FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — Police released body camera footage Thursday from an incident in May in which an officer struggled with a man in a McDonald’s parking lot in the Alexandria area. Police opened fire during the incident, and the man, whom investigators said attacked the officer, died.
“In my opinion, his intent, rather, was to kill that police officer,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Thursday. “He was assaulted. He was taken hostage. He was abducted. The actions of the two responding officers, I believe, were more than appropriate, given what we know, then and now.”
Police said that on May 11, Brandon Lamagne, 38, was the driver of a U-Haul that had been reported stolen out of Richmond days earlier. An officer saw the truck in a gas station parking lot in the 6300 block of Richmond Highway. The officer pulled into the parking lot to investigate and saw Lamagne outside of the U-Haul.
Investigators said when the officer confronted Lamagne, the 38-year-old shoved the officer into the officer’s SUV and continued attacking him.
Police said that the officer’s SUV went in reverse and spun into the McDonald’s parking lot next to the gas station. It hit a parked car and ran over several bushes.
During this struggle, the police officer sent several calls over his radio saying that he was being attacked and indicated that Lemagne was trying to get a hold of his gun. Two other officers arrived at the scene. One officer pulled Lemagne off of the officer who initially approached Lemagne outside of the U-Haul. Both officers opened fire. Lamagne died there.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement Thursday: “I received and started reviewing the body-worn camera footage the night of the incident. At this stage, consistent with standard operating procedure, my team is undertaking an independent and thorough review. I can assure the community that I will come to an independent decision in this matter.”
