At-large DC Councilmember Jamal Holtz sworn in; Judge rejects lawsuit against Montgomery Co. gun law

Six major security scares at the White House. Two people under arrest tonight after back-to-back incidents this morning. Dramatic video capturing the aftermath of one. A car crashed onto the sidewalk near Lafayette Park and federal agents had to tackle the driver. Fox 5's Tom Fitzgerald spoke to a witness. He's live at the White House tonight with the latest. Good evening, Fitz. Well, good evening. This was an intense and initially uncertain series of events today at the White House in Lafayette Square. Not one, but two major security incidents. Both individuals now under arrest and law enforcement officials telling Fox 5 they are still investigating what was behind all of this. So take a look at this video that was shot while all of this was going on. Around 10 a.m. this morning, a car crashed into a sidewalk sign barrier out front near Lafayette Square and the White House. The individual in that car apparently refused to get out. Secret Service and National Guard tried to get them out. Eyewitnesses said they heard a pop and then saw smoke coming out of the vehicle. Then, when the individual was finally taken out of the vehicle, he began to fight with law enforcement. Soon after that, in another area of the park, a man bolted out of a crowd of people on the sidewalk and tried to scale a fence in that park. Iris Mitchell was near that man. I told Fox 5 what she saw. So we're walking with like a group of 20 people and all of a sudden one of the guys with us takes off running and scales the fence and jumps over the fence into To, um... I guess like the White House Lafayette Square area. He just takes off running so then everyone's telling us The White House was locked down while all this was going on. Reporters inside the briefing room told to stay away from the windows. to freeze and they got hands up. The D.C. bomb squad searched the vehicle that crashed into that sidewalk. They did not find anything inside and determined it was safe. However, the folks who were out here when it was all going on say it was a scene they won't soon forget. We always feel very safe when we're here as visitors to your city. Thank you very much. The armed military are a little bit off-putting when you first see them, when you come to a country where you're not used to it so much. Well, I suppose in some senses, we're not surprised that there are tensions and there are people trying to express themselves in all sorts of ways. The big question tonight, of course, were these two incidents connected? The Secret Service still hasn't said, but they are still investigating. We're live at the White House tonight. Send it back in to Kenneth and Angie. Fitz, thank you. The D.C. Council welcomed a new member today, Jamal Holtz, sworn in as interim at-large council member. He said it's an honor to serve the community that raised him. The council appointed him after Robert White resigned last week to be eligible to run for D.C.'s delegate seat in Congress. Holtz will fill this seat until a special election April 6th. New this hour, President Trump claims that the war with Iran is effectively over, at least militarily. He made those comments during an impromptu press conference this evening. Trump said Iran's military has been, quote, decapitated, but added he wants to make sure that there is a long-term solution to stop the country from having a nuclear weapon. It's really status quo territory. We're keeping it going. We have the greatest military blockade ever. We have the new Iron Gate. Iron Gate is land, so by land and by sea. And we will take care of business. Well, this comes less than a week since the president's party lost control of both the House and the Senate in the midterms, which some Republicans, including Vice President Vance, blamed on the war. Also new this hour, a federal judge rejecting a Department of Justice lawsuit challenging a new Montgomery County law banning guns in certain places. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled. The law prohibits people from carrying guns within 100 yards of... Sensitive public places, including places like schools, parks, house of worship, and courthouses. The county is still facing another lawsuit from a Silver Spring Jewish center. Developing tonight, the search is on to find a murder suspect out of Montgomery County. 34-year-old Ibrahim Diabati is accused of attacking Christopher Schuler a week ago on Elkin Street in Wheaton. Investigators say the suspect stabbed the victim multiple times. Still no word on a motive tonight. Anyone who knows where he is should call 911. Today, the defense resting its case in the Naresh Bhat murder trial. The Manassas Park man accused of killing his wife took the stand for a final time, trying to explain why he dismembered her body. Fox 5's Homa Bash, live at the Prince William County Courthouse tonight with the latest. Homa. Kenneth, good evening. The defense resting their case around 3:30 this afternoon, and today we heard from Naresh Bhatt admit to treating Mamta badly emotionally, but still saying that he found her dead, claiming that she took her own life and that he did dismember her body. We also heard from Mamta's brother saying that she would have never done that. She loved her daughter too much. This is Naresh's last few moments on the stand when he was directly asked if he killed his wife. Yes, I wasn't treating her emotionally well. I wasn't helping her well the way I used to do that. Do you regret that? A lot. Just the final questions, Mr. Bhatt. Did