and major david riley appeared in court the face those charges, and d.c. police say he was arrested thursday afternoon in ft. mcnair. he is 37 years old, and accused of sending images of child porn over the internet to the police officer, and they say that he is a reservist assigned to central command in pam tampa and in d.c take the part of a course. he with was expected to stay there until the course ended, and d.c. police were not alone in this as they were working with the fbi and with the air force investigator as well. he faces between 5 and 20 years in prison. >> all right. chris lawrence, thank you so much. >> yes, you are well come. and a developing story right now, the fbi says that packages of powder mailed to hotels near the super bowl site in new jersey have turned out to be not hazardous. sources claim that one envelope

c contain theed baking soda and additional testing will be tested as a precaution, and several people have been evaluated at the nearby hospital, because they came into contact with the letters, but nobody has reported any symptoms. and now to a major development in the ongoing investigation into chris christie and the lane closures on the busy bridge into new york. scott macfarlane with more from the live desk. yes, a bombshell of a letter from a chris christie appointee, and friend, and claiming that the governor was aware of the closures on the bridge as they were happening which plainly contradicts what christie said in a news conference earlier in the month. david wildstein has known the gov for the since they were in high school. to the day, his attorney released a letter saying that he

had evidence that christie ordered those lane closures, and this is the first indication that the governor may have known about the closures that caused snarled traffic as a punishment for the mayor for not supporting the governor. at the live news desk, i'm scott macfarlane. and d.c. have arrested one of their own for stealing on the job. police arrested rodney williams yesterday, and he is charged with stealing evidence out of the control branch where he woswork ed. police say that a tip from an m.p.d. employee led to the arrest. he has been on the force since 1990, and he is accused of stealing jewelry, and under investigation by internal affairs. and right now, police are searching for a suspect in the murder of a couple that were found dead inside of a apartment on d.c. street. police do not believe it is a random crime. and now two children who were in

that home are now with child protective services, and kristin wright has made contact with the victim's family, and our live report will come up in the second half hour. this crime is the latest in what appear s appears to be a resurgence of homicides in the city. as january comes to tend, the district is seeing a major spike in those cases. news4's pat lawson muse gives us a closer look at the numbers, pat. >> yes, wendy. in the first month of the year, we have had four times as many victims as the same period last year. so far, in january, d.c. police report that there have been 14 homicides in january of 2013 where there were only three homicide homicides and if you break the victims down by race and gender, nine men and three women and two babies. looking at the map, and you will see how it works out. more than half of the homicides are east of the river taking place in this area, and all but four happened on the eastern half of the city. d.c. police spoke late this afternoon about the most recent case involving a man and a

woman, and kristin wright will have much more on that in the next half hour. we are following the new developments in the columbia mall shooting investigation. we have learned that the suspect did meet up with someone before going to the mall. sources tell our pat collins that the meeting place was the wendy's restaurant off of briggs cheney road and it is the last place that he was spotted before taking a taxi to the mall. pat is live in burtonsville tonight with the new information that you will hear first on new news4. pat? >> well, doreen, little by little, with we are learning more about the movements of darion aguilar before those murders at the mall. >> reporter: on the morning of the columbia mall murders, the shooter, darion aguilar left his home in college park at 5:15 and went to the burtonsville area of montgomery county apparently to see someone. sources familiar with the

investigation say that later that saturday morning, aguilar took a barwood cab from this wendy's on briggs cheney road to the columbia mall. according to sources, aguilar used a smartphone app to the summon the cab. sat quietly slouched this the back seat of the cab. carried a backpack that appeared to be heavy. paid the driver $40, and $27 for the fare, and $13 for the tip. and now, after the driver heard about the shootings on the radio, he called police to say that he had dropped off someone at the mall who appeared to be, quote, weird. now, back to that wendy's off briggs cheney road, and today, i talked to mary and she works here and she recognized the picture of aguilar that i showed r and she says that he would sometimes hang out here with other young people, and she remembers him as being

