with it on your car. seth called police and they came out to his apartment. >> d.c. police confiscated the weapon and they are still investigating how it ended up at seth's apartment. turns out, it was a top of the line 716, a high caliber semiautomatic rifle that sells for over $2,000. seth got it for free, but he doesn't want to keep it. he just wanted a new tv. now he wants something else. >> i would like to know how this type of mixup could take place. especially with what's going on with these mass shootings. i don't want to be in a situation where this type of weapon can just show up on someone's doorstep accidentally. i would like to see more precautions taken. >> perhaps the scariest part is that the ups driver left this package inset's hallway and no warning label on the

outside of the box about what was inside. now fortunately, seth was home at the time. he heard the knock on the door and brought the package inside. can you imagine what could have happened if that package had been sitting out there for hours and had gotten into the wrong hands? just look, one door down is a place called the dance place. i have seen so many children coming in and out of this building. just imagine if that package had gotten into the wrong hands. derek. >> it's a frightening scenario. kristen, thank you. >> if you have been caught by a red light or speed camera, we are warning you. the state of maryland may get its first stop sign camera. mayor debra has requested the technology because of the frequent violators at a key intersection in the town. andrea mccarren shows us what's happening. >> no wonder there's confusion over what constitutes a stop. if you look at maryland's code,

it doesn't specify whether that means a full second or even longer. according to aaa, all wheels of a vehicle must come to a complete stop. >> it's small. we should know what is a stop. >> in plain view, again and again, cars roll past the stop sign without braking. that despite a nearby speed bump, a warning sign painted on the road, and a reminder that children are at play here. >> 70% of all crashes in this country occur at signal lights. we know that 40% of all traffic fatalities occur at stop signs. more than 200,000 cars pass through. it leads to the park and clara barton national historic site. >> if it makes it safer, it's a good idea. >> i imagine people shouldn't be rolling through.

they do need to stop. but i don't like cameras. >> los angeles put six of the controversial stop sign cameras in place last year, raking in more than $1 million in fines in just the first six months. >> i guess we'll have to get used to them. but motorists are fighting back. and have filed a class action lawsuit because the state of california never authorized the use of stop sign cameras. >> d.c. already has plans to get stop sign cameras. right now, it is determining which vendor will provide the decknology. andrea mccarren, 9news now. >> at least you know, before anything can be done, the state of maryland would have to allow stop sign cameras. surveillance video of an accused child predator.

just how easy it appeared to be. monday, he was caught by police walking with her in a nearby park. police believe he was doing the exact same thing. nearly a month earlier july 9. that's the yellow shirt walking away from the store with an eight-year-old he convinced. than those in the store. >> it's horrible. >> parents were shocked to see that the girls seemed to be

trailing willingly, but complete stranger. >> he didn't put her hands on her, she walks off with him. we teach our kids and she instantly went with him, it scares me. i have a 9-year-old. it's horrible. >> accused of attempting to sexually assault the girl once near a vacant home nearby. she broke away and ran to safety. the home is close to the -- hailed as a hero for acting quickly to find the little girl who went missing from the store when he was working security. >> she seemed very desperate and the only thing coming out of her mouth was, i want my daddy. >> the video from a month earlier, a reminder of how trusting a child can be of a stranger. >> we talked to the children every day and i just don't know why it happens. >> the child is a child and they tend to be trusting of

adults. >> a real lesson here. you can talk to kids again and again about not going off with strangers and the fact is, they trust adults and they do it. amofa told tickettives that that is him in the video. he's essentially admitted to these crimes. he is held without bail. live outside the value village store. scott broom, 9news now. >> somebody willing to take advantage of that innocence. thank you, scott. we have an update now on the bodies of two men found in an arlington apartment. police now investigating the deaths of keith sprigs as homicides. however, investigators still had not released a cause of death. those men's bodies were found yesterday after a friend asked a maintenance man to check up on them. he was homeless, the deaths of the third and fourth homicides in arlington in the past two weeks. >> there is more fallout from the controversy over actor, charlie sheen's high speed d.c. police escort. remember that? the police captain who was

