FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The three-year veteran Fredericksburg officer who shot a driver during a traffic stop has been put on paid administrative leave pending the criminal investigation. The driver later died due to injuries, but there has not been an official autopsy release.
Officer Christopher Brossmer, age 31, has been employed with the Fredericksburg Police Department since July 2013. Brossmer initiated a traffic stop around 1p.m. Tuesday, March 22, in the 100 block of Kinloch Drive.
The driver was Travis J. Blair, 33, of Fredericksburg, who was wanted on an outstanding Spotsylvania County warrant for failure to appear on a felony charge of possession of a schedule I/II drug.
During the stop, police said Blair refused to comply with the officer’s commands and an altercation ensued. When the driver accelerated away, he dragged the officer approximately 600 feet before he crashed into a ditch just short of the intersection of Braehead Drive and Kinloch Drive.
As the altercation continued, the driver fled the vehicle on foot. The officer pursued the suspect on foot for a few hundred feet before catching up to the suspect.
Police said Blair again refused to comply with the officer’s commands, and another altercation ensued. That’s when police said the officer’s weapon discharged and struck Blair in the leg.
Blair was rushed to Mary Washington Hospital and later died from the injury sustained during the shooting.
A female passenger was questioned by investigators.
Brossmer is assigned to the Patrol Division and has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the criminal investigation, which has been turned over to the Virginia State Police.
