police chief cathy lanier is on the scene. she is closer to joce sterman's live shot. i understand that they are haven't speak if they already. we will continue to get the reports from people. but again, this is completely terms of the people escorted out of the area. people are walking around. that was not the case 20 minutes ago. they were not allowing vehicle traffic. now a lot of people want to go to the visitor center not knowing there was a shooting we are having to deliver the bad news. back to you. jonathan: you have done work with the law enforcement. when we talk about the security with the capitol building the headline tomorrow is how could this happen? but the fact of the matter is what makes it so great, it is a public place. people who are a member of the public can go to the buildings the building but you do go through a layer of security. people areti themselves how could someone get that close or even inside the visitor center with a gun? jennifer: this is always the test that faces all of washington, d.c. the balance between security and allowing peop

last year you might remember police chief cathy lanier raised the reward to $250. we want to find out how many complaints have been issued. we called and texted them, we didn't hear anything back as of show time. we'll try to keep you updated. live in northeast, matt ackland, fox 5 local news. >> lawmakers gathered in annapolis today to introduce a new bill aimed at combatting domestic violence. house bill 1396 expands the definition of abuse to include both written and electronic harassment along with malicious destruction and defacing of property. among those in attendance today was a domestic survivor and ex-wife of dc sniper john mohammed. >> 80% of victims do not have physical scars to prove that they are victims. i support delicate angel in this bill, because this will help to close a loophole that is out there for abusers to use against victims. >> the new bill also requires the state board of education to encourage county boards to encourage age-appropriate lessons on domestic and dating violence. >> there is a push to change a marriage law in virginia whi

police chief cathy lanier a says the murder was over nothing and absolutely senseless.s. fox5's paul wagner joins us outside d.c. superior court.c. tonight with the story. paul. >>reporter: hi, sarah. sar i say something herein side this courtroom at d.c. superior cour that i don't think i've ever seen before. there were more than 30 friends and relatives of devanity washington who satin side this d courtroom today. they haven't whatted to see the man who was accused of killing the 15 year old. old what i saw that was unusual wasu just before he was brought out u of the back room there, back where they keep everybody in the lockup. 18 court security personnel andd us marshals came out inurned sed the entire courtroom apparentlyp afraid that someone was going to jump up and harm him. as he walked out in handcuffs and shack washington's scream out that'sth the man who killed my baby anday then she broke into tears. in the court affidavit filed in the case police say this is maurice bell me a teenager who o calls himself shoot him o and posted this picture on facebook. last

police chief cathy lanier released a statement saying, we are aware of the tragic events in brussels and are actively cornering the with local resources and federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies to maintain public safety in the district. continue the credibility of this thread, we ask you to stay alert of your surroundings. was closing his historic visit to cuba when the attack happened this morning. he pledged to do whatever is necessary to help belgian authorities seek justice. >> we must be together regardless of nationality or th inor face -- fai fighting terrorism. we will defeat those who threaten the security of people around the world. autria: president obama also telephoned elgin president charles michel -- belgian prime minister charles michel to offer his condolences. we will have live updates throughout the day. coming up, remembering the infamous former toronto mayor rob ford. what we are learning about his death this new. -- noon. and the latest on the terror attacks in brussels. what authorities knew before the attacks. doug: cloudy skies around the ar

stephen: today chief cathy lanier again stated the local law enforcement is coordinating with the department of homeland security. chief lanier: we have daily conversation with the partners in the federal agencies to make sure if there is any new information we need to know we have it to act on it. stephen: on this the beginning to the oh, so brief appearance of clouds of pink about the tidal basin. some worry about terrorism. but for most it's overshadowed by the beauty of this moment. >> we feel safe here. i mean we are walking around in the crowds and everything looks safe. the people and the police around. stephen: now federal officials stating there are no credible threats that they know of. and the chief again saying today that everything is being done to keep both tourists and the re capital as safe as possible. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. leon: thanks. in brussels, a shoot-out in the belgium district of schaerbeek led to the arrest of a man that officials say is linked to tuesday's deadly terror attacks in brussels. witnesses say they heard two explosions and then gun

