this is wjz tv, wjz hd on wjz.com, baltimore. it's a fight to the finish in iowa. the candidates scramble for last-minute votes. >> who's ahead in the polls now and why the race is still too close to call. hello, everybody. >> here's what people are talking about tonight. >> we are less than 24 hours away from the first votes of the 2012 presidential election. republicans in iowa will pick their candidate tomorrow. we are reporting from iowa on the frantic last-minute campaigning. >> reporter: candidates are shaking hands and pushing hard to persuade as many iowans as possible. >> i need every single vote in this room and i need you to get a couple other votes. >> reporter: mit romney and ron

paul are neck and neck. >> the enthusiasm is growing by leaps and bounds. >> reporter: but santorem is gaining on them. >> wear your badge on the coat on the outside. put that bumper sticker on your car. >> he invested heavily in iowa making some 380 public appearances. at a pizza parlor, he said his momentum for the presidency begins with them. >> reporter: still more than 40% of likely caucus voters haven't settled on a favorite. it's not about who they like but what can get elected. >> romney has the presidential look. >> when do you make your decision? >> probably tomorrow night at 7:00. >> reporter: the campaigns are bombarding iowans with phone calls.

>> we literally saw thousands of people flip and go from undecided or from another candidate and switch and go our way. >> reporter: bockman, perry, and gingrich are running at the back of the pack. >> we'll have the results from the iowa caucuses tomorrow night right here on eyewitness news at 11. a break in the case from an arsonist terrifying people in los angeles. police connected him to more than 50 fires over the last week. he torched cars and homes in several different neighborhoods. he's been involved in a fight with immigration officials. the fires caused more than $2 million in damage. a police find a suspected killer died. benjamin barns died in a creek. he's also a suspect in the

shooting at a new year's eve party in seattle. the murdered park ranger. first shooting of 2012 and the victim is just 13 years old. wjz is live in police headquarters. we have collusive details from an eyewitness. >> reporter: right now that young teenager is in the hospital recovering and tonight an eyewitness tells wjz that he saw another teenager pull the trigger. this man we're not identifying fears for his life. just after dark on new year's day, the baltimore resident tells only wjz that he witnessed a 13-year you have will old on a bike attacked by other teenagers, then shot numerous times in the upper

body. >> you saw him shooting the gun? >> i saw him actually pointing down and i seen the sparks coming from the gun, i heard the pop, pop, pop. i heard three shots. i think it was a bunch of kids. >> reporter: this neighborhood is no stranger to violent crimes. drug-dealing hot spots are a few blocks that way. many families with children call this area home. >> it's just the terrible world we live in. >> it's sad, it's horrible that kids can't be safe in a neighborhood like that. >> reporter: many residents in the neighborhood praise peace, hoping the shooter is brought to justice. >> it hurts my heart that another person in the neighborhood period, let alone a 13-year-old kid. who, i mean, they have to get a grip on it. >> reporter: police are not reporting any leads in the case and they're not releasing the

identity of this 13-year-old. juvenile shootings are down 70% in baltimore since 2007. never theless, 28 children were shot and 14 died last year. >> despite that shooting, the police commissioner says his officers are making progress fighting crime. hasn't been that low since the late '70s. not even feels safer. overall crime in the city increased slightly last year. a woman is rushed to the hospital after she is hit by a car. the 60-year-old woman was crossing york road when she was hit. the impact sent her items flying across the road. her injuries are so severe she was flown to the hospital. $5. a gallon of gas? it could happen this year. we're live in north baltimore with might have gas prices could soon explode. >> reporter: the president signed new sanctions against

the country of iran. iran has unleashed a threat that could send gas prices soaring. prices at the pump already have drivers in pain. >> i can barely afford it now. >> reporter: if iran follows through on a threat, prices here could skyrocket by summer. >> if it gets to $5, that would be very bad. >> reporter: threat of $5 gas, has him reconsidering his ride. >> in the summertime, get another car, a prius. >> reporter: gas prices have gone up 7-cents and there's no sign of them going down. the average for a gallon of regular is $3.25 compared to $3.07 last year. >> that could have an impact. >> reporter: he won't go as far

as $5 but does expect prices to go up. >> we have enough issues going on in the world and in this country that the tendency could certainly be higher. >> we've been fortunate in this country. in european countries, they've been paying more than that for a long time. >> reporter: and the u.s. penalties against iran don't take effect for six months, even then the president could waive those penalties for national security reasons. >> thank you. you can find the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood by going to wjz.com. click on links and numbers. a businessman whose legacy lives on at two local universities has died. william polk carey passed away in florida. he gave a total of $80 million to johns hopkins university and the university of maryland. both have schools named after him. he was 81 years old.

