Firefighters are up in the air and on the ground putting water on the fire. Ambulances are standing by. Lots of interest in the neighborhood here. I talked with one neighbor who did hear an explosion and then saw a lot of flame. You can see from our live that was jean elle reporting live near the scene at this gas explosion. Apparently we have lost her signal. Again, shes about two blocks from this area, right at the lawrence expressway and point siena avenue, white oak lane. As we told you, a woman apparently a woman, crashed her honda civic into the strip mall. That ruptured a gas line and now theres a fire in the strip mall. We understand one person has been sent to the hospital with smoke inhalation. Were keeping a close eye on this as firefighters try to close down this mall with the fire still going on. We have sent out breaking news alert about the explosion and fire this afternoon. If you want some of those updates on your smartphone, download the nbc bay area app. Chilling and graphic moments caught on live tv. A choreographed execution of two journalists. The alleged gunman grew up here in the bay area. This evening, his family is reacting to the crime. The victims, 24yearold Alison Parker, a reporter at the station, and 27yearold adam ward, her cameraman. They were in the middle of a live report early this morning when a man walked up and shot and killed them. Police say that man once worked at that station with them, but he grew up here in the bay area. Tonight, coworkers of the victims are remembering them as special people that would brighten up a room every morning. Parker was interviewing with woman when shots rang out. This is the broadcast up to the point of the shooting and we have chosen not to show anymore. The suspect, vester flanagan, a former News Reporter who also goes by the name of bryce williams. A manhunt for flanagan ended when he look his own life. Flanagan is from the bay area. We have Team Coverage for you tonight. Plan went to school at San Francisco state. We start with Jodi Hernandez in oakland where flanagan grew up. The family said they are just broken hearted about what happened. Reporter jessica, Vester Flanagans family is devastated. His father and his sister live right on this street here in vallejo. The family is not talking on camera themselves, but late today a family friend spoke for them. It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness we express our deepest condolences to the families of Alison Parker and adam ward. Reporter friends of Vester Flanagans family say the flanagans are heart broken and want the victims families to though theyre deeply sorry. Our thoughts at this time are with the victims families and with wdbjs television station family. Reporter she says he cant believe what his former neighbor is accused of doing. He says he lived next door to vester for three years until flanagan told him he got a job in virginia as a news anchor. He was a gentle giant. Very nice guy. Im devastated. Reporter flanagans childhood friends in oakland are having a huff time dealing with the news, as well. Flanagan went to skyline high school. Days ago he tweeted out a photo of himself as a teen. These two grew up together. I dont look at him as a murderer. He did it, he killed himself, but i dont look at him that way. Reporter ill tell you, everyone who lives here on this vallejo street is absolutely stunned. They say the flanagans are a very decent family. Again, they say tonight words cannot express the sorrow and hurt that they feel for the victims families. Reporting live, im Jodi Hernandez, nbc bay area news. Thank you, jodi. Vester flanagan studied journalist at San Francisco state and even worked for channel 5 here locally. Chuck, it must be hard for people there at the university to wrap their heads around what happened. Reporter students are genuinely taken aback when we tell them why we are here. No one seems to believe that a former student would be involved in such a terrible tragedy played out on live tv. At San Francisco state university, where flanagan went to school, the shooting is being discussed as amential health case. You just have to watch out. Its definitely becoming a trend that people with Mental Health issues are deciding the only way to get their message across is to take these grand gestures. Just anywhere that they can get attention. Reporter but 20 years ago when flanagan graduated, he gave professors no warning signs. I dont know of any faculty members that could say, i saw this then. I would think if they had seen it they would have done something about it. Reporter in the mid 90s, flanagan was a production manager. When he worked at kpx, he was a young kid out of journalism school. Another coworker described him as affable always smiling. Melissa carlson worked with him in north carolina. I remember vester as being a happy guy. We were friends. He anchored the weekend news. I would have never suspected this. Reporter he worked at a variety of stations, marked by firings for everything from outbursts to repeated mistakes on air. Increasingly, students here are being taught how to handle stress in the workplace. Tonight, a makeshift memorial is growing in front of that tv station in roanoke. Flowers, balloons are outside of wbdj television. Follow developments on this story on our nbc bay area app. More trouble for the 49ers. A grand jury indicted former player ray mcdonald for rape and current player ahmad brook for sexual battery. Both accused of attacking the same woman on the same night. Our chief Investigative Reporter is in the newsroom with the late details. Tony . Reporter information came down late this afternoon, a grand jury handed down the indictment today. Tonight, one current and one former 49er are facing criminal charges. Ray mcdonald was charged today by the District Attorney with one count of rape of an intoxicated woman. Youre looking at video of mcdonald leaving jail and in court from a Domestic Violence charge earlier this year. The d. A. Has also charmed brooks with sexual