breaking news a homicide suspect on the loose. plus, a daring escape, 13 floors up. how these window washers got down after their scaffolding got stuck. plus ringing in one of d.c.'s most celebrated signs of spring. get ready for the cherry blossoms. the news at 6:00 starts right now. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] kimberly: the cherry blossom festival is kicking off right now. but first, we need to get over to some breaking news from prince george's county tonight.

the police have been canvassing the chillum area after a woman was shot and killed. so far, no word on a motive or suspect. the police say this was not a random incident. we are staying on the story and we'll update you as soon as we have anything new. a push to stop crime before it happens. kevin lewis was at an emergency meeting in petworth today. this is an area really looking for solutions. kevin: yes, it certainly is, especially because of the uptick in violence the last few months. we came to the corner of third and pressure straight. last week, somebody opened fire on two men walking down the sidewalk. luckily, the bullets did not hit the men, but the shooting deflated the communities sense of safety. it was on camera, only steps from the georgia avenue worth --

petworth metro station. days later a drive-by homicide outside of this restaurant, and then a woman walking down an alley mode then sexually assaulted. >> i live in the neighborhood and i've heard gunshots. kevin: residents are now part of a grassroots safety push. >> this starts long before the gunshots are fired. i think we can all work together to get the word out. kevin: mpd held a meeting at its substation this morning. >> it was information sharing. kevin: stats show about 30 shots fired calls this year alone in petworth. >> vehicles or property damage had occurred. >> we are concerned about gunshots in broad daylight. kevin: whether orday or night,

this councilwoman insist they need to be active on the streets. >> the people need to see it and feel it, and the criminals need to feel it, too. kevin: speaking of his ability we have an mpd cruiser parked on the street this afternoon. as far as the shooting last monday, the police say they have a person of interest, but have not made an arrest. live in northwest, kevin lewis abc 7 news. kimberly: right now in the district, people are celebrating the first full day of spring with some of the world's most iconic flowers. even though they are not quite here yet. roz plater is live inside of the warner theatre. who was on stage now? roz: kimberly, the celebration is underway. it is a packed house. on the stage is a classic orchestra musicians playing

traditional japanese music. there have been a number of world renowned entertainers some jazz and classical pianists a number of pop singers and bands performing as well. all of this is to celebrate the anniversary of the gift of the cherry blossom trees from japan to the u.s. in 1912. some folks got an early start with a fitness class on the mall, jogging, paddle boating and taking in the beauty of the sites. for locals, the cherry blossom festival signals that winter is really ending and spring is on its way. again, we have the classic orchestra performing on the stage, a number of other musicians will be performing.

the opening ceremony is scheduled for about 6:30. live the warner theatre, roz plater, abc 7 news. kimberly: the national park service is sticking to its predicted deke bloom and says the weather will not affect the flowers at this point and the blossoms should be at their fullest between april 11 and april 14. after the snow to round out the winter, we could not ask for a nicer first full day of spring. eileen whelan joins us for the forecast that you need to hear. as nice as it was today, we are looking at changes? eileen: we are, the ups and downs of spring, but what a fabulous first day of spring, 61 degrees the official high at reagan national. 60 degrees at this hour, absolutely beautiful. a little breeze from the south at 12, 63 manassas 68 luray, 59

baltimore, a little cooler in annapolis, 50 degrees. the breeze today out of the south is really warming temperatures, but the week weather front will slide through tonight. tomorrow will be noticeably cooler, highs only in the upper 40's, lower 50's. as the front approaches, clouds roll in, temperatures will be chilly. keep that in mind if you're heading out. by about 9:00, we will be falling into the lower 50's. nonetheless, we really have a lot of ups and downs of the seven day forecast, which i will share with you from the belfort furniture weather center coming up. kimberly: a close call for two window washers in bethesda. montgomery county fire and rescue service tweeted this photograph of the cleaning rigs stuck 13 floors up. one side is tilting.

