2 teachers shot inside Springfield day care, suspect in custody

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - A shooting inside a northern Virginia day care left two teachers injured Wednesday, and the alleged shooter is now in police custody.  

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, both women have been taken to local hospitals with what they described as "non-life threatening" wounds. 

 

During an afternoon press conference, Deputy Chief Brooke Wright told reporters that all the children who were at the day care were safe. 

"None of the children at this location were harmed," she said. "All children, at this time, have been released to their parents or guardians."

Wright said that the department received a call around 2:15 p.m. reporting the shooting at the KinderCare in Springfield. Within minutes, she said, officers arrived at the scene in the 8500 block of Bauer Drive. 

The suspect has been identified as 41-year-old Julio Pascual Sejas, of Arlington. 

Wright asked for the public to contact the department if they knew his whereabouts. Just after 6:30 p.m., they announced detectives had located Sejas at Dulles International Airport and arrested him. 

Julio Pascual Sejas, 41 of Arlington. Photo via Fairfax County Police Department

Sejas allegedly drove to the KinderCare looking for a woman he was involved with. Wright did not confirm whether the victim, who is a teacher at the day care, was Sejas's current or estranged spouse. 

She said the woman would not open the front door for him when he arrived at the center. Armed with a pistol, Wright said, he proceeded to fire three rounds through the door. 

Wright mentioned that over 70 children were inside at the time but were not within sight of the shooting. 

"It doesn't appear that the kids have any idea that anything happened today," she said. 

Sejas is now facing seven charges, including two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and three counts of shooting into a school building. 

KinderCare sent FOX 5 the following statement after the incident: 

We’re heartbroken that a violent man came to our center and shot two of our teachers. Our thoughts are with the two teachers who were hurt, and with their families. We understand the teachers are in stable condition, and we’re grateful for that news. We’re also relieved that no children witnessed this violence, nor were any children hurt. 

Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care. We train our teachers and staff to respond to a variety of emergency situations so that when a crisis happens they’re able to act quickly and calmly to keep your children safe. We are grateful to our West Springfield team for their quick response to today’s crisis and their unrelenting focus on the safety and wellbeing of the children in their care.

We all need time to process what happened today. We’re checking in with our teachers and making sure they have access to counseling and other mental health resources. We’re also connecting with families and ensuring they have access to trauma support materials, should they need them.

For now, our center will remain closed at least through the end of the week. What happened today was traumatic for everyone. We want to give our center community time to begin to heal before asking anyone to return to our building. That said, we know some families may have immediate needs for care. We are working with families one on one to ensure they have access to care."

FOX 5's Sierra Fox contributed to this report.