So for this evening, well keep an eye open for scattered showers and thunderstorms. Any storms developing could be heavy. Current trend is south and east of washington for the potential of Severe Weather as we see it and eventual end tonight and weekend looks spectacular. Happy to share that and keep you up to date on the storms in a few minutes. Back to you. Leon the midwest has got a deadly taste of Severe Weather. The governor of illinois says a second person has died after tornadoes struck the northern part of that state. One of the hardest hit areas is fairdale. Tornadoes flattened buildings there and the storms left devastation in the town of rochelle. Search and rescue teams are continuing to dig through the rubble. Looking for any survivors. Just ahead here well have a live report from fairdale where victims are assessing the damage this hour. Now, in Central North Carolina one man was killed after he was struck by lightning last night. Several homes and apartment buildings were struck by lightning during the storms in the area causing fires. One person was hurt during one of those fires. Stay with us here at abc 7 and wjla. Com. Well track the chance of any Severe Weather huth us here in the d. C. Region and also be sure to download our phone apps to get alerts on your mobile device at all times. Alison chaotic scene at the u. S. Census bureau in suitland last night after a Security Guard was shot and killed. Flash bangs could be heard as Police Officers swarmed that huge complex searching for the shooter. That accused shooter was later arrested in d. C. And now, were learning more about his criminal history. Jennifer donelan is live in northeast with what she found. Jen . Jennifer well were standing on eighth street northeast. This is a busy street especially on a friday night. Its going to ramp again. Things are back to normal. The chaos ended there in the middle of the street. Lets show you a quick map to give you an idea of how chaotic it was last night. This started with a kidnapping in northeast d. C. It led to that shooting at the u. S. Census bureau where a 59yearold Security Guard was shot dead. Then there was a chase with d. C. Police during which Police Officers were shot at numerous times and then it ends on h street here in the city. Lets get to a picture. This is the first pictures we are seeing of 48yearold donald anderson. He is he is at the center of this and he is the one accused of kidnapping his 20yearold girlfriend from northeast d. C. Yesterday. And then taking her to the u. S. Census bureau. Police tell us that the guard at the Census Bureau saw that there were two there was a man and a woman fighting inside a car. He approached the car and he was shot. There was a chase on to eighth street northeast and thats when police after being shot upon several times opened fire on that suspect. He was shot on the head were told by sources. Today, our investigation has led us to a safe haven in northeast d. C. Where the original kidnapping took place. We talked with neighbors around there and they said that they are very concerned about security outside, that that young girl the 20yearold was kidnapped at gun point in front of that building and they dont understand how that happened. The building is in trouble yes. Do i want to blame her . I certainly dont. I think she was a victim just 3 like the Security Guard who died. Leon that was Jennifer Donelan reporting for us there. A coworkers family and friends is remembering the Security Guard that lost his life while doing his job. Hes been identified as 59yearold Lawrence Buckner. Kevin lewis continues our Team Coverage at the Census Bureau in suitland tonight. Kevin . Kevin hi there, leon. Lawrence buckner was patrolling the main parking lot at the u. S. Census bureau. Within the last five minutes, we just saw the Yellow Police tape come down and the front gates reopen. All day long investtgators have been combing through this crime scene. You can see employees vehicles coming out for the first time in almost 24 hours. We learned a lot about Lawrence Buckner today. He was a married man. Married to his wife linda for the last 36 years. Together, they had one adult son and four grandchildren. Buckners family pictured here. It was simply put his pride and joy. During his younger years, he served in the u. S. Army but for the last two decades, he worked as an Armed Security officer at various buildings and sites across the d. C. Metro area. Back in 2011 he took a new assignment guarding the u. S. Census bureau right here in suitland. Today, buckners employer expressed their sorrow remembering the 59yearold for his sense of humor, love for ford mustangs and position for protecting people. Every day, he drove to and from work. Commute each way was 90 minutes long and he lived in king george virginia, as one might imagine, his family gathered there this afternoon grieving privately. Were live in suitland, im kevin lewis, abc 7 news. Alison developing right now, a man hunt in Anne Arundel County and an officer in critical coot him in the neck and then took off. It was 2 20 this morning when that officer pulled into a 7eleven along College Parkway in annapolis. Someone in the store told him about a suspicious person outside. The officer approached the man in a darkhood hoodie and thats when witnesses heard a shot. Officer was struck in the neck and unable to call for help. Did have his bulletproof vest. This wasnt a wound that hit the vest area so again this bag i decided to turn the weapon towards the Police Officer who was in uniform in the middle of the night. Alison our diane cho has been on this story all afternoon and has more coming up tonight at 5 00. Leon