life in d.c., i'm nikki burdine, wusa9. >> thank you so much. when breaking news happens, you're our free wusa9 app. you can get updates on your phone any time. >>> switchinggoers, rain has moved in tonight and -- switching gears, rain has moved in tonight and howard bernstein says you've actually seen some rain tonight? >> yeah of temperatures, though, have been -- yeah. temperatures, though, have been above freezing. storm system is moving west to the east and the area above the vail west of cumberland had a snow sleet rain mix a little while ago. generally rain with sleet mixed in and when we look at live doppler 9000 you see the yellow areas, those are areas of sleep up in pennsylvania, some wet flakes mixing in. when i put the temperatures on, everybody is above freezing. the coolest spot is 36 in winchester. oakland is 30, but they're on the other side of the continental divide about 3,000 et but you know what? most of this rain will be over by dawn. so i think not a yellow weather alert tomorrow. we're looking at a decent day with sun ret

nikki burdine tells us more about the journey. bury their loved one. for the gilbert family it's a day they have waited 10 years to see and for their son to be laid to rest. 19th air force major troy gilbert received full military honors at arlington a marks the end of a painful journey for the gilbert family including his five children. he was killed in 2006 what is f- 16 fighting falcon crashed outside baghdad before his body could be recovered, iraqi insurgents stole it and kept it as a trophy for years. >> he was the trophy and they passed him around. >> reporter: the air force recovered small fragments of his body which were buried here in 2006 but not until august this year the rest of his remains were found. in october he arrived in dover.>> back in the states. back on our soil where he should have been a long time ago.>> reporter: as the f-16s flew over the ceremony in formation signaling major gilbert is back where belongs.>> i'm not going to pray for my son to come home because he is home. >> reporter: so a final goodbye for the hero is not w

nikki burdine talked to the owner about what happened. >> in downtown hagerstown this aren't there many christmas deck raw -- decorations. >> there's big red bows, signs about christmas pleasants and until last weekend an inflatable snowman and penguin that looked like this until someone stole it. >> she just comes over and scoops it up and walked off. >> the owner was heartbroken to see this woman stealing his decorations. >> i don't know how someone can do that, take it home and use it and look at it every day with a good conscious. >> this isn't the first time someone has targeted his restaurant. two years ago someone broke into the basement and stole the indoor decorations. >> we all make bad choices in life. >> he's not filing a police report but hoping the culprit will return his decorations because he won't replace them. >> things are tough right now. they are tough for everybody , especially for small businesses that are struggling to make it. >> still there's nothing humbug about him. it turns out the decorations outside of the deli don't matter because it's what is inside that

live on m street, nikki burdine, wusa9. >> thank you. still struggling to make sense out of this tonight. many of her friends and colleagues are showing their love and support. a vigil is being held inside of yoga districts where tricia caught a class. at 6:15 there's going to be a candle light procession to a nearby park where a second vigil will be held at 7:00. before the vigil we spoke with close friends about her legacy. >> there's going to be a lot of people who are going to come together and do things in her name and i think she would be really happy and proud of that. >> tonight's vigil is be held at the park on 3rd and elm streets in northwest. >>> tonight a columbia heights community is looking for justice. >> early this morning a deaf woman was hit and killed in a crosswalk. 54-year-old jackie cole was a fixture at the hubbard place apartments. police say she was hit by this black suv you see there. the driver sped off. witnesses tried to help her and cole was pronounced dead at the hospital. >>> how can they go to sleep? you

nikki burdine, wusa 9. >> johnson was de his next court appearance the january 13th. >>> there's new surveillance video that police hope will lee them to a missing montgomery county man. this is an unidentified woman with a child who went on a shopping stree. she was using the credit card of 36-year-old john patrick donnaho who has been missing since the 13th. his father was one of the last people to see his son before he vanished from the family's bethesda home. >> i've never seen that person before. i don't know who it is. i know that john's card was used and we are trying to find a connection between john and how the card got to be used. >> his family is pleading for anyone who might recognize the woman who used his missing son's credit card to contact montgomery county police right away. >>> the caroline county sheriff has released security video of a missing great grandmother. it showed 71-year-old barbara brayly at an exxon on christmas eve. that's the last time anyone saw her and her 5-year-old great granddaughter. they were traveling to new jersey to north carolina to visit f