courteous. this is how mary tells the story. some time saturday morning after 9:30, ing a aguilar is here wit young man and the cab pulls up, and aguilar, he gets into the cab, and he walks away. when you heard that he was the gunman? >> well, that was actual ly ver, very surprising. very, very surprising, because he did not seem like the type of person that would just randomly shoot people. >> and darion aguilar went to the mall, and hung out for an hour, and went on a shooting spree inside of the zumiez's store, and he shot and killed two store employees before turn turning the gun on himself, and now when aguilar bought the shotgun last month at this store in rockville, there was an unidentified man with him, and could that be the same man that he was with here at wendy's last saturday morning? so did aguilar have help? howard county executive ken ullman on that coming up at

6:00. live in montgomery county, pat collins, news4. >> and tomorrow morning a moment of silence inside of the columbia mall to honor those two victims and the mall plans to hand out white label lapel ribbons to the customers when they arrive. brianna benlolo and tyler johnson worked at the zumiez's skate shop, and we have more information on that memorial fund set up for them on our w website nbcwashington.com. >> part of mass avenue is gone after what is being called a washout. a pipe burst eroding the pavement, blocking off traffic between 34th and n streets in southeast d.c. in fort pond park.

and we haved a dumb tuss out there with a new perspective. >> yes. and you can see here we can hear can jackhammer, and this is massive washout here on massachusetts avenue, and the guys are out here doing the work, but there are other issues here to the talk about. the gas company is out here and we have a gas leak to be fixed and then the water crews can go on to the road and and eight-inch main broke in the road and that is what caused this and the road could be closed for 7 to 10 days. >> reporter: massachusetts avenue here dips, sags, buckles and then drops off a i cliff. and while the crews survey the damage from above and if you want to see what has happened here in the canyon that has been created, you have the climb down and face it. the only way to put this whole thing in perspective is to climb down into the woods across from where it is, and then take a look at it, and if you can see the people up there surveying things, yeah, what are they about five or six feet tall?

well, look at the size of the crater, that canyon that has been carved out of the sides here that may be along massachuset massachusetts avenue, and the fear is that the road will buckle. and because the road is so delicate, ddot says that this stretch will have to be closed for 7 to 10 days at the least. that is if we don't get any bad weather. here is the work around. if you are headed to the city, mass ave to n-street and then to 34th street, and then back to massachusetts. 7,000 cars a day use this stretch, and so it is going to be an inconvenience for many. back here now live in southeast along massachusetts avenue, and obviously, the work continuing here, and yeah, if you are planning to come here tonight, it is not going to work. and now, imagine that you lived in the house right there. next to all of this work, and what does that guy have to say about this? well, actually, he has a very, very interesting perspective on this entire situation. and we will tell you about that coming up next hour at 6:00. reporting live in southeast, adam tuss, news4.

>> always nice to hear the jackhammers all day and all night. >> yes, that is right. mass avenue is not the only place dealing with the water problems. pipes in schools across the region are breaking, and the buildings are at risk for losing the heat. we will tell you what news team 4 found when they went inside. >> and plus, a car burst into the flames after a crash, and we will tell you how this race to save a life came to a dramatic end. i'm jim handly in a wet sochi, russia, and only a week before this calderon will be lit up for the games. we will take you on a tour of olympic park tonight at "news4 at 5:00." that is so cool he is over there, and nice and mild across the area today, and just for the weekend, right? but then, guess what is moving back in? yeah, possibly more snow. i will talk about it next.