police chief cathy lanier called the murder absolutely senseless. >> the loss of a 15 year old underany circumstances is tragic, but certainly in this case, even more so as it appears that there's just no reason for it. > washington was on his way to get a haircut for easter when he was killed. he was a freshman at lairing go high school. > med star is still working on that computer program that has disrupted service across our region. hackers got into the hospital systems' computer yesterday. med star runs 0 hospitals and more than # 50 outpatient facilities in the washington region. area hospitals have had to cancel appointments and turn away many patience. they're trying to determine if this was a ransom wear attack. in previous hackers ha demanded money in exchange for returning a victim's system to normal. > in loudon county, the school board debates a contentious issue. the original plan would have rezoned thousands ever students closer to their emergency crews who. some parents objected saying it would have led to segregation. instead a plan will a i void too am low income stu

police chief cathy lanier. you can sign up for breaking news alerts sent to your phone at any time. >> still ahead at 5:00 -- a family's plea for change after a mother and her child are shot to death in their own car. what they say the lawmakers need to do now to save lives. >> students at a university in northern virginia expressing anger toward the school arrest involving bomb-making materials. i'm jeff goldberg. what happened and what doug: there is a good chance of a cold front saturday and sunday. that will be a good period of time. then we have to deal with the next frontal system monday and tuesday. stay he's begun forgetting words. forgetting where he lives. but when the day comes when he forgets who i am, i'll still know who he is. the first time we said i love you we didn't use words. we simply held each other's hands. we still are. i lost my dad to alzheimer's. preventing alzheimer's is within our grasp. let's double the budget of nih and get it done. i'm david trone and i approve this message. leon:

. >> a short time ago, police chief cathy lanier said that her department is doing everything it can.> i want to assure people not only do you see a lo security and visibility but a lot of things you don't see. there is a lot of extra resources. >> and matt was live along the tidal basin. how's it going, matt? >> reporter: the cherry blossom watchers are paying more attention to the surroundings after the events in brussels, but it's not stopping people from enjoying the festivities. take a look. people are everywhere, taking pictures, more pictures and the occasional selfie, too. the question we asked everybody, do you feel safe? >> after what happened in brussels, i still feel safe. >> reporter: that's the universal feeling here but people are watching the blossoms. >> i am more aware of things after brussels the other day. >> take a look around you and make sure it looks secure. you don't want to do anything foolish or do anything that doesn't feel good. >> reporter: tyrone is a native been coming here for years. >> i have seen more security than i am used to but nothing that is di

ago police chief cathy lanier says 27 year old kenneth parker is now in custody in connection with the october 2014 shooting on heys street.on three people were shot and wounded including nine year oldo jay don stancil he was standinga at a playground when he was shot in the head.d. lanier says parker was already in jail and unrelated charges. detective had made six arrests or had made arrests in six other murder cases. >>> fairfax county police are investigating a bazaar case of o road rage.ad police were called to a shopping after 7 a.m. for a report of at man and a woman arguing. the man told police he was one e his way to work when a woman driving a red car repeatedly crashed into his car. he claims he pulled over when he got outot she tried to run him over and then took a the man who wants to remain anonymous says the woman appeared to be having a mental breakdown. >> i don't know her or anything. i don't know why she chose to do this. the comments that she made, she didn't know me at all she just said i'm from, she said i need i to go back to my country and she told witnesses tha

the mayor joined by police chief cathy lanier and the fire chief dean.y are making the important announcement for the products in the homes. we can tell you that the so-called toxic products found in the products such as furniture. children's products. used in foam padded sleeping materials. now the firefighters here will tell you that even though fire retardants are components to the fire safety, the products including tcpe and tdcpp are suspected of causing cancer. we asked the fire chief why haven't these been banned before? and everywhere. >> each state has an opportunity to take a look at the toxins that are used for the fire retardant. as a cobles we said we want everything to be fire retardant. now we look back and say some of these are more toxic than others and we want to remove those from the everyday use. >> we understand certain products are exempt from the ban including some car parts. even some housing insulation. and believe it or not some of the electronics. in northwest washington, john gonzalez, abc7 news. jonathan: checking news around

if it was trivial yacht shooting or ongoing dispute, cathy lanier said this -- >> the details, you can judge for yourself. there is no reason for someone to take another person's life but this one is very, very tragic. stephen: the prosecutor said today he believes bellamy shot the 15-year-old because the 15-year-old looked at the defendant. reporting life, stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: jeff, are you there? can you hear us? all right. we are having some tr we are on the scene of the fire on wind song drive. look down the road here. you can see a tremendous fire response. i don't know if you can see in the air the smoke billowing into the air. we're told by the fairfax county firefighters that it started at 2:30 or so. somebody driving by noticed something on fire and called it in. joined by captain kelly from the fairfax county fire department. is the fire out? >> it is controlled. we're in the process of mopping the fire up. the units responded to the 3000 of wind song drive. we encountered heavy fire in the garage area that was rapidly extending to the rest of the house. the

