unlike now the area had little street lighting. >> he grabbed her by her waist, pull her off the sidewalk in the area by the parkway. richard: he covered her mouth and put her hands down her shorts. she was able to break free. >> we are in a city. sometimes we forget it. it's a beautiful paths we can take. but we have to remember to be vigilant for our fellow sits and ourselves. richard: authorities see this as a cautionary tale. they urge women to avoid walking alone. >> i think it can happen anywhere. usually walk places with friends. or make sure that people know where we are going. if we are going to be on foot, walk with somebody else if possible. let someone know where they are going or when to expect you back. >> really good advice there. the woman got out of this with scratches and bruises. police are urging women to be careful. esci

in arlington, richard reeve, abc7 news. michelle: police are investigating three deadly incidents in prince george's. brad bell is live in palma park where police gave update a few hours ago. >> this is the police headquarters. this is where the homicide detectives work. three deadly shootings over the weekend. two are murders. as you said, police are releasing new information they hope can catch a killer. >> good morning. >> he was just a guest on "good morning washington" singing, daptioning with our -- dancing with our julie wright. his stage name d.j. swipey. dougie brooks to his family. >> he was a happy

a whole hearted person. brad: he was believed by many to be on his way. signed with a manager. opening for bigger acts. an 189-year-old with a future. >> the investigation revealed that mr. brooks was standing in the apartment lot of an apartment complex with the subjects, the males approached him and began shooting in his direction. they below the man with the distinctive backpack murdered clinton 7-eleven clerk taiwo oduwole in a friday morning robbery. the same suspect robbing a nearby hotel.

the robber took no money. >> we showed you that video. it's distinctive. the suspect had a back pack like this. not separate. but integral to the jacket. built in the jacket. very unusual. you don't see many of them. we mentioned there were three fatal shootings over the weekend. the third involved a 22-year-old in upper marlboro. brad bell, abc7 news. leon: thank you. find out when crime happens in your neighborhood. spot crime map. >> fire crews are looking for the hot spots.

building was safe to enter. leon: ralph lauren and speedo companies are no longer going to sponsor ryan lochte after a drunken incident in rio where lochte described an armed robbery happening to him. alison: a bunch of thieves broke in and loaded up on goods and didn't know what to do. >> they grabbed bikes and hauled away thousands of rides.

the bicycle space for some reason they dumped the bikes. >> they are not smart and doing drugs they might forget. >> as in forgot what are we going to do now that we have bicycles out of the store. >> which is stupid. they are considered the stupidest thieves. i don't make no sense. >> take them around the corner and leave them. >> today bicycle space has a temporary door and the manager is pondering what went down here early sunday morning. >> maybe they ran out of time. or they tried to bite off more than they could chew. brad: once they got the bikes out of the store they didn't know what to do next. >> dumb thieves. stephen: they got the bicycles back at the bicycle space. stephen tschida, abc7

michelle: perfect day for a bike ride or anything you can think of outside. leon: use your imagination. he is using map and radar, but doug, are we done with the heatwave for the summer? 401(k) i can't say that. matter of fact we will -- by the summer? doug: i can't say that. but any long heat wave, i don't see a sign of that. we have had 10-degree days before in september but right now i think we are in good shape. looking live! 81 in baltimore. 58 in the nation capital. the all-important dew point temperatures tell us how dry the area is. dew point in the 50's. temperatures in the 80's. that is comfortable and a rare sights. experience in the month of august. as far as the temperature goes in the morning be in the 50's. the mid-to-upper 50's in outlying areas.

