young daughters. but along the way something turned and this evening investigators believe they're looking at a possible murder-suicide. we have team coverage of this family tragedy were the latest on the investigation and more on the victims. >> all five of those victims were found inside their home after they didn't show up for church yesterday. now they lived in a home just a couple miles north of culpeper's main intersection. northern virginia bureau reporter david culver has new details. >> reporter: tonight that home behind me sits quiet. but up until this past weekend neighbors tell me it was filled with a loving, vie branbrant fa. a mom, a dad, thr litt girls. this past weekend a rush of violence ended those young lives. tonight relatives are asking why. >> my best friend. >> reporter: nicole melvin, up all night exhausted. wiping away uncontrollable tears, while think being her

cousin, shauna washington. >> besides my real sisters, they don't live around here. we were close. >> reporter: she says they were more like sisters, best friends. >> he worked two full-time jobs. shauna didn't really have to work. >> reporter: shauna and her husband, clarence washington, lived in this simple culpeper home. he worked during the day as a factory foreman. at night he cleaned schools. she was taking online classes and raising their three daughters, owe livya, onya and omesha. inside their home relatives tell me things were far from perfect. there were signs of violence. shauna recently told family members she wanted to leave clarence. >> there was a domestic situation between the husband and wife. our investigation up to this point would lead us to believe

that the crime was committed by one of the adults. right now that focus is mainly on mr. washington himself. >> reporter: after not hearing from the family since saturday, shauna's mom and a family member came to the house last night. the doors were bolted locked. they went through a window and found all five shot to death. the gun still inside a murder-suicide the sheriff tells me. >> my cousin was like a sister to me. she just lost her sister four years ago. her mom not only has to prepare herself again for another funeral, bury her daughter and three granddaughters. what else do you do? >> reporter: family members tell me that clarence was a good provider, a good dad. but tough to read at times. still they never expected things to go this far. we've just heard from one of his employers. i'm gathering more of those details about clarence, a bit about his background.

we'll bring you those new elements when i see you again at 6:00 tonight. live in culpeper, dave culver, news 4. our team coverage continues with chris gordon who has more on how this community is dealing with this massive tragedy. >> good evening. the culpeper community is in a state of shock and sadness. i'm talking about neighborhoods, schools, and local girl scout troops. and these young sisters,and 13-year-old were innocent victims of this terrible tragedy. >> reporter: the killings leave the community heart broken. neighbor reggie massey says his 6-year-old daughter savannah played with 6-year-old onya all the time. >> it's sad. >> did you ever have indication there was trouble inside the famryfa family. >> i never had indication. >> the pastor at their church

today announced a prayer vigil saying come let us join together, lift our voices together and intercede on behalf of the minor/washington families and the culpeper community. shauna washington was a leader of the two girl scout troops that her daughters, omesha and onya belonged to. >> shauna was a beloved and well known girl scout leader in the culpeper area. we're working with members of both troops now to ensure they have the support that they need. it's just been a very, very difficult time. >> reporter: leer at sycamore park elementary, 6-year-old on that was a popular student. her father, clarence, had been an overnight custodian here for six years and worked a separate day job. 13-year-old omesha attended cull pep culpeper middle school.

>> from all accounts these girls were delightful, good students, lots of friends. the employee was a quiet man. but by all accounts, good worker. the family as a unit was involved in the school division. >> shauna washington was also a home health care provider for elderly and disabled patients. she was supposed to start a new job today with aflac insurance. coming up at 6:00, we'll hear from some local religious leaders who are trying to organize meals and other support for what is left of this family. that's the latest live in culpeper county, chris gordon, news 4. >> stay with us on air and online for the latest on this story. in our second half hour, we'll have more details on the rise in domestic violence in our region. and what some of the warning signs are before this kind of tragedy occurs. there's an unfolding death

