FOX 5 News at 11: November 09, 2026

Immigration officials, what we've learned about how and where they were detained. Fox 5 News at 11 starts now. First at 11, a heartbreaking Fox 5 exclusive. A mother and her three-year-old daughter killed in a crash involving an alleged drunk driver on I-95 in Stafford County. Tonight, their family spoke with Fox 5's Regina Ureda, who's in Tysons with the story. And this is a loss that no family should ever have to go through. 27-year-old Donna Palacios and her 3-year-old daughter Ruby were killed in a car crash involving an alleged drunk driver in Stafford. Tonight, in an exclusive interview with Fox 5, the woman's sisters are opening up about their loss. Trying to stay strong for my mom, because I know my mom, she's not doing well. Well, um... She lost her daughter. and her granddaughter And that's Alexa and Genesis Palacios, Donna's younger and older sisters. Fox 5 spoke with them just moments before they said their final goodbyes at today's funeral. And take a look. This is Donna and Ruby, pictures the family shared with us. They remember Donna as someone who was always laughing, a woman who dreamed of being a mother and whose world revolved around her little girl. The crash happened early Friday morning on I-95 in Stafford. Virginia State Police say 25-year-old Malik J. Thomas, a freshman, Fredericksburg, an active duty Marine was driving northbound while intoxicated when he crashed into the family's vehicle. Donna, her fiance, and little Ruby were all inside. Donna and Ruby were killed. Her fiance suffered serious injuries. He remains in the hospital but is now in stable condition. Thomas was not injured. He's currently being held behind bars and is expected to have a bond hearing later this week. Now, Donna's sisters say they want to make sure the names of their two loved ones are never forgotten. Always made everyone laugh, no matter how she was truly feeling. She's very understanding and loved helping others, even though she was... In need of help, she made sure everyone around her was good. Ruby, she had a very strong personality. Thank you. She would make us laugh with her funny things she would do, always making funny faces. Thomas now faces two counts of aggravated manslaughter. Each charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Back to you. Two people arrested in back-to-back security scares outside the White House today both happened near Lafayette Park within minutes of each other. A car crashed into the sidewalk near 16th and 8th streets just before 10 a.m. Then another person jumped a security barricade near the northwest corner of the park and was quickly arrested. The driver of the car had to be tackled. They tried hitting the windows. The guy wouldn't get out. Eventually, somehow, they got the door popped open. And when they did, he went to fight them. He was throwing his arms, went down on the ground. They ended up having to pick him up by his arms, his legs, and move him over to the ground. The White House was temporarily locked down as the bomb squad cleared the car. The Secret Service has not said whether there's a connection between the incidents. Let's get a first check of the weather here at 11. A live look outside. The view of the White House where things are much calmer tonight after what was going on this morning. A breezy start to the work week. Temperatures dropping throughout the evening. How chilly is it going to get overnight? You know, just Mike Thomas is here with the answer. Hey, Mike. I think you'll know the minute you step outside here in just a bit. For those of you at home, get ready for tomorrow morning as it's going to feel a little bit like winter in the morning with temps heading down into the 30s. Fear not by the afternoon. Back to a fall feel with 60s, 70s, and a lot of sunshine coming our way for your Tuesday afternoon. Live look out across the D.C. region. So far, pretty calm night winds starting to subside After what was a bit of a breezy day here in... And it will be replaced with a warmer afternoon for your Tuesday. I just, I always have to warn these headlines like this. Watch out for those morning hours. It won't be warm right from the get-go. 66 degrees, your high temperature this afternoon. That is not bad at all for this time of year. Five degrees above the seasonal average. And pretty typical that we start things off in the 40s. In fact, your average low now in D.C., 43. So that 48 is chilly as it was, even above where we should be for this time of year. Live look, that's Roslyn. Still in the background there, looking pretty good tonight. 51 degrees, Reagan National Airport, Dulles 42, BWI Thurgood Marshall. Up there just south of Baltimore, sitting at 46 degrees tonight. And a lot of our suburbs are starting to get even colder than that. Already have some 30s on the map, which I'll show you coming up in just a bit. D.C. not expected to fall into the 30s overnight, but should get down closer to our seasonal average. Low temperatures fall to about 43 degrees tonight, which is right where we should be for this time of year. Satellite and radar not showing you much. Last of the high thin clouds went down to the south not that long ago. There's perhaps a wispy one or two out there across the area, but not too much of concern. Off to the north, just a few passing showers through New York and parts of the interior northeast. No sign of any trouble in the short term region wide. Low pressure to the north up near the Great Lakes, steering up some warmth for the day tomorrow, along with high pressure keeping us calm. That cold front won't make it here, however, will stall across parts of the region and become train tracks, essentially, for what another storm will develop on later this week that could be a little bit more impactful and will have a major impact in terms of how temperatures will switch around by the weekend. We'll talk more about that coming up. 70 degrees, your high temperature tomorrow. Really nice day. A plus. And