Transcripts For WJLA ABC 7 News At 600 20150421 : vimarsana.

And thats thanks in large part to those men who jumped down. Now, the spokesperson for metro says unquestionably those two Good Samaritans are heroes. If you find yourself in a similar situation, he said one thing he recommends is somebody get the station manager and try to have him turn off the third rail because there is the potential if you jump down there that you could be electrocuted if you hit that third rail. Didnt happen in this case thankfully and again, he says those two men were heroes. Fortunately, no train was about to come but the men very likely didnt know that so they took a big risk and were able to get the man and again, his wheelchair as well off those tracks. Reporting live tonight at the u street metro station in northwest, im tom roussey, abc 7 news. Maureen thank you, tom. Just in from the district tonight, metro police say they have identified people responsible for attacking a man at the Congress Heights metro station. It happened april 13th at the station entrance on alabama avenue southeast. The Victim Told Police the men in these surveillance videos touched him slightly. When he turned around one of them punched him in the jaw. One of the attackers called the victim a homosexual slur. Police say two of the attackers are juveniles. They are drawing up warrants for their arrests. New information from baltimore tonight where justice the Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the death of a man in police custody. Today, Police Released the names of six officers suspended after the death of freddie gray. Four of those officers joined the department in the past five years. Gray died sunday, a week after his spine was nearly severed. A vigil is planned tonight at the spot where gray was arrested. The march to justice arrived in washington today. Demonstrators are calling for an end to policerelated deaths. And what they see as systemic racial injustice. Their protests began in new york city nine days ago and included stops in philadelphia and baltimore. As to a month of delays it appears a confirmation vote will come this week on president obamas pick for attorney general. A vote on Loretta Lynchs nomination stalled as Senate Republicans fought over abortion rights abortion restrictions rather, in a Human Trafficking bill. Today, Senate Leaders announced a bipartisan deal on that legislation. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell anticipates a vote on lynch in the next day or so. Breaking news from the Justice Department. Michelle leonard, the long time head of the d. E. A. Enforcement administration is stepping down. A statement from attorney general eric holder said it was leonards decision to retire. Leonard recently faced calls from members of congress to resign after d. E. A. Agents attended sex parties with prostitutes. Leonard became d. E. A. Administrator in 2007. A tense situation for the u. S. Military in the arabian sea at this moment. American warships are trying to prevent iran from delivering weapons to rebels in yemen. And the possible showdown could dramatically alter the war on terror. Senior political reporter scott thuman is here to explain. Scott . Scott well, maureen, the situation in yemen has been deteriorating rapidly over the past few weeks. And now may be reaching ahead and the white house says everyone should be interested because terrorist groups definitely are. The stakes critical as the u. S. S. Roosevelt powers ahead to the yemeni coast. Its goal prevent iran from delivering weapons to rebels there blamed for destroying the government forcing the u. S. To pull out resources, close the embassy and cause overall chaos. The destabilization of the area causes us Major Concerns so yeah, i have no problem with the deployment of ships. Reporter because ultimately, the white house claims its a breeding ground for terrorists. There is a track record inside yemen where extremist groups have tried to capitalize on the political turmoil there to establish a safe haven and use that safe haven to plot attacks against the united states. Reporter the group of up to nine u. S. Warships, some carrying f18 fighter jets could very well come into contact with equally as many iranian vessels. While at this point, the white house wont say with certainty those boats are carrying weapons breaking an u. N. Embargo, there are added fears. Could this conflict derail the ongoing negotiations to prevent iran from acquiring a Nuclear Weapon . Youre asking the wrong guy. Ive said for months that we cannot divorce the Nuclear Issue from their sponsorship of acts of terror. I still think the negotiations needs to go forward. We have to be realistic about who were dealing with. Scott iran insists its ships are really just there to fight piracy and protect its own oil tankers and any aid it provides yemen is humanitarian in nature. Its been very critical of the Bombing Campaign against rebels in iran by the or in yemen, excuse me, by the Saudi Arabian pilots but saudis say at this point, that campaign is also winding down. Maureen . Maureen thank you, scott. Coming up on abc 7 news at 6 00 a teenagers calm response to pressure. Helped save his and his sisters lives. Ahead, the reunion of the siblings with the First Responders who saved them. Plus a local Police Officer shoots and kills an unarmed man. Now, the mans family receives a multimillion Dollar Settlement. And next its years late and millions over budget but now, a possible date for the completion of the Silver Spring Transit Center. Doug im doug hill in the belfort