Fairfax County's police chief says it's not yet known whether a shoplifting suspect who was shot and killed Wednesday night after a foot chase outside of Tysons Corner Center was armed, and an investigation is ongoing.
Police say two officers assigned to the mall were alerted to an alleged shoplifting incident Wednesday around 6:30 p.m. involving a pair of designer sunglasses at the Nordstrom department store inside Tysons Corner Center and confronted the suspect as he exited the store.
Davis said at a press conference Wednesday night that a foot chase continued outside the mall for about a quarter of a mile until the suspect reached a wooded patch of land.
Both officers fired their weapons, and the suspect was struck an unknown number of times, Davis said. He died at an area hospital.
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Davis said the suspect, identified Thursday as Timothy McCree Johnson, 37, of Washington D.C., had a “significant violent criminal history.”
One of the two officers was in uniform, and body camera footage is available for review, Davis said. County policy calls for the footage to be released in 30 days.
Neither officer was injured, Davis said.
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Police did not immediately release the race of either the officers or the suspect who died.
