jackie bensen has more on this story. >> reporter: open garage doors, fairfax county police say it'sinvitation to an extremely prolific thief targeting homes. >> the suspect is entering unlocked doors into the home, going inside home to, retrieving car keys, entering the vehicles outside and taking items from in the car. >> reporter: the thief has been busy, very busy after a news story last friday warning the community about nearly four dozen break ins police think he committed nearly 20 more. this time he stole something more than purses and wallets. >> in the larcenies from vehicles he stole two hand guns out of those vehicles. we're asking residents to be extreme live cautious if they should encount the suspect. >> reporter: fairfax county police are urging homeowners to keep their garage doors closed at all times. in oakton a cul-de-sac with just six homes, two had open garage doors this afternoon. one was closed soon after we pointed it out. >> we're very cautious. we don't leave it open overnight. we don't leave it open when we're not here. we have friend coming over that's wh

jackie bensen has the latest on this investigation. jackie?> reporter:dory, the suspect doesn't even have to bother breaking in, and now, as you said, he has a gun. open garage doors. he targets neighbors in the county. he enters garages in the late night hours. >> the suspect is entering garages inside the home, retrievingar keys, entering the vehicles from t outside and taking items from in the car. >> reporter: the thief has been busy, very busy. after a news story last friday warning the community abo nearly four dozen break-ins, police think he committed nearly 20 more. this time he stole something re than purses and wallets. >> in the larcenies from vehicles, he has stolen two handguns out of those vehicles. so we are asking residents to be extremely cautious if they shoul encounter the suspect. >> reporter: fairfax county police are strongly urging homeowners to keep their garage doors closed at all times. on gables glen court in oakland, a cul-de-sac with six homes, two had open garage doors this afternoon. one was closed soon after we

doreen, back to you. >> all right, jackie bensen reporting tonight from lorton. thanks, jackie. >>> police say two teenagers injured in a high-speed crash in beltsville, maryland this morning were allegedly racing another car before their accident. it happened in the 3100 blocks of powder mill road. police say the driver lost control going around a curve, veered into oncoming traffic, thenit a guardrail and another car. the teens wer both seriously injured but are expected to survive. police say they are both students of high point high school. >>> there is a chance michelle ree might learn tomorrow if she still has a job. ree has come under fire for closing schools and firing teachers and principals while others consider her to be the best thing that er happened in terms of her stewardship of d.c. schools. >>> still ahead on news4 at 11:00, a woman's tings filled several blocks in the district. >> my pajamas and underwear and blindfolded me. >> 17 years lat, this woman breaks her silence, hoping it will help people solve a cold case. >>> also a battle of knockin

jackie bensen, "news 4 today." >>> four fbi agts areccused of lying on their medical records to cover up steroid use. according to arrest afrds, they never reportedrescription steroids and human growth hormone on medical forms used to assess their fitness for duty. the fbi responded, saying quote, employs must be held to the highest standards ofethical conduct. the agents cannot use their weapons while the investigation proceeds. >>> the man who held plice at bay in a nine-hour standoff in prince george's county is in critical condition this morning. the standoff started late tuesday night on richboro road in capital heights and ended yesterday morning when the suspect shot himself. at o point, eight people were held hostage. all of them are okay. one of the hostages told news 4 thathe gunman s upset over a breakup with his girlfriend. >> it could be a weekend of dangerous rip currents along the east coast, thanks to hurrane igor. the category 4storm is far out to sea, but large swells and high surf are expected to affect the virgin islands, the bahamas and parts of the east coast by

jackie bensen has more. >> reporter: it is such an awful sight.he burned out townhouse in virginia where a mother and her two children died. witnesses say flames were shooting from every window, as firefighters arried about 8:30 a.m. >> i heard a man screaming, screaming, screaming. >> reporter: neighbors sayhe mother frantically lowered a babygirl, and a 6-year-old, and an 8-year-old, both boys, to her brother, who also lives in the house. >> the kids told me that they jumped out the window. i talkedo them, they told me they jumped out the window and the mom threw the baby out the window to the uncle. >> reporter: the complex known as the highla is the type of place where children play together and pople know their neighbors. the loss is devastating, and all the more painful because it is believed the unit had been without electricity for ateast two days for reasons unknown. >> i think it might have been maybe they fell asleep with candles lit or something. >> how do you know that? because i was with her last night, and i took her to the store to

jackie bensen shows us many calls came from those who deal with emergencies every day. >> shooting in the hallway. >> wehad a shooting on the floor. >> how many people have been shot. >> one person. >> reporter: the 911 calls described the fear that envelopedthe eighth floor of what's known as the nelson wing of johns hopkins hospital in baltimore on thsday. callers provide valuable information topolice, quickly relaying that ahysician later identified as dr. david cohen appeared to be only ctim. >> there was a gun shooting on nelsoning eighth. >> how many shots did you hear? >> one. i was standing right there and the physician went down. >> reporter: o call came from a terrifiedpatient's room. >> i'm in room 877. they are trying to keep our door shut tight. >> we'll get officers down there. we'll see if anyone is actually shot. >> no. but the nurses are out there. they are saying get a stretcher fast. >> reporter: one caller provide critical information that helped s.w.a.t. tea officers to the right place. he still might be in his mother's room. he's still in the hospital. >> reporte