furniture weather center. Beautiful sunshine outside today. Can we hang on to it a couple more days . Maureen the man accused of killing a university of Mary Washington student is being held without bond. Prosecutors said today in court that Steven Vander briel strangled 20yearold grace mann inside a home they shared in fred i canericksricksburg fredricksburg. A funeral was held today in falls church. She was remembered as a lover of music. Her father, thomas mann is a judge in Fairfax County. Some very clear video is coming into our newsroom tonight of some thieves in action. D. C. Police release this video they say shows a man snatching a package from a homes porch. It happened around 2 30 this afternoon. Rather, in the afternoon of april 9th on Warren Street in northeast washington near constitution avenue. Were also getting a clear look at the suspect in a d. C. School burglary. This video was shot april 5th inside Jefferson Middle School on seventh street southeast. In it you see a young man leaving the building with computer equipment. And the final video comes from a building on West Virginia avenue in northeast near gallaudet university. In this case you see a person place a tall ladder against the back of a building and then climb up the ladder and into the building. Police have not said what was stolen. Rewards are being offered for information leading to arrests in these cases. The problem plagued Silver Spring Transit Center could open in the next few months. They report that Montgomery County hopes to turn control of the facility over to metro in june. Metro would then inspect the building and set an opening. The county said workers installed new beams and inspected concrete slabs over the winter. The last of the work will take six to eight weeks to complete. Just ahead on abc 7 news at 6 00, the reunion between two children and the First Responders who saved their lives. How a 13yearolds quick thinking made all the difference. Reporter and a multimillion Dollar Settlement between Fairfax County and the family of john geer. Why one Family Member remains unsatisfied with the entire situation. Tim while the nationals try to pick up the competition and improve against the cardinals, the wizards and raptors are in toronto while the caps battle the islanders in new york. This a huge game in the chase for lord stanleys cup as abc 7 news at 6 00 maureen a section of route 404 on marylands Eastern Shore is back open tonight. It was closed for much of the day while police investigated a headon crash that killed three people. Two of them truck drivers. They were identified as terry coward of culpepper, virginia and Brian Hutchison of tennessee. A passenger in hutchisons truck, Danielle Mumford of delaware was also killed. A nearly two year fight for answers after an unarmed man was gunned down in the doorway of a springfield home is over for now. Family of john geer has reached an almost 3 million settlement with Fairfax County over the shooting death in 2013. Northern Virginia Bureau chief Jeff Goldberg is live with what hes learned about this. Jeff . Jeff well maureen, negotiations over the settlement began in early march resulting with Fairfax County Fairfax County attorney and the geer family attorney agreeing to that number of 2. 95 million announced earlier today. This entire situation began with a call about a domestic dispute at this townhome in springfield and now this chapter, this painful chapter comes to a close with what is according to the geer family attorney the Largest Police shooting related settlement in Virginia State history. Nearly two years after the Fatal Shooting of john geer horrible tragedy all the way around. Reporter those who watched it unfold still remember the moment but neighbors hope todays settlement will bring the family some sense of peace. I think they deserve it. It was totally botched by the police. Reporter on august 29 2013 geer, a 46yearold father of two daughters was shot and killed by fairfax Police Officer adam torres during a standoff at geers home. At the time of the shooting geers hands were resting at the top of his entryway and he was not armed a wrongful death civil lawsuit was filed leading to todays settlement of 2. 95 million. Im pleased a fair settlement has been reached says the board of supervisors chair and i hope this may bring some measure of closure to the family of john geer. Never going to be closure for th reporter geers family attorney mike leeberman believes the deal will help provide for his two daughters but says money will never heal the pain. Could never be as satisfying resolution of this case because john is not with us. Reporter now this ends the civil case. The investigation into adam torres continues as well as the possibility of criminal charges. I spoke earlier today with done geer john geers father, he remains very frustrated and pained with how Fairfax Police have handled the entire situation. He said to me i have spent over 500 nights lying in bed wondering why this happened. Live in springfield, Jeff Goldberg, abc 7 news. Maureen thank you, jeff. Sirens sounded for a special reunion today in fort washington. Maureen thats 13yearold marcus mccoy and his 9yearold sister alleyah meeting the 911 operator and firefighter who saved their lives. On sunday marcus awoke to find his clinton home engulfed in flames. He and his sister were trapped. He called 911, calmed his sister and directed firefighters through the flames to find them. When i stood up and the heat hit me it was real hot. Like an oven. On the phone with the operator. Looked like it was fog. Maureen alleyah mccoy said when the firefighter found her, she tugged at his pants to let him know she was there. Everybody escaped from the home unharmed. Lucky kids and excellent firefighters. Doug indeed. Maureen whats the latest . Doug nice quiet night. Yesterday kind of busy at this time. Today not so much. Nice day. Lets get started with the coverage for the tuesday. Start the h. D. Weather bug camera animation. Started just around a little bit after sunrise this morning. The Cardinal Ridge Elementary School in centreville and it turned to absolutely Beautiful Day all around the region and bright sunshine throughout the day. A few fair weather clouds. Temperatures comfortable in the upper 60s. 70 the official high at reagan national. 