we are seeing half dollar and even golf ball size hail. that's some of the biggest that you see around this area. you can see the storms as they moved through region and continuing to develop. fairfax county was getting crushed earlier. now those same storms put out a boundary that is hitting parts of fauquier county and loudoun county. severe thunderstorm warnings in effect until 5:15 for clark county fauquier county. two different storms. this storm around the marshall area. this is the strongest storm we've halfway. we want to put the hail here. this is an indicator where the hail is. halfway between middle berg and any time you see the purples, you know we're seeing hail. this does have hail with it.

more storm will continue to develop. we'll have the latest for you in the storm center. now to our other big story. condolences pouring in for this man. a 25-year veteran of the d.c. fire department died after collapsing at the scene of a high rise fire this morning in northwest d.c. >> his name is kevin mcrae, a lieutenant who leaves behind a wife three children and a mother. >> he is being called a hero. >> mcrae's crew was the first to arrive at the building on seventh street just north of the washington convention center. within other firefighter the went to the hospital. >> we have new information on the victim and his family. mark? >> reporter: behind me is a fire house in mourning. draped in black bunting.

since the news spread this morning that lieutenant james mcrae died firefighters from around the region have been pouring into this station. >> d.c. lost a hero today. >> reporter: that hero is loonl kevin mcrae. he and his team were the first to arrive at the two-alarm blaze this morning. >> lieutenant mcrae and engine six are the first firefighters on the floor. they're responsible for putting out the fire. as they exit the building he collapsed. >> reporter: firefighters tried to revive him. we used everything we had. all the resources available were used. unfortunately despite everything that we did, he died unfortunately today. >> he has a wife and three children. he come from a familiar will he of firefighters. >> they're devastated. as is his other family which is the fire department and his crew. and it is pretty shocking.

and it is compounded i believe, because this family endured another in the lightning of duty death as his cousin in the not too distant past. >> now, you heard mayor bowser refer to the other line of duty death in the mcrae family. that was in 2007. lieutenant kevin mcrae's cousin died after responding to several calls in one day. coming up you will hear from a firefighter who worked with him. there was pounding on doors and then orders to evacuate. some are telling us they feel lucky to be alive. after the flames and the smoke started about 8:00 this morning. new at 5:00 chris gordon who walked the a woman whose ninth floor apartment is where this started. >> reporter: we'll hear from her but here's the latest lt d.c.

official are trying to make sure this is safe. the red cross is serving dinner. you see behind me it is still full of equipment. all activity came to a halt. firefighters saluted their fallen brother. a tribute to lieutenant kevin mcrae. he lost his life this morning. at its height name and heavy smoke poured out of the high rise. ruby morning an said that's her particle. she was watching tv when she heard the loud noise. >> i looked again. i still couldn't see nothing. he couldn't see my bathroom or nothing hike that. i said what in the world is going on? i said let me get out of here. and i can't smell and i can't taste neither. so i got up.

i got out of there and i just went out the door. i beat on the doors going up the hallway. >> her next door neighbor is a disabled veteran who didn't stop to put shoes or socks on as he left. >> i woke to an alarm going off in the building. i came to look outside my door. there was smoke everywhere. >> reporter: for some of the residents who are in wheel chairs evacuating the building was challenging. >> all i know is i sleep, i hear the alarm, i can't walk. i knock on the door. next thing we know we look up and there's fire roaring out of the building on my side of the building. >> reporter: now in the last couple minutes, we just got an update. investigators believe they should have a cause of this

fatal fire in the next couple hours. that's the latest live. chris gordon news4. back to you. >> thank you. now homeland security keeps a tab on the number of firefighter deaths every year. 106 active firefighters died on the job in the country. more than half died on scene of a fire and 56 had fatal heart attacks. now local parents are calling outrageous. a teacher was charged with sexually abusing a student who was 9 years old. the reporter the outside the school. pat? >> reporter: what police say happened in that school to a 9-year-old boy has parents here enraged. >> just completely unacceptable and i don't like that. that just ruined my whole day and has me thinking i need to

