Ashley Guindon shooting: Virginia police officer gunned down on her first shift

The department announced on its Facebook page that Officer Guindon had died

From left, Officer Steven Kendall, Officer Ashley Guindon, Lt. Col. Barry Bernard (AP)

A police officer has been shot dead on her first day back with her department.

Ashley Guindon was gunned down about a "verbal argument," a spokesman for the Prince William County Police Department, Virginia, said.

Officers received a call around 5:30 on Saturday evening in Woodbridge, about 30 miles south-west of the nation's capital.

It's not clear how the altercation between the suspect and police began but the suspect, a military serviceman, is in custody and was not injured. The condition of the other two officers is not known.

A county leader said a civilian woman was also killed in the domestic dispute.

The department announced on its Facebook page that Officer Guindon had died from the injuries she sustained in the shooting.

A picture of Guindon was posted to the department's Twitter page on Friday with a tweet that read, "Welcome Officers Steven Kendall & Ashley Guindon who were sworn in today & begin their shifts this weekend. Be Safe!" It is not known if the other officer in the tweet was involved in the shooting incident.

Guindon had been a county police officer a few years ago and had left and returned to the force, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. He did not know the exact dates of when she started and left, he said.

Another woman was killed in the domestic call and was dead before police arrived, Stewart said, but police declined to confirm that information. Stewart also said there was a child in the house during the incident who was not harmed.

Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Paul Ebert said he has authorized a capital murder charge, along with other counts, against the suspect, who has not been identified.

At Inova Fairfax Hospital, where the three officers were flown by helicopter after the shooting, more than 100 patrol cars lined the roads outside early Sunday morning to stand vigil and escort Guindon's body to the medical examiner.

The shooting occurred in the Lake Ridge neighborhood, on a curving street with $500,000 suburban houses with brick and siding exteriors, manicured lawns and two-car garages about a five-minute drive from the county office building.

Police said the incident is still being investigated.

AP