familiar scene. scattered glass outside of re 7-eleven sto targeted by thieves trying to take off wit an atm. we're comparing the crimes as police investigate this g' mornin latest case. caught on camera. a fire ball meteor in virginia. why the light show is not over forur area. and we are watching some storms developing for friday it is a weather alert day. a big spread inpe temtures today and maybe a few sprinkles. we'll talk about the weekend forecast coming up. >> announcer: "news4 midday" starts now.

good morning. and welcome to "news4 midday." i'm erika gonzalez. >> and i'm pat lawson muse. developing right now, woman is dead after a gas pump went up in flames. >> at 21st and benning road in northeast. the investigation shutting down the road for hours this morning. >> drew wilder has been on the scene all morning. he joins us now le with the latest information on this crazy case. drew? >> reporter: pat, erika, good morning. this is a strange one. and while we don't have any new information from police right now, we do have a much bt ter lookat happened here early this aorning. takeook at your screen right now and we'll show you what happened here and just how badly this gas pump is burned up. now we're not going to show you butly tell that you on the ground near the pump was very bldy earlier this morning and we know that d.c. fire and ems got the call for fire shortly after 5:30 and got the fire out quickly and found the adult woman dead. mayor hadn perso on the scene

andomicide officers and mpd towed a car away parked nearby. now there was a representative with mobile on the scene. and we asked him for a comment but he didn't want to provide any information. we're still looking for information and bring that to you just as soon as we learn anything new. livenortheast d.c., drew wilder, nbc4. >> thank you. prince george's couy fire investigators say a cigarette caused a fire to rip through this home in beltsville. chopper4 giving us a look at the early-morning scene in the 4600 block of naples officials say when they arrivas the fire w showing through the roof and you could see the flames on the screen. it took firefighters half an hour to knock out the flames. thankfully no injures have been reported. brand-new details on the massive notre dame fire in paris. the rector said it will be closed for five to six years. france's president wants to see notre da restored by 2024.

that is when paris will host thu er olympic games. thisning the french prime minister alsoor m announced an international competition of architects to rebuild the spire of the cathedral. the purpose of the compeotion is t rebuild it, adapt it to modern day techniques and challenges. nearly a billion dollars has been donated toward reconstruction efforts coming in thur next half ho, more on the damage inside and the people impacted by the fire. now we switch gearso our weather. much milder start to our day. >> layn, are we getting any rain out there today? >> listen, i was thinking sprinkles but i backe o off that through the morning as new information came i and i think the window for any light rain showers has passed us at this point. not to say thereld coun't be a drop or two in maryland. but for the most part we're staying d. and it is pretty interesting, here in d.c. we're up to 65 degrees. we have these northeast winds at about 9 miles per hour. they were out of the south all this morning.

so with that northeast wind it is telling me that that front has pushe through the area. and you could actually see that front a little bit here on the current temperatures. winchester up through hagerstown and frederick in the 60s. but lou r down through culpepper and fredericksburg to 60s around 70.ro so the fal system is moving through the area, bisecting our area. north of the front,ud clo areas south of the front a little bit more sunshine but eventually that cloud cover will move from the north to the solh. we willl have an increase in cloud cover out there today. and then increasing humidity and temperatures tomorrow. feeling like summer tomorrow. we'll talk about those temperatures and we'll tal about the threat of severe weather as you make your travel plans for friday right before the holiday weekend. the timing of that comin up in 20 minutes. >> lauryn, thank you so much. developing this morning, montgomery county police are searching for the gunman involved in a deadly shooting that sent four people to the

gespital in antown. one person died. and three others were hurt, including a teenager. police received severalls cal about shots fired last night on curry powder lane. this isn't far from clopper elementary school. this is a quiet, residential area and backed up to a park. chopper4 over the scene as detectives were therein colle evidence. police say it appears everybody involved knew each other. >> this incident occurred in the parking lot area. we do t not, ats time, believe it to be a random event. the suspects fled the scene and we're asking theublic if anyone saw anything to please give us a call and let us know. >> police have not released a suspect description or a motive for the shooting. well, this is becoming an all too familcene in our region. smashed out windows tell the story. >> stop me if you heard this before. a vehicle crashed through the

