this morning. three men are recovering from shootings minutes away from each other. this map here shows how close the scenes are. d.c. officers say someone shot two men last night on alabama avenue near suitland parkway. police were close by on third street with another shooting victim. officers are not saying anything about the search for suspects at this time. and starting this afternoon, don't be surprised if you see a lot of officers at the location of one those shootings blast night. it's part of a policing program called all hands on deck. d.c.'s seven police districts plans to have more officers on duty from 3:00 this afternoon to 6:00 sunday morning. today we expect an alexandria judge to sentence a intentional for helping another teen join isis. 17-year-old ayman faces up to 16 years in prison. he pleaded guilty in june to conspiring to support terrorists and he admitted to helping another teenager to travel to syria and to using social media

to ask for donations and support for isis. a developing story this morning as tropical storm erika take takes aim at puerto rico and is closer to the main land. a large supply of water has been sent to west palm beach. the salvation army is part of that effort. water will be in demand if it gets hit hard. and erika killed four people on the eastern island of dominica. it caused severe flooding and mudslides and the storm dropped 15 inches of rain. 20 people are still missing. keeping a close eye on erika and find out what's happening weatherwise in our area as well. >> the storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is in for us. >> good morning. friday is finally here. look at all the 50s on the map. don't get used to it, everybody. this is coming to an end and

soon. 55 now, gaithersburg. 54 in new market, maryland. 55 now in winchester. 63 in fredericksburg. bus stop weather then, sun is up at 66:33. coming home later on this afternoon, nice and warm, a mix of clouds and sunshine. temperatures in the low to mid 80s today. today's high temperatures by about 79 in gaithersburg. 84 in washington and in fredericksburg. dry weather for today. and tomorrow we'll start looking into the weekend a little further when i see you next. for now though, have they picked up the pylons yet? >> they have not yet. southbound connecticut avenue at franklin street outside of the beltway, still have some road work happening there in the southbound lanes only. that one right lane is getting by at this point this morning. 66, west of ox road, no problems there. everything looks quite good along 66. again, we have this crash, southbound backlick there in springfield at fullerton road. a warning there. it's not been completely cleared out of the way quite yet. overall, prince george's county looking quite good. no major problems.

indian head, pennsylvania avenue, branch avenue, everything into and out of town rolling along nicely. same thing when you look at the top of the beltway. b.w. parkway, 95 and 29 all nice and green. see you right back here, weather and traffic always on the 1s. tonight there's a vigil for loretta carswell. her cousin shot her last week and barricade himself for more than 24 hours on 18th and otis streets in northeast washington. his name is roosevelt robinson and he now faces first degree murder charges. carswell was 63. her friends tell news4 she was a metrobus driver who retired two years ago. we should learn the results today of a mental evaluation for a man police say murdered an american university student on a metro train earlier this summer. police say jasper spires stabbed 24-year-old kevin sutherland to death at the noma gallaudet

station. two days before, spires attacked man during a robbery in northwest. spires should be in the courtroom this morning. a developing story now. savannah state university waking up on edge this morning after a shooting on campus. the school was locked down. a man was shot at the student union or near it we're told. we don't know exactly how he's doing right now. students were told to stay put. police were searching cars that were leaving campus. you can see quite a scene there at the university. the school was locked down for about an hour and half last night. no word on the shooter. back to you. we have a lot of faith in our neighbors and a lot of trust in them. this is a block that really building pretty quickly right now. and, you know, we want to be always keep open lines of communication with the businesses here. >> neighborhoods in the petworth neighborhood may not be aware of the crackdown on stores selling

synthetic drugs but the message is clear. they want the businesses closed. the reop market has been given until november to vacate the property. the attorney general's office is shutting down that store that is notorious for selling synthetic drugs. police found more than 500 packets in the store last october. the property owners worked closely with the city to evict their tenant. today, school officials may decide whether to push back the start of classes at stafford high school. hess is having trouble getting the permits needed. they were supposed to get a temporary occupancy permit by the end of day yesterday, but did not. they may push the first day of school from september 8th to the 14th. it's been ten years since hurricane katrina ravaged new orleans. today, former president george

