fair we will to a legend. [ music ] ♪ like a comet blazing across the evening sky ♪ >> fans, friends, and family mourn his passing. >> and i just wanted to say i love him so much. >> tonight complete coverage as people across the world and here in maryland say good-bye to the king of pop. >> hello, i'm vic carter. >> i'm denise koch. here's what people are talking about tonight. a somber spiritual celebration of the life, career and impact of michael jackson. thousands gathered inside the staples center in los angeles and millions watched the star- studded memorial honoring the iconic performer. karen brown begins our coverage

from los angeles. >> reporter: from the life spent shrouded from her father's celebrity 11-year-old paris stepped out. >> daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine, and i just wanted to say i love him. >> reporter: with a hand on michael jackson's coffin, superstar usher brought the house to tears and was enveloped by the jackson family. at the heart of the very public good-bye, was an intimate family moment. jermaine sang michael's favorite song. [ music ] >> reporter: even michael jackson's own voice sent a shiver through the arena. >> in my deepest despair, will you still care? will you be there? >> is i'll be there. >> reporter: and they were there before, the famous, to

the fans. >> you could actually feel his magic once the casket came in. >> reporter: they celebrated his music. >> i think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived. [ applause ] >> reporter: every member their friend. >> he was caring and funny, honest, pure. >> reporter: and they lauded his contribution to breaking down color barriers. >> and he opened all those doors for us. >> reporter: they didn't shy away from the controversy in his life. ♪ we are the world >> reporter: but on the exact stage where he had been preparing for his comeback. his friends, family, and three children gathered to sing together in honor of the man, the entertainer, and the humanitarian. in los angeles, karen brown, wjz, eyewitness news. and following today's memorial, jackson's casket was led vought the arena. his family has not yet said where he will be buried.

>> as millions of people around the world gathered in front of their television sets a special screening was held here. the enoch pratt free library simulcast the memorial. >> what everyone sees on the screen and entertainer -- entertainment world, he was a human being. >> feels weird without him around. >> the library says part of the reason it decided to simulcast is because of an increase in interest from its patrons on all things michael jackson. all of his cd's and books have been checked out. meanwhile? estimate that today's service will set viewership records on both tv and internet streaming. stay with eyewitness news for complete coverage as the world remembers michael jackson. you'll see more from today's memorial including individual clips from the speeches and performances, and for more on john kerry son's life go to our

website, wjz.com. major developments in the investigation into the deaths of two teenagers near a light rail station in baltimore county. mta police now say there is video showing a train hitting the teens. eyewitness news is live in lutherville. tonight kai jackson explains what investigators think went wrong. kai. >> reporter: well, vic, the video solves the mystery of how the young men were killed, but the question of why they were on the tracks remains unclear. the afternoon of july 5th changed two baltimore county families forever. the bodies of kyle wankmiller and connor peter son, both 17, were found near the lutherville light rail station. >> it's a tragic, tragic thing. >> we've discovered a videotape equipped on the front end of our train. >> now questions about how the friends died have been answered. surveillance video from a train shows the teens walking north on southbound tracks when they were hit from behind by a train. >> we found out that, in fact, the individuals were struck by

one of our light rail trains as they were walking inside the tracks. >> reporter: the mta says their surveillance video has determined that the teenagers were walking north on southbound tracks and probably weren't expecting a northbound trains on those tracks. under normal circumstances, it probably would not have been. >> there were a sequence of events that happened. initially we had a report of some debris being on the track, and because of that debris being on the trashings we had a disabled train. we then went into a single tracking mode. >> which meant a northbound train was on southbound track though normally it would it not have been. >> they may have had a comfort level thinking that a train coming behind them would have been on the opposite track, but unfortunately the train came up behind them. >> what were they doing on the tracks, 100 yards away from the lutherville station? the act doesn't make sense. >> reporter: that videotape will not be released, according to the mta. the mta strongly discourages anyone from walking on their

tracks at any time saying it's an incredibly dangerous thing to do. the investigation is ongoing. vic, back to you. >> the family is having two separate funerals. connor peterson's will be held saturday morning. a southwest plane was forced to make an emergency landing tonight at bwi airport. skyeye chopper 13 was there as the pilot guided the plane to a safe landing around 5:15. flight 69 had just taken off for providence, rhode island when an estimated 40 birds struck one of the plane's engines. tonight a bwi spokesperson talked to eyewitness news about actions taken to reduce the chances. >> bwi has a federal wildlife biologist stationed here at the airport. this individual works with airport personnel to minimize any conflict between wildlife and aircraft. there are a number of measures that the airport takes to really minimize any incidents. >> the 137 passengers on board

were transferred to a different plane to continue to their final destination. you may remember it was a flock of canadian geese that forced a u.s. airways flight to make an emergency landing on the hudson river in new york back in january. in that instance, both engines failed. a delayed call to 911. new questions in the murder investigation of former ravens quarterback steve mcnair. adam may reports why police are being cautious about labeling the death of a murder-suicide. >> reporter: nashville police have some serious outstanding questions in the murder investigation of steve mcnair. >> we are concerned about the time that elapsed between the discovery of the beds and the time the 911 call was made. >> reporter: at least half an hour went by before mcnair's roommate and a friend who discovered the beds called 911. police are also looking into what happened when mcnair was at this bar an hour before his death. there an unknown woman claimed mcnair slipped her a date rape drug and she threatened to get