if that's an A plus your Veterans Day, B plus to A minus there with clouds increasing through the afternoon. But temperatures still pretty pleasant at 67. Good weather right through Veterans Day. We'll talk about that late-week system, though, coming up in just a bit. Stick around. Kenneth? All right, Mike, see you in a bit. A scare at a D.C. synagogue. Police say a man armed with a loaded gun tried to enter during Shabbat services over the weekend. That's why Shamari Stone has the story from Northwest. Tonight, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington says, although there is no specific threat against the Jewish community, what happened behind me here in the synagogue is concerning. Tonight, D.C. police telling us they responded here to the Washington Hebrew Congregation on the 3900 block of Macomb Street Northwest for the report of that suspect with the loaded gun around 10.15 Saturday morning. Detectives say 32-year-old Tyler Finn from Lynchburg, Virginia, tried to enter the synagogue with the gun when it alerted the security guard's metal detector wand. According to court documents, when officers questioned Finn about his reason for carrying He allegedly admitted the firearm was unregistered, stated he. he brought the weapon due to safety concerns for himself and occupants based on recent news reports. Tonight, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington releasing a statement that says in part, quote, this incident underscores the importance of a strong coordinated culture of security across our community. We encourage community members to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to local law enforcement. That individual was prevented from committing what could have been A mass atrocity. But here's where the system is still broken. It's still broken when an individual, for whatever reason, and we haven't confirmed the motive for why this individual was packing so much heat. And tonight, Tyler Finn is facing charges such as carrying a pistol without a license. I'm Shamari Stone here in Northwest. Back to you. Also new tonight, two people in custody after the driver slammed into multiple parked vehicles in southeast D.C. A few details at this hour, but this was the scene along 6th Street and Capitol Hill just before 5.30 p.m. D.C. police say two suspects were arrested for unauthorized use of a vehicle. No word if there will be more charges. No one was hurt. The defense has rested its case in the murder trial of Naresh Bhat. The Manassas Park man accused of killing his wife, Momta Koppel, took the stand a final time today. Last week, he testified he cut up his wife's body after he found her dead from suicide. Bhat claims he panicked and disposed of the body because he feared he would be blamed. Because, you know, like I wasn't very kind with her. I was unkind. And then that is the one situation lead her to suicide. That's why I feel like, you know, one way or the other, I was one of the factor lead to suicide. Do you regret that? A lot. The case could go to the jury before the end of the week. The search is on to find a murder suspect in Montgomery County. 34-year-old Ibrahim Diabate is accused of attacking Christopher Schuller a week ago on Elkin Street in Wheaton. Investigators say the suspect stabbed the victim multiple times. Still no word on the motive. A federal judge rejected 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 can't be refiled. The law makes it illegal for people to carry within 100 yards of sensitive public places like schools, parks, houses of worship, and courthouses. The county is still facing another lawsuit from a Silver Spring Jewish center. A University of Maryland freshman and her mother detained by ICE after reporting for a check-in. Maria Flores Garcia was the 2026 valedictorian at Parkdale High School in Prince George's County. She's studying public health at UMD on scholarship. Garcia's boyfriend says she went with her mother to an immigration check-in last week in Baltimore and both were detained. It's obviously very hard for the moment for the family. I've been trying to just stay as the most composed one, you could say, most calmed one, and just been trying to help out the family that's detained and the family that is here outside as well. Garcia's boyfriend says she and her mother are in an immigration facility in Louisiana. ICE hasn't responded to our request for comment. An outgoing House Republican pushing for the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Vocal Trump critic Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced eight articles accusing Hegseth of kidnapping a foreign leader in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He's also accused of suppressing free speech and violating war powers on Iran. The reality is we're not indicting him for being bad at his job. In fact, he was very effective at killing school children in Iran. He was very effective at extrajudicial killings. There's no argument in these impeachment articles that he's ineffective. The argument here is that he's broken laws and he's violated the Constitution. We're not worried about that. I'll tell you this. Actually, I hope all of you will join us. We're going to do a press conference tomorrow morning at the Pentagon on that very topic. So I'll save my remarks there. I hope you'll all come voted prepared with your questions The House must take up the vote within the next two days. A new promotional website for President Trump's arch near Arlington National Cemetery. The Trump administration launched it after the National Capital Planning Commission approved the 250-foot structure last week. A federal judge later blocked construction for another two weeks amid legal challenges. Dozens of incoming members of Congress flooded the halls of the Capitol today for orientation. The majority of the freshmen are Democrats after the major sweep in the midterms. