we have an active shooter at the columbia mall. >> a deadly shooting inside a busy maryland shopping mall. >> it was just boom, boom. boom. and people just started screaming and running and it was just complete madness. >> three people killed including the alleged shooter. >> we have a victim laying on the upper level. >> shoppers ran for their lives after the gunshots rang out. >> it very scary moment. good evening. the columbia mall is still a crime scene tonight after a

gunman hoopened fire inside. this is a live look inside the mall, at least three people were shot and killed outside the zumez store. we have just learned the identities of the dead, they're a 29-year-old and 25-year-old tyler johnson, they were both employees at that zumez store, the gunman was armed with -- dorsey spencer spoke to witnesses who ran after hearing the shots. erica gonzalez has new details. we begin with derek ward, he's got the latest on the investigation that's under way. howard county police are working on it. derek? >> reporter: indeed they are, doreen, take a look at the shopping center parking lot behind me, aside from the

flashing lights, there doesn't seem to be anything remarkable about it. we have learned more about the victims and not about the shooter and why u police say th incident centered around a store on the upper level of the mall, a clothing store called zumeys. >> the two deceased, there was an adult male and an adult

female. they were in their 20s. they were both employees of the store. >> as the sound of gun fire echoed through the mall, patrons were all about getting out of harm's way, although most weren't even sure where harm was lurking. >> there's five other people that have been treated at howard county general. one was a gunshot wound. the other four are either medical conditions or twisted ankles, things like that, as people have -- were moving away from a very, very kchaotic and dangerous situation. >> reporter: howard county uniformed officers were among the first to respond, but they did not exchange fire with the suspect. >> we don't know who that is yet. when our officers approached, he was obviously deceased, but he was obviously still had a large amount of ammunition still on and about him.

>> reporter: now we also have learned that the five other people injured including another gunshot victim have all been released from the hospital. meanwhile the investigation into what happened here continues. i'm going to throw it now to darcy spencer who has talked to more of the people that were inside when the horror transpired. darcy? >> reporter: derek has you can imagine this mall was a very busy place on this very cold saturday morning, we spoke to people who were working inside the mall, we spoke to people who were here shopping. many people came here with their children and never did they imagine they would be caught up in a shooting investigation. >> i think five or six shots, like first, boom, and then boom boom and in the back, we heard two or three more. >> reporter: roger was working at the pretzel shop at the columbia mall when he heard the shots. >> we go hide and even at the outer store, by macy's, all of

them were hiding out as the shooting was in progress there. >> reporter: he waited in a safe place behind the store and watched the chaos unfold on the store's surveillance system monitor. >> some people scampering, runging for safety, including their kids and everybody. it was really a terrible thing to see. >> reporter: andrew mueller was with his 4-year-old son getting an eye exam when he heard the pops from the gunman's shotgun. >> it was scary, trying to figure out what was going on, and the best way to deal with it all. he's 4 and he really doesn't understand what's going on. so just keep him safe and get out of the store as quickly as possible. >> laura was working in a kiosk on the lower level when she heard up to ten shots. she says this experience has given her a perspective of what's important in life. >> my most important things when i was sitting in that room, my father, my brothers, my sister and my dogs. and was i ever going to see them

again? >> reporter: a lot of people thinking about that, you know, the shoppers and the people who work inside the mall, they had to shelter in place for as many as three hours before they were allowed to leave. many of them were waiting behind the stores in the storage areas and things like that. again, they told me they were thinking about a lot of things and also saying prayers for the vict victims who died. there was a rapid response from police and fire crews after they got the call about the active shooter. police say it all happened outside the zumey's store on the second level, that's up near the sears store. the challenge for the first responders was to get through that sprawling mall. erica gonzalez spoke to emergency responders and she's live with their response. erica? >> reporter: doreen, two minutes, within two minutes first responders were on the scene. but they know this mall inside

and out. they know it because they had been here before getting ready, practicing in case something like this should ever happen. and today it did. this is cell phone video from someone just outside the mall. what you're seeing is about a half dozen what looks like s.w.a.t. team members. it took them several hours to clear the scene because every nook and krcranny, every corner needed to be checked. i'm told about 100 firefighters from across the county came to shuttle bus loads of people to safety. now, again, emergency officials tell us that they did exactly what they were trained to do. we're going to continue to update you with this story tonight on news4 at 11:00, but for more updates, you can always go to nbcwashington.com.

