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tv   ABC7 News at 4  ABC  June 14, 2017 4:00pm-5:00pm EDT

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>> there were 30 to 50 shots i heard. it went on for a while. >> you could see steve scalise out in the field. he dragged himself after he was shot. >> the emotional shock of seeing your friend shot. you are defenseless. we would have been the next victims. >> our lives were saved by the capitol police. if they had not been there, it would have been a massacre. jonathan: ambush at the ballpark. five shot including a congressman, staffer, two police officers and a lobbyist. nancy: assassination attempt appearing to fail. the gunman dead now. abc7 has team coverage. i'm nancy chen on capitol hill. >> i'm john jonathan elias. this is bucolic community behind me. the investigators are going all over this place retracing the steps of a gunman. we are getting video where you can hear a gunfight between two capitol p
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and lone gunman's rifle playing out. listen. [gunfire] [gunfire] >> do we know where he's at? >> he's behind home plate. >> did you call 911? >> i assume people have been calling 911 already.
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[sirens] [gun fire continues] >> hey, is that guy okay out there? the guy, has that guy been shot? is he okay? anybody talking to him? [sirens] >> stay down! stay down! stay down! [gunfire]
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>> put it down! put it down! [gunfire] [bleep] jonathan: in the dramatic video you hear someone say is that man okay? they were talking about house majority whip steve scalise playing second base at the time. he was shot in the hip and dragged himself into the outfield. shortly after the shooting president trump took to twitter to show his respect for his friend representative scalise. before 12:00 noon he went before the cameras and this is what he had to say. president trump: congressman scalise is a friend and a very good friend. he is a patriot. and he's a fighter. he will
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assault. many lives would have been lost if not for the heroic actions of the two capitol police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault. jonathan: there were 25 members of congress all republicans out here practicing for tomorrow's big baseball game, a bipartisan game. something that has been going on for more than a hundred years. the shooting caught everybody by surprise. if not for steve scalise, the house majority whip, he has a security detail because he is part of leadership. the two capitol police officers saved the day and they saved a lot of lives. brad bell, the maryland bureau chief joining me with that side of the story. it's miraculous they happened to be here in the parking lot. more so that they confronted the gunman. brad: well, miraculous and
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in line to the presidency have detail. things happen. terrible things. this is the other side of the ballpark, it's blocked off now. f.b.i. evidence recovery team is here on the scene. a little while ago the f.b.i. released a little bit of new information about this. we have learned that a second congressman, not just steve scalise, a second congressman suffered minor injuries. treated and released. we are getting more information on the timeline. but now know that the shootout lasted just more than five minutes. five minutes of terror. it was just after 7:00 a.m. when photographer marty lavell spotted the shooter. >> a white male with a rifle. it looked like a rifle, shotgun, whatever it was. he was behind third base, behind the face. brad: senator jeff flake of arizona saw representative steve scalise of louisiana go down, shot in the hip. >> steve
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15 yards off of, from near second base on to the field. but was laying motionless out there. i couldn't get to him until the shooting stopped. after a time, another staffer ran in with a leg wound, shot in the leg. brad: flake and others gathered to practice for a charity softball game, found themselves using a belt as a tourniquet on a staffer as they tried to take cover in a dugout as the shots continue. then realized that the capitol police officers assigned to representative scalise were returning fire. >> they were taking on a guy with a rifle from 90 to 100 feet away. they had pistols and he had a rifle. that is not a fair fight. both of them were wounded. the bravery that they showed is just incredible. brad: dozens of shots were fired in both directions before the officers killed the guantanamo now identified as 66-year-old james hodgkinson of belleville,
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shot behind home plate, where all of us, two or three or four of us, however many there were on the ground there, we would have been his next victims. brad: well, now we want to share the names of those who were victims here. representative steve scalise, of course, the house majority whip. we told you about. he himself put out he will be just fine. then the two capitol police officers, officer griner and officer daniel bailey. one of them is still hospitalized and will be okay. the other one we are told, we don't know which, treated and released. a lobbyist among them, matt mika. he is the most seriously injured. we are told he is in critical condition and suffered several gunshot wounds. zack barth, a staffer who was member of congress was shot and put out through social media he is just fine.