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is hoping to be re-elected to Majority Leader alongside House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. But some Democrats believe they haven't done enough to stand up to President Trump. We need fresh leadership in the Senate. Whether it's fair or not, Chuck Schumer is seen as a more divisive figure by many people. And I think we need somebody who's gonna bring us together. Frankly, if they go far enough to the left, that makes it harder for them to come back and try to win the presidential campaign. Another top priority for Democrats will be Investigating the president, his family, and his administration. When we come back here at 11, more on the incoming Democratic majority in Congress and what it could mean for bringing the new FBI headquarters to Prince George's County. A 14-year-old allegedly captured behind the wheel speeding in Leesburg. Police say they stopped the child around 1 a.m. yesterday going more than 80 miles per hour on the Leesburg bypass. The officer quickly figured out the teen didn't have a driver's license. That teen was charged with reckless driving, but no other details were given because of the age. A dangerous turn of events in Fairfax County. A driver suspected of drunk driving just happened to slam into the police cruiser of a DWI officer. Fox 5's Josh Hosenthal is in McLean with the details and a reminder as the holidays approach. Drunk driving is a problem year-round, and that is especially true over the holidays. More on that in a sec. First, though, let's talk about this crash from over the weekend. Every single drunk driving crash, fatality, injury, and arrest is 100% preventable. When you have somebody crashing into the back of a lit cruiser is even more telling of how impaired somebody is on our shared roadways. Fairfax County police say they arrested Pedro Hockholm of Arizona early Sunday morning a little after 4 a.m. According to investigators, Hockholm slammed into an unoccupied marked cruiser with full emergency equipment activated on southbound I-95 near Fairfax County Parkway in Springfield. At the time, the officer... Who happens to be assigned to the DWI squad was out conducting a traffic stop. Thankfully, despite the damage to the vehicle, no one was hurt. Meanwhile, officers are now reminding everyone to drive sober, and they aren't the only ones. Tonight, we spoke with Kurt Erickson. He's the president of the non-profit Washington Regional Alcohol Program. They run the popular Sober Ride Program, which gives free rides to would-be impaired drivers on some holidays. Erickson said they just gave out 2,000 rides over Halloween. He expects to do the same in the coming months, especially with Christmas and New Year's approaching. 30% of all traffic deaths in this country involve drunk drivers. Here in the greater Washington area, that's 23%. So we're way below the national average in a positive way. And I've got to believe that because people have a high knowledge about alternatives to drunk driving. But again, to lick this problem, people are going to have to take advantage of those alternatives. Police say Hockholm was released from jail. An attempt to reach him was not immediately successful. Improperly thrown out fireworks started a massive fire, house fire in Loudoun County. Investigators say they were put in the trash near the corner of the home last night on Equine Trail Court in Chantilly. Five family members escaped. No one was hurt. Alexandria City Public Schools preparing for snow days. Four traditional snow days this school year after none were built into last year's calendar. The district will also use a color-coded system to communicate when snow, ice, or extreme cold impacts. Arrival and dismissal times. Meteorologist Mike Thomas is here and we know preparation is key for these school districts, Mike. Yeah, they absolutely are, and you've got to prepare. I mean, look at last year, right? We didn't have too much for much of the winter, and then suddenly Snowcrete, and we were in a lot of trouble, especially given how Snowcrete was in the D.C. region, right? Not something, and look, I've lived here just about my whole life. Not something that we see almost ever, that amount of ice and that amount of cold beyond a storm like that. So tough with the snow preps, and we're watching for this winter, which should be a very different winter, but maybe we can get one memorable storm out of it, and if so, snow preps will certainly be needed and perhaps some snow days for the kids as well. Right now, still track and fall for you with high color or peak color moving in to the immediate D.C. area. Past peak across the mountains and quickly working its way eastward, In other words, though I will say, comparison Compared to previous years, mostly because of how dry and how quiet the recent pattern has been, we haven't had a lot of storms that have come by to knock those leaves off the trees. So colors have lasted a lot longer this fall compared to how they typically do. So hopefully everybody's been enjoying them. Live look, can't see any of the colors in the darkness there, though the streets are aglow tonight across Rockville, Maryland. 51 degrees right now. That's down at Reagan National Airport. Dew points down in the 30s. Winds are finally lightening up, and as they continue to do that, Temperatures are going to continue to fall. Look at the suburbs already. 