Officers were called to a Dumfries apartment complex to investigate a report of shots fired early Saturday morning, according to the Prince William County Police Department.
The incident happened at Townsquare at Dumfries Apartments at around 12:59 a.m.
Police reported that a man and a female family member, both 27, were involved in a verbal altercation, which escalated.
During the encounter, police said Marcus Dandridge retrieved a gun and fired multiple rounds into the wall of the hallway inside the apartment.
There were five children, ranging in age from 11 months to five years of age, inside the apartment at the time of the shooting, police said.
The children and another woman left the apartment shortly after the shots were fired.
There were no reports of any injuries or property damage, police said.
Dandridge was arrested and charged with five counts of child neglect, one count of shooting in an occupied dwelling, one count of reckless handling and one count of brandishing.