Officer Fatally Shot Outside Police Station

The victim was allowed to get his belongings from his Toyota 4Runner before Kennedy sped away, police said. About 10:30 that night, Fairfax police called their counterparts in Montgomery to tell them that Kennedy had gone to a police station in Fairfax to turn himself in. It was unclear whether that was the Sully District station.

Kennedy was taken into custody in Fairfax and later transported to Montgomery, where he was charged with carjacking, armed carjacking and theft of more than $500. He was released April 22 after posting the bond.

His neighbors in Centreville said Kennedy always wore black, military-style clothes and army boots, even in the summer. They said he never explained why.

"It's not really a big surprise," said Katie Palmer, who graduated last year from Westfield High School with Kennedy. "He brought a knife to school once." Other neighbors said Kennedy was into paintball.

Palmer and others described Kennedy as standoffish, "in his own world."

She said that he was "really, really smart" and that he would help her with math, science and biology homework. Classmates said he didn't appear to have many friends.

Palmer said Kennedy often was hassled by security at the school because of the way he dressed.

Neighbor Sergio Gutierrez, 17, said that Kennedy often was seen walking around in a heavy army coat and that "he didn't say nothing to nobody."

They didn't know what Kennedy had done in the year since graduation. Holly Messinger, assistant principal at Westfield High, confirmed that Kennedy had graduated from the school but declined to comment about him as a student.

Two law enforcement sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said detectives learned that Kennedy had warned friends that he might attack the police but that none of them had alerted authorities. Details of the threat were not known.

When the $7.5 million Sully District police station opened three years ago, it was Fairfax's first new station in 27 years.

The offices of Michael R. Frey, the supervisor who represents the Sully District, are also in the 32,300-square-foot station, which has community meeting space. Frey has said Fairfax's Area Agency on Aging occupies space in the building for computer classes and senior fitness and nutrition programs. The county recreation department also uses the building.

The Sully magisterial district includes Centreville, Clifton, Chantilly and Oakton, all suburban enclaves not known for violent crime.

Yesterday morning, long before the shooting, about 100 people, including many police officers, attended a memorial service at police headquarters for Fairfax officers killed in traffic accidents. Some of them were from Sully.

Staff writers Karin Brulliard, Michael Alison Chandler, Timothy Dwyer, Maria Glod, Ernesto Londoño, Alec MacGillis, Candace Rondeaux, Ian Shapira, Theresa Vargas and Martin Weil and staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.