meanwhile, the investigation is moving forward. police are now getting a much clearer picture of who that gunman was. police believe this man, 40-year-old wade michael page carried out the deadly shooting rampage inside a sikh temple that left six people dead and three others critically wounded. page served in the army from 1992 to 1998 and police confirm they're investigating his alleged ties to white supremacy hate groups. authorities say page used a springfield .9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol to carry out the sunday massacre. sources tell abc news he bought that gun here, legally, at the shooter's shop in nearby west allis, wisconsin. >> if we did everything right, there's nothing i can do to change it. you know what i mean? >> reporter: hailed as a hero tonight, lieutenant brian murphy, a 21-year veteran of the police force and a longtime leader of their tactical team. he was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene. page ambushed murphy, firing on the 51-year-old cop as he was helping a victim. but when his fellow officers found him on the ground,

lieutenant murphy was more concerned about the victims inside. >> he had been shot nine times, one of them very serious in the neck area, and he waved them off and told them to go into the temple to assist those in there. in all, five men and one woman were killed in the shooting, ranging in age from 39 to 84. among them, the temple's president, satwant kaleka, who tried to fend the shooter off with a knife. today, he is being mourned by his friends and family. i spoke with his son, amardeep. >> at the very least, the fbi gave me the honor of knowing my father went after that guy and tried to stop him and slow him down enough to let other people get to safety. >> reporter: the shooting has rattled the sikh community, 500,000 strong in the united states. sikhism is characterized by a belief in peace. but since the september 11th attacks, sikhs in this country have often been confused with muslims and have increasingly been targeted -- more than 700 incidents reported since

9/11 -- a frustration many sikhs deal with every day. >> we're your brothers and sisters who live down the street. we're the doctor, we're the engineer, we're the cab driver. we're the gas station guy. we're your neighbors. >> reporter: there are still many unanswered questions for the sikh community here in wisconsin. in a typed statement, the gunman's family told the milwaukee journal sentinel that that they are devastated and they don't have the words to describe what happened. george. >> okay, alex, thanks very much. as you just heard, there are new questions about the shooter and his ties to the underground movement. brian ross has more on the neo-nazi connection. >> reporter: civil rights groups say wade michael page was a longtime player in the subterranean world of white power. and law enforcement officials say he was associated with a group called volksfront.

which describes itself as working persons of european descent. the southern poverty center said it has tracked page for ten years as he moved through the skinhead circle. >> he first appeared on the white supremacist scene. way back in 2000 when he started to play in a number of very well-known white power music bands. >> reporter: page's most recent band called end apathy performed at white power festivals across the country with its provocative lyrics from songs including "self-destruct." and "submission" documented by the anti-defamation. ♪ adapt to the trying times or pay with your life ♪ ♪ >> the basic idea that these people have is that they are lonely defenders of the white race which is being subjected to a genocide by the, you know, miserable multiculturists of the world and so on. so they see themselves fundamentally as martyrs. >> reporter: a native of colorado, page enlisted in the army at the age of 21. was stationed in texas and north carolina.

the army says he was discharged in 1998 after being zee moated from sergeant to specialist and deemed ineligible for re-enlistment. page appears to have moved to the milwaukee area just this year, where neighbors said he was not very friendly. >> on a scale of 1 to 10, about a 1.5. >> reporter: page had worked at an area metal factory until mid-july. then, he bought the gun used sunday. thousands of people connected with the shadowy white power movement. for all of the devotions, one of the sites condemn the attack and label page as crazy. and deny any connection with him. >> okay. we're going to move out west to oklahoma and that explosion of wildfires. more than 18 blazes across the state. one person was killed, dozens of homes were reduced to ashes. tonight, fire officials say all the blazes are under control. or largely out, thanks to lower