live in d.c., i'm nikki burdine, wusa9 news. >> we'll keep you updated on. this when breaking news happens, you'll want to have our free wusa9 app. you can get updates any time right on your phone. >>> more new news, breaking news actually at this hour, it's off. the u.s. army corps of engineers says it will not grant an easement for the dakota access oil pipeline in southern north dakota. -- construction of the four state $3.8 billion pipeline have been the subject of protests. the sioux tribe argues the pipeline threatens a water source and cultured really sites. the federal government says the protesters must vacate the camp by tomorrow. today assistant secretary for civil works joe ellen darcy says the decision not to grant the easement was based on the need to explore alternate routes for the pipeline's tonight in that deadly attack on a spotsylvania county gas station clerk. police arrested 50-year-old david junior washington. the sheriff's department says washington entered the sunoco iostatn on jefferson day was low just after 1:30 saturday morning a

we are live in northwest, i'm nikki burdine, wusa 9. >> thank you, nikki. >>> have you seen this woman? 19-year-old caitlyn aikens has year today. >> even though there's few clues since she disappeared from the mall in virginia, her family is not giving up on finding answers, and mola lenghi has more. >> reporter: it's been exactly a year since caitlyn aikens seeming livanished. her family has not heard from her for exactly 1 year, and they are at a loss for what to do. >> 1, 2, 3. >> reporter: it's an anniversary they hoped would never come, but days turned into weeks, turned into months, and now -- >> it's been a >> reporter: a year for lisa sullivan and family, without her daughter. a year without knowing where caitlyn aiken is. >> the not knowing, the know answer -- the no answers, that's all we talk about. >> reporter: she was last seen by her step dad 1 year ago when he dropped her off at the mall. she was supposed to get a ride and hop to reagan international 2 days later her luggage and cash and a credit card were found in a ditch. around the corner from this fredericksburg hob

live outside the white house, nikki burdine, wusa 9. >> it sure is pretty out there, nikki. see you in just a little bit. >>> we are just getting started on wusa 9 news at 5:00. howard. >> after a cup ouple wet stormy days we are getting a break. be chilly as temperatures drop into the 40s. how long this break is going to last. >> racist graffiti found on cars in a montgomery county driveway. what neighbors are sighing about the trump-themed vandalism. >> police are looking for a man who set his girlfriend on fire in fairfax county. >> right after the break a high school student's fear about deportation and her teacher's controversial response. there's more f ght. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local sled jump record, fly, gary, fly. d shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year. >>> this next story is pretty tough. in virginia a woman was intentionally set on fire. 64-year-old dolores williams

in southwest, i'm nikki burdine, wusa9. >> anybody with information about this crime or if you recognize the suspects you're asked to call police. >>> new fallout after a caught on video brawl that pitted african-american students against latinos friday. three kids suffered minor injuriesduring the fight. no charges have been filed. robo calls going out to parents tonight. the principal is announcing the formation of a special student advisory team to deal with culture conflicts. many students told us race is not an issue. >> regardless of your ethnicity or race, you're going to retaliate. >> what it was was a kid tried to start a food fight and he had face the consequences. >> we all have equal rights at the end of the day. >> school officials announced more staff will be assigned to monitor lunch hours. >>> a janitor is in jail for charges of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl. that suspect's name is ron green. montgomery county police detectives say the assault happened last month at gaithersburg elementary school. that 6 you elder did report this to school officials and the princi

