welcome to "news 4 this week." >> hi, everyone. i'm veronica johnson. we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them easy stcam. the way a woman ended up on the hook for thousands of dollars in dollars and how to protect yourself. plus doing more than just surviving. a woman shot in the navy yard massacre talks about returning to work and encouraging others to heal. and could we see a beltway series? the nationals, the o's celebrate big wins with eyes on meeting each other for baseball's crown. but first there are some nervous parents in fair fax county after reports that a cougar was spotted roaming near schools. students at riverside elementary school and mt. vernon high were

kept inside several days this week due to the sightings. the big cat has been seen on a baseball field behind the school, and animal control officers have found what appears to be paw prints. likely, though, from a different animal. they say there's concern even without direct contact with the cougar. >> biggest threat is that it eats a raccoon or rabid fox and comes down with rabies and then tries toin effect some other animal. >> animal control officials have also set up some camoflauge cameras in the woods to see if they can snap a couple of pictures of that big cat. a plan to develop a station on one of metro's busiest lines is taking a big step forward. metro has selected a team to develop the grovener stratmore administration. proposing a green building with about 550 residential units and some 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail. the development would also

replace surface commuter spaces at the station with a new extension to the current parking garage. construction is expected to begin in the year 2019. we've got a ways. there's also some big changes coming to a congested traffic circle in the national parks service wants your help. their real concerns for people who use the memorial circle just over the memorial bridge in arlington. there are six crosswalks in the circle that don't have crossing signals. making it a little tricky for drivers, pedestrians and folks riding their bikes. the park service will set up an information booth right near the circle. if you're passing through take a little time. you can offer some suggestions on how to make things safed in that area. fair fax county woman is being left to pick up the tab after someone racked up more than $1,000 on her easy pass. how did it all happen? northern virginia bureau reporter david culver has the story and what you can do to

protect yourself. >> reporter: after a head-on crash back in february, mindy garthner feels lucky to be alive let alone walking. >> there were headlights right in front of me. and the worst sound i've ever heard in my life. >> reporter: this what is mindy's car looked like afterwards. it was totalled. and she was in critical condition. but at some point after the wreck, someone took mindy's easy pass from her windshield. >> it had never occurred to me that the easy pass would have even survived the accident, much less that somebody was using it. >> reporter: but someone was using it, a lot. mindy found out her pass cleared tolls leaving virginia into new jersey, then new york, and even as far north as massachusetts. the total over the course of several months, $1003.78. she called easy pass. they cancelled the transresponder but the charges remained. >> they added up another $108 after i stopped it that i'm

still responsible for. >> reporter: mindy then contacted fairfax county police, but they say it's out of their jurisdiction. their advice to you should your easy pass be out of your possession? >> we would say treat those easy passes like a credit card. call the easy pass company and cancel it immediately. >> reporter: with a hospital bed in her will you having room, it is clear mindy's rehab has been intense. now in addition to medical bills she's left paying for someone else's joy ride. >> i mean, it's nonending. it's a constant. i didn't even know you could rack up charges like that. >> that's just awful terrible. the wrecking service that initially towed mindy's car and american express are investigating. vdot says mindy needs to dispute the charges with each individual toll facility up and down the northeast. very time consuming, too. americans who are on the move this summer settling down in cities that people have been traditionally leaving. among the most popular places to land right here in d.c. other top destinations are new york, philadelphia, and boston.

experts say people left the northeast in search of sun, warmer temperatures. but jobs have lured them right back. cold weather sites like chicago, st. louis and minneapolis also saw more people move in. >>. was a high-flying rescue that took incredible skill. now the firefighters who pulled it all off are being honored. and she cam face-to-face with a navy yard shooter and lived to tell about it. when "news 4 this week" returns she talks

know that chasing performance can mean lower returns and fewer choices in retirement. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online tools. visit a branch, call or go online today. jennifer bennett is one of five people wounded in the navy yard shooting last year. she's also one of the first employees from building 197 to go back to wompblgt now, she's trying to be a role model for her co-workers. and as news 4's aaron gilchrist shows us, her faith and the

