Virginia shoplifting suspect fatally shot by police outside busy mall

Police in northern Virginia shot and killed a shoplifting suspect Wednesday night after a foot chase outside one of the region’s busiest shopping malls.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said it’s not yet known whether the suspect was armed, and an investigation is ongoing.

Davis said at a press conference Wednesday night that two police officers assigned to the mall were alerted to an alleged shoplifting incident inside Tysons Corner Center and confronted the suspect inside the mall earlier that evening.

Davis said a foot chase continued outside the mall for about a quarter of a mile until the suspect reached a wooded patch of land.

Both officers fired their weapons, and the suspect was struck an unknown number of times, Davis said. He died at an area hospital.

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Davis did not name the suspect but said he has a “significant violent criminal history.”

One of the two officers was in uniform, and body camera footage is available for review, Davis said. County policy calls for the footage to be released in 30 days.

Neither officer was injured, Davis said.

Davis declined to describe what was allegedly stolen from the mall.

Police did not immediately release the race of either the officers or the suspect who died.