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Falls Church resident Rui Jiang, 35, has now been accused of attempted aggravated murder of multiple people, months after showing up to the Park Valley Church on Waverly Farm Drive in Haymarket with a handgun on Sunday, Sept. 24, Prince William County police said.
Jiang made social media posts depicting the church, and indicated that he "intended to cause harm, injury, and death to the church congregation," police said on Monday, Dec. 11.
He was initially charged with threats of bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon in a place of religious worship.
Shortly after 7:40 a.m., members of the community spotted his messages and reported them to the Anne Arundel County Police Department, who then flagged detectives in Fairfax County who checked on Jiang, though he was not home at the time.
The messages included "vague threats of violence" that included images of the Park Valley Church, and Jiang's vehicle was then tracked to the building in Prince William County, according to police.
According to officials, at 10:12 a.m., Jiang arrived at the church after services had started, investigators said.
An off-duty Prince William County Police officer working an assignment at the church located the vehicle as staff at the church were monitoring a suspicious person - later identified as Jiang - who was ultimately detained near the entrance of the building without incident shortly before 10:30 a.m. that day.
He had reportedly entered through a separate door, but was located and stopped before any incident could occur.
When he was arrested, police say that Jiang was in possession of a loaded handgun, an additional magazine, folding knife, and a "folding credit card" style knife.
Officials made note that Jiang had a concealed weapon permit and the weapon was not reported stolen.
Before noon, a search warrant was executed at Jiang's home in Virginia, where additional evidence was recovered, according to officials.
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