Ex- Virginia cop who killed shoplifting suspect acquitted of manslaughter, guilty on firearm charge

[October 05, 2024]  By MATTHEW BARAKAT and OLIVIA DIAZ

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A jury on Friday acquitted a former police officer in Virginia of involuntary manslaughter after he fatally shot a shoplifting suspect outside a busy shopping mall.

But the jury did convict the former police sergeant, Wesley Shifflett, of reckless handling of a firearm in connection with the shooting.

Prosecutors argued that Shifflett, then a sergeant with Fairfax County Police, acted recklessly when he shot and killed an unarmed man, Timothy McCree Johnson, after a short foot chase outside Tysons Corner Center in February 2023.

Shifflett testified in his own defense and claimed self defense. He said he saw Johnson, 37, reaching into his waistband after falling down during the chase, and he was worried that Johnson might be drawing a weapon.

“At that moment, that was the most scared I had been in my life because I thought at any moment he would pull out a gun and just start shooting me,” he said during his testimony at trial, later adding: “I didn’t have the luxury to wait and see a gun because I knew in an instant I could be dead.”

During cross-examination and in closing arguments, prosecutors criticized Shifflett’s decisions leading up to the shooting, including his choice to chase Johnson into the wooded area at night before waiting for backup or turning on a flashlight.

Prosecutor Jenna Sands argued that Shifflett's decision to fire two shots, on the run, in a crowded area, constituted reckless discharge of a firearm.

Shifflett said he acknowledged that a wooded area in the dark escalates the danger involved in a foot chase. But he said, “We are placed in a lot of dangerous situations. There’s a responsibility to uphold law and order.”

The dimly lit bodycam video of the video, which was shown to jurors, is inconclusive as to whether Johnson reached into his waistband.

It does clearly depict Shifflett yelling “get on the ground” before firing two shots at Johnson. After the shots were fired, Shifflett immediately yelled “stop reaching” and told other officers that he saw Johnson reaching in his waistband.

During cross-examination, Sands asked Shifflett about shooting Johnson before commanding that the victim “stop reaching.”

Timothy McCree Johnson's parents Melissa Johnson, center, and Timothy Walker, left, address reporters along with attorney Carl Crews, right, outside Fairfax County Police headquarters, March 22, 2023, in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat, File)

“My motor functions were operating more quickly than I could verbalize,” Shifflett said.

The video also shows Johnson's dying words, saying “I wasn't reaching for nothing. ... I'm shot and I'm bleeding.”

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis fired Shifflett shortly after the shooting for violating the department’s use-of-force policies. But when Davis publicly released the bodycam video of the shooting, he acknowledged the video's ambiguity.

“More often than not, the police body camera footage speaks for itself,” Davis said at the time. “This time, it does not.”

Prosecutors struggled at points to present their case against Shifflett. Initially, a grand jury declined to indict him. At that point, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who won office on a campaign platform that included holding police officers accountable for misconduct, convened a special grand jury that operated under rules that gave Descano more oversight over the process.

The special grand jury returned indictments on charges including involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm.

Descano, who convened a second grand jury to indict Shifflett after the first refused, said he hopes the conviction “gives the Johnson family some closure to know that they are not alone in seeing that Mr. Shifflett did not act in accordance with the law that evening.”

Still, Descano lamented what he said is a “criminal code provides a level of deference to police officers that is not provided to other individuals.”

The trial faced multiple delays after it began last month. The lead prosecutor suffered a severe medical issue and was replaced by another attorney, causing a delay of several days. During closing arguments, prosecutors played for the jury a snippet of Shifflett's bodycam video that had not been entered as evidence at trial, briefly raising concerns about a mistrial before defense lawyers opted against requesting one.

Shifflett will be sentenced in February on the reckless discharge of a firearm charge. The crime is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

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