day. we will have the timing and lay out the next seven days to see when the heat and the humidity returns. in the meantime, enjoy every minute of it. leon: it sounds like a plan. thank you, doug. developing now, the obama administration cannot cut off funding to the school districts that do not follow the guideline on the treatment of transgender students. federal judge in texas blocked the directive pending review by a higher court and possible appeals. 13 different states were challenging the directive which ordered the transgender students must be allowed to use the bathrooms of their choice. michelle: more than 48,000 kids went back to school in the district today. i was the grand opening for ron brown college preparatory school. the first all-boys high school in the city. the school will only have a freshman class this year. in addition to the district, kids went back to school in berkeley and morgan county in west virginia. in maryland, anne arundel students one, six, and nine

back today. leon: as you know, the kids in the frederick county were excited to get back to school today. amy aubert explains this year one group made their first day there extra special for some students in need. >> for students in frederick county, 'tis the season for school buses, backpacks and books. >> you felt when you put the backpack on this morning you were ready. you know? ready for school. ready to go to the school year on a positive note. amy: a week before 2 frederick county big day, they got to work. facebook post about helping a couple of students in need grew quickly. >> just did a domino effect. everybody started to say she said well, let's get snacks for the kids as well. can anybody donate? it just had a domino effect. >> we say it takes a village to raise your children and to look out for them. we kind of want to get

>> the group says around 50 kids came out sunday. getting new supplies. clothes and shoes. not far away a salon opening their doors to give the kids a new style for the big day. >> even wanted to give, give, give. everything was free. they gave from the heart. it made me feel good. >> news release from frederick county public schools calls the first day outstanding! >> don't under estimate the power of a village. community rallying around the kids. making the first day one for the books. amy aubert, abc7 news. leon: prince george's county held an orientation and transition day for six, seventh and ninth grade students today. but the school doesn't officially open for everybody until tomorrow. alison: be sure to share your back-to-school pictures with abc7. these are from viewers like you. update them to burst.com/wjla. leon: coming up at

>> her vision is bad and her hearing. her growth. she has failure to thrive. leon: the length the father is willing to go to save his daughter's life. >> later, want to save money before the next big purchase? "7 on your side" to help you be a smart shopper. >> sports are up. lock on the door at the medical center close to the silver spring explosion. i'm cheryl conner. coming up we will tell you what happened and how patients are affected. >> but first, new information from the said side i -- from the "7 on your side" about what was happening at the

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michelle: "7 on your side" tonight as the i-team investigates reports of gas in the silver spring apartment building two and a half weeks before this explosion that killed seven people. >> you said you smelled gas. like is it natural gas or gasoline? >> natural gas, i think. first it was just me and my sister just ran out and came back but they smelled the same thing. michelle: you heard part of a 911 call.

placed july 25 from the flower branch apartments. the deadly explosion was on august 11. i-team investigator scott taylor digging into what happened when firefighters responded. we'll have more at 6:00. leon: it turns out that the victims of that silver spring fire are seeing more damage near the homes now. the medical center that treated them following the explosion is now temporarily closed after a car went through the front windows there. cheryl conner tells us about the impact on the patients. cheryl: it's another hit for the victims of the silver spring apartment explosion. the mary center on flower avenue which treated them for injuries had a car come through the front windows on sundays. >> there was a vehicle in the waiting room. cheryl: no one was inside and no injuries were reported. chris is the nurse manager at the location. >> some of the vaccine we transfer is on the bottom tier. >> the vaccines have t

they were relocated because the power was knocked out. people next door heard it. >> i heard a crunching sound. cheryl: a sign on the door points them to another location down the road. >> i have to take the bus now. cheryl: the center treating underserved community will have to cram more patients to another facility. these are some of the same people who suffered from breathing conditions and needed coup selling following the fire. >> it has been difficult. it's a challenge that we have had to adapt to again. >> it will take a week to make repairs. the lock will be removed from the front door. patients will be allowed back at the flower avenue location. in silver spring, cheryl conner, abc7 news. leon: some people crave sweets. some save coffee to make them feel better. for a man in india his weird craving sent him to surgery. surgeons spent five

man's stomach. the surgeon said the patient developed a taste for metal. he said he liked how the blades tasted. they believe he could be suffering from a medical disorder and referred him to a psychiatrist. michelle: that is scary. a father in california repairing for a surge -- preparing for a surgery of his own, one he hopes will save his daughter's life. 9-year-old billie has a ware disease that affects how her kidney function and it affects the other organs. her father is willing to give up his kidney so she can live like a normal child. >> there are a lot of things, small things that it affects. to a 9-year-old is big. >> she doesn't run, she don't get to play. her body don't have the muscular tone a normal 9-year-old does. michelle: the on problem with her father taking part in the surgery is he is the family's

