undercover cop and four-year officer jacai colson was shot and killed. sources close to the investigation say he was accidentally shot by one of his fellow officers. sources say the suspected gunman is michael ford and according to police, he was attempting suicide by cop, which is why he chose to open fire on the police station unprovoked. his two brothers were reportedly with him at the time. at least one videotaped the shooting according to sources. ford was shot and injured but is expected to survive. his two brothers were picked up later, one at a nearby popeyes just minutes after the shooting. today people brought flowers to the scene of the crime in honor of colson. colson, who was originally from pennsylvania was known as a cop's cop and highly respected by members of the force. the people within this department are mourning, people within this community are mourning, and, again, what is so unusual about all of this, besides a man showing up and having a shootout with police outs

also the fact that we are told by a number of sources that at least one of his brothers videotaped this shooting as it all unfolded. as soon as this press conference gets under way, we will bring it to you live. we are expecting the chief to explain more information about that video and also how this shooting unfolded and how this officer was shot. reporting live in papal palmer park, i'm tracee wilkins. now the search is on for a fourth brother in connection with this shooting. darcy spencer is in palmer park with more on the men accused of carrying out this attack. >> reporter: we learned a lot more about the suspects. we now know three brothers are in custody. we have the names of two of those brothers today at this press conference we're hoping to find out what the name of that third brother is and also what charges they'll be facing in connection with the shooting of this

three brothers in custody in connection with the shooting death of prince george's county detective jacai colson, gunned down in a shootout outside the third district police station in palmer park. news4 has learned that one of the suspects videoed the exchange of gunfire. police confirming the alleged shooter showed up at the police station with the intent of dying in a gun battle with police. we still don't know what type of weapon was used. >> just sad. i'm speechless. i don't know what to say. it's just sad. >> reporter: two of the suspects, michael and malik ford, identified by their aunt who said she had no idea why they would have been involved in something like this. she came to the hospital sunday night looking for answers. >> so i don't know who is dead or alive. i don't know what's going on. is he injured? is he locked up? >> reporter: today police confirmed the arrest of the third brother. sources say he was taken into cut on ryderwood court in

hyattsville. the alleged shooter identified by his aunt as michael ford was also shot in the gun battle. he was taken to prince george's hospital center, the same place where detective colson was taken and later died. one of the brothers was arrested at popeyes chicken a mile away from police headquarters sunday afternoon. sources tell news4 that suspect was texting his wounded brother who was in police custody. those texts led police directly to where the suspect was hiding, in a bathroom at the fast food restaurant. we're told he surrendered. and we're still awaiting that press conference by prince george's county police. when it happens, we will bring it to you live. live in palmer park, darcy spencer, news4. >> darcy, thank you. there have been an average of nine law enforcement officers killed a year since 2000. that's according to a report from "the washington post." there have already been five ambush killings this year, four of them have been in maryland or virginia. they include officer colson, two horford county deputies, and nc

officer ashley guindon. nationally there have been 13 killings this year, up to 4 at this time last year. leave the area right now. >> tensions are high outside of this northern virginia home, and this is possibly the family of that detained american who said he was fighting for isis. he's been detained in iraq. the man was detained along the front lines in iraq just outside of a town of sinjar which sits just miles from the border with syria. news4's shomari stone is outside of the home in fairfax county where he believes -- we all believe that it is the family of this fighter and this fighter once lived there. shomari? >> reporter: well, right now we're here in alexandria section of fairfax county, and the uncle of mohammad

told his family he was on vacation in europe. the family lives behind me here in this home in alexandria. now, the kurdish military says khweis surrendered to them on the front lines near the town of sinjar which was retaken by iraqi forces from isis late last year. commanders say he was carrying a large amount of cash, mobile phones, and three forms of identification including a u.s. driver's license. there a man confronted reporters here in alexandria and sprayed them with a garden hose before police arrived. khweis' father tells nbc news he was going to the state department to find out if the reports are real or fake. let's hear what he has to say about his son. >> he's my son. he's a good person. he's a good son. i raise my kids in the right way, okay? and they are good boys. >> reporter: now, moments ago the man who you saw actually was walking into the house a

