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good friday morning, thanks for joining us, i'm megan pringle. >> i'm charley crowson.

we're following breaking news in aurora, colorado. we'll get back out there in just a moment. also new updates, more information that's come in in the past two minutes. >> not only the victims, but on the gunman also. a big story that happened possibly while you were sleeping, it may have been something that woke you up with the weather. >> pretty good chance. mike massco is in this morning for lynette charles with a check of the forecast. mike, you say things are changing once again. >> i think we'll have a dry commute this morning and things will change as we head towards the latter portion of your morning and afternoon. we do have a flash flood watch, that means we are watching the skies, watching for the development of some storms during the course of your afternoon, some which could test strong to severe limits. 73 in town right now, 73 easton, 77 in salisbury. the setup is an area of low pressure we're watching now over ohio. that will run along the stationary front and allow for the rain and storms to come back into the picture. at 8:00 you are already at 75 degrees, on the way for 80 at the lunchtime hour. and, again, scattered showers turning into more numerous showers and storms after the 8:00 hour. we'll talk more about your weekend forecast.

that's coming up in a little bit. let's get a check on traffic, lauren cook in the traffic center. good morning, lauren. >>reporter: good morning, mike. there are trees down in anne arundel county. mca fee beach road is what you want to watch out for. 83 we're dealing with a lot of flooding on the jfx right near cold spring lane. as we check in and take a live look here at the harrisburg expressway, you'll notice no delays whatsoever, will be nice and clear from the maryland/pennsylvania state line all the way down to the beltway. i'll show you what the beltline looks like coming up in my next live report. back to you. we want to get back to the breaking news out of aurora, colorado this morning, a story we are following. a mass shooting in a movie theater. the death toll has now rose to 15. >> renee marsh is live with this breaking news event. good morning. >>reporter: good morning. very, very frightening scene out there in aurora, colorado. we can tell you that at this hour the suspect is in custody, and from witness accounts, it is almost as if this man came prepared for war. one witness saying that he was wearing a helmet, another

saying he was wearing a bullet- proof vest, he a handgun, he was dressed from head to toe in black, he's about six feet tall, but, again, police saying they have him in custody. he's a man believed to be in his early 20s. you're looking at video outside of that theater right now, a very large police presence. this mass shooting happened during a late night showing of the new batman movie "the dark knight rises." aurora, colorado is about nine miles from denver. we have some sound from a man who was inside the theater at the time. >> we were watching a scene in the movie, it was a shootout scene, there were guns firing, and then a loud bang came from the right of the theater. smoke took over the entire theater and everything and it was really thick and no one could really see anything. me and my sister were sitting there wondering what was going on. >>reporter: and then police say that this man had three guns on him, a rifle, a handgun and a third gun. he went into that theater and

just opened fire. back to you guys. >> one thing we have just learned is that police were told to look in his apartment for explosives. it has been confirmed that explosives were found in his apartment. we're going to update this story as soon as we get more information and we'll pass it along to you. sad news to pass along this morning, a local family is mourning the loss of a loved one who died serving his country. sergeant daniel rodriguez from baltimore killed by an ied in afghanistan. this happened on wednesday. he was a decorated soldier, a husband, a father of three. this was his fourth tour of duty. sergeant rodriguez is 28 years old. today we're going to learn the identity of a pilot that was kill inside a plane crash. this happened just outside of ocean city. witnesses saw the small banner plane having engine trouble before it crashed near bunting airport, that's in berlin. we'll keep you posted on information. this morning a family relieved, a 3-year-old missing for an entire day has been found safe and sound. we have video of the dramatic rescue happening in northern

colombia. the boy had been playing in a construction zone with his brothers when he disappeared. again, he is safe and sound this morning and back with his family. they were looking for him for an entire day. again, we're going to keep on top of this breaking news story. we are all over the internet, the wires, twitter, our staff out in the newsroom is working the phones right now. >> fbi now saying there is no tie right now to any nexus of terrorism, that a quote from the fbi right now, no tie to terrorism. that came across about 30 seconds ago. once again, it's now been upped, 15 now confirmed dead, 50 wounded, mass shooting casualty at the premier of "the dark knight rises," that look in colorado, courtesy of kdvr. "good morning maryland" continues.

