Fairfax County Police Watch: The fatal shooting of a drug suspect by an undercover police officer "an unintentional reflex"

The Washington Post

November 18, 1987, Wednesday, Final Edition

Fatal Shooting Was Accidental,Police Say;

Fairfax Officer Reportedly Startled

BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer

SECTION: METRO; PAGE C2

LENGTH: 479 words

The fatal shooting of a drug suspect by an undercover police officer on Monday was an accident that occurred after the suspect startled the officer, Fairfax County police said yesterday.

The police department's findings that "an unintentional reflex" caused the officer's gun to discharge will be forwarded to the county's chief prosecutor, who will decide whether the shooting was a criminal violation.

Police said the officer, Investigator Irene M. Boyle, will remain on administrative leave pending the prosecutor's review.

"This was strictly an accident," Col. John E. Granfield, chief of police, said yesterday. "She fired it but without any intention of having it fired."

Police, who could not identify the man on Monday, said yesterday that the victim was 27-year-old Jose Carlos Rodriguez of no fixed address. They said the difficulty in identifying Rodriguez stemmed from his prior use of seven aliases and six birthdates.

Police said investigators had negotiated to purchase two ounces of cocaine from Rodriguez for $ 2,700 and planned to meet him late Sunday in the parking lot behind a dry cleaners in Baileys Crossroads.

Rodriguez drove to a dark section of the parking lot in his rented pickup truck, and an investigator agreed to purchase one ounce of cocaine, all that Rodriguez had with him, police said.

The investigator then alerted other officers in marked and unmarked cruisers, police said. They said Boyle, an 11 1/2-year veteran of the department, walked to the truck with her weapon drawn to provide coverage for another officer.

At first, Boyle did not see Rodriguez, but as she came within a foot of the truck his face suddenly appeared at the window of the cab. "He kind of came up like a jack in the box," said Granfield. "It startled her, and she shot the gun."

Police said one bullet struck Rodriguez in the head, and he was taken to Alexandria Hospital, where he died a short time later. No weapon was recovered from Rodriguez's vehicle, they said.

Had the transaction not gone awry, police said they would have charged Rodriguez with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, a felony.

Granfield said yesterday that the actions by Boyle, 33, were in accordance with police procedures.

That Boyle had her service revolver "out and drawn" was proper procedure, Granfield said. He noted that in virtually every undercover drug arrest made by county police, the suspects are heavily armed.

Generally police department policy states that deadly force shall not be employed except as a last resort, but Granfield said Boyle had no intention of shooting the weapon.

Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said yesterday that he will review the autopsy results and the findings of the police department's investigation, which was conducted jointly by the homicide department and the internal affairs section.

Morrogh finds cop he doesn’t love. In other news, hell freezes.

Probe of fatal police shooting goes to federal authorities

By Justin Jouvenal/Post

The Fairfax County prosecutor has turned over the investigation of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed Springfield man to federal authorities, citing complications with the five-month-old case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia has agreed to continue the probe into the death of 46-year-old John Geer, who was shot during a standoff with Fairfax County police in August. No one has been charged in the incident.

“There is a conflict of interest that has arisen in the case,” Morrogh said Thursday. “And there is a second potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of my office. . . . This is the prudent thing to do.”

Morrogh declined to describe the nature of the conflicts because the investigation is ongoing. The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday that it could not confirm or deny any investigation or comment on pending investigations.

Police went to Geer’s Pebble Brook Court home on Aug. 29 because of a report of a domestic disturbance. Geer’s father, Don Geer, said his son was upset because his girlfriend, the mother of his two children, had decided to leave him.

John Geer had thrown his girlfriend’s belongings in the front yard. She called police and told them that Geer had a firearm. Police said they tried for about 50 minutes to persuade Geer to leave the home, but he refused.

Don Geer said he watched the climax of the encounter. He said that he could not hear what officers were saying to his son but that he saw him standing with empty hands resting on top of a screen door at the home’s entrance.

At some point, John Geer began to slowly lower his hands and an officer opened fire, hitting Geer in the chest, his father said. Geer retreated inside and closed the door. A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found Geer dead.

Don Geer said detectives later told him that his son did not have a gun on him at the time of the shooting but that there was a holstered handgun a couple of steps from the front door.

Don Geer said it appeared to him that the shooting was unjustified, but he was unsure what to make of the probe being turned over to federal authorities.

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are doing it, I could form an opinion,” he said.

Geer and friends of his son have been critical of how long the investigation has taken, but Morrogh said police and prosecutors were working to explore all the evidence. He did not think federal prosecutors would have to start from scratch.

“No one wants these things to linger on,” Morrogh said.

Our ink will outlast his career

Under the reign of former Chief of Police Rhorer the Fairfax County Police arrested a man for not wearing clothes in his house while he made coffee, set up an eye doctor on a gambling charge and then used the SWAT team to kill him. An investigation into the charge that the Doctor’s primary clients were cops has never been investigated. The police gunned down an emotionally unstable man because cop who shot him wrongly assumed the man was trying to escape. He wasn’t. The cops also shot dead four other citizens under highly questionable circumstances. The department under Rhorer was sued multiple times by citizens. So did they fire Rhorer? Naw they promoted him. According to news reports Rhorer draws a salary of $191,168 per year as Deputy Fairfax County Executive as well as a concurrent pension from the Fairfax County police of $173000 per year.

Occupation by force

According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, nearly one in five Fairfax residents (17.5 percent) is of Asian descent while Hispanics make up nearly 16 percent of Fairfax’s overall population. Those numbers drop considerably when applied to the Fairfax County Police Department, where only 4.3 percent of officers are Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. White officers make up 84 percent of Fairfax County’s 1,360-member police department, significantly higher than the county’s general population (54 percent white). Almost 90% of the force lives outside the county.