Police have made arrests in connection to two different Springfield-area shootings earlier this month.
Suspects in both the Feb. 6 incident in the 7600 block of Cork Glen Way and a Feb. 13 incident at Springfield Town Center have been taken into custody, the Fairfax County Police Department recently announced.
A 20-year-old Alexandria man, Thomas Koroma, was arrested around 8 p.m. on Feb. 6, hours after the Cork Glen Way shooting, which left one man in life-threatening condition. He was arrested on “unrelated firearm and drug charges,” police said, but an initial investigation later connected him to the shooting.
According to FCPD Capt. Jesse Katzman, investigators believe a group of suspects may have attempted to burglarize the victim’s home before the shooting took place.
“When the victim opened the door, he was shot once to the upper body,” the FCPD said. “The suspects then exited the residence through the rear door and fled the scene.”
Initially, police detained two people identified as juveniles while canvassing the neighborhood, but they were both later released.
According to the FCPD, Koroma was tied to the Cork Glen Way shooting by his vehicle — a 2014 white Infiniti Q50 sedan that detectives determined had been used in the incident with the help of the department’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), which has access to surveillance cameras, license plate readers and other technology.
Now in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond, Koroma has been charged with malicious wounding, armed burglary and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The victim, who was shot in the head, remains in critical condition.
Man shot at Springfield Town Center
On Feb. 13, law enforcement arrested an unidentified juvenile after an adult man was shot inside Springfield Town Center around 5:34 p.m.
“Preliminarily, there was a verbal dispute between the suspect and the victim, during which the suspect produced a firearm and shot the victim,” the FCPD said in a press release.
The man was transported to a hospital with injuries described by police as non-life-threatening.
The suspect, who fled the scene, was located in the mall’s parking garage a short time later. He faces five charges, including for aggravated malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by someone under the age of 18.
During their search of the area, officers also took a second juvenile into custody for “an associated assault.” A gun was also recovered at the scene.
