Incident IPA-20-10

Incident Description

"On December 17, 2020, at approximately 10:49 a.m., an individual (who was a juvenile) called 9-1-1 and reported to the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (hereinafter “DPSC”) that he had been shot in the face by his roommate (hereinafter identified by his initials “GM”) in an apartment on Peach Orchard Drive in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County. The caller reported that he was currently inside of a locked bedroom, but that GM was still in the apartment and that he could not safely get out of the apartment.

At 10:54 a.m., patrol officers from the Fairfax County Police Department’s (hereinafter “FCPD”) McLean District police station arrived at the location of the shooting. They were quickly joined there by other FCPD officers, a Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office deputy, and several members of the FCPD’s Special Operations Division’s (hereinafter “SOD”) Special Weapons and Tactics (hereinafter “SWAT”) team. Two of the responding SWAT team members were Police Officer First Class #1 (hereinafter “PFC#1) and Master Police Officer #1 (hereinafter “MPO#1).

At 10:57 a.m., GM called DPSC and stated that he “shot the male twice;” and, at 11:07 a.m., he stated that he would not be alive much longer and that police “will have guns blazing” because he had killed someone. At 11:10 a.m., the juvenile shooting victim advised DPSC that GM was now banging on his bedroom door.

The DPSC call-taker on the phone with GM asked him to put down his gun and surrender to the police, but he refused. At that point, the FCPD Duty Officer—who had been apprised of all the aforementioned information and statements—made the decision to have a team enter the apartment to rescue the shooting victim (and now hostage).

At 11:12 a.m., the assembled team entered the apartment, and one minute later a report of “shots fired” was sent over police radios. Because the door to the apartment was locked, the officers forced their way in with breaching equipment. PFC#1 and MPO#1 were the third and fifth officers to enter. They approached a bedroom with a closed door, believing the juvenile shooting victim was inside. Before getting to the closed door, PFC#1 saw GM sitting on a bed in another bedroom with the door open.

GM held two pistols pointed in the direction of PFC#1. PFC#1 fired one shot from his weapon, which struck GM in the stomach. GM returned fire, striking PFC#1 in his arm. GM continued firing2 and PFC#1 fired several more rounds, while MPO#1 fired several rounds as well.3 When the gunfire stopped, Master Police Officer #2 (hereinafter “MPO#2), who had entered the apartment equipped with a bullet-resistant shield, came to assist MPO#1 in freeing the juvenile victim/hostage from his bedroom. Using the ballistic shield as a barrier between them and GM, MPO#1 and MPO#2 safely got the juvenile out of the apartment. They also assisted PFC#1 out of the apartment so that he could receive medical treatment for his gunshot wound."

----(IPA-20-10: Public Report by the Fairfax County Independent Police Auditor)