he's upset about this obviously, and he's continuing to get information from government officials. me meanwhile, we're here respectfully trying to get answers. live, i'm shomari stone. back to you in the studio. >> all right, shomari. up in the sky, more rain is moving our way. >> buckle up for the rest of the week. we don't expect to see much sun at all. >> no, we do not, but with the springtime type temperatures come the spring showers with officially the spring equinox just a couple days away. good news is if you want a little more warmth, we are going to get that this week but for right now and the next couple hours, it's going to stay cool out there. let me show you what we're tracking shtionz the temperatures low to mid-50s and we'll hold steady, fluctuate just a little bit during the next couple hours. so it's going to stay cool and a little damp out there. we're not getting any big-time rains moving through. a few showers around frederick, around carroll, baltimore county too, andre

the west. these will be arriving around br 11:00 p.m. to midnight. you can see them there just now coming into west virginia with a little bit of thunder with those. so folks out there probably hearing that. for us i think it's just drizzly and dach, even a little fog. isolated shower for the evening commute and wet roads for the morning commute as occasional showers will be moving through by mainly light. we still have more rain chances coming our way this workweek. probably our biggest one will be on thursday at the end of the week. then already looking forward to the weekend. thursday, of course, st. patrick's day. i'll have an hour-by-hour forecast of not just tomorrow but also thursday in just a few minutes. >> okay. a rough day for some metro riders thanks to a cable fire. passengers posted pictures on twitter. one shows crowds at l'enfant plaza with a caption no trains moving. another took a photo of folks waiting for trains at ballston writing i decided to bail. the delays are expected throughout the evening on the blue and the orange lines.

mcpherson square station with details. >> reporter: wendy, service will resume in full when it is safe. that's according to metro general manager paul wiedefeld. he sent out an e-mail alert this afternoon to metro riders describing the problems that happened here at this station saying that the disruptions in service will last late into the night. metro's orange and blue lines are single tracking this evening between foggy bottom and federal triangle stations. this caused delays for riders that began in the morning and lasted throughout the day for many of them. >> we sat for about 15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes in l'enfant plaza with no announcements and they finally came on and said they were asked to hold in l'enfant plaza until an earlier issue had been resolved. >>

>> no, they did not. >> reporter: the report of a fire in a tunnel at mcpherson square tunnel, came in at 4:30. buses substituted for trains until the fire department cleared the scene at 6:00 a.m. paul wiedefeld came to assess the situation for himself. >> i can't make any promises for the afternoon rush. what you have is where we are. we'll work to get it better but this is where we are for the foreseeable future. >> orange and blue line trains single tracking between foggy bottom and federal triangle. >> i was trying to ride the blue line to get to farragut west and it made me late for a job interview i had because of multiple delays. >> reporter: silver line trains are operating between wiehle-reston east and ballston. passengers have to switch to orange line trains to complete their trip between virginia and the district. ahead, what metro has to do tonight in order to restore full

rush hour. that's coming up on news4 at 6:00. that's the latest at the mcpherson square metro station. chris gordon, news4. his mom works for the d.c. police department, and he too was drawn to public service. he wanted to be a d.c. firefighter. he just took the test. but that came to a violent end here in montgomery county. the story of shelden williams coming up, news4. and firefighters sent to the hospital battling this blaze devouring a townhouse. new video reveals how bad it was while they were searching for someone who disappeared. i'm jason pugh here in college park. coming up, how senior confidence leads the way for maryland's ptseason run. os

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you're watching news4 at 5:00. >> a young man looking to start a career in public service found dead along the side of a road in montgomery county. this evening we're hearing from his family as pole

