WASHINGTON — Just four days after Manassas City police shot and seriously wounded a man in a park, the Prince William County commonwealth’s attorney has cleared the two officers of any wrongdoing.
“The officers involved were in reasonable fear of death or serious injury when they used lethal force,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert, ruling the shooting justified.
Investigators found that Daniel Torres Molina, 18, pointed a gun at officers. It was later determined to be a BB gun.
Police say the incident unfolded after midnight May 19, when Torres Molina called 911 to raise an alarm about someone firing a gun from a vehicle. Giving a description of his own black Ford Explorer with tinted windows, Torres Molina invited a wild chase in which he struck a police car, a tree and a light pole before jumping out of the SUV in George Hellwig Memorial Park, the police said.
Police found a 15-year-old runaway girl, unharmed, in his vehicle.
Torres Molina survived the fusillade. He was seriously injured, with gunshots to his upper and lower body. He faces a preliminary court hearing July 17 on charges of eluding and attempting to injure police.