change his school. >> reporter: this is prince george's county police video of 39-year-old irwin. he is charged with sex abuse of a minor. he is a teacher at the william paca elementary school in landover. >> you can't feel safe in sending your kids to school anymore. it is sad. it really is. >> reporter: police stay victim is a 9-year-old boy. one of his students. >> i think it is outrageous. >> reporter: according to court documents, he had a number of inappropriate encounters with the i would between last september and january of this year. they include touching. victim's private parts and kissing while the two were alone in a school classroom. >> the child says the teacher leaned over and kissed the child twice on the mouth. the child reported it to his

mother and it was learned that there had been at least five other situations involving this same teacher at school in which the boy was victimized. >> reporter: many parents didn't know about the arrest until the school sent home a letter today. >> they should have sent home background checks. >>. >> reporter: so what is the prince george's county school system doing about this? what are they saying about this? i'll have that for you coming up at 6:00. back to you. in baltimore the state of emergency is over. now the mayor there wants the justice department to review the police force. >> baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake says everyone knows the city has in her words, a fractured relationship between police and the community. those are the words that she spoke as she asked the justice department to look into whether

the police department as a pattern of excessive force or discrimination. doj is already looking into it. they also promised body cameras by the end of the year. meanwhile it was pledged, $20 million from the state's rainy day fund to help rebuild after the weather riots. we have to get it right. hold those accountable. >> we have to be honest. these problems have taken many decades to grow and they will take many to change. thank you. minutes ago tickets went on sale for a prince concert in baltimore this weekend. we just checked online and found

tickets between 22 and $500. this is flier that was shared or social media. the singer recently recorded an unreleased protest song called "baltimore." his spokesperson says it addressed the unrest in the city and some of the socio political issues around the country. fred smoot is out of jail. he was locked up in fairfax county yesterday after he was cited for contempt of court. the judge said he showed up lae. he has been a local sports commentator simpson he retired. a local college student about to achieve his phd mysteriously vanishes. a drone revolution. soccer fans swim right.

d.c. united is using that popular dating app tinder to score fans. and right now, the heaviest storms through northern virginia. more forming i

a doctoral student missing. >> within the past 15 minutes, it was reported that david culver spoke with lance buckley's mother and he joins us live now. >> reporter: as you mentioned, in the past few minutes we wrapped up with that interview with a mom who is clearly desperate to find her son. lance buckley last reached out to his family at about 10:16 yesterday morning. that was via a conversational text message. nothing unusual about that according to his family. i want to show you what's most important. that is the picture. his mom tells me the 33-year-old was finishing up his ph.d. program at howard university. she dropped him off at stafford yesterday morning. we know his atm card was used around 8:30 a.m. at howard university. then he single that text message

from campus. it was to his wife at home with their children. this is not like her son. she is pleading for help. >> what we are trying to do now is appeal to the public. we're trying to appeal to the student body faculty and staff of howard university. anyone in that area. his picture has been posted. and we're pleading with anyone who has seen him or had any interaction with him or thought that they saw him. that they contact police and let them know. >> lanls' mom tells me that she wants to make a plea directly to her son if he happens to be watching. she wants him to come home. but she stresses to go this long and not hear from him is not usual. and we heard from the deputies who said that lance may be in possession of a handgun. they wanted to us put that information out there.

if you know anything the number to call if you know anything. back to you. thank you. a major announcement. from the faa today, it involves trains grains and drones. the fax just greenllighted a program called path find per will allow three american company to test unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes. one of the companies is cnn which will look at how drones can be used for news gathering in crowded areas. precision hawk will be using them to monitor crops. and bns rail ray which will be flying drones to do safety checks on railroad tracks. >> integrating them into our air space is a very, very big job and it is one that we are determined to get right. >> the faa also unveiled a new smartphone app.

it is to help the average user to know where it is safe and legal to fly your drone. elton john made a rare appearance today. he was on the witness stand pushing for hiv programs all over the world. his testimony comes a day after some senate republicans voted to slash billions from global health spending. sir elton praised america's leadership on the issue but said now is not the time to back off. >> i am here today with a simple message. the aids epidemic is not over. and america's continued leadership is critical. there is a window of opportunity before us that we can see the end of aids within my lifetime. >> sir elton said even more important than funding the fight against aids is to end the stigma. >> we still don't have word on

whether the elementary school will be open tomorrow. a water pipe spread a leak. the school does have people working on it and if we hear any status reports or updates, we'll let you know. he is 100 years old and he is the founder of reston. he joined students bike to workday. he led the way. some on scooters, others just walked. >> it is a great day. i hope the students will keep it up. did i tell you he is 101 years old. over the next couple days, the nfl is expected to decide what if any punishment anyone could face in connection to deflategate.