temperatures and calmer winds. but without more rain, another outbreak of fires is likely. and from those wildfires, we move to the lightning storms that hit the northeast show hard last night. 24 hours after a nascar fan was killed by a strike in pennsylvania, nascar officials in pocono raceway say they have reviewed their emergency procedures and are in lockstep. brian zimmerman, a 41-year-old father was leaning against his car in a raceway parking lot when he was killed by the night lincoln. nine other fans were injured. overseas now in the boldest sign yet that president bashar al assad regime in syria is on the brink of collapse. the prime minister escaped to jordan with at least two other cabinet members but as assad loses his grip on power, some gaining it may create a new threat to the u.s. and allies. abc's alex marquardt went inside syria and brings his firsthand

account. >> reporter: traveling across syria, we met many young fresh faced men who have joined the rebellion. army defectors, men who say they refuse to fire on their own power. in one town, we met three brothers, they are fighting together. an accountant, a chicken farmer and a baker. each has his own family. each willing to give up his life to take down assad. "how can we watch all of this happen and not fight for our dignity and freedom?" he told us, they're shelling us every day. we have to fight this oppressor, and we don't care if we die. but there's a much more ominous presence now in syria, too, that has many in washington worried. foreign fighters, mostly religious fundamentalists, streaming in and taking up the fight. they want assad to go. and syria to become an islamic state. we headed out to find some of them. instead, led by that car right there, they found us. they were heavily armed, so we hid our camera. well, that was interesting, we were stopped by a van full of what were clearly fundamentalist fighters. they stopped our car. they all had ak-47s. they have wanted to see our

passports and i.d.s. clearly, very unhappy to see us. it was quite interesting that they were speaking arabic with an accent. we got out of there really fast. along with the arrival of foreign fighters is something even more worrying. the growing number of suicide bombings is evidence that al qaeda is here as well. their infamous black flags in a growing number of videos coming out of syria. many in this rebellion want the help of foreign fighters, but reject the extreme tactics from groups like al qaeda. traveling the country, it's becomes clear that syria is becoming more chaotic. the question of who will take over after assad more complicated and the result, possibly more dangerous. >> it's clear the rebels are controlling a lot of territory right now. i know you've been speaking with a lot of officials in the region. what is the biggest national security worry right now? >> it's really the chemical weapons stockpile. syria has one of the biggest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. and america and israel which is obviously syria's immediate

neighbor are afraid that in this chaotic situation, assad could lose control of these weapons. we spoke to israeli officials who told us they have prepared plans to intervene in syria so they don't fall into the hands of groups like hezbollah and al qaeda. >> okay, alex, thanks very much. good work. now, we're going to go to london and the olympic games, a day full of surprises, sore losers the smackdown in the sand and a dramatic showdown on the soccer field. team usa at the center. abc's bill weir is in london with all the action. bill, what a day. >> unbelievable night here, george. thanks. the uncle sam's girls, the women's soccer team, they do not disappoint when they get to this olympic stage. three times tonight they trailed our north american neighbor canada and three times they rallied back. and tonight, they're enjoying the kind of giddy exhaustion that only comes from hard-fought victory. >> reporter: the north american neighbors battle for 123 minutes

tonight before an alex morgan header broke a 3-3 tie to send a jubilant team usa. but less joy in the gym for gabby douglas. she earned the flying squirrel nickname for the way she spins and soars on the uneven bars. but today, her flying wasn't good enough to beat russia's aliya mustafina. or anyone else. admittedly drained, she finished last and will take one more crack at precious medal on the balance beam tomorrow. on the track, three americans started the 400-meter hurtles. michael tinsley behind sanchez. and all of london still buzzing over last night's thrilling 100-meter sprint, mostly for usain bolt's record-setting repeat, but partly for the fan who threw a beer bottle at the sprinters just before the start. before security could hustle him