flying high into the play offs. the ravens are getting ready to host their first post-season home game in five years. we spent the day talking with players and fans. >> baltimore certainly loves its football and the love affair with the ravens reaches new heights at play off time. that affection runs both ways. >> touchdown ravens. >> the ravens end the regular season with a victory on the road. that brings home a play off stage for baltimore, so fans and businesses quickly shift into post-season mode. fans shopping for the latest in play off purple. >> a jersey of ray lewis. >> and local printers cranking out t-shirts as fast as they can. >> we have people lining up to get the shirts this morning, first thing this morning. >> for the first time in five

years, ravens fans will get to cheer their team in a home play off game. it's a meaningful home field advantage and on monday, the team took time to state their appreciation for the support. >> on behalf of the players and just so the fans know how much the players appreciate the fans. as we said, it's one down and two to go in terms of championships and our fans are a huge part of that. >> the ravens were unbeaten in their eight home games this season. going back to last year, they've won 10 straight here in baltimore, and that streak gets put to the test in a play off game in a couple of weeks. i ooh else have more on the team's post-season state of mind coming up later in sports. >> the ravens still have play off tickets available. they go on sale at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow on the ravens website. they have to wait to see who they'll play, whether it will

be houston, denver, pittsburgh. whichever team they host, you can watch that game right here in two weeks. speaking of the steelers, they'll take on the field this sunday. you can watch pittsburgh take on the broncos in denver on wjz. coming up, trapped in an icy river. the good samaritans who saved children caught in this very scary situation. i'm still cleaning blood off the car, man. >> the part of the tragic shooting that's really hard to believe. this may look like just a blank white phone screen, but it was a real lifesaver for one maryland man. i'll explain coming up on eyewitness news. much colder air is taking over maryland. we'll let you know how cold

coming up after this break. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

it is 31 degrees and windy in maryland. the complete weather forecast coming up. police in new york city hope dramatic surveillance video can help them solve a series of

suspected hate crimes. a person throwing a cocktail at a home in a muslim community. they say the same man also fire bombed a prominent islamic cultural center and a store. a 12-year-old boy in tampa is critically injured after he's struck by celebratory gunfire. he was watching new year's eve fire works. his mother says there were several family members standing together when all of a sudden her son fell through the ground. >> i'm getting by. i'm staying strong for my son, trying not to cry too much. i just want to bring him hope and i want him to have the feeling that he's going to be okay. >> the boy remains in critical condition. police have not made any arrests. they say the gunfire likely came from miles away. florida a and m approves a plan of action for dealing with

the hazing culture at the school and its famed marching band. the independent committee will not look into the death of robert champion because to have the continuing police investigation. they will focus on how other schools have handled hazing and the best way to govern the marching band. one member of the board voted against the plan calling it too simplistic. they did approve a campus memorial and a scholarship in champion's name. tragedy is avoided thanks to the fast action of passers by. three small children were trapped inside the vehicle when several people aim to the rescue. they cut the children out of their seat belts. one of the rescuers needed to perform cpr. all three children were released after being treated for hypothermia. a maryland hiker lost on new year's eve. the man got lost near

frederick. the hiker was rescued thanks to an app on his i-phone. >> i go out hiking with him on a regular basis. >> reporter: on new year's eve day, he and his dog booth set out for their first-ever hike. he started on the black trail, moved to the yellow trail, but ended up on a blue trail. hours later, darkness began to set in and so did his worry. >> at what point did you realize you were lost? >> reporter: he still had his cell phone signal and half the battery charge. >> and so i stopped and i said this is enough time. number one said we're sending a helicopter. >> this is where the flashlight app came in. he was able to wave his phone flashlight in the air. the rescuers were able to spot the light and send him the help. >> reporter: they dropped two

rescuers who guided him and his dog out of the park. >> what lessons do you take aqua from this? >> flashlight in the back. >> reporter: he's thankful he got to ring in the new year with his family. >> i got home about 9:30, we still went to the party. when i showed up, the guy who hosted the party had a flashlight to guide me in. >> reporter: he's going to hike the mountain again soon. >> this is a perfect example of why it's always important to take a cell phone with you and make sure someone knows where you'll be hiking. weren't the only things to occupy the tournament of roses parade. hundreds of protesters more than marched at the end of the

parade. they carried a banner and marched about a third of the route before leaving for another route. talk about timing. newborn twins in buffalo end up being born in different years. they were delivered 33 minutes apart and that gap covered the stroke of midnight on new year's eve. ronan was born at 11:37. maybe they can get matching shirts with one saying 2011 and the other saying 2012. >> always interesttion to hear these stories at the stroke of midnight. >> there was a report of that at hopkins a couple of years ago. i forget what it was. weather wise today, starting to see some changes out there and feeling the changes too. we're going to start out with our satellite radar. the clouds started to build up and in those clouds came snow

