VIDEO: Dashcam Footage Released of Fatal Park Police Shooting

Steve Burns

WMAL.com

FAIRFAX – (WMAL) Fairfax County Police have released the dashcam video from a November incident that resulted in US Park Police fatally shooting a motorist following a chase on the George Washington Parkway.

The video shows the final four minutes of an incident that began, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post, when Bijan Ghaisar’s Jeep was rear-ended on the George Washington Parkway just before 7:30 p.m. on November 17th. For reasons still unknown, Ghaisar did not get out of his car and sped off. As the parkway is patrolled by Park Police, they were notified by Arlington Police and soon gave chase. Fairfax County Police joined in some minutes later, serving as backup, according to Chief Ed Roessler.

The video shows Ghaisar getting cornered twice, but both times as officers exited their cruiser he sped off. After exiting the parkway into a residential area in the Fort Hunt section of Fairfax, Ghaisar is surrounded a third time. When he starts to drive away again, video shows Park Police officers drawing their guns and shooting into the driver’s window at close range. Nine shots total were heard over a 26-second span before Ghaisar’s Jeep rolled into an embankment and partially up a stop sign.

The FBI is investigating the shooting. A spokeswoman declined to comment.

Ghaisar’s family said earlier Ghaisar was unarmed.

The Ghaisar family attorneys, in a statement, blasted Park Police, calling officers “over-aggressive and out-of-control.”

“No one was even close to being in harm’s way until a pair of U.S. Park Police officers repeatedly shot Bijan at close range as he sat, unarmed, in his Jeep on a residential street,” their statement read. “We don’t know why the U.S. Park Police officers shot Bijan multiple times, or whether those officers are still patrolling the area’s parkways. What we do know is that justice demands that those responsible for taking Bijan’s life answer for this illegal and unconstitutional killing.”

Roessler released a statement accompanying the video. It read, “As a matter of transparency to all in our community, especially the Ghaisar family, and as the administrative custodian of the video, I am releasing the in-car video of the U.S. Park Police shooting. The video does not provide all the answers. However, we should all have confidence in the FBI’s investigation of this matter as I know it will be thorough, objective and professional.”

Park Police Chief Robert MacLean said in a statement, “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.”