Woman and Dog Killed, 3 Injured After Virginia Car Crash Spirals Into Stabbing, Trooper Shooting

State police said four stabbing victims were found at the scene, including Michelle Adams, 39, who died from her injuries, and a dog that died from stab wounds.

Rudy Blalock

Published: 3/3/2026, 5:21:45 AM EST

Woman and Dog Killed, 3 Injured After Virginia Car Crash Spirals Into Stabbing, Trooper Shooting — Police tape in a file photo. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

A woman and her dog were killed and three other women were seriously injured after an apparent road rage crash on the Capital Beltway escalated into a stabbing attack and an officer-involved shooting Sunday afternoon.

The incident unfolded shortly after 1 p.m. March 1 on southbound Interstate 495 near Exit 52 in Fairfax County, where a crash led to a confrontation on the roadway, according to Virginia State Police. Officials said the incident is not believed to be related to terrorism.

When a Virginia State Police trooper responded around 1:17 p.m. to reports of a road rage incident, he encountered a man armed with a knife, according to the agency.

“The trooper then shot the suspect in self-defense,” the agency wrote in a post on Facebook. State police identified the suspect as Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, Va., who police said was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. He later succumbed to those injuries while the trooper was not injured.

State police said four stabbing victims were found at the scene, including Michelle Adams, 39, who died from her injuries, and a dog that also died from stab wounds. The three surviving victims—women ages 36, 37, and 40—were taken to local hospitals with serious injuries.

The preliminary investigation indicates the stabbings happened after a crash in the southbound lanes of I-495, which runs just outside Washington. The crash and investigation shut down a stretch of the Beltway, including the mainline and the 495 Express Lanes, for about seven hours, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The trooper involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the shooting investigation, which is being handled by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Fairfax Field Office.

The Beltway attack comes as Virginia officials are already grappling with a broader pattern of violence on the state’s highways, including a series of recent shootings on interstates 64, 295, 81, and 85 that remain under investigation.

While investigators say there is no indication the prior incidents are connected or all fueled by road rage, the agency is using the moment to renew warnings about aggressive driving and confrontations on crowded roadways.

“A new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety conducted this year and released in September found that 96 percent of drivers admitted to engaging in aggressive driving behaviors over the past year while 11 percent of drivers reported engaging in violent behavior,” Virginia State Police noted in a past press release.

The AAA Foundation study found that exposure to aggressive behavior behind the wheel often leads drivers to act more aggressively themselves, creating what the group described as a self-perpetuating cycle of hostility on the road.

“Public safety is our top priority and concern. We ask all motorists to drive defensively in order to protect yourself and others on the roadways,” Colonel Matthew D. Hanley, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said in a statement.

Between Jan. 1, 2023, and Oct. 13, 2025, there were 236 reported shootings on Virginia highways, with 99 in 2023, 86 in 2024, and 51 at the time in 2025.

“A staggering 96 percent of drivers admit to engaging in aggressive driving behaviors over the past year,” AAA said in a September 2025 release about its latest study. The group found that 92 percent of drivers reported risky behaviors such as speeding or cutting others off, and 11 percent acknowledged violent actions like intentionally bumping another vehicle or confronting another motorist.

“Our study finds that experiencing various forms of aggressive driving behaviors is common for almost all motorists and many drive aggressively,” said Dr. David Yang, president and executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.