Fairfax County’s independent police auditor released a report agreeing with the county police that exonerated officers in the shooting of a man in the Sully District last year.
The report from auditor Richard Schott said officers in the shooting of Robert Jablonski, 50, in front of his parents’ Chantilly house January 4, 2022, were acting on a reasonable belief that they were in danger, given that Jablonski was pointing a loaded compound bow at them.
“The FCPD investigation determined that the use of deadly force during this incident was lawful and complied with departmental policy. I agree with that conclusion,” Schott said.
Schott’s April 28 report restated what the police reported at the time: Officers went to the house on Briarton Drive at about 8:30 a.m. after Jablonski’s parents called police with concerns about him. After speaking with all three, the officers told the parents no crime had been committed, and they couldn’t take Jablonski into emergency custody without a court order.
As the officers were leaving, Jablonski shouted threats at them.
‘We Can’t Leave Now’
Jablonski’s father got the court order, and when officers returned with it, Jablonski locked himself in the basement, the police said, and shouted threats at the officers and his mother.
According to the camera footage, when Jablonski made the threat to his mother, one officer said to another, “Well, we can’t leave now.”
After police were in the house for about 20 minutes, the captain on duty told the officers to retreat and take up positions across the street, keeping an eye on the house. About a half-hour after that, Jablonski came out and stood on the front steps with the bow and arrow, “nocking” an arrow (putting it against the bowstring) and scanning the scene about a half-minute after that.
The officers told Jablonski to put the bow down. He refused and told them to leave; after about a half-minute back-and-forth, Officer First Class Angelo Diaz fired one shot from his rifle, hitting Jablonski. Jablonski survived and was arrested and charged with three counts of felony assault against a law enforcement officer and three counts of attempted aggravated murder of a law enforcement officer.
About a month after the shooting, County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced that Diaz would not be charged.
Read the full report on the Robert Jablonski shooting and watch the footage. (Note: The video has profane language).
The report said it based its findings on the use-of-force guidelines that were in effect at the time. They’ve since been changed, although only one difference is cited. The report says the new guidelines keep “all critical components of the prior policy.”
Police Shootings in Fairfax
Fairfax County police officers shot people six times last year, as many as the previous five years combined.
In February, an officer shot and killed an unarmed man accused of shoplifting sunglasses in Tysons Corner. The officer was fired, but a grand jury didn’t charge him. Descano has asked for a special grand jury to look into the case.
Feature image courtesy Fairfax County Police Department
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