help, edwards pointed a gun at him and that's when the officer fired his weapon. 35-year-old rodney edwards shot and killed by a prince georges county police officer saturday night. family members say edwards was sitting here on a curb in front

rodney edwards, 35 years old shot and killed in front of his house. it happened saturday night around 10:00. edwards was either sitting or lying on a grassy area near greenleaf road. an officer was driving by, stopped to check on his welfare. edwards pulled a gun. when he did, that officer opened fire. >> at some point and time, the officer perceived that our gunman had a firearm in his possession and was threatening him with it. that officer made a decision to deploy deadly force. >> reporter: evidence techs looked at the grass near the scene looking for shell casings. they recovered a loaded firearm from edwards. edwards family said he didn't carry a gun. >> he had no gun. >> reporter: have you ever known him to have a gun? >> no. >> i want to know why did they do it? >> reporter: now the whole incident is under review. rodney edwards was known to police. his family said he had done some time. so far, three prince george's county police officers were shot and wound ed by people. that is unprecedented. >> pat collins reporting. thank you, pat. >>> bes

help, edwards pointed a gun at him and that's when the officer fired his weapon. 35-year-old rodney edwards shot and killed by a prince georges county police officer saturday night. family members say edwards was sitting here on a curb in front of a relative's home on greenleaf road and palmer park just before 10:00 p.m. that's when he was shot. they want to know why. >> the doctor came in and said he's been shot five times. he's 5'2" shot five times for what. >> they say the officer left a toys for tots event at police headquarters. police say when the officer spotted edwards on the ground, he stopped to see what was wrong. >> as the officer was exiting his vehicle, this male subject sat up, pointed a handgun at the officer. the officer feared for his safety and discharged his weapon. a .38 caliber handgun was recovered from this individual at the scene. >> reporter: this was the 15th officer-involved shoot inning prince georges county this year, and that's a record. >> it highlights the dangers that officers deal with every day here on the street. a situation can escalate from 0 to 100 ve

decision to deploy deadly force. >> reporter: police say they recovered a loaded firearm from rodney edwards. edwards family said he didn't carry a gun. >> he had no gun. >> reporter: have you ever known him to have a gun? >> no. >> i want to know why did they do it? >> reporter: police shootings often generate a lot of controversy. here are the numbers. fatalities from police-involved shootings this year, five fatalities by d.c. police. two fatalities by fairfax county police. one by montgomery county police and eight fatalities by prince george's county police. >> why so many fatal police involved shootings in prince george's county? >> we asked those same questions. what we are left to answer that question. that question we have is why have 12 people in 2011 chosen to confront uniformed prince george's county police officers are firearms? >> reporter: now the officer involved in the incident over the weekend identified as michael owen. awhile back, he was the victim of an attempted murderer. the bullet went through his jacket and he wasn't hit. the suspect in that case was never arrested.

police spokesperson says the officer opened fire on 35-year-old rodney edwards saturday night when he pointed a gun at them. family members say edwards was unarmed. police are expected to reveal more details about the shooting during a news conference this afternoon and of course we'll bring you up to date on that as soon as we get more information. >>> nearly a third of americans have a police record by the time they are 23, according to a new study in the latest issue of the journal of pediatrics. a little more than 30% of 23-year-olds say they have been arrested, which is an 11% increase over a similar study conducted back in 1965. >>> coming up on 9news now. victims of domestic violence are getting help from an organization in northern virginia. we will take to you bethany house. >>> plus it could be the end of the line for saab automobiles. thanks for watching 9news now at noon. we will be right back. >>> welcome back to the news at noon. saab automobiles filed for liquidation this morning. the swedish automaker threw in the towel after hopes of getting a life saving investment f

. >> some of those shots struck and killed 35-year-old rodney edward. >> like he was just laying back, taking a rest. across there i see a police officer with a gun. >> neighbors tried to piece together what they could. >> why would you shoot a 95-pound guy sitting on the curb with no weapon? >> police say one of their officers was driving by and saw edwards lying on the street. he stopped and approached edwards to see if he needed help. >> he was in full uniform, identified himself as a police officer. unfortunately this suspect chose to point a gun at the officer, and the officer had to discharge his service weapon at the suspect. >> you know five times is excessive. we need answers. >> reporter: edwards' family said the father of three had lost the use of one hand and one foot decades ago after a vehicle accident. >> a prince george's county police headquarters 9news now. >>> police are asking for your help trying to identify a man who was struck and killed in rockville this weekend. he is hispanic between 35 and 50, walking around beard's mill road when he was hit by a car. he stu

