we begin with two big breaking stories tonight. a jury announced the fate of eric frein. >> but first the manhunt for a state trooper's killer has stretched into its 12th hour.

the s.w.a.t. team has a neighborhood surrounded in middle delaware and neighbors won't be able to go home tonight because the suspected shooter is hiding inside a home. >> it started at a wawa in delaware. the trooper was shot after approaching two people inside a car as the suspected killer took off, total strangers rushed into help. >> heart wrenching you can't even go to work and try to protect people without somebody else trying to shoot you for no reason. >> nbc 10 learned that fallen trooper is corporal steven ballard. >> we have live team coverage tonight. >> first colleagues and total strangers are mourning trooper ballard's death. drew smith has more from the wawa where he was killed. >> there is crime scene tape all over this parking lot and the store will be closed until

saturday after respect for the fallen trooper. people have been dropping off candles and flowers. they say they are horrified by the way this trooper lost his life. >> it only took seconds for this busy wawa parking lot to turn into a major crime scene. investigators using a dog to find evidence and photographing the spot where trooper steven ballard was shot at multiple times. >> i thought it was two kids struggling at first and i heard pop, pop, pop. >> reporter: faith allen watch it happen around noontime. the on-duty trooper walked up to a suspicious car with two people inside and there was a struggle. >> i noticed it was a cop and the guy took two steps forward and pop, pop two more times. >> reporter: allen ran to try cpr. she says the trooper's gun was still in his holster. police arrested one suspect here and the other ran off. >> he shot him right in the

head. i mean, it's sad when you drive to save somebody it's even worse when they don't make it. >> reporter: police announced the death around 6:00. >> this is a sad day for our state and the police family. >> you could see the shock on people's faces as they put their hands on their hearts and saluted. >> it just hurt me deeply and personally. >> reporter: the procession ended in wilmington where the coffin emerged. first responders and the community now mourning a great loss. corporal ballard was an eight and a half year veteran of the delaware state police in the western part of the state, troop two. he also leaves behind a family. the governor ordered all flags to half staff in his memory. i'm drew smith, nbc 10 news. let's get an update from brandon hudson.

>> he is live in delaware where the suspected killer is barricaded inside a home. >> reporter: the latest from delaware state police is a group of homeowners, some of them in this parking lot they were told they may not have a place to return home to because of the lockdown. the options are the fire department and a hotel. the red cross is helping people with their living arrangements. over here police are still blocking this road. police used an explosive charge at the suspect's front door to get him to come out. he refused to come out and fired shots at officers. police say the goal is to resolve this situation peacefully. as the barricade continued, neighbors waited at a shopping complex. they are not allowed home. >> our nanny, megan is in our house with our two young boys. >> we worry about the boys. she is good at protecting them. >> reporter: this family lives

three houses down from the suspect police believe killed a delaware state trooper, steven ballard. >> maybe i've seen them twice. >> never knew he had weapons or anything. >> no, no. never, never. they're quiet. you never see anybody leave the house, nothing. >> reporter: this is the s.w.a.t. running through a driveway in the development. the search led to a lockdown in the neighborhood and briefly at a nearby school. >> i want to get home and see my wife. >> reporter: jason was on the phone with his wife when she heard gunshots. she shared these photos which showed police and s.w.a.t. outside her home and a large police presence. >> really close and rapid. and you know, shelter in place and see if they can figure out what is going on. and she saw a lot of law enforcement vehicles outside. >> reporter: you are getting a look at some homeowners looking

for a place to stay tonight. their options the odessa fire department or a hotel. police are using a negotiator to try to get the suspect to come out of his house. i'm brandon hudson, nbc 10 news. >> a long and tense night. the nbc 10 morning team will have any updates from overnight starting at 4:30 a.m. more breaking news from the murder trial of eric frein. a jury sentenced him to death. >> randy gyllenhaal has the latest developments. randy? >> reporter: this jury deliberated for nearly five hours, well into the night, then one minute before 10:00 p.m. they came back into the courtroom with a unanimous verdict saying that eric frein will be executed for his crimes. we just saw some members of the jury hugging in the jury room.

