they had to wait 20 minutes for an ambulance after a loved one was stabbed. thursday, a motorcyclist collided with a car and had to wait 20 minute. now in northeast, a police officer injured and officers gave up waiting for transport and brought him to the hospital by a cruiser. >> they can't get the service, what about just the regular citizens trying to get -- i think it's appalling! we have to overhaul this system! sam: again the m.p.d. officer received minor injuries according to a statement from the police department. but the ambulance union has argued that the city did not have enough units or the personnel to operate them. tomorrow, the d.c. council is holding its confirmation hearings for the mayor's choice for deputy mayor for public safety kevin donahue and these matters are expected to come up there. reporting live from northeast washington, sam ford, abc 7 news. leon: thank you, sam. this is not the first investigation into the city's emergency response system. the inspector general's office proposed sweeping changes in training and certifications after david rosenbaum's death in 2006. you may recall he was the reporter hit in the head during a robbery outside of his home. police, though thought he was drunk and made him a low priority transport to the hospital. last year, two firefighters were disciplined after cecil mills collapsed and died outside of a city fire station but no one from that station responded to his family's calls for help outside. in that case he took an ambulance 22 minutes to respond to that scene. alison: maryland's department of natural resources plans to close eight shelters and campgrounds along the appalachian trail. that will leave the dogland campground as the only open overnight shelter along that 40 mile stretch of the trail. crews plan to inspect trees, do maintenance. this after jason parish of philadelphia died after being hit by a falling tree. that tree fell during heavy winds. last night's winds around here certainly ushered in quite a chill for today. leon: yeah 48 hours ago, we were talking about hiking -- hitting the beach right? what's the word? doug: i think you can still hit the beach. you'll be all by yourself. it's mighty cold. as far as temperatures now, we've got bright sunshine and 51 outside of the belfort furniture weather center. live look from our weather bug cameras. at the congressional country club in bethesda. it does look like a beautiful sunset tonight. sunset at 7:18. 52 at reagan national. 48 in frederick. 53 degrees in fredricksburg. as we head through the evening hours, the strong winds will diminish. these are the latest wind gusts and they're lower than they were an hour ago. that's a good sign. still gusty, though. leon: we're following breaking news out of arizona tonight where in the last hour police arrested a suspect in a series of shootings. this happened this afternoon in mesa just outside of phoenix. joce sterman monitoring the investigation now for us from our newsroom. what's the latest? joce: police held a press conference announcing that arrest. police went door to door before finding the suspect, the gunman on the balcony of a condo. as we first told you in the 4:00 hour, this shooting started this morning in a mesa motel. three people were shot there and then the crime spree spread to a nearby restaurant and apartment complex with police spreading out all over the area. in the end, one person was killed. and five others hurt one critically injured. they believe one man was responsible acting alone. they arrested him an hour ago after swat teams they say shut down the area set up a perimeter and sent in officers moving door to door. the suspect according to police, was holed up inside a vacant condo. he was taken without incident but had to be tased by officers. police are not talking about the motive of these shootings. it may havrted with a fight between the gunman and someone he knew inside the motel. detectives say at least one of the victims is a student at a nearby school but they're not giving any other details about the suspect's arrest. in the newsroom joce sterman, abc 7 news. alison: police in tunisia are looking for two to three gunmen after a deadly shooting at a museum this morning. at least 20 people died when the gunman started shooting at buses outside. as karen traverse reports, most of those killed were foreign tourists. karen: a terrifying scene today in tunisia and a man hunt under way. at least 20 people were killed including 17 tourists after a shooting rampage at the national bardot museum in the capital city. tunisian prime minister called it a cowardly terrorist operation. he said the gunmen were carrying assault rifles and wearing military uniforms when they arrived at the 15th century palace that houses the antiquities museum. when the tourists got off their buses to enter the museum, the gunmen began firing. people scrambled for cover desperately trying to flee the chaos but the attackers pursued them and followed some inside. among the dead are tourists from italy, germany, spain and poland. two gunmen were also killed. tunisia's parliament building is located right next door to the museum. during the siege lawmakers