Our View

Our View

‘Protect and

serve’

Tragedy at Fairfax County police

substation touches us all

The ambush attack on police officers at the Sully

District police station in Chantilly is disturbingly

reminiscent of two of the darkest periods we have endured in recent years: the terrorist attacks Sept. 1, 2001 and the days that followed, and the random sniper attacks in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. in October 2002.

First word of the attack came over police radio monitors, followed quickly by live coverage of the confusing situation by metropolitan television stations.

So many memories came rushing back.

The initial confusion, with a changing number of persons injured or involved; the helicopters filming from overhead, while a tight cordon around the area was established. Lookouts issued first for a pickup truck possibly used by the perpetrators), and later, for a “multi-colored junker car” that had been observed in the area. Traffic was stopped, nearby schools and day-care centers locked down, and no stone in the immediate area left unturned.

For several hours, we all hoped that the two injured officers taken to Fairfax Inova hospital would pull through. By morning, however, we learned not only that one of the officers, Det. Vickie O. Armel, 40, a mother of two children, aged 4 and 7, had died. We also learned that she was our neighbor, living quietly in Quail Ridge, just across the line in Culpeper County; and that she was a deeply religious person who immersed herself in church activities.

The circumstances leading up to this tragedy at this point are under active investigation. The motive for the attack, if there was one, remains Unknown. But we are painfully reminded of several stark truths: that law enforcement is a dangerous calling — even in the parking lot of a police station — and that those who protect and serve us are more than just a badge and a gun.

We join area police commands, the congregation of her church and Det. Armel’s many friends in expressing our sympathy to her family.