A special grand jury has indicted former Fairfax County Police officer Wesley Shifflett for fatally shooting 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson outside the Tysons Corner Center mall.

After an earlier grand jury declined to file charges, Shifflett, then a seven-year veteran of the department, was indicted on felony charges for involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon, Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced Thursday.

“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 said in a release.

DCist/WAMU reached out to Shifflett’s attorney, Caleb Kershner, but he was not immediately available for comment. But in comments to the Washington Post, Kershner framed Descano’s decision to summon a special grand jury as “purely political and shameful.”

On Feb. 22, Shifflett and fellow officer James Sadler chased Johnson into a wooded area outside the mall after receiving a call that Johnson had allegedly stolen a pair of sunglasses. Johnson was unarmed. Police said both officers were part of the Tysons Urban Team, a unit of the Fairfax County Police Department that patrols the mall.

Police in March released Shifflett’s body-worn camera footage showing Shifflett running through a retail store inside the mall and eventually following Johnson outside through a parking garage and onto a dark street. Shifflett runs after Johnson, and as they move into a wooded area, Shifflett yells out “get on the ground” several times, the footage shows.  Three shots can be heard in the video.

Johnson, who is Black, was struck once in the chest and later died at an area hospital. Family and friends described Johnson, a father of two, as an “avid creative spirit,” and decried his killing as an “execution.”

Shifflett was fired in March as the department’s Major Crimes Bureau investigated the killing and presented evidence to Descano. Sadler, the other officer in the chase, was placed on “modified restricted duty assignment,” meaning he was not permitted to interact with the public.

Fairfax County prosecutors pursued charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm against Shifflett, but in April a grand jury decided there was not enough evidence to move forward with the charges. Descano then requested a special grand jury to probe Shifflett’s case — marking only the third special grand jury that has been summoned in county history, and the second by Descano. (He also called on a special grand jury to investigate the 2017 fatal police shooting of Bijan Ghaisar by U.S. Park Police officers, but a federal judge dismissed the criminal charges in that case.)

Under Virginia law, special grand juries allow prosecutors to be present in the room, to call witnesses and influence the information presented to jurors. In a regular grand jury, the case is presented by the investigating officers, who in many cases are police officers.

“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,” Descano said in announcing the indictment. “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.”

A court date has been set for Oct. 20. A criminal indictment is still an accusation, and Shifflett must be found guilty in court.

Indictments for police officers for killings or other use-of-force incidents are rare in Fairfax County. Last year, a jury acquitted Tyler Timberlake, a white Fairfax County officer, on misdemeanor assault charges after body camera footage showed Timberlake placing his knee into Lamonta Gladney’s back and tasing him in 2020. Gladney was hospitalized and later released. Gladney filed a civil rights lawsuit against Timberlake, and the county reached a settlement in 2022, although the department did not admit any wrongdoing.

In 2022, Fairfax police shot six people. So far in 2023, officers have shot two individuals, according to county data. 

Following Johnson’s killing, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the county would revisit a number of its department policies via a partnership with the Police Executive Research Forum. The group conducted a two-year audit of police shootings in the county and presented recommendations to the county in April.

One of those policies pertains to foot pursuits. When Johnson was killed, the county’s police department — like most departments across the country —  had no policy regarding foot pursuits. Research in different cities across the U.S. has shown a strong link between foot pursuits and police shootings; over an eight-year period in Chicago, half of all police shootings occurred during or after a foot pursuit. A study in Philadelphia reached a similar conclusion. In 2022, Chicago revised its foot pursuit policy to ban officers from chasing people on foot only because they’ve run away or if they’re believed to have committed minor offenses — after foot chases ended in the killings of 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez and 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

Fairfax police did add policy language on foot pursuits after Johnson’s killing, but advocates say the wording is vague and incomplete. The policy reads that “officers who engage in a foot pursuit of a fleeing suspect are expected to exercise judgment throughout the length of the chase, and balance their obligation to promote the safety of the general public with the need to apprehend offenders and/or persons in need of immediate mental health or medical treatment.”

It also requires supervisors to review foot pursuits after they occur and track data related to chases, but residents argue the policy adjustment did little to actually change how or when foot pursuits actually occur. The department is planning to expand the policy next year after the department reviews the data it has collected so far, Chief Davis said earlier this month.

Previously:
Special Grand Jury Called For Fairfax Officer Who Fatally Shot Man Accused Of Stealing Sunglasses
Grand Jury Rejects Charges For Officer Who Fatally Shot Man Accused Of Stealing Sunglasses
Fairfax Police Officer Fired After Fatally Shooting Man Accused Of Stealing Sunglasses