strong storms rolling into our area and most viewers are under a severe thunderstorm watch. and a news s s 4 exclusive. a police officer caught on tape hitting a man in handcuffs. but we begin with breaking news out of wisconsin. a gunman opens fire at house of worship. tonight, seven are dead at a sikh temple. three more injured including a police officer. this is unfolding in oak creek, just outside milwaukee. at this point, police believe the gunman acted alone, but

vince investigators are still searching for clues into a possible motive. darcy spencer has -- but we begin with andy. >> reporter: police with calling this a case of domestic terrorism based on the victims involved. seven dead, ten injured after this gunman just walked into this sikh temple and starting shooting. police aren't saying a word yet about the gunman, leaving everyone to wonder, was this a case of a hate crime? friends and family have waited here all day. waiting for news on loved ones and waiting for answers. witnesses say it was a man in his 30s who came up to a priest outside the temple and shot him. then walked inside and started shooting. people inside cowered in fear and called out from their cell phones. >> my mom she was one of the ladies hiding in the pantry and called us around 11:00 and told us, she called us quick and

whispered. she's like, don't come. there's a shooting here. that's all i heard. >> reporter: even the head priest locked in a bathroom was thot safe. the first officer there confr t confronted the shooter outside the temple. their gun battle left the shooter dead and put the officer in the hospital. >> officers responded to the 911 call and because of the heroic actions of our officer, they stopped this from being worse than it could have been. >> reporter: the scene was tense for hours because police weren't sure if they had multiple gunmen inside the temple. the sikh community is left to grieve and angrily question why. >> bigger question is what did we do wrong? was this a madman? like some guy who flipped? did he hate us for our appearance? >> reporter: and even non sikhs are saying they can't figure it out either.

the officer who was injured is now in the hospital undergoing surgery. we don't know his exact condition right now. as for the sikh religion, it has no affiliation with the muslim religion, but since 9/11, there have been a number of incidents targeting sikhs for people who thought they were of muslim religion. president obama released a statement this afternoon about the shooting. it reads in part, quote, at this difficult time, the people of oak creek must know that the american people have them in our thoughts and prayers and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those killed and wounded. as we mourn this loss, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by sikhs who are part of our broader american family. news of yet another mass shooting has led the grief around the country including in the sikh community in our area. darcy kopts from rockville, where a prayer service is underway. >> reporter: i'm wearing a head

covering out of respect for the sikh religion and tradition. the shootings in wisconsin have shaken this community to the core. one of the main questions that they would like to have answered, was this an act of hate or something else? a special prayer was held at the foundation in rockville. their thoughts with the victims of the wisconsin sikh temple shooting. leaders here have been in contact with the members of the board in wisconsin offering support. they're still checking to see if there were any local ties to the temple. >> we are pretty sure that this is a hate crime because there is so much ignorance in people who mistake us, either for the taliban or being part of bin laden's network or al-qaeda because of our turban and beards. >> all the hair on my body just stood up. i just didn't know what to think. >> reporter: the sikh religion

has been one of openness and welcomeness. everyone is wk here, but with these shootings, now, they have the consider whether any security measures will be needed in the future. >> stay with news 4 for continuing coverage of the wisconsin temple shooting. we'll have updates tonight after the olympics and throughout the night, we will post the latest information and video on nbcwashington.com. another big story we're following tonight, that's the severe weather. it's rolling through the area right now. chuck bell is keeping an eye on it in storm center 4. chuck? >> good evening. severe thunderstorm watch continues east of the blue ridge mountains. that includes the washington metro area until 9:00 this evening. all the magenta, the pink color of shading there, those are all the counties impacted by this watch area that goes again until 9:00 this evening. strongest thunderstorms, one moving into southern parts of

arlington county. also out towards mt. ver nonarea, along i-95, woodbridge and quantico. this line is progressing off to the east. charles county, be on the lookout for gusty winds and heavy rain. more storms out in the mountains of west virginia may impact us late tonight. >> thanks. tonight, we have cell phone video of a laurel police officer appearing to slap a man in handcuffs outside a restaurant. this happened earlier this morning during a disorderly conduct arrest. news 4's derrick ward has the exclusive video captured by a man who watched the arrest go down. >> the cell phone video was shot by a bystander which shows a man in handcuffs being led away by laurel police officers. it was about 2:00 a.m. police officers had responded to a fight at the station. craig had just pulled in and