demoted and transferred after the incident last year has filed a $12 million whistle blower lawsuit. hilton burton says he was punished for saying that high speed police escorts for celebrities were a pretty common practice. but that contradicted statements from chief kathy lanier, who said machine escorts -- bruce leshan just talked to officer burton. he's going to have that interview coming up at 6:00. >> a former culpeper, virginia, police officer accused in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman is set to go on trial in january. daniel harmon wright is accused of killing patricia cook in a church parking lot last february. police have said the former officer was responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle when he shot and killed the 54- year-old woman. harmon wright has pleaded not guilty. an annapolis man being held now without bond accused of plotting to kill his wife. police in leesburg, virginia, say wendell tried to hire a

hitman to do the dirty deed, but the plan didn't work out. in fact, it backfired because police say the man he contacted called them instead. the cops then arranged for him. >> there were heavy storms around this morning, but will we see another round tonight? topper is on the terrace where it doesn't look like it right now. >> not so bad right now. a couple sprinkles here and there. most of us get home with a dry commute. let me get home. we'll zoom in, around the immediate metro area, one popped up northwest of fredericksburg. so much like yesterday, a better chance south and east of town. south and southwest of town. now, we'll zoom in around the immediate metro area. going up 270, i think most of us are going to make it home dry. this little better view of that system that is trying to develop out toward manassas and straddling i-66. the only threat will be heavy

rain. temperatures, 88 downtown. 90 in manassas. 91 in leesburg. very, very humid out. temperatures are deceiving. for tonight, early thunderstorm possible, some heavy. more to the south. low 68 to about 76. we will come back. we will talk about what is left of earnesto and talk about a strong cold front heading here on friday. >> all right, topper. investigators in wisconsin have interviewed more than 100 people as try try to piece together a motive for that mass killing outside of milwaukee. the shooter died at the scene and as susan reports, it now turns out he died by his own hand. the suspect in the temple shooting near milwaukee died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head. the fbi says wade michael page turned his gun on himself after a police officer took him down with a shot in the stomach. >> seen the video, it is an amazing shot and thank goodness. >> investigators say they have no evidence that anyone other than page was involved in the

shooting at the sick temple in oak creek on sunday. despite evidence of page's connection to white se supremacysts. they are looking into more than 100 leads. >> the electronic records, his telephone, we are combing through department of transportation traffic videos, neighborhood security videos. >> page's former girlfriend, misty cook, was arrested over the weekend on a weapons charge. but the fbi says there's no sign she had anything to do with the attack. >> six people died in the shooting and four were injured. three of them are still at this hospital in the intensive care unit. one of them is lieutenant, brian murphy, who was shot eight times. the police chief says murphy is improving fast. >> had him sitting up for a period of time. he is progressing amazingly. >> the sick community is preparing for the first funerals on friday. members are asking for answers but without a living suspect,

the fbi says they may never know what was in the shooter's mind. susan, cbs news, milwaukee, wisconsin. >> hundreds gathered in oak creek last night at a vigil for those victims. sky 9 was over a new scare at the new walter reid military medical center complex in bethesda. building 19 was evacuated after someone called in a bomb threat. walter reid put the word out that all appointments were suspended until early afternoon and the campus was put on a code black level of security. they didn't find anything. about 8500 people work over at walter reid. the great falls, virginia, little league team, now just two wins away from the world series. the players face a team from georgia this evening. now this virginia team is coming off a decisive three pitcher no-hitter. against west virginia monday night. great falls takes the field in warner robyns, georgia, later on tonight. >> coming up, 12 straight days

of rain in the philippines turns roads into rivers. >> also ahead, searching for questionable government salaries and bonuses. we'll show you how access to gsa's payroll records, you can have it for yourself. >> but first, vdot takes steps to remove dangerous trees near the sight of a deadly accident. we'll be back.

