>> noreen: the sri riff told the post they are optimistic that this is a hoax but not assuming that it is. we have crews on the scene. we have done an interview with general broom, and we will bring you more all throughout the evening. >> mark: live updates at 7:00 and tonight at 11. to a abc 13 special investigation. scrutiny involving our law enforcement appears to be at an all-time high. >> noreen: is all that pressure making our local officers defend to -- afraid defend them selves and the community they are sworn to protect and serve? our valerie bragg is getting frank answers from local law enforcement and joins us now live with this story. >> reporter: noreen, i have been investigating this story for the past six weeks on the conditions to remain anonymous. we asked some of our local law enforcement if all the scrutiny has made them his tight pull the trigger in a deadly situation. some of the answers may shock you. boston police commissioner bill evans talking about an officer-involved shooting in

is always on the news. >> tonight, that criminal is dead, gunned down by police. >> reporter: another day, another officer-involved shooting. since the riots in ferguson, law enforcement is under close watch by the public eye, and it is getting the heads of our local law enforcement. >> police transport. picking a prisoner up. >> reporter: i reached out to police departments across the area and asked them to take in an anonymous survey. i asked if this he fear making national headline it is they ever have to fire their weapon. nearly three out of four officers said yes. i asked if do you, do you feel the fear of making national headline also affect your decision to pull the trigger in a timely manner. more than half of those officers answered with another yes. >> hesitation is what scares you. >> reporter: alexander cleary has spent more than 45 years in law enforcement, and now serves as the director of the piedmont training academy in martintraining academy in martinsville.

officers come through the academy and he trains each one to get ready for the moment the officer may have to pull the trigger. >> that split second, everything goes down. your whole world goes down to a tunnel. and it is just you and them at that point. and -- if you have time to think about all the other stuff, shouldn't have shot. >> reporter: more than 150 local law enforcement officers answered our abc 13 survey. about half of them wrote, they wouldn't be thinking of anything except their training in a deadly situation. the other half are more concerned. one officer admits a suspect has pointed a gun at his partner. >> i thank god the situation worked out like it did. it would be hard for me to live with the fact i let a young officer with a small child die because i hesitated. >> reporter: another officer notes he was in a similar situation. >> when my department cracked under mind i can't pressure to find me guilty before an investigation even started. we didn't shoot when we should have. why we are alive today, i don't

department backing had everything to do with it. >> reporter: we took those concerns to richmond and showed them to the fraternal order of police present kevin carroll. >> reporter: do you think all the national news attention on officer-involved shootings is making some of our law enforcement officers afraid to defend? >> i don't think it is making them afraid to do their job. i think that we hire people of high integrity to be law enforcement officers. i think they may be a little bit more cautious to make sure they are making the right decision. but i don't think they are fearful. >> reporter: but there is at least one thing that can solve the tension between law enforcement and the public. >> we all need to be able to effectively communicate. >> communication is the key. >> reporter: a member of danville's chapter of virginia organizing. her group has dealt in open communication with the danville police department to help ease tension between police and community. >> we are able to sit down and

conversations and come up with solutions of different things that you are community is facing. we have a wonderful relationwe have a wonderful relationship with the chief that we are able to discuss those things that are very tense going on around -- the world today. we are able to sit down and have those genuine conversations to come up with resolutions. >> reporter: there is always going to be crime, and that means a need for law enforcement. every day officers are forced to make split-second decisions. each one officers will have to live with for the rest of their lives. >> i have a man with a knife coming at me and i could have shot and killed him. i felt like, okay, there is a distance here. he got closer and closer i could have legitimately shot him xop have attacked me. he had just stabbed another man and almost killed hill. i didn't shoot and kill him when i had the opportunity. it worked out, and did less than probably 30 days later he killed a police officer.

of course i did. for a long time, i did. >> reporter: alexander cleary tells me through his 45 years of law enforcement experience, it is nothing new. he has been in t in the '60s and '70s and every time it has made law enforcement more accountable. i wanted to get a better understanding of how law enforcement are trained to make those split-second decisions on whether to fire their weapon. i went through the roanoke police academy and stepped into the shoes of an officer in training for a day. you are not going to want to miss it. i got an inside look coming up on abc 13 at 7:00. mark? >> noreen: all right. after seeing valerie's story. what do you think? our facebook poll asks do you think the fear of being the next headline affect local law enforcement? like our abc 13 facebook page and vote.

