It was a historic week in Alexandria.
Alexandrians overwhelmingly helped reelect U.S. Senator Mark Warner and Congressman Don Beyer, and 80% of voters chose Democrat former Vice President Joe Biden for president over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump.
Alexandria Police are investigating two incidents of gunfire over the weekend.
The first incident occurred at around 3 a.m. on Halloween morning in the 300 block of S. Reynolds Street in the Landmark area. Multiple shots were fired in a parking lot.
What an intense week in Alexandria.
Our top story was on the massive power outages that affected tens of thousands of residents on Friday, October 23. Without providing specifics, Dominion Energy told City Council this week that outages in Alexandria and Arlington were “unique,” and caused by a piece of equipment that failed at its Glebe Road substation. City Councilors responded that there have been at least eight outages since May.
Virginia State Police have identified the 27-year-old suspect who died in a shootout with Alexandria police in Old Town North on Monday, October 26.
Michael K. Nelson of Fairfax County was found dead with a stolen firearm near the intersection of Montgomery Street and North Fairfax Street, according to Virginia State Police. His alleged accomplice, 26-year-old Mitchell Thompson, later turned himself in and was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
No one was injured after shots were fired near the Braddock Road metro station on Monday night (October 26), according to the Alexandria Police Department.
The incident occurred at around 9 p.m. in the 700 block of North West Street. The area is near public housing, the Braddock Road Metro station and a number of local businesses.
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating two armed robberies that occurred over the weekend.
At around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 23, a male juvenile was robbed of personal belongings in the 3400 block of Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray. The victim was not injured and police did not provide information on the suspect or if a weapon was involved.
Alexandria Police are investigating the shooting of two people in separate incidents over the weekend in Alexandria.
A juvenile was shot in the leg on Friday night, October 23, in the 1800 block of Diagonal Road in Old Town, according to police. The teenage victim was taken to the hospital by his mother, and police found shell casings at the scene.
An Alexandria woman turned herself in after claiming to have fired a warning shot at a man on Sunday, September 27.
The incident occurred at around 8 p.m. in a parking lot of the Fields Apartments (4309 Duke Street). Police received multiple 911 calls and found a single bullet casing on the ground.
It’s the end of a busy week in Alexandria.
Once again, crime and public safety stories were the most read on ALXnow.
Alexandria has seen an 18% overall surge in crimes against people and property so far this year, according to Part I crime statistics recently released by Alexandria Police.
There has also been a 47% increase in car thefts, a 19% rise in thefts overall and a 15% rise in felonious assaults.
Alexandria has seen a spike in the number of shots fired calls over the last two months, and police are asking the public for help.
“While there is no acceptable level of gun crime, we are especially concerned about recent incidents in which conflicts between people have escalated to the use of firearms,” Police Chief Michael L. Brown said in a statement. “As we continue to make progress in these cases, we ask for the public’s help in providing any available information.”