there were on lockdown. as they huddled inside a stairwell, they broke out into song. their nation's anthem. tunisia's government says some 3,000 tunisians have joined islamic state fighters in syria and iraq. the state department would not speculate about any connections to the terror group. >> there have been no claims of responsibility so we are not going to draw any conclusions at this point. karen: tunisia's prime minister said there's a search under way for an additional two or three possible suspects. karen traverse, abc 7 news. leon: three children are dead and two more are hurt after a brutal stabbing. this happened in eastern north carolina. children were just 1, 5 and 12 years old. the suspect in the attack is an 18-year-old. he is now charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. details are scarce at this point. but police have one key clue. >> the suspect is also burmese. the suspect as best we could tell at this point is a neighbor. and they all knew each other so this wasn't a random event. leon: the neighborhood where this attacked is a burmese community. a language barrier is playing a big role in slowing down their investigation. prosecutors in new jersey say they found the body of a missing mother in maryland. erica crippen had been missing since new year's eve. investigators found the g.p.s. in her car to to find her body. they believe that kyle crosby killed her and dumped the body. he's charged with her murder. alison: tonight, jurors in massachusetts are weighing some new evidence in the dzhokhar tsarnaev trial. prosecutors showed them two pipe bombs that were thrown at police days after the bombing. during a shootout in nearby watertown. tsarnaev's brother tamerlan was killed in that fight. dzhokhar tsarnaev faces the death penalty if he's convicted. well, the crime and punishment museum in northwest washington has other items from the marathon bombings on display. the museum launched its new exhibit about domestic terrorism and it includes objects like a marathon runner's medal and bib number. museum officials say they hope by showcasing the items they can change people's behavior for the better. meanwhile, the national archives and the shakespeare theater, those were just two of the stops for the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall today. leon: that's right. it wasn't like a class trip. visited each of these sites solo after visiting memorials along the national mall and mount vernon together this morning. brianne carter live in northwest now with a look at the royal visit so far. hi, brianne? brianne: leon what a buzz there is here in the city. and really all across the area today. you're seeing this people with their cell phones out hoping to get a glimpse of the royals. from monuments to mount vernon an action-packed day for the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall. >> everybody likes to interact with celebrities at some point or another. so if you're in an area where you can say yes i saw them, that's great. brianne: the royal couple began their day around the tidal basin visiting abraham lincoln and martin luther king jr. memorials. camilla was joined by jesse jackson and john lewis and throngs of onlookers. after a stop at mount vernon, the royal couple split for the day. >> how she is. brianne: the duchess of cornwall a supporter of the arts stopped by the shakespeare theater company to watch a performance by the cast and theater students at west springfield high school. >> amazing opportunity for all of the kids. brianne: renada stewart's daughter elaine was part of that student group. >> i'm moreis. brianne: lee bishop is a regular patron of the theater and made sure to get tickets today to see her royal highness. >> in part because we don't have them. it's a safe thing to indulge in you know. it's kind of like a nice fantasy that doesn't really impact us. brianne: that was really what a lot of people had to say. the celebrity of it all. well, that trip is not wrapping up today. they have a number of engagement engagements tonight and then the visit with the president and the vice president tomorrow. it will wrap up the following day in kentucky. brianne carter abc 7 news. leon: thanks brianne. coming up at 5:00 that little girl whose father got the nation's attention reveals new information about her fight against cancer. alison: and a local university gets drawn into the national conversation about race relations on campus. how american university is responding. horace: i'm horace holmes. the earth opens up and swallows a fire hydrant in this district heights neighborhood. but wait until you hear how long ago this happened and why residents are so upset. we'll tell you coming up next leon: "7 on your side" tonight as the neighborhood fights to get back their sense of safety and protection. people living near mason street in district heights parkway contacted abc 7 after their fire hydrant sank into a sink hole. "7 on your side" trouble shooter horace holmes is there live tonight with a look at the problem that many of the residents there say is being ignored. horace what's the story? horace: and leon it is a big problem because, as you can see, it is a very big hole that swallowed up this fire hydrant. but wait until you hear how long the residents here have been waiting to get this fixed. one day in early january, residents of this district heights neighborhood say the earth opened up. >> looked out the window and there was a geyser coming up. horace: it had sucked in a fire hydrant right in front of lee jones' home. that was january 8th. 10 days later despite repeated calls to district heights and wssc. >> calling them from the 9th of january until yesterday. horace: the hole remains, fire hydrant is still underground and lee jones and his neighbors are frustrated is that all they have is a few boards and cones have been placed around and over the hole. >> kids run up and down there. i'm afraid one of the kids will wind up in the hole. horace: cynthia lives down the street from the fire hydrant and she's concerned this is a major public safety hazard not just for the kids playing in the neighborhood. >> one right there. but my house is in between the two of them and i would like both to be working. >> it shouldn't take three months and me contacting you for them to come out there and say oh, we'll take care of it. horace: guess what we did contact wssc and they say they're going to come out and take care of it very very quickly. it's solely their responsibility. they say it's taken so long because the same people who were fixing all of the water main breaks this winter are responsible for fixing this. the official with wssc we talked to said this temporary fix is not responsible -- is not responsible and not a good fix at all. they're going to send a crew out here and fix this up as soon as possible. as far as fire safety is concerned, not a problem. there are enough fire hydrants in the rest of this neighborhood. reporting live in district heights, horace holmes, abc 7 news. leon: thanks horace. let us know how "7 on your side" can be on your side folks. call our tipline or if you like, you can send us your story ideas at tips at wjla.com. alison: here we are already looking ahead really to friday. a lot of people are because the potential once again for snow. doug: get into the real issues. start with a live shot outside with the rooftop camera. it's cleared and beautiful. this time tomorrow will be cloudy and this time on friday will be raining here. the question is what's going to happen early friday morning and during the day and that is my assignment for the next 2:38. let's get maybe to 45. they might be generous today, you never know. let's get started here with numbers around the area. it's plenty cold. right now we're at 43 in the district and 43 at manassas and springfield. 42 in southern calvert county maryland. look at the wind gusts. still 22 and 27 miles an hour. winds will be diminishing during the evening hours. 49 in washington dulles now. quantico at 52 and 47 degrees in annapolis. the coldest air we're finding is kind of confined to northern new england. 13 above in caribou, maine with more snow than you can measure on the ground. burlington vermont, still 22 degrees. get away from that cold air mass and things are a little better. still below average. holding to 72 degrees at this hour. clear skies for us. high pressure overhead bringing in the cold dry air and gusty winds. as that moves out tonight, the clouds in tomorrow. then we deal with this area of low pressure that's developing. it will spread east during the day on friday. and by friday night, it will emerge off the carolina coast. as it does it will bring in plenty of moisture from the south and from the southeast and off the atlantic ocean and there's enough moisture we'll get a fair amount of precipitation. big question is what kind will it be? our futurecast model and we like this one a lot. this one has a good handle on things. that noontime tomorrow still have some sun but the clouds will be moving in there after. by the time we get to the early morning hours of friday towards 5:00 a.m. we'll have rain just moving into the district and a little farther west and northwest, it will be snow. so for friday morning's rush hour, good chance areas north and west of the city will have snow. even around 7:00, 8:00, i think it will change over to snow in the washington metro area and continue at noontime and mostly all rain to the south. and that pattern will continue to slowly slide up to the northeast and be out of the picture by saturday morning. so the question left is what are we going to see as far as precipitation amounts? we'll hold off until we get another couple of computer model runs under our belt tonight. for now we're thinking that the most likely area will have any real measurable snow to get worked up about will be in the counties closer to the pennsylvania line. extended metro area i think we'll get snow changing to rain. maybe an inch or so in grassy areas. maybe several inches to the north. just south of metro washingtoen though initial flakes will fall, most of it will be rain. rain through friday evening before it clears out. in the meantime call for 28 to 33 degrees tonight. clear to partly cloudy skies. diminishing winds. 