Fairfax County, Virginia, police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man who was killed by two officers responding to an alleged burglary at Tyson’s Corner Center Mall.
Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a news conference that evening that loss prevention officers at the mall notified Fairfax County police on Wednesday about a “theft that was in progress”.
Loss prevention officers led two Fairfax County officers to the man, who has been identified as Timothy Johnson, 37.
“The individual was approached by our officers and he fled,” Davis said. “We followed him. A uniformed Fairfax County police officer followed and a plainclothes Fairfax County police officer followed. They followed the suspect … out of the store, and maybe a quarter of a mile or so after The suspect approached a small wooded area.”
Davis said the suspect fled into a wooded area and police gave chase.
“At some point, both police officers, both Fairfax County police officers, discharged their firearms,” ​​he told reporters. “At some point during that pursuit, something happened that is still under investigation that killed two of our Fairfax County police officers.” prompted the county police officers to discharge their firearms.”
Johnson was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The chief declined to name the two officers involved. Davis said Johnson was “very well known” to law enforcement in the area and had an extensive criminal history. Davis said he did not know whether Johnson had a gun.
“So we’re going to hold the scene and we’re going to search for any evidence that the suspect may have left behind during the chase,” he said.
The uniformed officer had a body camera, according to Davis. He said the footage would be released to the public at a later date.
According to a GoFundMe set up by the Fairfax County NAACP, Johnson was described as an “enthusiastic creative spirit” who loved designing clothes and shoes. They had two children and planned to go back to school to become barbers.
“Timmy wasn’t perfect and suffered from drug addiction, which often led to some bad decisions. But he certainly didn’t deserve to die over sunglasses stolen from a department store,” said the fundraiser.
