Body-Worn Camera Footage Of Shooting In Lorton Released By Police

LORTON, VA — The Fairfax County Police Department released body-worn camera footage Wednesday after the commonwealth's attorney announced he would not be filing charges against a police officer who shot and wounded a man in a van parked on a residential street in Lorton.

Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano said Wednesday morning that charges would not be filed against the police officer who shot Michael Vaughn, 34, on Feb. 15.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis explained that Descano's office had completed its review of the incident and had issued a "decline to prosecute" letter. With all officer-involved shootings, the commonwealth's attorney office reviews the circumstances of the case to determine if the shooting by the officer was justified.

Vaughn was shot on the morning of Feb. 15 in a minivan on Fitt Court in Lorton. Police were dispatched to investigate the suspicious van after a neighbor reported to police that the van had been parked there for more than 24 hours.

Vaughn was holding a loaded short barreled carbine-style rifle when he opened the door to the van prior to getting shot, Davis said. After the shooting, Vaughn was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for his gunshot injuries.

Two police officers were at the scene of the shooting after responding to a call from the neighbor who had noticed the maroon minivan parked on Fitt Court.

The neighbor said it appeared that someone was living in the van, according to the 911 recording released by the police. The resident explained that he felt compelled to report the van because the neighborhood had experienced several break-ins of garages.

After knocking on the van window several times to see if someone was inside, the first police officer who arrived on the scene received no response. The police officers then opened the back door to the minivan and announced themselves as county police.

"Anyone inside, make yourself known," one of the police officers said. Vaughn did not respond.

The police officers then determined that the North Carolina license plate on the minivan was stolen. A police officer then tried to get in touch with the registered owner of the van by phone.

The police later learned that the van was registered to one of Vaughn's relatives, who lives in Fairfax County.

While he was on the phone with the relative, the police officer noticed Vaughn open the side door while holding the gun.

At that point, the police officer, who was parked behind the van, fired three shots at Vaughn, who was struck twice in the upper body, according to the body-worn camera footage. Vaughn fell from the van onto the street after getting shot. Both police officers slowly approached him, yelling at him not to touch the gun that had fallen out of his hands, according to the body-worn camera footage.

SEE ALSO: Fairfax County Police Identify Man Shot By Officer In Lorton

Once they reached Vaughn, the officers moved him away from the rifle. The second police officer, who did not fire shots at Vaughn, found a BB gun inside the pocket of the jacket he was wearing.

As the police officers started to provide medical assistance to Vaughn, he repeatedly told the officers to "please let me die" and "tell my family I love them."

Vaughn survived the shooting and is now being held in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Both uniformed police officers who responded to the scene of the parked van had police academy recruits, who were not armed or in uniform, accompanying them in their police cars.

A tow truck driver who had shown up at the scene and was parked in front of the van was pushed away to safety by the second police officer. That officer suffered minor injuries to her hand, and was treated and released from the hospital, Davis said.

Police later learned that Vaughn has previously been charged with failure to appear in court and a probation violation.

The warrants stemmed from previous charges of possession of a firearm while in possession of certain substances and selling a drug that occurred in March 2021, according to police. When Vaughn violated his probation, a warrant was issued on Sept. 2, 2021, police said. A second warrant was issued on Sept. 22, 2021, when Vaughn failed to appear in court on the original charges.

Because they could not see inside the van due to its tinted windows and a black curtain separating the front seat from the back seat and because they did not receive any response from Vaughn when they asked if anyone was inside, the police officers did not believe the van was occupied.

"This is one of those scenarios that we're going to be using for years in our police academies to train our police officers," Davis said. "The moment you think you're dealing with a vehicle that's unoccupied, it may not be unoccupied."