Body Camera Footage Shows Attack On Fairfax County Cop, Fatal Shooting By Police

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Body camera and surveillance footage was released Thursday of Fairfax County Police shooting a man on Richmond Highway after police say he attacked an officer and tried to take a gun.

The May 11 shooting happened in a McDonald's parking lot in the 6200 block of Richmond Highway. The newly-released footage shows an officer at the adjacent Citgo gas station interacting with the suspect, Brandon Lemagne, 38, of Newport News, who police say had been driving a U-Haul stolen from Richmond. Other body camera footage shows two officers who fired their guns at the suspect.

"This doesn't happen but once a generation for a police officer to be the subject of someone attacking him trying to pull his own gun out of his holster," said Police Chief Kevin Davis at a news conference Thursday. "So it was very much in progress. He was assaulted. He was taken hostage. He was abducted. The actions of the two responding officers, I believe, were more than appropriate given what we know."

After the fatal shooting, Lemagne's sister Nechelle Lemagne told WJLA she didn't agree with how her brother acted but directed criticism at the police response.

"You are supposed to fight criminals, not kill criminals. And my brother was definitely murdered," she told the news station.

Warning: This video of the struggle and shooting contains graphic content and language.

What the Body Camera Footage Shows

In the body camera footage from the officer who police say was attacked, the officer asks if the suspect was driving the U-Haul, to which the suspect said yes. After the suspect says yes, the officer pulls him aside and starts to put handcuffs on the suspect while saying he is being detained due to the stolen U-Haul.

As the officer radios for an additional unit, a struggle begins, and the officer says "sir, you're good, get off my gun."

But as the struggle continues, the officer radios for help, saying "he's going for my gun." During the struggle, the officer says several times "get off my gun."

While the body camera footage did not show what the suspect was reaching for, surveillance footage from the gas station appears to show the suspect reach for something on the officer's belt. Davis said the suspect had one or both hands on the officer's gun on the holster most of the time, and the officer had both hands on the gun but took one hand off to radio for help.

The struggle continued after the suspect leads the officer to the police cruiser, as shown in the gas station surveillance video. That video ends as the police cruiser is put in reverse with the officer and suspect leaning into the vehicle. The officers' body camera gets detached amid the struggle in the car.

The video did not show the vehicle being put in reverse and spinning out from the gas station parking lot to the adjacent McDonald's parking lot. The police chief believes it was the suspect who stepped on the gas to move the vehicle.

Additional body camera footage comes from the two officers that fired their guns. One officer appears to fire his gun multiple times toward the police cruiser.

The other officer pulls the suspect off the officer in the cruiser and fires his gun closely at the suspect. The suspect was declared dead at the scene.

Davis said it was unclear which shots fired by officers were fatal to the suspect, but the investigation could determine that.

After the shots were fired, multiple responding officers provide aid to the attacked officer, who they believed was shot. The officer went to the hospital for treatment of injuries and was later released.

"You've probably rarely seen body worn camera footage of a police officer getting all of his clothes cut off of him because they're looking for bullet holes," said Davis. "And the officer himself doesn't even know if he's shot. You see blood."

Davis believes a double retention holster the police department has used for several years saved the officer's life.

"It was the second retention mechanism that ultimately contributed to this officer living to fight another day," said Davis. "Because I firmly believe that the perpetrator the assailant, in this case, if he were to have lodged that gun free from the officer's holster would have killed him, would have executed him. There's no doubt in my mind."

At the news conference, Davis fielded a question on why one officer fired his gun at a distance in the busy McDonald's location. The police chief noted that stretch of Richmond Highway is a busy area, but there were no pedestrians passing by or people in their vehicles at the McDonald's.

"Our officers are trained like police officers across the country to consider their background, to consider the presence of others who could be in harm's way," said Davis. "But oftentimes, in spite of those best efforts, there is some inevitable potential that other people could be harmed. And I put that squarely on the perpetrator."

Davis said the suspect rented the U-Haul in Richmond under a false identity and never returned the vehicle. The police chief believes the attacked officer's initial interaction with the suspect was appropriate.

"A temporary detention of someone who's driving a stolen vehicle with handcuffs until backup got there and further investigation occurred is not inconsistent with our training here in Fairfax County, nor is it inconsistent with any training that I've ever been familiar with in my career," said Davis.

The two involved officers are on restrictive duty pending the results of the internal and criminal investigations. The first officer who fired his gun from a distance is an eight-year veteran, while the officer who pulled the suspect off the officer and fired his gun is a 24-year veteran. Results of the criminal investigation will be presented to the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

The attacked officer is a three-year veteran of the police officer. Davis said the officer is receiving peer support resources within the police department.