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i found this out at the free dr.scholl's foot mapping center at walmart. in less than two minutes, i got my foot map and my custom number. i'm a 440. i'm a 210. 340. that number matched the dr.scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts with just the right support to help relieve stress on my feet. i'm a believer. find a walmart with a foot mapping center at drscholls.com i'm a believer. we are a week a wai way fro opening sar pony thor the wint eolympics in sochi, and today, the host city had rain and temperatures above freezing and that is a good thing and now a last-minute scramble to get it ready as usual. our boy, jim handly arrived in sochi the other day, and he is going to give us a behind the scenes look at the park and the new venues. >> welcome to the first look at wet olympic park, and it is a

picture in the rain before the games begin. this is the calderon, and surrounded by flags of 85 countries. and they will light up the night as putin put ps on a show for the world to see. no fireworks today, but the only sounds you will hear today are street sweepers. a howling stray dog. and audio checks on the stage and medal stand. time is running out. everywhere you look, there is construction and last-minute road work on the brand new roads, and last-minute landscaping, too. palm trees, and that is right, palm trees are popping up on every corner in january and in russia. they do make you feel a little bit warmer, and in fact, we are 20 to 30 degrees warmer here than we are in washington, but all of today's rain would be snow up in the mountain cluster. a security force topping 40,000 has fanned out are the the coastal cluster, and what they

can't cover, cameras can. if you look closely, you can see the workers still the on top of the roof of the ice hockey arena, and this is where alex ovechkin will play for his home team, and over our shoulder this is our perch where we will be broadcasting live from sochi at olympic park. i'm jim handly. >> and you can keep up with jim, and his adventures as he is going to be blogging and talking about the behind the scenes experienceses, a to follow, you go to his facebook page or search at jim handly on twitter. and the president does not believe that security will be a problem in the olympics. today, he admitted on cnn, that there are always risks on large international eventing ingevent encouraged americans to go to the games, and aware of the plan

s to keep people safe. and now this is what you will call a super fan, and george ree dull iinger is goingo p be heading to his seventh games this the last 14 years. the financial analyst is not worried about security, and he says that it is more complicated getting to sochi than other olympic olympics and more red trap in the travel documents and tickets, but he believes that the russian government is well p prepared. >> i believe that the reality is that i face a greater threat of being injured alt a redskins' game in philadelphia than i will in sochi. my family will be guaranteed a good time. this is more adventuresome than most, but, again, we don't care who wins. you get the cream of the world's youth and the athletes that are all there. >> you can watch all of the olympic action here on nbc4. our coverage starts next thursday, february 6th, and it runs through the closing ceremony on february 23rd.

big month. >> here at home, it is the south thawing out from the winter storm, and falling ice now has one of charleston, south carolina's busiest routes shutdown. the eight lanes of the bridge are closed because of the giant chunks of ice falling down on drivers as several drivers had the windshields mashed in, but nobody was seriously hurt. i no e that bridge, and it is causing huge complications for people down there. >> and the south can't get a break. >> no, and they are finally getting one now, because the temperatures are into the mid-50s and dallas is 74 degrees. >> wow. let's go. >> and that air is coming our way. >> that is so bizarre. >> and i know. it is bizarre, and you go from the winter storm, and right back into the 50s and the 60s and the 70s for us, and we would like to get to the 50s and we did today with a high of 50 at the airport, and beautiful afternoon, and we will call it a fantastic friday and take a look at the cloud cover trying to the make its way in here, and these are high clouds continuing to stream on in, as we move through

the rest of the evening hour, and tonight is a cool night, but not a cold night. the potomac is still frozen, but by sunday, not anymore. 44 is the current temperature, and the winds are out of the south at 8 miles per hour after that high today of 50 degrees, so above average for the first time so far this week, and actually monday was above average, but tuesday today, and wednesday and thursday, way down. and 39 in winchester, and 43 in gaithersburg, an annapolis in the 30s all day and so has the river because of the chesapeake bay being so cold here, and you have been well below everybody else on the region, and on the ray dar, storm team 4 radar is clear, and i will stay that way for the next couple of days. if you have plans, it is a nice weekend and warm weekend, too, and mostly clear skies and we will see cloudiness moving in through the day and night tomorrow, and then we move into the stormy pattern, and not tomorrow or sunday, but we could see a few showers on sunday as the jet stream is right on top