47 tomorrow as the clouds increase and for the next seven days this is what we have for you. that 80% chance of stuff rain and/or snow. friday, clearing and cool for the weekend. chilly on monday. only 41 degrees. by then the high -- average high will be 58 and then another chance of rain and chilly temperatures tuesday, staying chilly through most of all next week. alison: we're calling it stuff, officially. doug: good weather term. i like it. alison: that will work. leon: thanks, doug. alison: still to come at 5:00 there's a new school to help diagnose your risk of dimentia. find out how watching your habits today could make a difference down the line. reporter: boxing on capitol hill. it is all connected to the special olympics. i'm kevin lewis, i'll have that story after the break. leon: first here's a look at what's coming up tonight on abc. alison: "7 on your side" with the health matters report on dimentia. tonight, a study from the mayo clinic outlines a new system that may help doctors predict the likelihood of memory loss. researchers looked at the characteristics that many people who develop dimentia have in common. and they include alcoholism. early onset diabetes and smoking. scientists then came up with a scoring system that has the potential to predict dimentia risks. dimentia impacts an estimated six million americans. leon: an abc 7 update for you now. the 4-year-old daughter of cincinnati bengals player devon still got some great news today. he posted on instagram that after getting leah's scans back the doctors did not see any active disease in her body. you might remember the story. leah underwent surgery and chemotherapy to battle stage four cancers. as of now, doctors -- actually doctors found a cancerous growth in her abdomen in june. as of now, she appears to be clear. athletes from 39 different states came to capitol hill today to make a push for more federal funding to serve people with intellectual disabilities. they all participate in the special olympics. kevin lewis now live at the hill with a look at what those athletes are doing right now. hey, kevin? kevin: hey there leon. after spending the entire day talking with u.s. senators and representatives, members of the special olympics have come here to the dirkson federal building and they are now tapping into their italian side playing a light hearted game of bocce. you can see the action here. in all seriousness, today's event is important to special olympics and reminds leaders why federal funding is absolutely necessary for this program to survive and thrive. you know worldwide this organization sponsors 4.4 million athletes in 170 countries, one of the main manipulations -- missions is for people with and without intellectual disabilities to play unified. i guess you didn't know that los angeles will play host to the special olympic world games this july and august. 7,000 athletes spending nine days competing in 25 different sporting events like swimming soccer and gymnastics. but the focus tonight, it's just about having fun. and again the goal here, leon is for a world where people with and without intellectual disabilities playing unified. that's the message they want to get across tonight. for now, we are live on capitol hill, i'm kevin lewis, abc 7 news. leon: thank you, kevin. that's a great message. abc and espn folks are very proud to be the official broadcast partner of the unified relay across america. alison: that's right. they're getting started with a little bocce. a lot of fun. leon: glad they're indoors, too. alison: still to come here on abc 7 news at 5:00 -- >> cancer has gone up in smoke. i started get weak and everything. alison: find out what this truck driver was carrying may have saved his life. leon: a little later, we're supposed to get our own unique set of digits but "7 on your side" investigates what happens when two people get identical social security numbers. reporter: a string of racist posts sparked outrage at american university. i'm stephen tschida. th i know grandma's house isn't the most exciting, but it's only for a few hours. look what i've got. when you get verizon fios, you get beautiful hd picture quality, super fast internet, and america's most reliable network. so you won't miss a second of that movie, that game they love, or those moments with family. can we sleep over? please! come on! make your house the house when you get more from verizon fios the tv service rated #1 in hd picture quality and signal reliability based on customer satisfaction studies plus america's fastest, most reliable internet. and for peace of mind, get a price quote in writing and professional installation from a highly trained verizon technician. hurry now to get this deal that can't be beat. get a fios triple play online for just 79.99 a month - a price guaranteed for two full years. and when you sign a two year agreement, get an incredible $300 bonus. this great deal won't last. visit verizon.com/worryfree to learn more today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/vty alison: a racist incident at oklahoma university led to expulsions and soul searching. leon: that's right. only on 7 america university here in the nation's capital is reeling from a racially charged incident