Officer Shoots Armed Man Living In Van On Lorton Street: FCPD

LORTON, VA —Fairfax County Police officers shot a man in Lorton after responding to a report of a suspicious van parked in a residential area, the department said Tuesday.

The 34-year-old man, who was armed with a carbine-style rifle, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and is now in stable condition, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The two police officers arrived on the scene, in the 8300 block of Fitt Court near Fort Belvoir, before 9 a.m. in response to a 911 call from a resident who said the minivan that had been parked on the street for more than 24 hours.

Soon after arriving at the location, the police officers called for a tow truck for the van, which had a stolen license plate from North Carolina on the rear, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The tow truck driver opened the van’s driver-side door. A police officer then pushed a button to open the rear driver-side passenger door. At that moment, the man "emerged from the vehicle" holding the rifle and then "raised the firearm towards the officers," police said.

At least one officer told the suspect, who police have yet to name, to drop the gun several times, Davis said.

With the rifle "raised" in the direction of the police officers, one of the officers fired his gun several times at the man, striking him at least once, Davis said. The other officer pushed the tow truck operator "out of harm's way" and was slightly injured in the process, the police chief said.

Local residents who witnessed the shooting also told police investigators that the police officers told the man to drop the gun, according to the police chief.

After the man was shot, his rifle fell to the pavement. When the officers approached the man, a replica handgun was recovered from his jacket pocket, Davis said.

"Our police officers were confronted with a deadly scenario and acted appropriately," Davis said at the news conference, noting that he had viewed the body-worn camera footage.

The police are waiting to release the name of the man. He was wanted in Fairfax County on both firearms-related and drug-related charges, Davis said.

The police chief said it appeared the man had been living in the van, which had his belongings stored throughout the vehicle. The only place where there was room to sit was in the back bucket seat on the driver's side.

The van had tinted windows and a curtain separating the front from the back of the van, which made it difficult for the officers to see inside the van.

"I don’t know if our police officers knew that someone was inside the van," Davis said. When the man opened the sliding door, it "likely took them by surprise,” he added.

Davis did not say whether the man had placed one foot or both feet out of the van when he was shot. The police department plans to release the body-worn camera footage at a later date, he said.