Fairfax Co. Police defend actions of officers seen in viral arrest video

Investigation into viral Fairfax Co. arrest video continues

FOX 5's David Kaplan reports that the Fairfax County Police Department provided updates Friday on the investigation into a viral video that shows officers pointing a gun at a juvenile during an arrest.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Police released body-worn camera footage on Friday from an arrest in Fairfax County that went viral after video showed two police officers pointing guns at a juvenile.

During the video release, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis says his officers acted appropriately during the arrest. Davis says the snippet of video that went viral is just a small clip that does not tell the whole story.

Police say the incident happened on Saturday in the Falls Church area. According to Davis, around 9 p.m., three juveniles walked into an IHOP restaurant in the area and made threats to the hostess.

Police claim during the threats, one of the boys allegedly showed the hostess that he had a gun in his waistband.

Investigators say the three then left without incident and police were not called.

However, two hours later, the three juveniles returned.

Fairfax County Police release body camera footage of viral arrest

Fairfax County Police held a press conference Friday to release police body camera footage of an arrest that went viral after officers were seen in a video pointing guns at a juvenile.

Davis said this time 911 was called. During the call, a frantic caller described to the dispatcher that one of three boys had texted threats that they were going to shoot her. He adds that the caller pleaded with police to get there quickly.

Police arrived at the scene and located the three juveniles who matched the caller's description.

Two of three juveniles were detained during the incident. The third juvenile involved in the incident was the person who recorded the viral video.

Davis explained Friday that given the nature of the call and the totality of the circumstances, he believes the officers acted reasonably and in accordance with their training.

"This was a priority response to a 9-1-1 gun call. I don’t want to go down the hypothetical rabbit hole but if this weren’t a 911 gun call and it was a call for service for disorderly persons or for a customer dispute we wouldn’t have responded in a priority mode. It wasn’t that. I wish it were. 911 gun calls are very serious calls for service," said Davis during a press conference.

Police investigating viral arrest video

A viral video showing Fairfax County police officers in action is now under investigation. The video shows two officers pointing guns at a man recording an arrest with a cellphone.

When asked about whether or not police were too aggressive during the incident, especially since the person filming *didn’t* have a gun, Davis responded that his officers holstered their weapons as soon as the person complied with their orders.

No gun was found among the three and they were later released to family members.

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Police says the investigation into the officers' and the boys' actions that night are ongoing.