after this tragedy unfolded behind me, this is the scene where it happened and it's still very active. deputies down here, they have it all blocked off. it started out, was supposed to be a light-hearted feature story and it quickly became a deadly tragedy that played out on live tv. gathered from around the nation, franklin county sheriff bill overtop said he was one of those watching wdvj 7's live broadcast this morning. >> it has really stopped me in my tracks this morning. like many viewers, i was watching this morning's broadcast and couldn't understand really what was happening myself. >> reporter: just as reporter alison parker and her photographer, adam ward, were conducting a live interview overlooking the scenic smith mountain lake, they were am bushed. we are not showing you the disturbing attack. >> both parker and ward were residents of roanoke, virginia. let us not forget, they grew up

in this area, they were part of our community. >> reporter: the woman they were interviewing, vicki gardner, rushed to the hospital, where she remains in stable condition. parker and ward died. colleagues at the roanoke cbs affiliate where they worked, devastated. parker is described as an ambitious reporter. anchor chris hurst tweeted, we were together almost nine months, it was the best nine months of our lives. we wanted to get married. we just celebrate 24erd 4th birthday. ward was engaged to a producer at the station. they were set to move to charlotte, where his fiancee had just got an new job. as you saw in that story, the press conference has reporters from all over the nation, i want to show you here what is going on along the side of the road here. you have just as many reporters, dozens and dozens of reporters here, the one reporters not missing -- not here, missing at this house, wdvj 7, they are not out here and i turned to one of my colleagues at the local

affiliate here in the roanoke lynchburg area, i said are they not out here? they said, today, all the other local stations, wendy, are covering the news for them, providing them the video. a competitive business, here a sign of solidarity. >> good for them. thank you, david. after shooting and killing those two journalists, its gunman took off. virginia state police spotted his -- and that set off a massive manhunt. virginia state police spotting his car in fauquier county on i-66, the gunman headed toward the d.c. area. >> flanagan shot himself before he got further. >> pat collins is live in fauquier county with new information on what happened when the chase came to an end. pat? >> reporter: wendy, vester flanagan's get away didn't last long. it ended here in markham, virginia about 200 miles from that murder scene down near

roanoke. about four hours after he shot and killed that tv crew, vester flanagan, a former reporter, finished this story himself. [ sirens ] this is what it sounded like on the police radio as it all went down on i-66. >> advising the subject shot himself at 16 mile marker eastbound. we are sending fire rescue now. >> reporter: this is what it was like when they pulled 41-year-old vester flanagan from the getaway car when it crashed in the median strip. >> got a body. get back. get back. >> is this our guy? >> got a body. get back. >> is this our guy? >> get back. get back. get back, dude. seriously. get back. all right? >> reporter: this is where it all dame to an end. markham, virginia, the eastbound lane of i-66, this silver four-door chevy, vester

flanagan's car crashed into a nest of weeds in the median strip. his car detected by a license plate reader on trooper pam neff's cruiser. she saw the dar. she followed the car. and with backup, moved in to stop the car. >> i waited until i had several other troopers with me to initiate a traffic stop. the suspect vehicle did not stop. eventually, he did swipe the vehicle on the left-hand side of the road. >> reporter: traffic on both sides of 66 shut down for some time, as police medevaced the suspect and then moved in to work the scene. for hours, they went over this car and through the dar, looking for clues and evidence. 6:45, that tv crew shot and killed. 11:24, the traffic stop here on

i-66. 1:26, vester flanagan pronounced dead. jim, back to you. >> pat collins. the gunman shot himself, as authorities were closing in. he initially survived and was airlifted to inova fairfax hospital in falls church. news4's chris gordon picks up our team coverage from there now chris? >> reporter: it was because on the scene, along i-66, virginia state police discovered that flanagan had a pulse. they immediately ordered a medevac helicopter to fly him here to inova fairfax hospital. he landed on the heliport and was greeted by the trauma team. they rushed him inside. it was 1:10 this afternoon. they worked on him. he was said to be in very, very critical condition with life-threatening injuries. at one point, a team of fairfax county police officers, some riding motorcycles, reported here to the hospital to stand

guard, just in case flanagan survived. but at 1:26, despite best he have forts, he was pronounced dead on the scene and now, he is being turned over to virginia state police and will be taken to the virginia state medical examiner's office for an autopsy. that is the latest live in inova fairfax county, chris gordon, news4. virginia senator mark warner released this statement -- virginia governor terry mcauliffe says his entire administration is heartbroken over this shooting and killing. on today's "ask the governor" segment on wtop video, the governor said virginia needs tougher gun laws.