excuse us, we're a little frantic right now getting all

this information not only from our managing editor jeff herman, but also from twitter and the wires. also information to pri you, terrible story that's happening this morning out of colorado and it's developing and getting worse and worse. >> 15 people now confirmed dead after a mass shooting at the premier of "the dark knight rises." aurora, colorado is about nine miles outside of denver, 20 miles near columbine. of course, columbine is probably a thought or memory you'll evoke as the day goes on because this story is certainly not going anywhere. this death toll has continually risen as we've been on the air with you since about 4:30 today. the whole thing started this morning at 12:30 during a scene in "the dark knight rises," a shootout scene. witnesses report a man walking into the back door, throwing in a smoke dprennade of some kind and then randomly opening fire and many people injured. hospitals right now prepared for and executing their mass casualty response. >> that gunman, as charley just mentioned, came in through the back door. we're told he was wearing all black, he had his face covered,

a proof vest, some sort of riot gear on his head and started shooting. he was arrested a short time later. police said he did not resist at the time, but we're told he's not cooperating right now. we do know he is 24 years old, he told police he did have explosive devices in his apartment. they went to the apartment complex, they evacuated that area where they did find some sort of bomb-making material. there are possible reports that bomb-making materials could have also been found in his car. again, he's 24 years old. now, again, this happened at a premier of a movie that so many people were excited to go to. so imagine how crowded it was, and imagine who was there, children. and we were told that the youngest victim in this shooting that was killed, 6 years old, going up to the age of 31. denver children's hospital dealing with a terrible situation there as a lot of people have come in to be treated and a lot of people in critical condition. so the death toll could rise. but right now it stands at 15. >> we're going to mike massco now for a check of your local

forecast. if you can, i want you to rack up that video of the youtube clip of the video we saw earlier, people fleeing the theater. want to set that scene of what police were dealing with outside. >> we'll continue to gather more information for you and we'll get it as soon as it becomes available. let's get a check of what's happening because the weather was certainly a big story last night. >> we'll go to the interactive radar, guys. first off, 73 in town with some light fog. we don't have any rain on radar right now on the interactive radar, but if you go down to west virginia, you see this down here? that's coming in our direction. download the storm shield if you lose power tonight. we'll have your full forecast coming up in just a little bit. lauren cook in the traffic center. good morning, lauren. >>reporter: good morning, mike. everything up to speed at 695 and harford road. we do have flooding on the jfx. i'll have the details coming up on "good morning maryland." @

6:45. this is your abc 2 news to go. it's friday morning, i'm megan pringle. >> i'm charley crowson. breaking news out of aurora, colorado. we've been on this throughout the morning here on "good morning maryland." we'll stay with it in just a bit. but we have to know about our weather. >> mike is standing by with the

latest weather outside. mike. >>reporter: it's dploomy, this is manchester, showing some fog out there, certainly could see some fog this morning, it's hazy, muggy and mild and we're setting the stage for more flash flooding during the course of the afternoon. all of the counties in the baltimore area are under a flash flood watch. that's activated through the afternoon and evening hours. right now 76 down around d.c. the setup today will be this stationary frontal boundary on top of us and we're going to see this low that runs across it. so, again, that's going to be the focus of the heavy rain during the course of your afternoon. 75 around the 8:00 hour, right around lunchtime we're up to 80 degrees. but the chances of rain increase during the course of your afternoon. 4:00 showers and storms, that goes right into 8:00. it's going to be a very wet and rainy type of friday night. we'll talk about your weekend forecast. there is a silver lining to all of this. that's coming up in just a little bit. lauren cook in the traffic center. good morning, lauren. >>reporter: good morning, mike. if you are headed out to the jfx, there is some flooding that's blocking one southbound lane. it's going to be right at cold spring lane. so if you are traveling in the

area, please be extra cautious. and as we check in and take a live look here at the west side of the beltway, fortunately everything up to speed on the inner loop at liberty road. and as we check in and take a look at the outer loop, it's going to be moving a little bit sluggish and that will continue all the way down towards route 40. as we head on over to the overly area at bel aire road, much different story, absolutely nothing to get in your way, it will be a nice easy ride whether you're heading down towards 95 or up towards 83. now, in baltimore city we do have several roads that are shut down. it's all for this weekend's artscape, many of which include north charles street, dolphin street, mount royal avenue, for a complete traffic advisory, just go to abc2news.com. and we'll let you know how to get there the easiest way possible. and in downtown baltimore, right in the inner harbor, the water main break continues to shut down light street, that's between baltimore street and lombard street. do leave yourself extra time if you are traveling in the area. megan and charley, over to you. want to go back now to that breaking news story for you out of aurora, colorado.