u. S. Postal Service Worker is in Critical Condition after a crash in bowie. This happened yesterday as the driver was traveling westbound on annapolis road near highbridge road. Prince georges county police say it appears the driver lost control while trying to avoid a vehicle that was traveling eastbound and preparing to turn left. The mail truck flipped over. No other cars were involved. Alison now we have an update to an abc 7 iteam investigation we first broke yesterday. It involves that Security Company that was contracted to guardian inmate who escaped last week. Iteam investigator joce sterman is live innewsroom with the newest developments today. Joce . Joce alison the u. S. Marshals service tells me about a halfhour ago its stopped using the services of allied protection at least here in virginia and will not be contracting with the company until its review is complete. That news comes after last weeks escape of a prisoner being guarded by allied employees working over at Inova Fairfax hospital. The 7 on your side iteam found some disturbing problems with the public space of that company discovering yesterday two of the three leaders mentioned on allieds website say they have no ties to that organization. We started asking how allied got its federal contract then to move and guard prisoners after uncovering that information. Weve now learned the company didnt have to compete against anyone to get its multimillion dollar deal with the marshals. Instead, we now know this was a no bid contract through the Small Business administration under its program to help build up small disadvantaged companies. We have contacted the s. C. A. To ask about his its review of allied protection and whether the findings will result in any changes to that multimillion dollar contract but we have not yet heard back. Joce sterman, abc 7 news. Alison let us know. Thank you. Meanwhile, trouble for yet another secret service employee. Abc 7 news has learned that an officer has been charged in connection with a breakin at a home in the district. He is expected in court this afternoon. And our d. C. Bureau chief sam ford is there. Hes following this investigation. You can look for his live report tonight at 6 00. Leon ok. Coming up here on abc 7 news at 4 00 its the worse thing that ive seen. Leon a closer look at the massive damage left by a series of tornadoes in illinois. Well take you live out to one of the areas that was hit so hard by the twisters. Alison after months of speculation, it appears that Hillary Clinton is ready to announce that she is running for the white house. When shes expected to launch her president ial bid and whats next after that. My mom said she watches me every week. Leon something that parents pack every weekday but do you ever think about the germs that could be hiding inside your childrens lunch boxes . Well show you what a recent study found. Leon all the tourists and families living here are really getting ready for some good weather this weekend to get out and check out the Cherry Blossoms. Theyll be hitting their peak there at the tidal basin this weekend, right . Alison its so nice because we have a short window. We have good weather. Rebecca cooper live at the tidal basin with a look at the blossoms today. Hi there. Rebecca rebecca hi there, alison and leon. Good news, take a look behind me, its not nearly as crowded today and yet the blossoms are bursting. I think because even though it was gray last year on this friday it wasnt quite as cold so maybe while were having a little smaller crowd. Last year you couldnt pass anyone on the sidewalks there was so much sidewalk gridlock but dont expect there to be this much room this weekend. Have a listen to what some people had to say about these Cherry Blossoms today. Always heard my friends that come here say they had a great time. I wanted to experience it. Nice being here. Nice to see the families being together and taking the pictures and nice to see that people are taking pictures for others and no one is really worried about you know is someone going to steal my phone . Or someone going to do something to harm my family . Very happy. Comraderie. Exactly. Rebecca so there you see that Cherry Blossom comraderie. Everybody taking pictures. It is a Beautiful Day with the blooms. We are going to have peak blossoms we think tomorrow. Keep in mind you are not going to have this luxury tomorrow of being able to walk around easily. Its going to be packed. Some key things to remember dont touch the blossoms. These are valuable Important Trees and they can be susceptible to disease. Dont think youll easily find a bathroom once youre here at the tidal basin and most importantly remember the only thing more predictable than the blossoms this time of year is the traffic backup. You should not plan on finding any parking anywhere near the tidal basin. Take it from me first hand, you will get ticketed here if you are parked incorrected. Better to take metro and try to walk to the tidal basin or take a cab. Be prepared. The Cherry Blossoms are beautiful and it is something youll definitely want to see. Reporting live from the tidal basin, Rebecca Cooper abc 7 news. Alison looks great down there, rebecca. Thank you. Some encouraging news coming from panama this afternoon. Cubas Foreign Ministry is describing its talks with secretary of state john kerry as respectful and constructive. This comes as president obama joins International Leaders for the summit of the americas. The president praised panama for the summit calling the country a proud democracy and a symbol of progress. Leon were looking forward now to a big weekend as we gear up for vote 2016. Hillary clinton expected