>> now at 6:00 the town of merrimack is mourning the loss of a police officer shot and killed during her first day on duty in virginia. >> other than this particular case i can't imagine anything more tragic. >> tonight we're learning more about the merrimack high graduate and her passion for serving others, plus the charges the accused gunman is facing. and a state trooper is being remembered for his service tonight after he lost a battle with cancer at the age of 53. hayley: we have yet another day with warm air today. how long that mild feel sticks around this week, and our chances for a messy mix mid-week, coming up.

is wrapping up today with a $15,000 catch. we catch up with the big winner and how he plans to spend the money. anchor: tonight granite staters are mourning the death of a virginia police officer gunned down on her first day on patrol. officer ashley was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. good evening, thank you for joining us. i'm stephanie woods. investigators say the gunman opened fire when officers arrived, i injuring three of them. later officer windon died from her injuries. >> she wanted to do this job, she clearly had had a passion to serve others in a way that went wonld herself.

everyone in this room, it's a sad day for law enforcement, but we are going to investigate this and criminal charges are pending. reporter: the suspect's wife, 29-year-old crystal hamilton, was also shot and killed before officers arrived. the accused gunman, ronald hamilton, works e at the pentagon, he's being held in jail on a capital murder charge and will be arraigned in court tomorrow. 28-year-old officer guindon was a marine corps reservist who had a masters in forensic science, she was southern in as a police officer on friday. guindon was born in springfield, massachusetts and her family later moved to merrimack where she attended high school. kristen, what are the people who knew her saying tonight? reporter: stephanie, officers here at the merrimack police department were amongst the first to be fived about ashley's death and now tonight they are paying their respects. the flag outside the police department has been lowered to half staff.

in remembrance of her as this community copes with this loss. staff at the merrimack police department headed in to work sunday with heavy hearts. ashley guindon's family resides in merrimack. officers here delivered the tragic news. >> our officers responded to notify the family, stood by, assisted them in whatever support they needed at the time. reporter: officers could be seen at the guindons' home early sunday. the family has asked for privacy. >> when a fellow officer is killed in the line of duty, it affects us all in some way or another throughout the country. and our hearts go out to the family. reporter: guindon was a 2005 graduate of merrimack high school. >> my first reaction was shock. and just an incredible sense of loss. reporter: principal ken johnson came to the school sunday afternoon to reflect on what has happened. >> i know that we have four merrimack students who are

class of 2005 who are going to be devastated as well, i'm sure they already know. what's particularly tragic is not only is this a personal story, but a young woman who was on her first day. it's also a class that has experienced more than its share of loss. reporter: johnson indon is the sixth person to lose their life from the class of 2005. >> other than this particular case i can't imagine anything more tragic. reporter: under her picture in the 2005 yearbook she left her classmates with this quote. live for something, rather than die for nothing. >> merrimack high school we have a motto, believe, go forward and inspire. and we'd like to believe that not only did ashley embrace that motto, but that she personnified it as well. reporter: a moment of silence

the principal also tells us they will remember ashley on graduation day. live from merrimack this evening, kristen carosa, wmur news 9. stephanie: thank you. governor hassan said the death of prince william county officer ashley guindon is a solemn reminder that every day our first responders courageously put their lives off the line to protect others. when everyone of our law enforcement officials makes the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, it cuts through the very fabric of our society. tom and i join officer guindon's family in new hampshire, loved ones, the community and people across the country in mourning her tragic loss. we'll continue to follow this story on air and online with any new developments and with any information about a memorial service for officer guindon. a new hampshire state trooper died last night after battling cancer for a year.

years old, he was a 24-year veteran of new hampshire state police and served eight years in the major crime unit. his colleagues say he was a model officer and a humble man. they call him an amazing mentor and leader whose legacy will live on for many years. >> his priorities in life were well defined, he was committed to his family, to this organization and he was committed as the lieutenant overseeing the major crime union to it delivering justice to victims, many of whom were victims of homicide who relied on his voice to bring that justice to them. stephanie: lieutenant garrity is survived by his wife and four children. his services are being planned. and right now a sinkhole shut down a road in new durham. new hampshire d.o.t. says a water main broke at the fish hatchery on merry meeting road. officials say the road will be closed through tomorrow morning. we hope you get outside for this beautiful sunny sunday. many people enjoyed the

livingston park today. meteorologist hayley lapoint tells us that this warm weather is going to stick around for the start of your work week. hayley: it will, at least for the day tomorrow, then cooler air will move in, but this has been amazing, it's been the tale of this winter. we get one short burst of cooler air, then we have temperatures back up into the 50's, close to 60 like where we were today. the average high for this time in february is usually only about 36 degrees, so you can see the difference there, between the 55 in concord, 56 in manchester, it was quite mild. we have started to see the temperatures fall down now, 49 in concord. 54 still in manchester, 55 nashua. we're in the mid 40's when you get toward keene and jaffrey. we've had these thin high level clouds moving across the sky. no wet weather across the area today. but that will change as we get into the work week. rain showers in the forecast both tomorrow and maybe a messy mix with rain mid-week.

