A Fairfax County police officer is recovering after he was stabbed by a 16-year-old boy while responding to a call on Monday afternoon, according to the Virginia county’s police chief.
“It was only in a matter of a couple inches or so and we could have been having a much different on-scene press conference last night,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a press conference Tuesday.
Around 2:40 p.m. on Monday, the officer was responding to the 12800 block of Fair Lakes Parkway after the police department said the teenager called police, falsely claiming he had killed two people.
While investigating the call, body camera footage appears to show the teenager, in a hooded sweater, running toward a patrol car which had the engine running and the front door unlocked. When an officer began to confront the teenager, the boy sprinted toward the police officer with a knife in-hand.
Camera footage shows the officer sliding onto the ground and getting back up while trying to get away from the teenager. There appeared to be a struggle between the officer and teen before the teen fell to ground, and another officer ran over to assist.
The officer — a six-year veteran of the force — was stabbed in the left side of his torso and taken to a local hospital. The department said the officer — who is not being identified — has been released from the hospital.
Davis said the investigation appears to show that the teenager went onto the ground “on his own somehow,” and the other responding officer did not use his firearm, which he had in his hand.
“These police officers were responding to a call for service, and then, with a great deal of bravery and courage, when someone is running toward one of their police cars … they approach him,” Davis said.
The police department said it has had interactions with the teenager in the past, but due to his age, would not go into specifics.
Davis said it’s situations such as this which remind everyone how dangerous the job can be.
“I do think the vast majority of society realizes that, but unfortunately, it takes moments like this one to cause us all to kind of reflect and pause on it,” he said.
The teenager accused of stabbing the officer is being held on a charge of malicious wounding.