right now, at 6:00, an unfolding situation in california. millions have been shaken by a strong earthquake. ton the incredible damage. a call to police ends with a gruesome crime. the shocking crime that has detectives searching for answers. first, a car pull out of the potomac river. police want to know what led to this tragedy. thanks for joining us here

at 6:00. we start on a potomac river, where a tour bus driver spotted a car sinking into water with someone inside. by the time rescuers got to the car, it was too late. the car went into the river just north of the gw parkway near the bridge. latest on the investigation. >> reporter: divers in the potomac, near the merchant marine memorial, with the grim task of recovering a car and a driver. one of the joggers on her run heard someone to cry to call 911. police say an operator of a tour craft saw the simpinging car and the operator called in at 11:00 a.m. >> we located a car on the

water. inside the car we located one body. that is at this time deceased. >> reporter: by the time the victim was taken out of the car, the investigation was going full bore. d.c. police handle these type of crimes. >> our major crash unit responded just to determine really what we got. what likely happened. ever. >> reporter: the question is now a car got from the nearest roadway, the g.w. roadway into the water. that will be one for investigators to answer. in virginia, derek ward, news 4. right now, prince george's county police are on the scene of a gruesome tragedy. officers found two bags filled with body parts. they were on infield court outside an apartment in laurel. this is where zachary keesh has

been working this story. have they been using cadaver dogs to help in this search? >> reporter: they have, chris. they were with search and rescue. let me boil this down for you. somebody in our community feels like the way that you handle a disagreement with another person is by killing them, chopping them up and putting their body in two hefty garbage bags. it happened right here in these apartments in laurel, maryland. police have been here since 9:00 this morning. k 9 units were here. they have since left. prince george's academy students are on their way here to continue looking for body parts. gaining units are here. hoicide units are here. the search is wide open. the victim hasn't been identified. let's be clear. the bags were not hidden, buried. they were near the pool and for that reason, police think that this was intended to send a message and neighbors feel the same way. >> where the remains were found,

you wanted somebody to find that. it wasn't tucked away. it was in an open field, one by a tree and one actually by like a bush close to the street. we got to go. this is unacceptable. it's already a lot of like we said minor issues, parking, petty thefts, robberies. this is on another level. >> reporter: tough decision? >> not at all. not with a two and a three-year-old. >> reporter: you know, they have heard of the petty thefts. they have seen the fights outside the house. they also say this is crazy. there's been a lot of incidents like this happening around prince george's county the last couple of weeks and police are begging, they are pleading for your help and they need your help on this case as well. if you have any information, it's an obligation to help solve this crime. we all stand to benefit to find out who did this. reporting live in laurel, zaek

kesch news 4. there's been a scary scene steps away from the white house. two cars badly damaged by flames. we're still working to learn what happened or if anyone was hurt. a party outside a popular restaurant took a violent turn. investigators say around 2:00 this morning, somebody started shooting outside kabab city in spotsylvania. when the shooting started, they all went running for cover. three people were hit, including a teenager from maryland. he was shot multiple times, was rushed to the hospital and is still in critical condition. police are still looking for the shooter. now for a story still developing in california. store surveillance cameras captured the moment an earthquake rattled. it sent dozens of people to the hospital. residents in one mobile home

park. felt the quake. then heard the explosions as homes around them burst into flames. people ran outside panic, some have lost everything. we're joined live in napa where they are still worried about after shocks, right, mike? >> reporter: yes. we're standing in downtown napa. in front of the historic buildings here. this is a good visual example of how some of these older brick buildings literally started crumbling. pieces falling to the ground. in fact, take a look at some of the other video we also saw and the video really tells part of the story. when you put the numbers with this, we're talking a 6.0 earthquake at 3:00 in the morning. more than 100 gas lines rurptd. some 60 water mains all broken or cracked. certainly not the city's main water supply system. it could be a week before they get on top of that and power was

knocked out to thousands here as well. but with all of those numbers and with all of these pictures, believe it or not, emergency officials said, the daniel could have been far worse. still, it was enough of a rattling that a lot of people are talking about it. listen. >> i felt an incredible shake. at first, i thought there was a bomb that went off. >> and there were flashes of lightning. i've been through a lot of quakes. lifetime californian. it was a serious rocker. i was calling out for my wife. flashes of light. a lot of rocker roller. 30, 60 seconds. >> reporter: back here live, to give you a sense of what it feels like to have a magnitude 6.0 earthquake, it was felt as far south 200 miles from where i'm standing and as far east as the nevada border.

