New body-worn camera footage shows fatal shooting involving a Fairfax County officer

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News now) – The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) released body camera footage Monday from a fatal officer-involved shooting in Reston last month.

This shooting occurred on September 16th at an apartment complex.

Police Chief Kevin David said in a press conference to release the footage that 33-year-old Sydney Wilson attacked a veteran officer with a knife. Officer Peter Liu attempted to contact her after police received a call about a welfare check on her.

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When Liu arrived, he knocked and introduced himself, but she opened the door and immediately closed it.

FCPD said the officer was trained in crisis intervention and attempted to continue knocking for several minutes.

Two minutes later she opened the door again and hit him with a knife.

She repeatedly stepped forward and struck again, prompting the officer to fire five times and strike her three times.

The officer then called for help for her and himself. He was bleeding after being slashed with the knife.

Police performed CPR on Wilson and gave her blood at the scene, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officer Liu was also taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Davis said the shooting was related to the officer's police training.

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The department has a co-responder program in which mental health professionals sometimes assist and respond to such emergency calls.

Davis said if a co-responder had been there, they too would have been in danger.

Liu performs other duties within the department and the internal investigation into this shooting is ongoing.

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