POTOMAC FALLS, Va. — A woman is dead after she was shot by sheriff's deputies at a Potomac Falls apartment early Friday morning.
According to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LSCO), deputies responded around 4 a.m. to a call about an argument happening at an apartment located in the 46600 block of Ellicott Square.
A statement from LSCO released Friday afternoon says when deputies arrived on scene, they were met at the apartment’s entrance by a woman, armed with a knife. The woman, identified by officials as 36-year-old Faubricia Virtaux Gainer of Reston, allegedly ignored deputy commands asking her to drop her weapon. Instead, LSCO says she “lunged at the deputies and was shot.”
Sheriff Mike Chapman told reporters Friday morning that it was a deputy who shot Gainer.
Following the shooting, as deputies were rendering aid to Gainer, other deputies found a 38-year-old woman and three juveniles inside the apartment. The woman and one of the juveniles, a 15-year-old teenage girl, were stabbed “during the initial argument with Gainer,” LSCO says.
Investigators say Gainer was taken to Reston Hospital Center, where she later died. The sheriff’s office says her body was taken to Manassas for an autopsy and examination at the Office of the Medical Examiner.
The woman and the 15-year-old who were stabbed were taken to Inova Lansdowne Campus of Inova Loudoun Hospital. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening, according to the sheriff's office.
Chapman told reporters that the Gainer and the woman she stabbed were “friends,” but they were not roommates. The sheriff’s office did not indicate if the apartment was home to either of the women. LSCO also did not say whether the juveniles present for the stabbing were the children of either of the women.
It is not clear how many deputies fired at the woman, according to Chapman, but state police went to the scene to investigate. At least one of the deputies was wearing a body camera during the incident, Chapman said.
No deputies were injured in the shooting and there was no threat to the community following, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office has not yet identified the deputies involved or the women involved in this case.
Because this was a deputy-involved shooting, following the investigation by state police, the findings will be sent to the Commonwealth’s Attorney to review and issue a “final adjudication.”