i'm stephen tschida. i'll fill you in. maureen: chief meteorologist doug hill ta tomorrow's heat maureen: a woman accused of running over the manager of a used car lot will go on trial in july. police say alexandra mendez hit a person at the auto sales in arlington last january. the person was dragged from several feet. since then he has undergone multiple surgeries including facial reconstruction. mendez's industrial scheduled for july 27. plans for a major renovation are inspiring safety concerns for metro riders. metro is closing the west entrance to the van ness station to install new escalators. our stephen tschida is covering metro for us tonight and is live at the station with why passengers feel they are being put in harm's relationship -- reporter: more than 6,000 passengers use the metro station on a work day. many of them go and come through the west entrance but it's about to close for several years. they are not just unhappy, these passengers about the inconvenience, but about the timing as well. stephen: the

stephen tschida has the details. stephen: the transportation secretary believes it makes the most sense if the state picks up the tab for widening i-66 outside of the beltway. the plan is to widen i-66 outside of the beltway. the project expected to cost more than $2 billion. if virginia covers the tab, it could save a billion dollars on the roads. if the state handles financing and construction of the expansion to i-66 instead of the private sector, it will generate some $500 million of total revenue over four decades. the state will have to kick in money to the private sector. >> i can see people paying the toll. stephen: the proposal to cover the cost of widening i-66 came about after a study of financing options. some homeowners, especially those who houses could go way to make way, think the project should be dropped. >> it just moves the chokepoints. it is not take care of the problems with traffic. the people in haymarket cannot afford $10,000 and tolls. stephen: the virginia transportation secretary said that

stephen tschida has the story. tephen: the developer plans to surround this victorian home now an apartment building at 11th and m street in northwest d.c. with a great big apartment building. the moat around the old house intended for the foundation of the new apartment. but the builder apparently dug too deep and too close. >> something is broken. stephen: more like cracked and literally on the edge. alfredo came to do the laundry here but it's closed and he quickly figured out why. >> it's really dangerous. stephen: the drop is so sharp that the fear is the building will fall over and crash to the ground. >> the people living in the structure ajayse sabt to -- adjacent to the structure have been relocated. stephen: they evacuated the building and slapping a stop work order on the project. the only endeavors underway now are efforts to save the old building. >> i don't know how. stephen: for now they are piling dirt around the base of the house and installing support beams. no word when or whether construction wil

stephen tschida joins us live from northwest washington. you spoke with buckley's wife and how is she holding up after all of this? stephen: she is devastated. in the last 45 minutes we heard howard university put out a missing person's alert. we have learned that montgomery county police right now are responding to a possible hit from lance buckley's telephone. they are near 22 along the toll path in a wooded area. if the phone was used, it would have been the first time since yesterday morning shortly before buckley disappeared from howard university. 11 days after giving birth, she needs support again. amy buckley's husband, 33-year-old lance buckley disappeared yesterday. amy: i love you so much. no matter what, i just want you to come home. stephen: buckley's mother dropped him off and he regularly got rides to d.c. where he planned to graduate from howard university's micro biology p.h.d. program saturday. >> he has a loving family and wife and two beautiful daughters. stephen: they know he withdrew cash at the university hospital and

stephen tschida spoke with the victim's family and the school officials today. what is the latest there? stephen: first of all alison, this cell phone video was taken on a school bus as it pulled out of highland park elementary last friday. in this video which we have edited, blurred the faces of some of the children, you will see the students begin to taunt this 9-year-old girl thisdy min knewtive 9-year-old girl -- diminutive 9-year-old girl and the taunts and then it escalates to a physical beating. a girl pummels the 9-year-old over the head with her fist. the 9-year-old did suffer a concussion. today, her family went to school officials and prince george's county police to ask why the bus driver did not step in to protect the little girl. >> the video is seven minutes long. he didn't stop the bus even after he heard her screaming and crying. he never stopped. stephen: the prince george's county police said it was up to the school system to deal with the situation. an hour ago i heard from the school who says one of the student, the student seen delivering th

