Fairfax Gunman's Home Yields More Weapons
Hundreds Grieve at Candlelight Vigil; Wounded Officer Shows Signs of Improvement
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 11, 2006; B01
When Fairfax County police entered the townhouse where Michael Kennedy lived with his family, just hours after the 18-year-old had engaged in a fierce gun battle with police, they found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun leaning in a corner. Standing in another hallway, a .30-caliber rifle. In another corner was a .22-caliber hunting rifle.
In all, police found nine guns strewed about the empty Centreville home, unlocked, along with boxes and satchels of ammunition, six pellet guns, several hunting knives and a bayonet on a bedroom nightstand, according to a search warrant unsealed yesterday. Investigators have not traced the ownership of the seven guns Kennedy took with him to the Sully District police station parking lot, including an AK-47-style assault rifle and a high-powered hunting rifle.
After pulling a stolen van into the lot, Kennedy first critically wounded Michael E. Garbarino, 53, sitting in his cruiser, then turned and fired at Detective Vicky O. Armel, 40, fatally wounding her as she emerged from the station and returned fire, police said. More than 150 rounds were exchanged between Kennedy and four officers, including Armel.
Kennedy was taken down by "multiple" police rounds, Fairfax Maj. Robert Callahan said yesterday. Investigators think Kennedy fired more than 70 rounds from his two rifles and possibly from one of the five handguns he took to the police station, which has been closed while officers grieve.
No motive for Kennedy's sudden onslaught has been determined. In their search of the townhouse, investigators also retrieved a "black notebook containing suicidal thoughts of Michael Kennedy" from a bedroom headboard and found a "notebook with satanic symbolism" under the bed. Callahan said that the notebooks had not been reviewed and that he couldn't say what was inside.
Police also are trying to determine where Kennedy obtained his weapons, and they have yet to speak with the teenager's parents, Brian and Margaret Kennedy. The Kennedys, who also have a 9-year-old daughter, remain in seclusion since issuing a brief statement Tuesday, and their attorney, Richard F. MacDowell Jr. of Fairfax, did not return calls yesterday.
"We're not looking to treat these parents as criminals," Callahan said. "We just want to talk to them."
Garbarino has shown signs of improvement, according to his doctor, Samir Fakhry, chief of surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Fakhry said any of the five high-powered rounds that struck Garbarino in the chest, upper abdomen and arms could have been fatal, but "we are hopeful that, all things considered, he will have a positive outcome."
Garbarino, a 23-year veteran of the Fairfax force, has not been conscious since undergoing lengthy surgery Monday night, Fakhry said, because of his injuries and pain-killing drugs. "It hurts a lot, to be shot," the doctor noted.
If Garbarino survives an expected round of infections, caused by the lowering of his body's defenses, he could be out of the hospital in two to three weeks, Fakhry said.
In an attempt to help the officers most directly affected by the shootings of Armel and Garbarino, Fairfax police commanders said yesterday that they had effectively closed the Sully police station for police business and that it would remain closed for at least a week. The move is unprecedented in the department's 66-year history, police officials said.
All 103 patrol officers assigned to the district in southwestern Fairfax have been allowed to take leave, Deputy Chief Charles Peters said, and officers from the seven other districts have either been reassigned to Sully or volunteered to work extra shifts there. Officers patrolling that area are working out of the neighboring Fair Oaks station, packing into roll call meetings and dividing up the available police cruisers.
Behind the Sully station, where the shootout raged for several minutes Monday afternoon, homicide and crime scene detectives continued to dig out evidence and take measurements and photographs among the parked cars. In front of the station, a steady stream of well-wishers continued to heap flowers and teddy bears on and around a police cruiser draped in black bunting, in memory of Armel, who was a property crimes detective.
Last night, about 400 people, including Armel's husband and two young children, gathered around the cruiser during a candlelight vigil.
