2 officers shot, suspect killed during traffic stop in Fairfax County, Virginia

Two Fairfax County police officers were shot while conducting a traffic stop Wednesday afternoon in Northern Virginia, law enforcement officials confirmed.

The officers' injuries are not life-threatening, police said. They were taken to a nearby hospital.

The suspect who shot at the officers was killed when police opened fire in return, Fairfax County Police said during a 4:45 p.m. press conference. Police identified him on Thursday as 36-year-old Jamal Wali, of Fairfax.

The shooting took place when Wali, pulled over for speeding, pulled out his gun and began firing on the officers conducting the traffic stop sometime before 3 p.m., police said.

A large emergency response unfolded in the 4000 block of Majestic Lane at Lee Jackson Highway (Route 50), in a dense shopping and residential area — close to the Greenbriar Town Center — that also has a high number of commuters during the evening.

Video taken from the parking lot of the Greenbriar Town Center parking lot showed the massive police response to the situation. Officers could be seen kneeling near a police cruiser, guns drawn and pointed down Route 50, as bystanders in the parking lot discussed what might have caused the police presence.

One of those bystanders were crouched on the sidewalk, appearing to hide around the corner of a building from the scene as officers dealt with the aftermath of the shooting. Others stood at a distance watching, or filming the interaction on their cell phones.

The shopping center is popular, with a 7-Eleven location that young people often stop by after school — roughly the time that the shooting took place. The car and crime scene were located right across the parking lot from that convenience store's entrance.

"The place I work at is geared toward teens and young adults, so all the high schoolers always come into our store," said one employee of another store in the shopping center. "So my first thought was, are they safe? Are the kids okay? Right where the car is, where the crime scene investigation is going, is right where the bus stop is for the elementary school kids."

She added that many of her employees are high schoolers who frequent the 7-Eleven.

"It's just crazy," she said.

Chopper4 video showed red and yellow crime tape stretching over a large swath of a residential parking area just off Lee Jackson Highway. Video also showed a silver sedan stopped in the roadway of Route 50, with medical equipment on the street as well.

There was only one person behind the wheel of the car that police stopped for speeding during what began as a routine traffic stop. Wali was "immediately hostile," refusing to identify himself and acting argumentative, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said in a press conference about the shooting.

Davis told reporters that he reviewed body-worn camera footage from all officers involved and from dashboard camera footage inside nearby police cruisers.

The driver did inform officers that he was armed, Davis said, and the gun was visible to the police officers. He was wearing his gun in a holster or gun belt over his clothes, Davis said.

The initial officer who stopped Wali could be heard, in the body-worn camera footage that Davis reviewed, telling the driver to stop reaching for his gun. The officer told him to stop multiple times as backup officers arrived at the scene, Davis said.

Wali took his gun out of the holster anyway, leaning back in his seat and shooting at the two officers at the driver's side door — the initial officer who pulled the driver over, and one of the arriving backup officers, according to police.

Those officers were struck in the arms, Davis said.

A third officer further away from the car window, seeing shots fired, then pulled out his own gun. That third officer fired at Wali, hitting him four times, police said.

Wali was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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