When Nowhere Is Safe

There was once a time when people in DC wanted to spend an afternoon in the country, they'd head for Fairfax County. Many considered it to be out in the boonies of Virginia.

Over the years, though, that has changed. Two years ago Fairfax passed the one million mark in population, making it the largest single jurisdiction in the DC area and one of the largest in the nation. It's school system is the 12th largest in the United States. Over the last ten years the county has become a leader in the high tech industry. It's Tysons Corner area has more commercial office space than downtown Atlanta. Indeed, an argument could be made that the city of Washington is the one that's a suburb of Fairfax county.

The job of keeping its people safe falls to the Fairfax County Police. Remarkably, the department has never had an officer shot to death in the line of duty during its 66 year history.... Until yesterday.

It was shortly before 4 in the afternoon when a heavily armed 18 year old man drove a stolen van into the parking lot of a police station in Chantilly, just a few miles from Dulles Airport. He then opened fire on unsuspecting officers during a shift change. During the ensuing gun battle, a passing motorist was caught in the crossfire and two officers were wounded. A third officer, detective Vicky Armel--a mother of two--was killed.