of the law after appearing to spit o aan already in handcuffs. >> a firey scene in walmart. why police are calling it an arson. >> and why an aunt is suing her 12-year-old nephew for thousands of dollars. >> we are following breaking news first here at 5:30. a gas main has exploded in medicinefield. medfield. >> susan tran is near the scene and joins us on the phone with more of the breaking details. susan, what you can tell us? >> crews are working on the gas line right now. they've turned everything off. at this point the flames shot up in the air melting the fire lines up above. what neighbors are telling me is that at some point this afternoon they could actually see the ground kind of shift and

huge ball of flame that'll went so high, 33 feet up into the air and just roaring. constantly roared as it was being fed by the ghast that line and they said that there were people that were knocking on doors up and down a south street right here urging everyone in the homes to leave immediately because the gas main actually feeds the lines that go into the homes and they didn't know what could possibly happen. we're told that there were just families here, they were told to leave. it was quite some time as they could smell the pungent gas smell that you get in the area. they could smell that the minute that they got outside. now, we are watching as crews are fixing the main right now

and fixing the lines above. we're trying to get the latest details. but what we know is that the flames are 30 feet in the air. the hole where this explosion happened is the size of a car and families have still not been able to go back to their homes, and this is in on the south street portion. susan tran, 7news. and you talked about the people around there being evacuated. how many homes you can guess in that area have been evacuated so far? >> how many homes are affected? >> it's not as densely populated as the city. so i would say that as neighbors were describing it, it was all of the homes within the immediate vicinity and so it would be about a half dozen, a dozen at most in this area that were just asked to leave just because it was so close that you wear that -- from where this gas main is. >> susan tran, thank you so much. we continue to follow that story all evening here on 7news. also breaking at this hour,

a south ridge teacher charged with giving object scene material to a minor. >> they sent it to the facebook last october and reextent in august. a school employee heard students talking about the obscene content and after the arrest the school district says uniga is no longer an employee. his arraignment is tomorrow morning. >> also on 7, a sinful act inside a cambridge church. surveillance video captures a man dressed new a police robe but police say that man is not a priest. >> and what happens next at the altar only made things worse. 7's john coco joins us now in cambridge with more on the search for the suspect. >> after seeing what the man in the video did inside this church, you'll understand why police want him in cuffs. >> reporter: a creep in priest clothing. >> i would hesitate to guess what was going through his mind. >> reporter: breaking into the st. savvis serbian church back in late september around 3:00 in the morning. >> some concerning stuff

happened at that church in the middle of the morning. >> reporter: police say this mystery man is caught on security cameras in the church making his way through several places including behind this sacred wall, ending up wearing head to toe clergy robes, even pretending to run services. >> he kind of parades through the church a little bit. >> reporter: but he doesn't stop there. the man then disrobes, completely until he's naked, gets up on the church altar and commits what cambridge pd is calling a lewd act. for obvious reasons we aren't showing you that. >> it's a violation, and it's disturbing, it's gross. it's all the above. >> reporter: a horrible desecration in the eyes of anyone, but especially this church. >> they required us to call the bishop, have a special kong creation before we could have liturgy again. >> reporter: the next concern, the children of the parish. >> there's a person walking around to who is willing to do something like this. as a result, the church is upping their security and change the policies to make sure

the future. >> you just confused as to why somebody would do this. >> and they'd feel a lot better if he was caught. >> kind of turns your stomach. >> if you think you know who this is or can help came bridge police, you're asked to give them a call. john coco, 7news. police releasing more details made in a 1990 case that went cold. investigators hospital been able to find a killer until january when a dna sample matched up with a sample given by an inmate in boston. detectives say they reinterviewed witnesses and reviewed the aging case file until they had enough evidence to charge the man with the crime. >> i have never been more proud of my mother than i am right now. as i sit here ultimately fighting for her life. >> tearful testimony from family members just before a south boston man is sentenced for

stabbing and killing a 67-year-old woman. timothy coska will spend the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty on all charges last week. jennifer egan has the latest. >> reporter: it has been more than three years of pain for barbara quinn's family. >> i still pick up the phone every day to call her. >> reporter: the 67-year-old was killed in april of 2012. prosecutors say coska stabbed coin and stole lottery tickets and bought heroin with the money from cashing them in. >> i have never been more proud of my mother. >> reporter: barbara coin's son found her minutes later. >> she had enough sense to get enough of his dna under her fingernails so he could never harm another family again. >> coska's lawyer told the judge the 40-year-old was addicted to heroin after being prescribed opiates after an injury.

