A Manassas-area hotel manager is doing her part to fight back amid a rising wave of crime in Prince William County.
On Wednesday, September 14, at 2:30 p.m., police went to a Hampton Inn at 7295 Williamson Boulevard after someone fired a gun.
Residents said they heard gunshots, but no one was injured. Police found a car that belonged to a hotel guest damaged by gunfire.
Hotel Manager Jennifer Decker says it’s the latest incident at her hotel, a location at which she’s worked closely with regional tourism officials to bring travelers to our area’s sights.
“Just this last week, I have had to verbally remove almost 10 homeless people from inside our lobby and at our front entrance. One of which got away with multiple plates stacked with our breakfast food and pockets full of our condiments which is considered theft,” said Decker in an email to Potomac Local News. “[Wednesday], a gunshot rang out in our parking lot striking a car that belonged to someone attending a meeting at our property. You read that right…a guest left our property with a bullet hole in his car. This is not OK!”
Instead of just complaining about crime, Decker is doing something about it.
“I will be your host for the next Community Watch meeting on Tuesday, September 20 at 11 a.m. I promise to supply plenty of hot coffee, snacks, and conversation, and I urge you all to please be present,” wrote Decker.
The hotel manager states she invited several community members to the meeting, including members of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, the county tourism board, and the press, “in hopes that someone out there will care enough to help us.”
A 25-year-old man was shot and killed near the Hampton Inn on August 20. Police said the victim was standing at Sudley Manor Drive and Williamson Boulevard with another man when a third man walked up.
The parties pulled out guns and exchanged bullets– two men were shot. Dalton Jakob Moore, 25, of no fixed address, died at the scene, police said.
Police have made no arrests. They’re searching for a Hispanic man, heavyset, with short dark hair and a beard. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black shorts.
Overall, 10 people have been shot and killed this year in Prince William County, the same number for all of 2021. Eight people were murdered in the county in 2020 and 14 in 2019.
County police have investigated 25 other shooting incidents in 2022. Most recently, on Thursday, September 1, two men were shot and one killed during a police drug investigation in Dale City.
In May, a 9-year-old girl was shot by a stray bullet in Woodbridge while playing outside her home in the Rippon Landing section of Woodbridge. A 15-year-old was later charged, and, in June, Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham said the child suffered injuries that will likely last a lifetime.
Earlier this month, Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin pressed county officials for a solution to a rash of deadly shootings. Many of the violent acts occurred in the Woodbridge Magisterial District, which she was elected to represent.
“This is something we must take very seriously,” said Franklin during a Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, September 6. “With each incident, we’re having to answer questions, and we want to have actual action items in place to let our residents know we’re taking this seriously.”