so the procedure will keep him from working up to six weeks. leon: well. michelle: tough decision. leon: no doubt family or friends will pitch in and help out. michelle: absolutely. sure hope so. doug: go fund me page will help, i bet. that is a way to start. leon: by the way, you're welcome. i brought the weather back. michelle: from vancouver. doug: i appreciate that. it's delightful for a couple of days. we are on track to be the warmest august on record in washington. so even a break for a couple of days is a bonus in my book. i will get hot and humid by the end of the week but it will be delightful and it's terrific now. welcome back. let's get started. working on a monday for you. give you time lapse from the weather bug camera at the science center in maryland. crystal clear skies. were you here yesterday an for the cold front? leon: i was. i was outside when it came through. michelle: oh, no! all that rain. doug: ugly skies and a lot of rain. not a lot of damage. but the ldi

air mass. cooler and drier. it's gorgeous across the area. the temperatures in the 70's. far enough north and west like cumberland is 79. everybody else is 80's. 85 is the warm spot. lower 80's elsewhere. it's spectacular across the region. here is a couple of facts about the 90-degree numbers. 17 days in august we hit 90 or higher. the average is ten. 12 times we did it in the entire month of august last year. 45 degrees so far this year at 90 or above. 44 times by this time last year. so the fourth warmest summer so far on record. as i said before we may wind up with the warmest summer on record for washington d.c. especially knowing that the cool air we have now will give what to the typical heat and humidity. 86 outside for outdoor purposes. after the sun goes down at 8:00 p.m., 78 degrees. the reason for

area of the high pressure in the atmosphere, surface and overhead slides east. we have the northwesterly winds. but in the next couple of days, it will slide east. winds from the northwest, to the southeast which will be warmer and more humid direction. the forecast overnight. clear and comfortable. light winds. 58 to 66 degrees. at the busson -- i haven't said -- at the bus stop -- i haven't said that in a while it will be in the 60's. warm by recess and when dropping them off in the afternoon is 83. first day of school for most of kids in prince george's's county for the day tomorrow. a tropical update. if you have been away on vacation or not paying attention this one once tropical storm fiona. that is gone. this tropical blob may have development possibilities in the next few days heading to barbados and the antilles. then we look farther east. new organized depression, tropical de

west coast of africa. according to the hurricane center in the next seven days it will strengthen and move northwest. hurricane wednesday will be hurricane gaston. then the tracking only takes us to thursday or friday morning to the southeast of ber 40 da. -- southeast of bermuda. that is all we know yet. it's off the coast of west africa. we will track it carefully. we are peak time getting to be for hurricane season. the next seven days. gorgeous, low humidity. 83 degrees tomorrow in sunshine. we will warm it up more heading through the day on wednesday. 86. on thursday, warm and humid. hot and humid 792 -- 92 on friday. slight chance of late day storm. typical august weekend. partly cloudy, hot and humid. touch cooler monday and tuesday of next week. michelle: i love the low humidity in the next few days. doug: i can't wait to walk out of here in a little bit. nothing personal. i just want to enjoy it.

thank you. leon: rude awakening for folks near boston this morning. michelle: we will explain that and get the latest on the wildfires through california. >> plus maryland beat 200 nices during the rio olympics. we promise the satises line up. we will break them down still ahead. leon: we head off to the break now another back-to-school picture. bobby of harpers ferry starting his junior year today. upload your pictures at burst.com/wjla.

