hospital. he went by the nice of bryce williams on air. the day he was fired, police had to escort him from the building. >> didn't fit in because people found it difficult to work with him. and so after a while, a number of instances we thought it was best if he left the company. and he did, but not happily. >> not long after yesterday's shooting, flanagan began posting angry comments online, seemingly justifying the shooting over facebook and twitter. he also faxed a manifesto to abc news. of course our thoughts and may prayers are with our colleagues there. alison parker was dating a journalist there. she had a passion for hard news. and adam ward graduated from virginia tech, he was 27 years old. the third victim of the shooting

survived. ward and parker were interviewing vicki gardner. she was hit in the chest and rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. she is in stable condition right now. and so much more to this story than we can tell you here. we have more on how the community is recovering. you can check the nbc washington app for more stories. we will find out more about the vigils going on there in roanoke in 15 minutes. today's d.c. mayor is expected to ask for more power to fight crime in the district. she took her plan to council members yesterday and will make it public today. part of the plan is to allow police to search and detain people who are on probation for violent and gun related crimes. 45% of suspects arrested for murder this year had a prior gun charge. 103 people have been killed on the streets of d.c. so far this year. it is now 4:31. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. and a beautiful, nice, mild start to our thursday. >> we're liking it. meteorologist chuck bell has

your weather headlines. >> got two thumbs up from the weather department today. the overall impact on your afternoon plans, very, very low. sunshine and mild conditions. temperatures are going to stay in the low 80s later on this afternoon. so couple of degrees cooler than average even with all the sunshine. what great start this morning. open the windows, may need an extra blankey this morning. 59 in leesburg and manassas. 55 out towards luray and new market, virginia. so what to wear? you may need a wrap for first thing this morning. other than that, a pretty little dress. don't forget your sunblock. is up's up at 6 -- sun's up at 6:31. mid 60s by 7:00 a.m. and low 80s when you come home this afternoon. so everything is working out just fine in the weather department. how is traffic doing, melissa? >> a little bit of road work. branch avenue northbound, right

now, we have two left lanes blocked at this point this morning. also taking a look, live look, 270 at montrose road, don't have any real problems. inner and outer loop, everything is moving along fine. we have construction at the top of the beltway. that's not something we are seeing at least at this point in morning. hopefully we can get through the morning without that one. b.w. parkway, 95 in maryland and 29, everything looking good. we had that crash, 95 southbound at scaggsville, looks like that has cleared out of the way. 66, okay. 95 southbound, just a tad slow there as we have again some construction. back in a few. new details right now into the live desk out of china this morning. 12 people have been arrested in those warehouse explosions there including the vice chairman and three managers, among those in

the dozen arrested. it's a corruption investigation. not a whole lot of information coming in us at this hour, but the government in china did say last week that 700 tons of a deadly chemical sodium cyanide were being stored there before the explosion. the blast killed 139 people. aaron? >> thank you. 4:34 right now. a man in louisiana shot and killed a police officer with the officer's own gun. they also say the men were cousins. according to police in sunset, louisiana, the shooter stabbed three people before that ever happened. one of those victims died as well. now, the others are in serious and critical condition right now. the attacker drove away and then crashed into the convenience store after the shooting. he was arrested and charged with first degree murder. today, prince william county schools, parents, teachers, will remember a fallen hero at a

ribbon cutting at a new elementary school. the chris young elementary school opens on monday. officer chris young was killed in a motorcycle crash in 2012 while on duty. young's family is expected to attend today's event. a man who flew a gyrocopter through d.c. restricted air space is back in court today. doug hughes' case is headed to trial. he is asking a judge whether he can hire a special first amendment lawyer today. he said he flew the gyrocopter to the capitol as an act of civil disobedience and he was protesting special interest money in politics. today marks ten years since hurricane katrina slammed into the gulf coast, it landed in florida on august 27, 2005. today, president obama will visit new orleans where more than a thousand people died. he will meet with people who live there and the city's mayor. then the president will speak about how the region continues to rebuild. news4's chris lawrence is in new orleans right now.