people helping her keep her going. >> you get up, get dressed, go to work and live eporter: jennis a tough lady. she told me that by the police chopper that rescued her from the navy yard. three surgeries repaired her shoulder and arm after a five inch hole was blown through it when she came face-to-face with aaron alexis. >> looked him in the eye, he blinked, i looked at him and i watched him make the decision. he pulled the trigger, i watched him do it, the fire, the blast, i watched as it hit meemt went down. >> reporter: the pain was excruciating. blood was everywhere. somehow jennifer calmed herself, realized she had to move in case the shooter returned and she stood up. >> i called out for jesus. i said jesus, please come help me. then i sort of yelled that and i walked back up the stairs. i walked 3 1/2 flights by myself. >> reporter: she got to the roof where three colleagues were already hunkered down. they tried to stabilize her

wound, and they prayed with her. >> we prayed for the shooter. because i knew his day was going to end. i prayed for his family and his mother. then i prayed for our safety. >> i think she's meant to be here for something else probably. i'm glad i could be part of the reason as to why she's still here. >> reporter: the police officer matt cooley is like a son to jennifer, nothing short of a god send when he arrived on the roof of building 197 with medical supplies and a radio. >> i called in the park police helicopter i had noticed circling up overhead. i said hey, this is who i am. this is what i have here and this is what i need. what i need is for you to come take her to the hospital, get her out of here as quick as possible. >> they said you get in the helicopter. and the 007 said, always loved helicopters. always wanted to ride. not sure how this is how i wanted to do it. but sure, put me in the basket. >> reporter: dropped down a basket and picked her up off of a roof in a helicopter roaring overhead. and she's trying to tell us what the bad guy looks like.

>> reporter: after almost 90 minutes on that roof, our cameras were rolling as jennifer was hoisted up to the park police chopper and sped to medstar washington hospital. today she and these men have a special connection. they all light up in each other's presence. they call each other family. >> so i saved the two patches. one's on my wall at home. this one's for you. on the back of the patchy wrote a little note for you so you can keep it from that day. >> thank you. >> you're very welcome. >> i love them. and i think they care very deeply for me. and this is a bond that will be i think forever. >> reporter: in the meantime, jennifer's already been back to work at the navy yard and in the community. >> coming back to work is to help my navy family, those who still are struggling, to help identify them and help them move back into our building. >> reporter: building 197 will reopen in february of next year under a new name, the josh has humphries building for the designer of navy frig ates.

jennifer will be there for smiles and hugs for anybody who needs them supporting her navy family. at the washington navy yard, news 4. we have a looks like a four-car ride at the very top of the roller coaster. >> the core is unsecure on the tracks at this time. nothing to keep it from moving. >> those were the calls to emergency crews on ride two dozen people will never forget. a roller coaster at six flags in prince georges county got stuck, stranding riders. this week those rescuers who helped bring the riders to safety were honored. prince georges county officials gave them a proclamation for their life-saving skills. the riders spent more than four hours stuck on the joker's jinx coast ter back in august. each person had to be lifted down by a bucket on 105-foot ladder. the rescue tested the training of even the most skilled firefighters. >> in their entire careers, they train to do what they had to do in that four hours. but they only have to do it a

handful of times in their life in this particular case, the largest aerial wire that we had to get there first to be able to get to those people and give them reassurance wasn't high enough to get all the way to them. so they got as far as they could and then they had to go on ropes from there. >> six flags says the ride is now back open after adjustments and a reinspection. seeing the tragic situation from a different point of view when we return, a day that changed this woman's life forever and why she wants to change minds. and seeing double. we'll introduce you to twins who are bound to experience one of life's biggest miracles together.

it was a hard-breaking incident that shattered a family. virginia state senator creigh deeds stabbed by his son who then shot himself.

doreen gentzler recently sat down with gus's sister reb beck cave. she's speaking out in her first television interview. her hope telling her own personal tragedy so others can start talking, too. braving the stigma of mental illness and changing minds. >> when i first found out that something had happened, that there had been an altercation, i assumed that gus was alive and that he would be going to jail. and that was my first worry. >> reporter: rebecca dedes talking about how she felt that day last november when her mother called to tell her her younger brother gus had just attacked her father, virginia state senator creigh deeds with a knife. as it turned out, jail would have been a much better alternative for gus. >> i found out he didn't make it. you know, it's definitely the most difficult thing i've ever been through. >> creigh deeds spent several

