Request To Release 911 Call Before Park Police Shooting Denied

ARLINGTON, VA—The family of Bijan Ghaisar is demanding Arlington County release the original 911 call that led to the U.S. Park Police chase and shooting on Nov. 17. The county's dispatch system, which took the 911 call for the hit-and-run Ghaisar was involved in, denied a Freedom of Information Act request from the family's attorneys.

The Arlington County Emergency Communications Center wrote in a letter that county did not have to release the 911 call due to the FBI's open investigation. But Thomas Connolly, an attorney for the Ghaisar family, writes that "asserting the criminal investigation privilege to excuse the provision of the requested records is a misapplication of the law." He notes that Fairfax County's Police Department released the in-car video of the shooting, and neither the Fairfax nor Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney are conducting investigations.

Ghaisar, 25, of McLean had been traveling on the George Washington Memorial Parkway near Slaters Lane in Alexandria when he was rear-ended, according to a Park Police report obtained by The Washington Post. An Uber driver hit his car, which had suddenly stopped in the left lane. Ghaisar left the scene and did not exchange words with the Uber driver.

Park Police were notified to be on the lookout for Ghaisar's Jeep, and an officer began pursuing him south into Fairfax County. The Park Police report indicates the vehicles clocked in at 59 miles per hour during the pursuit, but Park Police wouldn't comment on why there was a pursuit for a car that had been rear-ended in the first place. The pursuit ended not far from the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Fort Hunt, where two officers shot him.

Fairfax County Police cruiser footage shows two U.S. Park Police officers pulled Ghaisar's car over multiple times and approached with weapons drawn before he drove away. The chase ended when the two officers fired their weapons as Ghaisar attempted to drive away. The last set of gunshots stopped the car, which nearly flipped over into a ditch and came to rest against a stop sign.

Ghaisar died 10 days after the shooting from injuries relating to gunshots to the head. Ghaisar, who was unarmed, suffered four shots to the head and severe brain damage, according to his family. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The two Park Police officers involved have not been identified and are on administrative leave since the shooting.

Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of DC met with U.S. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean Tuesday and will hold a media briefing afterward. The two lawmakers have met with the Ghaisar family, as well. Norton is introducing legislation to require body cameras on federal police officers and dashboard cameras in marked police cars.

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