>> there are people who have been convicted of a dangerous crime, a violent crime, domestic abuser, stalkers, going through a whole list there are certain people who should not be entitled to own a firearm. so i will continue to push it, as i've done in two legislative sessions so far. >> right now there is no indication that the suspected shooter had ever been convicted of any crime. the news4 i-team has been looking into the shooter's troubled workplace history and tisha thompson joins knew from the newsroom with that angle tonight. tisha? >> reporter: vester flanagan is the shooter's legal name but many people on television use a different name on air and flanagan was no different. his tv name was bryce williams. like many tv reportersá÷?ñ loo for a job, flanagan posted his resume reel online, showing snippets of what he considered some of his best work. the news4 i-team found the reel posted on youtube a year earlier when flanagan started at wdbj in

roanoke, the station put out a press release calling him a veteran reporter, saying he worked in greenville, north carolina, savannah, georgia, and tallahassee, florida. court records said that flanagan should florida station 12 years earlier for race discrimination and retaliation, alleging he was called derogatory name buys newsroom staff n documents, the florida tv station said it fired flanagan because he failed to properly perform his job in a satisfactory manner and later cemented the suit. his tenure in roanoke lasted about a year before he was fired in 2013, according to wdbj's general manager, who talked about why he was let goz a the police were still searching for flanagan this morning. >> vester was an unhappy man. he was sort of looking out for people to say thing these could take offense to. he -- and eventually, after many

incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. >> reporter: before he took his own life today, flanagan faxed a 23-page manifesto to abc news, about two hours after the shootinging, saying his anger had been steadily building, calling him safe human powder keg. according to abc, he bought a gun two days after the charleston church shooting in june, he thought he had been the victim of bullying because avenues gay, black man. tisha thompson, news4 i-team. thank you. much more team coverage.ahead on news 4 at 5:00 and online. we posted the tweets and other social media posts from the journalists who worked with parker and ward and you can see them on nbcwashington.com. now on the latest on the news from the panda house we broke, if you have our nbc because app. we are learning more about the sudden death of one of the national zoo's new panda cubs. the smaller of the two cubs born on saturday died this afternoon.

let's get the latest from jackie bensen, who was live at the zoo. >> reporter: wendy, there was just a press conference here a short time ago. this is obviously devastating news for the folks here at the national zoo. now, they tell us that the little cub died shortly after 2:00 this afternoon. they say the panda team had been rotating both of those little cubs in the past 24 hours, allowing each to benefit from spending time with their mother, mei xiang and they say the smaller cub was with7e8 mei xi from about 2 p.m. yesterday until this morning and when they swapped out the cubs, they noticed that the little one didn't appear to be doing well that it had not increased in weight overnight and exhibited possible respiratory issues. here's what the zoo's chief vet had to same >> she was showing no preference for either cub, in fact, trying to do her best with both, having challenge and manipulating them. we had some concerns that the

cub may be injured or both maybe injure and per our protocol and per the protocol that our chinese partners have been using for years, we decided to move forward with swapping cubs back and forth with mom. it's obvious we were prepared but it's not surprising that we are disappointed. but we really want to focus on what we also have, which is a healthy panda and we are -- remain very optimistic about that animal's future. >> reporter: zoo officials said despite their initial concern that mei xiang would prefer one cub over the other that never really happened and kept switching out the little one right until this afternoon when they noticed that the smaller cub just didn't have the life size to keep going forward. they say they will not know the cause of death until a neck crop city conducted. live at the national zoo, jackie bensen, news4. >> thank you, jackie. someone shot at a metro bus and now there's a new way that

people are targeting buses. we have been tell you about the rise of violence in the district, now telling you about solutions to crime in your neighborhood. a minister serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife asks that his sentence be reconsidered, but in the midst of the hearing, admits to everything for the first time. i'm tracee wilkins, we will have that story coming up on news4.