will be more out there who are addicted to heroin and have one goal in mind, to steal people's money. >> i know she would have helped you if you would have just asked her. >> reporter: but whatever motivated coska to kill does not matter to her family. >> he does not belong in society. he is far too dangerous to everyone. >> reporter: and coska will be spending the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. in boston, jennifer egan, 7news. >> officials believe they have new clues to trap down el chapo, a little intercepted phone conversations indicating he was hiding on a ranch in the sear area madre mountains. sources tell nbc news mechanics panama reins raided the area and found cell phones and clothing they think may have been his. at one point they thought they had him surrounded but he wasn't there. chapo escaped from a maximum security prison in mexico three months ago. a security camera in his cell

in the shower area into a mile long tunnel. nearly two dozen former prison officials and a pilot have all been arrested accused of helping him escape. >> a messy move sparking an internal investigation in a baltimore police department. this after cell phone video shows what appears to be an officer spitting on a nan man in handcuffs. >> reporter: incident happened monday night in baltimore. according to witnesses, officers ordered seferld people to move off the steps of a building. they tased and handcuffed a man who argued with an officer and then the officer is seen on video doing this. >> reporter: bystanders reacted, tension escalated. another officer could be seen with the taser telling people to move back. baltimore's interim police commissioner says the whole encounter is now under investigation acknowledge that

spit on the man after his arrest. >> and his body and his head moved forward in a manner that suggest he may have actually spit on the handcuffed arrested person. i think any reasonable person can look at the video last night and come away with some serious concerns. >> this isn't being reviewed or looked at this isn't being glanced at but a full-blown internal investigation. >> reporter: the interim commissioner says he can't imagine what could explain that behavior. >> i can't in spite of my best efforts rationalize this behavior. i think human beings when under stress, whether you're in law enforcement or not, tend to act outside themselves. >> did they appear to be under stress last night? >> i can't really describe what depicts someone under stress.

it's not always outwardly exhibited. >> the accused officer has been suspended during the department's internal investigation. >> taking a look across country as a detroit woman is facing charges after allegedly shooting at shoplifters. surveillance videos shows the suspect leaving with stolen products. rodriguez's attorney says she was trying to scare them, not kill them. she's now facing a charge of reckless discharge of a weapon and her attorney claims she was trying to do the right thing. spur of the moment and sometimes people try to do the right things that isn't the right thing. >> don't get autumn in situations that are life-threatening. >> the suspects were both arrested. well, a store is without an atm. police say the minivan slammed into the store and a suspect started to break in. after he broke down the doors, another suspect helps him lift

the atm into the van. police don't think this was the suspect's first try at this. investigators say the two suspects tried to do the same crime in cleveland but couldn't break free the atm. >> a man was completely covered in brown muck after getting stuck. he didn't have any serious injuries. after being checked out firefighters decided to hose him down, clean them off a little bit. officials say the man has no idea how he got into the underground storm system in the first place. jerusalem is dealing with palestinian attacks against israelis. police are restricting access to palestinian neighborhoods. city cameras captured a man running towards one of the checkpoints and israeli police say he was armed with a knife and tried to stab a guard when officers opened fire killing him. this comes after several other

days. >> recently a vatican official admitted he was may but resigned after criticism by the church and a group of conservative cardinals wrote to the pope with serious concerns about how the church is being run. >> a family feud in connecticut after a woman sues her 12-year-old nephew for his hardy hug. it stems from the boy's birthday party and the woman says her hug broke his wrist. adam williams has the story. >> somewhere jennifer, why did she holiday? her complaint that he caused her to fall by knocking her to the ground, resulting in severe personal injuries including a fracture requiring surgery connell said on the stand that her nephew was excited to see her when she got to his house and when he leapt up into her

arms he knocked her to the ground. she still wears an arm cast but the jury unanimously refused to award her a single cent. >> it took the jury less than 30 minutes to clear the 12-year-old of any wrong-doing. he still lives in this westport home with his father and neither was in the courtroom when the verdict came down in their favor and against the boy's aunt. >> kirk and his wife live next door to the boy and his father. >> he's 12, very independent, a good kid. >> reporter: a kid who won this family feud against his 53-year-old aunt. >> i'm adam williams, 7news. customers at a california walmart getting quite the fight. the race to put out the flames when the store's halloween section is set on fire. >> and new at 6:00, we're following several breaking stories including a south ridge

teacher accused of giving obscene material to a minor. the 21-year-old teacher now behind bars. and sky 7 over a gas explosion in medfield, it's happened on south and phillips street. homes in this area have been evacuated as you can see. it looks like the fire has been put out, we'll bring you the very latest when we return. since 1961, pearle vision has provided the neighborhood with expert eye care.

