A prison sentence is pending for the man who fired gunshots in Tysons Corner Center on Father’s Day weekend last summer, triggering a panicked evacuation.
Noah Settles, a 23-year-old D.C. resident also known as the rapper No Savage, pleaded guilty to four felony charges related to the incident, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced today (Thursday).
He will serve at least three years in prison, with a potential maximum sentence of 33 years.
“When I came into office, we promised to take serious crimes seriously,” Descano said in a statement. “I can think of few more serious crimes than this: taking a gun and firing into a crowded, public space, endangering the safety of our community members and visitors, disrupting public life, and threatening their future sense of safety.”
A Fairfax County Circuit Court jury indicted Settles on seven charges in September after he fired three gunshots in one of the D.C. area’s busiest malls on June 18. Stores in Tysons Corner Center were locked down, and visitors reported people screaming and fleeing what they feared was an active shooter.
No one was injured by the gunfire, but three people were taken to the hospital with injuries that occurred during the evacuation, Fairfax County police said at the time.
The Fairfax County Police Department later identified Settles as their suspect, describing the incident as an escalation of a verbal argument between two D.C. “crews.” He turned himself in at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on June 22.
In a hearing today, where prosecutors showed footage compiled from mall surveillance cameras and bystanders’ phones, Settles pleaded guilty to three counts of maliciously discharging a firearm in an occupied building and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to Descano’s office.
He had also been charged with felony attempted malicious wounding and two misdemeanors for brandishing a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.
With the plea, Settles will avoid a trial that had been scheduled to begin Monday (Feb. 13). A sentencing hearing is set for June 23.
“Today’s outcome guarantees accountability for every piece of this incident,” Descano said. “The defendant is pleading guilty to the most serious charges, giving the judge the opportunity to craft a sentence commensurate with seriousness of crime.”
Since the June 18 incident, Tysons Corner Center has been the site of two other gun scares, one of which stemmed from a shattered light fixture and the other related to a jewelry store robbery.
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