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A former Fairfax County police officer will serve three years in prison for fatally shooting Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center in February 2023.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows sentenced former Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, 36, to five years behind bars with two years suspended. Shifflett also received five years of probation.

A jury convicted Shifflett on Oct. 4, 2024, of recklessly handling a firearm but acquitted him of manslaughter following a trial that lasted nearly two weeks.

The shooting occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2023, after Johnson, a 37-year-old Washington, D.C., resident, allegedly stole two pairs of sunglasses from the Nordstrom at Tysons Corner Center.

Shifflett and Officer James Sadler chased Johnson across a parking lot and into woods near the mall. Both officers fired their weapons, and Johnson was struck once in the chest. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Authorities determined that Shifflett fired the fatal shot. The Fairfax County Police Department announced in March 2023 that he would be fired.

A grand jury initially declined to indict Shifflett. Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano later presented the case to a special grand jury, which returned an indictment on Oct. 12, 2023.

Before sentencing, Shifflett’s attorneys sought to have the guilty verdict thrown out. They argued that he acted intentionally according to his police training and therefore had not been criminally negligent. A judge upheld the conviction in January.

Descano said the case centered on Johnson’s death, his family’s grief and accountability for the shooting. He expressed hope that the end of the proceedings would help Johnson’s family heal and said accountability through the courts is necessary to restore public trust in policing.

Shifflett’s attorneys did not immediately comment on the sentence.