>> some of the best wines came right out of napa, when you see pictures of these bottles splayed everywhere, do you have any sense of how much damage this has done to the u.s. wine industry? >> it's kind of interesting talking to people. you want to keep things in perk. while it is something to talk about here, earthquakes happen in california. a lot of the buildings retro fitted. this is an example of one of those not retro fitted. the overall perspective for a 6.0 magnitude earthquake, it could have been far worse. still it was enough to create some issues with some of the roadways and some of the wineries. this is a wine region that many people know about across the country. the bottom line message coming out of here, even though the video and the pictures say one thing, emergency officials say really? it could have been a lot worse. >> great perspective, mike. >> in downtown napa.

back to you. keep it right here for more coverage of today's major earthquake. nbc nightly news starts right after this news cast. saying good-bye, tonight a hometown tribute for a journalist whose brutal death was seen around the world. it looks alarming, but it's all done for a new way to get around town. finally set free, an american captured by americans overseas -- captured by militants overseas is set free. students waiting for the bus tomorrow morning, temperatures on the cool side. i'll have your bus stop forecast

new at 6:00, an american hostage is now a free man after two years islamic militants had kidnapped. today, peter theo curtis was turned over to peacekeepers. not much has been revealed about his release, but we know the united states was not involved in negotiations. curtis shared a cell with another american who escaped last ummer. his family expects to see him

soon. hometown of james foley held a mass for him today. foley was kidnapped in 2012 while reporting in aleppo, syria. isis says it executed him for retaliation for u.s. air strikes in iraq. british intelligence officials have identified the man who kill him but right now they are not releasing his name. back here at home, one of our areas biggest transportation projects just took a huge step forward. we'll show you h

what looked like an all out emergency on eighth street was just a test, but an important one for emergency responders. d.c. officials had to see how crews would react if one of the new street cars derailed and crashed. >> reporter: this is only a test, but an important one. as d.c. gets ready to once again welcome street cars, the proper planning and training is required. today, a live action emergency response scenario right in the heart of bustling h street northeast. >> this is the first live interactive one that we've done that has all of the first responders in this area that would actually respond to an incident. >> reporter: you may be

wondering when street cars will actually be carrying passengers, we've been told that they will be running by the end of the year. the first route will run along h street and bening road in northeast. but it will be a change. drivers, pedestrians, even street car drivers themselves are going to have to get used to each other. >> let's face it. it's been a long time since a street car has been here. everybody needs to get familiar with it. >> reporter: today's test making sure sure the first responders are ready in case something goes wrong. in the district, adam. news 4. a lot of kids will be heading to bed early tonight. tomorrow is the first day of school. >> chris and i were talking about this just before and we want to know what your fond memories were heading back to school. mine, the all important first day outfit and whob in my classes.

>> i remember freshman year of high school, a lot of the cute girls started with k and m. >> have a wonderful first day. the weather really not impacting the commute to and from school tomorrow. the weather not having any negative impact on your monday. low humidity and plenty of sunshine. all in all, today was a really nice day, especially when we compare it to saturday. high temperature today about 82 degrees. tomorrow, just a touch warmer. here's the latest check of the satellite and radar. clouds slowly decreasing throughout the day today. we are in for plenty of sunshine during these early evening hours. for the most part, temperatures this evening will be in the 70s. washington, right now, coming in at 81 and you can see for the most part, we're in the mid to upper 70s at this time. so we're not going to fall too much for the next few hours. 77 in frederick , 75 in gaithersburg. all of those locations have students heading back to school

tomorrow. 66 for those of you in camp spring. it will be a little cool, you might want to grab a light jacket. howard and charles county who also return tomorrow with temperatures in the low 60s. d.c. temperatures will be in the upper 60s. the sun rise, 6:31. mom and dad might need those sunglasses. the good news after our cool start, we warm up quickly by 11:00 a.m., temperatures in the mid 70s. mid 80s by recess hour. 7:00, we're looking at a mild 78 degrees. so a perfect night. kids can get out and play. fire up the grill. tomorrow, mild and dry with temperatures in the most part in the upper 70s. now, as we head down to the tropics, tropical storm cristobal, winds right now sustained at 45 miles an hour,

