Fairfax County police are charging a man who allegedly pulled out a gun at Springfield Town Center this past weekend, prompting the mall to be evacuated.
Officers responded to the 6600 block of Springfield Mall at 7:04 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 17) after detectives were alerted to a weapons call.
“The complainant stated that a known suspect brandished a firearm inside a store after an argument,” the Fairfax County Police Department said in a press release today (Tuesday). “Officers cleared the mall and directed several businesses to shelter in place as a precaution.”
According to scanner traffic, initial reports indicated that a gun might have been fired in a “domestic-related” incident involving two men and a woman near the entrance to Burlington and Nordstrom Rack.
However, police later found no evidence that a gun had been discharged. Detectives “quickly” identified the person who brandished the gun as a 23-year-old man from Maryland, the FCPD said.
The man turned himself in at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center yesterday (Monday) and was served a warrant charging him with brandishing a firearm, a misdemeanor in Virginia punishable with up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
Brandishing can be elevated to a felony if it occurs on school property.
The man currently remains in custody after an arraignment this morning. He’s next scheduled to appear in Fairfax County General District Court for a bond hearing at 8:31 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), followed by an adjudicatory hearing on March 3.
