gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >>> now to the tragedy striking a small town in missouri. one officer killed, two others injured in a shootout with a suspect last night. this is the second time a member of that police force has fallen in just a matter of months. nbc's ron mott now with the story and a

gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >> we'll take a break here. when we come back, we'll remember a woman that became a powerful symbol and changed the way american kids go to school. >>> there is word tonight that an american pioneer has died. linda brown was the kansas girl at the center of the brown versus board of education that struck down segregation in schools. her father became the lead plaintiff in the case when he tried to enroll her in topeka, fighting all the way to victory in the supreme court and changing the course of history. linda brown was 76-years-old. >>> this country's oldest gun maker filed for bankruptcy rockies. remington says sales dropped 30% last year. it saw the decline after the election of president trump. many customers feeling the less urgency to buy guns because they didn't fear new restrictions the company founded more than two centuries ago says it will continue operation during the bankruptcy process. >>> perhaps you have seen it the new commercial by heinekin that's causing controversy. in it a bartender spots

nbc's gabe gutierrez is in austin with the latest. gabe? >> reporter: hi there, andrea. good afternoon. well, yes, this is a very fluid investigation, as you just heard, looking into this latest explosion at this fedex distribution center about an hour's drive south of boston. now just within the past hour or so we also heard from the san antonio police chief who was asked by a reporter, was this the only package that was found at that fedex facility. he said that there was a second package that had been at that fedex facility in shirts, texas but it was fno longer there. then he was cut off saying he couldn't get into that an describe more information. but investigators are looking into more than one package at this fedex facility near san antonio. now i should also point out that right now there is an active hazmat situation at another fedex facility here in the austin area right near the airport. so certainly a lot of concern here from investigators. more than 500 federal investigators, both fbi and atf, working this case right now. andrea, of course this comes after

gabe gutierrez was there during the storm. he returned to find many there struggling and angry. >> reporter: in puerto rico, blue tarps and splintered power poles still litter neighborhoods where maria first made landfall six months ago today. >> it's like the storm came through yesterday. >> reporter: tom as castro vega has been using a generator to survive. if you have a message for washington right now, what would it be? >> we need help, please. >> reporter: while many parts of the island, especially san juan, are returning to normal, he tells us his town has been forgotten. 70% of it is still without power. he's furious with the army corps of engineers' recent decision to scale down operations. >> at this point, we are moving transition distribution workers into those areas that need the effort. we can only fit so many workers. >> reporter: here in the mountains, the power poles are the hardest to reach. people here feel like they were the first to get hit but the last to get help. as the sun falls, it's another day in lim

gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >>> we'll take a short break. when we come back, the patient who played her flute while having brain surgery. >>> and on this opening day of baseball, we remember a beloved all-star slugger. >>> tributes are pouring in tonight for major league baseball great rusty staub. the orange-haired outfielder's career spanned 23 seasons in houston, montreal, detroit and the new york mets. he was the only player in major league history to have at least 500 hits with four teams. staub died of a heart attack. he was 73. >>> it's not something you see or hear every day. a patient at a texas hospital playing the flute while doctors perform brain surgery on her. she was undergoing a deep brain stimulation procedure to reduce hand tremors, and doctors had her play her flute to test how the procedure was working. the whole room applauded when she finished. pretty amazing. >>> and the video of the day comes from the serengeti. a group on the adventure of a lifetime. an african safari that got perhaps a little too adventurous. they w

gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >>> now to the tragedy striking a small town in missouri. one officer killed, two others injured in a shootout with a suspect last night. this is the second time a member of that police force has fallen in just a matter of months. nbc's ron mott now with the story and a warning, some of what you're about to see and hear you may find upsetting. >> shots fired. >> reporter: 30-year-old clinton, missouri, cop, christopher ryan morton, honored at a major league baseball game in 2014 for his service in afghanistan, was killed in a shootout tuesday night inside this home. heard here after responding to a 911 call. >> morton, you good? >> no. i'm hit multiple times. one in each arm. both legs. and head, the vest. >> reporter: two other officers were also wounded. it was the second time the small police department 75 miles southeast of kansas city has lost an officer in the past seven months. >> you could definitely tell a difference whoever's inside, their weapon was much bigger than what the police had. >> reporter: the suspect ex-con james e. wat

