TYSONS, Va. — A special grand jury decided Thursday to indict a former Fairfax County Police sergeant who shot and killed a man at Tysons Corner Center earlier this year.
Former Fairfax County Police Sgt. Wesley Shifflett was indicted Thursday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm.
“The work of public safety includes charging officers for crimes when such actions are legally warranted. After reviewing the evidence in this case, I believe that probable cause existed that Shifflett committed a crime, and that the entirety of the evidence should be put to a jury of community members. Seeking justice blindly in cases involving officers improves public trust in the law enforcement agencies that serve and protect our communities; failing to do so disgraces the role of prosecutor and ruins the public’s trust in the justice system," Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement. “Our nation’s justice system has historically been stacked in favor of protecting powerful institutions and individuals, and it is no small feat that the grand jurors returned a true bill after reviewing this matter.”
Descano announced the decision for a special grand jury in April less than 10 days after the first grand jury decided not to indict Shifflett, one of the officers who killed 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson.
Johnson was shot by officers after allegedly taking a pair of sunglasses from a store at Tysons Corner Mall on Feb. 22. Officers claim Johnson ran through a parking garage and across a parking lot into the woods while officers chased him and demanded he get on the ground. While in the woods, two officers shot at Johnson, hitting him once in the chest.
Johnson was taken to an area hospital where he died.
"I feel such a relief and joyous in my spirit and I'm a woman of faith, so I thank God that God is my God," said Melissa Johnson, Timothy's mother.
Fairfax Police searched the area after the deadly shooting and no weapon was found, meaning Johnson was unarmed when he was shot and killed.
On April 17, a grand jury decided there was not enough probable cause to charge the former officer. The jurors returned with a ‘No True Bill,’ meaning they decided not to indict Shifflett, who has since "administratively separated" from the Fairfax County Police Department.
"The Fairfax County Police Department respects the criminal justice system and its processes," a police department spokesperson said Thursday. "The announcement of a special grand jury indictment of a former FCPD officer strengthens our resolve to continue our focus on world-class training and data-informed policies consistent with the expectations of our community."
Shifflett's attorney provided WUSA9 the following statement Thursday:
"Descano's actions have made Fairfax less safe. He has torn down the department moral. He is simply Monday morning quarterbacking an officers decision to use lethal force when he reasonably believed he was about to be shot. It's easy to sit back and second guess an officer's actions. Few people understand what it's like to have a gun pulled on you and regularly being put in risk of death. These men and women in uniform serve by putting their lives on the line every day. Descano has no concept of that. A grand Jury returned no true bill earlier this year. That wasn't good enough for this Commonwealth attorney. He had to assemble a special grand jury so he could control the process and get an indictment. It's purely political and shameful.
Following the grand jury's decision earlier this year, Descano explained that prosecutors were not allowed to be in the room when the investigating officers made their presentation to the grand jury, meaning he wasn't sure what information was conveyed at that time.
With a judge approving Descano's request for this special grand jury, prosecutors were allowed to be present this time, instead of just the investigating officers.
Descano's office said a court date for Shifflett will be set on Oct. 20.