The family of a 25-year-old Virginia man shot and killed by U.S. Park Police last year is seeking the release of documents related to the investigation.
Lawyers for Bijan Ghaisar's family announced Tuesday that they have filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests on the Park Police and the FBI, which is investigating the shooting. Both agencies have said little about the shooting, despite protests and prodding from elected officials.
Officers shot Ghaisar, an accountant from McLean, Virginia, in the head the night of Friday, Nov. 17. He was shot at the end of a chase that began with a minor accident on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
Ghaisar's sister pleaded for answers.
"For more than eight months our hearts have broken more and more with each day we wait on answers from the very forces that are supposed to protect us all,” Negeen Ghaisar said in a statement. "This silence cannot stand any longer. The Park Police and the FBI owe my family and the public, at the very least, an explanation of the basic answers and facts around Bijan’s death."
Fairfax County Police released video of the chase and shooting. It showed officers approaching Ghaisar's car multiple times with guns drawn, then opening fire after Ghaisar began pulling away. Ghaisar was unarmed.
In June, investigators recreated the scene, shutting down the road and using a Jeep Grand Cherokee similar to what Ghaisar was driving the night of the shooting. Officials used metal detectors, shovels and machetes as they combed through the woods.
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The FBI did not say whether they found any new evidence.
