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FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Fairfax County police say an active shooter situation is over at a Falls Church office building after the gunman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot inside a law office Wednesday.
Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler said they received several 911 calls at around 4:50 p.m. for reports of an active shooter inside the six-story building in the 8100 block of Gatehouse Road. The callers reported a man firing several rounds from a pistol. When officers entered the building, they found the shooter, identified as 52-year-old John Francis Wood, of Vienna, dead at the scene.
"At this time, there is no more threat to the community," Roessler said. "This is isolated to the fourth floor of the building."
There were children at a daycare center inside the office building, but there were no reports of any other injuries, police said. All of the children have been reunited with their parents at a nearby middle school.
"Thanks to the bravery of the Fairfax County Police Department as they are highly trained for active shooter events, they responded here and without hesitation, they formed reaction teams and went immediately went into the building to the threat on the fourth floor to eliminate the threat," said the police chief. "Unfortunately, what we found was an adult male dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Chief Roessler said people inside the office building sheltered in place and police worked to evacuate hundreds of people from the building after the shooting. Police also conducted multiple sweeps of the entire building before giving the all-clear.
The motive of the gunman remains unknown at this time. Police said they are planning to interview several hundred employees that were in the building along with any witnesses to the incident.