Report: Family of McLean man shot by police sues FCPD

The family of a McLean man who was shot and killed by police in 2022 has sued Fairfax County police for wrongful death.

The lawsuit was filed in Fairfax County District Court on Wednesday (June 12), the Washington Post reported, and alleges that police officer Edward George had “no reasonable cause” to believe he or anyone else was in imminent danger when he shot 26-year-old Jasper Aaron Lynch multiple times at the Lynch family home on July 7, 2022.

The indictment also names Police Chief Kevin Davis and five other officers as defendants, including Pak Kyoung and Nicholas Kirsch, who were identified as the other two officers present at the shooting. The roles of the three officers, identified only as John Does, are not detailed.

The lawsuit, filed by Lynch’s father, Patrick Lynch, argues that the FCPD’s treatment of Lynch, who was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time, was negligent. The suit seeks $10 million each in compensatory and punitive damages.

“As a direct result of Defendants’ actions and/or omissions, Aaron suffered great pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish, and other injuries and damages prior to his untimely, painful and preventable death at the hands of Defendants,” the lawsuit states. It also says his family will continue to suffer “extreme mental anguish, emotional pain and grief” as a result of his death.

As detailed in the complaint and previous police statements, officers were called to the Lynchs’ home on Arbor Lane twice on the night of July 7, 2022, because family members were there seeking mental health help.

After a family friend first called 911, Lynch’s mother contacted the FCPD’s non-emergency line and explained that her son had “no history of violence” and there were no weapons in the house. According to the complaint, she cited that the crisis he was in may have been due to “the death of a loved one.”

During this first deployment, McLean County Police Department officers were accompanied by a co-responder team consisting of an officer and a clinician from the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board to assist with mental health calls.

When Lynch could not be located, police left, but his sister and her boyfriend called 911 again around 8:30 p.m. to report that he had returned to the house and was throwing and breaking objects.

George, Kyoung and Kirsch were dispatched without a co-responder team. In an August 4, 2022 press conference where body camera footage was released, Davis said the psychiatrist was busy with paperwork. At the time, the FCPD had only one doctor for its then-new co-responder program, which now consists of four teams.

When officers entered the home, they found Lynch in the foyer with a wine bottle and a wooden mask that he had thrown. Kyong and Kirsch deployed their Tasers as Lynch approached the front door. They stood there carrying the bottle, which was then dropped, according to an incident report from the Fairfax County Office of the Independent Police Auditor (OIPA).

The indictment alleges that George fired his pistol four times, hitting Lynch three times in the thigh and hip.

Other than that, reports vary. OIPA, which reviewed the police investigation, says Lynch “collided” with one of the other officers, causing both to fall, and he was “on top of” the officer when George fired a fifth and final shot from less than two inches away from Lynch.

However, the complaint states that Lynch was “attacked by Officer Kirsch” and “pinned down” when George “fired a fifth and final shot into his neck at point blank range.” Lynch died at the scene.

Following the FCPD’s investigation into the shooting, Fairfax County District Attorney Steve Descano declined to file charges against the officers involved, a decision that was only announced last April.

Richard Schott, the county’s independent police auditor, affirmed the FCPD’s finding that the shooting did not violate the law. However, his report noted that George violated department policy by not turning on his body camera during the first call and by not carrying his Taser during any of the calls. The complaint cites leaving the Taser in his vehicle as an example of his alleged dereliction of duty to “exercise reasonable care under the circumstances.”

“Fairfax County cannot comment on pending litigation,” a county spokesperson told FFXnow.

The law firm representing Lynch’s family in the lawsuit declined to comment when asked by FFXnow, but their attorney Patrick Regan told the Washington Post that they filed the lawsuit “because the police have so far refused to take responsibility for the senseless killing of this young man.”

Lynch was one of six people shot by FCPD officers in 2022, an increase after there were nine such incidents between 2014 and 2021, according to department data. There were two police shootings last year – both fatal – and none so far in 2024.

Former Fairfax County police sergeant Wesley Shifflett was indicted by a grand jury in October for shooting Timothy Johnson outside the Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22, 2023. The trial in that case is scheduled to begin in September, according to the Post.