Fairfax County Police Fatally Shoot Man In Springfield Parking Lot

SPRINGFIELD, VA — Fairfax County Police officers shot and killed a man in the parking lot at Springfield Town Center Thursday afternoon after he refused to put down a gun, officials said.

Police received a tip that the man, who was wanted on two charges from an incident that occurred Sunday, would be at the mall Thursday afternoon, the department said.

Officers working the department's Summer Crime Initiative, who received a picture of the man and his vehicle, saw the man and his car around 4:30 p.m., police said at a news conference Thursday evening near the scene of the fatal shooting.

The man, a 37-year-old Fairfax County resident, was wanted over an incident that happened Sunday. The suspect stole a handgun from a family member in Fairfax County, fired the weapon inside the house, and left on foot, Brian Reilly, executive deputy police chief for the FCPD, said at the news conference.

Police said they are planning to release the man's name after they notify his family of the fatal shooting.

When the officers approached the man shortly after 4:30 p.m., he got back into his car, police said. Officers yelled at the man to show his hands as he sat in his car with the windows rolled up

One of the officers then yelled, “He’s got a gun,” police said. The officers yelled at him to put down his gun at least 20 times, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at the news conference.

Reilly said he does not know if the man was aiming his gun through the closed windows at the police officers when they started to fire their guns.

“He never dropped his gun, is what I will presume,” he told reporters. “But we’re going to figure all that out with interviews with the officers and body-worn camera and in-car video from the vehicles.”

Police officers from the department's fugitive warrant squad had information that he was going to be at the mall, Reilly said. “Since Sunday, our fugitive warrant squad has been tracking this 37-year-old gunman,” he said.

Two of the three police officers fired shots at the man. Reilly said he does not know how many shots were fired. None of the police officers were injured.

After the shooting, the man was taken to a local hospital where he died, police said.

A semiautomatic pistol was recovered from the man's car, said Davis, who held up a photo of the gun at the news conference.

All three police officers were wearing body-worn cameras, according to Davis, who said he has watched footage of the shooting. "I'm proud of their efforts," he said of the officers.