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Gunshots, Police Activity In Watertown, Mass.

WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) - The sound of gunfire has been reported in Watertown, Mass., where authorities have been searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Television footage is showing emergency and military vehicles speeding through town Friday evening.

It wasn't immediately clear whether authorities had found 19-year-old college student Dzhokar Tsarnaev ((JOH'-kahr tsahr-NY'-ev).

Authorities are telling residents of the area to stay indoors.

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Older Tsarnaev brother: 'I don't understand' Americans

(USA TODAY) -- The Tsarnaev brothers -- suspects in the bombings at Monday's Boston Marathon -- were seen as modest and athletic, the kind of kids that made neighbors feel comfortable.

Photo: Bradley Cooper visits Boston bomb victim

(USA TODAY) -- He lives with his widowed mama. He advocates on behalf of those with mental illness. And now, Bradley Cooper has checked in on one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, Jeffrey Bauman Jr., who lost both of his legs below the knee.

Bauman was depicted in an AP photo that's turned iconic - the man in the wheelchair being pushed away from the finish line by a man in a cowboy hat.

The actor was accompanied by New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who tweeted a picture of from Bauman's hospital bed alongside the caption: "Visited #survivor #stud #hero Jeffrey Bauman Jr. today. He was looking great and is a true inspiration. #strong"

It was an act reminiscent of Christian Bale's meeting with victims of the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting last year.

Cooper is in Boston filming Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell's next movie, American Hustle, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Christian Bale.

Giving This Week's Victim A Lift

ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA9) -- After this extremely tough week, it's time for some good news. 

An organization in our area is offering some crucial help to the victims of Monday's Boston Marathon bombing, and the victims of Wednesday's  explosion in West, Texas, and it's something you might not even think of. 

Mercy Medical Airlift is a non-profit that offers critical flights to hospitals for free. And it's exactly that help that so many of the victims of this week's tragedies might need too. So, they're pitching in.

It's something that harpist Astrid Walschot-Strapp of Frederick, Maryland is thankful for. 

WUSA9 Probe Stops Shopping Center's Illegal Towing

Silver Spring, Md. (WUSA9) A WUSA9 hidden camera investigation has stopped an illegal towing operation at one of Montgomery County's most popular shopping centers.
"Oh, my God," exclaimed one victim in shop as she realized she'd been towed. "My van, my voyager."

For updates on this story, or if you've been towed here, contact Investigative Reporter Russ Ptacek at WUSA9, on Twitter or Facebook.

Our cameras recorded G&G tow trucks hooking up cars so quickly at Downtown Silver Spring Center, the cars' owners, a few feet away in a storefront restaurant, had no idea what happened until their cars were already on the hook.

METROPOLITAN FINE ARTS CENTER RAISES $5,000 for NEW ALLIANCE THEATRE

METROPOLITAN FINE ARTS CENTER RAISES $5,000 for NEW ALLIANCE THEATRE

 

Metropolitan Performing Arts Alliance raised $5,000 at their first Annual Benefit Concert to go toward construction of their new Alliance Theatre in Alexandria, Va. MFAC is working toward a fundraising goal of $100,000 to complete the theatre project. Visit www.metrofinearts.com for more information.

Metropolitan Youth Ballet, Metropolitan Youth Tap Ensemble and iMpulse Jazz Ensemble performed at the Metropolitan Performing Arts Alliance Benefit Concert.

“We are so grateful to the community for helping our dance companies get closer to our goal of building the Alliance Theater,” said Melissa Dobbs, executive director of the Metropolitan Fine Arts Center in Alexandria, Va.

Man Pleads Guilty To Murder Of Jewelry Store Owner

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- James Sylvester Caroline has pleaded guilty in the murder of a Columbia Pike jewelry store owner, Tommy Kim Mo Wong, officials said.

Caroline has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to three extra years for a weapons charge. The plea removed the possibility of Caroline facing the death penalty, according to officials. 

Around 5:00 p.m. on July 27, 2012, 52-year-old Tommy Wong was killed in an armed robbery at Capital Jewelers in the 3200 block of Columbia Pike Friday afternoon.