Police shooting leads to murder charge - Virginia Edition

Former Fairfax police officer charged with murder of unarmed Springfield man

After two years of deliberation, the cop was fired and charged with second-degree murder of an "unarmed" man who had a holstered gun he had previously threatened to use. Almost an hour into the ensuing negotiations, during which the suspect had put down his weapon, the cop shot him in the gut and killed him.

The cop is adamant the shooting was justified. The officer who negotiated with the victim, however, said he was unarmed and his hands were raised when he was shot.

 

So we know for absolute certain that one of the cops is lying.

Which is weird because cops always tell the truth.

 

Which one does Jay Carney support?

 

Or that one of them is honestly mistaken, because eyewitness testimony.

 

Or they both could be correct. The shooting could have been justified AND the victim could have been unarmed with his hands up when he was shot.

 

How so?

 

Maybe the shooter was in the process of pulling the trigger when the victim decided to drop his gun and throw his hands up. Maybe the shooter's vision got obscured just at the right (well, wrong) moment. Seems to me these -- or something similar -- aren't impossibilities, although they certainly are unlikely.

 

“It was not accidental,” Torres told detectives. “No, it was justified. I have no doubt about that at all. I don’t feel sorry for shooting the guy at all.”

But four officers on the scene and Geer’s father and a friend, who were also there, said Geer’s hands remained above his shoulders when he was shot.

“When the shot happened, his hands were up,” Barnes told detectives. “I’m not here to throw [Torres] under the bus or anything like that, but I didn’t see what he saw.”

Funny thing is, the story says the investigation was handed over to the feds because police wouldn't surrender Torres' internal affairs files. Once they did, the investigation restarted, the grand jury was called, and charges were filed, all within a few months.

 

OK, so I'm probably gonna go with the four officers on the scene.

 

So many cop gun thug threads ...