FAIRFAX, Va. — A day after his identity was a mystery, a Herndon man is facing an attempted capital murder charge for shooting at a Fairfax County police officer in Great Falls, Virginia.
After the shooting late Sunday, Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler said investigators didn’t have any description of the suspect. But less than 24 hours later his department was able to charge Brian Neftali Landaverde, 21, who also faces a charge of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
“We have recovered evidence in this case that connects the suspect to the attempted capital murder of our police officer,” Rosseler said.
Investigators said during a press conference that on Monday evening, Herndon Police were called to a business along Elden Street for reports of a man flashing a weapon. After chasing Landaverde down and arresting him for possession of a stolen firearm, Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard said the suspect made statements that raised her officer’s suspicions.
Landaverde was placed in the adult detention center and officers alerted their colleagues in Fairfax County that he could be connected to their investigation.
“Certainly there’s a lot of luck involved that we would respond to a call that would end up connected in that respect, but it’s what you do with that information when they get there,” DeBoard said.
Both she and Roessler praised Herndon officers for going above and beyond to investigate whether their suspect Monday night was linked to Fairfax County’s shooting investigation.
Just before midnight Sunday, a Fairfax County officer, yet unnamed, tried to pull Landaverde over after he ran a red light along Georgetown Pike, police said. After a passenger jumped out of his car, police said Landaverde turned around on a side street, and drove back in the direction of the officer. He fired a gun at least twice.
“We also have recovered the vehicle involved and it appears the gunshots were fired from inside the vehicle through the windshield at our police officer,” Roessler said.
The officer was unharmed, but the officer lost sight of Landaverde and wasn’t able to capture the license plate.
Now officers are running tests on the stolen gun found on Landaverde Monday with the ballistics from Sunday’s shooting, as well as processing any evidence found in the car, Roessler said.
Two juveniles, ages 16 and 17, are being interviewed in connection with the shooting investigation. Police said they were in the car with Landaverde around the time he fired at the officer.
WTOP’s Amanda Iacone contributed to this report.
