police chase shooting jopin 95s.jpg

Traffic camera image from Interstate 95 south near Joplin Road in Triangle the night of Oct. 30, 2024.

A pursuit involving a carjacking suspect on southbound Interstate 95 Wednesday night ended in a police shooting that left the driver dead and a passenger injured.

It started about 10:15 p.m., when a Virginia State Police trooper spotted a vehicle wanted by the U.S. Park Police for a carjacking.

"The trooper attempted to stop the vehicle, but the suspect vehicle refused to stop, and a pursuit was engaged," state police said in a news release.

During the pursuit, which continued southbound, the suspect vehicle struck another trooper's cruiser, causing it to overturn. The trooper was not injured.

Around the 150 mile marker near Joplin Road, troopers were able to force the vehicle to come to a stop.

"During the stop, the driver refused multiple state police commands," the release said. "The driver made multiple abrupt furtive movements with his hands, causing state troopers on scene to utilize their duty weapons."

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and one passenger was flown by to Inova Fairfax Hospital "and is now in stable condition awaiting surgery," state police said.

A third passenger was not injured and is in state police custody.

The four troopers involved in the officer-involved shooting have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

At the conclusion of the investigation, all evidence and information will be turned over to the Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney for review.

The shooting closed all southbound lanes of I-95 overnight with a detour was in place from Route 234 following the pursuit. Lanes reopened about 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Witnesses along I-95 Wednesday night reported seeing the chase, and some had near misses with the fleeing driver.

"That car flew right past me when I was sitting in traffic for the construction going on!" one reader posted on InsideNoVa's Facebook page. "I was less then a mile away when they shut down 95S and had to get out on Joplin to get on Route 1."

"The person they were chasing was less than a foot from RAMMING into the back of me," another wrote. "I pulled over to the state trooper that spun out right in front of the Fredericksburg and Richmond sign. Literally like 40 officers were chasing whoever this was."

See more headlines at InsideNoVa.com. Email tips to info@insidenova.com.

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(2) comments

Brad London

Play really stupid games and you get what you deserve. What a fool.

Sam Smith

Actually the reverse. I'm sure the car jacket was a nice person who was given the car. I see Insidenova finally edited the correct name of the police dept where the care was taken from.

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