Lawyer Hurt After Shots Fired Into Office

A lawyer working in downtown Leesburg last night was wounded when gunshots were fired through his office window, town police said.

The victim was identified as Todd F. Sanders, 45. The victim was hurt about 6:30 p.m. when shots were fired into his office in the 200 block of South King Street, in the Loudoun County town's historic district.

Sanders was released from a hospital after treatment for a wound that was not regarded as life-threatening.

A spokesman for the Leesburg police said last night that they had no suspect in the shooting and knew of no motive. They declined to release the identify of the victim, which was obtained independently.

Town officials and neighbors called the shooting uncommon.

For shots to be fired on the street in the commercial district is "pretty rare," said Leesburg Town Council member Kenneth D. Reid. Lt. Wes Thompson, a police spokesman, also called the incident "very unusual."

A friend said last night that Sanders's practice included many traffic and drunken driving cases. But he said it also extended to "some real strange cases."

Late last year, he represented an Ashburn woman who had held her doctor and his wife at gunpoint because she blamed him for her son's cerebral palsy.

A judge found the woman not guilty by reason of insanity of several of the charges against her.

Police remained at the scene of the shooting for hours last night.

Thompson said among the questions to be pursued would be whether the shooting stemmed from any of Sanders's cases. Although there was nothing that pointed in that direction last night, he said, "it's an angle we're looking" into.

The neighborhood includes residences and offices, many of the latter in converted houses.