Medals of Valor for Slain Sully Officers

"She could have left," Rohrer said. "She engaged Mr. Kennedy with a desire to save lives."

Armel was struck in the chest with a .30-06 round that pierced her vest, but she still made it inside her car. She fired four more times at Kennedy, even as she was hit twice more in the legs with AK-47 rounds.

Officer Richard A. Lehr was sitting in another corner of the parking lot, in his sport-utility vehicle, waiting for his shift to begin. He had no police radio and didn't know anyone else had been wounded. He climbed into the back of the vehicle, police said, put on his bulletproof vest, picked up his revolver and started shooting at Kennedy.

Lehr believed he had struck Kennedy in the upper body, knocking him down, police said. But Lehr soon ran out of ammunition. He darted into the station, barely evading Kennedy's gunfire, reloaded and, instead of waiting for the gunfight to end, went back outside.

Officers Mark Dale, a K-9 officer, and Jeffrey Andrea of the Mount Vernon station heard Garbarino on the radio and went to help. Meeting up along Stonecroft Boulevard, the two quickly devised a plan to enter the woods next to the parking lot. Dale had an M-16 rifle and a handgun; Andrea had a handgun.

The two officers began firing through a chain-link fence, woven with plastic slats, once they spotted Kennedy. Kennedy went down, and both officers jumped over the fence -- even though they had no idea whether Kennedy was dead or acting alone. The two are credited with killing Kennedy. Meanwhile, officer William F. Horn and Lt. Boyd F. Thompson led the effort to help pull Garbarino to safety.

Kennedy had recently fled from a mental health facility in Maryland, and was free on bond after a carjacking near the facility. His parents are being investigated by federal authorities for possibly allowing him illegal access to their cache of guns. Their attorney, Richard F. MacDowell, declined to comment last night.

Armel and Garbarino were the first Fairfax officers slain in the department's 66-year history. They and Lehr will receive the first gold medals for valor since 1997. Two others -- a Fairfax police officer in 1994 and a Fairfax firefighter in 1997 -- have received the gold medal since the chamber began recognizing public service bravery in 1978.

For months, Fairfax police declined to discuss the shootings. But they released the narrative yesterday to coincide with the chamber's announcement of the awards, police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said. The awards will be given at a luncheon March 1.