police had two men cuffed. he caught it on his cell phone camera. >> he got to about right here, he punched him one time. punched him again and again. >> it's hard to tell from the video whether the officer used an open hand or fist, but he said that's not the point. >> i ain't trying to get in the law's business, that man's business, but that guy was handcuffed. he didn't deserve to be hit upside his head like that. >> he's especially sensitive to that sort of thing because it of an incident that happened to him as a teenager. >> in mississippi, we were kids, i was like 17. they assumed i was somebody else. i was tackled and handled so rough. i'm a kid. >> as for the laurel incident, a spokesperson for the department says they are aware of it. >> the shift supervisor alerted the laurel police chief right away and an internal investigation was opened immediately. >> he says the incident doesn't

change how he feels about lawyer. >> very night, quiet, calm city. but there are some bad apples. coming up, tomorrow could be a landmark day for nasa. how it could help scientists discover if there was ever life on mars. and a live look at london tonight where the fastest man in the

possible plea deal is in the works for the man accused of killing six, injurying several others. psychiatrists are expected to testify that jared lee loughner is mentally competent. if a judge accepts the plea, he will likely be sentenced to life in prison. after a 350 million mile journey, nasa's mars rover expected to reach its final destination in just a matter of hours. scientists expect it to arrive on the red planet around 1:30 in the morning tomorrow. nasa says the landing with sun of the riskiest ever. if all goes well, curiosity will spend two years gathering data and it's going to help scientists figure out if there was life on mars. the projects comes with a $2.5

billion price tag. coming up next back here on earth, chuck tracking severe weather. his forecast is coming up next.

you've been watching the olympics today, big day on the courts of wimbledon.

the williams sets tacked on ood gold. andy murray gave the host country something to celebrate. phil rogers has our limb c update. >> reporter: gold medal euphoria continues. the home nation erupted in joy once again as murray beat federer in straight sets to win the gold. >> it's the biggest win of my life, that's for sure. >> reporter: the triumph follows a super saturday, best day at the olympics in over 100 years. even some of the country's red, royal mailboxes are turning to gold. after a single championship saturday, serena williams paired with sister venus, to win once again today in doubles. it's their third olympic gold as a team. this morning, the women's marathon raced past the city's sights. ghana won in a record amount of

time. and the man with the record for olympic medals is beginning life after the games. last night's relay win gave michael phelps is 18th gold medal and 22nd overall. >> i can look back and say i've been able to do everything i wanted to. >> reporter: this day also saw the first bouts in women's olympic boxing, but this day was short for american queen underwood. >> i just want my supporters, fans, everybody who supported me on this journey, to see the champion and the journey. >> reporter: even in defeat, the spirit of a champion on the world's biggest stage. this is u.s. runner tyson gaye's shoe. he faced off tonight against usain bolt of jamaica as he attempts to defend his gold medal. that's the latest from the

olympic games. reporting from london, jim, back to you. >> and he will need that shoe back. find out who now has the title of the world's fastest man. there will also be event finals in the mens and women's gymnastics. gold medal will be handed out in women's spring board diving and back to the beach volleyball court for a match against italy. starts 7:00 tonight here on nbc 4. and chuck is back now because there is some nasty weather moving in. >> luckily with a sun getting ready to go down, things are settling down. but we have seen some strong thunderstorms. out across parts of montgomery, blue ridge, you know what i'm talking about. thunderstorms came rolling in a couple of hours ago and outside n now, mostly cloudy skies in place and a lot of gray clouds and rumbles of thunder.

it was a sizzler outside today. part of the reason we got the thunderstorms fired up earlier is because we got really hot today. 98 degrees. not a record high temperature, but another record high minimum temperature. our overnight low, 80 degrees last night. no rain at national airport, but with the clouds outside and rumbles of thunder still around, might have a little rain before the day is done. a west wind at 20 miles per hour and a rain cooled 82 across the area and rain cooled 70s now back up to the north and to the west, so severe weather chances are deminnishing greatly the further north and west you go because of the cooler air at the surface. still a risk of stronger thunderstorms here the next couple of hours, severe weather risk ended by about 9:00, but still a chance for hour showers late into the evening, but our severe threat between now and

