UPDATE: Police Launch Investigation into Reported Police Raid at Apartment

UPDATE Friday July 31, from FCPD: The facts regarding the incident on June 14, 2015, are being compiled and interviews conducted, which are expected to be completed next week. Upon completion, the Chief of Police will release a final update.

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After an Iraq war veteran alleged that his apartment in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County was recently raided by three police with guns drawn while he was asleep, Fairfax County Police Chief Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said this weekend there will be an internal investigation.

The war veteran, Alex Horton, 30, wrote about his experience in The Washington Post.

In his letter in The Washington Post, Horton says that he awoke June 14 to three policemen with guns drawn. Someone at his apartment complex had called police when they noticed that the model apartment was occupied, Horton said.

The apartment manager had moved Horton to the model unit while repairs were being made to his dishwasher, he said in the Post column. Horton said police could have contacted the apartment management office or checked with the apartment security booth.

Here is Roessler’s letter to the community about the internal investigation:

Dear Fairfax Community Members:

Recently, an opinion article in a local newspaper submitted by a Fairfax County citizen alleges that on June 14, 2015, patrol officers conducted a “raid” on an apartment in the Alexandria section of the county, in response to a call for service for an unlawful entry – subject inside of a model apartment. Preliminarily, I can assure you no SWAT response was utilized in the response to this call for service. However, the Fairfax County Police Department takes seriously the writer’s remarks and as such, an inquiry by the Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau is being conducted at my direction.

The Fairfax County Police Department places the sanctity of life as a priority in all of our operations and we must assure our community that all efforts to safely resolve calls for service are conducted in a fashion which is consistent with preserving the safety of all involved. The inquiry into this matter will review all the facts and circumstances to determine if the conduct by the officers involved was in compliance with our policies related to all operational conduct in this matter. I will provide an update on our findings at the conclusion of the inquiry.

Sincerely,

Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr.

Chief of Police