♪ know you can keep your financial big picture under control. know you can see how much you have to spend and whether you should transfer funds. know you can easily keep track of what you're putting away. and know you're budgeted for the great escape. thanks to virtual wallet by pnc. ♪

this is another example of gun violence that is becoming all too common in communities, large and small, all across the united states. >> other mass shootings in the united states have been mentioned in a letter from the shooter. >> yeah, vester flanagan sent a 23-page fax to abc news saying he had admiration for the columbine and virginia tech shooters. nbc news justice correspondent, pete williams, joins us now. pete, he also mentioned the charleston shooting what role did these shootings play in his motivation, do we think? >> first of all there's no way to absolutely confirm the he is the one who sent it, all indications certainly indicate so and the police is as much stayed this that letter is from him, faxed to abc news and posted energy part, on their website. he says he bought his gun two days after the shooting in

charleston, south carolina, in june. he recounts a long history of what he claims is racial discrimination, that he was bullied, that he was mistreated at other jobs anticipated talks supporttively about other mass shootings, about sun wee show carried out the virginia tech shooting, that killed 32 people, high school students who carried out the shooting at columbine and discusses his letter of what he calls a suicide note for friends and family. he says his anger has been building steadily. "i have been a human powder keg for a while, just weight to go boom." but he worked at the station in roanoke for about 11 months, but he was fired in 2013. so it's been more than two years since he worked at that station, till he took action against two employees there today. >> it was interesting to see what he was doing with social media, the fact that he was not only recording what he did and was posting it the whole way.

he really wanted to be on stage, literally and figuratively. >> he bragged on social media, said disparaging things about the two people he shot. what i think is very interesting though, first of all, a very disturbing thing of someone committing a crime, putting it on social media, not the first time that's happened, but perhaps the first time something so horrific has been recorded an put on social media. it very quickly was taken down, both twitter and facebook say they took it down because it violated their community standard which specifically prohibit users from, in essence, bragging about or taking credit for the crimes they commit bud another thing that's very interesting, you look at the social media postings, a lot of people expressing their revulsion at this, saying don't look at the video, take this down, you should avoid it, so the social media community sort of expressing outrage that this is there in the first place. >> what more do we though about why he targeted these two

individuals? we hadered that gone up to personnel, the photographer had, to complain about him at one point. >> again, that remember is two years ago. le police describe him, say they have looked that the same material given to abc. abc, they said they turned it over to the state police, but it's someonelk who was clearly depressed and there is -- there are indications that he was -- had some issues perhaps. all of his former employers have said they had difficulties with him, that he was a bit uh-huh edged and he frears to the letter saying that jehovah asked him to do this shooting. l >> a lot to filter through. yep. >> thank you. and you can see pete's full report on this investigation into that killing of the tv crew this morning, that will be on nightly news with lester holt this evening at 7:00 after news4 at 6:00. in just a few hours, a vigil for a woman killed in a hit and run crash outside a d.c. hospital will take place at the scene where she died.

someone struck emma bet cabbie outside the medical center on friday, the second person to die in a hit and run outside this hospital in recent months. mayor muriel bowser hopes to have a traffic light and crosswalk installed along that block of southern avenue next year. tonight's vigil begins at 8:00. he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife in prince george's county. today a minister went before a judge to try to get that sentence changed. and in the process, he confessed to the whole thing. bureau chief tracee wilkins was in court when it happened. she is live in upper marlboro with a look at what sparked this confession. tracy? >> reporter: it shocked everyone in the court. this was an opportunity for him to try to have that life sentence reduced. this ordained minister, the outlook i'm talking about all the good work he is doing in prison, hopes of getting time taken off his sentence. what he ended up doing was confessing to the whole thing