8:00 or 9:00 this evening. the severe thunderstorm watch goes until 9:00, but the bulk is along and ahead of this line of showers. thunder and lightening to the south of town near quantico and woodbridge, this is eastbound into parts of charles county. severe weather headed up into the northeastern corridocorridof we're expecking relatives, be really for delays for the rest of the sunday evening commute. stormy around here this evening. the weather front will be laid right across the area by tomorrow morning. as it drifted to the south, shower chances, but no severe threat and quieter weather returns back to sunshine by tuesday. if you're headed down to the beaches, a stormy day for tomorrow and then great beach weather there after. for us, showers and thunderstorms ending late

tonight. overnight lows, 60s to mid-70s. highs tomorrow in the 80s. one or two rumbles of thunder a possibility tomorrow, but we're not looking for severe weather. sunshine and low 90s for tuesday and wednesday. higher heat and humidity back for thursday, friday, on into saturday. you can follow me on twitter, which should have been the next graphic that came up and i'll be tweeting out images throughout the evening. coming up in sports, stephen

amber's here. strausburg earning that paycheck. >> here's a number for you. 40 innings left. in the nationals are going to shut down stephen strasburg somewhere around the 160 innings limit, which is not concrete, 40 innings about seven starts is all that he has left, so that means no strasburg in the playoffs and after today's outing against the marlins, man, is that a shame. getting it done on both ends. facing carlos lee and lee goes

down swinging. no runs allowed in six innings of work. in the bottom of the second, strasburg at the plate and ropes it into right field. jayson werth and espinosa score. n nats taking a 2-0 lead. i'm sure that fan is thinking what i just said. it's about the future though. and who is hotter than adam laroche? nats go up 4-0. laroche, 71 rbis this year. moving to the ninth, 4-1, nat natess. handles the rest and storn has his first save since coming off the disabled list. nats win and take the series. to tampa. that doggie eye wear inspired by

joe maddon. this is in the tenth, but then t teagarden gets a hold of one. he'll score or take a 1-0 lead. in the bottom of the tenth, closing time for jim johnson facing desmond jennings. jennings grounds out to third. the orioles win this win 1-0 and johnson picks up his 32nd save of the year and orioles move into sole possession of second place in the american league east. robert griffin iii will dive into his nfl career today as the redskins preseason will open against the bills in buffalo, so finally, we will get to see the heisman trophy winner face a real life nfl defense and mike shanahan is making sure his prized pick knows what he's getting into. shanahan is throwing the rookie into some tough game time

scenarios because on thursday, protection could be a bit dicey. back-ups will be fighting to fill the spots of injured offensive linemen. shanahan wants the rookie to practice the way he'll play. >> you try to simulate all game situations in practice. that's why you practice. just like you're in a game. sometimes, you might have more time than other times. sometimes, you have to react a little quicker. is it first down, second down? try to put him through all those scenarios so on game day, he's ready to play. >> kind of hard to prepare for mario williams coming right at you. can't really simulate that in practice, but griffin, i'm sure he'll figure that out. to the olympics. u.s. women's basketball team beat china 114-66 today. it is their 38th straight win at the olympic games. and now, here it comes. time for a spoiler alert for the events that will be airing tonight. if you do not want to know the results, go ahead, look away for

the next 15 seconds and enjoy the music. ♪ to the courts at wimbledon. second set, serena serving. shot return, but venus is at the net and the williams sisters win gold. they are now the most decorated tennis players in the olympics with four golds each. three as doubles partners and one individual. sometimes, all of us are just good out of the gate and it was that kind of day for jim furyk at the bridgestone invitational. he opened today's final round with three straight birdies, but keegan bradley is such a one

upper. here's bradley on seven. this was a really long putt, but that one finds the hole. that's a sweet putt. 9 under. here he is on 18th. this is for par and the win. he nails that one. bradley wins at 13 under after leader jim furyk double bogeyed the 18. they were in the same group, so boy, coming from behind. >> he's excited. >> did you guys look for the medal board? you want to watch it live? >> i kind of knew already. >> that's the news for now. "nightly news" is up