this happened around 12:30 this morning their time, 2:30 here on the eastern seaboard. seaduring the premier of "the dark knight rises." the premier show about 20 minutes in, a gunman reportedly walked into the back of the theater, released a canister in there and randomly began opening fire on people enjoying that movie. it appears to have been planned somewhat because witnesses who were in the theater say, megan, this happened during a shootout scene, many of them confused, thinking it was all part of the movie. >> yeah. apparently this guy walked in through the back of the movie theater. he had a gas mask on, he had a bullet-proof vest, he was dressed in black with some sort of head gear and he put off some sort of gas can and then he started shooting. you're looking at a live picture right now out of denver, colorado, one of the nearby hospitals. these places, obviously busy, but they have been confirming that the youngest victim, 6 years old, ranging from age from 6 to 31. that is a really big story right now is what's going on at the hospitals because some of

those victims were taken there that were injured. we're talking about 50 people and some of them in critical condition. so we are paying attention to what's happening to see if that death toll rises. but right now 15 dead, and, you know, the situation right now as far as the movie theater goes, you're looking at a live picture of it right now there. police have been placed on lockdown. they are witnessing -- they are interviewing witnesses, about 250 police officers on the scene there. they still have this area on lockdown, maryland. we have learned through cbs news denver that witnesses have been taken to a nearby high school. they've been debriefed what they saw in the theater, even though patrons who were not in the theater where the shooting happened because as we learned through the associated press this morning, some of the shots fired went through nearby walls into the ajoining theater. people there had no idea what was going on. in just a bit we're going to show you some youtube video taken outside the theater as there's this crush of people trying to get out. you're going to see some images that will be disturbing. we'll get to that in just a

bit, megan. but, first, you've got some sound. >> yes. let's hear from somebody who was on the scene. >> i saw at least four, maybe five people that were limping, wounded, slightly bloody, the most that i saw was a girl who was pretty much covered in blood, and she didn't have any wounds on her. i mean, it kind of -- it made me think the worst. >> we heard from that man earlier and we've been watching all sorts of sound from witnesses there. he said that he actually took cover with his sister who was so scared that she was actually paralyzed with fear. remember this is a premier movie of something that so many people had been anticipating. and you're looking at amateur video shot from clearly some sort of smart phone inside the theater, a lot of panic going on as people had no idea what was going on, shots fired, and that's when they started to scramble. >> police dispatchers were sort of handcuffed themselves, paralyzed outside because they couldn't move in.

we've heard the dispatch audio for you. we'll have that for you later. we'll have it, you'll be able to hear it. but they're telling the dispatchers we need gas masks, the smoke is so thick, so bad, again, look at that person, blood on that shirt. they needed gas masks before they could ever go into the building itself. once again, the result of that smoke grenade, cnn, megan, now reporting three guns recovered at that scene. >> the gunman is in police custody. we know he's 24 years old, not cooperating with police. and as far as police go, they say they are going to have a press conference, but it probably will not be until 1:00 our time, eastern time, so we'll, of course, keep you posted on this and "good morning america" is going to cover this story wall to wall. it may have been hard to get a good night's sleep for you with all of the thunder, the lightning, the rain overnight. we just checked with bge and right now they say there are a little more than 7000 people without power, a majority of them are in the baltimore county and baltimore city area, so stay with us, we'll keep you posted as those numbers begin to drop. at the peak of the storm more

than 24,000 people were without electricity and there are reports this morning of flash flooding around the area. this happens when the humidity is in the air and abc 2 new' sharree johnson live now in south point, an area that saw some flooding. >>reporter: well, yes. that storm brought a lot of heavy wind and rain and caused flooding and road closures. thousands of people were left without power. you know, one person, one viewer took some video there. take a look at this video here. he posted it, actually, on youtube. now, this is video from the fells point area and you see flooding near the inlet. you see cars driving through high-standing flood water and it's amazing they were actually able to get around in that. and also near camden yards at the hilton guests got a big surprise when the water proved too much for the ceilings to hold. firefighters from across the u.s. in town for the annual expo had to clear out while hotel staff cleaned up that big mess. firefighters say they saw the ceiling come crashing down, and johns hopkins hospital also had some problem with mother

