last year there are a lot of second guessers. some communities are hard hit feel they are under siege. scene of shootings including that of a mother, the residents are scathed. >> it's too much. this is cropped compare. people need to get god in their life or something. >> it may be self-inflicted. >> mayor bowser and chief lanier held the third anticrime appearance this week announcing they are raising reward on the tips from illegal guns from $1,000 a gun to $2,500. >> we will step up to the plate. we will find the money and we will add to the reward. >> we looked at the d.c. homicides before and after the baltimore riots. in the month before there were 32. lower than the same point last year when there were 37. after a 90-day period since the riot. d.c. homicide are 61 compared

to 7 last year. >> this has affected us. they are he -- hesitant to get involved. >> the union criticized a chief for getting rid of the seuss unit known as jump-out. >> i think they were excellent. they have thousands of the guns and the drugs off the street. >> a lot of support in the neighborhood. >> i would love to sea the jump-out. it kept a lot of stuff fro happening. >> the chief said the program is working. she announced a case and 26-year-old carter was arrested for the murder of melvin woodlands. at the conditiondy rec center, the fines, or the rewards are going from 1,000 to $2,500 for persons with illegal gun.

currently it's $25,000 for help to solve a homicide. in the cases where the victim doesn't die, they have a new reward program, $10,000 for help finding the shooter or the stabber in the nonfatal incidents. leon: the victim of one of yesterday's murders voiced concerns for herself and the children hours before being shot to death. a friend of hers tells abc7 the young mother told her the day before she feared for her children. hours later an argument between the 12-year-old son and a 17-year-old neighbor ended in gunfire. >> a vigil is planned for 6:30 tonight near the scene. new at 6:00, the d.c. police asking for your help finding back. they released an image of a minivan. they believe it may be the

get-away vehicle used after someone gunned down jenkins outside of st. luke's catholic church in southeast washington. this happen around noon near the intersection of 49 and east capitol street. they are offering up to $25,000 reward for the information leading to an arrest. "7 on your side" fighting to get you answers. count on us to continue asking tough questions as they work to find a way to stop the violence. ambulance called to a courthouse after a former fairfax county police officer accused of killing an unarmed man collapses in front of a judge.

wooton high school, word spread that the principal died. his death is the latest blow of a harsh summer full of blows for that school. jay korff live with how the community is responding. this is a tough one. jay: awful. students, members, staff members and the graduates i spoke to are expressing the devastation and their shock after hearing about the unexpected death of the beloved principal here at wooton high, dr. michael doran. the school officials say the principal here for 12 years was found unresponsive in his bethesda apartment earlier today and pronounced dead short time later. all afternoon people have been coming here to put keepsakes on his parking spot. this is an awful summer for the wooton community. in uptwo students were killed in a car accident.

even we spoke with today is echoing the sentiment of the school system. today say he had unwavering commitment to the students. >> that is all anybody can talk about. we are devastated as a community. >> he wasn't just a principal. people thought of him as someone who cared about him. it's nice to go through high school knowing someone is interested in your well being as much as you are. leon: tough times for the wooton community. we wish them the very best. jay korff reporting live. turning to the weather. change is underway outside. tomorrow morning we should see more. steve? >> we have changes on the way in terms of a cold front that is going to move through the day tomorrow evening.

looking at doppler now it's dry inside the capital beltway. if you are watching us in warrenton you have the heavier shower activity and lightning. nothing severe. the temperatures are on the hot side. moving through the evening, we fall in the 70's. some areas see 20's north and west of the district. coming up we will looping at the full forecast and the weekend outlook from the belfort furniture weather center. leon: the head of president obama's drug policy spoke at a drug core graduation at spearer court today. they praised the six graduates for turning their lives around. in drug court participants get treatment and other service designed to keep them sober. they track the progress of those participating and make sure they attend meetings and pass the random drug screenings. they all graduated today. ahead at 6:00, a possible

panda pregnancy. what an ultra sound shows and how soon you could see a new cub at the national zoo. >> we talk with a firefighter standing behind the epicenter of the barn explosion in southern maryland. the mother shares a story of the day her son met batman. local hero is laid to rest. that is next at "abc7 news at 6:00".

leon: sneerly a thousand people packed in a synagogue to bid farewell to a superhero. lenny robinson the route 9 batman died after being hit by a car. many of the children and the parents had him cheer up as he visited the hospitals as the caped crusader. >> it is different to know the person. he was a true superhero and batman. he is survived by three sons. leon: donald trump six points behind hillary clinton in a new cnn poll. it comes out after she is facing question about the use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state.

the f.b.i. looking whether or not the data was secure. >> the f.b.i. has a particular heavy due duty set of tools that will let them go in and recover or see what used to be on the server. leon: clinton voluntarily turned the server over to the f.b.i. last week. just completed poll in north carolina shows donald trump leading hillary clinton in a possible presidential matchup. that is not the part grabbing attention. but the third party on the poll. dees nuts. really. a candidate registered as an independent in iowa has a legal name of dees nuts. he is pulling 9% of the vote in north carolina. he is also approaching the double digit on the polls in

minnesota and iowa. you can learn more about him right now on wjla.com. coming up next at 6:00. a barn explodes in an instant and what caused that and what the firefighter at the base of the explosion is saving about it tonight. we are tracking rain in the area. a lot more of it on the way. the timing of all that in weather. robert: all right. i'm robert burton. coming up in sports can the redskins stay healthy? what got in into the nats last night, they liked it. that and more when "abc7 news at 6:00"

>> this just now coming in. we are hearing from the mother of a man killed in a prince george's county hotel two years ago. within the hour, jurors found deandre weems guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old jessie chavez. chavez was shot at the clarion hotel in october of 2013 trying to protect a pregnant employee. his mother spoke to abc7 moments after the verdict was announced. >> i'm still hurting.

