Cop Fired, Charged With Murder Two Years After Shooting Unarmed Man Whose Hands Were Up
Geer’s father spoke about the indictment, stating, “Justice is prevailing. I figured it was going to eventually happen. It’s unfortunate we had to wait so long for it to take place. But our judicial system is going through its process, and we will see justice served.”
Geer’s death in August 2013 spurred protests as well as a broad department wide review of officer’s use of force and a reformatting of the way the department communicates with the public about shootings that involve police officers. The shooting was part of a string of officer involved shootings in the county in recent years.
The indictment was returned by a special grand jury in Fairfax County after they heard six days of testimony that included 20 witnesses. Torres did not testify on his own behalf. Following the indictment, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh requested a bench warrant, prompting Torres to turn himself in. He is being held at the county jail without bond.
Torres is expected to be arraigned in Circuit Court later this week, according to Morrogh. Morrogh declined a request to comment on the significance of Torres indictment being the first time an officer faced an indictment for an on-duty shooting, stating, “I’m not permitted to characterize the case under the rules governing me as a prosecutor. I’m grateful to the grand jury for their attention and taking time out of their personal lives to do this.”
Torres was one of several officers who responded to a domestic disturbance between Geer and his partner. Upon their arrival, Geer showed officers a holstered gun he had on him and placed it on the ground. A trained negotiator spoke with Geer as he refused to come out of the house. Geer directly asked Torres to lower his weapon multiple times, with Torres complying but then raising his weapon when Geer periodically requested to scratch his nose.
The negotiator notified officers that Geer “might do a suicide-by-cop type of situation.” At 3:34 pm, while negotiators were still speaking with Geer, Torres fired a single shot, to the surprise of other officers. Officers waiting 70 minutes before entering the house, where Geer was found dead just inside the front door. Torres claimed to have shot Geer because “he brought both his hands down really quick near his waist.”
Torres has been adamant about the shooting not being an accident, telling investigators, “It was not accidental. No, it was justified. I have no doubt about that at all. I don’t feel sorry for shooting the guy at all.”
Prior to being fired July 31 following an internal investigation and appeal process, Torres had been an officer for nine years. According to the Washington Post, indictments of police officers for on-duty shootings are extremely rare, with only 54 officers facing charges out thousands of shootings that have occurred in the last decade. Convictions are also difficult to obtain.
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