>> gabe gutierrez, thank you. gabe, it was a historic day. with so many of these powerful young voices being raised across the country, with so much to say, i want to take a moment now to let you hear their messages in their own words. >> we can't stand gun violence anymore. >> enough is enough! >> no more! >> policy, not prayers! >> enough is enough! >> i consider this school a home, but this home isn't safe. >> no one is really safe in this country with the kind of gun laws that we have. >> change is needed. we need to increase school safety. we can't let this keep on happening. >> it's important for us to speak up as the youth and make sure this change actually occurs. >> we all deserve to be safe at school. >> 17 lives lost in 6 minutes. i don't want to go through what they went through. >> we are together. we are one. we are with florida. that's why we say "never again." [ bell ] >> helena ramsey was 17 years old. [ bell ] >> this is for helena ramsey. >> what do we want? >> gun reform! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> young and powerfu

our gabe gutierrez is on the scene with late breaking details. >> reporter: the 950-ton pedestrian bridge collapsed without warning. >> bridge is down. possible entrapment. >> reporter: crushing cars, drivers pinned under massive slabs of concrete. >> it sounded like an earthquake. >> reporter: eyewitnesses in shock. >> it was like an explosion. it was like a bomb. >> reporter: susie bermudez says she missed it by seconds. >> i'm very grateful to be alive. thank god. i was very close to losing my life. >> reporter: emergency crews rushed in to treat the injured. >> we started running towards over there, and we just see these cars like crushed down. and everybody getting out of their cars and beeping and beeping. we were just like terrified. >> reporter: the bridge next to florida international university had been built after a student died last year walking across the busy road. seen here in an architectural rendering, it had just been installed on saturday, built using what's known as accelerated bridge construction technology meant to finish bridges faster and more cost effectively. a 1

gabe gutierrez is in baton rouge tonight. >> reporter: the newly released video show the moments leading up to the deadly encounter for the first time publicly. >> i'm going to shoot your [ bleep ]. >> reporter: this body camera footage shows officers blane salamoni and howie lake responding to a 911 call in 2016. >> we got an individual at the triple s. he's selling cds. he's got a .9 millimeter, whatever, in his pocket. and he draw it. >> reporter: a man claiming that alton sterling, who was selling cds outside this baton rouge convenience store, had threatened him with a gun. the officers confront sterling and the encounter escalates quickly. >> [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> reporter: previously released cell phone video from a bystander showed part of the struggle, but this surveillance video from the store shows the moments before and after as officer salamoni yells at sterling. [ bleep ]. >> reporter: what do you see in this video? >> a black man being murdered. >> reporter: an attorney represents some of sterling's family members. >> i don't care if you're black, white, hispan

our gabe gutierrez has details. >> reporter: in their grim search, tonight investigators don't expect to find any more survivors. she was your best friend? >> yeah. >> reporter: richard humble, a sophomore at florida international university, says he was in this car with fellow student, alexa duran, when the bridge came crashing down. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: this surveillance video showing the horrifying moment. >> it was just way too fast. >> reporter: humble says he was in the passenger seat and alexa was driving. he barely escaped. she did not. >> i didn't think i was going to make it out of the car. and i screamed her name over and over again, but i didn't hear anything. >> reporter: richard called his mother moments after the catastrophic collapse. that's him in the white shorts. >> the bridge fell on us. >> reporter: what goes through a mother's head when they get that phone call? >> he said, i have a lot of blood around me. it's not mine, mom. i have a lot of blood. >> reporter: senator marco rubio tweeting the cables that suspend the miami bridge had loosened and the engin

>> all right, gabe gutierrez. we can only imagine the anxiety there. thanks. >>> a tragic accident in arizona is raising new questions about the safety of self-driving cars as their testing becomes a lot more frequent on american roads. a self-driving uber car struck and killed a pedestrian. the first uber accident of its kind. prompting the company to halt all autonomous car testing nationwide. here's nbc's national correspondent miguel almaguer. >> reporter: a 49-year-old woman was struck and killed in this intersection in tempe, arizona. police say she was not using the crosswalk when hit by a self-driving uber like this one undergoing testing. investigators say the car was in autonomous mode with a safety driver behind the wheel. >> our investigation did not show at this time that there were significant signs of the vehicle slowing down. >> reporter: this is the first pedestrian death by an autonomous vehicle on a public road. today uber suspended testing of self-driving vehicles in tempe, pittsburgh, san francisco and toronto. the company saying,

here is nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: for three seasons, bailey davis was a cheerleader for the new orleans saints until she was fired this january, she says, for posting this picture on her private instagram account. >> it was a bodysuit that i got from a boutique. and they saw the photo and said that it was distasteful. >> reporter: the team accused her of breaking rules that prohibit cheerleaders from appearing nude, semi nude or in lingerie. now in a civil rights complaint with the equal opportunity commission, davis argues the saints have two sets of rules. one for its female cheerleaders and another for male players. >> i want us to be treated like professional athletes who have worked hard and do our job well. >> reporter: bailey also says the team fired her because of rumors she attended a party with players which she denies. the saints require cheerleaders to block players on social media and are not allowed to eat in the same restaurant. >> and this is gender discrimination within their own organization. >> reporter: the team says the new orleans saints do not tolerate

gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >>> now to the tragedy striking a small town in missouri. one officer killed, two others injured in a shootout with a suspect last night. this is the second time a member of that police force has fallen in just a matter of months. nbc's ron motte now with the story and a warning, some of what you're about to see and hear you may find upsetting. >> shots fired. >> reporter: 30-year-old clinton, missouri, cop, christopher ryan mornten honored at a major league baseball game in 2014 for his service in afghanistan was killed in a shootout tuesday night inside this home. heard here after responding to a 911 call. >> morton, you good? >> no. i'm hit multiple times. one in each arm. both legs. and head, the vest. >> reporter: two other officers were also wounded. it was the second time the small police department 75 miles southeast of kansas city has lost an officer in the past seven months. >> you could definitely tell a difference whoever's inside, their weapon was much bigger than what the police had. >> reporter: the suspect, ex-con james e. wa

nbc's gabe gutierrez has that report. >> reporter: the war of words began after 17-year-old parkland shooting survivor david hogg told tmz he'd been rejected by four university of california campuses. >> so it's been kind of annoying having to deal with that and everything else that's been going on. at this point i was, you know, we're changing the world. >> reporter: fox news host laura ingraham slamming him for whining about it. hogg then posted a list of what he said were ingraham's top sponsors, calling for them to boycott her show. companies have bailed. rachel ray's pet flood brand says it is pulling its ads because her comments are not consistent with how we feel people should be treated. hogg is one of the most outspoken student activists for tighter gun laws. >> the fact so many children are dying in mass shootings it's unacceptable. >> reporter: ingraham is no stranger to controversy. >> shut up and dribble. >> reporter: she blasted nba star lebron james for talking politics. a rare apologize on reflection of holy week, i apologize. hogg not satisfied. an apology and effort

our gabe gutierrez has late details. >> reporter: tonight investigators are on the hunt for more bombs and possible accomplices. this afternoon, fbi and atf agents at the suspect's home where multiple sources say they found a treasure-trove of bomb-making materials. also questioning his two roommates, though they're not under arrest. >> there was no completed devices in the house. there was componentry and the homemade explosive material that we found in the house and that's what we're most concerned about. >> reporter: now a portrait of the serial bomber is emerging. two law enforcement officials identify him as 23-year-old mark conditt. he lived in pflugerville, was home schooled, the oldest of four kids. conditt took classes at austin community college, though he never graduated. in a series of school blog posts, conditt wrote that he was not politically inclined. he'd worked as a computer repairman and had no criminal record. >> he was a kid, neighborhood kid. always believed he was very smart. >> reporter: and tonight, we're getting new details about the massive manhunt to track h

gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >> a police body cam bearing witness. tough to watch. >>> after the second big storm in less than a week, people in the northeast are digging out from as much as two feet of snow. the snow is wet. it is heavy in many areas, and that caused countless trees and branches to come crashing down on power lines. a woman in new jersey was killed when she drove across one of those lines. hundreds of thousands are without power, including some who haven't had electricity since last friday's destructive nor'easter, especially just north of new york city, that has led to growing outrage and calls for resignations of utility company executives. >>> there is a heartbreaking situation unfolding tonight in cleveland. hundreds of families learning that their eggs or frozen embryos stored at a fertility clinic may have been damaged. something happened that caused more than 2,000 frozen eggs and embryos to begin to thaw. our affiliate wkyc broke the story, and senior national correspondent kate snow has more for us tonight. >> reporter: for

here's nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: in this surveillance video prosecutors say omar mateen was about to attack disney world's shopping and entertainment complex when a police presence scared him off. >> my god, people are getting shot. >> reporter: he instead chose the pulse nightclub as his new target where he would kill 49 people in 2016. mateen who pledged allegiance to isis had visited the theme park with his wife in the days before the rampage, prosecutors say, and planned to hide a gun in this baby stroller. a jury is now deciding whether noor salman knew about her husband's plot beforehand. prosecutors claim salman admitted mateen talked to her about jihad, when she spoke with the fbi shortly after the attack, she wrote this note, "i am sorry for what happened, i wish i go back and tell his family and the police what he was going to do." but the defense argues her confession was coerced and that she signed it because she was tired and feared losing her young son. >> noor salman did not know anything was going to happen. she never anticipated he was going to do anything.

gabe gutierrez talking through some of those. what happened overnight, a package that was believed to be headed for austin exploded at a fedex facility in schertz. that's just outside san antonio as you can see on the map there. police say one person was treated at the scene and then released. we still don't know whether this is related to the four other bomb attacks that hit austin which have killed two people. we expect to find out more about this sometime in the next five minutes. i'll turn you over to stephanie ruhle and velshi. >> the mind makes connections but until we hear from the police that there is a connection, we don't know what we're looking for. one asasailant or a different one. >> it is tuesday, march 20th. let's get started. breaking news from maryland, there has been a shooting at great mills high school. it's about an hour southeast of washington, d.c. >> the school's on lockdown. they say that the event is, quote, contained. our local affiliate is reporting multiple injuries here. >> i'm still a little shaken

