Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Following the release of dashcam video showing the police chase and shooting that led to his death last November, the attorney for Bijan Ghaisar’s family has some strong words for U.S. Park Police.
“I was stunned that law enforcement would treat anyone the way they treated Bijan,” Roy Austin of the law firm Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis told WMAL. “That’s just out-of-control policing.”
No weapon was found on Ghaisar.
The video released Wednesday by Fairfax County Police, whose officers were providing backup, shows Park Police pursuing Ghaisar’s Jeep on the George Washington Parkway. He is cornered twice, but both times Ghaisar drives away after officers exit their cruiser.
Police officers may have interpreted that escape as an attempt to run over officers, but Austin said officers were standing next to the car, not in front of it, and Ghaisar appeared to be deliberate in his actions.
“There’s not a chance that that vehicle could’ve been considered weaponized,” Austin said. “He pulls slowly away from the first stop. He carefully maneuvers around them the second time.”
Austin believed Ghaisar likely had been frightened by officers yelling at him with their guns drawn.
“With the officers behaving the way they did, I think a lot of people would’ve been scared, would’ve been trying to get to a place that’s better lit and more populated for their own personal safety,” he said.
At the third stop, following Ghaisar’s exit from the highway and onto local roads in the Fort Hunt area, the Jeep is seen starting to drive away again, but officers begin firing at close range into the driver’s window. Nine shots are fired in the span of 26 seconds before Ghaisar’s Jeep rolls into a ditch and partially up a stop sign.
Police were originally alerted to Ghaisar after he was rear-ended on the George Washington Parkway and sped off. The police report indicates there were no injuries, and Ghaisar’s Jeep showed no damage from the incident, Austin said.
“Ten weeks down the line, we should not still be waiting for all the answers that we’re still waiting for,” Austin said.
In a short statement, U.S. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean on Wednesday said “While respecting the integrity of the investigation, I also recognize the desire for more information and details surrounding the investigation and the death of 25-year-old, Bijan Ghaisar…Public and community trust remain paramount to our agency and profession.”
The FBI is currently investigating the shooting. A spokeswoman declined to comment.
Copyright 2017 WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Fairfax County Police)
