A 16-year-old boy has been identified as the alleged perpetrator in the stabbing of a police officer in Fair Lakes yesterday (Monday).
The unnamed juvenile appeared to have charged at an officer responding to the scene in the 12800 block of Fair Lakes Parkway before attempting to strike him with a knife, according to footage released today (Tuesday) from police body and in-car cameras.
The officer, who suffered a laceration to the left side of his rib cage above his ballistic vest, has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home, the Fairfax County Police Department announced.
“It was only a matter of a couple inches or so and we could’ve been having a much different press conference on-scene last night,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
Officers had responded to the scene just after 2:30 p.m. on Monday after somebody placed a “rambling” call claiming to have killed two people in a “traffic scenario,” according to Davis.
It was later determined that the juvenile was the person who had placed the call, police said.
The suspect could be seen standing with his back turned to officers before sprinting toward a running, unoccupied police vehicle, the body camera footage showed.
As an officer attempted to engage the suspect, the suspect then appeared to brandish a knife and charge at the officer, according to the footage.
The unnamed officer was struck once before the suspect “went down on his own somehow,” according to FCPD Maj. Elizabeth Melendez.
The suspect — who was known to law enforcement due to prior interactions, Melendez said — has been charged with felony malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, who is a six-year veteran of the FCPD, police said.
“Something has gone wrong in that young man’s life, there’s no doubt about it … whatever that young person needs to be an effective, contributory member of society has gone sideways,” Davis said.
“It’s something that doesn’t necessarily surprise me as much as it is disappointing to hear when you hear such a young age involved in such a violent crime.”