40s out there, a lot of them. Frederick actually came up. You had 38. Now you've bubbled back up to 40 on me for the 11 o'clock hour. Culpeper right there with you. Martinsburg, Winchester, Cumberland, all at 41. So even though last hour we had 30s on the map, we now no longer have any 30s on the map. But there will be a lot more of them as we head towards tomorrow morning. Fredericksburg, 42. Leviton, 43. DC and Annapolis hanging on the 51 degrees right now, but we, too, will join them in the 40s overnight. And then there's all those 30s north and west of town, Martinsburg, Dulles, Gaithersburg, all in the upper 30s, Hagerstown, the 36. Everyone's still above freezing, and shockingly, Dulles, who... Typically gets their first day at freezing, or first morning at freezing, I should say, during the latter part of October. They have still not hit that freezing mark. We do think that changes as we head towards this upcoming weekend. Nothing on satellite radar tonight. A couple of passing clouds tomorrow. Sunny, bright, mild conditions return. High temperatures right around 70 here in D.C. 69 Gaithersburg, maybe 71 Fredericksburg, 72 Culpeper, 68 Hagerstown. That is not a bad day for the 10th of November. Heading into Veterans Day then, maybe a touch cooler and the reason why, we'll see clouds kind of increase throughout the day. We'll start with lots of sun, but as the day goes on, storm system from the west will be on approach. It'll put a cap on some of these daytime high temperatures, but that's still not bad at all for your veterans on Veterans Day there. And we do expect that the day will be dry. Now, as we look Wednesday into Thursday, tracking this storm system, which caused the buzz this weekend, because several models with it had it changing from rain to snow and putting down some snow here in the D.C. region You'll see here, most models now do not say that's the case. It looks like it'll be more of a chilly rain here in Washington as we get into the morning hours of your Thursday. This one might be missing, say, a little bit, like I would expect a little bit more precip than what this model is showing. But we're still kind of on the warm side of the storm before it kind of swings through the mid-Atlantic region throughout the day on Thursday. We'll deal with a lot of clouds and the occasional rain showers coming across. Thank you very much. Cooler air gets dumped down behind the storm in some parts of, say, upstate New York, interior New England, high elevations through Pennsylvania, and even our own mountains out to the west may see that rain transition over to the first. Decent snowfall of the year for many of these locations and the first accumulating snow for some of our mountains out to the west. We do not expect that D.C. will see any accumulations. Do we have a chance at flakes flying? Maybe if this storm hangs out on Friday long enough, winds come right off the Great Lakes, we could get some flurries off the Great Lakes. I wouldn't rule that out. But as far as accumulating snow, that should stay just to the highlands out to the west of town. Then for the next couple of days, back to it. Well, I'll remind you, before we start talking snow, nice weather heading our way for the next couple. 70 there Tuesday, 67 Wednesday. We'll track that storm with some showers and then much chillier temperatures. Look at your weekend. Highs only in the lower 50s, some suburbs in the 40s. Get this weather, Kenneth. You are going to need it. Just a little too excited about snow. How many times did Mike Thomas say the word snow just now? Thanks, Mike. Some familiar faces are getting ready to take flight at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Seven new balloons are joining the lineup, including Bluey, Hello Kitty, and Snoopy's cool alter ego, Joe Cool. Bluey stands more than 47 feet tall, roughly the height of a five-story building. The New York City Parade is celebrating its 100th anniversary. We'll When we return here at 11 a new state-of-the-art concourse opening at Dulles International Airport. We're getting a look ahead of the first flight tomorrow. be right We're back with Maryland Democrats reportedly reviving efforts to get the new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt back on track. back. The Washington Business Journal reports Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela also Brooks and Representative Glenn Ivey plan to use their new budget power in January's democratically controlled Congress. The Trump administration scrapped the Greenbelt project. A federal judge has blocked a move to the Reagan Building, which is being appealed. More progress on the Purple Line. Crews have been framing the walls for the mezzanine level in Silver Spring. Montgomery County's Department of Transportation is now working on more improvements, including expanding sidewalks and creating more walking routes to make that area more accessible. The long-delayed project is set to open by the end of next year. Dulles International unveiled its new state-of-the-art Concourse E today. The 435,000-square-foot space has 14 gates, expanded seating areas, and upgraded restrooms. There's also new dining and retail, including a brewery and distillery. It's a wonderful day for Dulles Airport. It's really good for the airport and for the region. We're adding 14 narrow-body gates, 7 wide-body gates. You can see as you look around, the hold rooms are large, the walkway is large, 15 new concessions. This is the foundation of the transformation of Dulles Airport. We have $22 billion worth of work committed here at Dulles Airport over the next 7 to 15 years. Everything that we build from here on out is really going to look like this. The first flight out of the new concourse, tomorrow. East Potomac Park and its golf course could close as soon as Sunday. Tonight, golfers are trying to get another federal judge to block the shutdown. As Trump tries to make over the historic course, his administration claims there is an unsafe seawall. Opponents also argue the closure of Ohio Drive and Haynes Point is unnecessary and could clear the way for Trump's takeover. A federal judge intends to appoint a special master to investigate possible ethical violations by DOJ lawyers. The D.C. Council welcome 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. When we come back, something very unlikely happened during an NBA game. Then it happened again. You'll see for Look for yourself after the break. Oh, look at this, a pair of unexpected shots from two Cleveland Cavaliers fans. During a timeout Friday night, one fan hit that half-court shot to win $10,000. Then moments later,