Countywide

A 63-year-old Springfield man died Sunday (April 3) from injuries sustained after a car struck him while he was in a median, Fairfax County Police Department said today (Thursday).

An Annandale man was driving a 2020 Hyundai Elantra around 1 p.m. March 28 on Franconia Road West in Springfield when he ran a red light, entered an intersection, and struck a Ford F-150 that was traveling north on Loisdale Road, police said.


Countywide

Defamation Trial Over Domestic Violence Op-Ed Starts Next Monday — “Johnny Depp, 58, and Amber Heard, 35, who were briefly married from 2015 to 2017, are set to begin their long-anticipated defamation trial with jury selection that day. The trial is expected to last through the end of May, and the case has drawn national and international attention.” [Inside NoVA]

D.C. Area TV News Anchor Dies — “For decades, Bruce Johnson’s voice could be heard emanating from TV sets around the Washington region, delivering the day’s news with both gravitas and humor. Johnson, who spent 44 years at local CBS affiliate WUSA9, died of heart failure Sunday morning, according to the station.” [DCist]


Countywide

Where to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day — “St. Patrick’s Day is always an exciting time in the National Capital Region so find fun St. Patrick’s Day events and things to do in Fairfax County, VA and the rest of Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Whether you’re looking for a quaint local Irish pub to relax in, or a rowdy Irish party to join, you’re bound to find our list of suggestions below a useful St. Patrick’s Day guide to Irishness!” [Visit Fairfax]

No Charges Against Officer in Lorton Shooting — “The commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County, Virginia, isn’t going to file charges against the police officer who shot a man in a van in Lorton last month. Michael Vaughan, 34, was shot Feb. 15 in a van on Fitt Court while he was holding a rifle.” [WTOP]


Countywide

A driver hospitalized by a three-vehicle crash in McLean last Wednesday (March 9) has died, the Fairfax County Police Department confirmed today (Monday).

Karla Boggess, a 62-year-old resident of Berryville, is the first person killed in a vehicle crash in the county this year who wasn’t a pedestrian, according to police. At this time in 2021, there had been one non-pedestrian fatality.


Countywide

Fairfax County police have charged a 31-year-old Falls Church man with the Feb. 21 fatal shooting in Centreville.

Officers said Richard Kenneth Pearson IV went to the townhome in the London Towne area on the night that Amaru Amin Shabazz, 37, was killed. Police said Pearson was there to visit someone who lived there.


Countywide

Authorities have released the identity of a 59-year-old man who was killed in a Lorton townhouse fire on Feb. 26.

Charles Ngeh was in the bedroom of the townhouse in the 9100 block of Aspenpark Court when the fire broke out.


Countywide

FCPS Will Start COVID-19 Rollback Plan Tomorrow — Masks will be optional for both students and adults, including staff and parents, in Fairfax County Public Schools after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its health metrics so that the county is now considered to have low transmission. FCPS said on Friday (Feb. 25) that masks would be optional for students, as ordered by a state law, but still mandatory for adults. [FCPS]

Judge Calls TJ Admissions Discriminatory — The Coalition for TJ on Friday (Feb. 25) won its lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board over changes to admissions process for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The judge found that the shift from a standardized test to “experience” factors was done in a way discriminatory to Asian applicants. The school system intends to appeal. [The Washington Post]


News

Fairfax County’s late summer, Delta variant-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases may have plateaued with fall’s arrival, but an uptick in deaths over the past week suggests the full toll of the pandemic’s most recent wave is only just starting to emerge.

The county has reported 10 deaths from the coronavirus in the past seven days, including one person who died today (Monday), according to Virginia Department of Health data.


News

It took approximately half an hour for the police motorcade escorting the body of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss to travel the 20-mile stretch of I-66 from Gainesville to the I-495 interchange in Merrifield.

Along the way, the procession encountered dozens of Fairfax County police officers, firefighters, and residents who gathered on and under overpasses yesterday (Friday) afternoon to honor Knauss, one of 13 American servicemembers killed in the Aug. 26 bombing at Kabul’s airport during the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.