Fairfax County Police Fires Officer Who Fatally Shot Unarmed Man Near Tysons Mall

TYSONS, VA — One of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of suspected shoplifter Timothy Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22 has been fired from the Fairfax County Police Department, police announced Thursday.

The 37-year-old Johnson, who lived in Washington, D.C., was shot and killed by the two Fairfax County police officers after he was suspected of stealing sunglasses from the Nordstrom department store inside the mall.

Fairfax County Police Kevin Davis made the announcement during a news conference to release body-worn camera footage of the incident.

At the news conference, the police chief did not identify the officer who received his administrative separation notice. A police spokeswoman later confirmed that Sgt. Wesley Shifflett was the officer notified of his administrative separation from the department.

Davis said the officer was issued the administrative separation notice on Thursday, terminating his employment with the department. The other police officer involved in the shooting has been placed on modified restricted duty.

On March 4, the department identified the two officers involved in the killing as Shifflett, a seven-year veteran of the department, and Police Officer First Class James Sadler, an eight-year veteran of the department. According to the department, both officers fired their weapons, which killed Johnson.

Johnson's family was allowed to view the body camera footage on Wednesday at the invitation of police.

"If the video would have exonerated the officer, we would have seen it already," said Carl Crews, an attorney for Johnson's family. He called Johnson's death "an execution by a Fairfax County police officer," FOX 5 reported.

Davis said the body-worn camera footage released Thursday is evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation into the fatal shooting, and emphasized he could not offer an opinion on the video due to the criminal investigation.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in a statement Thursday that he found the body-worn camera footage "disturbing to say the least."

"Under no circumstances should suspicion of shoplifting alone lead to the tragic loss of human life," McKay said.

Fairfax County has worked to improve transparency and accountability, resulting in the implementation of hundreds of recommendations, policy changes and trainings, according to McKay.

"This important progress can be seen in the process that is currently taking place — the timely naming of the officers, more expeditious criminal and administrative investigations, and today’s release of body worn camera footage, are all being done as a result of our reforms," he said. "Naming the officers within 10 days and releasing the video evidence within 30 provide transparency to the family of Mr. Johnson and to the entire community."

McKay also noted that the FCPD sent the body-worn camera footage from the Feb. 22 fatal shooting to the FBI for enhancement.

Prior to 2022, administrative reviews by the police department were typically deferred until the conclusion of a criminal investigation and a decision on whether to prosecute had been made.

"Our new policy puts me in a position to make administrative or internal decisions in a more timely manner," Davis said. "From that, one of the two discharging officers remains on modified restricted duty. The other discharging officer has been served a notice administratively separating him from the Fairfax County Police Department. This notice was served today. He will no longer be a Fairfax County police officer."

Davis said the officer's actions "do not meet the expectations of our police department, they do not comport with our general orders, our policies and our procedures."

In particular, Davis said the officer who was fired "failed to live up to" the department's use-of-force policies, protocols and procedures.

Around 6:15 p.m. on the night of Feb. 22, police were alerted to the shoplifting report by a theft prevention employee at the Nordstrom department store and then two officers from the FCPD’s Tysons Urban Team chased Johnson through a parking garage, a parking lot, and into a wooded area, where he was killed by a bullet wound to the chest. Police did not find a weapon on Johnson. Two pairs of sunglasses were found in the area where he was fatally shot, Davis said Thursday.

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement Thursday that he has seen the body-worn camera footage and was devastated by the 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," Descano said. "Like many members of our community, I sincerely hope to see the day when police shootings are a thing of the past."

Descano said his office is conducting a comprehensive investigation of the fatal shooting. "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," he said.

READ ALSO: Officer-Involved Shootings In Fairfax Co. To Be Reviewed By Consultant

Shortly after the incident, the FCPD asked a consulting firm that focuses on policing issues to examine all officer-involved shooting incidents in the county over the past two years. The Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF, is examining the shooting incidents since the start of 2021 and will seek to identify any performance patterns or deficiencies in the department.

Fairfax County has seen a rise in officer-involved shootings, from six in 2022 compared to one in 2021 and two in 2020, according to data on the Fairfax County Police Department's website.

At Thursday's news conference, Davis said this is the first time as a police chief that he has taken the step of firing a police officer who was involved in an officer-involved shooting. Prior to his appointment as Fairfax County police chief in April 2021, Davis served as the City of Baltimore’s police commissioner from 2015 to 2018 and chief of police of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, from 2013 to 2014.

Davis, at a news conference the night of the fatal shooting, said the person who was killed outside Tysons Corner Center was "well known" to law enforcement agencies in the D.C. area and had a "violent criminal history."

Asked at Thursday's news conference if he regretted noting Johnson's criminal history on the night of Feb. 22, Davis explained that he received information about Johnson's background in preparation for questions that he was expecting from the news media about any known criminal history of the person who was fatally shot.

"I should have answered it with much greater sensitivity than I did on that particular night," Davis said. "Certainly, I could have been more careful with my words and to the extent that those words caused any harm to the Johnson family, I apologize."

Davis added that it might be a good opportunity for both the police and the news media "to think about the necessity" of asking about criminal history, "particularly in the heat of the moment."

"I know I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about how I answered it," he said. "And perhaps others may think about how they ask it."

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