pat collins takes a look back. >> reporter: this is charlie dean's rookie year photo. this is what he looked like when he joined the prince william county police department back in 1970. 42 years ago. when he became a cop, gas was 36 cents a gallon. you could mail a her for 6 cents. you could buy a brand-knew collegiate deluxe typewriter for $28.88. what's a typewriter? this is what kathy lanier looked like when charlie dean joined the force. his father was a sheriff, one of the his brothers an fbi agent, his other brother lieutenant in corrections. you might say law enforcement is in charlie dean's dna. sp didn't have in 1970. he became chief in 1988, and he transformed this rural force to a skilled, up-to-date police department, and boy, has he seen a lot. some memories. who could forget the john wayne bobbitt case. when his wife cut off his you know what and tossed it a nearby field and it had to be surgically reattached. >> we went through that process i think in a very professional manner, even though that was a worldwide story. >> reporter: it put prince william

i'm pat collins. i'll have the story coming up ziechlgts for the first time in [ male announcer ] since 1996 welfare recipients were required to work. this bipartisan reform successfully reduced welfare rolls. on july 12th president obama quietly ended the work requirement... gutting welfare reform. one of the most respected newspapers in america called it, "nuts!" saying, "if you want to get more people to work, "you don't loosen the requirements -- you tighten them." mitt romney's plan for a stronger middle class will put work back iwelfare. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >>> phyllis diller, one of the original women of comedy, has died. diller was a housewife at the age of 40. she became a staple of nightclubs and tv at a time when female stand-up ws a rarity. she often referred to her husband as fang. diller suffered a major heart attack in 1999. she retired a couple of years later. her long time manager says diller died peacefully in her sleep with a smile on her face. phy

coming up on "news4 at 5," pat collins will have a live update with reaction from students and parents. >>> today marks the first day back to school for thousands of students across our area. in maryland classes got under way. in carroll, charles, frederick, howard and montgomery counties. louden county, virginia been and the district started a new school year. news4's megan mcgrath takes a look at some of the improvements in the class and out. >> reporter: for some it's the first day at a new school. >> i'm a little scared, because other kids are in bigger grades and i'm still in the fourth grade. >> reporter: for others it's a return for familiar faces and friends and on to new challenges. i'm ready to go back to fifth grade. >> reporter: why? >> because fifth grade is fun, and you learn new things in fifth than in fourth grate. >> reporter: are you looking forward to seeing your frepds? >> um-hmm. yeah, a lot. >> reporter: this marks the official end of summer vacation as students headed back to school. the return to class meant major improvements including bruce monroe. the beautif

talks to news4's pat collins. >> and what about moving four freshmen into the same school. immediate the quad group lets. >>> and let's go live to bethesda, some olympic athletes bethesda, some olympic athletes been being recognized as but somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong. george allen voted for trillions in debt while voting to raise his pay four times, then voted to keep special tax breaks for oil and gas companies and took over a half-million from them. worse, allen went to work for them. >>> now back to our top story. the empire state building open again after a shooting by an employee that had been laid off. jeffrey johnson shot and killed a former co-worker, then the gunman was killed by police during a gunfight. fired by those officers according to police and within with witnesses. >> temperatures are comfortable right now. gaithersburg is 81, martins burg, and 84, 82, but there are a handful of showers. they're up to the north, north-central maryland. and right along route 11, and just off to our south, in the western suburbs on 66, a bit of a

her mother spoke to news4's pat collins about her loss. >> i'm so hurt that -- my heart -- it's like it's ripped out of my chest. she's my baby, and -- >> reporter: irma gaither speaking out for the first time since her daughter amber stanley was murdered inside their kettering home. can you think of any reason why anyone would want to kill amber? >> none. none. the people that knew her, you know, she was a nice girl. she was a nice person. she was a lovable person. >> reporter: 17-year-old amber, a high school senior. she had a promising future. she was an accomplished model, an honors student. she wanted to go to harvard. she talked of becoming a doctor. all those dreams destroyed violently wednesday night when a masked gunman kicked down the door of her home, went to amber's bedroom and then opened fire. if i could sit there and look into the lens of that camera and you could talk to the person responsible for amber's death, what would you say? >> i would ask them why would you want to kill her? to brutally kill her that way? why would you want to her her at all? for what? for wha

i'm pat collins pt the story coming up. news 4. >>> sobering numbers about how many teenagers are using drugs an alcohol while they are at school. >> and it's called dog shaming. it's a sort of internet obedience school. obedience school. the new website poking fun at whee wheeeeeeeeeeeee! wheeeeeeeeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he- he-heeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! pure adrenaline. sfx: snorting sound. whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the geico app today. but what choices will women be left with? just like mitt romney, paul ryan would get rid of planned parenthood funding. in congress, ryan voted to ban all federal funding for planned parenthood and allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control. and both romney and ryan backed proposals to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest. for women... for president... the choice is ours. i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. >>> as teenagers head back to school, you may be surprised a

