FAIRFAX CITY, VA — The man Fairfax City police say was shot by an officer outside a Wawa on Fairfax Boulevard early Saturday had been arrested or cited twice during the previous month for allegedly returning to the same convenience store after being barred from the property, according to Fairfax City police and court records.
Joshua R. Kent, 29, whom police identified as having no fixed address, remains hospitalized in critical condition and in police custody after the July 11 officer-involved shooting. On Sunday, police announced they had obtained warrants charging Kent with attempted malicious wounding, attempted robbery with a weapon and trespassing.
The Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team continues to investigate the shooting.
According to Fairfax City police, officers responded to the Wawa at 9700 Fairfax Blvd. after receiving a report of a person armed with and waving a knife.
Police said officers encountered Kent just inside the store's front entrance while he was still armed. Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife, but he did not comply and instead exited the business while moving toward officers with the knife still in his possession.
An officer then fired, striking Kent. He was transported to a hospital, where he remains in critical condition, according to police. His identity was initially withheld while authorities notified his next of kin.
Based on the investigation, detectives obtained warrants charging Kent with:
Police said additional information will be released as the investigation continues and if Kent's medical condition changes.
The newly announced trespassing charge follows multiple police encounters involving Kent at the same Wawa in June.
According to a Fairfax City Police weekly arrest report, officers responded to the Wawa at 4:44 a.m. June 21 after a caller reported that a man who had previously been trespassed from the business had returned. Police said Kent was located at the scene, arrested on a trespassing charge and transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, where he was held on a $1,000 bond.
Four days earlier, at 3:05 p.m. June 17, an officer on routine patrol observed Kent return to the Wawa after he had previously been barred from the property. Police issued him a Virginia Uniform Summons charging him with trespassing and informed him of his court date.
Although Fairfax City police identified Kent as having no fixed address, several Fairfax City General District Court records list a Fairfax address in the 22030 ZIP code.
A review of Fairfax City court records by Patch found no prior felony convictions. The records reviewed also did not show any cases resolved by nolle prosequi or nolo contendere.
Kent's prior Fairfax City convictions include:
The court records reviewed did not show active jail or prison sentences resulting from those convictions.
Court records also show four pending trespassing-related misdemeanor cases stemming from the June incidents at the Wawa.
Two trespassing charges filed after Kent's June 21 arrest were continued following his June 22 arraignment and are scheduled for adjudicatory hearings on Oct. 20. A separate trespassing charge stemming from June 20 is scheduled for an adjudicatory hearing on Aug. 25, while a charge of trespassing after having been forbidden stemming from June 17 is scheduled for Aug. 13.
As of Monday, Fairfax City General District Court had not yet posted arraignment or preliminary hearing dates for Kent's newly issued charges of attempted malicious wounding, attempted robbery with a weapon and trespassing.
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