w. bush will visit that city. he and his wife will visit a charter school. coming up, jay gray will have a live report from new orleans on how that city continues to recover a decade later. it was looted, torched and now a baltimore drugstore will be demolished. demolition will start on the cvs store at pennsylvania and north avenues today. the store was set on fire during the riots that followed the death of freddie gray. the store will be rebuilt and should open by the end of the year. you can find out if the surviving panda cub at the national zoo is a boy or a girl. news4's megan mcgrath is at the national zoo this morning. megan, good morning to you. what else do you think we can learn today? >> reporter: well, good morning, eun. the most important thing we'll get an update on the health of the baby panda. look at the live zoo cam here, mei xiang has gotten kind of active. she appeared to be sleeping earlier this morning when we

first checked. she now appears to be awake, a little while ago she sat up. you can see that she was cradling something, the cub presumably in her paw. i think i can hear some noise too. perhaps the cub making some vocalizations and making some sort of chirping noises here. but what we're hearing from zoo officials is that all indications is that the panda cub is doing well, that it is healthy and active and of course that's good news following the death of the cub's smaller twin earlier this week. later this morning, we're going to learn the gender of the surviving cub. we're also going to learn who is the father. mei xiang the mom, she was artificially inseminated. one of the daddy candidates is her mate here at the zoo. and another one is a male panda in china. we'll find out the results later on today. we expect to learn more about why the twin died. there's some initial necropsy

reports in. we're expecting to learn more about the death of that cub. there's a press conference scheduled for 9:00 this morning. >> thank you, megan. we are a long ways a out from nominations but candidates are not wasting any time. who's meeting with the democratic national committee today? a brawl breaks out in the courtroom. the devastating loss that pushed a father over the edge. and for a lot of folks it's the last weekend of summer break. why not head to the shore? >> why not?

a father makes his feelings pretty clear at the sentencing hearing for his 3-year-old daughter's death. he punched his ex-wife's boyfriend instead of making a statement yesterday in detroit. you can see the hard hit there. the boyfriend -- both the boyfriend and the little girl's mother will spend more than 14 years behind bars. the 3-year-old died last year from injuries consistent with child abuse. right now, it looks like firefighters are finally getting a handle on what is the largest wildfire on record. in washington state. this one, 450 square miles. the same fire that killed three firefighters last week. the weather is finally helping what's really become a dire situation out there. winds pushed parts of the fire back on itself and firefighters say all the fire lines they're

drawing are holding. more than 1,100 square miles of washington state have burned. that's nearly the size of rhode island. back to you. and it's time for weather and traffic on the 1s. let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. another nice day ahead, chuck? >> yes, indeed. people are making their plans for the weekend. a lot of us we're already gone. like we're not already here at work sometimes this morning. 54 now in winchester and front royal. 54 in charleston. 58 degrees down in hunting town. upper 70s for a lucky few. most of us in the low 80s. planning a trip to the beach, yes, indeed, today, tomorrow and sunday look amazing. turning more humid, but perfect beach weather for the weekend. if you spend your weekend out in the shenandoah valley, both saturday and sunday look amazing. we'll have a check of the seven day forecast. for now, another fender bender from melissa mollet. >> another crash this morning.

not a way to start a friday. this is copper woods road at burke lake road. we have an accident there that was just reported. springfield, still have this crash southbound. backlick at fullerton as well. beltway at branch avenues, no problems. inner and outer loop looking good. a being look -- big look at the beltway, nice and green and everything is moving for us this morning. no major problems on any of the main routes into or out of town. we'll keep you updated here and on on twitter. class should have started this week for a group of students in prince george's county. so why is this school empty? ten years after catastrophic katrina, is new orleans any better? we're live from the crescent

you're watching "news4

today." >> fire! we're stuck and we can't get nowhere, please. >> ma'am! >> we're on the balcony, please. i can't breathe. >> they were definitely scared. they were experiencing a lot of smoke and heat up there. >> that is the frantic 911 call for help from the three people rescued wednesday night from this apartment fire. this is along 68th place in landover hills. the fire displaced 19 people. no one was seriously hurt. 4:46 your time right now. we are marking ten years since hurricane katrina slammed into the gulf coast. today, former president george w. bush will visit new orleans. the response was one of the most contentious parts of the bush presidency. nbc's jay gray has more on what the former president will see on his visit today. good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, aaron. the president will visit a library built with funds from a program that first lady laura bush was involved in during their time in the white house and they'll tour some of the

