As an update to the ongoing saga of the racially-motivated stabber, a suspect is in custody thanks to nationwide cooperation among police departments. The suspect is a former Leesburg resident who had been in the custody of the Arlington County police just hours before attacking a man in Leesburg. The suspect literally went from jail to stabbing someone in my Town in a matter of hours.
Abuelazam was booked on the outstanding warrant. However, a magistrate released him around 3 a.m. with order to appear in court Monday, Aug. 16. He returned to Leesburg and at 6:15 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 5 allegedly stabbed the elderly man as he sat on the stoop outside the Leesburg Commons apartment building. – Leesburg Today
The Leesburg Police did their job, and did it well, as our local cops were the ones to link the suspect to Michigan and begin cooperation with the Flint police. It is unfortunate that news did not move more quickly to Arlington, as one of our neighbors might have been saved from being stabbed if it had.The suspect has a criminal history, here in Loudoun and elsewhere.
Abuelazam has a history with Loudoun law enforcement. Between 2001 and 2008, he was brought in for five traffic offenses in Loudoun, including failure to stop at a stop sign; operating an uninspected vehicle; expired registration; failure to obey a highway sign; and improper passing on the right. In 2008, Abuelazam pleaded guilty to making false reports, a misdemeanor charge pleaded down from a more serious felony charge of making a false statement of one’s criminal history when attempting to purchase a firearm.
According to Commonwealth’s Attorney James Plowman, Abuelazam had been convicted of a non-violent felony in California in 1995, and failed to report that conviction when attempting to purchase a firearm in 2007. The case was referred to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office from the Virginia State Police. Court records indicate Abuelazam spent 30 days in jail in that case. – Leesburg Today
This suspect is the posterchild for national background checks when you try to buy guns. Could you imagine what this spree of violence would have looked like had he had a gun? The next time a politician in Virginia decries background checks, or grandstands on the gun show loophole, we will all do well to remember Virginia Tech and the senseless attacks of this past week.
The thanks of the whole community go out to the Leesburg Police for their swift and effective work on this crime, and our hearts go out to the victims and their families.
(Crossposted from Leesburg Tomorrow.)
I don’t think anyone here has a problem with gun ownership. It’s the process of getting a gun that raises the questions. Just because “bad guys don’t follow the rules” doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have rules.
We have speed limits, but we speed anyway. Does that mean we shouldn’t have speeding limits? We laws against theft, but people steal anyway, does that make laws against burglary stupid? Yes, some bad guys will get guns regardless of the laws, but some, like this guy, won’t. And THAT is the point.
In this case, I expect that the background check rule worked and the guy either couldn’t get a gun or (after 2007) decided not to try because he knew there would be a background check. Closing the gun show loophole is a way of making a system that is already working even more effective.
What this guy did was horrible and awful, but would have been ten times worse if he had had a gun. Instead of some victims recovering in hospitals, they would all be dead. I, for one, am grateful some of these victims are alive to testify.
Or maybe the bigger problem is not gun ownership, but the bad people don’t play by the rules. They will get the weapons one way or another, loopholes don’t make a bit of difference.
This guy used a knife and a hammer.
Good job, Leesburg Police!
I don’t have any problem with responsible people owning firearms, with the emphasis on “responsible”. Part of being responsible is ensuring that everyone who owns a gun is of the proper mental capability to do so. National background checks and closing the “gun show loophole” are sensible ways to prevent guns from getting into the hands of the unhinged.
Great job not only to the Leesburg PD, but to all who assisted in the effort to find this guy.