pat collins joins us live, next. i'm barack obama and i approve this message now mitt romney's attacking the pat cpresident on medicare?next. the nonpartisan a-a-r-p says obamacare "cracks down on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse and strengthens guaranteed benefits." and the ryan plan? a-a-r-p says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors... and experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees costs more than six thousand dollars. get the facts. anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. >>> d.c. police released new video th

pat collins has details. pat? >> jim, the charge in this case -- misuse of a telephone. it's a misdemeanor. the prosecutor said she wanted to do more, but the way the laws are written in maryland, that's the best they could do neil prescott, who described himself as the joker, and called his office and said he was going to load his guns and blow everybody else. he had more than 20 guns and 40 boxes of ammunition in his croften apartment. he met police at the door with a t-shirt that said guns don't kill people, i do. that neil prescott charged with misuse of of a telephone. charged that way, because maryland doesn't have a felony threat law. state attorney angela brooks said she wanted to do more. >> i absolutely believe these charges are insufficient to cover a threat like the threat mr. prescott made. >> reporter: it was last week that neil prescott, who they say was in the process of getting fired, said he was the joker and threatened to blow everybody up. that came on the heels of the mass shooting in colorado, where a man with hair colored like the joker killed 12 p

pat collins has our report. >> i'm so hurt in my heart. she was my baby. >> reporter: irma gaither speaking out for the first time since her daughter was murdered inside their home. >> reporter: can you think of any reason why anyone would want to kill amber. irges none. none. the people that knew her. she was a nice girl. she was a nice person. she was a loveable person. >> 17-year-old amber, a high school senior, she had a promising future. she was an accomplished model an honestors student. she talked about becoming a doctor. all those dreams destroyed violently wednesday night when a masked gunman kicked down the door of her home, went to amber's bedroom and then opened fire. if you could sit there now and look into the lens of that camera and talk to the person responsible for amber's death, what would you say? >> why would you want to hurt her at all? for what reason? it doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: in prince george's county, i'm pat collins, news4. >>> right now the impair state building is open against after a shooting ther

pat collins gets really messy at this restaurant. it's all over him. >>> imagine driving to work with all of a sudden a small plane lands near you. >> that's what happened to commuters in tampa today. a single-engine plane made an emergency landing. >> none of the people were hurt. the plane damaged a wing during the landing. hazmat crews cleaned up 60 gallons of fuel that was spilled. >>> still to come on "news4 at 4," officials say a day doesn't go by without a driver risking live to get through an intersection. he's made his choice. but what choices will women be left with? just like mitt romney, paul ryan would get rid of planned parenthood funding. in congress, ryan voted to ban all federal funding for planned parenthood and allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control. and both romney and ryan backed proposals to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest. for women... for president... the choice is ours. i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. >>> i'm news4 meteorologist kim mar tuchi

news4's pat collins on campus with the dramatic story of how the suspect was stopped. gunfire at perry hall high on this the first day of school, in the cafeteria, a 15-year-old shoots and critically wounds a 17-year-old. both the gunman and the virm are students. in come the cops. out go the students. escorted a safe distance away from the school, where many parents were waiting. there were a lot of hugs, a lot of tears. a lot of worry. >> she's brand new in the school, a ninth grader. this is her first experience with high school, she heard shots and -- >> i saw somebody -- and i don't know what it was. first we heard it, and then i grabbed my stuff and ran out. >> mr. arnold came over and said code red. he was not joking. it was serio. we were all scared. they made us go in the corner and crouch down. we had to sit there for probably close to an hour. >> reporter: they say the 15-year-old used a shotgun, as he fired off the first round. the recoil from the gun caused him to fall off-balance. a guidance counselor took advantage of that, and managed to pin him near so

pat collins is live at the scene. he spoke with the people who were there when the bus came plowing in this morning. pat. >> reporter: jim, imagine you're standing in front of your house, along comes a runaway bus. there you are helpless as that bus into your home. >> i say is this guy not going to stop? i went -- right in front of me, boom. >> all of a sudden without warning, a big out of control montgomery county ri-on bus goes barreling into the home on avanel road with such force, with such force a that's left in the living room, a lamp and a tv. >> now when this happened, this man was in this toyota car here. he saw the bus cut right in front of him, over the lawn, into the driveway, into his cab and then into his house. >> you saw the whole thing? >> i saw it. >> very scary. >> i'm lucky. >> everyone. >> i'm very, very lucky. >> two of his sons were inside the house when it happened. uninjured, but boy were they rattled. >> i thought it was an earthquake at first. when i seen the bus, i was astounded. i didn't t

