Teen Arrested After Police Shooting

City of Fredericksburg Police responded to the 200 block of Greystone Court at Fall Hill Apartments May 25, to investigate reports of drug activity involving a 19-year-old resident.  Officers were shot at several times before a suspect was arrested, according to spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe.  She provided this account:

At about 8:45 p.m. Saturday officers knocked on the door of the second floor apartment and were allowed inside by the teenager’s mother, who told the officers that her son was in his bedroom.

When one of the officers looked inside the room, he saw a figure holding a long
gun. The officers retreated from the apartment to the breezeway outside, taking the mother with them for her safety.

Moments later, the subject inside the apartment opened the front door and fired one round, which went through the door of the apartment across the hallway. The suspect then closed the door and was heard moving to another position inside his apartment.

Officer Nick Wagner proceeded down the steps of the building to the ground level while Officer Chris Reyes remained with the mother at the far end of the breezeway, until it was deemed safe for her to leave.

When Wagner reached a position where he could observe the balcony of the apartment, the suspect pointed the barrel of his weapon through an open window next to the balcony and fired several shots toward the officer. As additional officers responded to the scene, the suspect fired another round at a patrol car pulling into the parking lot. Nobody was injured from the gunfire.

It was later determined that one of the rounds fired had struck a red Saturn
in the parking lot and punctured the gas tank.

Fredericksburg officers and troopers from the Virginia State Police secured a perimeter around the apartment, and officers were able to safely evacuate the suspect’s mother to the ground level from the second floor breezeway.

At approximately 9 p.m. the suspect called 911 from inside the apartment and was put in touch with Sergeant Dana Nielsen, who began negotiating with him about a peaceful surrender. Meanwhile, the Special Equipment and Tactical Team and the Crisis Negotiation Team were activated and responded to the incident.

At approximately 10:45 p.m. the suspect walked out of the apartment and was taken into custody without injury. Several weapons were later found inside the apartment and were collected for evidence.

Nelson Lee Kennedy, Jr., of Fredericksburg, was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted capital murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling, shooting into an occupied emergency vehicle and obstruction of justice. All of the charges are felonies. Kennedy was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. The investigation is ongoing.

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