stephen tschida has a look at what drivers can expect when they get there. stephen: check out the bridge right now. traffic is starting to pick up. this is wednesday before the memorial day weekend. already a lot of people in vacation mode literally. the beach beckons. some can't resist the call. >> it will be about an hour to get across. stephen: going to be? it already is. so many people are avoiding the traffic that they shifted the peak period. >> busiest time is thursday afternoon 5:00 to 6:00. stephen: the seconds biest is wednesday night. this year we expect an increase in number of the people hitting the road. about a million across the metro area. driving the vacationers, upbeat economy and cheap gas. a buck less a gallon than last year. >> more people will travel because it's cheaper. they have 100 brick, one for each fatality in the past six decades. >> she passed away july 28 ten months old. stephen: she joined tourism experts to offer advice and warnings for the drivers this memorial weekend. especially those taking route 404. >> the beach isn't

stephen tschida now at the bay bridge. going to tell us why more people are going on vacation this weekend. how does it look right now? stephen: wednesday before memorial day weekend. check out the bay bridge. already backed up. it's 4:15 on this wednesday. here is the deal. the economy is picking up. gas prices are way down. that has sparked optimism. a lot of people are planning to take a trip across the country. 5% more people are expected to go on vacation this memorial weekend than last year. it amounts to a billion people across the area. they will head 50 miles or more. 88% of those traveled have indicated they will be driving. stephen: the toll booths are backing up. etching on the easy -- especially on the easy pass lane. heading over the bay bridge. other statistics. so many people want to beat the traffic. the peak here has shifted. the busiest time for travel is tomorrow, thursday night. second busiest tonight. wednesday night. reporting live stephen tschida, abc7 news. leon: thank you. boy, look at that mess t

reporting live stephen tschida, abc7 news. leon: thank you stephen. the investigation is also going to be continuing for days here at this point. we said we are just a few yards away from the site of the crash here. we have a chance to get out and talk to a number of the neighbors up duped this street. it was really interesting to hear their accounts of what happened when they heard the sound of the crash and some of them who said they saw some of the victims. it was telling to see the emotion because there is emotion today. people here are expressing their sympathies for the people that suffers last night. take a listen to what one man who lives really only 150 yards away from the crash site told us. >> it was really scary. tears coming out from my eyes, too. i'm not saying nothing. leon: yes, and he like all the other neighbors that we talked to on the street all say they now are focusing on praying for the victims. that is all for now in philadelphia. we will be on the story throughout the hour and throughout the evening and we will have more just

stephen tschida looks at the mess left behind. stephen: the lincoln memorial is a tribute to great man and symbol of the city. the george town tradition following senior ball. those of us who graduate assemble at the lincoln memorial for early morning farewell. sarah didn't make it but heard it was spectacular. >> i know it was a memorable experience watching the sunrise with the classmates. i was yes. great. stephen: this year the crowd grew large and rowdy and that prompted calls to the u.s. park police. >> it's a shame they would do that. stephen: once the park police moved in the crowd disbersed quickly but left behind quitet of litter. >> it's obviously terribly incident. stephen: the police received complaints about trash but that was it. no vandalism. some believe the lincoln memorial should be off limits for any form of revelry. >> i don't know what to say to the students except to think about this. what you have right now as a student came because of the 167th president. stephen: is spokesperson for georgetown said the sch

stephen tschida has the latest developments on the story from logan circle for us tonight. stephen? stephen: this is a heart-wrenching story, a tragic story. this woman who scrimped and saved for years lost everything in a smash-and-grab and has failed to get a response from d.c. police. we stepped in. today she is getting police attention. but unfortunately it may be too little too late. we saw her fresh from another trip to the police department. in hopes of getting back what two men took from her on friday. >> $10,000. $10,000. stephen: she works seven days a week for three years saving every penny so she could buy a home for her three children and herself. she planned take the money she kept in her apartment to bank between cleaning jobs. while she loaded her car the these struck. smashed out a window and took off with bag of cash. she called 911 immediately and says she waited more than an hour for an officer. >> if they had come right away they could have caught him. >> my bag was a big bag. whoever carried the bag they would see it. stephen: her frustration continued today. s