investigation in maryland. a man in his 70s was found dead in his home ongjoñfz colby aven. detectives are actively looking for the person responsible right now. they're in the process of notifying the victim's family so his name has not yet been released. now to a big loss for washington and the world of politics. former white house press secretary and gun control champion, james brady, has died. brady served as press secretary under president reagan in 1981. that year he was shot in the head during the assassination attempt on the president outside the washington hilton. he was paralyzed and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. brady and his wife began a personal crusade for gun control in the 1993 brady handgun violence prevention act bears his name. that is the bill that requires

federal background checks. the white house briefing room is also named after james brady. it was named in his honor in 2000. brady died today at a retirement community in alexandria where he lived with his wife, sarah. news 4's tom sherwood joins us now with more on brady's impact here on d.c.ment. >> we are outside the washington hilton here where reagan and james brady were shot that day. over there is a covered garage. it was built to shield any future president and others after the assassination attempt on that same spot. james brady was an inspiration both in the nation and right here in the district. >> if you think about -- >> reporter: eleanor holmes norton has been on the front lines fighting for gun laws in the nation's capitol for decades. she said james brady and the brady campaign to prevent gun violence have played key roles and she feels a personal loss. >> life was very consequential

after that. he got an important bill named after him, the brideady handgun protection act, an organization named after him. >> just last week a judge ruled uncon constitutional the ban of carrying handguns. james brady was injured in 1981 by a shooter carrying a gun. >> when you consider this great tragedy against a press secretary alongside the president of the united states carried -- was carried out with a handgun carried in public, you wonder why anyone would want a handgun carried in public or concealed. >> reporter: the district has been trying to preserve its tough anti-hand gun registration law since 2008 when the u.s. supreme court ruled an outright

hand gun ban in the home was unconstitutional. coming up at 6:00, sarah brady, she always sfotood by jas brady's side. former first lady nancy reagan released a statement about brady's death today. it reads i still remember vividly that day back in march of 1981 when sarah and i sat together in a tiny room near the emergency room at george washington university hospital. trying to comfort each other while we were both gripped with unspeakable fear. the bond we established then was unlike any other. jim was the personification of courage and perseverance. right now, leaders from 50 african nations are in the district for a first of a kind summit. the u.s./africa leaders summit begins today with a focus on trde and poverty.

john kerry spoke to the group. this summit could cause some problems if you're trying to get in or around the city in the next couple of days. for a way around all of the road closures and the parking restrictions, please check out our website, nbcwashington.com. another alternative for getting around the city is a step closer to coming online today. today streetcar operators began training on the streetcar line in northeast. 28 drivers are learning the certifications to run the cars. d. dot says it wants this two-mile line to be accessible to anyone. >> anyone that comes here will be able to use this, whether they're coming in to union station and they want to go down to one of the bars, or if they're going from their house toe a store here. it's for everybody. >> there is not an opening date for the line just yet, but they expect passengers will be able to ride before the end of the

year. a maryland man is facing 50 years in prison for pretending to be a cab driver and bilking passengers out of thousands. he would pick up drunk passengers from places like dupont circle, adams morgue ng and chinatown and sometimes wore a wig so people would think he was a woman. he drove the drunk passengers to atms and asked them for their credit cards and pin numbers and withdrew hundreds of dollars. he did this for four years until police caught up with him. we have a new hurricane, hurricane bertha is churning in the atlantic. storm team 4 -- oh, my, it's big. >> impressive. >> what is this going to do to us? >> it's huge. it is behind you. actually, not very big storm at all. this thing is not going to have an impact on us.