of us, and the milder air is starting to move our way, and watch what happens on monday. we will see another system coming in, and the cold air starts to move back in place, and that sets the stage for a storm system that is going to move through with the rape or the snow, and right now, very -- with the rain or the snow, and right now, some areas will get the accumulation, and much of that is looking on the lighter side and with the warmer temperatures, the roads should not be a problem, and once again, this is something that we have to watch over the weekend and of course, stay with storm team 4 and we will keep you posted. that is right behind it, and tuesday and wednesday, ice early, but then the storm will draw the milder air right back into the rejup and wednesday, mild air with rain and that one is going to be a rain event now. and next couple of days, 52 tomorrow, and beautiful. 55 on sunday and looking good with the chance of a shower. and 39 maybe snow on monday, and could be mixing with rain, but

it is something to watch. and 41 on tuesday, and then next week, we will get the 50 on wednesday with the good chance for rain and maybe ice first, but then rain, and then next thursday and friday, 38 and 37. if 37 is the next coldest number in the highs, we are fine. >> and balmy. >> amanda knox was not the only one convicted of murder, and what her ex-boyfriend has to say about the surprising conclusion of this case in italy. and coming up in the big apple, i am going to talk about the plans for life. apple, i am going to talk about the plans for life. >> and

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two men are in custody for a bold smash and grab on 5th avenue. the robbers used hammers to take about $5,000 of cartier watches from the store. and now just a couple of days before the super bowl, and live look at times square which has been transformed into the super bowl boulevard. serious side of football, a "wall street journal" poll says that half of americans would encourage their children not the play football, because they are worried about the concussions that are getting a lot of attention here, and there is a striking split of how those at and the quarterback are going to

g through some real tough things together, and then you have a chance to have some great thing thes. >> reporter: you say that coaching is one of the hardest things the do, and now you see the new redskins' head coach jay gruden step in and start his new career as a head coach, and what advice for him, if you were to have a chance to sit and talk to him, what were some things that you would love to share with him? >> well sh, the only thing that said to him, and i had a chance to talk to the him on the phone, and said, hey, jay, you have the greatest job in the world, first of all with the greatest fan base, and i told him that i think that it is one of the great honors that is going to be proving out that dan will do anything to help you win. >> and i just talked to him. nothing about technical football, because i know that he is thrilled with the job, and we are all just as redskins' fans pulling and cheering as hard as we can. >> reporter: and the if somebody said, hey, coach, i'm going to visit washington, d.c., and the

maryland/virginia area, what do i have to do and see and check out? what do you love about the d.c. area? >> well, the drive through downtown. i used to love on thursday night nigh nights, me and pat, the only night i had off really, and we would have our dinner at the palm, and then we would kind of cut through town, and it would be the guy out there playing on the can, and all of those things in downtown d.c., and awesome. >> reporter: and any prediction? >> i will tell you never go with the coach, but i will tell you this, if it is a good day and you can throw the ball, i'm going to kind of go with denver. if it is going to start real bad weather and starts to blow hard which it can do up here, i'm going to do down and try to switch my bet. >> and nfl commissioner roger goodell spoke out earlier today on the name controversy surrounding the washington redskins. >> at his annual presuper bowl

news conference, he was asked whether it is appropriate to use that word when referring to a native american. >> let me remind you that this is a football team that has had the name for 80 years, and presented the name in a way that is honoring native americans. we recognize that there are some who don't agree with the name, and we have listened and respected that. 8 of 10 americans in the general population would not like us to change the name. we are listening, and being respectful for people who disagree, but let's not forget that this is the name of a football team. >> and the team owner dan snyder has previously said that he will never change the team's name. >> and right now, a fiery crash and the driver is unconscious, and trapped inside. >> what happened nextt changed the course of one man's life. >> reporter: the doors were locked and the engine was

revving while flames spread quickly. officers jum ped into action. how they rescued the driver with seconds to spare. and plus for the first time, we relearning the names and seeing the faces of two people murdered in the district. police speak out about the search for a killer and the toddlers left alive at a murder scene. we are still working the case of a man who rekrecently died outs of a d.c. fire station after the firefighters allegedly refused to help. and now we have learned that this may not have been the first time.

