(Updated at 5 p.m.) A 26-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond after allegedly shooting a man in the head in the West End on September 21.
Cornell Bangura was arrested on October 5, driving a maroon-colored Volkswagen Passat.
The incident occurred at around 1:15 p.m. in the parking lot at The Mason At Van Dorn Apartments at 251 S. Reynolds Street. Security video footage showed that a maroon-colored vehicle registered to Bangura pulled into the apartment complex property just four minutes before the 911 call, according to a search warrant affidavit.
A witness, who said he was cleaning his car, told police that the suspect knocked on the victim’s first floor patio window, and then saw the suspect and the victim yell at each other, according to the affidavit.
A witness told police that Bangura left the argument, walked to his car and then returned to the patio and fired five or six gunshots, according to the affidavit. The witness hid behind a trash can and said that the suspect got into a maroon-colored Volkswagen and drove away in the direction of S. Van Dorn Street.
A witness then heard the victim cry out that he was injured, and found the victim in the apartment with a handgun in his hand and a wound to his head. The victim threw down the gun when the witness walked in, and the witness drove the injured man to the hospital, according to the affidavit.
At the hospital, the victim told police that the suspect shot him “out of nowhere,” and that the apartment was not his, that it belonged to Bangura’s ex-girlfriend. After the shooting, Bangura allegedly boasted about it in text messages to the woman.
Bangura was charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and shooting into an occupied building.
NOTIFICATION: Police are in the 200 block of S. Reynolds St. for a shooting investigation that occurred around 1:15pm. Evidence was recovered. At least one person was injured. Injuries are not life-threatening. Anyone with information should call 703.746.4444. pic.twitter.com/YgCHkqWtfI
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) September 21, 2021
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