it home from their christmas vacation. as always, you can track when the wintry weather will arrive in your neighborhood with the up-to-the-minute weather forecast. breaking news in prince gorges county. >> let's get to chris lawrence at the live desk. >> aaron and susan, police are investigating a homicide in largo. investigators say they found a man shot to death inside the vehicle you're seeing right there. an officer was patrolling the area when he found the man around 9:00 or 10:00 last night. that tan suv was discovered in the area of capital lane and capital court. to put that in perspective, it's near the largo kettering branch library and the rising chance day care center. we're working to find out who the victim is and if detectives have been able to determine why he was killed. we'll, of course, update you as soon as we learn more. back to you. chris, thank you. a mother in prince gorges county says she was just trying to protect her children when she went to confront a p

several times outside her langley park apartment on christmas night. the last time she and her husband took action. >> i have girls in my house and i have people i have to protect in my house so i went outside with my knife and i told him not to move and if he did move, i would hurt him. >> she helped her husband detain the man until police got there. turns out they didn't have enough information to arrest the guy at that moment. the mother says she told her neighbors to look out for anything suspicious. patrol officers in that area are also on guard. we first told you about the bus crash in mexico last week that left several members of one local family dead. today at 12:30 services will be held for anna behar and her 11-year-old son david behar. daniel's grandmother was also killed in the crash last tuesday. the family was on a cruise vacation and made a stop in mexico. they were headed to the mayan ruins when their t

crashed and flipped over. anna's husband moises and their son david were injured. a total of 12 people were killed in that crash. how could you feel -- how would you feel about -- after spending four hours on a plane only to be sent right back to the airport? that's exactly what happened to passengers of a tokyo bound flight last night. lax airport police were told to be ready for the flight's return after the crew discovered there was an unauthorized person on board. chrissie teaghan and her husband john legend were on that flight. she tweeted for hours about the ordeal as she is prone to do. the couple is on a different flight right now. she's pregnant, too. uncomfortable. >> she's got the pass for that. >> definitely. covering decision 2017 now, a drawing in a closely watched virginia race is delayed. state election officials were set to literally draw names from a bowl today after a ruling last week

simmons and jantzy a tie. lawyers wanted them to reconsider the race. if she wins it will split control of virginia's house 50-50. we're also following another close virginia house race. democrat joshua cole lost to republican bob thomas by 73 votes in his stafford district. our news partners at wtop tloort cole will not contest the election result. instead, cole said he will continue to support a federal lawsuit seeking an all new election because some voters in that district received the wrong ballot. 4:33. today we'll learn who the associated press male athlete of the year is. female athlete of the year, one of our favorite local swimmers. bethesda's katie ledecky received that honor. she finished ahead of serena williams. ledec t

world championships. last year she finished second to u.s.a. gymnast simone biles in this particular pole. doing incredible things in the pool. >> she's awesome. love her. ledecky is the first washington area star to ever win the women's award. 4:34. get another look at the roads with wtop's rob stallworth in a minute. >> first, chuck, we are in the weather alert mode this morning. maybe a little bit of snow in some places. >> don't plan on worrying what you're going to name the snow man because this is not going to be an inch of snow. >> not by any means. if flakes are falling, the roads can be slick. >> if you are getting ready to stand at the bus stop, whatever you have going on, make sure you are bundled up if you are going to be hitting the pavement going for a jog. frederick county, that's where they have the greatest chance r

temperatures in the upper 20s even by noon thermal layers are a must. it's going to be cold out there. temperatures today only peeking in the upper 20s, low 30s for a lot of us. by this afternoon we do hit some sun out there. i think it's going to hit our morale. it will be downright freezing. >> four things you need to know about for the next couple of days around here. really, the big story is not only that it's cold now but the persistence of cold all the way through the remainder of the year and into early next week as well. we're watching those flurries here early this morning. later today as the sun comes back it will turn very breezy as well. windy and cold for your evening plans. cold sticks around all the way through the weekend and snow lovers like me with the cold in place all we need is a little moisture, but no big storms in sight. a couple of chances for light snow and flurries. that's really just about it. today and tomorrow, it's all about the cold and the breeze. check out the ten day forecast coming up in a few more minutes. for now go over to rob