nikki burdine, wusa 9. >> thank you. the citizens for trump oral -- organization said ticket sales have doubled actually d -- doubled. a new location will be announced soon. >>> a fire that forced a four of four out into the cold mp a 19-year-old woman is facing arson charges after flames tore through the home. the fire broke out at 1:00 a.m. there was extensive damage but everybody got out safely. officials say the freezing temperatures made it really complicated to fight that fire. >> well, we obviously use water to fight the fires. that immediately turns to ice. about 75 firefighters we rotated them sooner than we normally would but none the less no where you know got hurt. >> and we are told that family may have delayed getting help by trying to fight the fire themselves before calling the fire department which is something they do not advise. >>> russian hacking in the u.s. election dominating president obama's final news conference of the year before the first family heads off to hawaii. mr. obama declared russia a

in college park, i'm nikki burdine. >>> umd police are labeling the incident as vandalism. >>> prince george's county police say an attempted drug ripoff may be the motive behind a disturbing home invasion in maryland overnight. as many as five attackers claim they were police conducting a raid when they forced their way into a home on franklin avenue around 1:00 in the morning. they were all dressed in black hoodies. at least two had guns. the individual they were looking for wasn't home. suppose that's a good thing. nothing was stolen and nobody was hurt. >>> he'll spend the rest of life in prison for killing his neighbors last year. scott tomaszewski was sentenced today. he pleaded guilty in september to murdering dick and jodi vilardo. thea cruise the next day. prosecutorsplayed the 911 call from their daughter who found her parents dead on mother's day. >>> ed roessler is recovering after being rear ended by a driver who was drunk. roessler was sitting a the a traffic light in his unmarked ford explorer cruiser on lee highway at stone road when police say a nissan suv plowed into

. >> nikki burdine is live to tell us how it's affecting them. >> reporter: restaurants here are being harassed even pizza location in bethesda are receiving threats. >> reporter: the phones are ringing more than usual lately. >> there's 30 or 40 people calling at the same time. we lost a lot of business. >> reporter: it's not the kind of phone call that the owner would like to be getting. >> they read from a script, i think, and i'm going to come, and i'm going to blow your head and put a bullet in your head. >> reporter: hundreds calling him a pedophile because of his and the logo that is a symbol of child pornography. >> it's a piece of pizza. >> reporter: he changed the logo. >> immediately the calls come back, why you change your logo? >> reporter: now he wants to change the sign out front, but it will cost $2,000. >> we don't have the cash flow, especially the last 2 or 3 months. >> reporter: the immigrant from egypt has been in the business for almost 25 years, and he has been able to send his two childro years, but now that and so much more is in jeopardy. >> just acting on rum

nikki burdine reports. >> reporter: so the official stand with comet ping pong was supposed to be just on friday, but turnout was so incredible they had to extend the event through today and the support doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon. normally a line outside a popular restaurant is met with groans and changed plans. >> i'm all right. i'm hanging in there, nothing i can't wait on. >> reporter: but not tonight. >> i'm glad there are so many other people out here. >> reporter: they say standing in the cold up to an hour is easily worth it. >> we're really sad to hear about all the crazy lies that were going around and want to show our support and yeah, eat good pizza and get some beer. >> reporter: at any given hour sunday about 50 people were waiting to eat at comet ping pong. thoughts of warm pizza and wings dancing in their heads. >> tonight i'm going double pepperoni, saucage and the support is just overwhelming. a temporary tent was set up to deal with the overflow of people and neighboring businesses sent staff to help wait tables. others simply volunteered to run foo

