have seen of late. this may be completely separate from that. we will continue to watch it. we get you information as we get it. the big headline now is there are several civilians wounded. leon: keep us posted. that shooting in michigan comes as we learn more about the shooting rampage that killed five dallas police officers and wounded nine more. dianne gallagher has more from the dallas police chief but the ganman's -- gunman's parents. >> five officers were killed. nine officers were wounded as a result of the gunfire. reporter: the gunfire coming from one man. micah johnson. a law enforcement source says that johnson had several weapons, wore a bulletproof vest and wanted to kill more. >> he just basically was playing game, laughing at us. singing. asking how many did reporter: the man responsible for killing police once wanted to be a police officer and voluntarily enlisted in the army. >> the idea that thought of our government of what he thought the military represented, didn't live up to his expectations. reporter: investigators want to know why johnson attack and they had to go through body camera footage from the night of the ambush. as people in dallas and around the world mourn, the parents of the killer are speechless. >> i love my son with all my heart. >> in dallas, dianne gallagher. leon: the government will decide first to trial criminal charges against the police officers in alton sterling's death. he is the black man shot to death by police outside a store in baton rouge. the district attorney recused himself from the case and cited a professional relationship with the parents of alison: this was the scene that you see behind me. center city, philadelphia, this morning as the protesterred blocked several intersection -- protesters blocked several intersections during rush hour. alison: this is one of many all over the country in recent days. they arrested demonstrators and made sure the normal intersections were cleared for them. no arrests reported. in northern virginia protesters were count and calling for changes as well. the focus of this morning's event in fairfax was nastasha mckenna. she died last year after police used stun gun on her at the jail where she was being held. the cause of death is excited delirium. it's when theer at a and the body functions give out. today there was a petition to demanding firing of authorize involved in the case. four protesters were arrested. leon: in the aftermath of the shooting in dallas, police across the nation are recording a surge in support. in our area, a man thanked the police officers for what they do. brad bell joins us to tell us how it started with a call from 911. brad, tell us about that. brad: yeah, that is exactly right. a guy who lives in the community picked up his own and called police. just a little while ago, prince george's county police chief hank stawinski left the neighborhood. we sent the 911 call to hear. he said he had to come here and thank the caller. like a lot of people, curtis bean has been troubled by recent events. >> we all need to learn how to get along. brad: he decided to do something, to pick up the phone and make this call to the prince george's county 911 to the police. >> i wanted to call briefly to say thank you for what you do. >> in his call, released to abc7 news today, bean offers an invitation. >> if there are officers going this way, absolutely, have them stop by. i will give them a cold water, shake their hand, give them a quick prayer and send them on his way. brad: he says he means it. >> it's a hard time in this country for everybody. i appreciate what the police officers do. brad: he is not alone. police across the region reporting kind gestures, restaurant tabs picked up. arlington police tweeting about a thank you note. cops say it's appreciated. so much so, late this afternoon, p.g.p.d. thank hank stawinski thanks curtis bean up on the offer, stopping by to chat. >> to say thanks on behalf of all the people he is reaching out to. he more than deserves that. >> police officers, citizens, th discourse, dialogue and be peaceful with each other. brad: mr. bean says that has an african-american man, he has suffered, he believes, from discrimination at the hands of police. he has been profile and pulled over, like so many that we hear about in the community. he sees both sides of the argument. but he believes there needs to be a dialogue. he really did just want to thank the police for what they do in his community. in beltsville, brad bell, abc7 news. leon: thank you, brad. amidst the outpouring of support, serious conversations between parents of collar and their sons -- parents of color and their sons. sam ford takes to us a local barbershop where everyone is talking about what to do if they are pulled over. that is at 5:30. alison: a judge has thrown out a charge against the fourth officer who is facing charges in freddie gray's death. there is no assault charge. brian reckless dangerment, manslaughter and misconduct. he initiated the chase for gray and was the highest ranking officer on the scene of gray's arrest. leon: the update on a crash many call a nightmare that came to life. they identified a person two died after a car crashed in poe te mack river. goodman died after being trapped in the car. the other person in the car and the person who swam to safety have not been identified. i took rescue crews two hours to find the sub submergedded car. alison: the victim is a 27-year-old who worked for the democratic national committee. scott taylor joins us from bloomingdale neighborhood where this happened. scott? scott: seth rich lives a couple of blocks up the road. he was walking here in his home, his neighborhood when police found him right there in the intersection on the ground. police say he was the attack happened here early sunday morning in the fifth district of the intersection of west street and flagler. 