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briefing from the f.b.i. at 5:30. we will bring it to you life and bring you the latest information. jonathan: thank you. i want to give you a bird's vie you of what happened this morning -- bird's eye of what happened. this is over to the third base line. this man james hodgkinson, 66 years old, here from illinois. only in the area a few months. witnesses say he walked out there wearing short pants, had a satchel, some sort of a burlap bag. he put the bag down and walked to the bleachers, asking people hey, what is this? are these republicans or democrats? he was told they were republicans. that is the point witnesses say he went over to his bag and pulled out a long rifle and climbed up on the bleachers and opened fire. he had to shoot over a fence at the people out on the field. all the members of congress as we pan this camera over to the first base, second base area. there is all kind of stuff over there.
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gloves and things people dropped and ran. steve scalise out on second base was hit in the hip and dropped right there. we are told from witnesses that once the firing started, and you could hear it on the tape we played at the top of the newscast, it did not stop. scalise grabbed himself to the outfield where after the shooting had stopped he was tended to by senator jeff flake from arizona. but more importantly, a colonel in the army reserve and a field doctor, nobody better to tend to you than that. he was out there and he put pressure on the wound until he was airlifted to a hospital. that gives you a better idea of what it looked like from up above. we want to give you a better idea of who steve scalise is. we know he is from louisiana. 51-year-old man. first elected to congress back in 2008. here is a little breakdown to give you an idea of who he is. so steve scalise, first went in to -- first elected to the house in 2008. he is married. he has two children. right now we want to go to medstar wash
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center. d.c. bureau chief sam ford has been there all day and has an update on steve scalise's condition. we understand that senator flake took his cell phone from him, coherent the whole time. he called his wife to say here is what happened so you don't see it on the news to be too alarmed. sam: well, that is interesting. i did not know that. that is interesting. i'm here at the washington medstar washington hospital center. we are looking at the emergency room. this is where congressman scalise and the information here and another information who was a shooting victim were brought this morning. less than two hours ago, medstar then tweeted out that scalise who was shot in the hip and undergone surgery was in critical condition. the same tweet said that the second victim brought here was in good condition. and they still have not said exactly who that second person is. we saw the
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come here in what appeared to be military style gear. they had assault rifles. they came about four hours ago, presumably to provide heightened security for the congressman. again, no word in the second patient here was one of the u.s. capitol police officers. speaker paul ryan named the officers from the house floor today, as special agents crystal griner and daniel bailey. we have seen a number of police personnel from the u.s. capitol police, as well as the alexandria police coming and going from here all day. the last one we saw, the last one we saw was the chief of the u.s. capitol police department matthew verderosa. so that is the situation from here. critical condition for the congressman. good condition for the other individual at the medstar washington hospital center. back to you, jonathan. jonathan: all right, sam. we hope they all pull
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we should let you know the backdrop for the shooting this morning. this is as bucolic a neighborhood and use will find in alexandria. shortly after 7:00. a lot of people getting ready for work or getting a prework workout in the park. they have a dog park. people walking their dogs. there were a lot of people out and about at this time. this is a neighborhood that you talk to neighbors. they rarely hear sirens here, let alone gunshots. richard reeve spent the day talking to neighbors and he joins us with team coverage. rich? richard: shellshocked is the way most people are describing how they are feeling right now. a lot of folks saying this kind of thing does not happen here. here we are, mount vernon avenue. it looks like any other day. of course, it is not. over here, messages of love. this artwork was made before the shooting but it seems especially appropriate on this day. police roadblocks, crime scene tape surrounding a playground. the large media presence. all very unfamiliar territory for the quiet alexandria neighborhood. even on this day, you will see