remember that? and an independent investigation in concluded nearly a dozen balls the was intentional. it focuses on two locker room employees but it implicates tom brd as well. the investigation found it to be more probable than not. in. the caps are riding high this week after a win over the rangers on monday night. tonight, game four against new york. we know mother's day is coming up this single and we know there's one mom who has left a lasting impression on the team of. >> she has. one of the biggest reasons the caps have been successful is because of their goalie braydon holtby. he has thousands of fans but his

biggest fan is his mother. you cannot miss her. his mother tammy holtby. she's been tweeting her support after the shutout win on monday. she tweeted. that was awesome and exhausting. could we win by two or three, please? harnlt too close. you may remember her from three years ago. she became an internet sensation rooting on her son. in fact brooks orpik who joined the caps this seeks. >> i didn't really know too much about him. i remember his mom was going crazy. and i think that stuck out to me. >> you can't forget that. it was pretty funny. she gets present worked up. as supportive as they be come. so they know i like my space. i like to focus my job.

so they are having as much fun watching as we are. >> i've watched that several times. professional athletes can still be embarrassed by their moms. what do you think? >> oh yeah. d.c. united is apparently using a popular dating and social networking. they said the d.c. united fans were offered a special dings down. it allows users to swipe left to right if they didn't like somebody. we're just getting started. an officer on trial for attempting to kill his wife.

we'll hear from a proceed tension juror. and i'm tracking the storm. western loudoun

some of us are seeing a pretty nice afternoon. others are seeing quite a downpour. we have some storms their way in through maryland right down 270. we'll continue to track those. this is the area we've seen the storms develop. and i want to take you back two hours. we had a very strong storm over chantilly. watch that storm. it quickly dissipates. see that little boundary? that shifts to the west. and that creates more thunderstorms around it. so the one in chantilly. middleburg seeing a storm. very heavy storms right along 50. we'll zoom in. as we do this we'll see from

blue mont toward middleburg. seeing some heavier rain. be this all of prince william seeing a pretty good amount of rain. as we widen out, you noticed we continue to see the storms moving to the southeast now. they will continue to develop. nothing severe right now. the strongest storm as i mentioned, coming through clark county loudoun county. this will continue to move toward the south and east at 15 to 25 miles an hour. 81 in d.c. just to the south of d.c. i think we'll be okay going to the caps game only the. that's where the rain will be. in and around town we may miss

out on some of the rain. tomorrow it is all out of here and i think tomorrow we see a much nicer day. however, most of it on the nice side too. temperatures tomorrow. look like this. 80 degrees on your thursday. we'll see a few more clouds. 83 on friday. friday looks great. the weekend still watching that system to the south. that possible tropical system that could develop. a little more in the way of cloud cover. we really start to get warm. a high around 85 on monday. 86 on tuesday. >> thank you. drivers, brace yourselves. >> several major construction projects are expected to tie up commutes this spring and summer. we'll show you where to expect the long term delays. a d.c. police officer

accused of trying to kill his wife. his first trial ended in a hung jury. how will this one end? and a developing story. the d.c. firefighter dying in the line of duty. a look at the tributes coming

a man called a hero. lieutenant kevin mcrae. >> he died after a battled a massive fire this morning. pat lawson muse has the latest. >> here's what we've learned about lieutenant mcrae. he is a 24-year veteran of the fire department and his death marks a sad milestone. he is the 100th d.c. firefighter to die in the line of duty. paramedic rushed him to the hospital but he didn't playing it. there were three other minor injuries after the fire and we still don't know what started the blaze. meanwhile he leaves behind a wife and three children. a medical examine her determine exact cause of death. >> thank you. when a firefighter dies in the line of duty it impacts every fire department in our region.

