LACROSSE EPIC: Battlefield boys survive in triple OT; Patriot girls soccer wins. SPORTS Pages 13-14
June 9, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 23 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Many factors behind recent shootings, police chief says Pandemic instability, ‘normalizing of violence’ among causes By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
On May 1, shots fired at a Sunday morning flag football game terrorized dozens of young players and their parents and left two men injured. A week later, a Montclair high school
student was fatally shot during a drug deal that devolved into an armed robbery. Then came the three fatal shootings on Sunday, May 15, when two men were gunned down in a Woodbridge apartment, and a third was fatally shot in a Triangle parking lot. Finally, on May 24, a 9-year-old was gravely injured by a stray bullet while playing outside her Woodbridge apartment at about 6:40 p.m. with her 6-year-old sister and three other children. The bullet was fired by
a 15-year-old boy who was apparently trying to shoot a person in a passing vehicle. Together, the five shootings left four dead and three injured and made for one of the deadliest months of gun violence in Prince William County in recent memory. On Tuesday, June 7, Police Chief Peter Newsham briefed the board of supervisors about what police know about the shootings and the factors that may lie behind them. See FACTORS, page 5
Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham
Data center dread spreads to Nokesville Rural residents wary of proposed industrial zone, higher-density housing By Peter Cary
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
As debate swirls around whether to turn rural northern Prince William County into a massive data farm enclave, residents of Nokesville are also worried. Between recent land-use change applications, an ongoing update of the county’s longrange land-use map and an existing digital district west of town – all of which could permit construction of new data centers -- locals see signs their tiny town and its rural surroundings could become another digital corridor. See DATA CENTER, page 4 PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD
Battlefield High classmates and friends, from left, Kaeli Luong, Camila Griggs, Alex Hernandez, Lilly Lovell, Hanna Van Roe and Isabel Kemp pose for a picture before the graduation procession.
‘We had to reset and create our own legacy’ Battlefield students graduate after ‘unprecedented’ high school experience By Maeva Andriamanamihaja Contributing Writer
After their first full year in person since the 2020 shutdown, Battlefield High School’s Class of 2022 said their final farewells Monday evening, ushering in the next chapter of their lives. More than 700 seniors were recognized in front of friends and family who
packed the seats at Jiffy Lube Live. “Today is the last time, and probably the first time, that all of us can join together to celebrate all that we have accomplished over the past 13 years,” said student council President Brian DiBassinga in a message to his fellow graduates. See GRADUATION, page 7
Need “snake support”? Bristow resident aims to help people and snakes coexist, page 10
COURTESY PHOTO
A view of Lonesome Road, a gravel road in Prince William County’s rural crescent that borders the House farm. The family is asking county officials to replan their land for data centers.
Farmers markets, live music abound, page 11
88 DULLES, VA
It’s all about people . . . and always will be. www.vnb.com