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"spread kindness," "build community." on some blocks residents left coolers that say "free water." decades ago this area was dicier. drug dealing and other crimes were part of the landscape. it's very different here now. take for example this public art pros ject called "soar" with messages of love. that atmosphere shattered by the sound of multiple gunshots. so loud that they could hear rounds of gunfire, between 30 to 50 shots over the roar of his lawnmower. >> i went in the house, in my little home work room. you are like well, if they are shooting or the guy is running a. the neighborhood. i don't want to get shot mowing the lawn. stop the mower. it was louder than the mower. i stopped. kept going on for a while. >> it's frightening and scary, the world we live in now. you don't know when you get out what will happen. richard: a neighborhood walk scheduled for 6:30 this everything. a lot of
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the area come back after this. back to you. jonathan: i'm guessing they will. rich, thank you very much. we are going to stay in the del ray area throughout the evening. a lot happening on capitol hill. we turn to nancy chen now. nancy? nancy: good evening. on capitol hill, increased security. but it was never shut down or locked down. take a look behind me. visitors still coming and going as this is one of the top spots to see in the d.c. area. as many of the lawmakers arrive to work today, they talked about what happened. many of them, of course, witnessing this firsthand. stephen tschida joining us now on the hill. stephen, one congressman you spoke to encountered the gunman moments before the ambush. stephen: that is true, nancy. security up here on the hill is always tight. but today, especially in the moments after word of the shooting spread, it became more urgent, more apparent. amid tight security,
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seized through the u.s. capitol. among those heading to a briefing at a shooting at a represent a baseball practice. rep joe barton still in his uniforms. >> the heroes are the police officers who attacked the shooter. and in doing so, quite probably saved many, many lives. stephen: as many filed pass, few chose to speak. but some talked about the encounter with the shooter before they opened fire. >> he asked me if the team was the republican or the democrat team practicing. i responded it was the republican team practicing. he proceeded to shoot republicans. take that for what it's worth. stephen: today those on the front line acknowledged they had stepped up the game. those they aim to protect said they would go on as usual. >> the best thing that we can do, i think, althoug
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take strength and courage to do that especially when it's so close to you is to continue to live your life, continue to do your work, continue to be accessible. that is my plan. stephen: now while security was so tight today the long lines of the tourists trying to get into the u.s. capitol appeared unfazed. it was very much like a typical day for them. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. nancy: thank you. it was six years ago that congresswoman gabrielle giffords was ambushed in a campaign event in her home state of arizona. today swift reaction from her fellow democrats, gun control reform. abc7 sam sweeney asked congressman mo brooks about that. his response may surprise you. >> congressman, did this change your views on the gun situation in america? congressman brooks: not with respect to the second amendment. the second amendment right to bear arms is to ensure we
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with any constitutional provision in the bill of rights, there are adverse aspects to each of those rights that we enjoy as people. what we just saw here is one of the bad side effects of someone not exercising those rights properly. nancy: meantime, the response in alexandria today was swift. with dispatchers dispatching officers prepared to face the worst. kevin lewis is outside george washington university for us this evening with the dispatch calls and an update on the injuries there. kevin? kevin: nancy, that first police shots fired dispatch came down at 7:09 this morning. alexandria police were on the scene within three minutes. that suspect taken down and placed in custody within only five. george washington university hospital confirms it took in two injured patients following the g.o.p. baseball practice
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one patient has since died and believed to be shooter james hodgkinson, though the hospital won't confirm. the other patient who is still listed in critical condition is sought to be tyson food lobbyists, matt mika. the tyson representative telling us mika has been with the company for six years. his father flying to d.c. at this very hour. around 1:00 today, this hospital spokeswoman directed all media questions to local and federal law enforcement and then around 3:00, these two black survivor's -- black s.u.v.'s appearing to be armored pulls out of g.w. hospital ambulance bay. the tinted windows made it hard to see who was inside. >> shots being fired and there are people running, possibly victims involved. kevin: this as police radio traffic portrays the tense moment on the ballfield. hodgkinson captured by police within minutes. there is a lot