her boyfriend to kill the quarterback. >> we are going to be questioning persons who were there, the management and staff that is on the list to do. >> reporter: mcnair was shot four times. his 20-year-old girlfriend who he vacationed with for months, sahel kazuyoshi, kazemi had a single gunshot wound to the head. a gun was found under her body at the scene according to the medical examiner. >> she clearly could have done this to herself, as opposed to steve mcnair. >> reporter: a possible motive could be a lover's quarterly, but police warn they may never know for sure. nashville police are still waiting on ballistics test. they will either rule out or confirm if kazemi pulled the trig her. >> kazemi's former boyfriend, a manager at a fast-food restaurant, was questioned by police and released. there is outrage and

confusion coming from parents and students of one of baltimore's most well-known high schools. towson catholic high school is shutting its doors. kelly mcpherson explains parents are scrambling to find a new school for students weeks before the semester starts. kelly. >> reporter: denise, the diocese says it expected an uptick in enrollment this summer is but did it not happen so they are shutting down this school, leaving 160 families with nowhere to send their student in the fall. six weeks before the school year, towson catholic high school is closing. >> we're supposed to be looking at colleges right now, not high schools. this is what you do in 8th grade, not your senior year of high school. >> what are these students going to do? what are the faculty going to do in the's totally uprooting everyone. >> reporter: diocese sent out letters after outraged school supporters leaked to the media that the parrish, immaculate conception, was shutting down

the school. >> i'm angry and saddened, not only for the kids. i've had so many parents call me today, their kid is sitting in a corner crying, what am i going to do, where am i going to go. >> reporter: enrollment is down 81 students. that means less tuition dollars on top of the 160,000 in unpaid tuition from last year. >> not only an untenable economic situation but really a program, based on such few people and with such a barry bones staff and program mattic offerings, because of the budget, it just did not make sense to continue it. >> reporter: towson catholic has one of the lowest tuition vees catholic schools in the area at $9500 a year. so parents now are worried that they'll to have spend even more. >> i guess i will be looking for another catholic school. >> towson produced carmelo anthony and dante green and in june hired reggie williams to

coach the basketball team. alumni are clearly close to their alma matter. >> it it's so upsetting. you're thrown out of your home. >> reporter: there will be a liaison here for you to son catholic students to be linked up with other catholic schools if possible. the diocese is asking those schools to accept the lower tuition here and they will help students connect with public schools if necessary. reporting live from towson, kelly mcpherson, wjz eyewitness news. >> thank you very much kelly. the 20 faculty and staff members will learn more tomorrow at a school meeting. the sudden loss of a maryland high school athlete. tonight, the mysterious death of a football player who collapsed during a teamworkout what. the family is saying. >> new information on the suspected serial killer in south carolina. police say he was in maryland before his murder spree. >> reporter: is the juvenile justice system failing our children some some prosecutors believe it is. i'm mike hellgren in southwest baltimore where a five-year-old girl was shot in the head with

a hard look at the problem. more beautiful july weather. i'm bob turk. i'll have the complete first warning forecast coming up next.

it is 70 degrees and clear

in central maryland. the complete first warning forecast is coming up. but first, the suspected south carolina serial killer had a long rap sheet including crimes committed in maryland. patrick burris was shot and killed after a confrontation with officers. he is blamed for the shooting deaths of five people. burris had several convictions for larceny, forgery, plus breaking and entering. he was paroled just two months ago. president obama concludes his two-day trip to russia with mixed results. he had meetings with prime minister vladimir putin along with president dmitry medvedev. the president could not get russia's cooperation on any intervention with iran. tomorrow the president heads to the g-8 summit in italy. he is scheduled to he meet with pope benedict before moving on

to ghana. questions remain following the death of a high school football player in montgomery county. edwin miller collapsed during preseason conditioning drills at northwest high school last thursday. he died the next day at washington children's hospital. according to his family, miller had no preexisting condition. an autopsy has been requested because the exact cause of death is is unknown. >> he had signs of dehydration and possibly like heat stroke. as far as practice is concerned, if that's what led to his demise, we'd like to know. if there was somebody at the hospital who didn't do their job, we'd like to know. >> coaches were supervising the drills and performed cpr on miller. northwest high school has indefinitely suspended its football conditioning sessions. new troubling information about the teenage suspect accused of firing a gun that wounded a baltimore girl.

