Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney says no charges will be filed after officer shot, killed man in mental health crisis

Although repeated viewing of the body worn video indicates Mr. Lynch dropped the bottle immediately before colliding with Officer Kirsch, it was not unreasonable for Officer George to believe Mr. Lynch still controlled the bottle while on top of Officer Kirsch: the situation escalated in a matter of seconds, Mr. Lynch was swinging the bottle above his head as he lunged in the direction of Officers Kirsch and George, the area of the foyer in which Mr. Lynch crashed into Officer Kirsch was the darkest area of the foyer, and Mr. Lynch dropped the bottle at the last second before he barreled into Officer Kirsch. In their statements, all of which the officers gave without viewing their body worn video, none of the three officers indicated they were aware that Mr. Lynch had dropped the bottle immediately before slamming into Officer Kirsch.

Statement from Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano

We are saddened and devastated by the Commonwealth Attorney’s decision not to press charges against Officer George, the police officer who shot and killed our son, Aaron Lynch, on July 7, 2022.  We have carefully reviewed the footage from the body cameras and believe the Commonwealth Attorney’s description of important parts of how this tragedy unfolded is incorrect.   We cannot fathom how Aaron’s shooting could in any way be viewed as anything but unjustified and an excessive use of force. Aaron was on the ground after being tackled by another officer and was completely unarmed when Officer George fired the lethal final bullet in Aaron’s neck. This came after Officer George had fired at Aaron four times. Why was it necessary to shoot again?

The long period of time the Commonwealth Attorney took to make this decision has only increased the pain and uncertainty for our family.  We are deeply disappointed and mystified as to why it took more than 18 months. The facts all point in the other direction of this report’s findings. Our son was experiencing a severe mental health crisis that day. He was scared and had asked for us to call 911. We believe that the three police officers who answered the call could have handled this far differently. To respond to Aaron’s mental health crisis by shooting him at all, let alone five times, cannot be justified. How could our son, who was about 5’ 6”, slightly built, holding a bottle and a decorative mask be of a serious threat to three officers?

This is an injustice that no family should have to endure. We will continue to press for accountability from the FCPD and Fairfax County, both for Aaron and our family and in the hope that this will help prevent such tragic outcomes for other families in the future.

Statement from Pat and Kathy Lynch