weather team and doug hill anytime. you can stream all of our newscasts and get live weather update on all mobile platforms as well as facebook and twitter. all you need is a wireless connection. developing this afternoon out of northeast washington, we are learning more about a deadly confrontation involving a d.c. police officer. jonathan: he opened fire on a man who pulled a gun. d.c. police tell abc7 news it turned out that the gun with a b.b. gun. d.c. bureau chief sam ford is in northeast with the investigation that is ongoing. it's a scary situation when you pull any kind of gun. sam? sam: that is true, jonathan. they did not know until after it was all over. this is the third police-involved shooting in this community of clay terrace since august. there were two in which police shot people who were wielding knives. in this case, it was a gun but it turned out to be a b.b. gun. it was around 2:15 this morning. police say an officer noticed a man acting suspiciously and attempted to make contact when

the man started running. when the man slip and fell, a pistol fell out of his pocket. he was trying to pick it up. the officer told him to stop trying to get the gun. the man did not comply. and the officer fired one round. >> we did recover that firearm, frm which i understand this morning has been determined to be a replica of a semi-automatic handgun, but a replica b.b. gun. sam: the man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. police say they have released no name because they have yet to positively identify the man. and again, as we said this is the third shooting here. in august, a knife-wielding woman was shot and wounded by police. in november, a man who allegedly confronted a police officer with a hunting knife was shot and killed. we will have more on this story coming up on "abc7 news

at 5:00". reporting live from northeast washington, sam ford, abc7 news. back to you, jonathan and michelle. michelle: police are looking for two people, one who stab and killed one. powell of riverdale, maryland, died after being stabbed at barcode last night. a second person survived. barcode is closed while the investigation continues. searching for justice in the murder of a 13-year-old girl. two virginia tech college students faced a judge today both accused in connection with the girl's death. megan hughes has the investigation. reporter: 18-year-old virginia tech engineering student david eisenhauer appeared in court today, charged with the premeditated murder of 13-year-old nicole lovell. police haven't said much about the motive. >> we have determined that eisenhauer and nicole were it wanted prior to her disappearance q were -- were

acquainted prior to her disappearance. reporter: natalie keepers, also arraigned today, facing charges of transporting or concealing a dead body. after police arrested eisenhauer for abduction, they found lovells body 80 miles away in north carolina. her family said she pushed a dresser up against the door and possibly climbed out of the wednesday on mother. lovell's mother told the "washington post" she was bullied at school. she was a liver transplant recipient. in court documents eisenhauer claimed, "i believe the truth can set me free." eisenhauer was a high school track star with big aspirations. his high school principal is shocked. >> a very pleasant young man. goal-driven. focused on the academics. also focused on running. reporter: eisenhauer's parents live in a quiet neighborhood.

they moved from washington state in the past few years. >> it's always surprising to hear something terrible like this. reporter: an outstanding question is how was lovell killed? court documents indicate a firearm was not used. megan hughes, abc7 news. jonathan: we have been learning more about the suspects in the case, david eisenhauer and natalie keepers, both from maryland. brad bell has been talking to people who knew them and he joins us now. brad: you got a taste of the reaction in the story we aired. in howard county, people who knew the two young people cannot believe it happened. this is where david eisenhauer graduated last spring. i want to show you video of him while he was here. he was renowned as a middle distance track athlete. state champion in indoor track. he was singled out for a special award from our sister station, wbff in baltimore, as a high school athlete of the

week. you heard the principal. the kid had a great reputation here. natalie keepers went to hammond high school in the laurel area. we talked to her principal today as well. she was telling us that the young lady was involved in drama and involved in the school's literary magazine. she wanted to be an engineer. she had goals. she had dreams. absolutely stunned. we knocked on doors in both neighborhoods today. no one home at the eisenhauer and the keepers houses. but neighbors in natalie keepers's -- in natalie keepers' neighborhood reacted this way. >> these people are model citizens. they are like i'm sure they are heart-broken. i'm sure they are shredded to tears. brad: when we come back at 5:00, we vehicle more on the story. you will hear eisenhauer describe himself in his own words, his goals, philosophy