he reported on the storm ten years ago for a different network and is taking a close look at the recovery a decade later. you can join us for our special live coverage starting at 4:00 this afternoon. and today indycar drivers will cross san francisco golden gate bridge to remember one of their own. justin wilson died on monday after flying debris hit him in the head at pocono raceway in pennsylvania. marco andretti will drove his number 25 car across the bridge. justin drove for andretti motorsports. we have a traffic alert that we wanted to tell you about here this morning. starting today, crews are going to begin to haul in equipment to fix crumbling concrete on the memorial bridge. this shouldn't cause too many delays yet. that actual construction will begin after labor day. the eastbound lanes have been shifted to new temporary lanes. this is route 7 here.

sugarland road is closed until late september. you can get around that mess by the fairfax county parkway. the $34 million project to widen that road from four lanes to six should be done by december. aaron? if you're headed off to the coast for a last minute summer vacation, don't go anywhere. chuck is putting together your beach forecast for the next weather and traffic on the 1s. also, a leap for wallop's island. >> a project we are learning about and we are keeping tabs on stock futures after some big

welcome back. right now u.s. futures are up after asian stock markets saw huge gains overnight. this comes after wall street's best day since 2011. the dow closed up for more than 600 points. the s&p and nasdaq also jumped about 4% each. nasa taking a big step to make its facility on virginia's eastern shore safer. tomorrow, they'll break ground on a fire station on wallops island. right now there's a station on the north end of the island and nasa is building one on the south end and says it will reduce response time. it should open next summer. it is a wonderful start to our thursday morning. feels so refreshing and cool. doesn't even feel like summer

anymore. >> your weather and traffic on the 1s, chuck bell getting us ready for the day ahead. >> on the contrary this is how summer is supposed to feel. comfortable mornings and sunny, warm afternoons. not much in the way of the humidity to worry about. so that's all welcome news. a great start to your thursday morning. lots of 50s on the map. mid to upper 50s out to the blue ridge and the shenandoah valley. mid 60s downtown. 68 still in annapolis. highs today are reaching into the upper 70s in northern maryland, about 84 in fredericksburg and 80 in annapolis. it's never too early to think about whether or not you're going to the beach this weekend. i made my plans of course. friday, saturday, sunday, awesome beach weather. the only problem is you have to drive to get there and that means traffic trouble, melissa. >> that could be traffic troubles if you're headed to virginia beach. right around 123 we had that earlier issue, as far as slowdowns 25 miles per hour

southbound at this point. as we widen out a bit, the rest of 95 looks fine. 66 rolling along nicely. right now, 270 northbound and southbound, no problems there. remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car. inner and outer loop, rolling along nicely. prince george's county looking good. 95 at scaggsville, no problem. back in ten. >> all right, thank you. new this morning we have learned that larry hogan will hold a fund-raiser for a presidential hopeful. who he's hosting straight ahead. and the latest details in the murders of a virginia reporter and photographer. a live report on the air

you're watching "news4 today." >> 16 minutes before 5:00 right now. ribbons like these are being worn by journalists in southwest virginia today. they are to honor the news reporter and photographer who

were killed yesterday. another reporter at wdbj in roanoke made these ribbons and she said alison parker's favorite color was turquoise and adam ward, his favorite was maroon. there were a lot of ways people are remembering the victims of that tragic attack today. several vigils were held last night. nbc's sarah dallas is live where you can the vigils. >> reporter: good morning. alison parker and adam ward should be repairing for their morning live reports and instead this community is struggling to come to grips with their murders that were broadcast on live tv and seen by thousands, including the local sheriff and ward's fiancee, a producer at the station who was watching from the production booth when all of this happened. now parker and ward are described by their colleagues as special people who could brighten any room. they were busy in their professional and personal lives.

