A Mount Vernon police officer fatally shot and killed a Fredericksburg man during a traffic stop last weekend, and police officials have now launched an investigation into how a dispatch call for larceny led to the shooting. Police officials later identified the man as David Alan Masters, 52. Three officers with direct involvement in the incident have been placed on administrative leave while investigators determine why deadly force was used, although the department has not released their names or made them available for comment.

"Don’t mistake the fact that they are not talking as a tacit admission of guilt," warned Don Gotthardt, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Police Department. "They’re simply exercising their rights as any other citizen would do."

Police say the call came shortly after 1 p.m. on Nov. 13, when an officer who has been with the force since 2003 was alerted to a larceny in progress in the 8800 block of Richmond Highway. By the time an officer responded to the call, the suspect fled toward the intersection of Richmond Highway at Shields Avenue. When the officer attempted a traffic stop, the suspect did not comply until he encountered heavy traffic. That’s when the police officer opened fire on Masters and shot him in the upper body, according to a press release issued the next day by the Fairfax County Police Department.

"Detectives are eager to make a determination as to why the shot was fired," said Gotthardt. "Obviously that’s a pivotal issue in the investigation."

After Masters was shot, the car he was driving continued a short distance until it struck another vehicle near Richmond Highway and Fort Hunt Road. Police say that officers immediately attempted CPR on Masters, who was eventually taken to Mount Vernon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Crime-scene technicians and detectives from homicide and internal affairs were scouring the site well into Friday night determine what happened.

"Traffic was horrible," said Katherine Ward, co-chairwoman of the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens Associations. "The whole area was blocked off."

POLICE HAVE LAUNCHED parallel criminal and administrative investigations, a standard procedure following shootings involving police officers. The process began with the Criminal Investigation Bureau scouring the scene of the incident for forensic evidence. Then the Internal Affairs Bureau launched its formal investigation, which is currently collecting information that will eventually be presented to Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh. The county’s chief prosecutor will ultimately make a determination as to whether or not the officer violated the criminal code of Virginia.

"The legal standard that applies to the officer is the same legal standard that applies to anyone else," said Jim Lay, who represented an Alexandria police officer who accidentally killed a teenager in 2006. "There has to be a reasonable apprehension of imminent danger of death or serious injury."

Under Virginia law, individuals can use deadly force in self-defense to repel an assault when threatened by death or great bodily harm. That’s a determination based on a reasonable belief of imminent harm, regardless of whether or not the potential threat of danger turns out to be erroneous. Law enforcement officers are not required to use all feasible alternatives to avoid a situation where deadly force may be required, and the law imposes no duty to attempt the use of lethal force in a less than lethal matter.

"The reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight," wrote the late William Rehnquist in a 1989 case. "The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgements — in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving — about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation."

AFTER THE PROSECUTOR makes a determination about whether or not the officer violated the Virginia criminal code, an administrative investigation will examine whether or not the officer acted in accordance within the rules of the Fairfax County Police Department. Ultimately, Chief David Rohrer will make that determination. But that administrative review will have to wait until the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau has finished gathering information about the Nov. 13 incident.

"At this point, we are still waiting to hear from Internal Affairs to complete their investigation," said Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Ian Rodway. "When that happens, we’ll review the evidence they’ve collected and take action accordingly."

Many neighborhood residents expressed support for the Fairfax County Police Department as an aggressive force against crime. Stratford on the Potomac resident Kahan Dhillon says the county has a reputation as having a tough law-enforcement system for a county of similar demographics. He credited the police administration, community involvement and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for investing in public safety.

"Fairfax County has built a reputation that this is an extremely unfriendly place for criminals," said Dhillon, a member of the State Board of Juvenile Justice. "I definitely believe that criminals realize the strength of the Fairfax County public safety system."