2016. news4's pat collins live at police headquarters in gaithersburg. pat? >> reporter: wendy, his mom does community outreach for the d.c. police department. he too was drawn to public service. he wanted to be a firefighter, maybe down the road even get into politics. but the dreams of shelden williams came to a violent end here in montgomery county. the victim, shelden williams. he was 20 years old. he had just taken the exam to become a d.c. firefighter. he was an honor roll graduate of the kre saar chavez public charter school. he had a job at sweet greens. he was going to udc. he had a lot of things going for him. hear now from his uncle, rafael hunter. >> so much potential. so much love in his heart for other o

die this way. >> traumatic. you know, knowing the definition traumatic, of something so shocking and so jolting that it brings everytgn#hing to a standstill. >> reporter: shelden williams found dead friday night alongside castle boulevard in montgomery county. a long way from his home in southeast. he had told his mother he was coming out here to visit friends from college. now that trip turned into montgomery county's first murder of the year. >> detectives spent considerable time at the scene, and based on the evidence that they recovered and talking to witnesses, they do believe that this is going to be a homicide. >> reporter: coming up at 6:00, the murder investigation. what the cops know, who they -- what they need to know in this

pat, thank you. we now want to continue our team coverage. this press conference we told you about at the top of the hour where prince george's county police are expected to reveal more about the officer killed. >> in prince george's county yesterday when someone ambushed the palmer park police headquarters and as officers responded, officer jacai colson, who was an undercover officer was apparently killed by friendly fire. we now have four brothers under arrest. one of them is accused by police of the murder. the other three brothers were arrested over the last 24 hours as this was slowly unfolding. one of them we hear actually videotaped it with his phone. what we're hearing of his brother allegedly opening fire on this police station in palmer park, maryland. so we're going to be expecting to hear more

about the officer who we understand was in plainclothes because he was an undercover narcotics officer. but we will have more on this. this looks like we are still just setting up. you can obviously see the cameras are just getting in position. this is going to be coming to you momentarily. we will keep an eye on this, but let's go to the live desk first. a man is in critical condition after being shot in northwest d.c. this happened around 3:30 this afternoon. initially police thought the victim was a teenager. they're confirming he is an adult. officers are trying to figure out who is responsible. we will stay on top of it, bring you the latest, and push out any updates on our nbc washington app. >> thank you, chris. a fairfax county teacher who lost his license for allegedly giving alcohol to students or a school trip could be in even more trouble. fairfax county police tell the news4 i-team they too will begin an investigation of christopher

teacher is also accused of rticipating in sex acts with some students in the 2014 german trip. fairfax county public schools officials say it is not launching a further investigation. if you have tips on this story, contact our news4 i-team on the nbc washington app. click on investigations. and tournament brackets are being filgd out across the country and in our area. a few teams heading to the dance. jason pugh is live in college park where maryland has some high hopes for march. jason? >> reporter: high hopes, indeed, wendy. the new season begins this weekend for the maryland terps. you know, despite not playing their best basketball to finish the regular season, give them credit. they showed up in the big ten tournament and given the talent on this roster, you have to like their chances in the big dance. maryland with a good showing in the big ten tournament. they play the number two team in the nation down to the wire on ur

seed out in spokane, washington. they will take on the jack rabbits of south dakota state on friday. the jack rabbits, if they do win that game, they will play the winner of cal and hawaii. from college park, i'm jason pugh, news4 sports. all right, jason. thank you. we want to go back to our top story, that breaking news. police are about to hold a news conference in palmer park where an officer died, jacai colson, killed in sunday's attack. we understand that they are about to share more about what could have been friendly fire that caused his death. three, perhaps four, brothers in custody in connection with this death. there's also video that they may be shedding more light on as police file in. we may be hearing from a state's attorney, angela alsobrooks there. this has shocked this department and we get the news today that it could have, in fact, been -- it could have been friendly fire that caused his