impacting turks and caicos and parts of the bahamas. look at this track, as it does strengthen to a category one hurricane wednesday, it does start to curve out to the sea with no impact on the united states. it's really good news as we're heading to the labor day weekend coming up. the weather is fairly quiet. plenty of sunshine. one 90 on the seven day here. that's on wednesday. the humidity not too bad. the chance of showers and storms on sunday. >> it looks like a great start to the new school year. >> i have to agree. still ahead, the hottest team in baseball puts on one of the best shows of the season. spokesperson: get a $1,000 turbocharged reward card with a new volkswagen turbo. why are we so obsessed with turbo? because we like giving you power, but we also like giving you fuel efficiency. like the sporty jetta. and the turbocharged passat tdi® clean diesel.

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it's hard to believe that at one point, the nats were down 5-0 today. they quickly erase that today. today at nats park, it was an offensive explosion. 14 runs scored by the good guys.

that's the most they have scored all season. but the victory today, they finish their ten-game home stand with a 9-1 record. jason werth talking to a young nats fan. the kids saw a great game today but not have stephen straussberg. brandon crawford ropes one to center. michael morris coming in to score. no chance on the throw. four innings, four strikeouts and five runs allowed by stephen straussberg. luckily his offense had his back. that's scott harrison crushing the ball to the left. the giants relay throw to the plate. not in time and we're tied at 6. a few batters later, it's jason werth up with men in the corners. coming through like he always does. he brings home harrison for the go-ahead run. they take an 8-6 lead.

the offense not done just yet. bottom of the 8th, bryce harper at the place. this one off the foul pole, his seventh home run of the season. nats are up 12-6 at this point. top of the ninth, fans on their feet to end it. he gets morris to go down swinging. that's your ball game. nats battle back from 5-0. they take this one, 14-6 final score. >> they just keep going. they just keep playing. and they are having fun. they are prepared, and they are able to go out and execute and that's all we can ask. i mean, they have done that all year. >> we were injured and banged up a little bit early. we're pretty healthy now. we got to keep it going down the stretch. it should be exciting. stay tuned. >> jason werth with the walk off

interview. the o's are trying to avoid being beaten by the cubs. top of the fourth, adam jones goes down swinging. next batter, can't fare much better. wada he had a no-hitter broken up in the seventh inning. he struck out eight over six and a third inning. the cubs lead it 1-0. opposite field, bring in a run, it's an rbi double. kuns take a 2-0 lead. first time the oriolev is lost three straight game sinced end of may. last night's red kins game left more questions than answers. who fits better in the offensive system? during the broadcast last night,

former skins quarterback joe thighs -- thies man had to say. >> kurt cousins has played much better in the quarterback position than griffin has. it's going to be a decision that's going to have to be made. right now, robert griffin serves as his quarterback. if there was a competition, it wouldn't be a competition. kurt cousins is the man he has to go to because of efficiency in can which he has run. >> jay gruden will rush the starters this thursday in tampa bay. also, the skins making a few roster cuts today, linebacker rob jackson was let go. the pan pacific championships in australia this morning. bethesda's own, why not beat your own time? that's katie ladeky in the last

place. she's actually lapping the competition. she takes six seconds off her old time. new world record. one last little note for you, the little league world series championship team, the jackie robinson west team, the first all black team to make it to the championship game, they lost to south korea, 8-4. nonetheless congratulations on a great season. great groupf kids. made it to the finals. we'll see you again at news 4 at 11:00.

on this sunday night, state of emergency. its strongest earthquake in 25 years rocks northern california, igniting fires, damaging buildings, and leaving some krit critically injured. new asults against isis fighters as authorities are closing in on james foley's killer. and tonight, another american held captive in syria is freed. out for revenge, it's the murder trial that divide aid community and left many wondering did a grieving father take justice into his own hands? and the boys of summer. the chicago little leaguers