michelle: breaking news where a police pursuit ended in a crash on the ramp from route 60 to i-26 eastbound. sky track 7 the live over the scene creating a traffic delay there. the police responded to a call on monument drive in fairfax where a suspicious vehicle. when they tried to pull over the driver he took off. after the crash the driver was taken into custody. we should point out a woman and child were inside the car. they were not hurt. leon: after two weeks the olympic flame is now out in rio. it was extinguished as part of the celebration of the closing ceremonies. at the end the u.s. finished with the game with 121 medals. 46 gold. including this one f

schneider in freestyle wrestling. michelle: kyle is from maryland like so many of the other athletes. if you add up the medals, we are six in the medal count. 14th overall. that's comparing them to other countries. montgomery county reporter kevin lewis live in bethesda. kevin? kevin: this is certainly impressive. a lot of fun to watch. maryland had olympic medalist in basketball, track, wrestling and a number of other sports. but don't forget swimming where michael phelps and katie ledecky did a lot of damage in the pool. >> good council high school in olney has major bragging rights. jack conger. his photo is in the private catholic school hall of fame helped them win a gold medal in the freestyle relay. around the corner in the weight room you will see the three state champish

schneider. kyle earned a gold in men's wrestling. the youngest man to do so. >> it was tense. kevin: patrick bates is good counsel athletic director. >> he knew what he had to do. gain points one by one. he out-lasted the person. he just broke them. kevin: bethesda's katie ledecky snagged five medals in rio. the pool at stone ridge of the sacred heart where she attended high school is somewhat of a shrine to her name. >> we are lucky to know her, be inspired by her and learn how to become a champion. >> other maryland rio notables. kevin durant, carmelo anthony and baltimore's own michael phelps. all helping the free state strike gold. to recap here, maryland athletes snagged 18

in other words if maryland was its own country, it would have come in sixth place in the gold medal standings. and 14th place in the overall medal rankings. not too shabby. we are live in bethesda this afternoon, i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. leon: that is pretty daggone good. michelle: we are proud of them. all right. still ahead for us at 5:00 -- >> send someone now. >> yeah. the one thing this mother did that helped police rescue her child. after a terrifying accident. >> plus, why today proved to be a race against time for the folks looking to salvage what they could from the main street in ellicott city. >> but first, another back-to-school picture for you. this is cullen. he lives in d.c. today was his first day of kindergarten. share your photos with us at burst.com/wjla.

michelle: more than two hours ago when police peacefully ended a standoff situation in clifton. skytrack7 was overhead when it started this morning. jeff goldberg spent his day on the scene and joins us

now. jeff: all day this place was packed with law enforcement personnel. we are told the 20-year-old young man who barricaded himself inside the home has been transported to the hospital for evaluation. we were told he was a standout wrestling star and one of his coach was brought in for hostage negotiations this afternoon. neighbors have had concerns about him for some time. in a neighborhood known for quiet and calm -- >> quiet as a church mouse as a rule. jeff: the 911 call created a alarming scene. >> sirens on, something is up. >> just after 9:00, the fairfax county police responding to report of 20-year-old man experiencing emotional distress. with a handgun and threatening to harm himself. a hume pres

on -- huge presence descended on the area. the family members tried to get out as they tried to make contact with the man inside. >> we train for this but we can't predict anything. jeff: after the man bare kidded himself inside -- barricaded himself inside for six hours he peacefully surrendered to members of the s.w.a.t. team. >> shock. we don't expect that in this community. >> rudy martin lives a few doors down where it took place. a few months ago fairfax county police responded to the same home after a call of shots fired in the garage monday afternoon. neighbors have had concerns about the 20-year-old and trouble and reached out to the parents for help. >> we got every indication they were dealing with the situation. we kept our fingers crossed and prayed. hopefully the young man will find his way. jeff:

three years to the day following the standoff at the town home of john geer in springfield. he was trammicly shot and killed by a fairfax police officer. in the three-year period the department has made big changes about how they approach many situations including situations such as this one and thankfully this situation did end peacefully. jeff goldberg, abc7 news. leon: thank you, jeff. terrifying moments for a massachusetts neighborhood. a tornado carvedded a path of destruction four football fields long. the storm touched down at 3:00 in the morning which is when most people were fast asleep and inside their homes. nearly 40 of them were damaged. all are said to be salvageable. no one was hurt or killed. michelle: closer to home now. residents of ellicott city are racing against a critical deadline. in a couple of hours main street will be closed for three weeks to let crews repair the two-mile stretch of road de