there. stephen tschida has more there. stephen: american university prides itself on diversity and inclusiveness but this freshman feels less welcome. >> blew up with horrible comments. stephen: the mobile app is for anonymous posts. readers can see where they originate. last week, someone uploaded a string of racist rants apparently from a.u. they state "slavery was the worst thing to happen to this country. bringing them over here." and "the entire culture isn't conducive to a life of success." also "it's obviously racist but i really don't like 99% of the black people i meet." >> i was hurt. i was disgusted. i was angry. stephen: the university september -- sent an e-mail to students saying the a.u. community is offended by the recent anonymous racist posts on yikyak. >> nobody is making a threat to body. nothing can be done in terms of finding out who said these things. stephen: some students believe whoever posted the comments are in minority themselves. >> reflective of a small part of the student population here. overall, a.u.'s community is very inclusive. stephen: now, american university is holding a forum tomorrow night to discuss yikyak and the ramifications from this these racist posts. it's understood that some are calling for a course in race relations to be required for graduation. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc 7 news. alison: thank you. new developments tonight in a texting scandal at the university of maryland. today, the athletic department on the school's baltimore county campus announced it has fired the co-head coach of the women's lacrosse team. that after a texting scandal targeted freshmen on the team. five players were suspended for their roles in the scandal. the athletic department did not give a reason for the dismissal. and checking our top stories now and the latest of a series of delayed responses involving d.c. ambulances. a d.c. police officer injured in the li duty had to wait at least 20 minutes for an ambulance last night when paramedics failed to show up he was taken to the hospital in a squad carp. the officer's injuries turned out to be minor. d.c. bureau chief sam ford will have more on this coming 6:00. leon: newly unsealed documents reveal details in the corruption case of former virginia governor bob mcdonnell and his wife maureen. the affidavit that was written before their trial laid out what maureen mcdonnell would have testified to if she and her husband were tried separately. she would have told jurors that she concealed much of her relationship with star scientific c.e.o. johnny williams from her husband. alison: and a man hunt in mesa arizona now over. within just the past hour police arrested a suspect in the shooting of six people. one of the victims died and the others are still in the hospital. today's rampage including a shooting at a motel, a carjacking and a home invasion. no word on a motive. leon: a truck driver says he owes his life to a guardian angel with a strong throwing arm. larry was trapped in this fiery wreck outside of buffalo, new york after a tire blew. he we want over a guard rail there. he tried to kick his way out of the vehicle through the windshield. but it wouldn't budge. but that's when the passing driver pulled up and got to work. >> very nicely said i got to break the windshield somehow. i got to get the guy out. picked up a rock and all of a sudden, this big hunk of concrete came hurling at the windshield. and i saw the windshield crack and the second one hit the windshield and i was able to kick the windshield out. leon: even after he was out of that truck, he still wasn't safe. he had to crawl along a narrow guard rail there dangling over a 40 foot ledge. fortunately, everybody is ok. he was not seriously hurt. alison: that's incredible when you look at the video. leon: heck of a story to tell. boy. all right. right place, right time for the driver there. there you go. alison: all right. let's get a check on the traffic situation. bob is in the wtop traffic center. hi there. bob: hi alison. nothing so dramatic as that. normal rush hour out here. not doing too badly on 270. we have volume delays of course, but nothing along the way to get in your way as you head towards frederick and traffic generally doing well on 66. better than before. we had an earlier incident on 66. westbound and that was out near nutley street. that's been cleared now. beltway traffic in college park and greenbelt on the inner loop slows briefly here and there. northbound baltimore washington parkway slows down into laurel. no incidents along the way. fresh fire earlier that quickly cleared and numbers here on the outer loop of the beltway headed for the wilson bridge and up to route 4 from an earlier problem. still very slow. it's getting a little better. 