Nearly a month after a Fairfax County officer shot and killed a Reston woman, police have released body camera footage capturing the intense moment.
The incident occurred on the morning of September 16th at an apartment complex on Sunrise Valley Drive near Reston Parkway.
Fairfax, VA police release body cam footage of Sydney Wilson slashing officer Peter Liu who was there on a welfare check. https://t.co/wxkbtOdxQx
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) October 15, 2024
Fairfax County officers responded to a mental health call for 33-year-old Sydney Wilson, a woman they had encountered multiple times this year, including the day before the fatal encounter.
Officer Peter Liu, trained in crisis intervention, was dispatched to check on her. However, things quickly took a violent turn, as WUSA9 reported.
According to the footage, Officer Liu knocked on Wilson’s door, but she slammed it shut in his face. After knocking for another three minutes, she opened the door again—this time with a knife.
Without warning, she slashed the officer’s face, leading him to retreat down a hallway while repeatedly telling her to back up.
Despite his efforts to de-escalate the situation, Officer Liu was trapped in a dead-end hallway. After being attacked a second time, he fired multiple shots, hitting Wilson three times.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described the officer’s actions as being in line with their training, emphasizing that Liu had no other options available.
“So he did the things that we train him and expect him to do,” explained Davis. “If you’re threatened like that, if you can tactically reposition yourself, do it. If you can use distance, use it. If you can seek cover and concealment, seek it. All those options just weren’t available to him.”
This incident has drawn attention to Fairfax County’s co-responder program, which pairs officers with mental health experts to assist in calls involving mental health crises.
However, the co-responder unit was unavailable at the time, responding to another call. Chief Davis suggested that even with the co-responder team present, the situation might have still turned violent and placed the mental health expert in danger.
The officer is now recovering and has been reassigned to another department as the investigation continues. Fairfax County police are reviewing the incident to determine if anything could have been done differently.
Some believe that the officer should have taken a different approach. Check out this tweet:
How many innocent, Black women need to die before we #AbolishThePolice?
Sydney Wilson was wearing a bathrobe when officer Peter Liu pounded on her apartment door and then shot her dead just outside her apartment. She was just 33 years young.#BLM #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/1p5qfvvRbM
— James Rice (@soccerdad79) October 15, 2024
What are your thoughts? Do you think the officer could have or should have responded differently?
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