of his sport. you will hear from the principal of both students. no one who knew them imagined they would be involved in this. michelle: a quick rehappen how fast it happened. lovell disappeared on wednesday. body found saturday. late irthat afternoon eisenhauer arrested and keepers taken in custody hours later, later on sunday morning. we're following this since it broke. see the reporting by logging on to wjla.com. jonathan: time is up for polling and stumping in iowa. this is it. the front runners are sanders sanders -- hillary clinton over bernie sanders. and donald trump over ted cruz. scott thuman is joining us. this is what we find out what

they think about the candidates. candidates are trying to be buddies. we find out what they think. scott: people say iowa only represents 1.5% of the country population. why do we put so much weight on this one saint as we kick off the election cycle? if history is any reason to do so, it's because no one finishes outside the top three since caucusing in the 1970's and get 2 nomination. the optics sometimes the fundraising will dry up quickly because the people giving money want to back a winning horse. caucusing begins in four hours. it's a lengthy process. you have discussions beforehand and we should results two hours after they start. jonathan: the other thing we get a glimpse of is the ground

game for each of the candidates, which we know is important. who has the best ground game going in iowa? scott: ted cruz on the republican side, he has a strong ground game. supposedly over 800 volunteers here who are putting in long hours and making sure that they have a presence in all 99 counties. donald trump has huge rally. popularity. on the republican side we see rising momentum behind marco rubio. hillary clinton has had an infrastructure here for a long time. she had a third place finish. she wasn't second. she was behind john edwards as well. bernie sanders has huge events

by the young voters. now it's whether it's a rally, concert and a celebrity there. will it translate to people going to caucus? that is the big question. once again this is committing not just walking in and out. jonathan: interesting to see what the results turn up. thank you. stay with abc7 and scott thuman in iowa. we will hear from him again this evening. as the results come in we will pass it along to you. this is the first step to the road in the white house. michelle: winner beware, though. only three winners in iowa have gone all the way to white house. jimmy carter in 1976. george w. bush followed by president obama. iowa is important but not a potential campaign-ender. jonathan: coming for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- scenes from across the country that will remind you of -- michelle: a health emergency on the same scale as ebola. the world health organization taking extraordinary measures when it comes to zika virus. update on the spread of the

virus some believe is responsible for severe birth defects. that is coming up. jonathan: plus, a d.c. teacher accused of touching one of the students in appropriately is acquitted. now he wants his job back. he opens up to us at abc7. we have it coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00".

michelle: rising concern about the spread of the mosquito-borne zika virus has health officials worried about the next step. jonathan: should it be a global health emergency? suzanne kennedy as the urgent alert. this is scary. zeus it is. the closed door meeting aimed to determine whether international efforts should be ramped up. this comes from college of william and mary. nicaragua the authorities are launching a fumigation program to rid neighborhood of the zika-carrying mosquitoes. seven people are confirmed with the virus in that country. w.h.o. looks to pom bat the disease and look at a severe

or fatal birth defects. there is no treatment or vaccine but there could be down the line. >> after review of the effort they confirm the other neurological complications that constitute extraordinary event. >> that answers whether they are ramping up. the w.h.o. estimates three to 4 million people will be invictimmed with the zika virus this year. live in the newsroom, michelle: teenager girls that ate fiber rich food reduced the risk of breast cancer when they got older. but most americans don't get the 25 to 3 grams of fiber

recommended. jonathan: traffic getting back to normal in silver springs. they spent all morning repairing an 88-year-old water main. i forced the closure near piney branch road. crews had replaced the pipe. they were repairing the street. look at the traffic situation. jamie sullivan is joining us. jamie: it's slow. and the wet roads don't help. look near 201. the inner loop and the outer loop are heavy. silver spring to georgia a to get to colesville road we see it on both sides. turn your headlights on, especially when it's raining. move to the maps to talk about an issue on 50. westbound. not outbound but inbound to 410, all lanes blocked with an

accident. traffic diverted to 410. moving to d.c., an issue that we have seen is the traffic lights flashing. trying to get it repaired. heading further north, the water main on university boulevard eastbound. near piney branching road. we have the two left lanes blocked. you can get by we are seeing slowing. that is in a good way. we encourage everyone to take it easy. water main street bonnivan is closed off as well. michelle: washington national cathedral looks different this week. episcopal church removed chairs for the concert as a seeing deeper program. they will host indoor light show. a drum circle and singers from the warble national opera. there are events every night at 7:00 and all are free.

