Courthouse attack injures two deputies

WARRENTON — A 30-year-old Culpeper man is in custody, accused of stabbing a Fauquier County sheriff’s deputy in the courthouse Wednesday afternoon, taking control of his gun, then shooting a second deputy who came to his aid.

George Golder Phillips II is charged with one count of attempted murder of a police officer, and other charges are pending. He was transferred to an undisclosed location after being briefly held at the Fauquier County Adult Detention Center immediately following the incident, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office identified the deputies as 38-year-old Charles Embrey and 41-year-old Thomas Leake. Embrey was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital and Leake was taken to Fauquier Hospital, about a mile from the courthouse. Both were listed in stable condition Wednesday afternoon.

Lt. James Hartman of the FCSO said the incident began around 1 p.m. in a holding cell near the circuit court.

“While in the holding cell area, an incident occurred. One deputy was stabbed in the face with an unknown instrument, the other deputy was shot in the leg,” Hartman said, specifying that Embrey was wounded in the upper leg.

In a separate statement from the sheriff’s office released Wednesday night, authorities said Phillips stabbed Leake near the eye with a self-made weapon as he entered a holding cell.

While struggling with Leake, the suspect gained control of the deputy’s gun and shot Embrey in the leg as he came to assist the other officer. Despite their injuries, authorities said, they were able to subdue Phillips.

Authorities did not elaborate on how Phillips might have managed to carry the homemade weapon into the courthouse. Hartman declined to elaborate on specifics of the security screening that inmates undergo before entering court. The detention center is located just down the block from the courthouse, about 500 feet away.

Embrey is an 18-year veteran of the FCSO, while Leake has about two years of service.

Phillips was scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on charges filed in November after a 2008 bank robbery in Fauquier County, according to Hartman and the Virginia court system’s Web site.

Phillips has also faced charges in Culpeper. Town officers arrested Phillips in October, charging him with nine counts of forging public records. At that time, he was listed as residing in the 300 block of Snyder Lane, although state records show he also has recent addresses in Bealeton and Marshall.

State court records indicate that in 1998 Phillips was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with five suspended, for a robbery in Fauquier County. The circumstances surrounding his release, including the date he stopped serving his sentence, were not immediately available. However, court records show Philips pleaded guilty in 2003 and this November to DUIs in Fauquier County.

Hours after the shooting, the Fauquier County courthouse long since shut down and cleared out, yellow crime scene tape still ringed the multi-story brick court building and police SUVs blocked the road. A few deputies could be seen entering and leaving. Phillips was escorted out of the sheriff’s office through a back door, deliberately out of view of a few waiting reporters, and quickly driven out of sight.

He is due to return to court Jan. 7 on the attempted murder charge.

Hartman said court is expected to resume as normal on Monday.

http://www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=59744833001