After an hours’ long impasse, during which Geer refused to leave his house, Torres shot Geer in the chest, killing him.
Advertisement
Police said Torres, who had been an officer since 2006, was fired on July 31.
A loaded, holstered firearm was reportedly recovered on the landing of the stairs to Geer’s left where he had stood in the doorway and seven more firearms were recovered inside the home, according to police. The officer and mother sustained minor non-gunshot injuries and were also taken to a hospital.
The Washington Post report on Torres’ arrest highlights the rarity of such charges for American police officers who use their weapons in the line of duty, even when they fire on unarmed people, citing a study the paper conducted with Bowling Green University that found only 54 officers have been charged among thousands of officer-involved shootings.
WUSA 9 Officers in bulletproof vests patrol the scene of the August 2013 standoff at the Springfield, Va. home of John Geer.
“When the shot happened, his hands were up”, Barnes told detectives. Torres was an eight-year veteran of the force at the time of the shooting.
The department’s handling of the case brought federal scrutiny after it withheld Internal Affairs files from county prosecutors and refused to release Torres’ name and other information about the shooting to the public until compelled by a court order in January 2015. Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova said. He is now incarcerated without bail in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
“We’ve learned a lot about sharing information in a timely way, in a way that is thorough and satisfying”, Fairfax Co.
Fairfax County police have faced criticism for a lack of transparency regarding their investigation into the shooting.
The chief’s statement continued: “The loss of life is tragic for all”.
Advertisement
Don Geer, the father of John Geer, welcomed news of the indictment in an interview with the Post. Officers said that Torres would comply but that Torres would raise it again when Geer periodically asked to scratch his nose. “But our judicial system is going through its process, and we will see justice served”. Torres’ wife Danyal set up a GoFundMe page earlier this month pleading for funds to help the family after her husband lost his job, WUSA-TV reported. The page was subsequently removed when the police watchdog group known as CopBlock wrote about it on their blog.