flooding. it's a hard task for folk trying to work through the debris in their own homes. >> my front yard was washed away. i have trees down. six tons of dirt i bought on saturday. michelle: the area will remain open until 7:00 tonight. leon: right now nearly two dozen wildfires are taking a toll on the firefighters in nine different western states. in california, after days of bad news, finally some good news for people around san bernardino. the blue cut fire now 85% contained. while thousands of people are allowed back inside the homes others not so clucky. leon: three fires in washington statel

overnight to grow from a few hundred acres to more than 5,000. michelle: president obama will travel to louisiana tomorrow to view flood damage. the state's governor asked him to delay his trip until this week to give the floodwaters time to recede. 10 r more than 100,000 people applied for federal assistance. days of flooding kill 13 people and dammed more than 60,000 home. leon: another water story. reminder every child should wear a life jacket on a boat. the family was out on a river in florida over the weekend when they hit a power line somehow. their boat capsized. tammy, her husband and their infant thrown from a 24-foot boat and they found out they couldn't find their almost 2-year-old daughter. leon: we heard kennedy

boat and bobbing along in the life jacket inside of an air pocket. two police officers dived in the water. they got her out of there. michelle: they had the additional challenge of it being dark, nighttime. can you imagine the fear in the family? leon: exactly. important to have a vest. michelle: for sure. coming up for us at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- a new chapter. redskins legend darrell green has a new job. we will tell you where it is. >> can you help police find this man? he is wanted for burglary next. leon: coming your way new at 6:00, multimillion dollar park failing to consider the needs of disabled children. how d.c. says how

doug: it looks like we are going to enjoy the break from the hotter forecast and humidity. on wednesday it's 86. still dry. still comfortable. but on thursday the winds go to the southeast. more humidity in the air. 89 degrees. getting to friday and saturday will be hot and humid again. the slightest chance for isolated thunderstorm on friday. otherwise the weekend looks typical august. hot and humid sunshine. upper 80's, near 90. more showers possibly by

q: hello. welcome to the "7 on your side" fighting back wall of justice. i'm q mccray. tonight we add a fugitive to the wall of justice. already on the wall is a man wanted for burglary in the district of columbia. metropolitan police say torrence joy allegedly broke in a home through a window and stole valuables. in arlington county police are still on the look for emma flores-lamache for fargery. they also want barak who failed to appear for trial for the third d.u.i. to turn himself in. prince william county, police are seeking cody allen jones and say he is charged with malicious wounding. also in prince william county detectives are searching for

police say he is wanted for robbery, abduction, strangulation and malicious wounding. let's go ahead and set the wall in justice in motion. tonight the spotlight is on cody allen jones. prince william county police need your help finding jones. on the evening of july 15, police responded to a home in manassas. after an altercation the suspect fled. the victim ended up in the hospital. >> in the argument he grabbed her by the pony tail and pulled her to the ground with such force it caused a possible concussion. >> jones is 5'10", weighs 180 pounds. black hair and blown eyes and is wanting for malicious wounding. if you are watching, police want you to turn yourself in immediately. if you are at home and recognize this man and know where he might be, contact crime solvers of prince william county. we're fighting ba

crime. q mccray. michelle: coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- the nationals and the orals square off in the battle -- the nationals and the orioles square off. but the nats are without one of their best players. horace: "7 on your side" has a special offer just for you if you want to save money. we will tell you about it up next. leon: first, looking sharp for the first day of school. if you have shots like this, share your back-to-school pictures with us by logging on to burst.com/wjla. look for the bubble that says, "back to

