A Springfield man suspected in a stabbing attack was fatally shot by Fairfax County police Friday evening.
Police identified the man Saturday as 49-year-old Joseph A. Croft, of the 7000 block of Calamo Street.
He was shot and killed by an officer looking for the suspect in a stabbing near the Virginia Tire and Auto store, located at 6626 Backlick Road, at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, according to Fairfax County police.
Police said an officer found Croft, who matched the description of the stabbing suspect, on the 6500 block of Amherst Avenue, less than a half-mile away.
Croft moved toward the officer with his weapon, police said, and the officer fired, killing Croft.
The officer was identified only as a 15-year veteran of the police department. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, said Officer Shelley Broderick, a Fairfax County police spokeswoman.
Unlike most area police departments, Fairfax County does not routinely release the names of officers who are involved in shootings.
Though the department had said in November it was changing its practice of withholding officers’ names Broderick said Saturday the decision to identify an officer would be made on a case-by-case basis. In November the department released the name of Officer Paul Cable, who shot and injured a suspect during a chase in Falls Church.
The issue has contributed to calls for a citizen review board and the group The Virginia Citizens Coalition for Police Accountability has been advocating for greater police transparency since a Fairfax officer shot and killed an unarmed motorist in November 2009.
Police said the officer in Friday’s incident was unharmed. The stabbing victim was taken to a hospital with injuries police said were not life-threatening.
Broderick said Saturday that police were still investigating what sparked the initial attack.
Gabe Guarino, manager of the tire chain’s Springfield location, told Fox 5 that a man ran into the store Friday evening with blood dripping from his face, saying he had been stabbed. Employees saw a man wielding a 7-inch butcher knife behind him in the store’s parking lot, they then saw the man charge at the Fairfax officer with the knife, he told the television station.
Guarino declined to comment Saturday.
No phone number was listed for the address police gave for Croft.
