FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — As officials with the Fairfax County Police Department prepare to release bodycam footage of officers shooting a man outside Tysons Corner Center, loved ones of the man killed were able to watch the moments leading up to his death.
Timothy Johnson, 37, was shot as officers chased him from Tysons Corner Center almost a month ago. Investigators say two officers, identified as Sgt. Wesley Shifflett and Police Officer First Class James Sadler with the Tysons Urban Team, chased Johnson for allegedly stealing a pair of designer sunglasses from Nordstrom.
They opened fire but police have not released exactly why. Investigators searched for about two days but found no weapon that may have belonged to Johnson at the scene. The officers involved remain on restricted duty status.
“It doesn't show the officer faced any danger, imminent or otherwise,” said Carl Crews, the family attorney. “He didn't have anything that appeared as a gun. He had nothing that appeared as a gun near where he was.”
Crews believed the eight-minute footage did not exonerate the officers involved in the shooting. Attorney Carl Crews explicitly called out Shifflett. Crews said it was only his bodycam video that police showed.
He said the officers did not warn Johnson they were going to use deadly force.
“This was execution by Fairfax County police officers,” Crews said. “He could have been apprehended without a shot being fired. There were several police officers present. This could have been done.”
The chase, which lasted for about a quarter of a mile, snaked its way through the parking garage, across a parking lot and into a wooded area.
Police said the officers gave verbal commands to drop to the ground before they opened fire.
Johnson's family questioned why they fired their guns and shot him in the first place since it was only a misdemeanor crime. They accuse the department of violating its use of force policy.
“The only thing that they knew that he was accused of allegedly taking a pair of sunglasses,” said Melissa Johnson, Timothy Johnson’s mother. “Officer Sadler and Shifflett did not know his name, did not know his age, did not know where he went to school, did not know the names of his children or anything about his past personal or judicial history. The only thing they knew was that he was Black and a male and allegedly triggered the alarm from the store for some sunglasses. Something did happen but it did not have to happen.”
The family wanted to see the bodycam footage sooner and called for full transparency.
"The reason we don’t release body-worn camera footage, or any other pertinent evidence in any ongoing investigations (administrative, criminal, or otherwise) before a certain point is because the release of this footage can negatively impede our investigation and/or any administration or criminal actions that may or may not be brought as a result," FCPD said in a statement to WUSA9.
FCPD policy states the department must release bodycam footage of officer-involved shootings within 30 days of the incident.
It also said its Internal Affairs Bureau is conducting an administrative investigation in accordance with policy, along with an independent review by the police auditor.
The criminal investigation into this use of force incident is being conducted by the Major Crimes Bureau. The results of the criminal investigation will be presented to the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano met with Johnson's family two weeks ago. His office provided WUSA9 with the following statement following the family's viewing of the bodycam footage:
“I have seen and am devastated by the body-worn camera footage showing yet another death of a Black man at the hands of police. My heart grieves for the Johnsons, who lost a beloved family member over an incident involving a pair of sunglasses. Like many members of our community, I sincerely hope to see the day when police shootings are a thing of the past.
As the elected Commonwealth’s Attorney, it is my responsibility to proceed with a comprehensive and independent investigation of this incident, and that’s what I’ve been doing since the night of February 22nd. I expect to make a decision on how best to proceed in the coming weeks.”
After days of searching a wooded area, police confirmed no weapon was found after officers shot and killed a man accused of shoplifting a pair of sunglasses.