HYBLA VALLEY, Va. — Fairfax County police have charged five people and recovered seven guns after a daylight shootout between the occupants of two cars in Hybla Valley, and the department says automated license plate readers led detectives to both vehicles, one of them within about 90 minutes.
The Fairfax County Police Department said Tuesday that officers were called to the 7900 block of Janna Lee Avenue at about 4:53 p.m. on Nov. 4 after several callers reported gunshots. Witnesses told police that a black sedan and a silver sedan approached each other, that several people got out of both cars and fired at one another, and that they then drove off. Detectives recovered 24 cartridge casings and found bullet holes in a vehicle and in nearby street signs. No one was reported hurt.
Detectives concluded the shooting was “an isolated incident between individuals known to one another,” according to the department’s release.
How the cars were found
Police said witness descriptions gave detectives a starting point and that investigators then used the department’s Real Time Crime Center, “including ALPR technology and integrated cameras,” to identify the license plates of the two cars.
About 90 minutes after the shooting, officers from the Mount Vernon District’s Neighborhood Patrol Unit used plate-reader information to find one of the cars at a nearby shopping center, the department said. A search turned up a loaded handgun with an extended magazine and an AR-style pistol with an obliterated serial number.
The driver, Derrick Belizaire, 20, of Alexandria, was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm, shooting in a public place, possession of an extended magazine and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, police said. He was held without bond.
At about 5:28 p.m. on Nov. 6, a plate reader flagged the second car, according to police. A drone deployed under the department’s Drone as First Responder program located it as it pulled into a motel parking lot in the 6000 block of Richmond Highway in Belle Haven. Detectives stopped a related car leaving the motel, saw a handgun in a rear passenger’s waistband and recovered four guns, each with an extended magazine, along with a pill bottle containing narcotics, police said.
From that stop, police charged:
Jacob Terrell, 24, of Lorton, with carrying a concealed firearm, possession of an extended magazine, drug possession, possession of a weapon while possessing a Schedule I/II drug, two counts of malicious shooting, two counts of malicious shooting at an occupied vehicle, reckless handling of a firearm and shooting in a public place. He was held without bond.
Randall Terrell, 19, of South Carolina, with carrying a concealed firearm, possession of an extended magazine, two counts of malicious shooting, two counts of malicious shooting at an occupied vehicle, reckless handling of a firearm and shooting in a public place. He was held without bond.
Isaac Adu, 23, of Alexandria, the driver, who was released on summonses for carrying a concealed firearm, possession of an extended magazine and a traffic violation.
Detectives then contacted Gershon Terrell, 50, of Alexandria, who was in the motel. Police said they found more narcotics and a gun in the room; he was charged with possession of a Schedule I/II drug and released on a $2,000 unsecured bond. The department did not say whether all five people charged took part in the shooting itself, Patch noted. The charges are accusations, and none of the five has been convicted.
A pointed case for the technology
The department framed the case as an argument for the readers. By identifying specific vehicles, it said, detectives “were able to focus investigative resources on those involved, rather than relying solely on general vehicle descriptions that could lead to unnecessary stops of uninvolved motorists.” It called the result a demonstration of “the value of combining innovative technology with proactive police work.”
That argument is landing in a region that has split over the cameras. Arlington County removed all 41 of its county-leased Flock Safety cameras, 26 Falcon plate readers and 15 Condor pan-tilt-zoom cameras, after the County Board voted unanimously on Sept. 15 to drop the system and have Flock delete data not needed for active criminal investigations, ARLnow reported. Board members said the decision was driven by concerns about outside agencies’ access to the data, particularly at the federal level, rather than any misuse by Arlington police. Police Chief Andy Penn told the board the cameras had been “instrumental in solving a host of different crimes here in Arlington.” The county’s announcement of the decision is posted on its website.
In Fairfax, police told the Board of Supervisors last month that the department runs 84 Flock cameras and 714 cruiser-mounted readers and credited the system with 938 arrests since 2022; supervisors pressed on privacy and took no action, The Inquisitor reported at the time. FOX 5 and WUSA9 both noted that the Hybla Valley arrests come as neighboring jurisdictions have pulled back from the technology.
Detectives are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2. Anonymous tips can be sent through Crime Solvers of Fairfax County at 866-411-8477 or the P3Tips app.
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