Man Shot By Police Identified, Officer Placed on Leave

Fairfax County police have released the name of the man shot and killed . More details have also been provided about the officer involved in the shooting.

The deceased man is Joseph Anthony Croft, 49, of Springfield. Croft was seen in front of Springfield Toyota, at 6570 Amherst Avenue. According to police, he matched the description of a man believed responsible for a stabbing at Virginia Tire and Auto Store, at 6626 Backlick Road, a few blocks south on Backlick Road, around 5:30 p.m.

According to an FCPD press release, when an officer responding to the stabbing challenged Croft, he displayed a weapon and approached the officer, who fired his gun, killing Croft.

Police have not identified Croft as the man they believe was responsible for the stabbing, although they have said Croft matched a description of the assailant.

"Let me put it this way," FCPD Lieutenant David M. Smith said. "I'm not looking for anybody else."

Croft lived on the 7000 block of Calamo Street in Springfield, which is about a block north of Virginia Tire & Auto and a little south of the Toyota dealership.

Gabe Guarino, a manager at the Virginia Tire and Auto store who told Kingstowne Patch he witnessed the shooting, said he saw the man who was shot charging an officer with a knife. Minutes earlier, Guarino said, the man had been in the tire store, waving a gun and demanding to know where another man who had entered the store with a stab wound was.

The stabbing victim was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The officer involved in the shooting is a 15-year veteran of FCPD, according to the press release. The officer did not suffer any injuries in the incident. Police have begun an investigation into the shooting, and the officer has been placed on what police describe as routine administrative leave.

Update: This article has been updated with the information that police describe the administrative leave as "routine."

Correction: The deceased man's name is Joseph Anthony Croft. Police initially said the deceased man's name was Joseph Anthony Craft, and that error was reflected in the article. We regret the error.