27-year-old seth rich seen here in the linkedin profile picture. murdered as he walked in a neighborhood he called home in northwest d.c. he worked at the headquarters at the d.n.c. the director of voter expansion since 2014. d.n.c. chair debbie wasserman schultz tells me our hearts are broken. "seth was a dedicated, selfless public service." this is the first murder in this neighborhood this year. stephen matthews whose family lived here for 60 years tells me, he can't remember the last time he heard gunshots. >> i heard two gunshots the other night. i knew it was gunshots. >> was it like bam, bam? >> in quick succession. scott: police confirming two armed o the last two weeks weeks in thee neighborhood. one involved a gun and now maybe a third that quickly turned violent in what most think is a quiet and safe neighborhood. so somebody getting murdered here is strange. >> it is kind of throws you back. makes you think a little bit. make you watch over your shoulders. especially early in the morning. >> i just ran into police going door to door. handing out flyer and all the information, trying to solve this. remember, they don't have a lot to go on. this happened at 4:00 in the morning. not a lot of people out in the neighborhood at that time. if you know anything, call d.c. police. live in northwest d.c., i'm scott taylor, for abc7 news. alison: all right, scott. thank you. still ahead here at 5:00 -- must-see video. a man comes to the rescue of a stranger being beaten in a robbery. the this all unfolded. leon: plus, the popular new app that consuming a generation and prompting warnings. we tell you how quickly it's spreading. ja up next, met -- alison: up next, metro repairs to shut down another section of track. what people heading to the airport will need to know about this one. doug: i hope you are enjoying the sunny and comfortably warm monday afternoon. more heat and humidity, yep, coming back. i have the timing in the forecast. leon: metro safetrack program is about to enter a new phase. tomorrow is the start of surge four. there will be no trains running between the reagan national airport and the pentagon city stop. the riders on the blue and yellow lines can expect longer wait times. surge four returns through next monday. to get metro updates sent to your phone, next "metro" to 43817. or go to wjla.com for everything safetrack related. alison: so, have you heard about the new app pokémon go? well, i just heard about it. leon: an hour ago. alison: millennials know all about it. they are probably already addicted. the downloads from skyrocketed. mike carter-conneen joins us live from the newsroom and why it works and why it's so popular. mike: according to the internet analysis company, since launching just last wednesday a download of pokémon go have been installed on more than 5% of all droid devices in the country, surpassing the dating app tinder online. more impressive the daily active user rate is about to surpass or match that of twitter. that is an incredible amount of use in a short amount of time. today i download the app to find out why it's so popular. many millennials say pokémon go is taking them back to their childhood. after growing up in the 1990's. in less than a week, the game became the number one free download in the app store. being an amateur, i got coached from pokémon expert. >> i'm looking around for it. mike: the app creates a augmented reality interface using the camera and the g.p.s. tracking. like a scavenger hunt, the game developed by nintendo encourages players to explore the world around them and walk from location to location to capture various pokémon characters. they appear unexpectedly. with more than 100 species to catch, many users admit it's easier to get hooked walking several miles and spending hours playing. >> that was awesome! >> this is addicting. mike: when users open up the app on their phones, they get a warning from pokémon go. this morning it tells them to remember to be alert at all times because it's very easy while playing, staring down at your device to wander into lanes of property and dangerous situations. coming up at 6:00, a warning from police. back to you. alison: wow! okay. very interesting. thank you for the show-and-tell. for those of us who are not millennials. the abc7 instapoll up and running. we want to know if you have given the pokémon app a go. weigh in on wjla.com/votenow. the results will be on the screen. by the way, the folks over at the smithsonian, they are apparently fans over there. all day they have been tweeting out artifas along with jokes about the app. one offers spare batteries for even wearing out their phones. then look at that. the big gaming fad of the late 1980's. the gameboy. leon: what does it do to your data rate? alison: i wonder. leon: if you are doing it for hours at a time. doug: especially if mommy and daddy are paying for the phone. alison: do you know yet what it does to the data rate? leon: are they watching at home right now? alison: they're probably watching the games. doug: yeah. crazy. all the friends are into it. alison: funny. weather wise, it's beautiful to be outside. doug: this is my game. it's complicated, folks. two buttons i have to push. the challenge is to push the right one. alison: you always do it so well. doug: no, i don't. let's get started this. 85 in reagan national. the key is the number. dew point is 61. that means it's comfortably warm. no oppressive level of humidity. but unfortunately that is going to change around here the next few days as the temperatures climb and the humidity levels climb. heat index, and the feels like temperature will climb as well. get an example of 5:00 temperatures around the area. 85 at reagan national. the average high this time of day, this time of july is 89. so we are below that. that is all good. mid-to-upper 80's around the area. dew point in the 60's and even 50's around. that is as pleasant as it gets in the city and the region this time of the month of july. with a little change in the wind, which ha will start coming out of the southeast and the south. it will raise the temperatures and raise the humidity levels and get back in the more typical summer pattern for the city. as far as tonight goes, it will be 84 with sunshine at 7:00. we will stay clear tonight. very mild. temperatures in the city about 70. most of the urban areas outside the beltway are somewhere through the mid-60's for the overnight temperatures. then tomorrow, we will start to see changes. satellite and radar for the moment. keep it crystal clear through the mid-atlantic. cloudiness through the north. band to the south where the hot and the humid air is farther south. this front will try to wedge its way up northward. but before that pushes through, we have enough of a southeasterly and southerly wind to change the weather. it becomes warmer and more humid. by tomorrow afternoon there could be a few isolated thundershowers in the morning as we track through the midday and the afternoon. a few showers and storms but the best chances will be southwest and west of the metro area. that changes the day on wednesday. when more showers and storms will start to develop on each side of the mountains. we start to see the moisture converge. look at the air flow off the atlantic ocean. showers and storms are becoming more likely on wednesday. we continue the chance in thursday as well. look at the numbers. 88 tomorrow. 87 on wednesday. 94 degrees on thursday. so the mugginess will be back. the next seven days show the temperatures remaining in the 90's on friday. we just have a stray shower mentioned on friday. that is good news. 30% chance over the weekend. but hot near 90 degrees. still in the upper 80's by monday. if you make plans for the upcoming weekend at the beaches, 90 on friday. 87 on saturday and sunday. there could be late day showers or storms but typical good beach weather this upcoming weekend. alison: a new word. doug: go to the at least i got the buttons right. alison: there is a conversation taking place at kitchen tables across the nation. what should you do in a traffic stop? we go to a local barbershop where a father and son say it's a conversation that is now consuming their community. leon: first, though, a waiter jumps to the rescue literally when he sees a man attacked. the popular area of the area where it unfolded and the suspect is still on the loose. the greek flavors of our mediterranean collection.ve your choice of delicious chicken or hearty steak. with crumbled feta and cool, creamy tzatziki sauce. try our mediterranean collection today. subway. fresh is what we do. alison: well, take a look at the video caught on camera. a local waiter comes to the rescue of a tourist who is being muggedded on the street. it happened across the street of the dignitary bar northwest washington. leon: kevin lewis has more on what happened after the waiter jumped into action. kevin? kevin: this mugging happened in between the new marriott marquee hotel. and the methodist church in d.c.'s mount vernon square neighborhood. not an area known for violent crime. but luckily for the victim, help was close by. >> we take care of the elderly. that is abominable. kevin: an older man strolling along lively massachusetts avenue was tackled to the ground and violently muggedded. >> he pulled a knife on an old man. kevin: across the street inside the marriott marquee ho phone and hit record when a male waiter sprinted across the street, ninja kicked the suspect and wrestled him for the knife. >> i want to thank him. heroism i'm sure. kevin: floyd turner a retired florida state trooper is in awe of the heroism that unfolded in the shadows of the united methodist church. >> he saw an elderly man in a dire need of assistance and rushed to that. without any regard for his own safety. kevin: the suspect described as african-american middle age male with a clean-cut goatee managed to escape with the man's wallet but lost the knife in the scuffle. >> i'm sure the older gentleman would have walked away feeling worse if someone had not come to his aid. this way someone came to his aid and it at the fact that there is still good in the world. kevin: both the waiter and the patron that recorded the cell phone video were too nervous to talk on camera because