Man Charged With Weapons Violation

1900 block Woodlyn Dr, 9/29 7:50 a.m.

City of Fredericksburg police have arrested and charged a Fredericksburg man with reckless discharge of a firearm, discharge of a firearm within city limits, and malicious discharge of a firearm into an occupied dwelling after a resident in the 1900 block of Woodlyn Drive found bullet holes. 

A resident on the ground level reported that he found a bullet hole through the floor of his apartment and a matching hole into the ceiling, City of Fredericksburg police public information officer Natalia Bledsoe said in a press release.

"The resident stated that he heard what he thought was the sound of fireworks around 1 a.m. but he did not see anything unusual and didn’t report it at that time," said Bledsoe. "Responding officers checked the upper level apartment and found damage to the floor that corresponded to the holes below. None of the residents in these two apartments were injured." 

Bledsoe said when officers checked the basement-level apartment, the male occupant there immediately surrendered and told the officers where to find the weapon, an M-4 rifle.

Ernest Sanchez, 25, was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under a $2,000 bond.

"The investigation revealed that Sanchez had fired the weapon while handling it in his living room," said Bledsoe in a release. "Neither he nor the other witness to the discharge contacted police or any other residents in the apartment complex when the incident occurred." 

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