UPDATED: Dispute that led up to Tysons Corner gunfire was between D.C. ‘crews,’ police say

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) A dispute between two Southeast D.C. “crews” at Tysons Corner Center led up to the gunfire in the mall Saturday, Fairfax County police said.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Noah Settles, who turned himself into police last night (Wednesday), is associated with the Anacostia-based 37th Street Crew.

Settles, a 22-year-old also known as rapper No Savage, was with a group at the shopping center Saturday before encountering another D.C.-based “crew,” Simple City, Davis said. The former was wearing all black and the latter, all white.

“We’ve heard of these groups before in the National Capital Region,” he said. “They were both present at Tysons over the weekend in a crowded place where a lot of folks were simply going about their daily lives.”

They got into a verbal dispute before it escalated to a pushing and shoving match and Settles displayed a firearm, Davis said. A few minutes passed before Settles shot three rounds in a different location, not more than the length of a football field away from where the initial dispute was, Davis said.

“The shooting sent patrons and employees throughout the mall fleeing for the exits, others sheltered in place, and feared for the worst,” said Lt. Ryan Lazisky, Assistant Commander of the Major Crimes Bureau.

While no one was injured by the gunfire, three shoppers were injured while they attempted to flee and hide after hearing gunshots.

This evening, Noah Settles turned himself in at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Additional updates will be posted here when available, https://t.co/QsTzdpgf0U https://t.co/kkJCQCtwWg

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) June 23, 2022

Davis said they have not recovered the firearm, but anticipate in the next few days they will recover the black Cadillac Settles used to flee.

Settles has been charged with attempted malicious wounding, three counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied building, and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. According to online court records, he had an arraignment hearing scheduled this morning, and a preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 15. He is being held with no bond.

Davis said Settles is no stranger to law enforcement in D.C., Prince George’s and, now, Fairfax County.

Police don’t know exactly what caused the initial dispute.

“I can’t speak necessarily, or at least intelligently, about the nature of this conflict other than it’s young men with a lot of anger and other societal issues to contribute to where they are in life that’s not always their fault,” he said. “But they’re armed all too often and, unfortunately, in this particular case and elsewhere, the resorting to firearms to settle a petty dispute is what gets us here today.”

Davis said thankfully Tysons has made a large public safety investment in cameras, which allowed police to capture video of Settles armed with a firearm and also captured the black Cadillac leaving Tysons as well.

He said no other crime scene in his entire career had generated so many personal phone calls to him.

“Because everybody shops, everybody goes to the movies, goes to a restaurant, hangs out at the mall if you’re a teenager,” he said.

People ask him, “is Tysons safe?”

“And the answer is, ‘of course it is,'” he said. “It’s safe today it’s going to be safe tomorrow, it defines life here in the National Capital Region.”