washers climbed inside through an opening that is still under construction on the building. police in anne arundel county are asking you to stay away from route 50 near 655. eastbound lanes are closed because of a deadly crash and are expected to stay close several hours. no word on what caused the accident. another serious crash, this one on solomons island road. we know at least four cars were involved. eight people had to be taken to the hospital, three of them life lighted it, including a one-year-old. none of the injuries were life-threatening. antennae, two police officers are in critical condition after a wrong way crash in new york city. that killed another officer and a friend. all were heading home from a strip club when the car drove into oncoming traffic, hitting a tractor-trailer head on. investigators have applied for

warrant to test the driver's blood alcohol level. u.s. forces are evacuating a military base along the southern coast of yemen. the move comes after al qaeda seized a neighboring city in the war-torn country. u.s. forces began launching drone strikes three years ago. american british, and french embassies in yemen's capital closed last month because of security concerns. the tunisian government has to attain 20 people in connection with wednesday's attack on its national museum. prosecutors say that each has tie with terrorists. two men opened fire inside of the museum killing 21 people most of them european tour ists. new developments right now in new orleans, where we have learned that a man shot after wielding a machete in the airport has died. investigators say that richard white was also carrying six gasoline-filled molotov cocktails and a lighter.

a found in acetylene tank and smoke bombs in his car. investigators say that he attacks security agents with bug spray before pulling out a 14 inch machete. >> he comes in with a machete, swinging it. i started swinging my suitcase at him and he ran the other way right into the tsa agent. kimberly: the tsa agent was accidentally shot in the arm but not seriously hurt. investigators say that it appears white may have struggled with mental illness. coming up, scrambling to make opening day the major-league effort underway at nats park. why crews are putting in overtime. and a new outlook for a long-delayed project in the district. what a new report reveals about the city streetcars.

kimberly: new developments for the d.c. streetcar. a review indicates the project should be up to get rolling. this follows numerous reports the costly project was going to be scrapped after long delays. as richard reeve reports, it could be the spark the streetcar need it. richard: diverse rapidly changing streets with power lines above and tracks below, but no streetcar. >> nothing happened. the most we saw was testing. richard: planning, construction, and the cars cap cost about $200 million. are you optimistic? >> yes. richard: d.c. mayor muriel bowser is feeling good about the project afternoon misty group --

after an industry group found no fatal flaws that would prevent it from opening. mayor bowser: we will keep it running safely. richard: there were 60 flaws with the tracks and switches come ensuring all cars funds in and hiring a safety chief officer. people taking the bus saturday voiced concerns about the issue of streetcars versus other vehicles on h street. >> is a real busy route, so i don't think it's a good idea. richard: others are true believers. >> it's cool, convenient, so much better. richard: you will not see any practice runs while crews do track and maintenance work. the final report is due sometime in april. ddot says it is committed to the project, but so far it is still under construction.

richard reeve, abc 7 news. kimberly: pope francis broke bread with inmates at a prison in naples, italy. among those dining with the push for gay and transgender, some with hiv. pope francis has tried to shift the catholic church is message to one of inclusion. in naples, the pope urged people struggling to make a living to choose honorable work instead of mafia-driven crimes. up next, showing hustle, the scramble for grounds crew to get nats park ready for opening day. and taking a live look outside on the first full day of spring. the forecast coming up.

kimberly: we are used to seeing

hustle inside of nats park. no different today, grounds crews working to get the field ready for the april 6 home opener. the recent blast of winter weather has been wreaking havoc on the new grass field they put in during the off-season. a lot of places are struggling a little bit with the remnants of this cold, wet winter. eileen: it feels like it's never going to end, but if i can offer promising news, there is no snow in the extended forecast, but we do have a lot of ups and downs with the temperature, which is typical this time of year. this morning, people woke up with snow, in northern maryland. we had the clouds, the fog, and then look out quickly the snow disappeared. soon enough, we will see the buds popping out on the trees. hopefully we will start to see