>> good morning, folks. good morning, all. hope all is well this day. if you're traveling in alexandria, southbound route 1 after the beltway south of huntington avenue, we do have a crash blocking all southbound lanes. northbound lanes remain unaffected. no problems on the capitol beltway through maryland and virginia. things are looking pretty smooth there. travel on the baltimore washington parkway southbound as you leave bwi headed towards the district all lanes are, indeed, available. live from the wtop traffic center i'm rob stallworth. back to you. 4:36. startling new details in the murder of a restin couple who was murdered at the hands of their daughter's boyfriend. the motive police may have uncovered. call them bad vibes. why some homeowners say metro trains are causing things to fly

another look at the roads this morning on this storm 2450e78 weather alert day. adam tuss headed through and into montgomery county to keep an eye on any snow that may fal

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county police dispatch calls from the triple shooting that left two people dead. the victim's daughter called 911 on friday to report the crime. caller advising her mother and father were shot. >> radio conversations between police also reveal shots were fired after officers arrived on the scene. police found three people shot on the second floor of the home on black fur court in restin. scott and his wife buckley died. the accused gunman is 17 years old. he is in the hospital with life threatening injuries. he is expected to be charged but his name has not been released. one of the victims' mother told news 4 the couple recently became concerned their daughter's boyfriend was a neonazi. four ohio teenagers are now facing murder charges for allegedly throwing a sand bag off an over pass. 22-year-old marquise byrd was seriously hurt when the sand bag

crashed through the car he was riding in. he died on friday. the four boys facing murder charges are 13 and 14 years old. back in october another group of teens killed a man fwi throwing rocks off an over pass on that same highway that also runs through parts of michigan. if you're trying to figure out the new tax law, you're not alone. whether you should prepay some of next year's taxes and the counties already allowing it. it's one of the things our area is known for. bad traffic. why a new study says drivers will have to get used to it. hopefully the drive to work isn't too bad for you this morning on this storm team 4 weather alert day. >> under weather alert expecting a chance for lighter snow in some of the counties like frederick, loudoun, howard county. 32 degrees stepping outside. a look at your headlines shows that winter weather advisory is in effect until 11:00 a.m. might get some slick spots to take caution. as we head throughout the day, we are seeing improving conditi

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good morning, i'm storm team 4 meteorologist. this morning a winter weather viesz advisory has been listed until 11:00 a.m. a light band of rain showers pushing through this area. it will cause an issue on the roads. chuck has a look at the day ahead. she protected kids trying to get to and from school. it turns out she's the one who needed protection. the area crossing guard recovering after a hit and run and the key piece of evidence that could help find the driver. and majoring in marijuana? the school now allowing students to prepare for a career in cannabus. 16 before the hour right now. >> i can hear my kids going, what

okay. in just a few days the new gop tax law goes into effect and a lot of americans still have questions. >> they do. news 4's edward lawrence is live for us on capitol hill to help break it all down. edward, let's start with our paychecks. what should we expect in the new year? >> reporter: susan, the vast majority of us could see a tax decrease. less taxes being taken out of our paycheck. for that reason, actually, many folks are going to try to push off some bonuses and whatnot until january of next year to take advantage of the lower percentages. let's talk about donations just for a quick second here. charitable donations will be removed basically out of the tax code next year so many tax professionals are saying get those extra donations in this year in terms of money or items in order to get that donation. also some other deductions, tax preparation deductions. the employee costs that are not reimbursed from employers as well as some other fees will not be allowed to be