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save 50% on the labor day limited edition bed. know better sleep. only at a sleep number store. leon: "7 on your side" working on something special. we are in search of viewers who want to shop smart and save big bucks. michelle: if you have a big purchase from a new roof to major dental work, we have an opportunity that you are going to want to hear about. "7 on your side" troubleshooter horace holmes is here with the details. horace: this is exciting. "7 on your side" teaming up with consumers checkbook. if you haven't heard of them, they are a non-profit organization that rates local retailers and the service providers in an effort to help consumers like you sa

and a lot of money. with the assistance of the consumers checkbook we are looking for viewers who will help us illustrate the power of comparison shopping. so if you have a mayor expense, something like car repairs, new deck, new washer or dryer, or extensive dental work as an example take our online survey. we will see if we can help you save big bucks. find the sur ray by going to wjla.com. go there you now. at the top of the home page. or go to wjla.com/shoppingsurvey. answer a few questions and we will pick several families and spotlight them on the air. consumer checkbook will do comparison shopping for you and they will do all the work. "7 on your side" will come back and report to you on how much time and money hopefully our folks will save you. be a "7 on your side" smart shopper. take our survey. we will be back with the stories. talking to the folks f

very confident they can save our viewers money. leon: that means we have to put them on the clock then. horace: absolutely. leon: put up or shut up. horace: they're confident. michelle: great service. leon: how many families are you looking for in all? horace: five to ten families. leon: thank you. michelle: check in now with angela foster and a look at the roads. hang -- angela: we have gridlock all around the region, especially on 66. we have been following a long-standing collision. on the rach of 50. westbound 60 is stop and go as a result. we did reopen one lane of the ramp on 50. as you approach 66. but we are dealing with the gridlock delays for the most part there. coming from the beltway and even inside the capital beltway. now the earlier crash we had on the capital beltway and river road is cleared.

we have backup at the spur. that's the latest back to you. michelle: moving on. the queen of soul taking time off. aretha franklin is canceling a month worth of shows including friday performance in vienna. the 74-year-old singer says it's doctor's orders but she is not elaborating. she was treated last year for exhaustion. she hopes to be back on the road by november. they will be giving refunds for those with ticket. leon: to the king of speed. george mason university athletic department hired the redskins hall of famer darrell green. he is joining their staff as the associate athletic director special assistant to the a.d. green will be working on internal and external relationships and work under brad edwards. another redskins and they wer

timing up again. michelle: in addition addition there. this is a big day at the national zoo as bei bei turns 1. this weekend the zoo celebrated the cub and his big sister bao bao. today is bei bei's actual birthday. happy birthday to the little one. leon: any idea what he wished for after he knocked over his cake? michelle: >> cake. leon: works for me. how about another day like today? doug: it looks like that will happen. maybe even in the city could be a degree or two cooler. gorgeous out there. a few fair weather clouds. 85 in washington is the warm spot. 81 in hagerstown and manassas. 81 in baltimore. 79 around the air force base. clear skies. comfortable temperatures by the morning. in the 60's in the metro. 50's in outlying suburban areas.

kids. prince george's county kids first day of school in the morning. sunshine. 65 is pickup time. close to 80 when the kids head to recess. the nationals have a game in baltimore tomorrow. then home at nats park. against the o's. you know? wednesday and thursday, 86 and 89. the first pitch at the park is 7:045. thursday will be hot and humid by the game time. the next seven days low humidity. bright sunshine tomorrow. 83 degrees. mostly sunny. comfortable, 86 on wednesday. partly cloudy. warmer. only nice chance of the isolated thunderstorm. the weekend is hot and humid. typical august style. next chance of rain after friday come with 30% chance on monday afternoon or evening. find out what is happening in monday's board with erin hawksworth. erin: i like the

redskins starting running back matt jones will not play the rest of the preseason. robert kelly is expected to get a lot of the first team carries. keith marshall will get some as well. jones was off to the side doing the workout and the rest of the team was on the field. tackle trent williams returned to practice and is set to see the first action of the preseason against buffalo. while quarterback kirk cousins did not play a snap against the jets. he will start and play a half against the bills. >> to play in a preseason game is helpful. i don't know that i need to play in four. but to play in some is very helpful. i think that is what friday night will be about. to get the rhythm so when we do go out against the steelers on monday night, you feel like you have been there and ready to go. it hasn't been too long since you last took a snap in a stadium

