flags are at half staff today in maryland in honor of the 11- year state police veteran killed in the line of duty. it was on this stretch of i-95 early saturday morning that trooper first class shaft hunter would pay the ultimate sacrifice. investigators believe he was following a speeding motorcycle when he hit a tractor-trailer. >> a patrol car struck the rear of a truck tractor and traveled down the side of it, came to a rest near the front of the trailer of the tractor-trailer driver was not injured. >> the 39-year-old was assigned to the waterloo barracks as a patrol officer and working the night shift when the wreck happened. trooper hunter's legacy and public service wasn't limited to the batch he wore. he was a marine veteran and leaves behind six children between the ages of 4 and 16. those close to him describe him as a man of honor and integrity that will be missed. >> he was a beautiful, beautiful person. kind, compassionate. he was just a wonderful person. he'd done all he could to help you in anything you needed. he was there. >> reporter: bruce, investigators are now trying to find the person they believe was that speeding motorcyclist. they are using a special type of technology used to scan plates, of course. they are asking anyone who may have information on this to give them a call. ken molestina, 9news now. >> thanks a lot. maryland o'malley says his thoughts and prayers are with trooper hunter's family tonight. in a statement, he says the tragedy reminds us of the dangers associated with law enforcement and the risks they take on a daily basis to keep our city safe. a d.c. police officer found himself engaging -- exchanging gunfire with a 15- year-old suspect this morning. when the smoke had cleared, both had been hit with the officer suffering multiple gunshot wounds. that officer is hospitalized tonight. the teen is now in custody after the early morning gun battle on crittenden street northeast. police say they were ambushed by the 15-year-old. >> i've never seen a police cordoned area this large. >> reporter: as the heavy police presence looms large in the northeast, neighbors are wondering. >> it seemed strainch that time of morning for officers in a residential neighborhood. >> thomas says he heard gunfire around 5:00 in the morning. >> i heard about four or five shots then two more. i came downstairs and saw police everywhere. it was easily 30 cars within this four-block area. >> reporter: a rush to find the triggerman who shot one of their own. officers were responding to calls from this house. >> as they approached the rear of the house, the suspect who's been identified as a 15-year- old mail had mounted a second floor awning roof and ambushed the officers. >> reporter: now one policeman is recovering from surgery. >> one of the rounds penetrated underneath the vest, went through the shoulder, one round into the neck and one round that was stopped by the vest. >> reporter: the officer is identified as a 27-year-old five-year veteran on the force and d.c. native. the teen suspect who hid under a neighbor's porch but was later caught is now in custody. >> he had a minor injury. he does not appear to have anything to do with the gunfire. >> reporter: seven hours later and police are still collecting evidence using a ladder to climb up to the second floor of the house where neighbors say the 15-year-old lived. some neighbors speculate the teen was under the influence but police will not confirm. brittany moorehouse, 9news now. >> the teen's first court appearance is monday morning. a gas explosion at an arlington apartment building sends one to the hospital and displaces others. firefighters were call to the 4300 block of carlin springs road around 11:30. one person was badly hurt. the victim was flown to a burn center for treatment. fire investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened. residents tell 9 news the explosion was caused by somebody cooking. >> somebody had left the stove on and the explosion blew out -- must have blown out the water pipes because the water was just pouring into the lobby. and the ceiling came down. >> and this is very nerve- racking. i was just getting to get in the shower. you see i'm in my robe. supposed to go to a party tonight with my friend peter, and i'm scared. it looks like everything's under control. >> engineers are evaluating the structural safety of the building and will determine whether or not residents can re- enter their apartments or have to spend the night somewhere else. tomorrow, president barack obama will address america's top pro israel lobbying group and the reception it received will no doubt be chilly. you will recall on thursday president obama took the palestinian aside on the ongoing border dispute with israel. he called for the jewish state to call for its pre1967 border. benjamin netanyahu reacted saying the borders are indefensible. netanyahu will be back on thursday. another presidential announcement at a rally in atlanta and greeted by cheers of herman. he said "i'm running for president of the u.s. and not running for second." he's never held a political office and says he opposes abortion and replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax. meantime, former utah governor john huntsman is on a campaign style trip. the republican positioned himself as a politician with international experience. it would help the u.s. economy rebound. until last month, huntsman served as president barack obama's ambassador to china. today he was in the early voting stage to give a commencement speech at southern new hampshire university. still ahead on 9news now, how al qaeda wanted to send america into an economic tailspin. first, some of the waters of the mighty mississippi