for the first time. for the past eight years, the davis family a conviction but no confession for the murder of antoinette chase. they got that confession they have been wanting today. >> i was very shocked because, for seven years, he has denied it. >> reporter: monique davis stepdaughter of minister spencer chase, a member of the heritage in 2010, he was convicted of the murder of his wife of more than 20 year, antoinette chase. she was found dead inside their upper marlboro home in 2008. she had been strangled to death. her husband, spencer, was the one who called 911 pretending he was not responsible for the crime. >> he horrifically and brutally murdered his wife and then went and ran errands like nothing happened. >> reporter: it was the work of a determined detective that uncovered the truth. >> if not for that it's possible that spencer chase would still be free today and we would not know who killed antoinette. >> reporter: first trial resulted in a hung jury. the second a conviction after wit judge said there is no doubt

in my mind that you killed her. after serving six years of his life sentence, chase asked that his sentence be reduced and he be set free in nine years. his attorney asked the judge to grant chase hope and mercy. >> he doesn't deserve those things. and i think he knows that in his hearted. >> reporter: a shocking turn of events while speaking in his own defense, he admitted killing his wife the first time. the judge denied his request for a reduced sentence saying, the only thing i can say is i'm glad you admit that you had did t. >> i'm doing a life sentence, too, because i have to live without her. >> reporter: this was the last opportunity to try to have his sentence reduced. they are not expecting him to try to appeal his case. live in upper marlboro, tracee wilkins, news4. buried treasure. we are going to find out what the oldest shipwreck in maryland revealed about our history. we are going to take how a special tour. hurricane katrina ten years hurricane katrina ten years later, the

oh my gosh, it's the guy from last night. what?! can i jump on your wi-fi? yeah, you can try it. hey! i had a really good time last night. yeah, me too. the only thing is that... the only thing is what? what's the only thing? oh my gosh he's married. he's a kleptomaniac. he's a pyromaniac. he's a total maniac. hey! hey! go back to your wife you sociopath! leave slow internet behind. the 100% fiber optics network is here. get out of the past. get fios. tea? now $79.99 a month. go online or call now. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v

the forecast has some sunshine, temperatures quite nice this time of year and also some warm temperatures. look outside right now, a beautiful shot, plenty of sunshine. 80 degrees, winds out of the north at 14 miles per hour that northerly wind helping to keep

temperatures down, most areas still in the 70s that the hour, 76, martinsburg, 79, frederick, cool 75 toward gaithersburg a nice afternoon a nice evening, getting out to the nats game, taking on the padres once again, hopefully for win number four, game time, 7:05, 69 the last out, a little bid on the cool side overnight tonight, most of will you wake up to cool numbers. storm team4 radar dry, stay that way the next couple days and really need to see some rain but no rain coming, the area of low pressure well toward the great lakes that is bringing us the cloud cover that we saw today, but all in all, going to continue to bring us some cooler-than-average temperatures the next two days or some tropical storm erika, not looking very good at all, a very disorganized storm, but the latest track is out, and as we told you a little bit earlier, it changed. winds at 45 miles an hour, west at 17 miles per hour. as veronica mentioned, the latest track most likely shift to the east and that's done that, 45-mile-an-hour storms, makes its way toward puerto rico

and then a new shift, a little shift farther to the east, away from miami, but still, has florida in its sights and now even the southeast. so this is something we will be watching very closely the next couple of days for sure. you know that next couple of days, temperature-wise, 83 tomorrow, 86, friday, then we get rather hot, 91 on saturday, 92 on sunday, we think we could be talking about another heat wave, remember von ka will have the latest at 5:45. mayor bowser has a new three-point plan to end the surge in homicides. i'm mark segraves. coming up, we will tell you what that plan is and what it means for you. plus, more safety concerns after someone shot at a metro bus. there's a new way that buses are being targeted now and it may have to do with what some drivers say is a flaw on the bus. and, of course, our team coverage of the deadly shooting of that tv crew in virginia will be continuing. we are going to take a moment to look back at the lives of these two very young people who were

killed, lives that were just beginning their careers. a special tribute to those

the news seem paying tribute to the journalists, bringing in a temporary walls with the pictures of parker and ward it is on display in the atrium of the museum and later, their