first responders have been sharing their thoughts on social media. we want you to do the same of leave your condolences on our nbc washington facebook page. a jury is deliberating the case of a d.c. police officer who is charged with attempted murder and assault. sam son is accused of trying to kill his wife at their home in 2013. he took the stand earlier today. tracee wilkins is in upper marlboro. >> reporter: he is at second-degree assault charges. he did take stand in his own defense and it affected the thoughts of at least one alternate juror. the last time the d.c. police officer stood trial for trying to kill his wife, the jury could not decide. this time -- >> i personally would find him not guilty. >> reporter: he said it is clear to him. >> i don't think he meant to kill his wife or meant to harm her in any way.

he reacted in self-defense. >> reporter: betty laurnls seen here says around thanksgiving of 2013 her husband of 20 years, sam sonl lawrence, violently beat her. sam son is accused of spraying his wife's face with lysol. pushing her down the steps. hitting her over the head with a lamp choking her and holding knives to her neck. none of his dna was found on any of the alleged weapons found inside the home. that swayed this alternate juror. >> the evidence with the dna and the finger prints. people who testified. >> it's clear. there was a domestic disturbance that left his wife with injuries but was she hurt on purpose? or are those injuries she received in her husband's self-defense? the new jury of eight women and four men has yet to decide. >> lawrence is on paid

administrative leave. he is still in custody because of a vialization of a stay away order that his wife and daughter had against him. the jury is still deliberating. coming up at 4:00, what that juror had to say about domestic violence. take a look at this next picture. it is a skex of a man who was suspected in an attack in mitchellville. investigators say a 19-year-old woman was grabbed last wednesday as she walked on lake arbor way. the man implied he had a gun. forced the woman to a field where he sexually assaulted her. to get another look go to the nbc washington facebook page. a fire inspector avoids jail time but she will to have pay back the $11,000 in taxpayer money she admitted to misusing. a judge ordered kimberly to make full restitution for unlawful

purchase of gasoline. the case came to light in a news4 investigation. there are federal investigators tell us they caught her swiping her taxpayer funded government purchase card to buy gas for her personal car. the judge also sentenced her to six months in jail. but then suspended the sentence. triple trouble for all you commuters out there. three big time projects underway and they could cause delays for years, folks. speaking of delays we have some out there toward 66. it has been packed all day with heavy rage. now it's coming through northern fauquier county. a ton of lightning. i'll continue to track these storms. and they are the most important women in our lives. all this week we are celebrating our mothers.

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we're tracking down pours and lightning. look at that map. doug kammerer will take you town by town to see what's coming your way or what's overhead. our wednesday's child is an energyic 7-year-old named kai. he is up for learning anythingsome someone will take the time to show him. we spent the day and we want you to meet kai.

that probably meant i want to keep doing this. no sooner had he said those words, he was ready to pull back up and hang from the bars again. he was born with down syndrome. and he is finally learning to community after years of neglect. >> and it was his down syndrome. he needed additional services. >> those who know him say he is a wonderful youngster who is finally catching up developmentally. as a young child he no doubt had little stimulation or encourage rm to develop the skills they now see he was capable of. >> he was not verbal he was not potty trained. he didn't have this bright personality that he did now. >> down the slide. >> you made it! >> cynic he's been with us he's expanded his vocabulary. he is receiving speech services. >> and while he is learning in

school he would no doubt learning more in a loving family. he showed off his dancing skills as miss vicky filled the room with bubbles. >> we feel if he is surrounded by love and by people he would grow tremendously. >> with his school and grow and develop into a wonderful adult. >> that's what we want for him. and we certainly do. if you have room in your home and your heart for kai or another child who is waiting, please call our special adopt hotline. the number is 1-88-to-adopt-me. what a personality. >> he is definitely bubbly now. that's for sure. very cute. >> and there's more on him coming up on our website. nbcwashington.com. a tweet to test the waters. d.c.'s mayor is using social media to find out if fans want the redskins back in town. what residents are telling her.