front of a store of a 7-eleven and a group steals the atm aul occasions. >> justin finch joins us from the latest scene i mt. rainier, justin? >> reporter: good morning, pat. behind us here yet another scene here. this 7-eleven store is now closed. business for today is be a bust as well and, yes, another atm is gone and now a series of 7-eleven atm smash-and-grab here in prince george's county. this latest win just after 4:00 a.m. herin mt. rainier and police are working to figure out who is behind it. an overnight mess. another atm in prince george's coty targeting and now taken. with it more than a third of this 7-eleven storeront. if this sounds somewhat familiar, it should. there have been a series of atms targeting in smash-and-grabs. last week at a 7-eleven on

watkins park drive in upper marlboro but they didn'tha get e atm time. then the wee bore another 7-eleven atm robbery on edgewood drive in colge park. and two weeks before that, march 13th,ve a 7-elen on fins lane in lanham. thieves did make off with the atm in this case. there is a pattern here. all of these hits are taking place on wednesdays and in prince george's county and involv trucks and smashing in to grab atms. clues that could lead to police to the same people in all of the cases. across the street, though, perhapsad a le. >> maybe the car number is coming -- >> reporter: the d.c. mini mart and deli owner said his cameras are aimed toward that 7-eleven and may have caught the crime in progress. he said police will t reviewt footage and see if they could draw any leads. and sour if thatillance video pulls through and perhaps ies between ilar this 7-eleven smash-and-grab and

others before, perhaps police could build a timeline and also some consistency throughout the cases and maybe figure out wd is behinll of this. we do right now have some calls into mt. rainier police and getg you updates as we them. live in mt. rainier, justin finch, nbc4. back to you. >> thank you. road repairs that started this week could require crews to temporarily shut down a busy highway in fairfax county. we're talking about route 50 near fair oaks mall. an underground pipe that cares has become corroded and part of the road is sagging. wtop report v-dot may closed all lanes o route 50 in th area to install a pmanent replacement pipe and that work could start as early as next friday night. v-dot is looking into ways to make repair work safer for crews and for drivers. starting this summer, it will deploy rble strips to work zones on two-lane roads during

the day. the sound -- the rumble sound should give crews a heads up about oncoming vehicles and give drivers another signal to slow down. accidents in work zones last year left more than 1200 injured, 9 people dead and including some drivers. we want to get you right to new video into the newsroom overnight showing possible meteor sightings. looko e right of your screen. now a viewer said their nephew was doing some astro photography aptured this just before 11:00 last night. do you see it in the far corner. and now look to the left of the screen. viewer steve's dash cam caught this glimpse as he drove along route 50 heading east from dulles. do you see tt. it almost looks green. airport officials -- at 1ht00 last nig it was probably not part of the meteor shower which lasts throu april 28th and it will peak on monday the 23rd before giving cou anothernce to see the light show but a very

cool sighting there. >> cool, indeed. several school districts in colorado today are shut down. police are still lookingor f an 18-year-old woman who they say is a threat to the safety of students. coming up, more on her behavior andhat authorities a doing to find her. [ cheering and applause ] and a presidential hopeful is making several stops in our area today. who president trump said he is who president trump said he is most lat redfin, we chargeision you a 1% listing fee.

and because redfin.com is america's #1 brokerage site our agents get more ey on your home so you sell for thousands more than the one next door. don't get stuck in the past. sell with a redfin agent columbine high and other schools across denver arelosed today. the fbi is searching for a student who they say made somei credle threats against the community. they say she'seen infatuated what the columbine massacre and ly armed and extre dangerous. john fryer is in littleton with the latest on the massive search. >> reporter: this morning n

communities i the denver area are on edge. authorities on the hunt asking everyone to be on the lookout for 18-year-old sol pais. >> this is become a massive manhunt. >> reporter: the fbi said ovnight they consider h to be a credible threat to the community and potentially to schools pointing to past comments and recent actions. >> she's expressed annin fat -- an infatuation with columbine. >> she was able to buy a pump-action shotgun and rrammunition aing in colorado on monday. student safety is the top priority as more than a dozen public school districts keep doors closed today. >> we take this threateriously today. >> reporter:ut concerns abo pais a to lockouts at nearly hundred schools and including columbine high, days before the anniversary of the mass shooting at columbine that killed 12 students and a teacher. >> these threats have ramped up over the past couple of weeks just as we get closer tthe

columbine 20th anniversary. >> reporter: authorities say there has been no threat made against a specific sool. today more than half a million students in the denver area are not going to class. joe fryer, nbc news, littleton, colorado. back here at home, the coast guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling guns and making a hit lis of top democrats and journalists wants out of federal custody. in februaryd a judge sai prosecutors had two weeks to charge christopher hassan with terror offenses. well that has not happened. hassans a attorneys say prosecutors don't expect to seek any charges beyond ones for fiarms and drugs. so they want his bail to beed review. hassan remains on active duty until the case against him is resolved. right now the white house is gearing up before special counsel robert mueller report is made public. william barreneral plans to release a redacted version of the report tomorrow.