breaking news in prince georges county right now. fire and ems reporting a major fire in the 6,000 block ofcarington court in chapel oaks. the possibility of people trapped in a home. we will have much more as soon as more information becomes available. >> now to a commuter alert. if you drive the beltway and you use the american legion bridge, there are concerns about more bottlenecks on the bridge once virginia opens some new beltway express lanes. that is because 12 lanes of traffic will be forced to merge into ten lanes over the bridge. maryland transportation officials tell the washington examiner they will wait until a new traffic study is finished before they figure out how to deal with the problem. >> some dangerous trees will soon be removed around great falls, virginia. and this comes in the wake in the death of a driver after a 40-ton decayed oak literally fell over on to his car and killed him. that happened on georgetown

pike, july 17. arborists say 59 other trees are in danger of coming down along six roads. two trees at the corner of georgetown pike and walker road have raised some concerns, but they are not considered to be an imminent danger. they are going to be watched closely in the coming weeks. deadly weather continuing to reek havoc in parts of asia. a powerful typhoon blasted china and days of torrential rains wiped out parts of the philippines. randall pinkston brings us the latest. >> evacuate stranded women and children in flood ravaged manilla. 60% of the capital is under water. with food and drinking water scarce, flood victims are scrambling for relief supplies. 12 days of torrential rain are triggering massive floods. at least 64 people have died and a million people are stranded in flooded homes or

shelters. some residents waded through knee-deep water. many buildings have collapsed. others are barely standing. >> this woman says you just have to be content with how much or how little there is. in eastern china, a typhoon packing 70-mile an hour winds battered shanghai. the storm washed out roads and knocked out power for tens of thousands. nearly 2 million people were evacuated. early damage estimates are topping $3 billion. but that number is expected to rise. randall pinkston, cbs news. >> philippine forecasters expect more before the end of the month. but not around here. right guys? >> well, for some perspective, we have to get to topper shutt who thank you so much for showing up. fantastic to see you, because i don't know the answer. >> well, we actually are looking at what is left of earnesto, first, and we'll talk about, see how humid it is out

here? well, we'll try. preserve your hair. we'll take you down to mexico. these folks got hit hard last night, not so much from rain, but from very, very heavy rains. 5 to 10 inches of rain. that is the problem with storms like this. earnesto never became a power packed hurricane. you can see some flooding, and a little bit of damage in parts of mexico from earnesto. let's go to the satellite picture and put this into motion for you. you can see, they move across the yucatan, losing some definition. kind of go back in the water and hug the coast and go back into land. we'll show you the national hurricane forecast. the good news is, it will keep it a tropical storm as it makes land fall. a little further south of mexico. still some flooding, a good bet in through south central mexico. once it goes back into the pacific, if it makes it, they can track it, it's possible. it will then be named a pacific name if it regenerates in the

pacific basin. that's interesting. doesn't happen too often. live look outside to our live weather cam. 88. dew point 67. almost doable, not too bad. relative humidity 49%. winds out of the south at 11. pressure 29.94 inches of mercury. temperature wise, it doesn't appear that bad. it is humid, a little bit uncomfortable. 89 in great falls. 88 downtown. 89 in college park and 88 also over in bowie. so again, temperatures at the surface, okay, we're in the 80s. cold front on friday. that's really going to focus on that for the next couple of days. isolated storms possible tonight. hot and humid tomorrow. some storms on thursday, yes, but severe storms are possible on friday. we will certainly keep a close eye on that cold front. time frame would be afternoon and evening. just in time for the everyoning rush on friday. tonight, early thunderstorm possible. some heavy, but more to the south again. low temperatures 68 to about

