What a week in Alexandria. Here are some of the highlights.
The Alexandria City Council on Wednesday approved its Fiscal Year 2022 $770.7 million budget on Wednesday, and it includes a 2 cent real estate tax reduction. It’s the first time that’s happened in 15 years, and the budget also fully funds Alexandria City Public Schools’ request and includes a 1% raise for city and state employees.
Once a week, Alexandria Police are walking through Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority properties with residents.
The visits are part of an effort that launched in January to build trust between police and the mostly Black community in Old Town, which has suffered under the increase of crime during the pandemic.
A 50-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond in the city jail for allegedly firing a bullet that struck the door of a 7-Eleven near the Braddock Road Metro station.
Melvin Farmer was booked into jail on April 15 — three days after the incident — and charged with attempted malicious wounding and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He was previously convicted of six felonies, including breaking and entering, malicious wounding and being a fugitive from justice.
A 20-year-old Alexandria man faces life in prison plus 13 years for five felonies, including the murder of 47-year-old John Pope last fall in the West End.
Pope was shot to death on Sept. 30 at his home in the 5900 block of Quantrell Avenue in the Mayflower Square apartment complex. He later died at the hospital. It was the second murder (of three) that occurred in Alexandria last year.
Alexandria Police are investigating a bullet that struck the door of a 7-Eleven near the Braddock Road Metro station.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred at around 8:30 p.m., according to police. A bullet hit the door of the business at 421 E. Braddock Road.
Six Alexandria Police officers have been placed on administrative duties as an internal review continues on the in-custody death of a suspect after a chase on Tuesday night.
Multiple buildings and vehicles were hit by bullets in the 800 block of North Patrick Street on Tuesday night, and police chased the suspects all the way to Interstate 295. The driver of the vehicle crashed and then jumped over an overpass barrier and was tased by police, arrested and later died.
(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) One suspect is dead after Tuesday night’s shots fired incident in Old Town and three others are in custody after a police chase that ended in a crash on Interstate 295 in D.C.
The suspect who died has not yet been publicly identified, and neither have the other three suspects arrested. Police said that the driver crashed his vehicle on I-295 in Southeast, D.C., and then jumped over the jersey barrier and fell to Malcolm X Ave. SE.
(Updated at 12:35 a.m.) Alexandria Police shut down northbound Route 1 around Madison Street on Wednesday night after multiple buildings were struck by bullets.
The shooting occurred at around 8:40 p.m. and ended in a car chase in D.C.
A 26-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 200 block of W. Glebe Road in Arlandria on Wednesday night.
The incident, characterized as a felonious assault, occurred at around 11:30 p.m., and was reported by Alexandria police just after midnight via Twitter.
An 18-year-old Fairfax County man is under investigation for firing gunshots in the West End, and soon faces a series of court appearances on gun-and-driving-related charges.
At around 11 p.m. on November 27, gunfire was heard coming from the front-facing front floor balcony of a home in the 5400 block of Richenbacher Avenue, which is near Holmes Run and about a mile away from Inova Alexandria Hospital.
It was a cold and news-filled week in Alexandria.
It all started with the report of two public safety incidents over the weekend — a serious car crash in Old Town and another shooting in the West End.