jonathan: the snow break is over. blizzard 2016 is kind of a distant memory. for some students the pines or the piles of snow left behind is still causing problems. no kidding. a week now. michelle: i know. some neighborhoods the snow has blocked sidewalks. some of the schools were delayed by two hours today. tom roussey is at a school that was pushed back the opening. are they waiting for mother nature to do the melting? >> they did bring them back today. i was probably a good decision. they just left out the counties here. i'm outside an elementary school. somebody you may not be able to tell is the conditions have improved. mill run to my right. it is wet but it is clear.

as recently as yesterday the crews saw sidewalking covered in snow. the work continued today. that said we talk to parents and we said was it the right decision to have the kids off last week? vast majority said yes. but it was also right to bring them back to school today. >> two-hour delay they need to clean around the schools more than what they had last week. >> the weather is good. roads are fine. they had last week off. i'm not a fan of the two-hour delay today. >> bottom line in ashburn a lot of the sidewalks are now

perfectly clea you see less places cleared of snow further west to loudoun county. most parents are glad the kids are back in school. reporting live in loudoun county and ashburn, i'm tom roussey, abc7 news. jonathan: nice vacation. thanks. it will still be a while before the snow is gone. what a difference a week makes. check this out. this is a time lapse outside the studio. alex our photographer put it together. we started fimming on the 23rd. wednesday we have more coming along. right now we have a dead stuffed rodent. michelle: special guest. jonathan: you don't like

punxsutawney phil. doug: a friend of mine had a pet groundhog and it was his pet. i brought it to work to say i don't have any ans no my -- animosity toward the forecast. we'll see what he says tomorrow morning. this guy's name is west virginia bill. the numbers are 40's with 56 at 11:00 in fredericksburg. they turn cooler as the front and the rain moved through the area. we get through the night and the temperatures will fall more once the skies clear across the region. as far as the numbers go, they are not changing much in the next hour or two. the rain will get out of here and skies clear. i think we have a change of the weather pattern. slight concern overnight to 5:00 or 6:00, 7:00 in the

morning that "it" may be west of washington and could get below freezing. the water will refreeze in spots. more coming up along the southwest. most is out of the viewing area by 7:30 on 8:00 tonight. then a clearing trend. southern part of the system coming up around 7:00. tomorrow is a nice day. fair amount of sunshine. clouds. winds are northerly. if they go more to the northeast tomorrow we could get deck of clouds in here. rain-free day. can't say that about wednesday. huge tomorrow will cause us a blizzard for the northern and the central plains tonight and tomorrow. we will get high level winds overhead. they will bump in moisture.

mo flood watches out yet locally. a nice day tomorrow. 48 degrees. sunshine and clouds. wednesday is warmer. well in 60's. rain is heavy. rumble of thunder. clear and cooler for thursday and friday. through the weekend looks nice. the next chance of rain after wednesday is not until monday. michelle: i chatted with nick and he cosigns with the forecast. doug: glad he agrees. jonathan: the rodent on the desk and the next story is about golfing. "caddyshack." this is torrey pines. but never like this. yesterday, in la jolla they had horrible storms blow through. tearing out the trees like they were weeds by the root. in fact, they are acon tic to

the course. the storm was so bad they had to postpone the tournament ongoing. the final round of the farmers insurance playing right now. look at the size of the trees uprooted. michelle: up next at 4:00, the train was going twice the 50-mile-per-hour speed limit when it crashed last may. now we are learning more about the final moments of the deadly incident. what we found out in the more than 2,000 pages just released. jonathan: plus a big win for donald trump camp in virginia. the latest on the g.o.p. pledge in virginia when it comes to this year. moving f

michelle: well, we are learning more about the deadly derailment in philadelphia. several were killed when the train jumped the tracks. more than 200 were injured. today the ntsb released information it found so far in half a year of investigating. brianne carter is here with us now with the new information. brianne: they released more than 2,000 documents this an. this is part of the ongoing investigation into the deadly amtrak crash that killed eight and injured more than 200 on may 12. the documents include the transcripts from two interviews with the train engineer. brandon bostian told the investigators he has a foggy