395 headed south to the pentagon and 66 west is volume delays now and 95 in virginia, nothing unusual headed south towards stafford and beyond. i'm bob emler with 103.5 wtop radio. leon: i got a chance to meet with some of the folks that had travel the roads to get here today. impressive women in uniform. i helped host the army women's foundation's annual scholarship luncheon this afternoon. it was held at the women in military service for america memorial at arlington national cemetery. wonderful facility. folks should go over there and check it out. lots of lessons to be learned there. the group awarded $75,000 in scholarships to army women and their children. very deserving people i might add. alison: wonderful. leon: always good to be with you lady. nice going. alison: true heroes in that room. leon: you know it. absolutely. alison: coming up at 5:00 -- >> what kind of emotion? temporary. temporary emotion until it breaks again. leon: teaching students more than just how to cook. alison: plus a solar storm made for some amazing scenes in the sky the last few days. still ahead find out about the next solar show. then at 6:00 -- leon: what's in your home that could cause an explosion like this? and the simple step alison: "7 on your side" with a skwurm consumer alert tonight as starbucks prepares to start delivering coffee to your door. the pilot program will be tested out in seattle and in new york city first. there won't be a minimum purchase but there will be a small fee for the delivery. starbucks estimates the average delivery time to be about 30 minutes. leon? leon: you have to buy the driver a starbucks. that will be it. all right. now, a program that's training high school students how to cook does more than just teach knife skills and cooking methods, it's changing hundreds of students' lives and that makes the careers through culinary arts program this week's harris' heroes. it's closing time at a d.c. deli. but not for chef troy williams and his wife yvette. >> make it cucumber sauce, all right? leon: they're holding a cooking class for high school students in d.c. and prince george's county. it's part of the careers through culinary arts program. or ccap. >> just come down. leon: the program trains students not only in proper knife skills and food preparation. >> tada! leon: but also gives them life skills like how to write a resume. students get a paid internship over the summer and in the spring of their senior year, they compete for college scholarships. >> you come in and gets you ready for the industry. leon: this 17-year-old has been in the program for two years and he'll be competing in the finals. he hopes to get a scholarship to the arts institute of washington and eventually his own restaurant. >> it went from being a hobby to i guess you could say becoming my passion now. >> once i finish getting my associate's in culinary arts i'm going to ont my bachelor's. leon: this high school graduate is already on her way pursuing her dream. last year she won a $42,000 scholarship to the art institute of washington. thanks to ccap and that's what the program is all about. >> goal for the students to be successful in life. not really through cooking but to be successful in life. leon: currently, there were more than 400 students in that program. 24 of them have made it to the final competition where they'll be vying for more than $300000 in scholarships. by the way that competition takes place on march 28th in oxon hill high school and we'll be watching to see what happens. alison? alison: we're all hungry. that looks good. thanks so much. it is that time of year when people all over the country are making tough choices. the president says kentucky will win this year's ncaa tournament. what are the odds of picking a perfect bracket? we'll have the answer coming up. chris: two men issued the same so alison: a local man found himself in the battle with the feds after his social security number was given to someones. now, he wants a new number but the social security administration won't give him one. so he reached out to "7 on your side" i-team investigator chris papst. >> social security pretty much just put a big burden on my life. chris: this is kendrick williams jr. of d.c. >> my whole first 19 years of my life pretty much didn't exist. chris: this is kendall williamson jr. of texas. these men have never met. but they have a lot in common. they both have their father's names and the same birth date. also for 19 years they shared a social security number. >> it's terrible. like i don't see how things like this can happen. >> freaks us out i guess. chris: the error was discovered when the two were 18 and applied for college loans. soon after, williamson got his number changed. >> like a new slate, i guess. chris: but williams' request was denied by the feds. >> they pretty much said because i was issued the number first, it belongs to me. chris: you don't want it? >> not at this point. chris: now six years later williams is stuck with the hassle of holdups every time he uses his social. he can't get a loan or build credit. plus he questions how secure the number is. and he claims his tax returns have been withheld to pay off debt that is not his. >> this is a $10,000 car loan. >> yes. >> that you have to pay that isn't yours? >> absolutely. chris: do you know anything about this car loan? >> no, i do not. chris: "7 on your side" has learned the feds don't keep stats on how often socials are duplicated. but the criteria to get a new one are strict. just 250 were reissued last year. s.s.a. told "7 on your side" applicants