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tense radio traffic. to hear it yourself, go to wjla.com. live outside george washington university hospital in northwest, i'm kevin lewis. back to you. nancy: all right, kevin. thank you. we are going to continue to monitor the situation all night. both here on capitol hill and in alexandria. jonathan: we'll have team coverage throughout the everything on wjla.com. don't miss anything on the air and online. at bottom of the hour we'll have more from the emergency dispatches and a detailed look at who the shooter is. also, house leaders are speaking up together on the chamber floor. but right now nancy and i would like to turn it back over to michelle and alison in studio. guys? alison: thanks to both of you. we want to remind you don't miss breaking news, any updateless. if you have to step away from the tv, so many of you first learned about the shooting through an abc7 text alert. subscribe at wjla.com/text. coming up next at 4:00, continuing coverage of the ballpark ambush. michelle: also, there was a
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big primary election last night. results of the virginia governor's race still ahead. alison: the weather, doug, it's still hot out there. doug: still hot but the cold front is through the area. showers and the storms west and north. a couple of showers in the metro area. we'll explore those in the forecast, too. our continuing coverage right after this.
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alison: now other news of the day for you. gunman killed three people at a u.p.s. facility in san francisco before taking his own life. two other people were wounded in this. police say the shooter was wearing a u.p.s. uniform and the company confirms the gunman was an employee. the shooting happened before drivers left for the daily deliveries. michelle: u.s. marshals arrested two men in connection with a large fight outside the residence of turkey's ambassador in northwest d.c. the men were arrested in virginia and new jersey on assault charges. security personnel for turkey's visiting president attacked anti-turkey protesters in sheridan circle on may 16. nine people were hurt. alison: a grisly scene in london as investigators search the burned out shell of the 24-story apartment building. michelle: the death toll from last night's inferno stands at 12 but authorities say it will likely rise. molly hunter has new
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molly: all 24 stories ravaged. the structure home to some 600 people. scorched by the raging inferno that burned for more than 15 hours. residents say the fire broke out just before 1:00 a.m. and engulfed the entire tower within 30 minutes. >> there was smoke everywhere. literally everywhere. there was people downstairs, people screaming. molly: fast-moving flames and thick smoke trapped people inside. >> what floor are you on? molly: firefighters arrived in six minutes but were blocked by the heat and the falling debris. >> in my 25 years i have never seen a fire of this nature. molly: residents doing anything to stay alive. >> people jumping out literally and putting sheets down to try to get out of the building. windows exploding. massive debris falling to the floor. >> people jumped out because they had no other option. >> how high up? >> the top floor. molly: this man and his family
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>> people were screaming. the neighbors were coming out. fireman there going "get out, get out." >> many rushed to the scene looking for missing friends and relatives. >> i'm looking for my brother. molly: it was total chaos. this woman's sister and nephew are still unaccounted for. [crying] at this point police say they don't know what started the fire. >> it is going to take a period of tire before we truly understand what has occurred, and the investigation will be complex. as you would expect, very, very thorough. molly: this is the material that external clouding that the investigators will look at, whether or not it contributed to the speed of the blaze. surviving members just want answers. molly hunter, abc news. doug: this is the fourth day of the heatwave. so this is day four of the
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but the weather is improving. thundershowers are popping up south, moving south. we have evidence of winds out of the east/northeast now bringing in the cooler air from the atlantic and the chesapeake bay. most of the action has been and will continue to be well west and south of the metro region. our weather will stabilize locally later tonight. the future cast shows that indication of partly cloudy skies with a shower and storm activity remaining away from the viewing area. as we go through the overnight, skies are partly cloudy. hour by hour as we head through the night we will drop to 69 or 70. a stray shower, especially west of town. muggy again, maybe patchy fog in the overnight. they have the day tomorrow, the future cast has a different weather pattern. the winds from the east. cool in the morning. relatively so in the 80's, not the 90's. the showers could pop up again tomorrow afternoon but the best chance is west of the metro area. the moisture and the winds come in from the atlantic. the higher elevations and beyond. should get the best chance of showers and storms.