hardest hit areas here. getting a scope of what's been done. what's left to be done. there's still a lot left to be done in the recovery here. it's been ten years as you talk about in the early morning hours a decade ago, there was a lot of concern, a lot of fear as the storm inched toward landfall. but still, no mandatory evacuation in place. and no clue really about the devastation that would follow here. believe it or not, this recovery continuing a decade later. there is still a need for as many as 60,000 homes and some of the hardest hit area, 60,000 homes to be rebuilt or repaired. still a lot of families displaced that want to get back home. that's the latest here live in new orleans. back to you. >> thank you. 4:48 and decision 2016 heads to minneapolis today. hillary clinton and bernie sanders and martin o'malley and

lincoln chafee will be part of the summer meetings today. all of them will have a chance to speak on their policies in front of the rest of the party. attorneys for bob mcdonnell say the former governor of virginia is the victim of high profile political prosecution. they are fighting hard to keep the republican out of prison while the supreme court decides whether it will hear his appeal. earlier this year, a judge sentenced him to two years in prison on 11 federal counts of corruption. happening in the day ahead, frederick, maryland, will swear in the new police chief. edward hargis took over at the end of july and he's now in charge of the 200 uniformed and civilian employees. it is open to the public. teachers are scrambling to find jobs days after they were supposed to start teaching in prince george's county. classrooms are empty inside the jericho christian academy at the private school that teaches more than 100 students pre-k through eighth grade. the alert went out that the

academy would not open this year. >> everyone is scrambling to get another job. but teaching jobs have been filled. >> now, it's the latest in a five-year battle over who is in charge of the jericho city praise church. it left control of the church with the founder's son. summer vacation is wrapping up for many kids in our area. and a lot of you go back to school on monday morning. in maryland, schools in montgomery and charles county schools will welcome back students. on monday, loudoun county heads back to the classroom. listen up, as your kids head back to school on monday, sent us a picture. send us a tweet or post your photos to the instagram page. be sure to use the #show us your scholar. almost everybody. we're getting more and more kids back in school now. it's official. it's here. back to school time. >> i feel like the weather is changing too for back to school. a little cooler for a touch. >> it has been cooler, but

typically when you go back to school you expect it to be a sweat box outside. so that's what's coming next week. the kids who went back this week, it feels like september. the kids who go back next week it will feel like august once again. we'll trade in one ridge of high pressure for another. as a result, our cool, pleasant pattern will be gone and the heat, haze and humidity of late summer will be back. there's the view over washington this morning. washington monument standing proud in its illuminated glory in downtown. 68 degrees at reagan national airport. winds out of the northeast averaging three miles an hour. gradually the winds are coming back around in the south starting late today into tomorrow. that means it will start to get warmer, get more humid. rain chances are for the most part staying away from us. here's the one wild card in our long range forecast. this is the official forecast track from the national hurricane center on what they think tropical storm erika is planning on doing and the forecast track this is the 5:00

update, has shifted farther back to the west. this is both good and bad news. it's good because southeast florida has been in the terrible drought. so this will bring an enormous amount of rainfall into florida. the downside of that, tampa bay area has had over 30 inches of rain in the last six or eight weeks so they don't need the rain. the track though if it stays more on land than off shore that will keep it from intensifying much. so it will probably maintain tropical storm strength here. but obviously what this storm decides to do in the long range will have a big impact on us. as of now, the big ridge of high pressure which brings the heat wave back to us is likely going to steer that moisture away from us mid to late parts of next week. so around us now, nothing out there for rain chances. we'll be dry today and dry tomorrow as well. as we get into sunday, maybe one or two lonesome showers sunday afternoon in the shenandoah valley. by and large, a dry weekend for us.

