Police Fatally Shoot DC Man Suspected Of Stealing Designer Sunglasses At Tysons' Nordstrom

TYSONS, VA — A Washington, D.C., man accused of stealing a pair of designer sunglasses from Nordstrom at Tysons Corner Center Wednesday night was shot and killed in a wooded area near the shopping mall, police said Thursday.

Timothy McCree Johnson, 37, was shot in the chest after officers told him to get on the ground, according to police. Johnson was taken by medics to an area hospital, where he died Wednesday night, police said.

In a news release Thursday, police did not say if the man was armed or posed a threat to police officers or the public when he was shot. At a news conference Wednesday night, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said one of the officers who fired his gun was a uniformed officer and the other officer who fired his gun was a plainclothes police officer.

At that news conference, Davis said he did not know if the shooting victim was armed. No police officers were injured in the incident.

As part of their investigation, police kept the wooded area in the 8100 block of Fashion Boulevard sealed off Wednesday night, so it could be searched during daylight hours. On Thursday, police brought in a metal detector and a K-9 to search for a possible weapon in the wooded area, NBC4 reported.

The incident started at about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when police officers from the Tyson Urban Team, a team of about 16 Fairfax County officers assigned to the Tysons area, were alerted to a possible theft. Mall security reported a man was concealing designer sunglasses, according to police.

An officer saw the man leaving Nordstrom near a parking garage. As he left the store, an anti-theft alarm was activated, police said.

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The suspect, Johnson, then ran through the parking garage, across the parking lot and into a wooded area while the officers gave him commands to get on the ground, according to police. Officers continued into the wooded, “giving verbal commands” to Johnson, police said.

While in the wooded area, two police officers fired their guns, according to police, striking Johnson in the chest one time. "Officers immediately rendered aid until Fairfax County Fire and Rescue arrived," police said.

The officers involved in the shooting have been identified as a seven-year veteran and an eight-year veteran, both assigned to the Tysons Urban Team, police said. According to department policy, the officers have been placed on restricted duty status, pending the outcome of criminal and administrative investigations.

The criminal investigation into the fatal shooting of Johnson is being conducted by the FCPD's Major Crimes Bureau. The body worn camera footage of the uniformed office will be released within 30 days, according to police. The results of the criminal investigation will be presented to the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.

The FCPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau is conducting an administrative investigation, along with an independent review by the Police Auditor. The names of the officers will be released within 10 days, in accordance with the department’s policy, police said.