. >> all right, jackie bensen reporting from greenville tonight. thank you, jackie. >> firefighters rescued a woman from a burning home late this afternoon along brook ridge court. the flames began inside the kitchen and quickly filled the downstairs with smoke. the homeowner was pulled to safety from a second floor window. firefighters estimate the damage there to be about $100,000. >>> a man was stabbed in a parking lot in a manassas strip mall today. police say two teenars tried to rob a property surveyor. he was taking photographs behind the canterbury village shopping center. police say the suspects beat the victim and stabbed him a number of times in the stomach. an employee driving into work scared the suspects off by continually honking his car horn. we're told the victim is in stable condition tonight. police have arrested one suspect. they're still looking for another. >>> nine american service members were killed today when a black hawk helicopter crashed in afghanistan. the region is a taliban stronghold and nato forces have been steppin

news 4's jackie bensen has more. >> reporter: these grainy security images show the prelude to a cold blooded murder. prosecutors claimhe person in the lighter gray coat is a young man named tommy west. they say he was using a cell phone belonging to his cousin, also seen here, to lure a man to his death in a dark, lonely spot behind a landover middle school. other cameras show the same two men leaving the area a short time later. investigators learned suspect and victim had met on an adult phone chat line. they wouldn't say which one. >> ostensibly the arrangement was for some kind of, apparently sexual liaison to take place in the victim's vehicle. >> reporter: investigators learned that tommy west, just 19 at the time, had posted a series of pictures online, which showed him holding a gun, semiautomatic with an extended clip. it was laterdetermined to have been the weapon used to shoot the victim behinthe school. 40-year-old george white jr. of fort washington, who was also robbed. >> ran bk, pulled back. >> reporter: during the trial, defense council argued that whack's conduct wa

jackie bensen is here with more. jacki >> reporter: jim, she flagged down cruisers and told the officer she had been raped. now police are warning women in the germantown neighborhood to be extra careful. the 21-year-old victim told police she was walking alone early suspendnday morning o thi very dark stretch of route 55 just south of high point drive. >> we know she had been socializing with friends in germantown and it was her plan to walk to this 7-eleven to meet another friend. >> reporter: there is a sidewalk but streetlights are few and far between. >> she was attacked behind by an unknown male, grabbed her, took hernto the woods and sexually assaulted her. she did attempt to fight off her attacker. she did sustain minor injuries during that resistance. >> reporter: police say that after the attack, the woman, who does not live in germantow was able to get to the 7-eleven, a short distance away on professional drive, and call for help. the neighborhood enjoys a very low crime rate. women we spoke to were surpri

. >> jackie bensen reporting. ank you, jackie. the sad thing is this is not the first shooting following a funeral. nine people were shot in the capitol southeasafter attending a funeral earlier that day. the man in the drive-by originally planned to attack the actual feral but later settled on the stoop where mouers had gathered. and last november a 19-year-old was shot and killed after coming out of hiding to attend a funeral. george rawlins was ambushed after a fun roeral at a bus ston eighth street. >>> a dog was thrown in the garbage and left for dead over the weekend, and now that dog has a second chance thanks to an unlikely rescuer. john shiffin has our report. >> the dog is half the size he is supposed to be. his spirit cannot mask the remaining hurt that's visible after his fur was shorn away. the washington humane society says thomas is lucky ju to be alive right now. he was found near a dumpster sometime monday morning. it wasn't his barking that was heard. a maintenance worker taking care of the crash noticed a suspic

my colleague jackie bensen picks up the coverage from here in bethesda. jackie? >> thank you, craig. well, a total of 12 people were taken to local hospitals as a result of this crash. the bus passengers are from carlisle, pennsylvania, which is about 90 miles north of here. there were two groups on that bus. two people, a man and a woman, described as elderly have serious injuries. 're told they were at the smithsonian toda another group fared much better. it was two women and four children, the children ages six, nine, 11 and 12. they visited the national sdpzo toda today. parently one of the women had won the trip in some sort of prize. they were back home when tragedy struck. >> the bus crash that turned monday evening's rush hour into gridlock, the driver, identified as joseph claybaugh, suffered a seizure or possily a hear attack. someone grabbed the wheel as the vehicle ka reasoncareened out o, but the driver was smped over the wel, unconscious. the people were taken to a hospital in bethesda led by a trauma team of dr. bart reynolds. >> we had a trauma te

jackie bensen is at theairfax county police headquarters with more on this. >> reporter: jim, the investigation began as the result of a house fire. after a june fire this townhousen green heron way in lorton, virginia, firefighters entered the home next door to determine if the blaze had spread. they made a disturbing discovery. photos spread out on a table. >> what they suspected to be child pornography. they notified the police departmentnd we conducted an investigation. >> at first we thought it might have been hoarding. >> reporter: at least one neighbor noticed an unusual level of police activity that day. >> we saw a bunch of police go in there. a bunch were sitting here waiting and waiting and waiting. they filly came out with probably seven to nine boxes of stuff. >> reporter: after a three-month-long investigation, a warrant was issued, charges 51-year-old mark barget th ten counts of child pornography. he's a part time wregling official judging middle school and high school wstling matches. the wrestling association issued a statement that says he has been placed on indefinite suspen