first officer he saw, and according to police that shooter intended to die in a gun battle yesterday. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you very much for your patience. my name is julie parker, i'm the director of media relations for the prince george's county police department. before we begin, our department would like to express its extreme gratitude for the show of support we have received from around this nation. we have heard from the white house, from the fbi director, from the atf, from governor hogan, senator carden, mikulski, congressman hoyer, congresswoman edwards, multiple other people and from our law enforcement family from around the country and, in fact, around the world. and we can't forget the citizens of prince george's county who have reached out to so many of us. we thank you very much for your support during this tragic time. we're going to begin this

of our police department. he will introduce fop lodge 89 president and we will take your questions afterwards. chief stawinski? >> thank you, ms. parker, and good afternoon. a little less than 24 hours ago, it was my sad duty to come before our community and talk about the fact that one of their defenders had fallen. now i come before a much larger community, as julie has alluded to, and i want to send my personal gratitude to all of the people mentioned and unmentioned who have wrapped their arms around this department and, indeed, this county in the hours that have passed. as always, my commitment is to ascertain facts and then bring them to this community so that

happened. what i can tell you now is that last evening mr. michael ford and the three ford brothers, who you see on the touch screen to my right, had a number of conversations which investigates have concluded that michael ford, the shooter, in this instance did not expect to survive the engagement that he and his brothers precipitated at the district three station. at about 4:17, those conversations are happening, and just after 4:30 the incident that you are all familiar with now began. during the engagement with our officers, several opportunities for the shooter and our officers

themselves. i want to point out clearly based on our review of the video evidence that the prince george's county police officers involved in this used incredible restraint because they were cognizant of the fact that there were homes behind michael as he was firing at them and because they couldn't be clear in every instance who else might have been down range as this gunfire erupted. michael begins the confrontation unprovoked with a series of several shots, reloads the weapon, and then continues the engagement. i need the community to know, and i'm going to step over here for just a second, that the ford brothers who were involved fired at this citizen's car, fired at this

ambulance, fired random ly. heroically, detective colson reacted to a set of circumstances that, frankly, i don't think he was entirely prepared for. seeing the danger presented by michael, the shooter, he took action, and in doing so demonstrated extreme heroism because it was his actions that allowed officers to take a position where they could intervene and neutralize the threat. detective colson drew fire to himself, and in doing so was mortally wounded. now, my principal concern in this is the next photo that i'm going to share with you.

that image is of one of the ford brothers standing by taking no action on a video recording device taping this, his brother, shooting at prince george's county police officers. they knew in advance, they had every opportunity to call 911, they had every opportunity to seek medical help. they did nothing. they witnessed him shoot at those citizens' cars, shoot at police officers, shoot at an ambulance. the restraint of the prince george's county police officers in not firing at them as they were doing something very odd, sitting in the middle of a firefight, they were engaged. they were concerned for their own safety, but not for the safety of the citizens and the public. ow it's my sad duty to have to share with you that

circumstantially we believe the fired round that led to detective colson's death was fired by one of his fellow prince george's county police officers reacting to this, something that could have been prevented, could have been stopp stopped. you see james and sheila, not with them today, their son. they're standing in unity with this family today. something the ford brothers could have stopped. know that i spent the day talking to our county executive. he has wrapped his arms around this family and fully supports this community and this police family, the same with our state's attorney manassas angela alsobrooks. know 21 charges are being placed against these individuals as we speak. everything from conspiracy to commit murder to second-degree murd murder.

