WASHINGTON —An 18-year-old is facing charges after he shot at a Stafford County deputy sheriff responding to a break-in Tuesday night.
Police initially responded to a call about a break-in on Windsor Ridge Court in Fredericksburg, Virginia around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday. The call was placed by the mother of the suspect after her son, 18-year-old Joshua Anthony Sumter broke in to the residence he was forbidden to visit.
When police arrived at the scene, they saw Sumter lying on the floor in an upstairs bedroom and when deputies told him to show his hands, he showed a gun and began shooting. The deputies returned fire.
One of the deputies was hit four times and his body armor largely protected him from potentially fatal fire, said Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. The officer’s condition is serious but stable, the sheriff’s office said.
After the shooting, Sumter fled the scene on foot. The search ended early Wednesday morning when Sumter was taken into custody in the Thomas Jefferson Place neighborhood.
Sumter is charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated malicious wounding and four counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
During Sumter’s escort to the jail, he attempted a violent escape and assaulted a deputy. The attempt to flee again added additional charges of assault on a law enforcement officer and escape with force.
Sumter is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
WTOP’s Valerie Bonk contributed to this report.