the suspect is still on the loose. the d.c. police did take the knife and are processing it for d.n.a. and other evidence. we're live in northwest, i'm kevin lewis. abc7 news. alison: fantastic for that guy. leon: give him a high five from us. all right. still ahead at 5:00 -- a dangerous problem at a 911 center. the common problem 911 operators face and the policy in place that left the man to die alone. alison: plus the race for the white house turns into a blame game for the dallas shooting. the two different sides being blamed. donald trump makes a new declaration about himself. leon: first though is the conversation i've had along with millions of other parents. now it's happening at kitchen tables nationwide. what dads of color are telling the son after the latest deadly confrontation involving announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. leon: calls for peace amidst another round of arrests and protests around the nation. from knoxville to philadelphia, people are taking to the streets to protest deadly conversations between police and black men. louisiana, minnesota, dallas have african-american parents talking to their children. especially their sons about interactions with police. this is part of our continuing coverage. sam: after the events in baton rouge and minnesota are result of the police encounters and it has made many a black parent fear what could happen to their children. particularly their sons, as you say, if the wrong thing is said during an encounter with the police. if we don't educate them, then they are going to get educated the wrong way. sam: for tyreke farmer, mcer of dees' barber shot in suitland, the event of the last week meant it's time to have a talk with his 14-year-old son if stopped by the police. >> what did he say? >> he tells me to do what they tell me to do. and just don't act out. sam: lowell was a d.c. cop for 27 talk with his son. he said the issue is basic respect. >> a lot of times people bring things upon themselves. you pull somebody over and you say, "sir, you ran a red light." the officer says, "if you give me a break, i won't do it again." so he can get a verbal warning. but if i pull you over and you are calling me the m.f. butt, you are going to get a ticket. that is human nature. sam: he said that's what the cops still get on the street. >> if they'ree motionm you will get emotional. it may no be the right time or the place. sam: a lot of the customers are cops and they were horrified by dallas. >> the police had nothing to do with what happened. >> tyreke wants to protect his son and drills certain do's and don't's in his head. >> act polite. don't say sam: though, many parents believe that talk is necessary, my father never had that talk with me. i never had that talk with my son who grew up on capitol hill in d.c. but perhaps these are changing times. leon: these are changing times. now when you say "the talks quit used to be about sex -- it used to be about sex. now you have the talk with your kid it's about this. i had this conversation with my son a number of times. starting when we lived in atlanta. it was obvious that i had been profiled even where we live in my neighborhood. he didn't understand why that happened. i used that as a learning moment for him. but moving here, he became aware of how important it is to be careful and mindful of your actions. sam: had he been stopped? leon: he had been stopped. sam: my kids, i did stories where i interviewed black and hispanic kids and they say the police always stopped them. of course, my son we always lived on capitol hill. he walk around. i said murray, did the police ever stop you? no. that was his enco leon: do you know any black families with young children who have not had the talk? can you say that? sam: i can't really say. i never had it with my kid. i would have it today. leon: yes. yeah. absolutely. all right. thanks, sam. folks, stay with us here at abc7. even when you are away from the tv, we have updates on the app and updates on anything if it happens here. alison: thank you to both of you. the ambush in dallas now becoming a key point on the campaign trail as expected. with a week before the republican national convention the issue of race which had been on the periphery of the contest for the presidency is now center stage. we have a report. >> i am the law and order candidate. reporter: donald trump campaigning with a new twist on a familiar slogan. everyone. reporter: calling for end of hostility against the police and acknowledgi the heartache over the police shooting of two black men. >> the tragic death of louisiana and minnesota make clear that the work must be done to ensure and a lot of worker that americans feel that their safety is protected. >> the potential v.p. pick, chris christie placed blame on the current leadership. >> we need president to put this at the top of the priority of the president of the country. reporter: others suggesting the bigger problem is black on black crime. >> if i were a black father and concerned about the safety of my child i'd say to be respectful of the police and be very careful of the kids in the neighborhood. don't get involved with them. because, son, there is a 99% chance they will the police. reporter: hillary clinton on cnn saying white americans need to step up. >> i am going to be talking to white people. i think we are the ones who have to start