Former police officer accused of murdering suspected shoplifter stands trial in Virginia

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A former Northern Virginia police officer is on trial Tuesday for the fatal shooting of an unarmed man who allegedly stole a pair of sunglasses.

Wesley Shifflett is charged with manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon in connection with the killing of 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson on February 22, 2023 near a busy shopping mall. Shifflett has pleaded not guilty.

Shifflett and another Fairfax County police officer pursued Johnson on foot after receiving a report from security guards that Johnson had stolen sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store in Tysons Corner Center.

Police body camera footage shows the nighttime chase and shootout. Shifflett can be heard telling Johnson to stay on the ground and later to “stop reaching for him.” Both officers open fire, but Shifflett fires the fatal shot.

Later, Shifflett told another officer that he saw the suspect reach for a gun in his waistband. Police searched for a weapon but found nothing.

Shifflett was fired from the Fairfax County Police Department the following month for, as Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis put it, “failing to meet the expectations of our agency, particularly the use of force policies.”

A grand jury initially declined to indict Shifflett in the shooting, but Fairfax County District Attorney Steve Descano sought and received court approval for a reinvestigation by a special grand jury. Descano said it would give prosecutors a better opportunity to oversee the investigation. The second panel decided to indict Shifflett.

Descano said at the time that a manslaughter charge would be appropriate if the killing was the result of “gross or wanton conduct” that was not based on malicious intent.

Caleb Kershner, Shifflett’s attorney, sharply criticized Descano’s decision to convene a special grand jury and the subsequent indictment.

“Few people understand what it’s like to be threatened with a weapon and to have your life threatened on a regular basis,” Kershner said at the time. “These men and women in uniform serve by risking their lives every day.”

At recent hearings, lawyers argued over what evidence could be presented at trial.

Barry Zweig, the lead prosecutor, filed a motion to introduce evidence that Shifflett had aimed his gun at shoplifters in other cases, but District Court Judge Randy Bellows denied the motion.

Bellows agreed to allow Shifflett’s defense team to present evidence about Johnson’s criminal past.

Johnson was 17 years old when he attempted to steal the vehicle of an off-duty agent with the Maryland Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. As he attempted to flee in the vehicle, Johnson nearly hit the agent, who responded by shooting him. In 2004, Johnson pleaded guilty as a juvenile to second-degree assault.

Johnson also pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a fatal car crash in Washington in 2019 while driving under the influence of alcohol. Bellows ruled that that incident should not be presented to the jury, a prosecutor’s spokesman said Monday.

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