going to cool down in a hurry with the clear skies and dry air and light wind. right now we are going to take you live into bedford county as we look out over bedford countywe look out over bedford county. most of the snow has melted away and we are also going to be cooling down in danville. right now we are looking live over danville. this view is from near riverside drive. for this evening, by 11:00, many of us will be falling into the 20s, and you can expect lower 20s by tomorrow morning. it will be colder tonight than we have seen the last few nights. coming up later, we will let you know when all of us will enjoy a warming trend and when rain returns. new tonight, we have learned how long a danville park will be closed for construction after it was impacted by a coal ash spill. the park will close on february 29 for construction. improvement scheduled for that park include adding a courtesy dock, building a bathroom, fishing platform and sidewalks. this comes as part of a settlement between the city and duke energy. the park should reopen some time in may. senator mark warner is

replacing justice antonin scalia on the supreme court. warner met with community leaders at cdcc in lynchburg of the state. the main topic of the discussion is how he feels the future economy. but we also asked him about the debate over the president making an appointment to the supreme court. >> but i do find it kind of interesting that many people who say that they are strict believers in the constitution are now kind of -- to make up something about the constitution that says, gosh, the president shouldn't appoint somebody in the last year of their term in office. there is nothing in the constitution that says that. . >> noreen: warner hopes that the president will pick someone more moderate with a record of consensus building to minimize partisan battle and gridlock. a small tax increase may

have a very big impact on businesses in bedford county. how one business owner says cobenefit from a bill that is before the general assembly. this week, we have seen all kinds of weather. so what does that mean for your

advice an cnchburg. bedford county could soon get a boost in tourism funding. >> mark: a bill passed the senate committee on finance to increase the occupancy tax of all the county has to offer. priscilla kaiser spoke with a business owner who relies on tourism and joins us live outside the bedford welcome center. priscilla? >> reporter: it will apply from 5% to 7% and will be for hotels5% to 7% and will be for hotels, motels, boarding houses and camp routes. the 2% rise is expected to give the county $170,000 more a year to market tourism which could

such as the peaks of otter winery which is also home to its own on-site lodging. the owner said he would be pleased to see a tax increase to 7%. >> i mean we paid taxes on sales tax, gas tax. the average american, we are burdened with taxes. people traveling, i mean i would rather see them pay a little more taxes coming from united states versus another state. >> reporter: if bedford county decides to implement the higher occupancy tax, the board will have to have a hearing before the vote. one soup sizer i spoke with today said they considered the tax hike as a sort of favor to surrounding counties who already charge a 7% lodging taxalready charge a 7% lodging tax. another supervisor says as long as the increase comes from those who come from the outside and not on those who live here, he supports the increase.

kaiser, abc 13 news. >> thanks, priscilla. gardening experts, don't be deceived by the spring-like temperatures in the coming days. they tell us the ground is still going be too wet to plant most everything beside cold weather crops. experts say if you try to plan anything else, will most likely rot in wet and cold soil. and bad news for those whose flower and plants bloomed friar our first snowstorm, they aren't expected to come back to life. >> most azaleas haven't bloomed or bloomed fully. i think get good color, but there are going to be some plants that were in particularly warm places that flared out or started to flare out, and that the cold probably ruined those blooms. >> noreen: that is disappoint>> noreen: that is disappointing. gary garn they are says in the next week or two you should be able to plant sweet potatoes, onions, radishes, beets and

>> if you are looking to do

will well, we talked about it being a great weekend for gardening, so i guess you can -- >> noreen: not really -- don't do too much gardening. good to be out. >> george: a good weather to

get ready for the gardening to do later on. >> noreen: rooern you can get the beds ready. >> mark: that's what i am talking about. >> george: more cold weather and likely more snow over the next couple of weeks. likely what you want to hear. >> noreen: yeah. >> george: for tonight. a quick cooldown after sun. set. temperatures fall into the 30s and 20s. and may have frost. the frost will be fairly light. it is going to be colder tomorrow morning. than we have seen the last few morning. most lows around 20 to 25. the weather gets more interesting for next week on sunday and monday. a few small showers are possible. this looks to be mainly light rain. we will keep you updated on this. sunday and monday a few light showers are possible and we will see heavy rain arriving for middle of next week and the question for now is, are we going to see any winter precipitation. is it going to be cold enough when we have this rain in place for us to possibly get some sleet, freezing rain, or snow, an it is still too early to tell right now, but that is the

watching for you. tuesday through thursday. and when you see the seven-day forecast coming up shortly, you will see several days of highs only near 40 with that chance of rain. beautiful sunset right now we are looking toward the peaks of otter. you can see them in the distance. a few high clouds and clear skies. temperature at 41. next hour well down into the 30s. the air is dry and the wind is light. the wind will stay light overnight and not a wind chill to worry about. 40 in martinsville. 42 if you were watching us from over toward farmville. 37 toward virginia tech and blacksburg. when you wake up in the morning, it will be a cold start of the day and temperatures in the 20s. highs tomorrow, and a nice amount of sunshine coming up here friday, and a nudge warmerhere friday, and a nudge warmer, highs in the upper 40s to lower 50s. then for saturday, a stronger south and southwest wind. there are going to be more areas of clouds around for saturday and despite the cloudssaturday and despite the clouds, warmer temperatures and most of us between 60 and 65 coming up for your saturday. for tonight, we are going to

