FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. β Two police officers shot and killed a man in Fairfax County Thursday afternoon after another officer was "violently attacked" inside of his own police car, Chief Kevin Davis said.
"This is quite a dramatic scene," Davis told reporters during a news conference Thursday evening.
The deadly altercation occurred in the 6300 block of Richmond Highway, which is in the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County.
The Fairfax County Police Department says it all went down around 4 p.m.
According to Davis, an officer noticed a U-Haul that was reported stolen out of Richmond, Virginia after the U-Haul passed a license plate reader. The man driving the stolen U-Haul pulled into a gas station parking lot and walked away.
The officer was standing in front of the open driver-side door of his police car when he made contact with the man. Police identified the man Friday as 38-year-old Brandon Lemagne.
The police department explained the officer told Lemange he was going to be detained for driving the stolen U-Haul. That's when Davis said Lemagne started "violently attacking" the officer.
That officer managed to call out for help on his police radio, stating that the suspect had taken his gun from him.
Davis said body-camera video shows the violent attack that took place inside the police car.
At some point, the police vehicle was put into reverse, and it sped backward out of control out of that parking lot, down a street, and into the parking lot of a nearby McDonald's, where it crashed into a parked car β all while the attack continued inside of the vehicle.
>EXCLUSIVE VIDEO BELOW: Surveillance video obtained by WUSA9 shows the moment that the police car crashed into a parked car in the McDonald's parking lot and some of the events that occurred after.
Other officers arrived at the scene after the crash. One officer opened fire on Lemagne. A second officer, who Davis called a hero, charged toward the crashed police vehicle believing the officer inside had been shot.
That officer reached into the police car and pulled Lemagne off of the officer who was being attacked. The officer, a 24-year veteran, pulled out their firearm and shot the suspect. Lemagne died at the scene.
Two officers in total fired their guns. The officer who was attacked never fired his weapon because Davis said he was too busy "fighting for his life," and his gun was taken by Lemagne. That gun has since been recovered.
The officer suffered minor injuries, including scraps, bruises, and a "bloodied-up" eye.
No officers were shot.
Davis called the crime scene "highly unusual."
Police did not say what was inside the stolen U-Haul, if anything.
Two lanes of northbound Richmond Highway were closed at North Kings Highway and Shields Avenue following the incident.