The family of an unarmed Black man shot in the chest by police is demanding to know why he was killed, claiming he posed no threat.
Timothy Johnson, 37, was suspected of stealing sunglasses from a shopping mall in Tysons, Virginia, about 16 miles west of Washington, D.C.
“He’s dead from shoplifting. Not robbing someone with a gun, not burglarizing something with a gun. An unarmed shoplifter is dead now,” Johnson’s mother, Melissa Johnson, told The Washington Post.
According to police, Timothy Johnson was at the Tysons Corner Center shopping mall around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 when he was reportedly “concealing designer sunglasses.” When Johnson left the store the anti-theft alarm was activated prompting him to run.
Once Timothy Johnson made it out of the store he ran through the parking garage, across the parking lot and into a heavily wooded area about a quarter mile wide.
A Fairfax County uniformed police officer and a plainclothes officer pursued Timothy Johnson on foot. Police say they gave Johnson commands to get on the ground. It’s unclear the amount of time it took for police to give verbal commands when they fired gunshots. Exactly how many times police fired their guns is also under investigation.
Johnson was shot in the chest one time. Police say they rendered aid until EMS arrived. Johnson was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
“I don’t want to speculate why the officers discharged their firearms,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told WJLA.
Davis said during a news conference the department is investigating if Johnson was armed.
“We don’t know what we don’t know right now. At some point in time in that chase, something happened that’s still under investigation that prompted our two Fairfax County police officers to discharge their firearms. That is what is under investigation,” Davis added.
Melissa Johnson, 56, claims her son was unarmed and did not pose a…
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