listening to the legitimate cries that are coming from our african-american fellow citizens. reporter: on this point clip top found agreement with the high profile conservatives including paul ryan and potential vice president candidate on the republican side newt gingrich. reporting from northwest, abc7 news. alison: this just in to the newsroom. a federal judge has struck down a portion of virginia law requiring delegates to party convention vote for the winner of the state primary on the first ballot. a delegate to next week's republican convention in cleveland challenged the law. he opposes donald trump and says forcing him to vote for trump violates his right to free speech. as a result of the ruling virginia delegates no longer have to vote for trump if they leon: also tomorrow, senator bernie sanders is expected to endorse hillary clinton. they will appear together at a unity rally in new hampshire. a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows 66% of those surveyed disagree with the investigation into clinton's use of private e-mail server. 60% said the decision not to charge clinton will not impact their vote. alison: for the second time in history the united kingdom will be led by a woman. theresa may will succeed cameron as prime minister. this will happen on wednesday. may is what is called home secretary. that is roughly the equivalent of the u.s. secretary of homeland security. cameron announced his regularition nace after the country voted to leave the european union. may will be the first female prime minister since margaret thatcher. leon: just ahead here at 5:00, a man calls 911. no one answers. he later dies. "7 on your side" to get answers in just how it happened. alison: scientists discover a surprising benefit of thumb sucking and nail biting. got you interested, didn't we? that is coming up next. leon: got my attention. tributes are growing in dallas. here at home, d.c. leaders meeting to discuss how to stop the violence and mend the community. we are live with what they are saying new on "abc7 news at 6:00". your business needs a lot of speed. but getting it doesn't have to break the bank. introducing the comcast business summer savings event. now you can get a lot for a little. as little as a cup of coffee and donut a day. fast internet speed to drive performance, plus cutting edge wifi for your employees and customers, and voice mobility so your calls find you wherever you are. get some of our most advanced products at a great price with over $500 in savings. call today and ask how to get these savings plus a $250 prepaid card. comcast business. built for business. doug: back now for a look at the weekend weather. on friday and saturday at the comcast filmfest in alexandria, waterfront park. great weather on friday night. 93. cooling off at night. late day storm on saturday. the movies start. the new "star wars" is playing saturday night. r.e.i. is sponsored united outside saturday and sunday. free capital bike share through the whole area. temperatures near 90. partly sunny. just got to watch for the the afternoon. quick look at the next seven days shows showers and the storm chances with the rising temperatures through thursday. saturday and sunday are partly cloudy. hot and summary with a chance of showers and storms. stay with us leon and a alison: "7 on your side" with a health matters report. some refer to the e-cigarettes as better alternative to cigarettes but there is a new study that suggests they are just as bad. researchers say the rate of cigarette smoking among high schoolers remained stable but half of the nicotine users in the age group get their fix by vaping. researchers say many of today's teens who vape may have otherwise kept away from tobacco. leon: thumb-sucking and nail-biting are two things you can't see your child doing and could hurt dep tall health but it could help them in the long run. if they do one of the bad habits they are less likely to develop allergies. the lack of exposure to the organisms led to to the diseases. alison: a local equestrian rider has her goal set on olympic gold. the quest two dekate in the making ahead -- decades in the making ahead. >> a cry for help. no one responded. leon: we get answers for a family after a man dies after calling 911 and no one responded. how what happened to him could happen to you coming u ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. alison: just a frightening image from overnight. there were blank screens in the montgomery county 911 center. between 11:00 p.m. and midnight people who called 911 got a busy signal. two people died in emergencies reported at the time. neither are suspicious but investigators are trying to determine if the 911 outage played a role. an air conditioning problem apparently in a server room is suspected of causing the outage. right now service is working but it's possible that calls could run into problems as repairs are being made. if you can't get through to 911 call 311 and it will be staffed with emergency responders for the t center in fredericksburg, virginia, is now under investigation by its own police department after a "7 on your side" investigation found a man recently died after calling 911 and no one responded. alison: the man's family reached out to the i-team asking for help. chris papst unraveled what happened. >> my dad was a simple man. chris: for michael, this was a day he