Chief Kevin Davis, FCPD, at the press conference, provides updates on the two officers who were shot in the 4000 block of Majestic Lane near Greenbriar
Chief Kevin Davis of the Fairfax County Police Department opened a press conference at a media staging area late Wednesday afternoon, April 23, in the 4000 block of Majestic near Greenbriar, reporting on two officers shot and wounded, and a suspect shot and killed.
Davis says, "Number one, policing remains a dangerous profession in America. Number two, we have some great cops in Fairfax County doing some outstanding police work."
Detectives from FCPD Major Crimes Bureau and Internal Affairs Bureau continue to investigate the police shooting incident where two officers were shot by an armed man near Greenbriar.
One officer stopped a 1999 Toyota Corolla driven by Jamal Wali, 36, of Fairfax. Wali was argumentative and refused to obey commands. Backup was called and once on scene, Wali reached for a firearm and shot two officers. A third officer discharged his weapon, striking Wali four times.
The gunfire happened during what initially appeared, as Davis said, to be a routine traffic stop around 3 p.m. Instead, two officers were on the driver's side of the vehicle trying to de-escalate the situation while the driver continued to reach for his firearm.
"Two of our officers attempted to prevent him from doing that. They were unsuccessful. The gun comes out of the holster and he opens fire on these two cops," Davis says. A third Fairfax County police officer, on the opposite side of the vehicle, shoots the suspect after he began firing at the other two officers.
Davis said he watched the body-worn camera footage and the dash-cam videos. "So, if I appear to be speaking with a degree of certainty, it's because I am certain."
"I'm certain that these officers are lucky to be alive. I'm certain that they were fired upon by a gunman whose intention was to kill them. And I'm certain that the bravery exhibited by the third officer on the scene ultimately saved their lives," Davis said.
Davis described the incident in greater detail. The initial police officer with a radar gun is conducting traffic enforcement on the road. A car speeds by him at a high rate of speed. The police officer gets behind him and activates his emergency equipment. "He pulls over very abruptly and slams on his brakes," Davis says.
The officer gets out of his vehicle and conducts what amounts to a routine traffic stop for speeding. According to Davis, the driver is the lone person in the car, and he describes him as "immediately hostile, argumentative, and [behavior] inconsistent with what they encounter with typical motorists. … He's combative. He refuses to identify himself. He refuses to produce any identification whatsoever," Davis says.
The driver tells the initial police officer that he is armed, and the officer hears him as other police officers arrive. According to Davis, the initial police officer tells the driver to stop reaching for his firearm.
"This firearm is in a holster attached to a gun belt that our bad guy is wearing over his clothing as the backup officers arrive," Davis says.
"One of the backup officers, a 19-year veteran, interacts with our motorist, with our gunman, tells him to stop reaching, stop reaching, and tries to prevent the gunman, the occupant of the car, from grabbing his gun. The gun comes out of the holster." Davis says.
"There's a third Fairfax County police officer on the scene. He too is in uniform. He too is assigned to patrol in the Fair Oaks District. He sees this deadly encounter unfolding, and he discharges his firearm, killing the gunman who was simultaneously shooting at two Fairfax County police officers," Davis says.
The officer who fired at the suspect was on the other side of the car. He was in a position he had a point of view where he was able to fire his firearm to save the lives of his two officers,” Davis says.
"Thank God for body-worn cameras because it puts police leadership in a position to speak with certainty about a critical event like an officer-involved shooting," Davis says.
"Nothing that I'm communicating to you is something that I think will change in any way, shape or form," Davis said. He adds that they will go through the car, get search warrants, and examine all the evidence.
According to police reports, responding officers quickly began performing life saving measures on the two officers and suspect. The two officers were transported in non-life-threatening condition to local hospitals. Wali was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
Police identified the officer involved in the shooting as a 2-year veteran assigned to the Fair Oaks Patrol District. As per department policy, the officer has been placed on restricted duty status, pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation, police said in a release.
The criminal investigation into use-of-force is being conducted by the Major Crimes Bureau, police said. The body-worn camera footage will be released within 30 days in accordance with the Department’s policy. The results of the criminal investigation will be presented to the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
The Internal Affairs Bureau is conducting an administrative investigation in accordance with policy, along with a review by the Independent Police Auditor. The name of the officer will be released within 10 days and in accordance with the Department’s policy.
Davis said at the press conference: "Virginia State Police, as always, they're here. They showed up to the scene. ATF, they're always the first federal law enforcement agency to show up on a critical scene like this one. I've received calls from Erik Siebert, our newly appointed US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. I received a call from Steve Jensen, who's the newly appointed assistant director in charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. So there's a lot of interest in this case. … There'll be an autopsy; there'll be a toxicology …. He was behaving and acting and communicating in a manner that wasn't normal. What it was, bizarre."
"I'm just taking a sigh of relief that these officers will live to police this community another day, and we're all very grateful for that."
This is the first FCPD police shooting incident in 2025.