Fairfax County police officer fires shots after suspect grabs weapon

Body camera footage released by the Fairfax County Police Department shows an officer-involved shooting in Annandale, Virginia, on July 28. The incident began after a woman reported a domestic disturbance involving a man armed with two knives who had inflicted self-inflicted injuries.

Following a search involving a police helicopter and K-9 units, officers located the suspect, 26-year-old Nehemia Fuentes Banegas, in a wooded area. Footage shows Banegas emerging from heavy brush and grabbing an officer’s firearm. While a second officer deployed a TASER, the officer holding the gun fired several shots. Banegas was grazed by a bullet and hit by the TASER, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.

Police Chief Kevin Davis stated that the officers followed training, describing the moment the suspect grabbed the weapon as an “absolute deadly force scenario.” Banegas was charged with attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer for the suspect, identifying him as a Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022.