Some, like Centreville resident Milan Coleman, 45, had known her simply through a wave hello at the grocery store. But Denise Rinehart Mazzan, 42, of Sterling had known her like a sister until the two lost touch 15 years ago.
"We just kind of drifted off. That's why I'm so angry," Mazzan said, holding back tears. "I feel like I lost 15 years of her."
The service started with a prayer and ended with a long unplanned silence, broken only by an impromptu singing of "Amazing Grace." The words weaved quietly and solemnly through the crowd until enough voices made it heard.
"We are a family," said Police Chief David M. Rohrer. "This family is hurting. This family is grieving. I also acknowledge and recognize that the community is hurting as well."
Earlier, Capt. Susan Culin, commander of the Sully station, suggested that anyone who wanted to show support should tie blue ribbons to car antennas. Culin and Rohrer said they were heartened by the community's support.
"Vicky touched many lives," Rohrer said. "As a police department, we are proud to be part of this community. The Armel family, all the men and women of this department and I greatly appreciate the respect, sympathy and remembrance that we are experiencing."
Police rolled out a variety of options to help officers cope, even as the events were unfolding Monday evening, Col. Steve Sellers said yesterday. Chaplains have been sent to roll calls, and a task force has been assigned to help families of the shooting victims with transportation and arrangements, Sellers said.
More details emerged yesterday about Kennedy and the shootings, in which a third officer was slightly injured by debris from the gunfight.
Police think that after carjacking a minivan in his London Towne neighborhood just off Lee Highway, Kennedy pulled into the police parking lot at 3:52 p.m. and immediately began firing. Callahan said Garbarino had ended his shift and was not wearing a uniform or a bulletproof vest. He was struck five times and radioed for help.
Fakhry said Garbarino was hit by high-velocity slugs, which are 10 times more damaging than regular handgun bullets. "A bullet that's faster is by far more dangerous," the surgeon said, and he said he did not think that a standard police bulletproof vest would have protected Garbarino.
Armel walked out of the station on her way to investigate the carjacking that Kennedy had just committed to get to the station. She was wounded so seriously, Fakhry said, that she arrived at the hospital "in a condition that was beyond our ability to help her."
An off-duty officer driving into the lot spotted Kennedy, grabbed a gun and started firing, police said. Two other officers, one with a rifle, emerged from the station, and Kennedy was shot dead. Police said they do not know exactly how long the gun battle raged.
Callahan said the serial numbers on the guns that Kennedy took with him to the station have been provided to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and police are awaiting the results.
Word emerged yesterday of further signs of mental illness in Kennedy.
In February, police went to the family's home on Prince Way to investigate the nonfatal shooting of the family dog. Sources close to the investigation said Kennedy told officers he had been holding a gun because he was suicidal but decided against killing himself, then accidentally fired it.
Police asked to see the family's gun collection but were refused, the sources said. Kennedy was charged with a misdemeanor, reckless use of a firearm, the next day. Police said they did not seize any guns from the home in that case, which was pending Monday.
In their search after the shootings, investigators found a "handwritten note regarding shooting the dog written in 1st person" in a kitchen cabinet, the warrant states, but details were not available.
They also found a locked gun safe, which has not been opened, Callahan said.
Police also found two bills from the Woodburn Mental Health Center for Kennedy, where he reportedly received some counseling after shooting the dog.
And, according to the warrant, they found "directions to Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health Center" in Rockville, where Kennedy voluntarily admitted himself last month. He then broke a window and left the center, carjacked a truck and drove back to Fairfax, where he surrendered at the Sully station.
The search warrant states that after the shooting stopped Monday, one officer was able to identify Kennedy "through prior police contacts."
Fairfax police have established a trust fund for Armel's two young children. Donations can be made by cash or personal check to the Armel Family Trust Fund, Fairfax County Federal Credit Union, 4201 Members Way, Fairfax, 22030.
Those wishing to send a condolence message to the police can do so at the police Web site,
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police.