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see storms. lower 80's tomorrow and then again on friday. over the weekend, the cold front that came through will come back at a warm front to give us a high of 86. with afternoon storms on saturday. on father's day, partly cloudy, hot and humid. the highs of 92. with the showers and the thunderstorms in the afternoon. another cold front will approach monday with the showers and the storms and 86. then we will get to mid-to-the late june average weather here for a couple of days before another warmup heads our way by the end of next week and next weekend. michelle? michelle: thank you. next at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- results from last night's surprise nail-biter in the virginia primary. the refusal to concede in the g.o.p. race next. >> the emotional shock of seeing your friend shot, where you are helpless. you have a baseball bat. they have a rifle. you're defenseless. alison: still ahead, continuing coverage from alexandria and from capitol hill about the ballpark ambush.
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alison: yesterday, virginians went to the polls. the democratic primary expected to be the close one when it comes to picking who will represent the party in the gubernatorial race. michelle: but that was decided early. ralph northam holding off tom perriello. establishment wins for democrats fighting off an attempt to pull the party farther left. alison: the big surprise, though, corey stewart, just a few thousand votes behind ed gillespie,
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republican national committee chair winning by just a percentage point. stewart is not conceding. so any new developments in that race, we of course will pass them along to you. michelle: so to recap here, it will be gillespie versus northam when it comes to who will be the next governor of virginia. we want to move on now. continuing coverage of the ballpark ambush is next with jonathan. jonathan: i'm jonathan elias in the del ray area of alexandria. we'll have continuing coverage of the ballpark ambush shooting that targeted members of the republican congressional group out here practicing baseball. we have more on the dispatch calls and we'll also have the "7 on your side" team digging deep in the background of the shooter killed after the shootout. nancy: i'm nancy chen live on capitol hill. a lot of lawmakers taking to social media to react to today's shooting. we will have that part of our coverage still ahead. make sure you stay connected with us. abc7, on all platforms when we come back.
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employees doing the job. and now, dominion energy is investing $15 billion to build and upgrade our electric and natural gas infrastructure... creating jobs now and for the future. across virginia, we're building an economy that works for everyone and dominion energy is helping power the companies that power our economy. announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. nancy: abc7 continuing to follow breaking news this afternoon. the ballpark ambush in alexandria. five shot, including house majority whip steve scalise. he is out of surgery. he was hit
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two capitol police officers were also injured and they will recover. the shooter identified as james hodgkinson was killed. president trump breaking that news just before 12:00 noon today. the shooting happened as the republican congressman baseball team was repairing for tomorrow's annual charity game. that game will go on as scheduled. i'm nancy chen live on capitol hill. we'll have reaction from the house floor in a moment. jonathan: i'm jonathan elias in the del ray community of alexandria. behind me is the simpson park that it played out. there is crime scene tape blocking it off. f.b.i. officers are putting up markers where every shell casings is found to retrace the steps of the shooter and the capitol police officers who were brave enough to get out and run toward him and engage in a gunfight with him. when you hear the dispatch calls that went out after 7:00 this morning, it puts a chill down your spine. have a
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>> receiving shots being fired and there are people running, possibly victims involved. jonathan: stunning scanner traffic detailing moments of chaos. >> on the baseball field. there is also a victim down in the baseball field. >> responders ultimately finding five shooting victims. >> in the dugout. i've got one injured. jonathan: so the question becomes this. as soon as you hear the tapes and you wonder who is the shooter? 66-year-old man who had come here from illinois, only been in the area a couple of months. what was his motivation? why was he seemingly trying to assassinate republican members of our congress? our senior investigative reporter lisa fletcher has been working that all day with her sources and she joins us now. what have you uncovered? lisa: as you know and is common in the situations, friends and associates say he was a nice guy. they are surprised by today's