here i ns4's tracie potts. >> reporter: there is growing fear at the white house. >> one person described it to us anxiety. wn level >> reporter: more than a dozen current and former white house staffers tell nbc they're worried tomorrow's report wadl reike a tell-all nol. >> we never did anything wrong. >> reporter: exposing testimony on what the president did and said behind closed doors. >> even if he doesn't call out staffers by name on the obstruction issues, it won't take sherlock holmes to figure out in some cases if there is a one-on-o exchange with the president who the staffner question was that cooperated with bob mueller. >> reporter: how might president trump react to testimony from former white e house counsel don mcgahn. >> he was interviewed for hours and hours by mueller and there when james comey was red. >> reporter: robert mueller found no collusion with russia, and with mixed evidence, the attorney generalecided not to prosecute the president on obstruction of justice.

f he can't indict, he'll try to embarrass and harass. >> reporter: the witnesses attorneys have beeng askin justice department if they'll be identified. the department won't say. and these witnesses really didn't have mh of a choice. they were told to speak to the special counsel. they're only option, tell the truth, or face a perjury charge. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. now to decision 2020. candidate beto o'rourke is visiting the commonwealth and he's making stops today in northern virginia. [ applause ] >> can barely see him but you could hear the cheers from the crowd in fredericksburg. from there, he's going to make stops in dumfries and in alexandria. last night o'rpprke sto at the university of virginia in charlottesville and the crowd was just fil the place. it was packed.

while there, o'rourke encouraged the students to cast ballots in 2020. >> i know tha we can achieve universal guaranteed high quality heahah care, i know t we can rewrite this country's immigration laws in our own image. this isen at this m on all of us, a defining moment of truth and we cannot be found wanting. >> o'rourke also talked about his plans to introduce universal health care, criminal justice reform, and stricter gun control. be sure to stay with nbc4 for coverage of the visit to northern virginia. president trump tweeting his prediction for 2020. writing, quote, i believe it will be crazy bernie sanders versus sleepy joe biden at the two finalists to run against maybe the best economy in the history of our country. he said he looks forward to facing whoever it may be and, quote, may god rest their soul, end quote.

sounding pretty confident. >> yes, he is. three recent deaths of d.c. v.a. medical center patients are raising questions about the hospital, including about how well it follows up on patients after discharge. >> scott mcfarland and the news4 i-team continue the investigation of the flagship medical center of the u.s. department of veterans' affairs. >>eporter: the v.a. medic center has been under pressure for two years to make fixes a aftereport revealed supply shortages and mismanagement. the new management said it stabilized things and made improvements. but a news4 i-tem investigation reveals three recen death that's raise concerns among the employees and families of those patients. including one patient who overdosed and died in the parking lot. but went undiscovered for days. another suffered blood clots hours after a biopsy but the death was unknown by e v.a. for years and a third vet entered the e.r. with mental

health occurrence with panic attacks and he wanted to be admitted and sent home without being followed up on by thsp hoal suicide prevention team. the i-team learned he shot and killed himself in a home in annandale days later. >> that is a veteran that cameo to us f help and we failed. we failed that veteran. we failed that family. and we will -- we have to do better. >> reporter: tonight as part of the full news4 i-team investigation at 5:00, what families say should have been done and what the medical center isoing to prevent any future failes to follow through with patients in the future. scott mcfarland, nbc4 i-team. life-changing. that is how wounded veterans describe the annual cycling event for oldiers recovering from injuries. >> the opening ceremony is happening today in annapolis and yesterday the riders were fitted for bikes. last year about 1200 wounded warriors participated in this national ride to encourage

veterans to push towards their recovery goals. without soldier rider, wounded warrior in general, i won't be where i am today without that camaraderie. >> the team will also make a visit with the president and the first lady at the white house tomorrow morning. and the next few days are expected to be big travel days. coming up, an update on when rain c yld slowou down. and does your car need premium gas? well maybe not. coming up, the easy way to tell and easy way to avoid wasting it's shoe event to score the latest styles for the whole family... ...and something for you. oh yeah. that's yes for less. you heard me - 20 to 60 percent off department store prices! at the ross spring shoe event. on now!

