Man Who Shot 2 Police Officers, Then Killed By Cop, Identified

GREENBRIAR, VA — Jamal Wali, 36, of Fairfax was the man authorities say shot two Fairfax County Police officers during a traffic stop in the Greenbriar area on Wednesday afternoon. Wali was declared dead at the hospital from injuries he received during the encounter.

An officer on traffic enforcement duty in the Greenbriar area saw Wali’s 1999 Toyota Corolla pass by at a high rate of speed, the police department said. The officer initiated a traffic stop in the 4000 block of Majestic Lane and the driver of the other vehicle began to pull over.

“He pulls over very abruptly and slams on his brakes,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said, during the news conference following the incident. “The officer obviously noticed that the driver slammed on his brakes abruptly, but nonetheless, he gets out and is conducting what amounts to a normal traffic stop for a traffic violation, speeding.”

Wali was immediately hostile, argumentative and behaved in a manner inconsistent with what officers encounter during a typical traffic stop, according to Davis.

Wali refused to identify himself or produce any identification. However, he told the officer that he was armed, Davis said. As the officer heard this, other officers began to arrive on the scene.

“Our initial police officer tells the driver, our gunman, to stop reaching for his firearm,” Davis said. “His firearm is in a holster attached to a gun belt that our bad guy is wearing over his clothing.”
One of the other officers to arrive was a 19-year-veteran on the force, who told Wali to stop reaching for his gun, and tried to prevent the driver from grabbing his gun."

“The driver of the car, our gunman, takes his gun out of the holster and leans back in his driver's seat and immediately opens fire on two uniformed Fairfax County Police officers who are standing at the driver's side door of the car,” Davis said.

Wali was killed by a third officer, who fired his weapon four times as the suspect was shooting the other two officers, according to police.

The two officers were hit in the elbows, suffering non-life threatening injuries. They were taken to Fair Oaks Hospital for treatment.

The third officer who shot and killed the driver was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident, according to Davis.

"Our Major Crimes Bureau will work hand in glove with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office," Davis said of the investigation into the shootings. "Our internal affairs will conduct a concurrent administrative review to ensure that our actions complied with our policy and our general orders, but we'll all work in tandem with each other."

Davis said he reviewed all the relevant body-cam video. The county has a policy to release body-cam video from all police-involved shootings within 30 days.

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect street name for the incident.