Fairfax County police say US Park Police fatal shooting of accountant caught on dashcam
FAIRFAX, Va. - The fatal shooting of an accountant from McLean by U.S. Park Police was captured on the dashcam of a Fairfax County police officer, according to officials.
Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler announced on Monday that one of his officer's dashcam captured the deadly shooting of 25-year-old Bijan Ghaisar the evening of Nov. 17.
Authorities said Ghaisar fled the scene of a crash in Alexandria and led police on a miles long high-speed chase into Fairfax County.
Roessler said Fairfax County officers were backing up U.S. Park Police when their cameras captured the shooting. According to Roessler, Fairfax County officers did not fire shots.
Ghaisar's family said he was shot in the head three times. Ghaisar, who was a graduate of Langley High School and Virginia Commonwealth University, was not armed, according to his family.
The FBI has taken over the investigation and Roessler said the dashcam video was turned over to investigators. While Fairfax County police holds the rights over the video and could release when it decides, Roessler said they were waiting until the FBI finished interviewing every officer involved in the incident to not interfere with the investigation.
"I'm not going to comment on the video. It's an active part of the FBI's investigation. They have yet to conclude all their interviews with all the officers involved and for me to make a statement from my perception and from my point of view is not my role because it's not my investigation at this point," Roessler said. "It's a crucial piece of evidence for the FBI to conduct a thorough investigation. If I release that video right now I could bias the outcome of the investigation and hinder the legal process."
Roessler said another dashcam captured Fairfax County officers rushing to help Ghaisar, who Roessler said was still inside his Jeep Cherokee, until paramedics could arrive at the scene. Ghaisar was taken to the hospital and later died on Nov. 27.
U.S. Park Police have released very few details about the shooting and has not confirmed if Ghaisar was armed.
FOX 5 reached out to U.S. Park Police about their pursuit policy and were told we'd have to file a Freedom of Information Act request to retain that information. We are in the process of filing that request.