MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Police said a call about gunfire in Germantown had an officer on the receiving end of some of the gunfire before they started pursuing the accused shooter who ended up crashing his car in Virginia Monday morning.
By late afternoon, the Montgomery County Department of Police said Frederick Njihia, 26, would face charges for the incident.
The department said emergency dispatchers received calls about a man shooting a rifle at people n the 113000 block of Hawks Ridge Terrace around 9:25 a.m. Those people included a WSSC Water worker and another man. Police said the gunfire hit the worker’s vehicle several times.
People there gave officers a description of the car in which police say Njihia left the area. A Montgomery County police officer and a police officer candidate spotted the car around Germantown and Frederick roads. That’s when Njihia supposedly opened fire on the marked police cruiser, shooting out a front a tire. The officer in the cruiser notified other police, and a pursuit started.
Officers said they followed Njihia’s car onto Interstate 270 southbound towards Virginia. They let Virginia State Police know what was happening. Troopers picked up the pursuit, eventually using a pursuit intervention technique (PIT) to bring it to an end in Fairfax County. That end included a crash which left Njihia’s car on its roof.
Spencer Deese was in the area at the time things ended and recorded video of the final moments of the pursuit. He heard all the police sirens and only started to recording to get a better view of the source of the commotion.
Police arrested Njihia and took him to the hospital to be treated for injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.
Police said they recovered a .223 rifle from the car.
The police department said Njihia will face charges of Attempted Murder (4 counts) and First-degree Assault with a Firearm. The department added he was being held in Virginia on traffic-related charges Monday and would be Njihia will be charged, via a Montgomery County criminal arrest warrant, with four counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault with a firearm. He is currently being held in Virginia for traffic related charges and will be extradited to Montgomery County.
Montgomery County Chief of Police Marcus Jones tweeted about the incident, including pictures of guns which he said police recovered from Njihia:
These are the high powered weapons found in possession of the suspect who shot at one of my officers this morning. I am grateful she wasn’t injured and to the courageous officers who pursued him through Maryland and Virginia to place him under arrest.