are receding tonight but the fallout from the historic flooding are far from over. stay with us. [ male announcer ] before he changed the world... tear down this wall. [ male announcer ] ...or led a nation... i ronald reagan do solemnly swear. [ male announcer ] ...or governed a state... you and i have a rendezvous with destiny. [ male announcer ] ...he inspired our company... with his optimism, his belief in innovation, and his entrepreneurial spirit. [ man ] for general electric, here is ronald reagan. ♪ some people in vicksburg are finally seeing the mississippi river recede. it's with the currents downstream in baton rouge, louisiana are causing big problems. here's the latest. >> reporter: mississippi river traffic is still shut down after a barge accident on friday. >> the river will remain closed untilled location of all of the barges have been confirmed in a safe waterway has been established. >> reporter: 20 barges were being pulled downriver. four broke loose in high, fast- moving river. one struck another barge tied to a dock. it was loaded with sulfuric acid. three others sank to the bottom of the river. this is the second name a week barges -- second time in a week barges have broken free. safety officials postponed a mandatory evacuation order. forecasters now say the river will crest late next week and at a lower level than predicted. most residents have already left. those still in town have until monday to put up sandbags and protections before evacuating. upstream in vices, mississippi, the river has already crested and the water is slowly receding. officials cautioned there's tremendous pressure on levees. they can break at any time. >> these levees are going to be more and more saturated every day, that there will be continuing wave action up against them, and so people shouldn't drop their guard. >> reporter: it could take weeks for floodwaters to recede from the hardest hit areas. duarte joraldino, reporting. we've all heard of cleaning up a dirty mouth with soap, but what about charging for cussing? coming up on 9news now, the area bar that's now billing patrons for every four-letter word. boy, it was a beautiful day today. we warmed things pup just how warm? around 82 degrees at the official high reagan national. get ready for warmer temperatures. details coming up a little bit later. the fbi and homeland security departments are warning oil and gas companies that al qaeda might be targeting them. document and notes recovered from osama bin laden's compound revealed the terrorist organization hoped to trigger economic turmoil by hijacking and blowing up tankers. bin laden also wanted to attack planes, trains and u.s. infrastructure. the cia is working to find out if any of those aspirations produced real developing threats. it appears we are in the clear and the world is not over. according to 98-year-old harold camping, the rap chore was supposed to occur at 6:00 this evening. that's about 15 minutes ago. this isn't the first time the religious radio host has incorrectly predicted the end. he did the same thing in 194. -- 1994. his radio network spent millions on today's promotion. dominique strauss khan was released from rikers island jail after posting $1 million in cash worth $5 million bond. strauss khan remains under house arrest in lower manhattan. residents of the luxury building are not too happy about their new neighbor. >> why is he here? >> why is he here? >> yeah. why is he in this build income. >> i think it will bring a lot of press and negativity to the building. >> plans to have strauss khan stay at his daughter's apartment building on the upper east side were scrapped as the residents there said they wouldn't tolerated media frenzy his presence would cause. strauss khan was take noon custody last weekend and charged with raping a housekeeper in an exclusive new york city hotel room. the crew of the shuttle "endeavour" got an early morning chat with pope benedict xvi. the pope told the crew he admired the courage, discipline and commitment. the shuttle astronauts are examining the damage on the belly of "endeavour." the crew used a 100 foot laser boom to check out a gouge in the thermal tiles. "endeavour" crew is supposed to perform three more space walks including one tomorrow. baltimore bar had a plan to get patrons to clean up their act or more specifically to clean up their language. the owners of the mount royal bar started a cussing bucket. we could use one of those around the newsroom. patrons who use bad words have to pay up $.25 every time a four-letter word gets uttered. if the bartender's language is too colorful that's a whopping $1 fine. >> a bar is a bar, man. you go to the bar you expect to hear [ bleep ], [ bleep ]. >> it gets old. i think anyone would come up with this idea if they sat in her long enough. >> owners say they will donate the cash from the cussing bucket to charity. no word on how much they collected thus far. a kickoff for a good cause. the 32nd annual chili cookoff benefited the national kidney foundation. the intense competition was between 101 chili cooks in four categories, red chili, green chili and freestyle. >> i love chili. thank god the world did not end. that is you over there, right? >> yes, and that's why you? >> yes. >> and hey if it did end, beautiful weather, right? >> absolutely. and we would have been prepared. >> if you'd like the sunny weather, bruce, it will get even warmer. temperatures will be heating things up over the next couple of days here. right now, doppler is quiet, though. here's a look at the current conditions where hey, nothing's going on. it is a nice, sunny dada out there. i want to show you video of the potomac river near alexandria where we've been seeing very high