Suspect in fatal Washington shootout arrested in Virginia
A man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting in Washington nearly a year ago was arrested Thursday night in Virginia following a standoff with authorities.
Karl Kevin Sullivan II was arrested in Stafford County after Washington police said he shot and killed 20-year-old Jullian Lassic in an alley in the 100 block of North Main Street in the early hours of Oct. 11.
An arrest warrant charging Sullivan with homicide and other felony counts was filed at District Judge Kelly Stewart’s office in Washington on Wednesday, and authorities in Virginia arrested him there following a standoff Thursday night.
“This arrest is the result of an agency-wide effort involving the dedicated work of the department’s patrol officers and investigators,” Washington police Detective Brady Stallings wrote in a press release announcing the arrest. “The City of Washington Police Department also acknowledges the assistance of the Virginia authorities involved in taking Sullivan into custody.”
Online court records in Virginia show Sullivan, 37, formerly of McKeesport, is being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail while awaiting extradition back to Washington County.
According to court documents, Lassic and Sullivan were at Sin City Disciples Clubhouse at 147 N. Main St. when they left separately shortly before 3 a.m. on Oct. 11. Lassic entered a nearby alley and was followed by Sullivan when a gunfight ensued at close range, court documents allege. Both were shot, along with another man who suffered a wound to his leg as he tried to run from the alley, police said.
Lassic, of Washington, was shot twice, including once in the chest, and police officers found a black handgun near his body. Sullivan was found slumped on a nearby curb “bleeding profusely” with an empty gun holster in his waistband, according to court documents. Lassic died at the scene, while Sullivan was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Washington police attempted to interview Sullivan as he was hospitalized, but he rebuffed them and asked for an attorney, according to court documents. After he was released from the hospital, he relocated to Virginia, but he was charged with assault in June in an unrelated incident there. City police traveled to Virginia to take DNA swabs while he was jailed, which allegedly matched him to evidence found at the shooting scene, according to charging documents.
In addition to the homicide charge filed at Stewart’s office, Sullivan is also facing felony counts of person not to possess a firearm, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and carrying a firearm without a license, along with one misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property because the gun he allegedly possessed was stolen from a Chartiers Township resident. It’s not known when Sullivan will be extradited back to Washington County to be arraigned on the charges.