battery. According to court records, the two assaults took place the same night at the same party with the same woman. The d. A. Says the victim played a key role in the grand jurys decision today. According to the d. A. s office, mcdonald turned himself in earlier this afternoon. He posted a 100,000 bail and will appear in court to face charges next month. The niners released mcdonald shortly after this went public earlier this year. Brooks continues to turn himself in soon. Earlier this month, you might recall aldon smith arrested for dui and hit and run. The niners also released him. Its been two years of turmoil off the field for the 49ers. Within the hour, this statement was issued we take any charge against member of this organization seriously and are in communication with the nfl. Brooks is returning home to california and will not plate in saturdays game. The 49ers are getting ready for this weekends preseason game. A new case of dog abuse on the peninsula. You may have seen the video. It can be disturbing to watch. Prosecutors told us they decided to charge the woman you see here in the video with animal cruelty. Watch. It shows the woman picking up that small dog and slams it to the ground and hitting it. The woman owns a dog sitting service. After seeing the video, workers from the spca and Humane Society went to the womans home and seized 11 dogs. Shes set to appear in court tomorrow. The dog you see there is said to be okay and back with owners. Tonight, San Franciscos police chief is trying to ease fears after a tourist was robbed and shot near one of the citys most iconic spots. The shooting was yesterday near the crooked street, a portion of lumbard street in russian hill. Two men, both from San Francisco, are accused of taking a tourists camera, then shooting him when he tried to get it back. The victim, visiting from t thailand is expected to make a full recovery. Were attacking gun violence in San Francisco. Were better than half what we were in 2007 and 2008. Homicides were half of what they were. But again, we can be better. The chief says property and auto theft cases are on the rise but 200 additional officer also be patrols next year. Right now in the south bay a mopup operation is under way in east san jose. Looking at firefighters dousing the roof right there with water. The block of dense housing is located just off story road just a few blocks east of king. Fire Department Says almost immediately it called two alarms on the fire because you see the houses are close together. So far no word on whats caused the initial house fire. Were following our breaking news. Weve been following this for 90 minutes now. This fire caused by a gas close after a woman hit a gas meter off of lawrence expressway in santa clara. That strip mall has been gutted. The humble comments made by this man and what he had to say after he helped stop a suspected terrorist. This could change the case dramatically. The new testimony making waves in the trial of the undocumented immigrant accused of killing kate steinle. Im scott budman at pix pixarheadquarters. And im jeff ranieri. We are tracking a storm system just offshore. Well have details on when the best chances of showers will be in a few minutes. A new season brings a new look. A chance to try something different. This summer, challenge your preconceptions and experience a cadillac for yourself. Take advantage of our summer offers. Get this low mileage lease on select ats models, in stock the longest, for around 269 per month. Lets take you back out to santa clara. I want to show you a live picture of that gas explosion at a strip mall that happened right before 4 00. Burned out several businesses in that strip ball including the abc coin laundry, a lounge, kp liquor. It all unfolded right before 4 00. This is what we know. A woman who was in a civic, hit a gas main, this is according to pg e and that ignited the fire. The woman then took off. They had to evacuate that strip mall. One person was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. There is a massive traffic backup right now. A lot of roads are closed, including the lawrence expressway between el camino and monroe. Now, right now at this pour, crews are trying to turn you have the gas line, and obviously until they do that, that fire will continue to fuel. The gas service in the surrounded area hasnt been impacted. There are lots of apartments this that area. One person being treated for smoke inhalation. Well continue to monitor the situation. This could change the case. New information in the shooting of kate steinle near San Franciscos ferry building. The bullet that killed her might have ricocheted off the ground. Christy smith is in San Francisco this evening. This could help the defense suggesting that this was all an accidental shooting. Reporter yeah, thats right. Outside of the courtroom, defense attorney said that the expert testimony they heard today supports their theory on what happened to kate steinle in her shooting death, that it was the accidental discharge of a weapon. No cameras were allowed in the San Francisco courtroom today. Three experts testified, including a member of the citys medical examines office. Each talks about the gun used in the shooting. Steinles wounds and marks on the bullet appear to show it may have ricocheted off the ground before hitting her in the back. Defense attorneys say that shows that the gun may have accidentally went off. But prosecutors stand by their decision to charge sanchez with murder. The evidence that the court heard today confirms what weve been saying since the beginning of this case, that this appears to have been a death that resulted from the accidental discharge of a firearm. The bullet in this case appears to have hit the concrete surface of the peer, and traveled an entire distance from where mr. Sanchez is believed to have been seated. Based on the evidence, we believe the charging decision is proper and the defendant has been charged with that murder for a reason. Reporter Lopez Sanchez is undocumented