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turn of events. but there seems to have been a lot happening in hodgkinson's personal life and he seemed deeply agitated on social media over the state of american politics. james hodgkinson lived on a large piece of property in belleville, illinois. he ran a home inspection business for more than a decade. but dissolved the company j.t.h. services at the end of last year. a neighbor told us he left his wife and they hadn't seen him for some time. hodgkinson reportedly living in alexandria for the last two months. the "washington post" reported he may have been living out of his gym bag and spending most of his time at the ymca adjacent to the park where the shooting occurred. he was outspoken on social media about his dislike for trump administration and belonged to multi-online anti-republican groups. march 22 he posted "trump is a traitor. trump has destroyed our democracy. time to destroy trump and company." a nei
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not to be named at this to say. >> i'm afraid politics put him over the edge with the way the country was headed. he was definitely a big liberal. i guess when trump got in, he might have gone off the deep end. never talked to him about politics. i thought he was a really nice guy. lisa: hodgkinson supported bernie sanders for president and volunteer for him on the campaign in iowa. upon hearing the news, bernie sanders had strong words from the senate floor. >> senator sanders: i'm sickened from the despicable act and let me be as clear as i can be. violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society. and i condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. lisa: hodgkinson has a history of run-ins with police mostly for traffic violations dating back to the 1970's. in 2006 he was charged with domestic battery and causing bodily harm and damage to a motor vehicle. the cases wer
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dismissed. now, of course, investigators are trying to determine hodgkinson's motive, mental state and whether he shared his intentions with anyone else. live in the newsroom, lisa fletcher, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks for that. lawmakers do say tomorrow's congressional baseball game will go on as scheduled. this dates back to 1909. the only breaks they took were in the depression and world war ii. in recent years it has raised $600,000 for charity. this year, $650,000. some of the money is going to the boys and girls club of washington, d.c. last year the republicans won, breaking the democrats' seven-year winning streak. but the series is split at get this, 39-39-1. they both have exactly the same record. the nice part about this when you talk to the lawmakers about the game, both sides may have had the philosophical differences but when they meet on the ballpark it's the first chance to get to know each
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work together on a different level. that is the latest. we will have an update from alexandria at the top of the hour. meantime go to capitol hill where my partner nancy chen is. nancy? nancy: on capitol hill there has been increased security presence with people more watchful and alert than usual. but nevertheless, visitors still coming and going. if you look behind me, though, inside the capitol building on the house floor as you mentioned. speaker paul ryan and minority leader nancy pelosi speaking before the packed auditorium. and a defind show of unity. take a listen -- defiant show of unity. the ache listen. >> we are united. we are united in our shock. we are united in our anguish. an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. [applause] i know the house wants to say we are awed by the tremendous
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>> particularly sad that at a time when people want us to come together, and we are prepared to come together tomorrow night. that this assault would be made. so tomorrow we go out on the field, we root for our team. we want everyone to do his or her very best. we will use this occasion as one that brings us together. nancy: poignant moments on capitol hill. you heard the applause on the house floor today. it was packed. reaction, though, to the shooting has been pouring in from all around the world. including online. lindsey mastis joining us now from the social media center with that part of our coverage. lindsey: you are right. we are getting a glimpse at what is going on if response to today's shooting thanks to social media. if you look at this, this was posted by louisiana's governor jon bell edward showing people coming together in the capitol
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this post shows the house democrats praying for the victims at their ball field shortly after hearing about what happened. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords who herself survived being shot in office posted this -- my heart is with my former colleagues, their family and staff and the u.s. capitol police, public servants and heroes today and every day. ivanka trump posted to twitter. "our thoughts and prayers are with the representative scalise and others injured in this morning's terrible incident. grateful to the first responders." members of congress are also posting well-wishes for the victims. nancy? nancy: all right, thank you very much. abc7 will have continuing coverage from both here on the capitol and the ball fields in alexandria. jonathan: ahead we will have the damage left behind but let me show you what is happening behind me. we will go to the mass cam to get a bird's-eye view of what is going on. this is on the baseball field, where the shooting took place. you can see police
