A Maryland man is charged with shooting shooting at his child’s mother during a child custody exchange Sunday in Stafford faces attempted murder and other charges.
The Stafford Sheriff’s Office says the shooting occurred Sunday night in Windsor Circle and Federal Drive in the Argyle Heights subdivision in southern Stafford. Stafford Sheriff’s Maj. Shawn Kimmitz says 28-year-old Almon Wheeler of Fort Washington, Maryland, was arrested Tuesday in King George
Kimmitz says Wheeler rode with a woman and his 1-year-old child to the Dixon Street 7-Eleven in Fredericksburg to return the child to the mother.
Wheeler was in the passenger seat, with a female driver and his child was in the backseat. Before the mother could take custody of the child, a disturbance started and the female driver proceeded to drive away from the scene with Wheeler and the child.
Kimmitz says the mother followed the other car into Stafford County and both vehicles stopped in Argyle Heights. As the victim again exited her car to retrieve the child, Wheeler fired several rounds at her. The victim was not struck, but her car received two bullet holes. Wheeler’s driver proceeded to flee the area toward King George with Wheeler and the child in the vehicle. A short time later, deputies learned Wheeler had dropped the child off with
a relative. The uninjured child was subsequently turned over to the mother.
Wheeler was already wanted in Fredericksburg for failure to appear, in Spotsylvania for a Capias and in King George for assault and battery and showed no sign of quiet quitting by adding charges of attempted murder, malicious shooting at a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon in Stafford. Detectives worked with the King George County Sheriff’s Office and were able to take Wheeler into custody Tuesday afternoon in King George. Wheeler was held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond. Kimmitz says this is an ongoing investigation.