names will be added to the two-story memorial glass alongside the names of all journalists who have lost their lives. the murdered virginia reporter and photograph her their whole lives and careers in front of them. when they went to work, they never expected to become the news story. . those who worked alongside them every day are stunned, heart broken. nbc's erika edwards reports on how the pair are beinged. >> reporter: they were just out doing their job, a job they did regularly as a news team. >> photo journalist adam ward and i are putting the final touches on -- >> reporter: wednesday morning, wdvj reporter alison parker and photographer adam ward were in the middle of a live interview when a gunman shockingly shot and killed them both. >> it is my very, very sad duty to report that alison and adam died this morning. >> reporter: newsroom was stunned. >> hear people behind us in the newsroom crying. i mean, it's just really hard --

>> reporter: alison and adam weren't just co-workers to those at wdvj, they were family. adam ward proposed marriage to his girlfriend, news producer melissa ot it. she was at work wednesday morning, her last day before she was to take a job in another city. adam had plans to follow her and told co-workers he was thinking of getting out of news. a smile, you need know get something extra and willing to stay late, even though he had already work adenine-hour day. >> reporter: on social media, wdvj anchor chris hurst revealed he and alison parker recently moved in together and talked about getting married. the two were very much in love, he writer, i am numb. even those in law enforcement who knew both alison and adam were shaken. >> like many viewer, i was watching this morning's broadcast and kwont understand really what was happening myself. >> reporter: it's a tragic news story. journalists and viewers alike struggle to comprehend. erika edwards, nbc news.

and more team coverage now with nbc's dave wagner. he is live in roanoke. these lives ended, so many others changed in this instant on live tv. tell us about where it all happened and how that scene place out in the roanoke community now. >> reporter: right now this is a very serene area here, smith mountain lake, now a crime scene. technicians behind me, they are processing this right now and there's a lot to process, including taking a look at an apparent manifesto that was sent to abc news. now, we have not seen this independently, nbc has not, but shared with us some of the words from it, in part, the alleged gunman here, vester flanagan, refers to the charleston church shooting blaming those for being his tipping point, two days after the charleston church

shootings, he went out and bought a gun, said the church shooting was the tipping point but my anger has been building steadily. i have been a human powder keg for a while, just waiteding to go boom. jim, as you well know, this was not a controversial story they were working on. this is really a story with the chamber of commerce a human interest story about tourism. so, the reporter and the photographer and certainly the head of the local chamber of commerce never imagines that something like this would happen, in particular, on story like this. but lives have been changed forever and a very sad day here in virginia. >> indeed. nbc's dave wagner. dave, thanks so much. our coverage on this lady on-air ambush continues with the latest out of virginia at 6:00 tonight. also more details on the past of the accused gun map from his years working in california. find it on the nbc washington app. there have now been 103 homicides in the district this year. that's 40% increase from this

time last year. d.c. mayor muriel bowser is going to be announcing a three-step program tomorrow to combat this surge in violence and that includes giving police more powers. news4's mark segraves outside the wilson building in northwest with a preview. mark? >> reporter: that's right. the mayor as well as the bliss chief spent several hours today in a local restaurant briefing council members, telling them that this surge in homicides has not been playing out in every neighborhood across the district. now the deputy mayor of public safety tells news4 there is a definite friend where these murders are happening. not everywhere in the city are we seeing a spike in crime. we are seeing ward eight, unfortunately, historically high levels and even higher levels of deadly violence. >> reporter: according to police, the neighborhoods that have seen the biggest spikes in homicide are the seventh police districts with a 95% increase and the fifth police district with a 67% increase.

