Ex-police officer accused of killing shoplifting suspect goes on trial in Virginia

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This article was published 16/09/2024 (450 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A trial for a former northern Virginia police officer began Tuesday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man suspected of shoplifting a pair of sunglasses.

Wesley Shifflett is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon in the killing of 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson near a busy shopping mall on Feb. 22, 2023. On Monday, authorities began selecting 12 people for the jury. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday once officials complete jury selection.

Shifflett pleaded not guilty in the case.

Shifflett and another Fairfax County police officer chased Johnson on foot after receiving a report from security guards that Johnson had stolen sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store in Tysons Corner Center.

Police body camera footage shows the nighttime chase and shooting. Shifflett can be heard ordering Johnson to stay on the ground and later to “stop reaching.” Both officers open fire, but Shifflett fired the fatal shot.

Later, Shifflett tells another officer that he saw the suspect reaching for a weapon in his waistband. Police searched for a weapon but found nothing.

The Fairfax County Police Department fired Shifflett the following month for what Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis called “a failure to live up to the expectations of our agency, in particular use of force policies.”

Initially, a grand jury declined to indict Shifflett in the shooting, but Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano sought and received court approval for a special grand jury to reinvestigate, which he said gave prosecutors a greater ability to oversee the investigation. The second panel chose to indict Shifflett.

Descano said at the time that an involuntary manslaughter charge is appropriate when a killing occurs due to “gross or wanton conduct” that lacks malice.

Caleb Kershner, Shifflett’s attorney, blasted Descano’s decision to impanel a special grand jury and the subsequent indictment.

“Few people understand what it’s like to have a gun pulled on you and regularly being put in risk of death,” Kershner said at the time. “These men and women in uniform serve by putting their lives on the line every day.”

In recent hearings, attorneys squabbled over what evidence could be presented at trial.

Barry Zweig, the lead prosecutor, filed a motion to be allowed to introduce evidence that Shifflett had aimed his weapon at other shoplifting suspects in other instances, but Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows denied that request.

Bellows agreed to allow Shifflett’s defense team to present evidence concerning Johnson’s criminal history.

Johnson was 17 years old when he tried to steal a vehicle belonging to an off-duty agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Maryland. As he tried to flee in the vehicle, Johnson nearly hit the agent, who responded by shooting him. In 2004, Johnson pleaded guilty as a juvenile to second-degree assault.

Johnson also pleaded guilty in 2019 to involuntary manslaughter in a fatal Washington car crash while he was driving under the influence. Bellows ruled this incident would not allowed to be presented to trial jurors, a spokesperson for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said Monday.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.