A D.C. man accused of initiating a gunfight at a Ballston apartment building early New Year’s Day did so with an illegally modified handgun, according to police.
The handgun that Malachi Rawlings allegedly used was equipped with an extended magazine and an auto sear device, “converting [it] from semi- to fully automatic,” an officer wrote in a criminal complaint.
By itself, possession of an extended magazine does not violate any Virginia law. However, legislation signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year clarified that possessing an auto sear — which allows a semi-automatic firearm to fire more than one shot without repeatedly engaging the trigger — can result in a five-year prison sentence.
Rawlings, 21, could face decades in prison if he is convicted of the following six charges that he faces.
- Aggravated malicious wounding (20 years to life)
- Use of a machine gun for an aggressive purpose (2 to 10 years)
- Discharging a firearm within a building (2 to 10 years)
- Use or display of a firearm while committing a felony (3 years)
- Possession of an auto sear (1 to 5 years)
- Carrying a concealed firearm (up to 1 year)
Just after 1 a.m. on Jan. 1, police responded to the Placemakr building at the Marymount University Ballston campus after gunshots were heard coming from one of the building’s upper floors.
Rawlings is accused of initiating a “firefight” in the elevator lobby of the building’s 10th floor after a verbal dispute — resulting in Arlington’s first reported shooting of 2025.
Law enforcement located the suspect, who himself had been shot in the foot, outside the building. Another victim, who had been shot in the hand, was taken to Virginia Hospital Center. Neither injury was deemed life-threatening.
Rawlings is scheduled to appear next on March 14, when a General District Court judge will determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury.
