Police to hold three community meetings on shootings

The Fairfax County Police will be holding three community meetings in the wake of three shootings that occurred within the past week in the Route 1 area.

The first meeting is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Highland Park Pool and Tennis Club at 6400 Highland Drive (see map). The second will be Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Gum Springs Community Center, which is located at 8100 Fordson Road (see map), while the third will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Rose Hill Elementary School (see map).

The Highland Park pool is just around the corner from the Midieast Studios and Reserved Barking doggie daycare, where at least three people were wounded in a shootout that occurred in broad daylight. The incident was captured on security cameras mounted at the small commercial center (videos can be seen here and here). Individuals in two cars can be seen shooting handguns multiple times before the vehicles flee the scene.

Three adults inside a Toyota sedan suffered non-threatening injuries. One man exited the vehicle in the parking lot before the car took off northbound on Telegraph Road. Police later found the vehicle on James Drive in the Fort Lyon Heights neighborhood near the Huntington Metro. Two individuals in the car were wounded.

Police are still looking for at least three people in a Mitsubishi sedan that took part in the shootout. Two men can be seen jumping out of that car on Highland Drive and shooting back toward the recording studio’s parking lot. The men then fled northbound in the car, which was found unoccupied in the Mount Vernon police district later that night.

Tuesday’s incident is the second shooting near the Midieast Studios; two men were arrested in May for a February shooting on a weekday night.

Police said they believe the shooting on Tuesday may be gang-related, and is possibly linked to two other shootings last week in the Gum Springs area. Those shootings — on Monday night and Wednesday night — left three people injured in the 3000 block of Fordson Court (see map).

The first shooting on Monday wounded two teenagers, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The shooting happened at playground and damaged some nearby vehicles.

The Wednesday shooting wounded a man near the same location. He suffered only a “graze wound,” according to police, and did not need to go to the hospital. A white SUV was said to be seen leaving the area.

Police have not said which gang or gangs they believe may be involved; typically the FCPD does not name gangs as police. The department has said they are increasing patrols in the area, and have said more details from their investigations will be shared at the community meetings.