mayor muriel bowser will announce her plan to combat violent crime tomorrow morning. the plan has three components. >> one is giving police more tools and resources. two, focusing more effectively on a very small number of individuals with very violent histories. three, we have to do a smarter job in having every agency in government, including our social service agencies, work with police for the betterment of communities. >> reporter: bowser briefed several council members today at a local restaurant after a fire alarm forced them out of the mayor's office. most council members seem encouraged by the mayor's plan. >> to get on the ground to understand what people need for job training, for any kind of other human services that they need so that violence isn't the option. >> reporter: but the police union has concerns about how the chief is deploying officers. >> redeploy our members in an effective watch do not have them standing light towers, standing

on the tens on fixed posts, sitting on a spot they can't leave from, without the permission of the watch commander. >> reporter: the deputy mayor stressed in our interview the new police powers will not give broad authority for warrantless sur mu searchers. at 6:00 what is the common link between the victim and suspect in these murders. mark segraves, news4. a courthouse attack, what we are learning about an accused white house gate jumper who is connected to thiscase. and here's one for the history buffs out/the oldest maryland ship we can have discovered. discovered. we will give you a tour of the

oh my gosh, it's the guy from last night. what?! can i jump on your wi-fi? yeah, you can try it. hey! i had a really good time last night. yeah, me too. the only thing is that... the only thing is what? what's the only thing? oh my gosh he's married. he's a kleptomaniac. he's a pyromaniac. he's a total maniac. hey! hey! go back to your wife you sociopath! leave slow internet behind.

the 100% fiber optics network is here. get out of the past. get fios. tea? now $79.99 a month. go online or call now. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v

now, to a loving affectionate boy still waiting for a forever home. when told but him in april. barbara harrison has more on what makes him so special on wednesday's child. >> who's this? who's that? ernie? >> ernie. >> reporter: jeremiah recognized ernie by touch. he is blind and his speech is lacking, perhaps because of the lack attention paid to him as a younger child. 2 1/2 years ago, jeremiah was finally brought into foster care. >> where's the water? can you turn the water on? >> reporter: when he was finally placed in treatment foster care at 10 years old, his real personality began to come into focus. >> jeremiah is a very loving, affectionate boy who, as you can see, loves to interact and

engage with you, walk around, hold your hand. he is visually impaired and he is also autistic. that brings challenges into finding a home and we will want to find a family that could be, you know, loving and patient and possibly, you know, have some experience with autism. in hopes that they could be his forever family. >> reporter: jeremiah looks forward to going to school. i spends the week as a live-in student at maryland school for the blind and since being there, those who know him say his communication skills rim proving. it's hoped that someday soon, jeremiah will have a real home and family he can expect to find waiting for him when his school day is done. that's good. barbara harrison, news4, for wednesday's child. if you have room in your home or your heart for jeremiah or another child waiting, call

1-888-2 adopt-me or go to nbcwashington.com and search wednesday's child. ten years later, an awful lot has changed as we look back at the life of the gulf now after hurricane katrina. >> find out where some communities are thriving while others are still struggling to recover one decade later. >> i'm darcy spencer at metro headquart headquarters, an emergency shutoff switch on some metro buss is meant to be a safety feature but in some cases,'s creating

do you like the passaaadd? it's a good looking car. this is the model rear end event. the model year end sales event. it's year end! it's the rear end event. year end, rear end, check it out. talk about turbocharging my engine. you're gorgeous. what kind of car do you like? new, or many miles on it? get a $1000 volkswagen reward card on select 2015 passat models. or lease a 2015 passat limited edition for $189 a month after a $1000 bonus.

scott macfarlane at the live desk, developing news, former virginia governor bob mcdonnell is running out of life lines, running out of legal options to stay in prison a short while ago, the u.s. solicitor general, the obama administration's top official at the supreme court told the supreme court it's unwarranted to let mcdonnell stay free as he makes minutesal, his final appeal of his corruption conviction, facing two years in prison and now, maybe just days away from getting a final decision on the supreme court as to when he should report. back to you. there is a new safety concern for people who ride metro buses. we have learned about a vulnerability. it allows anyone to disable a

bus. news4's darcy spencer is getting answers from metro tonight. darcy? >> reporter: well, wendy, this is not a new issue but it has been happening a couple of times recently and the union that represents bus drivers says this needs to be addressed and riders we spoke to today agree. on the side of metro buses, there is a panel with an emergency battery shutoff switch inside. it is an important safety feature needed in case of a fire or other emergency, but these switches are also, at times, creating a vulnerability. at least twice recently, sources confirm, juveniles have disabled buses on crime scenes, leaving drivers and passengers stranded and with no radio communications. >> i think take safety precaution, pretty dangerous to be able to open that door without a key. >> reporter: yesterday the chief of metro's transit police acknowledged the problem. >> unfortunately, we do see that

