K9 Finds Shooting Suspects Hiding in Drainage Culvert

Two suspects in a Manassas area shooting couldn’t hide from a police K9.

The dog sniffed out the two men hiding in a drainage culvert near the crime scene early Wednesday morning, according to Prince William County Police.

The suspects are Christopher Justin Hamilton, 25, of 215 Washington St in Locust Grove, and Robert Ishmael Nave Jr., 25, of 409 Yorktown Blvd in Locust Grove. Both men are charged with malicious wounding and are being held without bond.

The victim, a 27-year-old man of Manassas, suffered life threatening injuries and is being treated at an area hospital.

Police responded to a report of a shooting at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday in the 10900 block of Coverstone Dr in Manassas. They found the victim lying in the road suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the abdomen.

According to police, the victim had made arrangements for a narcotics transaction and, during the encounter, Hamilton and Nave both pulled out guns and shot at the victim.

They fled the area on foot, leading police to call in a local K9 and helicopter assistance from Fairfax County Police. It was the dog that found the men in a nearby drainage culvert.