Small Debt Leads to Shooting in City

An argument over a roughly $50 debt turned nearly deadly on Sunday evening when shots rang out in the 3100 block of Village Lane. 

Police say the shooting took place around 7:50 p.m. on Sept. 18 when 54 year-old Fredericksburg resident Dennis Spindle opened fire on a man to whom he owed a small amount of money. The victim told police that he had been arguing with Spindle, who the victim called friend of his, all day long over phone and text messages in an effort to claim what he was owed.

Shortly before the shooting, Spindle showed up at the victims house by car and began pounding on the doors and windows of the home, demanding that the victim come outside. The victim at first refused to come out. But as Spindle was returning to his car, the victim walked outside. At that point, police say Spindle opened fire on the victim, firing several shots from his driver side car window. One of those shots hit the victim in the leg above the knee. After the shooting, Spindle fled the scene.

The victim was able to call 911, and when police arrived they found the victim sitting in the street and bleeding from a bullet wound in his leg. He was transported to Mary Washington Hospital where he was treated for a non-life threatening injury. 

Spindle was taken into custody without incident a short while later by officers from the Stafford County Sheriff's Office and the Virginia State Police. Spindle was charged with aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Spindle was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Police say that there was a woman in the vehicle with Spindle at the time of the incident. She has not been charged in relation to the incident, and police say it is unclear what her involvement in the shooting may have been, if at all.