# [ODMP] Fairfax County Police Department, Virginia ~ May 8, 2006



## Guest

A Detective with the Fairfax County Police Department was killed in the line of duty on May 8, 2006

*http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=18306*


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The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers . . .






















Detective Vicky O. Armel 
*Fairfax County Police Department
Virginia*
End of Watch: Monday, May 8, 2006

Biographical Info
*Age:* 40
*Tour of Duty:* 9 years
*Badge Number:* Not available

Incident Details
*Cause of Death:* Gunfire
*Date of Incident:* Monday, May 8, 2006
*Weapon Used*: Rifle
*Suspect Info:* Shot and killed

Detective Vicky Armel was shot and killed when a suspect opened fire on her and other officers in the parking lot of the Sully District Station on Stonecroft Boulevard.

The suspect had carjacked a van moments earlier, drove to the police station, and opened fire with a rifle on the officers who were in the parking lot during a shift change.

The shots struck Detective Armel and another officer. Both were flown to Fairfax Inova Hospital where Detective Armel succumbed to her wounds. The other officer was critically injured.

The suspect was shot and killed by return gunfire in the police department's parking lot.

Detective Armel had served with the Fairfax County Police Department for 9 years. She is survived by her husband, who also serves as an officer with the agency, son, and daughter.

Agency Contact Information
Fairfax County Police Department
4100 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

Phone: (703) 246-2195

* _Please contact the agency for funeral information_

*»* View this officer's Reflections*»* Leave a Reflection*»* List all officers from this agency*»* Update this memorial*»* Printer friendly view


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AP Photo/Caleb Jones

Police block the road to a police station in Chantilly, Va., after a gunman opened fire at the police station May 8, wounding several officers before he was shot and killed by police.









AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari

Officers conduct an identification checkpoint at Inova Fairfax Hospital where two wounded police officers were transported after a gunman opened fired outside the Sully District station.









AP Photo/Caleb Jones

Motor Squad Police Officer First Class C.M. Huber directs traffic off of Route 28 in Chantilly, Va. after the shooting took place.

*Detective, Suspect Killed in Virginia Police Station Attack*

*Second officer in critical condition*

*GARY EMERLING and SETH McLAUGHLIN*
_Courtesy of The Washington Times_

An 18-year-old man armed with a rifle and two handguns opened fire yesterday at a police station in Chantilly, killing a female detective and wounding two officers before being fatally shot by police.

"A female detective, a nine-year veteran with the Fairfax County Police Department, was pronounced dead at the hospital earlier this evening," police Chief David Rohrer said, declining to identify the detective.

Police said the detective, 40, is the first officer in the Fairfax department's 66-year history to be fatally shot in the line of duty.

The Washington Post identified her as Detective Vicky O. Armel.

"All of Fairfax County mourns the loss of one of its detectives," said Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Mr. Connolly said that the slain detective's husband also is a member of the police force and that they had two young children.

Police said the gunman carried no identification but investigators believed him to be Michael Kennedy, 18, of the 6200 block of Prince Way in Centreville, who was accused April 18 of carjacking a 33-year-old man in Rockville.

Montgomery County police said Kennedy turned himself in to Fairfax County police later that night and was held as a fugitive from justice.

As of late last night, Fairfax police had not named the gunman or suggested a motive for the shooting, which left one officer critically wounded.

"All information points to the act of a lone, troubled individual -- not a conspiracy, not an act of terrorism," Mr. Connolly said.

The shootout occurred about 3:30 p.m during a shift change at the Sully District police station in the 4900 block of Stonecroft Boulevard. Police said the gunman drove onto the station's back parking lot in a carjacked van, got out and began firing at officers from between two vehicles.

A 53-year-old officer who is a 23-year veteran of the force was critically injured and underwent surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital. A second officer, 28 and a five-year veteran, had minor injuries.

A civilian employee was treated for minor injuries and released.

Police spokeswoman Capt. Amy Lubas said at least one of the officers hit by the gunman was able to return fire.

Chief Rohrer would not discuss details of the investigation.

"It's going to be unraveling slowly," police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said. "We don't have a clue at this point. I'm sure some of the investigators are starting to put that together."

Police said the gunman had tried to steal a white pickup truck earlier in the day, but the truck's owner did not understand English and ran off with the keys in his pocket. The gunman later carjacked a van.

Officers carrying shotguns and automatic weapons shut down several streets in the area and searched cars in the police station's parking lot.

Several establishments, including a nearby high school, were locked down as police searched for a second shooter. Police later determined that the gunman had acted alone.

Within three hours of the shooting, police also had cordoned off a road a few miles away in Centreville at the 6200 block of Prince Way.

Paul Thiem, who lives on the street, said it was not clear whether the heavy police presence was tied to the shooting.

He said police appeared to be focusing on Kennedy's residence.

Officer Derek Baliles, a spokesman for Montgomery police, said Kennedy had been returned to Montgomery custody on the carjacking charge and released April 22 on a $30,000 property bond. Officer Baliles said he had no confirmation that Kennedy was the gunman in yesterday's shooting.

Becky Jackson, another Prince Way resident, said heavily armed police began arriving not long after 6 p.m.