to announce her candidacy for president this sunld. Thats according to people who were familiar with her campaign pledge. They say clinton will announce her bid over social media and then shell be making stops in early voting states like iowa and New Hampshire that hold small events with voters and start raising that money. Former Maryland GovernorMartin Omalley is keeping his campaign possibilities under tighter wraps. He tells the Washington Post it could be late may before he decides whether to move forward with a white house bid. Omalley says that clintons decision to enter the race will not affect what he does. Alison lets see if were moving at all forward on the roadways on a friday. Lets check in with jamie sullivan. Hi there. Jamie a little better in some spots than we typically see. I want to begin with what were seeing over here on the Left Shoulder 66 and it is an earlier accident. Heavier traffic working your way in closer to the city before you get to the capital beltway. Lets take a live look here. Both the inner loop and outer loop, we have congestion. Not bad as far as the conditions. This morning, we have to deal with wet roads. For afternoon commute so far, were ok and lets move to the maps and focus on the area for you. Excessively slow. This is what were used to. As we pull out a little bit i want to show you. B. W. Parkway getting from d. C. To the baltimore beltway, you have a lot of stopandgo traffic. 95 same thing. No crashes right now to report on our interstates and as we move to talk about traffic on 95 heading south towards stafford county, it is stop and go. 43 Miles Per Hour right now. That is a look at traffic. Leon thank you, jamie. A Northern Illinois community is remembering two women killed last night in the tornadoes that hit the town of fairdale. Weather is leaving massive damage behind in several towns including fairdale. Reporter a massive tornado tears down an illinois town. We met an individual a few moments ago that was res from her home under rubble but she bandaged her head and is working in the red cross shelter to help the citizens here. Reporter the swath of tornadoes caught on tape. Hit those cars. Oh, no. Reporter sweeping over highways. Oh my god this is violent. Reporter pushing over trucks. Go go reporter and ripping through communities. Pretty much just devastation to where the tornado went through. Reporter the outbreak of more than a dozen tornadoes trapped people in houses trucks and restaurants. I feel like its a bad dream. On something im watching on the news somewhere else, not in my neighborhood. Reporter but after the storm, stories of survival while crews look to help those who may have been left behind in the rubble. Its obviously, distressing and our hearts go out to the families that are still here and who have left. Reporter while people here vow they will rebuild, stronger than ever. We cannot let tornado knock us down. Reporter were told the two women who died as a result of this tornado were neighbors, one 57yearold and the other 69. One was found in her bathtub clutching her purse. The search and recovery continues but thats slowly winding down. Alison and leon . Leon thats terrifying stuff. Do we still have nick . I was just wondering, nick if you know for sure how many folks are still looking for right now at this point. Do we know . Reporter thats a great question. It was a point that was made at a press conference about 1 00 p. M. Locally. They have not accounted for everybody in this community so they dont have any reports of anyone missing at this time. It could very well be that people are scattered throughout the area and that theyre still planning to get in contact with them. But theres no reports of missing people but not all the communities here accounted for. Leon thanks for that report and keeping us up to date on that. Doug terrifying videos. Thats the season. And the truth is that weve had a remarkably slow tornado season so far for the year and lets just hope it doesnt ramp up. Well see how it goes. We have our own. Alison Severe Weather that may be a little later. Doug the whole thing is we had to get, we talked yesterday and talked wednesday, too, we had to break into the warm air and get several hours of warm temperatures and sunshine. That would help the development of Severe Weather with the cold front approaching and it just hasnt happened. Lets get to the maps and explain what is likely to happen. Now for the first time this entire day and the first time in almost three days you see a little brightness in the skies. We have a view from the weather bug camera at the national harbor. Capital wheel spinning. No blue skies per se but at least the skies are brightening a bit because weve been locked into this very cool and damp air mass off the Atlantic Ocean but the warm front is slowly working its way in from the west and the south and what we have developing now and continuing along the interstate 81 corridor, few showers and no thunder and lightning reported. A little farther south and west ahead of the actual cold front, thats where were starting to see a little bit of action finally. Theres an area in roanoke headed to the Roanoke ValleyRichmond South westward to there. It looks with the temperatures so cool here and getting to 4 20 in the afternoon that the best chances of anything severe developing from this cold front will be in the areas where the air is much warmer. Mainly south and east of the Greater Washington area. Is it possible that 6 00 or 7 00 tonight one of these storms can come in the metro area . Yeah, its possible. But from what we see right now, probably not likely. Had things cleared out and got warmer earlier . Yeah,