parker had moved in with her long term boyfriend and ward as i mentioned was engaged, preparing to be married. meanwhile, questions are swirling about the gunman, vester flanagan ii and what led him to do this. he had been fired by the station two years ago where he went by the name bryce williams. management describes him as angry. they say the police had to be called when he was terminated. a man claiming to be flanagan referenced the shooting at columbine, virginia tech and the recent shootings at the charlestown church there. he reportedly describes himself as a human powder keg waiting to go boom. this letter was faxed shortly after the shooting. as we know now, he posted horrific, graphic video online of the shooting as he was being pursued by police. he eventually took his own life. so many questions tonight -- today, about what led to his

motive for committing such a horrible act. back to you. >> sarah dallas, thank you. if you were at -- >> please join us in observing a moment of silence as we remember wdbj roanoke journalists alison parker and adam ward. >> lovely tribute at the nationals game last night. you may have heard that announcement if you were there early on. players and fans honored alison parker and adam ward during their moment of silence this. it is 4:47. many of you were worried about crossing the road outside of the united medical center in southeast washington. hundreds of you including many hospital employees attended a vigil last night, calling for a crosswalk to be installed there. a 56-year-old died friday after a driver hit her on the busy southern avenue. the driver did not stop. it is the second fatal accident this year. the mayor's office told news4

earlier this week they'll try to get a crosswalk installed by early next year. 4:48 your time now. the presidential race stopping in our area today. maryland governor larry hogan is holding a fund-raiser for new jersey governor chris christie in annapolis this afternoon. christie is running for president or the republican nomination. he was a big supporter of hogan last year. hillary clinton opening up about the possibility of joe biden joining the race. he has a difficult decision and that she always expected a competitive campaign. she said she made a bad choice using a personal e-mail for work while she was secretary of state. in a new report from the associated press, the a.p. says diplomats at the state department have routinely used personal e-mail in the last 15 years. the oklahoma man who threatened to assassinate the president is no longer in washington. u.s. marshals are taking archie glass jr. back to the oklahoma city area. he had been in prison four times

for his threats. news4 broke the story last week when the u.s. secret service stopped him near the white house. he was on probation for writing threatening letters. he allegedly said he'd shoot george w. bush and president obama. prosecutors said glass violated his parole by traveling outside of oklahoma. well, the national zoo's surviving panda cub is in good health just hours after the smaller one died. both seemed to be in good health at first, but after 24 hours mei xiang refused to let them swap out the cub. the mother started to care for the smaller one again, but then zookeepers knew something was not right. >> we immediately noticed that the little cub had not increased in weight, appeared weaker and was exhibiting possible respiratory issues. things turned and the cub's condition declined into the early afternoon. and despite extreme efforts on

the part of our dedicated staff, we weren't able to change things. >> now, the zoo says the larger cub appears to be strong and they're optimistic about the cub's future. there was a lot of talk in the wild, pandas -- sometimes sort of select a cub they'll take care of and the other one gets ignored. the zookeeper said that wasn't the case here. this is just an unfortunate turn of events. >> after bao bao was born, mei xiang gave birth to a still born one. and 4:51 now, we turn to happier things we is something we don't normally say about the weather. >> or me. i know where you're going with that. no, a beautiful day outside. this week has been so pleasant to be in the great outdoors. >> great summertime weather. >> warm sunshine in the afternoon. without all the humidity that we so often have to deal with in the month of august. our vacation lingers on.

we could use the rain. we have only had six days here with measurable rainfall in the month of august. compare that with 12 days in july and 18 rainy days in the month of june. 65 now at national airport. averaging only five miles per hour. a nice cool start to your thursday. tons of sunshine. low humidity continues. how cool is it gotten? a lot of spots west of i-95 are down into the 50s this morning. gaithersburg and damascus and germantown all in the mid 50s. upper 50s in leesburg. and 59 now in winchester. 68 in annapolis. hourly temperature, most everybody 50s and 60s through the early morning hours. and high temperatures this afternoon, only in the upper 70s and low 80s. tons of sunshine. little more sunshine than we had yesterday so that'll be welcome change. if you plan ongoing out to the

nationals game, they lost last night to the padres, taking on the padres again tonight at 7:05. temperatures will be in the 70s. here's future weather, nothing but sunshine out there for today. another kind of cool start tomorrow morning and then more sunny weather for friday. that carries on into the weekend as well. keeping a close eye on erika here. the official forecast track keeps it off the east coast of florida. but just barely. that's in the monday, tuesday time frame. beyond that we have to hope for a recurvature back out into the open waters of the atlantic. here's your seven day forecast. 83 today. 86 tomorrow. back into the low 90 on saturday and sunday. because of popular request, i have taken the rain chance out of your sunday forecast. there's good news. i left it in though on your monday. lots of 90s next week. a check of traffic with melissa mollet. >> a reminder, southbound g.w. parkway, that ramp is shut down through friday. this started yesterday.