little chance for a shower in there, and the overall long range pattern into next week, a hot and humid one. highs in the 90s. see if erika stays farther to the west, we may get to put some rain chances back into the middle part of next week. that's the forecast. let's look at the roads with melissa mollet. >> good morning. a remind here on this one. again, southbound g.w. parkway, closed through saturday now. your alternate is roosevelt bridge. go further south to get across the river there. 270 northbound and southbound, don't have any problems there. to have this issue there on connecticut avenue southbound at franklin. only the right lane is getting by. some road work there. beltway at kenilworth, no problems there. 66 in and out of town is just fine. remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car this morning. back in ten minutes. see you at 5:01. >> all right, thank you. is a serial burglar on the loose in northwest d.c.?

the surveillance video that has police wondering just that. hey, siri, give us the hint. the announce

you're watching "news4 today." >> he was the best person a brother could have.

>> divers found the body of 16-year-old vladimir flores. he went missing after going fishing wednesday evening. the search begin around 8:30. flores and his brothers and friends were fishing and we're learning that he tried to swim to a buoy in the creek, while his brother went to get some bait. the current was too strong for him. >> any time i think of my brother, comes to mind that -- i blame myself. because i took him to the river. >> vladimir flores was about to start his senior year at mt. vernon high school in fairfax county. police are looking for whomever spray painted swastikas on two speed cameras in olney, maryland. leggett is appalled and called it acts of hate and anti-semiti anti-semitism. when we drove by yesterday, the

graffiti was gone. and police found another swastika spray painted on a neighborhood sign in rockville. police say the same person may be responsible for a series of pretty bold robberies in northwest washington. take a look at this. a robber breaks a front door of a community arts center in columbia heights and police say he stole the donations. officers say someone robbed businesses on 11th street and on georgia avenue. people who live in the area tell news4 they're disappointed. >> that's sad. because we want to change this neighborhood. and that's why we're here. >> business owners say they know the area is going through a transformation. they just -- they say despite the rash of burglaries, it is safe. a scam to warn you about in manassas, virginia. someone is calling people claim tock from the department of -- claiming to be from the department of treasury and social security administration and the scammer leaves a number to call back and help him out. do not give out your personal

information. no government agency will ever contact you by phone, asking for important information. a target in chicago wants to be the first in the country to not only sell alcohol, but also to serve it to customers. a whole foods in that neighborhood has a wine bar inside and it serves beer and liquor. we'll find out the new target will be able to sell and serve alcohol in october. can you imagine what's going to be in that cart after a couple of glasses of wine? >> you know don't want that at target. it's crowded enough. listen up, iphone fans. apple may unveil the next generation of phone. we'll fiend out for sure on wednesday, september 9, when the company holds an event in san francisco. the tech giant sent out an e-mail yesterday with the headline, hey, siri, give us a hint. she said, no, you can't have a hint, but you can have a what what. how about that? she has also a lot of cheeky responses to a whole bunch of questions. you can ask her questions all day.

i bet you're one of the kids who snuck downstairs to open up the presents. she is so funny. that siri. >> my siri is a guy. >> mine is a girl. >> i thought we'd share that. stay with us, "news4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. right now, at 5:00, new details in the wake of that deadly on-air ambush. what we have learned overnight. it is cool out there now. look at the temperatures, but not for long. when the heat wave moves back into our area. and who's the daddy? boy or girl? we are just hours away from learning the answers to those two questions as panda-monium continues. >> mei xiang. "news4 today" starts now. >> that was in realtime. that panda moving around. >> panda cam from the national zoo. >> she's up early. that's what happens when you have a newborn. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today."

all that in a minute, but first let's check in with kristin wright and a live update at the newsdesk. >> a student who was shot at a college campus, just last night, has died we have learned. this is new information from what we told you at the top of the show. police swarmed savannah state university in georgia last night. the campus was on lockdown. someone was shooting in the student union. the student who was killed was a junior from atlanta. no word on the shooter at this point. we just know that police are investigating. back to you. >> all right, thank you. let's turn things over to chuck bell now. he's breaking down the hour by hour forecast. >> all right. a beautiful way to get your friday morning started. your weekend just one little old work day away. 54 now out in the panhandle of west virginia. 59d in culpepper. 65 at reagan national. hour by hour through the day. skycast 4, mostly blue skies again for your friday. temperatures upper