knew was coming. is there like a keepsake box. had my grandmother's obituary in here. chris: when his father robert was diagnosed with heart disease, their time ran short. >> i was lucky i got 28 years with him. chris: he died in late april, here at the fredericksburg city apartment. even though his family knew he was ill, it was obviously very devastating especially after they learned what happened hours before his passing. when he used this phone to make the last call of his life. it was to >> there was one final cry for help. nobody responded. chris: to find out why nobody responded, they reached out to "7 on your side." >> i might have been able to see my dad one more time. i might be able to say goodbye. you know, at least know he didn't die alone either. chris: so we started digging. according to his iphone, the 911 call made at 11:46 at night on april 23. >> faw for calling at&t -- thank you for calling at&t. my name is sarah. how may i help you? chris: at&t confirmed the call. we contacted the fredericksburg city dispatch which should have received the call. burr there is no record of it. the next closest call centers didn't have it either. we expanded the search to include seven more area call centers. and nothing. we spoke to apple, area hospitals and local 911 experts looking for leads. again, nothing. we were just about ready the family and apologize for failing to help. but then -- >> we did find the call. >> fredericksburg city. the first place we contact found the call. here it is. >> fredericksburg 911. what is your emergency? hello? chris: during the 18-second call the dispatcher tried three times to make contact with him. after hearing nothing except this sound, the call was labeled a pocket dial where no callback is required. hours later, he was found dead. could this be seen as a failure in the 911 system? >> i think it's an oversight. police department is taking this seriously by opening the internal investigation. chris: an investigation that could change policy. 911 protocol is not centralized. every call center is different. had he dialed 911 in fairfax county, for example, the dispatcher would have called back. >> if i hadn't called "7 been waiting for answers to be pushed off. here in a medical situation, you can't respond, that is not a butt dial. that is a cry for help. chris: he will never know if a call back would have prolonged his father's life and given him a chance to say goodbye. >> i'm glad i know the truth now. i want things to change. i think policies need to be changed. chris: chris papst, abc7 news. alison: all right. switching gears now. let's get a check of the roadways today. angela foster is with us on traffic watch. what are you seeing out there? angela: we are seeing a lot of delays out there. for folks make a drive on i-270 northbound. a few different obstacles to maneuver around. we will start off with a live look at the traffic flow. northbound i-270, gridlocked. got a couple of accidents along the way as you leave the capital beltway. unless y and approaching i-370. you will see the crash there. the bigger crash once you get past 121 you can see the traffic is crawling along that stretch. also, we are dealing with a closure in montgomery county. north potomac. police tell us we are closed at glen road on all directions. you have to work your way through the neighborhood to get around the closure. around the capital beltway, mclean traffic is problem free but not delay free. inner loop is heavy and slow from georgetown pike heading to the i-270 spur. we have got stop-and-go traffic elsewhere on the prince george's side of the beltway. traveling through handham heading to 50. john hanson highway and the interstates as well as our secondary roads leaving the district 295, 395, as well as george washington parkway. you have off and on delays toward the capital beltway. back to you. leon: all right. thank you, angela. alison: meanwhile, the weather is nice today. leon: kicke ground fashion. what is coming in is the question now. alison: what is next, doug? doug: typical heat and humidity will rebuild in the next few days. look at the montgomery county rockville campus. zero chance of rain tonight. perfect for outdoor activities. outdoor dining especially. think about the day in july. in the capital, in the metro area to be comfortable in the sunshine for the next few hours. it doesn't happen often but it will tonight. dropping in the lower 80's. the forecast tonight we hold on to clear skies and the light winds. 64 to 72 the range of temperatures by morning. future cast shows clear skies and the squiggly arrows indicate the wind direction. that will take on a southeasterly direction tomorrow. we will pick up more moisture, a few clouds and maybe afternoon storms to the west and the southwest of washington. wednesday the temperatures ho to the west. we will hit 88 degrees. wednesday a better chance of storm. scattered storms and 94 on thursday. low 90's with a stray storm on friday. now for the upcoming weekend. partly cloudy and muggy and hot. the temperatures 90. that is only one degree above average. so that is close. typical weather. chance of late day showers and storms. this evening, get out and enjoy every moment of it. i will be spectacular summer weather. warm temperatures, low humidity. light winds. good combination. leon, alison and erin, back to you. alison: thank you. leon: what's