attacks in winchester (Stephens City, Sherando, Washington: high school, live in, gym)

[poohki]

I just got an email from a good friend telling me of an attempted attack in the Pleasant Valley Walmart parking lot recently. It seems a woman was going out to her car from the store and spotted several hispanic men coming her way. They all attacked her and tried to get her into a car, but she was (thankfully) able to get away by throwing her gym bag at them and running back to the store screaming all the way. A man coming out of the store also came to her aid, but the gang of men sped off in their car. Police told the woman that judging by the store surveillance tapes, it looked to be gang activity. The police told the woman that part of the initiation process for a local gang is to group rape a woman and then slit her throat.

In my friends email, it states that this attack was never written about in the paper, and I don't remember seeing it on the news. So while I am not trying to scare anyone, please be very careful while at the Pleasant Valley Walmart, because this is where police say that the gang looks for their victims.

[billybobwv]

Originally Posted by poohki

I just got an email from a good friend telling me of an attempted attack in the Pleasant Valley Walmart parking lot recently. It seems a woman was going out to her car from the store and spotted several hispanic men coming her way. They all attacked her and tried to get her into a car, but she was (thankfully) able to get away by throwing her gym bag at them and running back to the store screaming all the way. A man coming out of the store also came to her aid, but the gang of men sped off in their car. Police told the woman that judging by the store surveillance tapes, it looked to be gang activity. The police told the woman that part of the initiation process for a local gang is to group rape a woman and then slit her throat.

In my friends email, it states that this attack was never written about in the paper, and I don't remember seeing it on the news. So while I am not trying to scare anyone, please be very careful while at the Pleasant Valley Walmart, because this is where police say that the gang looks for their victims.

When you say "the news", do you mean the Washington TV stations? Doubt it would be there since Winchester recently got its own TV station on channel 3 and ever since that station went on the air, the DC and Hagerstown, MD stations have pretty much stopped reporting any news when it comes to Winchester.

BTW..the Winchester Star did a story about this the toher day. Saw it on their website but for some reason when I looked at their archives for this past week, it wasn't there.

Interesting !!!

[BellaElla]

Thanks for the info poohki. I hadn't heard about that.
That really makes me sad.I'll warn my teen girls.

[Jerry_Williams]

Are you sure this is a real story? I am not saying that it is, but so many stories are circling around the internet that are either some ones idea of a (bad) joke or surprisingly often written by political lobbyist to push an agenda. This one surely is structured like the latter.

If this was something that happened I do apologize, it is just that there are so many e-mails being sent out right and left that too often turns out not to be based on facts.

[Rhett_Butler]

No, it's a fair question...... I recently saw an email circulating about a woman who was at Dinosaurland in the Stephens City area and was asked if she was with anyone before leaving because someone had gotten into the back of her car..... Supposedly an MS-13 Member who meant to kill her, as it is an initiation ritual of theirs to kill someone...

Sound vaguely familiar to the OP???

I wonder... I know there's gang activity in the Winchester Area, but stories like these being circulated that sound like urban legends make me wonder... Think about it. In both instances they never apprehended the people but somehow were able to identify them as gang members. In both they somehow KNOW the motive of the attack as a gang initiation ritual, etc, etc..... Just sounds a little hokey to me.

[billybobwv]

Originally Posted by Jerry_Williams

Are you sure this is a real story? I am not saying that it is, but so many stories are circling around the internet that are either some ones idea of a (bad) joke or surprisingly often written by political lobbyist to push an agenda. This one surely is structured like the latter.

If this was something that happened I do apologize, it is just that there are so many e-mails being sent out right and left that too often turns out not to be based on facts.

This sort of thing has always been a problem in Winchester. I guess some people have nothing better to do than go online send emails and tell stories hoping to get someone's dander up.

Not sure if its still around but I remember a site called "winchesteronline". At first it was a community forum for neighbors to chat and such. Good idea !! But within a year or two, the site ran into problems with questionable posts. Such as the man who was found murdered in a restroom at Belk. Both Belk and the Apple Blossom Mall denied this totally.