nbc's gabe gutierrez was there on the story. what can you tell us? >> reporter: hi there, ari. this news conference just wrapped up, as you mentioned. authorities say this incident earlier today, one, is not relate to do that string of bombings, the serial bomber the authorities described before. but they also described a little bit of how this unfolded at a goodwill store here in austin. they say that someone dropped off an incendiary device, an artillery simulator, what they described as a military memento dropped off in a bag at goodwill. an employee took it out back and there was some sort of injury. the employee was treated for his hand and released. ari, this is a neighborhood that is extremely on edge, and over the last several weeks has now had at least five explosions, and in addition to that, a sixth package that was intercepted before it could explode. so certainly this is an ongoing investigation. hundreds of federal agents, atf and fbi, working this case. but again the breaking news. the early reports of a new explosion here in austin. it appears to be a false alar

nbc's gabe gutierrez is in boston where he has been following these developments. what right now can you tell us about what's about to happen with that latest device? >> hi there, chris, good afternoon. well, police say they are looking at this potential bomb, at a fedex facility near the austin airport. let me paint a picture for you what's going on. according to the source briefed on the investigation, there are three active scenes right now. what investigators are looking at. one is that schertz facility near san antonio where there was that explosion overnight. investigators are looking to see, you know, how that package got there. but what they believe at this point is that package was dropped off at a fedex facility here on brody lane in austin. investigators are looking at that brody lane location as well. they believe that the suspected bomber may have dropped off two packages at that location. one that made it to that facility near san antonio. the other one that ended up at that fedex facility near the austin airport. and that is -- that, as we know, so f

gabe gutierrez who has been following this story closely. thank you very much for joining us. let me ask you to correct me if there is anything that did not come part with your understanding of events. >> hi there, rachel. >> reporter: the one thing you did mention that there was a second bomb intercepted at a fedex facility down san antonio. that was near the austin airport. just within the past couple of hours, authorities have linked all five of those previous explosions plus that sixth package as being part of this serial bomber. the past few minutes, we got words that this latest of what we thought was an explosion is labeled not a bomb but an incendiary device. we are here on the scene at brodie lane right now. this is a massive police presence. the strip malil evacuated. a few moments ago i spoke to the the president of goodwill. he says a short time ago one of his employees were looking through a bag of donations and that's when he noticed a flash of some sort according to the president of the goodwill central texas. that flash, people started to move away from the bag

gabe gutierrez joins us from miami from the bureau. talk us through this. this involves all of the allegations against those who were armed who did not go in, including, of course, scot pedersen. >> reporter: good morning. pedersen was said to fail to confront the gunman. as you mention, within the past few minutes, the broward county sheriff's office released the surveillance video from right outside the school building. the 1200 building at marjory stoneman douglas. you do not see any audio, and it is heavily reacted. you see there several of the students' faces are pixelated. you can't make out the students. in this video, you do not see the confessed gunman, nikolas cruz, at all, as well. you see several different camera angles. as we're looking at this video, right there, you see a school employee, as well as a school resource officer, in the bottom part of your screen. that is scot pedersen. you see him radioing the information at that scene. according to scot pedersen's attorney, he has said that he heard -- he exited one building and then moved outs

i want to bring in gabe gutierrez whose in round rock, texas. what was the clue that led them to him, we now have an answer courting to our sources. what do we know? >> reporter: what appears to be good ole fashion police work, hundreds of agents have been working on this case. nbc can report according to tom winter and andy blaine stein that the bomb r used a foreign and exotic battery, each explosives. one law enforcement official put it, these weren't your store bought did you ever cells. the batteries were ordered online, according to one official they came from asia and it was this signature trait that allowed authorities to be able to connect all of these blasts. as you remember, halle there were five explosions, and the sixth bomb was intercepted before it was detonated. another key piece that allowed officials to tie all this together, surveillance video that the suspect was seen at that fed ex-facility dropping off packages. the fbi also was able to come up with a list of phone numbers of individuals that were in the same areas of the b

you heard nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez talking through some of those. what happened overnight, a package that was believed to be headed for austin exploded at a fedex facility in schertz. that's just outside san antonio as you can see on the map there. police say one person was treated at the scene and then released. we still don't know whether this is related to the four other bomb attacks that hit austin which have killed two people. we expect to find out more about this sometime in the next five minutes. i'll turn you over to stephanie ruhle and velshi. >> the mind makes connections but until we hear from the police that there is a connection, we don't know what we're looking for. one asasailant or a different one. >> it is tuesday, march 20th. let's get started. breaking news from maryland, there has been a shooting at great mills high school. it's about an hour southeast of washington, d.c. >>he