out, he got a taste of this. a dutch judo champion was seated nearby and whacked him on the back and tweeted "a drunk dude in front of me throws a bottle on the track. i beat him. unbelievable." but still vying for the most interesting tweet of the night was bolt, flashing his symbol for winning with the swedish hand ball team at 3:35 a.m. after giving up in the 800 meters, an algerian runner became the latest athlete ejected for not trying hard in until he explained he wasn't supposed to be racing that distance in the first place, and his team forgot to withdraw him in time. and the first american sent home for failing a drug test, nicholas delpopolo who finished seventh in judo and claims he accidentally ate marijuana-laced baked goods some time before the games. >> oh, my goodness. but i was fascinated, fascinated by this study you found, bronze medal winners tend to feel better than silver medalists? >> yeah, this is amazing. check out the reaction.

this is the video that sparked our interest in this. he's a hungarian wrestler named peter motos. he does the starfish jump into his coach's arms before putting on an impromptu gymnastic routine. all to celebrate a bronze medal which reminded us of the paper that was published after the barcelona games that found bronze medalists often happier than silver. the reasoning is that silver medalists are focused on just missing the gold and they're filled with disappointment. and the photographs bear that out. the bronze medalists on the right there, they're just happy to be in the top three in their sport in the entire world. so, george, in the olympics, as in life, happiness is all about managing expectations. >> i guess. it makes them think they beat everybody else. okay, bill weir, thanks very much. here's the latest medal count now, china back on top with 64 medals. one medal ahead of the u.s. with russia a distant third. and coming up, one of the

biggest things of the olympics. a kind of secret weapon for athletes but do the sports drinks live up to the hype? a new study. from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com.

constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. just in time for the london olympics, we have new research on those sports drinks that are turning up all over the games and the advertising. the drink makers spend billions of dollars a year promoting their products for the more

casual athlete. but how much difference do they make if you're not training at olympic levels? abc's jim avila is tonight's consumer watchdog. >> reporter: it's the official sports drink, aggressive product replacement, puts coca-cola's powerade in the hands of big stars from michael phelps to nba olympian chris bosh. >> it's an essential part of my game. >> reporter: science, it's essential to the marketing in the $7 billion worldwide sports drink game. >> 40 years of hydration science in every bottle. >> reporter: but just as the olympic games began in london, a reality check from a group of researches from england's prestigious oxford university. >> they used a lot of industry-sponsored scientists to do the research which makes us suspicious to begin with. >> reporter: in fact, these mds and clinical scientists say they couldn't find specific backing for much of sports drink advertising, and much of what they could find, they characterized as flawed science.

>> we found much of the science has not been done well. >> reporter: many nationally known nutritionists are critical of sports drinks because they have little benefit for casual athletes who work out less than two hours a day and most contain sugar. >> sports drinks are grossly oversold by companies who make them. our kids all over the place, teenagers especially are drinking these things like crazy when they don't really need them. >> reporter: the beverage industry and the scientists they directed us to, tell abc news the oxford study overlooks science that moves it hide dreing energy and hydration which is essential for health. karin dolan at columbia university has accepted speaking fees from gatorade. does that disqualify the research? >> i don't believe it does.

where else are you going to get funding from? you're not going to get large name brands to study sports true in addition drinks. >> reporter: what's good for the olympians is not necessarily good for the rest of us, especially children. jim avila. abc news, washington. and when we come back, the woman who is about to make history on the football field. we'll tell you how. ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. to get your feet moving to the beat. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's and feel the energy from your feet up. thanks to the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles, you'll want to get up and go.

for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels have been seen with nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium. would you mind if to be i go ahead of you?omer. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate incase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel.

enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. we have confirmation tonight of what everyone at the gas station knows, those prices have shot up like a rocket. 14 cents in just a week to a national average of $3.65 a gallon.