car after car after car after car. and it is all because of all the construction around here. i'll tell you where the hot spots are coming up. right now the hot spots over fauquier county coming right along 66. toward gainesville and prince william koimt. those storms moving your

it may seem impossible. you can't look around without seeing a construction sign. >> and three of those projects are causing big delays including the project on 16 street at military road. that's where we find our transportation reporter adam tuss. >> reporter: some of these projects are going on around the clock regardless of rush hour. that's what's happening here. and they are truly affecting everyone across the dmv. it seems just about anywhere you turn the construction hitting another gear. we took a tour for you. construction on canal road?

yep. backed up all the way. third street project? sitting in traffic. 16th street bridge project? the drivers are noticing. >> it's annoying but necessary. i don't know exactly what they're doing. >> reporter: here's a quick recap of the projects. on canal road new guardrails going in. the third street opportunity, that is a massive project that will enclose 395 and buildings will go on top of that. the 16th bridge project, replacing the bridge which was in bad shape and needed the attention. many taking it in stride for now. >> we have to fix them. so i guess one time is as good as the other. >> got to deal with it. >> the city is coordinating with these projects to make sure people from all across the region can keep moving. now the big question. when will all of this be done?

we've got the answers for you coming up next hour at 6:00. maybe you noticed no escalator work is happening at the van ness escalator station. the multiyear project was supposed to begin on monday. our news partner wtop radio is reporting they suspended permits because they only learned about the project a few weeks ago. and there's news on stopping thousands of gallons of raw sewage from leaking into a local neighborhood. within the last hour they said the sewage overflow in oxon hill should end tonight. two days earlier than expected. the utility says it brought in extra crews to install a temporary pipe to did i have thert to a nearby manhole. that broke several days ago behind some houses and behind forced heights elementary. >> today brought a first.

the farmer's market. check it out. fresh produce, baked goods, all available. it will be open each wednesday through october, 8:00 a.m. through 12:30 in the afternoon. some of those farmer's markets are getting a little rain on them. >> you've got that right. we are talking about that rain making it through. i'm tracking it for you. and some big time thunderstorms moving through the region. nothing severe right now. and i think our severe threat, starting to wane a little bit. there's a line of very strong heavy showers moving through as well. let's do a couple zooms. back along 66. fairfax on 66 prince william on 66 now fauquier county on 66. some very heavy thunderstorms in this area too.

notice all the lightning. this storm just to the south of front royal. and then this one right over the marshall area as we do a zoom here. this is marshall right here. here's the intersection of 17 and 66. you can see that moving down. as we move over toward the north and east toward montgomery county. frederick county. local on 270. very heavy rain around the clarksburg region. this is all moving toward the south and east. i'll do a zoom on this. a little lightning associated with this. it was hail. and we saw hail golf ball size. look at barnesville. seeing some very heavy rain. germantown seeing that rain. you will soon see the heavier downpours come through with the lightning and the thunderstorm. and then just plain rain.

toward wood bridge right along i-95. it's just been raining for the better course of about two hours here. we are still tracking this line from frederick. that line will clip the entire region. d.c. maryland culpepper county just about everybody has a good chance to get wet a chance of thunderstorm. all because of a front. there is a front to the north. that's why we saw the storms. look at the spin here. this could be the big tropical depression of the season. all the computer models almost all of them bring it into the carolina. that's what could affect us during the weekend. it won't come far enough north to give us a lot of rain like it will the carolinas. we're just talking about some clouds and a shower or two.

80 degrees on thursday. 78 toward martinsburg area. over the next couple days highs still well above average. the average is up to 73. 82 on saturday with. that slight chance of a shower. 83 degrees coming up on sunday. then next week we are warm. monday and tuesday. high temperature in the mid to upper 80s with a good chance of showers and maybe a strong thunderstorm or two. we'll keep you posted. i've got latest coming up. great. thank you. we are celebrating our mothers this week on nbc 4. most mothers are natural lie detectors. but at one time my mother was paid to be one. she was the only woman polygraph examiner in the state of virginia back in the day. in the 1960s. and it got her on a popular tv show. >> now let's all play "what's my line?" >> it was may 13 1962.