as she mentioned, first responders were on the scene within a couple of minutes a after the first 911 calls went out. news4's chris gordon listened to those calls and is at the live desk with more. >> this evening we're going through the calls from how wart county police and dispatchers, they were flooded with emergency calls beginning at 11:15 a.m. >> i have over 40 calls on hold at the mall. we do have a report of an active shooter in the mall. i do have reports of it looks like at least three down. >> 6 1/2 minutes later, police broadcast the first description of the shooter, a white male, 5'10". >> units at the mall, we have an update, we have a number one male, between 18 and that, we have a white t-shirt, white hat, khaki pants. possible suspenders on khaki

parents. >> police sent a s.w.a.t. team into what they called the hot zone the second level of the mall just above the food court. >> we have a victim laying on the upper level. a male and female were shot inside zumeys. >> canine dog units were dispatched to check out reports of a beeping sound at macy's, a ticking that police feared might be an explosives but when they checked it out, they determined there was no bomb, no other suspects and nlink to twic terrorism. >> we'll continue to follow developments on the columbia mall shooting. take a look at a live picture up take a look at a live picture up above the scene

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if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa. . fire crews are still on the scene of a two alarm townhouse fire in mochntgomery county. this was the scene. this is on sweet clover drive in calvert calverton. 29 people dead in clashes against securitynd

anti-government protesters. the deaths come on the two-year anyone of the uprising in egypt. the clash has been raised lar largely by laumist protesters for a few days. nearly 170 other people have been injured in the protests. it's an annual tradition on the potomac river. but this year the polar plunge required swimmers to pack an ice pick. the freezing dip they took today, but slightly warmer today but th

we want to go back now to the big story of the day, a gunman opened fire at the colombia mall this morning. three people including the gunman are dead. chris gordon is watching developments on the police investigation right now and he's at our live desk with the latest. chris? >> doreen, we want to start with a statement from zumiez. our hearts go out to the victims and their families. police identified those victims as 21-year-old brianna benlolo of college park, maryland and 25-year-old tyler johnson of elcot city. both of them were zumiez employees. both of which were shot by a gunman before the gunman shot

himself. sources tell nbc news that this was a domestic dispute rather than a random shooting. five other people suffered minor injuries, they have been treated and released from the hospital. the mall is closed at least for the rest of the day. we'll continue to follow the breaking news. from the live desk, i'm chris gould. a local man is back with his beloved pet dog. his cockapoo was stolen from his home during a robbery. this morning, d.c. police found the 2 1/2-year-old dog on benning road. patterson tells news4 patterson called police -- the thieves got away with the tv, a couple of i pass and a lap top. but more than anything, he just wanted to get his dog margo back. freezing cold didn't stop people from going for a swim

this morning. more than 100 people jumped into the potomac river as part of the national harbor keep winter cold polar bear plunge and it was cold. look at this, volunteers had to go out and clear ice from the river before they could even start the plunge. it was just 25 degrees there when they hit the water. another polar bear plunge in sandy point state park in maryland chose to cancel because of how cold it was. you know, if you're having to hack through the ice for your polar bear plunge, that would be an indication that, you know, you might want to wait until next january, take your chances. >> i was here this morning filling in for chuck in washington, they didn't know if they were going to be able to get in the water because of the ice. >> is there any relief on the horizon? >> it's not as cold as it has been. today we were in the 20s, tomorrow we're back into the 30s. another arctic blast arrives for

tuesday and wednesday. once again we're talking about dangerously cold temperatures early tuesday and early wednesday. so as far as school delays and closures go, those are going to be mornings to look out for, tuesday mornings and wednesday morning. here's what you can expect, colder tomorrow than it was today. rain chances on monday, other weiss our focus is on this next arctic blast that will arrive for the early past of next week. we could see some scatter flurries until about mid night tonight, other weiss it's breezy. temperatures are in the 30s. 33 in washington, winds at about 10 miles an hour across the area. this is how it feels. it feels about 25 degrees in washington, low temperatures tonight will be in the teens inside of the beltway and around 10 degrees outside. 12 for a low in gaithers berg and leesberg, 17 for a low temperature in annapolis tonight. going out you still need the

