meanwhile here all is quiet at the clarion hotel where jesse chavez was killed and police say they are working around the clock hoping that someone recognizes the gunman or the car. the surveillance video is clear. a driver pulls into the parking lot of a clarion hotel in oxon hill monday night. the gunman is seen walking in, then jumps over the counter pointing a gun at a 22-year-old pregnant woman demanding money. she hands over the cash at the same time 27-year-old jesse chavez hears cries for help from his co-worker. chavez reaches the gunman as he's running out the door. there's a confrontation and then a shot to his chest. the gunman and whoever else may be in that car is seen speeding out of the parking lot. chavez's family is left reeling of his death with only memories of the man who played santa for school kids, loved the redskins and worked his way up as a food

and beverage manager at the hotel where he died. >> he often protected his co- workers. i don't want him to hurt anyone else. we have so many people gathering here because we miss him. >> reporter: police believe the black car is a toyota sedan possibly a camry or avalon. detectives desperately want to catch this killer because it's obvious he's dangerous and is capable of anything if anyone gets in his way. we've all watched this video many times and you can tell that this surveillance video is very good, so police are hoping and praying that they catch this killer and possibly his accomplice. so police say this is a case that the public could very well solve. there is a $25,000 reward. you can remain anonymous. for any information leading to an arrest and you can also call

that tips hotline at 866-411- 8477, again 866-411-tips. >> surae chinn, thank you. we're following a developing story out of massachusetts. a high school student is behind bars accused of killing a math teacher. vinita nair joins us with the latest. >> reporter: 14-year-old phillip chism stood before a judge wednesday arraigned in the connection with the death of a popular math teacher at a high school outside boston. police were called tuesday afternoon after chism didn't return home from danvers high school. >> we went around looking for him. we didn't know if he was kidnapped or something. >> reporter: another call came tuesday night about a female teacher also missing. >> police initiated a search for the teacher and discovered blood in the second floor bathroom at the high school. >> reporter: police found the body of 24-year-old colleen

ritzer in woods behind the school. she had a passion for teaching and lived at home with her close-knit family. she taught at the high school for two years. >> she was one of the nicest teachers. she always went out of her way to talk to you and said hi to everybody. it's really a tragedy. >> reporter: early wednesday morning police located chism walking on a nearby road. police would not say how they tied him to ritzer's death or how she was killed. students who attend the high school describe the suspect as pleasant and soft spoken. >> i met him in lunch a few weeks ago and he just seemed like a normal kid. it wasn't like he was a troubled kid. >> reporter: students plan to hold a candlelight vigil tonight near the school. >> chism is held without bail and due back in court november 22nd. the parents of a 12-year- old nevada boy meantime who killed a math teacher would face charges. police say the 7th grader got the 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun from home.

monday he went on a rampage killing the teacher and wounding two boys. the boy then shot himself in the head. a woman in training to be a nun got a plea deal today in a murder case. sosefina amoa charged in the district with smothering her own newborn son, today her attorney asked for more time to think about the plea deal and the judge ordered her to remain behind bars pending the hearing. authorities say she gave birth to that boy in her room october 10th for the little sisters of the care elderly facility. one day later police say she and the nun took the body in a small luggage bag to the hospital. now a followup to a story from yesterday at 5:00, a blind man, his wife and the seeing eye dog have been evicted from their maryland home out in landover. >> today the chairman of prince george's county council andrea harrison said she is reviewing the law governing cooperatives and ejection policies, especially those relating to --

and eviction policies, especially those relating to those with disabilities. neighbors say they could have helped had they known. >> reporter: these were among the last scenes for a long painful day for ray razor, his wife and seeing eye dog. you've been here how long? >> 45 years. >> reporter: hours after sheriff's deputies emptied their home during his eviction, his church first baptist of highland park filled a van headed to a storage facility. >> how dare you treat somebody like that. that's the worst thing that you can do. >> reporter: today the staff of the chairman of the prince george's county council was collected information on the razor eviction and county services that might be available to the family. ray razor, his wife and dog spent last night in a local motel. >> there was an increase of $142 over the last year. that's the second increase. the increase and we have a fixed income and we just couldn't keep up with it. >> reporter: this is what's left of the family's possessions on the sidewalk today and back there 1635 is where they used to live.