some of that happening along the tidal basin with the cherry blossoms. this first. -- this first full day of spring has been lovely. woodbridge, 62, downtown d.c., 60. 58 potomac and st. mary's elementary school in annapolis 48 degrees. the reason is on the chesapeake bay, they have the wind off the water and it really cool the air. clear skies overhead now, but if you look close the clouds filling into pennsylvania and ohio, associated with the week weather front. that will slide through overnight. that will also bring us cooler air masses. that will be overhead tomorrow. we will not have 60's, we will have low 50's as the daytime highs. it will also be breezy, so what will feel cooler. tonight, the clown stream and, 38 degrees in the city, the subgroup's fall into the lower -- clouds stream in, 38 degrees

in the city, the suburbs fall into the lower 30's. tomorrow morning, if you at the plaza for the scope it out 5k raising awareness and research money for colorectal cancer research, come out and enjoy. but make sure that you are wearing layers and ready to go for the race because it will be chilly and breezy. the air temperature near 40, but it will probably feel like the mid 30's. it will be nice and dry tomorrow and we will climb into the upper 40's by 1:00 p.m., lower 50's by 3:00. a mixture of sun and clouds tomorrow, cooler as we kickstart the workweek monday. about 45 degrees. tuesday about 50. each day we are climbing a little bit. wednesday 61. thursday upper 60's, but a cold front is approaching that will bring a chance of rain.

maybe an isolated thunderstorm. friday, a few lingering showers as temperatures drop into the 50's. next weekend looks pretty cool, back into the upper 40's, lower 50's. kimberly: not bad, we will take it. maryland georgetown, and virginia are still alive in the ncaa tournament. while we miss him sitting here, there is nowhere else robert burton would rather be then in columbus, ohio, following the hometown team. robert: madness on top of madness. we will talk a little georgetown , and of course we will talk about the terps from last night where the wa

>> and now the toyota sports desk, brought to you by your local toyota dealers. robert: we are live in columbus,

ohio, where the terps are preparing for west virginia after a 65-62 victory over valparaiso last night. in christ time, seconds left in the game, -- crunch time seconds left in the game, the terps hold on for the three-point win. we caught up with a man of the hour after the game. >> we were up three and we just try to take away all the threes. i have been envisioning this moment my whole life, so being able to actually have it happened is amazing. robert: portland, the hoyas survived eastern washington. next up is utah, a five seed.

just like georgetown, they smell blood. here is john thompson iii. >> you enjoy winning when the moment is over. we are still in the moment. if we have any other mentality going against a team as tough as utah, as pleased as utah, we will be in trouble. -- as poised as utah, we will be in trouble. robert: louisville-cincinnati the wildcats up. andrew harrison with the opening. drive strong to the bucket, lays it in, and one. kentucky improved to 36-0 with the victory. number 11 ucla cruised past 14th seeded uab this afternoon.

ucla, who many thought should not be in the tournament, advances to the sweet 16 with the 92-75 win. the terps women are cruising through the ncaa tournament. they took on new mexico state. we picked this up in the first half. brionna jones was a monster down low. she grabbed the rebound, puts it back, gets the foul. she finished with 22 points, 12 boards. a nice afternoon. the good look in the corner, she had 19 points. maryland wins 76-67. they will face undefeated princeton monday night. uva will face michigan state. that will be tough because tom izzo likes to win in march. kimberly: he says it's about

advancing, not redemption, but i'm not sure about that. robert: always a tough cookie kimberly, always. kimberly: i try my best.

kimberly: all that snow feels like a distant memory after today. eileen: yes, today 61 degrees. tomorrow will be the, but it will be dry. climbing into the low 50's. each day we get a little milder. the warmest day thursday, upper 60's, then the cold front comes through dropping us into the 40's and 50's by the late week. here we go. this is march. kimberly: thank you for joining

us.

welcome to "world news tonight." airport attack. new details of those terrifying moments in new orleans. the man with the machete, also had explosives with him and we hear from the tsa agent he attacked. terror alert. the new threat. what appears to be a hit list against u.s. servicemen and women calling for attacks here in the united states. off the force a racially charged video made by a florida police officer, and offensive text messages three others shared. it's not the only department tonight taking action over racist texts. durst documents. investigators search the home of a friend of the millionaire murder suspect. the treasure trove reported to have been taken away. panic on the slopes. the skiers hurt when the