water levels. this is because of seeing quite a few coastal flood advisories and warnings were in effect. the advisory has now been expired, no warnings, no advisories but still it's not safe to be on the river. there's a lot of debris and the water levels are high. authorities are saying stay away even though it is beautiful this weekend. all right. here's a look at the current conditions and temperatures are in the lower 80s. the official high is 82 degrees today. much warmer compared to yesterday. gaithersburg 79 degrees. winchester upper 70s. orange, you are coming in at 81 degrees on this saturday night. the satellite radar picture we have high pressure dominating our weather pattern. that cut off low finally moved out of here so we'll see more sunshine. tomorrow, though, it may seem more humid. sunday is warmer. isolated thunderstorms are possible tomorrow afternoon and early evening. monday is even warmer so definitely drink plenty of fluids and put on the sunscreen the next few days. tonight will be nice. have dinner outside if you want. take the dogs out. partly cloudy and mild, open the windows. those will be 60 to 67 degrees. southwest winds at 5 to 10. near mid-60s for d.c. and 59 in frederick. here's a look at the futurecast. it's dry overnight with a few clouds coming in tomorrow. nothing to worry about. afternoon and evening chance of showers and scattered thunderstorms once again. that threat sticks around for monday as well, but we'll really heat things up monday and into tuesday getting ready for 90s. looks like monday you may see thunderstorms right around during the evening hours. so for tomorrow morning, partly cloudy and pleasant, great for gardening, put out those pretty outfits for church tomorrow morning. winds will be light. by the afternoon, partly cloudy and warmer. isolated thunderstorm possible. air quality is moderate, highs pushing near 85 degrees. so around 83 for d.c. culpepper a little warmer at 87 degrees. it's our beach forecast, that time of year. water temperatures in mid-60s but for the next three days, looking good. lower 70s for sunday, maybe a slight chance for thunderstorms coming in by monday. rehoboth and bethany beach also very similar conditions. mid-70s by tuesday. here's your next three days. so warmer on monday at 88 degrees. then on tuesday, look at that, 90 degrees in your seven-day outlook. we have a threat for showers and thunderstorms, isolated all week, bruce. we'll cool down a little bit into the lower 80s by next weekend. so enjoy this hot weather coming on tuesday. >> today was absolutely great. >> oh, yeah, no complaints. >> gorgeous. >> he was wrong, we're all here. >> i think we're all still here. is that really you, bruce? i don't know. the horses are still at pimlico. preakness is just a few moments away. can animal kingdom the derby winner make it two in a row? also, the battle of the beltways continues. could they keep it going? there's more coming up next in sports. not only did the washington nationals snap a 20- inning scoreless streak last night against the orioles, they made up for lost time putting up 17 runs to open the battle of the beltways. but could they keep that momentum going this afternoon? the gnats at camden yards for game two of the series. gnats up 2-0, but not anymore. after this noland rhine hold with the shot to left, two-run home run. the same inning, os now up one. guerrero with the single to center driving in nick markakis, a four-run third for baltimore. in the seven areth, some insurance. coming around to score and right now they under the eighth and baltimore leads 5-2. hockey action, lightning trying to even the series with boston. the bolts came roaring back. gone yea takes the pass and beats tim thomas. tampa wins 5-3 and evens the series at two apiece. 136 racing of the preakness just finished. tens of thousands of racing and nonracing fans gathered there today. there were nine new shooters today. only five of today's field ran in the derby and derby winner animal kingdom and the jockey were trying to get one step closer closer to the triple crown. not this year, folks. shackle ford goes wire to wire to hold off animal kingdom. there will be no triple crown win their year. we'll have highlights coming up at 11:00 tonight. now to lacrosse. a nice day to play but not a good day for a top seed. cornell started well up 2-0 looking for more. cornell's up three but it was the all virginia after that. up four, matt white with the individual effort for the goal. seven seeded uva advances to the final four with a 13-9 win. to the ladies game, top- seeded maryland taking on princeton today. brittany dip wert career high 15 saves as the lady terps beat the tigers 15-6. george mason loses another member of the basketball team. sophomore guard luke hancock has decided to transfer from george mason and plans to enroll at the university of louisville. he led the team and ranked third in the ncaa in assists while scoring 10.9 points a game. the nba playoffs continue tonight with game three of the western conference finals. kevin durant looking to go up 2-1 over the dallas mavericks. durant has been hot going 11 of 23 for 24 points in game two to help his team take that game in dallas. now they are back home. the mavericks did take that loss kind of hard and looking to maybe repay the favor tonight when they go into oklahoma city. it should be an exciting game. looking forward to seeing the highlights of preakness to see how it went wire to wire. >> no triple crown winner, huh? >> none this year. what about the rest of the evening? >> it looks great. get outside, tomorrow maybe a slight chance of storms. >> see you back here at 11:00. bye. 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