76. winds southwest at 5 to 10. now tomorrow morning, partly cloudy. very warm, almost hot by lunchtime. air quality sneaks into the unhealthy range. that's for sensitive groups. if you have respiratory ailment or very young, you should limit your time outdoors. 72 to 92 tomorrow morning. by afternoon, it's going to be hot. partly cloudy, isolated storms. some could be heavy. high temperatures near 95. winds southwest 5 to 10. all right, next three days, we'll keep code yellow going tomorrow and also on friday. 94 tomorrow. much better chance of widespread severe weather on friday. 89. cleaned up saturday a little bit. made it a green. that's good. maybe some morning showers, less humid. temperatures in the upper 80s. that will seem refreshing. next seven days, we'll keep it in the upper 80s on sunday and even monday, not too bad. we're looking at temperatures around 90. isolated storm monday and tuesday and on wednesday, i think we'll keep wednesday dry with temperatures in the low 90s. so strong cold front on friday.

we're going to monitor that situation. >> i see that saturday moved from showers to just a drop. that's good, right? >> the drops in the morning. >> it's bad. >> coming up, the mars rover curiosity beams back another round of photos from the red planet and they look a tad clearer than the last bunch. up next, the tiny heart pump that could save the lives of small children with serious heart failure.

a new tool for young children suffering from severe heart failure. a brand-new study highlights a device called the berlin heart. he pumps blood through the bodies of young kids who are waiting for heart transplants. to the point where their own hearts could pump blood independently after the device was removed. >> those patients that were enrolled from the study, more than 90% of them survived. >> thousands of children need heart transplants every year and as of right now, their options are limited. >> nasa engineers are examining a fresh set of pictures from mars. the black and white photographs were beamed back to earth after the curiosity rover raised its mast equipped with a camera. the spacecraft is on a two-year mission to determine whether

the red planet was ever capable of sustaining life. nasa is expecting even better views, including a color panorama over the next several days. a final fair well today for two servicemen from the vietnam war. air force lieutenant colonel of phoenix, arizona, and major oto of lakewood, new jersey, were layed to rest at arlington national cemetery. their burial comes on the anniversary of the crash that claimed their lives. the remains were recently identified and returned to the families for burial with full military honors. >> a move is underway to preserve civil war sites in maryland. governor martin o'malley is committing $980,000 to preserve 150-acres of ball grounds. o'malley says the private civil war trust will match the funds for a total of just under $2 million. frederick county is home to the national battlefield and parts of the south mountain state battlefield on the border with

washington county. there will be ceremonies this weekend celebrating the appalachian trail. the two-day event in harper's ferry will mark the 75th anniversary of the trail that stretches from georgia to maine. there will be a parade, some musician, and workshops on everything from hiking to wild flowers. children's activities will be there, too. the appalachian trail covers nearly 2200 miles and completed in 1937. coming up, everybody's favorite animal gets tangled up on a swing set. we'll tell you how it got out. >> this is bruce johnson just off new york avenue. back there, under construction, right here the spanking new park that the mayor and others helped dedicate today. so why are community activists upset with the mayor and others? i'll have that story coming up. but first, we're going to bring out your inner sherlock holmes. how we'll help you get the the

salaries. how it spent your tax dollars.

we have an update on our breaking news in prince georges county where three people have been rescued from a fire in a two story duplex in the 6,000 block ofcarington court. that is in chapel oaks. when the firefighters got there, there was a lot of fire coming out of both floors. three people were inside. cpr had to be performed on one of the victims. all three of the people were taken to the hospital with

critical injuries. now that fire is out. we are still going to stay all over this story. derek. >> over the past few weeks, 9 wants to know sorted out over 13,000 payroll records and identified $30 million in unreported gsa bonuses and $8 million in unexplained overtime. now is your chance to play private detective or perhaps perhaps investigative reporter. we created an online data base. tonight we are opening it to the public. whether you want to know a salary, now you can search it like investigative reporter did to break this story. >> we have more than 13,000gsa payroll records online right now. you can find it at wusa9.com. value down to the check it out category. then, click the gsa data base. you can search by worker name and categories, including duty