from time to time. >> reporter: metro says it light of recent independs, officials are reviewing options, such as putting locks on the side panels or somehow camouflaging them to make them less noticeable. agency will also look at what other systems are doing to prevent someone from disabling a mass transit bus. >> you glad metro is looking into doing is something about it? >> yeah. >> reporter: the problem came to light after a shooting on elvis road southeast. a man sitting on a road friday night was hit by stray gunfire. sources say juveniles pulled the emergency shutoff leave on the bus much the violence led metro to temporarily shut down night time buses on that road. metro list lifteded that security detour with a pledge to keep an officer in the area. rider says the issue has to be addressed. >> i hope they take the steps they need to look into this matter so everyone can be safe when they are riding the bus. >> reporter: now, we have been told that those panels could not be locked because it would be hard for firefighters to shut

down a bus in case of million. we touched base with the firefighters union to see if that's really a problem. i will have their answer coming up, news4 at 6:00. back to you. >> thank you. this week, the gulf coast's policy to remember hurricane katrina -- is pausing to remember hurricane katrina. jay gray there was as the hurricane made landfall and as orleans. >> reporter: katrina's fury was felt across the gulf coast. ten years later, the dramatic images are still etched in our nation's memory. dozens of community from florida to louisiana shredded by the winds or washed away by the surge as the category three hurricane made landfall along the mississippi coast. >> one of the levee has broken and given way. >> reporter: the full magnitude of the storm wasn't clear until a day or so later went force of the water unexpectedly overwhelmed levees across new orleans. >> in the blink of an eye, everything changed. >> reporter: more than 1800 were

killed. more than 100,000 lost their home. 80% of the city was underwater. >> help us. it's -- whales can do you? wh -- what else can you do? what else can you stay in. >> reporter: in the ninth ward, survivors were pulled from rooftops by choppers. >> we got to go easy. >> reporter: others walked carrying any belongings they could, closed down highways looking for higher ground and help. >> it is not about rich people, poor people, it is about people. >> reporter: tens of thousands rushed to the convention center, super dome, shelters of last resort. ten years later, the dope has been transformed from a shelter took a showcase, host the men's final four and super bowl. bourbon street and the french quarter are booming and so is business. forbes recently ranked new orleans as the fastest growing city in the u.s. but things haven't moved as quickly in the battered ninth ward.

the federal government provided $9 billion for rebuilding through the road home program. there are still millions available from fema specifically for the ninth ward. what you will see when you drive through this neighborhood areof people weres like this one, other than the graffiti, untouched for ten years. there is some progress, but there are far more problems still. even in this mess that lingers, you can heart sounds of a recovery thanes here. >> i have great sense of hope. this is my city. i love this city. i was born and raised in this city. i'm not going anywhere. >> reporter: honoring a promise made in the wake of a storm in a renal than a decade later, refuses to give in. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. >> news4's chris lawyer reps have in new orleans now tune in for his special reports on katrina ten years later starting tomorrow.

veronica join us now. a couple nice days. >> more cool starts for sure, even around our area, which you're going, wait a minute, still summer. canal temperatures be this low? even at state college, haven't gotten out of the 60s. the trend, thursday and friday, not today, but thursday and friday, we stay below to right around average. average now, 86 degrees for this time of year. for the weekend, all about the red and doing and through i think next week. summer heat will be returning. yes, we started out with clouds, sunshine, more clouds drifting through our area but on storm team4 radar, it's dry, we told but that this morning, meteorologist chuck bell, rain chances very low the next few days, our best chance of more widespread rain not until the early part of next week, monday, again, heat back into the area and with that heat and humidity, we could be looking at stormy conditions on mop day.