showers and flurries. those started to die down, but we could still see snow flurries or showers over the overnight. a lake effect snow event is now under way and we have a winter storm warning in effect until tomorrow for all of those western-facing cliffs. this time of year a lot of people planning all the ski trips out there. it's going to be the beginning of what we'll see this coming month. winds are bringing in cold air. we're sitting at 31 right now in baltimore. look at the 20s to our west and even 19 degrees in oakland where that snow is on the ground. take a look at the contrast from yesterday at this point. 10-20 degrees colder than where we stood yesterday. this is just the beginning of the cold air coming because the next two days all of this off to our north is moving in our direction. it's going to be much colder

than it has been lately, so this is the other thing going on too. the scattered showers and snow showers, most dying down from where they were earlier, but tom tomorrow rounds of snow showers and flurries coming through. by wednesday, though, that wind connection with the lake is shut off. when that happens, the cold air coming down from the north will be cut off temporarily and we're going to see that connection lost with the lake. the forecast on the water, small craft advisories in effect through tomorrow. tonight we're going down into the 20s, flurries possible around, then tomorrow windy and cold. we only recover to 32 degrees. our average is 42. we're about 10 degrees below average. cold again on wednesday, before things moderate on thursday and friday. by saturday we could be back at 50 degrees. >> there's hope ahead. coming up, the ravens take time

to reflect before the play offs begin. [ male announcer ] get ready for some deli-style delic-ious-ity: the subway big hot pastrami melt. take a moment to ponder tender cuts of pastrami, piled sky high atop your favorite freshly baked bread with spicy mustard, pickles and melt-a-licious cheese. okay,

enough imagining how this fresh toasted number would tantalize your taste buds -- it's time to actually experience the subway big hot pastrami melt, built by the sandwich experts the way you love -- to per-fec-tion. subway. eat fresh.

what a great day to be a ravens fan. >> nice start to the year. the ravens, they have a little time here to work with. to shift to play off mode for the ravens means going to neutral gear. there's nowhere to go for a couple of weeks. that's what happens when you earn a first-round play off bye. they will practice wednesday and thursday and try to get their players healthy for a super bowl run. harbaugh doesn't like to look back, but with a successful season complete, he did allow himself to reflect today. for the first time in five years, that accomplishment

earns them a home play off game. he's taking it all in. >> those are the moments that you really just are never going to forget. those are the ones you say wow, this is -- this thing we accomplished together, there's no words together. i think you just remember it, you know? and you can't put a price tag on it. priceless, is there a commercial like that? it's priceless. >> and a chance to forge even greater memories and emotions when the ravens jump into that play off party january 15th. we'll bring you the game right here on wjz. all depends what happens this coming weekend. see that steelers, broncos wild card game this sunday, kick off coming up at 4. 00. there were firings around the nfl today. the colts canned long-time gm bill polian. and tampa bay terminated coach morris. college bowl games in abundance on the second day to have the year. among the more colorful and entertaining, the rose bowl.

oregon taking on wisconsin. anthony thomas tears off a 91- yard touch down run and had a 64-yarder. oregon beats the badgers in pasadena. college basketball is the new coach. the huskies go the other way for two. falls 57-48. now 0-13. it's a losing streak of 33 in a row going back to last season. that's the longest streak in the nation. good season so for for the greyhounds against visiting niagra. baltimore product cormeer drives. the purple eagles found a way in a town that loves purple birds. we just prefer ravens. niagra knocks down the hounds

at home. ravens getting a little rest this week, and they earned it. get america's favorite coffee for america's favorite single-cup brewer. try all five delicious varieties, only at dunkin' donuts restaurants.

thanks, mom. who are you calling "mom"? dunkin' sausage pancake bites, delicious like mom's, only easier to carry -- get three for $1.59.

♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder.

a brave group of people start the year shivering. they took the plunge into lake michigan. some went in costume while others decided to bear the cold in their swim suits. the temperature in the lake at the time was 40 degrees. >> oh, ,,,,,,,,,,

the word is swapportunity. can i have the definition? swapportunity: the opportunity to swap a higher calorie snack for a yoplait light. can you use it in a sentence? mmm. swapping a 300 calorie donut for this 110 calorie strawberry shortcake is a good swapportunity. that's not a real word. oh haha it's real. [ female announcer ] delicious, creamy, yoplait light. over 30 flavors each around 100 calories. do the swap today.

okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours?