid a ransom of nearly $17,000 after its computer networks were infiltrated and disabled. the hospital says that it was the best way to get the computers back. it was not that long ago

find a decent and apartment without costing an arm and a leg. but that has changed. >> you can think of all the crane operators in den have like farmers. >> craze you how the apartments are going up. >> helping to grow so-called luxury apartmentments ant signs that will then sprout asking to you live in them. >> nearly all the new developments occurring is the kind of product that has a lot of extra amenities. >> vacancies across the metro are on the rise. yet, the cranes keep rising looking for renters like greg olson. >> i was living on the other side of denver like ross park area and wanted to move in. >> many developers wants to pay top hall lars for amenity, pool and gym. >> how big are your amenities,

>> reporter: there is one by this 2.3-acre lot. >> rent will range from 1400 to 4500-dollar a month depending upon the apartment and the length of the lease. >> we are trying to make this place every place as desirable for a sing family home. >> except for the many amenities that will make renters like olson away from buying a hope as long as possible. >> how about middle of the road apartment. are those being developed? >> the answer is not. looking for apartments without bells and whistle, it means that you will move into an older building or moving out sifty. >> rents are going up like crazy. >> experts say they will slow, slowly, slowly taper off in the next year and a half. there could be too much supply

down but that does not seem to be happening. >> and people can't afford to buy so they rent. >> it's not just young people but empty nesters as well. they have don't want an upkeep on a home or a house, rather. calm and quiet in the 9news backyard and downtown denver for now but the wind returns tomorrow. i'm meteorologist kathy saban and we have a beautiful day in the city. sunset tonight was pretty spectacular. clouds over the foothills and pushing temperatures close to 70 in the city today. 70s on the source eastern planes. mid-50s in the high country. average high temperature this time of the year in the mid- 40s, we'll come close to a record high in the 70s tomorrow. at the airport, 46 degrees. winds west, southwest. calm here in the 9 back yards outside of the studios where the temperatures have been

dia, in the low 50s at the top of the hour. something we'll be talking about tomorrow, dominant ridge of high pressure shifting to the east. 12 off to the weas, following suit. as the gradiant begins to increase, so will the winds aloft out of the southwest national weather service upgrading the high wind watch to a high wind warning. we could see gusting in excess of 75 to 80 miles per hour. denver not included in the wind advisory criteria but there will be areas of blowing snow west of town. low humidity values and gusty winds, high fire danger is something that we'll talk b red flag warning areas and a high weather watch area south and east of the mae throw area. headed west, you'll be dealing with snow and flowing blow. wind advisory in effect for much of the day tomorrow. we have a front that's wrapping south and will remain east of us. high pressure beginning to break down. this california storm system bringing some welcome moisture to the western u.s. could be

snow in the sierras but we are looking at much of the precipitation staying to the north and west of us for the next day or two. with gusty southwest winds, we'll see an increase in humidity. high level clouds tomorrow, that will help to keep the temperatures tomorrow on the mild side. a little bit of rain and snow across the northwest plateau but that moisture evaporating as it hits the front range. gusty winds intensifying and peaking tomorrow night into friday morning. tomorrow will be the warmest day of the week. 29 for frisco. 32 in rifle, 34 34 for greeley, high temperatures could touch 80 degrees in february. we could hit 71 in denver which would tie a record. the wind, while warming as it descents off the front range foothills and eastern plains will create some issues

snow for travelers on i-70. blackhawk and meterland, ranging from 48 to 54 degrees. tonight, 38. wind beginning to increase west of town but so far no issues. that will change tomorrow. we jump quickly into the mid- 60s. by lunchtime. look for 71 tomorrow. average is 46 this time of the year. 71 will tie a record for the date. we do have a cooling trend heading into the weekend. i took the snow out for sunday. weekend is dry but sunday will be the cooler day. chance for a rain-snow mix on monday with cooler highs to start next week. a few snow showers early tuesday morning and then clearing. temperatures rebound, though, back to the 60s for wednesday and thursday with unusually warm weather and this trend looks like it's going to continue for at least another week, maybe two. beautiful scenes soming out of the northern mountains. yeah, still looks like winter in the colorado high country. if you get a great sunrise or sunset shot, don't forget to

them right here on 9news. all in all, pretty nice for february. >> absolutely. >> looks more like a painting

from colorado's sports leader, here is drew soicher. >> avs snapped a four-game losing streak. johnson tied scored a goal to tie the game a couple of minutes remaining tied at 2. >> duchene cuts down the middle. pass, shot, score. >> that's what i'm talking about. iginla's second of the night gives the avs a 3-2 victory. that ice rink inside coors field got me wondering wouldn't a baseball game inside the pepsi center be fun?

over the next ten days, once most magnificent -- one of the most magnificent stadiums in the major league will host two rivalries. attendance won't be a problem because every purple pitcher and every purple catcher has been accounted for at the team's complex in scottsdale, arizona everybody a i arrived early. >> the facility has something to do with it. if i was still playing, this is where i would be. but i think also just guys want to work. and wanting to get better. and being in that competitive environment where it feats like they can get better. i think that has a lot to do with it. each year, we are seeing more and more guys turn out and spend more time here. it's good stuff. nuggets are still on the

sacramento on friday. college hoops tonight, colorado state only made one of its 16 three-point shots for the second half of tonight's loss at utah state. they lose 72-59. colorado has a good chance of becoming the first team to beat southern california on the trojans' home court. they lead right now. if the broncos prioritize free agents based on their value in the community, they would be unloadings a brinks truck at safety david bruton's door right now. >> when she got home, she said, what can i be? >> the nfl man of the year nominee has a charity called bruton's book which encourages kids to read. he hopes that the next thing he

>> i would love to stay here. i would put it at that. i would love to stay here, you know. hopefully, they love and like me enough to offer me a good -- a correct amount of dollars for me to stay. i put myself in a position where i'm not just a special teams player but i'm a safety who can go out and make plays while t. j. is out or d stew is out. i feel like i am in a great position to see what has in free agency and see what happen ftse broncos are interested. >> good news is that he is a terrific enough ballplayer to start for many teams in the nfl. so he'll get paid. the bad news is that he is good enough to start for many teams so he won't be did denver any longer. >> the bobble. >> oh, you're the guest. >> i was sad about that brut

>> michael jeffey jordan born 52 years ago.

tonight show is next jay leno is back. that will be a thing. remember that guy? jennifer lopez will be along as well. >> he is hosting the show. >> he is going to be a guest. >> could be awkward. we don't know. >> no. >> could be terrible. i'm just saying.