year. take those deductions if at all possible this year. >> edward, want to ask you about one other thing. before the president left for his christmas vacation to florida, he mentioned an infrastructure plan. what do we know about that? any timetable when we could see something? >> no timetable. the president wants to get it done quickly. we know he's probably started working on it as we speak down in florida, but when he gets back here he is expected to try and reach out to the democrats and see if they'll come on board with an infrastructure plan. he does want to get this done quickly now that he has the tax win under his belt trying to get momentum. the president believes it will be easy to pass an infrastructure rebuilding plan. >> edward lawrence live for us on the hill. edward, thank you. 14 now before the hour. the new gop tax plan will affect property taxes and because of that montgomery county is allowing homeowners to prepay their 2018 property taxes before the new year. that law caps deductions for state, local, and

taxes at $10,000. the hope here is that some taxpayers will be able to deduct more by paying in advance. there's no guarantee though. >> they made that quite clear today. the irs has not made that decision. >> in the face of that, you're ready to -- >> to pay it anyway. i'd like to have the opportunity to find out later perhaps it wasn't allowed but at least i will have been given the opportunity to make the deduction. >> now montgomery county is not the only place letting people prepay their 2018 taxes. take a look at this picture from wtop. it shows a line of people trying to prepay yesterday in fairfax county. they have allowed prepayments for a decade now. dc and howard county are giving people the option here. breaking news yesterday morning, prince gorges county are saying a homeowner shot and killed a man outside of his home on flago parkway. police do not believe the homeowner knew the man he shot. detectives arevi

deadly shooting was caught on camera. sources tell news 4 that at this point the shooting appears to be justified. this morning police are looking for clues to what caused a fiery crash in la plata that left three people dead there. the accident happened early yesterday morning. 23-year-old eric la not lost control and the car burst into flames. moss was killed along with a few other people who police still have yet to identify. they are talking to moss's family to try to figure out who the passengers were. police say moss lived not too far away from the crash scene. she puts her body on the line to protect children every day. now a west education campus crossing guard is recovering from serious injuries after a hit and run. one week ago today someone hit juwan thompson. news 4's shamari stone are still looking for the

according to the police report, the driver who hit juwan slowed down and kept going. they're looking for a blue car, possibly a honda. tiffany johnson, a mother and west education campus employee. >> we as a west community are just heart breaken that someone who literally protects our children every day was injured and that no one has come forward. >> juwan is now at home recovering from a broken neck and pelvis. police don't have any suspects right now. they were able to take in a piece of the car's bumper that fell off. they'll analyze that. anyone with more information is asked to call police. i'm chris lawrence here at the live desk. right now prince george's tony p pplise is happening not far from univesi

avenue. officers looked for the suspect. they think they have left the area, but police are still on the scene right now. they're going to keep an extra presence in that area just to be on the safe side. aaron, back to you. >> chris, thank you. ten minutes before the hour now. those new metro rail cars, they're sleek, they're shiny. >> yeah. >> clean usually, but some say they're also loud, heavy, even shaking homes sometimes. >> it's become such an issue that metro launched a study to figure out what the problem is. so the transit agency admits there are some problems. take a look at the damage. the floors are cracking, the drywall is separating and the pictures have actually fallen off the walls. the new rail cars are built with heavy steel and weigh 2,000 pounds more than their older

one day. one of these fell and broke all to piece. >> is it every day? >> every day. every day. >> in a recent letter metro says none of the increased vibration levels are enough to cause any structural damage. well, good news and bad news for new year's eve metro riders. the good news, metro is staying open late on new year's eve. bad news, the system will close one hour earlier than in previous year. no corporate sponsor to fund the extra service. the late night hours will cost you more. metro will close at 2:00 a.m. on new year's day. double check that but i think that's correct. >> okay. not surprising, but d.c. is not a traffic resilient city when it comes to gridlock. this according to a new study from northeastern university. researchers define resilience as, okay, the ability of road networks to absorb adverse events that fall outside normal daily trc

