clayton sandell reporting. >> i need s.w.a.t. right now, i need medical! >> shots fired!e three officers hit, is that correct? >> reporter: sergeant dave buyer and his team of douglas county sheriff's deputies are under attack outside the apartment of 37-year-old matthew riehl. all three of the deputies with him have been shot. >> i'm bleeding. one in the chest, one in the chest. >> stay with me, pelle, stay with me. >> my patrol tahoe was the closest. i ran to it, got it. >> get him over here! right in front of us. >> ready, one, two, three! we got you. back seat of my truck. ready? one in the chest, one shot in the arm -- >> reporter: deputies davis, pelle, and doyle are taken to the hospital. >> i got to go. >> reporter: meanwhile, sergeant buyer turns back to the aptmen mplex. >> i gear up, going to make another attempt tget zkter: his zack parrish, is still inside the apartment. >> there was a chance he was still alive. every minute that went by his chances decreased. >> let's put together a rescue team -- >> sergeant and i stacked up on the door, took a peek around

here's abc's clayton sandell with another look at the ambush at copper canyon. >> reporter: it's early morning on new year's eve 2017. five officers from the douglas county sheriff's department. >> sheriff's office! >> reporter: responding to a 911 call. >> sheriff's office! >> reporter: from the copper canyon apartments in highlands ranch, colorado. waiting for them, 37-year-old army veteran matthew riehl. he has a history of mental health issues. >> matt, come out! matt, come out of the room now! >> reporter: and unknown to them, a loaded ar-15 rifle. >> open the door! sheriff's office! [ gunfire ] >> shots fired, shots fired!

here's clayton sandell. >> reporter: there's fire below and above us on this ridge. but look and see just how steep and treacherous thiser terrain . the ferguson fire, about 1,800 firefighters trying to contain it. but good news, some thunderst m thunderstorms are expected. but they could also bring dry lightning and high. o the miracle boys going home tonight. for the first time, we're hearing from the 12 boys rescued from the cave in thailand. james longman is back in thailand tonight. >> reporter: the team the whole world supported. telling the world about their terrifying ordeal. they say they tried digging out of the cave. after two days, they say hunger set in. so they stayed still to conserve energy. we're learning tonight, the boys do know how to swim. but the waters kept rising. adul in front describing the moment they were found. >> how many of you? >> reporter: he said, hearing the british divers was like a miracle. finally, after all this time, they can go home. how are you feeling? tee telling us it's great to go home. and this cleansing ceremony, welcom

and here's abc's clayton sandell tonight. >> reporter: tonight, an urgent search for clues. houston police say they're pouring over hundreds of hours of surveillance video, hunting for any leads in theous murder of a prominent cardiologist. these grainy images show doctor mark hausknecht in green riding his bike to work. it's just before 9:00 a.m. friday morning. broad daylight, a busy intersection. the suspect in red, riding just behind. >> the suspect drove past the doctor, turned and fired two shots. the doctor immediately went down. >> reporter: moments later, the gunman flees on a mountain bike. police released this sketch, the suspect described as a white or hispanic man in his 30s. >> i would not associate this place with any sort of crime. or such a heinous crime. >> reporter: hausknecht was 65. his patients included the president, george h.w. bush, who said, "i will always be grateful for his exceptional, compassionate care." and right now, police say they do not know who this suspect is, and they do not have a motive. david? >> clayton, thank you. >>> to developing

here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: with all those flashing lights and gear, it sure looks real. but investigators say this car, and the cop driving it, were fake. >> this plate is not registered to an agency, correct? >> reporter: exposed when 44-year-old matthew disbro allegedly tried pulling over two real arizona troopers in their unmarked yellow mustang. >> he had a full gun belt similar to mine with a glock handgun. >> reporter: disbro, wearing a security guard uniform, was arrested for impersonating a police officer. >> it's frustrating for us because we don't know who he's preying on. >> reporter: and in california, a 14-year-old boy was just arrested a second time after officers say they found uniforms and badges in his home. he was once busted for driving this suv, allegedly dressed as a deputy sheriff. in both cases, police say they want anyone who may have come into contact with these alleged imposters to come forward, tom. >> clayton, thank you. >>> we do move now to new developments in papa john's controversy. the founder of the pizza empire who stepped down as chai

our clayton sandell spoke to one family there who lost 32 years worth of memories. >> at 12;30 you can still see the lights on in the house and when i came back at 5;30 this morning -- >> no lights. >> it was on the ground. >> it's gone. >> reporter: across can the west, dry, hot conditions could mean a long road ahead for firefighters. >> and will carr joins us now. we saw in your report there, the firefighte firefighters running along the highway, and this on the hottest day of summer there? >> reporter: that's right, tom. it feels like it's more than 100 degrees out right now. there are excessive heat warnings through the weekend, and that's bad news for both the firefighters and the residents in this region, tom. >> will carr for us tonight. will, thank you. >>> we turn to the other breaking news. the hurricane threat in the atlantic. the first hurricane of the season is churning towards puerto rico and several neighboring islands. many of them still recovering from last year's devastating hurricanes and tonight, a second tropical depression is gaining strength. abc's senior meteor