stephen tschida is live to explain. stephen: this neighborhood sees smash-and-grabs where people come buy. they break out the window and grab what they can get. they target cleaning ladies because they are known to be paid in cash. on friday they hit a vehicle inside that vehicle, maria marina arias' live savings. $10,000 in cash. she was going to the bank to open an account between jobs. they got away with the money and they stole the family's american dream in the process. >> i had been saving it make pastries to sell to my friends and church members to raise the money. it's gone. stephen: back live, that is a police camera that is pointed directly at the area where the crime went down. she called 911 immediately after she saw the money was gone and said it took an officer an hour to get here. she said she has been calling repeatedly to see if the camera caught the criminals in action. so far she has not gotten a response. but we will be calling as well and hopefully we will get the answer she wants. reporting live ste

scott: stephen tschida explains all the options.phen: there is a proposal to widen i-66 outside the beltway for 25 miles. it is expected to cost more than $2 billion. but today virginia transportation secretary said if the state covers the cost it could pay off down the road. some $500 million in the next few decades because the state would recoup the cost from tolls and the express lanes. something virginia drivers think makes sense. >> it's better. that took forever. stephen: virginia transportation secretary says the state should finalize how much to pay for widening i-66 this summer. alison: now a traffic alert from d.c. to northern virginia. the right outbound lane of memorial lane is closed. they rin specting that stretch for arlington for corrosion. no word on how long it will last. scott: get to the weather. relief is ahead from the humid. doug: sometimes cold fronts will move through and we get storm activity and sometimes like today it will move through unnoticed. a live look down the river in alexandria. this is the natio

stephen tschida explains what it means to you. stephen: the transportation secretary believes it makes the most sense for virginia taxpayers if the state state picked up the tab. >> the project expected to cost $2 billion. if virginia covers the tab it could save $1 billion down the road. if the state handles the finances to i-66 instead of the private sector, it is expected to generate $500 million in total revenue. >> the proposal to cover the cost of widening 26 miles of i-66 came after a study of financing options. some homeowners especially those whose houses would go away thinks it should be dropped. >> the people can't afford it in tolls. >> lane says a decision will be made how to pay for widening i-66 this summer. leon: the drivers probably aren't waiting until friday to get out of town for the holiday weekend. thursday at 5:00 p.m. the is the worst time to travel in this area. second worst is tomorrow evening's rush hour. friday is the third worst day with the peak travel at 3:00 p.m. last thing we need is weather to comp

stephen tschida, abc news. leon: let's get to that security scared to the white house. a man accused of trying to fly a drone over the white house. alison: scott thuman is live at the scene with what we are learning at this latest incident. scott? reporter: a much different scene right now than it was just three hours ago. the streets are open. the white house no longer under lockdown. it was around 1:00 this afternoon when secret service agents first noticed a drone flying about 100 feet above us here in lafayette park. according to some eyewitness accounts, and there are different -- accounts, it was very close to the fence if not over the fence. here is some video from an eyewitness earlier today who pulled out his cell phone when he saw this happening. you can see the suspect or person that was operating the drone was detained very quickly. he did make a run for it at one point according to one eyewitness. a dog was let go. they got him. the drone was brought down to the ground and they say that after looking at it, there was nothing dangerous attached. there were n

stephen tschida has a statement for them and the latest from the crime seep in northwest d.c. -- crime scene in northwest d.c. stephen: there is still a police presence. you can see the house. the murder scene is cordoned off and this is an active case. investigators are looking for more suspects. now we understand they are looking into money orders associated with some of the individuals arrested when daron wint was taken into custody. the individuals later released. then the statement from wint's father where he sympathizes with the family of the victims and condemns the crime. but does not offer up a defense for his son. >> daron wint, so far the only person charged in the murders of savvas savopoulos, his wife amy, their 10-year-old son phillip and housekeeper vera figueroa. his father dennis wint issued a statement to the "washington post" saying -- i would like the family of the victims to know our thoughts and prayers are with them. it pains me that my son is charged with this crime. we hope whoever committed these heinous crimes, my son included will suffer the consequences. me

