US Park Police officers charged in shooting of Bijan Ghaisar still not in custody
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - A day after two park police officers were charged with manslaughter in the killing of Bijan Ghaisar, neither one of them has turned themselves into police in Fairfax County.
FOX 5's Ayesha Khan reports the officers may turn themselves in on Monday –– and if they don’t, then there is an arrest warrant out for them.
READ MORE: US Park Police officers charged with manslaughter in shooting of Bijan Ghaisar
On Nov. 17, 2017, U.S. Park Police officers Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard shot Ghaisar after they attempted to stop him and his SUV started to pull away.
Prior to the shooting, Ghaisar had left the scene of a minor crash on the George Washington Parkway.
READ MORE: Officers: We gave 'chance after chance' before 2017 shooting of Bijan Ghaisar
In September, documents made public in a civil suit filed by Ghaisar's parents provided the first real insight into the thought process of officers Amaya and Vinyard.
Dashcam video of the chase and shooting prompted outrage, as the vehicle appeared to be approaching the officers at a slow speed.
Evidence like the 911 call reporting the initial minor accident on the GW Parkway that Ghaisar was involved in is one of the many factors that played a role in bringing charges against Amaya and Vinyard.
Ghaisar's family and several lawmakers believe the officers acted unreasonably and with excessive force.
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FOX 5 spoke with Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano on Friday. He pursued the indictment after just nine months in office.
“Because this is our unique posture in which there are federal agents and I anticipate that they will move to remove this case to federal court I also anticipate that the defendants and the federal government will be invoking the supremacy clause at an immunity argument so we are partnering with the attorney general’s office to hopefully clear that hurdle," said Descano.
Khan also spoke with a criminal defense lawyer who says that the emphasis on bringing attention to police brutality and use of force may have also played a big role in holding these officers accountable.
“I think the issue of police and excessive force has really transformed in the public eye especially in the white community over the past several years I think a part of that is the impact of the video accessibility and people get to see how these forced incidents go down sometimes," said Attorney Glenn Ivey of Ivey & Levetown.
Both officers are facing a mandatory 15 years in prison if found guilty – 10 for manslaughter and five for reckless discharge of a firearm.