Video Footage Of Fairfax County Officers Pointing Gun At Teen Released

FALLS CHURCH, VA — A video shared Friday by the Fairfax County Police Department shows surveillance and body camera footage of the incident of officers pointing a gun at an unarmed juvenile near an IHOP in the Falls Church area on July 9. Police Chief Kevin Davis said the original video lacks context, and the involved officers acted lawfully, following their training, policies and community expectations.

The original video that went viral showed a juvenile walking up to officers while recording with a cell phone. The video, which contains language that may be offensive to some people, shows two officers spotting the approaching juvenile and pointing their weapons at him. The juvenile is ordered to the ground.

The encounter followed a report of three or four juveniles entering the IHOP at 6655 Arlington Blvd. around 9:12 p.m. on July 9 and threatening the hostess, according to police. Police said one of the juveniles lifted his shirt, revealing what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband.

That initial encounter was later reported by the employee, who called 911 around 11:02 p.m. when the group returned, according to Davis.

Audio of the 911 caller was not released to protect her privacy. However, Davis read excerpts from the 911 call, such as "right now they are texting me like I'm going to shoot you," "Oh my god, they just said come outside," and "Can you come please, they are coming inside."

"That 911 call for service was one made with great emotion, and she was scared, and she saw a gun, and she was threatened," said Davis.

A 911 dispatcher was providing information to officers through the radio, according to Davis. A recording of the dispatcher released by police noted the caller said about 10 people were standing outside around 11:02 p.m. The police dispatcher told officers before they arrived at the restaurant that a weapon might be involved in the incident.

"The caller is stating that there are about 10 males outside in reference to a weapon that was flashed earlier, about three hours ago," the dispatcher said, on the radio. "[The caller] has not seen one tonight. Nothing was discharged, concealed. The caller is now saying that they are surrounding the windows from outside of the building."

The dispatcher then tells the responding officers that the caller saw the subject who flashed the handgun earlier standing outside one of the emergency exits and pointing a handgun at them directly.

When officers arrived on the scene after 11 p.m., three people matching descriptions given by the 911 dispatcher were seen running across Arlington Boulevard from IHOP to a closed car dealership, according to Davis. Police stopped two people at the car dealership area. When the second person was caught, surveillance video shows the third person approach and start filming before two officers approach and their weapons.

Body camera video released by police shows one of the officers who pointed the weapon tell the juvenile to put his phone down and get on the ground. The juvenile was searched and put in a police cruiser, but police did not recover a gun on any of the three juveniles.

Police detained the three juveniles before releasing them to their parents. There have not been any charges against the juveniles, but a criminal investigation continues. No one was injured in the IHOP or the following encounter between police and the juveniles, according to Davis.

The police chief said was concerned when the viral video came out, as he did not know if the person filming was a bystander. While Davis said First Amendment rights allow filming of police, it wasn't just a bystander filming.

When asked why officers would think the person filming was holding a gun, Davis said the 911 call mentioned one or more person may have been armed.

"A police officer pointing a firearm at someone is very serious," said Davis. "But if you just go by this viral video that kind of popped last weekend, I think there's an assumption that this person was a [passerby]. He was not a [passerby]."

Any incidents of an officer pointing a gun at a person undergo an administrative investigation, Davis said.

A video of the surveillance footage and body camera footage is available here.

Patch editor Michael O'Connell contributed to this report.