gabe gutierrez is in parkland more. what do we expect to see what's the latest? >> reporter: in addition to the 17 counts of murder, earlier this week a grand jury indicted the suspected on attempted count of murder as well. this is the fir time we're hearing radio -- he did hear shots coming from inside the school but never went in. it was sheer terror, panicked parents, helpless. >> i love you i love you. >> that the police? >> it's okay. >> reporter: one mother with this emotional plea talking to her daughter on one phone and 911 on the daughter. >> i love you, i love you, can you hide, can you play dead? >> yes. >> play dead. >> reporter: and as the rampage unfolded, confusion. this morning newly police radio admissions are shedding new light on how scott peterson did not continue front the gunman. >> we have possible shots, i think we got shots fired. possible shot fired. >> reporter: the next few minutes are chaotic. >> we don't have any -- shots fired. >> reporter: peterson radios for back up. but despite hearing shots he does no go inside the building. th

gabe gutierrez, we're grateful to have you there. please jump back on our air if you learn anything else before 5:00. we're going to sneak in a break. we'll be right back. who were sure of it. others who felt a connection. many more who never saw it coming. but now they know... they descend from the people of ireland. in fact, more than half of our community have discovered their irish roots... which means your smiling eyes might be irish too. order ancestrydna and find the surprises in you. just $69 through monday. get your kit today. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. and i recently had hi, ia heart attack. it changed my life. but i'm a survivor. after my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. it's for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. brilinta is taken with a low-dose aspirin. no more than 100 milligrams as it affects how well brilinta works. brilin

let's start with nbc's gabe gutierrez in miami. what does this surveillance video show? perhaps just as importantly what does it not show? >> hi there, good afternoon. the video does not show school resource officer scott peterson entering the building. this is the first visual evidence we have what happened in those moments. as we play this video, you can see several students walking through the outside hallways. their faces blurred. this video of course has been edited by the broward county sheriff's office to protect the privacy of those students. now we see the camera angle switch. that is a school employee in the burgundy shirt right there. then you see school resource officer scot peterson there at the bottom of your screen. he is raid wroeing at that time what is happening right outside the building. now, we had known that the sheriffs have heavily criticized scot peterson for not going inside the building and confronting the gunman. and this video confirms he did not go inside. we have reached out to peterson's attorney to get some comment on this video release a

we've had nbc news gabe gutierrez on the ground in austin. he's on the phone with the latest. gabe, what are you learning? >> reporter: hi there, chris. we're heading to the scene right now. what we're hearing from someone else, nbc news team that's already on the ground, is that this entire neighborhood is being evacuated. just a few minutes ago, there was a package that exploded there, according to authorities, and what we understand is one male in his 30s has been transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. chris, this comes after a very fluid day in this investigation in austin. just a short time ago, the atf and the fbi confirmed that five explosions and one other package that was intercepted by authorities today is connected to the serial bomber that has been terrorizing the austin area so far. chris, this all began back on march 2nd with an explosion that killed a 39-year-old man. since then there have been a series of explosions. the first three of them were packages that were left on people's door steps quietly overnight. one of them also killing a

gabe gutierrez has been following this story. he is outside the courthouse in ft. lauderdale. walk us through this court appearance. >> reporter: hi there, craig. good afternoon. nikolas cruz appeared in the broward county courtroom through closed circuit television. he said virtually nothing. head cast down, speaking only briefly to his lawyer. he's being held without bail. as you mentioned, these are new charges a grand jury indicting him on 17 counts of attempted murder. that's in addition to the previous 17 counts of murder. now the arraignment could come as early as next week. and this is all part of an ongoing legal maneuvering that is going by his defense team. earlier this week, he had withdrawn his not guilty plea now standing mute on all the charges. and that could be part of a legal strategy to perhaps set him up to plead guilty as his attorneys -- as the public defender has said in change for the death penalty being off the table. something prosecutors here in broward county are considering. they still have not said whether they will take the death penalty off the

gabe gutierrez in austin. and retired fbi profiler, candice delong, guys, thank you very much for joining us. >>> now to breaking news in great mills, maryland, where two high school students are wounded after a classmate opened fire. this shooting happened before classes began in great mills high in southeast maryland. the male gunman walked into the school and shot a 16-year-old female student and a 14-year-old male student. the shooter is now dead. just a couple of days ago, students at this high school participated in the national walkout, protesting gun violence. and here is how one witness from that school described the chaotic moments to my colleague, hallie jackson, earlier today. >> we were just standing there talking and we heard like a loud shot. and it was probably like a few yards away from us. to my left hand side. and like, when i heard that we heard it, and we instantly start running the opposite way. and like, i opposite way and i glanced back and i saw a girl, i didn't know who the girl was,

