dicey weather from harford county to the western side of baltimore county caused damage in several towns. roosevelt leftwich has more on the weather. the weather swept through the neighborhoods and knocked down trees. the damage is extensive. this is what it looks like. that was this morning. the trees were splintered by the winds and lightning, knocking them into power lines. folks in the area say that the skies got dark and rain fell in sheets. ellis thompson saw it from his window.

>> i was looking out the window. i'm saying, it was raining, i'm saying, oh, my gosh, she's out there. next she know, i see lightning. next you now, lightning come down the yard. it split that tree right there. i mean, that's a big tree. >> no one was injured, but power is out. bge crews are working there. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. here's a look at tonight's top stories. weeks after a deadly hit-and- run, abc2 news obtained the dispatch tapes. the tapes showed the initial confusion at the scene. the car pulled over belongs to a woman from severn. the space shuttle is heading to the international space station. it's the start of the last

space shuttle mission after 30 year and 135 missions, the shuttles are being grounded. news from around the nations starts in michigan. the police say that one of the people that a man killed in a shooting spree was his 12-year- old daughter. he killed her and her mother. he went to another home and killed another former girlfriend and her mother. he killed seven people before taking hostages in a stranger's home. he then killed himself. a prison break was caught on tape. two prisoners staged a fight and the original pair barged through the door and escaped. one of the suspects was caught.

the other was found three days later. casey anthony could be out of jail no longer than next weekend. her freedom has created a backlash of hatred. >> her daughter died and she plans on making all kinds of money. protestors gathered outside of a courthouse angry. there's no justice, for caylee, they said. the hatred has anthony's lawyers concerned. >> there are a lot of nuts out there that don't believe in the institution. i doubt there's any place in the country she could walk the trees freely. >> when she gets out, she'll have hefty bills to pay. she has to pay $1000 for each

of the four counts of lying to the police and she's facing mounting lawsuits. fans of baseball games are always seen reaching for balls. yesterday, it turned deadly. here's more. >> reporter: it should have been a fun day at a baseball park. a father and son enjoying a baseball game together. by the second inning, the day of bonding turned into tragedy. >> the son cried out, daddy. my husband grabbed the boy so he wouldn't see it. >> reporter: this local firefighter reached for a foul ball and fell over the railing. >> just as the ball hit his hand, he went head first. >> reporter: he fell 20 feet to

the concrete floor. this man was sitting next to the victim. >> he reached out to grab it and went over the rail. i reached out to grab him, he went straight down, head first. he was taken out alert enough to ask on his son. less than an hour later, he was dead. >> just drives it to the core of what we're about and the memories that we try to make in this game for the fans. >> reporter: the crowd was stunned after witnessing the fall. no one really knew how serious it was. flags at the ranger's ballpark at arlington are in half staff, in memory of stone, a beloved firefighter. phillip palmer, abc2 news. gm may have an incentive

that's hard to resist. free insurance for a year, would that get you to buy a gm? and the hacking investigation in england continues to grow. now, former employees are arrested by police. we have a winning toilet paper wedding dress, coming up.

tobacco is going up in prices. it follows the price increase from the tobacco company that hiked the menthols up to 11 cents a pack. if you buy a gm, you can get a year's worth of car insurance free. maryland isn't one of the states where it's happening. it's in oregon and washington. after the year is up, gm owners

can renew the policy or go elsewhere. they hope the move will help them boost sells. the phone tapping in england shutdown the paper. the investigation is getting bigger and dragging down those in politics. you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. it's an elephant with an artificial leg. unbelievable. we have a line of storms moving out of baltimore and pushing into annapolis and the eastern shore. we're talk about the current set of warnings and the weekend forecast.

