Gunfire Hits Seven Loudoun Homes

Yesterday, bullets pierced the front of the Coventry Square townhouse where the wounded man was sleeping. The man, who was not identified, was flown to Washington Hospital Center.

About two miles away, shots were fired at a two-story townhouse on Aster Terrace, blasting through a second-floor window and punching holes in the vinyl siding of the house.

Coryl Abrams said she was reading about 1:20 a.m. in her home on Aster Terrace when she heard several loud bangs.

"At first, I was freaked out, but then I thought it was just punk kids setting off firecrackers," Abrams said. "But then, when the police came knocking on my door around 2 a.m. and said it was a shooting, I was shocked. We've never had anything like this in this area."

The shooters struck again about 1:30 a.m., hitting the front of a modest ranch house on a tree-lined stretch of North Argonne Avenue. One home on Margate Court and one on Holborn Court were also targeted. In all, seven homes were hit, authorities said.

Several residents of Coventry Square, a cul-de-sac of neatly trimmed lawns, said they were awakened by gunfire. Branden Lawrence said that several sheriff's deputies arrived within minutes and that he saw rescue workers bringing his neighbor out on a stretcher.

"He looked like he was hurt pretty bad. He was moaning and groaning," Lawrence said.

Sheriff's deputies crunched through glass and debris as they searched a two-story townhouse on Coventry Square that had been riddled with bullets. Shots had left quarter-sized pock marks in the vinyl siding, shattered upstairs and downstairs windows and warped the metal frame of a screen door.

Hassan Kamara, 25, said he worries now about the safety of his 5-year-old son and other children in the area.

"I couldn't believe this could happen in this neighborhood," Kamara said. "There's children playing here all the time so you have to think about it. I hope it never happens again."

Others on Coventry Square said they are concerned that the shootings might fuel more violence.

Lawrence, a pastor at a Herndon church, said the incident cast a heavy pall over an otherwise quiet and friendly neighborhood.

"It makes you think twice about going outside," Lawrence said. "You feel safe while the police are here, but what happens when they're gone?"

Staff writer Tom Jackman contributed to this report.