know that this was preventable. now, i spoke about the fact that circumstantially we believe the round that killed detective colson was fired by a prince george's county police officer, but this community knows that this department does not operate on circumstantial evidence. so while we have identified the six officers who will be named in victims in charging documents made available from the state's attorney's office already, i am not prepared to say which of those officers might have fired that round. results of the autopsy are pending. this is circumstantial and results of the examination by our forensic technicians in the firearms examination unit are pending. but my concern, grave concern, this community needs to know that this was callously recorded and could have been prevented. so with that i'm going to invite

order of police who has been with me all day as we've tried to help the membership of this department, sworn and civilian, manage through this, i'm going to invite zeke to step up and speak to you. zika? >> thank you, chief. >> jacai coalsolson, son, broth friend, police officer, and a hero, not only to the prince george's county police department, but to every citizen in prince george's county. he was presented with a situation he didn't ask for, and he reacted. he reacted to protect his fellow police officers and the community, and while doing so we have individuals videotaping him as if it's a game, as if it's something we're going to put

youtube and glorify. i know this community better than a lot of people, and i have worked here for many years, 16 1/2 years in palmer park. this is not acceptable and this is not tolerated. this is a very small segment of our population who would believe that something like that is acceptable, and i know that the citizens of prince george's county will stand in unity with the men and women of the prince george's county police department to condemn these actions and to assist us in better policing our streets and keeping us safe. yes, the police officers take risks. they put their lives on the line, but they do so knowing that the community has their back, and we police together because we live in the community. we are part of the commun

i said before jacai could light up a room. he lit up everybody's life he touched. he made a decision several years ago to make a difference in the world when he joined the prince george's county police department. he made a difference every day he was here, and he made the difference and saved lives yesterday. and we thank god that he was allowed into our lives, that he became part of our community, and we are ever so grateful that his family has shared him with us. thank you. >> chief? >> i love this police department.

i love this county. it's my home. jacai was senselessly taken from us. i know that there are other questions. the community, the nation has my solemn vow that as information, verified information arrived at through proper technique is available i will answer further questions. this department does not operate off of circumstantial evidence. it does not operate off of circumstantial evidence. i want to be clear about that. but i am also asking for your love and support as you've demonstrated it. i'm asking you to allow the men and women of this department to come together and grieve because they are devastated. i want to personally thank james

it's an act of singular bravery to come before you now 24 hours after the loss of their son, and i want to thank you for the respectful manner in which you have dealt with this, the media, up to this point. so with that i will answer any questions within the constraints that i have laid out. [ inaudible question ] >> this is about nothing. it is unprovoked. it's more troubling to me because as has been reported, michael had a history of mental illness. it's more troubling to me that anyone could stand by so call s callously and watch this unfold. again, whatever your beliefs about policing may be, to observe someone shooting at cin

someone shooting at an ambulance and do nothing? and that brings up a broader issue. anyone who may have been traveling through that area yesterday in a number of other cars that will be providing additional information on who saw this, please, i'm asking you to reach out to us and provide information about these circumstances so we can have a more complete understanding of the circumstances. again, that's my obligation to this community, to bring you the best and most complete understanding possible, and in these two particular instances, i'm asking people who believe that may be their car, go look at your car and see if there's any damage there because you may not have noticed. it's entirely conceivable, and we'd like to have a conversation with you if that's the case. >> the officers this came out to engage, were they aware of what they were running into and did they all come out

district 3 station and -- i mean, did they just hear the gunfire? did they know that there was gunfire? talk a little bit about the roles of those officers who actually engaged -- >> well, police officers run to disorder. they run to the sound of shots. the officers who engaged him, the majority of them were in the district 3 station at the time, and they were being fired at directly. it wasn't shots being fired at a building. it was individuals being fired upon, and then detective colson was arriving in an unmarked vehicle and found himself in the middle of a gunfight, but, again, i want to emphasize it was his actions, heroically stepping out of that vehicle and engaging with the shooter, drawing him and his attention away that allowed these other officers to move forward from a position of advantage and neutralize the threat that the shooter posed and then immediately set about providing

transported to the hospital where he remains in stable condition, expected to survive this confrontation. >> you mentioned circumstantial evidence. [ inaudible ] for instance could you characterize how officer colson came to the scene, how he was dressed, and how he perhaps might have been misidentified in the chaos? >> i have seen this scenario played out on a couple of different recordings, and as detective colson is arriving, he's arriving in -- because as we know he was a detective in the narcotics enforcement division, so he doesn't want to look like a police officer. he arrives in a vehicle that we use for those purposes. he immediately engages with the shooter as he

