Title
Fairfax, Virginia: David Alan Masters, an unarmed former U.S. Army Green Beret and Vietnam veteran was shot and killed by Officer David Ziant / Fairfax County hasn't charged a police officer for an on-duty shooting in 70 years.
Date
November 15, 2009
State or Country
Virginia
County/City:
Fairfax County
The Court the Case was filed in
Fairfax
Type of Case
Wrongful Death
Judges
TBD
Plaintiff
Jon Shields, the brohter-in-law who is also a Manassas attorney, filed the action in Prince William County Circuit Court this month, just in time to qualify for consideration under the state's two-year statute of limitations.
plaintiffs in the lawsuit Masters' ex-wife, Gail Masters, and stepdaughter Courtney Hubbard, who were David Masters' heirs and administrators of his estate.
Defendant
David Scott Ziants
Fairfax County, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the county police department and Police Chief David Rohrer.
Plaintiff Attorney
Jon Shields, the brohter-in-law who is also a Manassas attorney,
Defendant Attorney
Fairfax County Attorney's Office
Edward Nuttall
Document Links 1 (Scribd et. al)
http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/737999.html
Document Link 2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/07/28/fairfax-police-refuse-information-to-father-of-police-shooting-victim-david-masters/
Document Link 3
https://reason.com/2010/04/05/the-nova-police-blackout/
Document Link 4
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/fairfax-police-sued-in-david-masters-shooting/2011/11/17/gIQAnIlIVN_blog.html
Document Link 5
https://bluevirginia.us/2019/02/video-fairfax-county-commonwealths-attorney-ray-morrogh-campaign-kickoff
Comments
Masters, 52, was shot as he drove away from Officer David S. Ziants on Route 1 in the Alexandria area of Fairfax on Nov. 13, 2009. Ziants was not charged with a crime because he believed, mistakenly, that Masters was reaching for a gun, was driving a stolen vehicle and had run over another officer, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh said in January 2010. But Ziants was fired for violating the department’s use of deadly force policy.
But unlike the police shootings of Salvatore Culosi Jr. in 2006 and John B. Geer in 2013, there was no civil suit to force Fairfax police to release information about the Masters case. Masters had named his ex-wife and stepdaughter as the executors of his estate, but under Virginia law they were not entitled to recover any damages since they were not his legal family, though they were his daily companions and closest friends. Masters’ brother-in-law attempted to file a suit anyway in 2011, but it went nowhere
Meanwhile, Masters’ father watched from a distance, his anger slowly burning. Then in May of this year, Roessler suddenly released an in-car video camera tape of Ziants hustling up to Masters’ vehicle and then firing shots just out of camera range, while another officer screams at him to stop shooting. This outraged Barrie Masters, who earlier this month sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the police seeking everything related to the case.