got that? >> got it. >> we've been dealing with bad traffic for as long as we can all remember. when it comes to handling unexpected situation sz like the one in january 2016, a major blizzard, it gets extremely difficult for drivers to cope. remember this video when even president obama's motorcade was having quite a time navigating the conditions? cleveland and salt lake city are cited as two of the best cities for traffic resilience. >> you would think we'd be used to what we get here. >> no. >> but no. >> and i'm a new englander and i came here and i remember that little one inch of ice. i was thinking, you've got to be kidding. >> what's going on? >> what? >> the trick is, a couple of times we've been surprised essentially by an inch. the problem is, without them having pretreated the roads and a frozen ground. >> correct. >> the minute you crunch over that it turns that one little bit of

now it's only half an inch of packed ice. >> it's the science, the environmental where we live that's the problem. it's not always we don't know what we're doing. it's nature working against us. >> let's not discount that we don't know what we're doing. >> we'd be all right. if people would stop swerving to miss every snowflake. >> the hazards. i don't get the hazard lights on. >> yes, indeed. still watching for a little chance of some snow now. should be a low impact event though. over the last year, let's take a look back through 2017. only had three wet months, may, july and august. that counted for almost 30% of the rain we had this year fell in just those three months with the life share of it have been done. we're more than two inches behind in rainfall this month. cold 32 degrees start to the day.

suburbs for the chance of any little light snow will be north of the d.c. metro area. flurries, staying mostly cloudy through 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. once the sunshine comes out, it will be cold and cloudy and sunny and breezy. grazing through northern parts of metro virginia. light snow right through parts of the panhandle of west virginia up into frederick county, carol county, howard counties there in maryland. so there is a winter weather advisory until 11:00 a.m. for loudoun, howard county. carol county. they may have to pull that down in advance of it. not even looking for as much as an inch of snow. whatever comes down will stick. use caution if you're driving the top end of the 270 corridor and route 7 in leesburg. future weather

not all of this done later on. it turns breezy and it will stay cold, everybody. 44 is an average high. not a single number on there higher than 35 degrees or 36, rather, coming up on friday. so an extended period of cold. another little chance for some light snow late friday night into the first part of saturday. let's go over to wtop now and check on the traffic. >> chuck, i think i'm with you. folks around here just really don't know what to do. in alexandria, southbound route 1 after huntington avenue, we had all southbound lanes blocked just moments ago. it's been contained to the right side of the roadway so stay left southbound route 1 after huntington avenue. so far so good on i-95. no problems being reported there. looking pretty good on 395. live from the traffic center. >> rob, thank you. now to the yearly post holiday rush to the

to know about taking your items back to the stores. remember to keep your tags intact and the original packaging on, especially for electronics. hang on to your receipts. many retailers won't let you return or exchange without them. also, check store policies, folks. some stores have limited return windows or only allow store credit. have your i.d. >> your money is going to go a long way this week shopping, that's for sure. >> still, if you have items on your wish list, some of the best deals are yet to come. both this week and next week are the best time to buy clothing or to cash in your gift cards. and if you want a new tv, just wait until january or the weekend before the super bowl for your best deals. 4:56. right now imagine your son or daughter coming home from college and telling you they are majoring in marijuana. >> nope. >> it is now an option at one university.

the first of many similar programs to come. it's not the list we want to be on the list warning about. why officials say it's not too late to get vaccinated. also following breaking news out of largo this morning. investigators on the scene of a

in news 4 your health this

season but it's also the flu season. the centers for disease control list virginia as one of 12 states with high flu activity. the virginia county of health says flu rates have gone up throughout the state. they're worried about this year's strain of the flu because most vaccines don't prevent it. however, they still recommend that you get that flu shot this year. well, call it a sign of the times. some college students are actually majoring in marijuana. >> as more states legalize the drug, a growing number of college students are turning to the new major to help them prepare for a career in cannibus. they call it medicinal plant chemistry. legal issues prevent students from handling the weed. they will learn everything from gas and liquid chrome atography >> there's a whole lot of study