lasts through tomorrow. your alternate the roosevelt bridge. go a little further on g.w. parkway. southbound 95 at 123, a little slow just because of some road work that's kind of clearing up. things have picked up quite a bit in the past ten minutes or so. inner and outer loop rolling just fine, 270 at old hundred road, i thought i was confused this morning but it looks pretty good. a better vantage point. beltway at branch avenue no problems there. back in ten minutes see you at 5:01. >> thank you, melissa. just into the live desk right now, a shocking study about college students and substance abuse. kristin wright will be back with that straight ahead. and a startling admission during a hearing that could have reduced his prison time. what a former minister confesse

you're watching "news4 today." >> he was already serving a life sentence. now the minister you see here confessed to the murder of his wife. during a hearing in prince george's county court to reduce his life sentence, spencer chase confessed. chase was convicted of strangling and killing his wife antoinette in 2010. he said he was innocent. but he was sentenced to life. chase shocked the court yesterday with a confession. he stepdaughter who testified against him says he was the only father she ever knew and he killed her mother. >> because i have to live without her.

>> the judge ultimately denied chase's request for a reduced sentence. he will serve his life sentence. new this morning, a study just out on college drug use. the report was released by the substance abuse and mental health as much as administration. it finds college students are most likely to first try marijuana inhalant and alcohol during the summer and that underaged college students are most likely to have their first drink in june. the study says november, december and april are the most common months for students to use stimulants for the first time. perhaps drugs like adderall will help them ace the tests. we are learning more about the effects of marijuana this morning. two new studies show the drugs doesn't shrink the brain as previously thought, but does change it. first study shows marijuana does not shrink the brain, but does show people who use the drug

often have smaller brains to begin with. and in the second study, a serious mental health concern. marijuana appears to change the brain's structure of young men with the high genetic risk of schizophrenia. so are you a calorie counter? well, a new study says if you want a healthier heart, what you eat is more important than how many calories it contains. nuts are high in calories but they reduce the risk of heart attack and strokes. eating just two more servings of nuts a week can prevent 90,000 card owe -- cardiovascular deaths in the u.s. alone. the street sense program has expanded into film with cinema for the street. it's the local newspaper written and sold by the homeless. cinema from the street held a special event at "e" street theater last night. one of the filmmakers was sasha williams, born in d.c. general

back when the it was a hospital. >> i'm a director. i have that title now. and this is not the end for me. you know? this is the beginning. >> williams has a 2-year-old daughter. they were living in the d.c. general shelter last year and now they have their own home. one airline is offering to help ashley madison customers with help for their spouse. all you have to do is e-mail escape at airmail, and you'll get that discount. you have to take that trip before new year's eve. >> i guess they figure if you take a trip together, that'll patch things up. >> but the idea is you're supposed to take your spouse. >> to try to repair the relationships after they discovered -- yeah. 4:59. stay with us. "news4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. and now at 5:00, a developing story in northern

virginia where the search is for a missing teenage swimmer. and the morning team at wdbj goes back on air, what we're learning about the victims and the man who killed them. and cracking down on crime. we're standing by to learn how d.c. mayor muriel bowser plans to put an end to violence in the district. it is 5:00 a.m. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this thursday. it is august 27, 2015. >> your headlines in a minute. but first a check on things on with chuck bell in your hour by hour forecast. >> good morning, aaron and eun and welcome to your thursday, everybody. off to a delightly cool start this morning. 65 downtown, but 59 in college park. silver spring, 61 reston town center and bristow and bull run. 60 degrees on the nose at dulles international airport. here's what the sky will look like for the day. mostly sunny