it's the fifth consecutive week prices have gone up. global oil prices have gone up largegy because prices concerned about tensions with iran that might disrupt the world's oil supply. and secretary of state hillary clinton's scrapbook picked up a lovely page as she took time to spend time with an old friend nelson mandela. he has failing health but that did not dim his million-dollar smile. and a study by harvard school public health find men who lift weights at least 2 1/2 hours a week cut their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by a third. the research shows that lifting weights speeds up your metabolism. helping to keep blood sugar at normal levels. and history is about to made on the football field not by the players but by a ref. on thursday night, a woman will officiate an nfl game for the first time. shannon eastin will work the preseason match between green

bay and san diego. players might want to think twice about her calls. eastin has won six judo championships. a vet ref in high school and college games she's getting a chance because of a labor dispute that sidelined the league's regular refs. and coming up, america touches down on mars thanks to missions by citizens who help make it happen. are you one of them? erectile dn that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help

for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. can rely on dulcolax pelaxative tablets overnight.ing they give you predictable overnight relief to help get you feeling like yourself again in the morning. dulcolax laxative tablets. keep you moving. ♪ feeling free. ♪

for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels have been seen with nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium.

a one-ton visitor from earth is wrapping up its first full day on mars. that's the nasa rover earlier this morning was a triumph for nasa and dozens of companies who help build it. abc's clayton sandell has the story as "made in america" goes to mars. >> reporter: for centuries, earthlings have wondered what martians might be like. from harmless -- ♪ to not so much. so to help us answer these big questions about real-life martians to look for signs of maybe past or present life, nasa just hit a galactic hole in one. >> touchdown confirmed! [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: landing the biggest rover ever on mars in a high-risk plunge dubbed the

"seven minutes of terror." high-tech parachutes, rockets -- even this sky crane they'd never used before -- had to slow curiosity from 13,000 miles per hour to a full stop. it worked. and nearly all of this $2.5 billion mission "made in america." >> there's something uniquely american about what it takes to put a rover like this on mars. >> reporter: what it takes are companies in 33 states coast to coast. >> cameras? san diego, california. >> reporter: to windsor, connecticut where pioneer aerospace made curiosity's parachute. a passing mars orbiter caught this, a one in a million picture on its way down. >> we helped build the arms of mars curiosity. >> reporter: the team helped

build two-wheelers to help build something with six. >> this is a huge endeavor, but god bless america because we did put something on mars. curiosity will rove mars for at least seven years. seven minutes, clayton sandell. >> that is all for us now. thanks for watching. check us out all night long on abcnews.com and "nightline." i'll see you tomorrow on "gma." next at 6:00 a realtor accused of running a ponzy scheme. how she cheated family and friends of more than $1 million. >> deadly sailing accident and where a report is placing

blame. >> and a controversial plan to hand out pets to the homeless in san francisco gets underway. >> homeowners getting notices to pay $89 for a copy of their deed. what you should do if you get one. >> this is happening pleasanton. police have an suv surrounded wanted in connection with an amber alert. sky 7 overhead live for us now. this is above stone rinl mall. right there in the center is this silver gmc the patrol says was use when he kidnapped his daughter he brought her to the pay and investigators say it was a parental abduction.

police say he threatened to harm himself and his daughter. police found the car and no word on whether they've located martinez or the little girl and. >> we spoke with police and investigators all say they consider this an active amber alert. they found the car, no confirmation yet they have martinez in custody. until getting word it's over this is not over. >> we'll keep you updated at 6:00 good evening, everybody. >> and there is what a bay area prosecutor is calling a ponzy scheme. this real estate agent is accused of praying on people that knew, and trusted her. >> we're live from the hall of justice with more.

>> the grand theft and forgery charges so numerous the deputy district attorney asked bail for jill be set at $3 million and there is a judge that agreed. >> her clients and former friends say they became a greedy conartist. >> she took money, buried it probably gave to it someone she know autos michael says he took out a $120,000 home equity loan, giving the money to silvie, supposed to be secured by real property. >> she forged notaries and legal documents and properties. she just took me for a ride. >> here is a case by numbers. charged with 44 counts including 14 loans covering a period in 2005.