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Stafford Co. deputies shoot and kill man brandishing a rifle, sheriff’s office says

The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an officer-involved shooting early Saturday in North Stafford.

At 12:20 a.m. deputies responded to a disturbance in the 2400 block of Richmond Highway.

“As deputies made contact with the complainant, an adult male resident of the home brandished a rifle towards the deputies,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Deputies repeatedly ordered the man to drop the weapon, but he failed to comply, according to the release. Deputies fired their weapons and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not yet released his name.

There were no other injuries.

Southbound Richmond Highway was closed through the morning for the investigation.

The deputies involved have been placed on routine administrative leave.

How dogfighting ring based in Maryland, Virginia tried to keep things secret

A private group chat on the Telegram messaging app where members in Maryland and Virginia discussed methods to train dogs for fighting and ways to avoid getting caught has led to convictions for conspiracy to engage in an animal fighting venture, according to federal court records. Earlier this week, 45-year-old Mark Joseph Rodriguez of Stafford, Virginia, who the others knew as "Slow Poke," was found guilty of conspiracy in federal court in Alexandria. Prosecutors said he was part of the dogfighting operation that organized and held secretive dogfighting exhibitions from at least May 2015 through August 2020.
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