our stephen tschida is standing by there live. stephen? stephen: well, we're out here in front of the baltimore city jail for hours. monitoring the comings and goings through that secure entrance over there. we do now understand from jail officials here that all six of these police officers are at the jail. now, throughout the day, a number of people gathered here in front of the jail to celebrate. >> all night, all day! we will fight for freddie gray! stephen: outside the jail cheers for the arrest of six baltimore police officers, one facing murder charges. >> america is going to see police officers with mug shots. stephen: among the group circling the jail and chanting the mother of trayvon martin the young man killed in a confrontation with a security guard in florida. >> for some reason this is open season on african-american men. when is the season going to be over? stephen: we went to officer caeser goodson's neighborhood. the officer now faces second-degree murder charges. >> it was so shocking. i know him by just waving at him and

stephen tschida covering the trip from rosalyn tonight where the commuters are still fuming over the problems. stephen? stephen: late today metro issued an apology for the delays and the inconvenience, blaming the problems on the insilllation cover over the third rail which were arcing. the crowd has thinned out but the anger lingers. a sea of commuters outside the metro station as smoke in the tunnel between rosalyn and foggy bottom stifled traffic through a crucial line. crews tried to isolate the cause of the smoke and clear it. but it took hours. >> this is definitely like -- stephen: the idle trains had anxious commuters waiting and worrying about getting to work. >> metro needs to get their act together. this is ridiculous. stephen: metro brought in a caravan of shuttle buses to try to get the commuters to the destination. >> this is happened before. they should have been better prepared. stephen: but the crush of people and lack of coordination made boarding the buses difficult. >> we have been here waiting for three hours three or four hours. stephen: the tie-up mangled traffi

we have more from stephen tschida on the presumed victims. stephen: it's still a very active scene here outside the house. we have a.t.f. here. investigators have been going in and out of the house. a few moments ago we saw them bring out bags of evidence. now we also have a better look at the house. the burned out shell of what was a home for a family. tonight we are learning more about the people who call the house home. the ceo of american ironworks, the leading manufacturer of metal building materials savvas savopoulos and his wife amy lived in the multimillion dollar home in the stately neighborhood. family and friends attended a prayer service. a few blocks away and steps from the burned out house, gutierrez tried to make sense of what happened. >> i can't believe it. stephen: gutierrez worked for the family for 20 years. >> making sure you did not come today. stephen: yesterday a cryptic text told her to stay home. nothing that happened before. >> she tried calling the lady and they didn't answer the phone. she tried to call the other h

leon: stephen tschida has more on what led to the metro meltdown. stephen? stephen: this is where we saw some of the worst of it this morning. the rosalyn station. now, metro issued an apology for this overcrowding the delays and the inconvenience for thousands of passengers. it says multiple insulators on the third rails needed to be replaced. that was the source of the smoke. that is why metro decided to halt traffic to close this vital tunnel on metro. and metro stating that the reason was safety of passengers. we have video here of all that the passengers encountered. so many people trying to get to their destinations delayed, dealing with shuttle buses, trying to get on uber or a taxi cab. we caught up with numerous passengers who were frustrated and downright angry. >> it was hard. they told me i needed to go to lafont. when i got there, there was an orange train sitting there waiting there the whole time full of people going on and off. they told me i had to catch the shuttle. and i just said forget it. i just took an uber. stephen: just within the pa

stephen tschida was also there. it is a heck of a scene out there. reporter: incredible scene earlier today. this ramp onto 295 close down for much of the day. the bullets flew just north of us here. a lot of drivers stranded. a lot of people all across the area unnerve tonight. police tape cut off the main artery into the nation's capital. >> it is terrible. reporter: star -- traffic snake along for hours. just before 9:00, police found two men on the side of the northbound lanes of 295. someone had opened fire on them. one was dead. the other was injured. >> oh, man. reporter: those stuck in traffic suspected road rage did others worried about what would could it sparked a fatal confrontation on such a busy roadway. >> my bed. we do not even apologize anymore. reporter: detectives dissented on the seawall the investigation was carried out through the morning. the northbound lanes remain closed. the backup soon spread to other routes as drivers look for other ways to make it to the destinations >>. s. >> i had to detour around it. it was a miserable