Then there was those strange emails sent out to a number of local folks
back in the mid to late 90's about local radio station WFQX 99.3 The Fox. Telling parents they should boycott the station because one of their disc jockies was a homosexual and was arrested for having sex with an HIV affected man at Jim Barnett Park. The same email said the DJ in question would have sex with other men "live on 99.3 The Fox late at night". Not only did WFQX deny this but even the Winchester City Police and the Frederick County Sheriffs Department said that NO employee of WFQX was ever arrested in the park for sex. WFQX also added that their late night shift was totally automated and there is no way this incident could happen.

Even before the net, Winchester had more of it share of wild rumors. Zayre, the now defunct discount department store chain had a location in Winchester. Back in the 1970's, the "big" rumor at the time was that a customer was raped in the store while many of the employees cheered and clapped. Not only was that story was not true but Zayre as I can remember spent quite a bit of time and money tracing back that rumor. I don't think they ever did find out who and why this was started.

I have quite a few family and friends who live in and around Winchester. They can tell you many urban legends about the area that they have heard over the years.

Must be nice to sit back and dream up "..what can I say about Winchester today !!" and not worry about how to make ends meet or whatever.

I think this gang story could very well be a hoax since the Winchester Star took the story off from its website and ABC3 never reported it.

[poohki]

I thought I was doing a good thing by reporting this. I didn't have too, I could have kept it to myself and only watched out for ME. My friend who sent me the email got it from her best friend who personally knows the intended victim. I'm sorry if there is urban legend floating out there, but this is positively not one of them.

I wouldn't have posted something just to scare people, or start a rumor (I DO have a life). I trust my friend, so I tried to stop this from happening to someone else.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by poohki

I thought I was doing a good thing by reporting this. I didn't have too, I could have kept it to myself and only watched out for ME. My friend who sent me the email got it from her best friend who personally knows the intended victim. I'm sorry if there is urban legend floating out there, but this is positively not one of them.

I wouldn't have posted something just to scare people, or start a rumor (I DO have a life). I trust my friend, so I tried to stop this from happening to someone else.

No point in getting defensive. Just a "Boy who cried wolf" syndrome in the area I guess. No one was implying you had bad intentions, but don't you find your story and mine REMARKABLY similar??? I had doubts about the one I heard before hearing yours.... And what's funny is that the email I received was supposedly from a "Friend of a friend of a co-worker" as well..... And the co-worker who sent the email seems as adamant as you as to it's veracity as, "Well, I know the guy who says he knows a person who knows the person this happensed to."......

All seems a little too coincidental to me.... Or is it just MS-13 "initiation season" maybe??? Yeah, I doubt it too....

[poohki]

Maybe, just maybe they sound familiar because they are both true.......there are gangs in the area, and they do have an initiation process.

[cathy J.]

Originally Posted by poohki

I thought I was doing a good thing by reporting this. I didn't have too, I could have kept it to myself and only watched out for ME. My friend who sent me the email got it from her best friend who personally knows the intended victim. I'm sorry if there is urban legend floating out there, but this is positively not one of them.

I wouldn't have posted something just to scare people, or start a rumor (I DO have a life). I trust my friend, so I tried to stop this from happening to someone else.

Just curious..

Did your friend or the victim contact any of the local news media such as WINC-FM? The Winchester Star? Channel 3's Bill DuVall? Northern Virginia Daily? Q102?

I listen to WINC every morning and watch Bill DuVall and Denise Chandler every night at 7 on channel 3. I can tell you they said nothing about this instead the top story in the Winchester this week was about the Sherando High School Team losing the state champonship. No disrespect to the students of Sherando, but I would think these attacks are more important.

IDid your friend contact the local police? Well maybe it could be a case of the Winchester Police department not bothering telling the media. If that is the case then the Winchester Police is not doing their job.

I know if I was a victim of an attack of any kind and if the police didn't bother telling the media, for the good of the community I would raise hell about it.