Alexandria police were busy on Monday night into Tuesday morning, dealing with two violent assaults.
At 1:20 a.m. police were called to the 1200 block of N. Quaker Lane to respond to a report of people fighting with machetes. Officers found two victims, a 22-year-old city resident and a 24-year-old male Fairfax County resident in the parking lot. One victim had severe bruising of the face and ribs and the other had a cut on one hand. One victim was transported to Inova Alexandria Hospital where he was treated and reported to be in good condition and the other victim refused treatment.
The victims told police that they were attacked by about 20 black and Hispanic males who beat them with baseball bats. The victims told police that one of the suspects pointed a shotgun at them. The suspects were reportedly driving a white Acura, a white Geo Tracker and a maroon Caprice.
A few minutes later, police spotted a white Acura at Glebe Road and Commonwealth Avenue. Officers stopped the car and identified the two occupants as having been involved in the assault.
The suspects, Jose Duran, a 35-year-old Falls Church resident, was charged with malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding and two counts of brandishing a firearm. The second suspect, a 15-year-old Fairfax County male, was charged with two counts of malicious wounding and one count of criminal gang membership.
“The victims were very lucky,” said Capt. John Crawford, a spokesperson for the Alexandria Police Department. “Their injuries could have been much worse considering the weapons that were being used. This was clearly gang related.”
Police are continuing to look for the remaining suspects.
At 4:32 a.m. the same morning, police were called to the 1200 block of Wythe Street to investigate shots being fired. Officers found two men suffering from gunshot wounds. The victims, a 25-year-old male city resident, who was shot in the upper torso, and a 23-year-old male Fairfax County resident who was shot in the shoulder, were transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital.
“Our victim who was shot in the torso is now in critical but stable condition,” Crawford said. “The other victim has been released. When paramedics first got to the scene, they weren’t sure the one victim was going to survive but the hospital says that he should recover.”
Police are interviewing potential witnesses but no suspect description is available.