vehicle. he's dressed in civilian clothes. he's not wearing body armor. he's not prepared for a firefight that he just arrived at but he heroically takes action drawing that fire, and in moving down barlowe road in the direction of 202 allowing our officers to see that motion and move up, they are now in a position of advantage, about you they don't know because of where they were when they began exactly what they're facing, and it is in this confusion we believe that the errant round struck detective colson. again, circumstantially, that's our belief, but until i have forensic evidence to offer, i'm not going to draw any conclusions about which officer may have fired that round. [ inaudible question ] >> reporter: the video does appear to show that the assailant had a handgun. there were no long guns involved? >> michael had a handgun. [ inaudible question ]

[ inaudible question ] >> the shooting had begun and after a volley and a reload he arrived shortly thereafter. now it's an engaged with officers behind cover and they're trying to get to a position to return fire. i want to talk about the restraint of the prince george's county police officers in this. they're not panicking. they're collected in their thinking. they're moving from cover to cover and they're looking for a clear threat. er in not shooting randomly and they are cognizant of the fact there are residences behind them and traffic on they,ñóoadway a they are engaging the shooter. >> can you explain some -- [ inaudible ]. >> there you have it, police chief henry stat win ski lwinskt gut wrenching moments at palmer park yesterday. he's surrounded by two families, the family of officer jacai colson and the police family, both in immense pain today and

unprovoked. 21 charges from conspiracy to second-degree murder will be filed against three brothers, the ford brothers. elijah, malik, and the gunman alleged by police, michael ford, all from prince george's county. >> you can imagine as the chief said, everyone there today devastated as detective jacai colson was hit by what we call friendly fir e.

today our coolest day in eight days. we've been trapped in the 50s under the clouds and with sop damp conditions, morning hours, and now out there right now we have some drizzle. . we're talking about some even pockets of light fog, areas along i-95 in east baltimore down through areas of fredericksburg. 50 degrees for the morning rush tomorrow. so our temperatures aren't going to drop much but we expect more rain to move in. let me show you what we're tracking.

showers around northern portions of baltimore county. look at all this rain coming into areas of west virginia. thunderstorms, in fact, here, but i think that this batch of storms will lose some of its punch as it moves eastward. expected to arrive in our area by 11:00 p.m. to midnight. let me show you the future weather. we're we are at 7:00 this evening. watching as it makes its way eastward. by the time we get to the early morning hours for your morning rush, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 a.m. there will be some occasional showers moving through. doesn't look like anything too heavy, mainly light. there's a chance for a little late-day sunshine. so that's the change. first change you'll notice is when we've got more wet weather moving in from the upper 40s, low 50s. we'll move also into the 60s tomorrow afternoon. we're being just a little optimistic here. looking at late-day sunshine. first thing out the door, not going to need the sunglasses, but the rain coat, the umbrella, maybe a hat to keep the rain off up until

tomorrow afternoon into the mid and upper 60s we'll go. fredericksburg 67. 63 in laplata, 66 in gaithersburg. then for wednesday with more warm conditions across our area, look at this. this is the morning fog. 5:00 a.m. it will be rather widespread and i think rather dense. it could lead to some delays. so for tomorrow, again, quite a bit in the way of cloud cover, also midweek with temperatures going into the mid-60s tomorrow. low 70s on wednesday. lauryn has more coming up, lauryn ricketts, on the warmth and what you can expect hour by hour for st. patrick's day. thanks, v.j. off the tracks. a terrifying ride for amtrak passengers, and for some the last stop was at the hospital. >> reporter: an amazing find here along the potomac river. i'm mark segraves and we'll show you the discovery that ha't snb