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in a small line looking for any shell casings, any evidence. they are trying to retrace the steps of the shooter to see where he went. we understand he never made it out on to the ball field, thank goodness. he was blocked out by the fence. he was shooting from where the stands are. there are grand stands to the right. you can see there. he was standing on, shooting over the fence. the team we understand was in the first base dugout. they all ducked and laid flat on the ground inside when the shooting took place. but you can see the disarray on the field, the baseball bags left behind. gloves. baseball gloves. this is a very active crime scene and will be for some time. we will have much more from alexandria in the del ray area,, but in the meantime go back to alison and michelle. michelle: thank you. lettered letter is following the breaking news all everything long. if you have to step away from the tv, download our app from the google play or the apple app store. updates are being posted there and online. alison: meanwhile, coming up next at "abc7 news at 4:00" --
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and we're partnering with cigna to help save lives. we are the tv doctors of america. by getting you to a real doctor for an annual check-up. so go, know, and take control of your health. doctor poses. learn your key health numbers, and take control today. alison: now to a dramatic rescue caught on camera. two swimmers get caught up in a rip current and an officer comes to their rescue. michelle: take a look at the scene here at rockaway beach in new york. a woman is caught in the
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tries to come to her rescue. that is when an nypd officer jumps into action and then enlists the help of nearby surf offers to help the swimmer back to the shore. alison: thank goodness they were there. amazingly, the woman who was really struggling was able to keep her head above water just long enough. michelle: still ahead -- three myths about summer driving. everything you need to know before you hit the road.
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i'm the one clocking in... when you're clocking out. sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. there. i can even warm these to help you fall asleep faster. does your bed do that? oh. i don't actually talk. though i'm smart enough to. i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed.
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re. michelle: the second full day of deliberations in the bill cosby sexual assault trial. this afternoon, the entire testimony of the cosby accuser was read back to juries at their request. he faces ten years in prison on each count if convicted. alison: today marks the 270rd year anniversary of the birthed of the u.s. army. in 1775, right when the american revolution was beginning, rebellious colonies fielded an amateur force of troops. knowing it wasn't enough to confront the british troops in boston, john adams reportedly asked for boston troops to join forces.
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and george washington was named commander-in-chief the next day. and the rest is fourth of july history. michelle: lately, it has felt like july. the last couple of days of the heatwave. dangerously hot out there. alison: yeah. you add in the air quality alerts and it's really tough to be outside. what do the alerts mean? what can happen to your body out there? michelle: meteorologist josh knight is in arlington with how important it is to heed the warnings. josh? josh: good evening, guys. for some people it's even more important to pay attention. so today marks day four of the heatwave. the temperatures continued to stay in the 90's. today was better. more cloud cover popping up. the air quality is better today but this is something to pay attention to. it is officially feeling
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summer. this is what people would rather be doing. breathing in the fresh air. not everyone is so lucky. >> bad air can reduce lung capacity by as much as 20% for people who have respiratory problems. josh: people with breathing problems like asthma and emphasesma and the children -- emphysema and children and elder willry a sense -- elderly are a sensitive group. >> they feel a tightness of the chest. josh: when the pollutants like car and lawnmower exhaust and even fumes from pumping gas combined with hot weather and sunshine is when we have issues. >> there is a chemical reaction causing ozone. ozone affects the breezing. josh: the risk level goes up to red, unhealthy and everyone purple, very unhealthy. but d.c.'s air has been improving. >> we haven't had any code red days the last three years in the region. the air has gotten better. josh: but on bad air days the