you physically harm Mamta Kafle? Never. Did you kill her? Sustained. Never. Sustained. That's all the questions. Why were you so concerned about Mamta's disappearance? Because I don't think so she would go somewhere else and disappear. And she would not the girl there to commit suicide. And I know she loved her daughter so much. That daughter was just weeks away from her first birthday when her mother disappeared. The murder trial for the Manassas Park man now in its sixth week, but took the stand in his own defense for the first time last week, testifying that he found his wife unresponsive. In their home in July 2024, he says he panicked, tried CPR unsuccessfully and did not call for help, worried he would be blamed for her death. Instead, he said he used a saw to cut up her body and throw her remains in various dumpsters. Today, we also heard from a forensic psychologist called by the defense who testified Bhatt likely suffers from PTSD, but even that expert drawing a distinction between panicking and what Butt admitted to doing next. His conclusion that he jumped to was, I've got to get rid of this body. And he started taking steps to get rid of that body and thought that was his only viable way out of this situation. He went and got something to cut up the body. He got garbage bags to put the body in. He brought the body into the bathtub. It's a bathtub. That's what he described. There have been dozens of friends, family and supporters of Mamta inside this courtroom every single day. Today was day 18. Again, the defense rested their case today. We're expecting the jury to come back in the morning and get this case very, very soon. And for some context on how invested the community is in this, I spoke to a woman who was leaving the courtroom. She drove here from 90 minutes away. No connection. To the couple, the case, the trial, but she just wanted to be inside this courtroom because she has been watching it every single day and watching it unfold for the last two years. Kenneth, Angie. Thank you, Homa. We're going to talk about your weather now. Take you live outside. Hello, Gaithersburg. We can barely see you because it's so dark out there early. That situation is going to be like that for quite some time. Something also noticeable, another nice day, although quite the breezy one. It was windy. Jennifer Delgado is here with a check of the weather here. And how's the week looking? You know what? You're going to like tomorrow a lot. Okay. And then it goes downhill after Wednesday. But, you know, it's fall. That's what's to be expected. We have a sunset tonight, 4:59 p.m. 4:59. Tomorrow, 4:58. We're going to go all the way up to like 4.45. Okay. We're going in the wrong direction. We are going in the wrong direction. I'm going to go in the right direction to the left and talk more. about the weather forecast. Now, what we will see for tomorrow, a really good-looking day. We're going to have sunshine out there. It won't be as windy, but winds are going to come out of the south, and that is going to boost our temperatures up to 70 degrees for a lot of areas. Now, as we get into the end of the week, we've got cold air coming back and rain, and I know a lot of you have been hearing the chatter about whether or not we could be looking at some snow. Well, that's going to be all the way out in the higher elevations well west of us. As we look at Gaithersburg right now, it is quiet, it is dark. Mark, yes, you just have to get used to it. ...to those early sunsets. Now, as we check the airports, we're dry at all three of them. Our winds are coming out of the northwest. We had a cold front that came through. And while we're still in the 50s across the area, tonight we'll get down to the 40s and the 30s. It is going to be a lot colder at the bus stop tomorrow morning as those low temperatures are going to drop down to below average for this time of the year. We've got high pressure. It is blocking us and a good chunk of the northeast, the south, the mid-Atlantic. Everybody is kind of enjoying this nicely. Now, for tomorrow morning, those are your low temperatures, 35 in Hagerstown, 36 degrees in Manassas, and then 43 for a low in D.C. But as we look ahead for the next two days, tomorrow, 70 degrees, and then on Veterans Day, 67 with a few more clouds. Now, we're going to talk more about that rain and the cold air on the way, ladies and gentlemen, in just a few minutes. But right now, we're going to send it right back over to Angie, your full forecast in about 10 minutes. Thank you so much, Jen. The Commanders won't have much time to reflect on yesterday's loss to the L.A. Rams. Washington facing a quick turnaround to play Thursday night on the road against the New York Giants. The Commanders have only two wins through their first eight games. Head Coach Dan Quinn speaking today about last night's loss. And like, how can we play at our best? And that's really what I'm chasing to make sure. Can we be more consistent in the run game for sure? You know, in this game, I didn't think offensive line-wise was up to our standard to give credit some to LA, but we do get to go after it again this week. I like the system. I like what we can be capable of. And the Commanders are running out of time to salvage their season, making Thursday night a critical matchup against a divisional opponent. And you can, of course, watch the Commanders against the Giants right here on Fox 5. Our pregame show begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. Kickoff is at 8.15. And then, of course, stay with Fox 5 for a special postgame show after the game.