pat collins spoke with the possible victim's family tonight. >> what do you think happened here? >> i think it's foul play. >> reporter: this is security camera video of phillips when she was last seen. it was monday morning. she was dropping off her 2-year-old daughter at a day care center in northeast. she never picked up her daughter that day. and she's not been heard from since. her mother wants some answers. worried for her? >> just want her to come home. just bring her home. >> reporter: phillips is 23 years old. she lives in the benning park apartments in southeast. she was supposed to start a hotel job this week, but she never showed up for that. her parents say she was devoted to her baby girl deniya, she was never late to pick her up, and when she didn't show monday, everybody got worried. >> if you could make a plea to someone who knows something about this -- >> i'd give them whatever they asked for, just bring my daughter home. you can have whatever. >> reporter: investigators looking into the possibility that a body found in prince georges county might be linked to

live in southeast, pat collins, news 4. >>> there will not be a mistrial in the drew peterson case. the defense argued that improper evidence had tainted the jury, but an illinois judge believes peterson can still get a fair trial. he's accused of killing his third wife in 2004. today a paramedic testified he did not see anything that would keep kathleen savio from falling into the bathtub. peterson is also a suspect in this disappearance of his fourth wife stacy peterson. he is not charged in that case. >>> neighbors of an elderly maryland couple are saddened this evening. the fixtures of the prince georges county neighborhood are found dead in their home earlier today. police made a discovery after being called to the home in temple hills to check on the couple's welfare. >> reporter: a quiet street in temple hills, neatly tended homes and lawns, one house had certain signs, newspapers and flyers accumulating on the front porch. a car that didn't appear to be moved for a while. an elderly couple called this place home for as long as most neighbors could remember. >> over 50 years.

live in southeast, i'm pat collins. news4. >> new signs of progress for the beltway express lanes project. today some vehicles got a chance to drive on the new lanes, which when completed will run from springfield to mclean news4's julie carey is live with more on how this will help ease congesti congestion. jewels? >> reporter: check it out behind me, beltway traffic chugging along, but alongside the lanes, you see the still-empty express lanes. only for a while today, there were cars out there, offering a glimpse of what everyone hopes will be a better commuting future. it's a preview of coming attractions on the virginia beltway. test cars, some manned by professional drivers checking out the still under construction 495 express lanes. and thanks to our camera mounted on one driver's dashboard, here's the view commuters will soon get. two lanes run in both directions from the springfield interchange to just beyond the dulles toll road, free to buses, motorcycles, and vehicles with thee or more people. the test drives

in southeast, pat collins, news 4. >>> police are on the lookout for kavon neal from ft. washington, maryland, who's wanted in connection with monday's police chase that killed a police officer on i-95. police say neal was driving fast, cutting through traffic, forcing several cars to swerve out of the way. a passenger in the car, kenneth mitchell, was arrested, charged with car theft. >>> a man accused of sending threatening e-mails to president obama is in a courtroom in washington state right now. police arrested 31-year-old anton colari at his apartment in seattle last night. he greeted them with a shotgun and said that he rigged the apartment with explosives. they didn't find any explosives. police are not revealing his exact threat to the president. >>> for the first time today, the national institutes of health revealed its part in a deadly superbug incident last year. they say a patient in a medical study had a bug that spread to a 18 patients and killed six. they scrubbed down with bleach, locked down patients, even ripped out plumbing to prevent the spread of th

live in upper marlboro, pat collins, news4. >>> thanks, pat. >>> police are trying to figure out who made a pipe bomb that exploded in blacksburg, virginia. it appeared early this morning just a few blocks from the virginia tech university camp tuesday. investigators say the bomb exploded in a residential neighborhood and did a lot of damage to an suv there. police in blacksburg and bureau of alcohol, tobacco and fire articles are investigating. people who live in that neighborhood are still a bit shaken up. >> well, it's very scary, and this is just simply an incident we don't need. >> investigators say it doesn't appear to be connected to virginia tech in any way. >>> the family of a maryland woman who disappeared in aruba will hold a service in her memory tonight. giordano spent several months in a prison in aruba in connection with gardner's disappearance, but a judge released him for lack of evidence. gardner's body has never been found. >>> fire units rushed to the scene and rescued people who were trap. there were no reports of injuries. the monsoon season runs june 13th throu

live in baltimore county, i'm pat collins, news4. >>> now to our other big story tonight, all eyes are on tropical storm isaac and where it will make landfall s veronica johnson is tracking the storm. >> all day long, even yesterday have been hammering florida. you can see it right there. it's winds are a at 75 miles per hour, and the latest information takes it aschori somewhere near new orleans. as possibly a category 2 storm with winds of 96 to 110 miles an hour. that's how strong the system could be, a category 2 hurricane. you can see the raider right there down toward ft. lauderdale, coming very close to new orleans. >> thanks, veronica. >>> just about an hour ago, volunteer from the red cross in fair packs packed up and shipped out to the gulf coast to lend support. news4's keith russell is following the develops from the newsroom. keith? >> we just found out 78% of the oil production in the gulf of mexico has been stopped. it will resume after the storm passes. meantime, good news regarding flights. some news not so good. let's take a look. united has said it will stop all oper

