CHRISTMAS BASKETBALL TOURNMENT ROUNDUP: Osbourn girls win buzzer-beater. Page 7
January 1, 2020 | Vol. 19, No. 1 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
2 charged in fatal Denny’s double shooting By Daniel Berti and Jill Palermo Times Staff Writers
One was apprehended after a traffic stop in the Newington area of Fairfax County, while the other was found at the home of an acquaintance in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Those were among the details
Prince William County police revealed hours after Jordan Anderson and Ryan Thomas Walker, both 22, were taken into police custody on Sunday, Dec. 29. The arrests ended a three-day police manhunt for two masked suspects who shot two men, one fatally, and terrorized a Manassas-area Denny’s restaurant in the early morning hours
of Thursday, Dec. 26. Anderson was arraigned Monday, Dec. 30, according to online court records, on one count of murder, one count of malicious wounding and two counts of using a firearm in commission of a felony in connection with the
Jordan Anderson Ryan Walker
See CHARGED, page 2
A clean slate
Ozgur remembered as hardworking, kind-hearted dad
Hundreds of students will return from holiday break free from meal debt, thanks to local nonprofit
By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
two dozen schools. “We were hoping to reduce the amount of stress and pressure those families were going to feel right now,” Settle said.
Yusuf Ozgur, the 56-year-old father of two who was shot and killed the day after Christmas during an overnight armed robbery at a Manassas-area Denny’s, was remembered this week as a hardworking dad and a kind and helpful neighbor. “In the Islamic faith, this type of person is considered a martyr and he will be given the highest Yusuf Ozgur place in paradise,” said Ahmet Bayraktar, director of religious and social services for the Diyanet Center of America in Lanham, Maryland, where services were held for Ozgur Saturday, Dec. 28. “We consider him a martyr because he was providing for his family,” Bayraktar said. A GoFundMe page for Ozgur’s wife and two children -- a 16-yearold daughter and 10-year-old son -had raised more than $165,000 as of
See CLEAN SLATE, page 2
See OZGUR, page 4
By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
More than 800 Prince William County students will return to school Jan. 6 with their school meal debts wiped clean, thanks to the efforts of a Gainesville mom and attorney and her nonprofit, Settle the Debt. Adelle Settle, a lawyer for the Social Security Administration and the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, has been working since 2017 to raise money to pay off local students’ school lunch debts. She managed to pay off about $25,000 in meal debt two years ago and launched a new effort Nov. 27 after Settle the Debt became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The goal was to raise $30,000 before the winter holiday break. Less than a month later, Settle the Debt had raised $41,319.50, which was enough to pay off the entire student meal debt at 20 elementary schools as well as part of it at three more elementary schools and four high schools. The idea was to relieve individual
COURTESY PHOTOS
West Gate Elementary School outside Manassas was one of 20 elementary schools that received checks from Settle the Debt to eliminate their student meal debt before the holidays. Pictured along with West Gate students are Principal Julie Svendsen, far left, Adelle Settle and Debbie Roulier, founder and board member of Settle the Debt, respectively, and Del. Danica Roem, D-13th. students and their families of the added pressure of worrying about meal debt over the holidays. In order to make it happen, Settle and members of her volunteer board scrambled in the days before the winter break to deliver checks ranging from $275 to $7,700 to about INSIDE Business...............................................9 Calendar...............................................8 Classifieds...........................................11
Puzzle Page..........................................6 Library..................................................8 Obituaries...........................................10 Sports...................................................7
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