cooking? erin: the olympics are coming up. we are starting to look at the local athletes here. lauren has decided she will dedicate her life to the sport of eventing. she has been training at stone hal farm in virginia for a decade now with two former olympians but now lauren has a chance to make olympic history of her own when she was just a little girl. and hasn't stopped since. >> i was 6 years old. it was a birthday gift from my parents which they probably regretted. erin: she had a burning desire to learn everything equestrian. she left home in illinois at 18 to learn the tricks of the trade with two of the area's brightest. karen and david o'connor. >> she asked to come work for me. karen said yeah, yeah, you're in. when do you want to come? she is like now. especially lauren spent the last 11 years perfecting her craft. thanks to david and karen's tutelage she has become a star on the event scene, winning national championships and a gold medal in the pan american games. recently she receiveed the greats news of all. she is headed to rio with the olympics. >> i called h barns and my parents and the owners. something you work toward your whole life. erin: david o'connor is the coach of team usa and he had to keep things under wraps. >> i'm a few hundred yards away from her but i'm not the one to tell her. but we're proud. erin: lauren is now only a hop, skip, jump away from an olympic medal. despite the excitement, she remains laser focused with her eye on the prize. >> we have a job to do. our goals is to do our personal best and bring home a medal for the u.s. especially i don't know how her -- erin: i don't know how the coach kept it a secret. she has two great mentors who are olympians herself. leon: you like her chances? erin: absolutely. leon: bring it home. alison: thank you. still ahead here at 5:00, a controversial billboard in frederick county. the problem some have with its message coming up. man: hey baby, how are you? woman: i have a surprise for you. man: you have a surprise for me? and when they're away, they miss out on a lot. but they won't miss out on financial support. because we cover any difference between their military pay and their dominion salary, and continue benefits for them and their families. why do we do it? because our vets sacrifice enough. "dominion. depend on us for more than energy." ♪ stand by me. cheryl: there is a billboard up that is grabbing attention. not the placement but the working. it says addiction is preventable. parenting is prevention. gina says her heroin killed her son and she could not prevent it. >> i was the type of parent where are you at? what are you doing? who will you be with? what time are you coming home? i was that type of parent. i didn't raise my son to be an addict. cheryl: they started to get 2,500 signatures in less than a day, including karen miller who carries a narcan if she overdosing. >> it is creating a stigma and the uneducated may think it's the family or the parent's fault. cheryl: is sign is in a prominent place. a spokeswoman for the health department, the agency responsible to put up the billboard says it is scheduled to come down on tuesday and says health officials never meant to cause any pain. >> addiction is a disease. that is what our society needs to know. >> this could have been avoided had they contacted a vo kates. >> miller doesn't think the message was intentional but says it a step back for drug prevention. in frederick county, cheryl conner, abc7 news. alison: that will do it for us at 5:00 tonight. but coming up next at 6:00 -- it could have been worse. what we are learning about the plot from the dallas gunman as the protests resume across the nation. plus, safetrack set to enter a new phase. what you need to know about getting around on metro this week. grisly crash in the potomac river over the weekend. police have now identified one of the victims. the investigation happening now is coming up next. announcer: now "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. maureen: first at 6:00, he shot five police officers to death in dallas. tonight investigators are saying micah johnson's rampage could have been worse. police now say johnson blasted responding officers and threatened to use explosives. universities are sifting -- investigators are sifting through 170 hours of body camera footage from thursday's ambush. today for the first time we heard from the parents of the killer. his mother said at one time her son wanted to be a police officer. his father is in shock. >> i didn't see it coming. heart. i hate what he did. maureen: the dallas police department is hosting a candlelight vigil tonight that is expected to draw a huge crowd. the first funeral for a fallen officer is on wednesday. new at 6:00, the search for solutions after a week of unnerving violence. the dallas shooting happened at a protest over police brutality. tonight the region's top leaders are moving to talk about law enforcement and the community and how to improve the relationship. roz plater joins us live with tonight's discussion. roz? roz: i'm at the studios of wpgc radio in southeast. in a few minutes they will stopping the music, shutting down the music for the next two hours in a dialogue about police, the community, law enforcement accountability and personal survival. they invited d.c.'s mayor and the prince george's county police chief hank stawinski is