Resident shoots man trying to get into his home
Fairfax County police are investigating a shooting that left a man hospitalized after he attempted to force entry into a home near Lake Barcroft.
On Jan. 15, at about 2:30 a.m., a homeowner in the 6400 block of Oakwood Drive called 911 to report an unknown man trying to get into his house, the FCPD reports.
As officers were responding, the resident remained on the line with 911 dispatchers. The man continued to force entry, and the resident discharged his firearm at him.
Officers located the man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and began performing life-saving measures. He was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Before that incident, detectives believe the man assaulted an unrelated victim at a nearby residence. The victim of the assault suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Criminal charges are pending upon completion of the investigation.
22 responses to “Resident shoots man trying to get into his home”
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WOW. I was up around that time but don’t remember hearing any police cars racing down our street.
I definitely heard the helicopter hovering/flying around 2:30 AM and thought that *something* is going on…
Lake Bancroft is too close to me for this type of thing to be going on. It doesn’t give any identifiable description of the intruder. I can’t help but wi see if this is what we have to look forward to after 20 Jan.
It’s actually closer to the Mason District Government Center off Columbia Pike, if that gives you any comfort.
Right, I’m sure the suspect was a Trump supporter.
When seconds matter, the police are minutes away.
Stay strapped !
I don’t see why criminal charges are pending — the man was on the phone with the police, told them what was happening, and the intruder forced his way into the home. The victim had a right to defend his home. Get a good lawyer. It should be an easy case.
I’m hopeful that was meant to mean that charges are pending against the intruder, not the homeowner. Hopefully 🤞
Laws are very vague in VA regarding self defense. For instance, you cannot shoot someone in defense of your home (property). There must be a reasonable threat to life. Simply trespassing is not a threat to life. I agree as long as the homeowner has a lawyer who knows how to phrase it, there shouldn’t be an issue given how the scenario unfolded. If you are a gun owner it may be worth a refresh on the current laws and, more importantly, case law which is what guides VA judgement on self defense.
Criminal charges against the intruder, who probably does not have money for a good lawyer and likely needs help with his mental illness.
@ Debbie Ross, why are you making assumptions about the mental health and financial means of the man who according to news accounts tried to intrude into two homes in the same neighborhood (the second one was where he was shot) and earlier in the day he assaulted a person in the same neighborhood?
If you need a link to the Fox 5 News Report on this individual’s alleged crimes during this one day, I could try to locate and share it.
A person could just as easily assume that this alleged criminal is an angry man who feels he has a right to victimize and inflect violent mayhem on innocent, law-abiding, people; who unfortunately for him eventually chose to victimize someone who believes in the right of self-defense instead of simply relying on “government” to protect his home and his life.
Please share any information you have to substantiate your claim this man likely can’t afford a defense lawyer (he will still have public defender, right?), and he has a mental illness and allegedly committed these crimes because American society failed to give him the treatment and support he needs.
@Joyce, I cannot blame you for your confusion. The article is poorly written. I believe what happened was that the intruder shot the homeowner. Unanswered question is whether the homeowner survived or not.
“As officers were responding, the resident remained on the line with 911 dispatchers. The man continued to force entry, and the resident discharged his firearm at him.”
I see nothing confusing about that. However, I see people who cannot read well–or will not read carefully–all over the place.
This is the most important thing to understand and remember when looking at comment sections.
I think it was George Carlin who said “Think of how intelligent the average person is, and realize half of them are even less intelligent.”
To curious: you have it backwards. It was the intruder who was shot
This seems like a very reasonable reaction to an unknown intruder. Wish we had clear laws on this to protect the home owner. There’s really nothing that justifies legal protection for the intruder. Getting shot at, possibly dying, seem like obvious risks for robbing a house. Getting arrested by police in Fairfax and sent to jail or deported … those are currently not risks criminals are thinking about.
Castle law, also known as the castle doctrine, is a legal principle that allows people to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to defend themselves against an intruder in their home. It’s a common law principle that has been expanded by many state legislatures.
The State of Virginia doesn’t have a “Castle Doctrine.” If you want a change in law to ensure your clear and unambiguous right to defend yourself and family in your home – then reach out to your state delegate and state senator asking them to support a VA law on a Castle Doctrine in VA. Otherwise be a double victim – once by an intruder and again by the State and the intruder’s lawyers in court.
@ JTR, are you in effect saying that we cannot be sure our famously strong advocate for Social Justice, Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano, will not investigate and potentially charge this homeowner with a crime for using deadly force against this intruder because the homeowner could not have reasonably feared for his life under the circumstances?
I understand and I am personally thrilled to have a Commonwealth Attorney who has focused his and his office’s attention on social justice, ending systemic racism in Fairfax County’s prosecutorial decision making, and bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to his office.
All that being said, it would seem to me that if his office seriously investigates this homeowner, let alone contemplate charging him for what he did to defend his life and his home, that this would be sufficient reason to seek Descano’s removal from office before the next regularly scheduled election in whatever way allowed by law.
If VA local and state elections were concurrent with national elections, more citizens would vote on these and many other issues. The outcomes of elections would be more representative of the broader and participatory electorate. The reason VA does not do that is because off year elections favor special interest voters, moneyed interests, and extreme partisan party activists to turn out with out the bulk of the voters in the way. I’m tired of failed, flawed and flaky state and local politicians that only care about special interest voters, moneyed interests, and extreme partisan party activists. Compromise, moderation and rational action are all concepts that are ignored by those groups (regardless of party).
The moral is defend your own & family lives first and to the finish, police and government cannot and are not ever able to do that. When the government or attorneys for the intruder’s interests comes after you, it’s your facts against a dead person that tried to kill you and your family in your own home.
Jan. 21 update from the police: “No arrests have been made yet.” The suspect is in critical but stable condition at the hospital.