i talked to bernie cook, an attorney, today by telephone who represents the co-op and he tells me dating back to may they were filing judgments for back rent and said always mr. razor would pay but he was never able to pay in full. he wasn't able to pay the penalties, court costs and rent increases. mr. cook said it would have been unfair to the other residents to allow the family to stay under those circumstances. >> it was approximately $600 some change and that $600 were late fees and maybe court costs. >> reporter: pat fledgier like ray razor is a long time resident of the village housing co-op and is also a member of the prince george's county school board. the attorney said it wouldn't have been fair to the other residents to allow him to stay here on that money. >> that's a joan he's a pillar of this community and because -- joke. he's a pillar of this community and because of certain circumstances with the economy and stuff neighbors would have pitched in and paid that $600.

>> reporter: the mortgage at village green is paid off, but residents complain their rent and utilities continue to claim. turns out ray razor had written a letter to property management months ago questioning the need for the increases. with only a social security disability check to live on the former vendor roady feared one day he would be made homeless, bruce johnson, wusa9. a trash truck driver who slammed into a pedestrian bridge will not be charge. the crash happened last friday at westfield wheaton mall when the driver forgot to lower the back lift. no one was hurt. the bridge is not expected to be fixed for a few more weeks. here is something you don't see every day, a car dangling over a wall. he pulled into his driveway in northwest d.c. this morning and saw there was a gate. >> i said i'll just make the turn right here and go into the parking lot. at the parking lot it wasn't at

the same altitude. my car is too old to fly anymore. >> it used to fly apparently. he said if it happened in europe where he spent a lot of time, a couple of guys would come back and put it back on the road. apparently that does not work here on this side of the pond. check out this little chihuahua alive today thanks to firefighters who found the two little doggies inside a house fire. they gave it oxygen and it seems to be doing okay. the other dog was fine. they were both very happy to be reunited to their very happy owner. a live look at the scene right now with sky9 flying over the area. again, a howard county police officer has been hot. this occurred in the 9500 -- shot. this occurred in the 9500 block

of route 1. now we are told they are looking for the gunman who shot that officer. he is believed to be somewhere in the woods. we do not know the condition of the officer. we had been told he was taken to shock trauma. a little background, we are told the officer responded to that area because there remember reports of a man with a gun -- there were reports of a man with a gun and the officer evidently fired shots. there was an exchange of fire there at that particular location. >> this is video from earlier this afternoon when the police began to hunt for that suspect. they are heavily armed as you can see and intent on finding whoever did this. as of now we don't have any suspect descriptions. we don't even know exactly what the nature of the encounter was. the police officers in howard county are on the search for whoever did it. >> scott broom is on the scene. we'll go live to him momentarily. in the meantime the guy who confessed online to killing a man after a night of drinking

learns his punishment. find out how long he's going to spend behind bars. >> and still having some problems getting on healthcare.gov? a virginia woman tells her story and we're guessing it's a lot different maybe from yours. >> well, the coldest air of the season is here. we'll take you out with temperatures. we're looking at temps in the low 50s in some spots, 48 in gaithersburg. it's 32 in oakland and it snowed there today. we'll show you a picture of that and talk about a freeze warning for parts of the metro area.

"i'm terry mcauliffe, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad" "alarming" "clearly inappropriate" virginia's newspapers on revelations that ken cuccinelli's office secretly helped an out-of-state energy company that ripped off virginia landowners but gave a hundred thousand to his campaign. a federal judge called it "shocking". the inspector general launched an investigation and now cuccinelli has been questioned by the fbi about the star scientific scandal. investigations. gifts. scandals. ken cuccinelli's not for us.

two weeks to go and virginians will be at the polls picking their new governor, but in a race currently getting far less attention they'll be voting for the lieutenant governor and here's why that matters. not only is the lieutenant governor a heartbeat away from the governor's mansion, but the

virginia state senate is evenly split right now, republicans, democrats 20 apiece, so the lieutenant governor breaks the tie vote. it's already happened. one of the men hoping to get that job november 5th democratic candidate ralph nordstrom who happens to be serving now in at forementioned senate. good to have you here. >> thanks so much. >> you've been described as quiet and low key even by folks in favor of you getting the office and your views are so moderate virginia republicans tried to recruit you in 2009. why should democrats get excited about you? >> there are a lot of things democrats are excited about. right now the jobs and economy are so important. the social agenda that rolled into richmond two years ago, the ultrasound mandate, attack on women's rights. there are a lot of things that democrats believe in we stand for and that's why it's so important to have a democrat in position of lieutenant governor. >> you're running very closely with terry mcauliffe in this race.