city. you can scroll through cities worldwide and click yours. here in washington, we show 130 pages of responses which you can sort by total paycheck, bonuses, award amount, annual leave pay, two types of overtime, staff position, or name. it sorts lowest to highest, so to find the extreme highs, click to the very last page where in washington alone, we find 23 gsa workers making overtime starting at $40,000 a year, going to nearly $112,000 in overtime, and that is one overtime category alone. or you can leave all the fields blank and click search. that brings up all 13,710 records we obtained through the freedom of information act sorted in alphabetical order. you can sort again, this time let's look for total pay. we want highest, so click on the end of file arrow, taking you directly to page 549. the highest numbers start at the bottom of the page.

with this general supply officer earning $279,351. next highest, over $277,000. everyone making more than $200,000 a year. let's sort by bonus award. the data base shows the highest bonus, 79,000, capping off this quarter million salary. and goes on 549 pages. identifying more than 2500 gsa workers owning at least $5,000. we want to push this gsa investigation to the next level. tell us what you find in the gsa data base, e-mail me at tips@wusa9.com. i'm russ, 9news now. >> and we'll be reporting back what you find as we continue. you can track the latest on twitter or on facebook. >> a couple government workers have been using basketball as a way to keep lots of d.c. kids

on the court and out of trouble. bruce johnson reports the founders of metro ball could use a lot more support from the d.c. government. >> we have the 19 and under division. >> kevin jones works for the airport authority. >> i mean, this is 15 games we have on saturday. >> terrance for the fcc, together, they run the metro ball league and they'll tell you that is their most important work. >> well, basically 12 years ago, the kids in this neighborhood were killing each other. they had kids from this side of the park to that side over on new york avenue. they were shooting each other. >> metro ball tournament will attract some 500 youths to the court. >> while we had them playing basketball, we mentored them. >> city helps pay for the program with the $12,000 grant. that's a big cut from the $50,000 metro ball got last year before ward five councilman, harry thomas, was caught stealing money from the youth investment trust fund.

>> this costs us $20,000 a year. we work on grants and donations. >> the d.c. recreation department, police, and other city agencies could step up with more youth services to surround this weekend's tournament. mayor vincent gray was in the neighborhood today to dedicate the adjoining remodeled park. >> this is for the people who already live in the district of columbia. >> got an earful from locals who say new facilities alone are not enough. >> within three weeks, criminals came right back. they were waiting outside the gates. >> here's another major concern on part of the community. as part of the renovation, the city has spent hundreds and thousands of dollars to renovate this building over here. it used to be a day care. problem is, they don't have any programs to go in that building. people are concerned that after this weekend when all the basketball activities end, what happens to those 500 to 600 kids? >> this building could be used for tutoring and mentoring.

>> metro ball tournaments will be held all day saturday. bruce johnson, 9news now. >> now the gray administration says in october, it is going to start taking proposals from groups who want to provide programs for residents in that newly renovated recreation center. derek. >> a special session of the maryland general assembly gets started tomorrow in annapolis. that is when the governor, martin o'malley, introduces his plan to bring expanded gambling. that would bring a casino to be located and it would also allow table games, like blackjack and roulette to be played there. >> the general assembly and the people of our state four years ago decided that gaming would be a part of our revenue mix. what we learned after a few years is that we probably should have gone to table games at the sim because as other states do that, it attracts those maryland dollars out of state again. >> if approved by the

legislature and the voters, table games start going next year. the prince georges county casino would open by 2016. yesterday was a lucky day for about 5,000 airline customers. some kind of air fare glitch allowed them to buy round trip tickets from new york toys reel for less than 400. that is a quarter of what they usually cost. the glitch lasted about three hours. now l.l. says it will decide this week whether to honor those deeply discounted tickets. >> a military medic turning himself in to bring attention to the plight of war vets with post-traumatic stress disorder. >> up next, new information on the possible motive of a woman who tried to walk out of a hospital with somebody else's baby. and don't forget, we are always on at wusa9.com. stay with us, we'll be right back.

