Fairfax County Police Name Officers Involved in Falls Church Shooting

The Fairfax County Police Department released the names of two officers who fired their weapons and shot a reportedly armed man in Falls Church on Dec. 17.

Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler Jr. identified the officers as Master Police Officer Lance Guckenberger and Police Officer First-Class Matthew Grubb in a statement issued on Friday (Jan. 8).

Guckenberger is a 20-year Fairfax County police veteran, and Grubb has been with the department for 18 years. They are both members of the department’s special operations division, according to Roessler.

The officers were among those who responded to a teenager’s report that he had been shot by a man in an apartment in the 2000 block of Peach Orchard Drive in Falls Church. After attempting to negotiate with the man, police entered the apartment, and there was reportedly an exchange of gunfire.

Guckenberger and Grubb “discharged their firearms at Myer to end his imminent threat to the sanctity of all human life present at the event,” Roessler said in his statement.

The teen and the man, who has been identified as Falls Church resident Glenn Allen Meyer, were both transported to a local hospital and survived their injuries.

Meyer was released from the hospital on Dec. 19 and charged with aggravated malicious wounding. He is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Fairfax County policy requires police officers who use potentially deadly force to be publicly identified within 10 days of the incident unless the police chief determines “there is a credible threat to the safety of those involved or if additional time is required to thoroughly complete the risk assessment process,” the FCPD says.

The department said on Dec. 26 that Roessler needed more time to finish a risk assessment “to make an informed decision regarding the release of the involved police officers’ names.”

The criminal and administrative investigations into the Falls Church shooting both remain ongoing.