a lot of virginians are angry at both sides. they're even thinking about voting for robert sarvers, the libertarian candidate. what do you say? >> this is an important election and the difference between moving forward instead of backwards. i think people we'll see terry will be a great governor. >> obamacare, you've been on the record as you favor it and think the state ought to accept the medicaid money coming from the federal government, but now the rollout is going very badly and with hints that the problems we see now could be just a hint of the difficulties that lie ahead. any regrets on your part? >> absolutely not. it's regretable that we've had a slow start to the affordable care act, but the medicaid expansion which is part of the affordable care act, 400,000 individuals who will receive coverage, it's very important that we move forward with that. >> your opponent is d.w. jackson. he's made no secret about some of his strong held views. talk about some of the issues on which the two of you differ.

why should i vote for you if i'm a virginiaian? >> the biggest area we differ on is education. i've been a big supporter of public education. there is nothing we should do that takes resource as way from our public education system. -- resources away from our public education system. he fools differently. >> in fairfax, virginia, they're talking about cutting $150 million from next year's budgets because they don't have the cash. should the state try to help out the county? >> absolutely. my wife is an elementary schoolteacher. we need to make sure that our teachers are paid fairly and it's competitive with other states. a lot of areas we need to improve on k through 12 we need to advocate for pre-k education and we need to continue to fund higher education as well. >> on that same note when you talk about funding things the e.w. jackson campaign says you're not really a fiscal conservative. they say you really want higher taxes and want to spend more. he's the man who cuts the budget and keeps taxes down. >> i want to invest in education. that's our crown jewel in

virginia. as far as people being prepared to enter the workforce, getting us going on our economy again, that's very important for virginia. >> we appreciate you being here. i should note to everybody we did ask the republican candidate to join us in studio. his campaign said they're thinking about it. hopefully they'll come to a decision before november. thanks so much. the problems with the healthcare.gov website have been widespread and well documented frustrating consumers, lawmakers and the president, but there are some people who have managed to sign up. here's danielle nottingham. >> reporter: single mother virginia lindahl wasn't going to let a slow website keep her from getting healthcare coverage. >> it required some patience, but i waited nine years for affordable healthcare and waiting a few more days was fine with me. >> reporter: lindahl was part of the first rush of applicants when healthcare.gov launched. the psychologist who owns her

own practice took her time completing small parts of the registration process. a week later she was signed up. not everyone has had her success and republican lawmakers want the obama administration to explain why hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on a website that doesn't work. >> the rollout of obamacare is nothing short of a debacle and the american people are now fearful of their healthcare. >> reporter: cbs news learned the site's new shop and browse feature often gives applicants a cheaper estimate because consumers don't enter their exact age. virginia lindahl is glad she was persistent with the site. >> yes, it's frustrating. wait and come back in a week. it will be worth it. >> reporter: lindahl estimates she will save nearly $15,000 a year with her new coverage. danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. >> administration officials on capitol hill wednesday briefing house democrats. republicans have requested

their own and scheduling details are being worked out. a man who made an online video confessing to a deadly drunk driving crash in june was sentenced today. matthew cordle will spend 6 1/2 years in prison. that 22-year-old is facing eight years and the judge said some will find the sentence too lenient. others might think it's too harsh. keeping your family safe, wusa9 first alert weather. >> at least we have some sunshine today. >> we did and more tomorrow, but a little cooler. >> it was cool enough today. i forgot to wear my head earlier and the head was cold. >> can't imagine why. >> heat escaped pretty efficiently off your head. >> smokes. >> it's getting to be my time of year. we'll talk about a possible freeze tomorrow night. let me show you a picture from the top of squirrel cage.

