(Updated at 4:25 p.m. on 3/28/2024) Fairfax County police have arrested an Arlington man who allegedly shot two women, including his wife, at a day care center in West Springfield.
Officers were dispatched to the West Springfield KinderCare at 8518 Bauer Drive at around 2:14 p.m., according to the police scanner on Open MHz.
“Right now, all we have is an unknown suspect shooting outside, still trying to get more,” the dispatcher said.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police believe Julio Pascual Sejas, 41, of Arlington, approached the day care center in an attempt to speak to his wife, who works there, Fairfax County Police Department Deputy Chief Brooke Wright said at a press conference around 5:15 p.m.
When she declined to open the front door, Sejas fired three shots through the door, hitting his wife and another employee of the day care, Wright says. Both women were transported to a hospital with injuries determined to be not life-threatening.
There were more than 70 children inside KinderCare at the time of the shooting, but none of them witnessed it or appear to even have registered that it happened, according to Wright. The children were evacuated to the West Springfield District Police Station (6140 Rolling Road), where they have all now been reunited with their parents or guardians.
“I’m so relieved that kids were not harmed today, because we are talking too much about kids and gun violence that’s happening,” Wright said. “We want parents to know that we’re going to be protecting children as best we can.”
The FCPD announced at 6:37 p.m. that Sejas has been arrested. Detectives had obtained warrants charging him with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and three counts of shooting into a school building.
The arrest occurred within three hours of detectives obtaining the warrants. According to a news release from the FCPD, detectives found Sejas at Dulles International Airport, where “he was attempting to pick up family members who were arriving in Virginia.”
At the earlier press conference, Wright said no protective order was sought against Sejas “to my knowledge,” but the nature of his relationship with his wife is still under investigation. He is currently in custody without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
KinderCare offers day care and after-school programs for kids ranging from toddlers to 12 years old, including programs that are available during school breaks.
Image via Google Maps
