A man is in police custody after he allegedly fired at random people Monday morning in a Germantown neighborhood, as well as a responding police officer, before leading cops on a high-speed chase into northern Virginia. The pursuit ended with a crash in Fairfax County, closing both directions of Route 7 at the Dulles Toll Road-Leesburg Pike interchange for several hours.
Virginia State Police identified the shooter as Frederick K. Njihia, 26, of Germantown. He was arrested and charged with one felony count of eluding police and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving. He's being held at the Fairfax Adult Detention Center. Montgomery County Police said Njihia will be charged with four counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault with a firearm. He will soon be extradited from Virginia.
Around 9:20 a.m., Montgomery County Police responded to the 11300 block of Hawks Ridge Terrace for the report of a man firing a rifle at people. The suspect allegedly fired multiple times at a Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission employee, striking his vehicle, as well as another man standing next to his tow truck.
Police were told the suspect had a blue Honda Civic.
A Montgomery County Police officer who was traveling along Germantown Road toward Frederick Road spotted that car. Njihia then allegedly fired at the officer's marked cruiser, flattening a front tire. That officer had an officer candidate riding with her at the time. That candidate is scheduled to start at the training academy in August, police confirmed. Neither were injured.
The officer called in the shooting and a full-scale pursuit was initiated along I-270 southbound headed toward Virginia. Virginia State Police was alerted around 9:41 a.m.
VSP positioned themselves along I-495 near the American Legion Bridge in order to safely intercept the suspect. Once Njihia did a U-turn on Route 7, a trooper administered a pursuit intervention technique (PIT) maneuver to stop him.
A cell phone video recorded by Virginia resident Spencer Deese showed the PIT maneuver used to end the pursuit.
"Oh s***!" Deese exclaimed from his balcony as Njihia lost control of his Honda, struck an exterior Jersey wall, flipped his car on its hood, and then slid to a complete stop.
Njihia was taken to INOVA Fairfax Hospital with minor injuries. No officers were hurt in the shooting or crash.
Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones tweeted photos of the two firearms found inside the Njihia's car after the wreck. One is an AR-15 style rifle and the other is some type of pellet rifle.
"These are the high powered weapons found in possession of the suspect who shot at one of my officers this morning," Jones wrote. "I am grateful she wasn’t injured and to the courageous officers who pursued him through Maryland and Virginia to place him under arrest."
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #35 tweeted that it too was thankful no officers were struck and further opined on the state of the county's public safety.
"Second time this week our members have been shot at. The violence and out-of-control crime must stop," the FOP wrote on Twitter.
The FOP was referring to a call from last Thursday. Around 1 a.m. that morning, three teenage burglary suspects allegedly shot at an undercover officer in Bethesda following a botched home break-in. One of the bullets struck the front passenger-side headrest of the unmarked pickup truck, only a few feet from where the officer was seated at the time.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) had not tweeted about the Germantown incident as of 5 p.m. Monday. Nor had any of the nine members of the Montgomery County Council.
7News spoke with Kelsey Thomas who lives two doors down from Njihia. Thomas said he happened to meet the 26-year-old for the first time on Sunday. That conversation lasted around two hours.
“He got out of his car and asked for a lighter," Thomas recalled. "He was smoking a cigarette. We were talking, trying to get to know [him] but he kept being real finicky, like shaky. Like he would look this way, look that way, and then he would respond.”
Thomas added that Njihia said he had a girlfriend, enjoyed economics, and did not express any anger or bold plans of executing violence.
“I think he did like bitcoin and stuff like that, stocks and trades. Different things like that. He seemed like he was a cool dude. He just needed a friend or someone to talk to. He said he didn’t have friends."
On Monday, Thomas was putting on his clothes and preparing to head to the grocery store when he heard the gunfire. He initially thought it was fireworks, but quickly realized it was more serious.
“The dude was shooting across the street at like two or three different people. He shot into two peoples’ houses. He was shooting at some random guy who was out on the street.”
7News knocked on the front door of the townhouse where Njihia resides. An older man answered but declined to comment.
One bullet hit a work van that was parked along Brandermill Drive. It penetrated a paint can and gas container inside, leaving quite a mess. 7News watched as the two brothers who own the van spent hours cleaning up.
At least two other vehicles in the neighborhood had visible damage, the WSSC truck, and an older-model Ford SUV.
A WSSC spokesperson described the incident as "very disturbing." They said their employee is fine and confirmed the truck was hit by multiple bullets.
A clerk at the 7-Eleven located at Frederick and Germantown Roads told 7News he observed the police officer changing a flat tire. Montgomery County Police later confirmed the tire had been struck by at least one bullet.