A 22-year-old man Fairfax County police shot and killed Saturday night was described as a drifter who moved from home to home before police eventually found him hiding out in a Franconia apartment on nine outstanding warrants. Police are releasing few details in the officer-involved shooting of Gray Alan Combs Jr., whom they identified Monday, citing an ongoing investigation that includes multiple officers and personnel on scene Saturday night. An officer involved in the shooting has been placed on routine administrative leave and his name won’t be released until after criminal and internal investigations are complete.
Fairfax County police encountered Combs on Friday night, but he escaped after giving a fake name and fleeing on foot. Combs was wanted on three felony counts of producing child pornography, three felony counts of possessing or reproducing child pornography with the intent to distribute and a misdemeanor warrant for consensual sexual intercourse with a minor. Warrants for resisting arrest and identity theft were added after the encounter.
A tipster who knew Combs called police Saturday at 11:08 p.m. to report that Combs was hiding in a bedroom of an apartment in the 5700 block of Backlick Road. Officers used police dogs to search the apartment where they found Combs, who threatened them with a sword.
Police began firing with bean bags and live ammunition, though police spokesman Mary Ann Jennings could not elaborate which was fired first. Nor could she say which weapon’s ammunition struck Combs before he went down.
Combs was pronounced dead shortly after emergency units transported him to a local hospital.
Jennings said Combs had no address but was not necessarily homeless. He moved from apartment to apartment to live with acquittances, but his name wasn’t on any rental agreements.
Details on what killed Combs won’t be released until a medical examiner report is concluded.
“We’re still putting together all the pieces,”Jennings said. “It doesn’t always work like a script.”
