Body camera video shows the fatal shooting of a man by Alexandria police, which the commonwealth’s attorney determined was justified.
The video of the mid-August incident shows a man police say was suffering mental distress at an apartment complex off Van Dorn Street. Officers tried to get the man, Paul Behan, to drop his gun for at least 20 minutes.
Police were responding to a call from one of Behan’s coworkers, who feared Behan planned to kill himself.
“He was suspended and I guess kind of feeling bad about maybe losing his job,” the caller told 911.
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The caller also told police Behan had separated from his wife, had a gun and had been drinking.
Video shows him answer the door of his apartment with a gun pointed toward his head.
Police are heard saying, “Please don’t do it. Don’t do it, man. Don’t do it”
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Behan briefly went back inside but emerged again with the gun.
The officers who responded first backed down the stairs but continue to speak to Behan to try to calm him. They continued to ask him to put the gun down and stop advancing toward them.
Behan then pointed the gun at police, who retreated further.
“Paul, I don’t think you want to hurt us and I don’t think you want to hurt yourself,” an officer said. “So, I think you should put the gun down.”
More officers, including a trained negotiator, were called to the scene.
“You are a good man,” the negotiator said. “You don’t deserve to hurt yourself.”
About six minutes later, Behan again pointed his weapon at police. A 9-year-veteran who was assigned as a cover officer fired three times, killing Behan.
No officers were injured.
Interim Chief of Police Paul Pedroso told reporters officers followed police procedure for crisis situations — creating space, trying to deescalate.
“I think the officers acted admirably that night,” he said. “Our training and everything that drives our decision-making is to try to slow things down and try to create as much time and opportunity for the situation to be resolved without incident.”
The Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team investigated the shooting to make the assessment that the commonwealth’s attorney used to make their decision.