"They showed up in flak jackets, dogs and big vans," Miss Jackson said. "They never told me what was going on, but they could see me peeking out the window."

Witness Lew Bennett told Channel 4 that he saw an unmarked police vehicle -- a white Ford Explorer -- moving against the flow of traffic on a road near the police station. He saw "a woman hanging out of the back seat with the door open," he said.

"My assumption was at first that some sort of training event was going on," Mr. Bennett said, adding that he realized there was too much frantic activity to justify a training exercise.

"And then I said, 'Oh, my goodness. This is critical because they would never do that,'?" he said. "And I don't know if it was a victim. I don't know if it was a police. I just know this was not an ambulance, and they were getting this person somewhere out of there as quickly as they could."

Mr. Bennett said the woman who appeared to be injured probably was one of the wounded officers.

Brett Martin, administrator of physical security for the Northrop Grumman Information Technology Center, across the street from the station and down the block, said the government contractor got a phone call from local officials shortly after the shooting.

He said the officials wanted Northrop Grumman, at 4801 Stonecroft Blvd., to turn its security cameras toward the police building.

"We're also doing extra patrols," he said.

Employees were stuck at the building as it remained under lockdown yesterday evening.

"Traffic is just completely backed up, just streams of traffic," he said.

Mike Campbell, principal of Westfield High School -- about one mile from the Sully police station -- said the school was in lockdown after the shooting and students were being kept in the auditorium and gymnasium.

"We've secured all the buildings and all the doors. ... We have a Fairfax County security personnel there," Mr. Campbell told Channel 4.

The security lock down ended about 7 p.m., after police determined the gunman had acted alone.

Michael Hunsberger and Jim McElhatton contributed to this article.


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Detective Vicky O. Armel (left) was killed Monday when Michael Kennedy (right) opened fire outside the Fairfax County, Va., Police Department.

*'Troubled' gunman kills officer at Va. station*

View killer Michael Kennedy's myspace page here

Go to Detective Vicky O. Armel's Officer Down page

The Associated Press

CHANTILLY, Virginia- A heavily armed teenager was targeting police when he opened fire outside a suburban Washington police station, killing a detective and seriously wounding two officers, officials said.

The 18-year-old had been crouched between two vehicles in the Sully District Station's parking lot Monday afternoon when he began firing, police said. He died in the exchange of gunfire, Officer Bud Walker said.

"All information points to the act of a lone, troubled individual -- not a conspiracy, not the act of terrorism," Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly said. "It would appear that the gunman specifically targeted our police."

The slain detective, a nine-year veteran of the department, was the first officer killed by an assailant in the 66-year history of the Fairfax County Police Department, officials said.

The gunman, who was not immediately identified, was armed with a rifle and two handguns, said police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings. She the teenager had tried unsuccessfully to carjack a pickup truck before stealing a van and driving it to the station.

A 53-year-old officer who was shot was in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing surgery. It was not clear whether the other wounded officer, a 28-year-old man, was shot or sustained his injuries from flying glass or a ricocheting bullet.

This is a difficult day for us," police Chief David Rohrer said learning the detective had died. "She was an exemplary detective for us. We love her greatly."
The shooting touched off hours of gridlock and confusion in the area as roads were blocked and nearby buildings, including a high school, were locked down as police sought other possible suspects before determining there was only one gunman.

View slideshow:
Va. station attack

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_News release issued by the department:_

Fairfax County Police Department
Public Information Office
4100 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, Va. 22030
703-246-2253. TTY 703-204-2264. Fax 703-246-4253
[email protected]
www.fairfaxcounty.gov

May 9, 2006

Update on Fatal Police Shooting

Investigation has determined that the sequence of events leading up to Monday's shooting began with an attempted carjacking. The Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) received a call at 3:37 p.m. that a heavily-armed man attempted to carjack a Ford pickup truck in the 14800 block of Bodley Square in the London Towne community in the Centreville area. At 3:45 p.m. DPSC received a second report that a Chevrolet minivan had been carjacked in the 6200 block of Paddington Lane. This is one block away from the first reported incident. The description of the suspect for both incidents was similar, a white man wearing a black mask dressed in camouflage clothing and armed with several weapons. At 3:52 p.m. reports of gunfire at the Sully District Station were received.

The suspect drove the minivan into the parking lot of the police station, exited the minivan and immediately began firing on officers. The first officer struck had been parking his cruiser when he was shot more than a five times and critically injured. Detective Vicky O. Armel was in the process of responding to a radio broadcast of the carjacking when the suspect confronted her in the parking lot. She exchanged gunfire with the suspect and was mortally wounded after being shot multiple times. Three more officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect before killing him. In all, the suspect fired over 70 rounds at officers. He was armed with an AK-47 assault-style weapon, a long-barreled, high-powered rifle and five handguns. He carried an extensive amount of ammunition.

Detective Armel, 40, was a nine-year veteran of the Department who worked in the Criminal Investigations Section at the Sully District Station. She leaves behind a husband and two children. In keeping with Departmental police, her home address will not be released.

Identification of the injured officers is not being released. The hospitalized officer is still in critical condition.

The suspect has been identified as Michael Kennedy, 18, of 6200 Prince Way in Centreville.








_Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed._


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