Protesters marched in the bitter cold for four hours Thursday, demanding answers about the shooting death of an unarmed father of two in Fairfax County, Virginia.
John Geer, 46, was shot and killed by Officer Adam Torres 16 months ago. Officers were called to his Springfield home for a domestic incident.
The mother of Geer's two children advised officers that there were weapons in the home. After a 50-minute negotiation, Geer was shot and later bled to death.
Geer's family filed a $12 million wrongful death suit in September, prompting a judge to demand Fairfax County police turn over information about the incident, including the name of the officer responsible for Geer's death.
Protesters are questioning why it took more than a year to reveal Torres' name.
"Are they trying to hide something," asked Emily Jarvinen, one of the protesters. "I don't know. I wasn't there. But that's definitely weird."
Nathan Cox, who helped organize the investigation, says the investigation has not been taken seriously.
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"It's been really a joke of an investigation," he said. "There've been very few questions answered."
One mother, Latockea Gray, took the protest as an opportunity to teach her children a lesson.
"School was closed today, so now they had history," she said.
For Gray, the protesters' chant of "Hands up! Still shot!" recalls a slogan that has become familiar over the past few months.
"Like the 'Hands up, don't shoot,' it's almost the same thing," said Gray.
Torres, an eight-year veteran of the force, remains on administrative leave as the criminal and administrative investigations continue.
