FCPD: Officers acted properly in pointing guns at IHOP brandishing suspect

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis says the police acted properly when they pointed guns at a juvenile filming them on a cell phone on July 9.

The young man was not an innocent bystander as previously reported. He was involved in a brandishing incident at the IHOP at 6655 Arlington Blvd. in Mason District.

“If you just go by this viral video, there’s an assumption that this person was a passerby,” Davis said at a July 16 press conference. “He was not a passerby. There was an assumption that this person had nothing to do with the gun call. He did. He ran with that group across the street to the car dealership.”

The chief released a video featuring body camera footage and a recording of the service call, which he says adds context to the incident. The viral video was widely shared on social material, attracting over a million views.

“A viral video that lacks context can make its way around the world twice while the truth is putting its shoes on,” Davis said.

The Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the IHOP brandishing incident. The Bureau of Internal Affairs is investigating the actions of the police officers.

The police video describes what happened when a group of three or four juveniles entered the IHOP at 9:12 p.m. on July 9.

Related story: Police draw guns on unarmed teen

“One of the juveniles threatened the hostess while another lifted his shirt, revealing what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband. The group departed but returned around 11 p.m. attempting to get the employee to come outside into the parking lot,” the FCDP states in the video. At that point, the employee called 911.

When officers arrived, the juveniles ran across Arlington Boulevard. Two of them were caught in the parking lot at Bill Page Toyota. “While detaining them, a third juvenile believed to be involved in the brandishing event approached officers,” the FCPD explains.

“Due to the nature of a weapon brandishing call and not yet having located a weapon, officers ordered the third juvenile to the ground at gunpoint. Officers determined the juvenile was holding his cell phone and filming,” the FCPD continues.

Body camera footage shows a police officer approaching the teen and yelling at him to get on the ground. Once the police discovered the object in his hand is a cell phone, not a weapon, a cop yells, “Do you have a reason? Do you have a reason to do this?” The officers cuff him, search him for weapons, but didn’t find any.

At the press conference, Davis read excerpts from what he called a “very compelling 911 caller”:

• “There are these three guys that came into my job and they umm, came in here and showed me a gun.”
• “Right now they are texting me like I’m going to shoot you …”
• “Oh my God, they just said come outside.”
• “Can you come, please, they are coming inside.”
• “I think they are shooting. Someone is screaming.”
• “I’m really scared.”
• “They are walking around the whole IHOP. They are right now at the emergency exit, and I can see them holding a gun.”

The call was made at 11:02 p.m. At that time, there were still a few customers and employees in the IHOP. “There is an indication that at least one employee was familiar with at least some of these young men,” Davis said.

The three juveniles detained by the police at the car dealer parking lot fit the descriptions given by the 911 caller.
It’s not illegal to film police actions, Davis said. The officers drew their guns on the third juvenile because it was reasonable to think he had a gun.

The three juveniles who were detained were later released to their parents. No firearms were recovered and no one is facing charges, Davis said. There is no probable cause for an arrest at this time.

The officers took the time to explain to the third juvenile why they did what they did, Davis said. That’s important, because, “a police officer pointing a gun at someone in 2022 America is very serious.”

“When we point a firearm at a person in Fairfax County that generates a review of the police officer’s actions,” he said. “We take it seriously.”

“I understand the anxiety folks in the community have after seeing the video go viral,” Davis said. “That video raised questions that police weren’t doing the right thing.” The officers who responded to the call “acted lawfully, acted in accordance with their training and our policies, and in my opinion, our community’s expectations.”