evening outside of the towson town mall, the police chief was adamant about the nature of the crime. >> we know now, based on the investigation so far, that this was not a random act of violence. this was absolutely not a robbery. >> the shooting happened about 6:00 last evening as the mall was busy with shoppers. 19-year-old rodney pridget was shot dead on the sidewalk outside of the mall. no motive has been singled out. >> we know that the victim and the suspect were in the mall prior to the shooting. >> was there any indication inside the mall with witnesses or videos that there was any kind of altercation or argument? >> i cannot answer that at this time. >> the shooting happened despite the usual beefed up holiday

police presence. >> my son and i are there all of the time, and we are looking to see that things are ok. >> i was supposed to go there tonight, but i would rather go in the morning and see my wife and kid and hug them. >> the general manager of the mall released a statement this afternoon, saying, in part, safety is our top concern every day, not just when incidents occur. we are thankful for the cooperation of the police. that was from the general manager of the towson town center. the victim, rodney pridget, was in court in september, where he was given probation in the case involving the theft of a playstation in a private home, and police are looking at that to see if at that had any connection to the shooting last night.

-- and to see if it had any connection to the shooting last night. >> thank you. a man is behind bars after a home invasion, and it ended when they opened fire on the suspect. a woman woke up to find the man inside your home, wearing a mask and holding a gun. police say the man robbed the woman, and when police arrived on the scene, he refused to drop his weapon. he is now being held without bail at the baltimore detention center. and being found guilty, a baltimore man will go to jail for the rest of his life. kelly shird got life in prison plus 20 years for killing craig bouie, who was home with children when shird broke in and shot the father.

>> tonight, the wbal tv and radio family remember a man whose voice was heard on the air for many years. ron smith died after a short battle with cancer. with the wbal microphone, ron smith got responses from his listeners. he would control and irritate, find agreement and disagreement -- he would schedule -- cajole and irritate. >> beyond all believe. i should not say that. >> and my wife. >> and your wife. so i take it back. >> known as the voice of reason, ron died last night after a

battle with inoperable pancreatic cancer. >> listeners calling in, offering condolences. >> the loss of such a great friend. >> sharing thoughts about spirited debates. >> the dry wit. skeptical, but not to cross the bridge too cynical, but he loved going cynical, and it reflected his personality. >> i remember he spoke out against the war, and that angered some of its listeners, but he stuck to his gun. -- that anderson of his listeners. -- that angered some of his listeners. >> a former marine, ron spent more than 30 years on the radio. he was a reporter and anchor for

wbal tv. a reporter says ron loved his show and challenged people who disagreed with him. >> the only time he ever became irritated is when someone would call up and not be interested in dialogue. >> one man met him at the hospital. >> i met him and his gallbladder at the time. i have to say, it was a challenging meeting. >> they became good friends. the doctor had the hard task of telling ron of the news. >> he somehow took care of me instead of me taking care of him. that is pretty special. >> for those of you who would like to leave your thoughts and condolences for ron's family, there is a link on our home page, wbaltv.com.

>> factoring in testimony of 18- year-old at the center of a case. our 11 news reporter is live outside the courthouse with what they had to say. >> today, they finished the case, and now, the school district is defending themselves. the 10-year-old special needs a student, whose parents it was severely bullied -- special needs students, whose parents say he was severely bullied. he told a counselor at john hopkins hospital that his father abused him so he would not have to be sent back to glenmont elementary school. the young men -- man was admitted while dealing with the bullying. he was beat up and even joked until he passed out.

-- and even joked -- choked until he passed out. an attorney asked sullivan if there was a paper trail or evidence of the bullying, and the father said no and that he did not think he had to document this. the school said they never received the bling -- bullying form. city's schools do not have a zero tolerance policy -- city schoolds do not have -- schools do not have a zero tolerance policy. reporting live from the city courthouse east, wbal tv 11 news. >> now, your 11 insta-weather forecast. >> temperatures managed to get

into the low 50's, and with the cloud cover, they will drop back down. 49 at the airport. an east wind at 5. this is mostly up near the pennsylvania line, but there is a chance you could see some light rain, especially north of baltimore. the chance of rain will go up significantly tomorrow. we will stay in the 50's on thursday. more rain thursday night and into friday morning. we will check your forecast, going all of the way into christmas weekend, coming up. >> corp. in east baltimore is under fire for not hiring enough local workers. -- a corporation in east baltimore is under fire. they are demanding more. they are working on three different projects and the baltimore area, a parking garage, is school, and a new lab.

-- a new school, and a new lab. >> bringing people in. >> families to feed. bill is. instead of letting these outside contractors, and -- contractors come in. >> right now, ebdi says there is not enough data to support the numbers the protesters want to see. house republicans have punted a deal back. >> democrats are now accusing gop lawmakers of playing politics. our 11 news reporter brian mooar has the latest from washington.