i'm not 100% sure. it's 166 miles from town and the climate could not be more different. the average first and frost date in garrett county in oakland, maryland, is the same as fairbanks, alaska. it is a different world and they had some snow today. let's start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam, some clouds pushing through, a little disturbance pushing a few showers here and there, 56, dew point way down. the humidity is very low and winds north, northwest at 15. that's a good thing. the winds will probably keep us from having a frost or freeze tonight. satellite picture radar combined, there's all the rain and snow showers in the mountains, a couple light showers passed north of town. we'll keep a chance of an early evening shower and skies return, partly cloudy. temps are well below average, 50 bethesda, 52 arlington, 50 in fairfax, already 49 in white oak, 54 in college park and waldorf. in the last 24 hours we're 9 degrees cooler. we're 11 degrees colder in cumberland. so the entire eastern seaboard

is seeing the coldest air of the season behind two cold fronts. tonight cold but no frost thanks to the wind, a little different story. blustery thursday, you'll need a coat all and we have a freeze watch in effect for thursday nights. the winds will diminish. that may be our coldest night. we may see a freeze thursday and friday night. early shower, then returning partly cloudy, breezy and cold, 34 to 44 and then tomorrow morning it's going to be cold at the bus stop, partly cloudy, breezy, 30s and 40s. that's it. by afternoon it doesn't get much better, a lot of sunshine, partly sunny, breezy and chilly, highs near 55. the freeze watch for tomorrow night, montgomery county north, fairfax county west, so that includes everybody north and west of town. temperatures could be in the upper 20s by friday morning. we'll break it down. look at this. 40s to start. remember these are downtown temps. you're in the 30s if you're in the burbs, 46 by 9:00. we're still in the 40s by 11:00 and finally 53 by 1:00.

next three days blustery friday, 53, not bad on saturday, 58, a few clouds coming in late, but good for the terps and the bison. temperatures in the mid-50s on sunday, some 60s return next monday and tuesday, some rain rolls in late wednesday with highs back in the low 60s. we'll be back right after this.

back out to the breaking news in laurel in howard county where a county police officer has been shot. >> want -- scott broom just arrived on the scene. what have you learned, scott? >> reporter: i'm at the 5100 block of washington boulevard. this is route 1. it is closed. there is an extensive search underway on the ground now. i've seen quick response teams, officers armed with automatic weapons and dogs moving throughout this area as i came into the area. so the search for a gunman who engaged with a howard county police officer and by the way, that police officer was shot and wounded evacuated to shock trauma in baltimore about an hour ago. whatever happened the suspect fled into the woods just off washington boulevard here. if you're familiar with the area, this is where a car max store is. i'm working alone. i'm going to jump behind the camera to give you a view at

the response down washington boulevard here. if you can see, there are still quick response officers and special tactics officers flooding into this area from a number of jurisdictions that are providing support. there are woods, a stream, a number of car lots, auto parts places along the side of the road here and the suspect after engaging with this officer exchanging shots wounding the howard county officer fled into the woods. the police throughout this area laurel city police, howard county police and maryland state police are setting up a very broad perimeter here and they've closed washington boulevard about a mile and a half stretch between route 32 and whiskey bottom road as this search continues. it's a very big perimeter. that gives me the feeling as i watch what they're doing with dogs that they think this suspect could be just about anywhere on either side of this

highway in a rather broad area. so this is a very, very serious incident out at this location in laurel, 5100 block north washington boulevard, a howard county police officer has been shot and a massive response is underway to try to catch a suspect who has fled into the woods over a rather broad perimeter in this area. roads are closed. the place is on lockdown. reporting live from laurel scott broom, wusa9. >> historically i cannot recall when the last time was a howard county police officer was shot and wounded in the line of duty. we'll have to check that out, but there's some other word as well, right, jan? >> there's going to be a press conference at 5:45, so in about 15 minutes. we'll bring you any new information and try to bring information and try to bring that to you live if we yñ

gun without a background check.. ithe dangerously mentally ill. criminals. endangering our families. ken cuccinelli opposed closing the gun show loophole - against comprehensive background checks at gun shows for criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. siding with the nra and undermining law enforcement. no wonder the washington post calls cuccinelli polarizing, provocative and partisan. cuccinelli. too extreme for virginia independence usa pac sponsored this ad.

and i sponsored this ad. candidate for attorney general, if you think ken cuccinelli would take virginia in the wrong direction, wait til you meet his attorney general candidate senator obenshain. like cuccinelli, obenshain believes politicians should dictate our most personal decisions they cosponsored a bill together to ban the birth control pill; and outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. cuccinelli and obenshain: together -

a dangerously wrong turn for virginia a lot of folks talking about this high school football team down in texas. >> the coach is accused of bullying after his team won a game 91-0. >> a little lopsided. >> a little. the bearcats are considered a really good team averaging about 70 points a game. obviously last friday they surpassed that. by the time the game was over a parent from the opposing team was so offended they filed a formal complaint against a coaching staff. the parent suggested the coach should have instructed his team to ease up. >> i would never ask our kids not to play hard. i would never tell them go out and let them score.

