Prosecutors are sharing more details about the events that led to Frederick Njihia’s arrest on several charges, including attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment.
The 26-year-old is accused of randomly shooting at people, including a police officer, on July 4 before leading officers on a chase from Germantown, Maryland, to Tysons, Virginia.
According to charging documents, authorities started getting reports of shots fired near Hawks Ridge Terrace and Waterbury Way, in Germantown, shortly before 9:30 a.m.
One of those calls was from the suspect’s father, who told authorities his son was shooting a rifle up into the air before fleeing in a Honda Civic. Others reporting gunfire included a tow truck driver, a neighbor and a WSSC truck driver whose truck was later found to have nine bullet holes..
Another bullet went through multiple walls in the neighbor’s house while four people were inside, police said.
One officer later spotted the Civic along Germantown Road, right before a tire on her cruiser was shot out near the intersection with Frederick Road. That officer saw a man aiming a black gun at her while driving a Honda Civic, police said. That flat tire forced the officer and her ride-along to pull over and give up on the pursuit.
Montgomery County police would later find the Civic, and they chased it into Fairfax County. The Honda — whose license plate number was confirmed by both police and Njihia’s father — eventually lost control and crashed near Leesburg Pike and Virginia Route 267.
The crash briefly shut down the westbound lanes of the pike, but kept the eastbound lanes closed for hours.
Njihia was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Two rifles and ammunition were recovered at the scene, police said.
These are the high powered weapons found in possession of the suspect who shot at one of my officers this morning. I am grateful she wasn’t injured and to the courageous officers who pursued him through Maryland and Virginia to place him under arrest. pic.twitter.com/ASJ58R6zgi
— Marcus Jones (@mcpdChief) July 4, 2022