coming up. stephanie: thanks. despite worries about thin ice, officials say there were no safety issues during the annual ice fishing derby in new hampshire this weekend. the event was almost canceled thanks to some weak ice, but organizers say the derby was a success. also, one lucky angler won big for a big catch. wmur's mike cronin joins us live from meredith. reporter: lots of winners this weekend, this is the price board behind me. about 3400 people fished in this weekend's derby. that number is down one-third from last year, but organizers are still happy with the turnout, just given what the ice conditions were this weekend. but the happiest person tonight is the winner of $15,000. take a look at this video, showing his reaction when his name was called. celebrating there with his buddies, joshua philbrick of kittery, maine is taking home the top prize. yesterday he and his friend were fishing in alton bay, he caught

the names were put into pay bag and three grand prize winners were randomly drawn. philbrick couldn't believe he won. >> it's awesome, i was so scared they were going to cancel the derby, they pushed it back. and the funny part was the original weekend of the derby we had booked a weekend away in moosehead and weren't going to be able to fish. and the date changed and here we are, 15 grand. reporter: he says he'll put some of the money towards his plow and will also spoil his 1-year-old son. mike cronin, wmur news 9. stephanie, thanks, mike. stars are arriving on the red carpet for hollywood's biggest night. a preview of the academy awards coming up next. hayley: we have some rain instead of snow in the forecast over the next 24 hours, and then mid-week we're dealing with another messy storm.

stephanie: welcome back. we're just hours away from the 88th annual academy awards right here on abc. right now the stars of hollywood are getting ready to walk onto the red carpet. among this year's favorite, best supporting actor nominee sylvester stallone, back as rocky in a sequel. and leonardo dicaprio was hoping for an oscar in his performance in the revenant. >> nobody has any idea who is going to win best picture. this is a really muddled unpredictable year. stephanie: the revenant leads the pack with 12 oscar nominations, followed by mad max fury road with 10. chris rock is your academy award host tonight, the ceremony starts at 8:30. you can watch the 88th annual academy awards right here on wmur tonight. special reports from hollywood continue during world news and

award for best picture. that's followed by a recap on all the memorable oscar moments on news 9 tonight after the conclusion of the oscars. so what's your pick for best picture what are you hoping for? hayley: honestly i don't know if i've even seen one of them. stephanie: the martians? hayley: oh, i have seen that, but my big thing is the fashion, i like to see what all the ladies wear on this night. i will be wearing rain boots again later this week because we have rain coming in. stephanie: very fashionable. ahead in sports, there were playoff basketball on the hill

hayley: good sunday evening, everybody. we had some sunshine today, along with a few high clouds. can you see the last of daylight there in claremont at the park, with dry pavement too and a beautiful shot there in portsmouth with the high clouds overhead. but still it was very nice today. especially when you consider how mild it was, although i know the snow lovers, you guys rae haven't had much luck this winter. we continue to have these streaks of mild air and the temperatures have been incredible, again today.

plaistow got to 59 degrees this afternoon. manchester 57. 54 in lebanon. meredith and conway even as far north as conway, there were temperatures that reached the low 50's. when you compare that to the average high of about 38 degrees for this time in february, we're running well above the seasonable high averages at this time. here's where we stand at the moment, 50 in rochester, 44 portsmouth, mid 50's in manchester and nashua. up north already into the 30's. so it will be a cool night, but certainly not as cold as where we could be for this time of the season. in fact overnight tonight with the thin veil of clouds and the wind coming out of the southwest, light at the moment, but those two things will keep our temperatures more mild even during the overnight hours too. we'll start to see the clouds beginning to break apart. it's been that thin veil of high cirrus clouds, gave the sky that milky white appearance through the day. but the as to showers have