mike hellgren reports there's question why the 17-year-old suspect was even on the streets. >> reporter: sources have revealed to wjz that lamonte davis, the teenager charged with shooting five-year-old raven wyatt in the head, not only has a lengthy juvenile arrest record but also was placed on home monitoring and cut off his ankle bracelet. hat raised concerns about the juvenile justice system. >> the tragedy is that a young mother who should have the joy of sending a young kindergartner off to school for her first day of school in september has to deal with a hospital setting. >> reporter: state's attorney spokeswoman margaret burns would not speak about the details of this case but says the system as a whole is failing. >> our hands are often tied behind our back by laws that are archaic that do not address what we feel we could address in terms of rehabilitation, accountsability and more. >> reporter: sources say davis had been in state custody since february 2008 and had been arrested four times since then. the department of juvenile

services spokeswoman says agents were looking for him within minutes after he cut off his bracelet and worked close well police. she declined an on-camera interview. >> we should not assume that all of this is all by just some evil child being been out of the womb of some woman. this is all put together because of conditions that are creating these conditions, and we want to fix them. >> reporter: over and over again conditions of juvenile crime have caused outrage, including a teen killed for a cell phone in 2006. a study commissioned showed the typical juvenile charged with murder had been arrested at least four times, more than half were on probation. >> the ability for the system to address the level of violence that we see as prosecutors just doesn't exist. >> reporter: at last check, little raven was on life support at shock trauma. mike hellgren, wjz, eyewitness news. >> we've also learned the little girl, raven wyatt is now

in stable condition. our media partner, the baltimore sun, spoke with her family. they say her condition is improving, and they are more confident that she will survive. if you are planning a trip, several airlines have announced some big deals on their fares. prices for short flights on southwest, airtran, and frontier have fallen below $100. airlines normally drop prices for the fall season, but this sale comes earlier than usual. the fares are on a limited number of seats so you have to make your purchases soon. >> almost makes you want to go somewhere. >> it doesn't take much for me. >> it's interesting how these places go up and down. you can log in in one place, and log out another place. dryer and cooler tomorrow. humidity subpoena because it's nighttime. winds currently are dead calm. the barometer 29.77. it's on the way back up.

what a beautiful day it was. it was warm, but most people didn't even realize it got that warm. 88. normal high is 87. 64 last night. 66 is the normal low on this date in july. around the state now some really pleasant temperatures. 63 oint oakland, 70 here, 73 in ocean city. deep creek lake coming in at 60 degrees right now on the lake. nice and cool in garrett county. even nice at the beach. a little breeze coming in really pleasant. around the baltimore area, right around the 70-degree mark. d.c. 78. no wind to speak of here. just a light northwest breeze, and tomorrow north to northwest breezes mean dry air for at least several more days. we do after few clouds. even found one shower down here near charlotte hall, southern maryland. that will be dying out the next hour or two, but that's the only activity i've found. east of la plata you saw some

rain about 15 minutes ago. for us, just a few clouds. for the most part beautiful weather. to our north, not so beautiful. know gland, still clouds and showers -- new england, still clouds and showers. in central florida a lot of rain down there. boston some showers, you are in the 60s right now. showers right along the hudson river, just to the north of new york and connecticut. that's all moving out to the east and northeast. for us, higher pressure moves in. dry weather continues through friday, the and sunshine as well. by saturday night, more humidity, chance of a shower or a thundershower by saturday night. small craft advisory into the morning hours. northwest winds at 10 to 15 knots on the bay tomorrow. bay temperature 77. so tonight generally clear, a few clouds, 62, otherwise a beautiful night, and tomorrow lots of sun is, 84, continued on the dry side. even a little cooler. 84, humidity comes back on saturday, and saturday night,

scattered thundershower around, drying out, late sunday 84, 66 the second half of the weekend. denise. >> thank you, bob. coming up, frustration boils over for the orioles, and manager dave trembley isn't going to take it any more.

the night for the orioles started with the leadoff hitter suffering from an upper respiratory infection. his teammates went out to stop a three-game losing streak, facing former oriole erik bedard. luke scott, single up the middle. 2-0. when the throw from the outfield goes wild, the o's argue they should get another run. manager dave trembley argued until he was ejected from the

game. the o's lost their manager, then they lost the lead when franklin gutierrez hit one out to left field. three-run home run. right now mariners lead the orioles 3-2. before the game the o's announced that pitcher rich hill is being sent to the bullpen until after the all- star break. an off day on thursday allows the team to make the move. hill has been struggling. another politician is urging the u.s. government to investigate how college football determines its national champion. republican senator orrin hatch of utah wants the justice department to look into what he calls possible violations of antitrust laws in the bowl championship series. smaller football conferences have argued that they are unfairly left out of the championship process. hatch says he is fed up by the arrogance of the bcs. at cycling's tour de france a big day for american lance armstrong and his team.

armstrong and his squad were the fastest in the time trial finishing 18 second faster than the runner up. armstrong is a seven-time champ retired from racing after he won the tour in 2005. next leg covers 122 miles. opening day at the u.s. national swimming championships. katie hoff, the american record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle, but she did not finish in the top three tonight, she finished 6th. michael phelps will hit the pool to begin his competition in indianapolis tomorrow.

a lot of dogs are smart enough to do tricks but one missouri owner says his canine is a genius. cowboy is a border collie who not only knows how to close a gate, but he can pick up tools for his owner. also, cowboy is pretty good at basketball. the multitasking dog has already been contacted for an appearance on the david letterman show.

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