♪ [ female announcer ] everybody loves that cushiony feeling. uh oh. i gotta go. [ female announcer ] and with charmin ultra soft, you can get that same cushiony feeling you love while still using less. charmin ultra soft has extra cushions

that are soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. ah. [ female announcer ] using less never felt so good. we all go... why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft.

the royal newlyweds are in california tonight. they'll spend three days in the state beginning in los angeles. they'll start a conference in beverly hills. meanwhile, the scandal over the tabloids in england is getting bigger. we'll look at what might happen in the end to rupert murdoch himself. >> reporter: the first casualty, a legendary paper and two more. this man was arrested for allegedly bribing police and this man was also arrested. he was the editor while the reporters broke the law. then, he was the chief

spokesman for britain's brisker. -- prime minister. >> it's not just about the press, it's also about the police -- >> reporter: the famously out spoken media mogul is tight lipped. >> reporter: do you walk this fast all of the time? >> i do when i'm running away from you guys. >> reporter: despite the 168 year history, he's shutting down "the news of the world" this sunday. >> "the news of the world" was a criminal organization. >> reporter: the weekly tabloid was hated by many, even the royal for the pursuit of sensational stories. stories that made it popular with readers and profitable for

murdoch. that changed this week. the paper hacked the voice mails of a murdered teen and british soldiers who died aboard. this is a former editor at the paper. >> you had to get the story at all costs. you would go and do anything. >> reporter: even breaking the law? >> absolutely. now, maryland's most powerful doppler radar and the forecast certified most accurate. still, some weather warnings to tell you about. it's flash flood warnings for harford, baltimore and carroll county and frederick county and howard county and that includes anne arundel county. primary concerns again are for flash flooding for too much rain too quickly.

this watch extends on to the delmarva peninsula. let's get into the radar. you can see where the main line of the showers and storms are. they've moved out of baltimore. they're crossing the bay and shadyside. kent island, they're getting hit good now. centreville, up into kent county and the delaware line. you're getting downpour and dangerous lightning. it's coming your way, carroll county eventually, you'll see heavy rain out of this, too. we have clearing from frederick and westminster and back into montgomery county. the rain is beginning to let up a bit. take a little pan around town. wet in the wake of a few inches of rain in most spots. 73 now. we have a lot of rain cooling from the downpours. the winds shifted north and east. you can see the heavy showers

and storms as they came in here. this is from the err and -- earth and space laboratory. in baltimore, near druid hill at robert w. coalman. we'll find the downpours here. the skies are breaking apart and that means good weather into the evening. low 70s from the storms. still cooking into the 80s and the humidity is off of the charts. the bottom line is this. heavy downpours to be had from annapolis eastward from elkton, south and eastward down into delmarva. that's pushing northwest to south east. where you've seen the rain taper off, you'll continue to see more clearing. the chance for showers to linger into 8:00, 9:00, 10:00,

on the eastern shore, slowly and surely, the boundary will push into daybreak tomorrow. we'll see good weather saturday, less humid weather and as we go into sunday, the clear weather holds up nicely for us. on the whole, not a bad situation. the weekend clears out nicely for us. tonight, we'll have a flash flood watch. the storms are pushing further south east. tomorrow, 89 degrees. just a few a.m. showers to the east. most of us are seeing clearing. tomorrow, town to 64. it will get less humid it won't last long, but it will be nice. still, hot. temperatures around 90. bring back to showers and humidity into monday and tuesday. until we get into the next several hours here, we're

looking good. i can't believe the storms last night, they were wicked. >> they were long lasting. >> well, they were not severe, there was so much lightning. >> they rolled into each other. >> well spoken. >> i should do weather. >> come on over. >> we'll move on now. and with today's launch of the space shuttle atlantis, the end of an era has arrived. for the last 30 years, it's blasted off 135 times. it's time to take a look back. here are all of the 135 launches in 135 seconds. >> [several people counting down to lift off]

and lift off! beginning america's new journey. >> this is the journey to shore up the mission. >> houston, the program. >> america will continue the dream. >> all right, extra credit at home if you were able to count along. speaking of speed.

shuttle travels around earth at 17,500 miles per hour. they can see a sunset or sunrise every 45 seconds. we actually missed one. coming up at 6:00, it's the start of july and it's been a deadly summer on the water. 'll hear what's to blame here. and a group of locals are taking us to a shuttle launch party. those stories are coming up at 6:00. coming up on world news, it's one of the rarest diseases on earth and it couldn't stop a boy from chasing his dream and living his passion. why we call him the person of the week.

tonight, only on abc2 news, 911 tapes give us a glimpse into the night that two teen girls were run down on the streets. we may be miles from florida, that didn't stop the local folks from celebrating a lift off. if you're dealing with lower back pain, there's better alternatives than taking a bunch of pills. the clouds are running through the inner harbor as baltimore is gearing up for another stormy night.