80 degrees right now, plenty warm. have a few clouds continuing until i think we get the other side of midnight, we will start clearing out, temperatures drop to the 60s, the 50s by tomorrow morning, cooler locations, haigers up to, 56, 55, winchester, 59 around manassas, warrenton, 60 for herndon and reston. by the latter part of the morning rush, hit the 70s, 73, sunshine, nice conditions with afternoon topping out, 77 to 84. you plan on going to the beach friday, saturday or sunday, throw mid-80s, pick up a few clouds weekend, but it is looking nice this weekend. there's a chance that, eri -- t erika could be producing sur of. a lot more on our low rain

chances at 6:00. i'm jason pugh in the newsroom, the regular season hasn't kicked off in the redskins, injuries piling foul toth team, three key players lost for the season, linebacker junior galette added to the list. toward the end of practice, he tore his achilles, out six to eight weeks, rehab process, he is done for the year. both his teammates and his head coach, jay ground, disappointed following practice today. galette was brought in during training camp after being cut by the saints. you may remember we had to different domestic violence cases, dealing with one of those cases, the other cleared up. redskins play the third preseason game saturday in baltimore. watch that game here on nbc4. >> thank you, jason. you are looking at what's believed to be the oldest shipwreck ever found in maryland. crews uncovered it back in the spring while doing repair work under the u.s. 50 bridge on the eastern shore. state officials believe it was a cargo ship dating back to the late 18th century and may have

measured 45 feet long. and made locally from oak trees gathered in annapolis and potomac. it is now being analyzed at a swimming pool in calvert county. the man accused in a courthouse attack and incident at the white house is being called a neighborhood dad. why some people say this could not be the same man. and more jobs and cheaper gas comes with a big honking downside. u.s. roads are more clogged than ever and why the d.c. area is being called the

he was seep as the neighborhood dad, a helpful friend but those descriptions by neighbors don't seem to match the actions of curtis smith. yesterday, he was killed after bursting into a pennsylvania courthouse and slashing a sheriff's deputy. george spencer from our sister station in philly talked to people who knew smith. >> reporter: peering through the front window, our camera captured the yellow-taped crime scene in the courthouse lobby. for curtis smith of coatesville, investigators believe it is his second high-profile crime scene since march when he was arrested after jumping the white house fence, all of it neighbors say a far cry from the life he lived here on this coatesville cul-de-sac full of families, like taraji briggs. >> he was very friendly. he looked out for a lot of people around here.

everything beloved in this neighborhood? >> yes. >> reporter: he busted into the lobby about 11 a.m., pulled out a knife and attacked one of the deputies working secure i a second deputy opened fire, striking him. >> this guy busts through the door, i'm gonna get ya, imgina get you, keeps running, obviously, pop pop. >> reporter: for courthouse employees and witnesses, it was a terrifying few minutes but a successful containment from law enforcement's perspective. >> unfortunately, because of incidents like this across the nation, we have learned how to deal with an attack in the courthouse. >> reporter: long-time friends tell us smith must have been fighting demons they did not fully see after his father's death and the recent loss of his job. but even the white house fence incident did not seem a major red flag to neighbors who described smith as outgoing, often mowing neighbors' lawns and organizing a kids' barbecue two weeks ago. >> a friend who was with smith just hours before that attack says there was no indication

anything was wrong. now at 6:00, an awful scene, a disgruntled employee ambushed two colleagues live on the air. >> hear people behind us in the newsroom crying. just really hard. >> condolences come pouring in, there are questions a motive. tonight, we are digging deeper into the gunman's past and problems in the workplace. >> after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. and he did not take that well. >> and the dramatic moments where he taunted police on social media before taking his own life. >> tonight, still so many unanswered questions to this story still unfolding. the perhaps the biggest one, y >> our team of reporters are live covering everything from the gunman's 23-page manifesto to the mourning across the

country of people trying to comprehend how something like this could happen. >> coverage begins with david culver, near roanoke, virginia, now, with what we know at this hour. david? >> reporter: vance and doreen to my left, you can see here, this is the scene, nearly 12 hours after that troubling attack, deputies are still out here and this has gotten a lot of attention, attention from across the world and see here media from across the nation are right now along this street. but among them, you're not going to find wdbj 7, the crew involved directly in this. that station did not send anybody out here and what is of the an competitive industry, today, just solidarity, rival stations are actually out here, helping out with the video so that the staff at wdvj, they can grieve their colleagues. urge i cannot tell