the loss of my son was really, really big. emotions are trummabling. i'm not sure whether to be happy or sad. i'm not sure yet. leon: two other men will go on trial for what prosecutors say were the role in the crime next month. caught on video tonight, a barn explodes in flames in southern maryland that send bystanders fleeing for cover. maryland bureau chief brad bell spoke to firefighters at the heart of it and has more on what they are saying about what caused the explosion. that was a heck of a thing, brad. brad: tremendous! this firefighter was steps away from where the explosion emanated. a couple hours ago i said what will you do when the call comes in?

he said i'll ride. fire truck rolled. when you see the video this is amazing case of a jump right back in the saddle. look at the firefighters video. the fire is blazing but manageable. then it happened. fuel tank blows. the video again. >> this is something that you don't deal with every day. >> they immediately think of the firefighters and he knows one of them was right at the tank with a hose trying to keep it cool. then comes the radio call. listen. >> fire. firefighters are okay. >> no injuries. in fact today the firefighter at the base of the explosion can tell the story. >> based on the bright red sudden explosion, not sure of the conditions. >> he knows he was saved by his gear and the fact that the

explosion went up and over his head. he said there is something else. >> i think i had angel on my shoulder. point blank, period. i was watched over. >> tonight from the news chopper 7 you can see the amish barn is gone but the neighbors gathered to clear the rubble and plan a barn raising. in the firehouses across the region the video is watched again and again, reminder of what they do. >> firefighter anywhere across the world. dark smoky home. they don't know what they are getting into. >> another example of the resilience after the explosion, the amish don't welcome cameras to the property but we are told a new barn will be raised in a couple of days. in waldorf, brad bell, abc7 news. leon: good stuff. we are on cub watch. the zoo sent out the ultrasound image.

this is a cub fee cuss we are told. a live look at king king from the panda cam -- ching ching from -- mei xiang from the panda cam. we will keep you posted. nice to see the little panda, hear pitter patter of baby panda. steve: get a text alert. it's hot and humid. moving through tomorrow the stronger cold front. outside we go. we have sun right now. if you have planned outside. grab an umbrella to stay on the dry side. others will have heavier downpour. 27 at the airport. the heat index in the lower 90's. the highs above 90.

86 is the average. 98 is the record. note the record highs going down moving to the end of august. with the daylight hours sunset at 7:58. it's near 90 in fredericksburg. cooler to the north and the west of us, especially where they have had showers in the afternoon. feels like 88 in lexington park, maryland. it is dry inside the beltway. so no problem in silver springs. we head toward the south and the west, showers and an embedded thunderstorm around warrenton, new baltimore but nothing that is expected to become severe moving through the evening hours. we have a shower in between so

if you are looking west, that is what you look at. the lightning is prolific, especially across western maryland. it's warm and muggy. winds from the southeast at five to ten. the thunderstorms will come to an end. the cold front that is going try to slide through tomorrow that will give us a better chance for widespread shower and thunderstorms. stall off the coast. more sunshine in the forecast. not as humid out there with the temperatures that will make it to the middle 80's. tomorrow is 85 by noontime. the upper 80's by the drive home. showers and the thunderstorms will develop wth the likely area of heavier rain and gusty winds. 87 on friday. beautiful weekend ahead.

robert: the nats woke up last night. hopefully they won't fall back asleep. hopefully the redskins stay healthy tomorrow night. we will preview sfx: music throughout ♪ sfx: crowd cheering sfx: crowd booing ♪ sfx: crowd chanting

sfx: crowd cheering music stops sc johnson, a family company.

now the toyota sports desk brought to you by the local toyota dealer. robert: the preseason schedule continues for the redskins.

hosting the lions at fedex. kickoff for 7:30. they have had time to work out the kings from last season's preseason game against the browns. the goal for tomorrow is avoid injuries. we saw paul go down for the season. this is rgiii. >> we want to get in healthy. last game we had injuries. those are devastating for us, for the season, for team. those are our brothers. we want to get in and get out, put together a good drive. >> we'll see. the quest for an agreement with tom brady and the nfl continue. the attorneys for both were back in the courtroom today. tom brady was not. this is video of tom at practice today. an agreement still hasn't been reached. the judge ordered tom brady and goodell back to court on august 31 if a decision is not reached by then. whatever the nats did before

the game last night they should do it every night. here is why. they snapped a six-game losing streak after beating the rockies 15-6. the nats cracked 15 hits. can the momentum stay? we hope so. stephen strasburg is on the mound against the rockies. a final note according to the vegas odds on which nfl coach would be fired first, you might not believe who topped the list. jay gruden. yikes! leon: whoa! robert: yeah, not good news. steve: showers and storms west of d.c. seven-day outlook. cold front for the evening to tomorrow night. look at the weekend. saturday and sunday, talk about 86 of to 87. lower humidity. it will feel great here and on the beaches. leon: that is it for user. "world news tonight" with david muir up next. see you at 11:00.

have a good evening.

tonight, the gas explosion. the search for the missing today. first, the natural gas fears, then the sudden blast. more than 60 people and their split-second escape. we're on the scene. and we have seen several of these explosions in recent months. donald trump and his tough new words on undocumented immigrants and their children born here. are they really u.s. citizens? two giant sinkholes tonight. the earth opening, right where a home was swallowed before. the homeowner never found. new aerials coming in tonight. and a major interstate, shut down, too. extreme weather tonight. after multiple tornadoes, baseball fans running for cover. travelers trapped. millions now in the path tonight. and, who wants to be a millionaire? $4.5 million, found in just two feet of water off a popular american beach. is there more sitting right there tonight?