that's not what you want to teach kids. >> that coach right there, coach buchanon said by halftime he tried to keep the score down by benching the starters. do you think this really sounds like bullying? a lot of fans say it was just an unfortunate blowout. it was a mailbag question. >> perhaps it is, mailbag@wusa9.com. bullying or a really bad team? in montgomery county dozens of angry parents say the mid maryland youth league kicked their children out of the playoffs because they're too good. that sounds odd, bruce, too good? >> reporter: yeah, definitely very odd. practice just getting underway here in olney and the coaches are going to have to explain to about 71 of the youngsters out here that they may not be going to the playoffs because they won too many games.

the league is accusing olney of basically stacking the deck, putting its strongest players in the weakest division. the olney boys and girls clubs have had an outstanding season in the lower division. four teams have racked up 21 wins and just two losses. they've scored a total of 400 more points than their opponents. >> the coaches are going to tell them tonight that there's a possibility that they may not play in the playoffs for something that they've done. excuse me, it's a little emotional because to explain to my son. >> reporter: but charles foltz says his son's success is being used against him. the league believes olney deliberately put its best players in a weaker division and its worst players in a stronger division giving some

teams a chance to destroy the competition and leaving new players to be destroyed themselves. >> we got too many complaints from the olney parents playing at the national level saying that our children can't compete. >> reporter: the director of olney's football program is outraged. he says he's never seen anything like this. >> these are kids that are being affected are between the ages of 8 and 11 years old and they are excited in playing in the playoffs and the opportunity is being yanked out from under them. there's 71 children being impacted. >> reporter: fultz says he does not know how he is going to explain it to his son. >> here we are boys doing what they're supposed to trying to strive to do their best are being ostracized for something that they believed in. >> reporter: the olney boys and girls club is appealing this decision taking almost all of its football teams out of

the playoffs which start again next week. there's a hearing tonight in ellicott city. dozens of parents are likely to turn up pleading with the league to let these youngsters play in the playoffs after winning all these games. league officials say that just wouldn't be fair to the other 31 teams. derek. >> as always, the children pay being the price for the adults here -- paying the price for the adults here, but i have to ask how well did the teams in the better divisions do for olney? were they beaten badly as was alleged? >> reporter: yeah. that's right. i mean the teams that were in the higher division were allegedly made up a lot of new children to football and they did not perform very well. they were beaten very badly, but, you know, the parents here say it comes and goes and they say a lot of these teams being eliminated from the playoffs had terrible seasons last year and the year before. it just comes and goes they say

and this is a good one for them. >> fair enough, bruce leshan, thank you. it's wednesday. that means it's time for this week's hollywood headlines and talkers. joining us is usa today entertainment reporter arlene thompson, welcome. >> hi. >> let's start first with miley cyrus changing her look a little bit it seems like. >> thank goodness. she looks so much better. she was at the night of stars gala last night in a beautiful green marc jacobs dress and looked classy and happy and relaxed and her tongue is the sticking out of her mouth and she doesn't have those creepy top knots on top of her heads, two thumbs up. >> a little more normal this time. >> kim kanye got engaged. she's got quite the rock. a lot of people did not see this coming and the wendy williams fan club president derek mcginty tells me when he watched the wendy show --

>> who knew he was such a fan. >> that she would eat crow if they stayed married longer than 72 days which was her previous marriage because she said an engagement does not mean marriage and she still thinks they are not going to get married. >> i agree that engagement does not mean marriage, but i think these two are really bound for the altar. they are sort of a match made in heaven for better or worse. they get each other. they are sort of both materialistic and assessed with fame. kanye likes to be private, but he enjoys being a public figure and her whole business is being a public figure. >> because she's really nobody. >> she has no sort of talent or anything, but she makes boat loads of money by being kim kardashian. i think there's going to be a huge wedding. i predict the wedding. they seem to be really in love. >> i hope it happens because that would be great to see wendy williams eat crow. >> they might make it to day 74 or 75. >> derek is on the edge of his