warmest jacket. tomorrow it is a cold start, 18 degrees at 7:00 a.m. but a sunny start. it will be breezy during the afternoon, mostly cloudy by 3:00. tomorrow's high temperature, 28 degrees. our typical high is 44. for monday, a high temperature of 35 degrees. it's breezy during the afternoon hours on monday, there's a chance of rain and snow. right now accumulation, i'm not forecasting really any accumulation. and then our temperatures will plummet monday night. starting off tuesday, a low of 12, a high on tusz of only 17 degrees and we'll see our temperatures slowly warm throughout the day, it will be a very, very cold day, wednesday during a high temperature of 24. some warmer weaththerbather by of next week. coming up in sports, a coming up in sports, a rivalry rene

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>> when george mason joined the atlantic 10 conferee last year, everyone circled one matchup on their calendars. george mason versus george washington. these two programs have only played against each other 12 times. mason and g.w., all types of school spirit on both sides in this game. we'll pick it up in the first half. patriots lead it by 3. johnny williams, knocking down the jump shot here. he had a game high 18 points off the bench. mason is up five. second half, here come the colonials, working the ball around over to maurice creek, he'll knock down the three-pointer. a few plays later, creek to arwood, the two-handed flush. it's all colonials, armwood saves the ball here to joe mcdonald. the sophomore hits the three-pointer. george mason 75-69. >> they're a very good team,

they have lost some close games, i really feel bad for them. i'm glad they get on track today, they're a well coached team with great tradition and i'm really excited that we'll get to play them twice a year. their president predicted a win for them, and i like that, somebody sent me that, so i want to make sure, i was a history major too, had a good little article about it, but he had that score on. >> talking a little trash already about george mason. i love that. >> when will they play again? >> they'll play one more time this season, but not for a couple more weeks. a few more scores for college basketball. virginia took over virginia tech. all right, let's move on to baseball now. in 19 days, pitchers and catchers report to spring training for the nationals. today fans had a chance to meet their new manager, along with some of their favorite players. the team held their an yul nats

fest. the kids had a chance to run the bases, while everyone got -- harper is expected to be ready for spring training, but says he definitely rethink playing through the injury. >> i'll probably never do that again. that's something that's -- you nomine was a lot worse than a lot of people thought and i probably will never do that again. >> is that just part of growing up and being a major league player and kind of learning when it's appropriate and when it's not? >> it's part of knowing the people arrange you and seeing where you're at and how you feel about your knee and how you feel about where you're at during the season and where your team's at and all the factors come in. >> he's still young, still learning how to play through injury and play with some pain, but it's good to see him 100% healthy going into the season. baseball just around the corner. rjs hockey, it's already bad

enough, the capitals have lost seven straight games, but not having alex ovechkin makes it worse. ovechkin did skate this morning and he has a game-time decision. >> it's good to be back. >> he told me out there he feels pretty good and just see how he feels this afternoon after his nap or whatever, and make sure nothing reoccurs and if he feels good enough, we'll play him. >> hopefully, he has a good nap. to tennis, australian open women's final. she was cruising in the second, using it there for the forehand winner. it's match point. takova wins the 2014 veilian

open, 7-6, 6-6. thank you, jason, that's our news for now, we continue to follow developments in that deadly shooting at the colombia mall today. we will have the latest for you today on news4 at 11:00 and nightly news is coming up next here on nbc 4, have a good evening.

on this saturday night, deadly mall shooting. a gunman opens fire in a big and busy mall in suburban maryland, sending terrified shoppers scrambling for their lives. to the streets, deadly clashes mark the third anniversary of the uprising that brought down the regime. now, troubling questions about egypt's future. deep freeze, a new wave of arctic air, and inflicting major cold. and the big plan for nutrition labels that could help us make healthier choices about the foods we