. >> the victim is 35-year-old rodney edwards whose criminal history includes drugs and weapons charges. his family complains the shooting was senseless. the officer on administrative leave now while the investigation is completed. a group of d.c. lawyers is teaming up to fight what it calls a grave injustice in our area. they are referring to the young african american men who have now been issued barring notices. that means they are kept away from housing projects. andrea mccarren reports, the men alleged they have been arrested and even though they don't have criminal records. >> i don't have a jaywalking ticket. they can't tell me why they turned my pockets inside and out and laughing about it. >> isaiah green received one of the 67 bar notices issued so far this year. >> we are human beings. we are not animals. we don't deserve to go in cages. i have no record. i have never been convicted of any crime. >> white was also arrested at woodland terrace. the member was told he was not authorized to be on the property. >> i was trying to figure out, how can't i be authorized to be on the

officer michael owens junior shot and killed rodney edwards saturday night in land over. owens was in uniform and returning from a toy give away in an unmarked van when he saw the 35-year-old lying in the grass. now, assistant chief kevin davis says that man turned out to be armed with a pistol and pointed it at owens. >> this police officer saw someone who was minimally in his opinion in need of some type of attention. so he stopped. he stopped to help him. and from that, he was encountered by an arm gun. i would argue that that police officer had no idea whatsoever that he was going to be confronted by a person with a gun. >> edwards does have a criminal history that includes drugs and weapons charges, but his family complains the shooting was senseless. the officer is on administrative leave while an internal investigation is completed. >>> outrage tonight over the treatment -- the alleged treatment of young black men in dc. dozens have received barring notices from the dc housing authority. police and metropolitan police department not letting them visit housing proje

their actions after an eight person this year was killed by police over the weekend. 35-year-old rodney edwards was killed in palmer park after police say he pointed a gun at an officer. eight deadly shootings involving police is the same number that d.c., montgomery and fairfax counties have this year combined. >> what we're left to answer that question is with another question and that question we have is why have 12 people in 2011 chose on the confront uniformed prince george's county police officers with firearms. >> the police say they recovered a loaded gun from edwards but the family says that is not true. the officer is a two-year veteran of the force. >>> cops looking for whoever vandalized a ball field after they were resoded. police say someone drove a vehicle on the field and caused a lot of damage. it's it's not clear what caused a golf cart to wreak havoc at cowboys stadium this weekend. it plowed into a crowd of people. seven people were injured including the coach of a high school team that played in a championship game. >>> despite an increase in education spending bob mcdonald

police say an officer was on duty in an unmarked car when he saw a man, 35-year-old rodney edwards, lying on the ground. when the officer approached him, edwards pointed a gun at the officer. edwards' family says they cannot believe he would point a gun at a police officer. >> we want to know why he was shot, what he was doing. even though, why would you shoot somebody so small five times, you know what i'm saying? five times. and then we still can't get an answer to what's going on. >> police tell news 4 they did recover a gun from the scene. this is the 15th shooting involving police in prince george's county this year. it's a new record for the county. >>> today the coast guard will resume the search for a missing boater on chesapeake bay. he was last seen when his boat was recovered from sandy point state park. rescuers already pulled two people from the water this weekend. a 25-year-old woman is being treated for hypothermia. she is expected to survive. >>> today the military hearing will resume for the army private accused of giving secrets to wikileaks. yesterday lawyers for bradle

. >> reporter: 34-year-old rodney edwards was shot saturday evening. he was shot several times in front of his home in greenleaf park. family members want to know why a police officer opened fire on edwards. they heard the shots. >> i walked to the door. when i opened the door, there was a blue van, cargo dan, dark tinted windows and an undercover police with a 9 millimeter and he looks like he was laying back. he had been shot. >> reporter: they say edwards had just been dropped off by a friend. >> he got out of her car and sat down on the curb, said that he had been drinking, you know, he was going to sit down here for a minute, and then turn around, and then within five minutes, five shots rang out. >> reporter: they also say the shooting was unprovoked. county police paint a very different picture of what happened on greenleaf. they say the officer had just left a toys for tots event here in palmer park and was on his way to another assignment. >> he came across this person lying on the side of the road, which he wanted to help and see what was wro

rodney edwards pulled a gun on the officer. police responded to a call saturday night of a man lying on the pavement investigators say when the officer got out of his patrol car the man sat up and pointed a gun at the officer. the officer fired killing edwards. edwards was unwarmed. >>> montana gmail.comry county police are -- montgomery county police are trying to identify a man who struck a man. the driver of a dark colored suv kept going. no charges have been filed against against the driver who stayed at the scene, but the crash is still under investigation. >>> time for the latest your money report. jessica doyle is back from vacation. >> reporter: well i missed a lot of action on wall street last week. we are waking up to asian stock markets selling off in part because of the death of kim jong il. world markets have been dealing with the debt crisis. expect the latest on inflation, incomes and spending as well as economic roast. the dow stands this morning at 11866 finished friday down two and a half points and it was up

