FAIRFAX, Va. (WUSA9) -- The bitter cold did not keep away several dozen protesters in front of the Fairfax County Police Department demanding justice for a man shot by police in Springfield more than a year and a half ago.
During the peaceful demonstration, protesters with signs marched for several hours in sub-freezing temperatures. They now know it was eight-year veteran police officer Adam Torres who shot and killed John Geer, but they don't know why. They also don't know why officers let Geer bleed to death in his own home. Police waited more than an hour before entering his home.
Geer's family had to fight in court and wait 17 months before Fairfax County police released the officer's name and details of what happened that day.
Joe Ratel had been friends with Geer for 25 years.
"There is no oversight. Who is policing the police? That's the question we need to ask. It could happen to anybody. John was a regular guy. He had a family, his relationship broke up. There was a domestic dispute. He was standing in his door way with his hands up and they shot him. I don't know why and don't know why we aren't getting any answers," Ratel said.
The report and officer's name was released earlier this week, but witnesses dispute some of the findings in that report. Protesters want more accountability and an oversight committee to do an independent investigation.
"Why was he shot, what was he doing right before he was shot that caused the officer to fire the single shot?" ashed Mike Curtis, founder of Virginia Cop Block.
"We are not a police hating organization. Our mission is to bring about more accountability and transparency in both law enforcement and the judicial system," Nathan Cox said.
There is a federal investigation underway. John Geer's longtime girlfriend and mother of their two teenage daughters has filed a $12 million wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the children.
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