must "provide evidence of ongoing problems because of misuse or disadvantage." which williams feels he can prove. >> so you want the security administration to admit they made a mistake and make it right. >> absolutely. someone should be held responsible and i don't think it should be me. chris: the s.s.a. did tell "7 on your side" it will reach out to williams. given his current situation, he should be eligible for a new number but he will have to reapply, the process he said took longer than a year back when he first tried it in 2009. chris papst, abc 7 news. alison: really interesting. keep us up to date on that chris. thank you. ahead tonight at 6:00 how the secret service is handling both internal mistakes and a new potential threat to t white house. and we're 100 days from the start of a major international sports competition. it's going to bring is00,000 people to fairfax county. but have you ever heard of it? i don't know. a look inside the games and the preparations and the financial boom it could bring. that's new tonight only on abc 7 news at 6:00. leon: there are three rare events coming together this weekend. this is really crazy, folks. a solar eclipse is going to plunge parts of the earth into darkness. but once the moon rises, it's going to be what they call a super moon. that's what happens when the moon comes closes to the earth making it look larger than normal. on top of that it's going to be the spring equinox when the day and night are exactly the same length. alison: what's going on? leon: isn't that weird? a lot going on at one time. alison: we need to ask doug about that. doug? doug: it happens sometimes. friday night on the spring equinox it will be cloudy and rainy. we'll miss out on everything here. if you haven't had enough winter weather, we have more coming your way. let's take a look. right now 47 in hagers 54, springlike in fredricksburg. as we go through the evening hours, hang on to the clear skies and cool off. but all the attention now is what's happening in southwest of here across texas and parts of northern louisiana, arkansas that's an area of low pressure that's developing, most of the energy will swing eastward and get off the north carolina coast by friday night. in the process, bring theity of rain and snow to parts of our area early friday morning. our futurecast shows sunshine by midday tomorrow clouds will shortly follow and then according to this simulation by 5:00 a.m. friday rain in the district to points south. snow will overspread the area at least the immediate metro area during the morning rush through midday and then a rain story for most of the area for the rest of the day but the snow will continue a little farther north of here and eventually clear out late on saturday night with -- late on saturday morning with clearing skies in store for this upcoming weekend. overnight into early friday light accumulations mainly grassy areas, especially d.c. northwest suburbs. most of the metro area will be wet but farther north with a little more snow, there could be issues towards the pennsylvania line. that's the story. quick look at what's ahead then, for us throughout the area. calls for temperatures falling into the 30's. a quiet night, we'll deal with the weekend weather when i join you a little bit later. back to you. leon: all right. thanks, doug. checking in. terps getting ready to hit the road. tim: i love announcing those tournament games. as american rituals and traditions go, ncaa brackets are among our best. it is the launch point for march madness and the nation as a whole gets infected invested and delirious. with legacies looming large overhead, the terps of today put the finishing touches on their pretournament preps. >> worked on a lot of things besides getting ready nor valpo to get us ready for anything we might see. tim: maryland plays 4:40 on friday. valpo is one of those teams who says it's an upset maker and, of course, everybody talks about alex peters and they talk about melo trimble. for me the key in this whole thing is the senior from maryland, guy who has to lead this team and refuse to lose. that's dez wells. >> go out there and have fun and enjoy the moment and live in the moment and, you know, make plays. tim: everybody's focus is on kentucky, they're prohibitive favorites in this thing. maryland would meet kentucky if they continue to advance, win the first and second rounds. mark turgeon said he's not ready for any kentucky talk yet. >> that's so far down the road. if anybody had watched film on valpo and buffalo and west virginia, they won't be talking about it. we aren't talking about it. tim: even the assistant coach, m.v.p. of the 2002 title run got into the act today. who might be the hero this time around? >> two four six, eight melo you're looking great. go guys! tim: that's the sendoff. maryland plays friday afternoon. georgetown plays eastern washington at 9:57 tomorrow night. keep in mind the hoyas are confident for the first round game and know that eastern washington is a tough out. eastern has the leading scorer in the country, tyler harvey. believe me georgetown is very aware of first round wipeouts and the hoyas have lost to a double digit