obviously a very difficult decision for them. and as is tradition the bells rang loudly after the verdict was announced. these bells tolling as a defendant is sentenced to die, as is tradition here to notify the town of the verdict. meantime in court, eric frein had no emotion. his defense team hoped they had hoped for a life sentence and eric was hoping for one too. but the jury found zero mitigating circumstances meaning they didn't buy into the defense theory that frein's father was partly to blame here and the pennsylvania the state police commissioner and top brass spoke a few minutes ago offering prayers to the family of corporal bryan dixon. >> also want to let the corporal bryan dixon's family know that corporal dixon will always

remain in the hearts of all members of the pennsylvania state police forever. >> hope springs eternal with every defendant i ever had even in face of mountains of evidence. >> and eric had hope at the end? >> every defendant i ever had that has gone to trial has thought he or she had an opportunity to win. >> that was eric frein's defense attorney speaking. they do believe they have a path for appeal in this death sentence. but he will be back tomorrow to be formally sentenced. the prosecution is calling this full justice after 1/2 lotwo an half long years from the sniper attack and the manhunt and now a death sentence for eric frein. >> count on nbc 10 to bring you

breaking news as it happens. download the nbc 10 app and sign up to have alerts sent to your phone. the countdown to the nfl draft is on. we are less than 24 hours away from the first pick in philadelphia. >> but the events begin at noon when the nfl fan experience will open on the parkway and crews are racing against the clock to get it all done. >> steve jones has a look at the finishing touches. >> reporter: you see work behind me it is going to happen all night so they can be ready in time. you see the pavement? i'm in the middle of the parkway and this there is this equipment everywhere. a slow ride as finishing touches are made with hundred of feet of fencing still to be set. the work delayed by weather. fans made the best of it all around the city. >> thank you. good luck tomorrow. >> reporter: marshon lattimore signed autographs at city hall.

>> tomorrow is the day that is going to turn my life an my family life and all those type of things. it's a blessing to be here. >> reporter: another ohio state back opened his new men's store hoping the birds select a player in the backfield. >> the team is excited to see who we add to the roster. >> excitement up and down the parkway. the draft fun taking up 25 football fields. expect airport like security. >> the less you bring the easier to get through security. >> reporter: kathy joined the nfl six months ago after leading washington, d.c. as their chief of police. >> security for this event is a 30-day security environment for a three-day event. >> reporter: and that is as far as we are allowed to go until tomorrow at 11:00 when this free

three-day festival kicks off. >> we'll bring you behind the scenes where all the action from the nfl draft, we'll be live tomorrow night on the parkway for our eagles draft day special and wrap up the highlights for you on sunday night. a south jersey gymnastics coach is accused of sexually assaulting two young girls. the man allegedly assaulted one gull in 2016 and another in march of this year. it happened at atlantic coast gymnastics where he worked. a philadelphia police officer is charged with manslaughter for speeding and triggering a deadly crash. only nbc 10 has this exclusive video of adam soto surrendering today. he slammed into 50-year-old danny demeetry in january.

he was thrown 15 feet in the air and died at the scene. >> he was a great brother. they stole him from us. >> authorities say a second officer was in a second car involved in the incident and he's been fired. also tonight, what's next for bill cosby? he goes on trial in a matter of weeks but now he's talk about his future in comedy. plus, show me the money, the white house announces what it calls the largest tax cut in history. and we only made it into the mid-60s today. there was a lot of cloud cover. not the best of days. look where we're going tomorrow. fairmont, 78, allentown, 77 degrees. we're going to be in voer he's, 77. a warmup is on the way and it doesn't stop there. we're talking 80s and maybe 90s.

we want to keep you updated out of delaware. this is a live picture in middletown. that's where police believe a shooter who killed a state trooper has barricaded himself in a home for hours. neighbors have been evacuates and may not be able to return home tonight. the slain trooper is 32-year-old corporal steven ballard. this was shot in the parking lot of a wawa after he approached a suspicious vehicle with two people inside. one person has been arrested and we'll bring you updates as we get them on air and online on www.nbc10.com. bill cosby is thinking about what life may be like after his sexual assault trial in montgomery county. cosby and his delegates are speaking out in media interviews. he told one service he is

working on new material and hopes to resume his entertainment career. he said i think about walking out on stage and sitting down on a chair and giving a performance that will be the next chapter of my career. the 79-year-old is charged with drugging and molesting a former temple university employee in 2004. jury collection begins next month in pittsburgh. the trial is set to begin june 5th in montgomery county. cosby's youngest daughter sent a letter defending her father. she wrote, my dad like anyone in this country deserves to be treated fairly under the law. we have new details in a bribery case against a district attorney. his friend has been indicted on bribery and tax evasion charges related to that case. authorities allege the two had an arrangement where ali would provide williams with travel and money and other things and in

exchange williams would perform favors on ali's behalf. the trial is set to begin next month. today all u.s. senators were called to the white house for an unusual secret briefing about threats from north korea. the country's pursuit of nuclear weapons is an urgent threat. they are pushing diplomatic measures but are prepared to defend the u.s. and our allies. hawaii is within striking distance of the arsenal. the fear is that the country will develop missiles that can reach the west coast. the white house announced one of the largest tax cuts in history. the plan has three brackets. 10%, to 30%. the deduction for married couples will double. the corporate tax rate will cut

