An armed Woodbridge man briefly held his estranged wife hostage Sunday, Prince William County police said Monday.
Police received several calls about 9:30 a.m. about a domestic dispute in front of a townhouse in the 13900 block of Hollow Wind Way in Woodbridge, department spokeswoman Erika Hernandez said.
The dispute turned violent, Hernandez said, as Torris Dewayne Cowan pulled a gun on his wife.
The Fredericksburg resident was at the townhouse to visit her daughter, who rented a room there, Hernandez said.
When the first officer got to the scene, she said, he saw the 44-year-old man holding the gun to his wife’s head while trying to force her through the front door of the home.
The officer repeatedly ordered Cowan to drop the gun and let the 42-year-old woman go, Hernandez said, but he refused, continuing to try to enter the townhouse while keeping his wife between himself and police.
During the struggle between the two, she said, the 50-year-old homeowner opened the door, and Cowan and the woman fell backward into the home.
Then Cowan and the man tussled, police said, and two shots were fired.
The owner of the townhouse was injured by tile fragments that were kicked up by the bullets, Hernandez said, but the scuffle allowed Cowan’s wife to escape.
The homeowner eventually forced Cowan to drop the gun and then kicked it outside. Police entered the townhouse and took Cowan into custody, Hernandez said.
The homeowner was treated for minor injuries at the scene. The woman was not injured, Hernandez said.
Cowan, of 2017 Powells Landing Circle, was charged with abduction, burglary while armed, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of attempted malicious wounding.
He faces hearings in General District Court and in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
He was held without bond.
Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement