FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — The Fairfax County branch of the NAACP is asking for the expedited release of body camera and dash camera footage after two deadly shootings and a third incident involving Fairfax Police Department officers.
The organization points to a shooting on June 30, a shooting on July 7 and an incident that took place in an IHOP parking lot on July 10 as examples of "recent, disturbing interactions between the Fairfax County Police Department and civilians."
On June 30, Fairfax Police shot and killed 37-year-old Christian Parker of Reston in the parking lot of a Target store in Springfield, Virginia.
Parker was wanted for possession of a firearm by a felon, larceny of a firearm, brandishing a firearm and discharging a firearm within a home.
According to a tweet from Fairfax County Police, the shooting happened when officers tried to stop a "wanted man." Parker was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries, according to officers.
On July 7, Fairfax County officer shot and killed a man outside a McLean home. Officers were called to a home just after 7 p.m. in the 6900 block of Arbor Lane for a report of a man throwing objects outside the house.
According to the Police Chief Kevin Davis, three officers entered the foyer of the home. The department said the man threw something at the officers and then charged at them. A struggle ensued between the man and the officers, according to the chief, at which point two officers discharged their taser-like electronic control weapons, while the third shot the man several times.
In a third incident on July 10, a viral video showed two officers pointing guns at a juvenile filming an arrest in the parking lot of an IHOP in Falls Church.
As the juvenile held a phone and walked toward the scene of the arrest, an officer approaches him with a gun pointed. The juvenile asks the officer why he is pointing the gun at him, and the officer responds by saying because he has a weapon.
"What weapon? What weapon? Huh? You look dumb," the juvenile responds.
Before the video ends, a second officer approaches the juvenile with a gun drawn and screaming at him to get on the ground.
The organization says they have received calls and emails on the heels of these incidents and says the community deserves answers.
"We are troubled and deeply concerned by what appears to be a shift to a more aggressive style of policing in Fairfax County—a style that time and time again, leads to needless deaths," the NAACP said in a press release.
Fairfax County Police Department policy requires body-worn camera footage or dashcam footage in shootings to be released within 30 days of the incident.
"We understand that standards of operations and policy allow for the police department to take up to 30 days to release body-worn camera footage. However, given the magnitude of these incidents, over a short period of time, and the shockwaves they sent throughout the community, we strongly urge the county to expedite the release of camera footage in the spirit of transparency and community stewardship," the NAACP said.
Fairfax County Police plan to release the body camera footage of the IHOP incident on Friday afternoon, but have not said when they will release footage from the two fatal shooting incidents.