Former Fairfax County Police Sergeant Wesley Shifflett was processed into the county jail Friday evening, Feb. 28. At his sentencing hearing earlier that day, Fairfax County Circuit Judge Randy I. Bellows sentenced Shifflett, 36, to five years in prison with two years suspended.
The criminal trial of Wesley Shifflett began on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. On Oct. 4, a jury found Schifflet not guilty of involuntary manslaughter but guilty of reckless handling of a firearm, a Class 6 felony. Last month, the defense filed a motion to set aside the verdict. It was denied.
Prosecutors said at the jury trial that Shifflett acted recklessly. He chased Johnson into a dark, wooded area and fired two shots without identifying a firearm.
Shifflett was sentenced to serve three years of incarceration with an additional five years of supervised probation. (His sentence was commuted by Gov. Glenn Youngkin; see related story on this page.)
Shifflett's defense attorney, Caleb A. Kershner, said he plans to appeal the sentence.
Bellows told the courtroom, "I recognize the jury's finding that Sgt. Shifflett's conduct at the time he shot Timothy Johnson showed a reckless disregard for human life." Judge Bellows's decision came 737 days after Shifflett, acting in his role as Fairfax County police officer, shot and killed Johnson, a shoplifting suspect in a nighttime foot pursuit.
Shifflett fatally shot and killed unarmed 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center mall after a short nighttime foot pursuit around 6:30 p.m. on February 22, 2023. Shifflett, a 7-year veteran of the department in uniform, and another Fairfax County police officer in plain clothes, an 8-year veteran assigned to the Tysons Urban Team, pursued Johnson. Loss prevention officers reported to FCPD officers a "theft that was in progress," Chief Kevin Davis said in a video update to the community the evening of the shooting. Davis said the officers approached the person, and he fled.
According to the police release published the next day, Feb. 23, "An officer observed the man exiting the store near a parking garage. As he exited the store, an anti-theft alarm was activated as he fled."
Fairfax County Police Department announced in March 2023 that Shifflett, identified as the officer who fired the fatal shot, would be terminated.
Dimly lit body-worn camera footage of the two officers released Thursday, March 23, 2023, shows the pursuit through the parking garage and into a wooded area near the mall, where the officers verbally command Johnson to get on the ground. Pops of gunfire can be heard on the video of body-worn camera footage as the officers fire their weapons. Johnson is struck in the chest once and restrained. On the video footage, Johnson says, "I'm not reaching for nothing. I have nothing … . I'm shot, man. Hurry."
"While in the wooded area, two officers discharged their firearms, striking Johnson in the chest one time," states the police release. Johnson was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
FCPD officially fired Shifflett on April 14, 2023.
Shifflett was "unsatisfactorily separated from service" in accordance with Chapter 9 of the Fairfax County Personnel Regulations, according to the Fairfax County public document, Wesley Shifflett v. Bryan J. Hill, et al. CL-2023-8048, filed July 6, 2023, in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, Fairfax County Courthouse.
On Oct. 12, 2023, Descano announced that a special grand jury had indicted Wesley Shifflett for shooting and killing Timothy McCree Johnson, 37. Descano noted in his announcement of the indictment in the Tysons Mall shooting, "A criminal indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Former officer Shifflett was indicted on felony charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon.
At Shifflett's sentencing last Friday, his defense lawyer, Caleb Kershner, described Schiffett as an officer who feared for his life when he fired at Johnson. Kershner said during his closing arguments that Shifflett reasonably believed his life was in danger when he saw Johnson reaching for his waistband. Shifflet made his split-second decision to shoot, citing what Kershner said was a police officer expression: "Better to be judged by 12 than carried by six."
Shifflett briefly addressed Johnson's family members in the courtroom on Friday before the sentencing. "I want to express my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the Johnson family. I recognize the immense pain they've been experiencing over the last two years and the grief they face in losing a loved one. I'm very sorry for their loss," he said.
Melissa McCree said after the sentencing, "This is a victory for everyone, and I don't say 'victory' as any kind of loose term, because it will not bring our son back."
“Trust in policing is essential to community safety," said Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano (D) in a statement after the hearing. "When tragedies like this occur, trust can only be repaired by seeking accountability through the justice system, and failing to do so would make the work of our police force – who are as dedicated to community safety as I am – that much harder.”
Only once before in the history of the Fairfax County Police Department has a police officer faced charges for shooting and killing someone while on duty. That incident was the Aug. 29, 2013, police shooting by Officer Adam D. Torres of an unarmed man, John B. Geer. Torres was charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, including time served. Torres was released on June 29, 2016, five days after he was convicted.
After Judge Bellow ruled on Friday, Melissa Johnson, the victim's mother, said, "I want to acknowledge that this is historical and unprecedented, and for that, I am grateful," said. "I wish it was my son's sentencing that I was here for. Had he been found guilty for stealing some sunglasses, we would still be able to see him, he could still be a father to his children."