and you find the same style you knoyou saw there... ross .. ere? that's yes for less. yes! say yes to those spring trends you love, at 20 to 60 percent off specialty store prices, every day. at ross. yes for less. this week marked a bigst milee for a few bear cubs in virginia. >> the bears were released back to the wild after being cared for by the wildlife center of virginia for the past year. take a look at some video of the 1-year-old cubs running into the woods for the very first time. the bears were orphaned after being separated from mothers.

shortly after being born las year. this year there were 15 cubs that were cared for by the wildlife center of virginia after they became separated from mothers. happening today on the eastern shores of virginia, the clock is ticking for a rocket launch later this afternoon. the cygnus rocket will take supplies to the international space station. the rocket is set to launch just before 5:00 this afternoon and will dock with the space station sometime on friday. >> lauryn is joining us today. so to me the simplest way to member it was that everything would be kind of free and clear until friday rolled around and that was when we would start talking about some storms. >> absolutely. >> so speaking of. talk to us about storms on friday. >> the thing aboutid fray, it is right before the holiday weekend. so a lot of plans, and a lot of people are out around our area vire in the station, a lot of people are l early and

headed out for their long, extended weekend on friday. and i just want people to note that we are going to have some severe weather. the earlier you could get out on friday, the better. because this is not only going to be a -- our area typ tof thing,s is up and down the eastern seaboard. so this is a widespread system that is going to create some chaos and travel concerns across the area. no travel concerns out there today. maybe sunshine delays but that is about it. and you're getting the sunshine delays if you are south of d.c. now we had a few sprinkles north hr d.c. i think that tt has now ended. tomorrow you want to have a small umbrella for the morning. could have a little drizzle but we'll getunshine in the afternoon. all of the rain gear by friday afternoon. the boots and the ytt, everng because you're going to need it. and then saturday a few showers lingering from that system that will pass through the area on friday night. current temperatures out there, we have a big spread in temperatures. we have 50s to the north and you ll stay in the 60s if you are in maryland. if you are south, look at this,

fredericksburg up to 70 degrees. d.c. will fall somewhere in between. the reason why is we have a frontal system bisecting the area andl clouds wil generally increase throughout the afternoon and through the day. warmer temperares to the south, cooler to the north but we are quiet today. reason, here we go, back door s cold frontweeping through the area so north of the front have the cloud cover and cooler temperatures. areas south of the frontav he more sunshine and also temperatures in the 70s. but eventually these cloudslill spilrom the north to the south throughout the afternoon and into the evening. in fact, we'll all end up cloudy overnight. so here in d.c. today, temperatures right around 70 degrees. again m0s are possible around thea fredericksburg are and in the low to mid-60s if you are north. tomorrow all of lus be in the warm sector because that front th i just showed you, lifting back north through the area in the warm sector, increasing humidity and sunshine through the afternoon. taking a look at your severe thunderstorm risk for fridat

ouf five levels, marginal being number one, the loy -- the lowest risker of sev weather and slight risk is number two and enhanced is number three and then two other above that, moderate and high. nobody iser mode and high but we do have a chance for severe weather into your friday. we'll talk about this timingou t for y and talk about your easter forecast coming up in a little bit. guys. >> thanks, lauryn. we have an update to a story that we first told you about yesterday on midday. a 94-year-old robbed and knocked to the ground. coming up, hear from the woman who says her screams for help went unheard. and take a looat this surveillance video. a woman robbed by a man claiming to be a ride share driver. what happened once this guyfo llowed her inside of her

>> announcer: you're watching

"news4 midday." the cathedral of notre dame has been the subject of countless films photos, paintings over the centuries. but this video has particular point guard -- noinance. it wasshoty a drone before the fire on monday and right now they are searching for the cause of the blaze and learning morewa about what saved and what was lost. craig melvin is in paris with iew video that shows some of the challenges that l ahead. >> reporter: the damage only fully visible from the air. ost of the roof cpletely gone. leaving the bare ribs of the building beneath. had just 30 minutes to save the towers fromhe blaze. battling very close to the flames to save the structure. precious statues sawed away to reduce stress on the northern building.the this is how itooked before tuesday's destructivenferno. one of the most iconic and

well-loved buildings in the world. the cathedral main structure remaining largely in tact and including thoseco ic stone to y youersnd ahe three -- to youers and the three stained windows and the incredible organ all safe. and the priceless relics including the crown of thorns rushed to the louvre to safety. so far roughly a billion dollars has been pledged to help rebuild cathedral. also we can tell you that tonight church bells all over france will rin around the same time that this fire broke out. craig melvin, nbc ne, paris, france. france's president has set an ambitious goal to restore the rathedl 2024, when pas hosts the summer olympic games. craig tells us the public sentiment in france right now is that the project will beis f by then if not before.

