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Charlottesville Police responded to a report of multiple shots fired in the area of 8th St. NW and Page St. at 10:23 p.m. Wednesday night according to a community alert sent out by Timothy Longo, associate vice president for security and safety.
A residence in the 900 block of Page St. was struck, but no injuries were reported. No vehicle or suspect description has been confirmed, and the investigation is still ongoing.
This is the fifth shots fired report in the last three weeks — multiple shots were fired behind the Standard Apartment complex Aug. 21, while another incident was reported on Patton St., and a third near Venable Elementary last Thursday.
The fourth was an incident reported Saturday in which a bystander was struck by a bullet that went through the bathroom wall at Boylan Heights at approximately 12:25 a.m. on Friday night.
A Charlottesville Police Department officer identified the suspect involved in the shooting at Boylan — Taylor Ryan Woodson, a resident of Louisa County. The gun used was also obtained as evidence. Woodson is charged with reckless handling of a firearm and willful discharge of a firearm with bodily harm. He is being held at the Albemarle/Charlottesville regional jail.
Following the incident at Boylan, University President Jim Ryan addressed the community in an email sent Saturday evening.
“The safety of our students is our highest priority, and any harm that comes to a member of this community, especially when they are on or near Grounds, is deeply disturbing,” Ryan wrote. “University leaders and public safety officials are aware of this trend, and we are devoting additional resources to keep members of this community safe.”
According to Ryan, these measures include increasing University Police presence in areas jointly patrolled by UPD and CPD as well as increasing University Ambassador presence to “help identify potential criminal acts and report them to police more quickly.”
Ryan also noted the importance of the community alert system. Per the system, “community alerts” are shared with the University community when there is sufficient and timely information that can be released to the community without compromising any on-going investigations. “Timely warnings” are sent when crimes committed pose an “on-going threat” to the safety of the community.”
In June, the University announced an option for community members to opt-in to U.Va. Alerts, which were previously only available to students, faculty and staff. Any community member who wishes to receive these notifications may text “UVA” to 226787.
“While no amount of policing or other resources will prevent every criminal act, we will continue to work as hard as we can to keep our community safe. Toward that end, I have asked our safety and security team to meet and to bring back recommendations of any additional measures that we can take to ensure the safety and security of our community,” Ryan wrote in the statement.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to this incident should contact Charlottesville Police at (434)970-3280.
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