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Officials did not release the man's name until they notified his next of kin, but said he was "well known" to police in the area having been convicted of "many, many felonies," Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Thursday night.
Three uniformed officers confronted the man in the parking lot of the Springfield Mall around 4:30 p.m.
Police have tracked the man all week to arrest him on outstanding charges of stealing a gun and firing it inside of a family member's home on Sunday, Davis said. Investigators knew he would be at the mall on Thursday afternoon.
When police confronted him, the man jumped into his car and wouldn't get out, Executive Deputy Chief Brian Reilly explained. One officer said the suspect drew a pistol. They instructed him to drop the weapon "at least 20 times" before two of them opened fire, Reilly continued.
Firefighters rushed the man to a nearby hospital, and doctors pronounced him dead minutes later, Reilly added. No officers were injured. Chief Davis showed a photo of a handgun that he said investigators found inside the man's car.
ATF agents will join Fairfax County major crimes detectives and internal affairs investigators to determine the details of the shooting, Davis said. The officers all wore body cameras that recorded the incident.
Davis has reviewed the videos and says the officers "acted bravely in a very dangerous situation."
“I’ve watched a lot of body-worn camera footage in my three decades in policing," he said, "… and I feel very comfortable that these police officers acted appropriately."
Police will release those videos to the public in the next 30 days.
Davis said Springfield Mall remained open, and there is no threat to the community.
Click here to watch Fairfax County's Thursday night press conference.
This is the second shooting at a Fairfax County mall this month. A man fired several shots during a fight at the Tysons Corner Center shopping center on June 18. Police arrested D.C. rapper No Savage, whose real name is Noah Settles, and charged him in that shooting.
Multiple shoppers were hurt as they scrambled to get out of the mall, but no one was shot.
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