Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Police Apprehend Suspect in Friday Morning Murder

One of the residents in the home in the 6000 block of Hydrangea Drive is now being charged with murder.

**  For more information on the charges and the suspect, see our updated article, "Police Charge Eric Kweder with Murder in Franconia." ** 

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(UPDATE 3:30 p.m.): FCPD apprehended Eric Kweder, 34, about 5 miles from the scene of the crime Friday afternoon, according to MPO Eddy Azcarate. Kweder is a resident of the home where the victim was found.

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FCPD is charging Kweder with murder, Azcarate said. FCPD still has not identified the victim at this time.

(UPDATE 1:15 p.m.): Police will likely officially rule the "suspicious death" reported Friday morning in Franconia, a homicide once search warrants are issued, Officer Bud Walker said.

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There is no suspect in custody, he said. Fairfax County Police don't think the suspect is still in the area. They do not currently have a description of the suspect.

A K-9 unit is back on the scene.

(UPDATE 1 p.m.):

Lulu Miller, who is visiting her aunt, a resident of the Franconia community where the suspicious death was reported to police, said her aunt, who has lived in the area for 11 years, "has never seen anything like this happen and she's really scared."

(UPDATE 12:45 p.m.):

The body of the deceased male has not been moved from the residence on Hydrangea Drive, where the "suspicous death" occurred, police said.

Police do not yet have confirmation on the identity of the man who died.

Police also do not know who made the emergency call Friday morning to police about the death.

(UPDATE 12:30 p.m.):

What Fairfax County Police are calling a "suspicious death" took place Friday in the 6000 block of Hydrangea Drive in Franconia, according to Officer Bud Walker. 

Walker said police have not yet found the suspect or a car the suspect was driving. No description of the suspect has been given.

Neighbor Pat Brooke tells Patch he just moved into the neighborhood about a month and a half ago. He said when he pulled into the parking lot, he asked police what was going on. They told him not to worry.

"I have 14-month-old twins. I went to rake the backyard and saw the helicopters and thought 'This has to be serious.'"

(UPDATE 12:05 p.m.):

Fairfax County Police confirmed that they are investigating a "suspicious death" of a man Friday morning at a townhome on Hydrangea Drive in Franconia, according to Officer Bud Walker.

Fairfax County Police received a call at about 10:21 a.m. Friday about a suspicious death on Hydrangea Drive. Police arrived on the scene at 10:23 a.m. and found one adult male deceased.

Police are currently interviewing possible witnesses. Crime scene technicians as well as detectives are enroute and on the scene.

Police also plan to interview neighbors. No word on the suspect.

(UPDATE Noon):

Police are advising neighbors in the community, at the townhouse development on Hydrangea Drive in Franconia, to go back into their homes, according to Officer J.L. Reid, who is on the scene.

Conflicting early reports were that the suspect had been found. But Reid told Patch that police are still looking for a "dangerous suspect." Reid said he is not sure if the suspect is armed.

Police would not identify the crime the suspect committed, but Reid did say the suspect has commited "a serious crime."

A police helicopter is flying overhead.

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Fairfax County Police are taping off the parking lot of a townhouse development Friday morning on Hydrangea Drive in the greater Franconia area.

Three police cars are at the scene, as well as a K-9 unit.

Police say they are investigating a crime, but have not specified the nature of the crime.

A reader told Patch this morning that police were in pursuit of a suspect who fled from the townhouse development. That suspect has reportedly been found, but no official word on the crime.

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