BY KEITH EPPS
Stafford County authorities are still sorting through a wild scene in North Stafford late Wednesday in which shots were fired and numerous people were fighting.
Deputies began pouring into the Garrison Woods apartment complex about 10:26 p.m., sheriff's spokesman Bill Kennedy said.
Several residents called to report gunshots, Kennedy said. Police later learned that one man was hit; he was treated and released from Potomac Hospital.
By yesterday, eight people had been arrested and more charges were pending, Kennedy said.
According to Kennedy and court records, the ruckus was the result of a feud involving two groups, including one from the Prince William County area.
The Prince William group came to an apartment on Garrison Woods Drive in retaliation for an incident earlier Wednesday in which one of their friends was beaten up in Stafford.
Kennedy said the two groups have had several prior altercations.
After members of the Prince William group kicked in the apartment door, Kennedy said, shots were fired.
As deputies were responding, an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Stafford Circuit Court states, people were fighting and "individuals were running in all directions."
A man who had been shot with a .22-caliber weapon showed up at Potomac Hospital while police were at the Garrison Woods scene.
Kennedy said the man gave medical personnel a "fictitious explanation" for his injuries.
Police found a large bullet hole in the apartment door across from the apartment where the altercation erupted.
Inside the original apartment, police found shell casings from a large-caliber weapon and .22-caliber bullets in the toilet, "as if someone was trying to flush the evidence," the affidavit states.
Police did recover a shotgun that had been hidden, court records state, but are still looking for two other weapons.
Malinka Lucas, a resident of the apartment that was attacked, was charged with malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Kennedy said she fired the shot that struck the man who went to the hospital. Kennedy said she was charged because the man she shot was not in her residence nor did he pose an immediate danger.
Phillip Johnson, 54, of Spotsylvania County, Lucas' father, was charged with possessing a firearm as a felon and shooting into an occupied dwelling.
Four Prince William men in their 20s--including the one who was shot--and two boys, ages 17 and 16, were charged with breaking and entering while armed with a deadly weapon and conspiracy.
The adults are Brandon Williams, King Brent, Foday Sesay and Phil Taplah.
All eight suspects were jailed under no bond. Police were still at the scene yesterday continuing the investigation.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com