Why won’t Fairfax give answers in 2009 police shooting?

Letters to the Editor

My son, David Alan Masters, was killed by Fairfax County police on Nov. 13, 2009, while at a traffic light in Fairfax County. Officer David A. Ziants, who had been following my son for about a mile, reached into the rear window and fired; one shot killed David almost instantly. David was unarmed. Mr. Ziants told investigators he thought he was chasing a car thief.

Last week, Fairfax County released a dashboard-camera video of the incident. Two officers in another police cruiser were present at the shooting. They reacted with shock at Mr. Ziants’s actions: “The [expletive] you doing, dude?”

The video, released almost six years after the shooting, is the first information released by Fairfax County authorities. Countless requests for investigative reports under the Freedom of Information Act have been rejected by the police and the county. What are they afraid of six years after the event?

Mr. Ziants was fired for improper use of deadly force. But why has he not been prosecuted? Why have the reports not been released? I am calling for an end to this conspiracy of silence concerning the death of my son. I am calling for justice.

Barrie Masters, Sanford, Fla.