Three people, including a sheriff’s deputy, were shot dead on Saturday in Dulles Crossing Plaza in Sterling by a man who got into a stolen vehicle before finally being apprehended in Chantilly.
All three victims sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to public information officer Kraig Troxell was transported from the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County to a hospital.
At a news conference, Sheriff Mike Chapman explained that a man was picked up by two security guards at a Walmart security office around 5 p.m., on suspicion of committing theft.
He pulled out a gun and started firing when delegates arrived to arrest him, Chapman said. Both security guards and one of the deputies were shot.
The other, uninjured deputy, shot back and hit the shooter, who managed to escape through the back of the Walmart and chop a pickup truck with keys into the car, Chapman said.
The shooter chased after LCOS delegates and officers in Fairfax County before crashing into Willard Road and fleeing on foot.
After a massive search in Willard’s 13,000 block, the suspect was found and arrested, News4’s Julie Carey reported.
Earlier Saturday morning, the LCSO also investigated an armed bank robbery at the mall, but Chapman said the events were apparently unrelated.