here's clayton sandell. in the fire zone for us tonight. >> reporter: we're in a bit of a precarious position. there's fire below and above us on this ridge. but look and see just how steep and treacherous this terrain is. for firefighters. the ferguson fire, over 17,000 acres. about 1,800 firefighters trying to contain it. they are getting some good news from the weather. they expect this thunderstorms to move in. they could bring rain but they could also bring dry lightning and high winds. that could be bad news. david? >> clayton, thank you. >>> and now to the miracle boys going home tonight. for the first time, we're hearing from the 12 boys rescued from the cave in thailand. how hungry were they? and what they did to conserve energy. james longman is back in thailand tonight. >> reporter: the wild boars, the team the whole world supported back in the game tonight trading hospital gowns for soccer jerseys. fit and healthy enough to play again. telling the world about their terrifying ordeal. they say the

clayton sandell is there. >> reporter: the u.s. is baking and burning. the spring fire at 80,000 acres. this cabin one of more than 100 homes destroyed. >> it looked like hiroshima had another a-bomb dropped on it. >> reporter: officials say it was sparked by an illegal campfire. heat and winds are super charging 42 wildfires including this one in northern california. extreme heat in d.c. and boston where they're practicing for fourth of july festivities and bringing in huge fans to cool the crowds. >> reporter: in philadelphia, the heat knocking out power to this commuter train. >> stuck on board for about two hours and it's probably about 120 degrees on this train. >> reporter: and air conditioning failing forcing evacuation of seniors from this new jersey nursing home. the heat a major factor in these wildfires. you can see this wall of smoke has turned the sky completely dark. more than 2,000 homes here are still evacuated with only 5% containment, this is going to be a long firefight. clayton sandell, abc news, colorado. >> a long fourth of july for

clayton sandell has more. >> reporter: flames darting towards hundreds of homes.ploding to 4900 acres and growing, flames closing in on this market. nearly 500 homes are threatened, three destroyed. one belonging to volunteer firefighter cleave williams. his sister in law lives nearby and only had ten minutes to escape. >> i grabbed some of my scrapbooks. my baby books from when my kids were little. >> reporter: in southern california, the spring fire is the largest in state history, torching an area larger than manhattan. extreme heat and wind right now fueling 35 uncontained fires out west. >> it's frustrating not knowing if we're going to have anything left. >> reporter: you can see these water-dropping helicopters are very busy. two people have been charged with arson in this fire. at this hour, it is 0% contained. clayton sandell, abc news, colorado. >>> meanwhile, in other parts of the country, they're facing torrential downpours. >> julia weiden is joining us with the forecast. >> we are watching for the potential for flooding in many cities along the i-95

here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: tonight, a new piece of the puzzle in a houston doctor's murderased video of the suspect riding away moments after police say he gunned down dr. mark houausknect. it happened july 20th as hausknect, in green, rode his bike to work. the suspect, in red, follows close behind, opening fire in broad daylight. >> the suspect drove past the doctor, turned and fired two shots and the doctor immediately went down. >> reporter: adding to the mystery, houston's police chief now says, "there is a high probability the doctor was targeted" but offering no other details or motive. hausknect, who once treated president george h.k. bush, was 6 a. >> i was shocked. and i'm still grieving like many people are. >> reporter: houston homicide detectives are asking people to check dashboard cameras that may have seen the killer. meantime, there is a $5,000 reward. david? >> clayton, thank you. >>> coming up, news tonight about alex trebek. >>> also, a breakthrough for depression. >>> the frightening crash here in new york city. suv slamming in the front of a restaura r

abc's clayton sandell is on the scene of the spring fire in colorado. >> reporter: tonight, the u.s. is baking and burning. in southern colorado, the spring fire exploding to 80,000 acres, one of the biggest in state history. this cabin, more than one of 100 home homes destroyed. >> it looked like hiroshima had another a-bomb dropped on it. >> reporter: officials say the blaze was sparked by an illegal campfire. heat and dry winds are supercharging 42 wildfires in ten states, including this one in northern california. in the east, an extreme triple-digit heat index from d.c. to boston, where today, they're participating for july fourth festivities and bringing in huge fans to cool the crowds. >> you need to stay hydrated. >> reporter: in philadelphia, the heat wave knocking out power to this commuter train. >> stuck on train now for almost two hours. and it's probably about 120 degrees on this train. >> reporter: and an air temperatures pushing forth of 100 degrees. that heat also a factor in these wild fires. here in colorado, you can see this wall of smoke has just turned the sky c

