UPDATE: Monday – 7/1/2013, 2:40pm ET
WASHINGTON – Seven Alexandria police officers who shot and killed a former Marine in February will not face criminal charges.
Commonwealth’s Attorney for Alexandria S. Randolph Sengel issued the decision not to charge the officers in a 30-page report released Monday.
Taft Sellers pointed his loaded gun at officers, who then fired at Sellers “in reasonable apprehension of Sellers shooting and killing or wounding one or more of the officers,” the report said.
Taft never fired his gun. The seven officers filed a total of 37 rounds at Sellers including shots from handguns, a rifle and one shotgun. Five rounds hit Sellers, the report says.
The Washington Post reports that Sengel’s report is the first time details have been released of the February shooting. The decision not to charge the seven officers does not clear them of any administrative violations however.
Alexandria police tell the Post that an internal investigation to determine whether the officers violated any department policies and protocols can now begin.
The Post reports Sellers had argued with his sister that day. She called police and said Sellers had a gun. It was unclear why Sellers pointed the gun at the officers.
A toxicology report found no drugs or alcohol in his system. Prescription medications he was taking at the time would not have impaired his motor skills or perception, the report says.
The Post reports that Sellers had sent an email to friends, the same day as the shooting, indicating he was considering suicide.
Report on Taft Sellers' fatal shooting
EARLIER: Tuesday – 2/19/2013, 12:40am ET
WASHINGTON – A police response to a domestic violence call in Alexandria ended in police shooting an killing a man Monday afternoon.
The incident occurred when Alexandria Police arrived on the domestic violence call at Duke Street near Quaker Lane.
“Our officers responded to a domestic incident. This incident resulted in a fatal police-involved shooting,” said Alexandria Police spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt.
The man who was killed did have a weapon, Hildebrandt says.
Police won’t talk about the victim, or the specific circumstances that led to the 911 call. Hildebrandt would not say if the man pulled the weapon on the officers.
But, ABC 7 says the family of the man killed identified him as 30-year-old Taft Sellers, a former Marine sergeant who grew up in Alexandria.
A witness, who was working nearby, told ABC 7 she looked out the window when she heard a commotion.
“The guy was on the step and he had something in his hand, and I was like, ‘Is he really going to go up against all those cops,'” the witness said. “And then I heard one shot and the next thing I know they all opened their guns.”
No further information is yet available on the case.
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