nbc's gabe gutierrez tells us the latest from austin. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: frances, good morning. authorities here in austin, texas say that this latest incident involving what was initially reported to be an explosion turns out it is not connected to any of the previous explosions, five of them, of the last couple weeks. and a sixth package that was intercepted, believed to be tied to a serial bomber. in this particular case it happened late last night, there was a small explosion at a goodwill store where a goodwill employee was injured. but authorities now say it appears to be artillery simulators and they describe military mementos that have been dropped off at this goodwill store, and it's created a small explosion that injured this employee. but again, not believed to be tied to any of the previous explosions. but this is now turning into a massive federal investigation with more than 500 federal agents, fbi and atf agents and they are poring over surveillance video of the fedex facility believed to be where the suspect

our gabe gutierrez is in austin with the latest. >> reporter: tonight police in austin have an urgent plea. >> if the package that is delivered to your doorstep looks suspicious in any way, call 911. >> reporter: an already frantic search for clues ratcheted up around noon today as a third package bomb ripped through another neighborhood here. a 75-year-old woman badly injured. how scary was it? >> very scary. there was glass inside the box. she picked up the package, it detonated, boom, exploded. >> reporter: this came after another blast just five miles away before dawn. >> there was a package that exploded inside of the home. >> reporter: police say a 17-year-old boy was killed and a woman wounded inside their kitchen. >> there's going to be two patients. >> reporter: neighbors horrified. >> it's pretty wild. it's crazy. >> reporter: three explosions in ten days. the first back on march 2nd killing 39-year-old anthony house. >> it shook the windows. at first i kind of froze, then grabbed my son. >> reporter: initially that was ruled a suspicious death. police are now investigating

gabe gutierrez has the latest from round rock, texas, this morning. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. police say the suspected serial bomber is dead after he blew himself up as a s.w.a.t. team closed in. the dramatic overnight confrontation ended a saga that had terrorized central texas for weeks. police say investigators tracked the suspect down near i-35 here, just north of austin, to a hotel parking lot. while police waited for tactical vehicles to arrive, the police chief says the suspect drove away and pulled into a ditch, where he detonated a bomb inside his car. one officer was slightly injured in that blast. but he is expected to be okay. now, austin was on-edge after a series of explosions, five explosio explosions this month that left two people dead and four others seriously hurt. a sixth bomb had been intercepted before it exploded. the police are urging the public to be cautious because they do not know that the suspect may have left other bombs behind. savannah? >> gabe gutierrez, thank you very much. >>> now, to the dangero

nbc's gabe gutierrez has more tonight. >> he was murdered like an animal! >> reporter: for the family of alton sterling, the last two years have been excruciating. >> they took a human away. they took a father away! >> reporter: his aunt, sandra sterling, has had two strokes. >> i don't go to sleep at night at what i saw on that video. >> translator: that video showed a deadly encounter between steriling and two baton rouj officers outside a convenience store in 2016. today the louisiana attorney general announced there would be no criminal charges against the officers. he says they tried to make a lawful arrest. >> mr. sterling was under the influence, and that contributed to his non-compliance. >> reporter: last year, the justice department decided against bringing federal civil rights charges against the officers, claiming they thought sterling had been reaching for a gun in his pocket. his family says he never pointed the weapon at police. did today's decision surprise you? >> today's decision did not surprise me. >> reporter: quinneta is the mother of

gabe gutierrez tells us more. >> he was murdered like an animal. >> reporter: for the family of alton sterling, the last two years have been excruciating. >> they took a human away, they took a father away. >> reporter: his aunt has had two strokes. the video showed the deadly encounter between sterling and two baton rouge officers outside a convenience store in 2016. the louisiana attorney general announced there would be no criminal charges against the officers. he says they tried to make a lawful arrest. >> mr. sterling was under the influence, and that contributed to his non-compliance. >> reporter: last year, the justice department decided against bringing federal civil rights charges against the officers, claiming they thought sterling was reaching for a gun in his pocket. his family says he never pointed the weapon at police. did today's decision surprise you? >> today's decision did not surprise me. >> reporter: she is the mother of sterling's son. >> i ask god to give me the strength. >> reporter: both officers have been on paid leave since the shooting. when a disciplinary h

nbc's gabe gutierrez, thank you. >>> the white house says it is standing in solidarity with the united kingdom's decision to expel nearly two dozen russian diplomats. this after an ex-russia spy and his daughter were poisoned on british soil. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley emphasizing the country's stance and calling on the u.n. to take action. nbc's tracie potts joins us now with more from washington. tracie, good morning. >> frances, good morning. nikki haley told the united nations security council they will have no credibility at all if they stand by and do nothing about this. those russian diplomats expelled after russia missed a deadline to explain to great britain what happened here. russia denies any involvement in the attack on its former military officer in great britain. but the united states not wanting to let this go. haley told the u.n. that this attack last week must have a response. >> let me make one thing clear from the very beginning. the united states stands in absolute solidarity with great britain. the united states believes that russia is r

