A former Fairfax County police sergeant who fatally shot an unarmed suspected shoplifter testified in his manslaughter trial Tuesday.
Wesley Shifflett shot 37-year-old Timothy Johnson outside of Tysons Corner Center in February 2023.
He gave the jury his account of what happened as he chased Johnson into woods near the mall after Johnson allegedly stole two pairs of sunglasses from Nordstrom.
“[Johnson] tripped and did a barrel roll and as soon as he tripped, he came up on his knees and was facing me … He just looked at me and didn’t respond to commands. He then reached into his waistband and was moving back and forth,” Shifflett testified.
“We locked eyes, and at that moment, it was the most scared I have ever been in my life,” he said.
He also told the jury, “I did not have the luxury to wait to see a gun … We are trained that hands are going to harm you and hands are what are going to kill you.”
During cross examination, the prosecutor played Shifflett’s body camera video repeatedly. She said one second passed between Johnson facing Shifflett and reaching into his waistband and Shifflett shooting Johnson.
Shifflett said his eyesight was much better than the quality of the body camera video. Earlier in the day, another officer also testified that the video quality was not as good as what they could see in the woods that night.
The jury will hear more testimony Wednesday.
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