Officials released bodycam footage showing the chaotic moments leading up to a deadly officer-involved shooting in Fairfax, Virginia, in April. In a press release accompanying the footage, the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) called the incident an “attempted murder.”
On April 23, an officer pulled over 36-year-old Jamal Wali for speeding. Wali also had an expired safety inspection sticker. When he was pulled over, Wali slammed on the brakes, something the officer who initially approached Wali’s vehicle noted.
Wali then informed the officer he was armed and asked why he was being pulled over. From there, the situation took a chaotic turn as a clearly distressed Wali began shouting, cursing, refusing to give his name and saying he had no driver’s license or registration for the vehicle.
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As the officer tried to deescalate the situation, Wali launched into profanity-laced complaints about how he had been treated in the country and said he came to the U.S. after serving as a translator for American forces in Afghanistan.
“I should have served with f—ing Taliban,” Wali yelled at the officer.
Wali eventually took out a GoPro-like camera and began recording the traffic stop. Police later obtained this footage and included it in the bodycam video released to the public Friday.
Two other FCPD officers arrived to assist the officer who initiated the traffic stop, with one standing on the driver’s side and the other on the passenger’s side. Wali eventually reached for his weapon and fired at the two officers on the driver’s side. According to FCPD Chief Kevin Davis, one bullet went through arms of both officers before hitting a parked car across the street, shattering its rear window.
Wali was shot and taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
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“It’s always regrettable when a life is lost. It is regrettable that Mr. Wali is no longer with us,” Davis said at a news conference announcing the release of the footage. He confirmed that Wali was married with four children as he had claimed during his tense interaction with the officer.
The chief said “the impact on those children is unimaginable, and they’ll carry that with them the rest of their lives, so we take that very seriously.”
Davis credited the officer on the passenger’s side with saving the lives of the other responding officers.
“We also realize in this particular scenario that we’re very fortunate that we didn’t have two police funerals because it was just by — or thanks to, rather — some strategic thinking, actions by our police officer who you see on the passenger’s side of the car. His actions, his deployment of that deadly force, saved the lives of the two officers that were on the driver’s side of the car. There’s no doubt about that,” Davis told reporters.
FCPD said in a press release that Officer Ian Lachapelle, who fired his gun, was placed on restricted duty status as the investigation of the incident continues.
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