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when i heard 75 years, that was just thank god, thank god. he can't do this to anybody else. can't hurt anybody else. we're all safe. >> a woodbridge mother reacting to the sentencing of the man who killed her teenage son. >> murder happened just off of school grounds and the killer got a stiff sentence. northern virginia bureau chief julie carey joins us live from the courthouse with reaction. jules? >> reporter: well, there was extra security in the courtroom today as emotions were running high on both sides. the judge's 75-year sentence brought smiles and hugs for the victim's family, shouts and sobs on the other side of the aisle. they came to court, their cars painted with justice for brenden signs. they left, their goal fulfilled. >> justice for brenden. >> justice for brenden. >> the 16-year-old was shot to death in november of 2014 on a path called the cut that leads from woodbridge high school. the triggerman,

kawain smalls. he had never met wilson but wanted to avenge a confrontation between wilson and smalls' brother. smalls' teenage sister lured wilson in the woods saying she wanted to buy marijuana. this was part of smalls' confession. >> i don't feel like people deserve to die, but if you were to ask me if he deserved it to get robbed or even shot, just shot, i would say yes. >> reporter: today his mother turned directly to her son's killer confronting him. >> i wanted him to know that i don't understand after shooting him seven times how he could possibly in arm's reach put that gun to my son's face and pull that trigger. how do you do that? >> caller: vicky wilson also told smalls and the judge she is tortured by the same image each night as she tries to fall asleep. >> i see my son laying there on the ground in the cold all by himself,ob

him and hold him, and that's why i wanted so bad. >> reporter: the judge gave the victims and prosecutors who they sought, 50 years behind bars with 25 years more suspended. smalls' mother later helped out of court by family repeatedly shouted no, sobbing, collapsed to the courtroom floor. wilson's family broke into tears of joy embracing one another. now, today marks the first time that brenden wilson's sister has been able to face coming to court. ahead at 6:00, how she found the courage to address her brother's killer. back to you in the studio. >> julie carey. new video showing how intense it was as crews were trying to battle a townhouse fire early this morning in montgomery county. eight firefighters injured, three families now burned out of their house. news4's meagan fitzgerald reports from germantown. >> we woke up around 1:00 to the fire alarm going off. >> it's just

>> reporter: this is what's left of a town home on churubusco lane in jerriman town after a massive fire ripped through. >> immediately we ran around and woke up everybody to get everyone out of the house. >> reporter: meanwhile, firefighters ran in trying to extinguish the flames until the walls started to collapse trapping eight of them inside. >> there was a significant risk of what occurred there, and the apparent injuries are very lucky. >> reporter: the firefighters were transported with nonlife threatening injuries and fire officials say no one else was hurt, but now some 20 residents are left without a home. >> they're talking anywhere from four to six months possibly before we can go back in. >> it's tough to lose everything. >> reporter: it's certainly devastating for many of the neighbors who lost so much, but they're grateful that they didn't lose their lives. >> pick things up and keep going. that's all you can do. >> reporter: meagan fitzgerald, news4. today there's confirmation

killed early friday morning at his lorton, virginia, home. according to the medical examiner's report, johan de leede died of gunshot wounds to his chest, and it is, indeed, a case of murder. de leede was found in the backyard and died later at the hospital. police are still searching for a suspect and a motive in this case. today marks the first time -- or the time of year when math geeks and pastry lovers get to unite. march 14th, also known as pi day, brought together some pizza lovers. this columbia heights shop was transformed in a pop-up vegas style wedding chapel with couples tying+,hd the knot and celebrating with pizza pies. a number of places have pi day specials. check them out on our nbc washington app by searching pi day. now we're hungry. we cannot help agreeing that

was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door. i got to read poetry on the news. those are words from "the raven" by edgar allan poe. here in the district we haven't seen a raven for more than 100 years until now. a biologist spotted two of the majestic birds nesting a i long the potomac. news4's mark segraves broke the news on twitter and explains why biologists are so excited about this discovery. >> we have about 240 different species every year. >> reporter: most of those species are fairly comment but last year they discovered nesting bald eagles. and last week they made an even bigger discovery, something that hasn't been seen in d.c. in more than 100 years. nesting ravens. >> we didn't have eagles breeding in the district for 50 years and when it comes to ravens, over 100. two

