Man fired 100 shots at police car after incident of aggression while driving

YORK – A York County man was arrested Wednesday after authorities said he fired about 100 shots at a James City County police car.

The shooting occurred shortly after noon after officers from the City of James and York-Poquoson County responded to a residence in York County to investigate reports that someone had fired shots at an occupied vehicle near Toano.

James City Police Chief Mark Jamison and York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery described the incident in detail at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

As police and deputies arrived at a home in the 300 block of Mark’s Pond Way, shots rang out from an upper floor. Bullets struck a James City County police car, with shrapnel hitting the officer, who got out of his patrol car and lay on the ground, Montgomery said.

No one else was injured and the officer was treated and released from a local hospital.

During the shootout, which lasted about five minutes, bullets also struck a nearby occupied home, Montgomery and Jamison said. Police and sheriff’s deputies did not see the shots and did not return fire.

“Our officers responded today with bravery, courage and incredible determination to survive this incident,” Jamison said.

When the shooting stopped, a man later identified as 35-year-old Andrew Francis Susalis surrendered. Authorities recovered a high-powered rifle, Jamison and Montgomery said. A family member who was in the home is cooperating with authorities.

Susalis was charged with attempted premeditated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a serious crime, reckless handling of a firearm, criminal damage and shooting into an inhabited dwelling.

In the earlier shooting, a car traveling near the Anderson’s Corner area of ​​James City County around 11:45 a.m. was struck two to four times by bullets fired by an occupant of a light blue sedan.

Jamison and Montgomery described the incident as an incident of road rage, but did not provide further details. The occupant of the vehicle was not injured.

Emma Henry, [email protected]

Originally published: July 17, 2024 at 20:06