was the suspect mentally deranged and why did he choose ron kirby, and that is answers she needs as profound as her love. >> it has profound consequences to our lives. i will never be able to -- i don't think that i can live without ron. >> reporter: such terrible pain and pain that is now being felt by the family of ruthanne lodato. live in alexandria, jackie bensen. >> the family of lodato has asked for privacy, but they asked a neighbor to read a statement about the loss. >> a beloved mother, and mother-in-law, and wife and sister and daughter, she was our family rock. we will not be the same without her. ruthanne enjoyed giving her beautful gift of music to the countless children over the past 40 years, and teaching brought her great joy. >> an attack like this would put any neighborhood on edge while police are looking for the killer, but police say living in this alexandria community have more of a reason to be afraid. our bureau chief julie carey has more details. >> well, you can see that the crime scene still surrounds ruthanne's lodato home, but we watched the crime scene investiga

. >> reporter: and lodato's murder comes three months after the still unsolved killing of ron kirby, e well known transportation planner who was killed in his home a mile away, and the second shooting is keeping executive lock and key busy as residents bolter up security. this afternoon, ron huffman had three calls to install more locks. >> people are aftraid to open u the doors and the door is the barrie barrier, and they are trying to find an avenue to recognize who is in front of the door and people are calling to install peepholes. >> reporter: and as a lifelong resident himself, he feels the unease in the community, and he hopes that the police have more answers. >> well, it is a small town still to us, and i think that it shakes everybody to the core. >> reporter: shaken to the core does sum up the feeling of so many tonight, and coming up on "news4 at 6:00," you will hear from the niece of another high profile alexandria victim, and she wonders about a connection between all three killings. reporting live, i'm julie carey. >> and with what judy just said, i did happen less than

reporter: police are looking into possible connections between this murder and the the murder of ron kirby, less than a mile from here. kirby, a well known regional traffic planner, was shot to death in his home in 2013. there were no signs of forced entry, no suspect. as police continue with their investigation, parents struggle to explain to their children how something so terrible could happen to their music teacher. >> have to be realistic and say every now and then lst an odd ball thing that happens and can't explain it. >> reporter: the second woman who was shot, she was hit in the skparm we're told she's going to be okay. she was able to go to a neighbor's house and get help. as for the gunman, he's described as an elderly white male. he's balding with gray hair and a beard. reporting live, megan mcgrath, news 4. >>> fire crews are investigating what may have caused an overnight fire in northeast d.c. flames damaged the building on lincoln road northeast not far from rhode island avenue. no one was hurt. >>> the doors of a popular grocery store in northwest washington will not be op

. >> they are to see if there are between the homicide of ron kirby. >> to have two of these in a short time, it is terrifying. i am not going to be opening my door. >> that is something residents are thinking about. a safety and security. we've have seen multiple police units patrolling here. the memorial continues to grow. everyone hopes the schedule bring in new leads. >> thank you. , troubling charges filed against a teacher. accused ofdy in jail child pornography and abuse. more than a dozen counts were filed against him. kevin lewis is live. -- warning signs went ignored. >> eb in the classroom for 27 years. he was teaching music. after reviewing documents, some believe he fell through the cracks and school leaders cap tim there. the allegations are damning. behind thelestation walls of this elementary school. >> i was one of the moms that came to complain. son was ine herrera his class. >> there was something not right about him. >> herrera isn't alone. in september of 2010, a parent daughterd he asked her to crawl into his lap. a first grader reported he tickled her during a lec

police looking at the possibility there's a connection with the murder of transportation official ron kirby who was also mysteriously shot and killed inside his home in november. he lived about a mile away from the lodatos. >> i don't want to characterize it there's a serial killer floating around the city. >> reporter: in alexandria, peggy fox, wusa9. >> ruth ann lodato well known and well loved in her community. people came out to pray for her and her family today at a mass at the blessed sacrament school this afternoon. she played organ during sunday mass at the church and a music teacher at the school. >> ruth ann was the gentlest, kindest, most peaceful person you would ever want to meet and to think she had such violence, it's very hard. she was a wonderful, wonderful woman full of music, full of life. >> ruth ann lodato also taught piano lessons to several children in her neighborhood.  today her family issued a statement asking for privacy during this investigation. >>> virginia state police now charged three people in connection with the death of wadesboro police reserve captain

