Sydney Wilson: Woman shot dead by Virginia police officers

A woman who was fatally shot by a Virginia police officer after apparently slashing herself in the face with a knife during a welfare check had posted on social media about her certification as an adult mental health first responder.

Sydney Wilson, 33, was pronounced dead at a hospital on September 16.

Fairfax County police said an officer responded to the 11800 block of Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston around 10:20 a.m. after a mental health counselor asked police to conduct a welfare check on Wilson, who they reported that he was “excited.”

Body camera footage released Monday shows the officer, whom the department identified as 14-year veteran Peter Liu, arriving at the door of Wilson's apartment and knocking. Wilson opened the door, dressed in a bathrobe, and said “Hello” twice before closing the door again.

The video shows Liu continuing to knock and asking Wilson to open the door. When Wilson opened the door again about three minutes later, she said, “How are you?” then raised a knife and lunged at Liu.

“Oh my God,” Liu said, then backed away down the hall as Wilson followed, still wielding the knife. The officer then pointed his gun at Wilson and ordered her to “back up” several times, the footage shows.

When Wilson lunged at him again, Wilson fired two shots. He fired three more times as Wilson appeared to still be moving toward him. Then she fell to the ground. The footage shows blood dripping from Liu's head onto his hand and the ground as he called in the shooting and asked for medical help.

Wilson was born in Pennsylvania but lived in Reston, according to her obituary. She graduated from St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. and then earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University.

According to her obituary, she played basketball throughout high school and college. “Sydney was a fierce competitor, even though her appearance was described as 'girly' and 'chic,' and she truly loved the game of basketball and all of her teammates over the years, forging lifelong bonds,” it said.

“Sydney loved children and was an inspirational speaker for young girls who were coached by their former teammates and wanted to play high school and college basketball…Sydney's legacy of friendship, empathy and love will live on in the hearts of everyone she ever met.” have met.” “

According to her LinkedIn page, she worked as a leasing operations manager for JLL Mid-Atlantic in Washington, DC

She posted on her LinkedIn and Facebook pages that she received mental health training certification earlier this year.

“I’m proud of that! After 8 hours of necessary training, I received certification in Adult Mental Health First Aid,” she wrote on Facebook.

“As a human resources manager, mentor, friend, big cousin, daughter… and so on, it is important to be able to help myself and others and recognize challenges. I think that’s the greatest act of love.”

Wilson's funeral took place on October 5 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her honor to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

After the body camera footage was released, the Georgetown University women's basketball team faced backlash for publishing a post honoring Wilson in September.

“Georgetown women’s basketball mourns the tragic loss of Sydney Wilson (C’13). Forever a Hoya,” the team wrote on X on September 20, just days after the shooting.

One person wrote: “Tragic loss? She tried to murder a police officer and almost succeeded.”

Others shared stills from the body camera footage and called on the team to delete the post.

Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, responded to the post, writing, “Don’t try to kill peace officers.”

However, others expressed their condolences. “It is not rational to expect someone having a psychotic break to react calmly when a police officer points a gun and says 'Back off!' shouts,” one person wrote.

At a news conference Monday, Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis said Fairfax County operates a program in which mental health counselors assist officers on calls involving people with mental illness to prevent violence. He said a counselor did not accompany Liu at Wilson's welfare evaluation because they were “on their way to another deployment visit” and Liu had received crisis intervention training.

“I think a co-responder would have been in a very dangerous position the second time this woman came to the door,” he said. “I believe this call for service was sent out properly.”

Davis stood by the officer's actions. “He did the things we teach him and expect him to do,” he said.

He said Liu had been placed on “restricted duty” and was working elsewhere with the police while the investigation into the shooting was ongoing.

Update 10/16/24, 7:25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.