seed in the past five tournament appearances. meanwhile, another terrific story locally as the american university women who are going to the ncaa tournament for the first time ever! the american team which won the patriot league tournament championship will open against third seeded iowa and they are thrilled to be hitting the road for march madness. going to the big dance. alison: good for them. tim: more on this coming up at 6:00. leon: you know about this you know, offices all across the country buzzing about brackets all this week. tim: sure. alison: what your odds really of picking perfection? listen to this a professor at depaul university says the odds are less than one in 9.2 quintillion? by the way that has 18 zeros. in fact, you have a better chance of winning the mega millions lottery two times in a row by buying one ticket both times. it's also more likely that the chicago cubs and the white sox would win the next 16 world series titles. leon: you know what every sports fan is saying so you're saying there's a chance. tim: it's more likely that leon would meet me on the golf course. leon: and pick up the tab. tim: last check you picked up was hitchhiking in prague. i'm kidding. leon: coming up at a5:00, a driver sla leon: ringo starr will become the last member of the beatles inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame as an individual next month and today, the rock hall announced that his friend paul mccartney will do the honors. stevie wonder patty smith and john mayer will be taking part in the ceremonies for bill withers, the late lou reid and late stevie ray vaughn. alison: back here at home, d.u.i. checkpoints were common sights across the country on st. patrick's day. but at the one near the intersection of bestgate road and route 50 in annapolis, a driver didn't stop and ended hitting three other cars. maryland bureau chief brad bell has video of the aftermath you'll see only on 7. brad: a man visiting a friend shot this video of the aftermath of a pursuit. you can see the suspect's car fully engulfed in flames and just off to the right, you can see the car he slammed into. tiffany caper's car. >> i don't know if i blacked out or what. all i remember is hearing like a big loud bang. brad: she and her boyfriend had no time to react. stopped at a light, they saw the speeding car and police in hot pursuit headed their way. >> the police like just swarm the car with the guns out. and then they grabbed the guy out and burst into flames. >> three or four seconds later the whole car was like engulfed. brad: that was the end of a 15 minute pursuit much the car burning and marvis pollack in handcuffs. police say the 34-year-old baltimore man sped away from a st. patrick's day d.u.i. checkpoint, led them on a chase and then zoomed right back to where it all started. slamming into three cars. ironically, they say, he wasn't drunk. >> we do believe he was under the influence of some type of drug. brad: here on the road surface you can see evidence of the fire. there's charring piece of the burned car. its location one of the concerns because right down here just about a half a mile, downtown annapolis, the statehouse the governor's mansion. >> they were ready to take him out. they were thinking this guy gets downtown he might do some serious damage. brad: fortunately, nobody was seriously injured. pollack faces a long list of charges. brad bell, abc 7 news. alison: that's it for abc 7 news at 5:00. right now at 6:00, how the secret service is dealing with its own mistakes amidst new threats on the white house. plus -- >> it's appalling! we have to overhaul this system! alison: more problems with slow ambulance response. this time it was a police officer hurt and left waiting for help. and -- an item found in many homes explodes without warning. the simple test you can do to protect your family. abc 7 news at 6:00 starts right now. leon: and we start with an intense focus on white house security tonight on two fronts. one, an intercepted letter that may have contained cyanide. the second, congress demanding answers not only on recent scandals within the secret service but the agency's response to the threat of drone technology. senior political reporter scott thuman is tracking all this for us. scott? scott: leon the secret service says they are testing that material to see if it is cyanide. it is the third test. first one negative. second one presumptive positive. they're still looking at it. either way these are difficult and challenging times for the secret service. police tape bomb sniffing dogs and tourists pushed back as the secret service investigates a suspicious package outside of the white house on wednesday. it turned out to be alarm, the pressure is unrelenting to keep the first family safe. also today, testing on a letter possibly tainted with cyanide is the latest of the mounting challenges. how they handle mishaps is also challenging. the director joseph clancy has been under heavy fire after two agents were allegedly allowed to go home despite under the suspicion of driving drunk and the fact that clancy didn't know until five days later. >> the chain of command needs to be tighter and certainly