By Jay Korff, ABC 7 News
SPRINGFIELD, Va. (WJLA) - The
family of a Springfield man shot by police during a standoff last year has
filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Fairfax County Police Department.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in
Fairfax County Circuit Court, asks for $12 million for the wrongful death of
John Geer, as well as $350,000 in punitive damages against the officers
involved.
The lawsuit and claims all stem
from an incident that took place on Aug. 29, 2013.
On that date, Fairfax County
Police responded to a reported domestic dispute in a home on the 7900 block of
Pebble Brook Court. Whoever reported the incident claimed that Geer had
weapons, prompting a large police response, as well as SWAT teams entering the
usually quiet neighborhood.
Police said they negotiated
with Geer, who was standing in the doorway of the home, for about 40 minutes.
Geer reportedly had his hands up, resting on the door jamb above his head.
However, when Geer reportedly
started lowering one of his arms, police opened fire and shot him. Rescue teams
that entered the home reported that Geer was dead.
A few days after the incident,
police announced that their investigation revealed that Geer had not been
armed, after all.
Now, Geer's widow, Maura
Harrington, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit that names the Fairfax County
Police Department, Chief Ed Roessler, and three as-yet unnamed police officers
who were involved in the shooting as defendants.
In the wrongful death claim,
Harrington cites "solace, mental anguish and solace," loss of Geer's
income and funeral expenses, asking for $12 million in compensation, as well as
interest dating back to Aug. 29, 2013, when the incident took place.
Harrington also requests the
return of "personal property wrongfully seized and now retained" by
the police department.
