Regrets over swastika warning sign

Neighbours said the display of hate in a Lorton, Virginia, community was as large as it was shocking: a swastika roughly 12m across mowed into the grass of a community field.

Tyre marks from a ride-on mower ran from the parking lot, up a road to the home of a teen known as troubled in the neighbourhood, leaving little mystery as to the perpetrator, a neighbour said.

Residents of Gunston Manor were soon debating how to handle the situation: go to police or talk to the teen’s family directly?

The latter plan won out and now some regret that decision.

The incident came roughly two months before the 17-year-old allegedly shot and killed the parents of his 16-year-old girlfriend in their Reston, Virginia, home last week. Scott Fricker, 48, and Buckley KuhnFricker, 43, had stopped their daughter from seeing the teen, after family and friends said the couple discovered a Twitter account they believed was linked to the teen that retweeted tweets praising Hitler, making derogatory comments about Jews, calling for “white revolution”, and picturing an image of a man hanging from a noose beneath a slur for gays.

The teen, who has been charged with two counts of murder, remains hospitalised in critical condition after turning the gun on himself.

Penny Potter, a neighbour, agreed to share the story of the swastika because she wanted it to serve as a cautionary tale to report early warning signs before a tragedy occurs. She believes there’s a chance the Frickers might still be alive if neighbours had contacted police.

“For the first time, I was fearful that there was someone living in our neighbourhood who was capable of incredibly irrational behaviour,” Potter said.

A group of neighbours decided to send an emissary to the family’s home to discuss the swastika a couple days after it was discovered in October. Potter said the teen’s parents admitted he had mowed the symbol into the grass. She said they were aware of his behavioural issues and were getting him treatment.

Family and friends of the Frickers said the couple had grown so worried about their daughter’s relationship with the 17-year-old that they contacted officials at the private school the two youths attended to share their concerns about his suspected neo-Nazi views. Recently, the Frickers staged an intervention to try to convince their daughter to stay away from the boyfriend.

However, when the Frickers found the teen with their daughter in her room at the weekend, he pulled out a gun and shot, according to a family member.

Fairfax County police have declined to comment on the family’s account.