days in the hospital, emerging with angry scars across his face. but the pain of his son's suicide was far worse. gus was a bright, gregarious, fun-loving young man who had been struggling for several years with a difficult mental illness, bipolar disorder. the deeds family was close, and they had all tried everything they could think of to get help for gus. he had been in and out of the hospital, on and off medications. he should have been hospitalized that awful night but was released when a psychiatric bed couldn't be found for him. >> if something like this can happen to my brother it could happen to any family. and that's not okay. it's not okay that it happened to my brother. it's not okay for it to happen to anybody. we need to look at mental illness as an actual sickness that needs treatment, and that treatment needs to be prioritized the way that we prioritize treatment for folks who have heart disease or

cancer. >> rebecca says she hopes by sharing her brotr's story she can help other families who are struggling with mental illness. she works as an event planner at more than farm in charlottesville. but rebecca's real love is writing. and that's how she started, by writing a first-person account for grammar magazine. since it was published last month, she's had a huge and heart-warming response that encouraged her to have this conversation on camera. and she plans to do more, to fight the stigma that still surrounds mental illness. >> i don't ever remember hearing from anybody guiding me or my family on how to handle gus when we were the ones living with him and taking care of him. >> this is something we just kind of whisper about. >> we just whisper about it. it doesn't make any sense. this topic shouldn't still be taboo in america. >> online right now we have lots of personal stories of mental

illness in our community. there's also video of community meeting forum on mental health held right here in maryland. you can join us in our effort to change minds and find resources for treatment at nbcwashington.com. well r, the nationals and t orioles are in the playoffs. we'll tell you how to score tickets to see them when we return.

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here's a story where the planets must have been aligned in just the right way. you know, twins they often share that special bond well after childhood. well, now twin sisters in fairfax county have another experience in common, pregnancy. they even share the same due date! news 4's angie goff has more on the special double delivery. >> we're excited. >> reporter: sarah and shira have always shared a double life, sharing the same friends,

working the same jobs and celebrating the same mile stones. but nothing prepared the pair of twins for life's latest parallel. >> we were not expecting this at all this year. >> reporter: the sisters found out in february they were pregnant. but that wasn't the shocking part. >> so what's the due date? >> october 25th. >> same day! >> yes. >>. >> reporter: shopping for baby stuff, both swear this was not planned. after all -- >> i feel like i'm bigger than you. >> reporter: in many ways they're far from being the same. >> i like red. >> i like blue. >> we dress completely different. >> i like dresses. >> i wear more makeup than her, she likes to go natural a lot. >> reporter: they say the babies on board have brought them even closer, something they hope for the future cousins. >> they're going to be together all the time. they're going to be best friends. >> reporter: and there's another perk than just being close in age. it appears that question has been answered on whether the cousins will be ae to share clothes. >> what are you guys having? >> girls.

>> girls. >> yeah. >> reporter: two princesses set to star in this new chapter of a double life, the surprise ending due soon. in restin, virginia, angie goff, news 4. >> the sisters say their family is really excited for them. their mother is even planning on taking three months off of work to help them take care of those babies after they're born. well, there's baseball fever in d.c. and maryland. we could be looking at a beltway battle for the world series title. both the washington nationals and baltimore o's clinched their divisions. this is video of both teams celebrating the wins that guaranteed them playoff spots. the nats won their division championship with a sweep of the braves. the o's beat the blue jays at camden yards. and now that both teams are in it, it's time to get some tickets. so here you go. the nationals will start selling tickets for the division series on monday. you can buy a max of four per game online or over the phone.

but if you're an o's fan the opportunity to register for ticket lottery is already over. sorry. maybe you've got a friend or you can make some friends. winners of the drawing will be notified on wednesday. you can find all this information, all you've got to go is go online to nbcwashington.com. and we've got it all right there for you. that's all for news 4 this week. i'm veronica johnson. thanks for joining us. as always we're going to leave you with more of those celebrations from the nationals and the orioles. until next week, remember, be safe, be kind, be happy. bye bye, everybody.

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in fairfax county we had to cut a lot of waste. we consolidated offices. started sharing printers. we can walk a few feet. replaced computers, but kept the monitors. they still work fine. we even discovered that the phone company overcharged us by three million dollars! i approve this message because congress doesn't need another right winger. they need someone who can balance a budget. oh, and we definitely didn't need so many government studies.

♪ welcome to "redskins chronicles." i'm larry michael at redskins park. each week we take an in-depth look at a piece of the storied legacy. today we sit down with one of the team's all-time greats, number 37, pat fisher. coming up on sunday it's the redskins at philadelphia, 1:00 kickoff. the eagles on top of the