seat. halloween right around the corner, a new poll out there that has the creepiest celebrities of 2013. let's talk about the top three men first. no. 1 marilyn manson, no. 2 paul rubens and no. 3 dennis rodman. any surprise here? >> no surprises with marilyn manson. paul rubens is a bit of a surprise. yes, peewee herman is a little creepy it's of, but seems well intentioned and -- creepy, but seems well intentioned and dennis rodman, who knows what's happening with him? >> no. 7 was mama june. her daughter's honey boo boo and miley cyrus and dena lohan. >> mama june and i are the same age. i look at her and i'm like wait. am i in a time warp or something. we're the same age.

dana lohan, not creepy, maybe a little crazy and miley again sort of creepy, but, you know, harmless i think. >> it's good to see you. >> you, too. >> let's go to break. we'll be bac

a royal celebration over in britain today, prince george's county christening. >> the little prince appeared to wave at his grandma as he arrived at st. james palace for his baptism. what do you think about his gown there? it's a hot gown. >> all right. so gorge's parents opted for a small family affair. here's something we found kind of interesting. he's got seven god parents. there was a photographer at the ceremony today. we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see some of those pictures. like the video, pretty cool. up next the story of a mother so angry with her daughter that she sends her to see beer ya. >> but an update -- siberia. >> but an update on the search for that person in howard county whoever it was that shot a coun

only on 9 tonight have you ever gotten so angry with your teenager that you just wanted to send them off to see to see

to siberia? >> i want my mom. i need my mom. i need my home. i don't have anything here. >> sofia petrova was a 15-year- old freshman at chantilly high school in virginia when her mother brought her to the airport telling her she was going on a three week vacation to siberia to meet her birth father. >> it was almost like a ling nightmare. >> reporter: when sofia landed she said her mother changed her story and said she'd be there for a long time. >> and to be tricked by her own birth mother, for her birth mother i want to say what in the world are you doing? >> who would do that? what kind of human would send her daughter to another country and not want her?

>> reporter: born in russia, sofia came to the united states at the age of 2. her mother had a student visa. sofia is now living in novosibirsk siberia, more than 5,800 miles from chantilly. >> it's one thing for a mother to say such a thing. it's another to actually do it. >> reporter: sofia said when she arrived, she spoke no russian and her birth father spoke no english. >> i guess it was a form of punishment maybe. >> reporter: in two lengthy e- mails sofia's mother natalia roberts and her stepfather james ironically an immigration attorney described sofia's behavior as uncontrollable, failing classes at school, stealing more than $1,000 from her parents, running away from home using drugs and bringing boys into the house without permission. >> she never did drugs. she in every smoked, nothing.

she may drink -- she never smoked, nothing. she may drink a little but all teenagers do that. >> reporter: her stepfather wrote the behavior was becoming worse and we found no solutions. >> i'll be happy just to be on american soil. >> reporter: sofia's mother added sending her to her dad, aunt, uncle and grandfather was not easy but it was the right choice. >> to send a child to a different country where she doesn't know the language, she doesn't know anybody and just shipped her off, it doesn't make sense to me. >> reporter: sofia's friends in virginia are now scrambling to try to bring her back to the u.s. before she turns 18 in march. sofia says the moscow embassy told her the chances of getting a visa will diminish when she becomes an adult. >> there was hardly ever any food. food was a big probable. >> reporter: after several tumultuous months living with her birth father sofia went to a children's center, plunged into a deep depression she says she tried to kill herself.

>> she told me that her dad is an alcoholic and beats her. >> reporter: today at 17 sofia is on her own living in the siberian hotel where she works. >> financially i support myself. i work 60 hours a week. i pay for my school tuition right now. >> reporter: in a series of heartbreaking e-mails one of sofia's teachers corroborated her story of dire conditions at her birth father's home. >> i hope that she understands that i'm not doing this to make her look bad. i'm doing this just because i don't have any other options. >> reporter: in chantilly, virginia, andrea mccarren, wusa9. >> sofia's parents have not completely ruled out helping her return to the u.s. they told us she needs to recognize her mistakes and show them her behavior has improved. sofia told andrea she believes she's already demonstrated that. now back to a story we've been telling you about all