last few years. >> reporter: the male and female ravens are nesting in this bridge. >> she's doing the incubating and he's the lookout and provider. >> reporter: dan with the d.c. department of environment has been keeping a close eye on the ravens and captured these photos. >> very important to know what you have here. it's a good barometer for environmental health. also a good barometer for the health of those species. >> reporter: while environmentalists are excited about this discovery, they want to keep it a bit of a secret. that's why we're not disclosing the exact location of this nest. they say this is a critical time for the birds, and they want them to have some privacy. >> they need that space because it is a critical time. when she's incubating the egg and just after they hatch as well. >> reporter: the ravens could have as many as seven eggs in this nest. there should be baby ravens calling d.c. home in about three weeks. along the potomac river in the district, mark segraves, news4. well,

>> an amtrak train flips off the track. up next, hear a witness account and learn what may have caused this accident. and then news4 on 6:00, the i-team uncovering complaints at a local

a man is facing charges tonight for killing a dog and injuring several others competing in the iditarod. police say 24-year-old adam admitted to drinking heavily before the attack saturday morning. two sled crews say he ran over several dogs with a snowmobile. this dog, nash, was killed. the man said he didn't mean to carry out the attack. he's charged with assault and criminal mischief. sarah palin's husband todd is expected to recover after a snowmobile accident in alaska. palin is currently recovering in the intensive care unit of the

hospital. he is an experienced snowmobiler and he has competed in alaska's iron dog snowmobile race. sarah palin is campaigning with donald trump in florida this evening. she said the accident puts things in perspective. federal investigators are working to figure out what caused an amtrak train to derail in kansas sending dozens to the hospital. >> those cars went off the tracks after midnight while so many passengers were sleeping. nbc reports from the scene with eyewitness accounts. >> reporter: seven amtrak cars derailed this morning, five of them tipped over as you can see behind me. you can take a look and see all of those tipped over, about 30 people were taken to area hospitals here in kansas. more than 140 people were on board. 128 passengers and 14 crew members. we spoke to numerous passengers this morning. some described the moment the train derailed as unforgettable. one passenger says he and his girlfriend were on one of the ve

say they were startled. >> basically just shook a lot and tipped over and it just slid. i basically slid onto my feet somehow. >> it was bone-chilling, it really was. first at the first moment we thought the hydraulics, thought maybe a little bump. once we heard the shouts, we knew there was something wrong. >> reporter: it's unsure how long it will take to get things back on track but it will probably take some time. shardaa gray, nbc news. news4 at 6:00 begins with breaking news. now at 6:00, new evidence just released is giving us a much better idea of what happened when a prince george's county police officer was ambushed and killed on the job. tonight three brothers are facing charges accused of recording the shooting as it happened. and the police chief is demanding justice. >> they knew in advance, they had every opportunity to call 911. they had every opportunity to seek medical help.

this community needs to know that this was callously recorded and could have been prevented. >> now, we're being told the officer died as a result of friendly fire. >> it's just one of the revelations from a press conference that wrapped up just a few minutes ago. tonight we have team coverage of the investigation and the emotional response from the chief. >> let's start with tracee wilkins. she's live from palmer park. tracee? >> reporter: the police chief is calling the officer who was killed in this exchange of gunfire a hero. he said had he not run from his vehicle and put himself into the position he was in, officers wouldn't have been able to shoot and take down the gunman who they said fired several rounds not just at the police station but also at people who were driving by. in fact, the police chief is asking if anyone in the public came down barlowe road yesterday, yesterday afternoon and possibly had their vehicle shot, they want to hear from them. it was one of many details that came out of this very bizarre information