atmosphere against a different opponent. erin: big news for nationals. stephen strasburg has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow soreness. the club made the announcement hours before strasburg was supposed to take the mound in the beltway city opener against the orioles at camden yard. they recalled cole to start in misplace. dusty baker talked to the media an hour ago and said strasburg didn't want to sit out tonight. manager baker: i told him we haven't won anything yet. but we have to look at the big picture on this. he will be around for a long time. hopefully he will be good in september. hopefully october. this is what i had to convince him. hey, man, it wasn't worth the risk isn't worth the gain right now. >> good. >> right about that. >> yeah. we need him for that. the last out of thing

last outing was not good. hopefully he gets it right after the break. leon: the big picture as a big tommy genre paired elbow in the mid -- tommy john repaired elbow ahead. still ahead at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- >> i'm sam ford in southeast washington. where there is about to begin a service to remember young man christopher barry that much of washington knew since birth. that story

leon: coming up tonight at 6:00 -- children who can't use d.c.'s just renovated parks. the problems abc7 found at the parks and why a parent says the city's plan to fix them is ridiculous. plus a mixed warning side. the first sign of a paper trail that people were smelling gas weeks before the explosion at apartment complex. and shocking video. would-be teenager and would-be suicide bomber stopped in the nick of time ahead at 6:00. michelle: friends and family are arriving to pay

to christopher barry. the son of the late counselman marion barry died last weekend. d.c. bureau chief sam ford is live in southeast. sam? sam: yes, well, we are here. the service is about to begin. the mourners are filing in. go ahead and go past. the mourners are filing in to the church for the service that is about to begin here. basically as soon as everybody gets seated to remember a young man that much of washington has known basically all of his life. at the temple of praise church they came in one or two all day. >> somebody who was trying. his dad is gone, his mom is gone. he needed someone as a mentor. i don't know if he had that. >> my heart is broken. sam: many said tragedy. his father was father and mother effie was first lady. he was there through his father's legal trouble and his mother's death, and th

he ran for the father's seat but had troubles of his own and lost. then earlier in month he collapsed and died after using k2 and p.c.p. at the church today they played an interview he did with armstrong williams after his father's demise. >> can you say you walked away from it? you are drug free? not a part of your life anymore? >> yes, it's not a port of my life -- part of my life. drug tests every week. it's documented. >> among those mourning the death is the partner in the construction business who had known each other since nursery school. >> we were working with to stremline the efforts. sam: when you heard about it? >> i heard about it at 3:30 in the morning. his cousin called. i hopped in my car. by the grace of god i found my way to g.w. sam: so, again, this is the service. much of official washington is here from mayor bowser to members

to remember a young man whose life touched many in this city. reporting live from southeast washington, i'm sam ford, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. that is it for five -- "abc7 news at 5:00". now at 6:00, the first evidence emerging of warning sign before a an explosion at silver spring apartment complex. plus, critical new evidence in murder of a beloved convenience store clerk. one of three deadly shootings in a matter of hours. d.c. says it will take months to get a fix for a problem keeping disabled children from using the parks. why one parent says the city's response is "ridiculous." announcer: now, "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. >> i just wanted to report a strong smell of gas in the building that has been going on for like 30 minutes or more. the smell is stronger on the first floor.

6:00, the warning signs before gas fueled explosion that killed seven people in silver spring. tonight the "7 on your side" i-team uncovered a 911 call made a full two and a half weeks before that deadly explosion. investigator scott taylor joins us now with more on the story. scott, what is really surprising is you found the call was far from the only complaint about the smell of gas there. scott: that is surprising. our crews at the scene of the explosion tracked down several people who said they smelled gas. now we have gotten our hands on the first official record that shows complaint about a natural gas leak was 17 days before the apartment exploded. >> we are learning more about the july 25s is -- july 25 911 call. the caller says smell of gas lingered in the stairway of the building and then exploded. >> i want to report a strong smell of