it's coming up the east coast. let's look at it. there's the state of florida, jacksonville, miami, a lot of rain down towards the naples area, miami. here's the storm here. again, we're watching this storm closely because it is going to move up the coast over the next couple of days. currently looking at this storm with winds of 75 miles per hour. it is a minimal hurricane. it was at 80 earlier, now at 75 her hour. it will come up the east coast, after that make its way up the east. it will have an impact here, plus the fact we'll see some of the warmest temperatures we've seen in a while coming up. deadly overdose at a popular concert. two students with ties to our region die after using a trendy drug that pop stars glorify in songs. we'll explain what parents need to know about molly. >> and tom brady is in the spotlight without his supermodel wife. the patriots insavade redskins

training camp. the star witness for the prosecution in the mcdonnell trial, johnny williams, wraps up his testimony. his final word on his his final word on his relationship save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.d everybody knows that. well, did you know pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker? i look around this room and i see nothing but untapped potential. you have potential. you have...oh boy. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

closing arguments are going on now in a stabbing and road rage case that occurred at westfield montgomery mall.

prosecutors say david goldberg stabbed a couple after they got into a fight at a stop sign. goldberg is accused of following the couple into a mall parking lot and stabbing the man three times a the woman in the stomach. he is facing attempted murder charges. the prosecution star witness in the mcdonnell corruption trial finished his testimony today. johnny williams was grilled about his relationships with bob mcdonnell and his wife maureen. after a lot of hours on the stand, did he help cement the prosecution case or did the defense poke some holes? julie carey is live with the story for us. >> reporter: johnny williams spent two full days and parts of other days on the stand. but in those many hours of testimony he delivered the story that the prosecutor wanted the

jurors to hear, he gave the mcdonnells gifts, money, more than $160,000 worth to give his company help. >> reporter: there was no comment to reporters as johnny williams left the stand, but in testimony today he was clear whether he had a romantic relationship with maureen mcdonnell. asked the prosecutor, did you ever have a physical or intimate relationipitmsmcnnl? he said dn'kn m mcdonnell had any intert m until thee no, i never had any physical contact with maureen mcdonnell, period. the mcdonnell defense team said it will show the first couple's marriage was so broken they could not have criminally conspired and that maureen had a crush on williams. williams also testified he never saw any problems between the first couple. >> they still have a bar -- a high bar, i think, to get over

to convince the jury that their key point that they made in the opening statement is absolutely realistic. >> bob mcdonnell's defense tone was able to poke some holes in williams' testimony and his credibility. williams had pointed to this photo, sent by text to him in christmas of 2012 as proof that bob mcdonnell knew williams had paid for the rolex that the first lady gave to the governor. there was a series of questions aimed at showing in spite of the gifts williams showered on the couple, his company did not get what it was after. asked the defense, did you get state grants? williams, no. still observers say williams mainly delivered the story prosecutors expected. >> now, coming up on new s at 6:00, say no to the dress. i'll tell you about maureen mcdonald's reaction after one of the governor's aides told her

johnny williams would not be allowed to buy her a fancy gown. the search is on tonight to find the person who set a house on fire in maryland. dash cam video caught video of the fire on ingallman drive in laurel. no one was inside at the time. no word yet on any motive. all right. a lot of talk about bertha this week on the east coast. >> yeah. >> but not for us so much. >> not really, unless you're down there, have family down. there the biggest thing is a rip current threat. that's it for us. we have some nice weather coming over the next couple of days. finally feeling more like summer. over the last week, we have not seen a lot of summer-like weather. right now, 88 degrees. we have some clouds out there. a nice afternoon, just on the warm side as we start off the month of august. 88 degrees now with those wins out of the east at 3 miles per hour. plenty of sunshine and not too humid across the region.