reporting live stephen tschida, abc7 news. leon: friday she stopped by her on the way to the bank. she came out and we will continue to follow the story to see what happens with her. now we are learning more about a man who is accused of killing a family and set the home on fire. they say that -- tonight rather, law enforcement tells abc7 news that wint hired a taxi to drive him back to d.c. from brooklyn. they believe he used the money stolen from the mansion to pay for the ride. they don't believe he was working alone. the investigation is ongoing. no answers in the death of a toddler in la plata. an autopsy has been performed but the results are pending. the child was found dead in a swing after his mother pushed him last week for hours. the mother is in the hospital and has not been identified. police believe she may have been in the park overnight before the boy was discovered. there were no signs of trauma on the child but foul play has not been ruled out. developing now two planes searched at the new york kennedy airport after threats were made against them. they scrambled t

stephen tschida has more on that for us right now. stephen? stephen: well, we have been out here in front of the baltimore city jail for hours as vehicles would come and go. we do now understand that all six of these officers are here at the jail awaiting processing and formal charges. but i want to tell you a few minutes ago, a number of people religious groups came through here. they were demonstrating right here. we still have a lot of police. they showed up moments afterwards after this protest began and then the protesters moved away. still police here among those demonstrating to bring the mother of trayvon martin, young man killed during an altercation with a security guard. she spoke out about these charges against these six officers. >> that's not a conviction. we have to keep that in mind. although we're celebrating and we're hopeful that something will stick and they will be able to stay in jail that they will be able to be accountable for killing this young man. stephen: among the religious leaders who were speaking or who were dir

stephen tschida, live. reporter: the buses are moving quickly. you can see from the sign the problems do continue. a bit of confusion from what we are hearing from metro headquarters and what we are seeing on signs like this and hearing from metro commuters. caught up with a lot of people this morning. very distraught about their commute on this monday. >> metro needs to get its act gather. we spend too much money for them to be doing this. this is the second time. it is ridiculous. reporter: that is something we have heard from a lot of passengers who were talking with us this morning. a lot of people were saying why does this keep happening. uber increasing its rates. the problems from this issue with metro extended beyond the metro transit wisdom, into the -- system, into this treats of d.c. traffic. -- streets of d.c. traffic. all of those commuters who are opting for uber if they could get one or a taxi which was even a harder find. jummy: thank you. this was the second report of smoke on the rails this morning. metro trains had the single t

stephen tschida exams the fallout. stephen? reporter: this ramp onto 295 from virginia and all down to 95 north to where we are standing now shut down. traffic backed up all the way here. people stuck in the traffic complaining about sitting there. many not know what is going on. we caught up to other motorists that we shot from the chopper seven -- the traffic was backed up terribly. a lot of people pushed onto the side roads trying to get to their destinations to avoid this backup. and that caused problems. >> traffic was gridlocked so i cannot go nowhere. reporter: a lot of people having concern about how they could not get to the destination. also a lot of concern about whether this was road rage or not. just the thought of bullets flying across 295 during the rush-hour had a lot of people unnerved. reporting live, steven tschida abc 7 news. leon: we got this just in from leesburg. an 85-year-old man was hurt when his truck fell off the second level of a parking garage. police say he was speeding on west market street when

stephen tschida is life at union station and has an update from there. stephen: a sea of chaos inside union station continuing at this moment. thousands of people arrived here today intending to board trains to new york and points north. only to encounter the effects of the tragedy in philadelphia. >> even, if you want to go past there there are no trains going past there. none. >> strongs of passengers suddenly in an unexpected destination. from riding on a train to scrambling for alternate modes of transportation. >> they had us go from line to line. >> we don't know how to get to jersey now. >> after hours -- leon: we are interrupting the report to take you to the ntsb live press conference. let's listen in. >> safety recommendations, try to keep the actions from happening again. before i go any further, i would like to offer our sincere condolences for the loss of lives and the injuries that people have sustained. and our thoughts and prayers are truly with them. ntsb investigators began arriving here in philadelphia between 4:00 and 5:00 this morning