58 the morning low. 69 and 49 are the averages. 69 at reagan national. 66 in frederick. Over the next few hours, temperatures will drop a few degrees. In fact, by morning, many areas might be in the 40s. But the winds will be lighter so it will be comfortably cool to start the day. Latest winds now down over the previous readings for the past few hours. Now a 10mileperhour breeze. Out of the west in gait gaithersburg. To the temperatures will drop. Its plenty cold out there in the upper great lakes and upper midwest. Temperatures ranging through the lower 30s. You get closer and it warms up to the 50s and 60s. Cold air will stay in place for a while and eventually the really cold air will pivot back to the northeast into canada. Well definitely see a prolonged period of cooler than average temperatures in our area and behind a cold front, were seeing not only gusty wind but were seeing snow across portions of the upper midwest, parts of minnesota and wisconsin as well. And thats going to be the story there a little while longer. This area of low pressure spinning across areas of Northern Michigan and lower canada is the reason for the unseasonably cooler temperatures heading into our area. And that trend is going to continue. Maybe a week. Another two weeks in general of below average temperatures. Now, specifically for tomorrow well see an Early Morning spripg he will and 1 00 2 00 in the morning possible. It will be later in the rnoon when the cold front gets closer and thats likely to give us a better chance of scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms. Theyll roll through by early evening. By 8 00 or 9 00 theyll clear out and were good to go for a while. Our forecast for the morning will start with partly sunny skies on wednesday morning and average temperature of 49. 63 at midday. 66 Late Afternoon into the early evening. Thats the best time for any showers or storms with the front. Next seven days well get into a cool breezy partly cloudy wednesday. Upper 50s. Partly cloudy 60 degrees on saturday. The weekend generally partly cloudy and cooler in the lower 60s. There will be a slight chance of showers late saturday afternoon or evening. And well finish up the weekend on sunday with partly cloudy skies and dry weather to start next week. Maureen and tim . Maureen low temperatures are tim looks like winter. Maureen hockey temperatures. Tim the caps are skating on thin ice in nassau tonight and the wizards go for two in a row in canada. The nats take a step up in competition and see whats in the cards for the rest of the season. And ill break it down coming up next in sports. Tim all right. Lets start with hockey because i believe tonight is a must win situation for the caps on long island. They are down 21 games in the best of seven series. If they lose and go down 31 games, put a fork in them. So this is it. They cant look ahead. They cant wait to get back into the phone booth. Its got to be right now. Right here. Tonight. This game has got to be more physical. Theyve got to skate harder than they have against the islanders all year. Ovi has to step up his game and the power play has to be more productive. The caps certainly are capable. We know that if we were to be successful and we showed flashes of it in the third period very difficult way to play. So you have to be on top of your game mentally and physically. But when we do were extremely hard to contain or extremely hard to beat. Tim the wizards have a different challenge tonight. They stole game one in toronto on saturday and now look to get more offense tonight out of wall and steal another one. If the wizards can win again in toronto and go up on the road they will win the first round series. Take it to the bank. But it will not be easy. This game will be incredibly physical. The wizards have to get all the 50 50 balls and everybody has to rebound. For baseball fans, the nats have won four of their last five games. They seem to be getting healthy pitching and hitting and the defense seems to have tightened up but now, they face the cardinals and its a big step up in competition. The cards have beaten washington 11 of the last 13 times theyve met and tonight, its lance lynn against geogonzalez. You know, whether its the beginning of the season, theyre a good team to gauge where you are competitively wise. And so you know we understand theyre a good team. And hopefully we can just you know execute what we want to execute so we can come out on top. Tim the cardinals have called up a former Naval Academy pitcher, mitch harris. Hell be in the bull pen tonight for the kardz. 2008 graduate of the academy and first midshipman to appear in a Big League Game since 1921 with the washington senators and no i was not there to see him pitch. Maureen not up close and personal back in 1921. Doug beautiful evening out tonight.