memory. the last memory is passing the philadelphia station. the next thing he remembers is standing in the cab as the train derailed. he told the investigators i pushed the throttle forward to accelerate from 70 to 80. i don't remember anything from that point until after the train was in the curb. later in the ongoing interview he told the investigators, "i remember holding on to the controls tightly and feeling like okay, well, this is it. i'm going over." also released in the more than 2,000 pages today the phone records. the records show no call or text made, no data transferred on the phone either. no alcohol or drugs found in his system. he told investigators he wasn't feeling ill on the day. no issue with the tracks or trains discovered either. it is important to note that the information released today is just that. information gathered as an ongoing ntsb investigation and does not point to any cause or findings. we expect that the findings and the recommendations will

be released in the spring. back to you. jonathan: for more information log on to wjla.com. search "amtrak crash." you will find everything online. michelle: as the authorities were preparing to release information on last year's amtrak crash another problem on the same corridor. something hits the sala express from d.c. -- asla express from d.c. to new york city traveling through philadelphia. the object had enough force it cracked a window. 200 people on board at the time. up in were hurt. jonathan: coming up, confusion for virginians ready to vote in the super tuesday primary next month. back and the forth with the commonwealth g.o.p. over taking a pledge. we will explain it to you up next. >> did a child's lie end a óach every's career?

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. michelle: over the weekend in virginia change in the voting rules for the primary once again. virginia republican party backtracking on the pledge it wanted voters to take eliminating it. jonathan: the g.o.p. in the state had once come one a plan to withhold the ballot if you refused to say i'm a republican. but this is creating confusion as we get ready for super

tuesday, which is next month. northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg joining us with more on this one. it was confusing. jeff it's not done yet. vass primary on march 1 is an open primary. meaning anyone of any party can cast a ballot. the loyalty pledge was intended to ensure that people voting in the republican primary were republicans and not maybe democrats or independents causing mischief. last september, the state republican party approved a nine-word statement to sign. my signature below indicates i am a republican. in december g.o.p. front-runner donald trump blasted the pledge on twitter implying it would shut out independent voters e, a key portion of trump support. so the state party dropped the pledge this weekend saying it's not because of donald trump but because the democratic controlled state board of elections changed the language they wanted. trump campaign does not see it

that way. republicans said what is the purpose of the pledge. it doesn't make sense. >> they were never a reason for this. i want the most turn-out we could have. jeff: democrats are fuming. the state republican party blames them for the change in course. we have their strong reaction at 6:00. why this proposal to get rid of the pledge is not yet a done deal. until then life in the newsroom. michelle: thank you, jeff. i was thinking yes. i hadn't made it to the car wash. doug: rain could help. wednesday, the rain will definitely do it. this is melting off.

more melting will occur with the rain. tell you what to expect. there is a tenth of an inch in rain. not a lot more. temperatures low to mid-40's. doppler radar. fair amount of rain. north and east. more rain south and west along 81. overnight the clouds will become cloudy. the concern north and west of metro washington. rain moving through, there is still chemicals on the road. black ice.

black ice could be a possibly. so we are going to warm back up. 48 in sunshine. gusty winds and maybe a thunderstorm and 64 with a strong cold front to turn cooler. jonathan: a teacher trying to piece things back in better a of a life-altering accusation that he inappropriately touched a student. leroy ware was acquitted. as a trial came to a close the judge was critical of the d.c. schools and the police. so now ware is opening up. we have an interview you will see only here. >> a special ed teacher at this elementary school until a year ago. ware lost his job and spent a year awaiting trial and

underwent a two-week trial. in the end he was acquitted of all charges. it's what the judge said about the school system and the police investigation that left ware troubled. >> the judge acquitted me of the charges saying he didn't like the m.p.d. tactics and he thought it was concerning to the courts. >> you if he felt discovered -- i felt disgusted with the police department and the public schools. >> we are awaiting a response. he is also consulting an attorney about what the next option, the best option might be.