stephen tschida is live with details from today's hearing. reporter: right now there is a roundtable going on on the fifth floor. they are taking up the issue of body cameras on police. mayor -- the mayor was to spend more the $5 million outfitting about 3000 officers with body cameras by the end of the year. what she wants the recorded images to be exempt from freedom of information request. ensuring the images are not released to the public. the police chief testified today she addressed her support for body cameras. >> the addition of these cameras will increase account ability and it's her bad behavior, literally transforming the way policeman and individuals interact with each other. reporter: the objections to body cameras are not about the images . it is not how they might these fight police but what happens to those images. a number of people testifying at this roundtable are speaking and talking about how something has to be done to protect innocent victims. people at their most vulnerable moments. those images could wind up someplac

stephen tschida. leon: associate dean at the university of virginia says an apology isn't good enough and she is suing "rolling stone" magazine over the retracted article about a rape on campus. suzanne kennedy live to explain the new developments in the case. suzanne: the associate dean is suing the magazine for more than $7 million. nicole aramo is the university's top administrator dealing with sexual assaults. she says the november article entitled "a rape on campus" cast her as the chief villain in the incident. the article claimed that a woman identified only as jackie was gang raped at the fraternity house. the police found later no evidence of the crime. in a statement, aramo said "i am filing the defamation lawsuit to set the record straight and to hold the magazine and the author of the article accountable for their actions in a way they have refused to do themselves." the magazine asked the columbia school of journalism to conduct independent review of the article. it found the magazine fai

stephen tschida is following the investigation and he has the latest coming up at 5:00. leon: happening right now a confirmed case of tuberculosis has parents and students from rockville high school concerned. the school sent out a robo call but some parents say the school didn't tell them quickly enough and left them with more questions. sam sweeney outside of rockville high breaking down the story for us. sam? sam: a letter went home with students telling them they are not at additional risk of t.b. at rockville high school. i met with nurses at the health and human services this afternoon. they tell me they have a plan in place to determine who may have been exposed to the person with t.b. but at this hour, they want all parents and students to know that the situation is under control. tuberculosis is contagious but unlike the flu and the common cold it takes prolonged period of exposure. someone infected who repeatedly coughs and sneezes on another could infect another person. health officials stress it's difficult to contract the illness in a school setting. but out

stephen tschida. alison: now we turn to the vintage plane that had to make an emergency landing at reagan national airport. suzanne kennedy live near the airport with what went wrong. suzanne? suzanne: alison, let me show you where the plane landed at reagan national airport at 12:30 this afternoon. just beyond the u.s. airways jets forced to land on runway 11 it after the aircraft experienced hydraulic problems. it could be heard sputtering as it peeled away from the formation over the lincoln memorial. this was shot from bradley point north of reagan national airport. emergency crews rushed to the tarmac to assist once the plane did touch down. it caused delays for friday afternoon air travelers. >> someone worked here the flights were delayed indefinitely at the time because of the world war ii plane stuck after an emergency landing. we got to see plane being pulled by several guys out of the runway. suzanne: the plane had to be towed off the runway and it was going to be brought back to the airpor

reporting live from the scene, stephen tschida abc7 news. alison: we are looking live as we await the press conference from the mayor and the police chief. as soon as it happens we will go to it directly. meanwhile we go to the breaking news we told you about in the boston marathon bombing trial. less than 30 minutes ago a jury sentenced dzhokhar tsarnaev to death. leon: horace holmes is standing by in the newsroom and he has details. what is the latest? horace: the details just coming out now as the reporters are leaving the courtroom. we know that he faces death for six of the 17 count against him. the jury in boston the same jury that found him guilty for his part in the marathon bombing case deliberated for 16 hours in sentencing phase. this means he will likely die of lethal injection. his lawyers reportedly will appeal. that will extend this. but most appeal on criminal cases on a federal level are not overturned but it could be years before tsarnaev is put to death. witnesses in the courtroom this afternoon say when the jury decision