humidity is going to be creeping up here as we move through the day tomorrow. 58 in martinsburg now. 91 in cumberland. 86 in fredericksburg. cambridge coming in at 82. nothing on the radar, we will stay mostly dry here on through not only today but most likely tomorrow and most of the week. the only chance for storms, i think, comes during the day on wednesday. you can see what's happening, a few clouds from time to time. that's it. look at the cloud cover down towards the south. not from the hurricane, bu the hurricane pretty close to this area. this is ail a trough of low pressure off the coast. this is what brought us the cloughs and showers over the weekend. fortunately not a whole lot in the way of rain over the weekend. that's good news. as you move down to the south, you see even more rain, especially around florida. look at all the rain around florida. that's froman u area of low pressure and the upper levels. this is bertha. it is an ugly looking hurricane. there's no eye to talk about, no

center of circulation. it does not look good at all. it's weakening at this time. it has weakened as of the latest advisory. down to 75 miles per hour. it was at 80 earlier. north at 18 miles per hour. on that track it will move up to the north and east off the coast of cape hatteras by 250 miles or so. with that track it will still give us a good rip current threat out there along the beaches. if you're heading there the next couple of days, heads up. by tuesday morning or afternoon, 75-mile-per-hour winds. then it gets out of here in a hurry. it makes its way up towards canada. for us, no real big impacts. tomorrow afternoon, mostly sunny, warm and humid. temperature 88 to 93. nice day, but it will be on the hot side. we will see temperatures still up around 90 degrees on wednesday. better chance of showers or thunderstorms wednesday. 40% chance of storms. any storms thatould be on the strong side. 86 on thursday. the redskins game right here on

nbc 4 as they take on the patriots. 86 on friday. look at the weekend. we need a good weekend. we got one. temperatures in the mid to upper 780s on saturday and sunday. right now the weekend looks dry. >> we like the sound of that. americans practicing a route to their basement bomb shelter. how one family is living in the middle of the middle east crisis. a local

look at the swanky new digs for some student athletes in the district. ann costa high school -- >> are pointing to me? >> you're always a swanky dig. it serves as some of the city's lowest income neighborhoods. so swanky surprises are far and few between. >> a star athlete made a professional style locker room possible. carol maloney has the story. >> reporter: not just any pro player, one of baseball's best. bryce harper is not too far removed from his own high school days, and his high school is just across the river from ann costa high. he teamed up with gatorade to change what looked like an old gas station into a state-of-the-art facility. the big reveal happened earlier today. it was a total surprise to the student athletes who showed up

to find the updated locker room, new floors, walls, lockers, benches, the works. harper also got a chance to talk to the kids about his own journey to the majors. an inspiring day tort kids who are still floored from that makeover. >> magnificent. i was stunned. >> it was a shocker to everybody. like, nobody expected it to look like that. when we came in, it was different. >> any time you have a place that you can call home, feels like home, looks good, i look forward to the development of these young men. >> being able to come into a place after a game, after they win or lose, to just be able to relax, hang out, talk with the team, just be able to enjoy each other's company in a nice environment, that's something that i think they'll enjoy. it will be fun for them. >> pretty cool. price harper helping out the next generation of student athletes. part of a busy day for him. afterwards, he hook it

seven-minute drive to nationals park. after weeks and weeks of no rain at all, california got pore than they could handle. >> we'll take you to the scene of water rescues and explain why not everyone made it out alive. a concert was supposed to be a summer celebration. find out how it turned into a night of tragedy all thanks to molly. and the murder-suicide of the family of trading-in or selling your car, truck or suv? webuyanycar.com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, book an appointment. and three, pick up a check at your nearest buying center.

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right now, they're buying up expensive seafood and crabs by the bushel. find out how some creative cooks are using pay pal and skipping the tab. >> how about a ticket to paradise, nearly free? a father said he figured out a way to go on the trip of his dreams and he's sharing his secret with consumer reporter erika gonzalez. >> rg3 and tom brady on the same field. the redskins and patriots start practice together. that story coming up. first tonight at 5:30, new details about the two apparent drug overdoses at a music festival in maryland. >> one student was identified as 25-year-old tyler fox, a rising

