All seven suspects believed to be connected to a gun store robbery in Newington have been taken into custody, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced today (Friday).
Four suspects were seen on surveillance footage ramming a stolen vehicle into Dominion Defense in the early morning of Sept. 18, gaining access and emerging with 14 stolen firearms — a “brazen crime,” Davis said at a press conference this morning.
The same gun store was previously targeted in May 2023. The theft of 53 firearms ultimately resulted in prison sentences for two men who pleaded guilty to the crime.
But the Sept. 18 theft was only one act in a violent crime spree tied to the suspects, police said.
The seven suspects, five of them juveniles, engaged in a variety of crimes throughout the month — almost all involving the use of a firearm, according to police.
In some form, the group is believed to be connected to an armed robbery at Springfield Town Center (Sept. 7), a shooting in Lorton (Sept. 18), shots fired into two residences in Springfield and Lorton (Sept. 19 and 21), an abduction and robbery in Reston (Sept. 20) and a robbery in Hybla Valley (Sept. 22).
“These crimes not only involved guns but savage behavior,” FCPD Criminal Investigation Bureau Commander Elizabeth Melendez said.
There is a trend of juveniles targeting gun stores for theft, according to Anthony Spotswell of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“It’s not isolated to just Fairfax County, it’s happening around the country,” he said. “… It’s just a matter of continually educating our firearms licensees.”
As of Friday, eight of the stolen firearms have been recovered, Davis said. All of the suspects remain incarcerated.