rodney edwards was killed on december 17 on green leaf road in palmer park. police say edwards was lying on the ground when an officer approached. edwards sat up and pointed a gun at him and the officer opened fire. edward's family wants the shooting investigated. they don't believe he had a gun. >>> some sobering statistics about the nation's police force. fatalities rose sharply. 173 federal state and local officers were killed in the line of duty during 2011. earlier today, i talked to craig chairman and ceo of the memorial fund to find out what he thinks is behind the rise in fatalities. >> i think we have a problem with budget cuts decimating across the country, were cutting their training dollars, equipment dollars, cutting manpower at a time when we are asking police officers to take on a more cold-blooded brazen criminal element and we have seen in recent times. we are also asking them to fight a war on terror here in the home land and all of that means they need the best possible resources to do their jobs effectively and safely. we're not giving the

police say an officer was on duty in an unmarked car when he saw a man, 35-year-old rodney edwards, lyingon the ground. police say that's when the officer approached him. edwards pointed a gun at the officer. the officer then shot edwards, killing him. edwards' family says they can't believe he would point a gun at a police officer. >> he didn't know why he was shot, what he was doing, and even though why would you shoot somebody so small five times. you know what i'm saying? five times. and then we still can't get an answer to what's going on. >> police tell news 4 they did recover a gun from the scene. this is the 15th shooting involving police in prince george's county this year. a new record for the county. >>> today the military hearing will resume for the army private accused of spilling secrets to wikileaks. yesterday attorneys for bradley manning argued his supervisors should have seen enough red flags to revoke his access to secret information. they cited at least two instances in which manning flew into violent fits of rage and said he suffered from a gender identity crisis. man

police say an officer was on duty at an unmarked car when he saw a man, rodney edwards, lying on thethat's when the officer approached him. edwards point ad gun at the officer. the officer shot edwards, killing him. edwards family says they can't believe he would do such such a thing and demand answers. >> we need to know why he was shot, what he was doing and even though -- why would you shoot somebody so small, five times -- you know what i'm saying? five times? then we still can't get an answer to what's going on. >> police tell news4 that they did recover a gun from the scene. this is the 15th shooting involving police in prince george's county this year. >>> right now the coast guard is searching for a missing boat other the chesapeake bay. he was last seen saturday when his boat capsized near sandy point state park. the rescuers already pulled two other people from the water over the weekend. a 40-year-old man was taken to the hospital and he died a short time later. a 25-year-old woman is being treated for hypothermia. she is expected to survive. >>> you might expect if you ar

police say an officer was on duty in an unmarked car when he saw a man rodney edwards lying on the ground. edwards pointed a gun at the officer. the officer shot and killed edwards. but edwards' family doesn't believe that's what happened. they're loorbging for answers. >> we want to know why he was shot, what he was doing, and even though, why would you shoot somebody so small five times -- you know what i'm saying? five times, and we still can't get an answer to what's going on. >> police confirmed to news 4 they did recover a gun from the scene. this is the 15th police involved shooting in prince george's county this year. a new record. >>> today the coast guard will resume its search for a missing boater on the chesapeake bay. he was last seen on saturday when his boat capsized near sandy point state park. rescuers already pulled two other people from the water over the weekend. a 40-year-old man was taken to the hospital. he died a short time later. a 25-year-old woman is being treated for hypothermia. she is expected to survive. >>> our time just about 5:08. the key endorsement mitt

an officer notified or noticed rodney edwards lying on the ground along green leaf road december 17thpolice say edwards then sat up and pointed a gun at them and they opened fire. edwards family is calling for an investigation they don't believe he had a gun. >> silver lining to a burglary at a store, the habitat restore had $3,500 tools stolen earlier this month. since word got out the nonprofit received more donations than what was stolen a little good news there after a bad situation. >> all right very good. like to hear that. >> 8:30 a.m., tucker barnes rejoins us with more on today's forecast. >> kind of cloudy and cool, cold to start the morning, cool this afternoon at least we will be dry. really nice, no real sign of wintertime weather for the next couple days, it will be colder next week some people are hoping we will have winter here. >> you are among them. >> well, yeah. let's kick it off with temperatures, we have been cold overnight regan national, 33 degrees, bottomed out 32 regan national, lots of 20s. low to mid-20s on the map even at the moment here, 25 manassas, 26 a

rodney adams was shot and killed. an officer noticed edwards laying on the ground to palmer park. as they approached, edwards sat up and pointed a gun at them as they opened fire. the family is calling for an investigation and they do not believe he had a you go. >>> and sobering news about the nation's police force. law enforcement fatalities rose sharply the second straight year, according to the national law enforcement officer's memorial fund. 173 federal, state k and local officers were killed in the line of duty in 2011. craig floyd, the chairman and ceo of the national memorial officer's fund was here now to help with the numbers. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, shawn. >> it must be frustrating to hear the numbers and to hear they're growing. what do you think is causing the increase in police death? >> i think we have a problem with budget cuts decimating law enforcement agencies across the country and where we're cutting the training, their equipment dollars and manpower and this is in -- and we're asking them to fight a war on terror in the homeland and