Fairfax, Virginia — On Friday, a Virginia jury acquitted a former police officer of involuntary manslaughter for killing and shooting a shoplifting suspect outside a busy retail mall.
However, the jury did convict retired police sergeant Wesley Shifflett of careless firearm handling in connection with the incident.
Prosecutors claimed Shifflett, then a sergeant with Fairfax County Police, behaved carelessly when he shot and killed Timothy McCree Johnson, an unarmed man, following a brief foot chase outside Tysons Corner Center in February 2023.
Shifflett testified in his own defense, claiming self-defense. He said he observed Johnson, 37, go into his waistband after collapsing during the chase, and he was concerned that Johnson was drawing a weapon.
“At that moment, that was the most scared I had been in my life because I thought at any moment he would pull out a gun and just start shooting me,” he stated during his trial testimony. He went on to say: “I didn’t have the luxury to wait and see a gun because I knew in an instant I could be dead.”
During cross-examination and closing statements, prosecutors questioned Shifflett’s actions leading up to the shooting, particularly his decision to track Johnson into the woods at night without waiting for assistance or turning on a flashlight.
Prosecutor Jenna Sands contended that Shifflett’s choice to fire two shots on the run in a crowded place constituted careless discharge of a firearm.
Shifflett admitted that a wooded region in the dark increases the danger of a foot chase. However, he stated, “We are placed in several risky situations. There is a responsibility to maintain law and order.
The jury was given a dimly lit bodycam video that was equivocal as to whether Johnson reached inside his waistband.
It shows Shifflett saying “Get on the ground” before firing two rounds at Johnson. Shifflett yelled “Stop reaching” soon after the bullets were fired and informed other police that he saw Johnson reaching into his waistband.
During cross-examination, Sands questioned Shifflett about shooting Johnson before instructing the victim to “stop reaching.”
“My motor functions were operating more quickly than I could verbalize,” she added.
The footage also includes Johnson’s dying words: “I wasn’t reaching for nothing…. I’m shot and bleeding.”
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis fired Shifflett shortly after the incident for breaking the department’s use-of-force policy. However, when Davis publicly released the bodycam video of the incident, he acknowledged its ambiguity.
“More often than not, the police body camera footage speaks for itself,” Davis explained at the time. “This time, it does not.”
Prosecutors struggled at times to make their case against Shifflett. Initially, the grand jury declined to indict him. At that moment, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who was elected on a platform of holding police officers accountable for misconduct, assembled a special grand jury that followed regulations that gave Descano additional control over the proceedings.
The special grand jury produced indictments on crimes such as involuntary manslaughter and careless use of a firearm.
Since it began last month, the trial has been delayed several times. The lead prosecutor developed a serious medical condition and was replaced by another attorney, forcing a several-day delay. During closing arguments, prosecutors showed the jury a fragment of Shifflett’s bodycam video that had not been submitted as evidence at trial, increasing the possibility of a mistrial before defense lawyers decided not to pursue it.
Shifflett will be sentenced in February for reckless discharge of a firearm. The offense is a felony punishable by up to five years in jail.
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