MCLEAN, Va. — A newly released report into the investigation of a deadly shooting by a police officer in McLean in 2022 found police aren’t criminally liable, but determined the officer who fatally shot a man experiencing a severe mental health crisis violated department policies.
Fairfax County Independent Police Auditor Richard Schott agreed with Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s decision to not file charges against the three officers involved in the shooting that killed 26-year-old Jasper Aaron Lynch.
“I believe the conclusions reached by the department were correct in this case, although I acknowledge they may be difficult to accept,” Schott wrote in his report. “The death of A.L. was unquestionably tragic. But that does not mean that the force—even the deadly force—used during the incident was legally unreasonable.”
In July 2022, police responded to Lynch’s home for a mental health call. When officers, who are trained in crisis intervention, arrived with a mental health clinician, Lynch left the house. Police responded to the house again after a second 911 call but this time, three officers arrived without the presence of a mental health provider.
FCPD said two officers tased him twice with no effect after Lynch threw a wooden mask at their direction. They say body camera footage revealed Lynch grabbed a wine bottle with both hands and began to charge. Officer Edward George fired multiple shots and killed Lynch.
An internal administrative investigation determined the use of force and tasers were within departmental policy. However, police said Officer George violated two policies which included failing to activate his body camera during the first call for service. George also didn’t have his Electronic Control Weapon (ECW) or taser on him when he responded to both calls because it was left in the trunk.
A statement released by Lynch’s parents said, “Our son was experiencing a severe mental health crisis that day. He was scared and had asked for us to call 911. We believe that the three police officers who answered the call could have handled this far differently. To respond to Aaron’s mental health crisis by shooting him at all, let alone five times, cannot be justified.”
When questioned, George said that “he would have deployed his firearm when he did even if he had the ECW with him.”
An FCPD spokesperson didn’t answer WUSA9’s question if George faced disciplinary actions. Instead, FCPD said it “respects the criminal justice system and its processes.”
Schott also made two recommendations, which included having a better alternative to identify potential factors to consider use of force when it’s in a non-criminal context such as a mental health crisis. After all, the report mentioned that the officers were at the home not to arrest Lynch but to convince him to voluntarily get medical help.
In addition, the report recommended the full implementation of the Fairfax County Co-Responder Program, which pairs up officers with mental health clinicians on certain calls.
Since the incident, FCPD has already made progress in addressing mental health calls such as adding four co-responder teams to operation throughout the entire week and deploying a Mobile Crisis Unit when co-responders aren’t available. Nearly half of the department's officers are also trained in crisis intervention.
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