Neighbors on a quiet residential cul-de-sac in Oakton awoke to the sound of gunshots in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 12.
Scott Butin, of Reston was arrested and charged with murder following the shooting death of a McLean man at around 2:15 Thursday morning.
Police said Butin, 40, pulled out a gun on William Bailey, 32, after Bailey confronted Butin and a woman in front of her parents' home on James River Court in Oakton.
The home backs up to Ken Rusinski's home on Linda Marie Drive. Rusinski said he awoke to two loud popping noises in the middle of the night on Thursday not more than 200 feet from his bedroom window.
"I definitely heard two distinct gunshots," he said. "I knew instantly that it wasn't fireworks or a car backfiring."
Unaccustomed to waking up to gunshots down the street and police helicopters overhead, Rusinski and his family, including two children, have lived in their quiet tree-lined Oakton neighborhood since 1999. Rusinski said he had never experienced any problems with his neighbors whose backyard backs up to his own. "Sure, it's very unnerving for something like this to happen next door to you," Rusinski said. "You never expect something like this to happen, especially in a neighborhood like this."
POLICE ASSURED RUSINKI and other nearby neighbors that there was nothing to fear. The suspect was caught and it looked to be a domestic disturbance. "It did feel better to know that it wasn't some random thing," Rusinski said.
According to police, the suspect became involved in a domestic-related argument with Bailey, at which time Butin pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the upper chest. A Fairfax County Police helicopter medavaced Bailey to Inova Fairfax Hospital where he later died.
Police took Butin to the Adult Detention Center where he is being held without bond, a jail spokesman said. Butin was arraigned on Friday morning and charged with first degree murder. Butin will be back in court on Nov. 6.
"As it stands right now, it is basically a domestic case— ex-boyfriend, current boyfriend — the finite details will come later," said Mike Vencak, commander of the Fairfax County Police Reston Substation. "The extent of it is that one guy was shot and that is an issue. ... The victim obviously came down there, wasn't in the best of moods, was looking for some trouble, but then again that is for the Commonwealth's attorney."
Until his arrest, Butin lived at 1817 Sycamore Valley Drive in The Sycamores apartment complex near Lake Anne. Theresa Farrell is an assistant manager of the apartment complex and was visibly shaken when she heard the news that a tenant in her complex would be arrested for murder. "It's always quiet around here, nothing ever goes on," said Farrell. "I just can't believe it."
Farell said Butin had been a resident for at least two years and she said there had never been any problems with him as a tenant. Occasionally, Farell would ask him to move his motorcycle closer to his own building, but other than that, he was a model resident, she said. In fact, just a few weeks before the murder, the assistant manager helped Butin re-paint the inside of his apartment. "Oh my God," she said upon hearing the news of the murder for which Butin stands charged. "He seemed like such a regular guy. I cannot believe it. I can't believe he would do such a thing. No way, I just can't believe it."