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can do is spend less time outside and everyone should limit strenuous activity outside. >> we are trying to give people the tools so they can adjust what they do in their lives to not be as affected by it. josh: in the middle of the day, the heat of the day is the worst time to be outside. doug, today is day four. just about everybody is ready for a little bit of a cooldown. i'll send it to you. doug: the winds have gone to the east and the northeast to bring in cooler and fresher air. it will be muggy tonight. storms formed in charles county across the potomac and farther south and southwest. numerous storms. but most of the action will stay to the south and southwest of the metro
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it will turn partly cloudy this everything and the temperatures will start to fall. it's still 77 about 9:00 tonight. we head through the day tomorrow and fog in the morning, partly cloudy. not as hot or humid. there could be a thunderstorm in the afternoon or evening. a quick look at the extended outlook shows the temperature in the low 80's. the weekend will warm up in a hurry. hot and humid for father's day. much larger chance of storms on monday. then it settles down and quiet and dry and warm as we ready to welcome summer next wednesday. alison? alison: thank you. coming up next on abc7 news, before you hit the road. take your car in for a tune-up this summer. we will address three myths about your tires and summer driving you won't want to miss. michelle: at 5:00, continuing coverage from alexandria and capitol hill. th
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creating jobs foreaner, reliour veterans... helping those in need save money on their energy bills. it takes 16,000 dominion energy employees doing the job. and now, dominion energy is investing $15 billion to build and upgrade our electric and natural gas infrastructure... creating jobs now and for the future. across virginia, we're building an economy
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power the companies that power our economy. john: we have heard to keep tires inflated and that bald tires are bad. that is true but beyond that, much of what we think is a myth. that the tire pressure monitor keeps you at a right pressure. false. it only warns you when they are 25% down, borderline unsafe. myth two, replace the front tires first. false. wow wt
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want the best trend on the rear. and they can burst if at higher pressure than recommended. false. tires work at much higher pressure where tires would explode every day. one of the biggest moment of all that low profile tires and bigger wheels equal better handling. in many cases that is false. if you just spent money on low profiles, you might say doesn't that stink? bigger wheels and low protile cost more but often you get worse, not better handling. "popular mechanic" says big wheel and low profile tires are designed for sporty cars. on standard cars changing the tire and the wheel size often makes handling worse. good to know so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese, abc7 news. [gunfire]
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>> east monroe avenue. >> i still have shots being fired. >> for two or three minutes it was absolute chaos. >> i got a look at the shooter. >> our lives were saved by the capitol hill police. if they had not been there, it would have been a massacre. larry: congressman steve scalise is in critical condition after this morning's shooting in alexandria. jonathan: two capitol police officers, staffer and a lobbyist were also hit when the shots rang out just after 7:00 a.m. jonathan: they were all here at the alexandria baseball field practicing for tomorrow night's congressional baseball game. nancy: we have team coverage from the hill to the hospital to illinois where the man who started shooting was from. let's start, though, with chief political correspondent scott thuman who joins us from del ray. scott? scott: yeah, nancy. just behind me you can s
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taped off. authorities, investigators with local and federal are on site. we say federal because the attack took place against member of congress and the colleagues. federal crime. the f.b.i. is in charge. they plan to have a news conference in just about 30 minutes' time. around the corner from us. we'll listen closely to see what if any political motivations may have had to do in this really charged timing. >> have i still got shots being fired? >> we got one in custody. we need medics. scott: chaos as republican members of congress came under fire practicing early wednesday morning for a charity baseball game. representative mo brooks was feet away. >> i thought it was a car backfiring at first until i see the rifle barrel. a white male taking careful aim at congressman, staffers, whoever he could get ahold of. >> he had a lot of ammo. i think he must have been secured behind the third base dugout for a while. tough to get to him.

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