15% from 35%. a major plan to revitalize allentown will now include the tallest building in the lehigh valley. it includes this, the innovation tower. the $250 million plan is set to start next year and will wrap up in 2020. new at 11:00, out with the old and in with the new, septa will end the sale of some passes. it is a push to get people to pay for fares with the key card. to our weather and the warmup we are waiting for. it's beginning. >> let's get our forecast from tammy souza. >> we have a huge warmup on the way and it is going to start tomorrow. outside tonight we still have clouds. what a beautiful shot of the city. the temperature, 62 right now in

philly but the winds have turned to the southwest. tomorrow they will certain southwesterly by the time we get into friday and that is going the boost us well into the 80s. right now, several doppler radars are scanning the sky. nothing out there. no rain in the area. and a lot of the clouds have pushed offshore. we have patchy fog. earlier today we had this low pressure sitting in the atlantic. it is moving eastward. as it does so what you see over western pennsylvania is our weather tomorrow. clear skies and plenty of sunshine. we may start with fog in the morning but it will burn off quickly. and we will address this long line of storms moving through the midwest. it will come through here and be broken apart a bit. so let's break it down hour by hour. you can see the winds, they are going to be turning overnight out of the soutsz. tomorrow morning at 8:00 there will be clouds out there but

look how quickly the cloud cover and fog is gone. we are going to be looking at winds coming in out of is south. then we're going to see showers coming in from the west. that will be between midnight and 4:00 a.m. tomorrow night into friday morning and a lingering shower for your morning commute but the winds out of the south and the west. that is very warm air pumped into the area. and the west winds friday and saturday. could see showers and thunderstorms on saturday but they clear out of here and we stay very warm. it is going to be an incredible warmup. look at the numbers. through the day tomorrow we top out upper 70s maybe even a few 80s around the area unless you are around the shoreline. dover at 66. avalon at 56. that is the effect of the cooler atlantic water. on friday everybody gets in on the warmup. 82 in philly. then on into saturday and we could actually approach the

record high of 90 on that date. let's take a look at your forecast for tonight. this is what's going to go on. the cloud cover out there will start to clear away and we're going to see temperatures in the mid-50s to right around 60 degrees in the area. in philly, 60, 55 in the lehigh valley. for tomorrow we're going to be looking at the 70s except the jersey shore. that's where it's going to be much cooler. the concerts on the beach coming back to atlantic city this summer. find out the big pop star who is taking the stage.

♪ grammy award winning singer is expected to perform in atlantic city. pink will take the stage for the atlantic city beach fest concert series.

and look at this, a big visit from the big idaho potato truck in new castle today. the truck making a stop at william penn high school. and that, right there, is a 6-ton idaho potato. let's go to danny pomell. >> all i can think about is waffle fries. >> me too. >> the city has football fever as you know and it's only april. the reason why we'll show you coming up. and the man who will hem make the selection for the eagles for first time, that's next.

good to see you, as always. i'm danny pommels from csn. the draft is less than 24 hours away. several draft prospects visited children at shriner's hospital in north philadelphia where the eagles may be leaning with their 14th pick here is john clark. >> i know the eagles have a need at cornerback and defensive end on defense. but some of the nfl analysts say support carson wentz and get him another weapon. >> you need to build around him and most of the people are on one-year contracts. whoever the top defensive player on the board is, whether conley is available or ruben foster. look at that guy versus what an offensive playmaker does for you. from my perspective i would rather take the offensive playmaker. >> the man running the draft board for the first time is joe

douglas. he spent many years with the ravens as a scout and worked his way up. brian billick won a super bowl with the ravens and has fond memories of working with joe douglas. >> he is not shy about saying if i say this is a player, i will defend that. i manual he learned a lot from being with ozzy newsom in terms of listening to voices around him. >> i'm just a part of the process work with howie and tom donohoe. guys like doug peterson, it's a collaborative process. >> john clark, csn. >> exciting times, to be sure. that's it for now. stay with us, we'll be right back. that's comfortable long time.

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don't be late. even when we're not there to keep them safe, our subaru outback will be. (vo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. it's going to be a big warm up that we're going to look at. 78 tomorrow. and a little bit cooler on sunday. but nonetheless it is going to feel like summer. >> are you thinking 90s in some spots? >> i am on saturday, yes. >> wow, see you tomorrow. lause ] ♪ >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." tonight, join jimmy and his guests -- dr. phil. leslie jones. musical guests, rick ross