new information tonight on the woman accused of trying to steal a newborn baby from a california hospital. police now say 48-year-old ramirez abducted the baby. ramirez is accused of posing as a nurse and trying to walk out

of the garden grove medical center with a newborn baby in a tote bag. ramirez told her estranged husband she recently delivered a baby girl. >> he thought it was totally believable that she was pregnant because they had some kind of relation in the right time frame to make that credible. and was flabbergasted that he really didn't have a child. >> ramirez is due to be arraigned today on kidnapping and other charges and police say she may have gotten away with that baby if it wasn't for the security bracelet around the baby's ankle. that sound an alarm and sealed the hospital doors allowing security to track ramirez down. country music singer, randy travis, joining the panty on a star. this is him facing drunk driving charges in texas. tmz posted this mug shot on their website after the arrest last night and it shows the grammy award winner with a black eye and cuts from an accident before he was hauled

in and get this, he was reportedly naked at the time. the sheriff's office says the singer threatened to shoot and kill the troopers who arrested him. travis was arrested on public intoxication charges back in february. >> that is not a good look. >> no. never is. we have shown you video of bears and swimming pools, but this one just might be a first. >> it's a bull moose stuck in a swing. only its head is stuck in the swing. the home video is from webber county, utah. the neighbor said wait a second, man, there's a moose in my swing set, that's no good. in came the sergeant to the rescue. now he walks up on the moose kind of slow, has a pair of bolt cutters and starts snipping away. >> i just tried to be calm. >> hold on, buddy. one more. >> there was one point i reached out and was petting him on the head, trying to let him

know i wasn't going to hurt him. >> you are a brave soul, because moose are very dangerous. after calming him down, a few more snips, they got the animal out of there and it trotted back to the wild. like hey, man, i'm looking for the sea saw next. still ahead, bethesda's golden girl is home from the olympics. katy joins us live to talk about the whole magical experience. that's coming up. >> but first, a close call for another olympian. hear what this weight lifter has to say about this scary accident. that's up next.

back now with a scary moment from the olympics in london. this is a german weight lifter, talking about the 432-pound barbell that fell on his neck tuesday. he is the defending olympian champion. he is sorry he is bruised up, but otherwise recovering just

fine. felt abandoning the competition to get checked out. that was the right thing to do. >> before we get to today's big win, as we offer our daily alert. if you do not want to know the results, hide in the bedroom, whatever. then come right back because katy is in our studios right now. all right, you ready? big day on the track. americans won seven medals in four events. jason richardson took gold and silver in the hurdles. allison felix, gold and bronze in the 200 meter race. brittany won gold and bronze in the long jump. and won silver in the 400 meter hurdles. over in beach volleyball, carrie walsh jennings won their third consecutive gold, beating fellow americans to do it. so now, u.s.a. is leading the overall medal count. we have 79. china has 76. they are followed by russia,

great britain, and germany. there is a lot of excitement here today. >> we are worked up. we came back in from getting our own pictures. we were fan bitten there, bethesda got a hero's welcome when she came back to the u.s. earlier this week. >> and the gold medalist is with kristen berset. >> we are relaxing by the pool on this nice day. something that this young lady deserves a lot of relaxation. we know you have been just running around like crazy since you came home. we appreciate you coming in. we were just commenting on that medal count. katy, olympic gold medalist. how do those words sound? >> not too shabby. >> you came back monday to your friends and family screaming. has it sunk in yet? >> not fully.