. >> that was gabe gutierrez reporting. nbc news reached out to broward county schools for comment about the possible lawsuits. no response. the lawyer for scot peterson, the school resource officer accused of not responding to the shooting also has no response. >>> and into action after talking about a scary stabbing this week an oakland-bound grey hound bus. a 53-year-old woman stabbed a 3-year-old girl and the girl's mother as well. the attacker was talking to herself and make go death threats before the confrontation. >> the ladiy, to threaten a child? kill a child? what's wrong with you? >> an officer stopped her after she held a knife to the girl's neck and the mother was stabbed in the stomach. her wirs are not life threatening. the suspect then stabbed herself. >>> a follow-up on a suspicious fire in el sobe rante. the library staff tell us they haven't been allowed inside because inside it is too dangerous. staff has yet to determine the extent of the damage. in the meantime, officers are looking into how that fire

>> gabe gutierrez in parkland for us. thank you. >>> the hearty folks in new england are digging out after their third nor'easter in two weeks. some areas got more than two feet of snow. boston was especially hard-hit. all of that snow, combined with howling winds, created dangerous whiteout conditions for drivers. utility crews on the front lines once again. restoring power to homes and businesses that have been blacked out by the storm. al will be along later. and he had the rumblings of another one coming. >> he was enjoying that too much. we'll see what is in his forecast, but first let's get the "morning boost." >> we want to celebrate a reunion in chicago. a woman decided to search for her biological parents after she found a picture and a blanket and a letter they left with the couple that adopted her. she did research and she contacted them. they invited her over. she was nervous. she walks up to the door. and she embraces the family she hasn't seen in 27 years. that is beautiful. she hugged her mom, her birth mom

gabe gutierrez has the latest on the investigation. hey, gabe. good morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning. as federal investigators were processing evidence from this neighborhood, they got a call of another explosion overnight, this time at a fedex distribution center, about an hour south of austin near san antonio. one of the employees was injured and released. but initial dispatch call said that package had nails inside it and was bound for austin. this morning, authorities in texas are investigating yet another bomb explosion. this time, a package bound for austin exploded shortly after midnight, after a fedex distribution center in schertz, texas, south of austin. >> there's nails and metal in the bomb. the package was going to austin and building is being evacuated at this time. 75 employees were in the building. >> reporter: the schertz police department posting on facebook that the explosion came from a package in the sorting area of the facility. the blast follows a series of package explosions in the austin area that have left two pe

nbc's gabe gutierrez has the story. hey, gabe, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, education secretary betsy devos is set to visit marjory stoneman douglas high later today, on this the first full day of classes since the rampage. according to documents obtained by nbc's miami station, wtvj, confessed gunman nikolas cruz has been held in protective custody away from other inmates for his own safety. new this morning, an inside glimpse into what jail life is like for nikolas cruz, the confessed mass killer. based on reports by deputies assigned to watch him. the records paint the picture of a quiet inmate who follows the rules and responds when spoken to. deputies report he keeps i had head cast down and makes little eye contact and responds in a slow, soft voice. but is cooperative. soon after he arrived, cruz had trouble sleeping. deputies writing he was restless, tossing and turning and stares at the wall in deep thought. the report notes he ate all his lunch, four slices of bread, one apple, jelly, peanut butter

gabe gutierrez has the latest on how this tragedy happened. good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. this has now shifted from a search and rescue mission tokco. we're looking at it from above, and looking into what may have led to this. marco rubio said the cables were loosened and an engineering firm had ordered them tightened. in the process of doing that, it came crashing down. rescue teams search for any sign of life, using cameras, dogs and electronic listening devices, to get under 950 tons of twisted steel. this surveillance video showing the moment of the catastrophic collapse. eyewitnesses horrified. you can hear the anguish in their voices. authorities say the recovery effort is slow and meticulous. >> it has to be done carefully, not only because we have to preserve evidence, not only because there may be possible victims under there and we have to treat it delicately. >> i'm grateful i'm alive right now. >> reporter: richard humble was in a car under the bridge when it came down on top of him. >> i tried to duck. at the

nbc's gabe gutierrez has been tracking the story from texas. gabe, what are they now saying whether or not this was a lone wolf or someone might have been helping him? >> reporter: good afternoon, andrea. investigators are checking to see if he might have had any accomplices. this is very fast in the investigation right now. investigators are at the nearby home of mark anthony conditt's parents trying to find out if he did have any contact or left any packages behind. we understand his home is not far from his parents' home, just a few blocks away, we understand. according to governor greg abbott, they are cooperating with investigators at this point. we have new exclusive reporting from the nbc investigative unit. we can report according to senior -- multiple senior law enforcement officials that one of the ways that law enforcement was able to connect all of these bombs -- the five explosions in the last several weeks is that the bomber used a foreign exotic battery in each of these bombs and one senior law enforcement official says that they

