A Metro Transit Police officer shot a man in the Rosslyn area Friday morning after a tangled episode that included entering an occupied vehicle, a physical struggle and the use of pepper spray, Arlington, Va., police said.
The series of incidents and confrontations finally ended after the suspect entered an unoccupied trash truck, with its motor running, the police said. He ignored commands to get out of the truck, and was shot, according to a statement released Friday night by the police.
It was not clear exactly why the officer fired.
The suspect was in stable condition Friday night at a hospital, police said. It was not clear from the Arlington police statement whether more than one Metro Transit officer was involved. The episode occurred near the Rosslyn station.
As described in the statement, matters began shortly before 11:30 a.m. when a man approached an occupied vehicle at 19th Street and Fort Myer Drive, and pulled on the door handle.
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The man failed to get in, and the vehicle drove away.
After that incident, the man kept walking along Fort Myer Drive until he approached a second occupied vehicle.
After opening the back door, he got in and began to yell at the driver. It was not known what he yelled.
The driver got out. A Metro Transit System police officer saw what happened and he ordered the man out of the vehicle.
After the man emerged, the officer tried to take him into custody, and a struggle began. The man broke away from the officer and fled.
A foot chase began, and at least one Metro Transit officer used pepper spray, according to the police account.
It was not clear from the police account whether the officer who used the spray was the same officer who had struggled with the man.
The man kept going, and got into the trash truck at North Kent Street and 19th Street. There, according to the Arlington police account, a Metro Transit officer ordered the man to get out of the truck but he remained inside.
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“The officer then discharged their firearm, striking” the man, Arlington police said.
Transit police began lifesaving measures before rescue personnel arrived, Arlington police said.
They said their investigation indicated that the man may have tried to enter other cars before the incidents described.
Earlier Friday, Arlington police spokeswoman Ashley Savage was asked whether the man who was shot had been armed.
She said police were “still working through all of those details.”
The man has not been publicly identified by authorities and there was no report of any charges,
Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Anzallo, in referring to the officer who fired, said he was “a little shaken up, but he’s doing well.”
No other injuries were reported.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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