fentanyl. right now a developing story in the district at 5:30, police are searching for who killed a young couple in anacostia. >> and also new details on the shooting. we have kristin wright outside where police released new information about when the murders were discovered. kristin? >> right now the detectives are inside of the homicide branch here to figure out exactly who killed this young couple right with their young children nearby. >> reporter: ronetta hurley brown was a young mother, and she and ervin ingraham were murdered in front of their children. they were found on southeast 7th street yesterday. both children were home, and today, the neighbors hearing

that were sad. >> it destroy eded a lot of peo knowing that two people were killed, and their kids were left in there. that is -- that is hurtful. >> reporter: today at the apa apartment, scraps of leftover police tape and fingerprint dust on the front door and evidence of the violence that happened here. and the police think that the couple's killer knew exactly who they were after. >> we don't believe it is random. it does appear that it was probably a target. >> reporter: and beyond that, police are not saying much. >> it san active investigation, and we have to be sure that we don't give out any information to the come ppromise it. >> reporter: and the family members that we talked to say they have no idea why anyone would want to hurt the couple. after such a tragedy, so close neighbors are afraid. >> i have to move and get out of here. i can't do that. i have to grab my baby and i have to go. >> andpared to this time last e year, the number of homicides in the district has increased by almost five times. we asked police about that, and

we will have their response for you coming up at 6:00. live in southwest, kristin wright, news4. a fast forward through the headlines. an air force reservist is behind bars charged with distributing child porn. 37-year-old major david riley was arrested yesterday at ft. mcnair in southwest. police say he sent images of child porn over the internet to an undercover police officer, and riley is assigned to a base in tampa, but he was in town for a national security course. and new details now on the suspicious powder delivered to several hotels in new jersey near the super bowl site. one hotel manager says that yellow powder fell out of the note along with a note of al qaeda and the fbi, and the preliminary tests show it is harmless. and mass avenue is to be closed for more than a week as the crews are working to if fix what is called a washout. an 8-inch water main broke and eroded the road are from n

street and 34th, and some 7,000 cars use that stretch of mass ave everyday. and multimillion dollar heating bills, and hundreds of burst water pipes, and the schools are paying a price because of the painfully cold weather. >> a review of the news4 i-team scott scott macfarlane reveals that it is burning a hole in the budget. >> reporter: there was a small river running through white oak, and middle springs, there was a pipe that burst and hot water made its way downstairs to shutdown school for the day. and two weeks later, you can see the water damage in the ceiling tile tiles. and sophia ford pushing her son down the floor said that it is good that the staff cleared it within hours. >> well, they handled it well, and shifted the classes around and everything like that. >> and our review of county school records revealed that there were water main breaks in local schools tied directly to

the weather. 100 in montgomery county and 50 in fairfax and 17 in howard and that does not count the ones near by like in wheaton. it is not just the pipes, but in older schools, the heating unit is not keeping the air temperature in all of the schools warm enough to protect the pipes. in fredricks county like this one, urbana high school, they are running the heat at high power 24/7 to reduce the pipe bursts. and fredrick koerick county specifically sought $11 million the heat the schools in the winter, and the building managers said they expect a big increase this year, and so much so that you can't estimate it. >> i think that it is go g ing end up costing a lotf of money, and any sort of cushion that we had, this year in terms of the funding, it is going to be eaten up. >> reporter: it is the older schools suffering the worst breaks school officials tell us, including those with heating units or the pipes near the cold exterior walls, and they say