pat collins has the latest. >> reporter: jim, they say it was a masked gunman who kicked down the door of the house, walked into amber stanley's room and then opened fire. tonight police are hoping this flyer, and a $25,000 reward will lead them to the killer. it's a full-court press. detectives out tonight going door to door, handing out flyers trying to collect more information, trying to identify a suspect. 17-year-old amber stanley had high grades. she had high hopes. that all came to a violent end last night, as she was gunned down in her sleep in the bedroom of her home here in kettering. >> apparently a suspect kicked the door in into the home, and fatally shot the 17-year-old female. >> reporter: police say there were other people any house at the time of the shooting. no one else was injured. neighbors s am berg's older a foster child lived there. they say amber's mother wasn't home at the time. shirley robinson lives next door. >> just last night to see the stress, to see the mother going through what she had to go through, i wouldn't wish that on anyone. so that's basically

live on capitol hill, i'm pat collins, new 4z. >> thanks, pat. >>> we switch gears now in a big way because there's some big news out of redskins park. one of the most popular players on the skins has been cut from the team. we're talking about chris cooley. >> he was one of the good guys. stayed outf trouble, great player, represented the city well. >> he's been one of the most significant contributors if you look in terms of over time the news certainly comes as a shock to me. >> i thought it would be a big mistake if they cut chris cooley and now that they cut him, i say, yeah, go get him dallas. >> dan hellie in the newsroom now. we don't really want him to go to dallas, do we? >> let's hope he doesn't geto the cowboys. that wouldn't be good news. not only more popular selling more jerseys over the last eight years but produced at a high level when he's been healthy. this season, however, he did not fit into the redskins' plan as a starter. he was making a starter salary. cooley a two-time probowler and holds the all-time reception record with 428. matter of fact, he ranked 19th in nfl

live in accountering, i'm pat collins, news4. >>> a developing story tonight. a serious boat crash in maryland state delegate don dwyer operated one of the boats involved in this collision near pasadena last night. police say they took a blood sample from him, because there was a suspicion that alcohol was involved in the accident. dwyer is expected to make a statement any minute now. we'll bring it to you as soon as it comes into news4. dwyer, two other adults and four children were injured, but they are all expected to be okay. dwyer was in one boat with another adult, the second boat was towing two children on a raft. witnesses rushed to pull everyone from the water after the accident. >>> tonight we have learned just how two 19-year-olds died during that train derailment. eliz belt gnash and rose maier suffocated when a train dumped a lot of coal on top of them. they were not hit by the train when it derailed on tuesday. investigators are still trying to figure out why the train did derail. funerals for the women are set for tomorrow and saturday. >>> tonig

news 4's pat collins spoke to amber's mother about her loss. >> i'm so hurt, and my heart is like it's ripped out of my chest. she was my baby. >> reporter: irma gaither speaking out for the first time sips h since her daughter amber stanley was murdered for the first time inside their kettering home. can you think of any reason why anyone would want to kill amber? >> none, none. the people that knew her, she was a nice girl. she was a nice person. she was a lovable person. >> reporter: 17-year-old amber, a high school senior. she had a promising future. she was an accomplished model, an honored student. she wanted to go to harvard. she talked of becoming a doctor. all those dreams destroyed violently wednesday night when a masked gunman kicked down the door of her home, went to amber's bedroom, and then opened fire. irma, if you could sit there now and you could look into the lens of that camera and you could talk to the person responsible for amber's death, what would you say? >> i would ask him why would you want to kill her, to brutally kill her that way? why would you want to hurt

pat roberts, debbie stabenow. on the other one, joe lieberman, susan collins. still managed to get things done and the tea party blocks them in the house. there's seven or eight tea party guys constantly saying stop, stop, stop. trying to use the senate procedure to just prevent us from doing things. >> the other senate, mike, you were talking in the break about harry reid. your good friend, harry reid. off the reservation. misusing a podium? >> no. please every day mitt romney has to talk about tax returns is a bad day for him and a good day for the democrats. you know, they're trying to focus this on harry reid. there's an 800-pound elephant in the room. it's called unreleased taxes. guess what? few things we know about mitt romney's taxes, cayman islands, swiss bank accounts, raised more questions than they answer. he should rip off the band-aid now. he should have done it two years ago. no one could understand why. >> what if we see for seven years this guy has not paid taxes? >> the reality, they focus grouped this already. they know for sure that when the