Household Lawyer: Police Taking pictures Caught on Video Was Execution

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — The lawyer for the household of a person fatally shot by police after he allegedly stole a pair of sun shades from a Virginia shopping center referred to as the loss of life “an execution” after seeing video of the capturing for the primary time Wednesday.

Household of Timothy McCree Johnson seen the physique digital camera video for the primary time on the invitation of the Fairfax County Police Division almost a month after two officers ran after Johnson and then shot him outdoors Tysons Nook Heart, one of many busiest malls in northern Virginia.

Lawyer Carl Crews mentioned nothing within the video exhibits something to clarify why officers would have moderately feared for his or her lives after they opened fireplace.

“If the video would have exonerated the officer, we’d have seen it already,” Crews mentioned, referring to the delay. He referred to as Johnson’s loss of life “an execution by a Fairfax County police officer.”

Crews mentioned nothing seems within the video to make it look as if Johnson was armed.

“He may have been apprehended and not using a shot being fired,” Crews mentioned.

The video has not but been made publicly accessible. Police say they plan to launch it Thursday, simply inside a 30-day deadline set by inside tips.

Johnson’s mom, Melissa Johnson of Forestville, Maryland, mentioned she has now been thrust right into a depressingly acquainted function within the nationwide information cycle: the mom of a Black man who was killed by police with out justification.

“No mother or father ought to must view the killing of their youngster after which be requested to offer remarks,” she mentioned to reporters outdoors police headquarters after having simply watched the eight-minute physique digital camera video. “Nevertheless, right here we’re, and right here I stand.”

Police didn’t remark Wednesday on the household’s accusations. Final month, although, instantly after the capturing, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described Johnson as somebody with a “important violent felony historical past” who was “completely very well-known to legislation enforcement within the nationwide capital area.”

Davis mentioned Johnson ran right into a closely wooded patch that made it troublesome to find out on the time of the capturing whether or not Johnson had been armed. Police later confirmed that no weapon was discovered.

On Wednesday, Melissa Johnson took challenge with Davis’ depiction of her son.

“Earlier than he took the time to collect the information, he painted a detrimental half-truth about our son and the unfolding case,” she mentioned.

The one factor the officers knew about her son when he was shot and killed, she mentioned, was “that he was Black and male and had allegedly triggered an alarm from a retailer for some sun shades.”

Johnson had no felony report in Fairfax County, court docket data present. He did have assault and gun convictions towards him in Maryland and the District of Columbia that went again 20 years.

The video seen Wednesday by Johnson’s household got here from physique digital camera footage linked to Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, one of many two officers assigned to patrolling Tysons Nook Heart, Crews mentioned. The opposite officer, James Sadler, was in plainclothes and had no physique digital camera, police have mentioned. Each officers opened fireplace, in line with police.

The discharge of the video to Johnson’s household comes as seven Virginia sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees in Henrico County, close to Richmond, have been charged with second-degree homicide within the loss of life of a Black affected person, Irvo Otieno, after he died whereas being transferred to a state hospital. Video released Tuesday in Otieno’s case exhibits the deputies and employees surrounding and pinning Otieno to the ground.

In Johnson’s case, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Lawyer Steve Descano, who was elected partly on a platform of holding cops accountable, mentioned in a press release Wednesday that he’ll resolve within the coming weeks whether or not the officers who shot Johnson will face felony fees.

“I’ve seen and am devastated by the body-worn digital camera footage exhibiting yet one more loss of life of a Black man by the hands of police,” Descano mentioned. “My coronary heart grieves for the Johnsons, who misplaced a beloved member of the family over an incident involving a pair of sun shades.”

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