that fractured and punctured pipes will burst after the temperature rises, which means that the worst could be yet to come. scott macfarlane, news4. president obama is launching a new effort to find jobs for the long-term theed unemployed. at the white house today, he signed an order that requires federal agencies to remove any hiring barriers for people who have been out of work for several months or longer. he also met with ceos of some of the nation's largest companies urging them to adopt this same standard. he said that a person who has been unemployed for eight months is only half as likely to be called back for an interview as opposed to a person out of work for one month even if the resumes are identical. >> it is a cruel catch 22, and the longer, you are unemployed the more unemployable you may seem. they just need employers to real realize that it does not reflect at all on the abilityings or the values. they just need that chance. >> and nearly 300 small and

large businesses have pledged to remove these hiring barriers for the long-term unemployed and the companies are apple, best buy, and comcast nbc universal which owns this television station e the. the amanda knox murder conviction is getting attention from around the world, and now for the first time her ex-boyfriend is speaking out about the rumors that he tried to flee after the new conviction. and now we are talking about the warmer temperatures over the next couple off days and looking at the numbers 44 here, and look down towards the south and east and south and west rather, and 73 in dallas, and some of that air trying to move our way. i will show get your home ready for the big game, with big savings at h.h. gregg's super sale. save up to 30% on appliances, electronics, furniture, and more. get an lg 60-inch hdtv $699. samsung 51-inch hdtvs $469. washer/dryer pairs are just $549. plus, get up to 24 months special financing on purchases $497 and up.

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. >> r. tonight a charles kocounty commissioner is charged with driving under the influence and a sheriff's officer stopped ruben collins the second after erratic driving. and he failed several field sobriety tests. it happened last night, and no injuries. collins represents the waldorff area, and he is out of jail now. amanda knox's boyfriend is speak i speaking out to nbc news about the convictions and the suspicions that he tried to escape. raffaele sollecito was picked up near the italian border today, and he said he did not think that he would be found guilty. but amanda knox is in the united states, and there are questions of whether she will be forced to return to italy. and the decisions over the

extradition will be a diplomatic and legal one. on this morning's "good morning america" she reaffirm ed the plans, because both she and her former boyfriend proclaim their innocence. >> to many, this makes no sense. so i will fight until the end, also, because we proved that we showed that in many ways that i have nothing to do with this murder. >> i will nef go willingly back to the place where i -- i am going fight this until the very end. >> today, meredith kercher's family says that the lack of the closure on her murder has taken a toll on them. and the firefighter at the heart of the death investigation is leaving the firehouse for good and that is only part of what we have learned about this case. i'm liz crenshaw, and how do the salt treatments on the road affect your paint on and high i

and then here comes the change, and 1:00 a.m., we will see the shower activity, and moving through, and oh, no, no, look at this. i messed that up, and look at what i am talking about here, because we are seeing the snow out of this, and i am going all of the way through, and there is the with 1:00 period again, and watch this as we move through the day. we are going to see the chance for snow coming in around 9:00 in the morning, to the entire area except for areas down to the south, and this is something that we will be watching closely. monday could be snowy earlier in the morning, and so we will watch that closely over the weekend for you, and high temperatures tomorrow, into the 40s and the 50s, and we will be into the low 50s tomorrow, and southern maryland, you will be into the 50s, and 54 in mechanicsville, an annapolis on the water, only 40. and the next couple of days on the mild side. 55 on sunday, and there's the snow chance monday. it will be a mixture of rain ane is grateful.

>> if they had been there a minute later, things would have been a lot different. the two police officers are being called heroes and the man is being treated at a local hospital, and he is in critical but stable condition. an amazing show of generosity in northern virginia tonight. scores of people chipping in money and time to help four dogs that were rescued from the devastating house fire. one of the owners is still in the icu right now, and he cannot care for these dogs. news4's david culver has the story. >> yes, you are. yeah. >> reporter: no shortage of love inside of becky's sterling home. >> hi, george. >> reporter: george is a burmese mountain dog, and he is staying with becky and her dogs for -- well, as long as he needs to. >> he has a little cough still from the smoke, but he is, i think that he is adapting pretty well. >> reporter: this was george's home up until this past monday. >> a call came in shortly after 3:00 in the morning, and you could see the fire coming through the roof from