Police said the man charged at officers after barricading himself in a Canterbury Square apartment.
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Two people died early Monday after Alexandria officers responding to a report of a woman shot found a barricaded man inside a Canterbury Square apartment and fatally shot him when he charged at them, police said.
The deaths brought a large police response to 27 Canterbury Square and opened two parallel investigations: a homicide inquiry into the woman’s death and a critical incident review into the officers’ gunfire. Police Chief Tarrick McGuire said the case appeared to involve family members and was contained to one apartment.
Officers were called to the apartment around 4 a.m. May 18 after a report that a woman had been shot. McGuire said responding officers met family members at the doorway and moved them out of the apartment before they saw a man down a hallway. Police believed the wounded woman was in the room where the man had barricaded himself. Officers gave repeated commands for the man to show his hands and come out, McGuire said, but he did not comply. “The suspect then emerged running full speed at officers, charging at them,” McGuire said during a morning briefing. Two officers fired their service weapons.
After the shooting, officers took the man into custody and began life-saving measures, McGuire said. Officers then entered the room and found the woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Police said they also tried to save her life. Both the woman and the man were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names had not been released Monday morning, and police had not released their ages or the exact relationship between them. McGuire said investigators were still working through the scene and notifying relatives. He said it was not yet clear whether the man was armed when he charged at officers or whether police recovered a weapon in the apartment.
The scene sat inside Canterbury Square, a residential area in Alexandria where apartment buildings sit close to neighborhood streets and parking lots. Police cordoned off the area as investigators worked through the morning. The shooting came at a time when Alexandria police have placed added public focus on critical incidents, outside review and release of body-worn camera video after officer-involved deaths. In this case, McGuire said the apartment remained an active crime scene after the deaths and that investigators needed time to gather evidence, review video and interview witnesses. He said the early facts showed an isolated incident and not an active threat to the wider public.
The two officers who fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave while the shooting is reviewed, McGuire said. He said both officers have more than seven years of service with the Alexandria Police Department, with experience estimated at about seven and a half to eight years. The Northern Virginia regional Critical Incident Response Team will investigate the officer-involved shooting. Alexandria police also will conduct an administrative review through the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility to determine whether the officers followed policy. The Office of the Independent Community Policing Auditor also is expected to review the incident. McGuire said body-worn camera footage would be released “within a reasonable time period” after more facts are gathered.
The first officers at the apartment faced two urgent tasks, according to the chief’s account: getting other relatives out safely and reaching the woman believed to be inside the barricaded room. McGuire said officers issued verbal commands before the man ran at them. He did not say how close the man came to the officers, how many shots were fired or whether any less-lethal tools were used. No officers were reported injured. Police did not say whether anyone else inside the apartment saw the shooting or whether 911 callers reported hearing gunfire before officers arrived.
Investigators were expected to spend Monday collecting evidence from inside the apartment, reviewing police video and building a timeline from the first emergency call through the deaths. The woman’s killing will be handled as a homicide investigation, while the officers’ use of force will move through the regional critical incident process. Police had not announced charges because the suspected gunman was dead. The medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death for both people, though police said the woman had been shot multiple times and the man was struck by officer gunfire.
By Monday morning, police had not released the identities of the woman, the man or the officers who fired. The next public milestones are expected to include family notifications, additional police updates, findings from the medical examiner and release of body-worn camera video.
Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.