i was 6 years old. and my mom was live on "what's my line." >> maxine. >> mom was a lie detector, the only woman doing in it virginia and one of the few in the country. >> do you have anything to do with finger prints? >> no. >> i didn't realize that night but that night, may 19 skoork i was watching my mother make a break for freedom. she married my dad at the end of world war ii and they eventually had three children. she was a smart woman with a college degree and a fiercely independent personality. i don't think marriage or motherhood satisfied her. she needed more. she also needed to divorce my dad. their marriage was fraying and she needed to make a living and she was banking on that lie detector. >> i wonder if anyone has ever taken one of these lie detector

tests and successfully faked it. >> the only way to beat the machine is with a stick. >> she was unbeatable as well. she was a tough broad. she always said her job was to make us responsible and independent. as her youngest child and her only daughter she had fashioned special wings for me. she warned me. marriage children could not strained women more than men and she didn't want me caught up in that societal undertow. the dow of maxine was make your own money and always have the power to leave. she was a southerner from louisiana with a big personality and a wild sense of human ofrl i was awed by her exuberance. i loved having a front row seat at the maxine show. my mother has been dead 13 years. every day i hear her rattling around inside me and i feel her game force winds at my back. i am everything she could not be. i am maxine 6.0.

th the lie detector i learned a powerful truth. when life hands you a baton, you grab it and run. you know what's interesting, i think the older, with mothers and daughters, i think the older i get, the more i get my mother. does that with sons as well? >> it is. with both parents. >> when you're young, they're just big and larger than life and you kind of ignore them. >> we all know where wendy rieger gets her beauty now. >> thank you, thank you. >> and how lucky you are to have this film of her from way back then. >> i remember that night. we were allowed to stay up late to watch it. it was really a big deal for us. it was cool. >> so we invite to you join thus saturday morning. you can see all the women of channel 4 sharing their mothers. >> doreen barbara harrison veronica johnson. it is really a fun thing to look at everybody.

>> saturday morning. see our roots. we continue to follow a developing story for you. a d.c. firefighter. he dies while battling a blaze here. new at 6:00 we speak to a man who worked alongside the victim for decades. >> reporter: i'm tom sherwood at rfk. mayor muriel bowser raises0bóñóñçoñl@ú

could the redskins be headed back to d.c.? there's talk of a brand new statement at the old rfk stadium site. >> the d.c. mayor reopened the sunlt by tweeting about it. >> reporter: rfk, the tattered former home of the redskins. the team is looking for a new home. mayor mur yell bowser disputes suggestions. >> we know the perfect location for the redskins is where they played for decades very successfully. we have the infrastructure sitting on top of the metro station. >> reporter: every mayor sense d.c. williams has reported the return. >> we have the ability to make it more than a sports stadium. the surrounding neighborhoods want more play spaces.

want more active places for children and families. >> the mayor reignited the idea by tweeting to her followers about it. prompting a deluge of emotional responses. >> i do not support the team coming back. >> reporter: other councilmembers offer conditional support. residents would love to bring the team back to rfk. but i think it is important that affordable housing is part of the deal. and the team's name is changed. the finance chairman strongly backs the team's return. >> our hockey team baseball team all located in the city are all doing grateful there's no better site than the rfk site in the region. >> reporter: in the district, news4.

d.c. lost a hero today. lieutenant kevin mcrae. a 24-year veteran of the d.c. fire and emergency medical service. >> a firefighter chamsed and died. only the at 6:00, the emotional response from all over the area as firefighters and first responders paid tribute to their fallen comrade. >> there was smoke everywhere. >> that we looked out and there is fire roaring out of the building. >> his final moments made out inside a burning apartment building. the people inside say it was a terrifying scene. >> a tragic day in the district and we'll tell but that. >> but first a stormy evening. many of you are dealing with rain and lightning and some of are you even seeing hail. >> some of the hail we saw hail the size of golf balls earlier this afternoon. right now i think the severe

weather threat starting to diminish. now a line from frederick. and we continue to see this whole thing tracking across parts of northern virginia and maryland along 270. here's the strongest storm toward northern fauquier county. we'll watch this. and then follow this up toward gates gate. we will see it moving right down 270. those storms also moving toward bethesda. i'm tracking it for you. thanks. tonight firefighters are singling their could not dole ends after a firefighter who spent 24 years protecting the people who live and work