nature. heavy rain collected in the hospital's ambulance bay eventually spilling into the emergency room. so this morning a lot of folks will be cleaning up after that storm last night. reporting live in fells point, sharree johnson, abc 2 news. your electricity bill could be going up for pepco customers. the public service commission is expected to announce its decision today on pepco's request for a 4% rate increase. now, the company has come under fire recently for its delays of restoring power after those severe storms we had last month. two state senators want to fine pepco about $100 million for the delays in their response. to louisville, kentucky where it wasn't just here, but also there, severe weather rolling through and making a mess of things. these pictures out of louisville. winds clocking in at more than 60 miles per hour, ripping the roof off the crown plaza hotel. debris scattering all over the cars in the parking lot, you see this. no one, thankfully, was hurt. some severe weather in our area. and mike massco has been on it for a while now.

and, mike, are we out of the woods now? >> no. we're actually going to see more big storms and flash flooding. we got a whole mess of weather to talk about. let's get to the pictures. here we go right now, this is our downtown city shot, 74 degrees at the present hour, but that dewpoint, that 72, that's what's concerning because there's a lot of moisture in the atmosphere and that moisture is going to definitely aid in the development of some thunderstorms. weather service has put out a flash flood watch for all of our counties in maryland, the only exception being cecil county. but i do think everybody will see a share of this rain today. 73 in town right now, 76 in d.c. this is the overall setup. we do have this stationary front over the area right now. and you see this low that's developed out over parts of central ohio? that's going to run along it and be the focus of this heavy rain during the course of the afternoon. again, humid air coming up out of the south. you'll have some cooler air that's trying to punch in out of interior new england. and, again, we are right on the battleground for those scattered showers and thunderstorms during the course of your day. the forecast, two-degree

guarantee at 85, mostly cloudy with those downpours, and, again, potential of flash flooding all the way through the lunchtime into the overnight hours. your seven-day forecast looks like this, there is a silver lining and i think it comes comes late in the day on saturday. starts the day dreary, damp, 83 degrees. but look at sunday, sunshine back out, 87 degrees, and we're back into the 90s. indications are we're going to be talking the fourth heat wave starting monday and going right into much of next week. let's get a check on traffic. lauren cook over in the traffic center. good morning, lauren. >>reporter: good morning, mike. if you are using the jfx, do watch out for a lot of flooding southbound at cold spring lane. and a different water problem in downtown baltimore, that massive water main break from monday still shutting down light street. that's right between baltimore street and lombard street. there is a detour in place, but do allow yourself some extra time if you are traveling in the area. many roads in the city shut down for this year's art scape. for a complete list of all the closures, just go to abc2news.com. everything you need to know

will be there. and if you're headed out to the west side of the beltway, here's a shot at liberty road. the outer loop really starting to slow down as you make the drive down towards route 40. here's what it looks like in parkville at harford road. fortunately much different. no concerns on the inner loop or outer loop up towards 83. we are going to continue to follow this story that's happening out of denver, colorado. i think all of us are stunned about what's happened out there. of course "good morning america" which is on right after us is going to continue to cover the situation. >> if you are just waking up and need to know exactly what we're talking about, there was a mass shooting around 12:30 mountain time, that's out of denver, colorado, in the town of aurora, near denver, 15 people have been confirmed dead, 50 injured, this during the premier of "the dark knight rises." like you said, megan, "good morning america" will have more. >> we are looking at a live picture of the scene near where all of this happened, again, just outside of denver about 10 miles away. we do want to let you know that if you do need to head off to work and you're not going to be near a television and you're curious about how this story

develops, our website, abc2news.com, is going to continue live coverage of this, so you can always check it out there. >> megan, this is a great point because this is going to be something we'll be glued to all day. now let's go to new york for "good morning america." have a great weekend. [ male announcer ] it would mean one billion dollars for maryland and our schools and teachers. thousands of good paying jobs it's the new resort casino at national harbor. but it won't happen unless lawmakers act right now. all that money -- and all those new jobs --

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