junior. police say he possibly took ecstasy. just yesterday a 17-year-old from woodbridge also died from a suspected overdose after going to that same music festival. zachary kiesch has more. ♪ >> i've been searching everywhere i can't find molly, molly. >> i heard it in music but never heard of students talking about it other abusing it. >> music often reflects pop culture and many worry young people are influenced by the megs they hear because molly, a slang name for mdma or puriform of ecstasy, can be deadly. >> anyone can go to a gone certificate, music festival, sober, have a great time. the effects of molly is just something that will heighten your senses. >> reporter: at the mad decent block party, a music festival heard friday night in columbia, two young men died. the youngest, a 17-year-old. one of the young men was a student here at the university

of maryland. >> there are many people who benefit significantly from those programs there are other people who are not ready to hear the message. >> reporter: tyler, a 28-year-old and north carolina native had access to substance abuse programs on campus, but it doesn't mean he used them. >> some of these people are icons, in using it they feel like their idols. >> reporter: officials at the school say they're aware of the drug but have not necessarily seen a trend. approximately 20 other people were taken to the hospital with drug related symptoms and released. zachary kiesch, new 4. a family of five found dead, tonight police tell us they're focusing in on the father as the likely shooter. clarence washington is believed to have killed his wife and three young daughters before turning the gun on himself.

the news has rocked neighbor's in the community of culpeper. many of them asking the same question we are. why. pat lawson muse has more. >> reporter: professor nathaniel hurr studies stress and aggression. he explains how stress can lead to extreme cases of domestic violence. >> the spark that ignites something that's already there, vuleribility factors that people bring to the table which can be genes, early experiences, things that are taught, other ongoing concerns in their life. >> reporter: and he outlines factors that he said generally made it more likely that someone will go to the extreme. >> someone in the family is under a lot of stress, starts to break down the communication. they don't have social support inside or outside of the family to turn to to relieve some of that stress. they don't have other things in their life that they use to relieve stress, like exercise, keeping on their diet or other ways of feeling in control of

their life. >> he says family members and friends should be aware of someone who displays a sudden change in mood or becomes more irritable or more prone to argue or fight. those are often precursors to more serious violence. pat, thanks. d.c. fire chief eugene jones honored a group of firefighters earlier today. the chief is praising them for resuscitating someone who had passed out and stopped breathing this happened last month. today it wasn't just the redskins on the practice field, tom brady and the patriots were at the training camp in richmond. that's where we find diana. how did both teams look today? >> the competition is fierce. this is not friendly football. we know, this is rg3 city. he is the quarterback of this town.

he had some competition today from a quarterback that happens to be married to a supermodel and that three super bowl rings. >> belated happy birthday. >> tom brady is awesome. >> reporter: tom brady, the elite quarterback embraced by almost everyone. >> tom brady is tom brady. owe got to the championships so many times and the playoffs so many times because of who he is. >> reporter: so many people want to know about tom brady. what do you think? >> i didn't actually see tom brady, i was looking for rg3. >> that's a loyal fan. >> yes. >> what about you? >> you know what? rg3 is our man. >> reporter: both men practiced on the same field to do something different. >> you get kind of tired hitting the same guy every day if practice. going against someone new, especially a team like the patriots, has a tradition of

winning, it's good for us. definitely should help us down the line. >> to come out here, see different faces. not to have that familiarity, it's a good thing. it allows you to trust in your technique. >> you don't know them. they don't know what you've been working on. both sides get a chance to work out some stuff that they feel good about working. >> different teams, but at least one familiar face. >> this one here this is family. >> that's family? >> josh boyce. we went to high school together, same church. i'm so proud of this man here. a great guy. practice like this, where you get to see your fellow brother. i'm proud of him. he did a good job today. >> reporter: a little bit more shy than rg3. the patriots will play the redskins this thursday right here on news 4. we will be live on the field right before, we'll have all the postgame reaction in our

postgame show. back to you. >> having some fun out there. finally some good news to share about the traffic in our area. >> we'll find out how a major route through the heart of montgomery county has changed. family planning that includes a basement bomb shelter. and looking at a nice afternoon. a little bit on the warm side. look at this shot down towards national harbor, the capitol wheel spinning around. traffic is not moving too bad. we'll be right back later with another look at your weather. without the internet i would probably be like a c student.