>> the senate payroll tax cut extension, slammed into a republican roadblock in the house. house republicans are trying to shame vacationing senate democrats back to the bargaining table -- house speaker john boehner refused a direct vote on the senate bill, instead sending the legislation to a committee, but democrats say they will not negotiate. president obam accused republicans of brinksmanship. >> the clock is ticking. time is running out. if the house republicans refused to vote for the senate bill, or even allow it to come up for a vote, taxes will go up in 11 days. >> not only will 160 million americans get a tax increase, 2.2 million will lose -- term unemployment benefits, and some could lose -- 2.2 million will

lose long-term unemployment benefits. >> fixing something for two months is not fixing something. >> an excuse, because they did not ever want to pass it from the beginning. >> on capitol hill, high-stakes drama with real-life consequences. speaker boehner has already named negotiators for a negotiation that may not happen. in washington, brian mooar, wbal tv 11 news. >> and the news is very good on wall street. a jump in construction in the u.s. and news from europe sent stocks up. the nasdaq and s&p reported strong gains. new on wbaltv.com, we are asking about the stress on your wallet

and the economy. you can vote on our survey on the front page of wbaltv.com and see what is inside the bill that was passed. >> st. mary's college, vc voyager, is solution to one of the-- st. mary's college, sea voyager, a solution to one of their problems with dorms. and a look at the spike in deaths coming up in tonight's medical alert. >> these are some of the last troops coming back from iraq for troops coming back from iraq for the final time

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>> for the next eight nights, the menorah will be lit. people were observing the first day of the eight-day jewish holiday. the u.s. marine band. there is a special guest. the lighting ceremony dates back to 1979, when a president jimmy

carter -- when jimmy carter was president. students who have been living on a cruise ship the past few months are back on land. the sea voyager has pulled out, minus the students. they will be back in their residence halls and next month. college officials tell us the dorms are clear of mold. the cost was $20,000 a day, about what the school would have paid for hotels, which were just too far from campus. >> they just had a little luxury cruise, did they not? tonight, a new report shows more americans are dying from drug overdoses and car accidents. that is a staggering statistic -- more are dying from drug

overdoses than car accidents. painkillers such as morphine were involved in nearly half of those deaths. they say this coincides with a significant spike in prescription drug abuse. so who is most at risk for a drug poisoning? men and white adults. you are coughing and sneezing, but you go to work anyway, just like a good employee. we have more on a cold and flu and again -- on cold and flu at ticket -- flu etiquette.

she says you can in fact someone -- you can in fact -- infect someone from several feet away. >> the guy who is still at work, spreading the flu around. >> but calling it is harder. -- calling in is hard. stay home. a video conference, if your nose is not to steal a runny -- is not too runny. and the only one who needs to show up with a red nose this week is rudolph. >> would that not be a nice

scene on christmas day? there is still a chance we could see some snow. today, temperatures managed to get above average, 50's. the average is 44. there is a frog hanging around north of oz. on the other side, temperatures -- there is a fraud -- front hanging around to the north of us. looking at how the temperatures drop once you get into pennsylvania, 51 in downtown baltimore. that cool air is going to sink further to the south. we will drop into the upper 30's, lower 40's. for those of you celebrating hanukkah, sunset well under way. during the day tomorrow, that big storm we have been talking about will come closer to us,

but it will begin by the time it gets into our neighborhood -- it will begin -- weaken by the time it gets into our neighborhood. it may be enough to slow down the drive time tomorrow. temperatures again will be above average. we will climb into the upper 50's tomorrow. the average high is 44, so that is pretty good for this time of year. wednesday, often on rain showers. i do not think it will be a steady rain. the cool stuff up north -- cooler stuff up north. we are getting closer to christmas time, so we will take a look for those wanting to get out of town. rain showers are possible from

new york and boston all of the way to atlanta. of course, atlanta is a big connecting hub. there are a lot of flights that go in and out. tampa is going to make a up to 80, so it is going to be nice and warm in the sunshine state -- tampa is going to make it up to 80. there could be some snow in denver. snow likely across parts of the rocky mountains, montana. seattle should be dry. los angeles with a high temperature near 66. gully into the weekend, it will start out mild for the next couple of days -- going into the weekend. we will lose the rain on thursday, but that is the first day of winter. it begins at 12:30 in the morning, the winter solstice. it will clear up in the afternoon on friday.

there could be a mix of rain and snow on christmas day. i think it will be dry christmas eve, but christmas day, we will be right on the fence with the temperature is. all we can say is rain or snow. there is still a chance. we will keep you updated. >> we would just have to wait and see. >> we always do. >> some people are dead after a crash on one of the busiest highways. >> and the investigation into what happened and what went wrong. >> i am tim tooten. details straight ahead.

>> in tonight's education alert, helping people get a degree and learn a job skill, as well. >> it is one of a number of schools pitching that new

program. our 11 news education reporter tim tooten joins us. >> the best of both worlds. those who qualify can get a free education and free job training at the same time. companies seem willing to hire for jobs in construction and building maintenance, even in a tough economy, but more and more, they are looking for people with both the skills and education, and that is why there is one of five state schools launching a program of md. integrated basic education and skills training. >> what they get is both the opportunity to be employed, because they have the equivalent of a high-school diploma, and they have those specific skills. >> they can sign up to complete their diploma and learn skills in areas including carpentry, plumbing, and citing -- siding.

>> that sounds good. i may have to go up there in that mine ged. >> i already got my diploma, but i will be the first one up there. there are a lot of people trying to do something with themselves now. >> the program is open to residents 18 or older and who can demonstrate at least an eighth grade reading level in math. >> to get both at the same time for free is a tremendous opportunity. >> the program is free. a foundation and the state department of labor, licensing, and regulation are picking up the tab. >> they do not go back to school because of the cost, so if they can learn something without going into debt for it, i'm sure they will do it. >> baltimore city community

college and anne arundel community colleges are also offering the same program. to learn more about registration, just visit our website, wbaltv.com, and click on "education." tim tooten, wbal newest -- news. >> let's go to captain roy. >> fire units are dealing with an apartment fire at this location. we understand it is a kitchen fire. we still see some smoke showing from the back of the building. we do not have any reports of injuries at this time. it looks like they will be shutting down a road in both directions. reporting live in skyteam 11, i am captain roy. >> the government has rested its case against private forecasts

-- private first class bradley manning. >> these are the last troops to