up in quebec, so it was another dry day. a wonderful weekend day to be outdoors doing maybe some nonwinter type activities. to the west, that's our next storm system, you see this line of showers moving through chicago into michigan. this is the system that will swing across new hampshire, and the rain showers associated with it arrive tomorrow morning. so here's the latest. this is tonight at 8:00, can you see clouds up in the northern part of the state, but most of us still in the 40's. and we'll have clearing skies taking place. so most of the night we'll have maybe some patchy clouds, tbhaw will be about it. rain showers start to arrive by 8:00 a.m. in the northern part of the state. but in central and southern new hampshire we'll probably make up to some sunshine. but then that will fade as this line of showers moves across the state. in most locations it will come through during the mid morning hours, but at the seacoast farther to the east, it may be more like midday that you get some of these showers moving through. but then there's quick clearing behind it. look at the temperatures, they get a boost back up into the

finally the real cold front, the secondary cold front moves through later on in the evening. and that will bring some scattered snow showers with little to no accumulation to areas of central and northern new hampshire overnight on monday into tuesday. but much colder air arrives on tuesday. tonight clear, not as cold, northern part of the state in the low 30's. but closer to the mass border we're talking low 40's for low temperatures. back to school for all the kids here in new hampshire tomorrow, they'll be greeted by a couple of rain showers in the morning. we'll have temperatures climbing into the 50's by recess and the last bell. here's the scoop on mid-week, because we do have another storm system on the way, looks like it would start late in the overnight hours tuesday into wednesday, and i'll show you here that because temperatures are so warm, may start with a messy mix, but it doesn't last that way. most of us will get mainly rain from this system on wednesday and wednesday evening before changing back over briefly to

thursday with little to no accumulation. then some colder air returns late in the week. >> boston is back at home to host the tampa bay lightning. both teams have 74 points, although the lightning have played one less game tonight bruins. a big game for the division and conference standings we'll have highlights tonight after the oscars. elsewhere today, capitals and blackhawks, 1-0 caps in the first, they can't clear a former u.n.h. wildcat trevor van reames dike, nice pass to kane and he scores. the blackhawks get a huge win, 3-2. both u.n.h. and dartmouth hockey teams ended their regular seasons with losses last night. but both will still play in their respective league tournaments. u.n.h. hit the road to play in the opening round of the hockey east tournament at merrimack college. games one and two will be

all three games are 7:00 starts. and if necessary, the best of three-game series will move to sunday for game three. as for the big green, dartmouth will host cole gate in the first round of the ecac tournament, game times at 7:00 on friday and saturday. and again if necessary sunday's game three will be a 5:00 start. quarterfinal basketball, st. anselm college hosting st. rose. hawks in white uniforms. in the first half, some good ball movement by the hawks. harrison end up with it alone for three. he had four three's, 18 points on the day. cody ball from londonderry high school gets into the action, buries the three from the near side. hawks upper lefn. he had 13 points off the bench. great look from chris to taylor and he knocks down a three. st. anselm shooting the lights

transition, it will be grant mckay who ends up with it, finish. tim guyers had a career high 22 points and the hawks win 102-90. the women also hosting the quarterfinal game, taking on new haven. in the second half, glennonwill lead kaitlin and she hits the short jumper. new haven led by two at that point. andrews knocks down a three. the hawks take a three-point lead. glenon finished with 15. but the chargers turn it on down the stretch. new haven will miss the three, but lauren hebert is there for the rebound and she had a game high 29 points, 14 rebounds. new haven knocks off st. anselm, 71-52.

>> race two in sprint cup season is in the books, at atlanta motor speedway. jimmy johnson was racing toward victory when ryan newmans blow is a tire and brings out the caution flag. just the second caution of the race. on the restart johnson able to hold off a hard charging kyle busch, four other cars were involved in a wreck on the back stretch, but the restart was official, so jimmy johnson is the winner. dale earnhardt jr. was second, followed by kyle, kurth busch and carl edwards. so there you go. stephanie: feeling a little like atlanta today, a bit warmer.

welcome to "world news tonight." two days until super tuesday. but first, a racially charged controversy for donald trump. critics claiming trump refused to condemn the ku klux klan. >> don't tell me he doesn't know who the ku klux klan is. >> now, trump fighting back. hillary clinton in a landslide win over bernie sanders in south carolina. >> i believe that america is great, right now. >> sanders admitting he was decimated. but vowing, he's not out. rookie officer killed. the female police officer gunned down on her first day on the job. the call for help that turned deadly. and what we're learning tonight about the alleged gunman. trapped in midair.