afternoon long, apparently a howard county officer was shot by an unknown assailant. cops are all over the place up there in laurel looking for this man. we're expecting a press conference at 5:45. it's just a few minutes away they're telling us when the officials in howard county will step to the microphones. >> our scott broom is there live on the scene as well. you can see dozens of officers in that area right now there in laurel searching for that gunman. this has been going on for almost an hour right now. we are told that police officer was taken to shock trauma. we have not been updated on his condition at this point and we have not been updated as to whether or not they have actually found this gunman. >> he was supposed to have escaped into the woods. you can see to the side of the road in the top upper left of your screen as we get sky9 to pull back, that's where the that is sieve manhunt has been

ongoing -- the massive manhunt has been ongoing the last hour or so. scott broom talked about guns, officers armed with rifles on the lookout for whoever did this. apparently there was a police call, 911 call, alleging there was a man with a gun. when the officer got there, there was some sort of exchange, confrontation and a howard county officer ended up shot and now transported to the shock trauma in baltimore with no word yet on how he's doing. once again we are waiting. they're telling us it's just a few minutes away when we'll have a press conference from howard county police telling us exactly what they know, the extent of the search, how close they are to finding this man and hopefully we'll get word on the condition of that officer who we do know was shot and wounded about an hour or so ago. >> one thing scott did mention was the large perimeter that police had made there. a lot of the streets are closed in that area as they continue this search for the gunman. again we are waiting for a press conference now.

let's go to it and listen in. >> there was a man in the area of the 9500 block of washington boulevard who was armed with a gun. three patrol officers from howard county responded to that call. when they confronted the man, he immediately opened fire on the officers striking one of our officers. the other two officers returned fire and the man ran into a wooded area. now there is an active search for the shooter. we don't know his whereabouts. we've got helicopter, k9 and surrounding jurisdictions assisting us in the search. he's described as a black male wearing a black jacket and gray pants and we are again believing that he may still be in the area. he was last seen on foot. our officer at the hospital at shock trauma remains in serious condition. chief mcmahon is at the hospital with the officer and his family.

we're asking anybody who has information to call us, anyone who sees someone matching this description to call us. at this point because this is so early in the investigation this really is all the information that we have. i'm happy to take whatever questions you have, but i raffle don't have more information than what -- really don't have more information than what i've shared. >> reporter: how big is the perimeter? >> i don't have information about how widespread the search has become. we have officers on foot, dogs in the area, helicopters in the air and neighboring jurisdictions, police officers assisting as well. >> reporter: what was the initial call for service? >> the initial call came in as a report of a man with a handgun. >> reporter: are there any other businesses on lockdown? >> if other businesses are on lockdown, i'm not aware. any businesses who decided to put themselves on lockdown i don't believe was ordered by the police department. this happened outside. >> reporter: was it in a

parking lot? could you describe the area where it happened? >> the actual shooting took place in the roadway, in the street. >> reporter: on what street, route 1? >> yes. >> reporter: what's your advice for residents, businesses that are around this area right now? >> fortunately this is not a very residential area, but we do want people to be aware. as always, they should do whatever they need to do to feel comfortable and safe and businesses should be on the lookout so if they see anyone who matches this description or anything suspicious to call us. >> do you know if there was any verbal exchange between the gunman and officers or did the firing just start? >> our officers who were involved are still being briefed, so i don't have details about whether or not there was a verbal exchange. >> reporter: can you tell us how long this officer was on the force? >> i don't have any details to release about the officer. i expect to be able to do that soon, his name, age, how long he's been with the department. now we're giving his family a chance to get to the hospital to be with him.

>> reporter: do you have any idea if the suspect was hit? >> we don't know. we do know our officers returned gunfire. >> reporter: so he was on foot the whole time? >> our officers saw him on foot, yes. >> reporter: is this a life threatening injury? >> shock trauma described his condition as serious, so that's what we're going on at this point. it's my understanding that he is alert. so that's a great sign. >> reporter: you said this happened in the roadway on route 1. were motorists who called the police? >> the initial call came in just after 4:00 from a business in the area. someone inside the business reported that they had seen a man with a gun. again we need to still interview our officers to determine what actually took place from the time they arrived on the scene until the shooting occurred. >> reporter: was this officer airlifted to shock trauma? >> yes. >> reporter: did you say where on his body he was shot? >> i don't have information about the nature of his

