Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, are telling people to shelter in place in the Bailey's Crossroads area after someone appeared to have opened fire from a nearby apartment tower into a shopping center parking lot nearby. No injuries were reported, but at least one car was hit.

Leesburg Pike (Route 7) is closed in the area around Bailey's Crossroads in Falls Church, police said Friday. South Jefferson Street also is closed, along with anywhere that additional shots potentially could strike people.

Hours after an initial 911 call went out, police are still searching for the shooter, who is believed to have opened fire from 5599 Seminary Road, Lt. Daniel Spital told reporters. The building is within the Skyline Towers Apartments.

Families ran for safety, some businesses locked down, and teenagers on their school lunch break spent hours inside a Starbucks, telling their parents and friends by text that they loved them.

“They came in and told everyone, ‘Go to the back, stay to the side. Someone has a rifle and is shooting from one of the buildings directly in front of the Starbucks,’” one teen girl said.

“I was sending my ‘I love you’ texts to my parents and all my friends and stuff. You just never think something that bad is going to happen to you until it does," another girl said.

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Fairfax County Police say there were at least 3 shots, hitting one - maybe two vehicles. Damage appears to be from a high powered rifle shot from Skyline Towers. There were two people standing outside of the vehicle when it was hit, they were not injured.

In the tower, officers searched for the shooter, going floor by floor. On the ground, officers were “behind cover in any place where there is any kind of line of sight from where we believe the rounds may have come from,” Spital said.

Police are analyzing the potential trajectory of the bullets to figure out exactly where in the building the shooter could be.

“We are certainly trying to figure out exactly where that shot may have come from,” Spital said. 

Two people were outside a car near a Starbucks in the shopping center in the 3500 block of S. Jefferson Street when they heard glass from the car breaking, Spital said. They heard two more rounds hit the car, and they took cover. They called 911 at about 11:15 a.m.

Officers then found what they believe are high-powered rifle rounds in the car, Spital said.

A dispatcher told responders: "Attention all units, all units on scene of the weapon, make sure you have substantial cover; it's confirmed that the damage came from a high-powered rifle."

A second car also may have been hit, Spital said.

No additional shots have been reported to police.

“There have been no shots fired since police’s arrival. So, it is not an active shooter event at this time,” Spital said.

"A person higher up is obviously in an advantageous position, so we are certainly trying to figure out exactly where that shot may have come from," he said.

Until police can answer that and bring a suspect into custody, the neighborhood remains locked down and on high alert.

The area includes a number of stores and restaurants.

Chopper4 reporter Brad Freitas said emergency vehicles could be seen flooding into the area, including several police cars near food trucks. Only limited, non-emergency traffic could be seen moving, and few pedestrians were out.

The investigation shut down major roads on a Friday afternoon, with a typical 10-minute wait for a bus taking an hour.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police. 

Roads were still blocked early Friday evening.

This is a developing news story. Please refresh for updates.