nbc's gabe gutierrez joins me live from austin. gabe what more have you learned? this is a city already on high alert. >> reporter: that's right, stephanie. this is a city on edge. a police chief saying he is aware of the latest explosion. working with the atf to try to determine the link to the recent bombings. two young men in their 20s were injured when they were walking from the park, one on his bicycle, the other on foot, when they crossed the trip wire in the neighborhood. the grandfather of one of the victims says that bomb had nailed in it and severely injured his grandson. that appears to be something that we're seeing in several of these packages. the one -- the latest one, as you mentioned, near san antonio, where it -- one fedex employee was treated and released at the scene for minor injuries. the initial dispatch calls you're about to hear suggest there were nails inside that package. take a listen. >> nails and metal in the bomb, package was going to austin and building is being evacuated at this time. there were 75 employees that were in the buildi

we have a package are from nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> the 950-ton pedestrian bridge collapsed without warning. crushing cars, drivers pinned under mass theive slabs of concrete. >> it sounded like an earthquake. >> eyewitnesss in shock. >> it was like an explosion. it was like a bomb. >> suzi says she missed it by seconds. i'm very grateful to be alive. thank god. >> we started running towards there and we see these cars crush down. and everybody getting out of their cars and beepg aing and beeping. >> the bridge had been built after a student die last year walking across a busy road. seen here in an architectural rendering, it was just finished on saturday. a 175 section was prefabricated income to the street and moved into position in just hours. >> if you don't get them right, then there will be some much bigger forces in the bridge than you might have the expected. >> the bridge was scheduled to open to foot traffic next year. the company that built it says it's cooperating with investigators and that our family's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.

nbc's gabe gutierrez is in austin. >> reporter: this morning after three mysterious explosions in less than two weeks, austin, texas, is on high alert. >>> we don't know whether there are more bombs out there and that's why we're asking the community not to panic but to be vigilant. >> a third package bomb exploding on monday, leaving a 75-year-old woman in critical condition. >>> very scary. there was glass in the box. when she picked up the package, as soon as she picked it up, it exploded. >> reporter: it came after another blast five miles away. >> there was a package that exploded inside the hole. >> reporter: police say a 17-year-old boy was killed and a woman wounded inside their kitchen. neighbors, stunned. >> it's crazy. >> reporter: police are now linking the latest bombings to another one 11 miles away back on march 2nd. it killed 39-year-old anthony house. initially police called it a suspicious death. now it is being investigated as homicide. >> given that we had multiare incidents occur over a ten-dayered and the similarities between these three incidents make us believe

gabe gutierrez is on the scene. what are you learned? >> reporter: officials say this is now shifted from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. they say the focus is to remove the victims still trapped. to remove them from the scene in a dignified manner. we learned in this news briefing that wrapping up a moment ago, one of the victims is confirmed to be a student. police say that is still a bit far off. what we are asking the question is, why was traffic not shut down if the construction company here was in fact conducting tests on the bridge. overnight senator marco rubio says the cables had loosened, the energy order was ordering that they be tightened and the workers were in the process of doing that wen this came crashing down. we're hearing stories from sir voofr students who said he was trapped under the bridge that collapsed into his car in the d driver's seat. his best friend was still missing. he was able to survive. here is his amazing story. >> we were parked at a red light. i started to hear the bridge creek. we looke

gabe gutierrez has the latest from texas. this is just so heartbreaking when you put details to the faces of the victims of lives cut short. what do with know about the suspect in this case and why he might have done this? >> reporter: good afternoon, you're right. a heartbreaking case, especially thinking about the people killed. four others injured. this is a fast-moving investigation right now. the house behind me is home of a suspect's parents. federal investigators were here over the last several hours and left about 15 minutes ago. fbi agents really scouring this home as well as the suspect's home not far from here. they are searching for more information in the suspect's past and trying to figure out why exactly he did this whether he had any accomplices and are there any bombs still out there had. . nearby is the suspect's home. we understand he moved out of his parent's home about two years ago. our affiliate was at that other scene and shot some video of a person being taken into custody, perhaps for questioning. we

this was some exceptional reporting down there by kerry sanders, jay gray, gabe gutierrez, that's really been exceptional. second, law enforcement really gets an "a" plus for this across the board. every agency, every cop, every trooper, all the surrounding cities, the bomb squads, great, great work. and fedex. let's not leave fedex out of this, i think they need a pat on the back for really ramping up quickly and helping law enforcement. google, who responded to a warrant, helped the authorities. and every single citizen in austin who helped, who was watching, you know, gave a tip. everybody needs some credit here. >> i like that, working together. it took a village. and luckily they got this guy. take me through where the investigation goes from here. you worked on the unibomber case, you worked on the atlanta olympic bombings. what happens to the investigation now? >> we're going to have a slow roll, post-blast investigation, on i-35. because the bomber blew himself up, so that's going to be a pretty big mess. he's got a lot of fragmentations, probably, fragments in his body. they'll