i don't think it will for a while. slowly it is starting to. >> what was it like? you didn't just win, you demolished the rest of the pack in that race. you also set a new american record. when you touched the wall and turned around and saw that the others were swimming and knew you won gold, what was going through your mild? >> it was just an incredible feeling. i really didn't even know how to react. i was just ecstatic. probably didn't show up much. but i was just so happy that i could do my part to represent the u.s. well. >> you were in shock that you had won. did you think going in that you would win? did you think -- was it such a surprise that you were that far ahead of everybody? >> it was a bit of a surprise. i just wanted to get into the finals during my preliminary swim and once i was in the finals, i knew it was anybody's race and i wanted to see if i could be in the thick of things. >> of course, you have been a household name around this

area. your friends and teammates, all have known how good you are. now you are a name known worldwide. you are katie. that has to be crazy, and you're 15 years old. you're going to be a sophomore in high school. that's a crazy way to start your sophomore year. >> yeah, exactly. it was a will the of fun coming back from london and arriving at the airport. and i'm glad i've been able to share this moment. >> what was one of the coolest parts of being over in london? >> i think staying in the village and seeing all of the other athletes from all the countries and all of sports and also going to opening ceremonies was spectacular. >> oh, i bet. >> the highlight of my life. >> i can't imagine being down there and hearing everybody scream when you come out. the men from the men's basketball team were there, it had to be cool. >> it was a big night for

u.s.a. swimming. i think they were there because it was michael 's last race. i think william and kate were also there because the favorite in my race was the british swimmer. so really exciting atmosphere that night. >> you're a part of history. you got to be a part of one of the great u.s.a.'s. that is one heavy medal. you need a massage after all this. lesli and derek, back to you guys in the studio. >> kristen, you get all the good duty, don't you? >> so proud of her. so proud. >> the 800 meter, and when she was done, she looked up at the board. she wasn't even breathing hard. it was amazing. >> you see that a lot of times. the rest of the swimmers were dying, she was not. that's something else. we have a couple storms popping up. any storm could produce heavy rain. we are looking at most of the

activity south of town. we'll start with live doppler 9,000. really in the past half an hour, these have popped up. we'll zoom in closer to the metro area. one is up 270. one is out in loudoun county. one is also in fairfax county. again, a lot of heavy rain with them, that's the only thing i'm concerned about. this was south of poolsville over the river in western montgomery county. this was past gaithersburg. this one we'll zoom into. this is pretty heavy. it had some hail earlier. now it has some heavy rains straddling 66 between fairfax, up state highway 666 and 608. so this is not going to move very far. very little to steer these storms. look for heavy rain over the next 30 minutes or so. all right, here's the outside story. yeah, we did it today. 91 was the high. that's 41 days so far. okay, the average is 31. we have blown that out of the water so to speak.

last year, 47 days. the year before 52. the all-time record is 55. and 1988, that is still mathematically possible. we shall see. probably 90 again tomorrow. live look outside our live weather cam. 88 now, dew point 67, which is okay. not great. relative humidity just under 50%. pressure is steady 29.94 inches of mercury. temperature wise, you look at this, you go not bad. it's in the 80s. 89 in great falls. 84 in fairfax. 85 in arlington. 88 in college park. okay, headline. cold front friday. that's what we'll focus on. isolated storms tonight, yes, hot and humid tomorrow, yes. some storms tomorrow afternoon, yes. but severe storms are possible on friday afternoon and friday evening. could be a mess of a commute. tonight, early thunderstorm possible. some heavy, more to the south. 68 to 76 for lows. now tomorrow morning, almost hot by lunchtime. very warm, 72 to 92. winds out of the southwest at 5

to 10. and by afternoon, partly cloudy, hot. isolated storms. some could be heavy, some could be severe. highs near 95 tomorrow. next three days, code yellow tomorrow. code yellow on friday. we'll monitor friday. we could increase it to a code red. stay tuned. 94 tomorrow. 89 on friday. not bad on saturday. code green there. maybe some left over showers, less humid, and temperatures in the upper 80s. that's going to be nice. next seven days, sunday, upper 80s. back to 90 on monday. low of 90s on tuesday. isolated storm and on wednesday, not too bad. temperatures still in the low 90s. so a couple storms out there right now. most of us get home dry. big stuff possible by then. >> thanks, top. a maryland soldier who went a wall two years ago decided to turn himself in. he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as well as depression. surae chin was there at walter reid when he surrendered. >> seclusion and darkness.