abc's clayton sandell is in the fire zone in colorado tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the western fire threat is growing, flames darting through smoky skies over colorado toward hundreds of homes. >> flames are like 300 feet tall. >> reporter: the lake christine fire, north of aspen, sparked tuesday by people shooting at an outdoor gun range, exploding in the last 24 hours to over 4,900 acres and still growing. flames closing in on this market. nearly 500 homes are threatened here, three destroyed. one of those belonging to volunteer firefighter cleve williams. his sister-in-law lives nearby. her home survived, but she and her family had only ten minutes to escape. >> i grabbed some of my scrapbooks that i have, they're my pay baby books from when my were little. >> reporter: in southern colorado, the spring fire is now the third-largest blaze in state history, torching an area larger than atlanta and manhattan combined, destroying more than 100 homes. 2,000 still threatened. extreme heat and wind right now fueling 35 uncontained fires out west. >> it's frustrating, not knowing if we'r

abc's clayton sandell is there. >> this is hot, sweaty work, and because they can't fly in smoky conditions like this, it's the boots on the ground right now that are making the biggest difference in this firefight. >> reporter: in oregon more evacuations in wasco county where this wildfire has burned several homes. and the conditions are expected to remain hot and dry on the west coast. >>> let's take a closer look at your forecast for this wednesday. >>> good morning. the heat expands in the southwest to phoenix up towards salt lake with temperatures in the upper 90s. we're looking for record challenging heat and dangerous heat in boise, great falls but cooler along the coast. now, we're looking for a chance of thunderstorms and severe storms from sioux falls to omaha along 29, 90 as well as 80 with damaging winds and flooding and widespread thunderstorms throughout the entire southeast for wednesday. by late week another round of storms in the ohio valley region and the southeast but dry in the northeast. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. >>> coming up, the age when memories a

you see those massive flames there and abc's clayton sandell is on the ground. clayton, thousands of firefighters are battling these flames this morning. >> reporter: that's right and this morning officials are warning that some hot, dry weather could mean some very tough days ahead for firefighters. in northern california overnight, a 5,000-acre blaze burning structures and shutting down interstate 5. in utah, the dollar ridge fire destroying 90 homes so far. 1,000 more threatened. in colorado north of aspen a 5200-acre blaze that began at a shooting range engulfed three homes including one belonging to a volunteer firefighter. >> flames are like 300 feet tall. >> reporter: andy and bill mcauley were hoping the home where they build 32 years of memories would be spared. >> at 12:30 you could still see the lights on in the house and when i came back at 5:30 this morning -- >> no lights. >> it was on the ground. >> it's gone. it's just a chimney. >> reporter: to the south firefighters are making progress on colorado's third largest wildfire ever. the spring creek

parents and kids, waiting for workshops.ide build a bear our clayton sandell in denver. >> reporter:000 people showed up here waiting as long as seven hours to get into this store. and just in case, they've got a friendly police sergeant here to keep the peace. >> this is crazy. this is a crazy event. >> reporter: eager to nab a one-day deal. pay your age, furry friends for the price of your child's age. as low as $1, while supplies lasted. >> reporter: how old are you? >> 7. >> reporter: so you're going to pay $7 for a bear. >> yep. >> reporter: that sounds like a good deal. >> yep. >> reporter: but for many still waiting after hours, frustration mounting. >> you better call somebody real fast, because we're about to have a [ bleep ] problem out here. there's people who have been out here for seven hours and want to get that bear for their babies. >> reporter: the company calling the response overwhelming and unprecedented. many guests turned away due to crowd safety concerns. this line was capped at noon, but you can see the crowd wrapped around the block. they gave out $15 voucher

we have to go right to our clayton sandell who is at the ferguson fire near yosemite. >> reporter: heyginger, good morning. the big problem here is the terrain is very steep. it is hot and everything burning is extremely dry. the conditions here about as bad as they can get. in oregon overnight two fast-moving wildfires engulfing multiple buildings, wind whipping waves of fire into a burning river on this hillside, roaring across farmland. this person racing just ahead of the flames plowing a makeshift fire break. officials in wasco county, oregon, east of portland telling residents to evacuate immediately. in central point, oregon, families rushing to get out as the wildfire burns right along side the freeway. in california the smoke from the 13,000-acre fire near yosemite making air quality hazardous hiding yosemite's famous views like half dome behind a thick layer of smoke. >> visibility is an issue. >> reporter: that can be dangerous. you want to know where the fire is at. >> absolutely. >> reporter: the smoke so thick, at times firefighting aircraft are grounded. this is hot, swe