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dismz chaos by the california walmart, flames burning children's costumes hanging off the shelves in walmart. right now a man is in custody. >> police say walmart may be one of several locations the man set fires. in this cell phone video walmart employees try to get flames under control after police say a 40-year-old man used a two quart bottle of character cote coal lighting fluid to set children's halloween costumes on fire. >> it is scary.

it's ridiculous at the same time. >> reporter: associates were able to get the fire under control with an extinguisher. there was so much smoke the store was evacuated and closed for about four hours. security managed to apprehend the suspect and hold him until police got to the scene. s police are looking into whether he is linked to other crimes in the area. >> no customers or employees inside that store were hurt during the fire. in the newsroom, 7news. >> our forecast changing up a little bit. it's cooling down and waiting for that weekend blast of chilly air. that's ahead. >> then at 6:00, deflating the source, what brady says about the team's much anticipated

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so the. >> covering near normal over the next couple of days. our temperatures slide a little bit but you know we're going back to normal, upper 60s today. forecast coming up. we see the numbers fall to the head of the charles now. 64 in lawrence, 66 in boston, 57 in worcester, these numbers aren't bad but these may be a little cool in the morning, although, we expect that and almost mid-october now. 38 in nashua, 37 in fitchburg, 39 in framingham, 49 in boston and 46 in brockton. i get these emails a lot. people say you know what, the car thermometer said 36 or 37. but i saw frost on the ground. there is a big difference from where we take the temperature at weather stations and in general. 5 feet, 3 feet, 4 feet above the surface where the temperatures may be 33, 36, and the

level on the lawn on cold surfaces and dense tops, stuff like that, the temperature actually rised a little bit with height in the first couple of feet. it's amaidsing and doesn't even sound right but it happens. that's why the car thermometers and the outdoor thermometers read more than what we see on the surface, on the grounds, on the lawn. anyway, just thought you'd like that little sidebar. clouds, how about them. we saw them today, front passing by with a little fanfare, it was a sprinkle or two out through western mass and that was it. other than that, we won't really know if the cool front passes until we get to tomorrow morning, and tomorrow in general, where our temperatures make it into the low 60s, generally around 60, although, in the upper 50s out through worcester. shrewsbury, that might be pushing it at 61. 64 in wellesey. 63 in brockton, 62 in new bedford, 60 in barnstable. tomorrow is a cooler day all

but friday with a little bit warmer start, in the 40s and maybe near 50, we should be able to crack 60 in many spots. there might be a couple of morning sprinkles, otherwise the day is what you see here. partly sunny. sunshine and clouds. so we started the month off chilly. we're actually 4 degrees below normal. a little over 4 degrees below normal but the last four days have been warm enough to bring success close to normal for the month. >> much colder by the weekend as you see that average slip a little bit more. >> a little warmer on friday and fall on saturday and then we just can't get out of our own way. we just keep falling down. on sunday, about 48, and then 50 on monday. next week, a warm-up, getting closer to normal. see you at 6:00. >> good evening, everybody. i'm adam williams. we are following breaking news coming up at 6:00, first, a gas

sending flames 30 feet into the air. as you can see here, we're live on the scene bringing you up to date. and a school district taking action after a teacher was arrested and charged with sending obscene photos of himself to a teenager. >> and the patriots getting ready for a big game. new england ready for a rematch against the colts. the very team that led to the deflate gate scandal. we have team 7 coverage live from gillette stadium, and some very interesting sound bites from tom brady. those stories and a lot more. kim khazei and i will be here

is. bristol palin announces she's having a second child. >> she's having a baby girl. the daughter of sarah palin announced on ?abt gram saying she is seven and a half months pregnant. she already has a 6-year-old son. and there's another 30 minutes of 7news ahead. >> 7news at 6:00 start right now. >> flames shooting into the air after a gas main explosion in medfield, homes and playing fields evacuated. and rows shot down. and a teacher accused of sending obscene photos of himself to a student. who tipped off police. and the patriots ready to tackle the team that kicked off deflate gate scandal.

pressed by 7news. highs in the upper 60s. a front passing through and now we see the temperatures start their downward trend. >> and massachusetts grad student buys the most popular web site in the world. how much he paid and what happened next. 7news at 6:00 starts now. >> and we begin with breaking news at 6:00. partnership that shooting 30 feet into the air after a gas main explodes in medfield. roads reclosed right now, and people have been forced out of their homes. >> looks pretty scary there, but so far no injuries have been reported. susan tran is live in medfield with the breaking details for us at 6:00. susan. >> and adam, we just got word that families have been allowed to go back into their home. they were quickly evacuated this afternoon. we also know that crews are now working on the two inch main that broke earlier this afternoon. now, take a look, as you can see, what -- families came out to this afternoon in medfield, flames, as you were saying, 30 feet up into the air, so high it