Fatal police shooting of John Geer likely heading to grand jury

A Virginia prosecutor calledWednesday for a grand jury to consider criminal charges against a police officer who shot and killed an unarmed resident of a Washington suburb in August 2013.

Fairfax County, Virginia, Chief Prosecutor Raymond Morrogh said he asked the county circuit court to empanel a grand jury the day after the county agreed to pay John Geer's family $2.95 million to settle its wrongful death lawsuit.

Police were called to the townhouse, which Geer shared with his girlfriend and their two children, after a report of a domestic dispute.The police officer who shot him, identified as Adam Torres, saidGeer, 46, reached toward his waist as if trying to grab a gun.

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Geer's father, four police officers and a friend said Geer was standing in the doorway of his Springfield, Virginia, home with his hands near his head when Torres shot him. Some witnesses also said Geer had shown police a holstered gun and placed it at his feet before he was shot.

The shooting of Geer, who was white, prompted protests similar to the anger that followed other recent incidents involving police, including the Aug. 9, 2014, shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore this week after suffering a serious injury in police custody.

Fairfax County officials said in a statement the Geer shooting "remains under a police administrative review process and criminal investigation at both the federal and state levels."

The grand jury, which is expected to be convened by mid-summer, would consist of local residents who would be presented evidence by prosecutors to help them decide whether to indict the officer.

"The Geer family welcomes this development as a long awaited step in the direction of obtaining justice," Michael Lieberman, an attorney for the family, said in a statement. "We hope that the Commonwealth Attorney will bring this matter before the special grand jury sooner than later."

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors organized a commission to review police policies and to release information to the public after Geer's death. Local prosecutors and Justice Department attorneys initially accused Fairfax police of being slow to release personnel information about the officer who shot Geer.