Fairfax (US), Oct 5 (AP) A jury on Friday acquitted a former police officer in Virginia of involuntary manslaughter after he fatally shot a shoplifting suspect outside a busy shopping mall. But the jury did convict the former police sergeant, Wesley Shifflett, of reckless handling of a firearm in connection with the shooting. Also Read | iPhone Smuggling: PIA Air Hostess, 2 Passengers Arrested at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Pakistan for Smuggling 30 iPhones.
Prosecutors argued that Shifflett, then a sergeant with Fairfax County Police, acted recklessly when he shot and killed an unarmed man, Timothy McCree Johnson, after a short foot chase outside Tysons Corner Centre in February 2023. Shifflett testified in his own defence and claimed self-defence. He said he saw Johnson, 37, reaching into his waistband after falling down during the chase, and he was worried that Johnson might be drawing a weapon.
Also Read | Polling Begins for 90 Assembly Seats of Haryana: Live News Updates Today. "At that moment, that was the most scared I had been in my life because I thought at any moment he would pull out a gun and just start shooting me," he said during his testimony at trial, later adding: "I did not have the luxury to wait and see a gun because I knew in an instant I could be dead." During cross-examination and in closing arguments, prosecutors criticised Shifflett's decisions leading up to the shooting, including his choice to chase Johnson into the wooded area at night be.