injuries. again >> reporter: a lot of response on the ground, a quick response team, et cetera. could you characterize for us the type of response occurring now? >> is in a large scale operation. we've got helicopters in the area, dogs and officers on the ground. we've got officers from other jurisdictions assisting us. it's a widespread operation. we're asking the public to have patience. the roadway will probably remain closed for some time. >> reporter: you said a number of other jurisdictions. laurel i assume and who else? >> my understanding is that city of laurel, state police, anne arundel county, prince george's county. i don't want to leave everybody out. this is evolving. there may be more arriving as i speak. >> reporter: there are residents around. would you suggest people lock themselves down or anything like that or precautions people should take? >> i think that it's wise in a situation like this to do whatever makes you feel most comfortable for yourself and family. we advise people that their doors and windows should be

locked all the time. we absolutely want anyone who sees anything suspicious to call us. we are looking for a black male with a black jacket and gray pants, but again people can change clothes. they can remove arms of clothing. anybody who sees anything suspicious should call 911 right away. >> reporter: do you know what kind of gun was used? >> no. that's really everything i know. i'm going to be here. i'm not going anywhere. i don't want to schedule a briefing time because i might get new information in the next five minutes. why don't we just say i'll come out and chat with everybody. when you see me, come over and i'll let you know what we've got going on, okay? okay. >> you're watching wusa9 news at 6:00. >> again we have just been listening to a press conference there about the officer shot there in the howard county at 4 p.m. the spokesperson there said she

got a call from a business, somebody from the business saying they saw a man with a gun. three officers arrived on the scene at route 1 in laurel. the gunman opened fire hitting one of those officers. the other two officers fired back. the gunman ran into the woods. >> police are looking for a black male in a black jacket and gray pants and they are mounting a large scale operation with help from other jurisdictions. she mentioned state police, prince george's county, laurel city police, said there may be others, she wasn't sure. we also know that that officer was taken to shock trauma in baltimore via helicopter in serious condition. she did say that he's alert, so that's the good news on his condition tonight, but again dogs, helicopters, everything out there now searching for this gunman who wounded a howard county police officer right in the middle of route 1 late this afternoon and shut down the street and caused all other sorts of problems for the residents and the business owners in that area. >> interestingly she said this is not an area that's got a lot

of residents. this is not a residential area. so none of the businesses also in the area were told to be put on lockdown as she knew at that point, but our scott broom is on the scene. we will go back live to him momentarily. in the meantime we want to follow other breaking news in the district right now. ken molestina is at judiciary square metro where as we reported earlier, they found a body inside the station in an odd place. >> reporter: well, we've just heard from police recently. detectives with d.c. police say now that the man did, in fact, die of natural causes. of course, that body was found over one of the railings in between the railing and wall down below on the platform here at the judiciary square metro station. i'll show you video of what it looked like down there earlier today. that's where the police were congregated on the deep side of the platform there. once again we are hearing from d.c. police that the man did die from natural causes. the trains are still running.

we're told that eight car trains are passing through judiciary square, but six car passenger trains are stopping here. if you're trying to get here and happening to be on an eight car train, it may be better to go to the metro or verizon center and walk over to this area. we'red to the fourth street entrance is still closed -- we're told the fourth street instance is still closed. the f street side is still open. the big news here again, the detail we just learned, the man found dead believed to have died of natural causes, back to you. >> do we know anything else about this guy? how do they know he died of natural causes so quickly? >> reporter: that's what police are saying. they have their ways of figuring things out. we haven't asked that exactly, but that was late word that just came down from police. >> we'll wait to find out more about this, still a bunch of questions. we've still got the breaking news in howard county. >> scott broom live with the latest on the search for the

gunman who shot a police officer. scott. >> reporter: i've just been briefed here at the savage volunteer firehouse a short distance from where this hospitalized, the 5100 block of north washington and laurel. folks familiar with this area will know that as an area with a huge car superstore called car max. we've just been briefed by sherry lewellen of the howard county police department. one of their howard county officers has been shot in an exchange of gunfire between three officers and an armed man out on washington boulevard route 1, a very busy road, when he was confronted by these officers shortly after 4:00 this afternoon. sherry lewellen told us as this unfolded, they received a call from a business along that section. this is a commercial area. she did not identify the business. she said someone reported a man with a handgun walking outside or down the street. they were concerned. three officers responded. there was an an