underlying concern about terrorism, six minutes ago police chief cathy lanier addressed what the city is doing to keep the tourists and the city residents safe. chief lanier: we remain in a high state of security here in d.c. anyway. there are resources on the street. we have taken into account the extra activities we have going on here. i want to assure people not only do you see extra visibility and the security out there. there are a lot of things we do that are not as visible to the public. we remain vigilant and there is a lot of extra resources here. stephen: the chie department is working closely with the department of homeland security. also a lot of police out on metro, around the region. all with the intention of keeping the tourists and the residents safe. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: of course, the biggest crowds will be down along the tidal basin for the national cherry blossom festival. scott: the national park service says the trees are at their peak and they should stay that way for the next four to ten days. unless of course mother nature deci

dc police chief cathy lanier did issue a statement saying t knowing that, um, they are the primary lawict of columbia ino the nation's capitol that they are on heightened al lower at ar all times but along with metro o transit police, dc police alsoea saying they are coordinatinging with federal and local agenciese with department of homelandelan security monitoring events ins n brussels to just be sure if sure there is something they need to know about that they've got thee their finger on the pulse of it. also, wanting to let folks knowk it goes without saying but thist is the kind of time they have tt remind people if you see se something, say something. som do not be afraid that you're y'r going to sound silly or peoplee will think you're being crazyeic about it. it. no, they want to know if you see anything suspicious. it's really easy to do.o d for metro transit police justus text them to mymppd. that is the latest near the vienna metro station. stion. steve and allison.on >> melanie, thank you very much. >> 10:27:27 right now. right no. at the time what's happening ine brussels.

yesterday we caught up with the chief, police chief, cathy lanier, as well's mayor mural bowser. here's what they had to say. >> we stay focused obviously transit system, has been attack, so we look at all of the, you know, top, what we think, could be target areas and make sure that they have the resources and visibility that they need. >> i think for the general public, you will see an increase visibility, both uniform officers and cars and other equipment out. but there is a lot of things that we do that are not visible to the pun. and are intended not to be and i think goes for all forms of security. >> now, no word yet on how how long this police presence will last. the mayor and chief are reminding the public that they need your help, the public's help. so if you see something, be sure let a police station know, or the manager at the station know, or you can also text that information to my mtpd. the latest in northwest, back to you in the studio. >> much more coverage of the deadly terror attacks in brussels. >> we'll take a look at airport security here and a broad all co

thi cathy lanier the police chiefolc says this isn't really, youll y know, she says her department goesns what have you, but it's very concerning.. >> okay.>> o i was going to ask about what ao account residents do? i guess e it's like sorry.ry >> exactly. >> there's a lot of lawsuits l over this right now that arehata being put forward. forwa so we'll see, you know, if a judge rules on these evidencevie standards.standards. >> okay. let's talk about mayor marion bar barry, m thought think all wrapped up. there was a funeral. fal i thought mr. barry had a tomb stone with his gravesite but non the case. th >> exactly. this is sort of been dragging on. so he died in november 2014. >> yeah. >> think about that. thi it's like 16 months or so. and so he still buried at congressional cemetery stillem s does not have headstone. interesting situation. a lot of people especiallyecia people in ward eight are saying come on, we want -- a place a p where we can go and see marion o barry want have you.rry nt hav >> right.ig >> his family promised inmise november that by his birthdayda which was on s

chief lanier: we had to get all the evidence. cathy lanierhief says that kenneth parker is facing 14 charges in connection with the shooting. individuals that need to be brought to justice, a driver and two other shooters. tom: attorney david haynes is representing the family. wide open thatre night, allowing kenneth parker and his friends to come up and shoot up the place. tom: tonight, parker's mother defended her son, who said he was shot in the ankle that night. >> he got shot. .enny was a victim he has to suffer the consequences for what he has done, but he did not do that. expected to deal with his brain injuries the rest of his life. his case is not closed. just to give a sense of what jaydan stancil still dealing with, he and his mother were not at the press conference this afternoon. at the time, she was taking him to a doctor's related to his injuries. live outside of the d.c. jail in southeast, tom roussey, abc 7 news. leon: thank you, tom. a manping in washington, rush to the hospital in critical condition after his motorcy