>> army specialist has emerged from hiding in his mother's basement. >> it's a nightmare. >> he fell into a dark place adds a combat medic. >> i have nightmares about stuff i have seen over there. >> he spiraled into mental illness when he learned he would be deployed to afghanistan. >> i was fearful of my personal demons getting in the way of how i would treat a fellow battle buddy. >> he sought help, but the military solution only masked the problem. >> medication, medication, medication. >> he is serving in a u.s. army hospital. the principle hospital in this country, and the care givers there aren't able to respond to what he needs. >> reports reveal a staggering 300,000 troops that served in iraq and afghanistan suffer from symptoms of ptsd. rodriguez faces court marshal, five years in prison, and a loss in pay and benefits. he wants to surrender and convince others.

this afternoon within the gates of walter reid national military medical center, he was escorted by officers. he is fearful, but has resolve. >> even if i have to do jail time or whatever, i would really just want treatment. i just want to get my mind back right. i just want to be normal again. >> rodriguez's fate is now in the hands of the military. he'll be staying here at walter reid at the barracks for days, if not weeks, until the military legal system decides what to do with him. in bethesda, surae chin, 9news now. >> and rodriguez hopes to get an honorable medical discharge so he can get the medical help he needs. >> still ahead, the d.c. police captain demoted after that high speed escort for charlie sheen is suing the city. >> could asian voters give mitt romney the victory in november? i'm peggy fox where some say this will be the year of the asian vote. the story coming up. >> but first, the search for the fastest texter in the west. we're going to take that challenge right here to our

studio up next. over the next four months, you have a choice to make. not just between two political parties, or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. governor romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top. roll back regulations on big banks. and he says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. but you know what? we tried that top down approach. it's what caused the mess in the first place. i believe the only way to create an economy built to last

is to strengthen the middle class. asking the wealthy to pay a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way. so that we can afford to invest in education, manufacturing, and home-grown american energy for good middle class jobs. sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. ♪ i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

a 16-year-old from wisconsin beat out ten other contestants to be named the fastest texter in america. >> they are judged on three rounds and three skills. speed, accuracy, and dexterity, austin wins $50,000. that's pretty good. >> so, we decided to have our

own competition. lesli and topper will send the same text to kristen berset. a text that reads, see you later alligator. >> are we going it right now? >> not yet. i have to tell you when to go. pride is on the line. all right, ready, set, text. send, send, send. >> no, no, no. >> who got it, kristen? who got it? >> apparently sprint has it right now. >> it's out in space. >> it is with the curiosity. >> lesli, you sent yours first. but i got topper's first. >> you did? oh. look, there's topper's. see you later alligator. >> thank you very much. >> i don't think that is right. mine says 5:58 p.m., too. >> maybe blackberry isn't so

bad anymore. >> you still have a blackberry? >> yes, i do. >> apparently. something isn't right here. all right topper shutt, much to their dismay, you are the winner of the channel 9 texting contest. >> i'm excited for him. this is 9news now. >> we get started with breaking news. a major fire, critical injuries in prince georges county. this one went down this evening in the 6000 block of carington court. scott broom is live from the scene with the latest on the story. >> reporter: this is a life saving effort who are still working the scene behind me here. a house, a brick house behind us here in the 6300 block of carington court. when firefighters arrived at 4:30 this afternoon. the entire house was in flames and they found a man unconscious outside with bad burns. the firefighters immediately got the hoses out, heroical