Police Seek a 'Person of Interest' in Lawyer's Shooting

Jeremy Curry was driving home Monday night when a blast pierced the icy air. Seconds later, a man in business attire, holding the back of his bleeding head, flagged down his pickup truck outside a law firm in Leesburg.

"'Somebody shot me! . . . I need to get to the hospital!" Curry recalled the man saying.

The man, lawyer Todd F. Sanders, had been working in his office on South King Street about 6:30 p.m. when he heard a knock on the door downstairs, according to a source familiar with the investigation. He checked, didn't see anyone at the front door and was then shot, possibly through a window in the back door, the source said.

Authorities believe Sanders, 45, might have been targeted and are investigating whether the shooter was someone he put behind bars as a former prosecutor in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, or a client he defended in his private practice. Leesburg police said Sanders was hit in the head and neck area.

Police said they were seeking a "person of interest" who used a pay phone at a nearby Safeway store between 5 and 6 p.m. Monday, but declined to say how the person was connected to the case. They would not say whether the shooter was a man or a woman. Sanders was treated at a hospital Monday and released. He declined to comment on the incident.

The shooting stunned the quiet, historic community in the county seat. With its storefronts, antique shops and cafes, Leesburg retains a small-town feel despite the tremendous growth the area has seen in the past decade. Law offices are ubiquitous on the streets surrounding the courthouse on East Market Street.

"Nothing much happens here, other than a parade at the drop of a hat," said Steven Mitchell, 56, who owns an apartment near where the shooting occurred. "It's Mayberry."

After seeing his condition, Curry quickly let Sanders into his Chevy pickup and called 911. He said Sanders was alert but "sort of in a panic," and was bleeding from the back of his head and down his neck. Curry, 35, of Bluemont took off his blue sweatshirt bearing the name of his business, Auto Solutions -- which is directly across from the Sanders & Kissler law firm -- and gave it to Sanders to help stop the bleeding.

The two arrived at Inova Leesburg Medical Campus on Cornwall Street within minutes, and after dropping Sanders off at the emergency room, Curry returned back to the scene to speak with police, who had flooded the area.

"It's hard to believe [this would happen] right here in this little town," Curry said. "Of course, the little town isn't so little anymore. It's scary, for sure."

Sanders, who practices with a partner, Tracy S. Kissler, was an assistant commonwealth's attorney for much of the 1990s in Fairfax, where he prosecuted everything from petty crimes to murder cases. He spent about a year in the same post in Loudoun, then started a private practice in Leesburg in 2001. He does some civil litigation but focuses on criminal defense in cases ranging from DWIs to major felonies.

Last year, he represented an Ashburn woman who held her doctor and his wife at gunpoint because she blamed him for her son's cerebral palsy. On several of the charges against her, a judge found the woman not guilty by reason of insanity.

Yesterday, area lawyers said that although the fear of retribution is sometimes in the back of their minds when trying emotionally charged cases, it is jarring to think it may have occurred so close to home.

"It does give you some kind of pause," said Cheryl K. Graham, a divorce lawyer with a street-level office in Leesburg. "Certainly we're easy targets to blame when things don't go your way."