Arlington’s top prosecutor is asking for a special grand jury to investigate the police shooting that killed a man inside a Columbia Pike 7-Eleven.
The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church announced Thursday afternoon that it will ask the court to convene the panel to look into the May 8 death of Shawn Valn, 33. The grand jury would determine whether there is probable cause to support criminal charges.
“Our obligation is to determine whether or not the evidence establishes probable cause that a crime occurred,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said in a statement. “Just as important is ensuring that the process is fair, independent, and worthy of the public’s trust. A special grand jury provides a structured and impartial forum for a careful review of the evidence.”
Officers were called to the area for a report of a man threatening a woman. Valn barricaded himself in a back room of the 7-Eleven at at 3602 Columbia Pike after an initial encounter with police, the Arlington County Police Department said.
Around 9 p.m., after a nearly three-hour standoff, officers breached the door and Valn displayed a knife, according to police. Two officers fired, striking him. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
A special grand jury serves as an investigative body and can work with prosecutors to subpoena witnesses and hire experts, among other powers, according to the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
The proceedings are confidential under Virginia law, and the office said it won’t release additional information while they are pending. Empaneling a special grand jury and completing its investigation typically takes “a number of days over the course of several months,” the office said.
The office said it is “unusual” to publicly announce a request for a special grand jury, but that the facts and circumstances of this case “warrant a greater degree of transparency.”
“Officer-involved shootings are among the most consequential events that can occur between law enforcement and members of the public,” the statement said.
The Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team, a regional task force that uses police personnel from outside the locality, took over the investigation after the shooting. Its findings are forwarded to the commonwealth’s attorney for independent review, police have said.
Valn, who was homeless, was a well-known figure along Columbia Pike, and residents held a vigil for him days after his death. In July, a local resident presented a petition to the County Board calling for “a full, public accounting” of the shooting.
Board members said at the time that they would hold off on addressing the case in detail until the commonwealth’s attorney completed her review.
