Man charged with firing gun at Woodlawn Shopping Center

An apparent dispute between a customer and the employees of a nightclub in Woodlawn took a dangerous turn last weekend, police say.

Officers were dispatched to Club One in Woodlawn Shopping Center (8786 Richmond Highway) at 12:58 a.m. on Sunday (Oct. 13) after a caller reported a man brandishing a gun, according to the police scanner .

The responding officers said they found evidence of as many as seven gunshots on the building’s exterior, but no injuries were reported.

“Officers determined that the suspect discharged his gun, striking a commercial building after a dispute with employees,” the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release yesterday (Wednesday). “The suspect then fled before officers arrived and no one was injured.”

The FCPD says Juan Cruz Cruz, 19, was identified as the suspect. The department describes him as an “Alexandria” resident, but court records list his address as Woodbridge.

Cruz Cruz was arrested at Woodbridge Shopping Center around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, per scanner traffic. Police say a firearm was found at the scene.

Cruz Cruz has been charged with five counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling, five counts of discharging a firearm in public, use of a firearm while committing a felony and attempted malicious wounding.

After an arraignment on Tuesday (Oct. 15), he’s being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2025, according to Fairfax County General District Court records.

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