and has been deported repeatedly, sparking criticism over sanctuary city policies. That hearing continues here in San Francisco tomorrow morning. Reporting live, christy smith, nbc bay area news. Thank you. Hes soft spoken, a bit shy in public but a hero nonetheless. Anthony sadler, one of three americans credited with taking down a terrorist in paris, was back in San Francisco today. Reporter a modest Anthony Sadler didnt say much in todays news conference, but the city of sacramento wanted to recognize him for his courage and bravery. This is my home, and im just glad to be back here to see everybody. Kind of overwhelming for me. I didnt expect all this to happen. Reporter 23yearold sadler is a senior at college. He and his friends were on vacation when they took down a terror suspect on a train in france last friday. Today he was phrased for his heroism but also provided a funny moment. All the pictures of you over in europe, you had a laker jersey on. I aint perfect. So yeah, now hes got a kings jersey. He wants to be a sports doctor for the nba. As for his two friends, both u. S. Soldiers, are still resting and recovering at an air force base in germany. Jessica, raj . Very nice. Mayor kevin johnson, a former cal basketball star. So basketball close to his heart. Lets get to our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri as he head towards the wmd. A beautiful shot here from our camera network. We have some fog but not extremely thick. The most blue sky was up here in sonoma county. As we go down to San Francisco, you can see a few streams of clouds right now but nothing in the way of thick fog. Down through the south bay, we had some monsoonal moisture move in. You can see some of the high clouds across mount hamilton, increasing humidity today. Tomorrow, it will get a few degrees hotter. We think the average here in the north bay will be at 94 degrees. San francisco up to 77. Trivalley 98 and south bay 93. Weve been mentioning the changes in the forecast throughout this week. Most notably by sunday, numbers cool down, anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees. South bay at 85. Trivalley down to 83. And then notice this. Its not much, but a slight chance here, a few drops in San Francisco and the north way. Talking about trace mounts to maybe 0. 03 of an inch. Tropical storm erica, winds at 45 miles per hour. This system will be moving over the bahamas by saturday and sunday. And then check this out. By next monday, we could be looking at a landfall between ft. Lauderdale and Daytona Beach as a category 1 hurricane. Track more on that forecast at nbcbayarea. Com. Still ahead, a new option for local jet setters. The big announcement made and why it could mean millions for the city. You can have a pizza delivered to your doorstep and now beer. A new service that promises liquor within the hour. [female announcer] if the most challenging part of your day is the staying awake part, sleep train has your ticket to a better nights sleep. Because when brands compete, you save during mattress price wars. Save up to 400 on beautyrest and posturepedic. Get interestfree financing until 2018 on tempurpedic. Plus, helpful advice from the sleep experts. Dont miss mattress price wars at sleep train. Sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep after six days, finally a huge rally on wall street today. The dow up 619 points, ending a losing streak that had many investors nervous. The nasdaq and s p each up about 4 . If you ever wanted to make a movie, say a pixar movie, beginning tomorrow the bay area studio, the legendary bay area studio, is putting some jet some secrets online to help others line. Reporter pixar movies have long been big hits, but with a little how did they do that mystery behind them. Pixar in a box where the bay area movie studio works with online educator khan academy to teach you online animation. It hopefully explains a lot of this material in a median that helps these students. What goes on at pixar is very complicated, but the way you get there is learning one thing one step at a time. We animate by moving virtual digital models. Reporter it not only pulls the curtain back but might inspire the next generation of computer animators. We really cant tell what were going to need to know in 10 or 15 years. Reporter but it will probably start with Something Like this. Its kind of interesting. Theyre sort of giving away part of the store for free, admitting we want to teach the next generation. All those videos go online tomorrow, all free. You lost us as linear something. Out there is the next computer animation that understands. Pixar, we can learn tomorrow. Lets take you back outside again. We want to show you this. This is an explosion that happened at a strip mall in santa clara. Firefighters are still on the scene. Well take you there live in a moment. Were learning more about the bay area, a man police say shot and killed a news crew during a live broadcast this morning. Im Jodi Hernandez with reaction from the suspects family. The city of san jose finally made it through a fight over benefits and costs for firefighters. But what about other city workers . Why other employee works say they also deserve attention and respect. Onur eakinne inantcla. A fe,par. Want to get back to breaking news now in santa clara. Weve been following this since our 5 00 news cast. This fire down below in the strip mall sparked by a gas explosion. Not only a fire scene here, but a crime scene, because around 4 00 this afternoon, a woman hit the gas meter, sparking this fire. She then fled the scene. So theres a search for her tonight, as well. This is at the intersection of lawrence expressway and parts of lawrence are closed at this hour. Jean elle joins us from the scene. A lot of people coming home, a lot of neighborhoods wondering why are the streets closed . Reporter thats right. People are having a hard time getting home tonight. This fire started more than two hours ago and crews are still here. Take a look. Its still a very active scene.