police are looking at the possibility there's a connection with the murder of transportation official ron kirby who was also mysteriously shot and killed inside his home in november. he lived about a mile away from the lodatos. >> that certainly residents have a right to be concerned, but i don't want to characterize it that there's a serial killer floating around the city. >> reporter: police hope to reinterview the caretaker of low day tomorrow's elderly mother -- lodato's elderly mother again soon so they can compile a sketch for the public so the public can help solve this crime. peggy fox live in alexandria, back to you. >> they need all the help they can get to figure this one out. >> one of the reasons everybody is so very upset about that is that victim, ms. lodato, taught piano to hundreds of students in her alexandria community. she played the organ at her church and taught preschool and music at the school. a lot of students took lessons out of her home a few blocks away from that church and students today came to pray for the lodato family. >> she was our family rock. we will not be

the transportation expert, ron kirby, was killed back in november and nancy dunning, the wife of a former alexandria sheriff, she was killed back in 2003. here's the problem left by this week's heavy snowfall for metro bus riders. the snow is still high at a lot of bus stops in the area. there is no path from the stop to the bus, except to climb over a mound of snow. that seems to be a problem for the elderly and some disabled passengers. we called metro today and told that each jurisdiction is responsible for clearing the walkways and bus stops. the exceptions are metro bus, which metro is responsible for. metro says those bays have been cleared. >> well, another cold night, what about the rest of the weekend? let's go to first alert meteorologist, erica groh. >> not only is it cold out there, but it's windy in the wake of this clipper system. you can see it pulling away. it gathered more strength as it made its way out of the d.c. metro. this is a six hour loop. you can see we have been snow- free for more than six hours now, but we did get a coating to an inch throughout the metro with

the case involving ron kirby, the 69-year-old. rotation official found dead on november 11. he served for 26 years. there was no threat to the community after his death, the case remains unsolved. >> we are monitoring a developing story overseas. and man try to hijack a plane and take it to sochi. the flight left the ukraine and was headed for istanbul when a passenger made a bomb threat and try to hijack the flight. jeff goldberg is live with the latest developments. >> after receiving a terror alert, they scrambled f-16 fighter jets which guided the plane to a safe landing. last few hours, the istanbul governor tweeted this. the pilot has been neutralized. the operation is complete. >> this is the first look we are getting of the man who caused a terror scare. the air force control center received a hijacking alert from the inbound aircraft. 110 passengers on board. the suspect identified as ukrainian citizen claimed a bomb was in the baggage hold and ordered the plane to instead fly to sochi where the opening ceremonies were in full bloom. the crew proved to be smarter th

. >>> could the same person who killed ruth ann lodato rehe at her home yesterday have killed ron kirby months ago? i'm peggy fox, the story coming up. >>> beatle mania 50 years later has a big mark approaching. that story coming up. >>> and good evening i'm jan jeffcoat. >> and i'm derek mcginty. got potential for us to see not one but perhaps two more rounds of snow. >> let's get to first alert chief meteorologist topper shutt with more on the forecast. >> no worries tonight if you have plans on this friday night, temperatures cold at 39 downtown, 30, though, in gaithersburg already, 34 up in frederick, 34 in leesburg and 36 in manassas. no wind chills, though. first system that's going to head through overnight into the early morning hours producing snow through most of arkansas and a little bit in louisiana, essentially it's going to pass just to our south, kind of give us a glancing blow, if you will. we have another system behind that that will give us another chance for snow. this one passes off so the south tomorrow. again we have a chance for tomorrow afternoon and also evening

in november, a top regional transportation planner ron kirby was gun down in his home. it's a case police have yet to crack, but one they are now comparing. >> we will have to look to see to those similarities and whether or not we're dealing with a similar homicide. >> reporter: here again, this is an extremely low crime neighborho. but police have been able to talk to that caregiver, and it's really her firsthand account of what happened that is being able to jump-start their investigation into the search for this shooter. live in alexandria, i'm chris lawrence, news4. >> thanks, chris. >>> our team coverage continues tonight with shomari stone. he has new details about the murder victim, a well-known music teacher and a mother of three. she had strong ties to the community as well. shomari? >> reporter: well, jim, ruthanne lodato touched the lives of hundreds of people here in alexandria over the course of two decades. she actually played an organ behind me on sundays at this catholic church. and a lot of folks tell me that god gave her the gift of music. 59-year-old

ron kirby killed back in november and nancy dunning the wife of the former alexandria sheriff, was killedn 2003. >>> rescuers responders were put to the test in silver springs today after a really large man was found dead in a residence after the cause of death was determined, the next of kin notified and to find a way to bring the very large body out of that house. we have more from nicky standing by live. >> reporter: it is unfortunately a very sad situation and one that we don't hear about very often. it happened at this group home here behind me on autumn drive. the scene has since been cleared. but we were here earlier today and shot some video of what took place. we want to take a look at the video. let me tell you exactly what happened. it happened at about 7:00 this morning. a man was found dead in the basement by his roommate. just about a block off new hampshire. police got here and determined the man died of natural causes due to the high risk lifestyle and was in his 50s and weighed almost 500 pounds. the operation called for three different technical rescue team, and because

