A Fairfax County Police officer was shot in the leg after responding to a missing persons call Saturday afternoon in the Kingstowne area.
The 46-year-old officer, whose name is not being released, has been a member of the Fairfax County Police Department since 1981, said Officer Beth Funston of the Public Information Office.
Officers had been called to the 6000 block of Palladium Court on Saturday, Oct. 29, around 1:58 p.m., to investigate a missing persons call. When they arrived, Funston said, they encountered Joseph Oliver, 56, of the 6000 block of Palladium Court in Alexandria, who was carrying a handgun.
"The officers engaged in some intensive mediation to try to convince him to put the gun down," Funston said.
During the incident, the officer was shot in the leg. Oliver was shot in the upper body, according to police reports, and both were taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital. The officer was treated and released, Oliver is still hospitalized for non life-threatening injuries.
Oliver was arrested on Oct. 29 and charged with two counts of attempted capital murder and two counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to police reports, Funston said.
William Johnson, a neighbor, saw the whole incident, which included rubber bullets and tasers, Johnson said. The suspect was in the parking lot, Johnson said, and officers were trying to negotiate with him for “at least an hour or two.”
But when Oliver raised his gun, Johnson said, "I felt they had no choice."
Fairfax County Police Lt. Richard Perez said after the gunfire, and the wounded were taken away, the police cordoned off the area and started “a criminal investigation," as onlookers gathered and a helicopter circled overhead.
Mike Salmon provided additional reporting for this story.