Prosecutors in Northern Virginia say police were acting reasonably when they shot and killed a man who attacked an officer and tried to take his gun after a struggle at a Fairfax County parking lot in 2023.
Neither of the Fairfax County officers who fired their weapons will be charged in the death of 38-year-old Brandon Lemagne on May 11, 2023, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said last week.
During a struggle between Lemagne and an officer, he pinned the officer in his police cruiser and then sent the vehicle into reverse before it crashed into a nearby restaurant. Two officers who responded fired at Lemagne, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
“My review led me to conclude that at the time Officers Grubb and Momon discharged their firearms, it was objectively reasonable for them to believe that deadly force was immediately necessary to protect themselves and others,” Descano wrote in the review.
When an officer fires a gun, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office investigates whether criminal charges should be brought. Descano declined to bring charges against the officers after reviewing footage from body camera and nearby business security cameras, along with dispatch records, interviews and other evidence.
What led officers to shoot Lemagne
A license plate reader in the Huntington area had flagged a U-Haul truck that had reportedly been stolen in Richmond days before.
Police said Lemagne had parked the U-Haul at a Citgo gas station in the 6200 block of Richmond Highway, and exited the vehicle.
After police had been alerted to the stolen vehicle, Officer Ryan Devanney responded to the gas station and told Lemagne that he was being detained because of the reported vehicle theft.
Lemagne initially complied, but when Devanney called for backup, he lunged for the officer’s firearm.
Devanney sent a distress call and told the dispatcher that Lemagne was reaching for his gun.
When Devanney told Lemagne to stop reaching for the gun and that he was “not going to jail right now,” Lemagne replied “naw, your gun’s taken,” according to the review.
According to a news release a day after the shooting, Devanney’s duty belt remained on him during the alleged assault and the firearm remained holstered. Police said “the holstered firearm was pulled from his hip to the front of the officer’s waistband.”
“Lemagne held onto the officer’s holstered firearm, assaulted the officer by striking him in the head and pulled him across the parking lot in an attempt to disarm him,” Fairfax County police said in a 2023 news release.
Lemagne opened the driver side door of the cruiser and pinned Devanney inside. The officer radioed in for help again and repeated that Lemagne was trying to take his gun. On that second call, the dispatcher said, “he’s got your gun.”
“Shortly after Officer Devanney made this last radio call, Mr. Lemagne hit the gas pedal of the cruiser, which was still running and had been put in reverse,” Descano wrote.
With the drivers door still open, the vehicle sped backward into a McDonald’s parking lot next door. The cruiser struck two other vehicles before coming to a stop, with the “wheels still spinning,” Descano said.
Responding to the scene, Officer Christopher Grubb arrived first and followed the cruiser. At first, Grubb believed Devanney was back at the gas station and possibly wounded.
Unaware that Devanney was still inside, he shot at the cruiser after it crashed to a stop.
Just as Grubb had fired shots, Officer Kenyatta Momon arrived on the scene, where he saw that Devanney was pinned down beneath Lemagne in the cruiser.
Two seconds after Momon pulled Lemagne off Devanney, Momon shot Lemagne, believing that Lemagne was armed with the officer’s weapon.
Lemagne was pronounced dead at the scene. A later autopsy stated his cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. He also had amphetamines in his system.
Both officers were under the belief Lemagne had taken the officer’s weapon at the time of the shooting. Descano’s review said Grubb and Momon were “objectively reasonable” to believe deadly force was necessary to protect themselves and others.
WTOP’s Thomas Robertson contributed to this report.
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