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now to the crisis in the middle east where despite a humanitarian cease-fire throughout much of gaza, israeli air strikes continued in parts of the territory. >> in the four weeks since the violence broke out, at least 1800 palestinians and 60 israelis have been killed. >> jim rose rosenfield caught uh a pennsylvania woman living and working in the conflict zone. >> where did they all go? >> reporter: it's play time for this 1-year-old and his parens s in their tel aviv apartment. >> we have about a minute and a

half to make it down to the bomb shelter. >> reporter: this summer it's anything but light hearted here on an almost daily basis. as sirens force the young family to their building's basement bomb shelter as a matter of routine now. >> we kind of hang out here for a few minutes. >> reporter: sitting on her terrace before the weekend sabbath, this weekend was calm on the surface. >> you know, i think everybody feels the weight of what's going on in gaza. >> reporter: it's going on far from huntington valley, montgomery county where esther was raised. a life she left behind seven years ago, marrying her israeli husband. >> at a time like this, i would rather be here than there to support what we stand for and are trying to do. >> reporter: despite recent u.n. and u.s. condemnations of strikes that hit u.n. schools in d

gaza killing women and children, esther believes up against hamas, israel is doing the right thing. as for the civilian casualties -- >> it does hit me hearing women and children getting killed in all of this it's horrible. i know we avoided trying to kill them by sening leaflets and so on. i don't know what more israel can do. that's kind of where, you know, i say, okay. it is what it is. israel needs to defend itself, period. >> as you know there are extremely contrasting views of what's happening in that region depending on who you talk with. tonight at 6:00, jim rosenfield visits with a palestinian american at his summer home in the west bank. he'll talk about the changes he's seen in his area and why he and his family are not leaving. it's a sophisticated scheme. we'll find out how some crooks figured out how to use paypal to get away with hundreds of dollars of seafood. a number of ways you can

travel without buying a ticket. points are changing the game, but could you be

credit card rewards often make the cost of flight and hotels much more affordable when you are vacationing. >> but is it risky when you accumulate multiple cards in an effort to earn tens of thousands of reward points? erika gonzalez has that story.

>> reporter: it's a great feeling being rewarded in hotel and travel points for using your credit card. sounds safe, and it can be, unless you let it get out of control. as fares to fly climb, many frequent flyers rely on points to travel for less or free. how was your flight? >> wonderful. >> reporter: meet matt, he flew from new york to reagan national airport for our interview on points. he has mastered managing all types of reward points, in doing so he's traveled the world for nearly nothing. >> dubai, switzerland, zurich. >> reporter: it's his first time to d.c., but the points he uses to travel requires a lot of spending. for example, spend thousands of dollars and earn tens of thousands of points. do it with lots of credit cards, and people like hague have a lot to handle.

>> i got another one and another one. now maybe i have 80 to 100 cards. >> reporter: you heard right. he spends his days managing his money and points. he maintains a zero balance on all his cards and avoids fees. he says he takes trips for practically free. >> we went from the maldives, tokyo and back. that was in business class. >> reporter: he spent points on hotels, too. >> the whole thing was probably out of pocket about 400, $500. >> reporter: there is real risk involved. >> it becomes addicting. >> reporter: adam levin warns managing multiple cards for rewards can be dangerous. >> the good news is points. the bad news is interest rates. >> reporter: that's because reward cards often carry high interest rates, especially when an introductory period ends. another warning, never miss a84 time.

86 on friday. the weekend looking good. we're getting some new video of dramatic scenes out west. we'll show you how the heavy rain there turned into deadly floodwaters. and just ahead at 6:00, motorcades rolling all over the city. what you need to know over the coming hours that could have you