michelle: d.c. youngest rain victims need more people working to help them. that is the finding of a task force. the task force is calling for a confidential hotline that is focused on the 12 to 17-year-old sexual assault victims. the group wants ad vo cassy experts on hand-victims in the police interviews. they will present finding later this week. the authorities released 911 call to led to capture of one escapee. listen. >> he wants to turn himself into peacefully. >> not to be afraid. we appreciate him turning himself in. i need him to keep his hands up. jonathan: he did.

the other two arrested saturday in san francisco. all three back in the orange county jail. under tighter security. michelle: people in los angeles woke up to the sound of exploding propane tanks. no word what fired the fire at a commercial building that took the firefighters two hours to put out the flames. jonathan: massachusetts man is alive thanks to a nun that went out for a stroll. doug goldman cutting down a tree when one fell on top of him. he was yelling for help but nobody heard him and nobody came. a nun heard his cries and rushed to his side and called 911. >> we got him in time. jonathan: he was flown to a hospital where he was treated for lower leg injuries and hypothermia. he is in good condition and expected to recover.

that is a lucky break. michelle: breakthrough for chipotle. what the c.d.c. is saying about the e. coli outbreak. the good news for chipotle coming up jonathan. jonathan: surf fell from wave coming up jonathan. jonathan: surf fell from wave as tall as an apar

(elephant sound) there's a big difference between making n noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey y sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to ep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk.

jonathan: a professional surfer. he is lucky. see him coming off the wave. late to the wave. that is 40-feet in the air. tom knows how high it is. he fell right off the face of this. this happened over the weekend. fell 40 feet before crashing in the water. he said it felt like a car crash. do you think? they were taking advantage of the giant waves. that didn't get away. michelle: yeah. glad it's on video. 25 years ago she starred in a series of diet pepsi ads imploring us to think young. she still looks young. amazing. cindy crawford is ready to retire. she will stop modeling when

she turns 50 later this month. crawford has been modeling since she was 16. she plans to continue running her successful beauty, home and lifestyle empire. jonathan: she is one of those women that got better looking at she aged. michelle: effortless beauty. gorgeous. jonathan: still ahead for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- american airlines joins the rival when it comes to a rising airline trend. now usually that is followed by an oh, no. but this decision might make flying easier. we'll explain it to you. michelle: more than a dozen cars targeted. concerned residents and what might have started this up next at "abc7 news at 4:00".

michelle: around the district someone is targeting the neighbor's car. jonathan: 14 people reported the tires slashed in 4100 block of fourth street northwest. we look at what might have started the tire slashing spree. >> parked out here.

>> in 11 years that glen called fourth street northwest home he has never had to deal with anything like this. >> bad things happen to good people. >> last week, it came in the form of flattened tires. >> what are you going to do about it? it's senseless, idiotic. reporter: his car is sitting on a nearly $500 new tire parked in the spot where it happened. his wasn't alone. >> this is a neighbor's truck and her spare tire. >> the step mother only had the car for a few weeks when the tire was punctured. >> it's just so ignorant for someone to come pop everyone's tires. you must be ignorant to do that. reporter: people who live here say the cars that were hit are random. some have been fixed and others still have a doughnut. >> i thought i was saved. my tire didn't go flat for two days. then i saw it and i was like why?

the neighbors have their own theory. >> it was over a parking lot. reporter: parking spot that they say was dug out, marked off with the lawn chairs and snagged. >> they get mad and come up the street to puncture everyone's tires over parking. >> for people like this wadsworth this is a big cost for what he calls a senseless crime. >> it takes quite a bit to shock me. >> amy aubert, abc7 news. michelle: while you still can't check a bag for free, the three largest airlines are again offering one free perk. american airline is following united lead to return complementary snacks to flights by april. jonathan: southwest gives you free bags. michelle: pretzels for everyone. jonathan: the console outbreak linked to chipotle over according to the centers for disease control and prevention.

