Maryland

Revisit the Most-Read Stories of 2022 in DC, Maryland and Virginia

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One thing's for sure: 2022 didn't start quietly. The year started off with a major shock on the roadways for hundreds of drivers. Here’s a look back at the most-read stories on NBC Washington from 2022.

Drivers Stuck on Frozen I-95 for Over 24 Hours

The past year did not start smoothly for a number of drivers on Interstate 95. A major snowstorm left snow and ice packed onto the road, which caused crashes between multiple trucks just a few days into January.

The backup that followed stretched for 50 miles, trapping dozens of travelers -- including Sen. Tim Kaine -- on the road for more than 24 hours. Drivers ran out of food, water and even gas, and were unable to access restrooms. Some parents worried for the lives of their children in the plummeting temperatures.

Eventually, the Virginia Department of Transportation crews and local first responders were able to get people out of their cars and off I-95.

Drivers were stuck on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, for more than 15 hours after multiple trucks crashed amid a major snowstorm. News4 has team coverage.

Multiple People Killed in Shootout at Maryland Manufacturing Plant

In June, a gunman opened fire at the manufacturing facility where he worked in western Maryland, killing three men and critically injuring a fourth.

The suspect then fled the scene of that shooting in Smithsburg, and got into a shootout with a Maryland state trooper about five miles south of the plant.

One witness, Smithsburg resident Harleigh Routzahn, said she heard between 15 and 20 shots fired off before the suspect was injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. The state trooper was also taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

“This stuff is not normal around my hometown,” Routzahn said tearfully. “It’s not. Like, my neighbors’ kids were out front. They could have been shot.”

The shooting was, at the time, one of over 250 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archives. The organization collects data from thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country and counts as a mass shooting an incident with four or more victims.

Three people died and one person was critically injured in a shooting at a manufacturing facility in Smithsburg, Maryland, authorities say. The suspect was captured after a shootout with a state trooper several miles away. News4's Darcy Spencer reports.

5 Fetuses Found in Home of Anti-Abortion Activist Lauren Handy

In March, D.C. police officers said they found five fetuses inside the Capitol Hill home where an anti-abortion activist lives. Police went to 28-year-old Lauren Handy's basement apartment in the 400 block of 6th Street SE to investigate a tip about potential biohazard material at the house, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.

The medical examiner's office collected the fetuses, and police investigated. No further information was available about the fetuses, including where they came from.

Handy was one of nine anti-abortion activists charged with federal civil rights offenses after they blocked access to a reproductive health center and streamed it on Facebook, federal prosecutors said.

In a statement on her Facebook page, Handy said the fetuses were named and given a funeral mass.

Police found five fetuses in an anti-abortion activist’s Capitol Hill home. News4's Derrick Ward has the latest on the investigation.

Woman Pepper-Sprayed Man Taking Photos of His Own Children

In April, police were looking for a woman who pepper-sprayed a man taking photos of his own children in Arlington, Virginia.

The woman believed the man didn’t know the children and reported him to a security officer in the area of the Pentagon City mall. The security officer spoke with the man and learned he was photographing his own children. The woman then pepper-sprayed the man and ran away, police said.

Arlington police tried to identify the woman. She was wanted for allegedly causing malicious injury by a caustic agent.

Whether someone is sitting, standing or lying on their side when swallowing pills can make a major difference in the amount of time it takes for the medicine to start working, researchers at Johns Hopkins University say. News4's Doreen Gentzler reports.

Study Finds Body Position Makes Difference in How Fast Medicine Begins to Work

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore made a fascinating discovery in 2022: Posture and body position can make a major difference in how quickly medicine takes effect.

"It really kind of blew our minds," Dr. Rajat Mittal, the lead researcher in the study, told News4 in September. "Whether you're standing straight, whether you're lying down and how you're lying down has a tremendous impact on the way a pill dissolves in your stomach."

Mittal and his team found that lying down on the right side made pills dissolve much quicker than when someone is in an upright position or lying down on their left side. The findings also apply to how food is digested.

Beloved News4 Anchor Wendy Rieger Dies

Wendy Rieger, longtime News4 anchor and reporter, died April 16 from an aggressive brain tumor just months after she retired. She was 65.

For 33 years, Rieger lit up TV screens with her vivacious personality and inspired colleagues with her sharp writing.

Wendy was always Wendy: smart, funny, compassionate and authentically herself.

In a note to the newsroom after her cancer returned, she wrote this: “As you know, I have lived my life big and loud. It is my nature. And I’ve had a blast. But a stillness has come over me that is profound and potent. I didn’t know I could be this quiet. Life is not always a test. It is a teaching. I must learn this lesson with grace. And I will.”

The News4 family honored longtime anchor, reporter and friend Wendy Rieger Wednesday. Wendy passed away from brain cancer last month. A private memorial service celebrated her incredible life and beautiful spirit. News4’s Pat Collins shares some of the service because Wendy was part of your family as well.

‘Sniper-Style’ Shooter Injures 4: DC Police

A man suspected of shooting three adults and a child April 22 in the Van Ness neighborhood of Northwest D.C. was found dead in an apartment building. 

“We believe the suspect took his own life as MPD officers were entering or breaching the apartment where the suspect was located,” Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said.

The shooting prompted a massive police response and prompted schools to lock down. Officers in tactical gear could be seen running in the area; others had their guns drawn as they evacuated residents of an apartment building on Van Ness Street NW.

The Van Ness community remains on edge since the sniper-style shooting.  In this week's recap, News4's Mark Segraves looks back at how everything unfolded and discussed some of the unanswered questions in the investigation.

Mother Charged After 4-Year-Old Boy Dies From Eating THC Gummies

A Virginia mother was charged in October with murder and child neglect after her 4-year-old son died from eating marijuana-infused gummies earlier in the year. Investigators said the woman, Dorothy Annette Clements, didn't get help soon enough for her son, Tanner, when he was found unresponsive May 6 at a home they were visiting. The boy died two days later.

Clements told police her son ate half of a CBD gummy and she called poison control and was assured he'd be OK, according to search warrant documents.

But a detective said she found an empty THC gummy jar in the house and toxicology results showed Tanner had extremely high levels of THC in his system. An autopsy found THC caused his death.

A mother in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, faces felony murder and child neglect charges after her 4-year-old son died from eating marijuana-infused gummies earlier this year. News4's Julie Carey reports.
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