but in 2013, ron kirby, a well-known transportation planner, was murdered in his home. his home being less than a mile from this neighborhood. there were no signs of forced entry in that case. and a lot of similarities. now asked whether this murder is connected to the kirby murder, the chief of police said that they are certainly looking into it. there are striking similarities, but at this point, it is just too early to tell. reporting live in alexandria, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. >>> as police search for the gunman, stay with us on air and on line. we'll have live updates and police video on nbcwashington.com. >>> 5:04. a family waiting to hear whether a body found two hours south of d.c. is that was a missing police reservist. kevin quick went missing last friday. the nbc nation richmond believes the body -- nbc station in richmond believes the body belongs to quick. the body had gunshot wound. quick's suv was found in manassas last weekend. three siblings are being held without bond in connection with quick's disappearance. >>>

this neighborhood is not known for violence, but in 2013, a well-known transportation planner, ron kirby, was murdered in his home. that was less than a mile from here. no signs of forced entry were found, and the murder has not been solved. the chief of police was asked if there are any connections between the murder here yesterday and the police said there are similarity, but it's too early to tell. aaron, back to you. >> thank you. >>> 6:04. police are waiting to hear if a body found about two hours south of d.c. is that was a missing police reservist. police found what they believe is kevin quick's body in a remote area of the county which is northwest of richmond. our affiliate there says quick was shot to death. he hasn't been seen since last friday. his suv was found in manassas over the weekend. three siblings are being held without bond in connection with quick's disappearance. >>> a former silver springs school teacher expected in court facing allegations of sexually abusing some of his students. 55-year-old lawrence joins at new hampshire estates elementary school. police beli

police are looking at the possibility there's a connection with the murder of transportation official ron kirby who was also mysteriously shot and killed inside his home in november. he lived about a mile away from the lodatos. >> that certainly residents have a right to be concerned, but i don't want to characterize it that there's a serial killer floating around the city. >> reporter: police did give us one new piece of information and that is the suspect was wearing a tan jacket. the suspect is described as an older white man who is balding with it gray hair and a full gray or white beard. police are hoping to interview that caretaker again as soon as possible so they can come up with a sketch of the suspect and get that out to the public because they need some help on this one. >> that is scary information. thank you. >> 59-year-old ruthanne lodato had a strong faith and a love for music. surae chinn joins us live at the catholic church where she was a long time member. >> reporter: music was her life and a lot of it played out here at the blessed sacrament catholic church and its school. r

profile unsolved murdering, nancy dunning the wife of the sheriff at that time, and the shooting of ron ker kirby, a councilman took placeless than a mile away, and the police chief was asked if there could be a kconnection to this murder? >> well, that is a connection that occurs to us, and we are only a few hours into the investigation, so we will have to look to see to the similarity and whether or not we are dealing with a similar homicide. >> reporter: chief cook describes the suspect as a white man who is balding with gray hair and a small beard. and now police at this point are not giving us a feeling that they want residents to be in a high state of alert, but what they say is that people should be careful as they should be in opening up the front door to someone they don't know. live in alexandria, jackie bensen, news4. >> and the ruth ann was a organ player at the st. catherine parish, and we just spoke to one of the pa rish ierrishierer ins shocked to learn of her death. >> shocked. that is my first emotion, and i'm saddened of the death of such a nice lady. just a beautiful woman who

this past november a high-level official of the transportation official, a man by the name of ron kirbyd his door and lo and behold someone shot him. investigators are trying to determine if the cases may be related. but at this point it's too early to jump to that conclusion. but the investigators are definitely going to consider that. martha: i remember the case of the gentleman we talked about in the middle there. the doorbell rang and his wife watched the whole thing. a horrifying murder. you say you with lean in this latest case toward going the traditional route talking to her relatives and friends trying to figure fought somebody wanted her dead. >> i do. i have been following this case since last thursday when it occurred. the area where this murder occurred is a nice area. it's an upscale area. a lot of mom and pop shops. so it's not the type of area where you have typical street crime. but i'll tell you where i'm leaning toward. as an investigator i wonder if this could be a case of mistaken identity. i'm wondering if the individual who committed this murder, he only knocked o