the c.d.c. says no one got sick in december. chipotle plans to close the 2,000 stores one week from today for the staff meetings on food safety. they have done it before. coming up for us at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- a new post floating around facebook for winning money for groceries. too good to be true. michelle: how the con artist are targeting the care-givers design to match you with the right person. jonathan: kids head back to school after a snow week. the lawmakers take the steps to change the school calendar. michelle: erin hawksworth is here with us now with an emotional story about a local high school coach. jonathan: this is the don shula award. i got to sit down with the

head bobble coach. >> they said are you sitting down? i said yes. >> $15,000 will go too the football program and the over $10,000 he keeps for himself. he is going to put it in his boy's college fund. after his wife goes shopping for a new wardrobe for the super bowl. they get to go on the red carpet. the full story is tonight at 5:50. jonathan: shopping and college football. one or the other. congratulations. >> in terms of the weather we don't mind the rain. >> if we get too much rain it could be an issue on wednesday. but not tonight. look at the temperatures. cooler than at lunchtime.

the cold front has been companynied by the area of rain. that will move northeast. the forecast, rain will come to an end. we will get the clearing overnight. winds return to north to bring us drier cooler air. 28 to 39 degrees. any areas below freezing could see refreeze. the rain is moving out. back pressure behind it. clear skies by morning. a few clouds and temperatures in the upper 40's. the clouds will come in late tomorrow night. wednesday the system we will keep an eye on. a lot of moisture with the upper level winds.

a change in the weather pattern. rainfall is an inch in the pattern. more to the north. more melting. showers and the thunderstorms. thursday and friday are cooler. the weekend is great. sunshine and the temperatures are climbing close to 50 series. rain affecting traffic? jamie: it is. it has been. you can see on the inner and the outer loop flowing. i lot to see the headlights on. it will help us prevent the accidents. we have the volume. there is a crash reported. will is a crash on 50

westbound. this is an overturned. we sam for water main break in silver spring. the first is the one from yesterday. the left turn lane is blocked. there is another issue with the silver spring. bofavin is closed off. that is a side street. it's not bad getting around this. back to you. michelle: you can't avoid the tax filing commercial. the w2 on the way if you don't have it already. with the tax season comes the scam. the top three yo

john: hoping for a tax refund this year? you may want to file as soon as possible and not wait. we have a warning about the three big tax scams that could trap you this year. to start a tax filing season is the start of tax scam season. for 2016, the scams are expected to be worse than ever. last year kathy loman fell victim to scam number one. number one filed under her social security number and ze had to prove who she was. >> someone with your social security number has filed so therefore you have filed. >> i.r.s. spokesperson jennifer jenkins tells me file early. before a scammer tries filing under your name. >> you are increasing your chance with the delayed filing they may step in and file tax return. >> number two is scaring a lot of people. e-mail from the iris or appears to come from the i.r.s. it says click here for the

latest on tax refund but it's a phishing scam to tale the social security number. >> i.r.s. does not contact by e-mail. >> scam number three, the i.r.s. phone scam. >> gave me a name and stated he was from the u.s. >> if you get call as thousands have, hang up. file as soon as possible and have all the w2's and 1099's before you do. so you don't have to have a correction later and you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese, abc7 news. >> blackest day of their lives. alison: a missing 7th grader found murdered. the suspects are two virginia tech students from maryland. now three families ask why? a local teacher struggling to clear his name and find work

after false accusation. >> did a child's lie end his career? a "7 on your side" consumer alert for care-givenners and families. why the family in need may not be what it seems. >> now "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. alison: tonight the two teenagers from maryland are behind bars in virginia accused of kidnapping and killing a 13-year-old girl. what police though, aren't saying tonight why those accused virginia tech students would kill the seventh grader from blacksburg and dump her body over the body over the border in carolina. we have team coverage tonight. start with suzanne kennedy in the newsroom. suzanne: the pair was in court today. start with the 18-year-old david eisenhauer. he was arraigned on two charges. first degree murder and abduction the death of 13-year-old nicole lovell. a search warrant shows a gun

was not the murder weapon. autopsy is conducted to determine how the teen died. 19-year-old natalie keepers was also arraigned today. she is charged with the improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact. both are held without bond. they are eng nearing students at virginia tech. a search was conducted on the pond at the virginia tech campus. no word if any evidence was uncovered. both will be back in court. leon: david eisenhauer and natalie keepers are both from maryland, columbia and laurel. neither had any criminal record prior to the arraignment. >> this is where david eisenhauer went to work. we knocked on the doors