by midnight, all of us will be at or below the freezing mark. amherst falling to 22. appomattox at 23. smith mountain lake, 23. roanoke, 25. toward danville, gretna and south boston. low to mid-20s. your hourly weather tomorrow show a fairly rapid warm-up between 7 and 9. after 9:00, all of us will be above freezing. at noon, 44. upper 40s. not much of a wind tomorrow. the wind we will have will be from the south. light south breeze. around the rest of the the area tomorrow, highs intomorrow, high the upper 40s to lower 50s. lexington watching us from the i-81 area, roanoke, 48. altavista, 51 and brookneal, south boston, lower 50s. quick check on your saturday forecast. looks like a great day to be out in the yard. lower 40s at 9. uner 50s at noon and top out at 63. notice the wind coming from the south and southwest. a few small showers possible for your sunday and monday and then increasing heavier rain. we will have to watch the

monitor that cold air for you for tuesday, wednesday and thursday. if it does get colder, snow will be possible. starting grid for sunday's daytona 500 will be decided tonight. >> mark: tar heels coach ray williams talks about his decision not to use a timeout

seconds and s

drivers for a the cam am duels that set the stage for the daytona 500. dale earnhardt jr. starts second in the first qualifier. >> there is strategy to what the pit crew is going to do and what they want to accomplish. but the driver is out there making choices based on instichingt and what is happening around them. today marks 15 years since the death of dale sr. when he crashed on the last lap of the death 500 in 2001. another classic finish last night in the duke-north carolina game. johnson had a monster effort for the heels. 29 points, 19 rebounds. carolina led by 8 with less than 7 minutes left. allen helped the devils score back. allen led duke with 23 and when ingram finds luke kinnard open in the corner and nails a 3,

15 seconds, carolina had three timeouts, the heels moved on and picked up big in defense. barry's shot blocked and duke hangs on for a thrilling win. blue devils, 74, tar heels, 73. >> i told the kids i should have called a timeout. we didn't get as good awe didn't get as good a shot as i thought we would get. it is what i always believe in and i would say it is my fault. and if i had to do it tomorrow night, i would do the same thing. >> they are good, but our kids were good too. we earned -- we earned a really hard fought win tonight. proud of my guys. and then there was the epic shootout at lynchburg college. the highest scorethe highest scoring game i have ever seen in person. in fact the lynchburg college hornets and maroons playing the highest scorehighest scoring game in division 3 history combining for 316 points.

it was 71-66 at halftime. the maroon's cameron smith poured in 32. lynchburg aj hamilton got the steal and the jam. ford buryford buried eight 3s for the hornets one shy of the school record and austin arnold took over late career high 41 they tie a second in the o-down. >> probably the most exciting game i have ever played in. i had a blast, you know. getting that many shots and running up and down the court that many times. it is hard to beat that. >> a lot of folks had talked about the record, and i had a bunch of coaches -- obviously they will kill us about the defense that we played. and i think coaches think about that piece similar to the offensive side. >> noreen: wow. >> dennis: coach scott is taking alot of rib being the

and hey, he won the game.

tonight at 7:00, the latest on the battle over moving the homes of what some say are historic slave quarters. receiving refugees from war-stricken areas is concern on the minds of some americans. why sheriffs from across the u.s. met in washington d.c. plus, we will have the latest on what is going on at har breaking news tonight. chopper down. the helicopter crashing into the water near pearl harbor. civilians on board. a popular trip for tourists. witnesses say it dropped from the sky. several on board. the heroes jumping into the water. also tonight, donald trump takes aim at pope francis, after the pope suggests trump is not christian. the moment on the pope's plane. and tonight, trump's fiery response. the terror attack in california, and this evening, major developments. the fbi moving in.

find? forced to pay. the hackers locking personal computers, trapping your personal information, your photos. forcing you to pay to get it back. now, a hospital, patients' medical records hacked. and drivers beware tonight. some of the most troubling bridges in america. millions still traveling over them. we've got the list. good evening and we'll get to that feud by donald trump and the pope in just a moment. but we begin tonight with the breaking news, the horrific chopper crash, not far from pearl harbor. the images coming in a short time ago. the chopper with several people onboard, crashing there into the watter off hawaii. the helicopter belonging to a tourist company, a popular flight for tourists. witnesses jumping into the water to save the passengers. the ntsb is investigating at this hour. abc's david kerley tonight on how they all survived this. at least one passenger in