Police have identified the man shot and killed by an officer after a foot chase outside Northern Virginia’s Tysons Corner mall Wednesday.
Fairfax County police said 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson, a D.C. resident, died after an officer shot him in the chest while in a wooded area near a parking garage at Tysons Corner Center.
Officers were called to the Nordstrom department store around 6:30 p.m. after a security guard reported that designer sunglasses had been stolen.
According to a police account of the shooting detailed in a news release, an officer saw Johnson exit the store and set off an anti-theft alarm. Police chased Johnson through a parking garage and into the woods while officers said he disobeyed orders to get on the ground.
Two officers opened fire on Johnson in the woods, hitting him once in the chest. Johnson later died at a hospital.
The circumstances of what led to the shooting remained unclear Thursday.
At a Wednesday news briefing, Chief of Police Kevin Davis said law enforcement would need daylight to search the scene for a gun and determine whether Johnson was armed. As of Thursday afternoon, Fairfax County police had not commented on whether a firearm was found.
The two officers involved were a seven-year and eight-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department’s Tysons Urban Team. Both have been placed on restricted duty status while an investigation continues.
Body camera footage of the incident is expected to be released within 30 days.
