Fairfax County Police believe the same four men are responsible for assaulting and robbing two Burke residents at different locations, around 2 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 23. Photo courtesy of Fairfax County Police
When Enas Ibrahim, her neighbor and other parents took their children to the bus stop in Burke on Friday morning, Sept. 23, they were greeted by Fairfax County Police cruisers in addition to the school bus.
Ibrahim lives in Keene Mill Woods II, a cozy community of condominiums she and her neighbor described as very safe. With the Rolling Valley Mall shopping plaza just around the corner at Old Keene Mill and Shiplett Blvds, they said there’s a healthy police presence.
But on that Friday morning around 2 a.m., Fairfax County Police said four armed suspects forced entry into a home in the 6300 block of Birch Leaf Court, took property, and assaulted a 28-year-old man with a machete.
The suspects fled and the victim was taken to a hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The same four suspects, police believe, then broke into a residence in the 6300 block of nearby Fenestra Court, assaulted a 62-year-old man with a machete and fled on foot to a waiting vehicle.
That victim also sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
“Police are always around,” Ibrahim said, waiting with other parents to pick up their children at an intersection near where the first crime allegedly occurred.
“It never happens, anything like that.”
Major Crimes Division detectives are investigating the cases, which police said are related. The two victims, acquaintances, were targeted. As such, detectives say there’s no threat to public safety from the machete-wielding group.
Despite police saying all the suspects were clad in black clothing and wearing masks, they reported three of them were described as Hispanic, in their twenties, five-and-a-half feet tall, and weighing around 160 pounds.
The final suspect was described as a light-skinned African American in his twenties, six feet tall and weighing around 200 pounds.
Ibrahim said after dropping their children off, she and the other parents went home to an email from their community association with a brief report from police.
Each night since then, she said, everyone in the neighborhood has kept their outdoor lights turned on.
As of going to print, FCPD spokesperson 2nd Lt. Brian Gaydos said there are no updates on the cases and detectives with the Major Crimes Division are continuing their investigations.
Anyone with information about either crime is encouraged to contact Detective Smit at 703-246-7800 or you may also contact Crime Solvers of Fairfax County by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), via web-based email at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or, text “TIP187” plus your message* to CRIMES (274637). Tipsters who provide their information through Crime Solvers are eligible for a cash reward of $100 to $1,000 if their information leads to an arrest. Tipsters remain anonymous and never have to give their names or appear in court.