|
 Adam Torres, a onetime Fairfax County police officer, was charged
after an indictment by a special grand jury for shooting John Geer,
46, of Springfield, at his home, police said in a statement.
The charges mark the first time in the 75-year history of the
Fairfax County Police Department that an officer will face charges
for an on-duty shooting, the Washington Post reported. The
indictment comes amid a national debate on police use of deadly
force.
Officers were called to Geer's home in the Washington suburbs
because of a domestic dispute. Witnesses have alleged that Torres
shot Geer as he stood inside his doorway with his hands raised
talking with officers.
 Police have said Geer had been reported to have firearms in his home
and had threatened to use a weapon against officers. A loaded
holstered handgun was found near Geer's body.
Police said this month that Torres had been fired. Geer's family
settled a wrongful death suit against the county in April for $2.95
million.
Torres surrendered to detectives and was charged with second-degree
murder, the police statement said. He was jailed with no bond.
The shooting led to protests against Fairfax County police and an
investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. Prosecutors convened a
special grand jury in the case.
(Editing by Peter Cooney and Eric Walsh)
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Police initially refused to release information about the shooting
or to turn over records to prosecutors. For more than a year, police
would not say which officer had shot Geer.
"The loss of life is tragic for all. We express our sympathy to the
Geer family, support to our great community and the men and women of
the Fairfax County Police Department," Colonel Edwin Roessler Jr.,
the police chief, said in a statement carried on Twitter.
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Ex-police
officer faces murder charge in Virginia shooting death
