A man suspected in an attempted bank robbery was fatally shot by a deputy with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in a Leesburg parking lot Tuesday, according to officials.
The man, later identified by county officials as 30-year-old Conner Peltzer, of Sterling, Virginia, later died in a hospital.
The shooting happened in the parking lot of a Walmart in Leesburg as law enforcement tried to approach a suspect police say was armed around 11:40 a.m.
Loudoun County detectives, deputies and FBI special agents found the man in the parking lot of a shopping center in the 1900 block of Compass Creek Parkway.
When deputies pulled behind Peltzer’s vehicle, he got out of the car with a gun, according to the sheriff’s office. That’s when deputies fired at him.
“We never want to be in a situation where we have to fire on anybody,” Sheriff Mike Chapman said during a news conference. “It’s in a very populated area, fortunately we were on the back side of the parking lot.”
The shooting happened away from the entrance to the store, where Chapman said there’s more foot traffic.
No deputies were injured during the shooting, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to the sheriff’s office, Peltzer was also identified as a suspect in an attempted bank robbery at the Bank of America at Dulles Crossing on Monday afternoon.
Deputies said the suspect threatened to use explosives during the attempted robbery. Law enforcement searched the building and nearby areas and determined it was safe.
“A note was passed, it wasn’t responded to, he left the bank and he left without any money,” Chapman said.
The Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office will investigate the shooting.
WTOP’s Ciara Wells contributed to this report.
