By Matthew Barakat
Associated Press
WOODBRIDGE, Va. — A newly sworn-in police officer on her first shift back with her Virginia department was shot and killed Saturday and two of her colleagues were wounded in a confrontation stemming from a call about an argument.
A county leader said a civilian woman was also killed in the domestic dispute.
Officers received a call around 5:30 Saturday evening in Woodbridge, about 30 miles southwest of the nation’s capital, about a “verbal argument,” Sgt. Jonathan Perok, spokesman of the Prince William County Police Department, said. It’s not clear how the altercation between the suspect and the police began but the suspect, a military serviceman, is in custody and was not injured, he said. The condition of the other two officers is not known.
The department announced on its Facebook page that Officer Ashley Guindon had died, “as a result of her injuries sustained during the incident.”
Welcome Officers Steven Kendall & Ashley Guindon who were sworn in today & begin their shifts this weekend.Be safe! pic.twitter.com/92c2YLjcQx
— Prince William Co PD (@PWCPoliceDept) February 26, 2016
A picture of Guindon was posted to the department’s Twitter page on Friday with a tweet that read, “Welcome Officers Steven Kendall & Ashley Guindon who were sworn in today & begin their shifts this weekend. Be Safe!” It is not known if the other officer in the tweet was involved in the shooting incident.
Guindon had been a county police officer a few years ago and had left and returned to the force, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday night. He did not know the exact dates of when she started and left, he said.
Another woman was killed in the domestic call, Stewart said, but police declined to confirm that information. Stewart also said there was a child in the house during the incident who was not harmed.
Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Paul Ebert told The Associated Press Saturday night that he has authorized a capital murder charge, along with other counts, against the suspect, who has not been identified.
More than 100 patrol cars lined the roads outside Inova Fairfax Hospital early Sunday morning to stand vigil and provide escort to the medical examiner for the body Guindon.
The shooting occurred in the Lake Ridge neighborhood, on a curving street with suburban houses, lawns and sidewalks about a 5-minute drive from the county office building. The two-story homes approach a half-million dollars in value apiece, according to county tax records, each with brick and siding exteriors, four bedrooms, multiple bathrooms and two-car garages.
Until Saturday evening, the big news in the police department was the planned retirement of Chief Steve Hudson, who announced two weeks ago that he will step down at the end of March, and officers’ plans to do a “polar bear” plunge on Saturday morning to raise money for Special Olympics.
Police said the incident is still being investigated.
More than two dozen officers on scene. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/yMmgxl4Aay
— Matt Yurus (@Matt_Yurus) February 28, 2016
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press