since then we have heard so many stories about people stepping forward to help the city nikki burdine hasmore. >> reporter: businesses have ceived grants to get back on their feet, but few meant as much as a donation there a special little girl. more than 6 inches of rain fell in downtown ellicott city in july, destroying homes, businesses, and killing two people. it was heart breaking. >> i felt so sorry for those people. i didn't know what to think. >> reporter: but brianna knew what to do. she would help. >> what if i just gave one person like their business just the money. ? >> reporter: like most 10-year- olds, her pockets are not deep, but the size of her heart made up the difference. >> i'm like what if we make a snow cone stand. >> reporter: she sold the flavored ice in her neighborhood, hours, she made $133. >> making it rain. >> reporter: she knew exactly where it would go, to the place where she had her birthday party. susie's makeup studio on main street. >> reporter: this is it here? >> yeah. >> i got you the check from our snow cone stand. >> oh my gosh! this is from thi

live in southwest, i'm nikki burdine, wusa9. >> thank you. >>> now if you recognize any of the suspects in that video, police want to hear from you. >>> we have breaking news now out of fairfax virginia. sky 9 was over the scene where three people walking along centerville road were struck. the victims are a 52-year-old woman and two children. that woman has injuries that could impact her life. he was rushed to the hospital. the suv that hit them stayed there. this happened around 3:45 this afternoon. we'll continue to follow the developments. >>> a school custodian is in jail after police say he sexually assaulted of a 6-year- old girl. it happened at gaithersburg elementary school in montgomery county. that's where we find ileana diaz. >> reporter: that's right. it happened on school property in november. while police say they've been investigating it for weeks, it wasn't until this afternoon that the community found out about it. >> you trust the people that work here so that's really frighting. >> reporter: frightening is how many people are describing this man building service work

. >> that's where nikki burdine is now. >> reporter: prince george's county police themselves say this is a very strange situation. they just left the scene a few minutes ago. this all happened here on this construction site where two men were robbed, one of them shot and now he's fighting for his life. >> i can honestly say this isn't something that we see every day here. >> it was just after noon today at this construction site in brandy wine at danville road. two men walked up to two workers, shot one of them robbed them and away. the man shot was flown to the hospital. >> police won't say what the suspects gotwa it's a rural area, only a few homes near by which is why neighbors choose to live here in the first place. >> i never thought about it. i wouldn't have move ed d here if i thought about something like that. >> even though this neighbor didn't hear or see anything it's not something she wants in her backyard. >> pray for this family that he will be all right. >> reporter: that victim is still in critical condition. police say it's not clear if the victims and the suspects kn

. >> that was nikki burdine reports there. her friends say they feel that the justice system failed her. dc police agree with them. we'll talk more about that coming up on wusa 9 at 6:00. johnson's attorney would not respond to any questions after court today. she wouldn't even tell us her name. johnson is going to stay behind bars until at least his next court appearance in january. denied bond. the next appearance on january 13th. >>> newly released surveillance video in the case of a missing woman and her 5-year-old great granddaughter. 71-year-old barbara briely is seen walking into an exxon gas station in virginia on christmas eve. that's about 40 miles north of richmond. she and her great granddaughter have not been seen since. they were driving from new jersey to north carolina to visit family for the holidays. >>> the family of a man shot and killed by a dc police officer christmas morning are saying this didn't have to happen. 29-year-old gerald hall would not drop a knife but hall's family said the story isn't true.

nikki burdine has the story. >> metro stops are not the types of places that people want to hang around in but 40 people stopped and stood in awe when tamara walker started to sing in union station. >> stuck on a metro platform, that's the would not enjoy. >> one track was down and everything was going in one direction. >> tamara walker was visiting dc from las vegas and when the inevitable redline problems began she did something most washingtonans can't fathom, stop up and started to sing. > i just kept going. i told my daughter, grab my phone, i feel like singing. >> 40 people stood in awe just listening. for tamara it wasn't about the location or all the attention. the video now has more than 300,000 views. >> i really didn't expect this from just singing there. it's just my favorite christmas carroll. >> it was about how she felt in that very moment, the overwhelming feeling she had to sing, the feeling she didn't always have. >> this is a great christmas for me because i've been through a lot. >> tamara was a victim of domestic violence for 5 years. when she left him she and h two