developing in the district right now, the search continues this morning for a man who attacked and robbed a 94-year-old woman. she survivedhe attack and now she's telling news4 exactly what happened. >> got my arm and gripped b ind me and said he a gun. and i want yr cash. well i was in shock, really. i screamed, i guess, but at that point nobody could hear me. >> the woman doesn't want to be identified. she said a man attked her as she was walking from the cleveland park metro station in he car late monday night. the man told her that he had had a gun and grabbed her purse. she tried to fight back but that is when police say he injured her hand, pushed herdown, and ran away. the woman tried to get help at a nearby gas staut was turned away. >> you're dripping blood and you can't do anything and you have no money and no way to call anybody and somebody refuses to help you, it is not very kind.

>> a customer at that gas station later called police for the woman. the exxon station on connecticut avenue were the woman said she was turned away has not commented on the situation. a local man hired to keep an eye on children with specialne s is now accused of abusing one of the childn. police say kelly rucker, a prince william county bus resident isus acc of punching a child in the head. the bus driver tamara mcnear is also charged. police say she did t nothingo stop the abuse. both rucker and mcnear will be in court next week. d.c. police say a bethesda woman was robbed by a man claiming to be a ride share driver. this happened a couple ofoeeks agfter a night out with friends on u street. the man took her back to her building and then followeder h inside. surveillance video shows the man grabbing for her purse inside of the elevator and then forces his

way into her apartment and stole more stuff before running off. the good news here is that the woman was not hurt. check out this footage taken inside of the kennedy center last night. three young adults wer trapped in an elevator about 30 feet below ground, that is d.c. fire and ems on the scene use a specialized hauling device to lift the trapp people out o the elevator shaft. no one was hurt. well here is good news for your upcoming summer trips. amtrak is adding mor express trains from d.c. to new york. the additional stations at 11:00 a.m. on saturday and trips will start may 4th and the additional saturday service was a direct response to customer requests. major safety milestone for vre. the computer rail system is use a brand-new safety system called positive train control. >> and rail systems around the country have been told by the

federal governmenthi to get t system up and running and as transportation reporterda a tuss tells us, it could be all of the difference if a dangerous scenario develops on the rails. >> reporter: this is a significant safety milestone. one t you hopet is never actually needed. >> people are human obviously and make mistakes so this is to catch things that an engineer may not catch. >> reporter: for example, going too fast around a curve orwo trains on the same track, even workers ahead on the tracks. positive train control is the safety to prevent these incidents. doug allen is the head of vre. >> wchh telogy, this system will override and slow trains down or stop trains as necessary. >> reporter: when you think of vre, you might not think of commuter rail systems but it is. it is the 12th largest rail system in the entireou cntry. about 4.5 million trips per year

here inur area. and now a new safety layer built into the ride. in alexandria, adam tuss, nbc4. from the rails to the roads. if you want to save money on gas, the common mistake that many of us make. and in the u.s., somebody is rushed to the emergency room every three minutes because of a food allergy. coming up, the steps maryland colleges are taking to be ready colleges are taking to be ready for that d an

locally-owned novec has the mostble power in the region. and we all know how important being reable is. novec multiple renewable sourc. groovy man and will soon include even more solar. yeah! and novec offers convenient 24/7 online services. i just paid my electric bill. novec. power you can trust.

remember the way we used to do things? hey man...

like connect with friends? g it! or get in shape? or sell a house and pay a real estate agent a big commission. [crash] at redfin, we charge you a 1% listing fee. and because redfin.com is america's #1 brokerage site ou you sell forore eyes thousands more than the one next door. don't get stuck in the past. sell with a redfin agent.

. . ♪ we're live in five, four, three, two, one. ♪ ♪ >> it is m theovie behind thefo epic perance at coachella. you're a little sleep deprived this morning. >> yeah. this